  STANDARD
        BEARER
           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE    '
                                                                                 l





   That we fear God in our homes means that God
truly lives in our homes. , . . He lives in the
conscious life of the members of the home. . , . It
is known in the morning that God is there,. it is
known throughout the. whole day that God is
there, it is known in the evening that God is
there. . . . In all that takes place in our homes we
have to do with God. . , .

  Concretely all of this means of course that in the
God-fearing home the Word of God is ever an open
book. . . .

  The God-fearing home  .is a house of prayer. . .  l

   See "The Fear of God in the Home" - page 19


                                               Volume LVI, No. 1, October I,1979 J


2                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
                              CONTENTS:                                                                                            ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                       Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                          Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                                                    Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids.  Mich.
Meditation  -                                                                  Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                               DepartmentEditors:   Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Arie  denHartog,  Prof.
      The Providence of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2         R o b e r t   D .   D e c k e r ,   R e v .   D a v i d   J .   Engelsma,   R e v .   R i c h a r d   F l i k k e m a ,
                                                                               R e v .   C o r n e l i u s   H a n k o ,   P r o f .   H e r m a n   H a n k o ,   R e v .   J o h n   A .   Heys,  Rev.
                                                                               K e n n e t h   Koole.   R e v .   J a y   K o r t e r i n g ,   R e v .   G e o r g e   C .   L u b b e r s ,   R e v .
Editorials  -                                                                  R o d n e y   M i e r s m a ,   R e v .   Marinus   Schipper,   R e v .   J a m e s   Slopsema,  Rev.
                                                                               G i s e   J .   V a n   Baren,   R e v .   R o n a l d   V a n   O v e r l o o p ,   R e v .   H e r m a n   Veldman,
      Of Writing and Publishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .5         M r .   K e n n e t h   G .   V i n k .
                                                                               Editorial Office:  Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
      Seminary Convocation . . . . . . . . . .  : . . . . . . . . .  .7                                         4975  lvanrest  Ave. S.W.
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                                                                               Church News Editor:  Mr. Kenneth G. Vink
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      Pass the Word! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7    Editorial Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of
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                                                                               q u e s t i o n s   f o r   t h e   Q u e s t i o n - B o x   D e p a r t m e n t   a r e   w e l c o m e ,   C o n t r i -
From Holy Writ  -                                                              butions will be limited to approximately 300 words and must be neatly
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MEDITA TIO N


                                                      The Providence
                                                                     of God
                                                                        C. Hanko





                    Ques. 27, What dost thou mean by the providence of God?
                    Arts. The almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were by His
                 hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures, so that herbs and grass, rain
                 and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and
                 poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.
                                                                                                  Lord's Day 10. Heidelberg Catechism.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                3


  Our book of instruction takes us on a short detour.      His providence. That is nothing short of Deism, which
Often when you travel you are suddenly impressed by        places God far above the earth, and makes the world
the scenery that looms up in front of you, and the         a huge machine that can run by itself, but occasional-
urge prevails to leave the highway and enjoy a             ly when things go wrong God must step in and set
broader view of the country. This little excursion         them right by His providence. This same error is
usually proves to be well worth its while. This is         prominent among the faith healers of all sorts. We,
certainly the case in this Lord's Day. The previous        however, confess that the Most High God, Who dwells
question discussed the confession, "I believe in God,      in the high and lofty place, is also very near to us. He
the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." In       is in the raging storm and in the rumbling earthquake,
this confession there is no reference made to the          but is also present in the gentle breeze that wafts as a
providence of God, but it speaks only of creation.         still, small voice. He directs, each ray of sunshine, and
Yet already in the previous answer reference was           drops each drop of rain where He wants it to fall. If
made to God's providence  - unavoidably so. Now            that sounds like exaggeration, think of all the
our fathers take us on this excursion to explore more      insignificant hairs of our heads, which `God numbers.
in detail this ever comforting, reassuring, blessed        "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. . . .
truth of the holy Scriptures. We gladly follow them.       In Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts
  Once more our Catechism reminds us that this is a        17:25,  26). We are, therefore,.as in the palm of God's
very personal, experiential matter for us. "What dost      hand, under His watchful eye, close to His attentive
t/zou mean by the providence of God?" Moreover,            ear, near to His heart, under the very breath of His
the child of God is addressed. Our Father is sovereign     mouth that breathes blessings upon us, even one gift
God over all creatures. Our Father lives in intimate       of grace upon another.
relationship of fellowship with  us. through our             The wicked and the righteous both receive the
adoption in Jesus Christ. This places us squarely          same sunshine and rain, and many other good things
before the importance of Father's perpetual work as        from the hand of God. Yet the wicked always receive
it touches every phase of our lives. What does this        them in His wrath, for the wrath of the Lord is in the
mean to you?                                               house of the wicked. And the righteous receive all
  Generally we speak of the providence of our              things in God's goodness, for His favor is upon His
Father-King from the threefold aspect of God's             people. It may seem at times, as Asaph experienced in
preservation, co-operation (always remembering that        Psalm 73, that the wicked prosper in spite of their
this word does not accurately express the idea), and       wickedness, and the righteous suffer in spite of their
God's government. To maintain the more personal            righteousness; yet when we go to God in prayer, and
approach of the catechism, we will speak of the three      ask Him to open our eyes to the wonder of His Word,
elements, providing, preserving, directing.                we see that God prospers the wicked to their own
                                                           destruction, while it is our comfort that God guides
  Providing.                                               us by His counsel day by day, afterward to take us to
  The figure is used here of God's hand. We are in         glory. "Herbs and grass, fruitful and barren years,"
the palm of that hand as it upholds us, constantly         and all such ordinary things are all supplied by His
giving us our life and being. That hand reaches out to     fatherly hand. He who cares for the sparrow cares
provide for our every need. The finger of that hand        much more for us.
touches the earth, and the mountains quake, the seas         Preserving.
roar. That finger also touches us with health or
illness, joy or sorrow, or whatever Father deems good        The longer we ponder this gracious work of God's
for us. We are always in Father's care.                    providence the greater the mystery grows. There is
                                                           always the consequential fact, that shortly after their
  Years ago I read a book entitled, "Living out of         creation Adam and Eve fell into sin. What about
God's Pantry." The author, whose name is long since        God's providence. in that instance? Were there two
forgotten, stressed the fact that God cares for His        powers operating at that moment, God and the devil
children in a miraculous way. He cited many                at war together, with the  `sad outcome that Satan
examples, among which was one that I remember,             gained the first victory? What happened to the
and that characterized all the rest. A family had          almighty and everywhere present power of God's
become destitute; there was no food on the table. In       providence? Or was it thus, that there are infinite
the cold of winter the little boy opened the door,         possibilities and contingencies in God's decree, so
explaining that God sent ravens to feed Elijah, and        that if Adam remained standing history would have
that God could do as much for them. A rich man             taken one course, and if he fell history would move in
happened by, wondered about the open door,                 a different direction? That would make God de-
ventured in, with the result that God miraculously         pendent upon man's whims and actions. What,  thenj
supplied the family needs out of the storehouse of        must happen to me short of disaster? Or once again,


4                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



did God possibly turn His back a moment while Satan         deliberately. If I hurry I can still make it to work on
meddled in His affairs in paradise, with the terrible       time. But the speed limit of 55 miles an hour deters
result that sin now reigns, and God is compelled to         me, although my car and my desire could readily
bring restoration in a sadly ruined world? Where,           travel 65 or 70 miles an hour. Then I run into a
then, is the sovereignty of our God? Perish the             traffic snag. On a morning like-this! Next I have all
thought,. for it is unworthy of God Himself, and            the traffic signals against me, so that I sit biting my
certainly contrary to His Word that teaches the             nails. Until I realize that God is controlling traffic and
comforting, reassuring truth of God's power that            signal lights and all the rest, but I have been taking
controls and directs all things every moment from the       matters in my own hands and tried to run my own
dawn of history to its finish!                              life, forgetting the prayer I may have repeated that
     How wonderful to turn to the pages of Holy Writ.       morning, "Thy will be done." What peace could be
We read that the hearts of kings are in God's hand, so      mine, if I learned to live by the good hand of my God
that He directs them even as He controls the rivers in      every minute!
their courses. Pharaoh is a good example of that, for         Directing.
God says, "Even for this same purpose have I raised           History is like a ship at sea. The ship of God's
thee up, that I might shew my power in thee" (Rom.          church left its harbor at the dawn of creation to
9: 17). Another example of God's providence comes           travel across the stormy sea of time. There were the
to mind. God drew Satan's attention to His servant          storms of man's fall in paradise, the universal flood,
Job. God gave the devil power over the Chaldeans and        the oppression in Egypt, the Babylonian captivity,
the Sabeans, over `wind and, lightning to deprive Job       the cross of our Savior, the Reformation, and many
of all His possessions and his ten children. Satan was      more. Even these storms were God's mighty power
even given power to afflict Job with agonizing sores,       operating according to the counsel of  His will
so that his life was pure misery. Yet Satan had no          throughout history. In fact, Christ in heaven now
power over Job except for the power God tempo-              sends and directs those storms for the welfare of  His
rarily entrusted to him. Our thoughts turn to the           church. At the same time, Christ, the Pilot, steers the
greatest event of history, the crucifixion of our Lord.     ship of His church through treacherous waters, along
The whole world conspired against Him to destroy            dangerous shoals, through waves of persecution and
Him. It appeared as if this might be the great moment       trials, without ever veering from His course, ever
of Satan's triumph over God. And yet we read in Acts        directing His ship toward the eternal haven of rest.
4:27, 28, "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both  Herod, and Pontius             Or, if you will, the Lord builds His church. He
Pilate, and the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were    gathers each elect stone for His temple and sets that
gathered together, for  to do whatsoever thy hand and       stone in its appointed place. All the events of history
thy counsel determined to be done.  What could be           help toward building that church, so that the wicked
more emphatic than that? God determined the death           serve as scaffolding and tools for Christ's purpose.
of Christ in the hands of wicked men. God directed          Each stone must be cut, chiseled, shaped, and
every move they made. Yet Judas, along with Pilate          polished (how painful that treatment often is) until it
and  Herod and all the others, still gnaws his tongue in    fits exactly in its own appointed place in the House
hell for this horrible deed. God's sovereignty and          of our God. Paul says, "In whom (Christ) all the
man's responsibility are so intricately interwoven by       building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy
the wisdom and power of the Most High, that it              temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are  builded
defies our comprehension. Wonderful! We see it, but         together for an habitation of God through the Spirit"
shall never fathom the depths of the riches of the          (Eph.  2:21,22).
knowledge and judgments of God. Under our breath              In the light of the rise and fall of many world
we can only say, "How else  could.we be saved?"             powers, even ultimately of antichrist himself, and in
     That providence of God is evident in all such          the light of all the trials and afflictions that God's
outstanding events in our lives as our birth, the           people suffer in this present time, we can anticipate a
choosing of a life mate, or the choosing of a vocation,     glory that makes it all worth while, an eternal
but also in the smallest details of our daily walk.         exaltation in the God of our salvation. In anticipation
Often we find ourselves vainly struggling against           we already sing, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and
providence, much to our chagrin. Allow me a single          power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and
example. I oversleep some morning, even a bit               unto the lamb forever. and ever." Amen.

