        The
      STANDARD
            BEARER  -,
f              A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                   -

      Protestant Reformed Seminary

                        GRADUATION


     *  . .the work of the preaching of the

     Word. It is to that work that our
     graduates look forward  and. for which
     they have been prepared and trained.
     In their future ministry they must                   (iTi%%%  6y4979
     concentrate all their abilities and labor
     on' that task: the preaching of. the Word of the Lord
     Jehovah. And. their attitude must be that of the prophet
     Amos as expressed in the striking comparison of the words
     of Amos.  3:-S : "The lion hath roared, who will not fear?
     the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"

           See "Seminary Commencement Address" - Page  418


\                                                  Volume LV, No. 18, July 1, 1979 -


410                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



                         C O N T E N T S :                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                             ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                    Semi-monthly,   except monthly  during  June, July, and  August.
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    The Vaunting Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4lO         Editor-in-Chief:  Prof.  Homer  C.  Hoeksema
                                                                            Department Editors:  Prof.  Robert   D.  Decker,  Rev.  David   J.  Engelsma,
 Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . -413    Rev.  Cornelius  Hanko.   Prof.  Herman  Hanko,   Rev.  Robert  C.  Harbach,
                                                                            Rev.  John  A.  HeYs;Rev.   Meindert   Joostens,  Rev.  Jay  Kortering,   Rev.
 Editorial  -                                                               George   C.  Lubbers,   Rev.  Rodney  Miersma,  Rev.  Marinus  Schipper,  Rev.
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    Seminary Graduation, 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4i 4           Editorial Office:  Prof.  H.C.   Hoeksema
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    Protestant Reformed Churches  i 1979  1 . . . .  .4-l 5                                             Grand Rapids.   Michigan   49507
 Seminary Commencement Address  -
    Jehovah's Word and the Lion's Roar . . . . . . .  .418
 Contributed Article  -
    Come Ye Apart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .421
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 MEDITA  TiO N




                                                The Vaufiting Axe.
                                                                 Rev. M. Schipper



                   "Shall the- axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify
               itself against him that shakeih  it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift up,
               or as if the-staff should lift up itseli as ifit were no wood. "
                                                                                                                                 Isaiah 10: 15

    One of the most beautiful and comforting  doc-                                  Here the truth is set forth that God, after creating
 trines of the Christian faith is that of the Providence                     the world, did not forsake it, as the proud Deist
 of God. And perhaps no more beautifully and                                 would have it; nor did He leave it to fortune and
 comprehensively expressed is this doctrine than in                          chance, as the fatalist or determinist maintains.
 our Belgic Confession.                                                     Rather, so the Article stresses it, He rules and governs'


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                411



the same according to His holy will, so that nothing         Judah, and  overagainst.  the nation of Judah which is
happens in the world without His appointment. He             about to be brought into captivity.
even executes His work in the most excellent manner            Assyria is commissioned of Jehovah God to fulfill a
when devils and wicked men act unjustly, restraining         certain work. He must marshal all his forces against
the devil and all our enemies, that without His will         Jerusalem. The kingdom of Judah, like the kingdom
and permission, they cannot hurt us; so that not a           of Israel, had at this time made itself ready for
hair of our head, nor a sparrow can fall to the ground       judgment, having. made full its measure of iniquity.
without His will.                                            But unlike the kingdom of Israel, it was not to be
  Though this article of faith does not claim to             completely destroyed, but brought into the captivity
comprehend all the profundities involved in the              of Babylon. In the siege against Jerusalem, the city
relation between the restraining power God exercises         and temple are to be laid low, while its citizens were
over rational moral creatures and their response, even       to be ruthlessly- removed from their land. According
cautioning not to curiously pry into those things            to verse six, it is the Lord's purpose to show His
which surpass human understanding, and to be                 wrath on Judah, a hypocritical nation. "I will send
content with that only which He has revealed in His          him (Assyria) against  -an hypocritical nation, and
Word, it nevertheless makes two things abundantly            against the people of my wrath will I give him in
clear. God neither is the author of, nor can He be           charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to
charged with the sins these rational creatures commit;       tread them down like the mire of the streets."
while at the same time it is evident that He so governs      Indeed, Jehovah will send the rod of His  .anger and
them that they serve His purpose. Moreover, they are         the staff of His indignation, and that rod and staff is
so under His restraining power that without His will         none other than the kingdom of Assyria. Jehovah will
they cannot hurt us. This restraining power of God           surely chastise His nation for their sin and iniquity;
must not be understood as a  fruitage of a certain           but He will use the reprobate nation of Assyria to
`common grace' toward the wicked, as some have               accomplish this purpose.
explained. There  is'. nothing in the article that
remotely suggests such an idea. Rather, what is so             And Assyria will indeed acquit himself well of his
beautifully stressed is the Scriptural truth that the        task. With great ambition he will go about to bring
devil and all our enemies are so completely under            havoc on Jerusalem. All that Jehovah desires of him
God's providential government that they can do only          he will do. Unwittingly, of course, he goes about his
what He purposes for them to do. It is this truth            work; that is, he does not really know that Jehovah is
which is so clearly demonstrated in the Scripture to         using him. He does it all as if it is in his power to do
which our text now calls our attention.                      what- he will with God's people. And in the process,
                                                             he exalts himself. He asks himself the question: are
  In the tenth chapter of Isaiah the vaunting,               not my princes altogether kings? He boasts that
boasting axe is the kingdom of Assyria. Notably the          Judah is-`no different from the other nations he has
prophet speaks of the boasting axe, the self-magnify-        conquered, nor were the gods of those nations
ing saw, and the rebellious, self-exalting rod, not with     different from the God of Judah. Shall he not, as he
the intention to dwell on the subject of three distinct      had done to  Samaria, do also to Jerusalem? (Vss.
instruments (axe, saw, and rod), but to demonstrate          8-l 1). Indeed, Assyria is the vaunting axe which
with emphasis the element of boasting which is               boasteth itself against the God of Judah Who heweth
mentioned in connection with each instrument. When           therewith!
we speak of the vaunting axe, therefore, all that is
said regarding the saw and rod may be subsumed                 Such is the vaunting axe also throughout the
under the figure of the vaunting axe.                        history of the world.
  All these instruments are in themselves dead                 To get the full picture we must go back to the
instruments, used for the purpose of cutting down,           beginning.. In the beginning of the creation of the
humbling the trees of the forest. Naturally dead             world man was made king-servant by His Creator.
instruments do not talk, nor do they act by                  Created was he in the image of God, in true
themselves. They simply lie on the ground or                 knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. By virtue of
wherever they are placed by the user of them. The            that image man stood in a covenant relation to his
axe is capable of hewing the tree only as it is              God. He could rightly know Him, love  .Him with his
manipulated in the hand of the feller. However, in the       whole being and will, . . . but only as a friend-servant.
text as it is set in the context of Isaiah  10 the axe is    He had dominion  .over all things earthly, but his reign
said to react overagainst the one who wields it. As was      was to be in accordance with God's will. All things
said the axe is the kingdom of Assyria which-is made         must serve. him in order that he might serve his God.
up of wicked men inspired by the devil who'proudly             But this friend-servant through his fall into sin .and
vaunt themselves overagainst Jehovah, the God of             corruption  becaine  actually a friend-servant of the


 412                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



 devil. He not only lost God's image, but the image           powers of evil must serve His purpose. For God is
 turned into its opposite. His knowledge became               G o d .
 darkness, his righteousness became rebellion, and his           Always the highest purpose of the Divine is His
 holiness became corruption. He became not only the           own glory. And this purpose is realized in His
 devil's ally, but slave. Mind you, all this while he         covenant in Christ. Not only is this purpose realized
 retained his relation to the creation. 0, indeed, he         in a general way, so that when Jerusalem is assailed
 lost much of his original gifts; but he was still the        the elect will cry to Jehovah for deliverance, and
 king of the world. He ever since employs all his             when Christ is crucified to save His people, Judas,
 powers and resources to oppose the living God in the         Herod, and Pontius Pilate must cooperate. But this is
 spiritual-ethical sense of the word. He serves the devil,    also true in the personal salvation of God's people.
 who is in Scripture designated the prince of the world       Then Paul must have an angel of Satan to buffet him.
 and the prince of darkness.                                  Then God purifies His saints in the crucible of
    Naturally, therefore, this fallen man in his genera-      affliction, brought on by the wicked. Then heresy
 tions stands opposed to God's cause, His covenant,           must and does serve for the development of God's
 His people in the  midst.of the world. However, God          truth. Then all things, even the evil, work together for
remains God, and maintains His covenant, His                  good to them that love God.
 counsel, and `purpose. Never is He frustrated, brought          In this service the axe then is. not a dead
 to nought by the powers of darkness. He anoints His          instrument. 0, in the spiritual sense of the word
 Son to become King in Zion. He causes Him to                 Assyria is also dead, dead as the natural man in
 become the root of a new humanity  - the elect  - the        trespasses and sins, and therefore incapable of doing
 seed of the woman. And this covenant people is               any good, and inclined to all evil. But Assyria also
delivered by Him from the slavery of the devil. They          belongs to the category of the rational, moral
 walk in holiness after the image of God in which they        creatures. Assyria, therefore, acts responsibly, and
 are recreated. They constitute the party of the living       being motivated from within Assyria thinks, counsels,
 God in the world overagainst the power of the fallen         has purposes of its own: always, you understand, in
 king and his kingdom. Not naturally but spiritually          opposition to God, and all that is holy. Assyria
 they differ radically from the wicked world, develop-        purposes to destroy Jerusalem, the last standing
 ing from the spiritual principle of regeneration, while      vestige of the work of God. Everything that smacks
 the vaunting axe develops from the principle of sin          of God's covenant must be annihilated. That is
 and darkness, employing all its `powers to establish         Assyria's purpose. But in the carrying  ,out of Assyria's
 and maintain a wicked world kingdom. The latter              purpose God realizes His own purpose. So Assyria is
 includes the devil and his angels and all the wicked in      the axe in `the hand of Jehovah, and He hews with it
 alliance with them. And so we see the antithesis             to realize His own eternal counsel.
 between Babylon and Jerusalem, between the world
 and the church.                                                 Thus we see that God has a work for the reprobate
                                                              to do. And this gives new meaning to the whole idea
    Assyria, therefore, the vaunting axe, was but an          of reprobation. The latter is not simply the passing by
 individual manifestation of the antithesis, of the           of some in distinction from the election of others.
 wicked seed of the serpent (Gen. 3: 15) which always         But reprobaton serves the election of grace; as the
 manifests itself in the world. So from the beginning         shell serves the walnut, as the chaff serves the kernel
  there is opposition between the seed of Cain and that       of wheat. As was said, unwittingly Assyria works,
  of Seth, between the builders of the Tower of Babel         unaware that it serves God's purpose. Never does
  and the children of Shem, between  -Egypt and Israel.       Assyria mean, when it destroys Jerusalem and brings
 Ail through the old dispensation we  find  t h e             Judah to Babylon, to bring God's people to repen-
  antithesis in the successive powers of Babylon, Persia,     tance and salvation, nor, when it makes rubble of the
  Greece, and Rome. And in the new dispensation this          city of Jerusalem, to cause the people of God to look
  antithesis manifests itself in the power of Jew and         for Jerusalem that is above and which must presently
 Gentile, Scribe and Pharisee, Pilate and  Herod, all         descend out of heaven. Indeed, Assyria means only to
  foaming out their rage against the Holy Child Jesus.        destroy all the cause of Jehovah and boast itself in
 We find it in the false doctrines and vain philosophy        that destruction. But Jehovah uses the vaunting axe
  of the world and apostatizing church. And it                to destroy the type so that the fulfillment may
  culminates in Gog and Magog, and the Antichrist who         appear. His purpose is to destroy the typical temple
  shall appear in the last days. The vaunting axe may         and sacrifices in order through the sacrifice of Christ
  differ in appearance in history, but always it stands in    the temple of God may be realized in His people
  opposition to God's cause and covenant in the world.        gathered out of all nations. Judah must suffer loss,
  Not in the dualistic sense does this opposition assume      that the faithful may look to the Lion of Judah's
  its place, for God really has no opponents. Even the        tribe for deliverance. Nothing may frustrate that


