           The.
   STANDARD
           BEARER
e- A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                           .





    The  wonder of grace that  glows richer every
 day is the fact that we are  "His  workmanship,
 created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
 God has before ordained that we should walk in
 them."          (Eph. 2:lO) Soli Deo Gloria!
                See "Wonderfully Made" page 2





                                       Volume LIV, No. 1, October I,1977 d
                                                 ISSN 0362-4692


2                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



                                                                                                           THE STANDARD  BEhER
                                                                                    Semi-monthly,   except  monthly   during  June,  July,  and August.
                                                                                         Published   by  the  Reformed   Free  Publishing   Association,  Inc.
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                           CONTENTS:                                           Editor-in-Chief:  Prof.  Homer   C.  Hoeksema
                                                                               Department  Editors:   Prof.  Robert   D.  Decker,  Rev.  David   J.  Engelsma,
                                                                               Rev.  Cornelius  Hanko,   Prof.  Herman  Hanko,   Rev.  Robert  C.  Harbach,
                                                                               Rev.   John   A.  Heys,  Rev.  Mark  H.  Hoeksema,  Rev.  Meindert   Joostens,
Meditation -                                                                   Rev.  Jay  Kortering,   Rev.  George   C.  Lubbers,   Rev.  Rodney  Miersma,
                                                                               Rev.  Marinus  Schipper,  Rev.  James  Slopsema,   Rev.  Gise  J.  Van  Baren,
     Wonderfully Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2         !?F?~-Ronald   Van  Overloop,  Rev.  Herman  Veldman,   Mr.  Kenneth  G.
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MEDITATION



                                            Wonderfully Made
                                                                     Rev. C Hanko


                  Did God then create man so wicked and perverse?
                  By no means, but God created man good, and after his own image, in true righteousness
               and holiness, that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love him and live with
               him in eternal happiness to glorify  and praise him. Heid. Cat.? Lord's Day 3, Question 6.


     A sorry testimonial.                                                                Our Book of Instruction makes bold to say that
     Our Catechism is speaking of man, that is, of all                           you and I are wicked and perverse, even so wicked, so
mankind, of every man, woman, and child that ever                                very wicked and perverse. This conclusion our fathers
lived or will live upon this earth. It speaks of you and                          drew from the previous Lord's Day. There we made
me.                                                                              the confession that we cannot possibly keep God's


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  3


commandments, because we are prone by nature to              tion, in order that we may praise and glorify our
hate God and our neighbor. That is strong language. I        Maker forever.
hate God. I hate my fellow man. I hate my family
and friends. Why else would I ever speak evil of them,          God's Masterpiece.
or draw them into sin? Hatred implies wickedness. We            What holy amazement must have flooded the soul
manifest that innate hatred in every desire of our           of Adam in that first conscious moment when he
hearts, in every thought that flashes through our            viewed paradise in all its splendor. His eyes beheld the
minds, in every word we utter, in every motion of the        beauty, his ears snatched up the music, all his senses
body, in every deed we perform. As Scripture testifies       were stirred by the marvels of his home so pains-
of us, "There is none that doeth good; no, not one."         takingly prepared for him. For the past six days the
We grossly transgress all God's commandments, and            Almighty had called the things that were not as
keep none of them, for our very nature is perverse.          though they were. On the first day of all days God
By nature we are heretics. We love the lie that dis-         caused an unformed mass to appear, much like a
honors God and glorifies man. Sin appeals to us, lures       batch of dough, out of which  every earthly creature
us, so that God's "Thou shalt not" arouses the lion in       would be brought forth. By the word of His power
us, the desire to do it because it is wrong. Children        God caused the light to radiate upon the earth in such
are like that, consciously choosing the path of sin.         a way that there was at once evening and morning,
Young people and grown-ups are like that, ready al-          night and day. The second day the broad expanse of
ways to condone their evil deeds. I search my soul           the heavens were spread  .out, as a scroll that was
and see that wicked, perverse nature that opposes            rolled open. On Wednesday, so to speak, God caused
God and defies all authority. Yes, even while by grace       the dry land to appear, soon decked with grass,
I will the good, I stiIl find myself doing that which is     vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and trees. On the fourth
evil. "0 wretched man."                                      day our Maker caused the sun to shine in the heavens,
   A leading question.                                       and caused the moon and stars to be the guardians of
   As this sixth question is formulated, "Did God            the night. On the fifth day the Almighty brought
then create man so wicked and perverse?" it is a lead-       forth from the waters fish that darted through the
ing question that requires a negative answer. That is        seas, lakes, and streams, and birds which filled the air
obvious from the word `then.' I can appreciate that          with activity and song. On Friday animals of every
little word `then' in this question. Otherwise the ques-     sort were brought forth from `the earth to make their
tion would be sheer blasphemy. Imagine! "Did God             home in the garden. Last of all, the crown of the
create man so wicked and perverse?" Perish the               earthly creation appeared, looked around, was filled
thought. Can there be unrighteousness with God? Can          with holy wonder, and must have shouted, "My God,
we lay the blame of our sinfulness on the Holy One?          how great Thou art!"
Let no man ever say that. Yet I can understand that             It appears to me that we shall undergo a similar
the fathers put this question to us, for persistently        experience when we step out of this vale of tears into
the thought arises in our sinful souls, "Why is there so     the heavenly Home of Father, where our mansion
much misery in the world?" or, "Why am I conceived           awaits us. That experience will again be ours when in
and born in sin?" or, "Do I deserve all this present         that great Day of days God makes all things new, and
misery?" and thus on and on ad infmitum. What right          we shall see Him face to face. We will burst forth with
have we, mere specks of dust, to bring God to trial          exuberant praise to glorify His adorable Name for-
before man? What right have we to question the wis-          ever.
dom and power of the Most High? God is just in all             We are told in Genesis 2, that Jehovah, the Al-
His ways and works. Let all the earth be silent before       mighty (the Lord God) formed man from the dust of
Him.                                                         the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath
  The word `then' makes  .all the difference in this         of life, whereby man became a living soul. On the one
first question. The result is that this question requires    hand, there was a certain close relationship between
a negative answer. Our fathers had their own good            man and the animal. Both were created on the sixth
reasons for formulating this question as they did.           day. Both are referred to as living souls, that is,
First, they wanted to show us by way of contrast             creatures that breathe and move about by their own
how wonderfully we are made. Second, they wished             volition. There is a certain attraction of man to the
to point out our exalted position in paradise, in order      animal, and of the animal to man, as is still evident,
that we may realize how deeply we are fallen. Third,         for example, in the dog and the horse. On the other
they wanted us to see that the accountabihty  of our         hand, there is a vast differe'nce between the two, so
sins lies entirely with us. The accusing finger of God's     that man could never have evolved out of the animal.
law points directly at us. So that, finally, we may          First, the creation of man is a distinct act of God.
experience that only comfort in life and death, that         God speaks as triune God at this momentous occa-
we belong to Jesus Christ, in Whom is all our salva-         sion. Each said, as it were, "I would make man." In


4                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


unison of spirit they say, "Let us make man in our          his life was complete. As husband and wife they re-
likeness." Second,. while God made the animals, He          flected the covenant life of intimate fellowship that
formed man as a masterpiece of skilled workmanship,         they experienced in their communion with God. As
destined for a place in the new creation. Each man is       they communicated with one another, they com-
an individual, a distinct person down to his finger         municated with God. This was their very life, express-
prints and the tone of his voice. Third, God breathed       ing itself in its fulness when they walked with God in
into his nostrils the breath of life. Man consists of       the cool of day. Devoted to God, they were also
soul and body. While the life of the animal is in its       responsible to Him. As God's creation they were
blood, man's body is subject to death, but his soul         called to love the Lord their God with their whole
enters eternity, either heaven or hell. He wascreated       being continuously, positively by taking care of the
fit  to be  image bearer,  bearer of the image of God.      garden, negatively by refusing to eat of the forbidden
The animal stood with its head to the ground, expect-       tree. They were accountable to no one but God, yet
ing its existence from the ground, but man stood            they were entirely accountable to Him. And well may
erect with his face lifted heavenward. He had a regal       we add, rightly so! For God is GOD.
bearing. His eyes were the windows of his soul. His
face bore the individual stamp of his person, gave             The implications.
expression to his inner feelings. He could think,              I have been speaking repeatedly of  Adam;  our
reason, plan and devise. He could experience strong         Catechism speaks of  man.  You will notice that our
emotions of love, joy, blessedness. He could give ex-       fathers accept without any question the fact that
pression to his thoughts and feelings by his ability to     Adam was created as our first father, the root of the
speak, by the skillful dexterous use of his hands, and      entire human race, and at the same time our repre-
by the motions of his body. Along with all this, he         sentative head. Never may we deny that Scriptural
actually bore the image and likeness of God. He was         truth. Never may we question the justice of God in
created in God's image to know God, love Him and            making Adam our representative head in paradise. We
serve Him. It was his joy, his life, to devote himself      simply accept that and take it for granted, as our
with his whole being in love to God. In one word, he        fathers did.
was good, that is, he could serve the purpose for
which he was created. He was wonderfully made.                 It also becomes evident to us, that our first parents
     Adam's exalted position.                               were created fallible. Although they were created
                                                            good and upright, they could fall. Adam and Eve
     Our Catechism teaches us that Adam was created         could become unfaithful to their covenant God by
after God's image in true righteousness and holiness.       eating of the forbidden tree. They could disobey
Whereupon it adds, "that he might rightly know his          God's command, fall away from God as rebels against
Creator." Scripture speaks of the image of God as           Him. Their love could turn to hatred'against God and
consisting of all three elements, true knowledge,           their neighbor. Their very nature could become
righteousness, and holiness. Adam knew God in-              wicked and perverse.
tuitively. Ha knew that God was the Almighty
Creator who still upheld all things by His almighty           As we know, Adam did fall and die. Because Adam
power. He saw God's perfections in the individual           stood in such an exalted position as king of the earthly
creatures. He knew God as his God, his sovereign            creation he could fall into depths of spiritual ser-
Friend. Adam loved God. He heard the whole crea-            vitude; a slave to sin, in the bondage of death. Be-
tion, from the broad expanse of the heavens to the          cause Adam was our representative head and our first
small insect singing the song of creation. His soul         father, we all died in him. Since we are now con-
joined in singing the praises of his Maker. Adam was        ceived and born in sin as part of the fallen human
devoted to God as God's friend-servant, employing           race, there is, as far as we are concerned, no escape
the whole creation in serving his God. He was God's         from this present death. God is just in condemning us
prophet, but also God's priest, and at the same time        to hell.
God's king amidst the earthly creation.                        Finally, God in His holy Word shows us the only
     Adam was lord over a.ll he surveyed. Every creature    possible way of salvation. What is impossible with
served him. The streams quenched his thirst, the fruit      man is possible with God.  (God Himself brings the
of the trees was his food, the animals came at his          perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people by the
beck and call. There was a perfect harmony between          death of His own dear Son on the cross. The wonder
every creature and its king, a closer relationship than     of grace that grows richer every day is the fact that
we can imagine today.                                       we are "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
     At the same time Adam consecrated himself with         unto good works, which God has before ordained
all creation to his God. When God filled in the one         that we should walk in them."
lack in his life by bringing Eve to him as his helper,                                (Eph. 2: 10) Soli Deo Gloria!