                                  Know the standard and follow it.
                           Read  The Standard Bearer


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    5


  EDITORIALS
  ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema





                                      Of Writing and -Publishing
                                          .



    This issue marks the beginning of Volume 56 of               before what he produces will appear in print, and try
  our magazine. At our staff meeting last June we tried          to produce something appropriate, instructive, and
  to make some plans for this volume which, we hope,             interesting. His only incentives can be his own
  will enhance its value and interest. The changes are           interest in his' subject, his conviction that he. has
  the  ,following:  1) Rev. M. Joostens asked to be              something to write which will in some way be helpful
  relieved of writing duties for  In His  Fear. This             for God's people and the cause of His church, and the
  department will be in charge of Rev. Arie den Hartog           hope that when his product appears in print, it will at
  and Rev. Wayne Bekkering. We welcome Rev.                      least be read.    .
  Bekkering to our staff. 2) The department  Signs of              Hence, I wish to take. this opportunity at the
  the Times  will be the joint responsibility of Revs.           beginning of a new- volume-year to encourage  `my
  James Slopsema, Richard Flikkema, and Kenneth                  co-editors, and at the same time to encourage'and stir
  Koole. The latter two are new to the ranks of'our              up our readers and supporters.
  staff, and we look forward to seeing their contribu-             The specific area `in which I wish  to- lend such
  tions in our magazine. 3)  The Strength of Youth  will         encouragement is this. Our  Standard Bearer  does
  be the sole responsibility of Rev. Rodney Miersma              indeed have a place, and it is read. Quite possibly it is
  this year, and Rev. Ronald van  Overloop will transfer         not always read as -much as it should be by our own
  to the department  The Voice  of  our Fathers.  He             constituency; pastors and elders on family visitation
  hopes to begin a series  ,on the Westminster Confes-
  sion. 4) Prof. Robert Decker will devote all his efforts       can and should play a part in increasing such faithful
  to our missions rubric,  The Lord Gave The  Word.              use of our magazine among the families of our
  5) Again we hope to present some guest articles from           denomination. But what I have in mind is the fact
  time to time. And although I have not as yet heard             that our magazine has played a vital role in bearing
  from all the brethren to whom requests for such                forth the banner of the truth of God's Word and of
  articles were sent, I can inform you that Revs. Wilbur         our Reformed faith outside the boundaries of our
  Bruinsma and Michael De Vries have agreed to join              churches, on the mission field and in our contacts
  the ranks of guest writers.                                    with other Reformed churches. This I know from
                                                                 experience  - from personal contacts and from
    It is-rather difficult to plan an entire volume for a        correspondence. I have become increasingly con-
  year in advance; and so our plans sometimes go a bit           vinced over the years that the printed page is one of
  awry. No one knows this better than your  editor-in-           the most effective means in spreading abroad the
  chief. There are various reasons for this. Sometimes           message which we as Protestant Reformed Churches
  the circumstances of the work which has the first              are dedicated to spreading and in making some of the
  priority of our pastors make it difficult to fill the          initial contacts which we  wish- to make and aim to
  promised quota. Sometimes the fountain of ideas                make. There are other media, too, of course. There is
  seems to run dry. Sometimes discouragement can set             the means of radio broadcasting, and there is the
  in. After all, it is no little task, even from the point of    means of tape libraries. But the printed page, in my
  view of quantity of material, to put out a magazine            opinion, is a most effective means. The very name
  like ours twice per month. We have a strictly                  Standard Bearer  has come to be associated with our
  part-time, unpaid staff. One issue of our magazine             Protestant Reformed cause, even though our maga-
  requires some 55 to 60 typewritten pages of copy.              zine is not an official publication of the churches, but
  And those deadlines of the first and the fifteenth of          free from denominational controls. And I can point
  the month arrive with terrible regularity. A depart-           to many a contact, both at home and abroad, in
ment editor must sit at his typewriter alone, weeks              which initial acquaintance with our churches was


 6      -                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



  made through our magazine.                                      support by our constituency would have to be
       This is reason for gratitude and for encouragement.        increased vastly. At present the gifts and the church
                                                                   collections only go, for the most part, toward making
       First of all, it may well serve as an incentive for our    up the difference between subscription-income and
  staff. Brothers, when you agonize at your typewriters           publishing costs. Again, with concerted effort and
  over that hard-to-write article, don't think to your-           with the cooperation of the churches, this could be
  selves, "I wonder whether- anyone will even read this           changed; and thus the means could be provided  with*
  stuff." But say to yourselves, "I wonder in what                which the Board could work. How about it?
  strange and heretofore `unheard of corner of our land                                ******
  or of the world some child of God is going to read
  this and be attracted to the truth and stirred up to               While I am writing about writing and publishing,
  investigate further and become better acquainted                 permit me a few words  .about  the book-publishing
  with our churches."                                              arm of the R.F.P.A., the Permanent Committee for
                                                                  the Publication of Protestant Reformed Literature.
       In the second place, it may well serve  as. an
  incentive for our constituency and for the' Board of               We held our annual meeting  - just a half dozen
  our Reformed Free Publishing Association. I have                 men  - not long ago. At this meeting we had a
  always considered it to be `one of the, chief purposes           thorough report concerning our inventory, our sales
  of our  Standard Bearer  to be a  witness,  a witness to         during the past year and over the years, and our
  people outside the sphere of our Protestant Refomed              financial status, as well as concerning forthcoming
 Churches. concerning the beautiful and comforting                 publications.
heritage of the Reformed* faith which `the Lord has                  Again, one of the things that impressed me was the
  given us. That was certainly part of its purpose when            fact that  hour books have, under the Lord's blessing,
  the  Standard Bearer  was born out of the controversy            been a mighty instrument for witnessing throughout
  of 1924. And that is still one of its chief purposes.            our own country and all over the world. There is not
  Yes, it is intended to be a paper for our own people             a continent to which our books have not been sent,
and their generations; but that is not its  onZ+v  purpose.        and- the list. of countries where they have been
  Its purpose may be briefly stated as:.Let the Word go            purchased is long. They have gone to Europe and to
  forth! That implies,. too, that we do not purpose to             Africa, to Asia and Australasia, to South America and
  be a  pro%lt-making  organization; and we do not have as         all over North America. While  to- commercial pub-
  our chief purpose necessarily to have a large list of            lishers,  I, suppose, such sales would be piddling,
  paying subscribers  - however nice it may be to                  nevertheless we-have sold literally thousands of such
  increase the number of subscribers to the point at               works as  Behold, He  Come@, Reformed Dogmatics,
  which the  Standard Bearer  would be self-sustaining, a          The Triple Knowledge,. Whosoever Will,' Believers and
  point, by the way, which is far off. But there should            Their Seed,. Marriage, Therefore Have `I Spoken. The
  be effort and expenditure for as wide as possible a             others have sold well, too; but those mentioned have
  free distribution to as many people as possible                  been among our best sellers. This is tremendously
  outside. our churches. Our Board should strive to                encouraging to those of us who are directly engaged
  make this some of its chief business, not merely                 in this work.
  engage in the month-to-month management of the                     The other side of the coin is that we could do
  publishing of the magazine.                                      much more and could publish much more rapidly IF
       But there have been few times since the origin of           ONLY WE HAD FUNDS. There are manuscripts
  our magazine when this has been done or when it was              waiting to be published, manuscripts which  ought  tb
  possible. Most of the time Boards have had to struggle           be published, but with which we dare not proceed
  for financial survival, and the income of the R.F.P.A.           until our bank account shows a better balance.
  has frequently been barely sufficient to "make ends
  meet." In recent years, through a combination of                   We have repeatedly suggested a simple and painless
  circumstances; we have at times had a rather                     way in which YOU could help us on this score. We
handsome surplus; but lately that, too, has been                  have pointed out that membership in the RFPA Book
  dwindling, being spent, on regular  .running expenses  -         Club would help you because you would receive all
  not on expansion and not on outside distribution.                our books at a discount. Book Club membership
                                                                   helps us. because it gives us a guaranteed sale and thus
       What I would like to see is that the Board of the           a guaranteed income. We also pointed out that a  large
  R.F.P.A. put. forth a concerted and consistent,                  Book Club  membership.would  speed up publication:
  on-going effort toward achieving the important goal              without difficulty we could have enough book club
  of employing the  Standard Bearer  as a witness. Your            members  .among our subscribers that the  publishing
  editor and, I'm sure, the entire staff would cooperate.          cost  of every new book  .would be guaranteed in
       And this would require, of course, that financial           advance. We also pointed out (to encourage  member-


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 7



ship) that a larger Book Club membership would                  It can't  be,a matter of money. A book per year at a
result in an even larger than 20% discount.                discount price isn't going- to break anyone.
  Frankly, however, the response has been  `dis-               Is it lethargy? Then wake up  out,of your lethargy.
appointing. All that was required was a signed post            W-ill you help?
card to the RFPA. And yet only a small  ,minority of
our subscribers have signed up.


                                    Seminary Convbcation

  Not long ago our Seminary `began its fifty-fifth         three students this year: Deane  Wassink (Holland),
year.                                                      Jon Smith (Hope), and Thomas Miersma (Faith). In
 There are not many occasions in the school term            the Pre-seminary Department there are seven stu-
when the Seminary  :has direct contact with the             dents. The Class of 1980 consists of Everett Buiter,
constituency of our churches. But in recent years one      Barry Gritters, Kenneth Hanko, and Harold Veldman.
of those occasions has been the public convocation,        The Class of 1982 consists of Brian Dykstra, Steven
held at one of the area churches. This year- that          Key, and Charles Terpstra.
convocation was held at `our Southwest Protestant              By the time of this writing both faculty and
Reformed Church,' just down the hill from the              students are busily engaged in the new term's work.
Seminary.. It was your editor's turn to -deliver. the
Convocation Address, and you will find a transcript             We commend faculty and students and their work
of that address in this issue.                              to your. prayers, both as congregations and as
                                                            f a m i l i e s . .
  At this gathering we usually ask the student body
to take a bow, too. And while I can hardly ask them             Continue to pray, too,  .that the  Lord will raise up
to take a bow in the  Standard Bearer,  I can tell you      among us more young men to prepare for the work of
who they are. In the Seminary Department, we have           the ministry.


SEI~NARY~ONVO~ATIO~L~~DRESS  .



