                    The
       STANDARD

c                   A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





                  when anyone truly listened to the Pope,
     0 l     *

     as a Protestant and a Reformed believer,  his.
     reaction  would  have to be negative. Essen-
     tially, there was nothing on which to agree.
     There was no common ground. . . . When I
     listened, I could not hear the Word of God. I
     heard no gospel of sin and grace.  I heard no
     gospel of the atoning blood of Christ. Not the
     gospel according to the. Scriptures and as
                                                 I                                     de-
     fined in our Reformed confessions, but an-
     other gospel, which is not the gospel!
                   See  "In Praise of Antichrist" - page 77



                                                        Volume  LVI, No. 4, November  15,1979  -


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER
                            C O N T E N T S :                                                                                     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,
                                                                             Deljartment  Editors:  Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Arie  denHartog,  Prof.
    Advantageous Providence . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . .74            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 .   Prof.  H e r m a n   H a n k o ,   R e v .   J o h n   A .   H e y s ,   R e v .
Editorial -                                                                  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 .
                                                                             R o d n e y   M i e r s m a ,   R e v .   M a r i n u s   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,
    In Praise of Antichrist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`.77        M r .   K e n n e t h   0. Vink.
                                                                             iFditoria/ Office:  Prof. H.C.  Hbeksema                                                  -
The Lord Gave the Word -                                                                                     ,497s.lvanrest  Ave. S.W.
                                                                                                              Grandville,   M i c h i g a n   4 9 4 1 8
                                                                             Church News Editor:  Mr. Kenneth G. Vink
   News From China.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . s 81                                                      1 4 2 2   L i n w o o d ,   S . E .
                                                                                                                       G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   M i c h i g a n   4 9 5 0 7
:My Sheep Hear My Voice -                                                    Editorial Policy:  Every editor'is solely responsible for the contents of
                                                                             his own articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers and
                                                                             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 -
   Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83         butions will be limited to approximately 300 words and must be neatly
                                                                             written or typewritten, and must be signed.  Copy  deadlines are the first
,,The Strength of Youth -                                                    a n d   t h e   f i f t e e n t h   o f   t h e   m o n t h .   A l l   c o m m u n i c a t i o n s   r e l a t i v e   t o   t h e
                                                                             contents should be sent to the editorial office.
                                                                             Reprint Policy:  Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
   Looking Upon Jehovah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86              articles in our magazine by other Publications, Provided: a) that such
                                                                             r e p r i n t e d   a r t i c l e s   a r e   r e p r o d u c e d   i n   f u l l ;   b )   t h a t   P r o p e r   a c k n o w l e d g e -
                                                                             m e n t   i s   m a d e ;   c )   t h a t   a   COPY  o f   t h e   p e r i o d i c a l   i n   w h i c h   s u c h   r e p r i n t
In His Fear -                                                                appears is sent to our editorial office.
                                                                             Business Office:  The Standard Bearer
i Beginning Our Homes in the Fear of God. . . . . .88                                                         Mr. H.  Vander  Wal, Bus. Mgr.
                                                                                                              P.O. Box 6064
                                                                                                              G r a n d   RaPids.   Michiaan   4 9 5 0 6
Faith of Our Fathers -                                                       New Zealand Business  Office:                                     T h e - S t a n d a r d   B e a r e r ,
                                                                                                                                               C/O  O P C   BookshoP,
   Of Holy Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . , . . . . . . . .90                                                                         P.O. B OX  2289
                                                                                                                                               C h r i s t c h u r c h ,   N e w   Z e a l a n d
Annual Secretary's .Report;  R.F.P:`A. . . . . . . . . ; . .93               Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, $8.00 per year. Unless a
                                                                             definite request for discontinuance is received,  .it is assumed that the
.Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95    subscriber wishes the subscription to continue  wrthout  the formality of
                                                                             a renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal. If you have a change
                                                                             of address, please notify the Business Office as early as possible in order
`,News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95             to avoid the inconvenience of delayed delivery. Include your  ZiP  Code.
                                                                             Advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not  accept  commercial
                                                                             advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
                                                                             anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                                             $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should be
                                                                             a c c o m p a n i e d   b y   t h e   $ 3 . 0 0   f e e .   D e a d l i n e   f o r   a n n o u n c e m e n t s   i s   t h e   1 s t
                                                                             or the 15th of the month. Previous to Publication on the  15th or  the
                                                                             1st  respectively.
                                                                             Bound Volumes:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                                             bound copies of the current volume: such orders are filled as soon as
                                                                             P o s s i b l e   a f t e r   c o m p l e t i o n   o f   a   v o l u m e .   A   l i m i t e d   n u m b e r   o f   p a s t   v o l -
                                                                             umes may be obtained through the Business Office.




MEDITATION



                           Advantageous Providence
                                                                      C. Hanko                                          .I --





              Ques. 28. What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence
              doth still uphold all things?

              Ans. That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and tltat  in all things,
              which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that
              nothing shall separate us from his love; since all creatures are so in his hand, that without his
           i will they cannot so much as move. Heidelberg Catechism. Lord's Day 10.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   75



  What advantage?                                            depression, suffering the loss of a dear one, and many
  Qur Catechism can be so very demanding. Already            other afflictions can sorely distress us. Our flesh
in the previous Question it required us to do some           cringes under suffering. We complain that we cannot
real soul searching. Not content simply to ask, "What        take it. It is more than we can bear. The harm it does
is meant by God's providence?" our fathers  de:              to us and to those closest to us seems to outweigh by
manded of us personally, ,"What dost thou  mean by           far any good that could be derived from it. We .feel
the providence of God.7" Listening to the voice of           forsaken of God, caught in the whirlpool of God's
experience out of the past we answered, that the             displeasure.
almighty, everywhere present power of God touches              No man is naturally patient. Patience is God's
every phase of our lives constantly. We experience           gracious gift to us.' It is faith in action, faith that has
that very really in, rain and sunshine, meat and drink,      the endurance, the elasticity to bear up under afflic-
health and sickness, and all other happenings. Rather        tions. While our natural tendency is to succumb
shamefacedly we admitted that we do not always live          under the load (and afflictions become temptations
in the consciousness of this hand of God touching our'       which bring out the worst in us), patience triumphs
lives every moment, yet by faith we rest assured that        over every fleshly weakness with strong endurance.
we are in the palm of Father's hand and under His            Patience is silence unto God.
watchful eye at all times.                                     A beautiful example of that you find in Psalm 39.:
  Our Book of Instruction can not be satisfied with          In the first part of the Psalm Da?id says, "I was dumb
that, but demands still more soul searching. The             with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and
fathers say, as it were, "look at your daily walk of life    my sorrow was stirred." The man of God.feared that
and ask yourself what it means to you personally that        he might say the wrong thing, so he said nothing.
every happening is directed by God, so that no               That gave no peace. Then he went to God in prayer,
creature stirs apart from His sovereign will." The ant       and found a better motive for his silence, "I opened
that scurries across the sidewalk in front of you does       not my mouth, because thou didst it." This is an echo
not just happen to be there, but was brought there at        of Job's confession when he lost all his possessions
that moment by God Himself. Somehow the insignifi-           and his entire family of ten children, "The Lord gave,
cant hair of your head that falls to the ground serves       and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name
God's eternal purpose, as well as tornadoes that leave       of the Lord." There is a silence of submission.
devastation and death in their wake. The hearts of             We take note of what the Psalmist says in Psalm
presidents and popes, the schemes of wicked men are          61:2, "When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to
all a part of God's eternal decree. Our faithful and         the rock that is higher than I." That is, when I
merciful Father directs absolutely everything for our        wander about aimlessly in deep distress, lead me to
salvation, and through our salvation to His glory.           the Eternal Rock as my Refuge, whose thoughts are
  By `faith in God's providence we confess with the          higher than my thoughts, and Who Himself is too
church of all ages that we will be patient in adversity,     high for me to reach. And then follows in Psalm 62: 1,
thankful in prosperity, and will trust in our God for        "Truly my soul waiteth upon (literally, is silent unto)
the future, come what may.                                   God: from him  cometh my salvation." We are re-
  Patient in adversity.                                      minded that Paul prayed on three different occasions
  The term `adversity' looks at life from the point of       -to be delivered from the thorn that had become
                                                             virtually unbearable, and thereby learned to say, "Thy
view of our unhappy experiences, calamities, and             grace is sufficient for me." The thorn remained, but
misfortunes. The word as it is used in Scripture has         the apostle received grace to bear it. In the midst of
various shades of meaning. Sometimes the Old Testa-          fiery trials we learn to confess, "Nay, in all these
ment uses the figure of limping or halting. Sometimes        things we are more than conquerors through him who
adversities can refer to dire straits or sore distresses.    loved us." We are silent in hope.
Sometimes the reference is to the ill treatment,
oppression, or plague of the adversary. Adversity,             Thankful in prosperity.
therefore, can refer to physical suffering and also            Prosperity is, often a relative thing. If every one
spiritual trials. Always, we notice, the word refers to      around me has but one pair of shoes and one suit of
our own bitter experiences, for in the absolute sense        clothes, or one dress, then I am comparatively rich
of the word there are no adverse circumstances in the        with two pair of shoes and two suits. Prosperity in
life of the child of God. We say with Paul, "If God be       Jamaica, for example, is in many respects different
for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).               from the prosperity that we know in our country.
  Nevertheless these bitter experiences are very real        Prosperity may be defined as having sufficient and
in our lives. Physical pain, especially severe pain of       even a bit more than we need at the moment..
long duration with no relief in sight, mental stress,          People who suffer adversities often imagine that it