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  5



EDITORIALS




                               Changes For the New Volume
                                               Pro5 H.C. Hoeksema


  Annually during the month of  ,June the Staff of         thing, it means that our Standard Bearer can make a
our magazine meets at the time when the Synod of           gradual transition in the inevitable replacement of its
our Protestant Reformed Churches is meeting. It            older writers; and when the old soldiers finally have
would be more accurate to say: as much of the Staff        to retire, the younger men will already be on duty
as lives in the vicinity of Synod's meeting or is pres-    and have experience as staff members. For another, it
sent for Synod. Sometimes this means a fairly large        enables us to have more variety; and variety, they say,
representation, sometimes a rather small one. We have      is the spice of life. It  .is particularly gratifying, we
this arrangement, of course, in order to save money.       feel, to see several of our younger ministers assume
No funds are ever spent for Staff travel expense; and,     the responsibility of writing. As editor, I wish to
in -fact, no funds are ever spent for any Staff ex-        express publicly my appreciation for their willingness
penses. The rewards of our writers are not financial;      to join our Staff.
they write "for the cause."                                  What changes will there be in this new  volume-
  At the  annual staff meeting we try to lay some          year?
plans for the new volume-year, which begins with the         First of all, Rev. J. Kortering is leaving the depart-
issue of October 1. These plans are, of course, limited    ment  The Strength of Youth.  He is not leaving the
by the availability and willingness of writers for our     staff, however, but will be writing for a new depart-
magazine. In many a past year this has meant that we       ment, Triumph Through Trials, about which he will
were severely limited, and that therefore the amount       tell you himself. Secondly, taking over The Strength
of variety in our  Standard Bearer  was also limited,      of  Youth  will be Rev. Rodney Miersma and Rev.
and that the rather arduous task of supplying some         Ronald Van Overloop. In the third place, joining Rev.
55 pages of typewritten copy to fill our 24-page           Mark Hoeksema in Signs of the Times will be Rev.
magazine had to be  .accomplished  by relatively few       James Slopsema. For the rest, all staff assignments
men. We simply did not have the manpower for a             will remain the same; besides, as in previous years, we
greater division of labors and a greater variety of        also will have several guest articles from various of
material But this year, we are happy to report, our        our ministers.
Staff has reached an ah-time high - at least for the
last twenty-five years - in the number of department         May the Lord bless our  Standard Bearer  and
editors. This is all for the good, we believe. For one     prosper its witness in this our fifty-fourth year!

                           "Our Song of Hope", - A Critique


  You will remember that we are examining this               Next we consider "Our Song of Hope" from the
proposed new confession of the Reformed Church in          viewpoint of what it has to say or fails to say about
America from the viewpoint of what it has to say           the doctrine of sin, and specifically the doctrine of
regarding those characteristic truths of the Reformed      total depravity.
faith known as the Five Points of Calvinism. Last            In order to do so, seeing it is several weeks ago that
time we looked at "Our Song" in comparison with            we reproduced this provisional new confession in full,
our Reformed faith concerning sovereign predestina-        let us take a second look at the specific stanza which
tion. "Our Song" was tried and found sorely wanting.       speaks of sin, Stanza 2:


6                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER


     We know Christ to be our only hope.                      the kind of sin which a man knows who confesses
     We have enmeshed our world in a realm of sin,            that the heart of man is desperately wicked. It never
       rebelled against God,                                  makes any confession of sin which bespeaks tears of
       accepted man's oppression of man,                      sorrow and repentance.
       and even crucified His Son.                               In the third place, the stanza is sorely lacking in
     God's world has been trapped by our fall,                some very fundamental specifics concerning sin.
       .governments entangled by human pride,                 Permit me to point out some of the main ones:
       and nature polluted by mankind's greed.                1. It utterly fails to view sin as the failure to obey
     The only other reference to sin and the fall that        and the inability to obey the Law of God. And, in
might be termed significant is found in line 2 of             connection with this, it fails to view sin as a wanton
Stanza 3: "After we refused to live in the image of           offense against the infinite majesty of God and as
God. . . ."                                                   being terribly displeasing to the living God, the Holy
     Now this, mind you, is supposed to be a re-affirma-      One.
tion of the traditional faith in the contemporary situ-       2. It views sin, in so far as it says anything significant
ation. And this new confessional statement is in-             about it, strictly as the  act,  and says nothing what-
tended for use in public worship and in religious             soever about man's  nature,  his heart and mind and
education. In other words, with regard to the doc-            will.
trine of sin it is the language quoted above which will
be drummed into the minds and hearts of the mem-              3. It says nothing about the origin of sin and about
bership of the RCA through recitation in public               the fall. In fact, in his commentary Dr. Heideman
worship and in classes for religious education. It is         makes plain that this is deliberate; and he makes some
this language, in effect, which will become the ex-           very strange comments about the fall:
pression of what the RCA believes and confesses con-             "Thus we do not talk about the fall of the race as
cerning sin. And the language of the old creeds will be       if it happened long before we were born. We know
neglected and forgotten, left to gather dust in the           that it happened way back at the beginning of our
archives of the church.                                       race, but it has been happening and becoming greater
     Notice, in the first place, the studied attempt to be    in each generation. Even when we can no longer make
"contemporary"         and to view sin on the                 contact with our ancestors (whatever that may mean!
horizontal plane, i.e., in terms of man-to-man and            HCH), the doctrine of the fall of man remains
man-to-creation relationships. This comes to the fore         true. . . ." (p. 22)
in such expressions as: "We have enmeshed our world           4. It says nothing whatsoever about the truth of
in a realm of sin . . . accepted man's oppression of          man's total depravity, the truth that we are so cor-
man . . . governments entangled by human pride . . .          rupt by nature that we are incapable of doing any
nature polluted by mankind's greed." The fact of the          good and inclined to all evil, unless we are regen-
matter is that a large part of this stanza is taken up by     erated by the Spirit of God.
such matters, while the important aspects of the doc-         5. It says nothing whatsoever about the doctrine of
trine of sin are totally neglected. This is, of course,       original sin - either about original guilt or about in-
fashionable in our day. To talk about social injustice,       herited pollution. And again, in his commentary Dr.
about corruption in government, about pollution of            Heideman presents his own doctrine of original sin,
the environment  -  ail this is very "contemporary"           with which no Reformed man could possibly agree.
and also quite painless and highly impersonal when it         H e   w r i t e s :
comes to the subject of sin.                                     "We are enmeshed in systems of life which embody
     Notice, in the second place, in close connection         the sin of our race. That sin reaches into our political,
with the preceding, that the stanza gives expression to       economic, social, educational, and even into our
some bland generalities concerning sin - generalities,        religious institutions. The way we speak our words,
I dare say, to which almost anyone will subscribe if          frame our thoughts, and eat our food is part of that
you allow him the liberty to interpret them as he sees        realm of sin. It not only touches our souls; it reaches
fit. But that, you see, is the trouble with generalities.     into our bodies, causing blindness in some, malnutri--
I would imagine that even a Dr. Norman Vincent                tion in others, and kills those who do little harm to
Peale, at the extreme liberal end of the spectrum,            others. In the words of the Scriptures, we battle not
would subscribe to this stanza of "Our Song." And I           against flesh and blood but against powers and prin-
suppose this phraseology is very deliberately `chosen         cipalities, against the rulers of this age. We feel our-
to make "Our Song" palatable to all - to all, that is,        selves caught in a web of evil even when we cannot
except those who take sin seriously. For the fact of          locate the sources of that iniquity. This web of sin in
the matter is that this stanza never comes to grips           which we are trapped is what the theologians in the
with the horror of sin. It never comes to grips with          past called `original sin,' or even `inherited sm.' (I


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      7


wonder which theologians those were; they surely                      doctrine. But if the above is true, then I missed the
were not our Reformed fathers. HCH) By this phrase                    boat somewhere. I have never before seen such an
they did not mean that God had created an evil                        explanation, and I fail utterly to see even the re-
-.world. On the contrary, they always insisted that God               motest reason why the above description should even
had created the world good; it was man who had                        be referred to as what theologians in the past referred
invented sin. Neither did they mean to say that sin                   to as original sin. Of course, this commentary is not
was some kind of a biological inheritance, due to the                 official; and it is not the only possible interpretation
fact that we are caught up in a world of matter. What                 of "Our Song." Perhaps some RCA theologians can
they indicated by this phrase was the fact that so                    outdo Dr. Heideman.
soon as we accept in any way our place in the human
race (as if we could possibly decline it! HCH), we                       If after this taste of theological poison you feel in
willingly participate in the whole nexus of sin in the                need of an antidote or a purgative, I suggest you go
world. By accepting language, family life, money,                     back to the tried and true Reformed confessions.
clothing, food, etc., we accept the way in which a                    Read the Heidelberg Catechism, Questions 3 to 11,
fallen race does things and begin to participate in that              the Belgic Confession, Articles 14 and 15,  zind the
realm of evil ourselves. Modern psychologists and                     Canons of Dordrecht, III, IV, l-4. For truth, for
sociologists have traced out in detail the struggles,                 beauty, for precision, and for God-glorifying con-
clashes, and jealousies which take place in families.                 fession of faith they are unexcelled. "Our Song of
They have shown how even sexual union, that beauti-                   Hope" cannot even compare! And make no mistake
ful gift of God for human love, has been corrupted                    about it, "Our Song" is a completely NEW con-
into a battle ground."                                                fession, not a confession of the old truths in con-
                                                                      temporary form.
   Now I must profess that I thought I knew what the
doctrine of original sin was. I also thought I knew a                    Once again the verdict must be: tried and found
bit about how t`heologians  in the past explained this                wanting!

T&E  VOICE  OF  OUR  FATHERS



                        Justification Without Works
                                                      ProJ: Robert D. Decker

          "We believe that our salvation consists in the remission of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and that therein
          our righteousness before God is implied: as David and Paul teach us, declaring this to be the happiness of
          man, that God imputes righteousness to him without works. And the same apostle saith, that we are
          justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ. And therefore we always hold
          fast this foundation, ascribing all the glory to God, humbling ourselves before him, and acknowledging
          ourselves to be such as we really are, without presuming to trust in anything in ourselves, or in any merit of
          ours, relying and resting upon the obedience of Christ crucified alone, which becomes ours, when we
          believe in him. This is sufficient to cover all our iniquities, and to give us confidence in approaching to God;
          freeing the conscience of fear, terror and dread, without following the example of our first father, Adam,
          who, trembling, attempted to cover himself with fig-leaves. And verily if we should appear before God,
          relying on ourselves, or on any other creature, though ever so little, we should alas! be consumed. And
          therefore every one must pray with David: 0 Lord enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy
          sight shall no man living be justified."                                  Article XXIII,  77ze  Be&-i2 Confession


  The title of this article of our creed, "Of Justifica-             &is justification can only be appropriated by faith. In
tion," is somewhat misleading, for the doctrine of                   this article the Confession presents the all-important
justification has already been treated rather  ex-                   truth that justification is without works. God imputes
tensively in the preceding article. There is, however, a             His righteousness to us apart from any merit in us.
distinction. In Article XXII the  Confession  em-                       Justification is a legal concept which has to do
phasizes the whole doctrine of justification by faith.               with one's legal position before God. Legally, and
In that article the Confession speaks of the fact that               apart from Christ,  alI men stand guilty before God.


