            e
STANDARD

/ - A   R BEARER-
     E F O R M E D   SEMI-MONTHLY.MAGAZINE                                             h





                   This stable and this manger are the divinely
                 appointed place for this Child! True, circum-
                 stances determined it so: because there was
                 no room for them in the inn! But God deter-
                 mined the circumstances. Here in this poor
                 stable, in that humble manger, among the
                 beasts of the field, on the very edge of the
                 world, He sent His Son, made of a woman,
                 made under the law. . . .
                   Do not destroy the sign, for it speaks!
                   It. proclaims that in your heart and my
               heart, in human society, in all the world,
                 there is no room for the Son of God!
                   Until He  ,makes room for Himself!
                   Glory to His grace!
                   (Taken from "The Mystery of Bethlehem")





L                                             Volume  LII, Number 5, December 15, 1975  J


.-I 626
                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER
                                  CONTENTS:                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July. and August.
      Meditation -                                                                          Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                                               Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
           Christmas Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .626       Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer  C. Hoeksema
                                                                                    Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J. Engelsma
      Editorials -                                                                  R e v .   C o r n e l i u s   H a n k o ,   P r o f .   H e r m a n   H a n k o ,   R e v .   R o b e r t   C .   Harbach:
                                                                                    R e v .   J o h n   A .   Heys,   R e v .   J a y   K o r t e r i n g ,   R e v .   D a l e   H .   Kuiper   R e v .
           Our Australasian Tour (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .629 George C. Lubbers, Rev. Meindert Joostens, Rev.  Marinus  Sch'ipper
                                                                                    R e v .   G i s e   J .   V a n   Baren,   R e v .   H e r m a n   V e l d m a n ,   M r .   K e n n e t h   G .   Vink:
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     MEDITA TIO N
     MEDITA TIO N



                                                       Christmas Peace

                                                                     Rev. H. Veldman

                                                      "And on earth peace, good will to men. "
                                                                                                       Luke 2: 14b




       The birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a
       The birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a                                His birth is announced by angels, first by Gabriel, and
                                                                                        His birth is announced by angels, first by Gabriel, and
     day full `
     day full  of contrasts. Jesus is born, and for Him of
                 `of contrasts. Jesus is born, and for Him of                           then by an heavenly chorus. And it is announced to
                                                                                        then by an heavenly chorus. And it is announced to
     Whom the Scriptures declare that the ends of the
     Whom the Scriptures declare that the ends of the                                   shepherds as they were watching over their flocks,
                                                                                        shepherds as they were watching over their flocks,
     earth have been given Him for an inheritance and that
     earth have been given Him for an inheritance and that                              and at night. Mary is the mother of Jesus and she is a
                                                                                        and at night. Mary is the mother of Jesus and she is a
     He is the King of kings, there is no room in the inn.
     He is the King of kings, there is no room in the inn.                             virgin! The Babe is Lord of all, and yet the Servant of
                                                                                       virgin! The Babe is Lord of all, and yet the Servant of


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 627


servants. He is the Eternal Who is also temporal, the         presents His credentials to Herod, through these wise
Infinite Who is also finite, the Almighty Who is also         men. The Babe of  Bet-hlehem  directs these Magi to
weak, God Who is also man.                                    Herod, to announce to the king the birth of the King
  It is ever thus when Christ is involved. We have            of the Jews. And the result? Immediate steps are
here the Absolute Contrast, the Absolute Antithesis,          taken by King  Herod to destroy the Babe of Beth-
the Either  - Or. He is received or not received,             lehem.
worshipped and loved or hated and despised; you                  Besides, did this Jesus bring peace upon the earth?
embrace Him or you reject Him; you lay your all at            It seems that wherever He went and preached, the
His feet or take from Him even the swaddling clothes,         very opposite of peace was the result. To be sure,
and finally nail Him to the cross.                            people followed and acclaimed Him, but only as long
  The same contrast characterizes this Scripture:             as they did not understand Him, as, for example, the
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,             Galilean multitude of John 6. People surely had the
good will to men." On earth peace! Peace then? Peace          opportunity to express themselves with respect to
now? Through Christ? What an amazing message of               -Him. Jesus did not isolate Himself from the children
the angels!                                                   of men, did not operate in some remote corner. He
                        *  *  `* *  *                         was constantly in the limelight. He taught in the
  Peace on earth  - what an amazing paradox! The              temple, went up .and down in the land; His Name was
angels sing here of peace on earth. Peace is harmony,         upon the lips of all. And their reaction to Him? He
unity, agreement, fellowship, concord. The opposite           was called. a gluttonous man and a winebibber; they
of peace is discord, enmity, hatred, war, misery, and         called Him an ally of Beelzebub, a friend of sinners, a
death. We read here of peace oy1 earth. .That simply          deceiver, a mad man with whom nobody could do
means that peace has come upon earth, this earth.             anything. Did He bring peace upon the earth and was
Peace upon earth, also today, and this in spite of wars       He received as such? We know better.
and rumors of wars! Moreover, we simply read of                  Finally, they disposed of Him upon the cross of
peace on earth. Notice, there is nothing uncertain            Calvary. What a miserable failure He was, this Prince
here. The text does not speak of a possi' `lity of peace,     of Peace! In fact, He even opposed all efforts on the
                                          "b
or that the reality of peace is predicted f I: the future.    part of  His disciples to unite `behind Him and
Scripture here simply speaks of a  fact; the text             establish an earthly kingdom! And this is not all!
informs us that with the birth of Mary's firstborn
peace has come upon the earth.                                   What happens with respect to the church after His
                                                               death and resurrection and glorification? Persecution
  How amazing!                                                 and tribulation are the lot of those who would follow
  Imagine the setting of this announcement of the              after Him. And is there peace on earth? Wars and
angels! The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ occurs in           rumors of wars continue throughout the ages.
Israel's darkest hour. It is some four hundred years                                 * * * * *
ago that the last prophet, Malachi, had proclaimed               Jesus, the Prince of Peace and War - how real and
the word of the Lord. There had been no word of                understandable! He is surely the Prince of Peace!
God since. The office of the high priest had become a          Peace, we have noted, is harmony, unity, agreement
plaything in the hands of Rome. The king, too, who             between two or more persons who are united in a
sat upon the throne of David, was appointed by                 bond of love and fellowship. Bethlehem's Babe is
Rome. And at the time of Jesus' birth none other was           indeed the Prince of Peace. God is the God of peace.
kind but  Herod the Great, a monster of iniquity, an           There is in God no discord. The peace in God is that
Idumaean and not even a Jew. Rome exercised                    perfection in the alone living God, whereby He, as the
complete dominion; Israel appeared completely under            Triune Jehovah, in the bond of infinite perfection, is
the `domination of the carnal element; the people of           in eternal harmony and fellowship with Himself.
the Lord who looked and longed for the realization             Understanding this, we understand that the natural
of the promise were so painfully few. Peace on earth?          man is a child of war. He is that in himself, in all his
Where? Is it not a good thing that the announcement            heart and soul and life. He is a child of war and of
of Jesus' birth, this so-called Prince of Peace, was           hell; because he hates God; there is no fear of God in
limited to a few ignorant shepherds, and this in the           his heart, no will or desire to love Him, to seek Him;
middle of the night?                                           he hates the living God, always holds the truth, that
  What was the peace which this Child brought upon             God is God, under in unrighteousness. Christ alone is
the earth, and as long as He was upon the earth? What          the Prince of Peace. He is that in Himself as the
was the effect upon  Herod when, the news was                  eternal Son of God, co-eternal and co-equal with the
brought to him by the Wise Men from the east con-              Father and the Spirit. And He is the Prince of Peace
cerning Chirst's birth? It is Jesus, we understand, Who        as Man. All men are by nature enemies of God and of


628                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


one another. He alone is at peace with God; He alone        again upon the clouds of heaven. He will return, not
is in perfect harmony with God. Also, as far as His         as He came to us in Bethlehem. But He will come
calling is concerned, He knows no other `desire than        again, personally and bodily, in great power and
to do the will of God.                                      glory, to realize for all His own God's eternal and
                                                            heavenly tabernacle with man.
  Hence, Jesus and enmity are inseparably con-
nected. What else can one expect in the midst of an                                *  * *  * *
evil and corrupt world! What else can we expect when
the one and only Servant of Jehovah confronts the             This peace, of course, is very particular. We do not
natural man who hates God? What else can we expect          read here literally: peace on earth, good will to men.
of a  Herod, of the scribes and Pharisees and  Sad-         But we do read this: peace on earth in men of good
ducees? What else can be expected of you, of me?            will. 0, this does not mean: peace on earth in men
                                                            who are kindly disposed. There are no such people.
  Nevertheless, there is peace on earth. There is           Then peace would never be ours. The text, however,
peace on earth  - in Him! Indeed, the angels may            means: peace on earth in the men of God's will,
surely sing: Glory to God in the highest, peace on          God's good pleasure, in them who are the objects of
earth. This peace is a fact, because Christ is born.        God's sovereign good pleasure and to whom it pleases
Ever since Adam turned his back upon the Lord and           the Lord to bestow His peace.
allied himself with the father of lies, this earth has
become a spiritual inferno of hatred and enmity;              Now we see the beauty of this word of God. 0, it
upon this earth  .God looks down from heaven to             may at first glance appear strange that the angels
behold the children of men, and, lo, there is none          should exercise their talents before a few shepherds,
that seeketh after God, none that doeth good. But           and that the most wonderful choir should display its
now in Bethlehem a mortal is born, in whose heart           musical talents in the presence of a few humble
and soul is peace, the first of His kind in all the         shepherds who undoubtedly were not too musically
history of the world.                                       inclined. What of it? This peace of God belongs only
                                                            to a few. There is peace on earth only in those who
   And there is peace on earth, through Him. He is          are the objects of God's sovereign love and good
the Prince of Peace. And that He is the Prince of           pleasure. Now everything becomes beautifully under-
Peace means also that He bestows peace. He is the           standable. There is peace on earth, now, in Bethle-
Prince  of peace; leads us into peace, the blessed          hem, only in the elect, for Christ is born, and Christ is
covenant fellowship with God in everlasting and             the Head of the elect; He came for them and for them
heavenly immortality. He is this because He is              alone. There is presently peace on earth, only for the
Immanuel, God with us. That He is Immanuel means            elect, also on Calvary. Indeed, do not be surprised
that God Himself came to us. We did not go to Him.          that Jesus then stands alone, that all forsake Him,
God placed Himself, the Almighty God, the Ever-             also His disciples. We have peace only through Him
lasting Father, underneath the burden of our enmity         and apart from Him we are all enemies of God! How
and sin and guilt  - this is the key to our salvation,      understandable that we should crucify Him. But He is
the how and why of our salvation.                           the Prince of Peace for us. Also and particularly when
                                                            we  kill Him! For He came to save us, and, as the
  And as that Prince of Peace He realizes this peace.       Prince of Peace, uses our enmity to realize His cross,
This happens centrally upon the cross. He realizes the      and the eternal salvation of His own. Indeed, He
state of peace. 0, He does not change a hating God          loved us while we were yet sinners.
into a loving Father. For God so loved the world, . . .
He reconciles us to God, bears all our sin and pays all        And so there is peace on earth, in the elect of the
our debt, and merits everlasting life. As the Prince of     living God, throughout the ages. Be not alarmed
Peace, He also realizes this peace throughout the ages.     about wars and rumors of wars; a world at peace
No, He does not work or pray for the peace of the           would be far more horrible than a world at war.
nations. As far as the wicked are concerned, He             Christ, then, would never return, inasmuch as wars
brings, not peace, but a sword, sets father against son,    and rumors of wars are also the signs of His coming.
etc; He calls into being the red horse and the black        Do you have and taste the peace of God in your
horse of Revelation 6. He realizes peace, by His grace      hearts? Seek not the things that are below; trust not
and Spirit, in the hearts of His own. He delivers us        in worldly peace conferences; all these peace efforts
from our natural hatred and enmity against God,              are doomed to fail; God sits in the heavens and He
sheds God's love abroad in our hearts, and gives us         laughs. at them. Trust in God and in His Son, our
the unspeakably wonderful assurance that all is well         Lord Jesus Christ, Who saved you, and look forward
between us and the living God. And He will come             to the day of your .perfect and everlasting deliverance.


