    STANDARD
         BEARER
f- A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                       .





     So we find ourselves in a new year, in
  another phase of our lives as God has
 planned our way in sovereign wisdom and
 measures off our days one by one. The end
 is -not  yet.' How soon that will be for any                                  h


 one of us we do not know, but that our
 end is approaching is certain. What manner
 of persons have we been in the past year?
 What kind . of persons are we now? What
 should we be?

   See "What Ought We To Be?"



                                       Volume LVI, No. 7, January I,1980  -


146                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                           CONTENTS:                                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER
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MEDITATION


                                        What Ought We to Be?
                                                                         C Hanko


                 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall
             pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also
             and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
                 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be
             in all holy conversation and godliness,
                 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of -God, wherein the heavens being
             on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
                                                                                                                                                        II Peter 3: 10-13.

   Since then . . .                                                                ought we to be! Another year has swept by and has
   Since the year 1979 has become history that is                                  carried us along, even hastening us toward our death,
recorded in the annuls of God to be reviewed in the                                the grave, and the great Day of the Lord.
day of Christ's coming, what manner of persons                                            For a fleeting moment we paused on new year's


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 147



eye to take a hasty glance upon the past year. We            fact that this world has undergone one massive
thought of the world happenings, the visit of the            upheaval, one judgment day already, silencing those
pope to our country, the unrest in the nations, the          who scoffed at the idea of a universal flood. The
constant threats of war which could also affect us,          inhabitants of the earth were surrounded by water,
the world-wide economic instability that threatens           waters above and waters below and all around, yet
disaster for the all of us, and the universal, anxious       they mocked at the thought that God could open the
cry for a leader who can deliver us from our dilemma.        windows of heaven and the fountains of the deep to
With all this we enter into the new year. We consider        inundate the whole world. Today we are surrounded
for a moment that this is  an. election year in our          by fire, evidenced in lightnings, electricity, and
country, a year that will likely bring many changes,         atomic and hydrogen energies, yet unbelief still smiles
possibly even the end of our present life style. We          at the teaching of Scripture that God will demolish
look at the more intimate life in our homes and in our       this present world with fire. Let God's church take
churches. No one can deny that there is a certain            note, for as far as these scoffers are concerned our
dangerous complacency in our churches and a steady           Lord will come when they least expect it, as a thief in
disintegreation of the family life in our homes, with        the night.
heresy and worldlimindedness creeping in among us              In verse 12 this day is referred to as "the day of
from every side. Each of us individually has ex-             God.  " It is the day when God will vindicate His Name
perienced joys and sorrows,  ljleasures mixed with           upon the blasphemers in their proud rebellion. The
unpleasantries, and undergoing a bit of dying every          world which will have imagined that it had done away
day.                                                         with God and His Christ will see God in Christ
  So we find ourselves in a new year, in another             appearing with the clouds of heaven. In that day He
phase of our lives as God has planned our way in             will justify His elect before the eyes of the whole
sovereign wisdom and measures off our days one by            world. He will establish His kingdom in the heavens,
one. The end is not yet. How soon that will be for           take its citizens unto Himself and unite them under
any one of us we do not know, but that our end is            one Head, Christ Jesus, in a new creation to show
approaching is certain. What manner of persons have          forth the glorious praises of His matchless Name.
we been in the past year? What kind of persons are             This is also the day of the  Lord Jesus.  It is the
we now? What should we be?                                   culmination of Christ's work as exalted Lord at the
  The answer is given in this text. We should be             Father's right hand. Every eye will see the crucified,
engaged in holiness and in a godly conversation,             yet exalted Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings
looking for and hastening the coming of God's great          exercising all the power of God in heaven and on
and eternal Day.                                             earth. Nations may rage and peoples may imagine
  The Day of the Lord is coming.                             vain things, but God has already exalted Christ as
                                                             Head of His church and Lord over all. The judgment
  Mockers there are who scornfully ask: When will            throne will be set up to pass a just judgment upon the
that day arrive when Jesus will return? They argue           wicked for all their evil deeds and to assign them to
that, since the dawn of history, day and night,              their own places in torment. In that day of the Lord
summer and winter, seedtime and harvest have                 the chosen of God will be justified before their own
succeeded each other uninterruptedly. Today these            consciences and before the whole world on the merit
scoffers will tell us that the earth is billions of years    of Christ's cross, and will be given their appointed
old, and that therefore our present civilization is still    places in His kingdom. Every knee must bow and
only in its infancy. As long as the sun does not burn        every tongue must confess that Christ is Lord to the
out, our commodities like gas and oil hold out, and          glory of the Father.
we control the population growth we have nothing to            "The heavens shall pass away. . .  ."
fear for a million or more years to come. There are
also those within the church who expect a universal            The reference here is to the starry heavens.
reign of Christ upon the earth before the final              Elsewhere Scripture informs us that the firmament
consummation of all things takes place. The com-             will be folded up as one folds a coat and lays it aside.
plaint that the Lord tarries long in His coming is           The stars will fall from their places, the sun will be
really quite foreign to any of us. All things seem to        darkened and the moon will be like blood. In this
carry on with amazing regularity. The church grows           passage we are told that the heavenly bodies will pass
complacent. The virgins doze and sleep; their vigil          away with a deafening roar, and the elements of
lamps burn out.                                              which they are composed will melt under intense
                                                             heat. This present generation has learned to fear the
  Scripture reminds us that the events of history            unleashing of the powers of the atom bomb, its
have not actually carried on through the centuries           resulting mushroom cloud, and its total devastation.
without interruption. Our attention is called to the         What clearer evidence do we need that Almighty God


148                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



is able to consume all the millions of heavenly bodies     promises cannot fail. Confidently we await the
by fire in a matter of minutes?                            coming of the day of the Lord and the glory that is
  Immediately following, the earth and the works           laid away for us.
that are on the earth will likewise be melted away in         This is our confession. This should also be evident
the furnace of God's judgment. The waters of the sea       in our lives. We should be living in eager anticipation.
will be swallowed up in a seething  caldron, the rocks     When a relative or friend is expected home after a
and the mountains will melt like wax. Even more            long absence we live in expectation of his coming
significant than that, the works of men's  ,hands, the     every day. Our life is focused upon the moment of his
product of centuries of toil, discovery, invention, and    arrival, our plans are arranged accordingly, our
progress will disappear as in a moment. The towering       thoughts and speech reveal our eagerness. As the time
sky scrapers that stood as monuments of man's              approaches we make the necessary preparations for a
greatness, the huge factories that poured out the          hearty welcome. We count the weeks, the days, the
products of man's skill, the many business houses          hours. We grow impatient, wondering why time
that spoke of man's success, the complicated elec-         moves so slowly. We  fmd ourselves looking out and
tronic devices that worked faster and more accurately      peering down the road, as in our eagerness we try to
than the human mind, even all the wonders of               hasten the glad moment of reunion.
antichrist that gave him the proud boast of almighty         Our text speaks of "looking for and hasting unto
power, omniscience and omnipresence, before which          the coming of the day of God." The margin tells us
the nations of the earth bowed in awesome wonder,          that a more literal translation would be, "looking for
will be exposed for what they actually are: mere           and  hasting  the coming of that day." Not as if we can
vanity. The Man of sin had stood for a moment at the       actually hasten the day of the Lord, since the times
height of his power as if he had attained the              and the seasons are in the hands of the Almighty, but
ambitions of the ages and was completely  self-            we can hasten the day as far as we are concerned by
sufficient as lord of the universe. He had boasted of      busily engaging ourselves in preparation for Christ's
his majesty and basked in the adoration of his             coming. We are God's workmanship, created in Christ
worshippers who looked to him to be cared for by his       Jesus unto those good works which God has before
hand. For a short time the whole world had  revelled       ordained that we should carry out toward the
in a false prosperity, built upon the vain promises and    coming of His kingdom. We are called to labor as
hopes of mere men. God in heaven had given them            faithful stewards in God's House in anticipation of
over to their own foolishness, and caused their vanity     His "well done." Fighting the good fight, keeping the
to bring about their own destruction. They corrupted       faith we reach out for the goal of eternal life that lies
God's soil, polluted His air and His streams and           before us.
oceans, exhausted His resources in mad waste in
striving for success. The vials of God's wrath were          That hastening is characterized, first of all, by
poured out upon them until they found themselves           holiness. Negatively, we prepare ourselves for Christ's
headed along a dead-end road. In final desperation         coming by a daily crucifying of the flesh, suppressing
they witnessed the sign of the Son of man in the           the sin that wars in our members. Positively, we
clouds, which filled them with terror for the living       consecrate ourselves to the things of God's kingdom
God, Who alone is God. They saw Him Whom they              as priests before the face of our God. The second
crucified and cast out, and they cried to the rocks to     characteristic of watchful waiting is godliness, or
cover them and to the mountains to hide them from          God-likeness. Now we are children of God, His
the face of the living God.                                imitators, not knowing exactly what we shall be, but
                                                           this we know that when He appears we shall be fully
  What manner of persons ought we to be!                   like Him in His glory. In that confidence we
                                                           experience that we are held by God's hand, are
  We have God's sure promises spread out on the            guided by His counsel, and are being led into His
pages of the holy scriptures from Genesis to Revela-       eternal Home.  .Holiness and godliness serve to increase
tion that He will surely remember His covenant and         our longing and cause us to pray ever more fervently,
deliver His people from all their afflictions. These       "Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come quickly. Amen."



                Know the standard and follow it.
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                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         149



EDITORIAL




                                                  What Gospel?