8                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


All men fell in Adam, the legal and representative             were predestinated unto the adoption of children by
head of the race of mankind. In Adam all men are               Jesus Christ. That term, "adoption" has a legal con-
guilty before God. When man sinned in Adam he in-              notation. Finally notice according to the passage the
curred a debt before God. With every sin he commits            elect in Christ have the forgiveness of sins.
man only adds to that debt. According to the justice
of God that debt can only be removed in the way of               That eternal justification of the elect in Christ is
complete satisfaction. The debt must be paid. And, as          accomplished by Christ in His atoning death and
long as that debt is not paid, man stands in a                 resurrection. Concerning Christ the Scriptures tell us
                                                   state of
guilt before God. This is man's legal position before          He was "delivered for our  offences and was raised
God and His holy law. This legal position or state             again for our justification." (Romans 4:25) Christ as
must be distinguished from man's                               fully God and fully man stood before God in the
                                       condition.  This
latter has to do with man's actual life and nature.            place of the elect. And, Christ paid the debt for them
According to his condition, man apart from Christ is           on the cross by bearing for them the full wrath of
fallen, totally depraved and incapable of doing any            God which was due them on account of their sin. On
good. All that man is able to do by nature is sin.             account of their offences Christ was delivered to the
                                                               cross. And on account of their justification God
     Justification does not have to do with man's con-         raised Him from the dead. When God raised Christ
dition but with his state. Justification is that act of        from the dead He placed His seal of approval upon
God whereby the state of the elect in Christ Jesus is          the finished work of the Savior. Thus the resurrection
changed from that of guilt to that of innocence.               of our Lord becomes God's proof of the justification
While the article does not mention this, it certainly          of the elect.
must be said that Scripture teaches that justification
is an eternal, reality. Scripture teaches undeniably             Finally justification will be finished and perfectly
eternal justification. This means that eternally in the        realized in the last day, the great day of judgment.
counsel of God the elect stand as perfectly justified          Then when the exalted Christ appears at the end of
and therefore eternally righteous in Christ. That "in          the ages all mankind shall appear before Him. Christ,
Christ" is crucially important. The elect may never be         the Judge, will publicly declare before the whole
divorced from Christ. Christ is always first in the            world the elect to be perfectly righteous and worthy
counsel of God. God elected His people in Christ.              of everlasting life. In those justified saints shall be
And, therefore, justification may never be divorced            manifest the great glory of God Who forgave all
from Christ. God views the elect as perfectly righ-            their transgressions.
teous in Jesus Christ. Eternal justification is taught           The blessings of justification are presented in
already in the Old Testament. We read in Numbers               classic Reformed theology as threefold. These bless-
23:21: "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither          ings consist in the forgiveness of sins. On the basis of
hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord His God          the atoning work of Jesus Christ, God declares the
is with him, and the shout of a king is among them."           elect to be free from the guilt of sins. God dismisses
God from all eternity did not see iniquity in His              those sins and regards the elect as if he never had nor
chosen Israel. As one would expect, this doctrine is           committed any sins. The second blessing of justifica-
presented in even clearer light in the New Testament.          tion is called the adoption unto children. God, when
The Scriptures declare in Romans 8: 1: "There is               He justifies the elect in Christ, adopts them as His
therefore now no condemnation for them that are in             own children. They are given all the rights and privy
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after          ileges of children. God is their heavenly Father Who
the Spirit." The whole point is that there never was           provides them with every good thing. The third bless-
any condemnation for "them that are in Christ                  ing of justification is the right to everlasting life. As
Jesus." We find the same truth in that beautiful               the forgiven children of God in Christ, the elect may
doxology of Ephesians 1:3-l 2: ". . . According as he          be assured of the right to everlasting life. That is their
hath chosen us in him (that's Christ) before the               eternal inheritance.
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and              In this article there is little or no emphasis placed
without blame before him in love: Having predes-               on the doctrine of justification as we have presented
tinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus              it above. In both this article and the preceding the
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of           Confession  treats the doctrine of justification only
his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace,             from the point of view of its being a subjective bless-
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In            ing of salvation which the elect receive not by works
whom we have redemption through his blood, the                 but by faith. It looks at justification as it lives con-
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his            sciously in the heart of the child of God. For this
grace." (verses 4-7) Notice the legal terminology in           reason the  Confession  views justification as synon-
this passage. The elect are chosen in Christ in order          ymous with the forgiveness of sins. "We believe," the
that they should be holy and  without blame.  They             Confession  declares, "that our salvation consists in


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          9



the remission of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and         that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
therein our righteousness before God is implied." By           the law." Later in the same epistle the Apostle says:
this statement the  Confession  certainly does not             "And if by grace, then it is no more of works, other-
mean to teach that our salvation consists entirely and         wise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works,
only in the remission or forgiveness of our sins as if         then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more
there were no other blessings of salvation enjoyed by          work." (Romans 11:6) Grace and works are mutually
the elect. Rather, the Confession  means to emphasize          exclusive. And justification is undeniably by grace
that the remission of our sins or justification is the         without works. This is also fundamental, for if jus-
basic or fundamental blessing of salvation. It is indeed       tification as the basis for all of salvation is by grace
true that justification is synonymous with the forgive-        alone, then all of salvation is without our works and
ness of our sins, and is therefore the basic blessing of       based in no sense upon them. Salvation is by grace
salvation. Apart from the forgiveness of our sins there        from its inception to its end.
could be no salvation. But, if our sins be forgiven
then all the rest of the blessings of salvation follow           Neither is this doctrine of justification some cold
without fail.                                                  piece of dogma. It affords unspeakable comfort to
                                                               the people of God. It is exactly in the consciousness
  It is also true that this forgiveness of sins neces-         of our justification that we have peace with God
sarily implies justification without works. One who            through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom.  5:l) This is
has no need of the forgiveness of sins has no need of          emphasized by the Confession which says that hold-
                                                               ing fast to this doctrine .we will always be "humbling
justification. It is foolish to speak of justification by      ourselves before him, and acknowledging ourselves to
works, for one who can perform good works stands in            be such as we are, without presuming to trust in any-
no need of justification before God. The Confession            thing in ourselves, or in any merit of ours. . .  ."
is careful to prove this all-important point. Without          Furthermore this doctrine frees "the conscience of
quoting directly it appeals to Psalm 32: 1, 2 where we         fear, terror and dread. . . ." And, "verily if we should
read: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,          appear before God, relying on ourselves, or on any
whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom             other creature, though ever so little, we should alas!
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit            be consumed." Holding fast to this foundation we
there is no guile." Ample reference is also made to            will give the glory to God and we will have the con-
the third and fourth chapters of Romans. In Romans             fidence when we approach Him that He will certainly
3:28 the Scriptures declare: "Therefore we conclude            hear us.

ALL  AROUND  US




                                "Life less painful, death more hopeful"
                                                    Rev. G. Van Baren

  In the spring, 1977 issue of the Bethesda Bulletin,             death but that He permits it. God allows such things
there came to my attention an article by the chaplain             to happen. Why? Well, that is the problem with this
of that institution, Rev. Richard Bennink, with the               answer. We have to explain why God permits it. Some
above title. The substance of the article is rather dis-          have explained pain and death as a way in which t.h~
turbing  - for it is hardly Reformed and surely not               glory of God may be made known. But how does the
Scriptural. He appears to reject the idea that God                pain and death of loved ones glorify God? How does
                                                                  the slaughter of innocent persons' reveal God's glory?
"permits" pain and death. He will have nothing of the
thought that God uses this as a means of testing our                 Another explanation of why tragic events occur is
faith. He has reservations about the idea that pain and           that suffering and pain are God's means of testing our
death are the result of sin. He writes:                           faith. Is God so capricious as to cause little children
                                                                  to die in order that He might test their parent's faith?
       Along with our personal questions and pain we ask          Another explanation heard is that pain and death are
    questions when others die, such as `Why do good               the result of sin. As much as that may be true, are
    people suffer and die? A traditional answer from the          earthquakes the result of sin? Is this how God pun-
    church has been that God does not cause pain and              ishes sin? I do not believe in that kind of God. Any


     IO                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



            attempts to explain pain and death in a logical and            Scripture, however, does very much speak of this.
            rational manner are foolish. There are no answers, no          The whole of the b,ook of Job reveals the sovereignty
            single solutions, no human reason for suffering, pain          of God in the afflictions which befall the saints.
            and death.                                                     Psalm 119 is filled with statements as, "It is good for
           Bennink continues by pointing out that when                     me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy
     Lazarus died, Martha had stated, "Lord, if you had                    statutes" (vs. 71). And: "Before I was afflicted I went
     been here, my brother would not have died." He                        astray: but now have I kept thy word" (vs. 67). Or
     points out that Jesus "refocused Martha's attention                   does not Scripture itself say, "For our light affliction,
     from the present death to the present life. He did not                which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
     tell her to have more faith or to recognize this as a                 exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (II Cor. 4: 17).
     test or to see God's glory in the event. He simply                    Note that this Word of God calls affliction "light"
     offered her his presence, and in that presence there                  (though it does not always seem so), and "for a
     was hope." The writer concludes:                                      moment" (though often it seems to continue forever),
               There can be no explanation of pain and death. To           but especially that it even is used by God to work a
            have faith in Christ means that in spite of what we see        far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. So
            and feel and experience in our lives, there is a hope          there is a Scriptural explanation of affliction and
            that life has meaning and worth. The meaning and               death. Many more passages teach the same.
            worth of being alive right now arid offering our love            Yes, there are problems and "whys" in the mind of
            and our hope to a world that is afraid of death.               the afflicted Christian. But the answer to all of this
           With such ideas, what comfort can a child of God                must never, never be a denial of God's sovereignty -
     have? Where is the sovereignty of God? And if God is                  for then affliction is only a matter of chance or
     not sovereign, even over sickness and death, faith has                accident - and then there is no comfort or peace in
     no meaning whatever. What would faith in a  non-                      our trials whatever. Rather, with Paul, we confess:
     sovereign God be, anyway?                                             "And I know that all things work together for good
           It is true that the child of God is oftentimes at a             to them that love God who are the called according
     loss to explain various afflictions which befall him.                 to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).

