                       The
  STANDARD
                       BEARER
                       A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                      .





  .    .          .    The Word of God is applicable for each
congregation in every `time, and in every time for
each person. And the secret of the preaching is
hidden exactly in this that the meaning of the Holy
             .
Spirit IS given to the Word of God by conscientious
explanation and carefully defined application. All
topical preaching must therefore be condemned as
sin in the Holy Place. One must not feed the flock
with one's own ideas which he `hangs on a text. No,
bUt the Word must be preached as it stands
thro1Igh exegesis and application to the heart.
                                                                    Dr. A. Kuyper
                            See "Translated Treasures" - Page  320



                                                           Volume LVI, No. 14, April 15, 1980 -


314                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER
                              CONTENTS:                 ;     t                                                      ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                        Semi-modhly.  except  monthly   during   June,  July,   and  dugust.  .
Meditation -                                                                             Published   by  the  Reformed  Free  Publishing   Association,  Inc.
     Peter's Restoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 14                         Second  Class  Postage   Pa'id   at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                  Editor-in-Chief:  Prof.  Homer  C.  Hoeksema
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317           Department Editors:  Rev.  Wayne   Bekkering,   Rev.  Arie  denHarto9,   Prof,
                                                                                  Robert   D.  Decker,   Rev.  David  J.  Engelsma,   Rev.  Richard  Flikkema,
Editorials -                                                                      Rev.  Cornelius  Hanko,   Prof.   Herman   Hanko,  Rev.  John  A.  Heys,  Rev.
                                                                                  Kenneth   Koole,   -Rev.  Jay  Kortering,   Rev.  George  C.  Lubbers,  Rev,
     Election and Reprobation Inseparable                                         Rodney   Miersma,  Rev.  Marinus  Schipper,   Rev.  James   Slopsema,  Rev,
                                                                                  Gise  J.  Van  Baren,  Rev.  Ronald  Van  Overloop,   Rev.  Herman   Veldman,
        in Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318    Mr.  Kenneth   G.  Vink.
                                                                                  Editorial Office:  Prof.  H.C.  Hoeksema
     Ecumenism With a Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 19                                           4975   ivanrest  Ave.  S.W.
                                                                                                        Grandville,   Michigan   49418
Translated Treasures -                                                            Church News Editor:  Mr.  Kenneth  G.  Vink
                                                                                                               1422  Linwood.   S.E.
                                                                                                               - .-.._ _.
     Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation                                                                      Grand  Rapids,  M.ichigan  49507
                                                                                  Editorial Policy:  Every  editor   is  solely  responsible   for  the  contents  of
        of the Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320            his  own  articles.  Contributions   of  general  interest  from  our  readers  and
                                                                                  questions   for  the  Question-Box   Department   are  welcome.  Contri-
The Lord Gave the Word -                                                          butions  will  be  limited   to  aPProximately   300  words  and  must  be  neatly
                                                                                  written   or  typewritten,   and  must  be  signed.  COPY  deadlines   are  the  first
                                                                                  and  the  fifteenth   of  the  month.   All  communications   relative  to  the
     Missions: God's Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322              contents  should   be  sent  to  the  editorial   office.
Guest Article -                                                                   R e p r i n t   P o l i c y :   Permission   is  hereby  granted   for  the  reprinting  of
                                                                                  articles  in  our  magazine   by  other  publications,  Provided:  a)  that  such
                                                                                  reprinted  articles  are  reproduced  in  full;  b)  that  Proper  acknowledge-
     The Minister: Specialist or Shepherd . . . . . . . .324                      ment  is  made:   c)  that  a  copy  of  the  periodical  in  which   such   reprint
                                                                                  appears  is  sent  to  our  editorial   office.
All Around Us -                                                                   Business Office:  The  Standard  Bearer
                                                                                                        Mr.  f-f.  Vander   Wal,  Bus.  Mgr.
     Verhey Case Appealed (Again) . . . . . . . . . . . . .327                                          P.O.  Box  6064
                                                                                                        Grand  Rapids,  Michigan   49506
     The Joy of Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328            New Zealand Business OffIce:                The  Standard  Bearer,
     Ecumenism to the "nth" degree . . . . . . . . . . . .328                                                                 C/O  OPC  Bookshop,
                                                                                                                               P.O.  Box  2269
                                                                                                                               Christchurch,  New  Zealand
Contributed Article  -                                                            S u b s c r i p t i o n   P o l i c y :   Subscription   price,  $9.00   per  year.  Unless  a
     Report From Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329                 definite   request   for  discontinuance   is  received,   it  is  assumed  that  the
                                                                                  subscriber  wishes  the  subscription  to  continue  without   the  formality   of
My Sheep Hear My Voice -                                                          a  renewal  order,  and  he  will  be  billed  for  renewal.  If  you  have  a  change
                                                                                  of  address,  please  notify   the  Business  Office  as  early  as  possible  in  order
     Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332            to  avoid   the  inconvenience  of  delayed  delivery.  Include  your  Zip  Code.
                                                                                  Advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does  not  accept   commercial
BookReview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..33 4             advertising   of  any  kind.  Announcements   of  church   and  school  events
                                                                                  anniversaries,   obituaries,  and  sympathy   resolutions  will  be  placed  for  i
Report of Classis West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336             $3.OU  fee.  These  should   be  Sent  to  the  Business   Office   and  Should  be
                                                                                  accompanied  by  the  $3.00  fee.  Deadline  for  announcements  is  the  1st
                                                                                  or  the  15th  of  the  month.  Previous  to  publication   on  the  15th  or  the
                                                                                  1st  respectively.
                                                                                  Bound  VO/umeS:  The  Business  ~Office-  will  accept   Standing  orders  for
                                                                                  bound   copies  of  the  current  volume;  such  orders  are  filled  as  soon  as
                                                                                  possible  after  completion   of  a  volume.  A  limited   number  of  past   vol-
                                                                                  umes  may  be  obtained  through  the  Business   Office.
t
MEDITA TIT) N



                                                 Peter's Restoration
                                                                     Rev. M. Schipper


                   "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
               me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord: thou knowest that I love thee. He saith
               unto him, Feed my lambs.
                   He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith
               unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
                  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved
               because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou
               knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. "
                                                                                                                                     John 21:1.5-l  7.

     This now is the third time the Lord met with His                                   The first meeting was in the upper room in
disciples after His resurrection.                                                  Jerusalem on the evening of resurrection day. On this


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                315


occasion Thomas was not with them when the Lord                Notice, first of all, the interrogation which the
                                                                                        *m
showed Himself alive, revealing to them the signs of         Lord conducts.
the crucifixion in His body, and disproving that He            A probing question!
was a spirit by eating in their presence.                      Directed to Peter three times, it is most likely to be
   The second meeting was a week later, but in the           understood on the background of his threefold
same place. This time Thomas was- present, and               denial. An interrogation it was, too, in the presence
evidently the meeting was especially for his benefit;        of all the disciples, because in their audience he had
for not only did the Lord show to him that He was            boasted that if they all would forsake the Lord, as the
alive, but Thomas must learn not to be disbelieving          Lord had forewarned, he would not  - thereby
but believing.                                               intimating that his love for the Lord was greater than
   The third meeting took place a considerable time          that of all the other disciples.
later and now at the Sea of Galilee. On this occasion          0, how he had boasted before them all how he, in
the disciples had been fishing all night and had caught      distinction from them, was devoted to the Lord!
nothing. In the morning the Lord, first appearing as a       Thus he had become an offense not only to the Lord,
stranger, called to them inquiring whether they had          but also to all the brethren; and by reason of this he
caught anything. To this question they replied, No!          had virtually separated himself from the disciple
He then instructed them to cast their net on the right       group. Naturally they could not easily forget what
side of the boat. Now the net was full of great fishes,      Peter had said when he had intimated that only he in
and it seemed the net would break. John then said to         distinction from them loved the Lord. And then to
Peter, It is the Lord! And Peter, who was naked, girt        turn. around and deny his Lord three times! Rash
on his fisher's coat, jumped into water, "and headed         Simon, having been intimidated by simple questions
for shore. There the Lord had prepared for the               and allegations, cursing up and down that he had no
disciples a hearty breakfast. After they had. eaten,         part with Jesus of Nazareth! Thus, he not only
Jesus began His conversation with Peter in the hearing       utterly forsook his Lord, but also separated himself
of all the disciples, as it is recorded in the text cited    from the office to which he had been appointed by
above.                                                       the Lord. Such is the dark background from which
  This is also the second time the Lord addresses            the interrogation proceeds.
Himself to Peter after His resurrection.                       Simon, son of Jonas,  lovest thou me more than
   The first. time was on the day of the resurrection,       these?
when the Lord confronted him privately. We are not             We must notice here, first of all, how the Lord
told concerning their conversation. Evidently the            addresses him by his natural name, that is, the name
Lord saw fit to keep it a secret. If conjectures may be      he acquired at his birth  - but also the name which
allowed, there were most likely especially two mat-          revealed Peter according to his old nature. He was
ters that entered into their conversation. Peter, the        indeed Simon, son of Jonas, before the Lord on a
disciple who had fallen so deeply when he had denied         memorable occasion had called him Peter, the rock.
his Lord, wept once more as he confessed his sin             You remember the happy incident at Caesarea
before Him. And the Lord, Who had prayed for him             Philippi  when the Lord inquired of His disciples as to
even before he fell, informing him that He had               His true identity, and Peter, speaking for the disciple
covered also Peter's sin in His blood shed on the            group, had attested: Thou art the Christ, the Son of
cross. Thus Peter as the child of God is restored,           the living God. A confession it was which was
having been forgiven.                                        prompted by the Father, and which would serve as
  Now, on this second occasion, it is the Lord's             the rock upon which Christ would build His Church,
purpose to restore Peter also to the apostleship. That       against which the gates of hell would never prevail.
is why the meeting this time is not in secret, but in        But n,ow the Lord with intent omits to call him Peter,
the presence of all the disciples gathered there. All        but reminds him that what he had done was nothing
were aware of what Peter had done, how boastfully            more than to reveal that old Simon, self-reliant,
he had declared that if all would forsake the Lord he        self-seeking, boastful Simon. Surely there must have
would not, yea, that he would even lay down his life         been a sting in this address to that old Simon.
for the Lord. But when he had denied his Lord three            We might be inclined at this point to ask: Why
times, he not only had `committed a personal,                didn't the Lord let the matter rest, especially after
dastardly deed, but he had wilfully abdicated his            this disciple had already confessed his sin privately,
.apostolic  office. It is therefore with a view to his       and that with bitter tears? Why did the Lord continue
restoration to that office that the Lord in our text         to probe into an old sore, and that, too, publicly, in
confronts him. We are therefore concerned now with           the presence of all the disciples? If the Lord loved
Peter's restoration to the office of the apostleship.        him (which He surely did), why must He undress him