                                                         Puof H. C. Hoeksema



  Sometimes one rubs his eyes in disbelief a.t things                   distinction that many Reformed people fail to make.
which appear nowadays in  th& pages of  The Banner,                     He distinguishes between what is truly gospel and
                                                                        that judgment which befalls those who reject it. The
especially, though not exclusively, things which are                    former he contends can be truly preached, and the
from  the pen of James Daane.                                           latter cannot. Tuininga asks, "Must we `preach
  The  reprobation-issue seems to be bringing things                    reprobation? Must we preach hell?" His answer: "I
to light concerning the Christian Reformed pulpit  -                    doubt it very much. We must preach the gospel, the
things which we long suspected, but`which were not                      good news of salvation, what the Canons call `the glad
openly admitted. It is well-known that before he ever                   tidings concerning the Messiah.' " Thus he recognizes
filed his gravamen, Dr. Harry Boer openly claimed                       that we preach that in which we summon men to put
                                                                        their faith and trust. He is right. Man cannot have
that reprobation was not preached and taught in the                     faith and trust in reprobation.
Christian Reformed Church and that the doctrine of
reprobation inhibited also the preaching of election.                 And then Dr. Daane proceeds to capitalize on this
Along comes the Rev. Jelle Tuininga  (The Banner,                   concession of Tuininga. Although, of course, this has
Aug. 24,  1979), who seemingly opposes Boer's                       nothing to do with Boer's gravamen (the issue of
gravamen and wants to keep the doctrine of                          which is supposed to be purely  exegetical),  never-
reprobation in the Canons, although he does "not                    theless Daane's argument from Tuininga's concession
believe that everything the Canons say about election               is a cogent one:
and reprobation is above reproach." But. he also
claims that reprobation should not be preached:                            But if it need not be preached, why does he think
      Now first  df all about the pulpit: Must we                       reprobation should be a part of our official creed, and
    "preach" reprobation? Must we "preach" hell? I                      why does he think Dr. Harry R. Boer and I err in
    doubt it very much. We must preach the gospel, the                  thinking it ought not? After all, a creed is literally
    good news of salvation, what the Canons call "the                   what the church believes, and therefore what a               '
    glad tidings concerning the Messiah." Or, in the words              church preaches.
    of Jesus Himself, we must preach repentance and                        How can Tuininga justify the inclusion in a
    forgiveness of sins to all nations (Luke 24:47). So we              church's confessional formula what he does not think
    don't "preach" hell and damnation. What we do say,                  needs to be preached? Ought not our Confessions
    along with the gospel, is that if people do not                     reflect our  preaching and our preaching our Con-
    believe they will perish: the wrath of God remains                  fessions? What else are Confessions for?
    on them. So the reality of reprobation and hell only
    serves to increase the                                                 An even larger question is how can the Christian
                               urgency of the gospel, the only
    name by which men must be saved. Knowing the                        Reformed Church, especially its ministers and elders,
    terror of the Lord, we persuade men, says Paul (II                 justify the inclusion  bf reprobation in its official
    Cor. 5: 11). That's the function that mention of                    Confessions when in fact the vast majority of lifetime
    reprobation serves. But that's something else than                  members leave this world without any recollection of
    "preaching" reprobation.                                            having ever heard a sermon on reprobation? How can
                                                                        one avoid the question of integrity if a church
  As might be  excpected, when James Daane reflects                     officially confessionally declares what it in fact does
on "Tuininga and Reprobation"  (The Banner, Nov.                        not preach? Or how can one justify putting a man out
16,  1979), he seizes on this, for it is grist for Daane's              of the ministry for denying what he is not obliged to
mill. Writes he:                                                        preach?
       In his discussion of reprobation (g/4/79), the Rev.            A cogent argument, I say, from Daane's and the
    Jelle Tuininga makes a perceptive and necessary                 Christian Reformed Church's point of view.


150                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



   But the fundamental premise in this argument is                  sovereignty that is defined as neutral (neither
that reprobation and judgment do not belong to the                  essentially gracious nor essentially judgmental), as an
gospel, the good news concerning salvation, con-                    absolute power which is equally expressed in election
cerning the promise.                                                arid reprobation. Why else did so many people object
                                                                    to Report 44 (On the Nature and Extent of Biblical
   This is the first item to make one rub his eyes in               Authority) because it asserted that Biblical revelation
disbelief.                                                          is redemptive revelation? The objectors would not
  Do you realize, does the Christian Reformed                       have objected had the Report also said that Biblical
Church realize what is being said? I'm sure Dr. Daane               revelation is non-redemptive, judgmental, equally
does. I'm sure Dr. Boer does. I don't know about the                reflective of reprobation as of election.
Rev. Tuininga, for he seems to waver and halt                          And it should not escape notice that this dual  way
between two opinions. But do you realize that what                  of defining the nature of Biblical revelation - and the
these men are proposing (and Daane has been doing                   gospel - as no less non-redemptive as redemptive, and
this for a long time  - he says for decades) is a totally           no less a matter of reprobation as of election, stems
                                                                    from decretal theology. For if election and reproba-
different gospel  - which is not the gospel? This                   tion, divine redemption and divine judgment (wrath)
becomes evident, too, by the way, in that these men                 are revelatory of a decree that is God's essence (God's
increasingly speak about the Reformed view and                      essence as it expresses itself in God's will), then the
about Reformed theology in the third person,                        Bible and the gospel are indeed constituted by this
singular, that is, in such a way that they make plain               duality; then the nature of Biblical revelation reflects,
that Reformed theology is not  their  theology. They                and the preaching of the gospel should express, this
will freely admit that the views they are combatting                duality. A consistent decretal theologian will never
have been the views of our fathers all the way back to              suggest that reprobation ought not be preached. How
John Calvin himself. But they put distance between                  can he be silent about something he believes is rooted
themselves and those views.                                         in, and reveals the very nature of God?
  Let us understand this. The issue is not one of                  Now as far as the last paragraph is concerned, of
blue-pencilling an isolated doctrine out of the creeds.         course, there is only a grain of truth in it. That grain
It is the issue of a gospel whose very genius is                is that a consistent decretal theologian will never
contrary to our Reformed faith and confession,                  suggest that reprobation ought not be preached. The
contrary to the Scriptures.                                     reason adduced by Daane is wrong. However, I
                                                                refuted that in the last issue, at least as far as Herman
  In Daane's case this: will be plain to anyone who             Hoeksema's decretal theology is concerned.
has read his  The Freedom  of  God.  A Reformed man
simply cannot find himself in that book. But Daane                Nor will I argue about Report 44, which is not the
presents this "other gospel" in condensed form in the           origin of all these problems. Report 44 is probably
same article from which I quoted above. Notice:                 more in the nature of a symptom of the underlying
       A careful reading of his (Tuininga's) article shows      problem, in my opinion. Besides  - and this may
   that he sometimes believes that there are reprobates,        come as a surprise to Daane  - I think it is possible to
   people condemned to hell, not for sin that they have         argue in a sound sense of the word ( not in the sense
   committed but because God is the kind of God who             of Report 44 and the sense of Daane) that Biblical
   desires and determines that hell no less than heaven         revelation is indeed  redemptive  revelation.
   have its population (another of Daane's many                   But that is neither here nor there.
   misrepresentations of the truth, HCH). When Tuin-
   inga thinks and writes in this way, he has no reason to        MY concern is about the position, often reiterated
   think that if God is such a God, reprobation ought           by Dr. Daane, that judgment and reprobation do not
   not be preached. But ,a careful reading of his article       belong to the gospel, the good news concerning
   also shows that his Christian instincts rebel against        salvation, concerning the promise.
   that theology of reprobation in which he has been
   trained and he, therefore, says that he does not               What about this?
   "think" that reprobation is something that ought to            In the first place, let us remember  - and I suspect
   be preached because reprobation, after all, like hell, is    that here, after all, is the root of the matter  - that
   not really a part of the gospel.                             the gospel is never good news for the reprobate
       Tuininga ought not be surprised that many will           ungodly. There is no good news of God for them.
   dissent from his view - and mine - that reprobation          There is good news only for the elect. And do not
   ought not be preached' because it is an expression of        forget: the gospel has definite addressees, God's
   judgment, not of Good News. (italics added) One              people, His beloved elect in Christ Jesus!
   ought not, however, to think ill of him for this. The
   membership of our churches have far too long been              In the second place, let us remember that the
   taught to think  of'2he  gospel  equally  in terms of        criterion of the gospel is the Scriptures, and that, too,
   election and reprobation, and in terms of a divine           in their entirety. Where do we find the content of the


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    151



gospel? In those Scriptures, from Genesis 1 to            servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia.
Revelation 22. But those Scriptures are full of           And her smoke rose up for ever and ever." Why
judgment. I would almost say that it is impossible to     rejoice and sing Alleluias? Because of good news!
open those Scriptures anywhere without discovering        What good news? The good news of the judgment of
judgment. This can only mean, therefore, that if you      the great whore and the  .avenging of the blood of
insist that judgment is not part of the gospel, you       God's servants!
must eviscerate those Scriptures!                            Examples of this kind can be multiplied.
  In the third place, both Scriptures and our
confessions plainly present this element of judgment         And what about our confessions on this subject?
as good news, gospel. It belongs to the comfort of           Our Heidelberg Catechism finds comfort in the
God's people, the only comfort in life and death. And     gospel of the coming of Christ to judge the quick and
it is presented as reason for joy and rejoicing on the    the dead, and it certainly describes that gospel as
part of God's people. Let me be specific. The Book of     judgmental in the  52nd Answer: "That in all my
Revelation is full of judgments in connection with the    sorrows and persecutions, with uplifted head I look
whole scheme of the seals, the trumpets, and the          for the very same person, who before offered himself
vials. In it there are many passages which speak of       for my sake, to the tribunal of God, and has removed
rejoicing at the judgments of the Lord upon the           all curse from me, to come as judge from heaven:
enemies of His Christ and His people. Remember!           who shall cast all his and my enemies into everlasting
Those enemies are the reprobate ungodly, Babylon,         condemnation,  but shall translate me with all his
the Antichristian world! Why? The question cannot         chosen ones to himself into heavenly joys and glory."
be downed, and neither can the answer. That               (italics added)
judgment is good news! It is gospel! For whom? For
Babylon? Of course not! It is good news for God's            And our Belgic Confession, Article 37, speaks the
people, His church, the Lamb's bride! Just a couple       same language. We read there the following: "And
of random examples. The first is that of the seventh      therefore the consideration of this judgment is justly
trumpet, Revelation 11: 1.5, ff.: "And the seventh        terrible and dreadful to the wicked and ungodly, but
angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven,     most desirable and comfortable to the righteous and
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the         elect: because then their full deliverance shall be
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall     perfected, and there they shall receive the fruits of
reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty          their labor and trouble which they have borne. Their
elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon    innocence shall be known to all,  and they shall see
their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee     the terrible vengeance which God shall execute on the
thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast,         wicked, who must cruelly persecuted, oppressed and
and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy      tormented them in this world. . . . " (italics added)
great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were
angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the            In the fourth place, we must remember that this
dead, that they should be judged, and that thou           element of judgment belongs to the very motif of the
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets,     gospel. Not only does the gospel contain elements of
and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small     both judgment and salvation. Not only do judgment
and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy       and salvation occur side by side in history and in the
the earth. And the temple of God was opened in            gospel. No, the judgment of the world is the salvation
heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of       of the church! Zion is always redeemed through
his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices,     judgment. You behold it in the Flood, at the Exodus,
and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."      at the  .Conquest of Canaan, at the Return from
The second example is from Revelation 18 and 19,          Babylon. You behold it centrally in the fulness of
immediately following that dreadful description of        time at the Cross, and you hear the Savior cry: "Now
the judgment and fall of Babylon. Notice verse 20:        is the judgment of the world; now is the prince of this
"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles      world cast out!" And you behold it in its consumma-
and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her." Or        tion at the end of time: the judgment of Babylon
look at  19:1-3: "And after these things I heard a        means the salvation of Jerusalem.
great voice of much people in heaven, saying,               To deny this is to deny the gospel.
Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and
power, unto the Lord our God: For true and                  It is to proclaim another gospel, which is not the
righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the       gospel.
great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her           This is what the current struggle about predestina-
fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his            tion is all about.


