  T                 h                       e
 STANDARD
       BEARER
        A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                        4

       let men torture themselves as long as
they  All  with!,reasoning, the cause of the dif-
ference made  - why God does not reveal His
arm equally to  a22  - lies hidden in His own
eternal decree. . . . The unbelief of the world,
therefore, ought not to astonish us, if even
the wisest and most acute of men fail to be-
lieve. Hence,, unless we would elude the plain
and confessed meaning of the Evangelist,  that
few receive the Gospel, we must fully con-
clude that  the cause  is  the  wiZZ  of  Go& and
that the outward sound of that Gospel strikes
the ear in vain until God is pleased to touch
by it the heart within.
                         ,I John Calvin, on John  12:40
                                            (Calvin's Calvinism)

                                   See  Editorial,  Page  149
                                                 Volume LV, No.?, January I,1979 J
                                                          ISSN  0362-4692


146                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                       THE  STANDARD  BEARER
                            CONTENTS:                                           Semi-monthly,   except   monthly   during   June.   July,   and   August.
                                                                                  Published   by  the  Reformed   Free  Publishing   Association,   Inc.
                                                                                         Second   Class   Postage   Paid   at  Grand   Rapids,   Mich.
Meditation  -                                                             Editor-in-Chief:  Prof.   Homer   C.  Hoeksema
                                                                          Department Editors:  Prof.   Robert   D.  Decker,   Rev.   David   J.  Engelsma,
       "Come, Lord Jesus" . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . .146    Rev.   Cornelius   Hanko,   Prof.   Herman   Hanko,   Rev.   Robert   C.   Harbach,
                                                                          Rev.   John   A.  Heys,   Rev.   Meindert   Joostens,   Rev.   Jay   Kortering,   Rev.
                                                                          George   C.   Lubbers,   Rev.   Rodney   Miersma,   Rev.   Marinus   Schipper,   Rev.
Editorial  -                                                              James   Slopsema,   Rev.   Gise   J.  Van  Baren,   Rev.   Ronald   Van   Overloop,
                                                                          Rev.   Herman   Veldman,   Mr.   Kenneth   G.   Vink.
   John Calvin and Errol1 Hulse . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .149           Editorial Office:  Prof.   H.C.   Hoeksema
                                                                                                 4975   lvanrest   Ave.   S.W.
My Sheep Hear My Voice  -                                                                        Grandville,   Michigan   49418
                                                                          Church News Editor:  Mr.  Kenneth   G.   Vink
   Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .151                                    1422   Linwood,   S.E.
                                                                                                        Grand   Rapids,   Michigan   49507
From Holy Writ  -                                                         Editorial policy:  Every   editor   is  solely   responsible   for  the  contents   of
                                                                          his  own   articles.   Contributions   of   general   interest   from   our   readers   and
                                                                          questions   for   the  Question-Box   Department   are   welcome.   Contri-
   Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .154        butions   will   be   limited   to   approximately   300   words   and   must   be  neatly
                                                                          wrltten   or   typewritten,   and   must   be   signed.   Copy   deadlines   are  the   first
                                                                          and   the   fifteenth   of   the   month.   All   communications   relative   to   the
Taking Heed to the Doctrine  -                                            contents   should   be  sent   to   the   editorial   office.
                                                                          R e p r i n t   PO/icy:  Permission   is  hereby   granted   for  the   reprinting   of
   The Reformed Doctrine of Reprobation . . . .  .156                     articles   in  our   magazine   by  other   publications,   provided:   a)  that   such
                                                                          reprinted   articles   are   reproduced   in  full;   b)  that  proper   acknowledge-
                                                                          ment   IS  made;   c)  that   a  COPY   of   the   periodical   in  which   such   reprint
In His Fear  -                                                            appears   is  sent   to   our  editorial   office.
                                                                          6USineSS  Office:  The  Standard   Bearer
   Our Expectation in the New Year . . . . . . . . .  .159                                       Mr.  H.  Vander   Wal,   Bus.   Mgr.
                                                                                                 P.O.   BOX   6064
                                                                                                 Grand   Rapids,   Michigan   49506
All Around Us  -                                                          New Zealand Business Office:                   The   Standard   Bearer,
                                                                                                                         C/O  OPC   Bookshop,
   The Turning of the Screw.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .161                                                          P.D.   Box   2289
                                                                                                                         Christchurch,   New   Zealand
Bible Study Guide  -                                                      S u b s c r i p t i o n   P o l i c y :   Subscription   price,   $7.00   per   year   ($5.00   for
                                                                          Australasia).   Unless   a'  definite   request   for  discontinuance   is  received,   it
                                                                          IS  assumed   that   the   subscriber   wishes   the   subscription   to   continue   with-
   I Corinthians  - God is Faithful . . . . . . . . . . .  .163           out   the   formality   of  a  renewal   order,   and   he   will   be   billed   for  renewal.
                                                                          If  YOU  have   a  change   of   address,   please   notify   the   Business   Office   as
                                                                          early   as  possible   in  order   to   avoid   the   inconvenience   of   delayed   deliv-
BookReviews............................                                   ery.   Include   your   Zip   Code.
                                                                          Advertising Policy:  The   Standard Bearer  does   not   accept-commercial
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .168            advertising   of  any   kind.   Announcements   of  church   and   school   events
                                                                          anniversaries,   obituaries,   and   sympathy   resolutions   will   be  placed   for   a'
                                                                          53.00   fee.   These   should   be  sent   to   the   Business   Office   and   Should   be
                                                                          accompanied   by   the   $3.00   fee.   Deadline   for   announcements   is  the   1st
                                                                          or  the   15th   of  the   month,   Previous   to   publication   on   the   15th   or  the
                                                                          1st  respectively.
                                                                          B o u n d   VO/UmeS:   The   Business   Office   will   accept   standing   orders  for
                                                                          bound   copies   of  the   current   volume;   such   orders  are   filled   as  soon   as
                                                                          possible   after   completion   of  a  volume.   A  limited   number   of   past   vol-
                                                                          umes   may   be   obtained   through   the   Business   Office.


MEDITA TIO N





                                           "Come, Lord Jesus"
                                                              Rev. H. Veldman



                   "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come,
                Lord Jesus. "


  Here we have the positive purpose of the book of                              Is this our response? Do we pray this, also as far as
Revelation, and, incidentally, of all of Holy Writ. He                     another calendar year is concerned:  1979?  Do we
testifies, witnesses, of these things to draw from the                     long for His coming? Is it our desire that He come
church of the living God, from you and from me, this                       quickly? Throughout this chapter we read of this
response: "Amen.  Even,so,  come, Lord Jesus."                              coming, repeatedly and emphatically  - see verses 6,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                147



 7,  10. 12, 20. And the Church responds: "Amen.             Indeed, this coming of the Lord is not the product of
 Even . so, . come, Lord Jesus."  Again, is this our         fanciful imagination; it is the revelation of the living
 response?                                                   `God. The wise of this world may say that we are
                       *  * * * *                            demented, mad; the powerful of this world may say
   Here we have the response of the Church to Him            that we are dreaming; the rich of this world may
 Who testifies these things. To what does the Church          claim that we are pessimists. Fact is, however, our
 here respond?                                               Lord Jesus Christ is coming surely.
   Who testifies these things? Obviously, He Who                Secondly, the Saviour is coming quickly. But, how
 testifies. these things is He Who is coming quickly. So,     can this be? It is said that the Church of God in the
 our Lord Jesus Christ is meant. But, in verse 13 we         days of its New Testament infancy believed that Jesus
 also read of Him that He is the Alpha and the Omega,        would return in their day. However, it is hardly
 the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And      conceivable that the apostles themselves entertained
 we also know that God is the Alpha and the Omega.           this error. But it really makes no difference what
 So, that our Lord Jesus Christ is also called the Alpha     their personal opinion may have been. Fact is, our
 and the Omega means that our Lord Jesus Christ is           Lord Jesus Christ Himself is speaking here, and He
 God  - God, therefore, as the God of our salvation,         declares that He is coming quickly. He surely knew
 God as revealed in. our Lord Jesus Christ. It is as such     that He would not return in the days of the apostles.
 that  I!Ie is coming; for Him we look, our divine           What, then, does it mean that He is coming quickly?
 Saviour. And that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the        We may use the late Rev. H. Hoeksema's illustration
 beginning and the end, the first and the last, means        in his book: Behold He Cometh. When the Germans
 that He is not only the beginning of all things, their      were pressing the Allies, had run through Belgium and
 Creator, but also the end, and that' all things must        into France, the United States entered this war in the
 lead to that end, are adapted to that end, as the final     year of 19 17. Longingly the Allies looked for the
 revelation of the living God, and as the God of our         coming of the Americans, and the Americans assured
 salvation in  JesusChrist,  our Lord. He is coming. And     them: we are coming, and we are coming quickly.
 to this coming the church responds as we read it in         However, before America could actually enter the
 this word of God.                                           conflict, much had to be done. Gigantic preparations
                                                             had to be made. That the Americans were coming
   I am coming. We do not read that He will come. Of         quickly surely meant that they were preparing them-
course He will come. That awesome moment will                selves with the greatest possible haste, coming as
 arrive when the Lord Jesus Christ shall  appear upon        quickly as possible, although to the Allies it may have
 the clouds of heaven, when the last trumpet shall           seemed that their coming was very slow and being
 sound, and all shall see Him.                               delayed. How true this is in this text! Think of what
   In this text, however,  IIe is coming. This is the        must be done before the last trumpet sounds. Of this
 characteristic of the New Dispensation. The Old             we read in this book of Revelation. Think of the four
Dispensation was the dispensation of the types `and          horsemen of Rev. 6. Think of all the signs of Christ's
 shadows. It was the dispensation of the typical Christ,     coming: the gathering of all the elect, wars and
Christ as revealed in types and symbols and shadows,         rumours of wars, pestilences and earthquakes and
inasmuch as Christ Himself had not yet come. It was          famines, the great apostasy, and the final appearance
also the dispensation of the typical antichrist, as, for     .pf Antichrist. Indeed, Jesus never stands in any other
example, of the monstrously wicked Antiochus                 relation to the world but in that of judgment, never
Epiphanes. The New Dispensation, however, is the             in an attitude of grace. To be sure, our Lord is
dispensation of the Christ. Now Christ has come,             coming quickly. He is in a hurry, a tremendous hurry.
born in Bethlehem, suffered,, died, is risen again, and      He prays what we read in John 17 : 24. He has no time
glorified. The shadows and types of the old day have         to lose. All these things must happen, and they must
been replaced by their Reality. And, even as the New         happen quickly. This King of kings and Lord of lords
Dispensation is the dispensation of the Christ, so it is     has His heart set upon the renewal of all things. He is
also the age of the antichrist, even as John says: now       not losing any time, is not delaying, but He is rushing
there are many antichrists.  So; He is coming through-       things, and that all the more as the end nears. Indeed,
out the ages. His final coming cannot occur until all        "I am coming quickly."
things have been accomplished as determined by the                                 * *  * * *
sovereign will of our God. And He is coming through-           The words of this text: "Even so, come, Lord
out this last hour because He is realizing all these         Jesus," are the response of the Church of God. This is
things and causing them to happen.                           hardly true of the church today. Carnality and
   Two things characterize this coming. First, it is         materialism are rampant today. We live in a day and
sure. We read: "Surely, I come (am coming) quickly."         age of the lust of the eyes and of the flesh and of the