                                      Pass. the Word!
                                                Prof H. C. Hoeksema





Mr. Chairman, Faculty Colleagues, Students, Mem-            Dutch verse,
bers of the Theological School Committee, Friends                        "In't verleden ligt het  heden,
gathered with us:                                                        In het nu wat  worden  zal."
  I wish to call your attention this evening to an          Roughly translated, that is:
instructive example from yesteryear. There are many                     In the past lies the present,
such examples in Scripture, and they are written for                    In the  no.w the what-shall-be.
our instruction and warning. The basis of such
examples lies in the. principle stated in the little        The example to which I  .refer is recorded partly in


8                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



Joshua  24:29-33. There you read: "And it came to                                       ,by such alternating periods of strength and weakness.
pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun,                                    Certain generations of God's people are God-fearing.
the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and                                     In them there is the knowledge of the Lord. By them.
ten years old. And they buried him in the border of                                     the truth of God's Word is maintained. Along with
his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount                                     this, they are characterized by the fact that they walk
Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And                                    in the ways of Jehovah. Other generations, on the
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all                                  c o n t r a r y ,    are characterized by ignorance, by
the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and                                       indifference toward the truth, by apostasy., by
which had known all the works of the Lord, that he                                      weakness, and by worldlimindedness. Thus it was in
had done for Israel." Then follows the account of the                                   the history of Israel. Just compare, if you will, the
burying of the bones of Joseph, verse 32. And verse                                     generation of Joshua's time and the generation
33 reads: "And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and                                       immediately following in the period of the Judges. In
they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas                                    the latter you can hardly recognize God's people. Or
his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim."                                         compare the period of David-Solomon with the
Partly, too, t h i s   e x a m p l e   i s   r e c o r d e d   i n   t h e              i m m e d i a t e l y            f o l l o w i n g   p e r i o d   o f
somewhat parallel passage of Judges  2:7-l 0: "And                                      Rehoboam-Jeroboam. Or compare it with the
the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and                                  generation of Elijah's time, during the reign of Ahab,
all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who                                    when Elijah complained, "They have broken thy
had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did                                   covenant, `thrown down thine altars, and slain thy
for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of                                   prophets with the sword." That was a period when
the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.                                     one would be inclined to ask the question, "Hath
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance                                    God cast away His people whom He  foreknew?`: The
in Timnethheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the                                        same is true of the newdispensation. Compare, if you
north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that                                         will, the church of apostolic times with the church
generation were gathered unto their fathers: and                                        during the Dark Ages. Or compare the church of the
there arose another generation after them, which                                        Reformation with the church during the seventeenth
knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had                                       and eighteenth centuries, when there was dead
done for Israel." Immediately following this passage                                    orthodoxy and rationalism. Or even compare one
is the notice that the children of Israel apostatized,                                  generation with another within the same church
forsook the Lord, and served  Baa1 and Ashteroth.                                       denomination. The point is clear.
     it  i s   t o   t h e   p o s i t i v e   w o r d   o f   w a r n i n g   a n d       Now, what does it mean that there are such
exhortation which  is- implied in this example that I                                   alternating generations? This phenomenon certainly
wish to call your attention under the theme, "Pass                                      does not imply that in a given period or a given
the Word!"                                                                              generation all are spiritual seed. It does not even
                                                                                        imply that the majority are spiritual seed. This is
The Passing of a God-fearing Generation                                                 never the case. It was not true during the time of
                                                                                        Joshua either. For Scripture informs us that even at
     It is a general phenomenon of the history of the                                   that time there were strange gods among them.
world and also of the history of God's people in the                                    Always it is true that there is only a remnant
world that this history is characterized by the fact                                    according to the election of grace. And even when
that one generation succeeds another. Also among                                        reformation is wrought in the church, the fact
God's people and in God's church there is such a                                        remains that no reformation is ever wholly pure. But
succession of generations, one generation replacing                                     this phenomenon does indeed imply that during a
the preceding one. This stands connected, of course,                                    given period of history the spiritual element in the
with the fact that God causes His covenant to run in                                    church is dominant. There are various factors which
the line of generations. Hence, every twenty-five or                                    may contribute  to. this dominance. Partly, the
thirty years a new generation arises  .and, so to speak,                                spiritual element may be dominant because they are
occupies front and center of the stage of the history                                   relatively strong in number. This was true of Israel at
of God's church in the world.                                                           Joshua's time: after the forty years of God's
     In the second place, it is also a general                                          judgments in the wilderness, the carnal element was
phenomenon of church history that this history is                                       decimated, and the spiritual element was relatively
characterized by alternating periods of strength and                                    strong in number. Partly, too, the dominance of the
weakness, of faithfulness and apostasy. This does not                                   s p i r i t u a l   e l e m e n t   m a y   b e   d u e   t o   h i s t o r i c a l
necessarily mean that with unfailing regularity a                                       circumstances, due to the fact, for example;, that they
strong and faithful generation is followed by a weak                                    are eye witnesses of God's works. for His people. And
and apostate generation. Nevertheless, generally                                        partly, this dominance of the spiritual element may
speaking, the history of  G-od's church is characterized                                be attributed to the fact that God gives to a certain


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                           9



generation men of influence. He gives them  a Joshua,        generation is gone or almost gone and until a new
an Eleazar, and a Caleb. He gives them a Martin              generation has arisen and become influential; and you
Luther and a John Calvin. Or, in the case of our own         don't notice it and don't pay attention to it until
churches, He gives them a Herman Hoeksema and a              suddenly for some reason you make an accounting of
George M. Ophoff.                                            the situation, or until someone calls your attention to
   Now in the example under consideration this               the fact. Then you realize that it has happened. That
evening Scripture tells us about the passing of a            is true, I say, in our own churches. Do you realize
God-fearing generation. First of all, we are informed        that by this time one would have to be at least
that Joshua died. He was one hundred ten years old,          sixteen years old in order to have known and seen
certainly one of the two oldest men in Israel at that        Herman Hoeksema at all? Do you realize  thaF one
day. Joshua was the God-appointed leader and ruler           would have to be some eighteen years old in order to
of Israel in that generation. Permit me just two             have known and seen George Martin Ophoff? Let me
remarks in connection with this notice concerning            present a few statistics concerning the clergy in our
Joshua's death. The first is that Scripture is               denomination. P&haps these do not present the
customarily sober here. It simply informs us that            whole picture of the situation, but certainly our
Joshua died and was buried. You find none of                 ministers represent an important aspect of the
the "hullabaloo" which you find so frequently in             leadership of our churches. Are you aware of the  f&t
worldly accounts concerning the death and  $urial of         that' the oldest active minister in our churches (Rev.
great men. The second point is this, that Scripture          Heys) was ordained in 194  1, seventeen years after our
gives to Joshua  the best possible epitaph that a man        denominational origin? Do you know that among our
can have: "Joshua, the  servant  of  Jehovah,  died and      active  tiinisters only two (Rev.  Hey? and I) were
was buried." Not only does this statement point us to        ordained before the split of  1953? Are you aware of
the fact that he died when his work was finished, and        the fact that among our ministers (if you count the
not before. But this is the best testimony that a man        candidates with them) there are some thirteen or
can have, and that, too, from God Himself: "the              fourteen who are third generation Protestant
servant of the Lord." I would certainly like to have         Reformed? Do you know that there are  six or seven
such a testimony when I die: Homer Hoeksema, the             of our ministers who are  of.that same age group? And
servant of the Lord, died and was buried.                    do you know that there  tire probably six men among
                                                             our clergy who may be classified as of the second
   In the second place, Eleazar died. He was the third       generation of our churches? I would hazard a guess
and God-fearing son of Aaron. When Aaron had died,           `that most of  .you are surprised by these statistics,
Eleazar became the high priest. He was a man who             perhaps-even a bit frightened. Quickly and almost
feared the Lord and a man of high station and gieat          unnoticed, generations come and go, also among us.
influence in Israel, He had shared with Joshua the
work of dividing the land of Canaan among the tribes         A Very Real Danger
of Israel. He died.                                              The Word of God informs us that the effect of the
  Moreover, the  B'ook of Joshua suggests and the            passing of that God-fearing generation  was apostasy.
Book of Judges confirms that all of that generation              This is not directly stated, but it is suggested in the
arid their elders died, and that a new generation arose      account in the Book of Joshua. We are informed that
after them. This does not merely mean that elders in`        Israel served the Lord  all the days of Joshua and all
the sense of older people died. But the chief men and        the days of the elders who overlived Joshua. This
the princes and the judges among Israel died. Some of        means, of course, not that every one, head for head,
them undoubtedly died before Joshua; and some of             served the Lord, but that  the nation as a whole kept
them outlived Joshua. But the point is that before           the  !aw of Moses, and that they walked in the way of
long all of that generation and its influence were           the Lord, the way of- His covenant, under the
gone. A new generation occupied front and center on          influence of Joshua and the elders. But the very fact
the stage of the  history~of  Israel.                        that  this is stated suggests to us already that this was
  Now the same thing happens and is happening right          the extent of Israel's service of the Lord, and that
along in our own churches. It is not so, of course,          thereafter a period of apostasy set in.
that you can draw a sharp line between one                      But the Book of Judges informs us of this directly.
generation and the next, as though one generation is         I n   J u d g e s   2   y o u   f i n d   t h e   s a m e   i n f o r m a t i o n
completely gone before the next generation arises.           c o n c e r n i n g the passing of that God-fearing
No, this is  a process, a rather gradual process. But for    generation. Joshua died and was buried. And also all
that very reason the passing of one generation and the       that generation  w&e gathered unto their fathers. And
rise of the next generation tends to go almost               then another generation arose after them, which
unnoticed. It takes place gradually, until one               knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had


 10                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



done for Israel. And the-very next section informs us                                history. It has happened in the past. One generation
that they forsook the Lord and served  Baa1 and                                      was faithful. The next was apostate. One generation
Ashteroth.                                                                           knew the Lord and His works; the next generation
       How are we to conceive of this apostasy?                                      knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had
                                                                                     done for Israel. They forsook the Lord, and served
       It certainly did not occur as an absolute disavowal                           Baa1 and Ashteroth.
of Jehovah. Israel did not openly-say, "Jehovah is not
God;  Baa1 and Ashteroth are the only gods." Such                                      But, there is an associated danger, the danger of
is not life. Moreover, the facts recorded in Scripture                               apostasy, the danger of saying, "It can't happen to
are against this: for a study will reveal that                                       us." We must never, never assume that attitude! For
throughout the period of the judges it is plain that                                 it is precisely when we assume the attitude that we
Jehovah was known and served also. But this apostasy                                 are safe and that we cannot become apostate, that we
-involved a mixture. The Israelites became very broad.                               are actually in the greatest danger.
Surely, according to their conception, Jehovah was                                     Moreover, history is replete with warning
God; but  the~gods of the nations were also gods and                                 examples. Notice what happened in Israel's history;
were also to be served. The Israelites took the                                      and remember, Israel was the church  - in fact, Israel
attitude that they must not be so narrowminded, like                                 was the only church there was in that era! The same
the fathers. The fathers said, "Jehovah is God alone;                                is true of church history in general, ever since the
other gods are idols.." Those fathers of the previous                                time of the apostles: there are numerous instances of
generation lived a rather isolated life. They were out                               such apostasy. Or consider Reformed church history.
o f   c o n t a c t   w i t h .   t h e   w o r l d .   T h e y   w e r e   t o o    Look at what has happened in the Netherlands, in the
conservative! `And so the new generation assumed the                                 churches of Kuyper and Bavinck. Or consider what is
position, "Jehovah is God, but the gods of the                                       happening in our mother church, the Christian
nations. are gods, too." This, according to them,. was                               Reformed denomination. Well may we ask: to what
the truer point of view.                                                             extent is it already true of us? To what extent is it
       And one can find much of the same spirit manifest                             true that another generation is arising, which knows
today. Doctrinally, they say, we must not be so                                      not the Reformed truth. In fact, fail to ask this and
narrowminded as to  insist'upon  a set of doctrines, a                               fail to confront this possibility and fail to guard
creed. And that position can be made to sound                                        against complacency, and  you. become by that very
plausible enough,. can. it not? We must have just the                                fact, a prime candidate for precisely the kind of
Bible!  .But `then men begin to go a little farther.                                 development of which I have been speaking.
Religion, they say, is-not limited to the contents of
any one book. Next they deny the miracles. Then                                      An Urgent Lesson
they deny the virgin birth. Then they corrupt and                                      There is more-  .than one factor which may be
deny the truth of the atonement, of the resurrection.                                mentioned in explanation of this apostasy.
They take the position that God loves His people, but                                  In the first place, at any given period in the history
that He loves the wicked, too. God does not hate                                     of God's church in the world there is only a remnant
anyone. Learned men will claim to believe the                                        according. to the election of grace. Thus it was among
authority of Scripture, but reserve to- themselves the                               Israel, even at the time of Joshua. And thus it always
right to "interpret it" differently. Yes, they say,' our                             is in the church: there is only a remnant. This implies,
fathers warned about this; but they didn't know what                                 of course, that there is a large element which is
we know. They did not have the advantage of the vast                                 carnal. True, at the time of Joshua the situation was
increase of knowledge which  -characterizes our                                      such that Israel had. been purged of that carnal
twentieth century.! And you can find this. same                                      element, to a large extent, in the wilderness. But it
attitude with respect. to. life as well as with respect to                           did not take long before that carnal element began to
doctrine. Our fathers, they say, frowned at many                                     increase again and to  .gain dominion. When the new
things. They frowned at the dance, and they frowned                                  generation arose, that carnal element held the upper
at cards, and they frowned at the movie,  and,at the                                 hand. And that is one of the facts of life in the
theater, and at the opera, and they frowned at                                       history of the church. Not only is the carnal element
Sabbath desecration. But we must not be so narrow                                    always present, and not only does the church always
and so strict. We know better. We can make sanctified                                bring `forth that carnal element among its children,
use of all those things which they classified as evil.                               but the carnal element always seems to increase and
       Such is the character of apostasy.                                            to gain in- power more rapidly than the spiritual seed.
       Moreover, the example before us  - as well as other                             In the second place, there was the factor of Israel's
Scriptural examples  - teaches us that such apostasy                                 failure to exterminate the nations of the Canaanites
constitutes a very real danger. This is the lesson  o.f                              in `the land. The Canaanites, we must remember,