3      1    6                                    THE STANDARD  BEAREk



before all, and that, too, down to the revelation of          and on the other, a lesser affection that arises out of a
the old man of sin? The answer to all these questions         more superficial relation.
is simply this: this is precisely the nature of true love.       If we may apply this- distinction to the conversa-
It never seeks to hide sin, but to bring it out into the      tion between the Lord and Peter, we would have
open, where all, including the sinner, may see how            something like this: Jesus asks, Simon, son of Jonas,
horrible sin is. And positively, it is the purpose of         lovest  thou Me more than these? Peter replies, Yea,
true love to correct and restore the sinner who is the        Lord,. thou knowest that I like Thee. Jesus asks,
object of that love. It was not the Lord's purpose            Simon, son of Jonas,  lovest  thou Me? Peter replies,
needlessly to humble Peter before the rest, but out of        Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I like Thee. Jesus asks,
the pure motivation of love to restore him again  -           Simon, son of Jonas, likest thou Me? Peter replies,
not only to his office, but also to a right relation to       Lord, Thou knowest perfectly all things, Thou
the other disciples.                                          knowest that I like Thee.
     Lovest  thou Me more than these?                            As was said, this attempt to show the difference in
     That is, more than do these my other disciples?          the terms used cannot be interpreted as an explana-
The Lord means to say: Isn't that precisely what you          tion of the terms, but must be understood only as an
intimated Simon, son of Jonas, when you said, in              attempt to show that different terms were used. What
spite of fair warning, that if all would forsake Me,          must become apparent, however, is the fact that Peter
you would not? Would you  ,still say, Simon, son of           does not dare anymore to use the stronger term for
Jonas, that you love Me more than these, in the light         love. He has been humbled to see that in his own
of the fact that you, in distinction from them, have          strength he can no longer boast, but he must confess
denied Me three times?,                                       that the Lord.must help his infirmity. If he is truly to
     Disconcerting, probing question, indeed!                 love the Lord, that grace must be given unto him.
     But we must notice also here that the translation          Also to be observed is the fact that Peter here
does not really do justice to the questions the Lord          makes no attempt to exonerate himself by pointing
places before Peter, nor to the answers which Peter           to extenuating circumstances. Sinners are liable to do
gives to these questions. The translation has the Lord        that you know. Adam did it when he was confronted
asking three times: Lovest  thou Me? And each time            with his transgression. He pointed to the wife God
Peter replies: Thou knowest that I love Thee.                 had given him. And Peter, too, might have tried to
However, according to the original text, we discover          excuse himself by pointing to the fact that under
that the Lord uses the more profound term for love            duress the thought entered his soul that the Lord's
in the first two questions, and in the third instance         cause was hopeless, and therefore it really didn't
changes the term to conform to Peter's answers to all         make any difference to him what he said or did. Or,
three questions, where he replies using a more                he might have said that when the enemy over-
superficial term, signifying emotional affection. It is       whelmed him he lost his head, and didn't really know
difficult to express in the translation the difference,       what he was doing. But nothing of this appears in his
since both words are generally translated "love."             conversation now. He has nothing to say in reply to
                                                              the  Lord's serious question, except what he implied
     It is apparent however from the original text that       when he answered, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I
Peter senses the difference, while it also appears that       love Thee - that is, I cannot say now that I love Thee
at this moment he does not dare to reply to the               with that profound, spiritual love, and that I love
Lord's first two questions by using the profound,             Thee more than these, but thou knowest nevertheless
deep-seated, spiritual term for love. Though we               that I am drawn to Thee with cords of affection. I
cannot do justice in explaining the difference in the         will no longer boast that my love for Thee is greater
two terms used and translated "love," it may be               than that of my brethren. And I humbly confess with
helpful to remind .you that in our vernacular we also         my answer that I have sinned not only against Thee,
use two different words when we reflect on our                but also against my brethren when I boasted. May
relation to one another. When, for example, my wife           they forgive me as Thou hast forgiven.
or child asks me the question: Do you really love me?           Indeed, a humble confession!
I do not reply: Yes, I like you very much; but I
answer: Yes, from the bottom of my heart I love you.            In his confession he casts himself on the mercy of
But when my wife asks me: What do you think of the            his Saviour.  -Thou Lord art omnipotent and om-
neighbor lady? I do not reply that I love her from the        niscient. Thou art my mighty Lord, and Thou
bottom of my heart; but I say: I like her very much,          knowest all things. Therefore Thou must know that,
because she is kind and understanding. So we use the          in my deepest heart I am drawn to Thee with cords of
terms "love" and "like," to reflect, on the one hand,         sincerest affection.
a deep-seated affection arising out of the love of God,         Wonderful restoratipn!


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                317


   Upon this humble confession Peter is restored to         those little lambs of Mine will need your special care.
his apostolic office.                                       Then, My sheep! That is, the whole flock must not be
   Not to be bishop over the entire church, as the          neglected, but you must see to it that all are grazed
heresy of Rome would have it, for there is no               and fed. Always, Peter, you must be motivated in
indication in the text of such exaltation of Peter. But     your apostolic calling by your love of me.
Peter is restored to his apostolic office, which, with        From this point on the old Simon is subdued. Now
the other apostles, consisted in feeding the church of      Peter,. the rock, must tend Christ's flock. The great
Christ. This he, with them, will do by preaching the        Shepherd will not have His flock tended and fed by
gospel, and by infallibly writing the Word of God. So       carnal, self-seeking under shepherds, but by those
he will feed the flock of God, purchased by the blood       only who are principled by the love of God, so
of Christ.                                                  wonderfully exemplified by the love of the great
   Adorable mercy!                                          Shepherd, Who laid down His life for His sheep. That
                                                            Peter learned this lesson is plain from his First Epistle
   The great Shepherd of the sheep places this His          where he concludes: "Feed the flock of God which is
under shepherd once more, and that, too, in the             among you taking oversight thereof, not by con-
presence of all the apostles, in his holy office. And He    straint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a
mandates him to fulfill the requirement of that office      ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's
by feeding His precious sheep.                              heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when
                                                            the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a
  All the sheep, and especially the lambs!                  crown of glory that fadeth not away."
Notice how carefully the Lord expresses Himself               Such advice that apostle could not have given to
here. First, My lambs. How tenderly the great               Christ's under shepherds if he had not first learned,
Shepherd is mindful of them. Peter, He means to say,        be it the hard way, to apply it to himself.    I'




