       STANDARD
                   BEARER
f                   A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE


        .  .  .    As-a root out of the dry ground (Isaiah
     5X2) shall He spring forth; for, though the
     house of Judah shall have no believing male
     left in it to perpetuate the covenant seed, and
     his generations end in a virgin, yet will the
     Lord fulfill His Word unto David that  `out of
     his generations  One- shall sit on  .His throne
     forever . .

        So there will be the incarnation, the cross,
     the resurrection, and  the' glorification, the
     Lord coming to the throne of His power!
     Verily, nothing shall fail of all that the Lord
     h a t h   s p o k e n !

          See "The Mother of My Lord" - page 98

t                                                       Volume LVI, No. 5, December 1, 1979  1


98                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                            CONTENTS:                                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                                   ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                        Semi-monthly. except monthly during June, July. and August.
Meditation  -                                                                             Published  by  the Reformed Free Publishing Association,  inc.
                                                                                                     Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
      TheMotherofMyLord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98                 Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
Editorials  -
      Harry Boer Is Right! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I01
      Harry Boer Is Wrong! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102           Editorial Office:  Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
From Holy Writ  -                                                                                               4975  Ivanrest  Ave. S.W.
                                                                                                                Grandville,   M i c h i g a n   4 9 4 1 8
      Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104            Church News Editor:  Mr. Kenneth G. Vink
                                                                                                                         1 4 2 2   L i n w o o d ,   SE.
The Lord Gave the Word  -                                                                                                G r a n d   R a p i d s .   M i c h i g a n   4 9 5 0 7
                                                                                Editorial  POiiCV:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of
      Missions in the Book of Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106               IIS  own   articles.  Contributions Of general  inter&  from our readers and
                                                                                we$ons   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 .   Contri-
Guest Article  -                                                                Ju!lOnS   wll  be limited to  aPProximatklY  300 words and must be neatly
                                                                                Nrltten  or typewritten. and  must  be signed. Copy deadlines are the first
                                                                                Ind   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
      Praying for Politicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108          contents should be sent to the editorial office.
                                                                                Reprint,PO/iCY.'   P e r m i s s i o n   i s   h e r e b y   g r a n t e d   f o r   t h e   r e p r i n t i n g   o f
My Sheep Hear My Voice  -                                                       a r t i c l e s   1"  our   m a g a z i n e   b y   o t h e r   publicatiqns,   P r o v i d e d :   a )   t h a t   s u c h
                                                                                reprInted   articles   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 -
      LettertoTimothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l l l         m e n t   1s  m a d e ;   c )   that  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
                                                                                appears is sent to our editorial office.
All Around Us  -                                                                Business Office:  The Standard Bearer
                                                                                                                Mr. H.  Vander   Wal.  Bus. Mgr.
      Two magazines unite                                                                                       P.O. Box 6064
                                  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113                                   G r a n d   R a p i d s .   M i c h i g a n   4 9 5 0 6
      A "Conservative's" Answer for Discipline . . . .113                       New Zealand Business  OffIce:                                  The Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                               C/O  O P C   Bookshop.
                                                                                                                                                D
                                                                                                                                                I   3. BOX 2289
      Ordination of Homosexuals                                                                                                                      .C
                                           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115                                                                    C h r i s t c h u r c h ,   N e w   Z e a l a n d
The Day of Shadows  -                                                           ;ubscription Policy:  Subscription price, $ 8 . 0 0   p e r   y e a r .   U n l e s s   a
                                                                                1efinit.e   r e q u e s t   f o r   d i s c o n t i n u a n c e   i s   r e c e i v e d   i t   i s   a s s u m e d   t h a t   t h e
      ALadderofGrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115             `ubscrlber   wishes  the subscription to continue  Without  the formality of
                                                                                I renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal. If you have a change
                                                                                jf address,  Please  notify the Business Office as early as possible in order
BookReview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..118            o  avold  the  inconvenience  of delayed delivery. Include your Zip Code.
News From Our Churches                                                          4dvertiTing  policy:  The  Standard Bearer  doe5  not accept commercial
                                     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120     ldvertislnq  Of  any  k i n d .   A n n o u n c e m e n t s   o f   c h u r c h   a n d   s c h o o l   e v e n t s
                                                                                InnlverSarleS,   obituaries.  and sympathy resolutions will be placed for  d
                                                                                63.00  fee,  These should be Sent to the Business Office and should be
                                                                                lccomPanled   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
                                                                                )r  t h e   1 5 t h   o f   t h e   m o n t h .   P r e v i o u s   t o   p u b l i c a t i o n   on  t h e   15th   or  the
                                                                                1st  respectivelv.
                                                                                                  --.
                                                                                3ound'  VO/UmeS:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                                                )ound  copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as soon as
                                                                                wslble   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   vol-
                                                                                lmes  may be obtained through the Business Office.


MEDITATION




                                      The Mother of My Lord
                                                                  Rev. M. Schipper


                "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation ofMary, the babe leaped in
               her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud
               voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And
               whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo as soon as the
               voice  of  thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb  for  joy. And
               blessed is she that believed; fov there shall be a performance of those things which were told
               her from the Lord. "                                                                                                                         Luke  1:41-45.


Wonderful days they were in which the words of                                           The night of the old dispensation was drawing to
our text find their setting!                                                      its end. All through those four thousand years there


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               99



were indications that the night would not last forever.    salutation of Mary, the babe within Elisabeth leaped in
And as the end of them drew near, the signs of the         her womb and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy
coming day became ever clearer.                            Ghost, and spake with a loud voice:
  The first streaks of the day of salvation were             "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the
beginning to appear in the multiple appearances of         fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that
heavenly messengers. These enlightened the believing       the mother of my Lord should come' to me?"
church that the Son of Righteousness was presently           Wonderful revelation!
to appear with healing in His wings. Already the angel
Gabriel, that brilliant seraph, had appeared twice in        Unmistakable sign!
rapid succession: once to Zacharias, an unsuspecting         Not merely a natural phenomenon, to be explained
priest, as he was officiating in the temple ministra-      from natural causes. For though scientifically-it might
tion; and then to a virgin whose name was Mary, who        be shown how sudden experiences of joy or sorrow
was espoused to Joseph the carpenter in lowly              may affect an unborn embryo in the womb of its
Nazareth  - singularly favored by the Lord.                mother, it is very evident here that the leaping babe
  Wonderful days, indeed, of special revelation!           in Elisabeth must be explained  froni more than the
                                                           mere sound of Mary's salutation.
  Six months had passed since Gabriel had an-
nounced to Zacharias the coming birth of him who             Here was a divine sign, produced by a wonder of
was to prepare the way for the Messiah. Elisabeth, his     grace. As the sovereign Creator was able to produce in
wife, had conceived in her old age, and was no'doubt       the womb of Rebekah the struggle of two nations,
making every preparation  fey this singular event.         and  sb interpret the experience to a troubled  mother,-
Zacharias, we remember, had not believed, and was          so also here in the womb of Elisabeth He produced
stricken dumb. But certainly even his dumbness did         the joyful leaping of her unborn son, simultaneously
not hinder the process of normal birth. And she that       with the greeting of Mary.
was called barren was visited by the Lord, and was           Elisabeth recognizes divine revelation by the power
soon to bring forth a son who "in the spirit and           of the Holy Ghost wherewith she was filled. By this
power of  Elias would turn the'hearts of the fathers to    power of the Spirit of God she was able to recognize
the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of         the wonder that had befallen her in the grace of God.
the just, to  m,ake ready a people prepared for the        No doubt her husband, who was dumb because of
Lord."                                                     unbelief, had revealed to  her how he was dumb, how
  In the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy the          the angel of the Lord had spoken to him in the
angel once more appeared to a youthful virgin in the       sanctuary of her coming pregnancy, of the birth of a
meanest of Galilean towns, Nazareth by name,               miracle son who would prepare the way for the  '
saying: "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord      coming Lord and a people for His coming. In faith
is with thee: blessed art thou among women."               she had conceived, and now in faith she joyfully
                                                           looked forward to the fulfillment of the Word of the
  Sore troubled was she at this saying, wondering          Lord.
what manner of salutation this should' be. And the
angel explains: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found          By the power of that same Spirit she now
favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in       interprets the sign of the leaping babe, as a leaping for
thy womb, and bring forth a  son, and shall call his       joy at the sound of Mary's voice. Not only was the
name Jesus." Moreover, the angel explained to  h&          Holy Spirit promised and given to the babe in his
how it  yould be possible for her a virgin to bring        mother's womb, which makes him leap for joy at the
forth this Son of the Highest: for the Holy Ghost          sound of the voice of his Master's mother, but that
would come. upon her and the power of the Highest          Spirit reveals to the mother of the unborn babe the
would  overshadow her; and that holy thing which           significance of his leaping. And so by the power of
would be born of her would be called the Son of            the Holy Spirit she speaks to her pregnant cousin,
God.                                                       who had come for the expressed purpose to see the
                                                           sign.
  And if Mary still wondered at the possibility of all
this, the Lord  .will give her a sign in her pregnant        Wonderful revelation. indeed!
aged cousin, Elisabeth, whose barren womb is made            Accompanied with great joy!
alive by the power of God.                                   Joy, registered in the heart of the  unboi-n, leaping
  Mary believed, but her faith needed strengthening        babe, who felt the presence of his Master in the voice
through the sign. So she decides to go immediately to      of His virgin mother. Precursory to the joy he would
Judea to see there also the wonder that is come to         express when, in the fulness of manhood and in the
pass. And it was so that, when Elisabeth heard the         height of his mission as forerunner of the Christ, he