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  11



represented the kingdom of darkness which was ripe            That, therefore, is the urgent lesson which I would
for judgment. Israel represented the kingdom of God,        leave with you this evening.
which was to be established on the ruins of the               For the church in general that lesson is, first of all,
various kingdoms in, the promised land. Those two,          that she must be faithful in the preaching of the
Canaan  and Israel, the kingdom of darkness and the         Word. That Word, the Word of the infallible
kingdom of God, could not dwell together. And the           Scriptures, reveals to us the Lord and His works for
express command of God to Israel was to exterminate         His people in Christ Jesus our Savior. That Word must
the Canaanites totally.  .But  they failed. They            be  ,maintained in all its purity by the church in the
commenced well, but they never finished the task.           generation that fears the Lord. And it must be
And the Canaanites which were allowed to dwell in           transmitted to the generation to come. Secondly, this
the land became a snare to Israel. The Israelites made      implies that the church must  watch in. the exercise of
common cause with them; they served their idols;            discipline. Postiviely, we must watch in exhorting one
they intermarried with them. And there is  a~lesson         another, lest we fall asleep! Negatively, the church
here. The  lesson  is this: fail to overcome the world,     must watch in the expulsion of  evil and of the evil
and it will surely overcome  yoti!                          doer from her midst!
  The third factor that served to explain the apostasy        Let me apply that for a moment to our own
of that generation is laxity on  the part of the            churches in particular.
remnant.                                                      The Lord has given us a heritage. He has showed us
  Negatively, they were lax in that they failed to          the truth in its clearest glory, the truth that God is
root out the idolater from among  theti. In Israel, the     GOD! And He has done great work for  us!
false prophet  had~ to be killed! The idolater had to be
rooted out! And it was the failure to kill the false          Pass the  W.ord!
prophet and to root out the idolater that  ulfimately         Let us watch and pray, and not grow weary and
led the whole nation into captivity.                        become lax. Let us understand `our calling and
  Positively, there was a laxity in transmitting the        accomplish it.. Let  -us pass the Word, the Word of
knowledge of the Lord to future generations. Notice         God, in the churches and their pulpits.
what happened. The passing generation knew the                That implies that we  must,pass the Word primarily
Lord and His work for Israel. They had  seeri all His       in our seminary. We must pass the Word of the Lord
great works for Israel. But  -the next generation,  knew    to the generation  -to come, so that it may be passed
rzot the Lord, neither the works He had done for            on  from our pulpits. My faculty colleagues, that is
Israel. There can be only one explanation of this           our calling. My young brethren of the student body,
sharp contrast: failure to transmit! Israel had the         it is your calling to imbibe that Word with all your
express and emphatic command to teach the                   might and main.
generations to come  the fear of the Lord and  to tell        Let  .us do that! Let us do it not in our own
of His wondrous works. It is plain that the generation      strength, but by faith in Him Who is the better
of Joshua's time had failed to do this: otherwise the       Joshua, Who not only died and  was buried, but Who
next generation would have -known! The conclusion           rose again and Who is become the quickening Spirit!
`from all this is  plain: grow lax in instruction  - in
home or school or church  - and the next generation           Let us do it, lest it be said of another generation:
will not know Jehovah and will not know all His great       they know not the Reformed (Protestant Reformed)
works for His people.                                       truth, neither the work which the Lord did for them!




                                        Subscribes Now

                     THE .STANDARD BEARER


  12                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


  FROM HOLY WRIT





                                           Exposition of Galatians
                                                                        Rev. G. Lubbers.





  ALL  DEPENDS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT OF                                                8:9b) This excludes the natural man from this battle
  CHRIST, THE  SPNCTIFIER (Gal. 5: 16-25)                                           between the flesh and the Spirit. Here is a battle
        The only thing which counts is being. a "new                                between the "old" and the "new" life in the
  creature," reborn by the Spirit of, God. (Gal. 6: 15)                             Christian, who is anointed with the Spirit of Christ.
  That is Paul's starting-point, first and last! Notice                             This battle between the  .flesh and the Spirit will
  how emphatically, in the verses 16-26, Paul speaks of                             continue in the reborn saints, who-have the right to
  the Spirit. Here we have echoed the words of Christ:                              be called the children of God, till the day of their
  t h e   S p i r i t   i s   t h e   o n e   w h o   m a k e t h   alive  ( t o    death. Until that time the saints fight, as the anointed
  zooopoioun),  the flesh profits nothing. (John  6:63)                             of God; with a free and good conscience against sin
  Hence the battle, the conflict, and the outcome is all                            and the devil. Then they shall have the complete
  of the Holy Spirit, as He dwells in the sinner, whom                              victory. The flesh shall be no more!
He has made alive! I call your attention to the                                       We should notice, first of all, that the opponents in
  prominence which the Holy Spirit has in verses 16,                                this battle are the "flesh" and the "Spirit." Now the
  17, 18, 22, 25. Read these verses from  youi own                                  "flesh" is our old Adamic nature. The manifestation
  Bible . The great conclusion of Paul is in this                                   of this onslaught within us against  .the Spirit are our
 Gospel-precept: If we live by the Spirit (if that is our                           lusts, our sinful members: an evil eye, an ear that
  profession) let us also walk by the Spirit. The                                   will listen to that which is evil, a hand which works
  emphasis falls on  "bj the Spirit  let us walk," making                           unrighteousness, a mouth which speaks vanity and
  the  law of  the Spirit  the guiding principle of our                             lies. It all comes forth from the sinful heart, and it
  orderly  walk.  (stoichew  = walking according to the                             proceeds from the mouth; and it is the very thing
  new "canon, " the rule of faith and love in the Spirit,                           which defiles a man. (Matt. 15: 16-20) Now the Spirit
  fulfilling the law.) This law of the Spirit in  Chiist                            is He who renews us so that we place all these
  makes us free from the law of sin and of death! All                               members as "servants of righteousness." (Rom. 6: 19)
  depends upon the sanctification of the Spirit in the                              This Spirit works this in our hearts because we are
  justified saints, who are righteous before God and                                legally  sons; such is our new status before God, being
  who are heirs of eternal life! (Gal.  5:21, 23; Rom.                              justified by faith!
  8: 1, 2)                                                                            And here is the great conflict in the Christian.
  THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE FLESH  AND  THE.                                             In this conflict we must notice that the text says
  SPIRIT IN THE CHRISTIAN (Gal. 5:  17)                                             that the flesh "lusts." In this flesh there dwells no
        This battle spoken of  ifi Galatians 5:  17 is very                         good thing. (Rom. 6: 18) This flesh "wars"
  uniquely one in which only the Spirit-led Christian                               (antistrateuomenon)   against the Spirit. This is a
  engages. The natural man knows nothing of this                                    constant and an incessant assault of this enemy
  battle at all, for he is -not led by the Spirit, neither                          within us. Notice the present tense in Romans  8:23,
  does he walk by the Spirit. Whereas the natural man                               as well as the present tense in Galatians 5: 17. What an
  does not have the Spirit, he is none of Christ's own                              incessant lusting of the flesh! That is what makes the
  elect children, who are heirs of the kingdom. (Rom.                               Christian cry out, as. did Paul, "0 wretched man that