                                        Editor's Notes


Report from Singapore. Elsewhere in this issue you          Publications  News. We have several items in this
will find the first report to our readers from our          department to report.
missionary in Singapore, Rev. Arie den Hartog, and his
wife. In a note to me Rev. den Hartog worried that          1) A new RFPA Catalogue came from the press last
his article was too long, and he invited me to edit it.     week, and is now available from our Business Office.
However, the report is so interesting and packed with       2) A new supply of  Reformed Dogmatics  is now
information that I left it unedited. How about              available, and a new supply of Behold, He Cometh!
flooding the den Hartogs with mail from all our             should soon be available. Both are now priced at
churches? Let's make an agreement, though, that             $12.95.
they may answer by means of periodic reports in the
Standard Bearer.  I'm sure they are far too busy to         3) With the help of several generous gifts and some
answer many letters. individually. You can get an           increased sales, our treasury is now in a position to
aerogram from the post office for  22$, and write a         proceed with our next projects. So it's full speed
good-sized letter which will reach them promptly.           ahead on our next two books,  The Voice Of Our
Here is the address:                                        Fathers  and Hyper-Calvinism And The Call Of The
                                                            Gospel. Both are scheduled for fall publication.
              Rev. & Mrs. A. den Hartog                     4) With the price of books going up, it will pay you
              32D Block C                                   to join the RFPA Book Club. Remember, if we get
              Pacific Mansion                               enough members, that discount will still jump from
              River Valley Close                            10% to 20%! How about it?
              Singapore 0923


318                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


EDITORIALS
Prof H. C. Hoeksema





                                 Election and Reprobation
                                     Inseparable in Calvin


   In the current discussion about reprobation in          argument, and only before it must we bow. But my
connection with the Boer Gravamen there has been           reason is threefold: 1) There have been those who
the attempt on the part of some to maintain a certain      suggest that there is a difference on  this score
doctrine of election without the doctrine of reproba-      between what, they call the Reformed scholastics, on
tion. Dr. Boer himself claims to maintain the doctrine     the one hand, and Calvin, on the other hand. Not
of election as taught by the Canons, while he denies       infrequently, in fact, it is claimed that there is a
the doctrine of reprobation as taught by the Canons.       difference even between Beza (Calvin's immediate
Others, such as Dr. James Daane, teach a different         successor in Geneva's school) and Calvin. This is not
brand of election as well as denying the Reformed          true. 2) In close connection with this, I want to
doctrine. of reprobation. Along with this denial of        point out that the Reformed tradition which main-
reprobation, Reformed theologians have been criti-         tains the inseparability of election and reprobation
cized for maintaining that there is an inseparable         may literally be traced all the way back to Calvin.
connection between election and reprobation and            And remember: this is a tradition of Reformed
that the doctrine of election logically implies the        exegesis. While in the abstract, perhaps, it is possible
doctrine of reprobation. This criticism has taken          that this tradition has been mistaken for, lo, these
various forms and approaches. James Daane, for             many years, it is certainly no' light thing to throw it
example, tried to make a big point of the argument         overboard. 3) Those who deny this inseparability of
that the logic of election is not the logic of numbers,    election and reprobation ought openly and honestly
although he has to this day never made plain how           to admit that they are not disciples of Calvin and that
there could be election in any real sense as a             they are abandoning the Reformed tradition which
"choosing out," without a reprobation at least in the      can be traced back to him.
infra- sense of a passing by. Now I don't happen to          I wish to quote two passages from Calvin. Both are
believe that the doctrine of reprobation is merely a       from that gem among his writings, his treatise on
logical implication of the doctrine of election and        "The Eternal Predestination of God," which con-
that it cannot be proved from Scripture. Nevertheless,     stitutes the first part of the volume  Calvin's
those who are so quick to criticize this idea of a         Cidvinism,  translated by Hem-y Cole. By the way, no
logical implication are morally obligated to demon-        one's theological education is complete unless he has
strate the flaw in this logic - something which they       made acquaintance with the treatises of Calvin found
have never done and, I make bold to say, cannot do.        in this volume.
  But the point I wish to make in this editorial is          The first quotation is from page 45, in the context
that John Calvin strongly maintains that election and      of Calvin's discussion of Ephesians  1:3,4. There
reprobation are inseparable. He insists that we cannot     Calvin writes:
hold to election unless we confess that God separated
from all others certain persons whom it pleased Him              In  the first place, there is, most certainly and
thus to separate.                                              evidently, an inseparable connection between the
                                                               elect and the reprobate. So that the election, of
  The reason I make this point is not that I consider          which the apostle speaks, cannot consist unless we
Calvin to be the end of all argument. I definitely do          confess that God separated from all others certain
not believe this. Only Scripture is the end of all            persons whom it pleased Him thus to separate. Now,


                                                      THESTANDARD BEARER                                                         319


       this act of God is expressed by the term pre-                   some to life who are not yet born, leaving others to
       des tinating, which the apostle afterwards twice                their own destruction, which destruction all men by
       repeats.                                                        nature equally deserve. And when Pighius holds that
  The second quotation is from page 75, in the                         God's election of grace has no reference to, or
context of a lengthy discussion of that classic passage                connection with, His hatred of the reprobate, I
on election and reprobation, Romans 9. Calvin                          maintain that reference and connection to be a truth.
                                                                       Inasmuch as the just severity of God answers, in equal
writes:                                                                and common cause, to that free love with which He
         The mind and intent of the apostle, therefore, in             embraces His elect.
       his use of this similitude, are to be carefully observed
       and held fast - that God, the Maker of men, forms              Thus wrote Calvin, the prince of exegetes.
       out of the same lump in His hands one vessel, or man,          No true spiritual descendant of Calvin would use
       to honour, and another to dishonour, according to His       different language.
       sovereign and absolute will. For He freely chooses

                                    Ecumenism With a Vengeance

  The church news columns of  The Grand Rapids                     on Sunday which prevail among different churches
Press carried the following item on Saturday, March                somehow tend to disappear or to become less
29:                                                                important on Good Friday?
          Basilica of St.  Adalbert   - The Rev. John  Krom-         Or - God forbid - is the occasion of Good Friday
       minga, president of Calvin Seminary, will preach at         used by some in a deliberate effort to ignore or to.
       7:30 p.m. Good Friday at St. Adalbert's in a service        blur significant differences with respect to the preach-
       sponsored by West Side Fellowship of Churches.              ing of the cross in the interest of promoting an
       Clergy and choir members from the following
       churches will participate: Evangelical Covenant, Faith      ecumenical spirit? Is it the desire and aim of some
       United Methodist, Holy Trinity, Alpine, Trinity             that the apparently ecumenical feeling on Good
       Reformed, Remembrance Reformed, Saint James,                Friday may also spill over into other areas and other
       Saint John's United Church of Christ, Wallin Con-           occasions of ecclesiastical life?
       gregational and St. Adalbert's.                               I do not know what the motivation and what the
  It has become increasingly common, especially in                 justification for such ecumenical services may be. I
urban areas, to hold some kind of ecumenical Good                  have never heard a carefully expounded basis and
Friday service. This year again more than one such                 motivation. And until I do hear one which satisfies
service was announced in the same issue of The Grand               my Reformed sensibilities, I could never justify such
Rapids Press mentioned above. Not infrequently such                services nor cooperate in them.
services are conducted during the noon hour or                       But of this I am convinced, that the kind of service
during the traditional hours from noon to three                    described in the news clipping above should be an
o'clock.                                                           offense to any Reformed Christian. And it is an
  Whatever the reasons for holding such services may               abomination in the sight of the Holy One!
be, I must confess that I have always been somewhat                  Why?
mystified by this practice, even when it is followed
by so-called conservative and Bible-believing                        Because it involves cooperation in a Good Friday
churches, and even in some instances when ministers                service between one who is supposed to be a
of various churches of  ,Reformed persuasion are                   Reformed seminary professor, bound by the creeds,
involved. Mystified I am, because I always wonder                  the Roman Catholics (not to mention others), who
within my soul what is especially ecumenical about                 are characterized in the Heidelberg Catechism as
                                                                   guilty of "a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings
Good Friday services. Is Good Friday a more ecu-                   of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry." (Question
menical occasion than, say, Ascension Day, or                      and Answer 80)
Pentecost Sunday, or even Christmas? Yet such
ecumenical services are not nearly so common  - if                   How is such cooperation possible on the very day
they occur at all - on any of the latter occasions. Or,            when we remember in a special way that one sacrifice
to put it bluntly, is Good Friday a more ecumenical                and sufferings of Jesus Christ?
occasion than the Lord's Day, the sabbath? Is the                    The only explanation I can think of is that this is
preaching of the cross on Good Friday different from               ecumenism with a vengeance.
the preaching of the cross on Sunday? Do the
differences with respect to the preaching of the cross                       I