100                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



would say: "He must increase and I must decrease"          unto Him.
,(John  3:30). Now being unborn and in his prenatal          Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord
state, but being moved by the power of the Spirit,         should come to me? How can I but be moved with
shall he not leap for joy when he is in the very           eternal joy when He condescends to come into my
presence of his Master? Entirely proper is the action      presence? into my nature? under my guilt?
of the unborn babe, as interpreted by his mother.            Blessed, indeed, is the fruit of thy womb, Mary!
   But joy also in the heart and now on the lips of the    For He is my mighty Lord Who purchased me with
aged mother, Elisabeth.                                    His own blood, and made  ine His eternal possession.
   Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord        Who, in His unchangeable love, loved me even unto
should come to me?                                         death and gave Himself for me a propitiation  for"al1
   Not only is that which is in the womb of the            my sins.
pregnant virgin the Lord of her unborn son, but              0, it is true, that Elisabeth could not at this point
significantly she acknowledges that Mary's unborn          in time have understood all that she expressed. That
babe is her Lord. And therefore she exclaims with a        understanding would come in the fulness of her
loud voice: "Blessed art thou among women, and             salvation. But even now, and this is the wonder of
blessed is the fruit of thy womb!"                         revelation and the power of the Holy Ghost within
   Mary, the mother of my Lord! This is what               her, she is moved by the Spirit to prophesy: He is my
Elisabeth is given to understand and to express,           Lord!
having heard only the salutation of Mary. Indeed, if         And how blessed is she, the virgin mother, that
Mary had told Elisabeth all that had transpired in         b e l i e v e d !
Nazareth  - how the angel had shown to her that she          Mary, though she had questioned how this would
being a virgin was to have a Son Whose name was to         be possible, since she knew no man remaining in the
be called Jesus, Who would be given the throne of          covenant line through whom the Lord could fulfill
father David, how that he had revealed to her that her     His Word, nevertheless believed. Verily she believed
aged and barren cousin had conceived and was to bare       that with  the Lord nothing was impossible, and she
a son  - and Elisabeth and the babe would have             believed that the Lord  would, fulfill His Word in her.
responded  .as they did, the experience recorded in the    For she said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be
text would still be wonderful. But the experience was      it unto me according to thy Word."
still more wonderful, for Mary had not said a word
about all this. All that Elisabeth heard was Mary's          But signs are for the believers, for the strengthen-
greeting. Elisabeth therefore not only speaks a word       ing of their faith. Consequently she had come for this
of joy and encouragement, but she, by the power of         hasty visit to her cousin Elisabeth.
the Holy Spirit, prophesies. And so does the leaping         And now she had witnessed the sign. All that
babe and the words of Elisabeth become a sign  - a         remained was to hear the word of Elisabeth that
sign Mary came to behold.                                  would connect the sign to the reality. And Elisabeth
   0, indeed, Mary's Son shall be called the Son of        being inspired by the Holy Spirit does not hesitate to
God (verse  35), for such He is. He is, indeed, the Son    oblige.
of the Highest (verse 32). He is surely God of God,           "Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a
the Son of God in the Trinity of Divine Persons. He is     performance of the things which  were told her from
God incarnate, the God of our salvation come in the        the Lord."
flesh.                                                       Faith, also here, is not to be explained from the
  But Elisabeth rejoices in the fruit of Mary's womb       things which are seen, which even appeared to be
as her Lord  - the One unto whom the Lord God has          contrary to reality; but it is the faith that clings to
given the throne of His father' David; the Lord, Who in    the Word of the Almighty, and sees the invisible,
His human nature would assume our guilt and would          that is the substance of Mary's faith. It hoped on that
battle with our enemy, sin and death, and overcome;        Word, and would walk in the fulfillment of that
the Lord, Who through the way of the cross and the         Word.
grave would merit and attain unto the crown of glory         That is blessed, indeed!
and authority and power, and thus receive a Name
which is above every name; before Whom every knee            For that Word of the Lord has a performance, that
would bow and acknowledge that He is Lord to the           is, it shall surely be fulfilled. Nothing that He has
glory of God the Father.                                   spoken shall fail to materialize.
  So, Mary is the mother of my Lord! Not only the            Mary shall have her Son!
Lord of Elisabeth and her unborn son,  but also my           A Son of David shall come forth of her. As a root
Lord, and the Lord of all whom the Father had given        out of the dry ground (Isaiah  53:2) shall He spring


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              101



forth; for, though the house of Judah shall have no           God's eternal kingdom shall be established!
believing male, left in it to perpetuate the covenant         Eternal salvation shall be the portion of all them
seed, and his generations end in a virgin, yet will the     who put their trust in Him!
Lord fulfill His Word unto David that out of his
generations One shall sit on His throne forever.              Blessed is she that believed!
  So there will be the incarnation, the cross, the            And so is blessed the faith of all God's saints!
resurrection, and the glorification; the Lord coining         World without end!
to the throne of His  pow&!   Verily, nothing shall fail      Amen!
of all that the Lord hath spoken!


EDITORIALS
Pvof H. C. Hoekserna





                                       Harry Boer Is Right!



  The various Christian Reformed attempts to deal           criticizing Mulder's articles on more than one count,
with Dr. Harry Boer's Gravamen against Articles 6           Boer writes as follows:
and 15 of the First Head of the  Canotis of Dordrecht             The third reason (why Boer will not enter further
remind me of a pussycat confronted by a bowl of                 into Mulder's discussion of election, HCH) warrants a
steaming hot milk. Such a pussy approaches the bowl             separate paragraph or two. The issue at stake is  the
ok milk from this angle and that, only to find that, no         contents o,f the gravamen against reprobation. The
matter what the angle, the milk is too hot to drink.            Canons of Dort teach "that decree of election and
Thus it seems to be with Boer's gravamen. Of all                reprobation  revealed  in the Word  0.f God" (I/6).
those whom I have heard or read on the subject thus             Similarly, the Canons. teach in I/1.5 that it is  the
far, no one has dealt head on with the substance of it.         expl'ess testimony o.f sacred Scripture that not all, but
They approach it from this angle and that, but they             some only, are elected, while others are passed by in
never deal with the main point of the gravamen,                 the eternal  decree,  whom God . . . has decreed to
                                                                leave in the common misery.. . . and not to  bestpw
namely, the exegetical one. That milk seems to be too           upon them saving faith and the grace of con-
hot!                                                            version. . . ." The gravamen denies that Scripture
  On this score, Dr. Boer is right. He is wrong, dead           teaches a decree of reprobation as above described. It
wrong, in his doctrine, as well as in many related              presents an exegesis of all Scripture passages cited by
claims which he makes. But he is altogether right in            Dort in support of its teaching, and finds them
his claim that the substance of his gravamen is                 wholly wanting. The issue is: Is tllisfiildirlg  correct UI
                                                                is it  not correct? 
exegetical. Boer claims that the Scripture passages                                     .The issue- is an exegetical one
                                                                pertaining to the nine or ten passages in the New
adduced by the Canons in support of  the doctrine of            Testament. If the syriod should judge the exegesis of
reprobation do not prove what the Canons claim  that            these verses to be invalid, then the gravamen will by
they prove. Secondly, Boer claims that he has                   that fact have lost its case. If the exegesis is judged to
exegeted the Scripture passages in question, and that           be valid, then the doctrine of reprobation should be
he has demonstrated exegetically that he is correct in          declared to be no longer binding on the conscience of
his claim, so that it is indeed true that the Canons do         the church, in particular on the conscience of its
not produce any "express testimony" of Scripture in             office bearers.
support of the Reformed doctrine of reprobation.              This is a wholly accurate statement of the central
  In a lengthy reply in "Voices"  (The  Banner, Nov.        issue of the Boer Gravamen. I do not think that Dr.
2, 1979) to two articles by the Rev. Lambertus              Boer himself wholly sticks to this central issue even in
Mulder. Boer makes this plain once more. After              his gravamen? probably because of his strong  ani-


102                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



mosity against the Reformed doctrine of reprobation.           It is, after all, not such a hot issue; and Boer's
And, certainly, Boer's critics have thus far failed to      critics need not approach the matter like pussycats
face up to this central issue. No one has dealt with        approaching a bowl of hot milk. On the one hand, it
Boer's exegesis of the texts cited by the Canons, and       is not difficult to shoot holes in Dr. Boer's alleged
no one has produced a counter-exegesis of those             exegesis of the Scripture passages concerned. And, on
passages.                                                   the other hand, it is not difficult to produce the plain
  Why not?                                                  and simple Scriptural meaning of the texts cited by
                                                            the Canons, the same meaning that the theologians
  It would seem that eventually  - unless the               and delegates gathered at. Dordrecht in 16 18-19
Christian Reformed Synod can still find a way to            discovered. I dare say that any capable senior
avoid treating the  Boer Gravamen in 1980  - that           seminarian should be able to refute Dr. Boer's
central issue, so accurately stated by Boer, will have      exegesis and to produce the correct interpretation.
to be faced. It is certainly to be  hoped that the Study
Committee will face this exegetical issue in its coming        But someone in the Christian Reformed Church
report and that said committee will plainly state its       had better tackle the task. Otherwise Dr. Boer will
agreement or disagreement with Boer on  exegetical          win his case by default, and justly so.
grounds. That should at least clear the air and should,
to the degree that it  do& clear the air, prove salutary      It will indeed prove interesting to see what the
for all concerned.                                          Study Committee produces when its report is pub-
                                                            lished.
  And why should this exegetical issue not be faced?





                                      Harry Boer Is Wrong!

  My  referknce in the above title is not to the fact           without reprobation is hardly Reformed. I would
that Dr. Boer is wrong in his denial of reprobation.            counsel such thought to be careful indeed. One can
He is that, indeed. But this is not now my point.               preach the whole round of Reformed doctrine ac-
                                                                cording to the fifty-two Lord's Days of the Heidel-
  Nor is my reference to the fact that Boer himself,            berg Catechism without a single reference to reproba-
though he insists that the issue in his gravamen is an          tion, and yet be wholly faithful to that most
exegetical one, does not always stick to that one               important and influential creed of the CRC. There is
issue. As I have already pointed out, even in his               not the slightest reference either in the answer to
gravamen, Dr. Boer does not stick entirely to this              Question 54, "That the Son of God . . . gathers . . . a
issue, partly because he cannot refrain from venting            Church' chosen to everlasting life . . .", or in the rest
                                                                of the Catechism to reprobation. In contemporary
his gall against the Reformed truth. But he also allows         fact, that is virtually the only way that the doctrine
himself to be deterred by the writings of his                   of election .is being preached and taught in the CRC.
opponents and thus to be tempted into discussing                Rev. Mulder's ominous pronouncement, "In case the
subjects apart from that central issue of exegesis.             one supporting pillar of reprobation is knocked down
  And when he does so, he only succeeds in making               the other pillar (election) goes with it," has hardly
plain to any discerning reader how wrong his position           been validated by history. I fully believe that the
                                                                doctrine of election is being muted in the CRC, but
on reprobation is.                                              this I conceive to be caused by the theological and
  In the same article in "Voices" to which I have               religious encumbrance with which it is burdened
already referred Dr. Boer attempts to answer some of            through its intimate association with reprobation.
the non-exegetical arguments of the Rev. L. Mulder.           At  this time I am not so interested in the claim
In so doing, Boer again makes reference to the              Boer makes in the latter part of the above paragraph.
Heidelberg Catechism's alleged failure to make refer-       There is, of course, a different explanation of the fact
ence to the doctrine of reprobation. Writes he:             that the doctrine of election is being muted in the
       It may be demurred that holding to election          CRC. That explanation is that in 1924 the CRC