148                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


greatness of life. Love for pleasure and amusement           world without war would be far more terrible than a
and a seeking of the things below are the order of the       world at war; we know it would be terrible if these
day. There is money for pleasure, conveniences and           signs were not to come. And when they come in the
luxuries, but the cause of God's covenant, in the            light of Holy Writ, we will experience a thrill, a
church and in the school, often goes a-begging. But,         throbbing of the heart and `soul, because they are the
this is not all. Today the truth of our text is also         rumblings of Him Who is coming quickly.
actually denied by what calls itself Church. One actu-         This also determines our calling. As individuals, in
ally had the boldness to say that to say Christ is coming    all our walk of life, as parents and children, as adults
soon is the worst thing that can  be.told the Church of      in all our contacts in the midst of the world, we will,
God! Today the Church, instead of preaching the              of course, do what our hands find to do, but we will
gospel of this text, is actually preaching a social          long for that coming, speak of it, do nothing to
gospel, concerning itself with fighting poverty, rac-        interfere with our expectation of it. However, this
ism, racial discrimination, wars and  rumours of war,        calling also concerns us as churches. This longing
juvenile delinquency. Of course, we must deal with           must characterize all our preaching and teaching. It
these things. But today this is being done without the       must characterize all our work as officebearers, also
cross of Calvary, and as the realization of the king-        in the year that lies before us. Always we must be
dom of God and of Christ in the earthly sense of the         watching upon the walls of Sion, constantly alerting
word. Today the Church is not busying itself, cares          the people of God to this coming of the Lord, and
not to busy itself with the coming of our Lord Jesus         warning against all modern day efforts to deny this
Christ upon the clouds of heaven, refuses to see in all      blessed coming in the humanitarian sense of the
these ills and  catastrophies the signs of His coming.       word. Indeed, how serious, tremendously serious is
       And what can we say about ourselves? Are our          this implied admonition in this word of God!
hearts and minds filled with His coming, His coming                                *****
soon?  ,We live in ominously serious times; the signs of       Finally, what motivates this response of the
His coming are being fulfilled before our very eyes.         Church? Indeed, the Church of God prays this. That
Do we live consciously in the anticipation of that           the church today engages in a social gospel, prays not
coming? Do we consider what we, especially our               for the coming of Jesus Christ, is surely because it is
young people and children, may be compelled to               carnal. And our failure to do so is surely rooted in the
experience? Are we pilgrims and strangers here below,        same reason. This longing here is expressed by  the
or have we settled rather permanently in this evil and       Church, the bride of verse 17, by them who thirst and
carnal world?                                                long for the salvation of God in Christ Jesus.
       "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Literally we read:         What is this motivation? We read: Amen, come,
"Amen, come, Lord Jesus." Amen, even so, truly,              Lord Jesus. This Coming One is our Lord Jesus. As
come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Thus it truly is. There is no        Jesus He is our Saviour. That He is our Lord means
doubt about it. Come, Lord Jesus. Here we have the           that we belong to Him, are His property, body and
Church's expression of its sincere longing and desire        soul, now and forever. He is coming quickly, our
for the coming of the Lord. Indeed, the Church does          Saviour Lord. And if we know our sin and guilt, and
not pray, long for the signs as such, such as wars,          the hopelessness of it,  and'the enmity of a world that
earthquakes, pestilences, etc. Nevertheless, we pray:        lies in darkness, and that in this earthly house of our
Come, Lord Jesus. 0, negatively, this certainly              tabernacle, this body of sin, we  shall.never be fully
implies that we will have no part of any social gospel       delivered, and that we long for that deliverance, this
so common and  preva.ent today. We will not ad-              prayer, motivated by that desire, will be very real,
vocate any  4  lrthly  curr- apart  from the cross and       very intense. Then, as the bride of our  L.>rd Jesus
blood of  Chn;t. We will not join the world in its           Christ, we, too, shall say, in unison with the Church
efforts to  t..itablish  a utopia here below, but we will    of all ages: Amen, come, Lord Jesus.
raise a warning and condemning finger against all such
endeavors. Positively, we will long for the coming of          Behold, I am coming quickly.
the Lord. We do not desire, crave these signs as such.         Amen, come, Lord Jesus.
But, when they come we will rejoice. We know that a



                   Have a BlesseId Christ-Centered New Year.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           149


EDITORIAL
Prig H.C. Hoeksema





                          John Calvin and Errol1 Hulse


  In his recent articles  in  Reformation Today  (Sept.-      wills in God: one will according to which God wills
Oct., 1978) Pastor  Errol1 Hulse attempts to leave the        the salvation of all men, and one will according to
impression that his double-track theology is sup-             which God wills the salvation of the elect only. This
ported by John Calvin. More than once in the course           theory of two divine wills is basic to the entire
of his writings Mr. Hulse appeals to passages from            doctrine of the well-meant offer of salvation, as
Calvin's Commentaries.                                        Pastor Hulse very well knows and as he teaches. But
  With respect to this matter of quotations from              Calvin himself explicitly denies such a twofold will of
John Calvin, I wish to make a few introductory                God, as can be easily demonstrated from his writings.
remarks, first of all.                                        Moreover, the late Professor John Murray, to whose
                                                              writings Pastor Hulse appeals as authoritative, admits
  In the first place, as I indicated in my previous           in this connection that Calvin insists upon the sim-
editorial on this subject, we must remember that              plicity of the will of God; and Professor Murray
John Calvin is not the court of last appeal. Calvin           admittedly parts ways with Calvin on this subject.
could be incorrect in his exegesis, and he himself
would be the, first to admit this. Scripture itself is the      But now let us turn to some specifics.
court of last appeal, even as Scripture is its own              First of all, what does John Calvin teach concern-
interpreter. Hence, when Calvin is incorrect, I do not        ing II Peter  3:9? Pastor Hulse quotes from  Cabin's
hesitate to disagree with his exegesis. In the second         Commentary  on this verse, and at the same time he
place, for many reasons it should not surprise us that        expresses scorn for the interpretation which would
Calvin would be upon occasion mistaken in his                 confine the passage to the elect. Now even Hulse's
exegesis. Not only was he an extremely busy man and           quotation from  Calvin's Commentary  is not as uni-
a prolific writer, but he also stood at the beginning of      versalist as Hulse seems to think. But we will let that
the movement of the Reformation, when Scripture               pass. What does Calvin say on this subject in  CaZvin's
again came into its rightful place in the church. It is       Calvinism? In his treatise on The Secret Providence of
not surprising, therefore, that Calvin himself found it       God,  p. 276, we read:
necessary to clarify and to correct positions which he              There is, perhaps, a stronger color in some of the
assumed earlier in his career. Thus, with respect to             words of Peter, which might have better suited your
the subject under discussion, that of the so-called              purposes, where he says that God is "not wJ.ling that
offer of the gospel, Calvin in several instances speaks          any should perish, but that all should come to
more clearly and correctly in his later treatises which          repentence" (2 Pet. iii. 9). And if there be anything
have been published under the title  Calvin's Calvin-            in the first member of the passage that seems difficult
ism.  In the third place, it should be kept in mind that         of comprehension at first sight, it is made perfectly
the term  offer  in Calvin does not have the same                plain by the explanation which follows. For, in as far
significance as it does in today's usage. In Calvin this         as God "willeth that all should come unto repen-
                                                                 tance," in so far He willeth that no one should .perish;
term, as derived from the Latin, simply means "to                but, in order that they may thus be received of God,
present, to exhibit or set forth." Finally, Pastor Hulse         they must "come." But the Scripture everywhere
should remember that, whatever Calvin has written                affirms, that in order that they may "come," they
on this subject, he does not hold to the theory of two           must be prevented of God; that is, God must come


150                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


       first to them to draw them; for until they are drawn          Now, I would ask, did the same will of God stand the
       of God, they will remain where they are, given up to          same from the beginning of the world or not? For if
       the obstinacy of the flesh.                                   God willed, or wished,  that His truth should be
  Repeatedly- in his articles Pastor Hulse refers to                 known unto  all men,  how was it  that He did not
Matthew  23:37, "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that                   proclaim and make known His law to the Gentiles
                                                                     also? why did He confine the light of life within the
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent                narrow limits of Judea? And what does Moses mean
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy                       when he says, "For what nation is there so great who
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chick-                hatb God so nigh unto them, as tire Lord our God is
ens under her wings, and ye would not!" In one                       in all things that we call upon Him for? And what
paragraph Hulse simply dismisses as a distortion the                 nation is  there so great, that  hatb statutes and
interpretation which would make "the children" in                   judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set
this verse apply to the elect. Elsewhere Hulse himself               before you this day?" (Deut. iv. 7.8) The Divine
distorts the text by conveniently making the text                    lawgiver surely here means that there was no other
read,  ". . . how oft would I have gathered  YOU as a                nation which had statutes and laws, by which it was
hen gathereth her chicks under her wings, but ye                     ruled, like unto that nation. And what does Moses
would not." (Italics added) But what does Calvin                    here but extol the peculiar privilege of the race of
write? In  Calvin's Calvinism,  in the treatise on  The              Abraham? To this responds the high encomium of
                                                                     David, pronounced on the same nation, "He bath not
Eternal Predestination  of  God,  Calvin quotes Augus-               dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments,
tine with approval as follows, pp. 104, 105:                         they have not known them" (l?s. cxlvii. 20). Nor must
          This passage of the apostle (1 Tim. ii. 4) was long       we disregard-. then express reason assigned by the
       ago brought forward by the Pelagians, and handled            Psalmist, "Because the Lord loved thy fathers, there-
       against us  with all their might.  What Augustine            fore He chose their seed after them" (Deut. iv. 37).
       advanced in reply to them in many parts of his works,        And why did God  thus  choose  them? Not because
       I think it unnecessary to bring forward on the present        they were, in themselves, more excellent than others,
       occasion. I  will only adduce one passage,  which            but because it pleased God to choose them, "for His
       clearly and briefly proves how unconcernedly he              peculiar people." What? Are we to suppose that the
       despised their objection now in question. "When our           apostle did not know that he himself was prohibited
       Lord complains (says he) that though  He wished to           by  the Holy Spirit from "preaching the Word" in
       gather the children of Jerusalem as a hen gatheretb          Asia, and from passing over into Bithynia? But as the
       her chickens under her wings, but she would not, are         continuance of this argument would render us two
       we to consider that the will of God was overpowered          prolix, we will be content with taking one position
       by a number of weak men, so that He Who was                  more: that God, after having thus lighted the candle
       Almighty God could not do what He wished or willed           of eternal life to the Jews alone, suffered the Gentiles
       to do? If so, what is to become of that omnipotence          to wander for many ages in the darkness of ignorance;
       by which He did `whatsoever pleased Him in heaven            and that, at length, this special gift and blessing were
       and in earth'? Moreover, who will be found so                promised to the Church: "But the Lord shall arise
       profanely mad as to say that God cannot convert the          upon thee; and His glory shall be seen upon thee"
       evil wills of men, which He pleases, when He pleases,        (Isa. lx. 2). Now let Pigbius boast, if he can, that God
       and as He pleases, to good? Now, when He does this,          willetb all men to be saved! The above arguments;
       He does  in mercy;  and when He  doetb it not,  in           founded on  the Scriptures, prove that even  the
       judgment He doeth it not."                                   external preaching of the doctrine of salvation, which
                                                                    is very far inferior to the illumination of the Spirit,
  Another example. Pastor Hulse writes as follows:                  was not made of God common to all men.
"Does God desire the salvation of all the lost; that is
everyone of them? I Timothy  2:4 and Ezekiel 33: 11                A little later Calvin explains (pp. 105, 106) that
declare as much and our Lord's ministry confirms the             this text refers not to individuals, but to orders of
same." I could easily demonstrate by means of a                  men.
lengthy quotation that Calvin disagrees with Pastor                In the same paragraph in which Pastor Hulse refers
Hulse with regard to both passages: for Calvin deals             to I Timothy  2:4 he distorts the text in John  12:40
with both of them in  Calvin's Calvinism.  But I will            by separating it from vs. 39. Writes he: "The day of
quote only part of what Calvin writes concerning I               opportunity was over. Salvation was now hid from their
Timothy  2:4, pp. 103, 104.                                      eyes. The judicial blindness from God was upon
                                                                 them. Their stubbornness had led to God Himself
          The difficulty which, according to Pigbius, lies in    hardening their hearts and blinding their eyes (John
       that other place of Paul, where the apostle affirms
       that "God will have ail men to be saved, and come         12:40)." However the text presents matters just the
       unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. ii. 4), is       other way around: "Therefore they could not believe,
       solved in one moment, and by one question, namely,        because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their
       How does God wish all men to come to the knowl-           eyes, and hardened their hearts; that they should not
       edge of the truth? For Paul couples this salvation and    see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
       this  coming to the knowledge of the truth together.      and be converted, and I should heal them."  In-