320                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


TRANSLATED TREASURES





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





(In the last article which appeared in the Standard          men because God alone is great and a creature can
Bearer of Kuyper's "Pamphlet Concerning the Refor-           never be great. And even in the office with which he
mation of the Churches" Kuyper discussed his views           is clothed, the work of his person as person is not the
on the relation between church and state. In this and        least exalted. With or without the office he is and
successive paragraphs, Kuyper discusses the duties of        remains the same weak and frail man and erring
the individual office bearers and the function of the        sinner who can stand only by God's grace. A mayor
office of believers.)                                        in his office is clothed with a certain majesty of God.
22. That Which Must  .Concem  the Ministers of the           However he administers his office, this majesty
Word                                                         remains. But with the preacher all the work of his
                                                             ministry is exclusively controlled by the truth of the
  Among the office bearers of the church the                 Word which he preaches. In so far as that Word comes
ministers of the Word hold the primary place. They           through his ministry, he speaks with the King's power
do not acquire this precedence from a certain                and he handles the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
worthiness of their person, nor from a certain higher        But where that Word is abandoned and weakened by
status which should be due their office and which            him, he weakens his own ministerial work and lets go
places their office above the office of elder or deacon,     the glory of his office.
but exclusively from the work of the Word of God
which they serve. Every pretension to honor or                 -The calling of these ministers of the Word is to
worthiness which is based on something other than            feed the flock of the Lord with that Word. They are
the work of the Word must be resisted with resolute          to feed in two ways, namely, by doctrine and life.
determination as selfishness and pride, both for their       They are to feed by doctrine in the gathering of the
own sake and the sake of their ministry. So far is the       congregation, in the education of the youth, and in
worthiness of the minister of the Word dependent on          the homes of believers. They are to feed by life, in
the worth in which he holds the Word of God that his         their own house, among their own fellow citizens,
official authority, even though he still bears the title,    and especially among the saints. The minister must
dims and fades away in the same measure in which             feed the flock of the Lord in the gathering of
the power of the Word diminishes over his person and         believers by the Word which  he expounds and applies
preaching. The Reformed Church knows no Romish               there. The Word of God is applicable for each
office which works ex opere operato  through priestly        congregation in every time, and in every time for each
power. A minister of the Word is, in Reformed                person. And the secret of the preaching is hidden
circles, a common man whose breath is in his nostrils,       exactly in this that the meaning of the Holy Spirit is
and, therefore, is to be considered as small as other        given to the Word of God by conscientious explana-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                321


tion and carefully defined application. All topical         ministers or through ruling elders. If things take place
preaching must therefore be condemned as sin in the         as they should in correspondence with other church-
Holy Place. One must not feed the flock with one's          es, then classis ought to approve such a call since the
own ideas which he hangs on a text. No, but the             ministers of the Word preach also in neighboring
Word must be preached as'it stands through exegesis         churches, and the churches have to watch mutually
and application to the heart. He who does not               for the soundness and the truthfulness of each other's
unconditionally and unfailingly confess the Holy            ecclesiastical life.
Scripture can for that reason.not be allowed into the         Where ministers of the Word devote themselves
ministry of the Word. Thus, to oppose this infallibil-      entirely to the ministry of the church, they.must also
ity and yet to appear before the congregation with a       live from the church. Concerning the manner in
"it is written," is to pretend. to confess something        which the church obtains these means of support, it
which one denies. It is thus immoral.                      need only be recalled here that the oldest Reformed
  For this ministry, the person who enters into it         Churches Under the Cross obtained these means both
ought to be educated as much in the exercise of            through subscription and through freewill gifts. But
godliness as in the exercise of study. A learned but       however received, the churches as such must pay their
ungodly man is powerless and offensive in the pulpit.      ministers. And they must do this certainly not as
But also, a godly and simple man is a misfit in the         charity, but as the reverence of love more than as a
ministry. Study pared with godliness is thus the           rite. This care belongs, as is the arrangement with us,
indispensable condition if, in the various studies, the    to the church treasurer. But it can also be the work
study of and in God's Word, (I say not, "about"            of deacons if it is then understood not as charity but
God's Word), always stands in the foreground.              as the common service of tables.
  If the opportunity for such an education is lacking,        All ministers of the Word are completely alike in
then the church must provide for it. When it exists,       rank. The minister of the smallest village is entirely
then it is sufficient for the church, after the studies    the equal in rank to the minister of the Word in the
are completed, to examine the candidates.                  court or in the capital. Bishops are unknown in the
  The right of this examination of perspective             Reformed Churches. These churches detest them and
ministers rests with the consistory because the  con-      condemn them as an unspiritual sneaking in and an
sistory calls. However, because neighboring churches       unbecoming bringing in of hierarchy.
have a like concern in this matter and many village           Finally, because not only the souls of believers, but
churches are unable to examine in these studies, it is     also the churches as bodies, must be ruled by the
better to let such an exam be conducted by many            Word of God, the ministers of the Word in like
churches together in Classis. Such an exam ought to        manner are rulers of the churches even as the ruling
cover both the studies and godliness. The exam in          elders, and the presiding leadership belongs to them
godliness is not to judge the state of such a person       because of the work of the Word in all gatherings of
before God, but to pay very close attention to a           an ecclesiastical nature.
man's confession and walk. Attention must be paid to
his confession in order to examine whether he is           23. The Proper Idea Of the Office Of Elder in the
orthodox in every respect, and to his walk by              Church
questioning those who know him. Above all, one                Elders, in the narrow sense, are in level of office
ought diligently  ,to inquire whether the gift to          like the ministers of the Word and are designated in
communicate has been given or withheld by King             Holy Scripture with the name "elders" and "over-
Jesus, in order that it may be known whether he            seers." The distinction between the ministers of the
actually possesses the gift of preaching, prayer,          Word as teaching elders and the regular elders as
teaching, and consolation.                                 ruling elders is not completely correct. Also the
  In this ecclesiastical way the properly examined         regular elders actually teach. The difference lies only
persons come to their office through the call of the       in this that the public exposition and application of
church and through installation into the ministry.         the Word in the gathering of the congregation belongs
The churches have to call their ministers of the Word.     to the minister of the Word, while the elders in the
They must do this not through voting by roll call, nor     narrower sense only teach privately through admoni-
choosing in an electoral college by each one who           tion in the homes and confession of the Word by
wants to, but in such a way that the believers make        their lives. In the absence of the minister of the Word,
known their wishes through the consistory through a        the elders can edify the congregation. But this is a
formulation of a nomination. Afterwards, the  con-         performance of another's office, not an exercise of
sistory makes its choice from that nomination. It          their own office. On the other hand, the elders stand
then calls the one chosen; and after his coming,           in the ecclesiastical ranks and in the exercise of
installs him into office, whether through other            discipline entirely as equals with the ministers of the


322                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


Word. In the ministry  .of  the-Word they  ;are only a      Word applies here.
help, a supplement of the mmrsters, but in matters of          They can serve, if need be, for life; but better for a
rule and discipline they are more than a help. In this       definite number of years because in this latter way
they form with the ministers one company. They              also other gifts of the church come to their best
have like powers, and they must, according to               expression and all oligarchy is then prevented in the
Question 85 of our Catechism, be considered as men          church of God.
set over the congregation. Also, as our Formula of
Subscription expresses itself, "by this is prevented all       If such service in the congregation is charged to
tyranny and lordship." Sometimes they even seeming-         one or more elders so that he must give up his daily
ly come to stand above a minister of the Word in            work, livelihood for his person and family ought to
matters of ecclesiastical rule, namely, in so far as the    be provided for in entirety in the same way and under
one who has oversight over anyone is above that             the same conditions as is designated above for the
person concerning whom is the oversight. And it is          ministers of the Word. The purpose then pursued by
very particularly charged to the elders, "to take           the appointment of religious teachers, and so-called
oversight over the teaching and walk of the ministers       evangelists, can in this way more correctly, more
of the Word."                                               properly, and more orderly be attained.
  They must, as Question 85 of our Catechism says,
rbe chosen by the congregation, `yet be installed in        ~-BY the reference here and in the paragraph above to Question 85 of
their office by their fellow office bearers, whether the    our Catechism, it is not clear to what Kuyper refers. Question 85 of the
ministers of the Word or the ruling elders. Concerning      Heidelberg Catechism deals with the exercise of the keys through the
the manner of election, what was said in the earlier        preaching of the Word. It is possible that Kuyper refers to some
                                                            expanded version of the Catechism which was at one time used in the
paragraph concerning the election of ministers of the       Netherlands.