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  103



principally denied the doctrine of reprobation in its          light of Ursinus's own explanation of the Heidelberg
First Point of Common Grace. Because it principally            Catechism, Qu. 54. I shall not repeat what I wrote
denied reprobation, it also principally denied                 earlier about this subject. Let me remind the reader
sovereign election. And ever since 1924 the doctrine           that Ursinus deals at length with the subject of
of election has been increasingly muted. This explana-         reprobation in his commentary on Question and
tion is historically correct.                                  Answer 54. And what, pray tell, could be more
  But I am especially interested in Boer's claim that          Heidelbergian than the conimentary by the chief
it is possible faithfully to preach "the whole round of        author. of the Catechism? And if Ursinus found it
Reformed doctrine according to the fifty-two Lord's            necessary arid proper to refer to reprobation ex-
Days of the Heidelberg Catechism without a single              tensively in connection with Question and Answer
reference to reprobation, and yet be wholly faithful           54, who is Harry Boer'to say that one can be "wholly
to that most important and influential creed of the            faithful" to the Catechism and yet not make a single
CRC."                                                          reference to  - let alone explanation of  - rep-
                                                               robation?
  In this claim Dr. Boer is altogether wrong. He bases
his claim, of course, on the fact that there is no  literal       In the third place, Dr. Boer's inference is false in
mention  nor any  definition  or  explanation  of rep-         the light of the Catechism itself. After all, when
robation in the Heidelberg Catechism. The  fact  is            Ursinus (and others) speaks of reprobation in connec-
true. The infererice drawn from that fact is  false.  And      tion with Question and Answer 54, he does not pull
it is-  fatal:  for it is exactly one of the purposes of       this out of thin air. He does not say to himself, as it
Catechism preaching to insure.that the  w1zoZe body of         were, "Here I refer to election, and so I'd better
Reformed doctrine be preached.                                 speak of reprobation, too. " No, there is a reason for
                                                               this in the 54th  Answer.`Of  course. you cannot see
  Why is Boer's inference false?                               this reason when you quote the 54th Answer as Boer
  It is false, in the first place, because it is contrary      quotes it above, with those ellipses. Then it appears
to the Formula of Subscription. The' Formula of                indeed as though  there is no reference to reprobation.
Subscription conceives of our creeds as one and as             And I would imagine that Harry Boer must in his own
belonging together. They are  - and we commonly                mind have read the answer just as he printed it above
refer to them by this terminology  - the  Tlzree Form          when he preached on it without reference to reproba-
of Unity.  Besides, according to the Formula of                tion. But read the 54th Answer in full: "That the Son
Subscription, the Canons are an "explanation of some           of God from the beginning to the end of the world,
points of the aforesaid doctrine, made by the                  gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by his
National Synod of Dordrecht, 16  18-`19." The "afore-          Spirit and word, out of the whole human race, a
said doctrine" in this statement refers to the doctrine        church chosen  `to everlasting life, agreeing  i.n true
contained in the Confession and the Catechism. Still           faith; and that I am and for ever shall remain, a living
more, ministers who sign the Formula of Subscription           member thereof." Notice that phrase: "out of the
vow that they  c`reject" and that they are "disposed to        whole human race." There is distinction made. Some
refute and contradict" not merely all errors which             are gathered, defended, and preserved  orlt  of  the
militate against the doctrine of the Catechism and             whole human race. Some are not gathered. defended,
Confession, but  "`particularly those which were cow           and preserved. Why are some gathered? They con-
dernned by the above mentioned  syliod."  (italics             stitute "a church  clzoselz to everlasting life." Why are
added) In that light, I would like to know how in the          some  not  gathered? The answer is plain: they are not
world it is possible faithfully to preach the Heidelberg       chosen. Call them in typically infralapsarian language
Catechism without a single reference to reprobation.           the "not chosen" or the "non-elect." But there you
Dr. Boer creates a false disjunction among our                 have the implication of the doctrine of reprobation.
Reformed creeds. And I make bold to say that                   And there you have the reason why Ursinus and other
anyone who preaches on Question and Answer 54 of               commentators do not fail to speak of reprobation in
the Catechism without reference to sovereign rep-              this context. And there you have the reason why a
robation is NOT faithfully preaching the Catechism,            Reformed man who faithfully preaches the Heidel-
but deliberately muting the truth,. I know, it is              berg Catechism will  surely.not by-pass the doctrine of
extremely difficult to deal ecclesiastically with a            reprobation.
minister for what he doesn't say; but remember that              Dr. Boer is wrong, dead wrong.
this failure to say certain things is often deliberate
and is frequently the forerunner of explicit heresy.             But I fear nevertheless that he is a faithful son of
We learned something of this by experience in the              the Christian Reformed Church. What his church
troubles our churches endured prior to 1953.                   adopted implicitly in 1924 Boer is now pleading that
                                                               it adopt explicitly fifty-five years later: the denial of
  In the second place, Boer's inference is false in the        sovereign reprobation!


104                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


FROM HOLY WRIT





                                 Exposition of Galatians
                                                   by Rev. G. Lubbers





THE WORKS OF THE FLESH MANIFEST  -                             been declared unto me of  you, brethren, that there
continued (Gal. 5 : 19-2 1 a)                                  are contentions  (erides)   among you." Where there are
                                                               such contentions the unity of the Spirit in the bond
  The second list here given by Paul consists of sins          bf peace is broken (Eph.  4:3). Where meekness is,
against the sixth commandment in the Decalogue:                there is no striving of the flesh against the Spirit.
Thou shalt not kill! And the first of these is, of             Then we see the upholding of each other with
course, the sin of hatred, or enmities of every sort.          lowliness and longsuffering, forbearing with one
When we look at this list we see the following                 another (Eph.  4:2). Here we have the answer to the
enumerated: variance, emulations (jealousies), and             prayer of Psalm  122:8, "I will now say, peace be
wrath. No doubt we have here a catalogue of vices              within thee." How pleasant and how good it is for
which are all of "such kind" that those who  practice          brethren to dwell together in unity! (Ps. 133)
(oi ta  toiauta   prassontes)   them, shall not inherit the
kingdom of God (Eph.  5:5).                                       Furthermore, we should take notice of the "mani-
                                                               fest" work of the flesh, called "emulations" in the
  Let us now continue to analyze these vices which             KJV of the Bible. Emulation is, an attempting to be
are fightings of our sinful flesh against the Holy Spirit      someone's equal. It is closely connected with the sin
of God, as that occurs within us as reborn saints. We          of "strife." Perhaps we may say that it is the very
must know our natural face in the mirror (James                motivation of strife in the church here on earth or,
1:23).                                                         for that matter, in any place in the world of men and
   It ought to be obvious that the next vice, called           angels. Someone has aptly said that this vice is "the
"variance," is better translated "strife," as does the         feeling of sorrow that it goes well with your neighbor,
A.V. of the Bible. It then refers to the violent conflicts     which prosperity you do not desire him to have."
which erupt among the members  df a congregation of            Now this is the very opposite of what Paul writes
Christ in this world; it is contention, which is               with poetic beauty concerning "love" in I Corinthians
motivated by the sin of pride and the desire for               13:4b.  In that hymn of praise on true Christian love,
superiority. The  Staten  Vertaling,   (translation) given     we read, "Charity (love) envieth not." The Dutch
in our Dutch Bible, translates it with "twisten," to           translation is very expressive here: "De liefde is niet
dispute, to quarrel. It refers to the violent discord          afgunstig."  Love does not seek herself. Love is not
between brethren and sisters: contention and wran-             sick with the neighbor's health. What a sorry spec-
gling. It is the flesh lusting against the Spirit (Gal.        tacle in the church of Christ! It is unholy zeal. The
5: 16). Paul, writing about this vice, in Romans 13 : 13       term in the Greek text is  Zeelos. There is a reading in
connects it with the sin of jealousy. There we read,           the Greek which gives this vice in the plural. Paul
"Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting            would then have reference to the concrete and actual
and drunkenness, not in  chambering and wantonness,            manifestations of this false zeal in God's churches in
not in  strife  and  envying.  " And James writes, "But if     Galatia. This is a far cry from the "more excellent
ye have bitter  envying  and  strife  in your hearts, glory    way" of I Corinthians 13. Perhaps there was much of
not and lie not against the truth" (James 3:  14,16).          this false zeal in the Galatian churches. In this false
Paul also makes mention of this terrible contention            zeal they devour and utterly destroy one another
and wrangling in I Corinthians  .l : 11: "For it hath          (Gal. 5 : 15).


                                                   __  .--  -.
                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       105



   Here is really not the place for an in depth study of            The term wrath  `tllzunzos"  is connected with the
the term translated "emulations." However, permit                 term "malice" in Scripture (Col.  3:8). The Dutch
me a few observations nonetheless. We should ob-                  translation is "kwaadheid." The term "malice" is evil
serve, when we study the Scriptures, that the term                with the intent to hurt the brother, wound him. It is
Zeelos is sometimes employed in a very good sense.                the evil to hurt a man's reputation, his honor and
There is such a thing as holy zeal. We read of this in            place in the midst of the brethren and sisters. It is the
John 2: 17, where the disciples of Jesus apply Psalm              downright ill will, the contemplated desire to hurt. All
69:lO to Jesus' work of cleansing the temple, by                  of this expresses itself in the "great and transcient
driving out the money-changers, saying "make not                  anger." This wrath and evil is a very manifest and
(stop making) my Father's house a house of merchan-               ever-recurring work of the flesh against the Spirit in
dise." Then the disciples remember what was written               the saints. Here we see a very grievous aspect of the
"the  zeal  of thine house hath consumed (eaten me)               "passions" of the flesh which we have crucified in
up) me" (Psalm 69: 10). Many. passages  .could be                 Christ's death and resurrection. It is seen in the
quoted concerning the "zeal of the LORD." We refer                smaller children as well as in the adult Christian.
to such passages as Isaiah  9:7,  37:32,  59:17, Ezekiel            The next term that engages our attention is the
5: 13. This zeal is God's holy jealousy for His people,           term which in the Greek text is  "eritheia."  The  AV
whom He loves intensely. Jealousy is the feeling                  translates this with the word "factions." This refers
which proceeds from wounded love. It is, therefore,               to a  paHy  witlziu a party.  It is an irregular association
employed as an illustration of the hatred of God                  of partizans. Perhaps this sin comes out quite
toward idolatry, the breaking of His covenant (See                frequently among men of like station: ministers,
Hodge on I Cor.  10:22).  On the contrary, there is also          teachers, and peers in every level of society. The KJV
a false zeal for God's house. Paul writes concerning              translates "emulations." It is the effort to equal or to
Israel, which believed not, in Romans  10:3: "for                 surpass. It is a sinful vying for excellency, to have a
being ignorant of God's righteousness and being                   place of prominence and influence among men,
zealous  to establish their own righteousness, they               particularly in the church. Always there is the same
have not subjected themselves to the righteousness of             vying of Diotrephes "who loveth to have the preemi-
God." Here is the zeal of God which is not according              nence" (III John 9). The term in the Greek was used
to knowledge (Rom.  10:2).  This is the very opposite             for those who electioneer for office, courting popular
of the true zeal for God's house which consumed                   applause by trickery. It referred to a mean, sordid
Jesus in the temple; it is the zeal of the flesh for an           fellow! In the New Testament it refers to a courting
earthly house, which they defile grievously and which             of distinction, a desire to put one's self forward (See
will be made a desolation (Matt.  23:38). It is a zeal            Thayer's Lexicon). In Romans  2:8 it refers to an
which declines to gather Jerusalem's children, even as            active nonsubjection to God. Such factious souls
a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. It is, in a             obey not the truth but they obey unrighteousness.
word, fleshly zeal which is unholy strife and emula-              Well may we flee this sin, whether we be great or
tion. But this zeal is manifestly a work of the flesh, a          small in the church as to our position or influence.
minding the things of man and not of God (James                   God is not mocked Who says: thou shalt love thy
3: 14-1.6).                                                       neighbor as thyself. Does not Jesus teach his disciples,
   But I must press on!                                           "Herein shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
                                                                  if ye have love one to another"? (John  13:35)
   Paul also speaks of the vice of "wraths" (Tlzzmoi).
These wraths refer to the concrete explosions, the                  The list grows! The sinfulness of sin is clearly set
emotions  beirig violently stirred to a boiling point and         forth in its very ungodly nature in our sinful flesh, in
overflowing. Such wraths are a sure earmark of a false            which there dwells no good (Romans 7: 18). For
and unholy zeal. It is an evidence of seeking what is             notice that Paul adds here also the sin of "sedition."
one's own and not that which is of our neighbor (Phil             The term in the Greek is  "dichstasiai," which comes
2:4). These are the "great and transcient angers"                 from a verb which means: to stand apart, to disagree.
(Luke  4:28;  Dan. 3: 19). (See  Trench's~SI~rzo1zy77zs   of      The KJV translates it: seditions, which is popular
the New Testament,  Paragraph XXXVII, page 123,                   disorder,  .tendency toward insurrection. In aggravated
for a study of this word.) How well we know this                  form it is stirring up insurrection and revolution,
wrathful  expiosion as the very opposite of the "love             sedition and plotting insubordination. Paul-speaks of
suffering long and is kind," that is useful in God's              this sin in Romans 16: 17, where those who practice
church (I Cor.  13:4). Here we groan with a Paul: not             this sin cause division by teaching what is contrary to
that we have already attained, either are already                 the doctrine, which is apostolic in character.
perfect (Phil 3: 12). Well does Paul write in II Corin-             In close connection with the sin of "sedition" is
thians 12: 20, "lest there be debates, envying,                   the sin of "heresies." In the AV this is translated
wraths."                                                          "parties." Perhaps this was associated with the