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        151



cidentally, if Pastor Hulse had paid attention to this              that faith is a special gift, and that the wisdom of
context, he would never have reached his universalist               Christ is too high and too deep to come within the
explanation of the statement in vs. 47 that Christ                  compass of man's understanding. The unbelief of the
came "to save the world." But what does John                        world, therefore, ought not to astonish us, if even the
Calvin write about this. passage? We find this in                   wisest and most acute of men fail to believe. Hence,
Calvin's Calvinism, pp..81, 82:                                     unless we would elude the plain and confessed
                                                                    meaning of the Evangelist, that few receive the
      Now let us listen to the Evangelist John. He will be          Gospel, we must fully conclude that the cause is the
   no ambiguous interpreter of this same passage of the             will  of  God;  and that the outward sound of that
   prophet Isaiah. "But though (says John) Jesus had                Gospel strikes the ear in vain until God is pleased to
   done. so many miracles for them, yet they believed               touch by it the heart within.
   not on Him, that the saying of Esaias the prophet
   might be fulffied which he spake, Lord, who hath               The reader will note that all this is quite different
   believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of             from Pastor Hulse's philosophy about "judicial blind-
   the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not             ness from God." Incidentally, in the paragraph im-
   believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath
   blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts," etc.         mediately before the above quotation, Calvin deals
   Now, most certainly John does not here give us to            with this same passage from Isaiah 6 as it is quoted in
   understand that the Jews were prevented from be-             Acts  28:25, 26; and he concludes his remarks as
   lieving by their sinfulness. For though this be quite        follows : "Some persons will here erroneously and
   true in one sense, yet the cause of their not believing      ignorantly conclude that  the cause  and beginning of
   must be traced to a far higher source. The secret and        this obduracy in the Jews was their malicious wicked-
   eternal purpose and counsel of God must be viewed            ness. Just as if there were no deeper and more occult
   as the original cause of their blindness and unbelief. It    cause of the wickedness itself, namely, the original
   perplexed, in no small degree, the ignorant and the          corruption of nature! And as if they did not remain
   weak, when they heard that there was no place for            sunk in this corruption  because,  being reprobated by
   Christ among the people of God (for the Jews were            the secret council of God before they were born, they
    such). John explains the reason by showing that none        were left undelivered!"
   believe save those to whom it is given, and that there
   are few to whom God reveals His arm. This other                Let me conclude with one more brief quotation,
   prophecy concerning  "the arm of the Lord," the              found on p. 118 of  Calvin's Calvinism:  "For as to
   Evangelist weaves into his argument to prove the             that distinction commonly held in the schools con-
   same great truth. And his words have a momentous             cerning the 
   weight. He says,                                                             twofold  will  of God, such distinction is
                     "Therefore, they could rro t believe."
   Wherefore, let men torture themselves as long as they        by no means admitted by us." Quotations of this
   will with reasoning, the cause of the difference made        kind can be multiplied, but let these suffice as
   - why God does not reveal His arm equally to all -           illustrations of Calvin's doctrine. Pastor Hulse should
   lies hidden in His own eternal decree. The whole of          choose, and should not try to follow an Arminian
   the Evangelist's argument amounts evidently to this:         track and a Calvinistic track at the same time.


My Sheep Hear My Voice



                                        Letter to Timothy


                                            January 1, 1979
Dear Timothy,
  In our last letter we had turned to a discussion of           deacons provided that they were not considered as
the work of deacons. I answered in part your questions          elders and given the same authority as elders. But I
concerning the recent decision of the Christian                 did not finish this question: we talked about the use
Reformed Church to allow women into the office of               of the term "deacon" and the term "deaconess" in


 152                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



 Scripture and found that the argument of the Chris-         even those who insist that women are permitted to
 tian Reformed Church was fallacious on this point.          hold office do not question the interpretation of the
 But there is another aspect to this question which we       passages so much; they rather simply relegate these
 must now discuss.                                           passages to the dust pile of outmoded practices. They
   The whole argument of the decision of the Chris-          were relevant for Paul's day when women were
 tian Reformed Church quite obviously hinges on the          considered inferior; but they are no longer of interest
 erroneous idea that deacons do not exercise authority       or concern to us now that we have learned that
 within the Church. `That this is the argument (al-          women and men are on a plane of equality.
 though it is not explicitly stated), is evident from          The two passages read,: "Let your women keep
 the fact that the decision refuses to allow women to        silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto
 serve as elders or ministers, and refuses to  allow a       them to speak; but they are commanded to be under
 congregation to install deaconesses if these women          obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn
 should in any way share in the work of elders or            any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it
 possess in some way the authority which elders              is a shame for women to speak in the church." I Cor.
 possess.                                                    14:34, 35. "Let the woman learn in silence with all
   This position is by no means the position of all          subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to
 within the Christian Reformed Church. There are             usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." I
those who take the position that women may func-             Timothy2:11, 12
 tion in all these offices; and they insist that the           These texts are clear. There are a couple of points
 Churches grievously err when they deny these offices        which we can briefly notice. 1) They both speak of
 to women. But there are others (and they prevailed at       the Church, and this is usually agreed upon by all
 Synod) who believe that women may not serve as              commentators. The passage in Corinthians clearly
 elders and ministers, but may serve as deacons,             speaks of the Church, for it is mentioned in so many
 because there is no authority exercised in the office       words: "Let your women keep silence in the churches
 of deacon.       -.                                         . . . for it is a shame for women to speak in the
   To put it a little differently: there are passages in     church." This is also true of the passage in Timothy
 Scripture which speak of women exercising author-           however. The whole chapter deals with practices in
 ity in the Church. But there are differences of             the Church. In the first verses already Paul is talking
 interpretation concerning these passages. The two           about prayers which ought to be uttered in the
 clearest passages are I Corinthians  14:34, 35 and I        church services which Timothy as a minister of the
 Timothy 2: 11, 12. Those who do not believe that            gospel is called to lead. Never has the Church applied
 women ought to be elders and ministers appeal to            this passage to life in general. Paul suffers not a
 these passages as decisive. Those who do maintain           woman to teach; but no one, to my knowledge, has
 that women may also function in the church as elders        ever said that a woman may not teach her children in
 and ministers consider these passages to be stipula-        the home; that a woman may not teach in Christian
 tions which apply to Paul's day, but that they have         Schools; that a woman may not teach in Sunday
 no normative force for the Church of today.                 School, provided that the Sunday School is kept
                                                             separate from the institutional life of the Church. 2)
   So there are three positions: 1) Those who main-          They both enjoin women to silence. That is, while
 tain that women may not be officebearers at all; 2)         both enjoin upon women submission to authority,
 Those who maintain that women may be deaconesses            both also expressly state that women must be silent;
 but not.ministers and elders; 3) Those who maintain         They may not teach. And, their subjection to author-
 that women may serve in any office.                         ity within the Church is expressly described as silence
   We are primarily concerned now with the second            in the official and institutional life of the church. 3)
 group. And we are concerned with that group because         Paul states in Corinthians that this is not merely a
 their position is, apparently, that the office of deacon    rule which he thinks appropriate for the circum-
 is an office without authority. So we have to show          stances in which the churches of his day find them-
 two things. We have to show first of all that the two       selves, but he specifically states that this is a matter
 passages to which we referred above specifically deny       of the law: "as also saith the law." The whole
 women authority in the Church; and we have to show          normative force of the law of God is at stake here.
 that the office of deacon is also. an office of author-       This teaches therefore, without doubt, that women
 ity. If these two things can be shown, then we must         may occupy no position of authority within the
 conclude that Scripture forbids women officebearers.        Church  - especially not a position of authority in
   That the two passages referred to earlier deny            which they  speak.  And so the question is: Is this true
 women a position of authority in the Church is              of the office of deacons? Everyone recognizes that it
 admitted by almost every one. So clear is this that         is true' of the office of elders and of the office of