 76                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



is far easier to be thankful in prosperity than to be        praising, with the desire that God will hallow His
patient in adversity. Yet not so! The miser clutches         Name in all His works, and also through us, that all
his hoarded gain with his bony fingers. The spend-           praise may be His forever. Prayer is that, but prayer is
thrift boasts of his accomplishments and greedily            also fellowship with God as friend-servants with our
spends his fortunes on himself with little or no             Sovereign Friend. We do not try to bring God down
consideration for God's cause or the needy neighbor.         to our level, or blasphemously talk to Him as our
       Thankfulness is, like patience, a gift of God. We     equal, but we approach God's throne through our
can send a "thank you" card to a friend, but not to          Mediator Jesus Christ, deeply aware of our wretche,d-
God. A benefactor may appreciate a formal expres-            ness and dependence and God's holy majesty. We
sion of thanks, but God sees the heart; He demands           acknowledge God's manifold blessings with thanks-
our life, our all.                                           giving and extend to Him needy hands for continued
                                                             blessings.
       We turn to the last part of our Catechism that
discusses the subject of our gratitude to God for               Trust for the future,
delivering us from our sin and misery. Under that               Our Catechism speaks also of putting our firm trust
.heading our fathers speak, first of all, of our conver-     in our faithful God and Father, Who has our past and
sion,  reminding us that we can never show sincere           present, but also our future in His almighty hands. We
gratitude to God without daily confessing our sins,          do not build our hopes on social security, pension
our guilt, and our utter dependence upon'God for all         plans, retirement funds, bank accounts, or stocks and
things, and thus acknowledge Him as our GOD, the             bonds. These human inventions can fail us. What
infinite fulness of grace and blessing, from Whom all        security do they give when cancer strikes or God
blessings flow. From the heart we confess, "Bless the        suddenly requires our souls from us? Faith in God's
Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits."           providence finds its expression in that powerful Song
(Psalm 103: 2). Therefore thankfulness is not a matter       of Victory recorded in Romans 8, where the Holy
of performing a few deeds `beyond the call of duty,'         Spirit brings us to the triumphant climax, "For I am
or of flattering ourselves with the boast that we have       persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
repaid God for His gifts. Thankfulness is the evidence       principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
of Christ's living in us, carrying out  His work of          things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
salvation by His Spirit in our hearts. It is the con-        creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
scious response of the love of God in us that seeks          God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God as our highest Good. Every sinful act is evidence
of our unthankfulness, a failure to give God His               The day of tomorrow lies hidden before us. We do
rightful glory. Taking God's law as our Guide, and           know that in the world round about us the measure
                                                             of iniquity is filling rapidly. The Man of sin makes his
travelling the straight course that He lays out before
us, without deviating to the right. or to the left in        appearance on the horizon. The footsteps of our
proud waywardness, is the expression of true thank-          coming Lord are heard more clearly as they quicken
fulness in our daily lives. "What doth the Lord              their pace day by day. We ourselves walk in the midst
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,        of death as pilgrims and strangers on the earth with
and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah  6:8).              our Home in heaven. We wend our way through the
The love of God in us spontaneously reaches out to           valley of the shadow of death spurred by the beckon-
the neighbor. Such ordinary things as giving poor            ing light of the eternal day. We have God's promise
                                                             that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. We rest
Lazarus a cup of cold water, or a garment to cover his
nakedness, or a bandage for his sores are an integral        secure in the confidence that He Who has begun a
part of Christian living. This Lazarus is never hard to      good work will surely finish it.
find, for, says Jesus, he is always at our doorstep, if           "In God will I trust tho' my counselors say,
only we are not so short-sighted that we fail to see                 0 flee as a bird to your mountain away;
him. An act of mercy to one of the least of Christ's              The wicked are strong and the righteous are
brethren is the expression of our love to Him.                    weak,
                                                                     Foundations are shaken, yet God will I seek."
  The highest, richest, and most blessed expression
of thankfulness is attained through prayer. Prayer is
the intimate communion with our God. We need no
appointment, no means of communication like a
telephone or letter, for we have atdirect line between              THE STANDARD BEARER
God and us by having Christ in heaven and His Spirit
in our hearts. True prayer is, not merely a folding of                     is a thoughtful gift
the hands and closing of the eyes to ask, to plead, to                       for a "Shut-in".
implore. It is that, but it is also worshipping, adoring,


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       77



EDITORIAL





                                    In Praise of Antichrist

                                                        Pro5 H. C. Hoeksema



  In a rather effusive editorial entitled "Listen And              gift of grace: for repeatedly he states that this voice
Be Glad" Editor De Koster, in The Banner (Oct. 19,                 has not merely been found by the church, but has
1979, pp. 8,  9), comments in connection with the                  "been given, rather."
recent visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States.               And what, according to Editor De Koster, is
Writes he:                                                         proclaimed by this new voice? Nothing less than the
      The Church has found (been given, rather) a new              Word of God! Take note of the following:
    voice'! A voice powerful, clear, courageous, passionate
    and compassionate.                                                   Not ah sounds are words.
      It is the voice of a man. In being the voice of a                  But words must take on sound or they are not
    man, it can speak to and for mankind. Think on it:                 fully words.
    the family of man has fetid (been given, rather) a                   God's Word is sent to be proclaimed. This is the
   new voice.                                                          Great Commission.
      Moreover, the man whom the voice inhabits is                       And God's Word is sent to be believed by doing.
    providentially c1othe.d with an office which elevates              This too is the Great CornmisSion.
   him to wide hearing. This, too, is gift.                              This Word is given international voice at this grave
      The Church, I say, at this most crucial moment in                moment in world history on the lips of the man Karol
    world history has found, by grace, a new voice.                    Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. Let us listen and be glad!
      I mean, of course, the voice of the man Karol                  Now no one except a fool would deny that
   Wojtyla, officially Pope John Paul II. On his lips the          the pope in the course of his world travels spoke
    Church speaks now to the modern world. Lips which              some true things and made some statements which
   stoutly declined to say at Puebla, Mexico, what the             were formally in harmony with the Scriptures. But
   revolutionary Bishops of South America wanted to                this is not the point. According to De Koster, ob-
   hear. Lips which stubbornly did say in Poland what
   the ruling dictatorship did not want to hear. Lips              viously, the pope proclaimed the Word of God, and
   unimpressed by the fads of modernity while acutely              that, too, in fulfillment of the Great Commission.
   focused upon its essence.                                          How sad!
      Let us give solemn thanks for such a voice as the               How sad that such sentiments should be voiced in
   Church has found (been given, rather).                          the editorial columns of an official church magazine
                                                                   of a denomination which claims to stand in the
  Pope John Paul II, therefore, is in Editor De                    tradition of the Reformation!
Koster's view a gift of grace. He is that, too, in his
office as Pope. Further, he is a gift of grace to the                And how sad that such sentiments should appear in
church universal, and even to the whole family of                  The Banner  at a date near to the time when Re-
man. Still more, De Koster characterizes the pope as a             formed people were about to commemorate'the four
very special voice: new, powerful, clear, courageous,              hundred sixty-second anniversary of the Refor-
passionate and compassionate, and with a wide hear-                mation. -
ing. And in the above quotation and throughout the                   For the fact of the matter is that Editor De Koster
article, De Koster emphasizes strongly that all this is a          sings the praises of Antichrist. He strongly  recom-


     78                                             THE STANDARD BEARER
4


     mends and lauds as a gift of grace and urges his             the feet of Calvin for an hour or so before he penned
     readers to listen to and to "be glad and rejoice             his editorial, Editor De Koster would never have had
     exceedingly, and with much prayer" about one who             the sad courage to write it. Everyone who has the
     represents in the mind of the Reformers and of               least acquaintance with Calvin knows that he never
     Reformed confessions Antichrist, the false church,           misses an opportunity to excoriate the papacy and its
     one who is the chief idolater in a church which is           doctrines; in fact, there are  occasions.when he even
     notorious for promoting "accursed idolatry." And do          seems to go out of his way to do so and when in his
     not forget that everywhere Pope John Paul II went in         commentaries his applications to Rome seem a bit
     our country, he publicly promoted such idolatry,             far-fetched. But permit me to furnish just a few
     celebrating the mass in the parks and malls and sports       passages from Calvin's  Institutes  on the subjects of
     stadiums of our large cities.                                the pope and the mass. These quotations are from the
       Here is what the Westminster Confession of Faith           Allen  .Translation, and all of them are from Book
     states in Chapter XXV, 6: "There is no other head of         Four.
     the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the              The first is from Chapter VII/xxiv:
     Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof: but is                   The case of a bishop is different from that of a
     that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition,         king, who still retains the honour and title of a king,
     that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ            though he execute none of the royal functions. But in
     and all that is called God."                                    judging of a bishop, regard is to be paid to the
       By the way, the Westminster divines were not so               commission of Christ, which ought always to con-
     foolish as to teach that the pope was personally the            tinue in force in the Church. Let the Romanists,
                                                                     therefore, furnish me with a solution of  this diffi-
     final manifestation of the Antichrist of which Scrip-           culty. I deny that their pontiffis the chief of bishops,
     ture speaks, as some have thought and have, accord-             because he is not a bishop himself. Now, they must
     ingly, rejected this statement of the Westminster               prove this second member of my position to be false,
     Confession. Neither was John Calvin so foolish as to            if they will obtain the victory in the first. But what
     teach this, though he uses language similar to that of          must be the conclusion, if he not only has no
     the Westminster Confession.                                     characteristic of a bishop, but every thing contrary to
       Principally, of course, our own Belgic confession             it? But here where shall I begin? with his doctrine, or
                                                                     his conduct? What shall I say? What shall I omit?
     speaks the same language when it speaks of the marks            Where shall I stop? I will make this assertion - that as
     of the false church and obviously has in view the               the world is at present  ftied with so many corrupt
     Romish Church, Article 29: "As for the false Church,            and impious doctrines, loaded with such various kinds
     she ascribes more power and authority to herself and            of superstitions, blinded with such numerous errors,
     her ordinances than to the Word of God, and will not            and immerged in such profound idolatry,  - there is
     submit herself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does she          .not one of these evils which has not originated from
     administer the sacraments as appointed by Christ in             the see of Rome, or at least been confirmed by it.
     his Word, but adds. to and takes from them, as she              Nor is there any other cause for the violent rage of
     thinks proper; she relieth more upon men than upon              the pontiffs against the revived doctrine of the gospel,
     Christ; and persecutes those, who live  holily ac-              and for their exertion of all their power to crush it,
     cording to the Word of God, and rebuke her for her              and their instigation of all kings and princes to
                                                                     persecute it, but that they see that their whole
     errors, covetousness, and idolatry."                            kingdom will decline and fall to the ground, where
       Nor should we forget what our Heidelberg                      the primitive gospel of Christ shall be received. Leo
     Catechism says about the mass, the very mass which              was cruel; Clement was sanguinary; Paul is ferocious.
     John Paul II repeatedly and with great flourish and             But it is not so much that nature has impelled them
     aplomb publicly celebrated and at which he func-                to impugn the truth, as that this was the only way to
     tioned as chief priest. ". . . but the mass teaches, that       defend their power. As they cannot be safe, there-
     the living. and dead have not the pardon of sins                fore, without ruining Christ, they  labour in this cause
                                                                     as if it. were in the  defence of their religion, their
     through the sufferings of Christ, unless Christ is also         habitations, their lives. What, then, shall we consider
     daily offered for them by the priests; and further,             that as the apostolic see, where we behold nothing
     that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and               but a horrible apostasy? Shall he be regarded as the
     wine, and therefore is to be worshipped in them; so             vicar of Christ, who, by his furious exertions in
     that the mass, at bottom, is nothing else than a'denial         persecuting the gospel, unequivocally declares himself
     of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and        to be Antichrist? Shall he be deemed Peter's suc-
     an accursed idolatry."                                          cessor, who rages with fire and sword to demolish all
                                                                     that Peter built? Shall we acknowledge him to be
       Frequently during his tenure as Editor of  The                head of the Church, who, after severing the Church
     Banner Dr. De Koster has represented himself to be a            from Christ, its only true Head, divides and tears it in
     pupil of John Calvin. I assure you that if he had sat at        pieces? Though it be admitted that Rome was once