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       629



 EDITORIALS



                               Our Australasian Tour  (5)
                                                         ProJ: H. C Hoeksema



    Besides the Sunday gatherings in Christchurch,                      make this tour possible. Its memories remain as an
 there were three other meetings, two on Monday,                        unforgettable and unspeakably blessed expression of
 June 30, and one on Thursday, July 3, on the eve of                    the mercy of our covenant God.
 our departure from New Zealand.                                        While in New Zealand, Prof. Hoeksema and Rev.
    Our first meeting, though small, was one of the                     Hanko met with the session of the Orthodox Pres-
 most significant of our New Zealand tour. In the                       byterian Church of Christchurch on June 30 to dis-
 office at brother van Rij's home we met with the two                   cuss possible future ties between respective churches.
                                                                        Further to that meeting, we would submit the fol-
 elders of the Christchurch Orthodox Presbyterian                      lowing for the prayerful consideration and action of
 Church, the brethren van Rij and Young. It was at                     your committee.
 this meeting that we received concrete and official
 evidence of the fact that the Orthodox Presbyterian                    1. Since the organization of our congregation in June
 Churches are looking to our Protestant Reformed                        1974, we have been without a minister of the Word
                                                                        of God. From that time we have been constant and
 Churches for ecclesiastical fellowship and help. For at                earnest in our prayers that God would mercifully lead
 this meeting the brethren of the Christchurch Session                 us to a man well fitted to  labour  among us in this
 extended to us as emissaries of our churches, and                     office.
 through us to our churches, a Macedonian call,                        2. Over the months, two things have become in-
 "Come over and help us." Rev.  .Hanko and I were                      creasingly evident to us all:
 rather overwhelmed by this evidence of the esteem in                     (a) that professing "Reformed" Presbyterian min-
 which our churches are held by these brethren, as                     isters in New Zealand have shown little interest
' well as by the tremendous implications of this re-                   (rather  scepticism)  in the endeavors of the O.P.C. to
 quest. We discussed the matter at some length,                        stand uncompromisingly upon Scripture and the con-
 making plain that we were not empowered to commit                     fessions.
 our churches on this request, but promising, too, that                   (b) that as our knowledge and understanding of
 we personally would recommend favorable action.                       the Reformed Faith has grown, bonds of unity and
 Rather than leave the conveying of such a weighty                     likemindedness with the Protestant Reformed
 request to our word-of-mouth, we advised the breth-                   Churches in America have developed. The reality and
                                                                       degree of that unity will, we trust, be witnessed to
 ren to follow this oral request with an official letter               you by Prof. Hoeksema and Rev. Ha&o.
 to our Committee for Contact With Other Churches.
 This was done in a letter dated July 29. Hence, I am                  3.  For some time prior to the arrival of the represen-
 in a position to let their request speak for itself. Here             tatives of the Protestant Reformed Churches in New
                                                                       Zealand, it was the expressed desire and intent of the
 is the letter:                                                        congregation  inChristchurch  to discuss with them the
     Committee for Contact With Other Churches,                        possibility of a minister from the Protestant Re-
                                                                       formed Churches coming to New Zealand to  help-in
     Protestant Reformed Churches in America,
     c/o Prof. H.C. Hoeksema, Sec'y                                    establishing a Church in Christchurch faithful to the
                                                                       Word of God and. the Reformed confessions.
     Dear Brethren,                                                    4. This matter was discussed at some length with
     Greetings in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.                   Prof. Hoeksema and Rev. Hanko, and upon their
     By the time this letter is brought to your notice Pro-            recommendation, the session of the O.P.C. in Christ-
     fessor Hoeksema and Rev. Hanko will, we trust, have               church would submit to the Protestant Reformed
     furnished you with a report on their Australasian                 Churches in America through its Committee for Con-
     visit. That assumed, there is little need to introduce            tact with Other Churches the following request:
     this letter, except to express our deepest gratitude to           "that an ordained Minister of the Protestant Re-
     your committee and all who were used of God to                    formed Church in America be sent to Christchurch,


  630                                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


         New Zealand to serve as a minister of the Word of                                      may remember that a few years ago Prof. Hanko
         God to the congregation of the O.P.C. in that city,                                    commented on this matter in All Around Us. During
         and to help in establishing a testimony faithful to the                                the course of our stay with Mr. Kerr, we learned that
         Word of God and the Reformed Confessions in that                                       there is not a single faculty member who even holds
         land."                                                                                 to, the doctrine of vicarious atonement. That will give
         Professor Hoeksema and Rev. Hanko are familiar with                                    you some idea of the low estate of Presbyterianism in
         proposals concerning the support and duration of the                                   New Zealand.
         ministry, and we are confident that they will wisely
         represent this request as they are led of God.                                           There is no Orthodox Presbyterian Church in
                                                                                                Dunedin at present. The people with whom we had
         Meanwhile, we prayerfully await your consideration                                     contact were of a very mixed background. Some were
         of this request, confident that "He who has begun a
         good work in you will perform it until the day of                                      from the local Reformed Church, of which the Rev.
         Jesus Christ."                                                                         P. Berghouse is pastor. We also had the opportunity
                                                                                                to meet a couple of serious-minded Reformed young
         Yours in His Name,                                                                     men from other parts of New Zealand who are
                                                          A.W. Young
                                                       W . v a n   R i j                        studying at the university in Dunedin.  Others whom
                                                                                                we met were from the mainline Presbyterian Church.
    I will not  comment in detail on this request  at this                                      And some were members of an independent People's
 time; I prefer to let this letter speak for itself and to                                      Church. I should also mention that in  Dunedin we
 make its own impact. It is plain, I think, that this is a                                      noticed for the first time on our tour considerable
 matter of tremendous import for our churches at                                                influence of the AACS, or Toronto movement.
. their next synod. Our Contact Committee has gone
 on record unanimously as favoring this request in sub-                                           On the whole, we were not favorably impressed by
 stance; and we are in the process of getting infor-                                            what we observed in Dunedin.  Nevertheless, we kept
 mation and studying various details with a view to                                             rather busy in the afternoon and evening; and we had
 presenting a carefully worked out proposal to our                                              opportunity to testify of the Reformed truth; and we
 next synod.                                                                                    may safely leave to the Lord the results of our labors
                                                                                                there. During the afternoon Mrs. Hoeksema talked to
     The second meeting, on Monday evening, and the                                             a group of some 14 ladies concerning child training
 third, on Thursday evening, were well-attended cot-                                            and Christian education. There is some interest in this
 tage meetings at the home of Mr. and Mrs. van Rij.                                             area in establishing a Christian school; however, the
 Those who attended were mostly young people who                                                movement appears to be rather AACS oriented. Rev.
 have rather recently come to the Reformed faith. At                                            Hanko and I met with a group of students at the
 these two meetings we did not have any fixed subject;                                          home of Mr. Kerr during the afternoon. We also had
 but we had received in advance a long list of ques-                                            the opportunity through this meeting to learn first-
 tions in which the Christchurch people were espe-                                              hand what inroads heresy has made within the
 cially interested. These were questions both of a doc-                                         church. Sometimes it does one good to come into
 trinal and a practical nature. These young people take                                         personal contact with these things to learn how
 their Reformed faith very seriously, and they mean to                                          serious the situation of the church of today really is.
 put it into practice in their lives. But this very fact                                        During that same afternoon we had occasion to visit
 gives rise to many serious questions on their part.                                            for a while with the Rev. Berghouse. And while his re-
 And many of these questions became the subject of                                              ception of us was hospitable, he made it very plain
 our discussions at these two cottage meetings.                                                 that he resented the Standard Bearer's attack on Dr.
     Tuesday, July 1, at 10 o'clock in the morning, we                                          Runia's doctrinal position and that he himself to this
                                                                                                day does not believe Runia's position to be heretical.
 boarded the plane for  Dunedin, at the south end of
 the South Island. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Young accom-                                             However, he declined our invitation to document his
 panied us.  Dunedin is the nearest we came to the                                              claim that Runia was orthodox in his teachings at
 South Pole during our tour; and frankly, the weather                                           Geelong.
 felt like we were near the South Pole. We were told                                               In the evening there was a public meeting at St.
 t h a t   t h e   t e m p e r a t u r e   h a d   h i t   a   r e c o r d   l o w   t h a t    Mark's Presbyterian Church. Although the weather
 morning of -13 Celsius. After a long ride in from the                                          was rather cold and damp, we had an audience of 29.
 airport, we had noon lunch at the home of Dr. and                                              We had been advertised as speaking on the topic,
 Mrs. Andre van Rij, who were also Rev. Hanko's hosts                                           "Our Calling As the Salt of the Earth in Relation to
 during our brief stay. Mrs. Hoeksema and I had as our                                          the State." It was not a subject which lent itself to a
 hosts Mr. and Mrs. Alan Kerr. Mr. Kerr is a student at                                         direct discussion of vital issues of the Reformed faith.
 the notorious Knox Theological College of the Pres-                                            And although I attempted, in the limited time avail-
 byterian Church  - the school where Prof.  Geering                                             able, to draw the line of the antithesis, the line of sin
 (who denied the resurrection) taught. Some of you                                              and grace, of church and world, there was apparent in


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               631



the course of the discussion a disinclination to discuss     about 4 P.M. It was our last evening in New Zealand;
vital issues. The questions of the evening centered          and at the conclusion of the evening's `meeting we
more about politics, our calling in society, labor           were presented with a few remembrances. Even with-
unions, etc. And again, there became evident not a           out those remembrances, we shall long remember our
little of the leaven of the AACS in the thinking of          stay in New Zealand and our fellowship with God's
some of the audience. While there were exceptions,           people there. And it was with a certain amount of
we did not find in our contacts in  Dunedin much             sadness that we bade our friends farewell the next
dedication to the Reformed position. It is to be             morning at Christchurch airport. But it was time to
hoped that our brief visit kindled some serious              depart. Our Air New Zealand DC-10 took us to
thinking about these matters.                                Melbourne, Australia, where we had a 5-hour layover;
   Lest I forget, there was one more event at Dunedin        and from thence we flew to Wynyard, in the northwest
- an important one! While in that faraway city Mrs.          corner of the island-province of Tasmania. That was
Hoeksema and I received a cablegram informing us of          the way we spent the 4th of July!
the birth of our second grandson, Matthew  Allan                A few concluding remarks about this section of our ~
Kamps.                                                       tour are in order.
  But we wish to finish our New Zealand tour in this            In the first place, we were deeply impressed by the
article; so we must hasten on to Nelson, a beautiful         experience of genuine fellowship with likeminded
harbor city at the north end of the South Island. We         brethren and sisters in Christ nearly everywhere we
left the Dunedin  airport a little after noon on July 2;     went. Of course, in theory we knew all along that
catching our only glimpse of the rugged and snowy            God has His people everywhere. But to experience
Southern Alps aloft, we arrived at Nelson in  mid-           this in actual fact is just a little different. In many
afternoon. We were warmly welcomed at Nelson by              places we stayed only a little while; but how often we
the Rev. Ivo Bishop, the local Orthodox Presbyterian         had the feeling of being thoroughly at home in a
pastor, and were immediately taken for afternoon tea         short time and of talking and discussing with people
to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Scott Hunter, where              of God just as though we had known them a long
Mrs. Hoeksema and I were to lodge. The flock at              time. What we were experiencing, of course, was the
Nelson has a membership, if I remember correctly, of         communion of saints. Arid how blessed that is!
30 to 40 souls. Pastor Bishop and his flock only re-            In the second place, a word about the Orthodox
cently separated from the Presbyterian Church (April         Presbyterian Churches in New Zealand. Let me put it
of  1974), and did so at considerable material sacri-        this way. If I were in New Zealand and were faced by
fice. At our evening meeting at the home of Mr. and          the question of my church membership, judging
Mrs. Walter Button, Rev. Hanko's hosts, not all of the       according to the marks of the church, I would not
congregation could be present. But there was a group         hesitate to cast my lot with the Orthodox Pres-
of 2 1, to whom Rev. Bishop gave us a very warm and          byterian Churches. Yes, they are small and struggling.
friendly introduction. The subject for the evening was       From an outward and material point of view they do
Sovereign, Particular Grace, in connection with              not have much; they face an uphill battle. No, they
Ephesians 2: 8. While our instruction encountered            are not perfect by any means. There is much room
some opposition, especially with respect to the doc-         for instruction and growth in the Reformed faith.
trine of predestination, there was evident a receptive       They undoubtedly will face many problems in the
spirit in the meeting and a willingness to be instructed     near future. They are a young communion of
from the Word of God. As Pastor Bishop himself               churches. In some ways they remind one of the
made plain at the conclusion of the meeting, there is        earlier days of our own churches. Some of their little
need for instruction and growth in the knowledge of          congregations reminded me of some of our own
the truth in this relatively new little congregation. All    struggling little churches. But one thing impressed me
in all, we had a pleasant stay in Nelson; and we wel-        as we sojourned among them, and that was their dedi-
comed the opportunity to get acquainted with Rev.            cation to and their interest in the truth of Scripture
Bishop, with whom we had been in correspondence              and the confessions. Personally, I am certain that if
for a few years, dating back to the time when he was         ever one of our ministers should go to labor in New
still in the mainline Presbyterian Church.                   Zealand, he would have no difficulty on that score:
  On Thursday morning, July 3, we had time for a             he would soon feel himself thoroughly at one with
fast sight-seeing tour of the beautiful countryside          the brethren and sisters in principle.
surrounding Nelson. The irrepressible Mr. Hunter was           In the third place, the little group of Orthodox
our tour guide; and he managed, I am sure, to show           Presbyterian Churches are to be encouraged to per-
us as many sights as possible in the limited time            severe. There is much work to be done among them
available. Then it was back to the airport after noon        and by them. They must expand their witness. They
lunch with the Bishops, and back to Christchurch at          must themselves become more thoroughly founded in


