 STANDARD
            BEARER
             A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                   \





            the fact is  simply that there are in
  l l  a


the  power of men no solutions, to the
problems  i of  life.  This is a fact. Men's
theories,  i men's skills, men's diagnostic
procedures, men's experience, men's clever-
ness at handling life's problems - all mean
nothing  at all. Only Christ can heal the
                ,
wounded isoul and bring the balm of Gilead
to the hurts of life.

            See i"My Sheep Hear My Voice. . ." -
                                                             page  303


                     : .

                                                 Volume LV, No. &$ April 1, 1979.d


290                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


                             CONTENTS:                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                  ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                   Semi-monthly,   except   monthly   during   June,   July,   armAugust.
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                                                                             Editor-in-Chief:  Prof.   Homer   C.  Hoeksema
Jesus' Death Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .290           Department Editors:  Prof.  Robert   D.  Decker,   Rev.   David   J.  Engelsma,
                                                                             Rev.   Cornelius   Hanko.   Prof.   Herman   Hanko,   Rev.   Robert   C.  Harbach.
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                                                                             George   C.  Lubbers,   Rev.   Rodney   Miersma,   Rev.   Marinus   Schipper,   Rev.
  The IRS and Private Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .293                James   Slopsema,   Rev.   Gise   J.  Van   Baren,  Rev.   Ronald   Van   Overloop,
                                                                             Rev.   Herman   Veldman,   Mr.   Kenneth   G.   Vink.
  Congress, the IRS, and Our Schools . . . . . . . .  .294                   Editorial Office:  Prof.   H.C.   Hoeksema
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  Our Schools and the Proposed IRS Rules . . . .  .296                                              Grandville,   Michigan   49418
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MEDITATION





                                              Jesus' Death Watch
                                                                  Rev. H. Veldman




                       "Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests
                      and Pharisees came together unto Pilate. . . . "

                                                          Matt. 27: 62-66.


  How beautiful and attractive is Scripture's account                         time when all seemed lost, to assert their faith in the
of the funeral of our Lord! It is surely a bold act of                         crucified Christ of Nazareth. And how wonderful it is
faith on the part of Joseph and Nicodemus, at this                             that this Crucified One should be laid in a new tomb


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 291


in which no man had ever lain.                             when we note the purpose  of, their coming to Pilate.
  And now the sabbath: day has dawned. The                 Apparently they fear the disciples of the Nazarene.
disciples of Christ rest, but only as according to the     Did they not. say that that deceiver  had, said that  He
divine commandment. The enemies of `the Saviour,           would rise again in three  pays? Would not His
however, are active. Matthew speaks significantly of       disciples attempt to steal His body and then spread
the chief priests and Pharisees, the same satanic          the  rumour that He had risen  from.the dead? Would
leaders of the people, the highest development of the      not this last error be worse than the first? However,
church, in whose hearts the hatred of the Nazarene         this interpretation is surely impossible. On the one
burns so feverishly. Early in the morning they appear      hand, they certainly  ,need not fear the disciples. Is it
before the Roman governor with a strange request.          not striking that, whereas the disciples never thought
They ask that the grave be made sure.  To  be sure,        of Christ's resurrection, of Jesus' word that He would
there was also a temple watch. However, they ask for       rise again, these enemies did think of this word? How
a Roman watch. They desire the strongest watch: The        ridiculous this request must have sounded to Pilate,
tomb of Jesus of Nazareth must be made sure.               that the grave of the dead Nazarene must be guarded!
                                                           Besides, what would the disciples do with a dead
                  A WICKElj  WATCH                         body? A Messianic expectation, centering in a dead
                                                           Christ, is surely as dead as a dead  christ himself.
  Wicked, in the first place, is the appearance of
these leaders of the people of the Lord before Pontius       The deep, wicked principle of this request is
Pilate. It was, we read here,, the day after the day of    obvious. Yes, the Saviour had declared in their
preparation. Matthew does not merely intend to say         presence that He would rise again in three days. Had
that it was now the sabbath, but he calls special          He not spoken of the breaking down of the temple
attention to the fact that it was the day after the day    and that He would rebuild it in three days? Is it not
of preparation. 0, how these rulers had prepared,          wonderful that, whereas the disciples had not
themselves for the sabbath! Upon this day of               understood and remembered this word of Jesus, His
preparation they had murdered the Christ. And now          enemies did remember it? What did they fear? This,
He was not even for one moment out of their                that Jesus might rise from the dead! Indeed, at the            '
thoughts. That day, the day of the preparation, they       cross they had been filled with terror. Now, however,
had been busy making their plans. And now they go          they had somewhat recovered themselves. 0, they
to Pilate early that sabbath morning. They do not go       had worked out their plan carefully. They will appear
to him in a body. The text tells us that they gather       before Pontius Pilate with a hypocritical request.
before `Pilate. So, there they meet one another. And       Indeed, the terror of Good Friday had not left them
they must have gone to  the governor early; they           completely. They feared that this Jesus might fulfill
surely would avoid being seen of men. Hence, what a        His word. Fact is, literally Christ had never told them
wicked transgressing of the commandment of the             that He would rise from the dead in three days. But
sabbath day, to meet in that spirit  hefore Pilate  -      they had surely understood Him. So, a guard must be
one, mind you, who is uncircumcised. This secret           posted, at His tomb. Besides, the tomb itself is sealed.
appearance before Pontius Pilate surely bodes no           A cord is drawn around the stone, and to it is affixed
good. Matthew describes these wicked leaders who           the seal of the Sanhedrin. Indeed, these enemies of
cannot rest until they use the first opportunity           darkness have done what they could to prevent Jesus
available to speak with the Roman governor.                from issuing from the grave. His issuing from the
                                                           tomb is the worst that could possibly happen to these
  Secondly, their wickedness appears from their            enemies.
accusation of Jesus before  ;Pilate. They refer to Him
as "that deceiver." How disdainful they are, even in         This occurs throughout the ages.
their language! They do  no:t even mention His name.         Indeed, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is
Besides, they call Jesus a deceiver. Fact is,  they are    for the world a most terrifying fact. His resurrection
the deceivers. They are the white walled sepulchers.       is surely God's seal upon Him,  i-Iis seal of approval,
They do not obey the law; they transgressed it even        and also His seal of condemnation upon them that
in this early morning  hour.jThey condemned Jesus in       hate Him. If Jesus be raised from the dead, what may
the Sanhedrin without a ground. And now they call          the world expect from the living God?
Jesus a deceiver. Had this teacher of Galilee ever           And what a watch is placed around that grave
revealed Himself differently than He is? How wicked        throughout the ages! How the spiritual leaders of the
they are! Pilate they address as "Sir, lord." Jesus'       people are constantly engaged in keeping Jesus in the
name does not come over their lips. They are the           tomb! Yes, He may live on in the hearts and minds of
deceivers, always using the, law for their own profit      the people, as a Washington or a Lincoln. He may and
and advantage.                                             is presented as a  Christ with human ideals. But, He
  Finally, their godlessness comes into sharper focus      must remain within the tomb! The world craves a


I      292                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER
I-
      human Jesus, with human ideals, which do not                                           explained merely rationally. 0, it is true that keen
      conflict with their passion for sin and iniquity.                                      minds throughout the ages have attempted to keep
                                                                                             Jesus in the tomb. Sin, however, is always a matter of
                              A FOOLISH WATCH                                                the heart.. Sin is always the wicked, deliberate,
          What a folly on the part of these Jewish leaders!                                  malicious attempt of the carnal man to deny the
      On the one hand; if the Lord cannot rise from the                                      living God and the things of His covenant. Sin hates
      dead, why place a watch before His tomb? Then this                                     God, hates  `His Christ, puts forth every effort to
      watch simply does not make sense. But, this watch                                      maintain itself in the midst of the world. That world
      becomes so unbelievably foolish if we bear in mind its                                 will always deny God and His Christ.
      purpose. To keep one in the grave who cannot rise
      again-is indeed an act of folly. But, to keep one in the                                             A SIGNIFICANT WATCH
      grave who is able to break the bands of death is surely                                  Indeed, is it not holy irony that the same world
      ridiculous. He who is able to destroy the power of                                     which would guard the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ
      death and the grave is surely able to destroy any                                      is the first witness of His resurrection? Jesus has risen
      power that might attempt to prevent His issuing forth                                  from the dead. And the world knows this! The grave
      from the tomb. Such an one can step forth of His                                       is empty, watched by the strongest power upon the
      tomb even if he lay buried in the heart of the greatest                                face of the earth. Do they accept this fact? Do they
      mountain or in the depth of the deepest sea.                                           acknowledge this resurrection of the Christ? Do they
          How foolish is this effort throughout all the ages!                                repent upon  bended knee? This they should do.
      Presuppose that  .the resurrection of Jesus were a                                     However, this they refuse to do. To the contrary,
      fable, a legend, a myth. It is said that Jesus is not                                  they will invent stories, absurd stories, put forth
      God, that He is merely a man, that therefore His                                       every effort throughout the ages to keep the
      resurrection is impossible. But, if this be true, why                                  Nazarene in the grave. Why? Because of their hatred
      should these powers of darkness then concern                                           and wickedness. And so the world is revealed in all its
      themselves with a watch to keep Him in the grave? He                                   wickedness. Sin must be revealed in all its ungodliness
      was crucified, dead, and buried; He cannot rise out of                                 as committed against the alone holy God. And God
      His tomb; why, then, does the world not simply leave                                   will be justified when He judges and condemns. The
      Him there?                                                                             theodicy will be maintained, God's vindication and
                                                                                             justifying of Himself.
          However, if Jesus can arise from the dead, then this                                 This watch also has significance for the church of
      attempt becomes all the more ridiculous and foolish.                                   God. That empty tomb is a glorious testimony for the
      Then Gamaliel surely had a wiser insight when he                                       people and the church of God. That grave, guarded
      later declared that if this cause be of God they could                                 by Roman soldiers, representing the greatest power of
      do nothing about it. If Jesus be God, able to destroy                                  the world, is empty! And even as our Lord Jesus
      the power of death,-then all the attempts to deny and                                  Christ arose from the tomb, emerged, as it were,
      oppose this resurrection are surely unbelievable folly.                                through the power of the godless world, we may
      Then the story is told that the disciples stole the                                    believe that there is no wicked power anywhere
      body of Christ while the soldiers slept. And through-                                  which is able to prevent our being united with Him,
      out the ages Jesus' resurrection from the dead is                                      Who loves us even unto death and will surely give us
      m e r e l y   a   s t o r y   w h i c h   i s   t h e   p r o d u c t   o f   t h e    all things in blessed fellowship with Him.
      imagination of the disciples. However, let it be
      proclaimed that the Saviour is indeed risen, that He is                                  The world keeps watch at the tomb.
      now glorified at the right hand of His Father, and                                       However, we need not fear.
      that He is coming again, returning upon the clouds of                                    He is the Prince of life and glory, and presently the
      heaven to judge the quick and the dead.                                                eternal Resurrection Morning will dawn, and all
         How must we account for this folly? Sin cannot be                                   things will be made new.