                                               THE STAN  DL    D BEARER                                                413



Divine purpose. Even reprobate Assyria, appearing as           the folly of the world whose wisdom is made
the boasting axe, is used of God to glorify His                foolishness by the Most High.
covenant.                                                             The ultimate reward of Assyria and all who boast
  The vaunting axe attains temporary success only              themselves against our God is everlasting desolation in
because Jehovah hews with it to accomplish His                 hell-fire. Because they stood in rebellion against the
purpose. Not for a moment would Assyria be able to             living God, theirs shall be wailing and gnashing of
lay one finger on Judah had this not been the case.            teeth.
But Assyria succeeds because God wills it. And so                     All the vain boasting will have its end in this that
they will gather the spoil. For a small moment they                 the boasters will be brought to clearly understand and
will exalt themselves over the cause of Jehovah. And           acknowledge that their vain purpose only served to
this explains how Nebuchadnezzar becomes great in                   accomplish God's counsel, Not only is God God, but
the earth,' and is brought to boasting. This explains          He must be acknowledged as such. Eternally the
how Judas succeeds in betraying the Christ, and the            Word of God to Assyria, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar,
enemies rejoice in His crucifixion. This also explains              to the raging  nations,`and  to Antichrist will be: for
how in the future even the Antichrist succeeds for a                this purpose have I raised thee up to show My power
while, sitting in the temple and boasting that he is           in thee. And from the consciousness of desolation
God.                                                           they will reply: Yes, indeed, Thou art forever the
  But remember this success leads only to greater              only true God!
rebellion against the Most High, and therefore the                    And God's people now and forever will say: Amen!
greater condemnation. Assyria can only heap to
himself greater treasures of wrath. And so the                        Glory, honor, praise,. and dominion be unto our
apparent success only leads to bitter failure. This is         God, Who is the God of our everlasting salvation!
                                                               /





                                         Editor3, j`1- N o t e s

Guest Article. In this issue you will find an interesting      report and summary  ~from the pen of Rev. G. Van
and significant article by the Rev. Euguene C. Case,           Baren, who was president of this year's synod.
of the First Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Woodville,
Mississippi. Be sure to read it. And: Thanks, Pastor
Case!                                                          Question Box.  At' our recent  amlual  Staff meeting, it
                      * *  * *  *                                   was called to my attention that  Qtlestiorz Box has
                                                               appeared only once in the current volume. It stands
Report on Synod-1979.  This year's Synod of the                     to reason that our  Question  Box editor, Rev. C.
Protestant Reformed Churches made several  sign5               Hanko, can hardly furnish answers if he receives  no
cant decisions. In fact, in more than one respect it           questions. Please send in your questions to our
was a significant and forward-looking synod. The                    editorial office.    Remember the rule: all cor-
official. report will come several weeks from  now  in              respondence must be signed, though we do not
the Acts. In this issue  you  will find an unofficial               publish the names of questioners.



                              Know the standar                        and follow it.
                           Read  The  %a: dard Bearer


   414                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


   EDITORIALS





                              Seminary Graduation, 1979

                                                          Projf H. C. Hoeksema





                                  L  to, R: Candidates Steven  R.  Ho&, Ronald L. Cammenga, Ronald H.
                                  Hanko, Carl J. Haak


     On Tuesday evening, June 12, a large audience                     pre-seminary years and three seminary years. In the
  nearly filled the main floor of the auditorium of First              third place, one of the candidates will, the Lord
._ Church, Grand Rapids,  to. witness -the graduation `of             willing, represent a third living generation in our
  four candidates for the ministry in our Protestant                  ministry. Candidate Ronald Hanko received his
  Reformed Churches. These four young men  - Ronald                   diploma from the hand  .of his father, Prof. Herman
  Cammenga, Carl Haak, Ronald Hanko, and Steven                       Hanko, and his grandfather., Rev. Cornelius  Hariko,
  Houck  - had successfully "weathered" their exam-                   the president of our Theological School Committee.
  inations by Synod the previous week. An appropriate
  and enjoyable program accompanied this graduation,                      Needless to say, after several years of close contact
  and after the formal program the candidates received                with these young men we of the faculty will miss
  a multitude of congratulations and good wishes at the               them at school.
  coffee-hour downstairs.                                                 We congratulate our candidates, give thanks to our
     There are several items of note concerning this                   covenant God for them, and pray that the Lord will
  year's graduates. In the first place, if memory serves              soon confirm their call by giving them a place in our
correctly, this is the largest graduating class since the              churches.
  1930s. In the second place, some of the members of
  this class  - and this is the  first time this has happened             A transcript of my commencement address will be
  - have been at our school for a full seven years: four              found elsewhere in this issue.


                                                           I
                                                           1
                                             THE  STANDAPD  BEARER                                                              415

                                                           I

SPECIAL ARTICLE





                                                                II
                             Report on Sbnod of the
                                                                 //
                    Protestant  Refobmed Churches
                                                     19+9
                                                                       II
                                                Rev.. G. V&I Baren




  The synod of our churches began at 9 a.m. on                               there was the action of synod dealing with important
Wednesday, June 6. The preceding night the cus-                              mission matters; and there was the decision of the
tomary prayer service was held at First Church in                            synod extending the length of seminary training from
Grand Rapids  - the convening church for synod. The                          three years to four. Many other items were also
president of the synod of last year, Rev. J. Heys,                           treated  - but these three stand out above all.
addressed the gathering from the passage of Scripture                          Always impressive is the examination of students.
found in I Kings  21:3, "And Naboth said to Ahab,                            Rev. C. Hanko, one of the delegates to synod,
The Lord forbid it me that I should give the                                 recalled that these examinations began almost exactly
inheritance of my fathers unto thee."  In' his                               50 years ago  - and he ought to know, for he was in
inimitable way, the Rev. Heys reminded synod that                            that first class which was examined (in the same
Naboth lost his life in his desire to maintain his                           building in which this present examination took
inheritance. Nor was this desire to be attributed to                         place). The examination begins with a sermon from
stubbornness or to the desire for material wealth, but                       each of the four students,`- given consecutively on
from the sole desire to maintain `that inheritance                           Wednesday afternoon. The sermons already indicated
which God had given his forefathers; That inheritance                        to the synod the ability of the students. The
God had commanded must be kept within the family                             following  two, days, days of careful questioning by
in their generations. It was a type of that inheritance                      the three  .professors,  confirmed the impressions
of God's people in Christ  - an inheritance also                             received while listening to the sermons. The students
continued in the line of generations. The synod and                          showed excellent ability in quoting proof-texts and in
the gathering were reminded that we, too, have the                           explaining and defining the doctrines of Scripture.
urgent requirement to maintain that inheritance                              No, they did not answer every question; yet synod
which God has given to us. That may not be                                   was duly impressed by the many and often difficult
relinquished at  any. cost. The message was very                             questions which they did answer. The students were
appropriate for the synod as it began its labors.                            noticeably tense on Thursday, but by Friday they
  There are at least three things which stand out as                         appeared far more relaxed. The pressures of prior
one recalls the events of the two weeks of synod.                            preparation, and the strain of sitting before a
There .was the impressive examination (and sub-                              gathering of the "learned fathers" of synod, had its
sequent graduation) of our four seminary students;                           effect on the students. Yet the synod fully  sym-


416                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



p a t h i z e d   w i t h   t h e   s t u d e n t s   -  a n d   o n   F r i d a y    heeded the cry by appointing Hudsonville the calling
afternoon, without doubt or equivocation, decided                                     church for a minister who could serve that distant
unanimously that these four, Ronald Cammenga, Carl                                    congregation.
Haak, Ronald Hanko, and Steven  Houck, should be                                         A third cry came from Jamaica. Annually, for
declared candidates for the ministry of the Word and                                  more than sixteen years, synods have faced the need
sacraments. They become eligible for call after July 6.                               in Jamaica. There have been frustrations, questions,
The graduation of these candidates took place on                                      doubts. But again the need is real. The cry for help
Tuesday, June 12, in First Church. A large audience                                   continues. Stop-gap measures of tape instructions and
witnessed this happy event and heard Prof. H. C.                                      periodic visits of emissaries obviously are not enough.
Hoeksema remind the candidates of their calling                                       Synod approved the request of the mission com-
based upon the Word of God found in Amos  3:8,                                        mittee to instruct them to prepare for the calling of a
"The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord                                    missionary to Jamaica after the synod of 1980. First
God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"                                               Church was appointed as eventual calling church and
   The second week of synod was occupied largely by                                   to take over supervision of that field in conjunction
a discussion of mission activities. This was a joyful                                 with the mission committee.
fact  - yet very awesome. Never,  I believe, in the
history of our churches have we acted so extensively                                    Finally, there were requests, urgent requests, from
and positively. Some have already said that the synod                                 various places in our own country. Synod received
may have gone "overboard" and decided too much                                        the information that the Rev. R. Van  Overloop  had
on items which prove too costly for our churches.                                     accepted the call of our South Holland, Ill. congrega-
Yet those who were at synod, who heard the cries for                                  tion to serve as missionary to Birmingham, Alabama.
help, could do no otherwise than decide to help as                                    He expects to be there with his family perhaps by the
best we can. Though the decisions on all of these                                     end of July. The information was cause for real joy  -
important mission matters was unanimous, this was                                     especially since this same synod received also in-
not because it was a "rubber stamp" synod.. The                                       formation concerning the retirement soon of our only
requests were carefully considered, the cost and                                      other home missionary, Rev. R. Harbach.
available manpower were discussed, then decisions                                       But other, and urgent, requests were heard. The
were made. Before God,  the. synod could do nothing                                   mission committee and Lynden, Washington con-
else.                                                                                 gregation reported interest in the establishment of a
   First came the request from Singapore. Urgently, a                                 Protestant Reformed congregation in an area 40 to
large group of young people there had requested the                                   100 miles south of Lynden. Here, too, the need could
help of a missionary. They desired assistance in                                      not be ignored. Synod appointed Lynden calling
organizing a Reformed church in Singapore. These are                                  church for a missionary to labor in that area.
literally "babes" in Christ  - having been converted to                                 And, finally,. there was the cry from the East
Christianity only in the past few years. They want                                    Lansing-Charlotte area. Services have been conducted
more instruction. Also the possibility of mission work                                there since January of this year. But more work is
in that area of the world beyond the confines of                                      required. The labors of a missionary seem necessary.
Singapore was pointed out.  Synqd heeded theurgent                                    Synod appointed our Hope church to call a mis-
plea and appointed  Doon, Iowa congregation to be                                     sionary to serve there.
the calling church for this missionary. Let us                                          At this synod too, the reports indicate that soon
earnestly pray the Lord of harvest that thisimportant                                 the labors in Victoria in Canada will cease. The
position for a  very.truly foreign missionary may soon                                families with whom Rev. R. Harbach were laboring,
b e   f i l l e d .                                                                   expect to move near one of our other churches.
   Another urgent request came from Christchurch,                                       Concern has been expressed by some (not present
New Zealand. Rev. J. Heys had just recently returned                                  at these meetings of synod) concerning two things:
after serving there for some eight months. He had                                     do we have enough "manpower" available to  fill these
conveyed to our synod and the churches the greetings                                  positions? and, can our small group of churches bear
from the congregation at Christchurch and the                                         the tremendous cost of all'of these extra labors?
Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. The
church of Christchurch had requested already several                                    Taking all of these things into consideration, synod
years ago a minister who could serve them for a                                       had  to. face the question: does God indicate that He
minimum of two or three years. Again they came                                        would have us to labor in these various places? Again,
with this request. They want ministry of the Word in                                  before God, hearing the cries for help, synod had to
their midst,. instruction, and help in preparing young                                answer: "Yes!"
men there for service within their denomination.                                        As far as available men are concerned, we have the
Synod was again impressed by the cry for help  - and                                  four graduates (very capable young men), so that