THE LORD GAVE THE WORD



                               Missions: God's Work
                                              ProJ: Robert D, Decker




  In the previous articles we have studied the              the gospel by the institute of the Church of Jesus
Scriptures to determine what the Word of God                Christ. Third, missions has as its immediate goal the
teaches concerning the mission work of the Church in        gathering of the Church (elect, Body of Christ) both
the world. At this point we are prepared to draw            Jew and Gentile out of the nations. Fourth, missions
some conclusions concerning the principles of mis-          has as its ultimate goal (telos,  purposeful end) the full
sions. Taking into consideration all of the passages we     manifestation of God's glory in the redeemed, glori-
have studied we arrive at the following definition of       tied church in the new creation. However one may
missions: Missions is that work of God in Christ by         speak of missions he must speak in terms of these
which through the official ministry of the Word by          fundamental principles, for they underlie all mission
the Church He gathers His elect in the New Dispensa-        work in the true sense of the word. These principles
tion out of all nations of the world, both Jew and          are crucially important and indispensable. The church
Gentile, with a view to the realization of the              must know them, for they determine the only proper
manifestation of His glory in the New Heavens and           method of doing mission work.
Earth. There are several elements included in this            Missions is emphatically and exclusively the work
definition which deserve our attention. First, missions     of God in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit of our Lord
is emphatically and exclusively the work of God in          Jesus Christ. This is the universal testimony of the
Christ by-the Holy Spirit of Christ. Second, missions       Scriptures. God must open the door for the preaching
is accomplished by means of the official preaching of       of the gospel or the gospel will not be preached. (Cf.,


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  323


I Cor. 16: 9; II Cor. 2: 12; Col. 4:3) The preachers are     Esau. Before those children were even born God said
God's ambassadors, His official representatives who          to their mother: "The eldei:shall serve the younger."
come with God's Word (II Cor. 5: 18-21). The                 This was so that the "purpose of God according to
preachers are sent by Christ and, therefore, Christ is       election might stand, not of works, but of him that
heard through their preaching (Romans 10: 13-15).            calleth." God elected Israel to be His peculiar people
God must give those preachers "boldness to make              and raised up Pharoah according to His decree of
known the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6: 18-20).            reprobation to show His power and declare His name
The Reformed Confessions teach this same beautiful           throughout the earth. The fact is, God  ". . . has
truth. In answer to  .the question:  "What believest         mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he
thou concerning the `holy catholic church' of                will he hardeneth" (Romans 9: 1 l-33). That beautiful
Christ?" the Heidelberg Catechism states: "That the          epistle which has as its theme the glory of the elect
Son of God from the beginning to the end of the              Church in Christ begins with a doxology of praise to
world, gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by         the predestinating God: "Blessed be the God and
his Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, a          Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true          with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
faith; and that I am and for ever shall remain, a living     Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before
member thereof" (Lord's Day XXI). Note that the              the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
work of the gathering and defending and preserving           and without blame before him in love: Having
of the church belongs to the Son of God. That church         predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
which is gathered by the Son of God is chosen by             Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
God to everlasting life. The work of gathering the           pleasure of his will,. To the praise of the glory of his
church is accomplished by the Spirit and word of             grace, wherein `he hath made us accepted in the
Christ. The work of gathering the church, therefore,         beloved" (Ephesians 1:3-6). God elects His Church in
which is what mission work is all about, is God's            Jesus Christ.
work from beginning to end. God in Christ through              It is God Who in the fulness  of time sends His only
the Holy Spirit gathers the church. The same truth is        begotten Son into the world to make atonement for
delineated most clearly in the Canons of Dordt. In           the sins of the elect. "For God so loved the world,
the first head of doctrine the Canons show from the          that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
Word of God that God elects sovereignly His church           believeth in him should- not. perish, but have ever-
in Christ. God sends Christ to make atonement for            lasting life" (John 3 : 16).
the elect (Canons II). God out of His good pleasure
brings the elect to conversion (Canons III, IV) and            God regenerates His elect so that they become
God preserves the elect unto everlasting life (Canons        receptive spiritually to the gospel. Those who receive
V). Still more, the. Canons state: "Moreover the             Christ and are given power to become the sons of
promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believeth in        God are those who are "born, not of blood, nor of
Christ crucified, shall not perish,' but have everlasting    the will of the-flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
life. This promise, together with the command to             God" (John 1: 12,13).  God implants the seed of the
repent and believe, ought to be declared and published       new life in the hearts of His elect. God gives them the
to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and         hearing ear, the seeing eye, and the heart that
without distinction, to whom God out of his good             understands and believes. This work of regeneration is
pleasure sends the gospel" (Canons II, Article 5). The       absolutely indispensable to salvation, for apart from
point here is that it is God Who out of His good             being born again a man cannot even see the Kingdom
pleasure sends the gospel. Implied is this truth in          of God. This is precisely what Jesus told Nicodemus
those articles of the Belgic or Netherlands Confession       when he came to Jesus at night to discuss the things
of Faith which deal with the doctrine of the Church.         of the Kingdom of God: "Verily, verily, I say unto
(Cf. Articles XXVII - XXIX)                                  thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
                                                             kingdom of God" (John 3:3). God calls His saints out
  It is God in Christ, therefore, according to Scrip-        of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter  2:9);
ture and the Reformed Confessions, Who accom-                God converts and gives them faith (Ephesians 2:8);
plishes the work of missions. Even though God                God justifies His elect in Christ (Romans 5: 1); and
gathers His Church by the Spirit and Word of Jesus           God sanctifies, preserves, and glorifies the saints
Christ, and even though that Word through which              (I Peter 5: 10). God is absolutely sovereign in the
God gathers His Church must be preached, and even            work of salvation. God accomplishes that whole work
though that preaching must be done by men, it is             of salvation according to His eternal counsel: "For
God Himself Who gathers His Church.                          whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
  That missions is the work of God is obvious also           conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
from the fact that it is God Who saves His Church,           the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom
not man. God sovereignly loved Jacob and hated               he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom


324                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



he called, them he also justified: and whom he             rected them every step of the way. The preaching of
justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:29, 30).      the gospel went where God wanted it to go and
This'is why all things work together for good to them      nowhere else! The Canons of Dordt sum this truth
that love God who are the called according to his          nicely when they say that the promise of the gospel
purpose (Romans 8:28). This is why all things are for      together with the command to repent and believe
the Church and why nothing can be against it. This is      must be published  promiscously,  ". . . wheresoever
why nothing can separate the elect from the love of        God out of his good pleasure sends the gospel"
God which is in Christ. (Cf. Romans 8: 3 1 ff.) This is    (Canons II, 5).
the great comfort for God's Church in the world.             The conclusion from all this is evident. Not man in
  That the work of missions is God's in Christ is also     any sense of the word, except as a God ordained
clearly evident from the fact that God directs the         human instrument, is the author of mission work.
course of missions throughout the world. The Word          The work does not depend upon man for its success,
of God is not sent everywhere. Neither is it sent at       nor can man frustrate the work of missions. Can man
random, here and there without purpose. The preach-        frustrate God?! Mission work is God's work in Christ
ing of the gospel takes the course which  G,od             exclusively. This is the first principle of missions and
determines. Acts 16 speaks of Paul's second mis-           certainly determinative of mission methods. This
sionary journey and tells us in verses 6-10: "Now          fundamental principle undergirds all proper mission
when they were gone throughout Phrygia and the             work. From a practical point of view this principle is
region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy          the encouragement and incentive for the Church and
Ghost to preach the word in Asia. After they were          its missionaries. The work is always extremely dif-
come to Mysia, they .assayed to go into Bithynia: but      ficult, sometimes frustrating. It is often done with
the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by          tears. And it is always carried on overagainst the
Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to         unrelenting hatred and opposition of the world of
Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia,         unbelief. Merely because the work is God's the
and prayed him saying, Come over unto Macedonia            Church may rest assured that it shall `be accom-
and help  us.  And after  he. had seen the vision,         plished. The Church will be gathered out of the
immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia,            nations, and the Kingdom will come. Not even the
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to     gates of hell can prevail against God's Church.
preach the gospel unto them." Obviously God  di-

GUEST ARTICLE




                                         The Minister:
                              Specialist or Shepherd

                                              Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma



  Today's society is one in which the specialist plays     faculty of teachers, each specializing in his own field.
an important role., In almost every sphere of labor        The same has become true in the area of doctoring.
one must have received a great amount of special           There are available today specialists of every sort:
training in order to be known as a professional in his     skin specialists, bone specialists, brain, heart, foot
field. As a result,. much of the simple way of life as     specialists, and so the list can go on without a
we once knew it has vanished. For example, instead         seeming end. So specialized has this profession
of the one-room school house of long ago wherein           become that it is becoming increasingly difficult to
could be found only one teacher who instructed all         find a general practitioner who can be one's family
the grades, many schools today embrace a large             doctor.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                325