                                           I
                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    153



ministers. But is it also true of the office of deacons?    Word of God to those in need? Why must a deacon
That is the question which needs yet to be answered.        show that he knows how to rule his children and his
  There are several reasons why we must take the            ,own house if he is not going to exercise authority in
position that also deacons exercise authority in the        the Church anyway? No, we must conclude that
church and are called to speak the Word of God. We          the office of deacon also involves speaking authorita-
shall take the time to enumerate these reasons and          tively the Word of God.
briefly discuss them.                                         These passages of Scripture are decisive. If women
   1) There are two places where the Scriptures speak       are to keep silence in the Church and not usurp
of the qualifications of deacons, and both places           authority over the man, then it surely follows that
mention qualifications which refer to a special office      they cannot function in the office of deacon.
of authority and bringing the Word. The first such            But there is more.
passage is Acts 6: l-7 where we have the record of the         2) That deacons speak the Word of God authorita-
institution of the office. The part of that passage         tively also follows from the very nature of the office.
which is of immediate interest to us is vs. 3: "Where-      It is a fundamental principle of all Reformed Church
fore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of          polity that Christ and Christ alone is the Officebearer
honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,           in His Church. This is expressly taught in many
whom we may appoint over this business." Now it             places, but Peter says this in so many words in I Peter
ought to be clear to anyone that if these men were          2:25: "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are
entrusted with no other work than to provide suf-           now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your
ficient food for the Grecian widows who. were               souls." That Christ is the only Officebearer in His
neglected in the daily ministrations, they would not        Church means simply that all the care of the Church
have to be men who were full of the Holy Spirit and         is exercised by Christ. He alone provides for all the
wisdom. It takes neither the Holy Spirit nor wisdom         needs of His people. He alone, as the good Shepherd,
to see to it that certain widows have enough to eat.        feeds and nourishes them. He alone saves and redeems
These qualifications speak clearly of the fact that         them. He alone exercises all authority over them.  And
more was required of. them. They were to have a             He does this in such a way that He is their Prophet
work which they could perform only if they were full        and Priest and King. He feeds them with His Word.
of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. It is interesting to      He rules over them and disciplines them. He cares for
note, perhaps in passing, that at least two of these        all their needs. He makes their griefs and sorrows,
deacons also were evangelists who preached the gos-         their sicknesses and poverty, their trouble and distress
pel. Stephen and Philip both preached. And while this       the object of His sympathetic and merciful care.
office of evangelist was unique in a certain sense,
nevertheless, the early Church apparently did not             But this care of Christ is exercised over all His
think it strange that two deacons should preach. If I       sheep through the offices which He has ordained in
were arguing for women elders and ministers, I would        the Church, for He is in heaven and we are on earth.
certainly appeal to this passage. I would argue: if         We shall someday be in heaven, and then we shall
Scripture permits women deacons, then we have no            have no further need of ministers, elders, and deacons
reason to forbid the offices of elders and ministers to     for we shall be with Christ. But while we are on earth,
women because it is clear from Acts that the two            we have this need. Christ provides it.
New Testament deacons also preached.                           But the authority which He exercises through the
                                                            offices is exercised through all the offices. There are
   The same is true of the passage in I Timothy 3           not two offices which are authoritative and one
where Paul specifically speaks of the qualifications of     which is not. This is absurd. If one is not then it is
deacons. Among other things he mentions: "grave,            simply not an office in the Church. But all three are
not doubletongued," "holding the mystery of the             offices, instituted by Christ, through which Christ
-faith in a pure conscience," "ruling their children and    comes to us in  all our need.
their own houses well." Now, again, if the work of
deacons is only to distribute money, why are these            There are a. few more reasons yet why we must
qualifications listed which have nothing to do with         consider the office of deacon authoritative; but we
this work? Why must a deacon be grave and not               shall have to defer discussion of them till our next
doubletongued if he does not "speak" in the church          exchange of  corresppndence.
anyway? Why must a deacon hold the mystery of the                                            Fraternally in Christ,
faith in a pure conscience if he is not to bring the                                         H. Hanko


154                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


FROM HOLY WRIT





                             Exposition of Galatians
                                           (Galatians  4:21-31 Continued)

                                                 By Rev. G. Lubbers





ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN OF ISAAC'S                          reading given is "ye are"  (humeis este).  In the first
BIRTH  WE (Galatians 4:28)                                   instance Paul emphasizes that what is true of Isaac's
  Paul is continuing to show the allegorical meaning         birth is true of the entire church, all the elect in
and implication of the birth of the two sons of              Christ; in the second reading Paul emphasizes that
Abraham, the one from the bond-woman and the                 what is true of Isaac's birth in its. allegorical interpre-
other from the free-woman. The one son was born a            tation is true of these Galatian believers, these
slave child and the other was born a free man, with          "brethren." Now this discrepancy in reading is not of
the rights of  sonship;  he is born an heir with right to    great moment. Whether the one reading or the other
the inheritance of father Abraham, the right to the          is chosen, the truth of the Gospel remains that all
kingdom of heaven!                                           God's redeemed children, born from above, are born
                                                             according to the Spirit, as was Isaac by promise. For
  Now this allegorical implication is here applied to        in both verses 27 and 3 1 we read of "our" and "we,"
the New Testament church of Christ, called out of            the first person, referring to the entire church.  We are
every tribe and nation, the "many children of the            not children of the bondwoman, the Jerusalem which
barren woman," who must rejoice with a loud and              is now, but we are children of the free, Jerusalem
victorious exaltation to God. Only those who belong          which is above, born from above. (See John  3:3)  All
to this church of Jesus Christ are heirs of the              God's elect children are born by water and by Spirit.
kingdom of heaven. The children who are born after           And to this "all" the Galatian believers also belong!
the flesh are "cast out." (Gen. 21: 10) Jesus says of        We, therefore, prefer the reading given in our KJV of
those who come to him, hungering and thirsting, that         the Bible!
they shall never be cast out. (John  6:37) The LORD
cast out the heathen before Israel and gave them the         THE SON OF THE BOND-WOMAN CAST OUT
land for a perpetual possession. (Ex.  34:24;  Josh.         (`Galatians   4:29,  30)
13:12;  Psalm  78:15,  80:8) That was His mighty                There is something in this history of Abraham and
judgment in which he vindicated His people, fulfilled        his two sons which fills my heart with deepest awe
His promise, and rewarded the wicked. (Gen.  9:25;           and reverence. We stand here before the mystery of
15; 16) When the Lord casts out He drives away from          God's sovereign good-pleasure. He will have mercy
His presence. For such is the meaning of  .the term          upon whom He has mercy, as was made known to
"cast out" in the Hebrew. It means to cause to               Moses at the mount of God. (Ex. 33: 19; Rom. 9: 14,
depart. Such is not our lot. We are the sons who may         15) And here we are told: nay, but who art thou, o
abide forever in God's house as sons. (John 8  :35)          man, that answereth against God. (Rom. 9: 19) We
  There are two different readings here in the text in       take the shoes from off our feet, and bow before God
Galatians  4:28 in the Greek text. Our KJV follows           as did Paul in Romans 9: l-5. We shall keep this latter
the reading "we are"  (eemeis  esmen), while the other       in mind when we write these paragraphs.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  155



  Our text speaks of the divine oracle as it proceeded     she is cast out upon the Word of God-through Sarah.
from the lips of Sarah.. Surely, Sarah was not uttering    She was a mere "bond-woman" who had no rights of
her own selfish feelings, hurt maternal, natural feel-     a wife with a husband. Such is the allegorical meaning
ings, when she uttered these fiery words to her            here. We do well to "hear" what the  lawsays. (Gal.
husband, Abraham; but she was uttering what the            4:21)                                     --i
Holy Spirit gave her to say. She was turned into             However, there is here more which we-must notice.
God's prophet by God Himself. Does not Paul say            The son of this bond-woman too must go. His basic
here in Galatians  4:30, "but what saith  the Scrip-       attitude revealed itself against the free-born son, even
ture."  The Holy Scripture of God speaks clearly, and      as that of his mother revealed itself against the
we had better listen carefully. When we read Genesis       mother of the free-born son, Sarah. Ishmael was now
21: 10-l 2 we might be tempted to say: what saith the      a lad of some fourteen years old or even more. The
angry Sarah, and might begin to try to show that she       time had come to wean Isaac, and Abraham makes a
of all women had the least reason to talk. Was she not     feast in his honor. He made a "great feast" in
the one who suggested to Abraham that  .he take            thankfulness to God that He had fulfilled the promise
Hagar, her Egyptian handmaiden to wife, to raise up        to him: "Sarah shall have a son at the appointed
seed upon her knees? Had she not thought that in this      time." Here was a son for whom he had waited in
way the promise to Abraham could be fulfilled? Was         hope against hope, and from whom would be born a
it not she who had master-minded this ill-planned          great people, as the stars of the heaven in multitude.
birth of Ishmael from Hagar, the bond-woman? Had           Here was the son, whom God had raised as it were
not the free-woman erred here? Yea, she had griev-         from the dead. And the banner of faith and hope was
ously gone astray. And the LORD had not given her          waving on Abraham's premises and tent as he was a
much joy in this; she had no laughter. Only ill came       stranger in a strange land. It is in honor of the great
forth from it. How could Sarah, as a mere woman,           son and heir of this father of all believers. (Rom.
command such a word to Abraham, and that                   4: 17-21) It was Isaac's day, and it was more than
Abraham would believe? Was Abraham twice the               Ishmael could take. Ishmael comes to the point of the
mere tool of his wife? Was she out of her role of          parting of the ways and to the point of no return.
calling Abraham her "lord"? (Gen. 18: 12; I Peter
3:6) Not at all. Sarah speaks the word of the LORD           Notice very carefully what Paul says here in  Gala-
as the free-woman, whose children will be born by          tians  4:29. We read, "he that was born after the flesh
the Spirit and who belong to the Jerusalem which is        persecuted  him that was born after the Spirit." Now
in heaven.                                                 the text in Genesis says that Ishmael was "mocking"
                                                           Isaac. The term for mocking in the Hebrew means: to
  Here we take the shoes from off our feet once            laugh at, to hold in derision and scorn. And this
more!                                                      "mocking" was what expressed Ishmael's spiritual
  First of all the text says that the "bond-woman"         attitude.toward  the fulfilment of the promise of God,
must be  cast out.  There had been, first of all, the      which fulfilment had utterly failed in the birth of
crisis in Abraham's home between this bond-woman           Ishmael. And Ishmael knew that he was merely a son
and free-woman as soon as the bond-woman had               of a slave woman in the house of Abraham, his
conceived by Abraham according to the flesh. It was        natural father. He was not an heir in the house. And
then that we read that "her mistress was despised in       he deeply resented this "great feast," this grand
her eyes." Instead of gladly submitting as a hand-         commemoration of the fulfilment of God's promise.
maiden slave, she has a deep attitude of spiritual         His laughter to scorn was what expressed the attitude
contempt for Sarah. She must have been informed by         of the "persecutor." The form of the persecution in
Sarah and Abraham concerning the purpose of her            this case was laughter and derision at the joy of
having been given to Abraham. She would serve that         salvation which was expressed in the birth of Isaac.
purpose, not for the sake of Sarah, but for her own        God did the impossible for man. Isaac is the very
exaltation. Then she fled from Sarah, when Sarah           embodiment of this miracle. And Ishmael knew it
asserted her authority as mistress, and is told by the     right well, as did also Hagar his mother. And Hagar
Lord to return to her mistress and to subject herself.     must have concurred in this "persecution" of the
Although it seems that Sarah is unjustly severe, Hagar     free-born son.
must return. She must give birth to Ishmael in               And now both must go!
`Abraham's family, and he must grow up to be a
"son"  of'Abraham, a son, born after the flesh. (Gen.        "Cast out this bond-woman and her son." This
16:7-l 6) But the time comes some fourteen years           Abraham must do in the name of the Lord, and not
later when this woman must be "cast out" by                in Sarah's name. Does not the Lord say unto Abra-
Abraham, as head of the- church. She is not "di-           ham, "let it not be grievous in thy sight because of
vorced" by Abraham, for they were never married;           the lad, and because of the bond-woman: in all that


 156                                         THE S T AN DARD   BEARER


 Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice"?        princes according to their nations. (Gen. 2  1:20, 21)
 (Gen. 21: 12) Such is the word of the Lord to              Yes, Ishmael died in the presence of all his people.
 Abraham, the father of all believers. It is God Himself    (Gen. 25: 18) It is possible that the "archer," the
 speaking through Sarah. And this is called by Paul         warlike man, even died in battle. The KJV writes in
 "the Scripture."                                           the margin "fell" before all the people. Thus died
   Why must Ishmael go? Ishmael is not an heir-child        Ishmael as one "cast out" because he persecuted him
 of Abraham. He is a mere slave son. He must go. He         that was born according to the Spirit. He died an
 must be "cast out." That is the word which stands.         enemy of the people of God, the head of a great
 And, as we have seen above, this "casting out" is the      nation. Out of this nation shall some elect be saved
 lot of the wicked. It means to be cast out of the          "for Abraham's sake." That Ishmael is cast out is no
 kingdom of heaven, being shut out from the tender          mere allegory. It is historic fact! (Gen. 21: 13; Acts
 mercies of the Lord.                                       2:ll)
   Someone will say: this was all true only "allegor-          This lesson of the history of the two sons of
 ically" of Hagar and Ishmael. And then reference is        Abraham the Galatian believers, and we, must take to
 made to the fact that God says of Ishmael, "for I will     heart. Those who will to be under law must hear the
 make him a great nation." (Gen. 21: 13) He will do         "law" as this is contained in "the Scripture" in
 this for Abraham's sake, for he is thy seed. (Gen.         which God reveals to us what happens to all the sons
 21: 13) Yes, God did make a great and mighty nation        of the bond-woman, who do not ever abide in the
 of Ishmael. Personally Ishmael grew and dwelt in the       house, made free by Christ Himself on the Cross.
 wilderness and became an archer. He became a war-          (John  8:35, 36) They and we must beware lest we be
 like man, a bow-shooter, dwelling in the wilderness.       "cast out" of the house by clinging to beggarly
 And he returns to Egypt, the habitat of his mother,        principles which cannot help the helpless and dead
 for a wife. And he does become a great nation, twelve      sinner.

TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE





                            The Reformed Doctrine
                                       of Reprobation
                                              By Rev. David Engelsma




' . The relationship between reprobation and election         Article 15 of the first head of doctrine is the article
is this: they are one, inseparable decree, not two,         in which the Canons explicitly confess reprobation.
separable decrees. This is the clear teaching of the        Reprobation is not presented as a second, distinct,
Canons of Dordt, although this is sometimes over-           separate decree alongside election. Rather, it is pre-
looked. In  1,6, the Canons state that the receiving and    sented as part of the decree of election: "not all, but
not receiving of faith proceeds from God's eternal          some only are elected, while others are passed by in
decree  (not "decrees," in the plural); according to        the eternal decree." Now, reprobation is not only a
this  decree  (not "these decrees"), He softens the         passing by  - "preterition," as Reformed theology
hearts of the elect and leaves the non-elect to their       calls it; it is also a positive determination to damn
own wickedness. The conclusion of this Article              those passed by. Nevertheless, this passing by of some
speaks of "the  decree  (not `decrees') of election and     men in the decree of election is reprobation  - those
reprobation."                                               so passed by are, by virtue of this fact, set apart for


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   157



destruction. Thus, the Canons teach reprobation as           Canons say in his gravamen. He writes that his
one decree with election, so that the denial of              gravamen will show that "The `express testimony of
reprobation radically affects election, indeed  destroys     sacred Scripture,' I/15, which the Canons claim teach
the Reformed doctrine of election.                           the doctrine of reprobation is in fact not to be found
  "But this is merely what the Canons teach, "ex-            in the Scriptures." Again, "In this gravamen the
claim the enemies of reprobation," and we are exact-         following paragraphs examine whether the data which
ly criticizing the Canons. The Canons err by being           the Canons themselves adduce as `the express testi-
logical in this matter of the relationship of election       mony of sacred Scripture' in support of the doctrine
and reprobation."                                            of reprobation do indeed carry the weight of evidence
                                                             they are alleged to contain." Having looked at a few
  "The Canons are too logical"  - this is the accusa-        passages, Boer declares, "This concludes the examina-
tion. When this charge is leveled against the Canons,        tion of `the express testimony of sacred Scripture' for
some chickens are coming home to roost in Reformed           the doctrine of reprobation as given by the Synod of
circles. For a long time, men have disparaged, and           Dort itself." Because he has made the Canons say
even condemned, sound, logical thinking in theology.         that there is express testimony in Scripture for
Now, men stand up and tell us, with a straight face,         reprobation, Boer thinks that his work is over when
that God can choose some men out of the human                he has explained away a few texts that speak explicit-
race, without rejecting the rest. (I do not think that       ly of reprobation.
my wife would appreciate a logic that would allow
me to choose her as my wife out of all the women of            But the Canons do not say this. The Canons say
the world, without rejecting all the others as my            that it is the express testimony of sacred Scripture
wife.)                                                       that  not all, but some only are elected,  while others
                                                             are passed by in the eternal decree. In order to
  The Canons are logical, as is all truth, but this is       overthrow reprobation, therefore, Boer must not only
not why they teach reprobation. The Canons teach             explain away the texts that `concentrate on reproba-
the relationship between election and reprobation,           tion, but he must also go to work on all the passages
not because they desire at all cost to be logical, but       in Scripture that teach that some only, not all men,
because they are determined at all cost to be Biblical       are elected. Dr. Boer has a monumental job on his
- Biblical about election. The Canons have read the          hands. To do it, he will have to outlive Methuselah.
Bible and have found there that not all, but some            When he has finished, we will have a new bible. For
only are elected. It is the teaching of Scripture that       this testimony abounds in Scripture. It is impossible
election is the eternal choice of certain, definite          not to see it. If someone says that he cannot see it,
individuals unto salvation, in distinction from other        this only proves that no one is so blind as he who will
individuals who are not elected; election is the choice      not see.
of some, not all. To be sure, election is, first, the
election of Christ. To be sure, election is the election       This testimony is writ large across the pages of the
of Israel-Church, the Body of Christ. But these vital        Old Testament. God chose Israel in distinction from
truths in no way derogate from, much less totally            all the other nations, whom He suffered to walk in
obscure, the equally vital truth that, in Christ, God        their own idolatrous, unrighteous ways, until they
chose certain, definite individuals and that the elect       perished. Moses proclaimed to Israel, "thou art an
Church is composed of a definite, fixed number of            holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy
individuals. Biblical election is personal, individual,      God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto
discriminating, selective; it chooses some, and it           himself, above all people that are upon the face of the
passes others by. The very word that the Holy Spirit         earth"  (Deut.  7:6). This gospel of sovereign, dis-
uses in the New Testament for election expresses this:       criminating grace is preached to elect Israel in the
eklegomai,   `I choose  aut.' Men may not like this; they    context of a promise that God will destroy the
may even think this unfair and go to work to change          nations before Israel and a command to Israel to
the doctrine. There is one thing that they may not           "smite them, and utterly destroy them" (vss. 1, 2).
do: they may not call their invention, "Biblical               In Psalm 147:  19; 20, the Psalmist declares, "He
election."                                                   showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his
  For the doctrine of election as the choosing of            judgments unto Israel.  He hath not dealt so with any
some in distinction from others, and the inseparable         nation., and as for his judgments, they have not
relationship of election and reprobation that follows        known them." This sovereignty of Jehovah is not
from this, is "the express testimony of sacred Scrip-        burdensome to the Psalmist, so that he must needs
ture," as the Canons state in  1,15. We must be clear        lodge a gravamen against it. On the contrary, it is the
on this. The Canons do not say that there is express         cause of a hearty "Hallelujah."
testimony in the Bible for reprobation (although                Election, as the choice of some in distinction from
there certainly is). This is what Harry Boer makes the       others who are rejected, is not only  in  the Old


  158                                            THESTANDARD  BEARER



Testament, here and there; it is fundamental to the               influential book,  Divine Election,  G. C. Berkouwer
  Old Testament's message.                                        never once said, much less stressed, that election is
   `. It is also the express testimony of the New Testa-          the choice. of a certain number of individuals. James
  ment.. Jesus taught, in John 10, that there are some            Daane is bolder. In  his The  Frkedom of God,  he
  who are His sheep, in distinction from others who are           opposes the idea that election is the choice of a
  not His sheep, and that they are  Hi% sheep because             certain number of individuals and remarks that elec-
His Father gave them to Him. For the sheep, He lays               tion is  not.a matter of numbers. Over against this, we
  down His life; to the sheep, He gives faith; to the             simply reply that election  is  a matter of numbers. It is
  sheep, He gives eternal life.            .:                     not only a matter of numbers, but it is a matter of
                                                                  numbers. It is so much a matter of numbers, that the
     Romans 9:  lo-13 teaches that God elected Jacob,             denial that election is the choice of a certain, definite,
  rejecting his twin brother, Esau. This is an illustration       fixed number of individuals is the denial of Biblical
of the assertion of verse 6, that "they are not all               election.
  Israel, which  are. of Israel." God's election of
  Abraham's children was a choice of some in distinc-                A radical difference is noticeable between these
  tion from others.                                               men and the Canons  as regards the truth of election;
                                                                  over and over, the Canons teach that election is the
     This is the testimony of every passage that teaches          choice of a definite number of individuals. (This
  the election of particular persons, e.g., Ephesians  1:4:       indicates that adoption of a gravamen against repro-
  "According as he hath chosen us in him before the               bation will necessitate the revision of the entire
  foundation of the world. . .  ."                                Canons, not only two Articles. The Canons, like the
     The denial of reprobation  .attacks election, and it         seamless robe of Jesus, are of a piece. Pulling out one
  attacks election by denying-that election is the choice         thread  - and that, the thread of predestination  - will
  of certain, definite individuals. The personal character        unravel the whole.)  I,7 describes election as the
  of election is at stake. Let no pastor say,  "The               choice of "a certain number of persons."  I,10 says
  controversy over reprobation is no concern of mine;             that God "was pleased  out. of the  common,mass of
  let the theologians debate that." Let no believer say,          sinners to adopt  some  certain,persons.  . .  ." Article I
  ?`A gravamen against reprobation?; well, that's a               of the Rejection of Errors under the first Head
  theological game for the clergy." No! Emphatically,             teaches that God chose  "certain particular persons  to
  no!                                                             whom above others he in time will grant both faith in
     The denial of reprobation `means that a pastor can           Christ and perseverance." Article III of this section
  never again say, in Christ's Name, to any believer:             condemns the error of those who teach that God did
  "Your salvation is grounded in your personal elec-              not choose  "certain persons  rather than others."
  tion, and therefore your salvation is sure." It means              The election that remains after reprobation is
  that never again can any Reformed believer confess              denied is either universal election or the election of
  with Q. 54 of the Heidelberg Catechism: there is a              an indefinite group  - all those who will believe and
  church chosen out of the human race to everlasting              persevere in believing. This, is an election dependent
  life, and "I am and for ever shall remain a living              on the will of man; an election that is highly un-
  member thereof."                                                certain; and an election that gives absolutely no
    This attack on personal, definite election becomes            comfort to any sin-stricken soul that has fled in faith
  apparent also in  the' writings of the enemies of               to Jesus Christ.
  reprobation, although, they are at pains to obscure                                 (to be continued)
  this, at present, by fulsome praise of election. In his