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   13


 I am." For these are the lusts which "war" against the        fulfill the lusts of the flesh. This battle is not a seesaw
 soul. (I Peter 2: 11) Also in this passage from I Peter it    battle in which two equally strong foes are struggling
 is evident that these lusts wage a continuous and             for mastery. The mighty God has a  mighty Spirit  irr;
 never-ceasing onslaught against our sanctified souls.         us which empowers us against every onslaught of
 For, according to Peter,' oui souls have been                 Satan, the world, and our own flesh. The  dominion  of
 sanctified through the Spirit. (I Pet.  1:22) Lusts           sin is broken in us. Romans 5: 17 reads, "For if by
 cannot war against an unsanctified soul. The                  one man's offense death reigned by one; much more
 unsanctified soul agrees  with the lust, is one with it in    they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift
 motive and operation!                                         of righteousness  shall reign in  life  by one, Jesus
   It should be borne in mind that in this conflict the        Christ." Do not forget that where sin abounded, grace
 initiative is on the part of the flesh in us. The text        does much more abound, not only in justification,
 says that the flesh "lusts" against the Spirit. It is         but, also in sanctification of life. (Rom.  5:20) And,
really  " d o w n   u p o n " the Spirit, according to the     therefore, this titanic struggle between the flesh and
 Greek preposition  "kata"  with the genitive case. The        the Spirit is not uncertain in the daily outcome of
 flesh is negative; it is merely against  all that which is    those who walk by the Spirit. We shall not  at  all
 good, keeping the law of God out of pure love and             fulfill the lusts of the flesh. There will be progressive
 unfeigned faith. Now we must not attribute the                sanctificatiofi of the Spirit in us, leading  us through
 activity of "lusting" to the Spirit. The Spirit  does not     daily conversion and repentance to the higher ground
 lust  against the flesh. It is evident from the original      of God's perfect law of liberty! We shall not be
 Greek, that Paul does not ascribe such counter-lusting        forgetful hearers of the law, but doers .of the law,
 to the Spirit in this battle. We must look for another        having not a dead faith, but a living faith, which is
 verb. Perhaps  we can  say:  the  Spirit  operates  in us     verified by good works of the Spirit.
 both to will and to do of God's good-pleasure. It is             Yes, we do not do what we would do: perfection!
 the Divine energy of the Spirit that comes into play,            However, we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh
 so that we have a holy desire after the inward man in         either.
 the law of God. (Phil 2: 13; Rom.  7:22) Yes, we
 delight as it were in ourselves, with ourselves                  Thanks be to God Who gives us the daily-victory
inwardly, in the law of God, which is holy just and            through our Lord Jesus Christ! Yes, then I do indeed
good. What a conflict: evil lusting of the flesh and           serve with my sanctified mind,  (nous) with my
holy aspirations of the reborn heart by the Holy               deepest affections the law of God, but with the flesh
 Spirit of Christ! What a misery, holy misery where we         the law of sin! (Rom.  7:25)
learn to know more and more how great is the                   THE SPIRIT-LED CHRISTIAN  - NOT UNDER
redemption in Christ Jesus!! And such knowledge                LAW (Galatitis  5: 18)
accrues in a thankfulness, which is joy unspeakable
and full of glory. (Rom.  7:25; I Pet. 1  :S)                    Those who walk by the Spirit are  led  by the Spirit.
                                                               As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are
   Here we come upon the imperfection of the saints,           sons of God. (Rom. 8: 14) Such are legally  sbns of
whereby they confess that the most holy has only a             God, heirs of everlasting life. The Holy Spirit testifies
small beginning of the new obedience in this life. Yes,        with their spirit that they are sons of God. (Rom.
but they also have a desire not only to live according         8: 16)  Such have not, received again the spirit of
to some of God's commandments, but. to live                    bondage to fear, but they have received the spirit of
according to  them  all:  by love to serve the neighbor!       adoption by which they cry, Abba; Father. (Rom.
Both of these must be emphasized in their proper               8:15)
relationship !                                                   Our text says that we, who are Christians, are
   The text says: in order  -(so that?) you  do not do         "led" by the Spirit. This guidance of the Spirit is not
the things ye will to do.  The KJV translates: that ye         to be conceived as upon the human plane of human
cannot do  the things ye would. The Dutch "Staten              guidance and counseling; it is preeminently a Divine,
Vertaling" has "thus that ye do not do the very thing          efficacious work of the Holy Spirit of Christ, calling
that ye willed to do." We never do a perfectly                 us to faith and hope which works by love. Those who
obedient act of faith, which works by love, in this            are led by the Spirit have the love of God shed abroad
life. Our best works are all imperfect and polluted            in their hearts, constituting them a fruitful branch in
with sin! Never can we do any  work of merit which is          the Vine, Christ Jesus. In Him they abide and bear
beyond the requirements of the law, nor do we                  much fruit of the Spirit. (John  15:4, 5) To be led by
perform a work of gratitude which reaches heaven's             the Spirit lies back of and is the possibility of walking
perfection in this life!                                       in and by the Spirit. John  calls- this "his seed
   At the same time the apdstle teaches that those             remaining in him"; such a one "cannot sin, because
who walk by the Spirit  do not,  in this very battle,          he is born of God." (I John  3:9) Peter writes, "Being


 14                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



 b o r n   a g a i n ,   n o t   o f   c o r r u p t i b l e   .seed,  b u t   o f    and not use our liberty to fulfill  the lusts of the flesh.
 inco'mptible,  by the word  df God, which  liveth and                                God forbid! For the Spirit never leads  the saints in
 abideth forever.`? (I Peter 1: 23)                                                   the way of sinful lusts. The Spirit works by the Word
       Now such are actively led by the Spirit unto all                               and the precepts of  the Gospel! The Spirit-led
 good works. They have the "right" to walk in good                                    Christian is never lawiess. He is no antinomian;
 works, because they are sons. (John. 1: 12) Paul is                                  neither is he a legalist, a  nomist. He travels on higher
 arguing that  we, tie called to freedom in Christ. We                                ground; he walks as being holy as God is  holy:His is
 have been called into legal freedom from the curse of                                not a balance-act between the two extremes of
 the law, and, therefore, also to the spiritual  .freedom                             legalistic work righteousness and careless profanity,
 to keep the law. We  now may keep the law  and are                                   but he is a new creature. in Christ for whom the end
 able to keep the law, be it imperfectly. Such, who are                               (to  telos)   of the commandment is love out of a pure
 led by the Spirit; are not "under law."  The law is in                               heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith. (I
 our hearts; we are under grace.                                                      Tim.  1:5) In him we see the fruit of righteousness,
       Therefore we must, as free-born sons, walk in grace                            much fruit which is to the glory of Go-d the Father!

-TRANSLATED TREASURES




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



 (In discussing the question of authority  iti the church,                            there are hundreds of congregations, and each of
 Kuyper is still talking about  the. different forms of                               these claims  to. have for itself the power and the
 church, government. He has already  discussed  the                                   authority of a church of Christ. Over against this, the
 Romish form of church government, the Lutheran                                       Reformed always took the position that, although in
 system of church government, and the Reformed                                        larger cities a number  .of parishes  could be formed, in
 system of church  government. He now turns his                                       each city or town only one church and therefore only
 attention to the Independentistic or Congregational                                  one council of the church could exist in which the
 form  of church government.)                                                         teaching  `and ruling elders from all the parishes had
       The  Independentists or Congregationalists,                                    the right of authority.
 originally called Brownists  in. our land, generally                                   -In the second  place, the Independentists judge that
 speaking, moved not in a Romish or Lutheran                                          not only ecclesiastical authority in the general sense,
 d i r e c t i o n , but very decidedly in a Reformed                                 but also administrative authority rests  with the
 direction. They are, therefore, `also pure in most                                   believers so that the congregation has the right to
 points of `doctrine. The  car  klesia  is also for them                              judge in every matter. And stronger still, the
.the truth of election. The  norma   ecclesia   is the Word                           congregation has the right to decide. Over against
 of God in almost the same sense in which we speak of                                 this, the Reformed hold that the administrative
it. In the matter of church government, however,                                      authdrity  over the church rests not with the
 they deviate  from  the Reformed line in the following                               members, but properly with the presbyters. This
points. In the first place, the point of departure for                                distinction is often made clear by the use of a figure.
their system is not in the local  church; but in each                                 Although the power of life is` distributed through the
 group of believers who organize themselves
e c c l e s i a s t i c a l l y . S u c h   a   g r o u p   i s   c a l l e d   a     *We use the  teims "local congregation" and "congregation" synon-
congregation.*                F r o m   t h i s   c o m e s   t h e   n a m e ,       ymously. Kuyper uses here the word  congregafie  which is different
                                                                                      from  gemeente and has the  connot5tion  of a mere gathering with a
Congregationalism. E.g., in London at this moment,                                    minimum of organization.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        15


  whole of our body,  yet our body cannot see except             sovereignty as the fountain of all authority in the
  through the eye and cannot be controlled except                church of Christ  - that is the chief mark of the
  through the head.                                              Collegial -system.  The- name means "society" and is
     In the third place, `the Independentists in fact            adopted from the law of organization which arose in
  abolished the distinction between teaching and ruling          pagan Rome, and by virtue of which law the churches
  elders and want every elder to be a teacher. Thus              were recognized for a long  time as  collegia   Zicita,  i.e.,
  elders are elders all their life. Over against this theory     "permitted organization." The sovereign authority of
  the Reformed allege that the office of the Word is a           Christ is thus  lo@. There is no longer mention of
  separate office which demands its own preparation              believers. The Word ceases to have authority. That
  and its own unique gifts. And on the other hand, the           which alone has authority and can delegate authority
introduction of the eldership for life alienates too             is simply the individual member with the other
  much the congregation from the church..                        members according to the system, in the final
                                                                 analysis, of one-half plus one. If the one-half plus  orie
     In the fourth place, they teach that a number of            is for Jesus, then the church keeps her Christian
  churches ought indeed to hold conferences, but that            character. But if it should  turn out differently, then
  the deputies of a number of churches can  never                that same church by morning is perhaps Jewish or.
  exercise classical or  synodical -authority over the           Mohammedan. Thus while with  the  Inaependentists
  individual churches, even when they  are united in a           the members are at least still believers, here even the
  church union. Over against -this, the Reformed                 believers are transformed into simple members
  maintain the principle that the authority of Christ is         without distinct character; and by this, the specific
  over the whole of his church; and thus also the                Christian character  of. the believe; is entirely
  discipline of more than one church is necessary to             abandoned. This Collegial system, according to which
  hold the individual churches in the paths of the Word.         model also the state church in the Netherlands has
                                                                 now to a large extent  .been organized, is purely
     The Independentists, finally, deny to the church  $1        r e v o l u t i o n a r y . It permits, just as the French
  right to defend the truth of  S.cripture against heretical     Revolution, every  fol;m of regimentation. With the
  conceptiotis by means of a confession, catechism, or           .Cbllegial  system as a basis, I can form a Romish
  liturgical formulation. The Scriptures, they say, must         church by means of the `fiction that the members
  be the only symbol. It is an idealistic and untrue             have transferred their authority to the Pope. But I
  statement  w&,ch our Reformed people opposed with              can also  piead along with this the Caesaro-Papal
  the just observation that the Holy Spirit explains the         system of the Lutherans and of our own state church,
  Word in the church of all ages, and that this historical       because, why cannot the members be considered
  interpretation ought to have power and authority               rebus ipsis et  factis,  as having transferred their right
  over against the often arbitrary interpretation of the         to the king? If kneeling before the king again
  individual preacher. Actually, Independentism is thus          becomes a common practice arid if the clergy desires
  an attempt to reduce the visible form of the church            to introduce cledcalism; well, then, who can prevent
  to a shadow, to withdraw itself almost entirely  from          this within the Collegial system? As if the members
  her spiritual character as the  ,gathering of the elect,       could not be fooled into transferring their original
  and, as a result, to permit  church polity in the church       right to  qligarchical consistories in which the
  of Christ to  retreat behind a mere gathering of               preachers are  the one and all! This Collegial system is
  believers.-                                                    a real chameleon-like system. You can justify any
    Such a system, it is obvious, can continue for a             system with it. But the  .foundation  is rickety and
 long time, as long as the spiritual life of the believers       pulls away the  Godly foundation from under each of
 is maintained to a high degree under the cross of               these other systems in order to put revolution in their
 persecution. But it must necessarily result in a loss of        place. Because this is its sin, it allows  the authority of
 its ecclesiastical -character as soon as this spiritual life    God in His Christ to rest on nothing else than on the
  declines and weakens.  ,And just as a part of the              authority of the free will of man.        _
 Quakers in England and in America deteriorated and              20. In to Which Parts The Authority Which Is
 are now about to expire into obvious modernism so               Exercised in the Church of Christ is Divided.
 also the system of Independentists degenerated,                   Whoever speaks of authority in the church
 already in the  c.ourse of the 18th Century,  in. an            understands by this that the church not only advises,
 almost unnoticed way,' into the so-called  Collegiai            admonishes, and' attempts to convince, but also
 system  - a system which is  not of English but of              possesses power to bind. This. power is commonly
 German  .origin.                                                designated by the symbol of the keys  of the kingdom
    This Collegial system is nothing else than the               of heaven. "And I will give you the keys of the
  application of the ideas of the French Revolution, to          kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind
 the church of Christ. The doctrine of people's                  on earth shall be  botind in heaven: and whatsoever