 632                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



 the truth. In the not too distant future they should, I      of our visit to New Zealand has also made the
 believe, complete their ecclesiastical organization,         churches there a bit more real to you, our readers. If
 form a presbytery, adopt a church order. And we as           the report has accomplished that, it has to a degree
 Protestant Reformed Churches must encourage, and,            succeeded.
 where possible, assist them. Personally, I am con-
 vinced that if at all possible, we should loan them one      [Note: Our friend and brother, Bill van Rij, under-
 of our ministers. On a longer range basis, one of the        went open-heart surgery a few weeks ago. According
 best ways we could assist them, if this could be imple-      to the last report which we received, the operation
 mented, would be to train their future ministers in          was satisfactory, but his convalescence was a bit slow.
 our seminary. And above all, pray for them! In our           We are thankful that the Lord has restored thus far,
 prayers we often pray for God's church in other              and we hope and pray that He will continue to sus-
 lands, wherever it is represented. To me personally,         tain our brother and, if it be His will, restore him to
 this tour has brought the reality of God's church in         health and strength and to useful service in the labors
 other lands a little nearer. And I hope that.this report     of His church there.]


 FEATURE ARTICLE


                           On Christmas Observance
                                               Rev. Rodnev Miersma


    It is that time of year again when we celebrate              It is easily seen, then, how this heathen festival was
 what is called Christmas. One-does not forget this day       turned into a Christian holiday. Christmas is the
 because the world will not let us forget. We are shown       birthday of Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the
 and encouraged to buy Christmas gifts already in the         Light of the world. Thus, according to St. Cyprian
 middle of the summer. Christmas, for all practical           and St. John Chrysostom, the church grasped the
 purposes, has become a secular holiday devoid of any         opportunity to turn the people away from a purely
 spiritual significance. This brings us to the question as    pagan observance of the winter solstice to a day of
 to what really is the origin, meaning, and purpose of        adoration of Christ the Lord. Although Christmas was
 the observance of Christmas.                                 celebrated since the fourth century, it was not always
                                                              called by that name. The word Christmas means
    The church did not always celebrate the birth of          Christ's Mass and was first used in England in the
 our Lord Jesus Christ by observing a particular day.         eleventh century. In German the word is Weihnachf
 Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that we cannot        (holy night) while the Dutch has  Kerstmis   (yule
 determine with any certainty the exact date of               mass). The latter reveals a direct connection with the
 Christ's birth either from evidence in the Scriptures or     old heathen festival, for the word yule comes from
 from any sound tradition. Historical authorities place       the Anglo-Saxon geol which was a feast, particularly
 the time that Christmas was first celebrated some-           the feast of the winter solstice.
 where in the middle of the fourth century. December
 25 was chosen because, in the opinion of some, the             In light of the above facts we may begin to ques-
 universe was created on the vernal equinox, reckoned         tion ourselves as to whether or not there is any Bib-
 in the Julian calendar as March 25. Similar habits of        lical root for the celebration or commemoration of
 thought would make the beginning of the new                  Christmas. The ancient church was not agreed on the
 creation, the inception of the incarnation, fall on the      answer and neither were the churches of the Refor-
 same day, and therefore Christ's birth on the winter         mation. The Puritans, for example, condemned the
 solstice, December 25. This date was a heathen fes-          celebration and, from 1642 to 1652, issued a series of
 tival day celebrating the birthday of the Mithraic Sol       ordinances forbidding all church services and fes-
Invictus,  the Sun-god. This. was the day in which the        tivities. This feeling was carried over from England to
 unconquered sun, after the winter solstice, broke the        America by the Pilgrims and it was not until the
 growing power of darkness, and began anew his                nineteenth-century wave of Irish and German immi-
 heroic career.                                               gration that enthusiasm for the feast began to spread


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       633


throughout the country. This caution is more than             Commentary, page 274, write:
likely due to the fact that Scripture neither enjoins             "The Synod of Dordt, 1.578, Article 75, declared in
nor forbids such a celebration, and from the fear of              substance that  .it would be desirable to celebrate
falling into the practice of observing all kinds of holy          Sunday only according to God's  orc$nance.  But,
days as was the prevalent practice of the Roman                  inasmuch as Christmas Day and the day following
Catholic church.                                                 upon Christmas, as well as the days following upon
                                                                 Easter and Pentecost and in some places also New
  What, then, is the meaning and purpose of Christ-              Year's Day, and Ascension Day were legal holidays by
mas observance? Does its value lie in the keeping of .a           authority of the governments, the Ministers should
day? Certainly not, for if its value were in the keeping         preach appropriately on these days in order to turn a
of the day, God in His infinite wisdom would surely              fruitless and harmful idleness  (Zediggang)  into a holy
have made known unto us the exact day on which                   and profitable exercise."
Christ was born. The regarding of a day as holy in            Since then subsequent Synods have revised and
itself or better than another day is condemned by             changed the article till it now reads as found in our
Scripture, as seen in Paul's letter to, the Galatians in      Church Order which was redacted in 1914.
chapter 4 verse 10. The Galatians had fallen under the          In this way the Church Order declares that
influence of the Judaizers and were going back to the         Christmas Day must be observed by us as churches.
bondage of the law by observing days, months, times,          This implies official worship services which have as
and years. Certainfy, then, the  valui: of the celebra-       their center the official, authoritative, and pure
tion of Christmas does not lie in the observance of           preaching of the Word of God. Other than that, our
the day itself.                                               Church Order does not specify how nor to what
  Rather, the value lies in its special attention to one      extent we must observe Christmas. This would lead
of the wonders of grace. In this case it draws atten-         us to ask ourselves whether or not we as churches are
tion to the wonder of God's grace with respect to the         observing this day in the best possible way, or
incarnation of the Word. We celebrate or com-                 whether there is room for improvement. We know
memorate the wonder of God's grace with respect to            that as long as we are pilgrims here upon this earth we
Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost.            are not and will not become perfect. We must strive
None of these would have any meaning for us if                always to better both our institutional and personal
Christ first had not been born. This does not mean            lives. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit we
that we exclude attention to the incarnation at other         must seek to glorify God more and more. Certainly
times. No, this must be the heart of every sermon             we must not give way to what so many churches,
preached. Without the incarnation of the Word there           even those of Reformed persuasion, are doing: re-
is no salvation for us and no good news in the gospel.        placing the preaching of the Word by programs of
But a celebration of the birth of Christ does serve           Christmas songs and pageantry and similar ways of
specifically to point to the wonder of the Word made          celebration. These programs of song are not evil in
flesh just as the observance of Good Friday and               themselves and surely can be a means whereby our
Easter point specifically to the death and resurrection       hearts are lifted up, but they must never take the
of our Lord. So the observance of Christmas certainly         place of the proclamation of the gospel. Christmas
has spiritual value for the true child of God.                observance without preaching is giving way to the
   Granted that the meaning and purpose have been             anti-Christ and his father the devil, who are contin-
established, we may distinguish various phases of such        ually trying to lead us away from the Captain of our
observances, first of all, in and by the church. Article      salvation.
67 of our Church Order reads:                                    The same thing is true within our covenant homes
                                                              and schools. We must guard against a pagan obser-
    "The Churches shall observe, in addition to the           vance which is pushed upon us by every means avail-
    Sunday,  also  Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascen-     able to the wicked world. It is indeed proper to
    sion Day, Pentecost, the Day of Prayer, the National
    Thanksgiving Day, and Old and New Year's                  accompany such a celebration with feasting and
                                                 Day."        rejoicing and making merry. The Christian does not
This is a complete turnabout from what such early             need to walk about on this earth with a long, sad
Reformers as Zwingli, Calvin, and Knox thought. It            face. He, of all people, is the most happy because of
was their conviction that festival days were not              the lovingkindness of God made manifest to him by
ordained by God, but were a human invention which             God's gift to His own, manifest especially in the
minimized Sunday and led to paganistic celebrations           incarnation and subsequent suffering and death of
and promoted licentiousness. Thus, the Synod of               our Lord Jesus Christ. And he may express that
Dordt, 1574, discouraged the observance of all other          Scriptural and spiritual joy outwardly as  well as
days than Sunday. This soon changed, however.                 inwardly. To do this we do not have  .to join the
Monsma and Van  Dellen  in The Church  Order                  drunken  reveling of this wicked world. No, we may


  634                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



 feast, rejoice, and make merry as long as in so doing        society governed by the notion of good works. To
  we can always answer affirmatively the question of          stay free of this horrible error we must constantly
  whether we are glorifying the name of our Lord God.         tight, instructing our children as to the real signifi-
  Then we will not fall into the vice of licentiousness,      cance of Christmas. This is not always so easy to do,
 but rather will praise God. This is the end unto which       for our children are bombarded from every side by
  we were formed by God.                                      the ideas of the world. But we must not give up and
    This same principle of God's glory will also govern.      say that it is no use, that it is hopeless anyway. This is
  our use of many customs that are connected with             one of the burdens which God has placed upon us to
 Christmas, such as Christmas trees, decorations, gift-       strengthen us for the battle of faith. Such burdens are
 giving, etc. The origin of most of these customs is          always accompanied by sufficient grace to bear that
 pagan, but their origin should not have to affect our        burden, as only a child of God can. May we in this
 use of them. The ,danger; of course, is always present       Christmas season exercise our Christian liberty not as
 that these externals become all-important. This is the       the Antinomians, unto licentiousness that grace may
 case with the world and the apostate church. All the         abound, but in the freedom of Jesus Christ, to glorify
 emphasis is upon the giving of gifts, not t.o show the       the name of our God by confessing the name of Jesus
 mercy of Christ, but to extol a benevolent human             Christ over against the wicked world's Santa Claus.