152                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



ALL. AROUND US





                                                  "Burns Plays God"

                                                            Rev. G. Van Baren



  I guess the  element of shock has disappeared. One                      among men. Jerry is treated in a way reminiscent of
can expect anything and everything within Reformed                        the treatment given to Old Testament prophets and
circles. There are few, it seems, who blush anymore                       New Testament evangelists.
(Jer. 6: 15). Yet one can  not help but be  disap-                           The point of the film is that it makes as much
pointed and disgusted at the extent of departure from                     sense to believe in God's existence in our world as to
the truths of Scripture and of the confessions of the                     disbelieve in God's existence. But the kind of God
Reformed churches.                                                        who is pictured in the film is  a. far cry from. an
  Movie reviews  appear regularly and extensively in                      authentic reflection of that which the Bible portrays.
                                                                          Jesus' identity and role do not differ, according to
Calvin College  Chimes.  Not too long ago that was an                     the film, from the identity and role of Mohammed or
unheard of thing. But since the C.R.C. has approved                       Gautama or Moses, or, even, from the identity and
the viewing of the "good" movies, the church and                          role of Jerry Landers. What God thinks is the purpose
religious magazines in those circles increasingly review                  of life "doesn't count at all." God has no real
the movies. One review of a movie was presented in                        knowledge of the future. God, in fact, is "only for
the Nov. 2, 1979 issues of the  Chimes.  The movie was                    the big picture" and "doesn't guide our destiny." Our
scheduled for showing that same evening in Calvin's                       "destiny" is just a matter of luck. The only help we
Fine Arts Center.  The movie? "Oh, God!"  Chimes                          are to get is from each other. The question which
explains the contents:                                                    must be raised is this: What difference does it make
                                                                          to man if he believes or disbelieves in the existence of
         Oh, God! deals with the question: "Does it make                  the kind of God who is pictured in this film?
       any sense to believe that God exists in the kind of
       world in which we live and of which we are a part?"              The film was to be preceded by an introduction
       or "What would society's response be to God's                  and presumably an evaluation and  commentai-y  pre-
       contemporary appearance among them?"                           sented by Rev.  John  Vriend, the pastor of The
         This film's use of comedy is perhaps offensive to            Church of the Servant Christian Reformed Church.
       many viewers, especially among evangelical Chris-              President Diekema of Calvin College, so we read in
       tians. However, if the film had used the dramatic              the same Chimes,
       medium of tragedy - or any other dramatic medium                      . . . commended FAC (Film Arts Committee) on its
       for that matter - the film would have been a failure.              recent handling of the Oh God! issue. He pointed out
         God (George Burns) makes himself known visibly                   that  FAC's mandate is to show educational, not
       to Jerry Landers (John Denver), who is a grocery                   merely popular films, and that FAC is successfully
       store manager in Tarzana, California. Jerry, at best, is           doing so by putting  Oh God!  in a seminar
       agnostic and, perhaps, atheistic. God is upset about               context. . . .
       the way things are going on earth. Environmental                 One is struck by the fact that this film is presented
       pollution, war and hate result from people's failure to        in the largest auditorium on Calvin's campus. Other
       work together. God brings a message to Jerry and
       commissions him to share it with the world: if                 (presumably better) films are regularly presented in
   everyone will play his part to remedy the problems                 smaller auditoriums. Is this a comment, perhaps, on
   with which we people on earth must cope, finally,                  the. spiritual sensitivity of the students?
   everything will turn out alright. . . .                              One wonders, too, about the comments of Vriend
         In a comedy one can easily miss the important                before the movie. One would expect of a minister
   point: the one who, in obedience to God, transmits                 who has signed the "Formula of Subscription" before
   God's message does not get an enthusiastic hearing                 God and His church ("We declare, moreover, that we


                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              153


not only reject all errors that militate against this                                         Q. 97. Are images then not at all to be made?
doctrine . . . but that we are disposed to refute and                                         A. God neither  can, nor may be represented  by any
contradict these, and to exert ourselves in keeping the                                    means. . . .
Church free from such errors. . .  .") to be outspoken
in his condemnation of the godlessness evident. If                                        The message is clear. If nothing else, there was a
nothing else, he could be expected to read from the                                    terrible violation of the second commandment. This
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 35 (to which he                                       is none other than the sin of the golden calf into
firmly expressed agreement in the "Formula"):                                          which Israel fell at Mt. Sinai  - and we all know the
         Q. 96 What doth God require in the second                                     consequences of that. Did Vriend point that out? Did
      commandment?                                                                     he command repentance and return to a proper
         A. That we in no wise represent God by images,                                worship of Jehovah? Did he warn of the sad
      nor worship him in any other way than he has                                     consequences if such image-worship continues with-
      commanded in his word.                                                           out repentance? Surely that was his calling.



                                                Evils of Gambling Multiply

   The Church has been warned often concerning the                                     the contrary, racketeers have taken advantage of the
evils of gambling. That same Church has warned the                                     legal gambling to promote their own illegal activities.
state generally with respect to these evils. There is the                              The Grarld Rapids Press states:
evil of trying to "get something for nothing"; and
there is the evil of playing with the Providence of                                          Racketeers are using the Michigan lottery "daily"
God  - Who directs even the casting of the lot  - for                                      game to reap huge profits from an illegal $2.50-mil-
                                                                                           lion-a-year numbers operation, according to a Mich-
our financial or material enhancement. The evils of                                        igan State Police expert.
gambling included too the fact that those who can
least afford to gamble are the very ones who do so  -                                        The system began shortly after legal "daily" game
i n   h o p e   o f   a   l a r g e   r e t u r n .   A n d   m u c h   o f   t h e        began in June, 1977, and has nearly as big a "take" as
                                                                                           the daily lottery, according to Det. Sgt. Leroy F.
tremendous profit from gambling has been channeled                                         Soeltner, a State Police criminal investigator.
into the pockets of criminals.
   The State of Michigan, a number of years ago,                                         It appears that the illegal lottery makes use of the
legalized gambling as a state enterprise. That served a                                winning numbers of the state legal lottery. These
double purpose: supposedly the profits of gambling                                     numbers of the legal game are announced daily on
went to the state (presumably reducing taxes), and                                     radio, t.v., and the papers.
kept gambling out of the hands of criminals. However,                                    Rather than putting gambling only in the hands of
though gambling is more popular than ever in                                           "legal" operators, Michigan has discovered that it is
Michigan, it has hardly served its avowed purpose.                                     developing in its citizens a growing taste for gambling
Those who can least afford to gamble, many on state                                    - and that illegal and criminal gambling is not
aid, are the very ones who gamble the most. And                                        eliminated  - but rather is increasing. Well, so much
illegal gambling has not been stopped through the                                      for the theory that legalizing sin removes many of the
sponsorship of official state-controlled gambling. On                                  consequences of that sin.



                                    Oops! A Nine-Billion Year Mistake!

    The Grand Rapids Press, Nov. 29, 1979, reports:                                          The three scientists who discovered the  dis-
                                                                                           crepency say the heavens are only 9 billion years old,
        Math Flaw Halves Age of Universe, Experts Say.                                     not 15 billion to 18 billion years, the usually
         An apparent mistake in a mathematical yardstick                                   accepted belief.
     means that the universe is only half as old as                                          The rule in question is Hubble's Constant, the
     previously thought and could upset many theories                                      number astronomers use to figure the distance be-
     about the evolution of the cosmos, astronomers say.                                   tween objects in space.


 154                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



           One astronomer at Harvard and two in Arizona                sumably  were so convincing. The Biblical account
        found that the constant, which is the ratio of speed           could never be considered as  accuyate. Yet now, all at
        to distance, should be almost twice as large as                once, nine billion years can be chopped off the
        previously thought.                                            announced age of the universe. Suddenly, it is only
           "If the Hubble Constant is about twice as big as it        half as old as earlier taught. How must one regard a
        was thought to be in the past, that means that the age        theory that can so quickly and radically change its
        of the universe has dropped down to 9 billion years,"          opinion about the age of the universe? Ought not
        said John P. Huchra, a staff member of the Harvard-           such  scientists begin to question other of their
        Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.                          scientific theories as well  - even the basic one of
          Furthermore, he said, "The distance to the furthest         evolution? If nine billion years can be dropped, is it
        point in the universe is the velocity of light times the      possible that there is no real basis for believing that
        age of the universe. Since we have now scaled down            the remaining nine billion years are not either a
        the age of the universe by a factor of two, that means        scientific nor accurate measurement of the universe?
        that everything is half as distant."                          Could it not be said that just possibly the Biblical
   Amazing! The evolutionists were so firm in their                   account .of creation is true after all? But, of course,
insistance  that the universe was 15-18 billion years                 man regards the Bible as unreliable  - certainly as far
old. Their theories, their measurements, all  pre-                    as scientific statements and theories are concerned.





                                                    Question Box
                                                              Rev. C. Hanko





   A reader asks:                                                        Added to Cain's sin was the fact that he "was very
                                                                      wrath" with God. He accused God of injustice. Cain
   "A friend of mine believes that Genesis  4:7 proves                could see no reason whatever why Abel's sacrifice
   that God showed  .favov  to Cain and therefore grace.              should be accepted and his rejected. It is in answer to
   If  thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? He                Cain's wrath that God vindicates His name and His
   likes to emphasize the word `accepted.' Looking                    honor. God assures Cain that He is no respecter of
   forward for your views in the Standard Bearer."                    persons. He does not look at the external sacrifice,
   The incident to which the above mentioned text                     but He sees the heart. If anyone brings a sacrifice of
refers is the  -sacrifices of Cain and Abel. There were               love to God, giving evidence of his faith, he will
two reasons why God looked in favor on Abel's                         certainly be accepted. On the other hand, God warns
sacrifice. First, Abel took "of the firstlings of his                 that anyone who sins becomes a slave to sin. Sin is
flock and the fat thereof." The sacrifice itself was                  like a hungry lion lurking at the door of one's heart,
pleasing to God, as is evident from the emphasis upon                 ready to pounce in and to destroy if but given the
the firstling and the fat of it. Abel realized that he                opportunity. Let the sinner beware, for God is just
was a sinner and had access to God only through the                   also in His judgments.
blood of atonement. Second,  as Hebrews  I1 tells us,                    It is true that these words are addressed to Cain
Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice  by faith.  God               personally. But that does not change the idea. God
saw Abel's heart, saw the evidence of God's grace                     assures Cain that "if thou doest well" the Judge of all
operating there, and  Gpd was pleased with the fruit                  the earth wiil declare that "well-done," and will
of His own work in Abel. There were, on the other                     accept that sacrifice. This does not mean that Cain
hand, two reasons why Cain's sacrifice was rejected.                  was able to do well. Nor does it imply that God
First, Cain took "of the fruit of the ground," as if he               intended that Cain should do well. Certainly it must
were presenting his own gifts to the Lord. Second,                    be granted that God does not give Cain the grace to do
Cain brought a mere formal sacrifice, while his heart                 well, to believe, and to bring a sacrifice of faith. Also
was far from God.                                                     as far as Cain is concerned this is only a statement of