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                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 293


EDITORIALS
Profi H. C. Hoeksema





                                                   The IRS
                                         and Private Schools


  Late last year there was a considerable hue and cry        in  The Grand Rapids Press,  the IRS proposals drew
raised about some proposed new regulations con-              over 100,000 letters of protest, a record number of
cerning the tax-exempt status of private schools.            complaints in the history of the IRS. And after
Since the category of private schools is a broad one,        hearings  were held about the matter, the proposed
which includes any non-public primary or secondary           rules were somewhat modified.
school, be it religious or non-religious, be it church         According to the same AP dispatch mentioned
controlled or parent controlled or operated by a             above, as well as according to a Religious News
private corporation, our own Protestant Reformed             Service dispatch carried in recent issues of  The  "
Christian schools would also have fallen under the           Presbyterian Journal and Christian News, the revised
proposed new regulations.                                    guidelines proposed by the IRS embody the following
  The purpose of the rules was to remove the                 elements:
tax-exempt status from what are called "segregation            1. They give "greater weight to each school's
academies," schools which were formed  - and there           particular circumstances than did the earlier proposal
are many of them in certain parts of the country  - to       in determining whether a school is racially discrimina-
counteract desegregation in the public schools. The          tory."
rules were aimed especially at schools which were
either opened or significantly expanded during .a              2. The revised procedure "sets forth standards to
period of local school desegregation. Loss of  tax-          be applied to two categories of private elementary
exempt status would mean that contributors could             and secondary schools: those that have been held by
not deduct donations from their tax returns, and it          a court or government agency to be racially dis-
could also mean (although this is a state and a local        criminatory, and those whose formation or expansion
matter) that school property could be taxed.                 is related to public school desegregation in the
                                                             community served by the school, and do not have
  I no longer have the originally proposed rules             significant minority students enrollment."
before me. But they were very stringent, and they
were of such a nature that it is safe to say- that if the      3. "Under the new proposal, a school formed or
IRS chose to apply them to any of our schools, the           substantially expanded at the time of public school
inevitable outcome would have been the loss of               desegregation will be classified as `reviewable' if it has
tax-exempt status. Schools were presumed to dis-             an insignificant minority enrollment and its forma-
criminate if their minority enrollment did not meet          tion or expansion is related in fact to public school
certain levels in relation to the local school-age           desegregation in the community."
minority population. And the burden of proof under             4. "A school classified as `reviewable' will be
those earlier proposals would have been on a school          considered racially discriminatory unless it has under-
to show it had met four of the following five tests:         taken actions and programs reasonably designed to
minority scholarships, minority recruitment, minority        attract minority students on a continuing basis."       -
teachers, increasing minority enrollment, and other            5. The dispatch also states: `"The new procedure
evidence of good faith.                                      does not require a minimum number of specified
  However, those original rules which, if maintained,        actions to be taken in every case, but provides greater
were to have gone into effect in late 1978, were             flexibility for a school to show that it is operating on
challenged. According to an Associated Press dispatch        a racially nondiscriminatory basis."


294                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



   The same RNS dispatch referred to above reports a             racial integration became a public issue, operated
mixed reaction from some interested parties to the               their own schools for purely religious reasons, while
proposed revised rules. A Roman  Catho1i.c  representa-          in recent years and in some religious circles there has
tive is reported to have called the proposed  .revised           been a proliferation of private schools, partly because
procedure "a substantial improvement" because it                 of gross dissatisfaction with the deteriorating public
"demonstrates a degree of flexibility." On the other             schools and partly, undoubtedly, because of racial
hand, a Baptist spokesman, Dr. James Wood, was                   integration being pressed in the public school
dissatisfied because the new proposal fails "to resolve          systems. If this guess is correct, then I would also
a fundamental First Amendment issue." The First                  guess that our schools would also fall in the category
Amendment is the so-called freedom of religion                   of those entitled to preferential treatment. For it can
amendment. Dr. Wood is quoted as saying that the                 without difficulty be demonstrated that Reformed
proposed revision "does not resolve the fundamental              people have for centuries held to the principle and
issue we raised at the December hearings, namely, the            the practice of Christian education for their children.
jurisdiction of the IRS over student enrollment in               The Church Order of Dordrecht enunciates this, for
schools operated by churches and synagogues for                  example.
their own members." The dispatch goes on to report                 For the rest, however, we agree with the spirit of
as follows:                                                      the remarks attributed to Dr. Wood in the above
          "Does the government have the right to tell such       report.
       schools that  it should have any  v6ice in the              It seems rather obvious that there is only a
       enrollment in schools established to serve their own
       religious community? Our answer is no," Dr. Wood          difference of degree, not one of principle, between
       said.                                                     the first regulations and the revised regulations.
                                                                 Further, the difference is not very great. It seems
          "The point here is not racial discrimination or
       racism," he said, "because enrollment in religiously      obvious, too, that these regulations, if applied to our
       operated schools is generally based on the member-        schools, could prove to be very detrimental from a
       ship pattern" of the supporting church, synagogue or      financial point of view. We are not saying that the
       mosque.                                                   obstacle represented by these regulations, should they
                                                                 be applied, is insurmountable. This we do not believe.
          Also, the Baptist official asserted, the  I&, in an
       effort to be conciliatory, proposes to give in the        If need be, we could always operate without this
       revised procedures "preferential treatment. to certain    tax-exempt status and operate as a regular, for-profit
       types of church schools, such as. Catholic- and           corporation; some have suggested. that there might
       Amish."                                                   even be certain advantages in this. Nevertheless, the
          This amounts to "discrimination by the IRS" in         potential is present in these proposed regulations to
       favor of such schools, since they are singled out to      make things difficult for our schools. Whether the
       the exclusion of others, Dr. Wood said. "The law          revised regulations will be maintained remains to be
       must be non-discriminatory in all groups, not just        seen. And whether, if maintained, these regulations
       Catholic and Amish," he said.                             will be applied to our Protestant Reformed Christian
          The IRS spokesman said public comments on the          schools also remain to be seen.
       proposed revision should be submitted to the Internal       Meanwhile, it is not too late to let our voice be
       Revenue Service by April 20.                              heard. The deadline for comments on the revised
  Exactly what the alleged preferential treatment for            regulations is April 20. Any individual may address
certain types of church  schools, such as Catholic and           objections to the Internal Revenue Service on this
Amish, may be was not reported. My guess would be                subject. But I would particularly urge our school
`- and it is only a guess  - that it has to do with the          boards to consider communicating their dissent.
fact that certain religious groups have traditionally            Perhaps they could even do so unitedly through the
and for many, many years, long before the matter of              Federation of Protestant Reformed School Societies.



                               Congress, the- IRS, and Our Schools

  An indication  of the  importance of this whole                that the whole question is being taken under
matter of IRS proposals affecting private schools, as            advisement by a sub-committee of the Ways and
well as an indication of the widespread concern about            Means Committee of the House of Representatives in
the ultimate effect of these proposals, lies in the fact         Washington, D.C. The Ways and Means Committee in


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         295



the House is the committee in which tax legislation                         Speaking for Liberty Lobby, E. Stanley  Ritten-
originates, and thus the committee which could                           house said: "IRS has become a dictatorial power all
initiate legislation to control the Internal Revenue                     its own, holding in its hands the power of life and
Service's actions with regard to private schools.                        death over every tax-exempt private and  church-
                                                                         related school in this country."
     In the March  7, 1979  issue of  The Presbyterian
Journal  a report on congressional hearings held in                         "Since IRS is a creation of the legislative branch,
                                                                         and since you have the constitutional authority to do
February appears under the title "Congressional                          so, I urge you members of Congress to reject totally
Group Looks at IRS Ideas." This report is substantial-                   these proposed procedures and bring to a halt this
ly the same as a Religious News Service report carried                   usurpation of authority by IRS."
by  Christian  News of March 5, 1979. The  first-
mentioned report is as follows:                                             Representatives of the Seventh-Day Adventist
                                                                         Church, Americans United for Separation of Church
         WASHINGTON, D.C.  - The scene of battle                         and State, various Lutheran, Baptist and Jewish
      concerning Internal Revenue Service proposals affect-              groups, the Christian Legal Society, and a number of
      ing private schools has shifted from IRS itself to a               Christian school organizations all spoke against the
      congressional subcommittee which is taking a hard                  proposed procedures.
      look at IRS's right to issue the controversial rulings.               Questioning IRS's motivation in the proposals,
         The public hearings were called here after more                 attorney William Ball asked the committee to "probe
      than 70 members of Congress urged Rep. Al Ullman                   deeply into the question why this heated pursuit of
'     (D-Ore.), chairman of the House Ways and Means                     private and religious schools by IRS when racial
      Committee, to schedule them.                                       segregation, a quarter of a century after the Supreme
         IRS commissioner Jerome  Kurtz,  in his testimony               Court school desegregation decision, remains a prob-
      before the congressional committee, continued to                   lem in the public schools of the North."
      defend the proposals as "a reasoned response to the              Now Congress is notorious for moving at a snail's
need for standards under which decisions can be                      pace, especially, it seems, when it comes to anything
:     made which are correct and defensible in litigation."          pertaining to tax legislation. Nevertheless, the fact
         The IRS proposals would lead to the revocation of           remains that Congress has the power, if it chooses to
tax-exempt status for private and church-related                     exercise it, to rein -in the IRS. And perhaps in the
      schools which do not meet IRS guidelines for                   light of the fact that the zealots for social change and
      enrollment of minority students. Thousands of
      protests have been registered in response to both the          for conformity to certain standards of racial integra-
      original and the revised IRS proposals (Journal, Dec.          tion in virtually every sphere of life, public and
      20 and Feb. 28).                                               private, are not so numerous and so powerful in
                                                                     Congress as they once seemed to be  - perhaps if
         In this second round of public criticism, the
      commissioner found himself more beleaguered than               worst comes to worst, the IRS can be stopped by
b e f o r e .                                                        Congress.
         Dr. Arthur Flemming, chairman of the U.S.                     At any rate, it certainly will not do any harm to let
      Commission on Civil Rights and former president of             your Representative and/or your Senator know that
      the National Council of Churches, had supported the            you want this intrusion by the IRS into this private
      IRS's original proposal, but criticized the compromise         and sacred domain of our life prevented.
      revisions as being too vague to accomplish any useful            An interesting and perhaps significant sidelight to
p u r p o s e .                                                      this whole controversy was reported at the end of the
         And a spokesman for the National Education                  article cited above, It concerns a school of higher
      Association  (NEA)  said that organization supports            education, Bob Jones University, which, if I recall
      the termination of tax exemption for "private schools
      that practice discrimination on the basis of race or           correctly, has been doing battle with the IRS for
      ethnic identification, age, sex, or physical condition."       some time. The basic issue was the same: non-
      The NEA, he said, wants exempt status lifted even if           conformity to goverment and IRS standards of racial
      a private school's admission policies act indirectly to        integration. The weapon which the IRS employed
      increase segregation in the public schools.                    was also the same: denial of tax-exempt status. If I
         But again, as in earlier hearings last December,            recall correctly, Bob Jones University is also one of
                                                              IRS
      was much more severely criticized by a broad cross             the few private colleges and universities in our
      section of spokesmen who see in the agency's                   country which has refused all federal funding.
      proposals a serious threat to religious liberty for the        Apparently Bob Jones University took its battle with
      schools involved.                                              the IRS to Federal District Court and won. Here is
         Dozens of speakers  - including several Congress-           the report:
     m e n   - urged the sub-committee to inaugurate                       In an unrelated action in federal district court, a
     measures which would rein in IRS.                                   Greenville, S.C., judge has ruled that IRS does not