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       79



   the mother of all Churches, yet from the, time when it     New York, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago, and
   began to be the seat of Antichrist, it has ceased to be    Washington.
   what it was before.                                              Now, let the Romanists deny, if they can, that
  Calvin goes on to explain his position in Chapter              they are guilty of idolatry in exhibiting bread in their
VII/xxv, as follows:                                             masses, to be worshipped instead of Christ. In vain do `
      Some persons think us too severe and censorious,           they boast of those promises of the presence` of  '
   when we call the Roman pontiff Antichrist. (Judging           Christ; for however they may be understood, they:
   from his editorial, I would guess that De Koster must         certainly were not given in order that impure and
   be among these.  HCH.)  But those who are of this             profane men, whenever they please, and for whatever
   opinion do not consider that they bring the same              improper use, may transmute bread `into the body of
   charge of presumption against Paul himself, after             Christ; but in order that believers, religiously observ-
   whom we speak, and whose language we adopt. And               ing the command of Christ, in celebrating the supper,
   lest any one should object, that we improperly                may enjoy a true participation of him in it. (Chapter
   pervert to the Roman pontiff those words of Paul,             XVIII, viii)
   which belong to a different subject, I shall briefly             . . . And they (speaking of the church fathers,
    show that they are not capable of any other                  HCH) ascribe the honour of the priesthood so ex-
   interpretation than that which applies them to the            elusively  to Christ, that Augustine declares, that if
   Papacy. Paul says, that Antichrist "sitteth in the            any one should set up a bishop as an intercessor
   temple  pf God." (II Thess.  2:4) In another place,           between God and man, it would be the language of
   also, the Holy Spirit,. describing his image in the           Antichrist. (Chapter XVIII, x)
   person of Antiochus, declares that his kingdom will              Wherefore I conclude, that it is a most criminal
   consist in "speaking great words," or blasphemies,            insult and intolerable blasphemy, both against Christ
   "against the Most High." (Dan  7:25)  Hence we con-           himself, and against the sacrifice which he completed
   clude, that it is rather a tyranny over the souls of          on our behalf by his death upon the cross, for any
   men, than' over their bodies, which is erected in             man to repeat any oblation with a view to procure
   opposition to the spiritual kingdom of Christ. And in         the pardon of sins, propitiate God, and obtain
   the next place, that this tyranny is one which does           righteousness.  But what is the object of the mass,
   not abolish  the,name  of Christ or of his Church, but        except it be that by the merit of a new oblation we
    rather abuses the authority of Christ, and conceals          may be made partakers of the passion of Christ?
   itself under the character of the Church, as under a          (Chapter XVIII, xiv)
   mask. Now, though all the heresies and schisms which
   have existed from the beginning belong to the king-              . . . I. only point out, and that in few and  pla-in
   dom of Antichrist, yet when Paul predicts an ap-               words, the true nature of the most sanctimonious
   proaching apostasy, he signifies by this description           sanctity of the mass, on account of which it has
   that that seat of abomination shall then be erected,           attracted so much admiration and veneration for so
   when a universal defection shall have seized the               many ages. For an illustration of such great mysteries
   Church, notwithstanding many members,  ,dispersed  in        proprotioned to their dignity, would require a larger
   different places, persevere in the unity of the faith.        treatise; and I am unwilling to introduce those dis-
   But when he adds, that even in his days "the mystery          gusting corruptions which were universally notorious;
   of iniquity" did "already work" (II Thess.  2:7) in           that all men may understand that the mass, con-
   secret what it was afterwards to effect in a more.            sidered in its choicest and most estimable purity,
                                                                 without any of its appendages, from the beginning to
   public manner, he gives us to understand that this
   calamity was neither to be introduced by one man,             the end, is full of every species of impiety, blas-
                                                                 phemy, idolatry, and sacrilege. (Chapter XVIII, xviii)
   nor to terminate with one  .man. Now, when he
   designates Antichrist by this character,  - that he          The question may be asked whether Editor De
   would rob God of his honour in order to assume it to       Koster did not consider the question how the pope
   himself,  - this is the principal indication which we      could be spokesman for the church universal. The
   ought to follow in our inquiries after Antichrist,         answer is that he apparently did, and he even con-
   especially where such pride proceeds to a public           sidered, seemingly, the possibility that his position
   desolation of the Church. As it is evident therefore       involved compromise. For he writes:
   that the Roman pontiff has impudently transferred to
   himself some of the peculiar and exclusive preroga-              But how can the head of the Roman Catholic
   tives of God and Christ, it cannot be doubted that he         Church - a Church - be spokesman for us all - the
   is the captain and leader of his impious and abomina-         Church? Is this not sentimentalism?
   ble kingdom.  (italics added)                                    Do we not compromise our convictions, ignore our
Calvin writes at length about the  Lord's Supper,                Confessions, and dilute our own Reformed heritage
and, as might be expected, about its corruption in the           to "hear" the Word from a Pope's lips?
mass. Here are a few snatches of his evaluation of the          How simple the whole matter would have been if
mass - the same mass which was so very much on the            De Koster had phrased his question concretely: "But
foreground in John  Paul II's appearances in Boston,          how can Antichrist, the head of a false church, be
                                                                          _.     7


80                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



spokesman for us  ,all,  the  church?" Then his next                heard the pope's address to the United Nations
question would not have been concerning "senti-                     General Assembly almost in its entirety. And when he
mentalism," but about abominable blasphemy! Anti-                   was in Chicago, I followed his activities via a radio
christ spokesman for the Bride of Christ? How dread-                station which gave almost full coverage of his visit
ful! And then De Koster would never have had to ask                 there. Two notes I detected in his various addresses:
about compromise of convictions, etc.                               1) A note of humanism - especially in his address to
      But instead he goes through a long bit of phi-                the United Nations. 2) A strong emphasis upon
losophy about a supposedly true ecumenicity which                   Roman Catholic doctrines and the Roman Catholic
is really summed up in the following paragraph:                     Church. In fact, if one listened with any degree of
                                                                    discernment, he could not escape the impression,
         No, the words of John Paul II betoken quite                "Rome has not changed."
       anothei form of unity - that of corporate response
       to Truth. We sacrifice no cpnvictions to hear them.            In the second place, therefore, when anyone truly
                                                                    listened to the Pope, as a Protestant and a Reformed
      De Koster goes on to suggest that "We hear John               believer, his reaction would have to be negative.
Paul II, not as would-be Catholics, but as Protestant               Essentially, there was nothing on which to agree.
and Reformed believers! And his voice is ours pre-                  There was no common ground. And there were
cisely to the extent that it proclaims Biblical Truth               countless instances of blatantly Roman Catholic
we hold in common, not by stepping outside what we                  teachings and practices which could only be an
believe, but from deep within what we confess."                     offence to Protestant and Reformed ears. When I
      Now,, in the first'place, Editor De Koster assumes            listened, I could not hear the Word of God. I heard
the very thing which he ought to demonstrate. He is                 no gospel of sin and grace.' I heard no gospel, of the
guilty of the error of begging the question. For he                 atoning blood of Christ. Not the gospel according to
assumes that John Paul II proclaimed the Word. And                  the Scriptures and as defined in our Reformed con-
this assumption is utterly false. Personally, I made it a           fessions, but another gospel, which is not the gospel!
point to follow the activities of the pope rather                     Incidentally, if anyone has been fooled by Editor
closely. I was not satisfied to read accounts of his                De Koster's recent attempts to represent himself as a
speeches and activities in the daily newsuauer or in                conservative, an editorial such as the one here crit-
news magazines; I wanted to hear for myself.LHence, I               icized should put an end to that delusion.



                       DO YOU NEED SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD GIFTS?

                                   THE  BOOK  COMMITTEE   0~  THE R.F.P.A.
                                                  OFFERS FREE BOOKS!

                       HERE IS THE OFFER. PURCHASE THE COMPLETE SET-(3 VOLUMES)
                       OF  THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE  (An Exposition of the Heidelberg
                       Catechism, by Herman Hoeksema) FOR THE REGULAR PRICE OF $24.95
                       (a perfect Christmas gift for someone) OR THE COMPLETE SET OF
                       SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN (3  Bible Manuals and 2 Workbooks, by
                       Gertrude Hoeksema) FOR THE REGULAR PRICE OF $19.95, AND
                       RECEIVE  ABSOLUTELY FREE  YOUR CHOICE OF ANY ONE OF THE
                       FOLLOWING R.F.P.A. PUBLICATIONS (regular value $5.95 each)
                                      1. God's Covenant Faithfulness
                                      2. Mysteries Of The Kingdom
                                      3. Peaceable Fruit
                                      4. Therefore Have I Spoken
                       Order NOW for prompt delivery. Send orders with 10% postage to:,
                                      The R. F.P.A.
                                      P.0.t Box 2006
                                      Grand Rapids, Ml 49501


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 81



THE LORD GAVE THE WORD





                                    News From China
                                                 Pro$ Robert D. Decker



  Recently, while perusing some of the many re-                 "The church, formerly a Bible society office and
ligious periodicals received at the seminary, the un-        now the only Protestant church open in Peking, has
dersigned discovered two articles which give us some         applied to the Chinese government for permission to
insight into the life and worship of the children of         place a sign outside the building stating the time
God in Communist China. For many years Com-                  services are held. Larger facilities and Chinese Bibles
munist China has been closed to missionaries, and            have also been requested. The government, reports
severe restrictions were placed by the Communist             Rev. Jen, has promised the church that it wouId print
government upon the church. These articles indicate          new Chinese Bibles by the end of the year.
that there is continuing fruit upon the labors of the           "Rev. Jen attended the church service while visit-
missionaries of the past. It is also apparent from these     ing his homeland for the first time since he left in
articles that while the restrictions placed upon the          1949. `The experience has given me new insights,into
church have been somewhat relaxed, the life of the            developments in mainland China,' says Rev. Jen. `The
Christian in China is not without its hardships.             result should be a radio program that brings the
  The first article is taken from the August 3, 1979         gospel to these people in a way that is easy for them
issue of the Calvinist Contact and we, quote:                to understand.' While in China, Rev. Jen heard that
                                                             there are many Christians meeting informally in small
  "Rev. Isaac Jen, Chinese minister at the  Back-to-         groups. He has also heard that a number of ministers
God Hour, was one of about fifty worshippers at a            are now being allowed to return to their own cities to
recent Protestant church service in Peking, China. The
crowd consisted of about forty local people and ten          preach. . . . Rev. Jen also says that Bibles are now
                                                             being allowed to go through the mail into the main-
foreign visitors, including African diplomats, Euro-
peans, and overseas Chinese.                                 land. During the past four months, Rev. Jen has been
                                                             sending about fifty New Testaments per month to
  "Rev. Jen said he `was filled with emotion as the          listeners in most of the major provinces of China.
congregation sang the first hymn, The Heavens De-
clare the Glory of God.'                                        "Rev. Jen also said that the Chinese people were
                                                             friendly and that.he saw no extreme poverty. Though
  "Since the preaching of sermons has been banned            the food supply is limited (especially meat) and the
in China since 1966, the congregation's minister then        basic foodstuffs (rice, salt, sugar) are rationed, the
read three Bible passages - I Samuel 3, the story of         people appear well-fed. He also reports that the
Samuel's call by the Lord; Matthew 4, the account'of         Chinese government is making plans to raise the
the temptation of Jesus; and Romans 5, which re-             standard of living by allowing open food markets."
minds people that there is hope even though they                The second article is taken from the July 25, 1979
may face problems.                                           issue of the Presbyterian Journal and we quote:
  "After the message, the minister prayed, and,
according to Rev. Jen `it was a very open, a very free                    "China Interview Number Three"
prayer.' Communion was then celebrated, with the                "Tychicus Wong (a pseudonym) is a Christian
minister blessing each person with the words, `The           living in Hong Kong, where he  hoids a local `cer-
peace of Christ to you.' The congregation's minister         tificate of identity.' A single man in his 2Os, he works
says that it is only recently that local people began        in a small firm as a serviceman for electrical ap-
attending church. The increased attendance is related        pliances. In mid-l 978, Tychicus Wong made weekend
to the freer political atmosphere in China.                  trips to Canton, China, to visit a young believer who