                                             Reports from other church synods

           We have been observing reports of actions of vari-              homosexual activity is contrary to Scripture or that it
     ous church bodies which have met during the past                      is a sin."
     summer. The Reformed Presbyterian Church in N.A.                        According to the  R.E.S. News Exchange,  the
     (Covenanters) decided to make two changes in their                    Orthodox Presbyterian Church, after 29 years of
     regulations. Whereas formerly they held to "closed"                   study, adopted a book of principles and rules to
     communion (where only members of their own                            govern the church more adequately. Debate was
     denomination could partake of communion during                        strong on another proposal to hire a full-time general
     their services), they now have what we would call a                   secretary. The fear seemed to be that this would be
     "close" or supervised communion where their session                   the beginning of creating a `"relatively independent
     (or consistory) may grant an applicant the privilege to               bureaucracy" in the church. After first voting down
     partake. The second change they made seems to allow                   the proposal, it was reconsidered and approved. On
     an applicant for membership to join without sub-                      the Assembly there was voiced some opposition to
     scribing fully to the standards of the church. This                   continued membership in R.E.S. (Reformed Ecumen-
     means, it is said, that if one does not subscribe to the              ical Synod), but the membership was continued. The
     church's teaching concerning the exclusive use of                     O.P.C. is one of five presbyterian and Reformed
     psalmody in worship, he may yet become member.                        bodies which have decided to accept the invitation to
           Among other decisions, the General Assembly of                  meet concurrently at Calvin College campus next year
     the Presbyterian Church US took action approving                      in their annual meeting.
     new ordination vows which take immediate effect.                         One of the more emotional issues at the Synod of
     Critics claim that the new vows allow an officer of                   the Reformed Church in America was the bankruptcy
     the church even to deny the infallibility of the Scrip-               of one of their churches (San  Dimas). It seems that
     tures. This same body, according to the Presbyterian                  many in that denomination (and others) invested
     Journal  of July 6, 1977, "endorsed a controversial                   in this church venture (millions of dollars) which sub-
     study paper on homosexuality, took a position                         sequently went bankrupt. Many aged people lost their
     opposite from that of Anita Bryant's `Save Our Chil-                  life's savings in the venture. The R.C.A. Synod re-
     dren' `movement, and beat back efforts to say that                    fused to assume any moral or legal responsibility for



L


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        11


this, but did set up a relief committee to assist those         two central issues were the rules governing student
who lost their life savings in the project. For the fifth       behavior and the college's faculty hiring practices. It
consecutive year, the Synod referred to the Classes             seems that recently the college allowed liquor in
the issue of women's ordination to the ministry. If             dormitories and allowed "closed door" visitation by
2/3 of the Classes approve, it would then be brought            male and female students. There was also a question
to Synod for final approval. Last year, the issue was           of the Christian commitment of some of the faculty.
defeated by lack of only one Classis of the 2/3 major-          The General Synod decided to direct the board to
ity needed.' I suppose it proves the old point, "If at          "require that those teaching Bible will personally
first you don't succeed, try, try again." Next year,            affirm and teach the Scriptures as the infallible and
the R.C.A. will observe its 350th anniversary. It is the        inerrant Word of God." The board was also directed
"oldest Protestant body with a continuous ministry              to end the permissiveness on drinking and drug usage
in the U.S."                                                    as well as the practice of "closed door" visitations.
  The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church                    However, some pointed out that the Synod by no
seemed to have its most heated debates in connection            means condemned these practices as strongly as it
with their college (Erskine) at Due West, S.C. The              ought.
                                           Does God  ldie everyone?
  In the  Banner  of-August 26, 1977, Dr. John H.                   cally: "Have we not all one father? Hath not one God
Bratt answers the question, I suppose as one could                  created us?" (Mal. 2:lO). And fatherhood throughout
expect, affirmatively. He too has taken the position                the Scriptures is synonymous with love. We do have
that not only is God's grace common, but also His                   the interesting observation too of Mark that when the
love. It was precisely this inevitable development that             rich young man turned his back on Jesus, the Son of
our leaders feared in 1924 when they opposed the                    God Himself, "looking upon him, loved him" (Mark
teachings of common grace. Writes Bratt:                            10:21).
                                                                   But what of passages of Scripture which speak of
      It is not stated explicitly in the Bible that God         the hatred of God toward the wicked (Ps.  11:5)?
   loves everyone, but I do think that it is a valid con-       What of Esau whom God hated before he was born?
   clusion from the Biblical @ens.                              This can not refer to the nation Edom, nor can it.
      God is the Creator of the world and of everything         possibly be that "Esau took his fatal step, and God
   in it. He loves the world (John 3:16) and His image-         hated his evil act." Whom did Christ love? In John
   bearers in it to such an extent that He was willing to       17:9 Jesus says that He does not even pray for the
   send His Son to die for it.                                  world. Yet does He love it? If He so loved everyone,
      The prophet Malachi ties up the two concepts of           did He die for everyone? What is the difference be-
   creatorhood and fatherhood when he asks rhetori-             tween Bratt's view and open Arminianism?

THE DAY OF SHAD0 WS




                           Wanted: A Covenant Wife
                                                      Rev. John A. Heys



  A man who was ,one hundred and forty years old                would leave this son and go the way of all flesh. For
wanted a wife; but it was not for himself that he               he, Abraham, had some very rich promises from God
wanted this wife. It was for his forty year old son             that centered in and revolved around his son, Isaac.
who was not yet married, was in no mood to get                    That son, Isaac, let it be said to his credit, and let it
married or even to look for a wife, and whose father            all be ascribed to the grace and providence of our
was filled with concern, and was ex-tremely eager to            covenant God, was not attracted to any of the flashy
see this son married to a child of God before he.               beauties in the land of Canaan. So often, it seems in


12                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


the church today, young men see the grass on the            mother's. His heart beat for and still went out to her,
other side of the fence to be so much greener. What is      and there was no thought or desire to go out and get
a worse tragedy is that our young people often do not       a wife and have a family of his own. And, of course,
even see that there is a fence! They seem to be             God was behind all this and used this heaviness of
completely oblivious to the truth of the Word of God        heart in Isaac, in fact sent this mourning in his soul
that they must marry  `.`in the Lord." I Corinthians        and kept it there those three years so that He would,
7:39. There is no thought, or if there is it is quickly     in the way of Abraham's zeal, provide him with a
or ultimately brushed aside, of the truth that they are     wife who feared God and with whom he could be
to marry to live for Him and out of Him. Paul's words       married "in the Lord."
that the believer must not be  un-equally yoked to-            We dare not say that Isaac had no covenant inter-
gether with one who does not believe refers, in their       est. We may not say that the covenant promises given
minds, to other situations and to other circumstances.      his father did not concern him, and that he had no
      Now Isaac does not appear to us on the pages of       longing to see them fulfilled. Forty years is indeed
Holy Writ as a man very strong in his faith. And when       more than half of our life today, except where there
the author of the epistle to the Hebrews reviews his        are those who are stronger than the strong of Moses'
whole life to find the clearest and richest manifesta-      Psalm, those who reach fourscore years or more. He
tion of his faith in God, he refers to his deed on his      undoubtedly had intentions of marrying some day.
deathbed  - at least so Isaac himself thought  - of         Of him also we read in Hebrews 11 that he had the
blessing his two sons concerning things to come. Yet        hope of God's promises. And at forty he, being rela-
he does here in his younger days reveal that he had no      tively young, did not consign himself to a single life
interest in the young women of the heathen nations          without thought of seed and of The Seed of the
among whom they dwelt by God's appointment. This            woman that was promised.
was not a natural thing. There were spiritual reasons,         But while Abraham, the friend of God, the father
and he had been trained carefully and thoroughly by         of believers is still alive our attention is focused upon
his parents and in no uncertain terms been taught           this man of faith and his endeavours to be sure that
that they were pilgrims and strangers in the midst of a     `Isaac receives a wife that is spiritually compatible.
people that did not know God.                               And we see him call his most trusted servant, one that
      Of late - for God works out His counsel and pre-      ruled over Abraham's house and was trusted with all
serves  His people in many different and wonderful          the earthly possessions that he had, to entrust now
ways  - there was a physical, natural reason. Isaac         also the life of his son as a covenant parent. So seri-
knew that he was not to take a Canaanite for a wife,        ous is the matter that he demands an oath of him. He
but it is also very evident that he had no interest in      will not have it that this servant, to whom he had
having a wife. Why did he not go to his uncle Laban         given rule over all things in his house, would take a
and look for one among those who feared God? It             wife of the Cananites for Isaac. With Abraham it is a
may be argued that in those days the parents picked         most serious matter. Today we hear so much about
the husbands and wives of their children. But Isaac         liberties and freedom. The present generation would
did not pick Jacob's wives. Jacob chose Rachel for          throw up its hands in horror at the idea of a parent
her earthly beauty and took Leah only because he            choosing a wife for his son!! Parents must keep their
was deceived. But it certainly must be maintained           hands off. Children have rights too, and surely after
that a young man could choose his own wife in that          they have become teenagers! But do not condemn
day. And that Isaac at the age of forty had no wife         Abraham. Do not accuse him of not loving his son
yet was not due to the fact that his father did not get     and of ruling his son as though he were a slave. In-
him one up till that day.                                   stead, pray for the zeal and faith displayed in him,
      The Scriptures reveal to us that Isaac mourned for    and take as much interest in your sons' and daugh-
three years for his mother, who had died when he was        ters' wives and husbands as Abraham did.
thirty seven years old. We read in Genesis 24:67 that          It is true that Isaac put up no opposition, and
"Isaac brought her (Rebekah) into his mother Sarah's        children today at very early ages put up strong
tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and        opposition. Little children defy their parents today.
he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his             Before they are even teenagers, sons and daughters
mother's death." It is, therefore, quite obvious that       tell their parents off and boldly and openly refuse to
for three years he mourned over the death of his            honour and obey them. And I am not talking about
mother, and was in no mood to seek a wife. He must          children in the world. Children in the church, young
have been very strongly attached in love to his             people, who hear the law of God tell them every
mother, for when Abraham presented him with                 Sunday that they must honour their father and
Rebekah he took her into his mother's tent. That tent       mother, go their own way, and if the opposition gets
had a strong attraction to him because it had been his      to be greater than they can stand, they often leave


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               13


home to be able to go their way without this "chain        him in training the children in the fear of God's
around their necks."                                       name. Abraham knows that Isaac himself needs a wife
  But in all honesty it must be stated that parents do     who will help him in his walk as a pilgrim and
not show that same appreciation of the antithesis that     stranger seeking the city which has foundation and
Abraham revealed. And parents often send their             looking for the promises of God to be fulfilled in
children for social and carnal reasons where they will     them and in their children.
come in contact with the "beautiful, talented and            A young man must in the church of God have a
handsome" of the world and become attracted to             believing wife; and a believing young woman in the
them. Instead of hiring a servant, or of instructing a     church must have a husband who walks in the fear of
servant and demanding an oath before God that these        the Lord, first of all for their own spiritual lives. Yes,
by no means take an unbelieving husband or wife for        the children may come, and for them there must be
their daughter or son, they actually hire teachers and     two parents who with their own different natures
servants, and send their children away from the            can, being spiritually one, lead the children in the
covenant sphere, with more interest in their earthly       way of God's kingdom. But first, and before the
achievements than their antithetical walk as pilgrims      children ever arrive, the husband needs for his own
and strangers here below. Parents can be far more          spiritual life one who walks with him and encourages
interested in grandchildren than in covenant children.     him in his good tight of faith. And the wife in the
They do not manifest that sanctified joy of the            church of God needs an husband who will strengthen
Apostle John when he wrote, "I have no greater joy         her and help her in the walk of faith which must be
than to hear that my children walk in truth." John         hers. They must marry in the Lord in order that to-
was speaking of his spiritual children. And should not     gether they may live for Him and out of Him. Two
a covenant parent be interested in his own flesh and       lives must flow together that a stronger stream of
blood and that these children walk in truth?               worship and praise may result. They must be able to
  Abraham was. He wanted to see his children's             add to each other's spiritual life, not take away from
children; and that was certainly behind his act of         and detract from each other's worship and service of
sending his servant to get a wife for Isaac. But that      the living God. Marriage, as is the case with all things,
does not explain the oath which he demanded of that        is and must be for God's sake. And to be married in
servant and the fact that he sent him away from            the Lord means to be married in the Consciousness of
Canaan. It was not a command to go and get "Miss           and willingness to honour him as Lord in a united life
America" or "Miss Universe" for Isaac. That could          of spiritual dedication and separation from the world.
have been done perhaps in Canaan. At least Abraham           Abraham wanted to see that in Isaac. Abraham
must not rule Canaan out, if he wants that; nor must       wanted that to be in Isaac. And he did not simply
he limit his servant to his own kinsmen and to his         offer a prayer to God that He would give his son such
country. Such a wife might not even be physically          an help that was spiritually meet for him. He did
compatible for this quiet unassuming son of                something about it. Indeed, we must make this our
Abraham. She might be far too vivacious and quickly        prayer to God for our children, and even after they
discontented and bored with the life he wanted to          are married, we are still to pray that God will be
live. No, no, Abraham wanted to see covenant chil-         pleased to give them the grace, both of them, to be
dren, children in whom God's covenant promises             married in the Lord. It is not a matter of the moment
would be fulfilled. Abraham was looking to the             of the ceremony with its vows. Their married life
coming of Christ, The Seed to Whom God had given           must be in the Lord. But we should do something
the covenant promises, and although it pleased God         about it as well as pray for it. We do not today pick
later; on to use a Rahab who had spent some of her         out their husbands and wives. But we ought to give
early life as a harlot, and a Ruth who was of the          them good counsel and instruction as to what hus-
unbelieving nations of whom God said that they             bands and wives they choose for themselves, and as
should not enter into the congregation to the tenth        much as possible keep them from places where they
generation, and a Bathsheba who deliberately               will be tempted to look among the Canaanites instead
tempted the king of Israel, Abraham very correctly         of in the sphere of the Church of God.
seeks a wife for his son that will be an help meet for