 STUDIES IN ISAIAH


            False Guides and Crooked Judges  (20)
                                              Isaiah  3:12-H

                                               Rev. Robert C. Harbach

    The prophet had just expressed his great thought,         to the heavenly bridegroom; well provided ("the Lord
"Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with           is my Shepherd, I shall not want."). The righteous
 him," setting down a magnificent truth. It is well           gets out of and gets good out of the worst evil. He
 with the righteous because his greatest trouble is past.     knows how to get meat out of the eater and honey
 His present sufferings are but a pin-prick compared to       out of the strong (Jud. 14: 14).  It- is well with the
 the promised glories of heaven. It  is. well with the        righteous in  his. death. When he crosses Jordan he
 righteous because his next worst trouble is doomed.          shall be held up' and comforted by Hopeful. With the
 The penalty of his sin is removed. The power of sin,         righteous it is well forever.
 which always plagues him, is conquered. Indwelling
 sin is defeated in the blood of Christ. For the Cross is       To go on with.the state of the nation of Israel, 1.
 the spear thrust through the heart of sin. It is well        Guides for leading in the- right way led them out of
 with the righteous because his best things are safe. If      the way (v. 12). "My people! Harassers of it (come)
 your ship` is wrecked, your treasure is not on board. If     from a boy, and women rule over it. My people! The
 thieves break in and steal, they cannot get at your          ones leading thee cause to lead astray, and the way of
 inheritance. It is reserved in heaven for you. If moth       thy paths they devour" (Heb., see Job 39:24). There
 and rust corrupt your earthly things, an everlasting         are churches like this today. The minister is a play-
                                                                           --_
 robe of righteousness awaits you. The best things of         boy, or a woman "preacherette" holds forth with her
 the righteous time  cannot change, nor death rob of          Jezebelian "sensitivity training" program. Highly dan-
 them. For the righteous, the worst things work to-           gerous is this programming and'conditioning of those
' gether for good. He gains by loss, is healthy by            submitting to "sensitivity training." It is producing
 sickness, wins friends by bereavement, is by defeat          hordes of sex perverts, as mentioned in Romans 1.
 more than conqueror. With the righteous it is well in        With "leadership" like this, the right path is swal-
every way. He is well fed, on the flesh and blood of          lowed up with not a trace of it left. The people could
 Christ; well clothed, in the best robe of Christ's right-    not find it if they looked for it. Where once the gos-
 eousness; well housed, dwelling. in God; well married,       pel was heard, now, with such blind guides, it is


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  635


 neither seen nor heard any longer. Under the admin-         heretical views, with their deformed confessions and
 istration of modernism, the gospel has completely           deformed ordination vows. No, they destroy the vme-
vanished from such churches. Their leaders lead              yard by infntration, by replacing the doctrines of the
 astray. The path which God himself has paved with           Bible and the confessions with humanistic philoso-
 His own Word they have destroyed. That path has             phies, by exchanging the gospel of grace for a social
faded away without a trace by the erroneous preach-          gospel and by humanizing God and deifying man.
 ing of false prophets. As with the deadened church,         Gradually the supernatural revelation and the pure
 so with our sin-drugged nation: it does not know            preaching of the gospel are supplanted, so that soon
 where to go nor where it is going.                          there is nothing left but the poor word of man. A
   Isaiah is not talking about the literal rule of women     thorough and complete work of ruin they have done
 over the nation, but rather of womanish, childish,         in many denominations, so that any faithful remnant,
 effeminate men, debilitated and cowardly. The nation        faithful to the Scriptures, to the confessions and to
 would rather blindly follow men who are of no esti-         the Christ of the Bible, has found itself outside the
 mation, more insignificant than chil'dren, who corrupt      church, or the church has so completely gone into
 everything. They would rather slavishly bear their         apostasy and spiritual anarchy that no honest person
 tyrannical burdens than to seek the way of the Lord,        can remain in it and be true to the Christ of Scripture
 which alone is perfect freedom, and to walk in it.         and the confession of the true church.
   2. Judges appointed to protect them oppressed               So by infiltrating the true church and undermining
 them.  "Jehovah will proceed with the elders of His        it at its foundations (its doctrinal standards) false
 people, and its princes, with justice; and ye have con-    guides have perverted and subverted the church. It
 sumed the vineyard (of the Lord, His Church). The          has never been their policy to withdraw in the battle
 spoiling of the poor is in your houses. What (is it) to    for truth and to start a new church, reorganize from
 you (that) ye beat in pieces my people, and the faces      the ground up, but they plotted and captured the old
 (persons) of the poor ones ye grind, saith Adonai          church to turn it into a synagogue of Satan. Then
 Jehovah Tsebhaoth" (w. 14-15, Heb.). The Lord              those who have the right to its heritage, its offices,
 brings judgment both on His people and upon the            institutions and material possessions are forced to re-
 world. He proceeds in judgment against His people          linquish all out of conscience to Christ and His truth.
 and the princes of Israel, as judgment must begin at       They must go out of what is now the false church,
 the house of God. The rulers were chiefly responsible      start a new and continuing church with the old, orig-
 to warn the people against the punitive judgments of       inal confessions and the unadulterated ordination
 God, and to teach and lead them in the old paths and       vows.
 the right ways of the Lord. They were rich enough to          John  Horsch in his "Modem Religious Liberalism"
 be above bribes, with estates large enough to care         writes, "That the denial of the fundamentals within
 little about coveting those around them. Yet, instead,     the church necessarily means disaster is not open to
 they consumed the vineyard of the Lord. Not only           argument. Liberalism rejects the supernatural char-
 were they not guardians of the vineyard as required        acter of Christianity. Natural religion alone is to find
 to be, but they were not even good watch-dogs used         favor. It is, by way of illustration, as if that which our
 to keep out cattle which might trample the vines.          Lord has planted - the grapevines - should be sup-
 They were worse than a reckless goat in a cucumber         pressed, and that which naturally grows - the briars,
 patch. They were more like marauders who pillage           burdock, milkweed . . . be permitted to take pos-
 and burn the vineyards (Ps. 80: 15-16). They, being        session of the vineyard in the hope that ultimately
judges, thought no man had the right to be a judge of       the first fruit will surpass that of the grapevines.
 what they did, and that all men ought to approve and       Everyone knows what will happen if that which
 applaud their worst actions. And their worst was as        nature is planting in the vineyard be given the right of
bad as possible, for the kings of the earth set them-       way. The grapevine has no chance where that which
 selves, and the rulers took counsel together against       grows naturally is tolerated. Both in morals and re-
the Lord and against His Messiah. They prevented the        ligion the good plants require cultivation, effort and
people from being gathered to Him. They beat the            care. A general toleration of all plants in the vineyard
 servants of the husbandman of the vineyard. They           would be an absurd proposition." (P. 3 10).
killed the Son and heir of the husbandman.                    As in the days of the prophets and the apostles, the
   In the false, or in the fast-becoming-false church,      religion of Jehovah is despised and rejected by the
there are leaders who have apostatized from the             turncoat leaders of the denominations,infiltrated  with
truth. They no longer conscientiously hold the doc-         modernism-liberalism. The greatest enemies of the
trine and confessions of the faith, no longer take their    Christian faith are men who hold responsible position
ordination vows seriously. Nor do they go outside the       in these churches, using their position to flood the
 church to reorganize a new church according to their       churches with the lie of their antichristian  philoso-


636                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



phies. Christ's worst enemies were the ecclesiastical                cause, and takes a stand to judge (the) peoples" (v. 13,
leaders in the religious body He was a member of by                 Heb.). When times are as evil and wicked as they are
birth. In His day, the masses of the people followed                in the world today, and especially as they are in our
their ecclesiastical dignitaries rather than the Car-               nation, the temptation is to suppose that God sits
penter of Nazareth, or the fishermen of Galilee, or                 idly, doing nothing about it. The fact is, God is al-
the tent-maker of Tarsus. The apostate church has                   ways executing His terrible judgments all throughout
always despised the faith of Scripture. Now that har-               time, up to, and as well as at, the end of time. People
lot church is so vile and corrupt it-can never recover,             in general may not care any more about anything.
but shall be utterly destroyed under the divine                     Nothing distrubs them. Nothing shocks them. Few
judgments of the seven seals, seven trumpets and                    bother to speak one word against any abuse or evil.
seven bowls of the wrath of the Lamb of God.                        But God daily judges the wicked by punishing sin
                                                                    with sin. It is a judgment on the nation that we have
  3. God himself became the Prosecutor, Judge and                   people in government, in the universities and in the
Executioner. "The Lord stands firmly to plead a                     schools with no morals, weak minds and useless lives.


VOICE OF OUR FATHERS


                                      Divine- Providence

                                                       Profi Robert D. Decker

          We believe that the same God, after he had created all things, did not forsake them, or give them up to
          fortune or chance, but that he rules and governs them according to his holy will, so that nothing happens in
          this world without his appointment: nevertheless, God neither is the author of, nor can be charged with,
          the sins which are committed. For his power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible, that he
          orders and executes his work in the most excellent and just manner, even then, when devils and wicked men
          act unjustly. And, as to what he doth surpassing human understanding, we will not curiously inquire into,
          farther than our capacity will admit of; but with the greatest humility and reverence adore the righteous
          judgments of God, which are hid from us, contenting ourselves that we are disciples of Christ, to learn only
          those things which he has revealed to us in his Word, without transgressing these limits. This doctrine
          affords us unspeakable consolation, since we are taught thereby that nothing can befall us by chance, but
          by the direction of our most gracious and heavenly Father; who watches over us with a paternal care,
          keeping all creatures so under his power, that not a hair of our head (for they are all numbered), nor a
          sparrow, can fall to the ground, without the will of our Father, in whom we do entirely trust; being
          persuaded, that he so restrains the devil and all our enemies, that without his will and permission, they
          cannot hurt us. And therefore we reject that damnable error of the Epicureans, who say that God regards
          nothing, but leaves all things to chance.                               Article XIII, The Belgic Confession


  We live in tumultuous times. There is in our land                 in this life makes sense. But the child of God is un-
and in the world at large abounding lawlessness. One                moved by these circumstances. He is not afraid. In
gets so accustomed to the terrible manifestations of                fact he can and he does rejoice even in these things.
sin that nothing shocks him. There are staggering and               That is true of his personal life too. Experiences
insoluble problems facing mankind such as the deple-                which would shatter and destroy a man - the loss of
tion of natural resources, overpopulation and a                     a dear child through death or of a marriage partner -
dwindling food supply. Millions suffer hunger and                   he bears with quiet faith. Why? Why is he not afraid
deprivation. The nations of the world are an armed                  in the face of all the fearful phenomena,of the world?
camp and the threat of a nuclear holocaust is more                  Why is he able to face and bear even the deepest trag-
than imaginary. The result is fear, tension, and                    edies, even death itself without being overcome? The
anxiety among men. They know not where to turn.                     answer is, he believes: " . . . that the same God, after
Many madly pursue pleasure and "drown their                         he  had, created all things, did not forsake them, or
troubles" in drink or  the. lusts of the flesh. They                give them up to fortune or chance, but that he rules
become cynical and nihilistic and argue that nothing                and governs them according to his holy will, so that