82                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



had been led to the Lord by another Christian touring            "Q: What kind of trouble was he referring to?
there a year earlier. The new believer, who is in his            "A: He is one of the `young intellectuals' who were
3Os, works in a factory in Canton.                            sent down to the countryside after the Cultural
      "Q: For what purpose did you go up to Canton?           Revolution. He escaped and is now residing at home
      "A: I went to take a weekend holiday in Canton,         without any identity papers. So he has to be very
.but more specifically to take a Chinese Bible to a           careful wherever he goes. He must preserve his non-
young believer who had come to know Christ through            identity, even though this non-identity excludes him
a friend of mine.                                             from most legal privileges as a citizen.
      "Q: Didn. `t your friend give him a Bible then?            "The younger brother felt that Christianity is
                                                              something .good. He asked, `Why do so many coun-
      "A: Only a New Testament. Philemon Kang (a              tries have Christianity but not China?' He hoped that
Pseudonym) wanted a whole Bible  - an  Enghsh-                in the future more Christian people would come to
Chinese version,                                              tell about Jesus to the Chinese people.
      "Q: How many Bibles did you take with you?                 "Q: What did Philemon Kang want to know about
      "A: I took one whole Bible in Chinese and a copy        the Christian faith?
of Acts in  Today's Chinese and English,                         "A: He wanted to know how others believed in
      "Q: Did you have enough time to visit with              Christ, what Christians do in Hong Kong, whether
Philemon Kang?                                                they are organized and get together, how Christians
      "A: Yes, I got there Saturday afternoon and spent       prove their true membership, etc. He wanted to know
the rest of the day with him, his brother and a friend.       the history of the Christian people since the time of
                                                              the apostles. He even wanted to know how to become
      "Q: Did you have any trouble at customs?           _    a minister of the gospel.
      "A: No, the customs officer simply asked, `what is         "Q: Did Philemon express any sense of assurance
this book for?' I replied, `For reading pleasure.' He let     of faith?
me go by without further questions.                             "A: He asked: `Did I believe because God specifi-.
      "Q: How was Philemon Kang doing as a young
believer?                                                     tally chose me? Why do some believe and others
                                                              don't?' He also told me that not too, long ago when
   "A: He and his brother both asked many questions           he visited some of his former friends they were
about the Bible. Philemon has begun to share his faith        gathered for divination by playing  tip-sin  (`sorcery
with some of his close friends, giving them New               plate'). A dish would spin by itself, and a voice would
Testaments he had in his possession. He wanted to             be heard. He used to participate in this kind of
witness of Christ to `others too, but was afraid of           activity. But during his recent visit, he would not
being discovered.                                             participate in it, saying to himself that since he was
   "Q: Was he able to share Christ with non-believers         now one who believes in Jesus, the sorcery plate
other than his friends?                                       would no longer work with him and that he would
                                                              not touch such a heterodox thing. So he went
 ""A: Yes. Once he read the story of Christ's                 outside. As he was looking at the sorcery plate
temptation to a fellow-worker at the factory. The             through the window, the plate stopped spinning and
man was known as a bad fellow. Strange enough, this           all those in the room were astonished and frightened
`no-good' fellow showed considerable interest in the          from this experience. Philemon discovered that he
story and expressed interest in knowing more about            was orthodox and that they were heterodox.
this Jesus.                                                     "Q: Did you talk with him in his home most of the
  "Q: What were some `of the problems of faith                time?
raised by Philemon?                                             "A: No, after a couple of hours in his home, he
  "A: His friends. wanted to know the differences             helped me to look for a place to stay. So we talked
between Catholics and Protestants. His brother asked          on the way over. Then we had dinner together.
if it is permissible for Christians to drink wine, smoke
or tell lies under special circumstances. I tried my            `&Q: What did you talk about most at the dinner
best to answer him.                                           table?
  ."Qi Did his brother show signs of faith?                     "A: The conversation centered mostly on his dis-
                                                              satisfaction with the present political and administra-
  "A: To a certain extent. He sdd that after he had           tive system in China. I commented that under the
confessed Christ, he began to feel a sense of wisdom,         present policy for modernization, things would im-
and he knew howto avoid trouble, or gained a kind of          prove in China. But Philemon remarked  that. while
discernment which he did not have before.                     the higher eschalon of the central government in


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 83



Peking mean well to improve policies, most of the          Hong Kong, and his non-Christian relatives who were
time orders are not implemented at the lower grass-        also from Hong Kong. He was surprised by my
roots level. People are so used to ways formulated         philosophy of life and my knowledge of China, since
during the Cultural Revolution days that it is very        I only had a grade school education. Then Philemon
difficult to change. `It's like a snake whose head may     broke in and added, `That is the difference between
move about, but the tail remains the same on the           those who believe in Jesus and those who don't.'
ground.' So he thinks that people are so tired of             "Q: Did Philemon witness to Lai?
politics that there is no hope for the future of China.
In a way, he felt strange that I as an outsider have          "A: Yes, he has loaned a copy of his New Testa-
more hope for China than he does.                          ment to Lai. Lai remarked that one day when his son,
                                                           who was five years old, got hold of the New Testa-
  "Q: Did he give you any reason for his continued         ment, he was so happy that he shouted for joy. Lai
despair?                                                   couldn't understand why.
  "A: He gave me two examples. He cited one
instance where a young man was wounded and lying              "Q: What was Lai's main concern?
on the street. Everybody stood around looking at him          "A: His main complaint was against the present
but nobody did anything to stop his bleeding. The          economic and work system in China. Lai said that
hospital was nearby, but it wasn't until half an hour      China should permit limited capitalism to provide
later that another man jumped off from his bike and        some sort of incentive to work. He thinks that China
helped him to the hospital. A second instance con-         as a whole is already on the capitalist road, yet she
cerned blood donations in China. The government            still insists on calling it socialism just to save face.
gives JNP now one hundred dollars (sixty dollars           Feeling disillusioned he asked me, `Why do you, an
U.S.) plus ration tickets for ten pounds of meat for       outsider, still have hope in China, while we who are
every one hundred cc of blood donated. He pointed          inside have given up hope?' Before I could answer
out that in many cases the doctor himself kept the         him, Philemon Kang asked, `Why don't you have
tickets, while a middle man who found the donor gets       someone preach to the senior officials of our govern-
a big share of the money. So his conclusion was that       ment? China would be a better country if those up
Chinese humanity has become corrupted, tilled with         there believed in Jesus.'
selfishness, lacking compassion, and insensitive to           "Q: What is your own feeling after this `pastoral
human suffering. He wants to leave.                        visit'?
  "Q: Where did you go after dinner?                          "A: I feel very happy that I was able to provide
  "A: Philemon Kang took me to visit his friend, Mr.       some encouragement to the Kang brothers and their
Lai. Lai also works in a factory, is married and has a     friend as well. I hope to go up again in the near future
son. I had opportunity to explain the basic rudiments      and take books and hymnals to them. It also ap-
of salvation to him: the birth, death, resurrection and    peared to me that in spite of nearly thirty years of
second coming of Christ. Lai, like Philemon Kang, is       Communist education, the intimacy of the Chinese
very interested in the second coming of Christ. I          family is still very well preserved. Only a small
promised him that the next time I went up I would          minority of the people were won over by Communist
take books of that kind to him. Lai was surprised          ideology, and a majority are still basically Chinese in
over the difference between me as a Christian from         their values and ways."          =

MY SHEEP HEAR MY  VQICE


                                     Letter to Timothy

Dear Timothy,                                              from this, and the time has come to discuss some of
  In my last letter I talked a bit about the emphasis      them.
which Scripture puts upon the unity of man  - that            The relationship between soul and body is so close
he may not be chopped up into separate parts a&be          in man that what `happens, to the one affects also
considered as a conglomerate of individual pieces.         what happens to the other. We cannot do something
There are some practical considerations that arise         to our bodies without affecting our souls. And