16                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."                                    likewise, those who establish a church do not create
This solemn word of the Lord must not be weakened.                                       that authority by establishing a church, but only give
There follows  frdm this the idea that a church loses                                    to -that authority its offices so that the authority may
her nobility when it no longer dares to join salvation                                   operate. Just as a mother, by giving birth to a baby,
to her confession; and that, vice versa, a child of God                                  does not create breath or light, but only gives birth to
is deprived of his church which he needs if he no                                        a being provided with organs to breathe in air and to
longer  firtily relies on and trusts in the word of his                                  receive light, so also no new authority originates with
church as interpreting the will of the Lord. And thus                                    the establishment of a new church, but only a new
the state of the church is only good in which the                                        organism enters life which is provided with officers
r u l e r s   o f   t h e   chu:ch,  k n o w i n g   t h a t   t h e y   a r e           arranged to allow the existing authorities to  work
interpreters of the Word of God, mightily lay the                                        through them.
truth upon the conscience and speak rightly. On the                                        This authority then, which must be maintained in
other hand, the state of the church is-good when the                                     the strong sense of authority, is exercised through
church members, for the Lord's sake, bow before the                                      Jesus Christ Who is the King of the whole of the
authority of the rulers of the church as before                                          church and is thus also King of each local church. He
authority placed  over them by King Jesus. And they                                      is King also, e.g., of the church of Amsterdam. This
must do this, not by external compromise for the                                         King exercises this authority partly directly and
sake of peace, but as bound in the soul, on peril of                                     partly by means. He exercises this directly, first of all,
their very salvation.                                                                    because He provides His church with the means of
      Taking the authority of the church in this high and                                grace: the Word and sacraments. Secondly, He
serious sense, one must also remember that such                                          exercises this authority directly because He works in
authority is not born out of agreement through which                                     the members of those churches with His Holy Spirit.
the church members partly renounce their freedom,                                        And thirdly, He exercises this authority because
but that this authority is imposed by Christ and has                                     through providential government, He arranges all the
its origin in the sovereignty of  Gbd..The obligation to                                 circumstances of those  churches and of her members.
be respectful to authority does not originate in our                                     But also by the use of means the King exercises
joining the church, but we join the church because we                                    duthority through them, and only this mediate
feel that we must be subject to this authority. And                                      authority is relevant here.


FAITH  .OF OUR FATHERS




                                                          The Westminster
                                                     Confession of Faith
                                                                      Rev. Ron Van Overloop




      At the annual meeting of the editors of  The                                       permit me to suggest some possible reasons for our
Standard Bearer  held this past June, it was                                             considering of this creed.
determined that the subject content of this rubric                                         First of all, we might consider this creed together
would be the Westminster Confession.                                                     because we are finding on the membership rolls  ,of
      I t   m i g h t   w e l l   b e   a s k e d :   w h y   c o n s i d e r   t h e    our churches, in ever increasing numbers, those who
Westminster Confession, when it is not one of the                                        are of English or Scottish background, whose
creeds of the Protestant Reformed Churches? There                                        ancestors adhered. to the standards created by the
were no specific grounds given for the decision; but                                     Westminster Assembly. We note, for example, that all


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          17



of the members of our congregation in Houston,                                     much idolatry and superstition and worldliness on the
Texas are of English parentage. And we shall see more                              part of many of its clergy. The authority of the Word
of this as we seek to fulfill our God-given mandate of                             of God was subjected to the authority of the Church
mission work.                                                                      and especially to that of the Pope.
   But also, generally speaking, it is good that. we                                 Under Henry VIII England separated itself from
c o n s i d e r   t h e   W e s t m i n s t e r   C o n f e s s i o n .   T h e    the bondage of Rome, only to enter an ecclesiastical
Westminster Assembly played an important part in                                   despotism of the king; "The  purpos.e  which Henry
the history of the Church of Jesus Christ. Often we                                VIII set before himself was to free the State from
find ourselves, rather selfishly, interested only in that                          foreign influences exerted by the Pope through the
which directly affects us. But it is good to know how                              Church; and his efforts were directed, with great
the Church of the past in other areas of the world                                 singleness of aim, to  .,the establishment of his own
contended for the faith once delivered. This is a part                             authority in  ,ecclesiastical  matters to the exclusion of
of the healthy, spiritual interest the members of the                              that of the Pope" (p. 4, Warfield). So the same
Body of Christ have in  and.for other members of that                              tyranny and basically the' same errors remained
beloved Body. Also, because there is nothing new                                   though under a different name.
under. the sun, it might be helpful for us, in our                                   But the cause  of,God would not be stopped  .by a
personal and denominational contending for the                                     king who imagined vain things. Increasingly, the
faith, to know how other members of the Church of                                  influences- of the Reformation were felt in England,
Christ contended for that faith.                                                   and that especially among the laity, though definitely
   Finally, it is good  -for us to consider the                                    not excluding the clergy. There was a renewed
Westminster Confession because of our contact with                                 interest in the Scriptures which in turn made plain to
the Orthodox Presbyterian Churches of New Zealand,                                 many the errors existing within the State Church.
which churches have  the. Westminster Standards as                                 Louder and louder grew the cries for reform. This
their  creedal basis. That we might know their                                     reforming movement was viewed by the throne and
positions of faith it is incumbent upon us to examine                              by the hierarchy of the church as a grave threat.
carefully this creed.                                                                 In the providence of God this caused a shift in the
   In this rubric it is our plan to consider this creed                            controversy from a contest between  ,,the Pope and
article by article in order to learn the contents and                              King to a contest between the King and Parliament:
orthodoxy of the Westminster -Confession of Faith.                                 "The authority in ecclesiastical matters," which the
Since many of our readers probably do not have a                                   King now `assumed, "was increasingly employed to
copy of the Westminster Confession, I will quote each                              establish the general authority of the throne over
article at the beginning of our study of it. Please do                             against the Parliament."  "The interests of civil liberty
not overlook. these quotations, but pay close                                      soon rendered it imperative to break the absolutism
attention, especially to the Confession itself.                                    of the King in ecclesiastical affairs as it had ever been
                               *****                                               to eliminate the papacy from the control of the
   We are compelled to consider first the historical                               English Church" (pp. 4, 5, Warfield).
background of this creed. We will do this only briefly.                              At the same time that the cause of the King was
Those desirous of more information will find                                       becoming ever more allied with the Bishops of the
interesting reading in the following:  The Westminster                             church, "the cause of Puritanism, that is of
Assembly And Its Work  by Benjamin Breckinridge                                    .Protestantism, became ever more identical with that
Warfield; Philip Schaff's  The Creeds of Christendom,                              of the  Parliament"-(p. 5, Warfield). For a large part of
vol. I; the introduction of  The Reformed Faith  by                                the 17th century the Parliament was able to hold the
Rev. Robert Shaw; and the introduction of  A                                       upper hand.
Commentary of the Confession Of Faith  by A. A.                                      As Parliament slowly broke down the walls of
Hodge.                                                                             prelacy, it sought to provide a positive constitution of
   As was the case in the early church when emperors                               the church (1640  - 1642). "It was recognized from
called the great ecumenical councils together, so was                              the beginning that for this positive legislation the
the progress of the Reformation to a great extent                                  advice of approved divines would be requisite" (p. 10,
determined by the political maneuvering taking place                               Warfield). The result was that the Westminster
in each country.                                                                   Assembly was organized as a subcommittee of the
   The form which Protestantism took in England was                                political power, not as a gathering of the church by
determined by the peculiar course the Reformation                                  the church. As the Synod of Dort in the Netherlands,
movement began in. that country. For about nine                                    the Westminster Assembly was called into session by
centuries Britain had been dominated by  the.Roman                                 t h e   S t a t e .
Catholic Church,' which in turn was dominated by                                     B. B.  Warfield gives the prime purpose of the


18                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



Assembly, partially in the words of Parliament's            Synod of Dort; several divines of the Assembly had
ordinance, as being " `to consult and advice'- with         spent some time  ,in, Holland,. where they found a
Parliament, as it may  be- required to do, in the           hospitable refuge from persecution under Charles I,
Parliament's efforts to substitute for the existing         and were treated with great respect by the Dutch
prelatical government of the Church, such a                 ministers and divines." (pp. 760, 76  1, P. Schaff).
government `as may be most agreeable to Cod's holy           Both  Warfield  and Schaff express themselves on
word, and most apt to procure and preserve the peace        the character of the doctrine embodied in the
of the Church at home,. and nearer agreement with           Westminster Confession. Schaff. says that "the
the Church of Scotland, and other Reformed                  Westminster Confession sets forth the Calvinistic
Churches abroad'  " (p. 13, Warfield). That the             system in its scholastic maturity after it had passed
Assembly was conscious of the authority of                  through the sharp conflict with Arminianism in
Parliament is evidenced in the title it gave to its         Holland, and as it had shaped itself in the minds of
completed work:       "The Humble Advice of the             Scotch Presbyterians and English Puritans during
Assembly of Divine, now by authority of Parliament          their conflict with High-Church prelacy" (p. 760).
sitting at. Westminster, concerning a Confession of         Warfield  states that there was fundamental harmony
Faith, presented by them lately to both Houses of           among the delegates doctrinally. "There were indeed
Parliament." However, the Assembly was "perfectly           differences among them in doctrine, too; but these
free in its deliberations and conclusions. The              lay for the most part within the recognized limits of
limitation of its discussions to topics committed to it     the Reformed system;  ; . . To the Amyraldians, . . .
by Parliament, moreover, proved no grievance, in the        there  was'denied, to be sure, the right to . . . make
face of the very broad commitments which were               room -for their `hypothetical universalism' in the
ultimately made to it." (pp. 16, 17, Warfield).             saving  ,work of Christ (cf. the Confession, iii.6,
      The Assembly was duly constituted in the Abbey        viii.58). But the wise plan was adopted with respect
of Westminster on July 1, 1643 and that in defiance         t o   t h e   p o i n t s   o f   di.fference  b e t w e e n   t h e
to a prohibitive proclamation of the king. It met for       Supralapsarians, who were. represented by a number
1163 regular sessions until February 22, 1649. Its          of the ablest thinkers in  .the Assembly, and the
existence continued thereafter, but on a very irregular     Infralapsarians, to which party the great mass of the
basis until March 25, 1652.  -The actual work of            members adhered, to set down in the Confession only
"formulating the Confession of Faith was begun. in          what was common ground to both, leaving the whole
Committee as early as the midsummer of 1644                 region which was in dispute between them entirely
(August 20). But it was not until the following spring      untouched. This procedure gives to the Confession a
(April 25, 1645) that any of it came before the             peculiar comprehensiveness, while yet it permits to its
Assembly; and not until the next midsummer (July 7,         statements of the generic doctrine of the Reformed
1645)" that the debates upon it in the Assembly             Churches a directness, a definiteness, a crisp
began. Time and pains were lavishly expended-on it as       precision, and an unambiguous -clarity which are
the work slowly progressed. By the middle of 1646           attained by few Confessional documents of any age
the whole was substantially finished in first-draft, and    or creed" (p. 56, Warfield).
the review of it begun." (pp. 59, 60, Warfield).               For our examination of the Confession we must
      As' far as the composition of the Assembly is         wait until next time, the Lord willing.
concerned, Parliament appointed  .two ministers from
each English county' and one from each Welsh
county. Present was also a commission from Scotland
of six ministers which played a very good and
important role in the work of the Assembly.
Parliament also sent letters of  .invitation  to the
colonial churches in America and directed the
Assembly to address letters to  the'Belgic, French, and
other Reformed churches. Favorable replies. were
received, especially from Holland, Switzerland, and
the Huguenot church in Paris. Schaaf also notes that
"the framers of the Confession were no doubt quite
familiar with Continental theology; Latin was then
still the theological language; the Arminian
controversy had excited the greatest attention in
England, and agitated the pulpit and the press for
years; the English Church was well represented at the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 19