14                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



TRIUMPH  THROUGH  TRIALS





                               Triumph Through Trials
                                                      Rev. J. Kortering



      It sounds too good to be true  - triumph through                   - confidence, "We do not trust in men, we trust
trials.                                                         in the Lord."
      It even sounds contradictory.                                      - purpose, "God will work all things for our
      Trials: the word is pregnant with heaviness:              good, that we can better serve Him."
        - pain, "Oh God, how can I stand it; can't                 The two may sound contradictory, yet they are
someone do something about it?"                                  not. Trials are real, but faith enables us to triumph
        - misery, "Let me die; I can't go on any more."          over them. It is not so that faith brings about a vic-
                                                                 tory in spite of the trial, as if they are two opposing
        - fear, "Is it cancer? How long do I have, Doc-          forces, and faith wins out. No, faith enables us to
tor? Will I have much pain?"                                    have the victory through the trial. That is, the trial is
        - sorrow, "He's gone, Oh bitter grief!"                 a cause for victory.
        - loneliness, "The house rings with silence. I             The passage of I Peter 1:3-9 helps us to understand
hear her voice, yet she's gone."                                this.
        - guilt; "I deserve this, God is punishing me."            The reasoning of the Holy Spirit is as follows.
        - bitterness, "Why, oh God, why, why, why?"                First, we are begotten by  (God to an inheritance:
        - worry, "How will I ever make it?"                     heaven. "God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
        - doubt, "I don't know; I just don't have the           hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the
strength of faith. How can I be a child of God if I feel        resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an in-
this way?"                                                      heritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
                                                                not away, reserved in heaven for you," verses 3 and 4.
      This list is not exhaustive. You can add more. The
road of life is beset with so many trials that arise at            Second, we are kept by the power of God to attain
any moment. The inspired Peter, assures us of this:             this inheritance, "who are kept by the power of God
"Ye are in heaviness through  manifold  temptations             through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in
(trials)," I Peter  1:6. You, dear reader; have experi-         the last time," verse 5.
enced these trials at many times in many places, the               Third, the trial will not last forever, it is for a
sickbed at home, the septic hospital room, the chilled          season,  ."Now for a season . . . ye are in heaviness
funeral home, at the job, by the kitchen table, even            through manifold temptations," verse 6.
during the sleepless night.                                        Fourth, the present season of trials is necessary. It
      One does not easily escape the trials.                    does not come by chance, "Now for a season, if need
      Yet we speak of triumph.                                  be,  ye are in heaviness through manifold tempta-
      That word rings with victory:                             tions," verse 6.
        - joy, "The Lord is good to us; praise His holy            Fifth, this necessity can be seen in that trials con-
name."                                                          tribute to our being kept in the power of God unto
                                                                salvation. God uses these trials to strengthen us, "The
        - peace, "All is well; we know God cares."              trial of your faith being much more precious than of
        - assurance, "I'm a sinner, saved by grace."            gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   15


be found unto praise and honour and glory at the               The heaviness of the trial is overcome by the
appearing of Jesus Christ," verse 7.                         triumph of faith.
     Finally, through these trials we receive the end of       As we  examine the Scriptural basis for this
our salvation, "even the salvation of your souls,"           triumph, may the Lord speak to each one of us that it
verse 9.                                                     may be ours, whether we presently are experiencing
     Armed with such spiritual insights, we are able to      these trials or must be prepared to face them when
triumph over the trials of life. We say with the             the Lord finds it necessary to bring them upon us.
Apostle Peter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our                 "Tho flesh and heart should faint and fail,
Lord Jesus Christ." We also "greatly rejoice," though                The Lord will ever be
now for a season we are in heaviness through mani-                   The strength and portion of my heart,
fold temptations. That rejoicing is in the Lord Jesus,
"Whom, though now we see not, yet believing, we                      My God eternally."
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."                                                              Psalm 73

THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH



r                               Time and Our Calling
                                                Rev. Rodney Miersma


     T i m e !                                               is right, irresistibly man is carried by this stream to
     Time is one thing about which we as youth seem to       the grave; and all of his mighty works perish with
think so little. We are young; there is so much time         him.
left in our lives. But stop a moment, think, do we             We know that there is a purpose in all that God
really know what time is? It is measured in seconds,         created, time included. There arises then the ques-
minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and other        tion, What is the purpose of time? Certainly it is not
similar terms. We can think of a time to get up in the       an endless succession of moments. No, time has an
morning, lie down in the evening, time to eat and            end, but that end is not a mere arbitrary stop at some
drink, time to go to school or to work, or a time to         arbitrary moment in the misty future. Rather, time
go to church. But do we still know what time is?             works for the end of time, that is, the coming of our
Genesis 1:l says this; "In the beginning God created         Lord Jesus Christ upon the clouds of heaven. When
the heaven and the earth." Yes, that was the origin of       that goal is reached, time shall be no more. All that
time; it is a creature created by God just as well as the    God has determined to do in His counsel will have
light, the firmament, and all else that God created on       been realized when this end comes. However, in order
those first six days. In fact, time is so much a part of     to obtain that goal, time must also be redeemed from
creation that to it we are bound. It governs and rules       the curse which God placed upon the creation. This is
our entire life. One simply cannot escape its clutches       necessary, for in the world of sin time is useless and
for it controls-all that we do and all the creation in       vain; in fact, it is man's enemy, dragging him remorse-
which we live.                                               lessly to the grave. Therefore, time can only serve the
     Since time is a creature it also was affected by the    purpose of God and point towards the day of Christ's
fall into sin by our first parents, Adam and Eve. As         coming again, because Christ has redeemed time. As
the rest of the creation came under the curse, so also       the redeemer of time He rules over all God's works
did time. The result, of course, was, disastrous for         and therefore is Lord- over time as well. He came into
man. Since the fall, everything that man attempts to         this world, our time, .worked and ministered, set up
accomplish is foolish and empty, for time brings all         the cross, suffered, died, and rose again. In that
man's work to destruction. Psalter #247, a versifica-        glorious work He redeemed time, for He came to
tion of Psalm 90, says it this way: "Time, like an           atone for sin, to bear the burden of God's curse, to
ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away; they fly       pay here the penalty for man's transgression. Thus
forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day." That         Christ made time to serve the purpose of God. As


16                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



Lord of God's creation He rules time and history in           Christ is Lord over all, we know that He will bring
such a way that the purpose of God is accomplished            also time to an end in order to usher in the everlasting
and time comes to its end in the return of Christ from        kingdom. Then the pleasures and treasures of this
heaven.                                                       present world will lose their appeal and we will long
      By this time you are perhaps asking yourselves,         for that new heaven and new earth where God shall
"To where is this all leading?" Look at it this way.          tabernacle with His people forever. Finally, motivated
We are redeemed by the blood of Christ; He saved us           by the love of God in our hearts we will live a life of
from our sins. But we still live in this world. Before        gratitude, using God's time unto the purpose for
eternity is ushered in we are called to live in time for      which it was created. With our eyes fixed upon the
a while. While we are living in the course of time we         return of Christ we will utilize every moment of time
are called to redeem the time. The apostle Paul in            to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness..
                                                              The cause of God and the welfare of His church will
Ephesians 5 : 15, 16 says, "See then that ye walk cir-
cumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the          always be foremost in our mind, that cause being the
time, because the days are evil." This is the call to         preaching of the gospel of salvation, for God through
walk a sanctified life, the putting off of the old man        the preaching in the course of time gathers, defends,
and the putting on of the new man. If we do not               and preserves His church. Therefore, all of our labors
redeem the time, then we live as the world lives and          will be directed to God's kingdom. When we work, it
we are carried by this stream of time merely as crea-         will not be for the purpose of satisfying ourselves
tures of time. The muddy stream with its hopeless             with all the pleasures of the earth, but that we and
current pushes us relentlessly to the inevitable end of       our children may be instructed in the truth of God's
destruction. Living this way we seek only those things        Word. We will attend church because that church is
which time has to offer. In other words, we divorce           our connection to Christ, our contact with the king-
time from the purpose of God. Having divorced time            dom into which we presently shall enter. Consequent-
from its purpose, our life also loses its purpose and         ly, this redeeming of the time, this seeking of God's
we are caught in a whirlpool, a swirling eddy of hope-        kingdom, covers the whole of our life. Always we
lessness. Take a hard look at this truth as you drive         desire to walk antithetically as children of light, that
through the neighborhood or listen to the conversa-           is, contrary to the world of sin in which we are called
tion of fellow-workers. What do you see and hear?             to live for a short while. Walking in this way we walk
This: the ungodly are completely selfish, working             in hope of the end of time when we shall be fully
only for a bigger home, a new boat, another car, a            redeemed.
longer vacation, a better tennis racket or set of golf          This kind .of walk calls for wisdom. We must walk
clubs, etc. Now none .of these items are wrong in             as a wise man walks, not as a fool. A fool, you under-
themselves; but they are objects of time which con-           stand, is one who knows reality but does not walk
stitute the sole goal of almost everyone. However,            accordingly. This is true both naturally and spiritual-
since this is their goal there is always a sense of empti-    ly. In this case reality is that time is under the curse
ness, of not having achieved what life is all about           of God, but redeemed by Christ, Who will bring it to
because time erodes these things and carries them             an end and usher in the day of the everlasting king-
away. Nothing lasts, they despair, and cry for more           dom. This reality the fool knows but ignores. He
and more to fill an empty void. This we must guard            knows that the world is filled with death and decay,
against, for as children of God we are going to be            that sooner or later he too must die, that the creation
most miserable if we do not lift up our eyes above the        in which he lives cannot last fforever. But does he live
world. Our flesh wars against us for the temporal             according to that knowledge? No, rather, he adjusts
things which are objects of the lust of the eyes, the         his life to fit his own ideas. He preaches the social
lust of the flesh, and the pride of life: We must seek        gospel in a vain effort to make this world the best .of
the kingdom of heaven as pilgrims in a strange                all places. He labors to build a heaven here on the
country seek a better country, yea, an heavenly               earth, thinking that his house shall stand forever. He
country where our citizenship resides.                        lives entirely for himself, sating himself with the
                                                              carnal pleasures of this present time. But no matter
      Covenant youth, your strength and my strength is        how intelligent he talks, no matter how he thinks he
in Christ Who calls us to redeem the time. This im-           can solve the problems of the world, he is a fool.
plies, in the first place, that we see and believe the
works of God as He performs them in Christ. Then                The wise, on the other hand, are. wise because
we can observe the fact that Christ reigns supreme            wisdom is the gift of God's grace which Christ earned
over time and that He uses it to serve the purpose of         for them by His obedient death on the cross. They
God. Time will no longer be a puzzle but we will              know reality, are able to see the work of God in time
understand it because we can see it correctly in the          and realize that it is not this world that counts, but
light of God's Word. Secondly, having seen that               the kingdom of heaven. So what does the child of