84                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



nothing happens to our souls without its effect tipon         prising, therefore, that various drugs which `&re used
our bodies. I think that this is so true, so much a part      for the treatment of mental problems have effects
of life, that we realize the truth of this intuitively. It    upon the inner life of the soul. Very .little is under-
seems to be so true that to discuss it seems almost to        stood about all this and a great deal of experimenta-
be belaboring the obvious. We simply know that it is          tion is still going on. But that the effect is there, for
true for it happens to us every single day and every          good or for bad, is beyond dispute. There are indeed
moment of the day. Nevertheless, I do think that this         drugs which are; in the real sense of the word,
truth is often forgotten in particular  circtinistances       "mind-altering drugs."
and situations; and so we ought to talk about it a bit.         And, because this relationship is so close, the
      That there are problems here no one will deny.          condition of the body can indeed affect the condition
From a very practical point of view these problems            of the soul;' Everyone recognizes this. There are, I am
arise in the whole area of the treatment of the               told, clinics in this country which treat all mental
mentally distressed. As I wrote you a while ago, the          problems by changing diets. If anyone has mental
trends today in the treatment of mental problems are          difficulties and comes to such a clinic, he will be
all in the direction of chemical therapy. The theory is       examined physically and certain diets will be pre-
that all the troubles which afflict men are rooted in         scribed for him in the confidence that these diets will
certain chemical imbalances in the body and brain.            restore his mental equilibrium. Whatever may be the
Some even go so far as to say that even criminal              outcome of this all, it remains a fact that the
deviation, such as homosexuality and other sexual             condition of the body has a whole lot to do with the
perversion, are rooted in physical causes which can be        condition of our souls. Everyone knows that if we
corrected by chemical treatment if only we under-             abuse our bodies and wear them out this can have a
stand more fully the delicate chemical makeup of the          profound effect upon our souls and bring us into a
human body. We must, of course, have no part in all           state of physical and mental exhaustion. And the
this. It is a flat denial of the soul in man. It proceeds     mental exhaustion can indeed lead to terrible depres-
from the evolutionistic hypothesis that man is                sion. It is also possible that some malfunction of the
nothing else than a highly developed form of animal           body can have such a profound effect upon the soul
life. It denies that the relationship in which man            that, without one knowing the existence of a physical
stands to God is the most fundamental of all rela-            problem, one can become troubled with all sorts of
tionships. And it, therefore, denies the reality of sin. I    mental problems and difficulties. Any person who has
remember once attending a conference of psychia-              mental problems of any sort ought always to  have,
trists and ministers in which a certain psychiatrist was      first of all, a complete physical checkup to determine
speaking about the role of ministers in the helping of        whether anything is wrong physically. God has made
the mentally "ill." In his judgment, the role of              us one. We cannot separate the two from each other
ministers was little more than to keep hands off. He          - body and soul - and deny their close relationship.
made the remark, among other things, that if a                  Yet the fact remains that the relationship in which
parishioner had committed a deed such as stealing             we stand to Gdd is the most fundamental of all.
money, the worst think the minister could do was to           Scripture speaks of man as having body, soul, and
warn and admonish such a person and threaten him              spirit. (Cf., e.g., I Thessalonians 5:23 where all three
with censure if he did not confess his sin. This              are mentioned.) I do not want, at this point, to get
approach, said the psychiatrist, would only make the          involved in a long discussion of this whole question of
person have terrible guilt feelings. It would be much         the differences which exist among the three. Let me
better if such a person were turned over to the care of       just say a few  t+ings about it so `that it may be
a psychiatrist so that the fundamental reason for his         somewhat more clear what I want to say about the
stealing could be learned. Finally, after a great deal of     relation between body and soul and our relation to
this sort of thing, one miqister rose ponderously from        God.
his chair and asked: "Doctor, don't we believe in sin
any more?"                                                      Sometimes Scripture speaks of "soul" as referring
                                                              to the whole person. You have this use repeatedly in
  Nevertheless, the relationship between body and             the Bible. Stephen reminded the Sanhedrin that when
soul is so close that there is no denying the fact that       Jacob and his family went into Egypt at the summons
"drug therapy" has an effect upon the soul as well as         of Joseph, 75 sotrls went into Egypt. (Acts 7: 14). In
the body. Whether this effect is always, or even once         the narrative of Paul's shipwreck we are told that
in a while, good is another question. I think that if we      276 sot& were on board the ship. (Acts .27: 37). This
knew well how close the.relation between body and             expression, in one form or another, abounds in
soul really was, we would understand that there is            Scripture. It is usually interpreted as a figure. of
nothing we do to the body which does not have its             speech, a kind of metonymy, so that Scripture simply
corresponding effect upon the soul. It is not sur-            uses the word "soul" for "person" or "souls" for


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    85



"people." And this is true. But Scripture does not use      death. Blessings brings happiness, joy, serenity, peace,
figures of speech as mere rhetorical and literary           hope, and, finally, everlasting life. These are very real.
devices. There is always a good reason for a figure of      It is not without reason that Solomon speaks of
speech. It may be that in all these passages the word       God's curse in the house of the wicked. It is there, in
"soul"  is used to emphasize some idea of man as a          that most important place of his life. It is there to
rational and moral creature, but the fact is that the       stalk him when he sits down and rises up. It is there
whole person is referred to.                                in the food that he eats and in the life that he lives. It
                                                            is an ever-present and all-pervading reality. But so it is
  But in other passages the word "soul" is used to          also with blessing. It is in the habitation of the just. It
indicate that spritual substance of man which is the        is a real experience for the man who is just before God
seat of alI his thinking, willing, and emotions. Man is     and walks in the consciousness of His righteousness
created as the only one of God's' creatures with the        before God. But this blessing and cursing from God
powers of mind and will and emotions. And these             determine the relation in which a man stands to God.
powers reside in the soul.                                  That, and there can be no question about it, is the
  I do not believe that the word "spirit" in Scripture      most important relation of all life.
speaks of yet a third substance in man, different from        There are many other aspects to this unity of man.
the soul and body, with its own special powers. It          We could, for the sake of interest, point out a few
seems to me, rather, that the word "spirit" simply          such items. Think, e.g., of the fact that a man's
indicates the "soul," but now from the viewpoint of         character is often reflected in his face - especially in
the relation in which man stands to God. Man is a
spirit, for when man dies, then the dust returns to the     his eyes. He may be mean. You can often see it. He
earth as it was, but the spirit returns to God Who gave     may be shifty and untrustworthy. It often becomes
it. (Ecclesiastes  12:7). And Jesus committed His           apparent. He may be unhappy. You can tell it in his
spirit, not His soul, to God when He died on the            face. Stop on the corner of a busy intersection and
cross. The soul indicates, therefore, that man is a         watch the people go by. How many of them are really
rational and moral creature, endowed with mind and          happy? You can find very few happy faces among the
will. The spirit indicates that this man stands related     throngs. But you can also see in a person's face when
to God.                                                     he has learned peace and serenity and happiness. He
                                                            radiates with it and it shows in his whole appearance.
  And this relationship is fundamental. This relation-      Yet cruelty, dishonesty, unhappiness, and the like are
ship, finally, determines the whole of a man's life and     conditions of the soul - as are peace and happiness.
the kind of life which he lives.                            They are all, however, reflected in the body.
  Certainly this is true in a very general way. All the       Think also of the fact that a man's individuality or
pain and misery and trouble with which man is               personality is reflected in and impressed, upon his
afflicted has come into the world because man re-           whole body. It extends to the tips of his fingers, for
belled against God and turned away from God's               every man's finger prints are different. It shows in the
commandments. The sin of our first parents brought          markings of the soles of his feet, for there are not two
sin and trouble into the world. All trouble and all         footprints alike. It is indelibly stamped upon every
sickness is the result of sin. God did not `punish man's    cell of his body, for each man's cells are different. It
sin with afflictions of the body only; nor did He           appears in his voice so that even identical twins have
punish man with troubles of the soul; but all trouble       different voices and a mother who knows her twins
stems from sin. It is also true, in a general way, that     well can tell them apart by their voices and man-
the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked         nerisms. Whatever a man is in his soul is reflected
while He blesses the habitation of the just. (Proverbs      completely in the whole of his body.
3:33). No one will deny that blessing and cursing
from God are the most important things in life.               But we must stop for now.
Cursing means God's hatred. Cursing brings un-                                                      Fraternally
happiness, trouble, despair, hopelessness, and, finally,                                            H. Hanko


86                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH





                                Looking Upon Jehovah

                                               Rev. Rodney Miersma




      Beginnings!                                               Judah was in danger. Three mighty kingdoms,
      Do you find them fearful? You do not know what        Moab, Ammon, and Mt. Seir, had joined hands
shall take place in the future. It is rather dark and       together in a confederation for the purpose of taking
unknown.                                                    the children of God captive and spoiling the land.
                                                            Militarily speaking, the confederacy had every ad-
      There are beginnings of different things. We stand    vantage against which Judah had no chance. Further,
near the beginning of .a new volume of THE STAiV-           Judah had received the fateful news that the enemy
DARD BEARER. Many of you young people stand at              was arrayed for battle.
the beginning of a new school year. Many of you are            Understandably, the children of Judah were afraid.
beginning your education in a different school than         The very thought of having to meet such a formidable
the one you attended last year. Young People's              foe brought them to their knees, upon which they
Society and catechetical training have begun again.         cried unto the Lord "We know not what to do."
Soon a new year will be here, 1980, a new decade.           They could visualize the whole battle before their
      As you stand before the beginning of all these        eyes. The helpless children and the sick would be
things there must be some fear to one degree or             brutally killed while all the able-bodied would be
another. Many questions will be asked. Will I receive       taken captive to lead a life of slavery.
good grades in school? Will I be able to handle the            Thus, the whole congregation stood before the
transition in catechism from Bible History to the           temple: husbands, wives, children, little babes, old
Heidelberg Catechism? Will I become sick, or perhaps        grandparents, the sick, and the untried youth.
die? Will I be strong spiritually or will I succumb to         Their fear was a real fear, a perplexing question
the temptations of the devil?                               that vexed their righteous souls. These were the
      Looking back is easy. Viewing all that one has        enemies which God had forbidden them to destroy.
come through one can say "Hitherto hath the Lord            How could God first forbid their destruction and now
blessed us." However, looking forward is not that           bring them up to destroy His children? Would God
easy. Through our human eyes we look into the               really allow this confederacy to wipe out His church?
future and we tend to despair. Everything looks like        After all, they were not as the other nations but were
an obstacle over which we will stumble.                     God's chosen possession, and heirs to the promise.
  At this time, as well as always, we need the Word         The promise was that they were to have the victory,
of God to direct us, to shed light upon our path so         that the seed of the serpent would go down in defeat.
that the darkness of doubt and despair may be               Did God change? Would Christ be born? How could
dispelled. We must look upon Jehovah, finding our           the promised seed be born if the church were trodden
strength and courage in Him.                                under foot and destroyed?
  Young people, we can do that by following the                As young people you have and will face similar
example of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, when he and          questions throughout your lives. You, too, are and
the people of Judah were in a position in which they        shall be surrounded by enemies as long as you shall
did not-know what to do. We read of this incident in        live.
II Chronicles 20.                                              There are powers that will threaten your natural,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 87  -