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      155


fact, maintaining God's justice. The purpose of God is      The Conqueror was worthy of an honorable burial
to warn Cain of his wickedness. For the just and holy       along His way to glory.
God visits sin with sin. If Cain continues in his wicked
ways, defying God, he can only expect that sin like a          Christ's burial also serves as proof of His
lion will tear him to shreds and devour him. His end        resurrection. The vacated tomb is a silent testimony
will be everlasting torment in hell. Cain must never be     that "he is not here, for He is risen from the dead."
able to say that he did not know the justice of God.        Moreover, Christ's burial has its significance for us,
                                                            for as we are buried with Christ in Baptism, so we
   Obviously there is no evidence of grace here, nor        also are raised with Him in newness of life. Thus we
even of favor. Cain was not accepted, nor was he            read in Romans  6:4. "We are buried with him in
given the grace to be acceptable in the sight of God.       baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
                                                            from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
   A reader asks:                                           also should walk in newness of life."
   "In recent years, the practice of cremation instead
   of burial upon death seems to be on the increase.           Returning to the figure of the seed sown in the
   Some reasons given for this are the following: It is     earth, we find that Paul speaks of our earthly body as
   less expensive; there is a lack of room for burial;      sown in the grave ready, as it were, to sprout forth in
   the body turns to dust anyway.                           the glorious likeness of the resurrection body of our
                                                            Lord Jesus Christ. "So also is the resurrection of the
   "Would you please give some Biblical insight as to       dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in
  how Christians should view this."                         incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in
  The main Scriptural argument against cremation is         glory: it is sown in weakness: it is raised in power: It
the fact that the burial of the body of the believer has    is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."
a rich symbolical significance.                             Scripture speaks of the believers' sleeping in their
  Scripture compares the burial of the believer to the      graves even while their souls rejoice before the throne
sowing of seed in the soil, awaiting the harvest. Our       of God, for our bodies will be awakened from death
earthly bodies are the seed that is planted in the grave    on that great resurrection Morning.
to break forth into its full power and splendor at the        One can well understand that the unbeliever tries
resurrection from the dead, when the entire harvest         his utmost to deny the whole idea of a resurrection
of the elect will be gathered in.                           from the dead. Already when Christ arose and the
  Thus, for example, Jesus says of His own death and        tomb was left vacated the unbelieving Jews tried to
burial, "Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a corn       say that the body of the Lord was stolen. Many
of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth           prefer to have their bodies cremated, in order to try
alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."        to prevent anything like a resurrection; or else they
John  12:34. Jesus' burial was another step in His          want their dust strewn over some favorite spot, in
state of humiliation. Jesus took His place among the        order to cling, as it were, to that spot even in death.
dead of all the ages; His grave lies, as it were, in one      On the other hand, the believer insists on
line with our graves. Isaiah spoke of the fact that "he     committing his body to the grave, to sleep in the
made his grave with the wicked." Yet because He had         Lord, awaiting the time when he will be awakened to
already conquered over the devil and hell, He               be with the Lord forever. He cherishes the hope of
marched like a mighty Conqueror through our                 the resurrection of the dead. Therefore he sees the
physical death and our grave to complete victory.           rich symbolism of his grave and wants no part with
"He was with the rich in his death." Isaiah 53:  Il.        those who favor cremation.





    The STANDARD BEARER
    makes a thoughtful gift


156                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



GUEST ARTICLE





                         Bear One Another's Burdens

                                                  Rev. R.G. Moore





  The people of God in our day live at a time of            hope and trust the promised eternal glory of
growing apostasy and immorality. It is a day of             fellowship with God. God's people in this life yet
relative ease, on the other hand, in that the church        contend with the flesh and therefore with sin. This is
undergoes no strong persecution. It is, therefore, a        our everyday experience.
day of great temptation. There is a very real                 Now sin disrupts the walk in the Spirit. It robs one
temptation to go to sleep  - to turn our eyes away          of his hope and comfort. And sin disrupts the
from our weaknesses and sins, in order to continue          manifestation of the life in Christ. Further, sin is
the so-called peace that we enjoy. The attitude of the      abhorrent to God and to His people. In short sin
world `that everything is okay as long as it does not       brings into the church of Christ deepest misery. Thus
personally hurt another, is an attitude that the church     Christ, knowing His Church with a perfect and
is tempted to follow.                                       intimate knowledge, addresses His own as they dwell
  But those walking in the Spirit, the chosen,              in the midst of this world. And He does so in order to
redeemed, and quickened in Christ are led by Christ's       give them strength in the battle of faith, and to give
Spirit to hear anew Christ's admonition which is set        them the victory. He does so by calling us to bear one
forth in Galatians 6: 1-3, "Brethren, if a man be           another's burdens  - this especially in relation to the
overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore       sin of a brother in the midst of the body of Christ.
such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering             Again  we point out that Christ knows His church
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one             and He knows the devastating effect of sin upon His
another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For    Church and His people. He bore God's eternal wrath
if a man think himself to be something, when he is          because of it! Thus Christ instructs us that, when a
nothing, he deceiveth himself."                             brother or sister is overtaken in a fault, in a certain sin,
  In this article we will consider these words of our       we must restore him or her. It happens that members
Lord given to us through the apostle Paul. Christ           of the church do fall beside the way of truth. They
admonishes us to bear one another's burdens. At the         walk in sin. And that sin affects other of God's .
outset, we must understand that the apostle is not          people  - the Church. This may be directly, in that
speaking here of the burdens of poverty, sickness,          the sin is committed against another member of the
etc., although it is true that God's children will also     body of Christ. But it is always true generally that if a
bear these burdens of one another. But the apostle          member of the body is hurt, the whole body is
speaks in particular of the burdens of sin, those           affected. This is a part of the devastating effect of sin
burdens which result from sin and weakness.                 in the Church.
  Hence, We see the apostle speaking of a                     The sin is not spelled out in the text, but because
hypothetical case of a daily reality within the church.     the term for sin speaks of a stepping beside the truth
God's people are not yet perfect  - although they are       - thus to err, to sin  - it can be the departure from
made new creatures in Christ, and are renewed in            doctrinal truth, or the forsaking of the truth in an
knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and seek in         ungodly walk. It is evident, also, that the sin spoken


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                              157


of is not either one that is repented of, but is a sin in    Christ, and to care for him and remove his burden.
which one walks for a time impenitently (whether for         We are to become involved, to restore him to his
a long or short time). Such sin disrupts the walk of         rightful place in the body of Christ. And our text
the child of God in faith and robs him of comfort,           makes it plain that this is not something that we
confidence, and hope.                                        might choose to do or not to do. Christ gives no
   Thus it is a burden, a weight, that brings misery to      choice in the matter to His Church. This His people
the brother or sister. And this is true whether the one      shall do; anything else is displeasing to our God and
sinning consciously admits it or not. Sin opposes the        His Son Jesus Christ.
Spirit, sin is natural, of the' flesh, and it prevents a        But how? How can such as we, who are ourselves
walking in the Spirit. This cuts off from the conscious      sinners, restore a sinning brother? Jesus addresses the
fellowship of God and from the fellowship in the             spiritual ones. Obvious it is why Christ calls our
Lord in the body of Christ. It keeps one from the            attention to the fact that it is the spiritual ones that
conscious enjoyment of all the wonders of grace.             are so admonished (that is, those in whom Christ
  Now, to emphasize, this affects not only the man           abides by His Spirit and Word). For naturally we
that so walks, but the entire body of Christ. This is        would not, could not, bear one another's burdens.
literally the case when sin is committed directly            For the natural man stands in enmity against God and
against members of the body of Christ, for sin drives        also against the neighbor. We are naturally creatures
a wedge in our fellowship and communion in the               of pride and are filled with hatred. For natural man is
Lord. And this is an abomination to our God. But it          totally, utterly depraved. This manifests itself in our
is also true that a walk in sin by one member does           natural seeking of  numero  uylo alone. One naturally is
harm to the whole body. For it always dishonors the          not concerned with the brother, but delights in the
Christ, Who is the Head of the Church. And it always         destruction of the brother unto the exaltation of
does great harm to the one sinning.                          self. Naturally there is only a delight in the troubles
                                                             of another, a delight in those who sin.
  Thus Christ Who perfectly cares for His people
admonishes us to bear one another's burdens. Our                Hence Jesus also instructs His people, who by grace
text rightly pictures sin as a burden. It is a weight        would hear Him. "For if a man think himself to be
that brings trouble upon one! Hence, another's sin           something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."
may never be an occasion for lightheartedness on the         The children of God are thus led by Christ, also when
part of other members of the body of Christ. We may          heeding His word in the way of grace  - that is, to
not laugh at or overlook the sin of a brother, and           bear the brother's burden by restoring him that
perhaps say, "that is his problem." For sin always           sinned  - to confess they are nothing. This is necessity
brings one in danger of hell-fire. Thus indeed the sin       for those who would exhort, instruct, and correct the
of another brings deep concern for those of like faith       erring brother. Any other portion will keep us from
in the body of Christ. And we are given by grace to          the walk of love towards the brother. Our pride
see that the purpose of bearing one another's burdens        would prevent us! Only when we are brought by the
is a matter of the love of God and the brother in            Word of Christ to a deep understanding of our own
Christ. The purpose is the deliverance of the brother        nothingness, is it ever possible to go to the sinning
from the terrible weight of sin and its curse.               brother with admonition. Jesus instructs us to bear
                                                             the brother's burdens in meekness. Only as the Lord
  Jesus imperatively tells us to restore such a one so       makes  -us to see our own sin, and the gracious
departing. The term means literally to render sound          deliverance in His blood, is it possible to speak of that
or complete. Sin tears down the one sinning. It takes        deliverance with the brother walking in sin. And only
away comfort and strength  - it leaves one weak. For         then, as Christ fills us with the testimony of His
the consciousness of Christ is removed by an ungodly         Word, so that we rely only on His Word to quicken
walk. Peace of mind and soul departs! And this, if not       and correct the brother, are we able to go to him.
checked, leads to greater distress and trouble. It
brings often a breach even in the manifestation of the         Only the Spiritual Ones!
Church of Christ.                                              And this spirituality comes wholly from without,
  We are, therefore, called to restore such a one.           only as Christ by His Spirit hath revealed unto us our
That is, we are told by Christ that we may not leave         sin by His Word! Only as He hath brought us down to
the brother or sister who walks in sin alone. One may        the dust and ashes in contrition for sin! Only as Christ
not turn his face away from the sins of others, for          hath poured out upon us the bounties of God's
this will not restore. Nor may we merely talk about          forgiving grace! Only as He hath bound our
the sin of a brother, for this will not restore, but         consciences by His Word! Only as He has shown to us
tends further to tear down! Christ commands us to            in our inmost depths the way of escape in His
restore the brother, to seek him out in the love of          precious blood! Only as Our Lord leads us by His