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 417


there will likely be no more "vacancies" in our              kingdom, God requires now only $5.85  - probably
churches than that which we presently have. Probably         much less than I have to spend for one good meal for
all of these calls will not  h-mediately be answered  -      my family at home (and much less than one might
so that we will-not immediately have five or six men         have to spend for only one meal in a restaurant). For
in the mission field.                                        many, probably most, less than an hour's wages is re-
  The question of cost is also important. However,           quired per week for this aspect of the work of the
there is real danger in raising such a question: can the     kingdom. Where else can one find this much gospel
call of God go unheeded, perhaps because  tie decide         for so little material cost?
this is too costly for the church? What is "too much"          One other major matter was on the floor of synod.
in  connections  with the work  of the kingdom? If God       There was a proposal from the theological school
were to require us to give up our vacations, our             committee to revise our present pre-seminary and
luxuries, our cars  - would that be "too much" for           seminary program. In the pre-seminary program, our
the cause of God's kingdom? Which is first: the              professors were relieved of teaching three subjects
kingdom of God  - or our own pleasures?                      (which will now be obtained from neighboring
  Having said all of that, let it be noted well that the     colleges). It was reported that in the future it will
sacrifice, if it be such, is hardly as great as suggested    likely be possible for our pre-sem students to receive
in the former paragraph. The budget adopted by               a college degree. Neighboring  colleges.seem  willing to
synod requires $304 per family per year for 1980  -          receive for credit the courses taught in our pre-sem
from the $228 for the current year. This indeed              department, and with some additional work at the
represents an increase. But it must be kept in               college, the student can receive his diploma and
perspective. In 1977 the assessments were $243.              degree. The seminary program especially was
Since that time they have  decreased,  and that, while       changed. All the present subjects will still be taught.
the inflationary rate was more than 7% per year. Had         But because the present work-load is quite great, and
we increased assessments only at the rate of the             because the professors desire to expand and improve
inflation, and using the base of 1977; the assessments       our seminary offerings, the seminary training will
would be higher than $304.                                   require  fous instead of the current three years. The
                                                             students presently in the seminary or in last part of
  No, $5.85 per family per week is hardly sacrifice.         their  pYe-seminary  training will be unaffected by this
On the contrary, what a tremendous bargain all of            `change.
this is! Did you ever think of it? For  only$5.85 per
family per week, our small group of churches are               Much more could be added to the report. Many
supporting a theological school of our own, with its         other decisions were made. Consideration of all of
own building, and with three professors. Our                 this must wait, however, until the Acts of Synod are
churches are helping the smaller congregations of our        printed. Normally these are available sometime in the
number so that they can continue as church with              fall of the year, and each family in the denomination
ministers of their own. Our churches pay for regular         is entitled to a free copy. Be sure to read and study it
meetings of classes and synods. Our churches                 carefully  - for it concerns you, your. church, your
continue to assist the ministers of our number who           confession. It is important that you keep up with
have retired from the active ministry. Our churches          developments and decisions within the, churches.
propose an extensive mission program as outlined               Finally, my wish and prayer can only be that the
above. Our churches pay for radio broadcasts,                harmony and unity exhibited at the synod might also
publication of literature, regular "church visitation,"      be seen within our churches and each congregation'
and many other lesser things. At the end of synod, I         dur@g the coming year. Let us together thank our
could not but be amazed that for only $5.85 a  week          God for all the opportunities and privileges He has
we might have all of this! Whereas we ought to be            given  - solely out of  His grace and tender love for His
willing to sacrifice even our lives for the sake of His      people for Jesus' sake.


418                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



SEMINARY  COkU4ENCEMENT  ADDRESS





                                        .Jehov&`s Word
                                and the Lion's Roar
                                                Prof H. C. Hoeksema





  Mr. Chairman, Members of the Class of 1979,                and is recognized from his roar. The Lord Jehovah
Brethren of the Theological School Committee and of          hath spoken:  there is no other speech like that, so
the Synod, Brethren and Sisters gathered with us:            that the Lord Jehovah may be and is recognized from
  In my remarks, which are addressed chiefly to our          the unique sound,  the content, of His speech. Hence,
graduates but in the presence of you all, I wish to          there is reference here to what God says, what He
concentrate on the chief work of the ministry to             speaks, that is, to the words of God and to His Word.
which these young men look forward: the work of                What is that speech of God?
the preaching of the Word. It is to that work that our         It is, in the first place, the Word which God speaks
graduates look forward and for which they have been          in eternal perfection in His Son. It is the Word which
prepared and trained. In their future ministry they          God speaks as the Triune God; of the Father, in the
must concentrate all their abilities and labor on that       Son, and through the Holy Spirit, God speaks
task: the preaching of the Word of the Lord Jehovah.         eternally of Himself, concerning Himself, to Himself.
And their attitude must be that of the prophet Amos          But here, obviously, the Word to which Amos refers is
as expressed in the striking comparison  df the words        the Word which God speaks outside of Himself, in His
of Amos  3:8: "The lion hath roared,. who  -will not         revelation. It is the Word which God speaks of
fear?  the Lord GOD hath  spoken, who can `but               Himself, concerning Himself, in His Son, through the
prophesy?"                                                   Holy Spirit,    to His people. Also that Word,
  It is not my intention this evening to preach a            remember, returns to God Himself: it returns through
sermon on this text in its context; that would go far        His people to Himself in praise and adoration.
beyond the purposes of this gathering tonight. But I           The Lord Jehovah has spoken His Word which.
wish  .to call your attention to a few pertinent             consists of  nzany  words.  Scripture speaks not only of
thoughts in connection with this passage of Scripture.       the Word of God  - singular  -  but also of the words of
                                                             God  - plural. This is because there are many aspects,
I. A UNIQUE WORD                                             many sides to the one Word of God and manifold
  It is plain, first of all, that both the lion and  .the    riches of salvation and grace expressed by the various
Lord Jehovah are recognizable from their sound.  This        words of the Lord. But all -those words together are
is the first point to be noticed in the comparison of        nevertheless one; they are the bearers of the one
this text. The lion hath roared: there is no other           Word of God: the revelation of the God of our
sound like that lion's roar, so that the lion may be         salvation in Jesus  Christ our Lord. And if you ask


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                        419



what  the content of that revelation is, the answer is           sound like it. One does not have to inquire whether
that it may all  be summarized in the one Word:  ."I             that sound of a lion was perhaps the bark of a dog or
WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT." Everything                          the peep of a mouse or the trumpeting of an
that belongs to the Word of God concentrates around              elephant. That roar is unique and is immediately
that: "I will establish My covenant with My people in            recognized. Thus it is with the Word of Jehovah.
My Son Christ Jesus." And this is emphasized, too,               There is no other speech like it in all the universe.
by implication  iri the text. This Word is the speech of         One does not have to inquire what sound, whose
the Lord, Adonai, the &me of God which emphasizes                speech, whose word that is. It is peculiarly and uniquely
especially that He is the Sovereign of heaven and                the speech of the Lord Jehovah: "I am the Lord, the,
earth. When He establishes His covenant, He does so              absoiute Sovereign of heaven and earth. I am
as the Lord! He has no need of  any creature. He                 Jehovah, the self-existent, independent, eternal I AM,
establishes His covenant all alone! It is  His  covenant         the Immutable One, the unchangeably faithful
with  His  people in  His  Son Jesus  Chi-ist. And it is  His    Covenant God!"
Word by which  He  establishes that covenant as the                 The Word of the Lord Jehovah, therefore, is
God Whose counsel shall stand and Who will do all                spontaneously recognized, even as is the roar of the
His good pleasure. Further, this Word is the speech of           lion. When a lion roars for his prey, one does not have
Jehovah, the I AM. He is the Self-sufficient One, the            to go through a reasoning process. He does not  have
I n d e p e n d e n t   O n e , the. Immutable One, the          to think and say, "This is true,  tid this is true, and
unchangeably faithful covenant God, Who keepeth                  this is true. and therefore I conclude that this is a lion
covenant and mercy.                                              roaring for his prey." In fact, to do so would be fatal!
  It is around this one Word of God, "I will establish'          No, one recognizes that roar of the lion immediately
My covenant," that all the other words of God                    and spontaneously and intuitively; and he responds at
concentrate. It is for this purpose that Christ is               once in trembling fear.
ordained. It is for this purpose that a people is                   Thus it is with the Word of the Lord Jehovah. This
elected. Yes, it is  -fdr this purpose that there is             is due, of course, to the inward operation of the
sovereign reprobatiori: it must serve  - and even the            Spirit of Christ. The prophets and the apostles of old
reprobate must serve  - the purpose of the realization           did not have to inquire and to reason and thus come
of that covenant. It is for this purpose that His elect          to the conclusion when the Lord spoke to them and
people are  deliSered,  liberated, justified, sanctified,        revealed His Word, "The Lord Jehovah has spoken."
and glorified  - even unto God's everlasting tabernacle          No, they knew immediately  and spontaneously that
in the glory of the new heavens and the new earth.               the Lord had revealed His secrets to them. The same
  It must be stressed, too, that these words are                 is  ,true of us today. We do not start from a position of
emphatically the words of GOD! They proceed from                 ignqrance or skepticism, in order to go through a
God. They speak centrally of God. And therefore                  reasoning process and arrive at a reasoned conclusion
they are eternally true and stand immovably firm.                concerning the Scriptures and at last declare: "This
  This speech of God is centrally in Christ. He is the           B i b l e   i s   t h e   v e r y   W o r d   o f   G o d   -  p l e n a r i l y ,
Word become flesh, so that God immediately and                   organically, verbally, infallibly (or: inerrantly, which
directly speaks His Word in Him. For in Christ in the            is the same thing) inspired." In fact, if you follow
unity of the divine Person the human nature is united            that method of skepticism and rationalism  - as so
to the divine nature. And from Christ, that Word of              many preachers and learned- theologians do today  -
God proceeded forth through patriarchs and                       you will inevitably reach the opposite conclusion and
prophets, through types and shadows in the old                   deny that-the Scriptures are the Word of God, the
dispensation already.. It proceeded forth in the  fulness        written record of the speech of the Lord Jehovah.
of time (through the very speech of the Word made                No, that the Lord Jehovah has spoken is recognized
flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. And after His exaltation           with the spontaneity of faith. That is why even a very
it proceeded forth in the  n&w dispensation through              little child and even the simplest child of God, as well
apostles and evangelists. Moreover, we have the                  as  the trained minister and the learned theologian,
complete and objective record of that speech in the              can and do recognize that speech and  say,."The Lord
Scriptures. For  such is  the- content of the Scriptures         Jehovah has  spok&!"
from Genesis to Revelation and in their entirety: they
are the record of the speech of God in Christ!                   II. A SPONTANEOUS  :AND INEVITABLE
  Now we have already noted that the lion's roar and             REACTION
Jehovah's  speech  are unique. This is implied in the               The prophet Amos emphasizes that prophesying on
comparison in Amos  3:8. The reference is to that                his part is the inevitable and spontaneous response to
peculiar roar of a lion immediately before he strikes            the speech of the Lord Jehovah. Notice how he puts
his prey. In all the animal kingdom there is no other            it: "The Lord Jehovah hath spoken, who shall not