physical lives. Today there are wars and rumors of           attention upon her God.
wars. The large powers such as the United States and            Judah had good reason to lift her eyes heavenward.
Russia are in an arms race, each struggling for the          Their king, Jehoshaphat, reviewed before them all the
psychological,advantage of having the biggest, newest,       wonderful works which the Lord had performed -on_
and the most. Will a nuclear world war obliterate all        their behalf. He led them safely out of Egypt and
life from this earth? We certainly have concern for          through the burning wilderness. During this journey
our physical lives.                                          He protect.ed  them from the `burning sun by the pillar
  However, the real problem for the church of Jesus          of cloud by day and guarded them by a pillar of fire
Christ and its young people is not that which will           by night. The shoes on their feet did not wear out;
harm our physical lives. The battle which you will           they were fed and refreshed with bread from heaven
fight is not first of all an international political war,    and water from the rock. When the enemy came He
but a spiritual battle of faith against unbelief. Thus,      sent the angel of death to disquiet them. No, their
the battle is in the heart.                                  God was not a man, but the living God, creator of
  That old adversary, Satan, goes about as a roaring         heaven and earth.
lion seeking whom he may devour and destroy. In                 In addition to listing all that Jehovah had done for
fact, your and my enemy does not appear to be our            them, the king had to make plain to the people that
enemy. What he has to offer is pleasing to our flesh         this was not done because of their own goodness.
and very hard to resist. A life of fun and pleasure,         Their history clearly showed otherwise in that they
luxuries and riches, all appeal to our vanities. The old     constantly went whoring after other gods from which
deceiver stands in the doorway of the lodge hall             Jehovah had to call them. The goodness was in the
beckoning the unwary to its meetings. On the college         Lord Himself, as that goodness was represented in the
campus the real life is in the fraternity or sorority.       presence of the blood of Jesus Christ typically mani-
When we look for work his union sweetens the pot.            fested on the altar. On the basis of that blood, Judah
  As if that were not enough, the father of the lie          could very well look to Jehovah and trust in His
points~,to the achievements of men rather than to the        promises.
glory of God. Man has subdued the earth from the                That is your and my calling today. As members of
depths-of the sea to the outreaches of space. No             the church today we have an even clearer under-
problem is so great that man in his ingenuity can not        standing of Jehovah's faithfulness. Christ no longer is
figure it out. Philosopher of philosophers, Satan has        simply a promise, but He has come in the flesh and
the answer to all our inquiries. His pleasing message is     fulfilled the work of redemption. We have the
not to follow the narrow, strict, hard way of obeying        privilege to behold God's covenant faithfulness as it is
the law, but to mold and shape your own destiny as           revealed in the cross and as the benefits of that cross
you have the right to do what you please with your           are given to us through the working of the Holy
own life.                                                    Spirit.
  Sounds pleasing, does it not? So pleasing does it             By faith we now see Jehovah in the marvelous
sound that we are ready to join Satan and the world.         depths of forgiving love as we kneel before the cross
In doing so we are ready to abandon the preaching of         and witness the suffering and death of the Son of
regeneration as God's way into His kingdom. We are           God in our flesh. As the children of Judah we behold
ready to trade our citizenship in the kingdom of             such power, such love, such mercy that we bow in
everlasting life for that. which is passing and tem-         humble adoration and confess that Jehovah is in truth
porary.                                                      the only God and worthy of all praise. Thus, to Him
  The knowledge that we are so inclined puts fear            we turn for guidance and courage as we face whatever
into our hearts. How shall we be able to stand in a          He is pleased to send us in the future.
world that is. becoming increasingly wicked? We, too,           Knowing these things we confess three truths. Our
cry "We know not what to do."                                first confession is that God knows all the future
                                                             because He is God. God does not have to wait around
  In answer to the question of what to do, we turn           for something to happen before He can act. Rather
again to the example of Jehoshaphat. This scriptural         He is the sovereign determiner of all things.
history is more than just a Bible story. It is God's
message to us. What did Jehoshaphat do which serves             Secondly, we confess that the direction of God's
as our guide even today? He gathered all the people          control is centered in His people as they are in Jesus
before the Lord and they bowed down as they looked           Christ. No matter what He will in His wisdom do with
to the sanctuary of the temple. Although they did            us in the future, we firmly believe that it will be for
not know what to do, their eyes were upon Jehovah.           our good.
This is always the answer for the troubled church.              Finally, we seek our strength from Him, believing
She must look away from herself and focus her                that He will not send us a great trial but that He will


88                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



also accompany that trial with the necessary grace to       Lord%.
b e a r   i t .                                                Before this God, young people, you stand. Upon
 What happened to Judah as they stood before the            this God you must fix your eyes. When you grow
Lord with their little ones and their children, as they     fainthearted, discouraged, and know not what to do,
placed their burdens on the Lord, confessing that He        remember Judah. For, turning to Jehovah in all your
is faithful and has control of the battle from be-          needs, you will have no fear for the future, but will
ginning to end? They were not destroyed by the              have peace in your hearts, knowing that you shall
enemy. Rather, the enemy fought among itself and            abide in Christ forever, Whom you shall follow into
was killed by its own numbers. Needless to say, Judah       W-Y.
could not boast in this victory for the battle was the

IAi HIS FEAR  .'




                                 Beginning Our Homes
                                    in the Fear of God
                                                Rev. Arie den HaLtog




      God lives in the home of the God-fearing. He lives       We must establish our homes in the fear of God.
in the conscious lives of the members of that home.         This must be our objective from the very beginning.
God is known in that home as the Sovereign Al-              We as young people must be God-fearing as we begin
mighty God, the infinite One, the creator of heaven         to contemplate establishing our homes. Many of the
and earth. He is known as the Holy and Just God             most important decisions we will ever make in our
Who judges all men. He is known as the merciful and         life must be made in our youth when we begin our
faithful covenant God of His people. God is loved in        homes. Fearing God therefore is not something that
the home of the God-fearing according to who and            can wait until later in our lives when we get older and
what He is. The God-fearing in the home live in the         after we are married for some time. It is urgent that
profound consciousness that God is always present           from the very beginning we establish our homes in
and that our whole life is lived before Him. God is         the fear of God.
sought in the home of the, God-fearing. He is sought
continually in prayer and in His Word. His mercy and           To  begin immediately to seek to establish our
lovingkindness, His favor and blessing are known to         homes in the fear of God means something very
be the highest good imaginable for man, His anger           concrete. It means that we begin with the Word of
and displeasure the most terrifying evil. The  God-         God and with prayer. Already when God-fearing
fearing seek the direction and guidance of the Lord         young people date they speak with one another of
for all of their life in the home. The God-fearing          the Word of God and pray together. Oh, this is
know that they have a holy calling in the home, to          entirely unheard of in the world, and even among
love and to serve and to obey God and to live to His        most young people who go by the  ,name Christian.
glory. The home of the God-fearing is the truly             But this is not something that can wait until marriage
blessed home because it is blessed of God. The fear of      or even until we begin to think seriously about the
God in the home is fundamental to the fear of God in        desire and possibility of marriage. This must begin
all our life. That we fear God in our homes has             with our dating already. To fear God in our dating is
tremendous implications for how we live in our              to let the holy demands of the Word of God deter-
homes.                                                      mine our dating. To fear God is to spend time from


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   89


the very beginning to seek the blessing and favor              that we can only .be one with those who are one with
of God, to seek His grace and His guidance in all that         us in the fear of God and in the desire to live our holy
we do. God-fearing young people look again and                 calling before God. We know from God's word that
again to the absolute standard of God's Word and not           we are warned again and again not to become one
to the wicked philosophy of the world in their dating          with the world, not to be unequally yoked with the
and in their contemplation of marriage.,                       unbeliever. Marriage is the most intimate of unions
  If we are truly God-fearing young people, our                between two persons. It is therefore most terrible
dating will be radically different from that of the            when in marriage we yoke ourselves with unbelievers,
world. We know that the holy God is ever watching              with those who are not one with us in the faith and
over us, not only when men see us but even in the              love of God. It is true of course that we can all point
darkness of the night, for the night and the day are           to incidents where, by the wonderful grace and mercy
both alike unto God. We know that `the Holy God                of God, an unbelieving partner in a marriage became a
hates and abominates immorality and fornication.               God-fearing person. This is surely wonderful and
Our knowledge of this will determine the places .we            reason for thanksgiving to God, for this is the Lord's
go to and the things we do on our dates. Our day               doing and not the work of men. However, it remains
more than ever is one of the grossest imaginable               true that most often a union between a believer and
immorality. The world today sees nothing wrong with            unbeliever has terrible c&sequences. We may not
open and free fornication. Young people as young as            tempt the Lord our God in marriage saying in our
early teens are told there is nothing wrong with               hearts. that the Lord will bring our unbelieving
indulging in the sacred act which the Word of God              partner into the faith.
says belongs only within marriage. The philosophy of             The God-fearing understand that marriage is a
the world is that young people should be allowed to            sacred calling. We are united together in marriage that
let their lusts reign free, they are to seek the gratifica-    we might together fulfill the calling of God in the
tion of every evil desire without restriction. As long         midst of His church and kingdom. Marriage is there-
as there is love (that is, what the world calls love), and     fore not merely for self-gratification. Marri?ge is not
as long as no one gets hurt, anything is alright.  How         merely for making us rich and famous in the world. It
urgent that God-fearing young people in our day flee           is not to satisfy our carnal lusts and pleasures.
youthful lusts that war against the soul.  Thejr must          Marriage is a holy calling of God. It is God who tells
flee them, not giving the slightest occasion that the          .us what we must do and how we must live in our
evil lusts of their sinful nature might destroy their          marriage.
holy lives. In the heart and soul of the God-fearing             The God-fearing understand that marriage is an
young person must ring the words that we read in               unbreakable bond, exactly because it is God Who
I Corinthians 3:-l 6-17, "Know ye not that ye are the          joins us together, and what God joins together man
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in          may never put asunder. Marriage must be a bond of
you? If any man defile the temple of God, Him shall            holy love between a man and a woman. Marriage is
God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which              not something that can just be dissolved when the
temple ye are." Whdt fearful words these are. Not              natural affection that once was fades away and when
only is it true according to these words that we live          troubles and hardships come. Marriage is a lifelong
our lives in the presence of God, but our very bodies          calling which requires that we give ourselves com-
are the temple of the Holy God.                                pletely in holy love and faithfulness to one another
 In the fear of God we must seek our life partner.             before God. With fear and trembling we are to live in
That life partner must be one with whom we can live            marriage in such a way that we reflect the holy love
in the fear of God and with whom we can fulfill our            of God for His church. As God never forsakes His
holy calling before God. We seek our life partner              church but ever remains faithful unto her, so we must
therefore among those who fear God. We seek not for            live in lifelong faithfulness to one another.
the one who is fair in the eyes of men, or one who is
popular and great in this world. We seek one who is              `God-fearing young people understand that it  is.
beautiful with the beauty of holiness and righteous-           God Who has ordained the place that the man and the
ness and who is great in the sight of God.                     woman should have in marriage. That place is not
                                                               determined by the standards of men, that place is not'
  As God-fearing young people we know that it is               determined by what will make us the most wealthy in
God who joins us together in marriage. In marriage             the world nor alone by what will give to the partners
we have to do therefore in a wonderful and fearful             in  inarriage  the most personal satikfaction and glory.
`way with the work of God.                                     God's Word requires that the wife in marriage live in
  It is God who makes us one in marriage. He so                humble submission unto her husband. God's Word
unites us in. marriage that two become one. This is a          says that the wife in the home must be adorned by a
fearful thing. Then it is  urgent~ that we understand          meek and quiet spirit. In the world today all the


90                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



emphasis is on. the career-minded woman, the woman                   God-fearing young people understand from the
who can live independently, the woman who can                      beginning, as they contemplate marriage, that one of
make her mark in the world in the eye of men. She                  the chief purposes of marriage is to bring forth the
who fears God knows that she cannot be guided by the               children of the covenant. That is the holy calling as
world. She is guided by what the Word of God says is               well as the blessed privilege of God's people in the
her holy and loving calling in the home. God's Word                world. How urgent it is that we from the beginning
requires that the God-fearing husband love his wife as             stand in the fear of God in this matter. The world
Christ loved His church and gave Himself for her. The              around us is saying that children are nothing but a
God-fearing husband understands that his calling in                burden: they limit the freedom of a young couple to
marriage is to dwell with his wife as with the weaker              enjoy the pleasures of the world; they make it
vessel, and as heirs with her of the grace of life. It is          difficult if not impossible for the wife in the marriage
not his calling to give himself more to his career than            to pursue her own selfish ambition in a career in the
to his wife and family. It is not his calling to be found          world; they cost so much that they hinder financial
constantly away from home enjoying the pleasures of                advancement in the world. In self-sacrificial love in
the world. It is his calling to spend much time at                 the fear of God we must bring forth the children of
home with his wife and family, to love and to support              the covenant. There is no more blessed and wonderftil
them, to rule over them, to guide and direct them in               calling for the people of God.
the fear of the Lord.