  IN HIS  FEAR-





                                       The Fear .of God
                                          .in the Home
                                                 Rev. Avie den Hartog




   `We have been focusing on the great biblical theme.       .mind.   .This is the righteous command of the sovereign
 of the FEAR OF GOD. We have emphasized that the             Lord Who has. `the right and power  to-`punish  the
 fear of God lies at the very heart of true religion. The    transgressor of the law and bless those who walk in
 true Christian is the man who in all his life manifests     His law. To fear God is to know that for us by nature
 a profound reverential and holy fear of God. Since it       it is entirely impossible to keep the law of God. To
 has been some time ago that we wrote, let us review         fear God means that we know our God as a God of
 some of the main elements of the fear of God. To            forgiving mercy. To fear God means that we are
 fear God means first of all that we know God                conscious of the fact that from moment to moment
 according to who and what He is: that He is the             we are not consumed  in. the holy anger of the Lord
 absolutely Sovereign God of heaven and earth, the           only because of His mercy and His faithfulness. Every
 God of infinite power and greatness. He is the God of       moment of our life we are. wholly dependent on His
 perfect holiness and righteousness. He is the God Who       grace to sustain us, His Holy Spirit to guide us, and
 blesses the righteous with everlasting favor and Who        His almighty power. to keep us from falling.
 condemns the wicked unto eternal damnation. To
 fear God in the proper sense of the word means that           We intend now to consider what it means to fear
 we know this God as our God. We know that His               God in some of the specific areas of our life.
 name is Jehovah, Who is  .the gracious and merciful         Fundamental to  all of our life is of course the sphere
 covenant God of His people in Christ Jesus. The fear        of our home. We would like to consider this sphere of
. . of God implies a profound consciousness of the -fact     the fear of God in this present article and the next.
 that this God is everywhere present. Our whole'life is      The fear of God. must be the all pervasive and
 lived-  be~fore Him, and every moment of our days we        predominant characteristic of, our home. When men
 `have to do with Him. He knows our downsitting and          look at our homes they must above all say concerning
 our uprising, He understands our thoughts afar off,         us, "Behold how they fear God!" In our homes we
 He is acquainted with all our ways. To fear God is          must begin each day anew in the fear of God. In our
 ever to keep Him before our consciousness, it is to         homes our children must learn by our words and our
know Him, to remember Him, and never to forget               examples what it means to fear God. Our children
 Him. The fear of God implies further a deep spiritual       must grow up with, above all, one deep and profound
 understanding of the holy and righteous requirements        impression of their father and mother and that is how
 of such a God Who is our God. It  .is to know how           they feared God.
 awesome it is that He Who is the absolutely holy God          We could not possibly make mention even of all of
 demands that we also be holy. It is to know that our        the passages of scripture that speak directly of how
 holy -God has chosen us to be a peculiar people and a       we must fear God in our homes. We shall be able to
 royal priesthood and an holy nation. To fear God            pay attention only to a few in the course of this
 means that-we with fear and trembling consider that         article and the next. One thinks immediately of the
 God commands of us that we love Him with all our            very familiar and beautiful Psalm 128, Have you ever
 heart and all our soul and all our strength  and.all our    paid special attention to the fact -that all which this


20                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



Psalm says proceeds from the first verse where we                                      these are the commandments, the statutes, and the
read, "Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that                                 judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to
w a l k e t h   i n   H i s   w a y s . "   H o w   b e a u t i f u l   i s   t h e    teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither
versification of this Psalm that is found in our                                       ye go to possess it:  that thou mightest fear the Lord
Psalters:                                                                              t h y   G o d , to keep all His statutes and His
Blest the man that fears Jehovah, walking ever in His                                  commandments which I command thee, thou, and
       ways;                                                                           thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life;
By thy toil thou shah be prospered and be happy all                                    and that thy days may be prolonged." It is clear that
       thy days.                                                                       the word of God is speaking particularly here of the
In thy wife thou shalt have gladness, she shall  fill thy                              fear of God in the home. This becomes even more
       home with good,                                                                 clear when we read verses 7 through 9: "And thou
Happy in her loving service and the joys of                                            shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and
       motherhood.                                                                     shalt talk of them when thou  sittest  in thine house,
Joyful children, sons and, daughters, shall about thy                                  and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou
       table meet,
Olive plants, in strength and beauty, full of hope and                                 liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt
       promise sweet.                                                                  bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall
Lo, on him that fears Jehovah shall this blessedness                                   be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt
       a t t e n d ,                                                                   write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy
For Jehovah out of Zion shall to thee His blessing                                     gates." Then we are told how fearful and awesome
       send.                                                                           this whole matter is in verses 12 through 15. We are
Thou shalt see God's kingdom prosper all thy days,                                     told of the unspeakably terrible consequences of
       till life shall cease,                                                          forsaking the fear. of Jehovah in our homes. "Then
Thou shalt see thy children's children; on thy people,                                 beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee
       Lord, be peace.                                                                 forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of
One could easily write a single and lengthy article on                                 bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve
just how this Psalm describes the significance of the                                  Him, and shalt swear by His name. Ye shall not go
fear of Jehovah for the home. Above all it emphasizes                                  afte,r-other gods, of the gods of the people which are
that only the home where there is the fear of Jehovah                                  round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous
is truly happy and blessed. Without the fear of God                                    God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God
our homes will have on them only the wrath and                                         be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the
displeasure of God. Men, of course, from the time of                                   face of the earth." We know the history of Israel and
the fall have tried very hard to establish a home                                      the fulfillment of this prophecy; we know the terrible
without the fear of God and pursued the objective of                                   consequences which Israel obtained when they
having a happy and blessed home without the fear of                                    forsook the fear of Jehovah. How important is the
Jehovah. This, however, is  irnp.ossible. Only the home                                fear of God in our homes! How awful it would be if
that-is established in the fear of God and continues in                                the prophecy of this book would be fulfilled in and
the fear of Jehovah will be blessed. That home will be                                 with us and our children because we forsook the fear
truly blessed with the blessing of Jehovah God.                                        of Jehovah..
Notice what the Psalm says of the prosperity of the                                      Let us consider  somezof the general principles of
labors that are done in. a home of the God-fearing.                                    the fear of the Lord as they apply to our homes. That
Notice what the Psalm- says concerning the place and                                   we fear God in our homes means that God truly lives
blessedness of the wife and mother in the home of                                      in our homes. He is known in our homes. He lives in
those who fear God. Notice what. the psalm says                                        the conscious life of the members of the home, in
about the blessedness of children in that home. Listen                                 their heart and in their soul. It is known in the
to what the Psalm says about seeing the prosperity of                                  morning that God is there, it is known throughout
Zion and the kingdom  of.God and peace upon Israel.                                    the whole day that God is there, it is known in the
A l l   o f   t h i s   p r o c e e d s   f r o m   t h e   h o m e   o f   t h e      evening that God is there. The Sovereign, Almighty,
God-fearing. Study  what. the Psalm says concerning                                    Holy, Righteous, True, and Faithful God dwells in
the significance of the fear of Jehovah and seeing our                                 the midst of the home of the God-fearing. In all that
children's children, the generations of the covenant.                                  takes place in our homes we have to do with our God.
All of this proceeds from the fear of Jehovah                                          He knows and sees all that goes on in our home. The
mentioned in verse one. How important is the fear of                                   members of the God-fearing home seek God and His
Jehovah for our homes and what blessedness attends                                     favor as the highest good and blessedness possible for
it!                                                                                    man to attain unto. When decisions are made in the
       Another striking and familiar passage of scripture                              home of the God-fearing, Go.d is consulted. When
which speaks directly to our subject is the passage in                                 prosperity comes to the home of the God-fearing,
Deuteronomy 6. In verses 1 and 2 we read, "Now                                         there is an overflowing. of thanksgiving to God. When


                                               THE $TANDARD  BEARER                                                                    21


adversity comes in this home it is recognized as the          it reveals to us the wonderful covenant o-f God and
hand of God, and the mercy and goodness and                   tells of His unfailing mercy. The Word of God in the
faithfulness of God is relied upon. When there is sin         home of the God-fearing is understood as having
in the home, then the members of that home fall               direct and immediate significance for the day to day
down on their knees to plead for the forgiving mercy          life and experience of God's people in the world. The
of God. When there is fear or danger, suffering or            Word of God is studied as the only absolutely
sorrow in the home of the God-fearing the first thing         infallible rule for all our faith and life.
that is done is that the name of God is called upon.            The God-fearing home is a house of prayer. God is
  Concretely all of this means of course that in the          prayed to in the morning with thanksgiving for His
God-fearing home the Word of God is ever an open              mercies that are new every morning. God is prayed to
book. It is carefully studied. It is faithfully explained.    throughout the day for spiritual guidance. and
It is inconceivable that a single day could go by             strength against the temptations of the world. It is
without the opening of the holy scriptures. The Word          known in the God-fearing home that father and
of God is studied not merely as a book of abstract            mother, children and young people, cannot face the
doctrine, or merely as a history book recounting the          trials and temptations of the day without the help of
history of the people of God of old. The Word of God          their God. God is prayed to in the evening in
is studied as it is the wonderful living revelation of        recognition that every good and perfect gift of the
God. The Word of God is studied as the book that              day has come from Him. Not a day goes by in that
reveals God and His Son Jesus Christ Whom to know             home without the sincere humble confession of sin.
is life eternal. From the precious pages of the               God is prayed to in the night watches as the God Who
scriptures the God-fearing home learns more and               never slumbers nor sleeps and Who is the keeper of
more profoundly how wonderful our God is, how                 the souls of His people.
holy, how righteous, how true, how faithful, how                M a y   G o d   g r a n t   t h a t   o u r   h o m e s   a r e   t r u l y
gracious and merciful. The Word of God is studied as          God-fearing!





           NOW A VAILABLE


                         SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN, Book Three
                                         Teachers' Manual, $5.95
                                          Pupil Workbook, $2.00
                                    Manual and Workbook, $6.95
                        Quantity Discounts to Schools on Workbook

           This includes the primary series of manuals and workbooks.
           Book Three covers the New Testament period.