  420                                                            `THE STANDARD BEARER



  prophesy?" And this stands parallel with: "The lion                               non-distinctive sermons. You must never preach
  hath roared, who will not fear?"                                                  sermons of which it could be said, "Well, that sermon
     What is it to prophesy?                                                        could have been preached in any church of any
                                                                                    denomination." No, you must always preach specific,
     Without going into all the details of this concept, I                          distinctive sermons. Preaching must be -in bold,
  wish to emphasize three important items in this                                   black-and-white, sharp lines; it must not be in fuzzy,
  connection. In the first place, to prophesy implies                               gray, indistinct lines.  Preachifig  must be antithetical.
  being a  servant. This is plainly expressed in verse' 7 of                        Preaching must not be theoretical and abstract, but
  the same chapter: "Surely the Lord GOD will do                                    concrete. Preaching must not be dogmatical. This is
  nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants                            not to say there must be no doctrine in your sermons;
  the prophets." Prophets are  servants.  And a prophet,                            a sermon without doctrine is a sermon without solid
  or a preacher, is not first of all a servant of the congre-,                      content and without a good basis. But remember:
  gation; he is that, too. But he is primarily a servant of                         when you are in the pulpit, you are not in the
  the Lord Jehovah! A prophet is not a lord; he is not one                          dogmatics classroom. Preaching must be. the living
  who does his own will. But he is a servant of the Lord.                           Word; it must be concrete. Moreover, preaching must
  And the chief characteristic of a servant is that he                              not be  at  God's people. It must not merely be  about
  always asks, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?"                                God's people, must not simply be in the third person
  In the second place, a prophet is a servant who serves                            singular or plural. I dislike the word "confrontation";
  strictly in the capacity of speaking in behalf of                                 it has nuances, I think, which should be avoided.
  another  -  the Lord Jehovah. Whether he speaks by                                Nevertheless, it must be stressed that the preaching of
  direct inspiration and revelation; as did the prophets                            the Word must be direct. There must be address in
  and apostles of old, or whether he speaks by means of                             preaching. It must be `personal. It must demand and
  and in connection with the Scriptures, as do                                      call forth the response of faith and repentance.
  preachers today, that makes no principal difference.
  What must be emphasized is the truth that a prophet                                  All of these things, and many more, may be
  delivers not his own word, but the word of his                                    summed up in this: you candidates  - and we all  -
  Sender, the Word already described above. In the                                  must always preach so that  the congregation senses
  third place, a prophet is a servant who speaks not on                             unmistakably and says, "We have heard the Word of
  his own authority, but on the authority of his Sender,                            the Lord Jehovah."
  the Lord Jehovah. When he speaks, therefore, he does                                 Now notice the structure of the text in Amos.
  not say: "This is what I think. This is what I have                               There are two rhetorical questions posed, that is,
  discovered. This is what I have concluded on the basis                            questions to which the answers are obvious and
  of these and these considerations and after much                                  implied. The answers to both questions are, "No
  study." All of these have nothing to do with                                      one!" Further, these two questions are parallel to one
  prophesying. A prophet says only, "Thus saith the                                 another: "The lion hath roared, who will not fear?
  Lord Jehovah!"                                                                    the Lord Jehovah hath spoken, who will not
                                                                                    prophesy?"
     Such prophesyirig is your calling, members of the
  Class of `79. Your task  as future preachers is not                                  The implications are plain.
  essentially different from that of the prophets of the                               As to the lion's roar, the response to it, in the first
  old dispensation. It is to be servants of  the.Lord. It is                        place, is spontaneous, intuitive, instantaneous. That
  to speak in behalf of the Lord Jehovah, to speak His                              lion's roar instantly, unreasoningly fills a man's soul
  Word. And it is to speak on His authority, to say,                                with fear. In the second place, the response to this
  "Thus saith the Lord!"                                                            roar is sure; it is inevitable and exclusive. No one who
                                                                                    hears it will ever respond otherwise than in trembling
     To sum it all up, your calling is to preach                                    fear. One would never think of responding, for
 prophetically.                                                                     example, by saying, "Ha, ha, ha! A lion roared!  " All
     There are many, many things that can be said                                   this is strongly emphasized by the rhetorical question,
  about that. They need saying, too! We have tried to                               "Who will not- fear?" Fear is the one and only and
  say them to you during the  three years of your                                   spontaneous response to the roar of a lion.
  seminary training. But this' evening permit me to                                    Thus it is with the Word of Jehovah. Such is the
  stress  a~  few things which may well be stressed not                             attitude that is expressed here by the faithful prophet
  only for you, my  y&ng brethren, but, for all of us.                              Amos. For remember: this is the expression of his
  For one thing, you must never, never preach a vague,                              a t t i t u d e   -  a n d   t h e   attitttde   o f   a n y   f a i t h f u l
  ill-defined sermon; but always you must preach clear,                             prophet-preacher  - when he has heard the Lord
  well-defined sermons. For another, you must never                                 Jehovah speaking: "Who will not prophesy?" What
preach dull sermons, but always sharp sermons. For                                  do& this mean? In the first place, it means this: "As
  a n o t h e r ,    y o u   m u s t   n e v e r   p r e a c h   g e n e r a l ,    spontaneously as a man responds in fear to the lion's


                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            421


  roar, so spontaneously do I respond in prdphesying to                                         That responsibility is, in the first place: LISTEN!
  the Lord Jehovah's Word. I can do nought else.                                             Listen not to men. Listen not to your own reason
7' Necessity is laid upon me." In the second place, it                                       and your  own wisdom; But listen to the Word of
  implies this: "As  surely as the inevitable response of a                                  God, the Scriptures. If you do anything in your
  man to a lion's roar is that of fear, so surely and                                        ministry, take care that you  immerse  yourselves in
  inevitably do I respond to Jehovah's Word by                                               the  Scripturtis. Discipline yourself to do this. Insist on
  prophesying. Woe be  untd me if I preach not the                                           it. Insist  tin reserving time for this in your ministry.
  gospel of Christ."                                                                         You must make certain that you hear  t.he Word of the
                                                                                             Lord Jehovah. Your attitude and your prayer must
                                                                                             be, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."
  III. A SERIOUS RESPONSIBILITY                                                                 And then,  in the second place, PROPHESY!
      But there is a difference between responding to the                                       Yes, orate when you preach. I like some oratory in
  roar of a lion and  responding'to the Word of Jehovah.                                     a sermon. A sermon must not be delivered a dry,
     This is plain from the fact, in the first place, that                                   didactic manner. But remember: if your oratory is
  n o t   e v e r y o n e w h o   o c c u p i e s t h e   .office  o f                       not subservient to the Word of the Lord Jehovah, it is
  prophet-preacher truly prophesies. There were false                                        like sounding brass  2nd a- clanging cymbal. Indeed,
  prophets already in the old dispensation. They were                                        speak in a warm and personal and conversational tone
  inen who occupied the office of a prophet, but who                                         when you preach. But if that  warm,  conversational
  refused to speak the Word of Jehovah. And there are                                        tone is not subservient to the Word of the Lord, it is
  many such instances today: men who refuse to speak                                         hollow. When you preach, apply to your sermonizing
  the Word of Jehovah when they preach, or men who                                           all your intellectual acumen and logic. For there must
  say, "Thus saith the Lord," when the Lord has not                                          be a line  hi a sermon; no one can follow it if there is
  spoken. In the second place, we must remember that                                         no line in it. But remember: without the Word of the
  while the response of fear to the roar of a lion is an                                     Lord Jehovah your intellectual acumen and' powers of
  u n r e a s o n i n g   ( t h o u g h   n o t   u n r e a s o n a b l e )   a n d          reason and logic can produce nothing but worldly
  non-deliberative response, the response of a                                               words of man's wisdom. Yes, be pious and godly in
  prophet-preacher to the Word of the Lord Jehovah is                                        your preaching; but remember that if your piety and
  a deliberate, conscious, rational-moral response of                                        godliness do  fiat have as their content and their basis  -
  the believing  heart. There is one outstanding                                             the Word of the Lord Jehovah, they are empty and
  exception to this in the Old Testament. That most                                          vain.
  abominable hypocrite of the old dispensation,                                                 In a word, preach so that all your preaching is the
  Balaam, was apparently compelled by the Lord to                                            medium of the Word of the Lord Jehovah to His
  speak just as was his ass. But that exception in this                                      people!
  instance only serves to emphasize the rule.                                                  May God give you, our candidates for the ministry,
     Hence, there is a very serious responsibility laid at                                   grace to be faithful to that  calling.`And  may He soon
  the door of every prophet-preacher.                                                        give you a place in the  ministry of  :His Word!

  CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE



                                                          Come Ye Apart.
                                                                     Rev. Robt. C. Harbach
                                                                                       ~.