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 17


God do but adjust his life according to that knowl-               does that which is right in his own eyes. And to make
edge. This knowledge is our knowledge whereby we                  matters worse, this "doing your own thing," asserting
redeem the time, walking as children of the light in              your "rights," is approved and condoned by the
the hope of Christ's return.                                      world and the church alike. We are bombarded from
   Referring back to Ephesians 5: 16 we see that Paul             all sides by the false philosophy of the devil. And it
not only warns us to redeem the time but that there               all looks so appealing as the church attempts to
is an urgency with respect to that call "because the              clothe it in her pious robes, a sure sign of the
days are evil." Looking about us in the world it is not           "mother of harlots" uniting with the antichristian
hard to see that. Contrary to what the modern                     powers. And what we see in the world is also true of
philosophers and evolutionists tell us, the world is not          that which calls herself the church. The love of the
getting better, but is getting increasingly more and              truth is gone. Oh, the appearance remains - a form of
more wicked. The cup of iniquity is getting fuller and            godliness but a denial of its power, white-washed
fuller. Sin, like a tree, begins small but grows and              sepulcbres  filled with dead man's bones. Truly the
grows. The more man invents, the more he has with                 days are evil.
which to sin. A good case in point is the very country              Are you wise? If you are, you will soon see that all
in which we live. Reputed to be the most civilized of             this points to the foolishness of ever expecting heaven
nations, it is fast becoming a cesspool of iniquity,
lawlessness. There is no respect for authority in the             here on the earth. Do not, then, seek this earth, but
home as this basic institution is broken up by divorce            seek the kingdom of God, redeeming the time, look-
and women's lib. This in turn influences the rest of              ing for the return of Christ upon the clouds of
society so that there is no respect for authority in the          heaven. This is our calling. Let us continue to call
school, the church, in labor, or for the government               upon God's name to strengthen us that we may heed
officials. It is fast becoming a nation where everyone            this calling to the end.

TRANSLATED  TREASURES




                       Acts of Synod of Dordrecht
                                                      Historical Foreword
                                                     (conclusion)

(Connection: In the previous section, the Remonstrants were       ecution of the resolutions of the coming National
still trying to obstruct the convening of a National Synod,       Synod, in case perhaps the Remonstrants could not
even after the States-General had decided it should be held in    approve those resolutions, found it good to reject and
1618. The Remonstrants sought a Provincial Synod in Holland
- something which they formerly opposed. They tried to get        to dismiss all these militia men, who were now some
an Ecumenical Synod. But the States-General continued to          thousands in number. When his Excellency the Prince
insist on a National Synod. The only thing accomplished by        of Orange had acconiplished this with unbelievable
the Arminians was that this National Synod was again delayed      bravery, caution, dexterity, and skill, without any
for a few months. Meanwhile, in the various provinces, in some    bloodshed, and had imprisoned the ehiefest of them
of which the ecclesiastical assemblies were badly rent, mea-      who had sought to oppose or to prevent this dismissal
sures were taken to appoint delegates to the coming National      by force, then  JohBnnes  Uitenbogaard,  Jacobus
Synod.)                                                           Taurinus, and Adolph& Venator, being aware of
  Meanwhile the States-General, after they had vari-              danger, forsaking their Churches, fled from the
ous times ordered especially those of Utrecht to dis-             United Netherlands. A short time afterwards Nicolaus
miss those new Soldiers, or City-Militia, and seeing              Grevincovius, having been cited by the Court of
that it was also known that they had been engaged                 Holland to answer for the same thing, also fled.
for the purpose of hindering by armed force the ex-                 And when in South-Holland the particular Synod


18                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


was gathered at Delft, in September, then many               appear, five Ministers were appointed, to whom the
Remonstrants, despising the previous Resolution of           States added their Deputies, to take cognizance of
the States, refused to delegate anyone to the Synod.         and to judge their cases in the name of the Synod.
Instead, by petition they besought the States of             These Deputies were expressly mandated that they
Holland and West-Friesland, September 13, that in-           should exercise no censure over anyone on account of
stead of the National Synod, which was already               their- views of the Five Remonstrant Articles, seeing
authorized, another gathering should be convened,            that the judgment of these must be entirely reserved
according to the same twelve conditions which those          for the National Synod. And although they partly
who were cited proposed again a little later in the          suspended and partly immediately deposed many in
National Synod. The States, having heard the advice          various places on account of the aforesaid and very
of the Synod of Delft concerning this request (which         weighty reasons, even during the National Synod,
is also in these Acts), ordered that they should obey        they never exercised censure on anyone on account
the appointed order and the command of the States,           of his views of the Five Articles, as can be clearly
and besides, that they should fully declare their views      proved from the minutes.
concerning the articles presented in the year 16 13 at
the Delft Conference, in writing, to the Synod of              In North-Holland they acted similarly in the Synod
Delft, and along with this all their accusations against     of Hoorn, in which the Ministers of Hoorn, Johannes
the Confession and the Catechism of these Churches.          Valesius, Johannes Rodingius, and Isaacus Welsingius,
They delivered the declaration of their views con-           being suspended from the office of Minister, appealed
cerning the aforementioned Articles; and this, having        to the National Synod. And when the Deputies of
been translated into the Latin language by the dele-         this Synod, together with the Commissioners of the
gates of this Synod, was shortly afterward forwarded         States, investigated in the Classis of Alkmaar the case
to the National Synod. But instead of the accusations        of Johannes Geystranus, Minister at Ahnaar, and of his
against the Confession and the Catechism, they sent          brother Petrus Geystranus, Minister at Egmond, it
certain things taken from the writings of some writers       was found that they were entirely committed to the
as being  in. conflict with the Confession and the           blasphemous and accursed errors of Socinus, as
Catechism. Johannes Uitenbogaard and Nicolaus                appears from their confession, which, since it was to
Grevincovius were cited before this Synod; and when          the horror of all openly read in the National Synod, is
the one, being a fugitive, did not dare to appear, and       also included in these Acts. Also in the Synod of
the other stubbornly refused to appear, both of them,        Overijsel some of the Remonstrants were ordered to
after the accusations brought against them had been          give account of their doctrine and their actions. And
heard and investigated, were deposed from ecclesias-         seeing that among these there were also the four
tical office `by the sentence of the Synod. And be-          Ministers of the Church of Kampen, Thomas
cause, besides these two, there were also many others,       Goswinius, Assueris Matthisius, Johannes Schotlerus,
some of whom had been forced upon the Churches in            and especially Emerardus Vosculius, who had been
the course of these disunities contrary to their desires     accused of many errors and of various disorderly
and without lawful calling, some of whom had scat-           actions, after the case was investigated it was decided
tered abroad various Socinian errors in addition to          to forward it to the National Synod; and accordingly
the Five Articles, some of whom had grievously               it was brought to that Synod afterwards.
offended the Churches with evil and disorderly                 Meanwhile, the States-General, June 25, had sent
actions, and some of whom led an evil life, it was           letters to his Royal Majesty of Great Britain, James I,
judged necessary that the Churches should be purged          to the Deputies of the Reformed Churches of France,
of these offenses, and the neglected discipline Cleri        to the Illustrious Elector of the Palatinate and
(as they say), that:is, discipline of the ministry of the    Brandenburg, to the most Illustrious Count of Hesse,
churches, should again be established, and all those         to the four Reformed Republics of Switzerland
irregular Ministers should be summoned to give               (Zurich, Bern, Bazel, and Schaffhuizen), to the Dukes
account both of their calling, of their doctrine, and of     of the Wetterau, to the Republic of Geneva, of
their life. It was further judged that this must be done     Bremen, and of  Emden. In these letters they re-
before the holding of the National Synod, in order           quested them to send to this Synod some of their
that if anyone perhaps found himself aggrieved by the        Theologians who were outstanding in learning, God-
sentence of this Synod, he might appeal to the judg-         liness, and wisdom, who with their counsel and judg-
ment of the National Synod. Among these there were           ment might diligently labor to still the differences
some who appeared and who, after a proper in-                which had arisen in these Netherlands Churches,
vestigation of their cases, were suspended from office,      along with the Delegates of the Netherlands
while others were immediately deposed, But of those          Churches, and might again bring peace to those
who because of the brevity of the time could not be          Churches. Then, when all of this was thoroughly
cited nor heard, or who, having been cited, did not          arranged and accomplished, at the set time the Dele-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                19


gates of the Netherlands Churches and also the             they will embrace, preserve, advance, and pass on to
foreign Theologians, with few exceptions, arrived at       their descendants this orthodox doctrine, so solemnly
Dordrecht; and the National Synod was begun in the         declared and established from God's Word in this
Name of the Lord on the 13th of November. What             Synod, to the honor of God and to the comfort and
was treated in this Synod the understanding reader         salvation of souls. And at the same time they are
will learn in detail from the Acts and Proceedings of      asked to hold in esteem the Godly and never suf-
Synod, which have now been published for the bene-         ficiently praised zeal and diligence of the  States-
fit and advantage of the Reformed Churches. But it         General of the United Netherlands for the preserva-
was thought good to add to these Acts, besides other       tion of the purity and soundness of the Reformed
documents submitted to this Synod, the opinions            Religion, as well as the labor and blessedness of so
themselves of all the Theologians concerning the Five      many outstanding teachers of the Churches who were
Articles of the Remonstrance as they were presented        present at this Synod to stand for this doctrine and
to the Synod in order that the Reformed Churches           be favorable toward it. And above all they are asked
should more clearly understand upon what passages          earnestly to pray the good and almighty God that He
of Scripture and what reasons the Canons are based.        should from now on mercifully preserve the Nether-
There is no doubt but that the understanding reader        lands Churches, and also all others who with them
will discover in these opinions an altogether wonder-      confess the same sound doctrine, in unity of the
ful and complete agreement. In case it might appear        faith, of peace, and of rest, and that He will impart to
to anyone that in certain less important things a          the Remonstrants themselves, yea, and to all others
degree of diversity arose, then this will even be a        who are in error, better senses and understanding,
proof that in this gathering there was the proper          and, by the grace of His Spirit, bring them at last to
freedom of prophecy and of judgment, and that              the knowledge of the truth, to the honor of His
nevertheless they all together with united voice           Divine Name, to the edification of the Churches, and
agreed in the doctrine which is expressed in the           to the salvation of us all, through our Lord and Savior
Canons of this Synod, which were subscribed to by          Jesus Christ, to Whom the Father and the Holy
everyone, not one being excepted or making                 Ghost, the One true and immortal God, be praise,
objection, for a testimony of unity.                       honor, and glory, forever. Amen.
  Finally, all Reformed Churches are begged that