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Spirit and Word to know of Father's everlasting               too is the assurance of our text. The law of Christ is
covenant faithfulness to save us who are sinners! Only        fulfilled. The law of Christ is the law as it is set forth
as Christ convicts us and gives to us a contrite heart!       in God's Word. It is God's Word to His church. The
Only then does His Church hear this admonition; and           essence of the law Jesus set forth as the love of God
only then have they strength to bear the brother's            with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the
burdens, and then with trembling!                             love of our neighbor as ourselves. The law sets forth
                                                              the covenant relation between God and His people.
   But Christ is faithful,  ,and by His Spirit He prepares
His elect, and so enables them to care for the brother            It is called the law of Christ in our text because it
in his error and sin. Then in humility and by grace           is the law which Christ realizes and fulfills. Christ
alone which abides in them God's children turn to the         alone, as the Head of the elect Church, chosen in Him
brother walking in the way of sin. It is only with the        before the foundation of the world, walked before
Word of Christ that we may turn to the brother. We            our God in harmony with the law. He in satisfaction
know that all natural reasoning will not avail. We            of the law stood in our place before God, serving Him
understand that we could use all of the natural               in perfect love as the obedient Son. He suffered in
examples in this world (of where his sin will lead            o u r   s t e a d   t h e   c u r s e   o f   t h e   l a w   a g a i n s t   t h e
him), and still it would be of no avail. Only in the          disobedience of our sin. And, according to the law, in
way of confession of our own sin, may we approach             His self-sacrifice on the cross merited for us eternally
the erring brother. And in this way taking the                a place in God's fellowship. The love required by the
Scriptures in the deep attitude of prayer is one able         law He now works in the hearts of His children. He
to instruct and exhort. In the deep consciousness of          assuredly calls His body out of darkness into the
that great love of God Who has sent His only Son to           light. Christ breaks the bondage of sin, and by His
die for us while we were yet sinners, do we approach          Spirit applies the law to the hearts of His people. He
the brother in need, And our trust is that God is             causes the word of God to dwell in His body so that
willing to use such frail means as we are, to save His        they walk in the love of God and of their neighbor.
church. Thus as Christ gives us the grace to so walk             Thus our text says that by bearing one another's
before him, the brother will be cared for. For the            burdens the law of Christ is fulfilled. Not that we add
Word alone has the power to restore as Christ is              to the obedience of Christ to the law or to its
pleased to apply it unto the heart of His wayward             satisfaction. That is impossible! But thus is filled to
children. And together by grace are we drawn to the           the brim the law, in the sense that Christ simply
cross and salvation. Thus is restored the one walking         accomplishes His purpose in saving the church.
in sin whom Christ is pleased to restore. May God             Christ's work and word is faithfully accomplished in
grant us grace so to bear our brother's burdens.              those given Him. By His Spirit and Word He leads His
                                                              church, giving us grace to bear one another's burdens,
  God does hear this prayer of His saints. Christ gives       and thus in faithfulness saves His church. And so shall
His body the strength so to labor with the burdens of         He lead us till the day He comes to bring us to glory
the brother; and so is fulfilled the law of Christ. This      when no longer shall there be burdens.


IN HIS FEAR


                               Continuing in the  Fear
                         of the Lord in Our Homes
                                                 Rev. Arie den Havtog


  In our last article we discussed the subject of             course, easy to vow when we begin our homes that
beginning our homes in the fear of the Lord. We               we will fear the Lord. We are inclined to be as Israel
emphasized how important it is to establish our               in the latter days of Joshua when Joshua charged
homes in the fear of the Lord. It is in a sense, of           Israel to choose to serve the Lord God. To that


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                             159


charge Israel could answer rather quickly, "We will             The Lord must come to us again and again in His
serve the Lord." Joshua had to tell Israel, "Ye cannot       Word to tell us, "Remember that I am the Lord your
serve the Lord: for He is a holy God; He is a jealous        God, I am the holy one your King, I am He Who has
God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your        redeemed you, I am the God Who has formed you for
sins." Joshua 24: 19. We must continue in the fear of        Myself even for Mine own glory. Fear before Me, be
the Lord all the days of our life. Especially in our         holy even as I am holy."
homes we must grow and increase in the fear of the              How urgent it is for us to apply ourselves daily in
Lord. We shall continue in that fear as we grow in our       our homes to the fear of the Lord. This is a spiritual
understanding of the awful, perfect holiness and             activity in which we must constantly be engaged.
greatness of God. We shall continue in the fear of the
Lord as we more and more understand our holy                    If we are to continue in the fear of God we must
calling as the people of Jehovah God. We shall               continue ever to remember Him. We must grow more
continue in that fear only when we understand how            and more in His knowledge. We must increase ever
corrupt we are and how much we need the grace of             more in a living, spiritual understanding of the
God to serve Him and fear before Him. Sad to say,            wonderful greatness and holiness of our God. We
often our good vows and good beginnings are not              must ever remember who and what our God is. We
continued. We can so soon forget the Lord our God            must remember His sovereign power and greatness,
and our holy calling before Him.                             His wonderful electing love. We must contemplate
                                                             again and again His wonderful deeds and mighty acts
  How often in the history'of the children of Israel         as the God of our salvation. How often the Psalms do
do we read that Israel forgot the Lord their God and         this! We must ever remember that, exactly because
departed from His fear. They forgot the Lord though          we are the people of Jehovah God, therefore we must
they daily walked in the presence of His mighty and          be a holy and peculiar people unto Him.
wonderful revelations, though they experienced daily
His wonderful provisions. Israel again and again saw           To continue in the fear of the Lord means that we
the wonderful, mighty power whereby Jehovah saves            ever know how grievous our sin and corruption is in
and protects His people. Israel lived in the land which      the sight of our holy God. This remembrance must
God in His sovereign grace had given to them. Yet in         daily bring us upon our knees to plead  with,God for
spite of all of this they forgot the Lord and did not        forgiveness and mercy. To continue in the fear of
fear Him. They despised His revelations and trampled         God means that we ever remember the terrible
underfoot His Holy covenant. And we are so often so          judgments of the Lord upon those who turn away
much like Israel. We live in great prosperity. We enjoy      from Him, and the great blessedness of those who
daily the wonderful benefits which the Lord provides         walk daily according to His commandments. To
for us. Above all we possess daily the wonderful             continue in the fear of the Lord means that we
benefits of salvation in Christ Jesus. We have the           continue to strive with all our might to walk in a way
infallible Word of God which reveals unto us in a            pleasing to Him.
perfect and wonderful way Jehovah our God and our              To remember God and continue in His fear we
Savior in Christ Jesus. We have a so much more clear         must continue in the diligent and faithful study of
and wonderful revelation than Israel of old. God has         God's Word and in prayer. It is impossible  to
given to us His Spirit whereby we know spiritually           continue in the fear of the Lord if we do not. have
the mysteries of salvation and of the kingdom of our         each day times when we study the Word of God. How
Lord Jesus Christ. We have the wonderful gracious            terrible it is when our life becomes so busy that we
covenant of God. Yet we too often forget the Lord            do not take the time to study the Word of God. We
our God. So often God is not in our consciousness,           must study the word of God as it is indeed the Word
not in our hearts and not in our lives. We forget the        of God. We must not read the Word of God as a mere
awful holiness and righteousness of our God or we            dead letter or as a book among our other books. We
take this all so very lightly. We forget the holy calling    must study the Word of God as it is the living
that God has given to each one of us. We become              revelation of our God, as it teaches us how great, how
carnal, our hearts are filled with lusts for material        wonderful and holy and perfect our God is.
things. We become worldly. Our- lives are patterned
not by the law of God but according to the wicked              To continue in the fear of the Lord we must
world and after ungodly men. We see the way and the          continue in prayer. Surely not a day must go by that
prosperity of the wicked. We say in our hearts, let us       the Christian does not spend time in prayer. Through
live like them, let us join with them in their wicked        prayer we know again and again that our God is the
purposes and counsels. Let us do what is right in our        living and true Gbd. Through prayer we have daily
own eyes. We think that God has no knowledge, He             fellowship and communion with our God. We must
does not see our lives. Especially we think that God         really pray. Our prayers must not be merely the
does not. see us in the privacy of our homes.                mouthing of words and the repetition of cliches. We


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must pray sincerely and earnestly to our God. We             calling as husband and as wife before God? How must
must consciously place our life each day in His holy         we live in holiness with one another, in faithfulness
presence. Through prayer we must seek each day               and love, forbearing one another's weaknesses,
anew the grace and the Spirit of God that is so              forgiving one another's sins, encouraging one another,
absolutely indispensable if we are to continue in the        supporting one another. This we must do for God's
fear of the Lord.                                            sake. "
   Absolutely essential for continuing in the fear of the      How many important decisions are made from day
Lord is to continue in the house of the Lord. In             to day in our homes. How easy it is for us to make
another article I would like to consider the whole           those decisions on our own without regard to God
subject of worshipping the Lord in fear. God                 and His Word. To continue in the fear of the Lord
commands us to worship each Lord's day in His                means that the Word of God is the infallible rule and
house and there to learn His fear through the                guide for all our life. To continue in the fear of God
preaching of His word. Those who continue in the             means that God's  -will is absolutely decisive for our
fear of the Lord are those who diligently frequent           lives. We follow not the desires of the flesh, we are
God's house, who understand that the worship of              not motivated by carnal considerations but by what is
God is central for all of their life.                        for the glory of God and according to our holy calling
  Through the Word of God and prayer we must                 before Him. Innumerable areas of our life in the
learn again and again how we must order our lives in         home could of course be mentioned as practical
holiness and truth before our great and holy God.            examples. How we live, what we do, and what we do
Day after day as we continue in our homes questions          not do all must be determined by the Lord our holy
arise, problems come, decisions must be made, trials         God is we are to continue in His fear. How we
and temptations have to be faced. To continue in the         conduct our business, how we spend our money, how
fear of the Lord means that we constantly ask what           we support the church and kingdom of God, how we
the will of the Lord is for our life, Often before our       bring up our children, what we do for entertainment,
marriage everything seems to be so easy. But soon            all these things and so many more must continually
conflict and trouble comes. In the world we see              stand under the scrutiny of and be directed by our
marriage after marriage breaking down soon after             God and His Word. As we have said many times, we
they are begun. The reason for this is because there is      live in an age when there is so little true fear of God
no fear of God with the ungodly. The God-fearing             among men. May God give us His grace and Spirit
husband and wife constantly are asking, "What is our         that we might daily continue in His fear.