106                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



bringing in of false teachings. However, the term also         preach and practice heresy! Here is the principle that
definitely refers to a "sect" or a party. This is the          a stream does not rise higher than its source.
meaning in Acts  5:17;  15:5;  24:5;   26:5;  28:22,  where    Sadducees denied the resurrection, because they did
reference is to the sects of the Sadducees and                 not know the Scriptures nor the power of God (Matt.
Pharisees. Those who stand apart in the church as              22:29-3  1). And thus here in Galatians 5  :20 it is
insurrectionists must needs do so also in doctrine.            strongly suggested that heresies are a counterpart of
They need heretical teaching to bolster their  erro-           divisions and of sinful vying to excel over our
neous and sinful position. Jesus does not say for              neighbor. At any rate, heresies and vying are very
naught, "whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall           manifestly such that those who practice them are
be great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5: 19).              condemned of their own conscience (Titus 3 :  10,ll).
Only those who believe the gospel preach the truth             What a fountain of evil which keeps on vomiting
according to the rule, "I have believed, therefore have        forth its iniquity in the church. Those who practice
I spoken" (Psalm 116 : 10; II Cor. 4: 13). Conversely it       "such things," shall not inherit the kingdom of God
is true: I have not believed the truth, therefore I            and of Christ!


THE LORD GAVE THE WORD




                                         Missions in the
                                            Book of Acts
                                                Prof Robert D. Decker





  J. H. Bavinck, the late professor at Kampen, the             first the Apostles (especially Peter and John) min-
Netherlands, calls the Book of Acts "A mission                 istered among the Jews exclusively. The only ex-
document par excellence"  (Introduction To The                 ception to this was the work of Philip among the
Science  Of  Missions).  This is so very true. Anyone          Samaritans. (Cf. Acts 8.) However true this may be,
wishing to formulate a theology of missions could ill          the eschatological and universal significance of the
afford to  ignore the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts           Gospel was certainly known even in the early part of
has much to say concerning both the principles of              the history of the church recorded in Acts. This was
missions and the proper method of performing                   very much in evidence in the Apostle Peter's sermon
mission work. Acts records the history of the early            upon the occasion of the pouring out of the Holy
expansion of the church. One might put it this way:            Spirit. Peter preached to that multitude that what
Acts records the beginning of the history of missions          they had seen and heard was in fulfillment of the
under the leadership of the Apostles. The Book                 Prophecy of Joel (chapter  2), the Day of the Lord has
begins with the ascension of Christ and the pouring            come. In that Day of the Lord the promise is unto
out of His Spirit upon "all flesh" and it ends with the        you (the elect Jew) and to thy seed, and to all that
Apostle Paul, the great missionary to the Gentiles, in         are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall
prison in Rome.                                                call (Acts  2:39). The arrival of the Day of the Lord
  Thus the Book of Acts records the spread of the              means that  the. gospel is no longer limited to the
Gospel beyond Jewry and among the Gentiles. Prior              Jews. God will call His elect out of the nations.
to this the Gospel, with only a few exceptions, was              Decisive in this connection, and that which gave
limited to the elect out of the Jews, the spiritual seed       the impetus to the preaching of the gospel among all
of Abraham. And even in the record of Acts, at the             nations, were the visions God gave to Cornelius, the


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              107



centurion of the Italian band, and Peter, the Apostle.     were baptized. .  ." (Acts  2:4 1). Subsequently
Cornelius is instructed to send for Peter  who is in       through the preaching of the Apostles, "the Lord
Joppa. Meanwhile Peter is given the vision of the          added daily to the church such as should be saved"
unclean animals with the command  to "rise, kill, and      (Acts  2:47). Christ accomplishes His work through
eat." Through the vision Peter learns that he must not     the Apostles. Peter commands the lame man at the
call common or unclean what God calls clean. Peter         temple to rise up and walk "in the name of Jesus
preaches the gospel to Cornelius and the latter            Christ of Nazareth" (Acts 3  :6). When a wondering
together with his house believes and is baptized (Acts     crowd gathers, Peter preaches to them that it was
10). Peter proceeded to Jerusalem and explained            through faith in the name of the risen Christ that the
what had happened, to the Apostles and brethren            man was made strong (Acts 3 : 16). When they were
there. The reaction was: "When they heard these            arrested, and then on the next day questioned
things, they held their peace, and glorified God           concerning the miracle, Peter witnesses of the same
saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted         truth to the Jewish leaders, telling them: "Neither is
repentance unto life" (Acts 11: 18). The spread of the     there salvation in any other: for there is none other
Gospel among the nations was greatly enhanced by           name under heaven given among men, whereby we
the persecution which followed the death of Stephen        must be saved" (Acts 4: 12).
and the resultant dispersion of the people of God            Christ's leading is also apparent in the martyrdom
(Acts  8:4;  11:19-21).                                    of Stephen and the consequent persecution and
  From this point on, the Book of Acts records the         dispersion of the Jewish Christians throughout the
gathering of the church out of the nations by the          regions of  Judea and  &maria  (Acts 8: 1). Of these
preaching of the Apostles and Evangelists. Even the        scattered Christians we read: "Therefore they that
Jerusalem conference dealt not with the question of        were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the
whether or not the Gentiles were to be admitted into       gospel" (Acts  8:4). Again we read of these Christians
the church (that was not a problem), but whether or        that they were scattered as far as Phenice and Cyprus
not they had to be circumcised (Acts 15). The              and Antioch. Some of these when they came to
remaining chapters in Acts record the calling of the       Antioch preached to the Grecians (Acts 11: 19-20). It
Apostle Paul on the Damascus road and his preaching        is Christ Who sends Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch
throughout the Mediterranean world. Therefore Acts         (8:26, 29). Christ calls the Apostle Paul to preach to
reveals the universality of the promise. That which        the Gentiles  (9:4-6, 15). Christ sends Peter to the
had been promised to Abraham already,  ". . . in thee      centurion, Cornelius (Acts 10 and  1 1). The fact that
shall all nations of the earth be blessed," finds its      the Apostle Paul was led by Christ throughout his
principle fulfillment in Acts.                             ministry is found repeatedly on the pages of Acts.
  In all of this, Acts really teaches us one,              (13: 1-4;  16:6,  7,9, 10;  18:9, 10)
fundamental principle of missions. That principle is:        The message of the Book of Acts as far as missions
missions is exclusively the work of the exalted Lord       is concerned is: Jesus Christ Who was crucified is
Jesus Christ. This is evident already from the             present with His church, in the Spirit. He has not left
introduction to the book: "The former treatise have I      His beloved comfortless or without guidance or
made, 0 Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to        without strength. The risen, exalted Lord Christ
do and to teach, Until the day in which he was taken       Whose name is above every name and Who has all
up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given         power in heaven and on earth has returned to be with
commandments unto the Apostles whom he had                 the church in the Spirit.
chosen" (Acts 1: 1, 2). That former treatise is the          The contrast between the pre-Pentecost church and
Gospel account of Luke, in which the latter records        the Spirit-filled church could not be greater. Apart
that which Jesus  began  both to do and teach. By          from the Holy Spirit of Christ the church is  a# little
implication, therefore, what we have in the Book of        group of poor, wondering, and even frightened
Acts is that which Jesus  contimed  both to do and to      believers in an upper room in Jerusalem, one hundred
teach. From this point of view the book is not realiy      and twenty of them. They do not understand and
the Acts of the Apostles but the Acts of the exalted       they do not know what to expect. They are waiting
Lord Jesus Christ through the Apostles.                    and wondering and praying in obedience to the word
  That the work of preaching the Gospel to the             of their ascended Lord. Suddenly the Spirit is poured
nations is the work of Christ is made clear all through    out, accompanied by wonderful signs: the sound of a
the Book of Acts. Christ sheds forth the Holy Spirit       mighty rushing wind, cloven tongues like as of fire on
and, in the power of the Spirit of Christ, Peter           each of them, and the speaking with other tongues
preaches to the multitude in Jerusalem. The fruit of       the wonderful works of God! Peter preaches a
that sermon was immediately evident in the three           powerful sermon, now he understands. The Day of
thousand souls who "gladly received his word and           the Lord has come! Repent and believe in the name


108                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



of Jesus Christ Who was crucified but Whom God              4: 13). They had boldness in the faith, confidence,
raised up and Who has shed forth His Spirit. Three          courage to stand before kings and governors, strength
thousand are saved, later five thousand more, and           to  engure cheerfully all kinds of opposition and abuse
daily the Lord adds to the church such as should be         and persecution.
saved. In the power of the Spirit they become                 All this was theirs in the power of the exalted
instruments of Christ, driven out into the world.           Christ. That  same Christ is with the Church today.
They become a mighty host. (Cf. Acts  2:41,47; 6: 1;        His Word is ever the same: "Go ye, into all the world
8:4.) They had great boldness, these who had                and preach the gospel to every creature. . .  ."
formerly been unlearned and ignorant men (Acts


GUEST ARTICLE




                               Praying for Politicians
                                               Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma




  Many are the complaints which issue forth, not              That, however, is incorrect reasoning. To pray for
only from the mouths of the ungodly citizens of this        our politicians is an exhortation, a command to us as
world but also from the mouths of children of God,          children of God who, although we are not of this
concerning the leaders of our countries. We complain        world, nevertheless stand in the midst of this world.
about the ever-rising costs of living. We readily           We too are governed by politicians. We too are
criticize many of their policies, such as Salt II, the      members of the societies of this world. And as we
Soviets in Cuba, governmental regulation of prices.         stand in the world we receive the admonition of
We become rather upset and irritated over what goes         Christ to pray for our politicians.
on in our courts of law  - and sometimes rightfully           Our Belgic Confession speaks of that calling in its
so. We raise our eyebrows and justifiably question          article concerning the magistrates, Article 36. "It is
their attitude toward abortion or toward minority           the  bounden duty of every one, of what state,
groups such as the homosexuals. The liberal ten-            quality, or condition  soever he may be, to subject
dencies of politicians today have gone to the extreme.      himself to the magistrates; to pay tribute, to show
They have reached the point where we hardly feel            due honor and respect to them, and to obey them in
safe voting any more.                                       all things which are not repugnant to the Word of
  But did you realize that we as children of God who        God; to supplicate for them in their prayers, that God
stand in the midst of this world are called  to.pray for    may rule and guide them in all their ways and that we
our politicians? This brings all our complaints to a        may lead  a quiet and peaceable life in all  .godliness
screeching halt. We sit back a little stunned. To pray      and honesty." In whatever circumstance of life we
for our government, for our president, and for the          find ourselves, under  whatever government we are
politicians who -rule our country is rather foreign to      subjected, we must supplicate for our rulers, making
us. Seldom, if ever, do we hear from our pulpits in         mention of them in our prayers.
our congregational prayers even a passing reference to        Likewise we find the same command in the
our government and its politicians. To pray for our         Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XIII,
politicians seems strange and perhaps even repelling        Art. 4. "It is the duty of people to pray for
to us. And though we might hear it every so often           magistrates, to honor their persons, to pay them
from the pulpit in congregational prayer, to make           tribute and other due, to obey their lawful commands
mention of it in our own private prayers is considered      and to be subject to their authority, for conscience'
unnecessary.                                                sake."