296                                                       THE STANDARD. BEARER



       have the authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of            We find Judge Chapman's evaluation of the IRS's
       Bob Jones University just because of that school's             arguments to be very perceptive and also pertinent to
       prohibition of interracial dating and marriage by its          t.he present case concerning the IRS and private
       students.                                                     primary and secondary schools. Perhaps  - if it is not
          Judge Robert F. Chapman said in a 28-page ruling            overthrown by a higher court on appeal  - his
       that IRS's denial of tax-exempt status "penalized the          decision might even have some value as a judicial
       plaintiff for the exercise of its religious beliefs."         precedent with respect to the current controversy.
          The effect of  IRS's arguments against the uni-               This is also proof that it is possible to do battle
       versity, said the judge, "is to strengthen those
       religious organizations whose religious practices do           with the IRS in the courts of our land and to win.
       not conflict with federal public policy and to                 One of the problems is, of course, that it takes
       discriminate against those religious groups whose              considerable resources to wage such a battle; but if it
       convictions violate these secular principles. The             is a question of principle and one which involves
       unavoidable effect is the law's tending toward the            ultimately the right of existence of our schools, let us
       establishment of the approved religions."                      do battle!




                          Our Schools and the Proposed IRS Rules

  A few remarks concerning this entire matter are in                 let us also fight the matter in the courts of the land.
order, I believe.                                                    These means are available for us to use, and it is right
  First of all; we make a few remarks concerning the                 to use them. Nor, as the Bob Jones case indicates, is it
practical aspect of the proposed IRS regulations.                    impossible to win' against the IRS in court, especially
                                                                     when it comes to a case involving constitutional
  In the first place, it remains to be seen what                     liberties which have long been maintained in our
direction the IRS will take  if the new regulations are              country.
allowed to stand. I have an idea that the regulations
are not aimed primarily at schools of the kind which                    Secondly, however, some remarks concerning prin-
we maintain, but, as I suggested earlier, at the type of             ciples are in order.
private schools (religious or non-religious or  pseudo-
religious) which proliferated at the time when                          In the first place, we ought to take warning from
integration of public schools became the law of the                   the current events that there are some powerful
land. Especially in certain parts of the country                      forces at work against  OUT schools. There are the
undoubtedly a goodly number of schools were                           forces of the public school movement and especially
established with the avowed purpose of. escaping                      the teachers' unions. Some of these organizations are
integration. I am not now concerned with the right or                mentioned in the reports quoted in the two previous
wrong of such schools; nor am I concerned as such                    editorials. They hate the private school not only, but
with the right of existence of such schools as private,              they hate the Christian school. They see these as a
not-for-profit, tax-exempt organizations. I am merely                threat, both educationally and financially, to the
stating that it may very well be that the guns of the                public  schoql. This accounts for their violent opposi-
IRS will be trained especially on such schools, and                  tion to parochiaid  - and we shared the opposition,
that traditionally religious schools and school systems              but not for their reasons. This accounts, too, for their
of long standing will escape IRS attention, at least for             present support of the proposed IRS regulations:
the time being. In other words, the danger may not                   they see these as a means to thwart the private school
bk immediate.                                                        movement. Besides, there are power-intoxicated
                                                                     forces in the federal government who are apparently
  Nevertheless, in the second place, we do well to be                bent on compelling everyone and every organization,
ready for an attack. If the regulations are. approved,               even private and religious organizations, to conform
the principle is there and the machinery or weaponry                 to their standards with regard, for example, to
is there for an attack on any and all private schools,               non-discrimination and racial integration. Their
including our own.                                                   policy seems to be: conform, or we will do our
  I have already suggested that we use whdtever                      utmost to destroy you. In the third place, there are
means are available to us in fighting this attempt to                powerful forces of religionists, representatives of the
impose these new regulations by protesting both to                   false church, at work who have the same aims and
the IRS and to Congress. And if it becomes necessary,                who identify their social gospel ideas with true


                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   297


religion and who would gladly see the demise of any                                        face of God. No government may interfere with that
religious movement, church, school, which does not                                         or try to make it impossible. That is a principle.
conform to their ideas. In effect, they would gladly                                           In the third place, it is certainly true (whether with
see the establishment of religion in this country,                                         regard to church schools or with regard to our
provided it is their  - Antichristian  - religion.                                         parental Christian schools) that the constitutional
   We may expect that these forces will become                                             guarantee of freedom of religion is involved in this
stronger, not weaker. And we may expect  - I do not                                        conflict. In that connection, it is rather ironic that
know how soon it will be  - that eventually they will                                      the IRS is so concerned about minorities when they
make our place as Christians smaller and smaller, and                                      are racial minorities, but altogether overlooks the fact
finally impossible, here in the world. We must be                                          that our Christian schools  - and is that not especially
prepared! We must not begin to compromise!                                                 true of our small Protestant Reformed schools?  - are
    In the second place, we ought to see that what is                                      minority schools!  Only, of course, they are schools of
really at stake in the current conflict is the right of                                    a  religious  minority. But again, while that constitu-
private, parental education. The aim is not merely to                                      tional guarantee is of great importance, what is even
deprive us of tax-exempt status; the latter is the                                         more important is that the maintenance and confes-
weapon. The aim is to destroy the private school, to                                       sion and application (with reference to education) of
deprive it of its very private character and right of                                      our Reformed and Christian principles are at stake in
self-determination. And I call your attention to the                                       this conflict. Them we may not and them we cannot
fact that this is a right which has long been                                              and them we shall not forsake, by God's grace!
recognized in this country, and in some states                                                 Again: let us be spiritually prepared for the battle!
(Michigan among them) it is recognized. in the
constitution. But more than this, is the  duty,  the                                       (Editor's Note. It wasn't a conspiracy, but pure
God-given duty, of parental education. It is the duty,                                     coincidence. I had completed my editorials, and Rev.
the sacred calling, of covenantal education which is                                       Van  Baren's regular article for this issue arrived in the
involved. It is not the calling of the government to                                       mail. Lo and behold! His first title and mine were
e d u c a t e   o u r   c h i l d r e n   o r   t o   i n t e r f e r e   i n   t h a t    exactly alike! You know what they say about great
education. That is  OUY calling as parents before the                                      men's minds. . .  .)

TRANSLATED TREASURES



                                                           Pamphlet-on the
                                      Reformation of the Church
                                                                               Dr. A. Kuyper



    11. In which way the office in the church of Christ                                    at his feet, but because they lacked the smell of
works in-the New Dispensation.                                                             charity before the Lord. Also the holy apostle Paul
   The office was instituted originally in the  aposto-                                    collected money again and again on his journeys for
late as one single office. "Just as the father has sent                                    the impoverished Jerusalem church. Thus originally
pe, so send' I you. " "And whatsoever thou shalt bind                                      the apostles ministered the Word and served tables.
on earth shall be bound in heaven." The teaching                                           This shows that the three or four  offices1 which later
office, the ruling office, the office of alms, all were                                    l.Kuyper speaks here of three or four offices because there is some
concealed in that one apostolic office. Ananias and                                        question in Reformed churches whether the professors of theology in
Sapphira laid their offering at the feet of the apostles,                                  the seminary hold a separate office. This latter was the view of Calvin
and the apostle of the Lord immediately rejected that                                      and it reappears in our church order in Article 2. Our churches,
                                                                                           however, have always maintained that the office of professors of
offering; but not because that offering did not belong                                     theology is part of the office of the minister.


298                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



came to separate development in the church did not          office of elders.
stand alongside of each other as independent offices,         This dispute still continues, as is  welgknown, over
but, in the nature of the case, formed one single           the question whether the minister is the proper
office, and ought to be seen and understood in their        officebearer and the elder only his helping in-
unity. Thus unity lies in the unity of the King's           strument; or rather that both, teaching and ruling
majesty. Just as during the Lord's sojourn on earth         elders, standing on a completely equal footing as
the preaching of the gospel was not alongside of the        instruments of King  Jesus.. Just as first the deaconate
healing of the sick, nor the rule of His disciples          loosed itself from the apostolate, thus the teaching
alongside  ,of the feeding of the hungry, but just as       and ruling office of elder also gradually split  .for a
both this preaching and this ruling of the disciples        similar reason. The Jerusalem church originally had a
and this wonderful demonstration of love were all           gloriously outstanding consistory, composed of
three expressions of the one and the same anointing,        twelve apostles, who were at the same time teaching,
so also, in the nature of the case, there is only one       ruling, and ministering instruments of King Jesus. In
work which, through the instrumental ministry of            consequence of the expansion of the church, present-
one office, even though divided into different              ly seven deacons were added. And these nineteen
branches, still now proceeds from the King toward           ,persons  would undoubtedly have proved to be per-
His church. Where in the midst of the heathen world         fectly capable of exercising the kingly authority of
new churches are arising, the missionary still displays     Christ in His church if a congregation had only
that unity of the office in his person since he is          existed in Jerusalem and the calling of the apostolate
preacher, elder, and  carer for the poor all at the same    had been limited to Jerusalem. But this was not the
time.                                                       case. Churches had to be established everywhere, and
  Division in this one office began first through the       because it was impossible that each of these churches
spread of the church in connection with the limita-         possess 12 apostles, the official ministry of local
tions in those who were clothed with the office. Thus       teachers separated itself from the world apostolate.
we see from Acts 6 that for this reason and no other        And because the number of these teachers remained
the distinct deaconate was separated from the  aposto-      very small in most churches, the local office of
late. It was, as we read, because "the number of the        government had, again in an entirely natural way, to
disciples was multiplied," and because this spreading       separate from this local teaching office as a local
of the church prevented the apostles from treating          official ministry, existing in complete equality of
every concern with the required exactness, that gave        rank alongside of the teaching office and the  deacon-
rise to murmuring. And this murmuring moved the             ate. The office of professor remained, after that
apostles to recognize, not: "it should not be that we       threefold development of the office, for a long time
as apostles should busy ourselves with material             hidden in the teaching office. This lay in the nature
things"; but rather: "it is not proper that we should       of the case. As long as the opposition of heretics and
neglect the Word of God to serve tables." Thus as           the defense of the truth took place exclusively on
long as the service of tables was still of such small       practical and ecclesiastical grounds, this important
extent that the ministry of the Word received no            task was still entirely the responsibility of the minister
damage, the deaconate and preaching were together           in his ordinary preaching and epistles. But when later
in one office. But as soon as the spread of the church      the struggle with heresy became more technical, the
expanded the ministry of tables in such a way that          shepherd or ministers would have had to leave behind
the Word was damaged, the apostles created a separate       the ministry of the Word in order to save the church
office for the ministry of tables. Or, better yet, they     in a more technical way. Wherefore, because this was
made to shoot out from the stem of their original           not good nor could take place, the doctorate gradual-
office a separate shoot in the deaconate. This was a        ly, and as if by itself, shot out a shoot from the
circumstance therefore of importance because it             official stem, and the minister of the church was
appears from this how accurate, according to God's          henceforth only a shepherd. A shepherd, although
Word, our Church Order is in Article 25. The same is        always to be understood not in the current sense as if
true in our liturgical formula for the installation of      the preacher is a teacher on the pulpit and a shepherd
elders and deacons which recognizes the deaconate as        only in family visitation; but shepherd with the
an office. And this is also confessed in our confession,    understanding that in the first place on the pulpit and
namely, that deacons "with the shepherds and over-          further with each official action, the flock is pas-
seers" of the congregation "form as it were a council       tured.
of the church." This is no less important because this
loosening of the deaconate from the apostolate puts           Attention ought to be paid to two things which
in our hand the unsought. key by which to solve             follow from this. In the first place, our attention
easily the ancient contention for mastery which the         ought to be fixed upon the undeniable fact that the
office of teaching attempted to exercise over the           four offices of "shepherd, elder, deacon, and teacher"