                                                 A LETTER OF THANKS



    The following is a letter of sincere thanks from the          Dear Gerrit :
  Board of the Reformed Free Publishing Association                 Let's go back a few years  - in' fact, quite a few
  to Mr. Gerrit Pipe for his many, many years of                  years. It was in 1944 that you first appeared on the
' faithful and dedicated service, in Which he was active          scene as an active member of the Board of the
  as Treasurer and Business Manager, and during the               R.`F.P.A. In September, 1944 you were elected  Trea-
  past ten years as Mailing Agent in the distribution of          surer of our Association. At that time only a small
  our Standard Bearer.                                         _ handful of our Protestant Reformed people  sub-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 159



scribed to our  Standard Bearer.  Very-few outside our     ber, 1978. All of these assignments without
denomination were even aware of our publication,           remuneration.
and very little interest was shown. Gradually,  how-         For these many years of faithful and dedicated
`ever, our subscription list grew. As it continued to      service, we, the Board, can only thank you for a job
grow, your work also increased.. You were asked to         well done.
become Business Manager as well as Treasurer of our          But above all, Gerrit, we thank our faithful cove-
Association, and this you willingly and eagerly agreed     nant God for dedicated men in our Protestant Re-
to do. This meant more work was placed upon your           formed Churches who, by His grace, have made it
shoulders. Not only was the financial report to be         possible to begin and continue our  Standard Bearer
made each month, but your responsibilities also            for more than 54 years.
included the mailing of renewal notices, changes of
address, etc. With the cooperation of your dear wife,        Gerrit, thanks again! And may God `continue to
Agnes, all of these details were promptly accom-           bless you and Agnes in the coming years.
plished. Then, upon your retirement as a foreman at                             Sincerely,
Steelcase, you volunteered to become our mailing                                The Board of the Reformed
agent. This place you continued to fill until Novem-                              Free Publishing Association

IN HIS FEAR

                                     Our Expectation
                                    in.the New Year
                                                 Rev. M. Joostens




  This time of year is a time of reflection and            serious and basic question. How can we maintain our
anticipation.. We reflect upon the accomplishments         distinctiveness from the world in our expectation
and setbacks of the year that is past. Nineteen            with regard to the future? What may or may we not
hundred and Seventy-eight is past, never to return         seek after? What are and are not proper resolutions
again. For this is the inescapable character of time       for this coming year? The Scriptures teach such a
which keeps all of us in its grasp as long as we live.     distinction:For  example, I find a passage much to the
The Psalmist calls time an "ever rolling stream." The      point in Proverbs  (10:28),  "The hope of the righteous
events and happenings of the past are securely locked      shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked
in the book of God to be revealed only at the last         shall perish." Expectations for the future are com-
day. We cannot change the past, but only reflect           mon to all. The world and the church make plans.
upon our accomplishments and failures.                     Both enter the new year with eager anticipation. Yet
                                                           the righteous are vastly different from the wicked in
  But this is also a time of anticipation! Anticipation    their anticipations and expectations. The antithesis
and expectation of that which is to come. Oh, I know       between the church of Christ and the world is seen
that even 1979 stands fast in all its detail in the        most clearly in their expectation for the future."
counsel and mind of the Almighty. Nevertheless, God        Speak to an ungodly man as he stands upon the
has, in his inscrutable wisdom, hidden the future          threshold of another year and it will soon become
from our view. We do not enter the future with some        apparent to you how great a  diffference there exists
kind of fatalistic determinism, but rather with an         between yourself and `him. He speaks of that which
eagerness to pursue our desires and fulfill our long-      he looks forward to in the new  ye.ar. He has his hopes
ings. So we stand before this year as rational moral       and dreams. But those expectations are wholly carnal
creatures of God that are able and called upon to          and mundane. He speaks about the treasures and
think and act responsibly with regard to the future!       wealth he will amass unto himself in the coming year.
                                                           He expects to stash away for himself of the good
  This confronts us, as God's children, with a most        things of this earth. He makes plans to build bigger


      160                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


      and better barns. His aim and desire is toward his own      shall remain empty. And how true this is! There is no
      glory and welfare. Psalm 49 comes to mind,                  satisfaction and fulfillment in the world. There is no
             Yet within their heart they say,                     contentment among the ungodly. The carnal flesh has
             That their houses are for aye;                       an insatiable appetite of lustful desire. And in all their
             That their dwelling places grand                     gain and achievements, the curse of the Lord abides
             Shall for generations stand.                         in their houses. (Prov.  3:33) Even if they are able to
             To their lands they give their name                  boast in their achievements and earthly gain, their
             In the hope of lasting fame, . . .                   end is destruction. For in all these expectations they
        In short, the wicked expect with eager anticipation       never transcend the earthly and mundane. Their
      to lay up for themselves treasures upon this earth.         hopes and desires are of the earth and subject to time.
                                                                  They lay up treasures here below, none of which will
        But, meet some of God's children on the Lord's            stand them in good stead in the hereafter. While they
      Day as they go up to worship their God and ask them         enjoy their plenty and revel in sin they fill their cup
      about their expectation in the new year. You will           of iniquity and push themselves lower in the abyss of
      receive an entirely different answer. God's people also     hell where their fire shall not be quenched.
      have expectations for the year 1979. They will say to
      you, never mind the pleasures and lusts after carnal          But for us, how wonderful are the words of the
      and corruptible things. The things of this earth must       wisdom of the preacher! Our expectation shall be
      pass away. It does no good to set your affections on        gladness. This is a wonderful contrast. The expecta-
      the things here below, for what does it profit a man if     tion of the children of God shall be attained in joy.
      he gain the whole world unto himself but lose his           We shall be made full in our hopes and desires for the
      own soul? You will find his expectations to be in a         future. But let us be careful! We read,  ". . . the
      spiritual vein. He will say, I don't know what the          expectation of the righteous." We are righteous not
      Lord has in store for me. It may be poverty or              because of the efforts of our flesh but in the blood of
      prosperity, but in all these things my expectation will     Jesus Christ. We are justified by faith. Therefore, it
      be for His grace and the guidance of His good and           must be clear that the Preacher is speaking of the
      Holy Spirit.                                                hopes and anticipations that grow out of this righ-
                                                                  teousness. In other words, when our desires are carnal
        You see, that's the difference. The world is not          according to the flesh, as they often are, then we
      able to judge the worth of things in the light of the       must not expect them to be fulfilled in joy. Rather as
      eternal purpose and will of God. They make things           the world, they shall be devoid of fulfillment. They
      an end in themselves. We know much better. At least         will bring no satisfaction. But those desires and
      I think we do. We know that the prosperity of this          expectations that find their birth in our faith will end
      earth is not an end but only a means toward a greater       in joy. Such faith strives after the kingdom of heaven.
      and better end. Our hope and longing also in the new        It is the hope of eternal life as it lives even now
      year is for the kingdom of God to prosper and come.         within us in principle. Is this not our expectation in
      While the world expects wonders here below with             the year  1979?  We pray for His kingdom to come.
      their noses to the ground, the child of God has his         Our resolutions are vows before God to strive after
      eyes upon the realization of that which is laid aside       sanctification and not all kinds of other silly vows
      for us in Christ Jesus. By faith, with Abraham, we          which are made so glibly.
      look for the city which has foundations whose
      builder and maker is God. But, you say to me, that is         In the new year let us seek the kingdom of God
      narrow minded, that leaves no room for the things of        first! This must be chief in our life. If we so walk,
      this earth. Are there no worthwhile pursuits for the        then we have the promise of God Himself that we will
      child of God in the new year? But there are! More           not be disappointed. Oh, this does not necessarily
      than this, all things are ours for the sake of Jesus our    mean earthly prosperity. This was the misunder-
      Lord. But they must be sought after for the expedi-         standing of Asaph in Psalm 73 before he went into
      ency of the kingdom of God!                                 the sanctuary and understood the end of the wicked
                                                                  to be destruction. But it means that we will not be let
        .Furthermore  we ought to know that the outcome           down by the grace of God. He will lead us in the way
      of our expectation is inherent in the expectation           everlasting, toward one longing when we shall be
      itself. Again, to refer to the wisdom of Solomon in         delivered from all the weary night of this life into the
      Proverbs  10:28,  ". . . the expectation of the wicked      glory of heaven.
      shall perish." What a condemnation of all the hopes
      and desires of the world!. The Lord says that they            What is our longing in the year that lies ahead? Do
      shall be put to naught and devoid of fulfillment.           we share our hope with the ungodly? It will come to
      Though they strive to establish large empires, procure      naught. But if in all our expectations we seek the
      peace and tranquility, make new strides in technology       expediency of His kingdom, we shall not be disap-
      and science to enhance their lives, their expectations      pointed.



I-


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            161



ALL AROUND US





                           The Turning of the Screw

                                                      Rev. G. Van Baren





  The cause for the Christian education of our                      nothing on this subject - the school must prove that
children is under attack. At times the attack is more               it is "racially non-discriminatory" by showing the
open than at others. Only recently the voters of                    existence of at least four of the five following factors:
Michigan turned down a certain "voucher plan" in                           1. Availability of and granting of scholarships or
which the state would give to each parent a "check"                 "other" financial assistance on a "significant" basis to
which could be "cashed" at whatever school such                     minority students;
parent would have his child educated. This, of course,                     2. "Active and vigorous" minority recruitment
could be applied also to any Christian school for                  - programs, such as contacting prospective minority
Christian education. Though the Christian schools of                students and organizations from which prospective
this area generally supported the plan, we did oppose               minority students could be identified;
it. We were convinced that it would give the govern-                       3. An "increasing" percentage of minority student
ment also ultimately the control of the schools which               enrollment;
received such vouchers.                                                    4. Employment of minority teachers or profes-
  Now other threats have arisen. I call your attention              sional staff, or
to two: the attempt of the IRS to force schools to                   5. Other "substantial" evidence of good faith,
prove that they are non-discriminatory or lose their                including evidence-of a combination of "lesser activi-
tax-exempt status; and, though unrelated, the events                ties," such as:
of recent months in Jonestown. Many articles have                          - Continued and "meaningful" advertising pro-
appeared in many church papers and magazines about                  grams beyond the requirements of Revenue Proce-
the IRS plan.  Human Events,  Dec. 9, 1978, sum-                    dure 75-50, or "contacts" with minority leaders
marizes the position of the IRS:                                    inviting applications from minority students;
      Here is what the IRS is proposing. If a school was                   - Participation with integrated schools in sports,
   "created or substantially expanded" at or about the              music, and "other" events or activities;
   time of public school desegregation in the community                    - Making "school facilities" available to outside,
   and has little or no minority enrollment - if less than          integrated civic or charitable groups;
   20 per cent of the percentage of the minority popula-
   tion in the community served by the school - then                       - Special "minority-oriented curriculum" or "ori-
   this school is "reviewable." Minority is defined as:             entation programs," and
   blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Pacific Islanders, and                 - Minority "participation" in the founding of tire
   American Indians or Alaskan natives.                             school or current minority board members.
      Once a school has been categorized as "review-
    able,? in order to retain its tax-exemption or to              The  Banner,  Dec. 1, 1978, in "Markings" by
   receive one - although the Congress has literally said        Buursma, writes:


162                                                  `THE STANDARD BEARER



          .  . . Although at first reading the law seems to      Dec. 6, 1978 entitled, "Backlash Against Religion
       offer no threat to Christian schools organized long       Feared in Wake of Jonestown Tragedy." The article
       before desegregation of public schools, Dr. Michael T.    states in part,
       Ruiter, director of Schools International, dissents.
       The "position of our Christian schools against racial                Fear of a backlash against all religions has spurred
       discrimination is well documented, but for many of                some leaders of major denominations to come to the
       us who have always understood that the American                   defense of smaller, fringe groups in the aftermath of
       system was `innocent until proven guilty' this is                 the Jonestown tragedy. Some officials say that a wave
       objectionable."                                                   of investigations, new laws, fmancial restrictions and
                                                                         public hostility against the small groups could expand
          Since the proposal has been made public, thou-                 into widespread reaction against all sects. A few
       sands of letters have flooded the office of IRS                   incidents have already been reported.
       Commissioner Jerome Kurtz expressing concern or
       outright disapproval. Gary North of Durham, North                    "One man's faith is another man's fraud," said the
       Carolina, is quoted by the Presbyter&z  Journal as                Rev. Dr. Dean Kelley, an official in the National
       saying that this represents "a desperation move by                Council of the Churches of Christ, who added, "l'm
       the secular humanists in the public educational estab-            afraid it's going to be open season on the so-called
       lishment to protect their monopoly."                              cults."
          . . . George Orwell's 1984 and the specter of "big                Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Church of Jesus
       brother" government encroaching upon us looms ever                Christ of Latter-Day Saints recently said that a new
       nearer.                                                           form of paganism - which he called "irreligion" -
                                                                         might soon become the state of religion. He added,
  The proposed ruling appears indeed to treat                            "This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow
schools as guilty unless and until they prove them-                      certain people's opinions simply because those opin-
selves to be innocent  - contrary to all the common                      ions  grow out of religious convictions."
understanding of justice in this country. But even                      What has this to do with our churches and schools?
worse, there is the threat to the "religious freedom"            One can sense a certain mood in the country which
in this country. If a  school is compelled, under the            suggests less and less tolerance toward religion  -
guise of "racial equality," to hire a number of                  especially when it is contrary to that commonly held.
minority teachers, have a number of minority stu-                There seems to be a questioning of the "right" to
dents, elect a number of minority board members,                 maintain small churches and little organizations. But
what of our religious principles?  Will schools be               worse, there seems to be increasing the denial of the
compelled to do this  - even though such can not                 "right" of parents to instruct their children. In the
subscribe to the constitution (requiring agreement               Guyana affair,  oommentators  who conceded that it
with the three forms of unity)? This appears to be  `the         was an individual's "right" to believe as he would, yet
case. Religious freedom is shoved aside while big                insisted that no one has the "right" to force those
government insists who can teach, who can attend the             beliefs upon his children. The argument seems de-
schools, who must serve on the school boards.                    fensible in the Guyana affair. What "right" do parents
  The threat is not so terrible at present insofar as it         have to teach their children an obligation to mass
only threatens loss of tax-exempt status. I am con-              suicide when the time comes? What right have they to
vinced that we can continue without such  tax-                   command their children to swallow poison? Ob-
exemption. However, any reasonable person can                    viously, none. But I am rather certain that this whole
understand that government is not going to  stop  with           argument is going to be used also against our Chris-
this. Soon these same requirements may be demanded               tian education of children. It will be said that we have
if a school is to continue to operate. That is where             no "right" to separate our children from the rest of
the "crunch" will be coming.                                     those within the country; that we have no right to
  In the meantime, we ought not to sit idly by.                  instruct ("brainwash," some say) our children in the
Though the hearings on this IRS proposal should be               truths we hold dear. It is being said more frequently
over by the time you read this article, we can still             that children should be confronted with the various
make known our own convictions on this. Let each                 alternatives  - and allowed to. choose for themselves.
write his congressman and senator. Better late than                     Indeed, the days of the antichrist are at hand. This
never. And write the Director of Internal Revenue,               ought to impress upon us the urgency of teaching our
Internal Revenue Building, 1111 Constitution Ave.,               children faithfully while we yet may in relative
N.W., Washington, D.C.                                           freedom. Such opportunities may not long be given
  The second threat to our schools, and also                     us.
churches, arises from the event which took place in                Another case of attack against Christian schools
Guyana  - the murder of a congressman and of                     appears rebuffed for the time being. As reported in
newsmen, and the following mass "suicides." Re-                  the  Presbyteriarz  Journal, Nov. 22,  1978, the case
cently, an article appeared in the  Grand Rapids Press,          went as follows:


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               163



       Members of the Kentucky Board for Elementary                     that the case might eventually have to be taken to the
    and Secondary Education have unanimously voted to                   U.S. Supreme Court because of the issues involved.
    appeal an Oct. 4 ruling limiting their jurisdiction over
    private Christian Schools.                                                The controversy arose last year when state officials
                                                                        said children attending unaccredited Christian schools
       In the ruling, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Henry                are considered truants and their parents are subject to
    Meigs had stated that regulation of such schools by                 criminal prosecution. The Kentucky Association of
    state board, except for minimum tire, health, safety                Christian Schools filed a suit against the state agency,
    and attendance requirements, violates the state and                 and Judge Meigs issued a temporary injunction
    federal constitutions.                                              against the state last year. His recent ruling made the
       Henry Pogue Jr., who chairs the board, indicated                 injunction permanent.

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE





                                               I Corinthians
                                            God is Faithful
                                                         Rev. J. Kortering





  This letter of Paul is rich in pastoral concern. The              the Macedonian Man was given to Paul with the
church  of Corinth had need of the sheperdizing                     urgent request, "Come over and help us," Acts  16:9.
presence of Christ. There were many sins in that                   The Holy Spirit blessed Paul's ministry in Macedonia.
church that cried to the God of righteousness. The                  Corinth was a city in Greece to which Paul and Silas
faithful members must have been discouraged with                    and also Timothy went to preach. It was, however,
their brethren. Paul himself must have sighed more                 not just another city. Corinth was an acropolis (city
than once when he learned of the sins committed by                  built upon a rock) which was strategically located for
the membership.                                                     the military security of the entire area. It was also the
  What must Paul do as a pastor? He must write a                    center of commerce, since it was on the isthmus
practical letter. No, he does not want to come with a               which joined the peninsula with the mainland. It also
rod (chapter  4:21). He comes to them with the Word                was beautifully adorned for comfortable living.
of God, brought in love and tenderness, full of                       Besides being prosperous and well populated, the
Christian restraint. The great theme of this message is             city was infamous for its sinful ways.  The Interna-
God is faithful!  Twice he refers to this promise  (1:9)            tional Standard Bible Encyclopedia  has this to  sayi
and (10: 13). With God, all things are possible, also in            "At night it was made hideous by the brawls and
giving the grace needed to deal with such a weak                   lewd songs of drunken revelry. In the daytime its
congregation. The faithfulness of God assures the                  markets and squares swarmed with Jewish peddlers,
effective ministry of the Word.                                     foreign traders, sailors, soldiers, athletes in training,
                                                                    boxing, wrestlers, charioteers, racing-men,  betting-
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE EPISTLE                               men, courtesans, slaves, idlers, and parasites of every
  The church of Corinth began when Paul visited                     description. The corrupting worship of Aphrodite,
Corinth on his second missionary journey. While he                 with its hordes of hierodouloi (temple prostitutes)
and Silas had intended to go into Asia, the Spirit                 was dominant and all over the Gr-Rom world. `To
suffered them not (Acts  16:6). Instead, the vision of              behave as a Corinthian' was a proverbial synonym for


164                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



leading a low, shameless, and immoral life."                 with marriage, others with eating meat offered to
                                                             idols, and with the use of spiritual gifts such as
  No wonder Paul -wrote, "And I was with you in              speaking in tongues. In addition to these, other issues
weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling,"  (2:3).       were brought to Paul's attention by other people.
What missionary and new pastor does not have that            These included: party strife, incest by a member and
same fear when he takes up labor in a large, strange         lack of discipline, lawsuits between members, the rule
city? Who is able to bring the gospel to such a people?      of women in the church, abuse of the Lord's Supper,
Where does one begin? What does one do and what              the doctrine of the resurrection denied. Which one of
must he say? This letter gives us many worthwhile            our pastors would like to accept a call to the church
insights into Paul's missionary methods while at the         of Corinth? Is Paul furious? Listen, "I thank my God
same time it sets forth his pastoral concern for the         always on your behalf for the grace of God which is
church newly established.                                    given you in Jesus Christ," (1:4). That's evidence of a
  According to Acts  18:2, Paul sought out  tent-            true pastor!
makers, since that was his occupation. He made                 Let's follow the counsel which Paul as an instru-
acquaintance with Aquilla and Priscilla who were             ment of the Holy Spirit-now gives to them and to us
tentmakers. Through this contact, Paul soon had              today.
opportunity to preach in the Jewish synagogue. By
the grace of God  Crispus and Sosthenes, chief rulers           1. Divisions in the church and the need -to bow
in the synagogue, believed. It did not take long before      before the gospel of Christ (1:  lo-4:21). There were
the usual opposition came from the Jews; but the             parties in the church who created division by follow-
house of  Justus, a proselyte, was opened to him, and        ing certain leaders. Some followed Paul, probably the
in that home he preached to both Jews and Gentiles.          Gentile element. Others followed Apollos, who was
A church was organized and Paul labored among                eloquent and polished. Still others were  .of Cephas,
them for 18 months.                                          perhaps the Jewish members of the church. And
                                                             finally others said they followed Christ  - it might be
  Part of Paul's labors on his third  missionary.iour-       that they had heard Christ preach and claimed more
ney was to spend three years working in Ephesus. It          authority, or they were disgusted with all the rest and
was during this time that Paul heard about the               insisted they should all follow Christ (1: 12). Paul
spiritual condition of the church at Corinth. Un-            instructed them by pointing out that ministers of the
doubtedly, Apollos and Sosthenes, who continued to           gospel are not like philosophers who have their
labor in Corinth, kept Paul informed on the situation        schools of followers about them. Instead they are
in the church. Paul also received word from the house        servants of Christ who direct their attention to their
of Chloe (1: 11). What impressed him most was an             Lord and Master  (1:10-l 7). Because this is true,
official letter from the congregation whichcontained         ministers are not in competition with each other;
questions seeking his advice  (7:1,  8:1,  12:1,  16:l).     rather they complement one another in their ser-
This letter was brought to him personally by three           vice of Christ (3: l-8). The success of the ministry
men, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (16: 17).           does not lie within the power of the minister, but
This gave occasion for Paul to write this letter and to      with the Holy Spirit Who gives him the means
deal with the problems that concerned them. The              whereby he builds the temple of God  (3:9-33). Hence
year for this letter is estimated to be A.D. 55, about       the congregation must evaluate the minister, not on
three years after his  first visit to Corinth.               the basis of natural talents, but on the evidence of his
                                                             being a faithful servant of Christ  (4:1-21). What
A MESSAGE OF CORRECTION                                      makes a faithful servant of Christ? Two things: the
  Taking into consideration the nature of the prob-          message he brings is Christ and Him crucified and not
lems raised in this letter, it is comforting to examine      the wisdom of the Greeks; and the communication- of
Paul's address (1: l-9). He identifies himself as Paul,      that message is by preaching and not dialogue com-
an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the church of God at          mon to Greek philosophy (1: 18-3 1). By following
Corinth. sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints. He       this instruction, the minister will flee foolish pride,
commends them for their faithful use of Christ's gifts       and the congregation will avoid party strife. The
(1:7). There is a lesson here for us: before we deal         entire congregation will be thankful for each minister
with the sins of God's people and of Christ's church,        that Christ gives to the church.
we must focus on the evidence of God's grace and see           2. .The sin of incest and its related lack of disci-
what good there is. This will put us in the proper           pline  (5:1-13). A member of the church of Corinth
frame of mind to keep our spiritual balance.                 had married his father's wife (vs. 1). We note that
  The importance of this can be seen in the problems         there was a variety of sexual evils present in this
raised in the letter which came to Paul from the             congregation. Corinth was well known for its  fomica-
congregation. These were big problems. Some dealt            tion and adultery associated with the worship of