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 109



   These two  confessiops,  as far as our praying for         created all things, He now also controls and governs
magistrates is concerned, are based upon that Word of         them absolutely unto His own good pleasure. He uses
God to us in I Timothy 2: l-4. "I exhort therefore,           the politicians of this world as  instrumen& to achieve
that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,    His own eternal plan. Every action, every decision,
and giving thanks be made for all men; for kings, and         every law which is legislated works toward the
for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet       accomplishment of that plan.
and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our             It is not, as some would say, that God created all
Savior; who will have all men to be saved and to come         things and is now transcendent above His creation,
unto the knowledge of the truth." Another  pa'ssage           having nothing much to do with it, allowing the
that is frequently overlooked but which is also               affairs of this world to run their own course. These
pertinent  td this topic is the Word of God in                would contend that God left the world with certain
Jeremiah. In chapter 29 the words of a letter sent by         laws of nature which, if heeded,  would promote an
this prophet to the captive saints in Babylon are             easy way of life. Man, having learned these laws, rules
infallibly recorded for us.. In verses 4-7 he writes,         himself in an orderly way. According to this view the
"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel,             politicians of this world are those who merely are
unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have          able to convince the  people of this world that they
caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto                 can maneuver these laws of nature in the best way for
Babylon . . . seek the peace of the city whither I have       the good of man. And that leaves God completely out
caused you to be carried away captives, and pray              of the picture. If we were to follow  thiS line of
unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye       reasoning, then there would be no need to pray for
have peace." Scripture can be no clearer. Lest we             our government officials, for we would  then pray that
place ourselves in the camp of those who claim that           the will of man be done.
the Scripture is  culturally.conditioned (that is, that it      On the contrary, we pray  for them because we
applies to the saints of one age and not to those of          know that God according to His sovereign power and
another) we must maintain  .that these passages speak         providence controls the affairs of history. The
to us also. We must pray for politicians.                     Heidelberg catechism instructs us in Question and
  Why don't we then? Perhaps our failure to do so is          Answer 27 thus: "What do you mean by the
a reaction to those who believe that the Church must          providence of God? The almighty and everywhere
be subject to the State. Such a reaction would not be         present power of God, whereby, as it were by  his
surprising in light of the past history of the churches       hand, he still upholds heaven, earth, and creatures
in Holland and their struggle to free themselves from         (including politicians too, WB) and so governs them,
the State. Others feel that we do not have to pray for        that . . . all  things  come not by chance but by his
our rulers because there are plenty of other, more            Fatherly hand." Surely this harmonizes with the
personal things, for which to pray, Still others feel         Word of God to us in Proverbs 2 1: 1 which says, "The
rather uneasy praying for ungodly men seeing that we          king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of
must remain separate from this wicked world. These            water: he tumeth it whithersoever he will." Just
excuses are, however, a far cry from being legitimate         think of what that means! Every move that President
reasons to refrain from praying for the civil                 Carter  and government officials make is guided by the
authorities. And overagainst them stands the Word of          almighty hand of God! Every event that takes place,
God.                                                          whether that be in the local city governments, in the
  Why must we pray for our politicians?                       state legislatures, in the federal government, in the
                                                              United Nations, or in any government of this world
  In the first place let us understand what is meant          does so in order that God's purpose might be
by the term politician. According to Webster a                accomplished. He is God; all things work unto the
politician is "one actively engaged in conducting the         achievement of  His glory! That is why we pray for
business of a government." We are called to pray for          the magistrates of this world! We pray that God's will
the rulers of our countries whether that be a king, a         may be done, that He might glorify His name in every
dictator, or a president. It does not stop there either.      decision which politicians make. Whatever state or
We must pray for  all  those in authority, all those          condition in which we find ourselves on account of
involved in the governing of a country.                       the government, whether that be in peace and
  The one fundamental-reason that is determinative            prosperity or in persecution and poverty, whether our
for us in praying for our leaders is that God Himself         politicians promote our faith or attempt to suppress it,
has given them their rule and authority. Romans 13: 1         we are called of God to pray for them. And we do,
tells us, "There is no power but of God; the powers           too, because we know that in all of these things God
that be are ordained of God." We pray for them,               is glorifying His name. And as children of God that is
therefore, because God-is God and because, having             what we want. So we pray fervently that God


110                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



accomplish His will through the politicians of this          good. At the same time we are comforted because,
land.                                                        although it might not always seem to us as if God
  Another reason we pray for our politicians, which          controls those powers which He has ordained to work
is closely related to this, is that it is our desire too     together for our good, yet we are assured that He
that their decisions will work together for our              does. So we pray, knowing that God hears our
advantage (specifically, the accomplishment of our           prayers through Christ and that He will use all the
salvation and our final redemption). Again, the              actions of politicians, no matter how corrupt, to
Catechism instructs us concerning this. In Question          accomplish our final redemption.
and Answer 28 we learn the following. "What                         No, this does not mean we ask God to prosper
advantage is it  to  US to know that God has created,        them in their efforts, which already are, and will be
and by his providence doth still uphold things? That         increasingly more, directed against the Church. But
we may be patient in adversity, thankful in                  we pray that they will be made to see the justice of
prosperity; and that in all things which may hereafter       God in order that they might be honest and godly in
befall us, (that includes. the policies of our               their endeavors in order that the gospel might go
governments, WB) we place our firm trust in our              forth and we might pray uninhibited and unharassed
faithful God and Father,  that nothing shall separate        by the ungodly. And when we observe that our
us from his love; since all creatures are so in his hand,    politicians become more and more antagonistic
that without his will they cannot so much as move."          towards us as children of God we pray that the Lord's
No complaints, no shaking of the head, no grumbling          will might be performed by them, trusting, firmly
at our politicians should escape from our lips. Just a       trusting, that if God is for us nothing can be against
prayer. Placing our firm trust in our faithful Father        us.
we pray that their decisions work together for our                                          Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma





               DO YOU NEED SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD GIFTS?

                           THE BOOK COMMITTEE OF 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.O. Box 2006
                              Grand Rapids, Ml 49501


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               111


MYSHEEP HEAR MY VOICE





                                        Letter to Timothy


                                        December  1, 1979    But this mind and will cannot function apart from
                                                             the body. The soul has the  potential  for thinking and
Dear Timothy,                                                willing, but unless it has "material" with which to
                                                             work, it will not be capable of acting. In some
  We were talking in our last few letters about the          respects there is an analogy here between the soul and
unity which is man, how God created man with body,           the eye, e.g. The eye may have the potential for
soul, and spirit, and yet in such a way that man             seeing, but unless there is something to see, the eye
constitutes a marvelous whole, the parts of which            cannot function. Put a person in a totally dark place
cannot be separated from each other, and with each           and the eye cannot function at all. So it is with the
part functioning together. We pointed out ways in            soul.
which the life of the body affects man in his soul and
how the soul of man affects his body. We talked also           And so God has created the body and soul in such
about how the fundamental relationship in which              close relationship that there are "doorways" to the
man stands is his relationship to God, for man               soul which are present in the body. These doorways
possesses a spirit and by this spirit he stands in an        are the five senses of the body: the eye, the ear, the
inescapable relation to his Creator.                         sense of taste, of touch, of smell. These doorways of
                                                             the body are the means through which the things of
  We have to discuss this somewhat more  in detail in        the outside world pass into the soul.
this and the following letters. It may seem as if all
this takes us somewhat far away from the practical             There are a couple of truths here which we ought
aspects of pastoral work, but it is well that we lay a       to stop to notice. In the first place, each sense shows
good foundation first; for only in the laying of a solid     us only a certain part of a particular creature in God's
foundation will it be possible to erect a sturdy             creation. If, e.g., we are examining a rose, the sense of
structure which will be of value to' you in your labors      smell would give us only the odor of the rose; the
as pastor among those who have pastoral problems.            sense of touch would give us only the feeling of velvet
                                                             texture of the petals and the general shape of the
  We must say, first of all, a few words about the           flower; the sense of taste, if we would put part of it
body more specifically than we have up to this point.        into our mouths, would give us only what the petals
  It is not of interest to us for the moment to enter        tasted like; the sense of sound, in this case, would be
into a detailed discussion of the physiology of the          very little because the rose itself gives forth no noise;
body or even of the nervous system which is our main         the sense of sight would tell us the color, shape, size,
concern here. There are others who are more                  etc. of the rose. But, although each sense gives us
qualified to discuss this from a technical point of          only a certain aspect of the whole rose, our minds are
view than I am; but it is not immediately important          able to put all these different things together and give
as far as our discussion is concerned. We must keep          us a complete picture of what that rose is which God
before  us- our interest in the relation between the         created.
body and the soul.                                             Now there are two problems which arise in this
  I mentioned in a previous letter that the soul of          connection which have long been disputed by
man is the seat of all man's thinking and willing. It is     philosophy. These problems are: 1) How can we be
in the soul that God has set the mind and the will.          sure that our senses give us an accurate idea  of.what


112                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



that rose really is? and, 2) Is there perhaps something     r&elation, conclude that we can, with our senses, gain
about that rose which we can never know because our         an accurate and complete idea of what God's creation
senses are not adapted to learning it? This latter          is like.  .And we must not believe all this nonsense that
question especially is an important one in our day,         there is a certain aspect to the creation, a certain
although from a slightly different viewpoint. You           "sixth side," a certain other facet which can be
know that there is a lot of talk going  Around              known only by people who have a sixth sense or
nowadays about extrasensory perception, a certain           some extrasensory perception of one sort or another.
"sixth sense," certain powers which people have             It is not impossible, of course, when people give
which are not explainable in terms of the knowledge         themselves over to the power of Satan, that Satan can
which we receive from the senses. These people are          give to people certain powers which seem to us
supposed to have a certain sense perception which           extraordinary. But this is something else, something
goes beyond the powers of our five senses and which         which lies beyond our discussion.
gives to people power to know what is happening far           Now the reason why this needs to be emphasized is
away from them, what will' happen in the future,            that all our knowledge of God comes through
what certain cards of a deck are before they can            revelation. God does not put some knowledge into
actually see them, etc.                                     the hearts of His people automatically, directly,
  Although these two problems may have troubled             immediately, from within. He never works that way.
philosophers over the centuries, they really ought not      There are certain mystics in the Church (and they
to trouble the child of God; We believe, and must           always have been present in the Church) who believe
believe, that the whole of God's creation is available      this. They speak of direct revelation, inner light, a
to us through the five senses, that there is no other       subjective knowledge of God which comes to man
way to know the things of the creation except               directly and from within and is completely apart
through the five senses, and that our senses  give to us    from  objective revelation. But we must not believe
an accurate and complete knowledge of all that God          any of that stuff. All the knowledge of God that `we
has revealed in His creation.                               have. comes to us through the things which He has
  The key word here is, "revealed." We believe, on          created.
the basis of Scripture, that God reveals Himself to           This is, of course, true also of the Scriptures which
man. We believe that the Christian is able to know          are the central way in which we know God. Scripture
God both through the creation which His hands have          is a book, a part of this creation, a creature also
made and through the Scriptures which He caused to          which we  see with our eyes and handle with our
be written by the Holy Spirit. And because God              hands. In fact  that is just the point which the apostle
reveals Himself through all these things, we may also       John makes concerning Christ Himself: "That which
believe that man is created in such a way that He can       was from the beginning, which we have heard, which
indeed know the creation and the Scriptures with the        we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
senses which God gave Him. It would be foolish for          upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of
God to create things in this world which reveal Him         life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it,
to man but which are unavailable to man because             and bear witness, and  sheti unto you that eternal life,
man's senses. cannot "reach" them. That would defeat        which was with the Father, and was manifested unto
the whole purpose of the creation as  the revelation of     us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we
God to man. Supposing, e.g., that I wanted to tell my       unto you . .  ." (I John 1: l-3).
dog something about a new baby which was born into            All of the knowledge of God which we have, there-
our family. Supposing also that I knew that the dog         fore,. comes to us through the revelation of God. And
could not distinguish between different colors. I do        this revelation comes to us through our five senses.
not know whether a dog can tell the difference              This is why we often speak of the preaching as the
between colors, but supposing for the sake of the           gospel for our ears, and the sacraments as the gospel
illustration that it could not. I wanted to give that       for our eyes.
dog some information about the new baby by means
of a photograph. It would be foolish of me to be              This is, however, a marvelous thing. The senses in
careful that the photograph contained the right colors      our bodies are connected with the brain by means of
of the baby's hair and eyes if the dog could not            the sensory nervous system. The brain and the
distinguish between them anyway.. A simple black            nervous system have often been compared with an
and white photograph would be sufficient. So it             elaborate and intricate communications system. The
would be foolish for God to put into the creation           central "switchboard" is the brain, and all the sensory
certain things which we could not even perceive with        nerves bring to the brain the messages of the senses.
our senses.                                                   And yet this is not by any means the whole of
  We must, therefore, on the basis of the truth of          man's wonderful creation. For the messages which