FAITH OF OUR FATHERS --




                                            Of Hoi; Scripture
                                                      Rev. Ron Van Overloop





  The Westminster Confession consists of  thirty-                     commit the same wholly unto  writing;d which
three chapters, which cover in natural order all the                  maketh the holy scripture to be most  necessary;e
leading articles of the Christian faith from creation to              those former ways of God's revealing His will unto
the final judgment. In turn, each' chapter is sub-                    His people being now ceased.f
divided into articles. In this issue we will be dealing                  a. Rom.  2:14,15;  Rom.  1:19,20;  Ps.  19:1-3; Rom.  1:32
with the first five articles of chapter one.                          with Rom. 2:l.
                                                                         b. I Cor. 1:21; 2:13,14.
                 Chapter I. Of the Holy Scripture                        c. Heb. 1:l.
                                                                         cl. Prov.  22:19-21;  Luke 1:3,4;  Rom. 15:4; Matt. 4:4,7,10;
         1. Although the light of nature, and the works of            Isa. 8: 19,20.
      creation and providence, do so far manifest the                   e. II Tim. 3:15;  II Peter 1: 19.
      goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men               f. Heb. 1:1,2.
      inexcusable;a  yet they are not sufficient to give that            2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word
      knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary           of God written, are now contained all the Books of
      unto  salvation:b therefore it pleased the Lord, at             the Old and New Testaments, which are these:  -
      sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Him-             (There follows a listing of the 39 books of the Old
      self, and to declare His will unto His  Church;c  and           Testament and the 27 of the New Testament  -
      afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating           RVO.) All which are given by inspiration of God, to
      of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and           be the rule of faith and 1ife.a
      comfort of the Church against the corruption of the               a. Luke  16:29, 31; Eph.  2:20;  Rev.  22:18,19;  II Tim.
      flesh< and the malice of Satan and of the world, to             3:16.


                                                                      --

                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     91



      3. The Books commonly called  Apocrypha,  not                           One of the most common and grave misconcep-
   being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon                    tions of many Christians is that the revelation of God
   of the scripture; and therefore are of no authority in                   in creation is sufficient to bring one not only to a
   the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise ap-                           knowledge about God, but also to salvation. It can be
   proved, or made use  ,of, than other human  writings.a'                  guessed that usually the motivation behind this
      a. Luke  24:27,44;  Rom.  3:2; II Peter  1:21.                        serious error is the desire to give all men the oppor-
      4. The authority of the holy scripture, for which it                  tunity to be.saved.
ought to be believed' and obeyed, dependeth not
   upon the testimony of any man or church, but                               It would seem that this first article of the West-
   wholly upon God,  (Who.is truth itself,) the author                      minster is directed specifically against such an error.
   thereof; and therefore `it is to be received, because it                   Yes, man can gain a knowledge about God, for
   is the word of God?                                                      creation declares Him and His attributes (Psalm
      a. II Peter  1:19,21;  II Tim.  3:16; I John  5:9;  I Thess.          19: l-3). In fact, there is no language on earth that
    2:13.                                                                   does not have this knowledge about God (Psalm
       5. We may be moved and induced by the testi-                         19:2)`. But without holy Scripture one  camlot know
   mony of the Church t'o an high and reverend esteem                       God. Creation and providence enables one to know
    of the holy  scripture,a and the heavenliness of the                    about  God, not to k-now God (I Cor.  1:21). The
    matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of
   the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the                ability to know God, which knowledge is necessary
   whole, (which is to give all glory to God,) the full                     unto salvation, is not granted to the natural man.
  discovery it makes of the only way of man's salva-                        Spiritual things are foolishness to him, for .he has not
   tion, the many other incomparable excellencies, and                      been given the ability of spiritual discernment. No-
   the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby                     where more clearly and more explicity than in I Corin-
   it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the word of                     thians 2: 14 can we find a statement of the position
    God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and                      that the revelation of God in creation and providence
    assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority                 is meaningless to a graceless man as far as a saving
   thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit,                     knowledge of God is concerned. Listen to the power-
   bearing witness by and with the word in our  hearts.b                    ful support Psalm  10:4 gives to this: "The wicked,
      a. I Tim. 3:15.                                                       through the pride of his countenance, will not seek
      b. I John  2:20,27;  John  16:13,14;  I Cor.  2:10-12;  Isa.
    59:21.                                                                  after God: God is not in all their thought."
  In general, two things strike us immediately as we                        The Bible alone, by the power of the Spirit, gives,
read these articles. The first observation is the great                     that knowledge of God necessary for salvation
amount of similarity in thought and wording the                             (II  Tim. 3: 15). Thanks be to God for this wonderful
Westminster Confession has with the articles of the                         gift. No wonder the psalmist said, "How sweet are
Belgic Confession which also deal with Scripture                            Thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to
(articles 2-7). The reason, I believe, for this similarity                  my..rmouth." -Do-you notagree.?-The.  beauty of the
is found in the second observation, i.e., the obvious                       Word of God is that it not only satisfies our spiritual
attempt on the part of both confessions to use                              appetite, but also it is the tonic to create such an
Biblical phraseology. This fact commends the West-                          appetite.. If a confessing Christian cannot join in with
minster Confession to us. Something which is present                        the psalmist enthusiastically, then he must go to the
in the Westminster Confession and is sadly absent                           Scriptures as the proper medicine for such a lethargic
from the Belgic Confession as it is quoted in the                           ailment.
Psalter  is the listing of the Scriptural proof texts.
Creeds are of derivative and secondary authority to                           That revelation of the knowledge of God necessary
God's people, with the Bible essentially the believer's                     for salvation came initially in direct revelations via
sole guide for faith- and life. As the Westminster                          angels, dreams, or prophets (Hebrews 1: 1). In the
Confession gives its Scriptural basis it is easy to                         wisdom and providence of God this saving revelation
evaluate it in the light of our only rule, the Bible.                       has been written down and preserved. Thus `the
  Briefly stated, article one of the first chapter of the                   chosen ones of-God- may find the certain basis for
Confession teaches (1) that God has revealed Himself                        their saving knowledge: ". . . to write unto thee, . . .
                                                                            that thou mightest know the certainty of those things
in creation and providence, (a) which manifests God's                       wherein thou hast been instructed" (Luke I  :3,4).
goodness, wisdom, and power, (b) leaving man with-                          Also we find in this Word our criteria for judging
out excuse, (c) but does not give the knowledge                             (Isaiah 8:  19,20)  and answer (Matt.  4:4,7,10) to all
necessary for salvation; (2) that God revelaed Himself                      that would lead us away from the true and living
directly to His Church, which revelation was com-                           God.
mitted to writing; (3) that Scripture is necessary for a
true and saving knowledge of God; and (4) that this                           Explicity the Confession states that the Scriptures
direct revelation has ceased.                                               are now complete. Special revelation has ceased. We


92                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



need look only to the Scriptures, not to supernatural           hath also .given unto us of His Holy Spirit" (I Thess.
and miraculous revelations. We should remember that             4:8 and I Cor. 2: 13). Therefore, it must be received
the psalmist lived in the day of special revelations, yet       and obeyed. Its authority is that `of God Himself - it
that which he loved and upon which he meditated all             is as simple as that. There is no room for questioning
the day was the written Word (Psalm  119:97). And               why it must be received and obeyed. Bow before it
when we desire the dramatics and color of. the                  obediently.
miraculous to attract, let us remember that "if they               This conviction of the Divine authorship and au-
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be           thority of the Scriptures is encouraged by the
persuaded though one rose from the dead" (Luke                  Church, but essentially the full persuasion comes
16:31).                                                         from the Holy Spirit. Article 5 of the Belgic Con-
      The second article lists the books of the Bible           fession speaks to this same subject dealt with in
accepted as the very Word of God and states that this           article 5 of Chapter I of the Westminster.
written Word we have by the miracle of inspiration.                The Church is not to be completely ignored in the
To the idea of inspiration we add no comment to                 maintenance of the holy Scripture. The Church
that already said. We reserve comment on  the. idea             points out and develops through Biblical exegesis a
that the Scriptures are our only rule for faith and life        reverend  .esteem of the Scriptures. It does this by
until we deal with article six on the sufficiency of            showing the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy
Scripture.                                                      of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the agree-
      The third article of this first chapter deals with the    ment of all the parts; and the unity of purpose: the
Apocryphal books. The sole criterion for their having           glory of God in the way of Jesus Christ. When we
no part in holy Scripture and being rejected is the             speak now of the testimony of the Church we do not
fact that they are not inspired of God. The difference          mean that in the same sense as does Rome. Rome
between the Scriptures and any other writing, in-               says the authority of Scripture rests upon the Church.
cluding the apocryphal books, is that the latter come           No, the authority of Scripture is not derived from the
into existence by the will of man, while the' former            fact that the Church recognizes it to be authoritative.
arose from God. All that has as its author a man, no            Rather, the Church is the pillar and ground of the
matter how capable or skilled, is qualitatively dif-            truth (I Tim. 3: 15). The Church has been given the
ferent from that which has God as its author. When              blessing of the Spirit of truth Who has and is leading
man is the author, it need not necessarily be obeyed.           the Church into all truth. The Church in the past,
When God is the Author, the result must be obedi-               under the guidance of the Spirit, has shown in the
ence.                                                           Scriptures themselves the evidences of its divine
      This leads us directly into the subject of the            authorship and authority.
authority of Scripture which is dealt with in articles 4          The best persuasion.and  assurance that the Bible is
and 5.                                                          the very Word of God and therefore is truth is the
      The main presentation of article four is that the         inward work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. He
authority of Scripture is not dependent upon the                accompanies that Word, opens it before us, and bears
church, but upon God. The historical occasion shows             witness with the Word in our hearts. Because of this
that the authors of this confession were children of            all-important and necessary work of the Holy Spirit,
the Reformation, which liberated the Bible which                we should pray God for this blessing of the Spirit
Rome had shackled. Rome says that the Bible is the              prior to every time we open the Bible. Do not you
Word of God, but it also says that the certainty of this        think that such would cure much sinfully habitual
is dependent upon the testimony of the Church. Much             reading and give us pause to think of the holy ground
more important than what God says about His Word,               on which we tread whenever we open the Scripture
according to Rome, is .what, the Church says.                   for reading or meditation?
  The children of the Reformation wanted stated                   The testimony of the Spirit is not a mystical voice
explicitly the fact that the authority of Scripture is          which could be different for different people. Rather,
not dependent upon man or church, but upon God                  the Spirit applies the Word as read or preached so
alone, the sole author. "The witness of God is                  that it arises within our hearts as a certainty. "Now
greater" (I John  5:9). The Old Testament claims to             we have received . . . the Spirit which is of God; that
be the very Word of God (II Sam.  23:2). The New                we might know the things that are freely given to us
Testament writers accepted the Old Testament as the             of God" (I Cor. 2: 12).
Word of God (Acts  4:24,25; Luke  1:68-79; Matt.                  With renewed conviction we can say, "Thy Word is
5: 18). The apostles so received the Spirit that they           a lamp unto my feet, and a light upon my path. I
could say that "he that despiseth (their letters and its        have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes
instruction - RVO) despiseth not man, but God Who               alway, evkn unto the end" (Psalm 119: 105,112).