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  299



may be regarded as four stalks on one root; and must         is one in stem and root but divided in operation. Our
therefore never be considered as four cuttings rooted        chief Prophet and Teacher speaks more particularly
separately alongside of each other, each in its own          through the office of shepherd and teacher. Through
earth on its own root. The office of shepherd in             the presbytery our eternal King rules in a narrow
Jesus' church is therefore at the same time the office       sense. And through the deaconate the mercies of our
`of ruling. The ruling elders, though kept distinct from     eternal High Priest are revealed in a special way. But
the ministry of the Word, must watch for the purity          even as it can be asserted with equal right that the
of the ministry of the Word. And just as the  deacon-        ministry of the Word testifies prophetically,  priest-
ate must be abundantly busy in the comfort of the            like, and rules in a kingly way, and even as both other
Word (and therefore in far and away most churches            ministries have a part in each of the three offices of
sits with the official council of the church) the            Christ, so these three stalks are intertwined on earth
deaconate stands in the middle of the ministry of the        in the visible church, and the right knowledge of each
Word, and ought at the same time to be merged with           office is lost if men lose from sight the unity of the
the ruling organism of the churches. Finally, as much        root of all three.
as the deaconate is more particularly the office for           Our conclusion, therefore, can be no different than
the manifestation of Christendom which exists not in         that the ecclesiastical office on earth is nothing more
words, but in power, nevertheless none of the three          nor less than an instrument of the office of Messiah
remaining offices stands outside the  mi&stry of             to the end that He Who has received a name above all
mercy, and each office would be forfeited that did           names on earth and throughout eternity in the midst
not let light shine before men.                              of the Father's elect performs prophesying, ruling,
  The other observation is that in this division of          teaching, and mercy. A concentrated office thus
offices in the visible church on earth there only            proceeds from moment to moment from the one
repeats itself what is seen in the Messiah-office of         office of Messiah which is called to preach the Word
Christ. Just as that office of Messiah is one in origin,     in the office of shepherd, to plead through the
nature, and scope, and for all that does not divide          doctorate, and to bring to dominion over sin through
itself into the three-fold office of prophet, priest, and    the consistory, and to work against that misery which
king, so also the office of the visible church on earth      is the fruit of sin in the office of deacon.

FROM. HOLY WRIT





                              Exposition of Galatians
                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers




THE MOST INCREDIBLE SLANDER OF PAUL'S                        Christ Jesus? (Gal.  2:4) Preposterous, indeed! Then
PREACHING REFUTED  - Continued (Galatians                    Paul would be denying the very truth of the Gospel!
5:11, 12)                                                    Paul's would be worse than was the position of Peter
  Paul would yet be preaching the need of being              when he separated himself from the Gentile Chris-
circumcised in order to become a member of Christ?           tians and ate with those of the circumcision who had
Once more a bloody rite, which prefigured the blood          been called from the Jewish faith; (Gal. 2: 11 ff) He
of the Cross, would need to be practiced in the              would be, indeed, breaking down what he had once
Christian Church? One would first need to become a           built. (Gal. 2: 18) He would have ceased to live by the
believer in the Old Testament sense before he could          faith of the Son of God, Who loved him and gave
be a believer in the New Testament church as did the         Himself for Paul on the accursed tree. (Gal.  2:20)
Jews insist who came in to spy out our liberty in              What! is the  offence of the Cross ceased?


300                                           THE-STANDARD BEARER



  In a former paragraph we have spoken of this              Cross to us. He is the Rock to which we come as
"offence of the Cross." This deals with the very heart      living stones to be built up a spiritual house, to bring
of the Gospel; it deals with the chief cornerstone          forth spiritual sacrifices unto God. (I Peter  2:3)
upon which the entire temple of God's church is               Now the  offence of the Cross is that God lays the
constructed and made firm. In the midst of all the          stone in Zion on which all of salvation rests. This is
unbelief of Israel the word of Jehovah was to Isaiah,       realized on the. Cross. Here the Stone is rejected by
that he would not be afraid with the fear of those          the builders, the Jewish nation; He is condemned to
who would put their trust in a false alliance with          die on the Cross. In the determinate counsel of God it
Assyria, an alliance which was tantamount to a              was by wicked hands that Christ was crucified and
conspiracy against the LORD. Ahaz and the nobles of         slain. (Acts  2:23) But God raised Him up and set Him
Judah would call upon the help of the Assyrian king         at His own right hand! And so, in the wisdom of God,
against two kings who would overthrow the throne of         the rejected Stone became the chief cornerstone.
David in Jerusalem. Rezin king of Syria (Damascus)          (Psalm  118:22; Matt.  21:42)  The evil husbandmen
and Pekah, son of Remaliah, would overthrow the             said, This is the heir, let us kill him and let us seize his
dynasty of David's house and place another on               inheritance. Yet thus the stone was laid in Zion. And
David's throne who was not a son of David. It was in        that is the stone of  offence. That is the Cross! And
that historical situation that the word of the Lord         this Cross is  tlze rock of  offence to all unbelief. In
came to Ahaz that this would never come to pass.            their heart and conscience they are condemned in all
God would fulfil His promise to David as spoken by          their religiosity and. empty rites. They are crushed by
Nathan the prophet, that he would raise up a Son to         this Stone forever, Isaiah says, "and many among
sit upon David's throne forever. (II Sam. 7: l-l 7) How     them shall stumble and fall, and be broken and be
would this be realized? A virgin will conceive and          snared and be taken captive!" (Isaiah 8: 15)
bring forth a Son and shall call Him IMMANUEL, God
with us. (Isaiah 7: 14; Matt.  1:23; Luke  1:31, 34)          Now, can this  "offence of the Cross" ever cease?
                                                            Can it ever be made of none effect, even in the
  It is in this connection that the Scripture brings in     highest heaven and in deepest hell? Will the reality of
the stone of stumbling, the rock of  offence, in Isaiah     that awful cry of the Jews ever cease: His blood be
8: 14. Instead of placing their trust in a foreign power    upon us and upon our children? (Matt.  27:25)  The
such as Assyria, of which Sennacherib is king, they         offensiveness of Paul's preaching was exactly that He
must sanctify the Lord God in their hearts. They            preached this Cross, this stone laid in Zion, as did all
must trust in Him and wait for His salvation alone          the other apostles. (Acts 4: 10, 11) These leaders
against all the enemies. All the plans of the               winced under this preaching and exclaimed, "and,
unbelievers shall come to nought. They shall not            behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine,
stand! Only what the LORD shall do shall stand. The         and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." (Acts
mighty word of God comes to Isaiah and instructs            4:28b)
him not to walk in the way of this unbelieving,
conspiring people. God shall be for a "Sanctuary" to          Now Paul is accused of a very great sin. He would
all who trust in Him. As one commentary has it, "All,       not have kept that which was entrusted to him, this
who sanctified the LORD of hosts in their hearts, He        riches of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, this mystery
surrounded like temple walls; hid them in Himself,          which was hid in God from the ages and is now made
whilst death and tribulation reigned without, and           known in Christ Jesus? (Eph. 3: 8-l  1, I Peter 1: 18-21)
comforted, fed and blessed them in His gracious             If Paul preached the need of circumcision, then he
presence."                                                  would in one sentence make all that is glorious in the
                                                            Cross of Christ to fade, and all the riches would be
  But there is another side to this. All who do not         turned into abject poverty and shame. Once more we
sanctify the LORD in their hearts, do not place their       would have rags and not the white raiments of
trust in Him alone, these do not have the LORD as           righteousness to clothe the shame of our nakedness.
their sanctuary, where they dwell under the shadow
of the almighty; but for them He is a stone of
stumbling, a rock of  offence. Upon this stone they         PAUL'S SOLEMN WISH FOR JEWISH DIS-
are dashed to pieces. Thus it shall be for the              TURBERS OF THE FAITH (Galatians 5 : 12)
unbelievers in both the houses of Israel. God's work          There are heights of holy zeal and indignation
in Zion is like a stone. For God will build the temple      which cold and fleshly souls cannot understand. Such
of His church on a foundation of which the chief            is the case with this zeal of God's house which
cornerstone is Christ Jesus in His death and resur-         consumes Paul at this point. He is filled with the glow
rection. Now this stone is elect and precious. (Isaiah      of his great love for the truth of the Gospel. He can
28:16; I Peter  2:6; Matt.  21:42; Rom.  9:33) Thus He      only magnify his office as a true steward of the riches
is to us who believe. He is not the  offence of the         in Christ Jesus.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 301