SIGNS OF THE TIMES




                                         The Last Time:
                           How Are We Living?
                                                 Rev. R. Flikkema



  The last time: how are we living? Are we living in         we, you and I, are in deep spiritual trouble. We are in
these last times by partaking of the king's meat? Do         deep spiritual trouble. We are in deep spiritual trouble
we like the king's meat ? Do we find that it is              exactly because the Word of God to us today is that
desirable and that it tastes delicious? If our answer to     we may not partake of the king's meat. But rather,
those questions is yes, then we, you and I, are simply       we along with Daniel of old must purpose in our
not living in these last times as we should. To put it       hearts that we will not defile ourselves with the
bluntly, if our answer to those questions is yes, then       portion of the king's meat.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 161


   Yes, Daniel. Daniel refused to partake of the king's     give me pulse to eat and water to drink. I may not eat
meat. Oh, to be sure, it was offered to him. Daniel, as     of the king's meat! And he did not. The king's
we noticed last time, had been taken captive to             servant, into whose favor God had brought Daniel,
Babylon's land. In Babylon's land he had been               consented to Daniel's request. For ten days Daniel ate
separated from his covenant parents and from the            only pulse, and for ten days he drank only water.
covenant education that he had received from his
covenant parents. In Babylon's land he had been               Now you may say to yourself: Oh, how ridiculous!
subjected to the godless learning and education of          ,How utterly ridiculous! How utterly ridiculous Daniel
Nebuchadnezzar's court. In Babylon's land his name          was in not eating of the king's meat. Surely he could
had been changed from a name that reminded him of           have eaten of the king's meat. There would have been
his covenant God and the faithfulness that his              nothing wrong with that. What could be so wrong for
covenant God had shown to him, to a name that               Daniel to partake of a good supper? Was not Daniel
reminded him solely of heathen gods and their               being just a little bit stubborn, just a little bit
abominable worship. And in Babylon's land he was            ridiculous, in refusing to eat of the king's meat? I say,
offered the king's meat  - The king's meat that             you may say that to yourself. But I assure you that
consisted of the finest food in the realm: food that        you, and I with you, will not say that to ourselves
was fit and suitable only for the king's table. It was      when we understand what that king's meat repre-
delicious food. It was food that was pleasing to the        sented. Daniel understood very clearly what that
taste: food that, so to speak, would make one's             king's meat represented. That king's meat that was
mouth water. That food, that king's meat, Daniel was        served to Daniel was in fact the very same king's meat
offered. And that word "offered" must be em-                that was served to idols. It was meat that was served
phasized. Every day the king's servants brought that        to idols! Meat was sacrificed to the idol gods of
food. Every day the king's servants placed that food        Babylon's land. Meat was consecrated and dedicated
before Daniel. And having done so, they by that very        to the idol gods of Babylon's land. And a portion of
action said to Daniel: Oh, Daniel, doesn't that look        that very same meat that was consecrated and
delicious! We have prepared for you the finest food in      dedicated and sacrificed to the idol gods of Babylon's
the realm. Doesn't it look delicious! Won't you try         land was the very same meat that Daniel was required
some? Just try it! See once if you like it! It won't        to eat. Daniel knew that. He was fully aware of that.
hurt you! That food was offered to Daniel and               And even more, he was fully aware of what it would
offered to Daniel very forcefully. And that word            have meant if he had eaten of that king's meat. If he
"forcefully" must also be emphasized. It was not the        had not refused to eat of that king's meat, if he had
case merely that Daniel could accept or reject that         eaten of that king's meat, that would have meant that
food if he so desired. It was not the case merely that      Daniel recognized those idol gods to be gods, and not
Daniel could say to those servants when they brought        Jehovah! It would have meant that Daniel  wor-
him that food: No, I prefer not to eat of it. But           shipped those gods, and not Jehovah! It would have
rather it was the case, that no matter if he wanted to      meant that Daniel loved those idol gods, and not
eat of it or not, he had to eat of it! The king,            Jehovah! That is what that would have meant. And
according to verse 5 of chapter 1, had  "app.ointed"        understanding what that would have meant, Daniel
Daniel to eat of his meat. That is, the eating of the       refused to eat of the king's meat.
king's meat was that which was required of him.               And that simply means that Daniel, in harmony
From the point of view of the king there was simply         with his calling, the calling which is given to every
no choice in the matter: no ifs, ands, or buts about        single child of God, lived in Babylon's land an
the matter. Daniel was required to eat of the king's        antithetical life. And that must be emphasized!
meat, and that was all there was to it.                     Daniel, by refusing to partake of the king's meat,
   But Daniel, according to verse 8 of chapter 1,           lived in harmony with the antithesis  - the antithesis,
"purposed in his heart that he would not defile             which is always the battle of light overagainst
himself with the portion of the king's meat." Daniel        darkness; the antithesis, which is always the battle of
refused. Required of him or not, Daniel would not           the Church overagainst the world; the antithesis,
eat of the king's meat. And he told the king's servant      which is always that battle between God and all that
so. He came to the king's servant and said to him very      which is not God; the antithesis, which is always the
forthrightly and very pointedly: I may not eat of the       battle between Christ and Belial. That is the antithesis
kings' meat. I may not. Instead of feeding me with          - the antithesis which always, which always, consists
the king's meat, give me pulse to eat and water to          in the calling of the child of God to keep oneself
drink. And do not be afraid. Do not fear for thy life.      unspotted from the world, the calling of the child of
I will be  alright.  My countenance will be just as fair    God to live one's life as a pilgrim and a stranger,
and even more fair than the other youths. Do not fear       fleeing that which is of darkness and standing firmly
that I shall look undernourished. Just do as I say and      upon the side of Christ. That is the antithesis. And


162                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


that antithesis, that antithetical calling, Daniel lived     often, much too often, I do.
when he refused to partake of the king's meat.                  The king's meat comes to us in the form of the
   Do we? Do we?! Do we stand firmly upon the side           pleasures and treasures of this life. It comes to us in
of Christ? Do we? Do we live in harmony with our             the form of the godless entertainment of this life  -
antithetical calling? Do we? Do we refuse to partake         its movies and its drama; its music, its godless music!
of the king's meat? Do we? That is the question.             Parents, have you asked your young people lately if
Understand well that the question is not: Do we              they have attended movies? And I do not mean
teach the antithesis? Do we expound the antithesis?          movies in the theatre either. I mean movies in the
Do we emphasize the doctrine of the antithesis? Of           home on our very own television sets. Have you asked
course we do. We do teach and expound and                    your young people what kind of music they listen to
emphasize the doctrine of the antithesis. We hear the        in their cars? I dare say it is not God-glorifying music,
doctrine of the antithesis taught and expounded and          but rather the music of the king's meat. And, by the
emphasized from our pulpits by faithful ministers of         way, when you ask your young people that question,
the Word of God Sunday after Sunday. We read                 be sure and ask yourselves that question. Do you
about the doctrine of the antithesis from our printed        watch the same movies, the king's meat, right along
pages, the pages of our  Standard Bearer.  Indeed, our       with your children? To what kind of music do you
Churches are known for their strong and forceful             listen?
stand upon the doctrine of the antithesis. And we can           That is serious business. It is serious business
only give thanks to God for that. But, you see, that is      because this world, the world of Babylon's land,
not the question. The question is not: Do we teach           offers that king's meat to us. It does! As really as it
the antithesis? But the question is: Do we live the          did to Daniel of old, it offers it to us. Its word to us
antithesis? Do we live it? That is the question. And         is: Here, partake of my pleasures and treasures! Here,
understand well, also, that that is not my question.         partake of my entertainment and all the rest! It won't
That is God's question. God says to you and to me:           hurt you! It's not so bad! Just try a little bit! See
Do you, who are My people in these last times live           once if you like it! It won't hurt you!
the antithesis? Do you refuse to partake of the king's          Do we? If you do, then you know by experience
meat? Or do you, instead of refusing, partake of the         that just as soon as we try a little bit, we try some
king's meat? What is your answer to God's question?          more, and some more, and some more, until pretty
  Well you say: Certainly not! I do not partake of           soon we are filled to overflowing with the king's
the king's meat. I would never do such a thing. I live       meat. And the result, the inevitable result, is that we
in harmony with the antithesis. I keep myself                forget all about our calling. And having forgotten all
unspotted from the world. I live as a pilgrim and a          about our calling, we forget all about our God. And
stranger. Really? I wonder. And the reason I wonder          that, I say, is serious business.
about that is simply because I know my own                     We may not forget about our God. We may not
weaknesses. I look at my life. I ask myself the              forget about our calling. We may not partake of the
question: Do I refuse to partake of the king's meat?         king's meat. Remember, these are the last times. But
And much to my utter dismay I discover that very             the question is: how are we living?


THE DAY OF SHADOWS


                             Jacob Meets His Equal
                                                  Rev. John A. Heys


  When Jacob appeared at the home of his uncle               country. And whereas we find pleasure in a letter
Laban, he was received in what appeared to be a              from friends and relatives who live so far from us that
warm welcome. From a natural point of view this              we seldom if ever see them, certainly in that day,
would be natural, that is, the expected thing. Here         when there was no mail service or long distance
was a relative whom they had never seen before, and         telephone calls to make, it was quite a treat to have a
who came from a far country. And indeed, with the            close relative, who lived anything but close by, to
means of transportation of that day, it was a far            drop in and pay a visit.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              163