           ORDER FROM: Reformed Free Publishing Association, P.O.
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22                                             THE STANDARD BEARER





                                                .,..  .,

                                  Book Reviews


MAKER AND CRAFTSMAN, THE STORY OF                            which are obstacles to the faith of some. The third
DOROTHY L. SAYERS,  by  ~Alzina Stone Dale;                  class deals with the evil slanders of enemies of the
Eerdmans Publishing -Company, 1978; 158 pp.,                 gospel. Calvin answers all these and urges God's
$8.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.)                         people to overcome all obstacles while remaining
      Although this biography of Dorothy Sayers is           faithful to the truth of Scripture.
fairly comprehensive, it was somewhat disappointing.          The writing is pertinent for our day and will
The disappointment arose, I think, from the fact that        benefit all those who read it  - as the writings of
the author was fairly content to deal with mere              Calvin always do. The book is an eloquent, polemical
factual data concerning Dorothy Sayers' life, and            defense of the Reformation. By all means get it and
made no effort to evaluate her life, her Christianity,       read it.
or her place in the literary world. Nevertheless, for
fans of Dorothy Sayers' books, essays and other
writings, this will be informative. If one is acquainted
with Dorothy Sayers only through her writings, this          THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE OLD
book will hold some surprises.                               TESTAMENT, VOL.  III, Edited by G. Johannes
      Dorothy Sayers is known for her writing of detec-      Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, Translated by John
tive stories, her excellent translation of Dante's           T. Willis, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, David E. Green; Wm.
Divine Comedy,  her plays on the life of Christ, and         B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Grand Rapids,  Mich.; 463
her essays on religious subjects. She was a member of        pages, $18.50 (cloth). (Reviewed by Prof. H. C.
a circle of literati in England which included C. S.         Hoeksema)
Lewis, George MacDonald, T. R. R. Tolkein, and                  This is the third of a projected twelve volumes in
others.                                                      this series. It covers the Hebrew words from  gillulim
                                                             to  haras.
                                                                This is, of course, not a work for the general
                                                             public, nor a book which one simply sits down and
CONCERNING SCANDALS,  by John Calvin, Trans-                 reads and studies from cover to cover. It is a source
lated by John W. Fraser; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing          book and a tool for the Old Testament student.
Company, 1978; 119 pp., $6.95. (Reviewed by Prof.               Works of this kind, highly technical and detailed,
H. Hanko.)                                                   will, I think, hardly  serve  to  kindle  the interest of
      This is a new translation of a little known work of    students in Old Testament studies. If, however, such
the great  Genevan  Reformer which was first pub-            an interest is already present  - and there is all too
lished in 1550. It is not readily available elsewhere        little of such interest  - a work of this kind will
and is a welcome addition to anyone's library.               indeed serve to  feed  that interest.
      In the book Calvin treats of the many obstacles           However, I must issue a word of caution: this work
which prevent people from receiving the preaching of         is loaded with higher criticism, and it must be used
the gospel and which move them to speak evil of the          with great discretion.
gospel and the cause of the Church of Christ. There             If you can afford the price of a volume like this,
are, according to Calvin, offenses in the gospel itself.     you will do well to purchase it. The purchase of these
Among these are such things as apparent inaccuracies         volumes one by one as they appear will be less painful
in Scripture, doctrines of original sin, predestination,     than paying the price for the entire set when it is
etc. To all these Calvin gives answer. There are other       complete. This is not intended as criticism of the
offenses which arise when the gospel is publicly             price of this book: it is obviously expensive to
preached. These include the wicked lives which               publish highly technical books of this kind for a
people live and the faults of members of the Church          rather limited market.


                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                             23



                                                                 YOU ARE INVITED!
                                                                        to the
                               2nd ANNUAL CHICAGOLAND REFORMATION DAY LECTURES
                                                                      to be held,.
                                                                   the Lord willing,
                                                                           at
                                            Illiana Christian-High Auditorium, Lansing, Ill.
                                                            * * *  * *  *  -*  *
                                                                 This year's theme is:
                                     `A SERIOUS CALL TO A REFORMED AND HOLY LIFE"
             Speakers and topics will be:

             Wed., Oct. 24  -
                    Rev. G. Van  Baren:  `SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD"
                    . . . setting forth the truth of the antithesis as concerning movie attendance, dancing,
                        unionism and other forms of worldliness.

            Wed., Qct. 31  -
                    Rev. M. Joostens:  `HONORING MARRIAGE"
                    . . . setting forth the biblical teaching on marriage, the idea of faithfulness in marriage
                        even as God in Christ is faithful in love to His church; taking up such matters as
                        divorce and remarriage; warning against the evils of marital unfaithfulness; calling
                       the saints to marital fidelity.
             Wed., Nov. 7  -
                    Rev. D. Engelsma: "`REMEMBERING THE LORD'S DA Y"
                    . . . setting forth the Bible's teaching on Sabbath observance, warning against desecration
                       of the Lord's Day, calling the saints to good Sabbath keeping.

            All meetings begin at 8:00 P.M.                                                                               Sponsored by:
             Question  & Answer period after each address                                            Protestant Reformed Church
            Cassette tapes of each speech will be made available                                     South Holland, Ill. 60473


                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                          RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   September 26, 1979 our dear parents, Mr. and Mrs. Adrian  Grif-                    The Board of The Reformed Free Publishing Association expresses
fioen, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We give thanks to our           sincere Christian sympathy to their President, Clare Kuiper, in the loss
heavenly Father for preserving them these years they have had                     of his father, HENRY H. KUIPER, who was taken to glory on Septem-
together. Our prayer is that He will continue to bless them in their              ber 7, 1979, at the age of 95 years.
remaining years.                                                                      "For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide
   "Thy mercy, 0 Lord, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness  reach-            even unto death." (Psalm  48:14).
eth unto the clouds." Psalm  36:5                                                                                                       David Harbach, Sec'y.

  Their children
     Thomas  & Ardyth  Heyboer           Dennis & Sharon Gleason
     Arie  & Ann Griffioen               Grandchildren -seventeen
     John  & Virginia Huizinga           Great-Grandchildren -Six                                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                  The Priscilla Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                                  Grand Rapids, Ml, mourns the loss of a faithful member, MRS.  JENNIE
   The Consistory of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa,                VELTMAN, whom the Lord took from our midst to Eternal Glory on
expresses their sympathy to our fellow office-bearer, Deacon  G&b De              August 28, 1979. We express our sympathy to the bereaved children
Jong, and son Todd, in the passing of their wife and mother, BARB DE              and pray that our Heavenly Father's love will sustain and comfort them
JONG. May the God of all mercy comfort them according to His Word.                thru every coming day.

   "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I                   "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they               to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  (Remans
comfort me." (Psalm  23:4).                                                       8:18).
                                      Bert Van Maanen, Vice Pres.                                                          Miss Jessie Dykstra, Pres.
                                      Egbert Gritters, Clerk.                                                              Mrs.  Roselle Ezinga, Sec'y.


THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                     SECOND CLASS
          P.O. Box 6064               ;                                                                POSTAGE PAID AT
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506 :                                                                       GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
                                           - ~_~.____
24                         ,. .I..                       THE STANDARD BEARER            -


                                           News From Our Churches
      Rev. J. Kortering, pastor of our church in                    5,000 invitations to persons in the local area. The
Redlands, California has accepted the call extended                 Wednesday class is busy with the study of the
to him by the congregation of our church in                         miracles `of our Lord Jesus Christ. The young couples
Loveland, Colorado. This means that he has declined                 Bible class held on Friday evenings is using as its
the call he received from the congregation of Hope                   study guide the book on marriage by Rev.  D.
Church in Walker, Michigan.                                         Engelsma.
      Candidate Steven Houck has accepted his call from                Rev. C. Hanko commemorates the 50th year of his
Hope in Walker, Michigan, to serve as Home                          ordination into the ministry this September. To mark
Missionary in the Lansing  - Charlotte, Michigan, area.             this important event, and to give thanksgiving to God,
Candidates Houck and Carl Haak were examined by                     the consistory of our Hudsonville church has planned
Classis East on September 12. Candidate Haak was                    a special program for Friday, September 28.
installed as pastor of Southeast Church in Grand                       Rev. Robert Harbach is planning to  retire.in early
Rapids on the evening of September 13.                              October. The council of our Hope Church (Walker) is
      Candidate Ronald Camminga was examined by                     planning a special evening in connection with this on
Classis West during their regular fall meeting held on              October 5. Rev. M.  Schipper will speak and there are
September 5 in Isabel, South Dakota. No doubt                       special numbers planned. All of this is in order that
candidate Camminga has been installed by now as                     we may give thanks to God for the many years Rev.
pastor of our church in Hull, Iowa. Reports on these                Harbach has given to our churches  - on the pulpit
Classis meetings should be forthcoming soon.                        and on the mission field.
      Rev. Arie den Hartog, pastor of our church in New                The League of Eastern Men's and Ladies' Societies
Jersey, has accepted his call from  Doon, Iowa, to                  will hold their Fall League meeting on October 1 at
serve as foreign missionary in Singapore. This means                Southeast Church. Professor H. C. Hoeksema is
that he has declined the call extended to him by                    scheduled to speak on "The Declaration of Principles:
Hudsonville to serve as `minister-on-loan' to                       Its History, Content, and Value for Us." There is a
Christchurch, New Zealand.                                          little story connected with the selection of this topic.
      Just where our Covenant Protestant Reformed                   When the Men's and Ladies' Leagues effected a
Church is in New Jersey is just. a little bit                       merger a few years ago, they found that they should
complicated. The congregation has been meeting in                   have a new constitution. It was proposed that the
Prospect Park. The parsonage and official church                    constitution have as its basis the Word of God as
mailing address and the location of the property on                 expressed in the three forms of unity and the
which their new church is to be built is in  Wyckoff.               Declaration of Principles. The inclusion of the
Effective on September 9, the congregation has                      Declaration caused a bit of discussion among the
changed their place of worship to the Franklin Lakes                League Board  - and prompted the suggestion that
United Methodist Church building, 454 Pulis Ave.,                   this would be a good topic for a League meeting
Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. Services are scheduled at               speech.
11:30 AM and 7:00 PM. One of the purposes of this                      Last winter, you may remember, First Church in
move from the Legion Hall in Prospect Park to a real                G r a n d   R a p i d s    conducted worship services in
church building is so that a nursery could be provided              Bradenton, Florida, as part of their church extension
during the worship services.                                        activity. The consistory, through its committee
      Covenant has extended a call to Candidate Ronald              established for that purpose, has been working to
Hanko. Their trio included also Rev. David Engelsma                 re-establish this witness in Florida and have it
and Candidate Steven Houck. This congregational                     continue on a year-around basis. Work is now being
meeting to call a pastor was scheduled for the evening              done to set up a schedule of ministers who can spend
of September 3, Labor Day.                                          a month or more at a time in this area. Services
                                                                    should resume about mid-November in the same
      Covenant has attempted to do quite a bit of                   location as before  - the Manatee Hotel. Rev. Wilbur
advertising in their area. They have advertised their               Bruinsma, pastor of our Faith Church in Jenison,
new meeting place in the local paper and have                       Michigan, is scheduled to be the first minister in
attempted to arouse interest in the two Bible study                 Bradenton this fall.
classes they hold each week by sending out about                                                                      K.G.V.