   There are certain disturbers of the faith of the            following the French rendering of Deut. XXIII:  1,
`church. In Gal.  1:6, 7 he had also spoken of these,          recommends the euphemism, "Go beyond circum-
who pretended that they were preaching "another                cision" as the preferable  m.ode of expressing this
,Gospel" than Paul preached. There Paul had called             idea of the verb in a version for general circulation.
upon their heads the "anathema" of God. This should            Both Lightfoot and Eadie emphasize that such
come upon his own head too and even upon a                     mutilation was a part of `the rites of the worship of
Gamaliel, should he preach another Gospel than Paul            Cybele, and as such the  allusion"would have been
had preached in their midst. They were those who               understood at once. The idea conveyed is that
`would trouble the saints. They would overturn the             circumcision, when no longer fulfilling its original
Gospel of Christ.                                              design as an ordinance adumbrative of Christ and
   Now Paul does something very great, it seems to             His blessings, had no more validity than such
`me. He would have these mere cutters of the flesh             degrading prescriptions of the heathen, and that
who really do not "circumcise?' in the Scriptural              the sole difference is in degree and not in kind. The
sense, as a sign and seal of the righteousness which is        application of this principal here is intense irony.
by faith (Rom.  4:11), but who merely cut off                  The explanation of Sabday is certainly remarkable,
"foreskins," go all the way. In Phil.  3:2 he calls these      that while the interpretation here maintained is the
the "concision."  (katutomeen) For we, who believe in          true one, Paul is writing under the strain of
Christ Jesus and put no trust in the flesh are the true        passion, and his anger uses an expression that
circumcision. We have the circumcision of Christ               indicates "one of very few flaws in a truly noble
which is without hands, in the putting off of the              and gracious character."
body of sin. (Col.  2:ll) Yes, these would-be                  Only when we see that Paul places such men under
evangelists of law should not simply circumcise              the divine curse can we understand that Paul, in using
themselves, but should  mutilate  themselves. The term       this phrase, is walking on the higher ground of his
in the Greek really can only mean this self-mutilation.      calling, and expresses what deepest implication and
The verb is "apokopsontai," 3rd person, plural,              consequences of those, who insist that the New
indicative, middle voice of  apokoptoo:  to cut off, to      Testament Christian must be circumcised to enter
amputate. Yes, might they "even" do that. Then they          into the kingdom of heaven.
would go really all the way in their fleshly                   What is worse: to fling the Lord's anathema upon
circumcision. At least it wouldn't be a little circum-       such disturbers of the faith and subverters of the
cision. This interpretation is advocated by a host of        Gospel, or to wish these men to go all the way in
interpreters. See Meyer's Commentary, page 23 1, and         their folly of mere cutting of the flesh? To ask this
Lightfoot, page 207.                                         question is to answer it!
   We have the interesting "Note" on page 244 of               For such are the men of unbelief, "who both killed
Meyer's Commentary, which we here quote,                     the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out,
   "The common interpretation of the Fathers,                and please not God, and are contrary to all men;
   confirmed by the use of the language of the LXX.,         forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might
   is not to be rejected only because it is displeasing      be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is
   to the delicacy of the modem times."  (Jowell) The        come upon them to the uttermost"! (I Thes.
   American section "of the Revision committee,              2:15, 16)

THE LORD GAVE THE WORD



                                                 Missions
                                               Prof Robert D. Decker




   Several years ago the  Standard Bearer  carried a         history of missions was given and some principles of
series of articles written by Rev. C. Hanko and the          missions were enunciated. For some reason this rubric
undersigned on the subject of missions. A brief              was discontinued. Because our churches are  increas-


 302                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



ingly active in missions it was decided by the               aries: "Although all ministers of the Word have in
Standard Bearer  staff to revive this rubric. The            common, that to them is committed the preaching of
undersigned was appointed its editor. The purpose of         the Gospel, the administration of the Sacraments, the
this rubric shall be twofold. There will be articles on      government of the Church, and the maintenance of
the subject of the Biblical (Reformed) principles of         Christian discipline, yea, all that, according to the
missions. The mission committee will be asked to             Word of God belongs to the office of pastor and
submit. articles from time to time in order to keep our      teacher; and although from the difference of field of
people informed concerning the mission work of the           labor no difference is resulting, concerning office,
churches. In addition our missionaries will be asked         authority or dignity, since all possess the same
to submit articles informing our people of the work          mission, the same office and the same authority, yet
they are doing in the various fields at home and             notwithstanding this, it is necessary that some labor
abroad. It is our prayer that all this will serve to make    in the congregations already established, while others
our people the better informed on the subject of             are called and sent to preach the Gospel to those
missions and on the work of our churches. Thus our           without, in order to bring them to Christ." The point
people will be the better able to support this work of       is that the Gospel preaching is just that, no matter
Jesus Christ with their prayers and offerings.               where it occurs. Therefore apart from dogmatic
   The science of missions is of comparatively recent        investigation concerning the meaning and significance
origin. In fact, until the nineteenth and twentieth          of the preaching of the Gospel there was no special
centuries there was little scientific investigation of       investigation done in the science of missions..
missions. This is true generally among the churches             Even in more recent times there is very little
but more especially within the Reformed tradition.           worthwhile material on the subject. There is a mass of
Even less is found here. Two names are worthy of             rather useless material coming from  Arminian-
mention in this connection. Thomas Aquinas wrote a           fundamentalist circles. Roland Allen, writing out of
treatise in which he discussed the preaching of the          t h e   A n g l i c a n   t r a d i t i o n ,   h a s   p r o d u c e d   s o m e
gospel to the Gentiles and how this differed from            worthwhile volumes. Apart from the contributions of
preaching to the Jews. Voetsius of the Netherlands           J. J.  VanOosterzee, R. B. Kuiper, J. H. Bavinck, H. R.
made a worthy contribution to the subject in a work          Boer, R. R.  DeRidder and H. Hoeksema there is little
dealing with the ground, reason, and object of               in the Reformed tradition. There may very well be an
mission endeavor.                                            implied criticism of the Reformed churches by virtue
   What may be the reason or reasons for this? The           of this fact. Perhaps the dearth of material indicates
late Herman Hoeksema in his syllabus on missions             that there was not, among the Reformed churches,
suggested that the church from the very beginning of         the proper emphasis placed on this aspect of the
its New Testament history simply spontaneously'              church's calling and task in the world. Of late this has
engaged in missions. The Apostles went out preaching         increased and more of a study is being made of the
into all the world as sent by Christ Himself (The            science of missions. This is to the good and it is well
Great Commission) and under the impetus of the               that we investigate the whole field. If for no other
Holy Spirit of Pentecost. The church after the times         reason we ought to do this because the subject of the
of the Apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, simply           church's calling, task, and place in the world is a very
continued the work assuming correctly that the Great         live issue in our times and there is a good deal of bad
Commission had not been fulfilled by the Apostles.           ecclesiology being advocated.
This same point is made by our fathers in the  Form             Various names have been suggested for this subject
Of  Ordination  Of  Missionaries:  "That unto the            and it is well that we briefly examine them. There is
Heathen  also these glad tidings must be brought             the name,  Apostolics.  This emphasizes that the
appears plainly from Matt. 28: 19: `Go ye therefore,         missionary is sent out to the task of preaching the
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of         gospel to the nations. This has some merit for this
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;           emphasizes the official character of the work,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have        something which can stand emphasis in our day. The
commanded you.' " It is not at all strange, therefore,       danger, however, of using this term lies in the fact
that the church felt no particular need to investigate       that it may suggest some kind of apostolic succession
the ground, nature, scope, and object of missionary          idea. Missionaries certainly are not direct successors
endeavor.                                                    to the Apostles. Another term, preferred by Dr. A.
   A second reason lies undoubtedly in the fact that         Kuyper, is prosthetics. This term, derived from the
there is no essential difference between preaching the       Greek, means to emphasize the fact that the church
gospel in all the world and preaching it in the              must grow in the world. By mission work the church
established church (congregation). This point too is         is increased in numbers. Missions adds to the church.
recognized by the  Form  of Ordination Of  Mission-          J. H. Bavinck correctly criticizes this term on the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                              303


ground that missions and missionaries do not add to         by Christ will the people of God hear Christ, believe
the church. Only God adds daily to the church such          on Him, and call upon Him and be, saved. (Romans
`as should be saved. God does that through the means        10: 14, 15) That is the mission of the church. We
of the preaching of the gospel by the missionary, but       prefer this term too because it expresses the idea that
God does it nonetheless. (Cf. Acts  2:41, 47;  11:24)       the missionary is sent outside of the sphere of the
J. J.  VanOosterzee uses the term halieutics to refer       established church, sent out to the nations. This
to, "The theory of the extension of Christianity            distinguishes missions from the preaching done in the
among the nations of the world not yet Christian-           established church. This is literally what Jesus told
ized."  (Practical Theology,  p. 588) This term is          the apostles and, therefore, the church, to do: "Go ye
derived from the Greek word which means to fish. It         into all  .the world, and preach the gospel to every
has some merit for it is derived from Scripture. Jesus      creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be
`said to the Apostles, "I will make you fishers of          saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
men.", (Luke 5: l-11) Nonetheless the term is too           (Mark 16: 15, 16) In that great task Christ promises to
narrow in scope to be used as a designation of the          be with His church to strengthen her and guide her
subject.                                                    even unto the end of the world. (Matthew 28: 19, 20)
                                                              What then is missions? It may be defined as: that
   We prefer the term Missions. This is the word most       work of God in Christ by which, through the official
commonly used throughout the ages. It is the word           ministry of the Word by the church, He gathers His
used by J. H. Bavinck.  (liztroduction  To The Science      elect in the New Dispensation out of all nations of
of Missions) We prefer this term because it expresses       the world, both Jew and Gentile, with a view to the
aI1 that is necessary to express in regard to this          realization of the manifestation of His glory in the
subject. The idea of the church or missionary being         New Heavens and Earth.
sent is contained in this term. And this is an essential
part of missions! Our Lord personally called and sent         In succeeding articles we shall examine the
the Apostles, appearing to them after the resur-            elements of this definition in some detail. But before
rection. Christ sends the Church today inasmuch as          we do that, we are going to examine the Scriptures to
the church is built upon the foundation of the              find the Biblical ground for missions. This is crucial,
Apostles and prophets with Christ as the chief              for both the principles and the practice (methods) of
cornerstone. Thus it is through the church that Christ      missions must be Scriptural. May God bless our
sends the missionary to preach the gospel. Apart from       humble efforts for the good of the churches.
the sending of the Lord through the church the                We wish to close this introduction by observing
missionary has no right, no authority, and no strength      that Christ is definitely calling our churches to the
to preach the gospel to the nations. This is precisely      task of missions. He is opening doors for us both at
too why missions must be conducted by the church            home and abroad. We ought to be very thankful for
and not apart from the church by a mission society.         that! We ought to be thankful that God is using us for
Only the church has been authorized to preach the           this great work. Great things indeed happen by means
gospel. Christ did not give apostles and prophets and       of the preaching of the gospel! The elect are brought
`evangelists and pastors and teachers to societies for      to faith and salvation. The wisdom of this world is
missions. He gave them to the church. The church            made of no effect. Christ comes. Let us as churches
alone has the authority to preach and that authority        then, to whom so much has been given, get on with
is Christ's. Only by means of a preacher who is sent        the task. Let us be zealous and faithful in the work.

MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE


                                    Letter to Timothy

                                         April 1 ) 1979

                                                            gospel and particularly concerning the work of
  Although you have asked me to write to you                dealing with the problems and troubles which beset
concerning the pastoral labors of a minister of the         the people of God, I write to you concerning these


304                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



things with a great deal of hesitancy. This hesitancy is    no strength of our own, and then only the strength of
born of the conviction that the man has not yet been        Christ pervades us and what we do.
born who knows always the best way to deal with the                This has both an objective and a subjective side to
problems which he confronts in the lives of God's           it.
people. There are, as you know, many times when a
feeling of almost utter helplessness sweeps over us                From an objective point of view, the fact is simply
and we scarcely know how to do the work to which            that there are in the power of men no solutions to the
God so clearly calls us.                                    problems of life. This is a fact. Men's theories, men's
                                                            skills, men's diagnostic procedures, men's experience,
  I write of this because you must understand that I        men's cleverness at handling life's problems  - all
do not have nearly all the answers to the problems          mean nothing at all. Only Christ can heal the
which a pastor faces. If my reluctant consent to write      wounded soul and bring the balm of Gilead to the
about these things be' construed on your part as an         hurts of life. Only Christ can restore and make whole
admission that I know all the solutions, then you will      again. Only Christ can bring about solutions to life's
be sadly mistaken.                                          problems. And this is because of the dread power of
  There is a point here, however,`which ought not to        sin which lies at the root and heart of all the troubles
be overlooked. I know that you, as does any                 and problems which we face. If sin is not removed,
conscientious pastor, have this same sense of helpless-     the problems remain and the troubles continue or
ness when you are confronted with serious problems          grow worse. But what man is able to remove sin from
among members of your flock. But this is not                the heart and life of his fellow man? What man can
necessarily bad. I am reminded of what the apostle          reach into that heart and change it? What man has the
Paul wrote to the Corinthians in II Corinthians 12.         power to cleanse from sin and from the guilt of sin?
You will recall that he talks in the early part of the      The cross is the only power. And that power is to be
chapter about visions he received of the third heaven.      found only in our merciful Highpriest.
He adds to this brief biographical narrative, "And lest            The subjective side of this is that a pastor who is
I should be exalted above measure through the               worthy of the name does his work in this conscious-
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a       ness. It is true, of'course, that God is pleased to use
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet        men and that Christ works His perfect work through
me, lest I should be exalted above measure." You            human agency. And central to this all is the preaching
recall how Paul prayed three times that this thorn in       of the Word  - a work entrusted to those who are
the flesh, this messenger of Satan, be taken from him.      called to be pastors. But this does not alter the fact
But the Lord would not answer that prayer, at least         that the faithful pastor knows that he is, after all,
in the way Paul desired. The Lord said instead: "My         nothing but an instrument  - indeed, sometimes little
grace. is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made      more than a passive instrument. Paul writes of this in
perfect in weakness." Paul comments on this answer          another place to these same Corinthians: "And I,
of the Lord and says, "Most gladly therefore will I         brethren, when I came to you, came not with
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of           excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in       you the testimony of God. For I determined not to
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecu-     know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
tions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am       him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and
weak, then I am strong."                                    in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and
  In other words, God sent this messenger of Satan          my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
to buffet Paul in order that he might remain weak in        wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
all his labor on behalf of the gospel. He had to be         power: That your faith should not stand in the
weak, or else God could not use him. Why was this?          wisdom of men, but in the power of God." I
                                                                                                                r
The answer is that only when he was weak did the            Corinthians 2: 1-5.
power of Christ rest upon him. Only when he was                    It remains therefore a fact that the pastor who goes
weak was he really strong, because then his power           to his sheep in the confidence of his own ability to
was not his own but the power of Christ.                    handle the situation and to solve the problem goes in
  This is important. We may take it as a general rule       the wrong spirit and will be of no use to Christ. But
that only when we perform our work with a sense of          the pastor who goes in the consciousness of his own
our own helplessness will we be fit instruments in the      weakness and with a deep sense of his inability to
hands of Christ. If we are strong, then we are strong       accomplish anything at all is the man whom God is
only in our own strength. And then we are of no use         pleased to use.
to Christ, and we will be of no use to God's people in             You see, God must have the glory, and He alone.
their troubles. But when we are weak, then we have          The saints must stand not in the wisdom of men, but


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                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               305



in the power of God. The power of Christ must rest,           and sent by Christ to bring Christ's Word as Christ's
upon him. And the saints must clearly see this that           ambassador. This Word is then the Word of Christ
healing and restoration are wrought by the effectual          which comes with all its power to destroy sin and
working of Him Who is the only Shepherd of His                work everlasting salvation.
sheep.                                                           This must not be construed as meaning that the
  While we are on this subject, it might be well to           minister is the only one who is able to help God's
spend just a little time on that whole matter of the          people in their troubles. There is a certain role which
qualifications of a pastor who must do this type of           the people of God as a whole have. While we shall
work of which we speak.                                       have to discuss this in more detail later, it is not out
  Again, I do not want to enter into a discussion of          of place to point. out now that we are all called to
all  the qualifications of a pastor. This is a subject        bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of
discussed also in Poimenics class in Seminary, and            Christ. We are called, says James, to pray for one
you have had that training. But there are a few things        another that we may be healed; for the effectual
which I do want to say about this.                            fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
  In the first place, a pastor must be a  minister  of the       But the point here is that the congregation
gospel. He is a minister of the gospel also as he             functions in her calling as an organic unity. Behind
performs his pastoral functions. I am sometimes               the work of the minister in his preaching on the
afraid that this is lost from sight in the Church today.      Lord's Day stands the congregation through which
A minister already in Seminary is offered special             the minister is called. And his work bears fruit only
courses in all areas of pastoral work. He can pick up         when God's people support that Word preached
courses, e.g., in youth counselling, in what is called "a     through their prayers and through submitting to that
ministry to the unmarried," in counselling the                Word. Behind that preaching stands the congregation
mentally ill, in working with the aged, etc., etc. All        which searches the Scriptures, studies God's Word
kinds of courses are offered. And some seminaries             and lives with the constant testimony of that Word
even grant degrees in various fields such as these. so        on its lips. Without that the preaching is ineffective.
that one who obtains such a degree becomes an                 Behind the elders stand the saints who help  one-
"expert" in his particular field. Or, if he has not           another in the difficult pathway of life, who support
succeeded in getting these courses while in Seminary,         the elders, who pray for them, who approve of their
he is offered such courses while active in the ministry;      work when censure is performed, who really exercise
and the offerings come from various institutions,             discipline themselves through the office of elder.
clinics, counselling centers, and such like.                  Behind the deacons stand the people of God who not
  Now I am not, as such, opposed to certain courses           only give of their gifts to help the needy, but who are
which could be offered to help the pastor in these            themselves filled with works of charity and benev-
areas of his labors. But there are dangers. One danger,       olence. And so, behind the pastor stand those who
quite obviously, is that he becomes an expert in one          belong to the Church of Christ and who in the
field only, a specialist. He, in pastoral work, is like       communion of the saints bear one another's burdens.
the doctor who specializes in diseases of the foot.           Without that the work of the pastor will never
And this particular  doctdr does not particularly care        survive.
if his patient is dying on the examining table from a            But all that does not alter the fact that the pastor
heart attack as long as the fungus on his foot is being       is a minister. He brings the Word of Christ. He has no
properly treated. That is one danger. The other               other calling than this. This is his first and foremost
danger is that the pastor forgets that he is a minister       qualification. He may be sure that if he brings any
of the  gospel. He so thoroughly studies his own              other word than that of the Scriptures, his work will
specialty that, in order to justify this specialization,      accomplish exactly nothing. No matter what may be
he invents techniques, procedures, diagnostic                 the situation which he faces, he must  preach.  He must
methods and treatments which are adaptable to his             say, Thus saith the Lord. Only then can he work.
own narrow little corner. And through all this, the
fact that he is a minister is somehow forgotten. A                                           Fraternally,
pastor is a minister of the Word. That is, he is called                                      H. Hanko


          THE STANDARD BEARER

                is a thoughtful gift for a "Shut-in".


306                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



ALL AROUND US





                                  The IRS and the Private Schools
                                                           Rev. G. Varz Buren





  Some time ago we presented reports of the attempt                       school desegregation plans were being carried out in
of the IRS to require of private schools proof that                       the same communities. Such so-called "reviewable"
they were not established for the purpose of evading                      schools would then be compelled to meet an array of
the regulations concerning racial discrimination in the                   costly affirmative-action requirements, or else lose
public schools. If such proof was not given, these                        their tax-exempt status and their right to receive
schools would lose their tax-exempt status. The                           tax-deductible contributions  - the life-blood of many
difficulty with the requirement was that it placed the                    such schools.
whole burden of proof on the private school. It had                              The new proposal, which appears in the February
to prove itself innocent according to the regulations                     13  issue of the  Federal  Register,seems   to be much
of the IRS if its tax-exempt status would be                              more reasonable because it  adds a third factor to the
continued. In addition, the IRS proposal failed to                        definition of the affected so-called "reviewable"
take into consideration the many other possible                           schools  - namely, that its "creation or substantial
reasons for a racial imbalance within private schools.                    expansion was  related in fact  to public school
                                                                          desegregation in the community" (emphasis added).
  The proposal drew unprecedented response from                           But while at first glance this would seem to indicate
the public. The result was that the IRS backed off for                    that the agency would have to produce some evidence
review and revised proposals. Had it not done so, the                     of discriminatory intent on the part of a school
real prospect was that Congress would have rejected                       before placing it in the suspect  ";eviewable" cate-
the proposal. However, the revision which appears to                      gory, closer inspection reveals that this is not the
be a reasonable modification, in fact does not change                     case.
the main thrust of the ruling. I quote from  Human                           Instead, Sec. 3(.03)(c) of the new ruling states that
Events,  February 24, 1979 on this:                                       the formation or substantial expansion of a school
          The Internal Revenue  Service has released its                  during a period of public-school desegregation will
       amended version of the proposed regulations affect-                ordinarily "be considered to be related in fact to
       ing private schools, and just as opponents had feared              public-school desegregation," but that the agency will
       . . . ) the new edict includes changes that appear to be           magnanimously "consider evidence" that such activ-
       improvements over the earlier proposal but do not                  ity was not in fact so related.
       eliminate its major flaw: the riquirement that many                   In short, despite the newly deceptive wording, the
       schools will be assumed guilty of racial discrimination            burden of proving their innocence remains with the
       until they prove themselves innocent to the IRS's                  schools as much as ever.
       satisfaction.                                                         Because the new wording looks more reasonable,
          As previously reported, the trouble with the earlier            however, it may be much more difficult to get the
       proposal was its arbitrary  - and legally dubious  -               necessary votes in Congress to prevent this power
       assertion that schools should be presumed guilty of                grab. On the assumption that this would happen,
       racial discrimination until proven innocent simply                 opponents had hoped to get congressional hearings
       because they (1) fail to meet a quota of minority                  scheduled. on the regulations before the new version
       enrollment, and (2) were either founded or sub-                    was published. However, as we revealed in our
       stantially expanded at about the time  -that  public-              February 3 issue, Chairman Sam Gibbons (D.-Fla.) of


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        307


    the House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee              One might do well to communicate to the
    agreed to hold up the probe until IRS was ready.           Commissioner as well as to one's congressmen to
    Those hearings are now slated for February 20-22.          express objection to the proposed ruling of the IRS
       The IRS, which received some 130,000, letters           on the tax-exempt status of private schools. Such
    against the original proposal, is now inviting com-        letters should contain specific objections as: (1) that
    ments on the new version. Address: Commissioner of         this proposal places the burden of proof for
    Internal Revenue, Attn:  E:EO, Washington, D.C.            innocence on the schools and (2) fails to recognize
    20224. The deadline for the new comment letters is         properly that racial imbalance is often due to other
    April 20.                                                  factors than a desire to discriminate.