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 637


nothing happens in this world without his appoint-           peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these
ment . ,  ." He knows that his God: "worketh all             things." (Isaiah 45: l-7) Scripture teaches us that:
things after the counsel of his own will." (Eph. 1: 11)      "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the
   It is this truth, providence, of which Article XIII of    rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."
our Confession speaks. The term, providence, is not          (Prov. 21: 1) Confessing this truth brings us before
found in the Bible. It really is not a very good term,       that ancient problem of man's responsibility. There
for it does not express the idea of this great doctrine,.    can be no doubt about the fact that the Bib1.e teaches
The word is derived from the Latin and literally             that every man is answerable to God for his deeds
means: to see beforehand. This, God neither does,            whether good or bad. God in His strict justice
nor reveals concerning this doctrine. God does not           punishes the ungodly in hell because of all their sin.
merely see ahead what shall be or not be and then            They justly deserve His holy wrath. Yet God controls
adapt Himself to these circumstances. God deter-             all of his actions. Whatever may be said concerning
mines what shall be and He "rules and governs them           this; certainly one thing is true. God never violates
according to his holy will, so that nothing happens in       man's will. No man sins because God forces him to
this world without his appointment." Nothing, ab-            sin. Man sins willingly. Whatever a man does, he does
solutely nothing, happens by chance. Everything              because he wants to do it.
great and small, good and bad is governed according            A third element of providence is government. By
to God's holy will and happens by His appointment.           this we mean, God rules all things. But He does not
   Three elements are usually distinguished in the           rule all things arbitrarily. He rules His entire creation
doctrine of providence. Providence includes preserva-        in such a way that He infallibly guides it to its eternal
tion. By this is meant that God continues to give            purpose. God's eternal purpose is the perfect mani-
existence to all creatures. Moment by moment God             festation of His glory in Christ and His Body, the
sustains all creatures by His powerful Word. Should          Church. To that goal, toward that grand purpose God
God cease this preserving, creation would cease to be.       directs every creature. All things, therefore, must
God causes the sun to shine, gathers the clouds              serve that purpose willingly or in spite of themselves.
together and makes the rain to fall. It is God Who           Again the Scriptures speak clearly to this point.
makes the seed sprout in the earth and grow to bear          Joseph was sold into Egypt, and, while his brothers
fruit. God causes the creatures of the earth to be           meant it for evil, God meant it for good to save much
born, to live for an appointed time and then to return       people. (cf. Genesis 45: l-7) Judas must betray
to the dust. He preserves the mighty lion but also the       Christ, and he perishes; but through the cross Christ
tiniest insect. God is simply everywhere in all His          made atonement for the sin of the elect. So it is that
mighty power preserving all things.                          all things great and small, good and evil are directed
  This is true not only of the brute creation but also       by God to reach His eternal purpose.
of man. God determines and controls even the moral              In this connection the article presents an emphatic
acts of men and angels. This element of God's provi-         warning against "curiously inquiring into what he
dence has come to be called by the unfortunate term,         (God) doth surpassing human understanding." This
cooperation. Unfortunate, we say, because the term           warning is especially directed against curiously in-
cooperation is really incorrect. The impression is left      quiring into the matter of man's responsibility and
that God merely works with men. This is simply not           God's sovereignty. In this connection Article XIII
true. God and man do not work together in some               teaches two things very plainly. The Article instructs
kind of cooperative effort. The Confession states it         us that "no thing happens without his (God's)
beautifully when it says: "For his power and good-           appointment." This includes even sin. Sin is not some
ness are so great and incomprehensible, that he orders       force. alongside of God, but it too  falls within the
and executes his work in the most excellent and just         scope of His providence. But at the same time: "God
manner, even then, when devils and wicked men act            neither is the author of, nor can be charged with, the
unjustly." Scripture itself leaves no doubt as to this       sins which are committed." This is the teaching of
great truth. The Lord says through His prophet to            Scripture. The Bible teaches that God raised up
Cyrus: "I have holden to subdue nations before him;          Pharoah to show His power and declare His Name
and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him      throughout the earth. The history reveals that very
the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut        plainly. Long before Pharoah, in the hardness of his
. . . For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine           heart, pursued Israel to his watery grave in the Red
elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have           Sea, God had told Moses: "I am sure that the king of
surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am           Egypt will not let you go, no not by a mighty hand.
the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside     And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with
me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me             all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof:
. . . I form the light, and create darkness: I make          and after that he will let you go." (Exodus 3: 19, 20)


638                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER



One can only conclude: "Therefore hath he mercy on                 down than that the mighty oak should grow from the
whom he will have mercy, and who he will he hard-                 little acorn? Is the conception and birth of a child
eneth." If you object to this and ask: "Why doth he               any easier for us to understand than the healing of a
yet find fault?" Why does God hold a Pharoah                      leper or even the raising of someone from the dead?
accountable for his evil deeds? the Scripture answers             All God's works are wonders and all those focus on
firmly: "Nay but 0 man, who art thou that repliest                THE wonder, Jesus Christ and the salvation of the
against God? Shall the formed say to him that formed              elect in Him. Thus it is that all things in this creation
it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Cf. Romans                      under the providence of God are preserved and
9: 15-23) Man may not reply against God. This does                governed to serve the full manifestation of His glory
not mean .that .we ought speak here of a paradox, an              in the resurrected Church in Christ in the New Crea-
apparent contradiction. Many do. But they use the                 tion.
paradox as support for their inconsistencies and
denials of the truth and especially their denial of the              How true it is then that: "This doctrine affords us
truth of God's absolute sovereignty. There are no                 unspeakable consolation." Nothing happens to us by
inconsistencies or contradictions either in God or in              chance. All things occur under the direction of our
His revelation to us. We may not understand or                     heavenly Father "Who watches us with a paternal
comprehend' these things, but that does not mean                   care." He sends health, but also sickness. He gives life,
they are contradictions.                                           but also death comes at His command. Prosperity,
                                                                  poverty, affliction, pain, sorrow, joy  - all these are
  This is the Biblical stance of our Confession. We                sent us out of  His gracious love for us in the Lord
must understand that God's "power and goodness are                 Jesus Christ. By means of them all we are brought
so great and incomprehensible, that he orders and                 into His fellowship in Christ. In the knowledge and
executes his work in the most excellent manner, even               confidence of that blessed truth we can sing trium-
then, when devils and wicked men act unjustly."                    phantly: "And we know that ail things work together
  We may note in this connection that the doctrine                 for good to them that love God, to them who are the
of providence teaches us to consider all of God's                  called according to his purpose . . . Who shall separate
works as miracles or wonders. A miracle is not some-               us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
thing out of the ordinary; nor is  ,it something con-              distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
trary to natural law. A  miracle is that act of God                peril, or sword? . . . Nay in all these things we are
whereby He breaks through this creation to reveal His              more than conquerors through him that loved us."
grace. The central miracle is the Wonder of Jesus                  (Romans  8:28-37) This is true: "For of him, and
Christ. All miracles speak of this. And alI God's works            through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be
are wonders. Is it any greater that Jericho's walls fell           glory for ever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)


ALL AROUND US

         The Reformed Witness Hour Cancelled in New Jersey

                                                         Rev. H. Veldman

  Our -Reformed. Witness Hour committee received                            Radio broadcasting, which reaches men of all
the following communications from WAWZ-FM in                                creeds, simultaneously, shall avoid attacks upon
Zarephath, New Jersey. They speak for themselves,                           religious faith . . . Religious programs shall be
and we quote:                                                               presented respectfully and without prejudice or
                                                                            ridicule . . . Religious programs shall place
       April 1, -1975                                                       emphasis on religious doctrines of faith and
                                                                            worship.
       Dear Mr. Prince:                                               The speaker on the REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
       I am writing to acquaint you with certain guidelines           last Sunday evening was clearly in violation of these
       for religious programs that have been set up by both           guidelines, as well as the guidelines of the station. He
       the National Association of Broadcasters and                   mentioned by name the Roman Catholic Church and
       National Religious Broadcasters. The code of the               spoke about what he considered to be their wrong
  ( former readsinpart:          .                                    doctrines.


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        639


    I am not disagreeing theologically with his statements        a wrong and un-Biblical doctrine, or words to that
    in the least, but to air them on a radio program we           effect. The undersigned, the speaker of these radio
    cannot permit. Unless I can have written assurance            sermons, delivered last March and last September, is
    from you that this will not happen again, we will have        sure that he was heard correctly. Of this I have no
    to terminate the REFORMED WITNESS HOUR at                     doubt.
    once.                                                            Secondly, the undersigned was not aware of this
    Yours cordially,                                              letter of April 1 last when he delivered the four radio
    WAWZ-FM                                                       sermons during the month of September. However,
    W.S. James M. Pearsall
    Program Director.                                             this does not matter. I had heard years ago of some
                                                                  such code of ethics. But I know that our radio
  The second communication reads as follows. This                 speakers have again and again condemned the
letter was dated September 9, 1975. We now quote                  teaching of Arminianism, including the undersigned.
it: September 9, 1975.                                               Thirdly, I am not criticizing the position taken by
                                                                  this radio station in Zarephath, New Jersey. It is the
    Dear Mr. Prince:                                              conviction of the undersigned that all preaching, also
    I regret to have to inform you that we must cancel            over the radio, must not only be positive but also
    the REFORMED WITNESS HOUR effective imme-                     distinctive. This injunction has surely been laid upon
    diately .                                                     the Church by the Head of the Church, our Lord
    As you will remember, I wrote to you under date of            Jesus Christ. He warns  His Church repeatedly to
    April 1, 1975 to apprise you of certain statements I          beware of the false prophets who appear as wolves in
    heard over one of~your broadcasts that were in viola-         the midst of sheep, wearing sheep's clothing, Matt.
    tion of the N.R.B. and N.A.B. Code of Ethics. The             7: 15. And the apostle' warns the church at Ephesus,
    statements at that time, I believe, were in reference to      Eph.  4:14, 15: "That we henceforth be no more
    the Church of Rome and its doctrines.                         children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with
    This past Sunday evening  (9/7) the speaker on the            every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
    REFORMED WITNESS HOUR made mention of                         cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to de-
    "Arminianism" in a negative  manner and was heard             ceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
    to say that it was, in his opinion, a wrong and  un-
    Biblical doctrine, or words to that effect.                   into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."
                                                                  To preach the gospel certainly means that it be
    I am sorry, but we cannot permit this to continue             preached in all its purity and that it be defended
    over this station. You understand our  .position, of          against all error.
    course.                                                          Finally, this surely should show us how easy it will
    Yours most cordially,                                         be to stifle the voice of the church as it would pro
    WAWZ-FM                                                       claim the pure gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
    W.S. James M. Pearsall                                        this day is coming. Let us arm ourselves, and also our
    Program Director.                                             children, with respect to this eventuality, that we
  In the first place, the latter letter states that               may be able to stand in that day. Incidentally, the
mention was made of "Arminianism" in  a. negative                 radio committee deemed it advisable that I comment
manner, that the speaker was heard to say that it was             on this in our -rubric of ALL AROUND US.



                                Reformation Sunday Will Mark
                                     Pulpit Exchange With RCA

   In the Banner of Sept. 26,  1975. the following                   are hardly realistic, or just, or fair. Sounds and voices
appears on page 22, and I quote this article in part                 can sift through such a wall, but they are often
which has the above for its heading:                                 muffled or garbled and hardly refine the images.
       A wall-is  not a fence, and a fence is not .a wall - at          We  trust that Reformation Sunday (Unity Sun-
    least not as I picture them. It seems to me that a wall          day), 1975, will find all our churches engaged in this
    is clearly, a more negative thing. It is wider and keeps         exhilarating transformation of wall into fence.
    people father apart. Some walls even hide us from                                     Rev. Nelson Vander Zee
    each other. Then we are left to guess what those on                                   Denominational Interchurch
    the other side are like. We form mental images that                                      Relations Committee


640                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


  And I fear that in due  time also the fence will                   the face of God? Did the Christian Reformed Church
disappear. This Reformation Sunday is supposed to                    have just reasons for acting as it did then? And now,
be Unity Sunday. This means, to me, that this is but                 on Reformation Sunday, Unity Sunday, there will be
another step toward bringing the Christian Reformed                  a pulpit exchange between these churches? But it is
Church and the Reformed Church of America  to-
gether. But what about the differences between                       surely very serious to preach in one another's pulpits!
them? What about the secession of the Christian                      It means that a Christian Reformed minister places
Reformed Church from the Reformed Church in                          himself under a Reformed Church's consistory. Will
185,7? Was this secession just and legitimate, as before             this not lead to an ignoring of all differences?