     He restoreth my soul. The soul needs restoring,                                         Himself,  in  His infinite wisdom, so counseled:  Come
  refreshing, renewing. The constant pressure of labor                                       ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest
  in one's calling must at some regular intervals be                                         Awhile. This He deemed necessary because of the
  interrupted by a pause that refreshes. Our Lord                                            incessant stress of coming  atid going with no leisure


422                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



so much as to eat. Hence, there are times when in our        the sight of a triple brace of sea-lions in another
busy. round of toil  and care we must take care to           ocean, or a lone cavorting sea-otter entertaining with
come apart and rest awhile or we may come apart.             comical antics, are all rewarding spectacles.
The needed rest, one, a grey-beard, finds in twenty                To see a world in a grain of sand
minutes of running three times a week. But since life              And heaven in a wild flower,
today is so characterized  .by hurry, why, it may be              Hold infinity in the palm of your hansl
asked, take up running to gain that needed refresh-                And eternity  in an hour!
ing? Why not, rather, take the time to notice the flbra                              - William Blake
and fauna, to smell the flowers? Even though
creation's glorious characters are large enough so that      There is this great and wide sea wherein are things
he that runneth may read,  .much is missed in the            creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
flurry and scurry of life. The world is a beautiful          These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give
place; as Moses wrote in Genesis One, very beautiful.        them their food in due season. So nature, providence,
But in  the mad pace of our Western life-style we are        and the holy and divine Scripture teach us to wait on
all too often heedless of- the beauty fashioned by the       the Lord in prayer for our daily bread, for our
divine artisan. Then we feel guilty when we give it          spiritual food in the preaching. of the Word and the
some regard. But since the human- mind is more               sacramenis within the confines of the true church,
intricately wonderful  than the most complex com-            where we may expect our spiritual nurture.
puter and the most expensive and  faStest  high speed           And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at
lens camera,  liot much time is needed to mentally           eventide.  .A quiet evening, a lovely field is an ideal
photograph refreshing images, the restoring influences       place for getting off alone, for walking alone and
of which remain for long times to come. This is              sitting alone to meditate, pray, and acquaint ourselves
especially so when there is a regular renewing of the        with God. How pleasant to drink in the wide expanse
mind (Romans  12:2).                                         of the darkening heavens, to listen to twilight prairie
  Then what blissful relief there. is in the un-             song! The Lord provides His own unique doses of
forgettable. glimpse and momentary visit of wild             refreshment  .and entertainment to relieve the fatigue
Yellow-billed parrots in the back yard trees, while out      and burden of the day. There in the multitude of my
front the trees are full of Streamer-tailed Humming-         thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.
birds and tiny Vervain Hummers, smaller than a huge          For then the presence of God- is so much enjoyed.
black native wasp! A little farther along the road,          The field itself is full of wild-life, the sky above full
some Smooth-billed  Anis bring delightful surprise.          of glory. In (the view of) His temple, the whole of it
Come ye apart and see how He sendeth the  stirings           (i.e., the entire universe) is declaring, `Glory!' (Ps.
into  the valleys, how they run among the hills, how that    29  :9j Heb.).
beside them the birds  of- the heaven have their               One wonders whether Isaac's field could be
habitation, and from them these ethereal sprites wet         described as follows. "Texas is so varied that  a birder
their throats and whet their tongues to sing among           simply cannot  know all the good birding places in it.
the branches. How beautiful and refreshing; and all in       It is bigger than life. Too varied, too complicated, it is
less than an hour!                                           necessary to  ,pick and choose from the enormous
       He causes the springs of-waters to flow               wealth of places where birding is excellent or unique
       In streams `mid the hills and valleys below;          or secret." There the  praifie sings with myriads of
       Beside them with singing the birds greet the day,     Canada and  Snow Geese, Cattle and Common Egrets,
       And there the beasts gather, their thirst to allay    Turkey and Black Vultures, Marsh, and Sparrow
Another, a hoary head, gets away from it all to rest         Hawks, Sandpipers, Snipes, Long-billed Curlews,
awhile in the regular relaxing activity of swimming.         Crows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Boat-tailed. Grackles,
How refreshing to body, mind, and soul this is, only         Killdeer, Avocets, Louisiana Heron, Loggerhead
the swimmer himself  cati appreciate.  Btit  an indoor       Shrikes, the Meadowlark, Mockingbirds and the
pool can be so boring. Not so a swim in the sea with         Yellow-legs. With all this,  3 bird-lover all but goes out
                                                             of his mind, so much it is to take in in one day; and
an indispensable face mask. Then lovely vistas of the
undersea world amaze the adoring eye. There, close,          this is but a small dot on the gigantic Texan segment
schools of tiny tropical fish of iridescent purple or        of God's glorious creation! Of all this, what  do; motor
                                                             bike, riders know? what do they see? what do they
delicate saffron speed by. Without a snorkel, there's        hear? What do they esteem of the book of nature
a tendency to hold the breath too-long with so much          who never sense the  feel  of it?
to see; so, not getting sufficient oxygen and the hot sun
beating down, a sickish feeling develops. The opposite         Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am  df Christ.
of refreshment, it. might be thought,  blut  t h e           That is to have a  veti high aim  - the highest. Some
memorable recall of it all refreshes over and over.  S.o     birds are intriguing and well-known imitators, as the


                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     423



Mockingbirds, the Catbirds, and the `Brown Thrashers.                        maketh us wiser than the birds of heaven. The stork
Catbirds with voice pitched low can sound like the                           in the heaven knoweth her appointed time, and the
distant Piping of the Flicker. However, the Song                             turtle-dove and the crane and. the swallow observe the
Sparrow's "Quick-quick-quickee! Emergen-tee-ee!" is                          time of their doming; but  My people know not the
inimitable. But, would you believe it, Starlings are                         judgment of `the Lord. The birds observe the
also apt imitators! Just outside  the. dining room                           approach of winter: do we the winter of judgment? 0
window a pair of Starlings  perch,~ one with beak                            how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou
almost vertical and spread wide open to pour forth its                       made them all. The earth is full of  Thy riches!
repertoire of imitations of Robin, Cardinal, Catbird,                            Of all the many references made in the Bible to
in fact a song so- catbirdish you would surely have                          nature, the singing of birds is mentioned only three
taken it for a Catbird, and  then closing with sounds                        times. Yet in. the loud and lovely song emitted from
something like the Mina bird's whistle. Occasionally.                        their tiny throats, we think miracles have not ceased.
one is privileged to witness a unique display of bird                        It must be most glorious music that is reserved for
behavior. But imagine a shabby,  speckly,  black robber                      the saints in heaven, since the Lord allows wicked
imitating a Cardinal! So some pretty low sinners                             men such music on earth! For although  the birds sang
hypocritically cloak themselves in the pompous piety                         before man was created, man will sing glory to God
of a prelate. Christ alone is a model- without blemish.                      when those birds are no more. I will sing unto the
Imitate Him and all who closely follow Him.                                  Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God
   Not nature itself, not anything of the world, but                         while I have my being. My meditation of Him shall be
the spiritual gift and ability to read parables divine                       sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. Psalm 104 is the
revealed in the creation do comfort the soul. So  .field                     great oratorio of creation and ends with a prayer for
or  Kleinstiickwald  ifi snow-laden winter becomes a                         the new creation of the New Heaven and the New
haven from the strife of tongues and the crashing din                        Earth:  Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth,
of sin in the world. The woods ring with the crow of                         and  lets the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord,
the cock pheasant; Black-capped Chickadees twitter                           0 my soul,  Hallelvjah!
high aloft; the noisy Titmouse proclaims its presence;                               Rejoicing in God, my thought shall be sweet,
the Redpolls and Purple Finches make it a red letter                                 While sinners depart fn ruin complete;
day; `a Tohee scratches on the leafy forest floor; Pine                              My soul, bless Jehov@,  His Name be adored,
Siskins appear, then vanish; a small flock of  Cedar-                                Come, praise Him, ye people, and worship the
birds eats its way through the winter  be&es lading                                        Lord.
the bushes; while ubiquitous  Juncos lead the way on
our path! The death of winter teems with life!-Ask                           Scripture references used in this article: Mk.  6:31;  Gn.  1:31;  Ps.
                                                                             104:10, 12, 24, 25, 27, 33-35; Gn.  24:63;  Ps.  94:19, Job  12:7;   35:ll;
the birds of the air and they shall tell thee. But He                        Jer.  8:7.


GUEST ARTICLE




                                         Arminianism Under a
                                              "Reformed" Flag
                                                                 Past&  2. C. Case




   In the middle of the last decade, at which  &rie it                       (commonly referred to  -as the Southern Presbyterian
h a d   l o n g   s i n c e   -become.  a p p a r e n t   t h a t   t h e    Church) were  ,irreversibly  apostate, a group of
denominationally controlled theological seminaries  of                       conservative leaders in that denomination began to
the Presbyterian Church in . the United States                               lay plans for the establishment of a seminary which


424                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



would train men for the Gospel Ministry in the             large Briarwood Presbyterian Church in America in
Biblical Faith. Those plans led to the founding of         Birmingham, Alabama, is evidently being put forth as
what is now known as the Reformed Theological              an example of what the Seminary means when it says
Seminary, located in Jackson, Mississippi.                 that "Fundamental in the concept of theological
  As is implied in the  .name,  the Seminary claims a      training held by Reformed Theological Seminary is
place within the Reformed camp. And; on paper that         the dynamic union of the doctrinal strength. of the
claim looks pretty good. The doctrinal standards of        Reformed Faith with the warmth of Evangelistic
the institution are "the Westminster Confession of         passion. . .  ."
Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms as                What this pamphlet does, however, is emasculate
originally  adopt.ed by the Presbyterian Church in the     the Reformed Faith. What is left may be called
United States.`? (Quoted from the Seminary                 passionately evangelistic. But, it is by no stretch of
Statement of Purpose.) The faculty is made up of           the imagination Reformed.
men from a variety of Presbyterian and Reformed               There are a number of things that may be said of
denominations and these men are required to sign "A        this little pamphlet.
Statement of Belief and Covenant" each year,
declaring their adherence to the Reformed Theology            In the first place, it does not differ essentially from
taught in the Westminster Standards as "the system         the canned evangelistic approach of the "Four
of doctrine taught in Scripture."                          Spiritual Laws". booklet put out by Campus Crusade
                                                           for Christ. This pamphlet is longer, but the message is
  History has shown, however, that what looks good         basically the same. There is even a prayer to pray,
on paper, in these matters, often does not pan out in      toward the end, and on the basis of that prayer and
practise.  And, this seems to' be the case also at         the sincerity of his commitment, one is to be assured
Reformed Seminary. There has been a good deal of           of salvation. In other words, it is not the promise of
concern, over the past few years, that Reformed is         God's Word, but the act of the sinner, and the
moving toward. a more broadly evangelical, less            sinner's own "feelings" that are the ground of
distinctively Reformed stance. Particularly among the      assurance.
alumni has this concern been raised, as is evident
from the questions asked by Alumni President, the             The' second general observation we can make about
Rev. Charles R. Young III, in an interview with Mr.        this pamphlet is that it assumes that men are
Robert C. Cannada, Chairman of the Executive               earnestly seeking salvation and just waiting for
Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary,        someone to come along and tell them how to be
which was published in a recent Alumni newsletter.         saved. The idea of total depravity and inability is
In that interview, Rev. Young asked Mr. Cannada            ignored. The fact of sin is acknowledged, but the
whether there was a drift away from a distinctively        impression is left that men are naturally concerned
Reformed position, at the Seminary, toward broad           about their sin, worried about the wages of sin,
evangelicalism. Mr. Cannada denies any such drift. He      namely, death, and scouting around for a way to get
also denies that there is any tension between being        God to forgive them. Something else that is
Reformed and being evangelical. He agrees that there       interesting in this connection is the fact that Barker
are such points of tension between the Reformed            seems to conceive of this wage of sin as one that is
position and "certain elements of Evangelicalism." But     yet unpaid as far as the natural man is concerned. His
he limits those elements to two: the denial of Biblical    whole emphasis is that of a future condemnation.
inerrancy by some so-called evangelicals, and the          Nothing is mentioned concerning the truth that the
charismatic movement. Nothing is said relative to the      natural man is already dead in trespasses and sin
differences between the Reformed and those in the          (Ephesians 2: 1). But that, of course, would be an
evangelical camp who deny sovereign predestination,        admission of depravity and inability incongruous with
the covenant, and so forth. Mr. Cannada, a  .lawyer by     the basic assumption of the pamphlet  -  t h e
trade, obviously evaded the real issue.                    assumption that men are interested in God's
                                                           salvation.
  Of course, it may be that Mr. Cannada does not
agree that there is a difference between the Reformed         The most disturbing aspect of this pamphlet,
Theology of the Westminster Confession and the             however,       is the section which is subheaded,
blat ant Arminianism  of. evangelicals like Billy          "Conditions."       This section follows the one on
Graham. Or, like the blatant Arminianism of a little       "Christ" in which our Lord's atonement for sin is
pamphlet which was recently sent out by the                discussed, concluding with the words:  ". . . . Christ
Seminary as part of a series ironically called "Living     paid every cent of the penalty for all our sins, even
Truths." This little pamphlet, entitled "Back. to          the sins we will commit in the future."
God," written by the Rev. Frank M. Barker, Jr., one           Does Barker then believe that Christ made full
of the Ministerial Advisors of RTS, and Pastor of the      atonement for the sins of His people? Read what he