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       113


the brain receives are also somehow transmitted to               unsuccessful. Nevertheless, that such a bridge exists is
the soul. There is here a  vegy great mystery. Even              beyond doubt. The messages which come through the
though we ourselves are `involved in this great                  doors of the senses, travel along the sensory nerve,
mystery, we cannot understand it. The body is, after             and enter the brain are messages which find their way
all, earthly, material, made of the stuff of this                into the soul. For they become the  ,"material" with
creation. The soul is a spiritual substance which is not         which the soul functions in all its thinking  .and
fashioned of material which you can weigh in a scale,            willing. How the brain and the soul are united we
dissect with a sharp knife, and examine under a                  cannot tell. We cannot even tell very well exactly the
microscope. It is a substance which no examination               point where the dividing line (if there is one) between
with the tools of medicine and science will ever                 the soul and brain is. We cannot tell with precision
uncover. The proof for the existence of the soul lies            what of thinking belongs to the soul and what
not in the laboratory of the scientist but in the                belongs to the brain. All is a mystery. But that it is
Scriptures. Nevertheless, even though the body and               true we know. "I am fearfully and wonderfully
the brain and the nervous system as a part of the                made."
body are material, and the soul a spiritual substance,              And the wonderful part of it is that, because of all
there is some kind of bridge between the two. What               this, we are able to know God through Jesus Christ
exactly it is we  canndt tell, and, though philosophy            His Son, and knowing Him have life eternal.
over the years has attempted to describe this mystery                                         Fraternally in Christ,
in one way or another, the attempts have always been                                          H. Hanko


ALL AROUND US




                                          Two Magazines Unite
                                                      Rev. G. Van. Baren



  The R.E.S.  News Exchange of Oct. 9, 1979 reports                  magazines, five members of the Guardian board will
on the merger of two well-known conservative                         join the present twenty-five members of the Journal,
m a g a z i n e s :                                                  and the Guardian assets will become part of the new
                                                                     enlarged Journal ministry.
       In March 1935 the well-known J. Gresham Machen
    founded the Presbyterian Guardian. In its history this             The merger will not leave the Orthodox Presby-
    paper has primarily functioned as the `house organ' of           terian Church without its "own" paper, however.
    the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. It has been,               That denomination has undertaken to launch a
    however, an independent monthly and representation               specifically denominational paper, developed along
    on its board has come from several denominations. At             the lines of the monthly  Messenger  of the Presby-
    the present time six  Guardian  board members are                terian Church in America.
    from the Presbyterian Church in America.                       The  Presbyterian Journal  has served the conserva-
       Now this magazine,  probably  after the October           tives in the Southern Presbyterian Church as well as
    issue, will become part of the  Presbyterian Journal,        the new Presbyterian Church in America. It has also
    an independent weekly of Asheville, North Carolina.          sought to gain acceptance within several of the other
    As part of the plan worked out by the boards of both         Presbyterian denominations.


                       A "Conservative's" Answer for Discipline

   Dr. L. De Koster, in the  Banner  of August 17,               Synod of 1979 shows that the conservative is still
1979, has a few words to say to and for the                      able to turn the course of the church from paths of
conservative. In an editorial, he rejoices that the              liberalism. His proof of that is the decision of the


114                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



Synod to study again the issue of women serving in                  will crumple of its own inner hollowness." Ulti-
the office of deacon  - and hold in abeyance further                mately, of course, it does. But in many cases, that
elections and installations of women  .into this office.            error "crumples of its own inner hollowness" only at
Two interesting facts come forth from the editorial.                the time when Jesus returns on the clouds of glory. In
First, De Koster is a "conservative"; he says so. I                 the meantime, it would appear that the church, in its
quote:                                                              denominational magazine, gives its stamp of approval
          I think  that  the mind that came alive in all these      upon divergent views. Need it be pointed'out that the
       manifestations (at Synod  -  G.V.B:)  is the con-            error always appears to be more popular, and the
       servative mind, a mind of which I count myself a             youth particularly susceptible to the error, so that
       supporter. . . .                                             De Koster's proposition is nothing short of playing
          I count myself, I say, a conservative. Say, if you        with fire? Eve listened to the lie of the devil in
       prefer, a Calvinist. That implies a certain sober            Paradise. Her children have done the same since.
       security of mind. Conservatism stands where it has           People of God must be alerted to and warned against
       stood across the centuries - from long before Calvin,        the lie. But surely the lie must not be presented by
       of course. And being secure in its roots, conservatism       members of the church as though it is the truth.
       can let the winds blow, the voices cry, the criticisms       Rather than "crumpling," the error festers as a sore,
       come and go, without worrying too much.                      working to the destruction of the body. Rev. Peter
   However, De Koster is careful to point out that he               De Jong, in the  Outlook  of October, 1979, nicely
is not to be included with certain "reactionary"                    refutes from Scripture this mistaken argument:
.conservatives:                                                           That Word throughout commands us to oppose
         And then, alas, some few conservatives compensate             those who in faith or life turn from or lead away
       for their supposed irrelevance by going reactionary             from the gospel and forbids us to tolerate them.
       and lashing out at random against persons and trends            Recall Paul's warnings to "turn away from" those
       and minds among us  - just to show that they are                who "are causing the divisions and occasions of
       alert after all. This kind of poor, irrelevant, pointless        stumbling, contrary to the doctrine" of the apostles
       thrashing about is frequently illustrated among us by           (Rm.  16:17, cf. Tit. 3: 10). Recall how he had to
       the "News Bulletin" of the Association of Christian             order the easy-going, tolerant, Corinthian church to
       Reformed Laymen.                                                 "Put away the wicked man from among yourselves"
   As a "conservative," however, Dr. De Koster would                   (I Cor. 5: 13). Remember that the Lord Himself in the
                                                                       letters to the seven churches commended the
allow rather free rein to those of differing views. It is              Ephesian church because it would "not bear evil
his opinion that the  Banner  rightly allows people of                 men" and tried "them that call themselves apostles,
many divergent viewpoints to write. He is also very                    and they are not and didst  find them false" and
much opposed to any sort of discipline of the                          because it hated "the works of the Nicolaitans, which
"liberal" in the church. It is his opinion that the                    I also hate" (Rev. 2:2 and 6). On the other hand., the
erroneous views of mistaken men will "crumple of  its                  Lord sternly rebuked the Pergamum church for
own inner hollowness." He would not have Verhey or                     tolerating "some that hold the teaching of Balaam,
Boer to be put out of the church. He writes:                           who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before
                                                                       the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols,
         Well, in a word then: there's naturally room, in a            and to commit fornication" and also "some that hold
       "conservative" Banner,  for other points of view. A             the teaching of the Nicolaitans'"  (2:14,15).  In the
       room which the other points of view do not,                     same way He rebuked the Thyatira church for
       commonly, (and significantly) give to each other.               tolerating "the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a
       And you can learn something from that, about the                prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my ser-
       real strength of conservatism. . . ."                          vants to commit fornication, and to eat things
         Do you think, for example, that the purposes of               sacrificed to idols," threatening to bring His own
       the Church are best served by pursuing constructive            judgments on the unfaithful  (2:2Off.).  Consider in
       programs in obedience to the Word? Or by lopping                this connection too His concluding warnings to those
       off the head of a Verhey or a Boer, mistaken as they            who venture to tamper with His Word  (22:18,19)
       both seem to me to be?                                          that they would receive His judgments and forfeit a
                                                                       place in His city.
         Rather, put your energies into  ajj%mztion   of the
       Truth, of the Word and the Confessions  - and error            De Jong continues by pointing out that these
       will crumple of its own inner hollowness.                    passages of Scripture clearly require proper church
                                                                    discipline  - one of the three marks of the true church
  Just a few  .remarks  on the above. I've said it                  of Christ. De Koster, however, sets forth neither a
before: the church is not well-served when in its                   Scriptural nor Reformed position of discipline. He
church paper all sorts of writers of differing views  -             speaks of discipline as "lopping off the head of a
views conflicting with the confessions of the church                Verhey or a Boer, mistaken as they both seem to me
- freely write. De Koster may suggest that the "error               to be." Now Verhey denies certain obviously literal


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       115


passages of Scripture. Boer has denied the doctrine of        which are unrebuked, multiply within the church as
reprobation, and then necessarily the Reformed view           does the leaven within the bread. De Jong also points
of election as well. These are not little matters. They       this but when he writes of De Koster's view of
strike at the very  cbre of the truths of God's Word  -       discipline as a "caricature and totally misrepresents
and the confessions of the Reformed churches.                 the motive and purpose of the discipline which the
Surely, if anything. requires discipline, this should.        Bible commands. We notice in Matthew  18:5,6,
Yet De Koster believes that the errors will crumple of        that it was the Lord's love for His `little ones'
their own inner hollowness. And he has a terribly sad         that explained some of the sternest warnings he
view of discipline: "lopping off the head." Even              ever uttered concerning the seriousness of causing
excommunication, according to the form for this, is           them `to stumble.' And. He went on in the following
called a "last remedy." It may never  be viewed as            verses to give instructions about how discipline must
"lopping off  th< head." Discipline and even                  be exercised in order to prevent or remove such
excommunication is used to bring sinners to                   offenses."
repentance. If this is not thus used, two evil results
follow: the love of Christ is not manifested by the             W i t h   s u c h   s o r t   o f   "conservatises"  a n d
church toward the sinners  - and they continue                "conservatism" within the church, the foundations of
steadfastly in their sins. And, secondly, the errors          the church will doubtlessly soon be destroyed.