                                                 Prayers For All Men

  Rev. Henry Vander Kam is writing a series of                         In the first place, the writer of these words declares
articles on I-Timothy iri THE OUTLOOK. In the-issue                  that the apostle does not tell us what the c.ontent  of
of Oct~ober, 1975 he writes on I Timothy 2: l-7, page                this particular prayer should be because that will
12.  We need not quote the entire article. The fol-                  change with the times. Is this true? Is it not clear
lowing may .Suffice.                                                 from this entire passage that the apostle tells us that
          Prayers for all men - The Apostle tells Timothy            the Lord would have all men be saved? This does not
       that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanks-        refer to all men individually (the writer himself writes
       givings are to be made for all men. The  ihurch  is to        this when he immediately afterwards asks the
       remember her function in this world. She is to preach         question whether the apostle is speaking of a uni-
       the gospel to all men but must also remember all men          versal salvation). But this surely indicates that the
       in her prayers.                                               content of ,this prayer which the apostle enjoins upon
          It is not sufficient to pray only for the member-          the church is exactly that we must pray for kings,
       ship of the church but congregational prayer must be          etc., in the sense that we pray for their salvation. In
       far broader. The church must remember that she is             our prayer that the Lord may save all His people we
       the intercessor for the world. The world cannot pray.         must not omit them who are in authority.
       The church is to bring  the needs of the world before
       the throne of God. Herein too she is the salt of the            Secondly, we are to live in such a way that we do
       earth. That world will not last long if the salt has lost     not invite persecution. With this we agree. We must
       its savor. When the church is gathered for worship she        surely never invite persecution. But this also means
       is to bring the world's needs to God's mercy seat. The        that we must pray that we may never be persecuted?
       world doesn't realize how important the worship ser-          With this we do not agree. This can never be har-
       vices of the true church are for its very existence.          monized with the second petition of the Lord's
       What a responsibility for those who lead in congre-          Prayer.
       gational prayers!                                               Thirdly, the church must pray for all men, for the
          An illustration is now used to show something of           world? This is surely what the writer of these words is
       the content of such prayers. Prayers are to be offered        saying. (Of course, I stand to be corrected.) But, this
       for kings and all those who are in high places. This
       could not only be forgotten very easily in the early          is surely impossible. The church must pray for the
       church, but there might even be strong feelings               world? How does this author harmonize this with the
       against doing this. These rulers, almost without              Lord's Prayer? That prayer is a model prayer, teaches
       exception, were not friendly to the church. That              us how to pray. But this prayer of the Saviour is
       makes no difference. Government is God-ordained               surely completely particular. Where do we read in this
  (Romans 13) and must so be honored. Paul exhorts                   prayer that we must pray for the world? And how
       the -church  to pray for the government which will put        does this author harmonize it with what we read in
       him to death! This is the calling of the church. He           John  17:9: "I pray for them: I pray not for the
       does not tell us what the content of this particular          world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for
       prayer should be because that will change with the            they  are  Thine." Jesus does not pray for the world.
       times. However, he tells us that prayers offered for          And we must pray for the world?  .Indeed,  this
       authorities will have the effect of giving us a tranquil
       and Quiet life. In other words, we are to pray that           "tranquil and quiet life" does not refer to a quiet and
       persecutions by governments will not hinder us in our         tranquil life in the midst of the world but to such a
       lives. Then we will be able to live in  gddliness  and        life in the consciousness of the child and church of
       gravity  - and so we must! We are to live in  wkh a           God. We must have peace and tranquility within our
       way that we do not invite persecution.                        own hearts and souls.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         641



FROM HOLY WRIT


                       Exposition of Hebrews  13:lO
                                                      Rev. C. Lubbers


THOSE WHO ARE COME TO MOUNT ZION HAVE                              must be abolished amongst Christians (italics, G.L.)
AN ALTAR (Hebrews 13: 10a)                                        yet the truth and substance of them remain with
                                                                   us in Jesus Christ, in whom they, `have their
                                                                   accomplishment. In the  meanthne,   we still use the
  It is a rather arresting and instructive verity con-             testimonies taken out of the law and-the prophets, to
cerning which we are here instructed by the writer; it             confirm us in the doctrine of the gospel, and to
is the truth of the Gospel of Christ. We have an altar,            regulate our life in all honesty, to the glory of God,
says the writer; the people of the New Testament                   according to his will". Scriptural proof: Rom.  10:4;
dispensation have an altar, now in the dispensation of             Gal. 5:2-4;Gal.  3:l;Gal.  4:1O,ll;Col.  2:16, 17.
the fulness of times. (Eph. 1: 10). We, the new men in
Christ, where there is neither Jew nor Greek, those               Our New Testament "altar" has no place in the Old
                                                               Testament types any more now that Christ has died
near and far, have all been brought nigh by the blood
of Christ; He hath made both one, having broken                and risen again. It does not stand in the Old Testa-
down the middle-wall of partition between us. And              ment "tabernacle" which was built after the pattern
now this new man, the saints in Christ, have an altar.         which was shown to Moses on the mount at Sinai.
However, it is set outside of the Old Testament                (Ex. 25 :40; Heb. 8:6) We have come to that taber-
                                                               nacle which God had in His counsel of redemption
"camp" and "tabernacle" with its types and cere-               and of which He  shewed  a pattern to Moses and
monies; and the worshippers do not keep the lunar              which the latter was enjoined strictly to copy. And all
calendar of the Old Testament feast days, sabbaths,            this was governed by the law of ceremonies. This law
new moons. Nor do we go to worship with those who              of ceremonies also included the "feast days," as part
continue to attend at the "altars" of the Old Testa-           of the "figures" of the law. In as far as these "days"
ment "tabernacle". Doing so we would be trampling              were a part of the Old Testament apparatus, these
under foot the Son of God, accounting His blood                days are abolished and have been nailed to the Cross
common blood, and doing despite unto the Spirit of             as a hand-writing against us. They belonged to the
grace. (Hebrews  10:29) They who continue at the               "beggarly principles" of touch not, taste not and
Old Testament altar will receive sorer judgment than           handle not.  ((301. 2: 16) We should notice that Paul
did those who died under Moses' law under two or               writes in this connection, "Let no man, therefore,
three witnesses! (Hebrews 10 : 27b)                            judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
  The implication of our "having" an altar from                holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days;
which unbelieving Judaizers "have no right to eat" is          which are a shadow of things to come; but the body
that we may eat from our altar. Our altar is such that         is of Christ." Jesus himself tells his disciples to be-
on it the Lamb of God was slain, who is the pro-               ware of the leaven of the Pharisees. (Matt. 16:6; Mark
pitiation for all of our sins. But that altar is not           8:lS; Luke 12: 1) Our altar is the "body" of the
within the "camp" of the Old Testament theocratic              shadows and types, also of the shadows and figures of
institution of the earthly city of Jerusalem. The              the feast-days, new moons and sabbaths. Our New
"truth and substance" which was typified in those              Testament Sabbath may never in any way be equated
sacrifices and which pointed to Christ we have in our          with a "day" of the Old Testament calendar as pre-
Altar. However, that "truth and substance" is denied           scribed by Moses, but must ever most carefully be
by those who still remain ministering in the Old               taught as being the reality and substance of these
Testament temple, where God Himself rent the veil              days. Our New Testament Sabbath is ours as we have
when Christ died on the Cross. Our Reformed fathers            "come to mount Zion, the city of the living God, the
caught this vision and carefully formulated it in the          heavenly Jerusalem, and to the blood of sprinkling,
Belgic Confession, Art. XXV, where we read,                    which speaks better things than Abel." (For "blood
    "We believe, that the ceremonies and figures of the        ofsprinkling" must ever be carefully distinguished
    law ceased at the coming of Christ, and that all the       from the blood of those sacrifices which was poured
    shadows are accomplished; so that the use of them          at the foot of the altar. The former was the blood of


 642                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



 the sin-offering, bringing propitiation, while the latter     the form of the rule for a life of conversion and
 was the blood of the peace-offering and the  burnt-           thankfulness. Such a man does not merely transgress
 offering, or the free-will, the thank-offering. For           the fourth Commandment, but he transgresses the
 the former, see: Lev.  1:5, 11;  7:2, 8, 13;  7:2,            very Covenant of God Himself: I am your God, and
 14 etc.; and for the latter see: Lev. 8: 15; 9:9.)            ye are my people! (Exodus 3 1: 14)

   Hence, our Sabbath is the direct fruit of Christ's            Yes, we have an altar. It does not stand in the
having been delivered for our offenses, and having            courts of those who now still continue to minister in
been raised for our justification. (dia teen dikaioosin       the "tabernacle." We are called to come to this altar.
eemoon)  (Rom.  4:25) Christ came forth from the              We do not need any dissertations concerning when
grave on the resurrection morning to demonstrate              and how and why we may be absent when those who
powerfully that He was the Son of God in our flesh,           are gathered at the altar are present, and present
and that He is the mighty conqueror who has pro-              themselves before the Lord of the Sabbath on the
cured for us the righteousness of God, so that we are         Lord's Day. We hear the call to prayer! We sing that
now righteous before. God and heirs of everlasting            uie do this with joy and gladness in our soul! That is
life. Thus we eat from our altar. We have but one             the secret of true church-attendance and also of
sacrifice left now: it is the fruit of our lips, giving       worship "in spirit and in truth! Then we censure
thanks to God. We pour the blood at the foot of the           those who neglect the means of grace, or, what is
Altar!! The blood of sprinkling has been brought! ! !         worse, despise the means of grace! We stone the man
Such is our altar in the New Testament dispensation.          that gathers sticks on the Sabbath, defying the Lord
We have an altar, the cross of Christ and all the bene-       of the Sabbath. Such is a covenant-breaker and not a
fits which flow to us from Christ's riven side. And           day-transgressor. Such is the truth and substance of
here the injunction comes to us: keep the New                 the ceremonies and figures of the law. But when we
Testament Sabbath, the day  of  the Lord;  maintain           stone a man for breaking the Sabbath in the New
the schools and the ministry of the word. Enter into          Testament sense and we have cut him off as a rotten
the Lord's rest (His completed work in his death,             member, do not forget to humble ourselves before
resurrection, and ascension), faithfully coming to the        the Lord of the Sabbath and confess "O! Righteous
congregation of God to learn the Word of the Gospel,          God and merciful Father, we bewail our sins before
use the sacraments, publicly call upon the name of            thy high majesty and acknowledge that we have
the Lord  aild give alms to the poor, and let this            deserved the grief and sorrow caused unto us by the
,-oming be part and parcel of the life of Christian           cutting off of this our late fellow-member; yea, we all
conversion: the mortification of the old man and the          deserve, shouldst Thou enter .into judgment with us,
quickening of the new man. Thus I will "rest" from            by reason of our great transgressions, to be cut off
my evil works (dass ich alle Tage meines Lebens von           and banished from Thy presence." (See  For&  of
meinen  bosen Werken  feire)  all the days of my life,        Excommunication)
and yield myself to the Lord, to work by His Holy
Spirit in me. Thus I begin in this life the eternal           THOSE MINISTERING IN THE TABERNACLE
Sabbath. Such is our Altar from which we eat. Such a          AND OUR ALTAR (Hebrews 13: lob)
Christian comes "diligently" to the congregation of             It requires a certain "right" (exousia)  to eat from
God each Sunday when the congregation meets. He is            the altar whereon Christ was sacrificed, the cross. Not
spiritually sensitive not to a lot of "don'ts and do's"       all have this right. When Christ came on earth, as the
but because he has been "renewed by God's Holy                Word made flesh, to.`suffer and die, He was rejected
Spirit after God's own image" and by the whole of             of His own. He  can% to His own things, His own
his conduct he would show his gratitude to God for            tabernacle, which  h&c;-" been made a house of mer-
his blessings. The man who does not come to church,           chandise. (John 2: 16) When Jesus cleansed the
who would deliberately fi.nd a job so that he will not        temple the second time, He told the desecrators of
come to the congregation, does not have a problem of          the temple and the Sabbath-breakers of his day, that
the formal keeping of a "day". His is a deeper prob-          they had made of the temple a den of thieves and
lem. He does not really love the LORD OF THE                  robbers, quoting Jer. 7: 11, and alluding to Isaiah
SABBATH! He has never heard the prelude of the                56:7. He will make the temple a "house of prayer for
Decalogue in Exodus: "I am the Lord thy God which             all nations." He will rebuild the tem.ple in three days
hath delivered you from the land of Egypt, out of the         through His death and resurrection. And in that
house of bondage." Such a man does not know the.              temple will be only the true worshippers from all
three things which we must know to enjoy the only             nations. These have a right to be there. Those who
comfort in life and in death. He has never seen in the        have this right are not born of blood(s) nor out of the
"ten words" ten precepts of the Gospel. He has never          will of the flesh, nor out of the will of man, but are
noticed that all the commandments have been put.in            born out of God. These were given (to them became)