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              -425


says in the section on "Conditions," which we quote                 receive and exercise the twin graces of repentance and
in full:                                                            faith  - the two conditions which Barker mentions.
                                                                      But note how Barker approaches this whole
       Does that mean everyone in the world is forgiven
    and does not have to worry about sin anymore? Not               business.    Repentance and faith are not graces,
    at all! When Christ paid the penalty in full, He paid it        imparted to the elect through the operation of God's
    conditionally. The Bible tells us that there are certain        Spirit working with the Word, as indicated in
    conditions  we have to meet before we are actually              Questions 86 and 87 of the Westminster Shdrter
    forgiven.                                                       Catechism. It is evident, both  from the section
       Let's return to the judge and the courtroom to               quoted above, and from the two following sections
    understand these conditions. Suppose  - when I paid             oh "Repentance" and "Faith," that Barker regards
    your  fine for robbing the bank  - that I paid it in full       these two "conditions," as he calls them, as works
    but I attached a condition: the judge was not to set            which the sinner must perform. This, of course, again
    you free until he felt that you meant business about            shows the lack of emphasis on depravity and
    not robbing any more banks. You, as the guilty law              inability. But even more importantly, it makes the
    breaker, would have to meet that condition before               efficacy of the work of Christ dependent upon the
    you received the benefit of the payment. (This is in            work of man. And this means, too, that Barker, in
    reference to an illustration used earlier in the                effect, teaches a universal atonement. What he really
    pamphlet. ECC)                                                  says is that Christ paid the penalty in full, or Christ
       When Christ died for us He did something similar.            did the work  of salvation, up to a point. At that
    He has attached two  conditidns for all sinners to              point, the will of man must take over in order for the
    meet: repentance and faith.                                     process to be complete. So, you wind up with a
  Now, it should be remembered that Barker,                         Saviour who really does not save. You have salvation
Reformed Seminary, and Presbyterianism in general                   contingent upon the will of the flesh, the will of man.
in the South,  ,have not passed through the same                      Pure Arminianism!
controversies which have contributed to the
distinctive stand of the Protestant Reformed                          And that under the auspices of "Reformed"
Churches. And this means that you are apt to hear                   Theological Seminary!
terminology in our circles which would not be                         M r .   C a n n a d a 's   a s s u r a n c e s   t o   t h e   contrary-
acceptable in your own  - terminology which,                        notwithstanding,           it is evident that Reformed
nevertheless,     would not necessarily imply any                   Seminary has thrown over the Reformed Faith. It
departure from  the. Truth. One might be heard to                   must, therefore, be obvious that those who desire a
speak of "conditions," for example, in the sense that               ministry trained in the pure Reformed Truth are
it is certainly true that no one. is saved whd does not             going to have to look elsewhere.


FROM HOLY WRIT



                                   Exposition of Galatians
                                                          Rev. G. Lubbers





THE PERFECT  LAW OF LIBERTY  (Galatiaris 5 :  14)                  to which we have been called  efficaciouslv out of
  Paul quotes here the sum and substance of the                    darkness into God's marvelous light of  grace,- wherein
whole law. This is briefly stated in, "Thou shalt love             God proclaims in the Ten Words, "I am the LORD
thy neighbor as thyself." James calls this the "perfect            thy God, who hath delivered you from Egypt's (sin's)
law of liberty." We are to walk in our liberty in Christ           bondage." (Exodus  2O:l) I have made you children


426                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER'



of Sarah, Jerusalem above, `born of the Spirit; I have                              10:4) This is the "Finis" of the law for righteousness
given you the Spirit which cries in your hearts: Abba,                              to every believer!
Father. (Gal.  4:6, 7) Ye are no more servants but                                    We have, indeed, been called unto liberty!
only sons. (Gal.  4:7)                                                                In this liberty we must stand, unmoved, from the
   N o ,   w e   a r e   n o t   zqzder   l a w   a n y   m o r e !   O u r         hope of the Gospel. We must stand in our liberty
relationship to the law of God has changed. We  .are                                when we read the law and walk in liberty of putting
under the ministry  of`righteousness,  which has a glory                            on of the new man in Christ. For the law is the law  of
o f   g r a c e   w h i c h   f a r   e x c e e d s   the  m i n i s t r y   o f    liberty.  The law does not terrify our consciences in
condemnation and death. (II Cor.  3:7-10)  For now                                  Christ. It is the great incentive to run the race set
the law is not written any more with ink upon tables                                before us, and to enter into the strait gate and the
of stone, but it is written by the ministry of                                      narrow way. (Matt. 7: 13) Few there be that find this
righteousness upon the fleshy tables of the hearts by                               gate of "liberty."- It is the gate. of grace which
the Spirit of the living God! (II Cor.  3:3) Yes, we do                             sanctifies the filthiest sinner, and cleanses the
have much to do with the law; a Christian is not                                    conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
antinomistic in his very spiritual nature! He does not                              (Heb. 9: 14)
live by the dictum: let us abide in sin that grace may
abound! God forbid! The law is still the guide to our                                 Twice our fathers warn us definitely to flee these
feet; but it is the guide to our  willing  feet. And the                            dead works wherein our conscience is not cleansed.
law, as we know it now, as the new commandment in                                     We refer, first of  all,  to  Article   23  of the  Belgic
Christ's blood, is not grievous; it is  ~sweeter than                               Confession, where we read,
honey and the honeycomb. Into this law we gaze,                                         "
look; upon it we meditate day and night. (James                                              . . . and verily if we should appear before God,
1:25; Psalm  19:7-13)  We now serve the Lord not in                                     relying on ourselves, or on any other creature ever so
the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the                                    little, we should, alas! be consumed. . . ."
Spirit, as Paul writes in Rom.  7:6, "`But now we are                               Secondly, we refer to Article  i4, where we read,
delivered from the law, that being dead (dead to) that                                  ". . . moreover, though we do good works, we do not
wherein  we' were held; that we should serve  -in                                       found our salvation upon them; for we do no work
newness of spirit and not in the oldness of letter."                                    but what is polluted by our flesh, and also
   There really is the wonder of God's transforming                                     punishable; and although we could perform such
                                                                                        works, still the remembrance of one sin is-sufficient
a n d   q u i c k e n i n g   S p i r i t   w h e r e b y   w e   a r e                 for God to reject. them. Thus we would always be
metamorphosed from glory unto glory; we  are                                            in doubt, tossed to and fro without any certainty,
brought in the way of daily conversion, progressive                                     and our poor consciences continually vexed, if we
conversion, to be conformed more and more  aft&r the                                    relied not on the  me& of the suffering and death of
image of God, in the putting off of the old man, and                                    our Savior."
the putting on of the new man. And this putting on
of the new man is to be understood as the Heidelberg                                  We do well to take  these warnings to heart. We
Catechism states it so very clearly and scripturally,                               have been called unto liberty, in Christ. We must
when it calls it, "`a sincere joy of heart in God,                                  indeed put on the new man also, and  not merely
through Christ, and with love and delight to live                                   continually put off the old man. Even in putting off
accor&ng to the will of God in  .a11 good works.  "                                 of the old man we walk in our liberty of justification,
(Ques.  90)  Here is the  must  of performing, of doing                             when we have "a sincere sorrow of heart, that we
good works; it is the must of the being a "new                                      have provoked God by our sins; and more and more
creature, " "created in Christ Jesus unto good works,                               (the longer the more) hate and flee them."  (Heid.
which God has before prepared that we should walk                                   Cat., Question 89) We stand in relationship to the law
in them." (Eph. 2: 10) This is not the "must" any more                              as unto the  law of liberty.  Let us not allow all the
of the "letter which kills," but it is the "must" which                             powers of hell to remove us from this great liberty.
is ours because we have looked at the glory on Moses'                                 Yes,  the law is the  perfect  law. (James  1:25) Paul
face, and have seen the end of the glory of the Old                                 calls the law elsewhere, `"the good, the acceptable, the
Covenant which' perishes in that greater glory of                                   perfect will of God." (Rom. 12: 1, 2) The law of God
Christ's transfiguration on the' mount. We have seen                                is perfect in that it converts the soul in such a way
the "exodus" which Christ fulfilled on the Cross and                                that we "begin to keep  all of God's commandments."
heard by faith the full implication of the "it is                                   Thus we are an acceptable sacrifice unto God.
finished." (Exodus  34:33, 35; II Cor. 3: 12  f.f.; John                            Conversion is not piece-meal, now this commandment
19:30) The vail has been taken from our hearts when                                 and then that commandment. That is also the
we read the law; we see Christ the "end" of the law                                 approach  here by Paul when he says that "all the law
for righteousness' to every one who believes. (Rom.                                 is in one word:  thou shalt love thy neighbor as
                       :