                                   Ordination of Homosexuals

  Christianity Today,  Oct. 19, 1979, reports on the              rejected homosexual ordination. Its House of Bishops
debate in the Episcopal Church on the ordination of               and House of of Deputies (clergy and lay delegates)
practicing homosexuals within its midst. Fqr the time             approved a resolution stating, in  part, "it is not
being, this church has rejected the proposition  -                appropriate for this Church to ordain a practicing
though there was much agitation for such action.                  homosexual." The resolution was in the form of a
                                                                  recommendation,    not mandatory  legislatidn; but
      The homosexuality issue surged out of the closet            many were pleased that now, at least, the church is
   and onto the floor of the General Convention of the            on record against such ordination.
   Episcopal Church last month.
      The debate was for and against the ordination of          The above decision is hardly reason to cheer. The
   avowed, practicing homosexuals. Perhaps not since          "gay movement" claims. a rather large number of
   the United Presbyterians debated, and then rejected,       priests in the Episcopal. Church are practicing
    ordination of practicing homosexuals in the summer        homosexuals. There is, apparently, no discipline of
    of 1978 has a major Protestant denomination studied       these. And the decision was in the form of a
   the issue so seriously.                                    "recommendation," not a requirement or rule. Surely
      In the end, the church's two-chamber legislature        apostasy is rampant in this day and age!


THE DAY OF SHADOWS



                                     A Ladder of Grace
                                                    Rev. John A. Heys




  "It is appointed unto men once to die," the author          this truth was known by the saints in the Old
of the epistle to the Hebrews rightly declares.  Arid         Testament dispensation as well as in the days when the


 116                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


epistle to the Hebrews was written. Isaac knew this       4. Significantly, Isaac now being fully aware of God's
and said to Esau, "Behold now, I am old, I know not       prophecy that the elder shall serve the younger, and
the day of my death." And these were  introdtictory       thBt  God loved Jacob but hated Esau adds, "God
words to his command that Esau get vension for a          Almighty bless thee," and, what is more, "give thee
delicious meal that would precede giving him the          the blessing of Abraham." That element Isaac did not
blessing of God's covenant. He wanted to be sure that     intend to pronounce upon Esau. After trembling
Esau got it, and his appointment with death must not      `%evJJ  exceedingly"  he is fully aware now that God
prevent him from doing what his heart had planned.        purposes to establish His covenant in the line of
   No, Isaac was not a hypochondriac. He was not a        Jacob's and not Esau's children.  .Was he, when he
man who loved to think he had all the diseases of that    blessed Jacob, under the impression that he was
day and would soon be overtaken by one of them. He        blessing Esau  - for he did have doubts which he also
was already blind. Sight had died in him. He  had         expressed in Genesis  27:20-22  - and therefore did
become a senior citizen and was considered by his         not dare speak of the blessing as handed down from
peers to have reached the golden age when, one by         Abraham? At any rate, now, in a moment of stronger
one, men  a?e mown down by the "grim reaper."             faith, he adds what should have been said the first
                                                          time, "God Almighty bless thee . . . and give thee the
   But even though it is appointed unto men once to       blessing of Abraham."
die, it pleases God often to have one linger on beyond
the time of others. And the day of that appointment         With what mixed emotions Jacob must have left
with death we do not often know very far in advance.      his home to travel to  Padan-aram,  about which he
Isaac lived to be one hundred and eighty years, and       knew nothing except that his mother's relation dwelt
lived long enough to be there when Jacob with a           there. He knew that his brother hated him enough to
family of grandchildren came back to the land of          kill him. He knew that his mother and father did not
Canaan after serving  Laban  for twenty years. Truly      see eye to eye, and his father expected to die in the
with the psalmist we can say, whether we be cut           near future. He knew that, having received this full
short, as men sometimes say, or live beyond the           covenant blessing, he had to, was obliged to, get a
expectations of men, "My times are in Thy hand,"          God-fearing wife for the Covenant's sake. He knew
Psalm  31:15.                                             that he was to carry on after his father's death as
  And Rebekah also expected her husband to die            God's prdphet and as spiritual head of the covenant
soon. What is more she knew of Esau's plot to kill        people. But he also knew that he, by God proclaimed
Jacob as soon as the days of mourning for his father      to be the supplanter, was now being driven way from
were past. Yes, Rebekah expected Isaac's death in the     the land which had been promised to him. Well could
near future and feared a double bereavement.  ,Jacob      he with a troubled soul ask, "My father blessed me
was therefore sent to her brother  Laban.  As far as      and prayed that God Almighty would also bless me.
Rebekah was concerned Jacob was being sent for            But will He? I am being banished, driven from the
safety from the hatred of Esau. As far as Isaac was       land promised to me. Will I come back? Will I find a
concerned, for he knew nothing of this plot, Jacob        wife who with me will raise up covenant seed?" A
was being sent to get a God-fearing wife from among       host of questions must have risen in his mind. And
Rebekah's brethren. Esau had already taken to             the least of them certainly was not, "Do I deserve to
himself three wives. But Jacob apparently had             be the spiritual head of the covenant people? Do I
somewhat the same nature as his father and showed         deserve to be brought back alive to this land and
no interest in women and was not ready to settle          actually-inherit it? Am I really so different and better
down and take a wife to himself. The hand of God  -       than my brother Esau? He has those heathen wives,
Who gives all of us our natures  - was behind this so     but have I not walked as a heathen who is interested
that Jacob would not take to himself `a heathen wife.     only in earthly things?"
Would to God that some of our young people would            With a mind in turmoil like that, one finds it hard
not be so interested in getting married and would be      to sleep, especially if one's bed is the hard ground and
willing to wait until they find one who will indeed be    one's pillow is a stone. Yet Jacob sleeps soundly
an help and not an hindrance in their spiritual lives,    enough to dream. God gave that to him. Do not
an help meet or suitable for them as `children of God.    overlook the grace of God in this historical event.
  But before Jacob is sent away Isaac pronounces the      Jacob made that mistake,  .but we have no reason to
blessing upon him again. This time, however, there is     do so in light of what is recorded for us in this
a tremendously significant addition. Thinking that he     incident. We read in Genesis 28: 16 that when Jacob
was blessing Esau, Isaac had before spoken of all the     awoke after his sound sleep and dream he said,
blessings of the field and of the dew of heaven, of       "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not."
people serving him and of the fatness of the earth.       Whether he prayed to God before he fell on the
Genesis  27:27-29. But turn now to Genesis  28:3 and      ground to try to sleep we are not told. And this could


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               117



very well mean that he did not. How great then the           sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
grace of God to appear to him and to confirm what            salvation." Christ The Way, sends His angels, to assist
his father had prayed for and in God's name declared:        us in our struggle on the way to glory. They come
"God Almighty bless thee." In the dream, that is             down from heaven, but they also return. They bring
what God promised Jacob. Note verse 13: "And                 down blessings to us, but they also bring our souls on
behold the Lord stood above it (that ladder reaching         that ladder, which is Christ, and in the moment of
from earth to heaven), and said I am the Lord God of         death to the Father in His heavenly glory.
Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land             We call it therefore the ladder of grace. And was it
whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy       not so for Jacob? What did he do to  .deserve so
seed." And then in verse 15, "And, behold, I am with         beautiful a picture and such reassuring words? The
thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou          idea of getting a God-fearing wife and to walk in the
goest, and will bring thee again to this land; for I will    way of God's covenant to raise up seed of the
not leave thee, until I have done that which I have          covenant did not arise in his soul. We may believe
spoken of to thee." All this was a surprise to Jacob;        that he would riot have hesitated to take a wife of
and well might he be surprised; and well may we              Canaan, if it would enable him to get more sheep and
when we realize that we deserve the very opposite of         cattle and the earth and its wealth. No, at this stage
what God in His grace gives us. That exactly is His          Jacob does not appear and show himself forth as a
grace and gracious dealing with us.                          God-fearing man himself. Why should there be
  It has been said that "grace is God giving                 guarding angels sent from heaven for him? Let him
everything for nothing to those who deserve noth-            prove himself first. Let him show first some serious
ing." Yes, but it is richer than that. God's grace is        intention of throwing himself upon God. Let him fall
God giving everything for nothing to the  gobd-for-          on his knees and confess his wickedness and go to
nothings. Or, if you will, "God's grace is God giving        Esau and plead for forgiveness, and to his father for
everything for nothing to those who deserve the very         his despicable deceit! Surely he deserved the opposite
opposite." God's grace is not God giving good things         of what God promised him here at Bethel. But the
to good people who have earned some wages but                house of God  - for such is the meaning of the word
receive a bonus on top of those wages. God's grace is        Bethel  - is ours by grace, and that house of God is
God giving good gifts to bad people, to sinners, to          built in God's grace.
those walking in rebellion against Him.                        Once again, it has been said that "God's Grace is
  And the explanation of all this is in that ladder          God's Riches  At  Christ's Expense." (You may note
which Jacob saw in his dream, or rather, in the ladder       the word grace spelled out in those capitalized
which God showed him in the dream. The ladder                letters.) But therein is the answer. -Not because of
reached from the earth to heaven, and thus from the          Jacob's works. He had no expense account out of
point where Jacob was  - that ladder stood at his feet       which to buy God's riches. It was at the expense of
as he lay there on `the ground sound asleep  - and           the precious blood of Christ; it was at a tremendously
reached up to God Himself, for we read that God              expensive price that a ladder from this sin-cursed
stood above it. Now a ladder is a device which enables       earth to the Father is realized for God's people.  Y
one to go from a lower point to an higher one. A                                                                     OU
                                                             see, Jacob saw a ladder set up on the earth. He did
ladder is therefore a way  of ascent, a way of climbing      not find a ladder. He did not make it. He lay there
higher. And at once this reminds us  qf Jesus' words,        sound asleep doing no work at all. But God set up
"I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can            that ladder when He came in our flesh and when the
come unto the Father but by Me." John  14:6. He is           cross upon which His Son was nailed, as it lay on the
the way out of the depths of sin into which we have          ground, was set up and with a sudden jar dropped
fallen and the way up and into the covenant                  into the hole dug for it on Calvary. We have salvation
fellowship with God which is life everlasting. God           because of a ladder, a way of grace. We are saved by
showed Jacob the Christ there before he left the             grace, not by works, lest any man should boast.
promised land. And He showed Christ as the reason
why Jacob will be protected and brought safely back            And in that grace it is that Jacob now commits his
to inherit the land. All of God's grace is in Him; and       way to God and confesses Him, so that we come
He sends the  arigels down from God with messages of         across the first words of  .faith recorded in Scripture
peace and of great joy to us poor sinners. And He            concerning Jacob. Before this he did not look like a
sends angels down to us to assist us in climbing up          child of God. Now by God's grace he speaks like one
that way to the Father's right hand. Angels descend-         and calls the name of that place after God. Indeed
ing encourage us with the gospel of peace, bring us          Jacob will return to his trickery, and we will to our
God's Word of truth and His rich promises. For the           works of unbelief. But God's grace is unchangeable,
woi-d angel means messenger. But these angels,               and the angels are in that grace making an uninter-
according to Hebrews 1: 14, are "ministering spirits,        rupted descent and ascent for our salvation.