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  643



the right to be children of God and to eat at the altar    the tabernacle which the Lord pitched, the true taber-
of God.                                                    nacle of God with man. He who still clings to that
                                                           earthly tabernacle and explicitly and implicitly denies
  Now the writer to the Hebrews says that the right        that these things were set till the time of reformation
to eat from our Altar in the New Testament  dispen-        has lost all right ever to eat, to share in the merits of
sation  is not for those who cling to the Old  Testa-      the crucified Christ of God. Such are the unbelievers
ment "tabernacle" of Moses, which was made as a            upon whom the wrath of God abides as long as the
type of the heavenly and the true tabernacle.              veil remains upon their hearts. (Hebrews 6:6; II Cor.
(Hebrews 8:1-5) That tabernacle of Moses was not           3:15, 16)

MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE


                                                              .
                                   Letter to Tlmothy

                                      December, 1975       who defend this new approach to the interpretation
Dear Timothy,                                              of Scripture differ so, greatly from each other, their
                                                           reasons for adopting a new approach differ also. But 1
   In my last letter I began a discussion with you         do think it is important for you to know some of
concerning the so-called "New Hermeneutics" and its        these reasons anyway.
relationship to preaching. We really only began to
discuss this matter, and so I want to carry on this           One reason for this new approach is the influence
discussion now.                                            of modem rationalistic philosophy. I think I men-
                                                           tioned this to you already in my last letter. But the
   I do not want to prolong this letter or series of       destructive and unbelieving higher criticism of the
letters indefinitely; nor do I want to enter into a        18th and 19th centuries was directly the result of
detailed discussion of this whole matter in our cor-       rationalistic philosophy of modem times. I do not
respondence. This is a very complicated and involved       want to trace this all here, for this will carry us too
subject; and, if one would examine the question            far away from our main concern. I only want to point
thoroughly, it is also a highly technical subject be-      out that the New Hermeneutics is also under the same
sides.                                                     influence. If you are interest,ed  further in this subject,
   As you know, the main idea of the New Hermeneu-         I suggest you read C. Van Til's new book, "The New
tics is the defense of a new and different method of       Hermeneutics", a book published recently by Pres-
interpretation of Scripture than that method which         byterian and Reformed Publishing. He shows un-
was set forth by the Reformers of the 16th century,        mistakably the relationship between the two. The
and which was held to be the proper method by the          point, however, which is worth noticing is that the
Church of Christ since that time to the present.           New Hermeneutics is fundamentally rationalistic. In
   It seems quite natural to ask&e question: Whv is a      `this respect it differs radically`and basically from the
new method of interpretation being set forth and           historic Reformation approach which is the approach
defended? Why do some believe that the principles of       of  faith.
the interpretation of Scripture set forth by the Re-          Another reason why some think a new Hermeneu-
formers are no longer valid in our day? Why must we        tics is necessary is because of recent developments in
make alterations and modifications in Hermeneutics         the fields of the natural sciences. The assumption is,
if the principles which the Church has maintained for      of course, that' studies in the natural sciences have
a long time have always worked so well?                    proved conclusively that the universe is very old and
                                                           that, in some form or another, it came into being by
   This is not such an easy question to answer. The,       processes of evolution. I do not think it is important
difficulty of answering it is mainly because there are     to go into this matter in detail either. This has been
so many different answers which can be given. And          repeatedly discussed and is still being discussed in the
there can be so many different answers given because       ecclesiastical press. Again, if you are interested in
there are so many different approaches made by the         pursuing this matter further, I highly recommend the
proponents of the New Hermeneutics. Because those          material which is being published by the Creation


644                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


Research Society. While I do not go along with their            really are, they engage in discussions with the higher
approach in every respect, they have done an                    critics on their own ground.. These men, attempting
immense amount of excellent work in showing that                to defend the Scriptures, but wanting so desperately
the natural sciences do  not  support evolutionism at           to be scholarly, adopt the fundamental principles of
all; They have also done a lot of work in showing that          the higher critics in their defense of the truth. I mean
all the discoveries of the natural sciences are easily          by this, fundamentally, that these men who are.
(and even better) explained from the viewpoint of               attempting to defend the Scriptures on the grounds
creation and a universal flood as Scripture describes           of the higher critics, themselves adopt what is nothing
them. What -is interesting though, is the fact that             else but a  rationalistic  approach to Scripture. The
those who defend the New Hermeneutics are  moti-                higher critics attack Scripture on rational grounds;
vated, whether'they will admit it or not, by a desire           the defenders of the truth of Scripture are going to
to make the  S&i&r-es  harmonize with the findings              defend Scripture on rational grounds. But to do this,
of science. -But if, you want to do this, you cannot            they abandon the approach of faith  - unless also
take many  $&sages in Scripture (especially Genesis             faith can be rationally demonstrated. If you ever do
l-7) literally. ,It:is'exactly  this which will force you to    this, you cannot long endure. You have really lost the
adopt a neiw method of interpretation, for one of the           battle. If you let the enemy choose the battleground
principles of the :Hermeneutics of the Reformat.ion  is         and let the enemy make the choice of weapons, you
exactly that the literal sense of Scripture is the              can never hope to prevail.
correct one unless the passage itself indicates that               So, you see, this is another reason why there is
another sense is intended (as, e.g., in the visions of          today something like the New Hermeneutics. For the
John recorded in the book of Revelation).                       New Hermeneutics is a rational approach to the Word
  Another reason why the New Hermeneutics has                   of God.         *
been proposed is what I would like to call a certain               I might mention, somewhat parenthetically, that
embarrassment with simple faith. This should have, I            there are many examples of books by "conservative"
think, a little more explanation. You see, what has             scholars which do this. I am at the moment reading a
happened over the years is that destructive higher              book by the great scholar F.F. Bruce which is en-
criticism has made fierce attacks against the Scrip             titled, "The New Testament Documents; Are They
tures in an open attempt -to destroy them. The                  Reliable?" In this book Bruce finally answers the
people of God have never failed to answer these                 question in his title, "Yes, they are reliable." But the
attacks, but they have always based their answers               thrust of his whole book is that they can be proved to
solidly upon  the. Scriptures themselves. They have             be reliable by rational argument and by a careful
insisted that they stand by faith upon the Word of              examination of the evidence. While I do not know
God as God's Word. But wicked and unbelieving                   whether Bruce is a proponent of the New
higher criticism has never been satisfied with this             Hermeneutics,  1. do know that it is exactly this
answer. Higher critics have come up with all sorts of           approach which will lead to the New Hermeneutics
"problems" which are supposedly to be found in                  inevitably. And this is true because the basic starting
Scripture, and all sorts of "problems" about the re-            point of all these views is the starting point of reasoy1.
lation between the teachings of Scripture and the               If you do not differ from the unbelieving higher critic
findings of the natural sciences, and have demanded             in your basic starting point, how do you expect to
answers to these problems. Now this demand  ;for                maintain a correct Scriptural position overagainst
answers is not, in itself, bad. But, though the believer        those who are seeking to destroy Scripture? If you do
has put forth every effort to answer them, he has               have such expectations, they are bound to be dis-
always insisted that the answers must be found within           appointed. A rationalistic approach leads to the New
the framework of a deep and unwavering faith in the             Hermeneutics; of that there can be no question.
Scriptures as the Word of God. This, the believer has
insisted, is my starting point, my unswerving loyalty,            And so we come to the real issue here. How does
my basic presupposition, my firm conviction  -                  one come to Scripture? That is the question. Does
whether the problems can be solved or not. But the              one come to Scripture believing by faith that it is the
higher critic has scoffed at this. And in his mockery,          Word of God? Or does one come to Scripture to
he has charged the defender of the Scriptures with              investigate whether. there is sufficient evidence that
being "unscholarly". It seems as if there is no single          we may pass judgment on Scripture that it is, in the.
charge which hurts some people more than the charge             light of all the evidence gathered, indeed reliable?
of being unscholarly. This really stings. And the                 Let's try to put the question a bit more clearly.
higher critics know this. But the point is that those           How do we know that the Scripture is the infallibly
who were deeply hurt by this sort of criticism                  inspired record of the Word of God? What reason do
determined to show that they are, after all, scholarly.         we have to say this? The Reformers said: We believe
And, in their eagerness to show how scholarly they              this. The New Hermeneutics says: We must keep an


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 646


open mind on the question. We shall examine the                  theless, that the issue is spiritual and ethical. It
evidence - literary and historical. We shall gather all          involves the approach of the believer which is the
the evidence for and against and weigh the evidence              approach of faith vs. the approach of reason which is
as one would in a court of law. And we shall see                 the approach of unbelief. And the approach of reason
which way the evidence points. Maybe we shall con-               is the approach of unbelief simply because man's
clude that Scripture is infallibly inspired. Maybe we            reason, divorced from faith, unenlightened by faith, is
shall conclude, on the basis of evidence, that Scrip-            reason which is wholly darkened by sin and which is
ture is authoritative. But it is just possible that the          wholly given over to the lie. If you set reason over-
evidence will point us to a partial inspiration of Scrip-        against faith, you give to reason an autonomous role.
ture; maybe we will be shown that Scripture is                   But autonomous reason is unbelieving reason. And its
authoritative only in certain areas, but not when it             product will be the lie.                     -I
discusses scientific and historical data; maybe the                 Well, I shall have to stop here. I hope that you will
evidence will show us that Scripture's inspiration               let me know your reactions to these things. We shall,
must be re-defined. But whatever the outcome, let us,            the Lord willing, pick up the discussion in a later
by all means, keep an open mind until we can submit              letter.
all the evidence to careful analysis and detailed
scrutiny. We must by all means be scholarly.                                                     Fraternally in Christ,
  Now, (and this shall have to be by way of con-                                                 H. Hanko
clusion in this letter), if this is really the issue - if the
issue is really between the rationalistic approach to            P.S. There is one point which shall have to be added,
Scripture and the approach of faith, then it is also             although we will hopefully get at this matter later.
clear that the issue is really a spiritual issue. It is not      The point I have in mind is that this whole question
only an intellectual problem. It is not an issue which           is extremely practical as far as the life of the child of
can only be described in theological terms. It is, very          God is concerned. Whether you like to or not, you
profoundly, a  spiritual  issue. Finally, it is an issue         shall have to acquaint your sheep with these issues.
between faith and unbelief. (I do not want you to                And you shall have to get them to understand the
interpret  .this remark as meaning that every pro-               tremendous importance of these things. They are
ponent of the New Hermeneutics is an unbeliever.                 matters of life and death to the sheep. Be sure there-
That is not my conviction, nor is that any business of           fore, that you address yourself to these problems in
ours to discuss.) But the fact of the matter is, never-          your contacts with the congregation.

IN HIS FEAR


                                   Thanksgiving in The
                                    Whole of Our Walk

                                                       Rev.~ M. Joostens

(Note: The following is the substance of a speech                 "Giving Thanks in Song and Prayer", and  "Thanks-
delivered to the young people at Hope Protestant                  giving in a Young Person's Walk in Life." I was
Reformed Church at their Thanksgiving Mass Meeting               immediately attracted to the last of these various
held on Nov. 23, 1975.)                                           topics. But I revamped it a little bit so that it would
                                                                  also include the other suggestions which I received.
                                                                  Therefore, I chose to address you under the theme
  I was asked to speak to you on the occasion of                  "Thanksgiving in the Whole of Our Walk." Song and
your thanksgiving mass meeting. This means, of                    prayer must of necessity fall under this topic. It also
course, that my topic is pretty well decided for me.              goes without saying that the idea of giving thanks just
Yet at the same time I did not refrain from asking for            on Thanksgiving Day will receive comment. In all of
several suggestions. In response to my request I  re-             these considerations I want to speak to you as
ceived these : "Giving Thanks Only on the  27th",                 Christian young people.