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 165



Aphrodite. Some members of the church were re-              preside over angels, vs. 2, 3, they should be ashamed
cently converted from heathenism, and this explains         that they even need heathen judges. Shame on them
why these sins were as pronounced as they were in           that they can't settle these matters among themselves.
Corinth. This man's sin was in that he married (he          Second, being converted, how can they esteem the
had, vs. 1) his father's wife (stepmother). This was        heathen rather than their fellow members when it
incest as forbidden by the law of God (Lev.  18:8)  and     comes to securing justice, vs. 4-6. They should call on
so terrible that even the heathen abhorred it. Yet the      someone from their own midst to help settle differ-
church of Corinth did not discipline this member.           ences. Thirdly, their spirit is wrong: they are deter-
Paul ascribes this lack to their pride, vs. 2, for          mined to get their rights at any cost. They should
discipline of a member of the church involves  mutual       rather consider all the implications of such a public
acknowledgment of sin, something pride detests. He          hassle between Christians and rather take loss than
therefore exhorts them to proceed with public ex-           make the name of Christ a public reproach, vs. 7.
communication with the acknowledgment that if                 He then turns the tables and points to those who
such a person does not repent, he will continue in the      cause these offenses in the first place. Why is it
grasp of Satan and be lost. He presents two reasons         necessary for some members of the church to go to
why this is so necessary: first, to lead such a gross       court against fellow members? The answer is that
sinner to repentance. Paul did not lose sight of the        some members are guilty of defrauding their brothers.
fact that discipline is positive, unto salvation, vs. 5.    This is serious, for the unrighteous shall not enter
The second reason is that the church may remain             into the kingdom, vs. 9, 10. Rather, they should live
pure, since such discipline will remove from her midst      as those who are sanctified in Christ, vs. 11.
the evil leaven, vs. 7. Even as the Old Testament
Church kept the feast of Unleavened Bread, acknowl-           The point that we should see in this admonition
edging the putting away of sin, so the New Testament        about not going to court is this:  Christians  should not
Church must observe a daily feast by putting away           go to court against each other. It may be necessary
the evil leaven of sin out of their lives. Paul quickly     when dealing with the ungodly to appeal to the law
adds that this does not mean that the Corinthians           for protection. Paul appealed to Caesar also. So also
may not have any dealing with the wicked people of          the church may seek the protection of law against
the city; rather this concerns those who claim to be        some unlawful attempt to tax, to confiscate property,
members of the body of Christ but do not walk in            and such like. It is altogether different when members
sanctification (vs. 10).                                    of the church, who profess to follow Christ, do this.
                                                            The main thrust in such instances is that they should
  3. Going to law before the heathen  (4:1-11).             seek to find some leader, some wise and respected
There were legal squabbles between members of the           one out of their midst who can moderate the dif-
congregation. These pertained to property rights,           ferences and resolve them amongst each other. It is
debts, and such like. In anger, they had law suits          even better to suffer wrong than cast public abuse
against each other to try to reclaim what they              upon the church of Christ or fellow Christians by
considered to be their lawful property. Paul forbids        means of such lawsuits.
this for three reasons. First, considering that they
themselves will one day judge the heathen and even                             (to be continued)


i    166                                           THE STANDARD BEARER





                                              Book -&dews


     DAYLIGHT  (Daily Readings with the Bible), by                   This is another book of the "I believe" series put out
     Andrew Kuyvenhoven; Paideia Press, 1977; 376 pp.,             by Eerdmans Publishing Co. and edited by Michael
     $5.95 (paper), (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                   Green. Evangelism is defined by the author as fol-
       This book contains 365 one-page meditations on              lows: "To evangelize is so to present Christ Jesus in
     different texts out of the Scriptures to be used for          the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to
     daily devotions. Many of them were formerly pre-              put their trust in God through him, to accept him as
     pared for "Today" (once called "Family Altar").               their Saviour, and serve him as their King in the fel-
     They are generally divided into subjects such as              lowship of his Church." The author believes that
     "Living with God," "The Gospel according to Paul,"            most evangelistic efforts are fruitless  -and discusses
     etc. Some, quite naturally, are better than others;           how effective evangelism can be performed. He
     most are not of an exegetical nature but are rather           believes in the special gifts of the Spirit as effective
     brief. meditations "hanged on" a given text; all tend         tools for evangelism, speaks of the social dimension
     to be practical rather than doctrinal. They can be read       of evangelistic work, and pleads for changes in church
     with profit by those who enjoy devotional literature.         structure, for the use of modem communications and
                                                                   for various art forms as means to press this work. The
                                                                   problem of the book is the failure of the author to
     I BELIEVE IN EVANGELISM,  by David Watson;                    accept the authority of the New Testament in the
     Wm.  `B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977; 188 p.,           whole area of evangelism and in the proper use of
     $2.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                   method.





                                        FAITH PROTESTANT
                                       REFORMEDCHURCH

                                                      JBnison, Michigan

                                   Offering $20,000.00  in notes to finance the construction
                                                    of our sanctuary.

                                                        10 years - 8%
                                   (Issued in multidies. of $500.Od;  interest semi-annually)

            For further information call (616) 669-0822, or write Gary Kaptein, 2465  Almar, Jenison, Michigan
            49428. We ask that you give this your prayerful consideration.


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                 167





                  DISCUSSION OUTLINE ON THE.BOOK OF ACTS
                                                                       .by
                                                     Pro5 H.  C. Hoeksema


                  This is a  lo&page booklet containing a complete set
                  of outlines on the Book of Acts. These outlines were
                  compiled and reproduced from, a series which ap-
                  peared in  Beacon Lights  in the 1950s. They are
                  well-suited as a guide and help in society Bible,
                  discussions. Each section is briefly introduced, and
                  then follows an  outline,in question form. Price:  $3.95:


                                                                   Write to:
                                        Prot. Ref. Seminary Bookstore
                                        4949 Ivanrest Ave., S.W.
                                        Grandville, Michigan 494 18





              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY.,
   The Mary-Martha Society of the  Redlands Protestant Reformed                  The Adult Bible Class of Faith Protestant Reformed Church,
Church, expresses its sincere sympathy to two of its members, Mrs.            Jenison, Michigan, expresses its Christian sympathy to Mr. and Mrs.
John  Ekema and Mrs. Everett Van Voorthuysen in the loss of their             Dale Mensch, in the loss of his father, REV. HERMAN MENSCH, on
mother and mother-in-law, MRS. EVERETT VAN VOORTHUYSEN.                       December 7, 1978.

   May God comfort, strengthen and sustain them and their families by            "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
His Word and Spirit.                                                          to be compared with the glory which shall be  revealed  in us."  (Remans
                                                                              8:18).
   "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm
116:15).                                                                                                        Rev. W. Bruinsma, Pres.
                                  Rev. J. Kortering, Pres.                                                      Mr. R. Noorman, Sec'y.-Treas.
                                  Mrs. Dennis Van Uffelen, Sec'y.


      THE STANDARD  BEARER
            P.O. Box 6064
     Grand Rapids, Michigan 49606

                                                                                            I                         I

     168                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


                                     News From Our Churches

        Our Southeast Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan           choir director at Covenant, to lead them.
     has extended a call to Rev. Jason Kortering of                Professor Robert Decker of our Seminary gave a
     Redlands, California, to serve as their pastor.            lecture in our Randolph, Wisconsin, church on
        The Mission Committee of our churches has de-           Wednesday, November 15. His topic was "Women in
     cided to begin preaching services in Charlotte, Mich-      Office." A very timely topic.
     igan beginning January 7, 1979, at the request of four        The Randolph congregation gathered for a number
     families there.                                             of worthy occasions during the month of November.
        The Foreign Mission Committee has requested              In addition to the lecture, the church enjoyed a
     through the consistories of Hope Church in Walker,         Fellowship Supper on Friday the 10th. On the Friday
     Michigan, and  Doon (Iowa) that permission be given         after Thanksgiving, the Christian grade school gym
     for Rev. Marvin Kamps and Elder Dewey Engelsma to           was reserved for members of the congregation in
     go to Singapore. Apparently permission has been given,      order that all might enjoy an evening of recreation
     as present plans are for these two men to leave in          and fellowship. It sounds as if these gatherings in-
     early January. They expect to labor in Singapore for       volved a bit of work on the part of the ladies of the
     a two month period. Last Spring Elder Engelsma and          congregation, as they were asked to provide refresh-
     Rev. James Slopsema of Edgerton, Minnesota, spent          ments for the lecture and the gym nite and serve the
     several weeks in Singapore working with a large group      Fellowship Supper.
     of young people who expressed interest in the                 There have been quite a number of changes at our
     Reformed faith and in the work and teaching of our         Southwest Church of late. The congregation moved
     churches.                                                  into their new church building in August, installed a
        The above items were all gathered from the  Hud-        new pastor in October, and made a number of
     `sonville Bulletin  - a veritable gold mine of informa-     changes in their order of worship effective Sunday,
     tion  - at least in the December 10th edition.  -"'        November 12. These include: that the silent personal
        Hudsonville has undertaken a very interesting           prayers before the service are made at the same time
     project in that' they have engaged the professional        by all the members of the congregation, the `Amen' is
     services of a local studio to supply the church with a     now sung at the conclusion of the hymn of praise
     colored pictorial directory. The committee which is        "Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow," and that
     in charge of this project states that "this directory,     the Scripture reading follows the singing of the third
     complete with names, addresses and telephone               Psalter number and just before the announcement of
     numbers, will be a valuable asset to our church,           the text upon which the sermon is based. The
     particularly the new families." The committee has          scripture reading is then followed by the sermon. The
     distributed a nine point list of guidelines concerning     Council brought these changes to the congregation
     grooming, dress, glasses (to wear or not to wear)          supported by a number of rather convincing grounds.
     which appear to be quite complete. This should be a           November and December are the months when our
     very fine directory. Each church family that sits for      churches schedule their annual congregational meet-
     their photograph will receive a free directory. The        ings to elect office bearers and adopt a budget for the
     studio hopes to make a profit on this venture by           coming year. Some of these meetings are scheduled at
     selling portraits to those who wish them.                  rather unique times. For instance, our church in Pella,
.       A group of about 50 alumni of Covenant Christian        Iowa, holds their annual meeting after the Thanksgiv-
     High School have formed an Alumni Choir. The choir         ing Day worship service.
     presented an evening of music for the holiday season          Our Reformed Witness Hour has made available a
     after the evening service in First Church on Sunday,       cassette tape of anthems and songs sung by the
     December 3. It was apparent from the quality of the        Reformed Witness Hour Choir on the radio broadcast.
     presentation that these young people were singing          Also available is a tape of Psalms. These tapes may be
     because they wanted to. The group plans to continue.       obtained for $2 each by writing The Reformed
     Hopefully those of us in the Grand Rapids area can         Witness Hour, PO Box  123q, Grand Rapids, Michigan
     look forward to more fine music from this group.           49501.
     They have asked Mr. Roland Petersen,  .who was their                                                     K. G. V.