   From a spiritual point of view this is even more        sister. That he had to flee from the face of his own
delightful. Children of God say with the psalmist in       brother for his life, that he had deceived his blind
Psalm  119:63.  "I am a companion of all them that         father, and that he intended to stay a long time until
fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts."            his brother's wrath was gone, of these things Jacob
They have something in common. They may not have           breathed not one word. And  Laban did not press him
blood ties, but they have spiritual ties that are          or even try to get out of Jacob the truth. He
precious and cause them to seek one another in the         undoubtedly had his own opinion and a measure of
truth. How true that must have been in the days of         curiosity as well. But he never asked Jacob, even after
Jacob and  Laban. Just try to imagine the situation        he had made an extended stay of a whole month. The
with Jacob, he with his father and mother being an         closest he came to- it was to suggest to Jacob that he
isolated little remnant of believers in the land of        work for his room and board. In the polite language
Canaan and surrounded by the ungodly  - even having        of that day he says, "Because thou art my brother,
a profane person in the family in the person of the        shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? Tell
son and brother, Esau. And so it was also with  Laban      me, what shall thy wages be?" No doubt Jacob had
and his family, forming another little group of            helped a bit with the work. We may not assume that
believers up in  Haran with no connection at all with      he was a lazy man, even though he lived such a
the believers down in Canaan, of whom they know,           sheltered life with his mother and was not a hunter
but have not heard since the days that Abraham's           such as his brother Esau. But  Laban wants something
servant came for a wife for Isaac. It was a sincerely      definite. How long will this nephew stay? We had
warm welcome we may be sure. It was a happy day            better get some kind of understanding before more
when Jacob dropped in among them. And  Laban's             time passes by. And it cannot be assumed that  Laban
kiss was sincere.                                          knew nothing of Jacob's great love for his daughter
  All this does not mean, however, that there were         Rachel. Jacob could not hide such an intense, deep
not even then some thoughts in  Laban's mind other         love. He had deceptive ways about him and was a
than sincere joy of seeing a relative who belonged to      crafty man according to his old nature; but this love
his sister Rebekah's family. One does not get a good       was deep and powerful, as is evident from the fact
impression of him when Abraham's servant came for          that he will work seven years for Rachel. Let it be
a wife for Isaac. We read in Genesis  24:29-3  1, "And     noted also that Jacob made that proposition. Crafty
Rebekah had a brother, and his name was  Laban: and        and greedy  Laban did not take advantage of Jacob in
Laban ran out unto the man unto the well, And it           that respect that he made a deal with Jacob to give
came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets        Rachel for seven years of work. Jacob set the span of
upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words       seven years. It may well be that  Laban would have
of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man to       been satisfied with less, since he intended to give
me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he             Leah to Jacob. This was no last minute switch,
stood by the camels at the well. And he said, Come         thought up by  Laban as the wedding day approached.
in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou      No, remember how his eyes opened up when he saw
without? for I have prepared the house, and room for       the earring and bracelets that Abraham's servant had
the camels." That earring and those bracelets had          given to Rebekah? He was looking out for his own
power over him, and the passage clearly indicates that     good and striving to take advantage of Jacob, whom
Laban could be very friendly to those who displayed        he. must have surmised was in some difficulty at
the wealth of this world. God Himself links up             home. And we must not be led astray by his polite,
Laban's enthusiasm and speed to get to Abraham's           friendly making mention of the fact that Jacob is
servant with his observance of that gold and silver,       bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. He was
that wealth of Abraham. And one cannot forget this         buttering Jacob up because he was, as Jacob took
when  Laban bubbles over with eagerness to have            advantage of Esau's hunger and his father's blindness,
Jacob stay there at his home.                              ready to take advantage of Jacob.
                                                             But how amazing the ways of God! Jacob is now
  What is missing is that  Laban asks Jacob nothing        himself given to taste his own medicine. God is not
about why he came, and that Jacob says not a word          mocked. One can get away with sin and deception
about his reason for leaving home. It is difficult to      before men, but never before God. And Jacob is given
determine what it means when we read that, "And he         to experience what he in sin caused others to
told  Laban all these things," Genesis 29: 13, the last    experience. God has sent Jacob to a man his own
part. But when we do read in the next verse that,          equal in cunning, striving to get the material posses-
"Laban  said unto him, Surely thou art bone of my          sions of another.
bone and flesh of my flesh," it means that Jacob
confirmed, by giving details of the family back home,        And how faithful God is to His promises. Jacob
that he was indeed a relative and a son of  Laban's        meets his equal, but in His grace, and not because of


164                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



any merit in Jacob, God is on  hisside; and that spells      and clothing Rachel; and now Jacob must pay him
all the difference. God, Who had appeared to Jacob           back so that he can have her as his wife? Would
on the way to  Laban's home, had promised to be              Laban  not be gaining a son? Would he not have the joy
with him and not to leave him. Genesis 28: 15. As a          of twelve grandchildren whom he could call grand-
result Jacob triumphed over  Laban. "For by Thee             sons, and one whom he would receive as a grand-
have I run through a troop; and by my God have I             daughter? And since it is true that Jacob is bone of
leaped over a wall." Psalm 18: 29.  Laban will try more      his bone and flesh of his flesh, should he take this
tricks, and the most despicable is that of substituting      kind of advantage of him? Is there not what the
Leah for Rachel after the seven years were up. But           world calls the "Golden Rule" and Jesus presents as
God was with Jacob; and he increased in cattle and           the law of God: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye
possessions to the hurt of  Laban. Not by his                would that men do unto you, do ye even so to them:
cleverness, not by his tricks which did not work,            for this is the law and the prophets"? Never mind the
namely the placing of rods from which he had peeled          custom of your country,  Laban;  What saith the law of
off some of the bark to make a variegated appearance         God?
before the flocks, with the idea that then they would           And what must we say about Rachel at this point
conceive sheep that were speckled and spotted. It was        in the incident? Was she so silent and submissive to her
an old wives' fable.  It, was a work of superstition         conniving father  - because she did not love Jacob? Was
because of Jacob's old man of sin, Most of the goats         she quite content to let her older sister take this man
and sheep brought forth spotted and streaked or              who adored her so deeply and openly? Did  Laban
speckled offspring because God was with Jacob and            have to tie her down somewhere lest she rush into the
did not forsake him, though he deserved it and more,         tent and call to Jacob and warn him that it was Leah?
that is, to be forsaken and cast off from being the one      We can only wonder  - Scripture says nothing about
in whom the covenant line would be continued.                it  - but did Jacob have the same experience here that
   But as we said, that deed of letting Jacob think all      he caused his father to have? Did he at any moment
these seven years that he would get Rachel, and then         say, in the darkness of the night in that tent, "The
palming off Leah on him instead, was a most                  voice indeed is Leah's, but your father promised me
despicable thing to do; and in it Jacob met his equal,       Rachel; and I worked for her."
one equal in deceptiveness and tricky ways. Suppose             Was  God  using Rachel also to chastise  Jacob for  his
it was the custom of the day to marry off the older          deceit before his father? He has indeed met his equal
daughter first, the question is not what is custom, but      in  Laban, and by the grace of God could see himself
what is the Word of God? What is honest! Was it the          as the sinner he was in God's eyes. And why not?
custom of the land to promise one thing and to let a         Jacob and  Laban came from the same corrupt root of
man work for seven years for what is promised and            Adam. And so did we. Is there any other kind of
then not tell him till after the seven years are passed      work that, in the light of Scripture's testimony, we
that this promise cannot be carried out? Away with           could expect in Jacob? In  Laban? In ourselves and in
the customs of the country, and let us bring forth the       our children?
law of God, the law of honesty and love.                        The truth strikes us here again with force, (and for
  Why, even that arrangement to work for a daugh-            that reason God included all this in the Scriptures)
ter's hand was base and displeasing in God's sight. He       that there is no material in the human race out of
does not give us daughters to sell! He gives us              which He can make and gather a church. He is not
daughters to raise up covenant seed, and so we may           waiting to see whether we will let Him use us as
have that blessing of which the Psalmist speaks,             bricks in that church. There is no thing in us that He. can
"Thou shalt see thy children's children"  in the new         use as we are found in this world. No, we must and
Jerusalem!                                                   do become  new  creatures in Christ. We must be and
  It is true, very true that Jacob said that he would        are by God's grace born  again.  We must be and are
work for Rachel. It is also true that a father had           clothed with Christ's righteousness. The cross must
invested a great deal in the bringing up of his              come, and on its basis Christ must return in the Spirit
daughter. Today the cost of having a child born in the       to put something spiritual in us that can be a part of
hospital is staggeringly high; and Christian education       God's church and that He will use to create a
is not for pennies. Clothing, food, and all that it takes    beautiful and perfect Bride for Christ. "Not of works,
to care for the physical and spiritual needs of a child      lest any man boast. (Ephesians  2:9,10)  For we are His
is skyrocketing. And our'only hope in it all is that "By     workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good
Thee have I run through a troop; and by my God               works, which God hath before ordained that we
have I leaped over a wall." But was there not                should walk in them." Salvation  is  by grace. Every bit
something in this for  Laban as well? Was it a bargain       of it, including our faith in God, comes from Him as a
that was one-sided so that  Laban gets paid for feeding      free gift.


                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      165


MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE





                                                      Letter to Timothy



                                                          January 1, 1980                But even more than this, we can know certain
                                                                                       things about our soul. We can, e.g., know our moods
Dear Timothy,                                                                          and feelings. We are not only angry about something,
   It is indeed true what the Psalmist says in Psalm                                   but we can know that we are angry. We are not only
139: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." The                                        disturbed in our souls about something that has
more we ponder our own creation as we have come,                                       happened, but we have the power within us to sense
by the hand of God, from the parents whom God has                                      this disturbance and know that this is how we feel at
used to bring us into the world, the more we stand                                     the moment. We are always busy thinking and willing,
amazed at the complexity and wonder of our own                                         but we can be aware of this thinking that is going on.
nature.                                                                                We are aware and have knowledge of ourselves.
   We talked a little bit in our last letter about the                                   This is often called self-awareness or  self-
unity of body and soul as God created us. We must                                      consciousness. This self-awareness is something which
still mention a few other things which belong to this                                  develops in a person in the early years of his life. He
general subject.                                                                       does not have it immediately when he is born. A little
                                                                                       child, e.g., has little, if any, consciousness of himself.
   All the knowledge which we possess comes into                                       We even talk about the fact that a child is completely
our souls by means of our bodies. Our minds and our                                    unself-conscious. We see him or her perform in a
wills appropriate this knowledge because, through our                                  Christmas program in Church and his actions up on
senses, our sensory nervous system, our brain and the                                  the platform are completely without any awareness
power of our souls, this knowledge of God's                                            of himself or that others see him. You have probably
revelation is given to us. But the soul has other                                      noticed that children often speak of themselves in the
powers also. For one thing, the soul has what we                                       third person. Instead of saying, "I would like to go
could perhaps call an inner sensory system. I mean                                     outside to play," they say instead, "Jimmy would
to say that we not only come to know, through the                                      like to go outside to play." This use of the third
senses, the things in the world about us, but we have                                  person is so common because they do not really
an inner sensory system which makes us aware of                                        know themselves yet as individual persons. A baby
what goes on within us. This too is very complex and                                   which looks at itself in the mirror does not have any
mysterious, but a very real fact of our life.                                          idea that that image in the mirror is a reflection of
   We can, by some mysterious and inner sense                                          itself. There comes, oftentimes, a moment when
know about ourselves. We can, e.g., know that                                          suddenly that child begins to understand that the
we are hungry and that we have need of food.                                           image in the mirror is doing exactly the same thing
We can know that we have pain somewhere and                                            which the child itself is doing. As the child ponders
that something is not functioning properly in                                          this and begins even to experiment a bit by
o u r   b o d i e s   o r   t h a t   s o m e   s i c k n e s s   h a s   t a k e n    performing different actions and watching what the
hold of us. There is a very real condition which                                       image in the mirror does, the child suddenly begins to
exists in our bodies, but through some sensory ability                                 realize that that image is indeed a reflection of itself,
we can sense this and know that this is true.                                          and there comes the dawning awareness of the fact