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   93


                                    Annual Secretary's                                                '
                                        Report, R.F.P.A.

Dear Members and friends of the R.F.P.A.,                   Committee has been working on updating our
  Our Faithful Covenant God, Who rules over all             subscription policies. We are still continuing the ten
creation, has greatly blessed us in the past year. He       issues for two dollars program, and the program
has enabled us to publish the  Standard Bearer  for         whereby each subscriber to the Standard Bearer, may
fifty-five years, so that His rich truths may be read by    with his renewal, send ten free issues to a new
His people.                                                 subscriber. We have also reminded our consistories  of
                                                            the practice to give one year subscriptions of the
  We are thankful to-God in that 1900 copies of the         Standard Bearer  to newly married couples of our
Standard Bearer were grinted for the August issue.          Protestant Reformed Churches and new members
Two hundred copies are kept for bound volumes.              from outside our Protestant Reformed Churches.
Last year 1660 copies were mailed out, while this             The Board has been considering the idea of
year 1679 copies were mailed out. Although this             centrally locating our many publications in a storage
increase is small, we are very grateful to God that He      building, At present, our printed materials and
continues to bless us with new subscribers. Locally, in     equipment are located in many different places over a
the Grand Rapids and West Michigan area, 769 copies         wide area. The storage building would aid our people
are sent out. Outside of the G.R. and W. Michigan           in having fast access to materials and.equipment.
area 739 copies are mailed. Jenison, Hudsonville, and
the Northwest area of G.R. continue to be the areas           The committee handling the tax exemption letter
with the largest number of subscribers. Texas has had       to become a non-profit organization has run into
the greatest increase in new subscribers. Our foreign       difficulties in obtaining proper forms from the State
subscribers total 171, with copies going to such            of Michigan. We do report that our corporate
countries as Australia, Germany, Hungary, Jamaica,          existence has been extended another 30 years to the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, and South               year 2010.
Africa.                                                       When we consider the wonderful truth that God
                                                            has given us a faithful Editor-in-chief, who zealously
  Our Treasurer reports that gifts this year totaled        defends the truth once given to the saints, and has
$9,584.4$. Of this total amount, $4,892.82 was from         given us many department editors who continue to
church collections and $4,691.63 was from individual        write truly Reformed articles, issue after issue, we can
gifts. We greatly desire your continued generous gifts      only fall on our knees and thank God for them. God
from the heart and your fervent prayers, in sup-            through them has given us a rich treasure of
porting this cause of God's Kingdom.                        Reformed Truths.
   The Finance Committee has been working on the              Our business manager, Mr. Henry VanderWal, has
aspect of increased costs of printing and mailing the       for another year, by God's grace, put forth much
Standard Bearer.  To give you an idea of these              outstanding effort. Mr.  VanderWal's hard work is
increases consider these facts. A few years ago the         gratefully appreciated by all. Mr. VanderWal has
Standard Bearer could be mailed for $10 per issue.          requested the .important need of an assistant to learn
Now the cost is $50 per issue. On a yearly basis we         the duties of business manager. The Board has placed
once mailed 21 issues for $210. Now we pay a postal         announcements for an assistant, with no results.
expense of $1050 for 21 issues. A few years ago               The Board gratefully acknowledges the hard work
renewal notices could be mailed for a cost of $85.          of the following brethren over the past three years:
Now the cost is $250. The cost to send 20 copies of         Gerrit Holstege, Clare Kuiper (President), and Tom
the Standard Bearer to New Zealand by Air Mail is           Reitsma. Thank you brethren for your sincere
$8.84.. The cost to send one copy to Singapore or           concern for the Standard Bearer.
Australia by Air Mail is $1.28. These facts, plus the
fact of a 10% increase in cost in all the facets of           The Staff and Board of the R.F.P.A. sincerely
printing the Standard Bearer, have had our Finance          desire your unceasing prayers and faithful support.
Committee working hard to establish policies to                                                  Yours in the Lord
compensate for these increases.                                                   THE BOARD OF THE R.F.P.A.
  The Membership, Education, `and Information                                             Dave Harbach, Secretary


94                                      THE STANDARD BEARER





      Announcing

                                  the publication of

                                Herman Hoeksema's


                           G O D 'S   ETERNAL
                       G O O D   P L E A S U R E
                                   (Sermons on Romans 9-11)





                            Price: $9.95 (plus $1.00 for shipping)


      Send your check or money order to: Reformed Free Publishing Association, P.O. Box 2006,
      Grand Rapids, Michigan 4950 1.




      Special Note: RFPA Book Club members need not order; they will receive this book
      automatically at the Book Club discount of 20%. The Book Club is still open for new
      members. Membership involves agreement to buy every  new  RFPA publication. It also
      involves the privilege of purchasing all RFPA books at a 20% discount. If you wish to join,
      write to the above address. If you join, you can still take advantage of the discount on this
      latest RFPA book!


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 95





                                          Book Review

THE HOLY SPIRIT,  by C. F. D. Moule; Wm. B.                the now retired Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978; 120 pp., $3.95          at Cambridge University is a heretical contribution to
(paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.)                     the literature. It denies the personality of the Holy
  This further addition to the many publications on        Spirit (See pp.  10, 50, e.g.) and therefore cannot
the Holy Spirit in this age of Neo-Pentecostalism by       qualify as any worthwhile book in this field.





                                      LOOKING FOR A
                                  BUDGET BARGAIN?

          PU  R C  HAS E  God's  Covenant Faithfulness 0  R  Peaceable Fruit 0  R  Therefore
          Have  / Spoken  AT THE REGULAR PRICE OF $5.95, AND RECEIVE ONE
          OF THE FOLLOWING FREE:

                          1. In The Beginning God (value $1.00)
                        2. The Five Points of Calvinism (value $1.95)

                                                                                                     I


          Order NOW for prompt delivery. Send orders with 10% postage to:

                          The R. F.P.A.
                          P.O. Box 2006
                          Grand Rapids, M! 49501




                           --

                            News From Our Churches

  After welcome contributions from the clerks of           the Classis was scheduled to meet in special session on
Classis West and  Classis East, it is again up to your     October 30. This session was called to examine
news editor to fill this page. There may, however, be      Candidate Ronald Hanko who accepted the call of
another contribution from the clerk of Classis East, as    our Covenant Church in Wykoff, New Jersey to


         THE STANDARD  BEARER           -__
                  P.O. Box 6064                                                                j &igZE~& 1
        Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506



                                                             --

        96                                           THE STANDARD BEARER              -




        become their second pastor. Their first pastor, Rev.       Bradenton Sunday November 11 through Sunday
        Arie den Hartog, has accepted his call to serve as         December 2. Services are, scheduled in the Manatee
        missionary to Singapore.                                   Hotel. First Church is currently directing this work
              Our church in Lynden, Washington formed a trio       under its church extension committee and will be
        of Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. John Heys, and Rev.          sending a number of ministers of our churches there
        Bernard Woudenberg. A call was extended to Rev.            beginning in November.
        Woudenberg to serve as home missionary in                     Since the early '60s our:' churches have been
        Washington state.                                          conducting mission work on the. Island of Jamaica.
              Hudso nville Church has formed a trio for            The 1979 Synod of our churches appointed First
        minister-on-loan to Christchurch, New Zealand,             Church to care for the Jamaican Mission Field. Since
        consisting of Rev. Bekkering, Professor H. C.              its formation, the Jamaican Missions Committee,
        Hoeksema, and Rev. Woudenberg. The congregation            appointed by First Church Consistory, has been
        will vote to call one of these men during the course of    meeting almost weekly. Time has been spent in
        their annual congregational meeting at the end of          reviewing the history and attempting to ascertain the
        November.                                                  needs of the field and how best to meet these needs.
              Rev. Bekkering declined the call extended to him     Detailed plans are now being made to send emissaries
        by our Hope Church in Grand Rapids.                        to Jamaica in January of 1980. Another major goal of
                                                                   the committee is to prepare for the calling of `a
              The former pastor of Hope Church, Rev. Van           missionary to Jamaica after the 1980 Synod. This
        ,Overloop, is now serving as home missionary in the        work is being carried out in cooperation with the
        Birmingham, Alabama area. The following short              Synodical Mission Committee and its Jamaican
        .report of his work appeared in the South Holland          Sub-Committee..
        bulletin: "After about two months of being in
        Birmingham, we can report that we believe things are         The Reformed Witness Committee of our Hope
        going very well. We have been holding worship              church is sponsoring a discussion group of Protestant
        services twice a sabbath in ,a meeting room of the         Reformed people which will meet starting on
        downtown Holiday Inn. We are also conducting               Tuesday, November 6, and meet on alternate weeks
        mid-week meetings in various homes. We are                 at 8:00 PM at the Lamont Christian School in
        experiencing the Lord's blessing for we are learning       Coopersville, Michigan. The proposed topic for
        what is involved in the work and how best to perform       discussion is the 37 articles of the Belgic Confession.
        it. For that we earnestly covet your continued             The meetings are to be led by Professor H. Hanko.
        prayers. " You may write to the Van Overloop  family         The fall meeting of the Western Ladies League was
        at 5080 Sunny Dell Drive, Hueytown, Alabama                held in Doon, Iowa, at 1: 00 PM on October 11. Rev.
        35020. They would be more than. pleased to receive         Kamps spoke on the topic "Peace and Hope that
        your letter.                                               Endureth." The speech was based on Romans 5:5-9.
          The installation service for the new pastor of our         The annual church cleaning in Hull was scheduled
        church in Hull, Iowa, Rev. Ronald Cammenga, was            for Tuesday, September 25 beginning at 9:00 AM.
        conducted by Rev. Marvin Kamps in' Hull on                 Cleaners were requested `to bring pails, stepladders,
        September 12. A welcome program for the                    and vacuum cleaners.' Dinner, however, was to be
        Cammenga family was held on Monday evening,                furnished.
        September 17. After the program, a lunch and social          T h e   f o l l o w i n g   i s   a   T H O U G H T   F O R
        hour took place in the Hull-Christian School building.     CONTEMPLATION found in the South Holland
          At the request of First Church in Grand Rapids,          bulletin. It was taken from the writings of John
        the consistory of our Faith Church in Jenison,             Calvin. "God is sought in two ways, either by prayer,
        Michigan has granted permission for their pastor, Rev.     or by studying to live a holy and an upright life; and,
        Wilbur Bruinsma, to labor in ministerial work for four     indeed, the one is always inseparably joined with the
        weeks in the Bradenton area of Florida. The Lord           other."
        willing, Rev. Bruinsma is expected to be preaching in                                                           K.G.V.


_...