   A specialist, therefore, is one who devotes himself          to preaching and let the rest be placed into the hands
 entirely to a special occupation and who is, because           of other capable specialists.
 of intensified study in that field, considered by most
to be the "tops" in his profession. He is a profes-               Because of this clamor of many about us the child
sional. Take him outside of that field and he is                of God becomes somewhat reluctant to go to his
unproductive and sterile; he is at a loss for what to           minister with his problem. He becomes confused.
do. But within that field he is the best there is. He has       Which way should he turn? Where should he go? It is
amassed to himself a tremendous amount of knowl-                such a hassle to go to a specialist and pay big money
edge, attained through specialized training, and he             for only a few moments of his time. But on the other
therefore knows all the ins and outs of his profession.         hand I am told not to bother the minister with these
                                                                problems because he cannot help anyway. Where is
   Now, the purpose of this article is not to criticize         the answer?
this development which exists within this compart-
mentalized society in which we find ourselves. In                 The answer lies in a re-evaluation of the calling and
fact, in many cases this development is for the better          work of the minister.
and is used for the benefit of God's Church. The                  In a certain sense of the word it can be said that
purpose of this article is, however, to answer the              the minister is a specialist - not, however, according
question whether the minEster of the gospel must be             to the definition cited above. A minister is not' a
placed within this sphere of specialists. Must we say           specialist because of the amount of intensified study
that ministers are specialists?                                he has done., He is not a specialist because of the
   Such has become the attitude of many today, not             courses,of study he has followed in Seminary. Do not
only among the laity but also among the clergy itself.         misunderstand this either. A minister must be trained
The minister is indeed a professional in a certain field       in order rightly to divide the Word of truth. He must
of labor. And although those who possess this                  receive special training  *in  order that he might be
attitude have a hard time  pinpointingtexactly what            capable of handling the work of the ministry. Not
that field of labor is, the general consensus emerges          just  ahyone can be a `minister. God uses means to
that the minister is a professional or a specialist in the     prepare one for the work of the ministry, and
field of preaching. He has received extensive training         therefore training is necessary. But that is not what
in the areas of doctrine, exegesis, homiletics, and            makes the minister a specialist: It is the fact that the
languages, all of which equip him in his field of labor.       minister is called by Christ and qualified by the Holy
He is therefore, as a result of this intensified training,     Spirit. He is a specialist because God himself calls and
a specialist in the sphere of preaching, teaching              equips him to bring His Word. The minister is the
catechism, leading societies, and government of the            special ambassador of Christ who comes in the name
congregation.                                                  of Christ and speaks the Word of Christ Who has sent
   Those who take such an attitude, however,  .also            him.
will be, and usually are, the ones who feel that the              That the minister is equipped by the Holy Spirit
minister is incapable of handling anything outside of          applies first of all and primarily to the preaching.
his special field of labor. He is a specialist in the field    Such is the emphasis of Romans  10:13-15. But-the
of preaching and that is all. That is to say, any major        minister is called and qualified not only publicly to
problems which take place in the congregation                  proclaim God's Word, but also privately to apply that
outside of doctrine and government of the church               Word to the lives of the individual saints. That is an
must not be placed in the lap` of the minister but             integral hart of the minister's calling. As the Form of
must be taken to another professional who specializes          Ordination of the Ministers of God's Word, found in
in dealing with these problems. Therefore their                the liturgical section of the Psalter, when enumerating
reasoning is as follows. If I am having problems               the duties of the minister, states, "First, that they
within my marriage I must not go to the minister but           faithfully explain to their flock, the Word of the
I must go to a marriage counselor who specializes in           Lord, revealed by the writings of the prophets and
that field. If I have a problem child I must not seek          the apostles; and apply the same as well in general as
the guidance `of a minister but I must take him to a           in particular (emphasis mine, W.B.), to the edification
child psychologist. If I suffer under mental and               of the hearers; instructing, admonishing, comforting,
emotional anxiety I must go to a professional who              and reproving according to everyone's need." It-is
specializes in psychiatric help and not to a minister          part of the minister's calling then to apply God's
who is ignorant of these matters. JThere is no way a           Word in particular to the saints in need. He must lead,
minister is able to specialize in all these fields. Perhaps    comfort, admonish, and guide- those believers who are
he receives a little training in Seminary so that he is        in need, whatever that need may be.
able to deal with the little problems which occur in             That is why it is preferable to say concerning the
the everyday life of a congregation, but he must leave         minister that he is a pastor or a shepherd. A minister
the major problems well enough alone. Let him stick            is one who shepherds his congregation. He applies


3?6                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



God's Word to every one of their needs, whether they          somewhat sheltered life. Dare I trust my problems to
be physical, psychological, or spiritual. To deny that        him?
would be to cut man into segments and to deny the               In answer to these doubts let it be established in
unity of man's being. To deny that would be to claim          the first place that the minister is called and qualified
that there is some part of man's existence which              to bring God's Word. If he came with his own advice
dwells outside the. sphere of Christ's care for his           then indeed he would be unqualified tid a poor judge
people.                                                       in these problems. But the minister comes with the
  That this also is a part of the calling of a minister is    Word of God. Through the minister Christ speaks to
evident from certain passages of Scripture. Jesus             His people in need. Who will dare to say that the
Himself Who is the Great Shepherd of His people gave          advice of Christ is poor advice? Christ knows the
direct command to His disciple Peter with the words,          needs of every one of His sheep, whatever the
"Feed my sheep" and "Feed my lambs." Peter, and               problem may be, and He must guide and direct them.
through him all office bearers, are called therefore          That He does through His undershepherd who is
not only to nourish God's people through the                  equipped by the Holy Spirit to bring that Word.
preaching but also to take the spiritual- oversight of        Secondly, let it be established too that we may not
God's people. That this is the calling of .a11 ministers      make a separation between preaching and pastoral
and not just of the disciples is clear when Peter             care. When a minister works with the sheep of his
himself, in his first epistle chapter 5, exhorts the          congregation he is applying specifically what he has
elders to "feed the flock of God which is among               proclaimed publicly. In fact, the more the minister is
you." Paul too makes it abundantly clear in                   involved with the needs of his congregation the richer
Ephesians 4: 11 and 12 that Christ has given "pastors         and more meaningful his preaching becomes.
and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the          Finally, let one more fact be established. The
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of         minister understands the needs of the child of God
Christ."                                                      first of all because he himself is a sinner and has many
                                                              needs too. But secondly, he understands because
  Therefore to deny or even to belittle this official         Christ understands. Christ loves His people and- will
work of the minister - the undershepherd of Christ -          care for them out of that love. The world. may need
is to deny or belittle the work of Jesus Christ               all of these different specialists because they have
Himself. Christ is pleased to care. for His sheep             nowhere else to go. The child of God on the other
through the officebearers He has ordained in the              hand has his faithful Saviour to whom he can turn.
midst of a congregation.                                      We experience what the Psalmist experiences, "The
  Despite the clear testimony of Scripture to us we           Lord my Shepherd holds me within his tender care,
are still somewhat in doubt as to the  ability  of a          and with his flock he folds me, no want shall find me
minister to deal with any major problem. What about           -there." The minister experiences that with his con-
the arguments of those who contend that a minister is         gregation. And when he deals with problems he does
a specialist only in the field of preaching and that he       not do so with a cold, professional air, but with the
has no learning or valuable experience outside of that        love and concern of another believer and with the
sphere? Is it not true that the minister's knowledge is       love Christ places within his heart.
far too limited to treat such matters as marital                The minister is not a specialist. He is a shepherd
problems or mental depression? Besides, it seems as if        who is called to know the needs of God's people and
the minister is one who is not really all that much in        who is qualified to bring God's Word to those saints
touch with the nitty-gritty of life. He sits in his
                      _  -                                    in need. Christ Himself, therefore, will see to it that
study with his nose stuck in books all day, leading a         we suffer no want.




       The STANDARD BEARER

       for a shut-in.