FROM  HOLY  WRIT



            Exposition of the Book of Galatians
                                                By Rev. G. Lubbers


THE GREAT FAITH-EXPERIENCE OF ABRAHAM                      Old Testament, and finally fulfilled in God's only
CITED - continued (Galatians 3 : 6; Genesis 15 : 6)        begotten Son, Jesus Christ. This is implied in that
What Abraham experienced under the stars of night          profound statement of Christ in John  8:56,
was not an experience, which any astronomer in the         "Abraham your father rejoiced exceedingly that he
world could ever have had, who did not read these          might see my day, arid he saw it and was `glad." If
"stars" in the light of the revelation of God in Christ    Abraham saw "Christ's  day,"  then he saw the
Jesus. They may see many mythical figures in the           suffering Servant of the Lord, as a prophet and a
sky, as really all the ancient and modern pagans did       believer; he saw the Cross and the perfect righteous-
and do; but they could not see any connection be-          ness for poor, damn-worthy sinners such as he was,
tween these numberless stars and the numberless            and rejoiced in the glad prospect of hope and faith in
throng of the redeemed of all ages, out of every           the forgiveness of sins. Yes, Abraham perceived that
tongue, tribe, people, and nation. That connection is      this salvation, this righteousness was for him and for
part of the mystery which was hid in God from              all his spiritual children, whether they were in  un-
eternity, and gradually unfolded in the Gospel in the      circumcision or in circumcision. And he gloried in the


20                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


Lord, His righteousness. The "day," which Abraham           church of all ages,, the Israel of God, and it was
rejoiced to see in the "Seed" which would be his, was       counted to him for righteousness without works of
that Christ became to him from God wisdom, righ-            law which he had performed. (Rom. 4:5)
teousness, sanctification, and complete redemption.            Those who would pervert the gospel of Christ in
(I Cor. 1:30,31; Rom. 4: l-l 1)                             the Galatian churches disown Abraham; implicitly
  Particularly, we may say, that the text teaches that      they deny that they are children of Abraham. And
Abraham's faith was  accounted  unto him for righ-          the experience of the Galatians is on a par with that
teousness. No, this does not mean that there was any        of Abraham. They that are of faith are children of
meritoriousness  in his faith; there was none at all.       Abraham. Let no one further. deceive you and rob
Faith is a gift of God and faith itself is one of the       you of your liberty and sonship  in Christ Jesus.
gifts of salvation which Christ merited for us on the
Cross, and which is bestowed according eternal elec-        THE TRUE AND REAL SONS OF ABRAHAM
tion which is before the foundation of the world in         (Galatians 3:7,8,9)
Christ Jesus. (Eph. 1:4) This is what our fathers saw          This is a point which the Galatians must really see
so clearly in the days of the Sixteenth Century Ref-        and perceive. It should be abundantly clear that
ormation, and expressed in the Heidelberg Cate-             "those are sons of Abraham" who are out of faith.
chism, Question 61: ". . . not that I am acceptable on      These are in the great family of the redeemed, the
account of the worthiness of my faith; but because          household of faith, the Israel of God. Not a Jew is a
only the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of       son of Abraham as Jew, and a Gentile is not one as
Christ. . . ." And the fathers of Dort write in the         Gentile, but a class called "sons of Abraham" is taken
Canons, Second Head Of Doctrine,  Article 8:  ". . .        by elective love out of both, out of all nations. These
that he (Christ) should confer upon them faith, which       are a chosen generation, a holy priesthood, a peculiar
together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy        possession unto the Lord, purchased with His own
Spirit, he purchased for them by his death. . . . "         blood. (I Peter 2: 9, 10; Exodus  19:6;  Hosea  1:6-9)
      Faith by which we are justified has too been pur-       The Scripture passage which Paul quoted from Gen-
chased with the great price of the blood of the Son of      esis 15 : 6 clearly teaches this proposition. It is proposi-
God! What a cheap faith this is that is merely an act       tional truth which is implied in Abraham's being the.
of man's imaginary free-will, and by which he deter-        father  of believers and that he, as father, was the
mines his relationship to God in Christ as a justified      proto-type of the justification of all his children. And
sinner. This is not a faith at all. For faith is the tie    thus the proposition is cogent and irrefutable in our
which connects us with Christ, even as the branch is        reasonable service and faith: only the ones who are
connected with the vine. Faith is the-vibrant lifeline      out of faith, ingrafted into Christ, are sons of
which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, both its first       Abraham; heirs they are with Abraham, heir of the
implantation and its continuance and perfection. It is      world, in the new heaven and the new earth. (Rom.
all of God; God's gift it is whereby the almighty God       4: 13) This is propositional truth which is a dogma, a
draws us to Christ. (Eph.  2:8-10; John  6:44) It is        pattern of sound doctrine. From this the church has
really a new life in Christ: God's creation in Christ       wandered far in the past, and always the forces of
Jesus unto good works!                                      darkness would pervert this truth. In our day we see
      Such was the faith of Abraham! It was the tie         this in the teaching of the so-called "kerugma," the
which connected him with Christ and with the entire         "message" of the new "Hermeneutic" which distills
church, the multitude of the believers. In this faith       its messages from the Bible, without preaching the
we see that Abraham was a new creature. That was all        Bible according to sound exegesis of it, as did Paul
                                                            under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
that profited. It was faith which worked by love.
(Gal.  5:6)  And.. such was the faith which was               In this "know ye then" we see a very fine con-
accounted unto righteousness. Because faith laid hold       clusion drawn from a seemingly obscure text in
on Christ, drank deeply from the fulness of Christ, it      Genesis 15 : 6. The particle "then" is the translation of
drank his righteousness. And God put all of the             the Greek particle "ara". It indicates "a transition to
righteousness of Christ on Abraham's account. This          what naturally follows by inference from what
erased Abraham's sin and guilt before God. In this          precedes." (Robinson's Greek Lexicon) Compare
righteousness, which was promised Abraham in the            Rom. 7:21; 8: 1 for two other examples of this Greek
Christ, Abraham is righteous. Yes, his conscience           particle.
accused him that he had kept none of God's com-               It should also be observed that the Greek verb in
mandments, yea, that he had broken them all; he was         the text is ginoosketq  which is translated "ye know."
"ungodly" as he stands there looking at the stars of        The term could be translated as an imperative: know
heaven, but he believed in God's Christ, and the fin-       ye. However, the context points out that the in-
ished work in the redeemed, justified, and sanctified       dicative mood must have been in Paul's mind: ye


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   21


know. For a very fine discussion on this point it is              1. It is quite evident that "all families" must refer
well to read Dr. Lightfoot, who refers to such pas-            to all "nations." And these nations were known to
sages as Gal.  4:8, 9; I John  2:29; Eph.  5:5; I Cor.         Abraham as they existed in his day as having come
2: 11, to demonstrate that the verb here means: see,           forth from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and
perceive, recognize. They see this as an experiential          Japheth. These we have recorded for us in Genesis 10
fact, corroborated by the Scripture. Here they will            and 11. And these had been formed by the Lord by
not drown in the quagmire of human reasonings and              the confusion of tongues at Babel. (Gen. 11: l-9) So
uncertainties, but they stand on solid ground, and             these are very concrete nations, families of the earth.
keep the course. The proposition stands: those who             They were definite families which grew and devel-
are of faith are blessed with faithful, believing              oped into "nations."
Abraham. No one, who is rzot out of the faith, ever is           2. It is also quite evident that this was the realiza-
blessed. He is under the curse of the law!                     tion of the prophecy of Moses concerning the future
  However, to make this one Scriptural teaching sure           of his sons as given in Genesis 9:24-27. The promise
and steadfast in. the minds of the Galatians he will           that Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem, and
cite another passage from Moses which is very clear            that Japheth would be "enlarged" refers to the  sal-
and exact in regard to this matter of the "Gentiles"           vation.of  the "families" of the earth. Abraham knew
being the intended and God-ordained sons of                    of this prophecy of Noah. It was the "tradition" of
Abraham without needing to pass through the cere-              the elders in his day; yes, it was rather recently given.
monial laws and ordinances of the Old Testament                God now reveals more of the implication of the
"law" as given by God to Israel through Moses. The             prophecy of Noah spoken by the Spirit of Prophecy.
passage here is the Word of God spoken to Abraham              Noah was a holy man moved by the Spirit to speak a
prior to his going forth from Ur of the Chaldees. God          word which was not of private interpretation. (II
came to Abraham as the "God of glory." (Acts 7:2.)            Peter 1:20, 21) Surely, this Word.of God to Abraham
He came to Abraham in a glorious appearance, called           is anchored in the more sure prophetic Word of God
a Theophany. He is the God of all glory, power, and            unto which he did well to give heed as unto a light
majesty in infinite wisdom, love, and grace. And in            that shines in a dark place, till the day dawn . . . the
His grace and glory He will save all the sons of               day which he greatly rejoiced to see, the power and
Abraham. He gives here expression to what Paul calls          coming of Jesus Christ. Surely the day dawned in
in Ephesians 3:8, "to preach among the Gentiles the           Abraham's soul when this Word of God came to him:
unsearchable riches of Christ . . . to the intent that         in thee shall all nations be blessed.
now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly               3. Later Moses tells Israel, as recorded in
places might be known by the church the manifold               Deuteronomy 32: 7, 8, that "when the Lord the Most
wisdom of God." For known unto God are all His                High divided the nations their inheritance, when he
works from eternity. Christ is before Abraham be-              separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the
came. (Acts  15:18; Is.  45:20-25; John  8:58) And,            people according to the number of the children of
therefore, Paul cites a very illuminating text in which       `Israel. For the Lord's portion in His people; Jacob is
the entire scope and design of Abraham and Israel as           the lot of his inheritance." Here we see both history
a nation is set in bold relief. It is within the frame-        and geography as in the hands of God, subservient to
work of the teaching of this text that all the further        the gathering of the church in all nations. It is the
experiences and blessings recorded concerning                 manifold wisdom of God. Paul speaks similarly in
Abraham in Genesis and all of Scripture must be seen.         Mars Hill in Athens, referring to the Lord's having
The one text is recorded in Genesis  12:3b: "and in           "determined the times before appointed and the
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. " This is    bounds of their habitations." (Acts 17:26, 27)
quoted by Paul here in Galatians 3 :8.