                    Canadian Reformed-Orthodox Presbyterian

  These two denominations, the Canadian Reformed                  proposal for ecclesiastical contact with the OPC, the
(liberated) and the Orthodox Presbyterian, have been              result of a decision taken by the Canadian Reformed
`discussing closer ties of fellowship. Calvinist Contact,         Synod of Coaldale, 1977.
Feb. 2, 1979, reports:                                               The Orthodox Presbyterian Church Committee
       The Canadian Reformed Church has strengthened              will recommend to its General Assembly later this
    her ties with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church as a           year that it consider the Canadian Reformed Church
    result of a meeting in October between committees of          to be a "church in ecclesiastical fellowship". If
    both denominations. The meeting was the result of             approved, it would result in an exchange of fraternal
    some three years of correspondence between the                delegates at major assemblies, joint action in areas of
    churches.                                                     common responsibility, communications on issues of
       A delegation of five men, members of the                   common concern, and the exercise of mutual concern
    Committee for Ecumenicity, represented the Cana-              and admonition with a view to promoting the
    dian Reformed Church at a meeting in Philadelphia             fundamentals,of  Christian unity.
    with members of the OPC Inter-Church Relations                   A discussion on church government and confession
    Committee.                                                    was postponed until a future meeting to be hosted by
       The Canadian Reformed delegation came with a               the Canadian Reformed Church.





                          66             Whose Heart the Lord Opened"
                                . . .





  From  Christianity Today,  January 19, 1979, comes              five-year church growth drive within the  215,000-
a report of the high-powered approach for the                     member body. Concerned about decreasing member-
establishment of new congregations. It concerns the               ship figures, church leaders set a minimum goal of
`efforts of the Reformed Church in America:                       twenty-five new churches a year. They were particu-
                                                                  larly interested in areas that had no Reformed Church
       An old church denomination has a new approach              influence.
    to church-planting.. The result has been the formation
    of three new congregations in Dallas, Texas. The                 Dallas was selected for the initial thrust of the
    350-year-old  Reformed Church in America broke                church growth drive only after extensive demographic
    from traditional methods of church mission with its           research had been made of several U.S. cities.
    "Dallas Project." The 15.5 persons who attended the                  With a Dallas advertising agency that 
                                                                     . . .                                          "helped
    first services last month were the fruit of a complex         sharpen the process," Paulsen designed a media
    program of statistical research, telephone surveys, and       strategy  for the Dallas Project. He used the news-
    media promotions.                                             papers and radio to promote a telephone survey of
       . . . The Dallas Project came from a $6 million,           4,500 persons in the northern suburbs of Dallas.


308                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



          Volunteers from Reformed churches staffed the                  a task force of Reformed Church laymen and pastors
       telephone lines, introducing themselves as members                from a long list of applicants. . . .
       of the denomination of Norman Vincent Peale and                         Paulsen, 36, denies that the Dallas Project ignores
       television pastor Robert  Schuller   - an attempt to get          the human element by way of a calculated, Madison
       name recognition. Then the respondents were queried               Avenue approach. "Having done the research care-
       about church attendance. If they had no affiliation               fully, using the available resources, we now are freed
       with a local church, they were invited to join a new              to be as completely human in Christ as we can be,"
       Reformed Church congregation.                                     he said.
          With information gained from the telephone                    That means must be used to promote the truths of
       surveys, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, marketing            the gospel seems undeniable. The approach reported
       studies, and commuter patterns, the project staff             above, however, appears utterly foolish. It is not a
       members determined where to plant the first                   question of ignoring the "human element by way of a
       churches. Facilities were rented in the Dallas suburbs        calculated, Madison Avenue approach." One rather
       of Plano, Carrolton, and North Dallas. These were             gets the impression that there is the ignoring of the
       areas "that were growing more rapidly than existing           "Divine element" in mission work. There seems to be
       churches could respond to," said Paulsen.                     no confidence in the power of the cross and the work
          Initially, the objective of the project was to             of the Spirit. The "Madison Avenue approach"
       establish three congregations of 1,000 members each.          appears to be the better method of establishing the
       But their goals have changed. "The people that we've          church of Christ. One wonders about the work of the
       talked to say they want to attend smaller churches            missionary Paul when the Spirit directed him where
       where they're known by name and where their                   to go. Think of what he could have accomplished
       contributions are counted as worthwhile," Paulsen             with 6 million dollars and Madison Avenue! Yet the
       said.                                                         Scriptural report is far, far more impressive. When
          From the three-year, $800,000 budget, the project          Paul, for instance, went to Philippi, he began
       will purchase media spots to promote the Reformed             preaching first at the river side to a small group of
       Church drive. A series of ads ran in Dallas newspapers        women. The fruit of that work was assured because
       and on radio to promote a Christimas Eve service in a         of the work of the Spirit: "And a certain woman
       North Dallas Holiday Inn  - the central meeting place         named Lydia . . . which worshipped God, heard us:
       for the new congregations.                                    whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto
          Pastors of the three new churches were selected by         the things which were spoken of Paul."

GUEST ARTICLE




                                     Faithfulness to Scripture
                                                    in the Church
                                                           Rev. R. G. Moore





  An outstanding feature of the Scripture's teaching                 teaching. This is detrimental to the church, and in
concerning the church is the importance of  faith-                   fact brings it to destruction if persistently followed.
fulness to the truth of God's Word, and to the sound                 It is well that we consider our ways also, in the light
doctrinal preaching of the Word. The life of the                     of the teaching of God's Word concerning the church.
church is dependent upon Christ's Word. But today                    As we consider this truth of the church, we do not
there is a forsaking of true Scriptural preaching and                treat or even say anything. that is new, but are


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   309



reminded of the instruction of Christ to His Body.                                 gathered in time from the whole human race, from
   The church is, first of all, the body of Christ. In                             every nation, tongue, and tribe, from the beginning of
Eph.  1:20-23 we see the church so called. God "hath                               the world unto the end. Thus in every generation the
put all things under his (Christ's) feet, and gave him                             church exists, the body of Christ is gathered and
to be head over all things to the church, which is his                             becomes manifest on earth. And so it shall be until
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in. all." And                            the time that the last member of the body of Christ is
this same testimony is found in Col. 1:  15-20,  where                             born and gathered by Christ into His body, cf. John
Christ is described as the firstborn of the church. "He                            10:26-30.  God eternally  ,knows and determines that
is the head of the body, the church: who is the                                    body of Christ; and thus also it is He that determines
beginning, the firstborn from  the. dead." Further, the                            the end of time when the last of His children are
church is pictured as the branches,- with Christ as the                            gathered. The body of Christ shall surely be perfected
vine in John 15: l-5. And in I Peter 2, the church is                              and made complete!
spoken of as a temple, which figure is used also in                                   This gathering of the church in Christ is the
Eph. 2: 19-22. Finally the church is called the church                             wonder-work of God by grace in time. He separates
of the firstborn in Hebrews  12:22-23.                                             His children from the wicked world and delivers them
   In these texts we are given to understand that the                              unto Himself, holy and without blame, to enter into
Church of Christ is one organic whole, and a unity                                 His eternal fellowship and glory. Indeed, it is a
with a definite number of members. The church is                                   wonder of God's grace. For in the gathering of His
not merely a crowd of people. Nor is there a question                              church, He builds His temple out of material
who will be in the church, or a matter, of chance how                              altogether in itself unfit. For we are sinners, dead in
many shall be in the church. God has determined her                                sin and trespass. More wondrous it is than creation.
in Christ from before the foundation of the world.                                 For the human race is, in Adam and in its own sin,
And He in Christ surely gathers her as the body of His                             guilty and damnable. Out of such, God's church is
Son. The church, then, is not dependent upon the                                   gathered into the communion of the justified and
persuasive powers of its ministers or its members for                              righteous. We who were in the midst of death, unable
its growth and size. May we remember this when we                                  to dwell in the holy presence of our God, are
may be tempted to use attractive figures of speech or                              gathered by Christ's Spirit and Word into the
cute little stories to teach something about God and                               fellowship and communion of our covenant God.
the things of His kingdom. The church is not                                       This gathering can then be attributed alone to God's
nourished and built up by such. Rather God calls His                               grace, cf. Eph. 2: l-10. Hence, to follow the ways of
church as a body, as a temple, as a whole with a                                   rationalism, gadgets, moral stories, or in any other
definite number of members. And without fail He                                    way to follow the invention of man in order to appeal
gathers that church. Not one member is gathered that                               to the church is utter nonsense. And it surely can
ought not to be, nor is one left out that should be                                avail no good. Alone does serious, faithful preaching
there. God Who determines His church in Christ from                                and instruction, well demonstrated from the Scrip-
before the foundation of the world, saves that church                              tures themselves, serve the welfare of that Church.
t h r o u g h   t h e   b l o o d   o f   H i s   S o n .   A n d   H e   h a s    For alone is there comfort and the message of
determined in Christ to gather that church by the                                  forgiveness found there. And only then, in the
means of the preaching of Christ and Him crucified and                             faithful exposition of the Bible, is Christ heard unto
raised. Only then does the sound preaching of Christ                               salvation.
have any place in the gathering and instruction of the
church. Let us not then attempt to instruct the                                       Further, the Scripture clearly teaches that the
members of the church with anything less than the                                  gathering of the church is the work of God's grace. It
expounding of the Word.                                                            is not of man, though God uses us as His instruments.
                                                                                   It is God in Christ Who gathers. "But now thus saith
   The importance is illustrated by the figure of the                              the Lord that created thee, o Jacob, and he that
vine and branches by which Christ instructs us. Christ                             formed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed
is first, the head, and from Him the body draws its                                thee, I have called thee by name: thou art mine." Is.
life. The church is the church exactly as they are                                 43: 1. Or again we read, "Even us, whom he hath
ingrafted into Christ and draw there all from Him.                                 called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.
Through the Spirit and the Word of Christ the church                               As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people,
receives its life and energy. Apart from Christ, the                               which were not my people; and her beloved, which
church (branches) is not. Thus, the church is gathered                             was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in
and sustained only where the word of Christ is truly                               the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my
found, which nourishes and strengthens His members.                                people; there shall they be called the children of the
   We shall consider this truth a bit more in detail.                              living God." Rom.  9:24-26.  Not only does the text
the church chosen of God from eternity in Christ, is                               show here that it is God alone who gathers the