                                                THE STANDARD  BEARER                                                427


thyself"  (Gal. 5: 14) It is the characteristic of `the      word. There is not one single commandment in either
legalistic mind to  count' commandments. The Jews            table of the great decalogue, which does not receive
were past-masters in this art of counting the                its full jot and tittle under this formula. The last drop
commandments. "The scribes declared that there were          of water fills the pail in each case. Nothing need be or
248 affirmative precepts, as many as the members of          can be added. Paul placed this formula on the
the human body; and 365 `negative precepts, as many          foreground here. When the Galatian brethren and
as the days in the year, the total being 613, the            sisters will take a look into this law' of liberty `they
number of the letters in the decalogue." (Vincent)           will detect with what spiritual shackles of sin, all
But this did not make for edification. They really did       legalizing- conceptions of the law binds them. They
not learn to see what was the "great commandment."           may then boast of being "under law," but they are
They did not see the spiritual  nature  (poia   entolee      not standing in the law of liberty; the perfect law
megalee en  tooi  nomooi)   of the first and great           which makes them break radically with their sins.
commandment. They could really never see the                 They boast: all these things we are keeping. They are
perfection of the law requiring all our heart, mind,         rich and enriched, and do not know that they are
soul, and strength. The way  to  Jewry is ndt long!          wretched, poor, blind, and naked. They never taste
  Paul here cites only the second table of the law, it       the sweetness of  haGing Christ come and sup with
would seem. He quotes only Leviticus 19: 18 verba-           them.  They do  ,not experience the fellowship of
tim; however, by implication he is also  _  qubting          God's-new covenant of grace. The love of God is not
Deuteronomy  6:5; He that spoke Leviticus 19:  18` also      perfected in them. (Rev. 3: 17-20; I John 4: 17, 18)
wrote Deuteronomy 6: 5. For the second command-              Does not Paul say in Rom.  13:8,9,  "Owe no man any
ment is like unto the first commandment. (Matt.              thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth  (is
22:39) That is Jesus' interpretation of this second          loving) hath fulfilled the law"?
great commandment.                                              This is the  royal  law of the kingdom of  heaven!
  Such is the perfect law of liberty wherein we stand,       Only those who keep the royal law of the king shall
and which has been inscribed in the tables of our            inherit the Kingdom of -God. He who promulgates
reborn, fleshy hearts.                                       this law in the New Testament `is  -the one who says:
                                                             But I say unto you.  &Ie is  the Lord of glory. He judges
ALL  ,THE LAW FULFILLED  ti ONE WORD.                        righteously according to the law of liberty.  He. asks:
(Galatians 5: 14b)                                           -did you walk in  the liberty of Christ? We must not
                                                             have the faith of our Lord  J&us   Christ, the Lord of
  The Bible does not make  the way of obedience in           glory; with respect of persons. One is our Lord. There
Christ difficult. We do  &ot need  -to memorize the          is no respect of persons with this King of His law!
names of many saints and popes  tb be obedient. And
we do not need to ask after greater and lesser                 All is fulfilled in one word! This one Word is held
commandments and fall into moralistic and legalistic         before our face each Sunday morning when the
casuistry (case studies). When we  have made the             Decalogue is read. And that Decalogue says that God
count as did the rich young ruler and exclaim, "all          does not desire. works which  tire  .founded on our
these things.have I kept from my-youth," then Jesus          imaginations, or on institutions of men, but that they
gives us the backward view of the tenth command-.            must be works which proceed out of true faith in
ment and teaches us the great lesson- of the sin of          Christ, receiving all these works from Him, and which
sinful "lusts."  -(Matt.  1.9:20; Mark  10:20;  Luke         are according to `the  royal.law of liberty in Christ, and
18  :2 1; Acts 26: 12) The sin of `the lust after money;     which are  fall to the glory of God's sovereign and
the deeply ingrained sin of idolatry which does not          mighty grace !
trust and love the Lord was his. Jesus taught him the
law in one pin-pointed word. The Bible surely makes
the mirror of the law easy to see, so that we see our
"natural face in  a~glass." It is rather difficult not to
remember,. who we saw in that mirror! We saw the                     T h e
man and the woman,' the imperfect sons of liberty, in
the perfect law of liberty, and we saw that we all are         -`STANDARD BEARER
still imperfect by the  "sttidard" of the law of
liberty, which law is fulfilled in one word: thou  shalt        makes a thoughtful gift
love thy neighbor as thyself! Thus Jesus interprets
this law also in Matthew 7: 12, "all things whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do even so to                     for any occasion.
them: for this is the law and the prophets."
  Now the law "is fulfilled"  (pepleerootai)  in  one-


428                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



T R A N S L A T E D   T R E A S U R E S





                                 A Pamphlet Concerning
                        the Reformation of the Church
                                                           Dr. A. Kuyper





(In his discussion concerning the ideal form which the church       matters affecting her essence. A church which is once
of Christ ought to take on this earth, Kuyper has discussed the     formed is an institute in which  authorizationJo  issue
fact that a congregation is made up of believers and their seed,    commands and to exercise authority stands alongside
that the church receives into her fellowship members'from           of the duty which proceeds from that authority. This
other churches, that the church must also be busy in the work       is a duty to obey and to give honor. The question is,
of missions. In the following paragraphs he discusses the           now,. where. that authority resides. And, granting that
question of authority in the church.)                               it does not reside in the invisible church in a-mystical
                                                                    sense, where does it reside in the visible ecclesiastical
18. Where Authority Resides in the Visible Church.                  institute?
  Not all authority is the same.  A'Reformed church                   To that question it must be answered: authority in
may  desire political rights in order to be recognized,             and over the church resides in her King and Lord to
supported, and protected by the magistrate. In this                 Whom it is given by God Triune. This only King and
respect, authority also over the church rests with the              Lord exercises His glorious and sovereign authority
magistrate of the  .land. In like manner, a Reformed                directly by His Word, i.e., by the Holy Scriptures
church can  .exercise civil rights through the acquisi-             through His Spirit Who works in the hearts of His
tion of property, administrative deeds, buying or                   people and through the experiences of weal and woe
renting, or the closing of contracts. In all these                  which He determines for His church on earth. No
matters it comes under the authority of the civil                   man possesses the right to command and the right to
judge., It is subject to the sentence. of that judge in             exercise authority as sovereign among men. There is
differences concerning contracts with other churches                in the church no other magistrate' than her King and
if no'court of arbitration or other relief is stipulated            Lord. And neither metaphorically nor in a manner of
in a way binding upon both sides. All such authority,               speaking may it be said of anyone that it is due him
meanwhile, is not the authority which belongs as such               to have the oversight over the church of Christ.
to the sphere of the church.                                        Indeed, mention can be made of ecclesiastical
   There is a church conceivable, and there were                    oversight in the sense in which our fathers served with
churches like, e.g., the Churches Under The Cross,                  honor as members of parliament, as representatives
which possesses neither constitutional nor civil rights             of the people, and the officebearers as "inferior
and even lacks a certain confederation, yet is a                    magistrates." But now in our days this use of the
church. Where one speaks of authority in the church                 name "magistrate" has entirely disappeared. Every
of Christ,     one means exclusively that peculiar                  mention of "ecclesiastical magistrate," if one referred
authority which is exercised in its own sphere over                 to a  definite man, has become absurd. To seek


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                  429


 sovereign oversight and magisterial power (as our           against it, then the authority of such a congregation is
 elders said) in the church among men is to deny that        of no worth and does not concern the officebearer.
 Jesus is King, or that He lives or also that He directly    And in like manner, if an officebearer attempts to
 exercises power on earth.                                   exercise authority over the believers outside of or
   All authority exercised by persons in the church is       over against the Word of God, then this authority
 therefore always the opposite of the magistracy; i.e.,      falls away completely, is no longer authority, but
 it is characterized by service. Just as an officebearer     becomes pure arrogance. Then the balance of this
 exercises very definite authority, but never in any         author&y  is lost. It is only properly divided where
 other way than in the name of, by order of, by virtue       both the believers and the officebearers remain
 of the supremacy of his King and as responsible to          strictly with the Word and act only by the authority
 him, so also is all authority which is exercised in the     of that Word. But if the congregation departs from
 church never anything else but the official authority       the Word, then the Godly authority of the  office-
 of service by which the one who exercises it is             bearers is imposed on her. And in like manner, if the
nothing while the King is everything. The authority          officebearers forsake the Word then the Godly
 exercised in the church is therefore also holy because      authority of the congregation is imposed on the
 it never originates by agreement with earthly sinful        officebearers. At last, the church which entirely
 power, but it flows directly forth from that separate       forsakes the Word loses all her authority. And in like
realm of the kingdom of heaven over which the Son            manner, officebearers who depart entirely from the
 of God as Mediator sways His scepter.                       Word can no longer pretend to have any right of
                                                             authority. The difference between the authority of
   This official authority of service is mentioned here      magistrates and ecclesiastical authority is thus clear.
as applicable to our circumstances under the new             The civil magistrate retains its authority even when it
 covenant so that we do not- consider here the earlier       goes against God; and for that reason even a Nero
privileges of Israel's tribes, nor the authority of a        must be obeyed. But this is not the case in the
priest or prophet in `days of old, nor the authority of      church. In the church obedience becomes a sin and
David's descendants upon the throne in Jerusalem.            respect becomes guilt before God when the person
David does not continue to live in our kings, but lives      who enjoins and asks respect departs from the Word.
on in Christ. And because the church in her present
form came out of the extraordinary and preliminary              Those who, strangers to the first principles of
Old Testament church it must now be asked: through           church polity, speak in this respect of revolution,
which persons this King now exercises His authority.         express only the perversity of their hearts  in. the
The answer to this question is twofold: there is a           matter of obedience which we owe to Christ our
basic or essential authority through the office of all       King.
believers, and there is that authority which concerns            Revolution is to resist the authority of the King.
the organization and operation of the church through         Not.he who punishes the apostate officebearer resists
the appointed ministers.                                     that authority, but just the other way around, each
   Without denying for a moment the bond between             believer who upholds and respects the unfaithful
Christ and His church, it must now be established            ofticebearer resists the authority of Christ.*
that authority in the church resides in the church
itself, but is exercised through special officebearers.      19. What Systems of Church Government Have Been
The church is a strictly spiritual monarchy, a               Tried.
kingdom under the absolute kingship, of Christ; in her          Five systems of church government have been
visible form decidedly democratic, but aristocratic in       devised for the churches- of Christ in her visible form
her organization. However, one must not conclude             which we, for the sake of clarity, shall distinguish as
from this that the gathering of believers receives the       Romish, Lutheran, Reformed, Independent, and
mandate of authority  .from the King in order then to        Collegiate.
transfer this authority to the officebearers. No, both          These are the four characteristics of the Romish
the believers and the officebearers receive their            system: 1) that it allows only one government for
official calling directly from the King. Thus the office     the entire visible church on earth. 2) that it divides
of believers and the office of officebearers are
completely equal. The congregation is not over the
`officebearers, nor are the officebearers over the           *At this point in the discussion  Kuyper does not discuss the  all-
congregation, but Christ is over both  - Christ Who          important question: who decides whether the officebearers or the
                                                             members of the congregation are right. Officebearers may consider
establishes a mutual relation between both and binds         themselves to be right, and a group  `of people from the congregation
both to the authority  -of His Word. If the congrega-        may insist that. they `are right while their officebearers are wrong. With-
tion attempts to bring pressure to bear upon the             in the Reformed system of church polity, these matters are adjudicated
                                                             at broader ecclesiastical assemblies. Kuyper reserves a discussion of this
officebearers which is outside of the Word of God or         for a later paragraph in the pamphlet.


 430                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



 the church into two classes: spiritual and laical; and,       stubborn fight before they had suppressed the
 further, excludes the laity from the government of            republican idea of sovereign control in the hands of
 the church;. 3) that it is in principle strongly              the bishops. But the consequence of the principle
 monarchial;-and, 4) that it sets up the supremacy of          worked in their favor. In spite of all episcopal
 the church over the state. The Romish system desires          opposition the profound idea,, of a monarchy,
one government for the whole world-church, looses              understood by Hildebrand and his papal school, now
 itself from the national realm, represses the vital           pervades the Romish ecclesiastical system. The
 variations of national languages with one dead.               conciliar system is powerless to express the unity of
language (Latin) which is the same for all, and                the world church; only the papal system is capable of
 thereby loses most of her spiritual character. She does       this. In the councils, after all, national divisions
 not trust the organic unity of the church in Christ           always reappear and only in the pope do all national
 and therefore attempts to guarantee this unity by an          distinctions fall away. Finally, the bond of union
 external bond.                                                with Christ is never to be found in the council; that
    Her second mark rests on `this first mark. She             bond appears only in Christ's viceregent on earth.
 makes. a distinction between clergy and laity, which          From this also -is to be noticed, as a fourth mark of
 distinction is used to declare her laity a minor. Rome        this system, the supremacy which the Romish system
 does this -because the laity bring national distinctions      aims at over the state. Because the church is
 into church government.-Not the laity but the clergy          conceived as identical with the kingdom of God and
 can be placed outside all national relationships,             organized independently under the pope as viceregent
 something which is done through the introduction of           of Christ, Rome can tolerate no power over her,
 celibacy. Thus this spiritual class, loosed from  ,a11 the    because, this would be a power of the secular
 national relationships of society, forms a distinct order     magistrate which would destroy her unity. In like
 which lives exclusively for the church. And exactly           manner, this would permit an entirely independent
 by this means, Rome brings into existence a                   po"wer alongside of her which would compel her to
 world-church.                                                 withdraw from life so as to be busy only with
                                                               spiritual matters. The theory of two swords is thus at
    Hence the Romish church, in the third place, had           least no one-sided exaggeration, but only the logical
 to develop as strongly  monarchial. People did not            `development of what is hidden. in the false idea of
 readily accept this, and Rome's popes had to fight a          one unique church.