118                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                                           Book Review

NURTURING CHILDREN IN THE LORD, by Jack                      may have become distorted, blurred, and misdirected
Fennema; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids,  Mich.,             because of the Fall, but children continue to bear a
1979; 162 pp., paper, $4.95. (Reviewed by Gertrude           semblance of the image of God. This fact has
Hoeksema)                                                    important significance for how one treats children.
  In five chapters plus a foreword and an afterword,         They are to be viewed and treated as persons who
the author gleans from Scripture the principles of the       have both dignity and worth," p. 19. That leads to his
nurture of children, and explains them from a Biblical       differentiation between "total" and "absolute"
perspective. In the first chapter, which is also the         depravity, so that for  him "total depravity means that
longest, the author establishes "A Biblical View of          each thought, word, and action of man has within it
the Child," and treats the pertinent subjects of the         the taint of sin. Absolute depravity, however, means
child as created by God, the child as image-bearer, the      that each thought, word, and action of man is so
child as a sinner, and the child as a new creature in        absolutely corrupted that there is no redeeming
Christ. The chapter ends with two subtitles on the           feature whatsoever," p. 20. He chooses the former,
child and motivation, and the child and learning.            and embraces the idea that "God has chosen to
                                                             restrain evil within this world so that his divine
  Mr. Fennema devotes the rest of his book to the            purposes can be carried out," by means of the various
practical applications of these Biblical principles. In      kinds of good man can do. He concludes by stating,
chapter two he defines discipline as  nurture;  and he       "But these types of good actions are conducted only
divides the nurture of the child into three parts:           on a horizontal, man-to-man, human level," p. 20. His
Biblical instruction, Biblical chastening, and Biblical      summary, then is that "all schools can be places of
counseling or admonition. These three parts are also         mutual respect and order," p. 2 1. All of this is based
the titles of his last three chapters.                       on the theory of common grace, which we as
  Many of the author's concepts are lucid, Biblically        denomination officially rejected as unscriptural in
grounded  - he uses Scripture's words very often as          1 9 2 4 .
the basis for his statements  - and they have appealing        One more example from the first chapter will
common sense. Especially in his concept of discipline        suffice to illustrate the author's lack of clarity in
of the child, he captures the Biblical idea of discipline    stating the relationship of the child to God. On the
in the sense of the training of the whole child. Also        one hand, he says, "Children are totally religious
many of his practical suggestions for preventive and         beings! " p. 3. And in a certain sense that is true, for
corrective discipline would be helpful for parents or        all our children's thoughts and actions are or should
teachers.                                                    be motivated by the knowledge and love of  God:On
  However, there are serious flaws in the book.              the other hand, however, he says that the child's
Although the author sometimes arrives at correct and         sense of value and dignity must be received from the
even helpful solutions to discipline problems, he does       important people in his life  - which, too, in a certain
so despite his incorrect basis and his faulty view of        sense, is true. The confusion arises because the author
the child. For his basic principles are not truly            talks about "man" and "children" in general, and
Biblical, nor are many of his conclusions about the          fails to draw the sharp lines of distinction between
nurture of the child Scripturally grounded.                  the godly and the ungodly, between the covenant
  In his "Biblical View of the Child," for example,          child and the child of Satan, and between the church
he states that man was created in the image of God,          and the world. That is not to say he does not mention
and explores the meaning of that statement.                  sin and grace, and Christ's sacrifice. He does. But his
Following that, he says, "Although the Fall distorted        lines of distinction between Christ's' seed and Satan's
man's perception of beauty, he can develop his innate        seed are fuzzy, at best. Mr. Fennema does not use
ability to appreciate and create products of                 sound Scriptural, Reformed language.
beauty. . . . He is called  as,an image-bearing creation       His lack of sharp lines between sin and grace, the
to give expression to the beauty of God's holiness and       righteous and the wicked, carries over into his
holy array evident within himself and in the world,"         practical applications. He says in his chapter on
p. 17. In this passage and many others, the author           preventive discipline, "Children are made in the very
denies that man lost God's image and became the              image of God," p. 61. Which children? Again,
image of the devil, remaining a creature capable of          "Children are loved by God," p. 61. Again, which
bearing God's image only through regeneration. The           children? Or, "Children already possess dignity and
author's logical conclusions then are: "The image            worth," p. 62. Children of Satan? Or of God? On


                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             119


page 66, when the author tells us, as parents or                            directions to follow, but he does not coerce or
teachers, to love all children, not just certain ones, he                   manipulate man into obedience. He allows man the
bases it on the fallacy that "He (Jesus) comes to                           choice to obey or to disobey," p. 99. Scripture
people in their unlovable condition and loves them                          teaches that God always calls to obedience and
exactly as they are," -forgetting that the "wicked and                      r e p e n t a n c e   ( s e e   D e u t .    11: 19-22). Again, in
him that loveth violence his soul hateth," Ps.  11:5,                       connection with freedom, the author says, "Although
and that He loves His own  "unlovables" only through                        pure democracy is not a biblical concept, in reality,
Christ's atoning blood, by grace.                                           the life within the classroom should be more
   As he discusses how Biblical discipline is taught,                       democratic than autocratic," p. 103. Does he mean
the author posits several propositions, two of which                        that "Scripture forbids, but do it anyway?"
are:  "- Man is a religious being meant for eternal life.                      In the section on corrective discipline, the author
- God is creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the                            advocates that discipline problems between teachers
world," p. 82. Is this some sort of universalism? I do                      and students be treated as conflicts to be resolved
not know. But it is not Biblical and it has hazardous                       according to Matthew 18  ; and he doubts that
results, if brought into the classroom. The following                       Proverbs' references to the rod of correction are
is one of the dangers: from a Statement of Purpose                          "commands to physically correct a child," p. 121,
(from Covenant College, Tennessee), one purpose is                          again conflicting with Scripture's clear teachings on
"to reclaim the creation for God,"  p. 87. I do not                         authority. These fallacies must not enter our
really know  what that means, but it smacks of                              covenant homes or classrooms.
postmillenialism. Several dangers come under                                   Because of its distortion of Biblical principles in
the heading of  authority. "God has a divine purpose                        many areas, because of the lack of the antithesis and
for mankind and the world,"  p. 98. In a certain way,                       the  -whole idea of the covenant in the book, and
that is true, but the author does not explain that His                      because of the resultant misapplication of many
purpose is not the same for all men. In connection                          practical guidelines, I would not strongly recom-
with God's purpose of freedom for man, these                                mend this book for the Reformed Christian.
startling words appear: "God gives laws to obey and



                                                 LOOKING FOR A
                                             BUDGET BARGAIN?

             PURCHASE  God's Covenant Faithfulness OR Peaceable Fruit OR Therefore
             Have  / Spoken  AT THE REGULAR PRICE OF $5.95, AND RECEIVE ONE
             OF THE FOLLOWING FREE:

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


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

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



                         CORRECTION                                                   New Address:          Rev. Marinus  Schipper
   Lines 15 and 16 of the right hand column on page 44 of the                                               2640 Belfast Ave. S.E.
October 15th issue should read, "We who by nature are sinners bring                                         Grand Rapids, Mi. 49507
forth sinners," not "We who by nature are sinners bring forth  winners."                                    Tel.:  (616)  452-1945


THE STANDARD BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506

                                       ---                  -~
                                ,.
120                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                  c -

                                News From Our Churches
  Our congregation in Redlands, California, has                   in our church in Hull, Iowa.
extended a call to Rev. Wayne Bekkering. Their trio                 Rev. Steven Houck is laboring as home missionary
also included Rev. John Heys and Rev. Dale Kuiper.                in the Lansing, Michigan area under the supervision of
Rev. David Engelsma declined his call from Redlands.              the consistory of our Hope Church in Walker,
  Rev. Bekkering recently declined a call from Hope,              Michigan. Rev. Houck was the speaker at a public
Walker, Michigan. Hope's new trio includes Rev.                   lecture held in East Lansing on Wednesday, October
David Engelsma, Rev. Kuiper, and Rev. Bernard                     24. The Hope consistory has decided to visit the
Woudenberg. At the annual congregational meeting                  worship services in Lansing not less than once a
held on November 14, the Hope congregation                        month in order that they may better supervise and
extended a call to Rev. Kuiper. The Hope Church                   encourage the work there.
consistory has asked for and received the services of               Rev. C. Hanko spoke for the Mr. and Mrs. Society
Rev. Herman Veltman to preach for them for Sunday                 League Meeting in Grand Rapids on October 23. His
morning services until they receive a pastor. In this             topic was, "Family Visitation: How it should be
way the congregation will be able to maintain                     conducted and how to prepare our families for it."
continuity in preaching from the Catechism.                         Our church in Holland, Michigan, scheduled a
  Rev. Woudenberg has declined the call extended to               special program on Friday evening, November 16.
him by our church in Lynden, Washington, to serve as              Holland's pastor, Rev. John Heys, was to give a report
home missionary in the Northwest Washington area.                 on the work in Christchurch, New Zealand. Rev. Heys
Lynden's new trio includes Rev. Bekkering, Rev.                   illustrated his report with two hundred colored slides,
Heys, and Rev. James Slopsema.                                    including many of Singapore. Rev. Heys spent several
  Rev. Arie den Hartog preached his farewell sermon               months in Christchurch serving as minister-on-loan.
to his congregation in New Jersey on November 4.                  Church society program chairmen might take note
The den Hartogs have sold most of their household                 that Rev. Keys' program is available for presentation
furniture in preparation for their move to Singapore.       in your church.
Rev. den Hartog will serve as missionary there. The                 A combined chapel of our Christian Schools in
den Hartog family will live with Rev. den Hartog's                Doon and Hull, Iowa, was held on Thursday morning,
parents in Lynden, Washington, until the necessary                October 25. The new pastor of our church in Hull,
visa and work permit are received from the govern-                Rev. Cammenga, was the speaker.
ment in Singapore. Candidate Ronald Hanko has
accepted the call our congregation in Wyckoff, New                  The congregation of our church in Loveland,
Jersey, and will take up his labors as their new pastor.          Colorado, held a welcome program for their new
                                                                  pastor, Rev. Kortering and his family on Friday,
  Our congregation in Pella, Iowa, sponsored a                    October 26.
Reformation Day Lecture on October 30. Rev. C.
Hanko lectured on the theme: "The Reformation in                    Due to the rapid growth of the congregation, the
Luther's Soul." A lunch was served by the ladies of               consistory of our Faith Church in Jenison, Michigan
the church after the lecture..                                    has had to revamp their catechism schedule. Former-
                                                                  ly, classes were held on Monday evening. Now, the
  Also on October 30, Rev. Engelsma, pastor of our           younger children meet in three classes on Saturday
church in South Holland, Illinois, lectured in Grand              morning. Four classes for the older children and
Rapids, Michigan, on the theme: "Evangelism and the               young people meet on Monday evenings.
Reformed Faith." The lecture in the Calvin College
Fine Arts Center was well attended. A cassette tape                 A Thought for Contemplation from the pen of
of this lecture is available. Enclose $2 with your                John Calvin carried in the South Holland bulletin:
request to cover the cost of reproduction and mail to             "Do we seek the true church of Christ? . . . wherever
the Business Office (address inside front- cover).                the pure voice of the Gospel sounds forth, where men
Forty-nine copies of this cassette were ordered by                continue in the profession thereof, where they apply
those in attendance at the lecture.                               themselves to the regular hearing of it that they may
                                                                  profit thereby, there beyond all doubt is the church."
  The Young People's Society sponsored a Reforma-
tion Day Singspiration Sunday, November 4, at  7:30                                                             K. G. V.