  310                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



  church, but also that the church is one  - both in the       we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
: old and new dispensation. There are many texts to            Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been
which we could turn, but we will quote but one                 all made to drink into one Spirit." I Cor. 12: 12-l 3.
  more: "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto          And  yet. again we read, "`there is one body, and one
  the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord." I        Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
  Cor.  1:9.                                                   calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God
    The divine calling, whereby the church is gathered         and Father of all, who is above all and through all,
  out of the world, takes place always through Christ.         and in you all." Eph. 4:4-6.
  He has the words of eternal life! It is the Son of God         Hence, we see that there is only one church, God's
  by His Spirit and Word, Who gathers His own church           elect of all ages, who as true members of God's
  out of the whole human race. God always speaks               church are perfectly united together in a bond of
  through His Son and by the Spirit. And this divine           spiritual unity and fellowship, so that they are
  calling comes to us through the preaching of the             formed into one spiritual body. In time this church
  Word. The gospel is clearly not ours, but is  Christ%. It    becomes manifest from place to place in local
  is His Word. He reveals it, and He is its contents. And      congregations, in which her members walk together in
  Christ speaks it unto the gathering of His church! It is     agreement and harmony with one another, spiritually
  not, then, Christ and the church, not Christ and the         united in the bond of peace in Christ. This they have
  minister, but Christ through the instrumentality of          now in principle only, because of sin and because in
  the church and his ministers whom He has prepared,           this life there are always the tares with the wheat.
  ordained, and called to preach, that calls His church        Nevertheless this spiritual unity is the characteristic
  and gathers her.                                             of Christ's church already now.
    Also at this point we see how important it is that           This means that we do not look to the movements
  we do not tamper with His word. Today man is busy            toward mere outward unity of this ecumenical age, as
  attempting to change the meaning of Christ's word.           a fulfilment of the unity of the church. There are
  Man is saying that what was true in Paul's day or in         many which still call themselves church, and who
  John's day is no longer true or applicable today. Thus       devise to manifest a unity between churches by
  man overthrows the word of Christ about reproba-             eliminating all the differences between them. And in
  tion, about the wrath of God against sin and the             the process throw the true doctrines of God's Word
  sinner, about women's blessed place of silence in the        to the winds in order to unite. Or there' a r e
  church, about the Genesis account of the creation of         congregations that try to unite all their members by
  the world in six twenty-four hour days, etc. They            ridding themselves of the antithetical preaching and
  would use the excuse that doing this they make it            the antithetical character of the Word in instruction
  easier to gather the church, and may even point to           and Christian discipline. But this is absolutely wrong.
  the growth of their numbers following this course of         The church must always be distinctively standing in
  action. However, when the word is so changed, Christ         the truth. A mere outward unity does not accomplish
  is not preached or is not preached to the extent that        the true spiritual unity of the church. It is not the
  the word  is. so overthrown. The result is that the          true unity of the body of Christ!
  church shall not be gathered there. And, without               Christ alone establishes unity in His church. It is
  repentance, Christ will altogether remove His candle-        not by man or by the inventions of man by which he
  stick from her that so walks.                                might try to make the church united. Man cannot
    On the other hand, when the Word is by grace               cause unity; by nature all he can do is disrupt
  maintained purely, when the church and the preacher          everything. For man is by nature selfish and seeks
  are led by Christ's Spirit to have the Scripture speak,      only his own good. Thus the true manifestation of
  as a two-edged sword, condemning sin and the sinner,         the church of Christ is established alone where it
  and thus leading to Christ and His cross and                 pleases Christ to dwell by His Spirit and Word in the
  resurrection as the only object of our trust and             hearts of His own. Christ by the pure preaching of the
  comfort  - then is Christ gathering and blessing His         Word, and by the operation of His Spirit, brings His
  church and His people.                                       children to repentance and  ingrafts  them into His
    As the church is so gathered, a unity in Christ            body. And there is the unity of the church manifest
  becomes manifest. This is because the church is one.         in the fellowship of His people with their God and
  "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and              one another in and through Christ, Jesus, our Lord.
  every one members of one another." Rom. 125. And               This unity is, therefore, not natural. For that
  also we read, For as the body is one and hath many           which is natural is of sin and darkness. But the unity
  members, and all members of that body being many,            of the church is spiritual. And then this unity
  are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are       transcends all natural ties  - it cannot be based upon


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER  _                                                            311



family ties, nationality,. or race; but it is based upon                     she has ever the need to grow in the knowledge of
the oneness of the Spirit of Christ, Who bestows the                         Christ. It is strict adherence to the Scripture in the
fulness of Christ upon the members of His body.                              preaching, catechism, writing, and in the labors of
Christ gathers the elect under His word to fellowship.                       pastoral care and discipline which unites God's
with the Father. His life dwells in the church and the                       people. Not coffee hours, social gatherings, poems,
members of the same are separated from the world as                          stories, or the works of man. God's children seek
Christ's peculiar body.                                                      union not in the way of less doctrine and less
                                                                             antithetical preaching, but in the way of ever
   From what has been said, it is obvious that God's                         growing in the doctrine of Christ. And though the
children, with the calling of Christ to be gathered                          church becomes ever so small (and she will in this end
together in unity of Spirit, do so alone on the basis of                     of time) she dare not seek realization of her unity in
the Word of Christ. In the first place this means that                       any other direction than that of growing in the
they are not united by outward means, but alone by                           knowledge of Christ her Head. May God grant us
the faithful preaching and instruction of the  Scrip-                        grace to be so faithful to the Scripture in all we
tures. The church does not desire  less.doctrine  - but                      undertake as the body of Christ.





                               NOTICE!                                                                    NOTICE!!
    Classis East will meet in regular session on May 9, 1979 at the Faith       The League of Eastern Men's and Ladies' Societies will meet at First
Prot. Ref. Church. Material to be treated at this session must be in the     Church, April 10. Rev. Lubbers will speak on "Angels in the Holy
hands of the Stated Clerk at least 10 days prior to the convening of this    Scriptures." All men and women are welcome to attend.
session.                            John Huisken
                                    Stated Clerk





               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   The Ladies Society "RUTH" of the Hope Protestant Reformed                    On April 2, 1979, our beloved parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donald
Church (Walker) express their sympathy to one of our members, Mrs. J.        Dykstra, will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary. We, their chil-
Buiter, in the loss of her father, MR. G. BYLSMA.                            dren, are thankful to our Heavenly Father for the years they have had
   "For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth            together, and for the covenant instruction we have received. We pray
endureth to all generations." Ps.  100:5                                     for God's blessing upon them in the years to come.
                                                                                                              Mr. and Mrs. Tunis Dykstra
                                   Rev. R. Van Overloop, Pres.
                                   Mrs. P. Zandstra, Secy.                                                    Mr. and Mrs. Albert Dykstra
                                                                                                              Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Dykstra
                                                                                                              Don Dykstra
                                                                                                              Mr. and Mrs. Rich Dykstra
                                                                                                              27 grandchildren
                                                                                                              17 great-grandchildren


THE STANDARD BEARER
          P.O. Box 6064               :
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
                                                                    -.-
                                                                          .s.
                                           - .           -     /    _.                                                 .> .  _
312                                                                 THE  Si/%JD-ARb   BEARER

                                           News From Our  Churches

   Professor Herman Hanko has declined the call                                     replaces the October through April schedule.
e x t e n d e d   t o   h i m   b y   the  c o n g r e g a t i o n   o f   o u r       In order to assist in the support of the  .seminary
Southeast Church in Grand Rapids to "come over"                                     students who are members of Hope Church, the
and be their pastor.                                                                Council has appointed a "Seminary Student Aid
   Rev. Marvin Kamps, pastor of our church in  Doon,                                Fund Committee." In order to meet the financial
Iowa, and Mr. Dewey Engelsma plan to leave on                                       needs of the students, the committee has to raise
March 19 for Singapore. The brethren are taking this                                $911 per month. This is done through freewill
long journey to the other side of the globe at the                                  offerings from the  congiegation.
invitation of a group of young Christians in that  .far                               The Sr. Young People's Society of our First
away land who desire to learn more of the Reformed                                  Church scheduled a program on the work of our
faith.                                                                              churches in Jamaica. The program featured the
   The Council of our Southwest Church in Grand                                     revised pictures of Mr. C. Prince, some musical
Rapids has decided to send Rev. H. Veldman to the                                   numbers, and refreshments. The program was sched-
Skowhegan, Maine, area in order to investigate the                                  uled on March 15 in Southeast Church.
mission field there. Rev. and Mrs. Veldman left the                                   The Federation Board of Young People's Societies
third week in January. They plan to labor there for a                               sponsored a Dutch Psalm Sing in First Church on
period of about three months.                                                       Sunday, March 18. The theme was "Het Vasthouden
   The Council of our Hope Church in Walker,                                        van't Geloof van onze Vaderen." No translation
Michigan, and the Mission Committee of our churches                                 available.
jointly care for Rev. Robert Harbach and the field in                                 Rev. Lanting, pastor of our church in Loveland,
which he labors as home missionary. As a part of the                                Colorado, and Rev. J. Kortering, pastor of our church
responsibility of oversight and to encourage our                                    in Redlands, California, did quite a bit of traveling in
missionary in his difficult labors, these two bodies                                early March. In addition to attending the meeting of
sent Rev. Van Overloop, pastor of Hope Church, and                                  Classis West, they performed their function as Church
Elder Jon Huisken to Victoria, B.C., for a week. The                                Visitors by conducting Church Visitation in our
Hope Council concluded the announcement of this                                     churches in Houston, Texas; Pella, Iowa; Randolph,
trip with the prayer "that this also may be used for the                            Wisconsin; and South Holland, Illinois.
strengthening of our witness of the truth in the
mission field."                                                                       The new sanctuary and organ of our Faith Church
                                                                                    in Jenison, Michigan, was dedicated on February 28.
   Sunday preaching services continue in Charlotte,                                 The program featured suitable music, greetings from
Michigan, under the direction of the Mission Com-                                   Faith's former pastor, Rev. Joostens, a report from
mittee and our Kalamazoo Church. Pulpit supply is                                   the Building `Committee and a Charge to the
being furnished by the students and professors of our                               Congregation by Faith's pastor, Rev. W. Bruinsma.
Seminary.                                                                           Technical printing processes permitting, this issue
   Rev. Kenneth Koole, pastor of our church in                                      features a picture of the new Faith Church, crowned
Randolph, Wisconsin, preached the Sundays of                                        with January snow.
February 11-25 in Bradenton, Florida. During his                                                                                           K.G.V.
absence, seminarians Ronald Hanko, Carl Haak, and
Ronald Camminga "filled  .the pulpit" in Randolph.
The services in Florida are being sponsored by First
Church in Grand Rapids. Rev. Koole was followed in
Bradenton by Rev. Joostens, pastor of First Church.
Professor H. Hoeksema is scheduled to follow Rev.
Joostens.
   The Council of Hope Church has approved a
change in schedule for their Sunday School. Sunday
School will meet from June 10 through November 4.
There will be a Christmas program given and practices
will be held on December 16; 22, and 23. This                                                     l%ith
                                                                                                  l%ith  Protestm
                                                                                                           Protestm t Reformed Church
                                                                                                                      t Reformed Church