166                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



that the child is a person in its own right. He (or she)    other aspects to this matter which we need to touch
suddenly realizes that he himself is a distinct and         upon here.
individual person. With this comes the beginning of           I think the best way to get at what needs to be said
self-awareness.                                             is to point out to you that Scripture requires of us, in
  This is indeed a marvelous and wonderful power.           a certain measure, that we live lives which are
The fact is that we are so used to it and it has become     characterized by self-forgetfulness. This is most
so much a commonplace part of our life that we              clearly evident from the command of Scripture to
scarcely realize it as one of the powers which our          love God with all our hearts and minds and souls and
souls possess. But a little thought about it will soon      strength. And Scripture teaches clearly that the
remind us of how intricate and complex even this            manifestation of love is always characterized by a
part of our life is. A tree does not have this kind of      certain forgetting of one's self. This is eminently true
self-consciousness  - although it is a living creature.     of God's love for us. When Scripture says that God so
Even animals do not have this  - at least in a very         loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
large measure. God created the animals also in an           (John 3:  16), then Scripture means, among other
ascending scale. Certainly the lower forms of animal        things, to say that God's love for the world was so
life such as one finds in worms and mosquitos do not        great that He did not think of Himself or the great
have, so far as we know, this kind of self-awareness.       suffering which would be required of Him to give for
When one comes to higher forms of animal life such          us the gift of His Son to die on the cross for the sins
as is found in dogs and cats, there may be some dim         of the elect. The price needed to redeem us was a
reflection of what is found in man, for animals were        very great price which God had to pay to secure our
created in the image of man just as men were created        redemption. It was the price of the suffering of God's
in the image of God. But the reflection is very dim         own dear and beloved Son. But because He loved us,
and very imperfect.                                         He did not stop at the price. Love did not think of
  But in man, this is a very great power. What do I         the tremendous price. Love went ahead and gave
mean, e.g., when I say that I am hungry? That is a          Christ for us.
rather simple statement, and yet it has many                  When this love for us is shed abroad within our
implications. If I am truly hungry then this simple         hearts and we are,  bythe gift of that love, enabled to
statement means that my body does not have                  love in turn, that love which becomes manifest in our
sufficient nourishment in order to continue to supply       lives must take on the same characteristic  - though,
the energy which is needed to function in the tasks         of course, in a human and earthly way. Our love can
which God gives me to do. Certainly that is true, first     never equal God's love. But the characteristic must be
of all. But it also means that some kind of sensation is    the same. When we love God, this love must be
created in my body  - perhaps a sensation which is          characterized by a certain abandon, a complete
one of discomfort. And, without any doubt, it is a          self-forgetfulness which reveals itself in obedience to
sensation which is unpleasant. But that sensation is        God, whatever the personal cost. It must be a love
something (perhaps those who study the body can             which so completely absorbs us that we do not think
pinpoint it more exactly) which exists objectively in       of ourselves at all. If God commands, love impels.
my body in the same way in which the color of a rose        When, e.g., God commands a man not to be
exists objectively in the rose. Yet, just as I have eyes    unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and
which can see the color of the rose, so I also possess      obedience to this command requires that he leave a
some inner sense which can sense in some way this           job, without any promise of another, because of
discomfort which arises from a lack of food. And,           entanglements with an ungodly worldly labor union,
having sensed this feeling of discomfort, that feeling      then if the individual ponders the matter because to
is transmitted to my soul so that my mind and will          leave his job will involve the possibility of insufficient
come to know about it. And, not only do my mind             money to provide for the needs of his family and
and will come to know about it, but my mind and             finally refuses to leave his job because he is fearful of
will come to know and understand that I am the one          losing his income, then he has no love. He has
who is hungry. With my eyes I can see hunger in             thought about himself and his personal problems and
other people, especially when it is evident in real         has allowed these, rather than his love for God, to
starvation. But in this case I do not mistake what I        determine the course of his action. Abraham loved
see with my eyes concerning others with what is true        God so completely that he was obedient even when
of me. I know, not only that someone somewhere is           the command came to him to sacrifice his only son,
hungry, but I know I am that one. And, coming to            the son of his old age. Love required nothing less.
this conclusion, I can set about doing something            And to accomplish this there had to be this
about it.                                                   self-forgetfulness.
  Now all this is wonderfully complex. But there are          The same is true of our love for one another. Love


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                            167


expresses itself in such a way that love forgets                                     engage in continuous self-examination, and we are
completely about one's own personal comfort, one's                                   called to engage in this spiritual exercise especially
own desires, one's own inclinations. Love is so                                      when we prepare to go to the table of the Lord.
wrapped up in the good of the object of that love                                       So we have here a rather strange situation: we are
that, with this self-forgetfulness, one does all he can                              called to a life of self-forgetfulness, and we are
for the other. This must be true between husband and                                 admonished in various ways to be busily engaged in
wife when they love each other in the Lord. This                                     thinking about ourselves, examining ourselves, and
must be true of parents and children in the bonds of                                 even loving ourselves. How can we harmonize these
the covenant. This must be true of the saints                                        two?
mutually. And, ultimately, this must characterize our
love for our neighbor always  - whoever that neighbor                                   There are some profound spiritual truths that are
may be.                                                                              at stake here, and we must call attention to them. But
                                                                                     we ought, I think, to wait until another letter for
   Now, while all this is true, it also is true that                                 t h a t .
Scripture calls us, in another sense, to be concerned                                   Farewell.
about ourselves. We must love our neighbor  as
ourselves. We must take heed to ourselves  - this is a                                                                      Fraternally, in Christ,
very common injunction of Scripture. We must                                                                               H. Hanko





                                                             Book Review


H E T   S C H A R L A K E N   K O O R D ,   b y   C o r n e l i u s                     Lambragtse's descriptions of the life of the
Lambragtse. Uitgeverij T. Wever, R.V.; Franeker,                                     community, the countryside with its birds and
Nederland.                                                                           flowers, and other points of interest remain intriguing
   This is the second religious novel from the hand of                               throughout. One enjoys God's handiwork, tastes the
Cornelius Lambregtse, which was published in 1975                                    peculiar culture of the people, and is moved by the
and enjoyed a reprint in 1976. Religious novels in                                   experiences of the family as he lives along with them.
America usually prove disappointing, but that is not                                 It is most saddening to follow the bitter trials of
the case with the two written by Lambregtse; Both                                    Wantje as she agonizes through an attempted rape,
carry a sound religious note.                                                        later suffers from a jilted love, and, worst of all, finds
                                                                                     herself in the bitter straits of expecting a child out of
   Anyone who has read his first book, "In Zijn                                      wedlock. Yet the wonder of grace experienced by
Armen de Lammeren," will want to read this one                                       Rahab the harlot of Jericho, and expressed in the
also, which deals with the same province in the                                      Scarlet Cord, enables Wantje to confess her sin
Netherlands, the same village, and the same family.                                  publicly before the church, to stand alone as she
While in the first novel the dialect of the province at                              presents her child for baptism, and comforts her in
times made reading difficult for the Dutch American,                                 the assurance of God's forgiving mercies. This
this is remedied in the second. The first book dealt                                 redeeming grace gives the babe an accepted place in
mainly with Fransie Westrate, his home training, and                                 the family. At the end Wantje marries a kind husband
his early spirituality and death, especially' as this                                w h o   b e c o m e s   a   d e v o t e d   f a t h e r   i n   t h e   n e w l y
death affected his mother and the rest of the family.                                established family.
This second book centers our attention on a daughter
of the Westrates, Wantje, relating her happy and                                         I have one criticism, and that is that there is a
b i t t e r   e x p e r i e n c e s   a s   s h e   a d v a n c e s   t o w a r d    graphic and rather crass description of the sex
womanhood. Again the influence of her godly parents                                  elements in the book. This actually adds nothing to
upon her spiritual life, particularly the influence of                               the story, but rather detracts by being offensive at
her father, stands out in bold relief.                                               times.


      THE STANDARD BEARER              - -   -~__~----                                            SECOND CLASS
            P.O. Box 6064                                                                        POSTAGE PAID AT
     Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                             GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.



                                                                                     - -                                      /
     168                                           THE STANDARD BEARER




                                     News From Our Churches

       At the time this issue was `locked up' for                 fourteen the last two weeks of Rev. Bruinsma's stay.
     publication, no news had been received concerning            The Church Extension Committee of First Church
e    Rev. James Slopsema's call from our Lynden,                  plans to sponsor two or three public lectures in
     Washington church to serve as home missionary in the         Bradenton this winter.
     Northwest Washington area or concerning the call                Concerning the work in Florida, the Church
     extended to Rev. Dale Kuiper to serve as pastor of           Extension Committee had this to say in a newsletter
     our Hope Church in Walker, Michigan.                         to the congregation at First Church: "Our sister
       The consistory of our church in Redlands, Cali-            churches and their pastors have, for the most part,
     fornia submitted the trio of Professor Robert Decker,        been most cooperative with us in this our church
     Rev. John Heys, and Rev. James Slopsema for                  extension venture in Florida. At the present time we
     consideration at their congregational meeting sched-         have commitments for supply some eight or nine
     uled for December  10. Since the original announce-          months down the road. For this we are very
     ment of this trio, it has been changed twice. Rev.           thankful  - for we believe that the availability of
     George Lanting replaced Professor Decker on the trio         ministers for the work is already an indication of the
     as Professor Decker would not be able to take a call         Lord's blessing on this field of labor. Already last
     until June of 1980 when his tenure as Seminary               spring we were quite convinced that we had a place in
     Professor comes before the 1980 Synod. A week later          Florida.  Encouragem.ent  came in the form of letters  -
     it was learned that Rev. Heys plans to retire. Rev. Heys'    like the one from which we quote the following:
     was replaced on the trio by Professor Herman Hanko.          `This year we were privileged to attend church
       Our church in Hudsonville, Michigan has extended           services under your sponsorship. We enjoyed every
     a call to Professor Homer Hoeksema to serve as               one of them and were sorry they came to an end. . . .
     `minister-on-loan' in Christchurch, New Zealand.             We surely hope you will continue this program and
     Professor Hoeksema is no stranger to the congregation        hopefully establish a church in this community
     in Christchurch, as he has had correspondence with           should you deem this possible after further considera-
     them for some years. In addition, Professor  Hoek-           tion."
     sema and Rev. C. Hanko visited New Zealand on their             The consistories in our churches in Hull, Iowa, and
     far-eastern tour in 1975; It is interesting to note that     Redlands, California have decided-to add an' addi-
     Singapore was. also a stop on that 1975 trip. Rev. den       tional elder to their bodies. This action was taken
     Hartog is now awaiting a work permit in order that he        because of the size of the church and amount of work
     may begin his new labors as missionary in Singapore.         to be done by the elders in their respective
       On November I  1, First Church in Grand Rapids             congregations. The elders in  Redlands also face
     resumed church extension work in Bradenton,                  additional work as their congregation is without a
     Florida. Rev. Bruinsma conducted Sunday worship              pastor at this time.
     services in the Manatee Hotel for four weeks.                   The Mr. and Mrs. Society in our Hull church has
     Attendance at the November 11 service was rather             dissolved and formed a new society called "Christian
     sparse, numbering ten souls. However, by the fourth          Fellowship." Membership is made up of couples with
     week, December 2, forty-five people attended the             a combined age of up to 70 years and single persons
     Sunday morning service. Rev. Bruinsma was followed           35 and younger. The society is studying Professor
     by Rev. G. Van  Baren and Professor H. Hanko for             Hanko's book "Mysteries of the Kingdom."
     two Sundays each. Rev. C. Hanko plans to spend                  The Men's Society in our Loveland, Colorado
     January and February in Bradenton and Rev.                   church had two after-recess discussions on the topic,
     Joostens the month of March. In addition to the              "What do the uprisings in Iran mean for the church
     Sunday worship services, a Wednesday evening Bible           t o d a y ? "
     study class is held. Attendance at this class was                                                            K.G.V.