                          Annual Secretary's Report
                                                     Sept. 1 5,1977


Dear members and friends of the R.F.P.A.
  In this the 53rd year of publishing the Standard               We are printing a total of 1900 copies of the Stan-
Bearer, the board comes with a report of the activities       dard Bearer, and of these, 200 are kept for bound
connected with its publication during the past year.          volumes; others are kept for  .reprints. With each


     22                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


     issue there are about 1600 copies mailed. To sub-                                  survey type letter was sent to all ministers, professors,
     scribers in the city of Grand Rapids, there are mailed                             and seminary students asking them for ideas on how
     394 copies, plus another 482 copies in other parts of                              to increase our circulation.
     Michigan for a total of 876. In comparison, there are                                 The board is grateful for the help of the seminary
     124 copies mailed to Iowa, 103 copies to Illinois, and                             students, who along with the business manager,
     83 to California. Jenison, Michigan continues to be-                               sorted out and put in proper order all the back issues
     come quite an outlet for our magazine. There, 85                                   of our paper. These issues are now ready to be bound.
     subscribers receive the Standard Bearer. That's more                               Each student received several bound volumes for his
     subscribers than the entire state of California.                                   effort in this project.
           The program of 10 issues for $2.00 continues to be                              The board gratefully acknowledges the work of our
     very successful. Many of these continue to be regular                              business manager. Besides mailing the Standard
     subscribers. The board urges those who know of                                     Bearer, he also is busy with the handling, processing,
     someone interested in receiving 10 issues for $2.00 or                             and shipment of book orders. We thank him for all
     who would like the Standard Bearer on a regular basis                              the time and effort on behalf of the Standard Bearer
     to contact the business manager.                                                   and the Book Publication Committee. We thank Mr.
           The board gratefully acknowledges the liberal                                Gerrit Pipe for his faithful efforts in helping with the
     financial support of our churches. Church collections                              mailing of our magazine. He has been active in the
     totaled  $6,756.18  and gifts from individuals                                     issuing of our magazine for about 25 years.
     $3,582.37. It is only through these generous dona-                                    With thanksgiving, we acknowledge the faithfulness
     tions and gifts included in the renewals that our print-                           of our Covenant God. He has provided the means to
     ing and mailing costs can be met.                                                  publish our magazine and has, by his grace, guided
           The board reports that the necessary forms have                              and sustained those who write. Thanks be to God for
     been mailed in, in order to obtain a tax exemption                                 our faithful Editor-in-chief and department editors.
     letter as a non-profit organization. This was a joint                                  Retiring from the board this year are A. Dykstra,
     effort by the R.F.P.A. as the central organization and                             C. Kalsbeek, and the undersigned. We thank these
     the Permanent Committee for Publication of                                         men for their dedicated labors.
     Protestant Reformed Literature as a subsidiary                                         The Standard Bearer is sent far and wide and is
     organization.                                                                      read and appreciated by many outside of our
           The Membership-Education and Information                                     denomination. What a glorious privilege! Thanks be
     committee has been busy trying to promote                                          to God for our distinctively reformed magazine.
     additional interest in our magazine. To that end, a                                                                              Bill DeKraker, Secy.


                        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                               WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

                                                                                            On October IO, 1977, the Lord willing, our beloved parents, Mr.  &
           On October 10, 1977, our beloved parents, Mr.  & Mrs. Jay Boone,             Mrs. Louis R. Regnerus, will commemorate their 25th wedding anniver-
     celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary. We, their children, are             sary.
     thankful to our covenant God for His care of them during these years
     and providing a home where we may know Christian love  & discipline.
                                                                                            With them, we are thankful to our Heavenly Father for  ,His wonder-
                                                                                        ful faithfulness towards them. We thank Him for giving them grace
           It is our prayer that in the years ahead they may continue to ex-            sufficient to instruct us with covenant love in the way of the truth. Our
     perience the blessed peace & tender mercies of the Lord.                           prayer is that in their remaining earthly pilgrimage they will continue to
                                                                                        walk in obedience to God's Word and that together we may serve Him
                                                                                        Who has so richly blessed us.
           "The tender love a father has
           for all his children dear,
           Such love the Lord bestows on them                                                                                Their grateful children,
           Who worship Him in fear.
           Those who His gracious covenant keep                                                                               Ed and Kathy Vander Meulen
           The Lord will ever bless;                                                                                             Marisa Dawn
           Their children's children shall rejoice                                                                            Ryan and Nancy Regnerus
           To see His righteousness."                                                                                            Ryan James
                                                           Psalter # 278, vs. 1  & 5                                          Evelyn Regnerus
                                                                                                                              Bill and Elaine Regnerus
                                                                                                                                 Kimberly Ann
                                                                                                                              Marcia Regnerus
                                              Daniel  & Jennie                                                                 Louie Regnerus
                                                 Daniel,`Mindi                                                                Jim Regnerus
                                              Randall  &  Shelly                                                               David Regnerus
                                               Douglas
                                               Kimberly                                 South Holland,  `Ill.





L


                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                 23


                            NOTICE!!!                                                                  NOTICE!!!
   The Annual Office Bearer's Conference is to be held, the Lord will-         The combined Mens and Ladies League Mass meeting for Fall will
ing, October 4, 1977, at the parsonage of our Faith Protestant Re-          take place, the Lord willing, at Hope Church, Tuesday, October 11,
formed Church located at 7194  - 20th Ave., in Jenison,  Michioan. The      1977, at 8 P.M. Pastor Herman Veldman is to speak on the timely topic
meeting will begin at 8:00 P.M. Rev. C. Hanko will speak on the subject     "THE COMING OF ANTICHRIST".
"CHRISTIAN LIBERTY".                                                           Mark your calendar now and plan to attend!
   All past and present office bearers are invited and urged to attend.                                  Mens Society Delegate League Board
                                                                                                         D.M. Harbach, Sec'y.



    ANNOUNCEMENT OF CONGRATULATION
   On behalf of the congregation of the Southwest Protestant Re-
formed Church of Wyoming, Michigan, we extend to Rev. Herman
Veldman our sincere congratulations upon the completion of 45 years            The STANDARD BEARER
of faithful service in the ministry of the Word of God in our Protestant
Reformed Churches.                                                             makes a thoughtful gift
   It is our earnest prayer that the King of His Church will continue to
bless and provide for Rev. and Mrs. Veldman in their remaining years of        for a shut-in.
service in His Kingdom.
                                     The Council of the Southwest
                                     Protestant Reformed Church
                                        G. Feenstra, Clerk.





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                                     S U F F E R   L I T T L E   C H I L D R E N
                                                                BOOK ONE
                                                       - GERTRUDE HOEKSEMA -


         DESIGNED AS;
                      A Bible Teacher's Manual for use in Christian grade schools.

         HELPFUL FOR:
                      Sunday School Teachers, Catechism Teachers, Parents with small children

         CONTENTS:
                      A general introduction to the projected series of manuals. 125 two-page, well-planned Old
                      Testament history lessons on the first half of Plus projects for pupils.

         LEVEL:
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         ORDER FROM:
                      R.F.P.A. Publications Committee, Post Office Box 2006, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501


THE STANDARD  BfiARER                . i
          P.O. Box 6064              `.&
                                     __--  - - -.___l.----L----                         in-  -  _L --
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





                                    $  ~.  ~~-~-~~~~.   -  ~_~     -~     .~_          _--.
                                                                                  -       .___...  __.  .  ..i..*.
                                                                                                            --  i    .--..L*.z,a~
                                                                                                                      .~~,"r.-~~"L~~~.-

                             ,,y-,.*.               -:
                           ,a-



24                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER

                                  News From Our Churches
      Our church in Randolph, Wisconsin, has a new trio                                          On occasion, a little foreign language creeps into
consisting of Rev. Rodney Miersma, Rev. James                                                  our church bulletins. The Edmonton bulletin has
Slopsema, and Candidate Kenneth Koole, from which                                         been known to print an appropriate text in the
the congregation will select one to receive a call to                                     Dutch. Some months ago, the Hudsonville bulletin
serve as their pastor.                                                                         carried a notice that the Kerkeraad was scheduled to
      Rev. Joostens of our Faith Church in Jenison,                                       meet. In order to assist those of us not very well
Michigan, stands before two choices with regard to                                        versed in the Dutch, the English equivalent of
the Christchurch, New Zealand area. He has received                                       kerkeraad or church council was also printed.
the call from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church there                                             Our church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is
to labor in their midst for a period of five years, or he                                      located a considerable distance from any other of our
can be sent there under the sponsorship of our                                                 churches. Edmonton, therefore, does not often re-
churches to labor for a period of one year.                                                    ceive visits from other of our ministers. The last
                                                                                               Sunday in July must have been just a little bit special,
      The new address of Rev. Wayne Bekkering is: 722                                          then, as the congregation had the privilege of having
Wild Horse Valley, Katy, Texas 77450. Rev. Bekker-                                             three ministers in their services, their pastor, Rev.
ing has recently been installed as the first pastor of                                         Moore, and Rev. Miersma of Isabel, South Dakota,
the Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Houston,                                             and Rev. Lubbers of Pella, Iowa. Rev. Miersma and
Texas. Rev. Bekkering's former charge in Randolph is                                           Rev. Lubbers visited Edmonton with their families on
receiving pulpit supply from our Seminary.                                                vacation and both consented to preach in Edmonton
      Recently, our churches and schools in the Grand                                          while visiting there.
Rapids area have received a visitor from Australia -                                             On the 5th of July, the Edmonton congregation
something that does not happen very often. Miss                                                sponsored a special public lecture under the theme
Marjorie Martin, from the Ryke Reformed Pres-                                                  "The Interpreting of The Bible." Rev. Moore treated
byterian Church of Sydney, Australia was scheduled                                             the Biblical and hence the only proper Christian view-
to present a short talk on "Life in Australia from a                                           point of Hermeneutics. Edmonton also maintains
Reformed Christian's Viewpoint" in our Hudsonville                                             their distinctive Reformed witness in the community
Church on Friday, September 23. Miss Martin also                                               with the distribution of a monthly paper authored by
illustrates her talks with a slide presentation of                                             their pastor entitled "Biblical Studies of the
Australia.                                                                                     Reformed Faith."
      The Council of our church in South Holland,                                                Nurseries for the care of small children during the
Illinois has decided to produce a pictorial church                                             Sunday service seem to be a much more common
directory for 1978. A publishing company ,does the                                             practice than was formerly seen in our churches. Re-
photography and publishes the directory at no cost to                                          cently Southwest, Hull, and Edmonton have insti-
the church. The company offers the family portraits                                            tuted nursery care - at least during the morning ser-
for sale to the church families. The directory, then, is                                       vice. This is usually accompanied by a request for
not quite free.                                                                                nursery `volunteers' and some children's toys. A few
      The Council of our South Holland Church has                                              weeks later will usually see a set of rules approved by
scheduled a number of special meetings during the                                              the consistory published in the bulletin.
past several months to continue their discussion as to                                           A Quiet Thought taken from  Toplady in the
how South Holland might meet the church's calling                                              Southeast bulletin: "The book of life, or decree of
regarding missions.                                                                            election, is the marriage register of the saints; in
      The steering Committee of South Holland Young                                            which their everlasting espousal to Christ stands in-
People's Society was already meeting weeks before                                              delibly recorded by the pen of God's free and eternal
the 1977 PRYP Convention to make plans for the                                                 love."
1978 convention for which South Holland is host.                                                                                               K.G.V.