646                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


  The occasion of Thanksgiving is a very fine one.          to God perfectly. It was prophetically spoken of Him,
And this remains true, even though it is being sub-         "Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written
jected to much abuse in our society. Thanksgiving           of me, I delight to do thy will, 0 my God." He sac-
Day has become a secular holiday. The real meaning          rificed Himself in perfect consecration on behalf of
of this day has disappeared and been obscured. And          His own.
even though many prayers are uttered on this day,              Such consecration is rooted in faith. To understand
there are but few that ever rise above the ceiling. Men     this, call to mind with me the sacrifice of Cain and
indulge themselves in all the numerous bounties of          Abel. The former's was not pleasing to God because it
the earth without as much as a thought of, God! For         was not rooted in the heart. Cain's sacrifice was not
many this is the only day of the entire year on which       acceptable before God, nor was it holy. Abel's sac-
they will render thanks, at least in form.                  rifice was much different. He understood that blood
  We must be careful to guard against this sort of          had to be shed. That is to say, in his sacrifice he
tendency. It is for that reason that I do not elect to      looked toward Christ, the Messiah which was to
remain within my speech with turkeys and other              come. Through faith in hope he looked for the
traditional goodies. Because certainly, our Thanks-         promised salvation in Jesus. And because he was able
giving Day meal as well as our every meal, is God's         to see this by faith, his heart was full of thanksgiving.
abundance unto His people, it behooves God's                That brings me once more to Lord's Day thirty-two.
children to give proper thanks in regard to these           "What are good works?" They are those works which
things. But I want to talk about us! Oh, I do not want      proceed from a true faith. They are works of thank-
to limit myself to one certain aspect, whether it be        fulness. And such works we perform, "that . . . we
prayer, singing or yet another. I desire to speak about     may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our grati-
our thanksgiving in an all-comprehensive way, as, for       tude to God."
example, Lord's Day thirty-two speaks of it. "Why              Thanksgiving is nothing less than being a living
must we still do good works?" That is to say, why are       sacrifice unto God. We must never forget that there
we obligated to live a sanctified life out of faith? To     is such a thing as a dead thanksgiving. That kind of a
this question the Heidelberg Catechism answers, ". . .      sacrifice of thanks is a very terrible thing. You see,
that so we may testify by the whole of our conduct,         that is like the offering of Cain. 0, that offering was
our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he         not dead because it was not an offering from a formal
may be praised by us; . . ."                                point of view, but because it was devoid of faith. It
  This viewpoint brings to mind the words of the            was empty! In the same manner it is possible to go
apostle Paul to the church at Rome. Verse one of            through all the proper motions of thanksgiving and
chapter twelve is a very rich passage as touching our       never really give thanks. This will happen around
topic. It is there that Paul speaks of presenting our       many tables on Thanksgiving Day. But I said that I
bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto         didn't want to stay with the twenty-seventh. Nor, do
God. To heed that admonition is to give thanks in the       I want to point the finger at others. We may not just
whole of our life and walk. We do well to consider          go through the motions of a Christian life. You know
together this afternoon those words of Paul.                what I mean: other acts of piety. Our Christian life
  Let us see, if we can clarify somewhat the con-           may not be hollow or empty. It may not be devoid of
nection between sacrifice, the word which Paul uses,        faith. Sacrifices of thanks must be wrought by faith.
and thanksgiving. `It is certain that such a connection     And that is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. God
must be made. The question comes to the fore: "Why          has purposed to work His glory. It is the new man in
do you want to speak of sacrificing on this occasion        Christ that is the motivating principle behind thanks-
of thanksgiving? Let's leave the sacrifice in the old       giving.
dispensation." Paul does not do this and we must not.          But you are ready to ask me: "What precisely must
Actually, the connection of which we spoke before is        we sacrifice unto God?" The answer is, nothing less
not so difficult -to establish. It can be done quite        than our bodies. That is what Paul tells us in Romans
easily if we properly understand the idea of a sacri-       twelve. You, as young people, must give your bodies
fice. A sacrifice is much more than merely a dead           as an offering of thanksgiving unto God. 0, let's not
animal upon an altar. The animal of sacrifice was a         misunderstand this. We must not think that our flesh
dedication unto God in its life and blood. A sacrifice      must be sacrificed unto God, as if the blood of bulls
was something which was wholly consecrated unto             and goats can ever accomplish anything. A pound of
the Almighty. For this reason Paul speaks of a sac-         flesh does not constitute a good work before God.
rifice being "holy and acceptable unto God." The            This can not be the meaning of sacrificing our bodies.
idea of a sacrifice is to be found in its consecration      Rather, we must consecrate the members of our
unto God. That this is so is shown with all clarity in      bodies unto God., The functionaries of our bodies:
the Lamb par excellence. Christ consecrated Himself        the eye, ear, tongue, etc., must be dedicated unto


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     647


God. Yes, that includes every part of our body that                `The tongue is likened to the small rudder of a large
can perform any kind of activity, whether it be the                 vessel. ,That little member can direct the whole body.
brain cells, the organs of reproduction, or other mem-              Learn to control it by the new man in Christ!
bers of the body. These various members of the body                      That is thanksgiving in the whole of your life and
must be a living sacrifice before God. That is to say,              walk. Is there anything we do apart from our bodies
they must be motivated into activity by faith. And                  and its members? It is through the body that we per-
what is faith? It is the connection which links us to               form all things and there is no exception to that. With
Christ, whereby we have His indwelling Spirit in our                the cells of the brain we think. Our feet transport us
hearts. That brings me to the wisdom of Solomon.                   to a desired location. With our hands we perform
His wisdom relates the fact that out of the heart are               cunning works. With our mouth we eat, communi-
all the issues of life. The point is that the regenerated           cate, sing and pray. The eyeis,the  guiding~light  ofthe
heart must dominate the body. The whole of our                      body. Consecrate your every member unto God!
bodily functions must be subject to the new man in                 "What," says Paul, "know ye not that your bodies are
Jesus Christ. Paul says to the Corinthians, who had                the members of Christ?" To whom we yield our
difficulty with their Christian freedom, that he will
not be brought under the power of anything. Because                members as servants to obey, to them we are en-
                                                                   slaved. Shall we give our members to the Devil or to
we are free in Christ, we may not become slaves to                 the old man of'sin? God forbid! But in thanksgiving
any thing. Least of all, may we be slaves to our own
flesh.                                                             consecrate your bodies a living sacrifice unto God!
                                                                         That is proper thanksgiving for covenant young
  I am sure that you can put it all together by now.
But let's speak concretely for a moment. You, young                people. After all, as godly young people we are the
people, are well aware of the members of your bod-                 friend-servants of our God. This is a friendship which
ies. You know what they are capable of doing. You                  we have in Christ. Such friendship is essentially a
                                                                   matter of a renewed heart. But it doesn't stop there.
also know that they can do both good and evil. Make                Our regenerated heart must dominate the whole of
sure that the members of your body are sacrificed                  our bodies pressing all its members into the service of
unto God! That means, that the eye looks at proper                 God.
things. We live in a world full of lust. And when the
old man directs the eye, it looks at the filth found in                  Then God is glorified and honored. And that is
the magazines of our day and it hastily devours page               thanksgiving! It is not just a rendering of thanks on
after page of a sensuous novel which depicts the activ-            the twenty-seventh. Nor is it a consecrating of only a
ities of sin in all its vividness. Need I continue? This is        part of our body to God. But proper thanksgiving
not to God's gratitude. And there is the ear. The                  ought to be reflected in the whole of our life and
Devil likes to shout into it cursing, swearing and all             walk. That is your chief calling. No, that is your only
sorts of sensuous sounds. Let not your ears itch for               calling.
all these things, but for the truth alone! And then                      "The offering on the altar burned, gives no delight
there are the hands, fingers, feet and many more do                to thee." God does not delight in a vain and empty
the same. 0 yes, lest we forget, there is also that little         sacrifice devoid of faith, but, "the hearing ear, the
bundle of tire, the tongue. You are aware of what                  willing heart, Thou givest unto me." Young people,
James says about it. It is kindled with the fire of hell.          walk in accord with that gift of God!


                                                               NOTICE
                        Classis East of The Protestant Reformed Churches will meet, the Lord willing, in
                      regular session January 7, 1976, at SouthEast  Protestant Reformed Church. All materials
                     that must be treated at this session must be in the hands of the Assistant Stated Clerk
                      10 days prior to the convening of this session.
                                                                                             Rev. M. Joostens,
                                                                                        Assistant Stated Clerk.



                                             AN IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFT
                                 A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                       $7.00 per year
                              Use the envelope enclosed in this issue. But act promptly!


      -- THE STANDAi?D  B6ARER
                  P.O. Box 6064                                               - - .~ -- - - - _.

       Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                      1





                                                                                                                         -


       648


                                                                       News From Our Churches                                               c     - .
_       -'         `:_      ..,     .     .     .     .     -    --
                             .'


                            .'


                            :
              October.31 is the anniversary of the Reformation                                        The congregations in Isabel, South Dakota, and
       of the Church  - Reformation Day. On the 3 1st of                                            Forbes, North Dakota, were invited to a Reformation
       October, 1517,  .in Wittenberg, Germany, the monk                                            Day observance in Isabel on Reformation Day. Rev.
       and university. .professor,  -Martin Luther, nailed to the                                   Mark Hoeksema lectured on the topic "Scripture
       door of the- great church a list of 95 propositions or                                       Alone", divided as follows: I. Denied by Rome, II.
       theses. That act and those theses became the.source                                          Set Forth in the Reformation, III. Affirmed by the
       of that mighty movement within the Church which                                              Church Today. In addition to the speech, a  mini-
       we know asthe -`Reformation of the Church.' We do                                            singspiration was held. This must have been an
       well to commemorate this event of the 16th century,                                          interesting evening for all who attended, especially in
       for it had the most  .tremendous significance for the                                        view of the fact that Forbes and Isabel are separated
       true church of Jesus Christ. It was the most im-                                             by something like 185 miles.
       portant act of God upon the Church for good from
       the time of the apostles to the present time.                                                   The Hull, Iowa young people invited the congre-
                                                                                                    gation to a Reformation Singspiration on Sunday
                                                                                                    evening, November 2. "Rev. Slopsema (Edgerton,
              Reformation Day is not forgotten within our                                           Minn.) will give a short speech, there will be spirited
       churches. In addition to the Reformation, Day pro-                                           singing, and an offering taken for the Beacon Lights. "
       grams mentioned in an earlier issue, several more                                               On November 13, Prof. H.C. Hoeksema and Rev.
       public programs have come to our attention. Rev.                                             C. Hanko gave an illustrated lecture (slides) on their
       Lanting spoke on "The Place of Reformation in the                                            Australasian tour of last summer. First Church was
       Church Today" in our Loveland, Colorado, church on                                           almost  fulI that nite (950 people?). Prof. Hoeksema
       November 7. The first paragraph of this column is                                            lectured from the pulpit wired for sound (with a.
       taken from Loveland's Reformation Day program.                                               lavaliere mike), and armed with a stout stick (to point
                                                                                                    out faces and sights on the huge screen.) After
              Rev. Lanting spoke on the same topic in Rock                                          reading about the tour in the Standard Bearer, it was
       Valley, Iowa, on October 29. This lecture was spon-                                          very interesting to see something of  the. people,
       sored by the Reformed Witness Committee. In                                                  churches, and country our representatives visited. The
       addition to the speech, the program included some                                            lecture and slides were also given in South Holland on
       special music, a question and answer period, and                                             November 2 1.
       coffee afterward.                                                                              Because of the delays inherent in news gathering,
              Rev. Engelsma of our South Holland, Illinois,                                         editing, and publishing, the news reported in this
       church gave a Reformation Day lecture  .for our                                              issue goes back to October and early November, was.
       Prospect Park, New Jersey, congregation on October                                           written up the day after Thanksgiving (USA), and will
       30. The Prospect Park consistory also requested Rev.                                         probably be read just before Christmas. Speaking of
       Engelsma to preach for them on the following                                                 Thanksgiving,  ,did you realize that our brethren in
       Sunday as well, offering to provide pulpit supply for                                        Edmonton, Canada, celebrated Thanksgiving Day on
       South Holland. That certainly is an example of long                                          October 13? Some things are. different up there you
       distance co-operation.                                                                       see!
                                                                                                      Rev. B. Woudenberg declined the call from
              Rev. J. Kortering from -Hull, Iowa, gave a Refor-                                     Edmonton.
       mation Day address in  PelIa, Iowa,  on- October 28.
       His speech was titled, "Reformation NOW." Rev. R.                                              Another quiet thought from the Southeast bul-
       Moore accompanied Rev. Kortering on the visit to                                             letin: "When your faith is properly fed, your doubts
       Pella to conduct the annual classical church visitation.                                     will be starved to death."      `\..           K.G.V.