                                            Book Review.


 STUDIES IN PROVERBS,  by William Amot; Kregel                 enhances its value.
 Publications, 1978; 583 pp., $10.95. (Reviewed by               Not every verse in the book is treated. The author
 Prof. H. Hanko)                                               picks key verses out of each chapter and treats them
   Good commentaries on the book of Proverbs are               in some detail. The interpretation is basically sound:
 `difficult to find. This volume may, in some respects,        the author does not find in Proverbs a kind of
 fill the void. It was written in the Nineteenth Century       handbook for the moral life,. but sees in it the
 by a man who was part of the Free Church Movement             revelation of God in Jesus Christ for His people.
 in Scotland, and has therefore, much of the value
 which older books have.                                         It is filled with many practical illustrations taken
                                                               from the author's own time  - but illustrations which
   It is not, strictly speaking, a commentary; it is           nevertheless, are pertinent to our own day.
 more like a book of meditations. Yet, in the nature of
 the case, it also explains those passages which it              It is highly recommended both as a book of fine
 treats. It could almost be described as somewhere             devotional reading  and- as a help in the study of the
 between a commentary and a devotional book. Far               book. It will be a worthwhile addition to anyone's
 from subtracting from its worth, however, this                home library.


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                             431



                                                                  ANNOUNCEMENT.
                                                 Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will meet in
                                              Isabel, South Dakota on September 5, 1979, at  8:30 AM, the Lord
                                            willing. Material for the Agenda .of  Classis must be in my hands thirty
                                            days before the convening of  Classis.  Delegates in oeed of lodging or
                                            transportation from an airport should notify the clerk. of the Isabel
                                              Consistory.
                                                                                 Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk



                NOTICE OF APPRECliTlbN                                                                     NOTICE RE CANDIDACY
    "A motion is made that Synod on behalf of our churches express                   After proper examination, the Synod of the Protestant Reformed
appreciation to our seminary professors for their faithful and diligent           Churches is pleased to announce that Ronald Cammenga, Carl Haak,
labors in the seminary as is again witnessed in the recent examination of         Ronald Hanko, and Steven  Houck have been declared candidates for
the students.  - Adopted"                                                         the ministry `of the Word and  -sacraments  in our churches. The
                                    Synod of the Prot. Ref. Churches              candidates are eligible for a call from the churches after July 6, 1979.
                                    Rev. M. Joostens, Stated Clerk                                                                Rev. M. Joostens
                                                                                                                                  Stated Clerk of Synod


           A N N I V E R S A R Y   A N N O U N C E M E N T .
   On June 29, 1979, our parents MR.  & MRS. JOE KING, celebrated                                      .ANNlVERSARY  NQTICE
their 45th wedding anniversary. We are grateful to our heavenly Father                On  M a y   2 2 ,       1979, our beloved parents, MR. AND MRS.
for sparing them for each other and for us, their children and                    MEINDERT  GAASTRA celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. We,
grandchildren. It is our prayer that God will continue to bless them in           their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are thankful to
the years to come.                                                                our covenant God for the years they have had together, for His care
   "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon             over them and us, and for the covenant instruction we have received. It
them that fear Him,  and. His righteousness unto children's children."            is our prayer that our Heavenly Father will continue to bless them and
Psalm 103:17                                                                      keep them in His care.~
                                    Roger and Phyllis King                            "For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth
                                    C h e r y l                                   endureth to all generations."  Psalm~100:5.
                                    Marcia
                              M i c h a e l                                                                                       Mrs. Anne Lindeman
                                    Lori                                                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Gritters
                                    David.                                                                                        Mr. and Mrs. Ray Gaastra
                                                                                                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Otto Gaastra
                                                                                                                                     17 grandchildren
                                                                                                                                       4 great-grandchildren
                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   June 21,     1979, our. beloved parents, FRED AND  MARIAN
ONDERSMA, celebrated their 40th.wedding anniversary. We are very'                                       WEDDING /iNNlVERSARY
thankful to our Heavenly Father for His gift of covenant parents. They
have taught us in -the way that we should go and we pray that God will.            O n   J u n e   2 3 ,   1 9 7 9 ,   o u r   p a r e n t s ,   M R .   A N D   M R S .   H E R M A N
bless and guide them in their remaining years.                                    KUIPER, celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary. We thank our
                                                                                  heavenly Father for our parents and for the Covenant upbringing they
   "But the mercy of the `Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon            have given us. We are grateful to Him for preserving them these forty
them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children:               years, and it is our prayer that they may experience the joy and peace
   To such as keep His covenant, and to those that  re.member  His                of Zion in their remaining years together.
commandments to do them." (Psalm  103:17,   18)..
                                                                                                                                 Bill and Ruth  DeKraker
                             Their thankful children and grandchildren                                                               Linda and Mark
                                   Bob and Kaye Moe1 ker                                                                         Bob and Barb Kuiper
                                      Arlene and Amy                                                                                 Randy,  Vicki and Julie
                                   Gary and Rose Moelker                                                                         Ken and Eunice Kuiper
                                      Michael, Scott,                                                                                Jonathan
                                      Todd and  Tami                                                                             Kathy  Spaman
                                   Larry and Judy Meulenberg                                                                         Rick and Melissa
                                      Jeremy, David                                                                              Brian and Lori Kamminga
                                      and Marianne
Grandville,  Mich.

                                                                                                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                RESOLUilON-OF   S Y M P A T H Y                                       The members of the Priscilla Society of the First Protestant
                                                                                  Reformed  Chuch  of Grand Rapids, Michigan, extends heartfelt and
   The Ladies Society "Ruth" of the Hope Protestant  R.eformed                    sincere Christian sympathy to their fellow member, Mrs. Jennie
Church (Walker, MI), expresses its sympathy to one of its members,                Veltman, in the passing to glory of her husband, MR. HENRY
Mrs. Dick Kooienga, in the loss of her sister, MRS. BEN STEGINK.                  VELTMAN. May God comfort her by His Word and Spirit.

   "Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor His                     "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to
mercy from me." (Psalm  66:20).                                                   glory." (Psalm  73:24).

                                   Rev. R. Van Overloop, Pres.                                                                    Miss Jessie Dykstra, Pres.
                                   Mrs. P. Zandstra,.Sec'y.                                                                     Mrs.  Roselle  Ezinga, Sec'y.


                                       _----.-___ ___-____
 THE STANDARD  BfiARER
       P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506



432                        ,  .r-..             THE STANDARD BEARER               -.


                                News  From Our Churches

  Rev. David Engelsma declined the calls extended to          rado during July and August. Ronald Camminga to
him by Southeast Church in Grand Rapids and the               Hull, Iowa for the summer months. And Steve  Houck
congregation of our church in Hull, Iowa.                     to work in the Charlotte, Michigan area where our
  From a trio of Rev. Arie den Hartog, Rev. Marvin            churches have been conducting mission work for the
Kamps, and Rev. Bernard Woudenberg, Southeast has             past several months.
extended a call to Rev. den Hartog.                              The congregation of our church in Holland,
  Hull formulated a trio of Rev. den Hartog, Rev.             Michigan has scheduled a special program in their
Dale Kuiper, and Rev. Ronald Van Overloop. The call           church on Tuesday, July 3 at  7:30 PM to  com-
was extended to Rev. Van Overloop. Rev. Van                   .memorate the 50th anniversary of their congregation.
Over-loop had also received a call from our South             Holland's pastor, Rev. John Heys, personally extends
Holland, Illinois congregation to serve as home               to all  Stundavd   Beaver readers to meet with the
missionary in the Birmingham, Alabama area. After a           Holland, congregation on this joyous occasion. Rev.
trip to Birmingham for a first hand look at the field         and Mrs. Heys returned on May 3 1 after spending the
and after meeting with the council of the South               past several months on the other side of the globe as
Holland church, Rev. Van  Overloop  accepted the call.        `minister on loan' in Christchurch, New Zealand.
It can probably be assumed that the call from Hull               Redlands recently completed a solicitation for
was declined.                                                 money for their new church building. $80,100 was
  The consistory of our church in Loveland, Colo-             raised. This generous support will permit the church
rado, has informed each of the churches in the                building committee to proceed with the preparation
denomination that their pastor, Rev. George  Laming,          of detailed plans for the auditorium and social hall
"has been dismissed from his ministerial duties in the        with meeting rooms. In addition, permits must be
Loveland Protestant Reformed Church according to              obtained from and plans approved by the City of
Article 11 of the Church Order." The notice                   Redlands. It is estimated that, the Lord willing, actual
continues with the information that "Rev. Lanting is          construction of the new church could begin in early
now eligible for a call in our churches." This action         1980.
was approved in a special meeting of  Classis West held         At the end of April, the Pella bulletin carried this
in Loveland in early May. The Loveland consistory             appropriate announcement: "Catechism is over for
has scheduled a special congregational meeting for            this season as well as society meetings. It is very easy
Monday,. June 11, to call a minister from a trio              for us to forget about study of the Bible. But let us
consisting of Rev. Marvin Kamps, Rev. Jason  Korter-          not neglect this spiritual exercise in which we grow in
ing, and Rev. James Slopsema.                                 the knowledge of our Creator and of His salvation for
                                                              us in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Daily study
  Pulpit supply for Loveland has  .been scheduled by          of the Scriptures is a must for every child of God."
Classis West as follows: Rev. Rodney Miersma on May
20 and 27, Rev. Kortering on June 10 and 17, Rev. C.            In order to provide an opportunity for Bible study
Hanko for July 1, 8, and 15, help from the seminary           and spiritual refreshment, our church in Hudsonville
for the six Sundays of July 22 through August 26,             is scheduling a "Summer Society" to meet every
and Rev. Wayne Bekkering on September 2 and 9.                other week during the summer months. They plan to
                                                              begin with a discussion of Genesis 1. The first
  Sometimes news from a source close at hand comes            meeting also featured an after recess program
in from a bulletin of one of our churches located over        presented by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema in which he
2,000 miles away. The summer schedule of our                  presented practical guidelines and suggestions for
seminarians was published in the Redlands, California         profitable study of Scripture. This `summer society'
church bulletin. Assignments as of the end of May             idea sounds like a good idea  - especially during a
were as follows: Carl Haak to Victoria, British               season of the year when most church activities
Columbia, to work with home missionary Rev.                   scheduled during the week are in recess.
Robert Harbach. Ronald Hanko to Loveland,  Colo-                                                              K.G.V.