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              327


  ALL AROUND US





                                  Verhey Case Appealed (Again)

                                                        Rev. G. Van Baren



    Some people, it seems, are gluttons for punish-                          "2. A main motion is not acceptable under the
ment. These continue to battle even long after it                            following conditions:
  becomes clearly evident. that the battle is lost. One                      "If it is verbally or substantially the same as a
  admires  their courage and determination  - yet feels a                    motion already rejected by the Synod. . . ."
  certain sympathy that these can not recognize the                     Notice that Recommendation  D,2  (p. 95  Acts)
  "handwriting on the wall." Such is the situation with               which carried was "substantially" and for the most
  Dutton Christian Reformed Consistory in its new                     part also "verbally " "the same as" D,l, which had
  appeal to the  C.R.C. Synod of 1980.  Thatconsistory                "already been rejected by the Synod."
  has repeatedly objected to the position of Dr. A.                     3. The Synod in its Recommendation 3 (p.96)
  Verhey who was approved for the ministry and                        acknowledged that Dr. Verhey's method as he applies
  ordained in the Christian Reformed Church. Their                    it is objectionable, but limited its criticism to merely        ,
  objections were directed against Verhey's method of                 "some aspects" of his method. But Dr. Verhey's own
  interpretation of the Bible as revealed especially in               defense of his views states clearly that what is at issue
  two claims of his: that the serpent of Gen. 3 did not              is not merely "some aspects of his method," or, as
  actually speak, and a questioning of the literal                    the committee said, some "detail which is ques-
  character' of the earthquake which accompanied                     tioned." He wrote (Acts 1979, p. 656)
  Christ's resurrection. Now again Dutton approaches                         "Incidently, I do not "except" the resurrection
  Synod to appeal its decision of last year. The appeal                      from this kind of investigation. Indeed, if this
  is summarized in the  Outlook  of March 14, 1980:                          kind of investigation demonstrated that Jesus
                                                                             had not been raised, I would become a Jew. The
        The consistory, having considered the synod's                        gospels stake their case on history, after all. But
     decisions on the appeal is convinced that that appeal                   such an investigation, while it cannot `prove' God
     has been illegally, incompletely and inadequately                       took Jesus from the dead, clearly demonstrates it
     dealt with and, considering that the matter is of                       is not historically unreasonable to accept such a
     sufficient importance to the welfare of our churches,
     appeals to the Synod of 1980 to rectify and complete                    Claim."
     the unftished resolution of this matter (Art. 84, pp.              Notice that in the application of this method even
     91-97).                                                         the resurrection is made historically debatable.
     Grounds:                                                           4. The 1979 Synod's treatment of the matter
                                                                     ignored the material which we cited from Dr.
       1. Article 30 of the Church Order states that                 Verhey's thesis (pp. 742,743) presumably because, as
     "Assemblies and church members may appeal to the                Dr. Verhey suggested, it was irrelevant. That material
     assembly next in order if they believe that injustice           from the thesis clearly demonstrates that Dr. Verhey
     has been done or that a decision conflicts with the             in applying his method contradicts Article VII of the
     Word of God or the Church Order." Since the matter              Belgic Confession on THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE
     was acknowledged as properly before Synod of 1979,              HOLY SCRIPTURE TO BE THE ONLY RULE OF
     we believe that "the assembly next in order" to                 FAITH, the "sola scriptura" teaching which he in the
     which appeal must be made to rectify deficiencies in            thesis repeatedly criticizes. His thesis also abundantly
     the 1979 decisions is the Synod of 1980.                        demonstrates that the application of Dr. Verhey's
       2. The first decision which the Synod took on the             view to moral matters makes every application of the
     matter was irrelevant to our appeal and was taken in            Bible t,o man's moral decisions subject to the veto of
     violation of the Synod's own rule:                              man's own experience.


328                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



          5. The 1979 Synod later in its sessions reaffirmed           taking no effective action. ln fact, its decision is being
       decisions taken by -previous synods regarding the               interpreted as tolerating his views. As the Press
       inerrancy of the Bible. In so doing it stated again             reported "Synod Allows Minister His Debatable
       "that it is inconsonant with the creeds to declare that         Views" (Headline, G.R. Press June 21, 1979).
       there is an area of Scripture in which it is allowable to          In view of the increasing prevalence of views such
       posit the possibilities of actual historical inaccuracies       as these among us, we appeal to the Synod of 1980
       (cf. Belgic Confession, `believing without any doubt            "to declare that this method of interpreting and using
       all things contained therein')". . . .                          the Bible is not to be tolerated in the Christian
          It also again "warns against the use of any method           Reformed Churches and to take whatever measures
       of biblical interpretation which excludes or calls into         may be needed to prevent its being preached and
       question either the event character or revelational             taught by Dr. Verhey as a minister in our churches."
       meaning of biblical history". . . . Yet this same synod        It appears that Dutton has some strong grounds for
       in the case we appealed to it took no effective action       its case. One would hope and pray too that they
       to maintain these decisions.                                 could convince the C.R.C. Synod of the seriousness
          6. The Synod's treatment of our appeal fails to           of this whole situation. Yet one can not but wonder
       take the requested action, to prevent the objection-         how far a consistory can go before it faces the
       able method of interpreting and using the Bible from         question: submit or depart. I had rather thought that
       being preached and taught in our churches. Further-          Dutton had reached that point after the Synod of
       more, the Synod's decision provided for no follow-up         1979. But what will happen now after the Synod of
       on its advice.  In merely urging Dr. Verhey to
       reexamine his method under the guidance -of the              1980? One would think that, before God, that
       Neland Consistory and in consultation with                   consistory can not submit to any kind of decision
       Reformed theologians, and advising him to speak              which allows Verhey to remain, with his present con-
       cautiously in presenting diverging interpretations and       victions, within the C.R.C. Is that consistory ready
       demonstrate their harmony with our creeds . . . it was       to face the consequences of faithfulness?


                                                  The Joy of Singing

  In the  Biblical Educator,  January 1980, there                      psalms `till do much to instill a sense of good taste,
appears a brief article on "Singing" by James B.                       and prevent the children from being caught up in
Jordan. There are a few very thought-provoking                         whatever the current humanistic musical fad is. `The
paragraphs. What do you think?                                         reason Christian kids so often go for "rock" music is
                                                                       that their musical taste is completely unformed. The
          Singing is one of the most important things the              violence in today's music is but the reverse side of the
       Christian School teaches. Singing is an emotional               sentimental, goopy, syrupy, popular music of a
       enhancement of speech, and it was given to humanity             previous generation. "Champagne music" leads to
       by God to enable us to praise Him. The humanistic               "marijuana music." Too many gospel songs are
       schools have replaced music and singing, which are              nothing but sentimental goop, and children brought
       God-centered, with competitive sports,  which are               up on these are starved for music with some real meat
       man-centered: the goal being to glorify the individual          in it. They  find such "strong" music in "rock." It
       or to glorify the school. . . .                                 would be better if they had been brought up on
          The result of a self-conscious music programme               strong Christian music, such as the psalms.
       will be churches filled with people who have been              Do you think, perhaps, that our emphasis is
       trained to glorify God with their voices. The prospect       somewhat misplaced sometimes?
       is exciting. Also, years of singing good hymns and


                                     Edumenism to the "nth" degree

  An article quoted in the Christian News, February                 And the suggestions point once more to the end of
4, 1980, suggests the lengths to which `some go to                  the age.
unite mankind  - and all religions. One might be                           All world religions achieve at least a glimpse of
shocked by the suggestions  - but they are hardly                       transcendent reailty, declares British religious philoso-
unexpected, given the religious climate of our day.                     pher John Hick, who says that calling any faith the


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       329


    one true religion is a form of bigotry.                           Mr. Hick's propositions "toward a philosophy or
       Historical and cultural differences have shaped             religious pluralism" came during a two-day confer-
    such images of deity as the God of Israel, Allah or the        ence on "New Directions in Philosophy of Religion."
    non-personal Void of the Eastern traditions, Mr. Hick          It also marks an inaugural of sorts for Mr. Hick, who
    says.                                                          is joining the host school's faculty as  ~Danforth
                                                                   professor of religion. He teaches the rest of the year
       "God as experienced by this or that individual or           at the University of Birmingham in England. . . .
    group is real, not illusory," he maintains, "and yet
    the experience of God is partial and is adapted to our        The evil and wrongness of the proposition are
    human spiritual capacities."                               obvious. Yet we shall be hearing more and more of
       If this thesis is accepted, Mr. Hick adds, "then the    this sort of thing. It will increasingly become part of
    very plurality and variety of the human experience of      the cry for removal of all "religious discrimination."
    God provides a wider basis for theology than can the       Be not deceived by such cries.
    experience of any one religious tradition taken by
    itself."


CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE





                                Report  From Singapore


Dear Brothers and Sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ:            a strange land. Though there are many things here
   Greetings to you in the name of our covenant God            like the West, there is also no end of sights and
and Savior Jesus Christ, from the island of Singapore.         experiences which are very different. Every day seems
We have been in Singapore for almost two months at             to bring new experiences and new sights.
the writing  of this letter to you  and there is just so
much for us to tell you we hardly know  wherec to                Singapore is from many respects a very beautiful
begin and how to keep this report short enough that            land.  There is so much lush green tropical foliage.
it does not fill up the whole Standard Bearer. We are          There are many beautiful flowering trees. The name
very much enjoying the `labors here. Our work is               garden city is a very appropriate one. The island is
being well received and greatly appreciated. Many              covered with  modern  highrise  apartment buildings.
prayers of thanksgiving are being raised to God on             For the most part Singapore is a very neat and clean
your behalf for sending us here as your missionary.            city. While there are niany modern buildings in
                                                               Singapore, there are also many older, quaint,  orieni
  Upon arrival in Singapore we received a blessed              tal-style shops and markets. There are still many
welcome from a group of the members of the                     places where people live in what are called Kampongs.
G.L.T.S. They took us immediately to our new home.             These are a combination of rather crudely built huts,
Already on the day of our arrival we had fellowship            all built one against the other, which serve as the
with the saints here. The next evening there was a             dwellings of several families living very close together.
special evening to welcome us. We met many of the              Often the people living together in these Kampongs
members of the G.L.T.S. for the firsd: time. We tried          are related to each other. The streets are jammed with
very hard to remember some of the. difficult Chinese           cars but there are also motor bikes. In many places
names and we experienced our first taste of many               one can see the trishaws still in use, not only for the
very different oriental foods.                                 tourist- trade but also for the transport of the
  It would be hard for me to describe all the                  Singaporeans. It is simply unbelievable what these
impressions that flood in upon one after first entering        trishaws are sometimes made to carry. There are


330                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



many open air food' shops where one can purchase a         not welcome. Therefore most of the pastoral work
great variety of different foods from many different       will have to be done by people coming to our home.
countries. There are millions of people living in          This the members of the G.L.T.S. are doing very
Singapore and the ,city is busy 24 hours a day. The        much, for which we are glad.
abundance of trees help to camouflage the fact that           Our oldest daughter Sara is attending Kindergarten
there are so many people living here but it seems that,    at a Presbyterian Church. There was some difficulty
wherever you go, you are surrounded by huge                at first for her to adjust. She is the only western child
apartment buildings.                                       in the class. When we lived far away it was necessary
  The weather in Singapore is hot and humid. The           for me to take her to school every day, a trip of more
amazing thing about the weather is that it is so           than an hour each way. Now the school bus picks her
consistently the same. It is always from 85-90 degrees     up right at the apartment. Sara has learned to like
in the daytime and cools off in, the evening only to       school so much that she now goes eagerly every day.
the low 80s. We have not however found the weather         We thank the Lord for this. The school is academical-
to be oppressive and we have already adapted to it         ly quite good but there are not very many signs that
quite well.                                                it is Christian.
  After two months here we are starting to feel              For the rest of the space let me tell you just a little
pretty much at home. We are growing accustomed to          about the work of the church here. The G.L.T.S. is
the oriental way of life. During the first month that      very busy in the work of the Lord. It would not be
we were here we lived in a semi-detached home. This        possible for me to tell you all of the activities in
is comparable to the U.S. duplex. The home was             which they are engaged. We are much encouraged by
spacious, comfortable, and quite nice. The only            the many members who take an active part in the
problem was that it was much too far away from the         work of the church. Their zeal and tireless labors for
meeting place of .the church. By the providence of         the Lord are a most wonderful testimony of their
God we managed to find other accommodations in a           faith. Let me just briefly outline some of the
place where such is very difficult to  find and also       activities in which we are directly involved.
normally very expensive. We now live in one of the           The Lord's Day is a very busy day for us. Most of
high-rise apartment buildings on the fifth floor.          the meetings are on the Lord's Day because it is often
Although this is not quite as nice for our family since    very difficult for the young people to get out of their
there is no outside play area, this  .apartment is         homes for meetings during the week. The Lord's Day
nevertheless very nice, spacious, and comfortable.         begins with four Sunday School classes. These start
There are many advantages to this place. It is within      at  8:45 a.m. I teach one of these classes. I took this
walking distance to the church and also to shopping        class over from one of the brothers who is now
districts. Because the apartment is so spacious we are     teaching another class. In this `class .I teach from the
able to hold some of `the meetings of the G.L.T.S. in      Westminster Confession. I picked up from where the
our home. We are now much closer to the homes of           brother before me left off. This happened to be at the
some of the members. Because we are high up there is       point where the confession deals with the doctrine.of
a nice cool breeze blowing through our home.               the sacraments. Because of various developments with
  Transportation presents some problem in Singa-           regard to the sacraments in the G.L.T.S., and also
pore. Traffic is very heavy and also very slow. The        because of the controversy in our own Protestant
government of Singapore is trying very hard to             Reformed Churches about baptism on the mission
discourage the private ownership of cars by taxing         field, we have spent a long time talking about the
them heavily. Thus even a small used car that is quite     sacraments. Attendance at this class is from 25 to 30
old will cost in the neighborhood of $10,000 Singa-        and the discussions are lively and interesting. The
pore. In addition to this, one must pay an annual          worship service begins at 10: 15 a.m. and usually lasts
registration fee of $1,000 plus high road taxes and        until  12:OO noon. They are used to listening to
very high petro costs. If one sees the traffic condi-      hour-long sermons. The service is led by a chairman
tions here he can appreciate these efforts by the          who is one of the leaders of the G.L.T.S. He leads in
government. For all of these reasons we have decided       opening words from Scripture, singing, responsive
not to buy a car. Public transportation, though also       reading, the offering, and Scripture reading. My part
slow, is nevertheless very good. One can get a bus to      in the service is then the pastoral prayer, the sermon,
virtually any place in Singapore. There are many           and the closing prayer. Attention to the preaching is
taxies, and one can walk to many places he desires to      very good. The service is conducted in a very
go. It is possible to do much of the work of the           reverential and god-glorifying spirit. There are always
church from our home. To understand this, one must         more than 100 young people present at the service.
remember that most of the members of the G.L.T.S.          This means that the meeting place is filled to
come from pagan homes where a Christian minister is        capacity. Work is being done on rearranging the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                             ,331



seating to accommodate more people. After the               our home. We thank the Lord that the young people
worship service there is a time of Christian fellowship.    are getting more free and open to come to discuss
  At 1:OO p.m. there is a pre-baptism class that meets      various questions and we are all the time encouraging
at our apartment. This class has 14 members, most of        this. Few days go by that we do not have someone in
whom are recent converts who have requested bap-            our home. Many of the young people will come with
tism. I am instructing them in the fundamentals of          long lists of questions for which they are seeking
the Christian faith. We started with the subject of the     answers.
true knowledge of God.                                         Saturdays are also very busy days for us. In the
  In the afternoon there is a meeting of the executive      morning there is a ,class for a young couple that will
committee of the G.L.T.S. This executive committee          soon be married. Because these young people are
acts somewhat like the consistory, while there is no        from pagan homes they need and desire instruction
instituted church here. These meetings always last all      on establishing a Christian home. We are using the
afternoon. They are also held at our apartment. The         book of Rev. Engelsma. How thankful we as
reason for the length and frequency of these meetings       Protestant Reformed people ought to be for our
is chiefly all the matters that must be discussed in        Christian homes. Saturday afternoon there are two
                                                            more Bible classes. I teach one of these classes. I am
relation to the institution of the church here. We are      giving doctrinal instruction in the Heidelberg Cate-
working very hard in making all the necessary               chism for the older members. Another brother is
preparations for the organization of the church here.       doing the same for younger members. This class is
It is our conviction that this should take place as soon    very well attended and also meets in our apartment.
as possible. Every Tuesday evening we meet with a           Regular attendance is from 30 to 40. We are much
committee to formulate a constitution for the
newly-organized church. It will probably take several       encouraged by the evident sincere desire to learn
                                                            more of the Reformed faith and the desire to be
months yet before the church can be organized               grounded in the doctrines of the faith.
because of the many things that must be done. Be
sure to keep this matter before you in prayer. Many           There are many more activities that go on through
decisions have to be made. It is very urgent that the       the week. There are meetings of cell groups in various
foundations of the church be laid in the truth of the       locals, there is work to distribute tracts and tapes,
Word of God. I am preaching a series of sermons on          there are groups `who do follow-up work with those
the Lord's Day on the subject of the doctrine`of the        who have attended worship services and with those
church with a view to the organization of the church.       who have special problems. I could not possibly detail
  At 7:30 p.m. every Lord's Day evening some of the         all of this for you.
members of the G.L.T.S. gather together to listen to          We rejoice at the evidences of the blessing of the
taped sermons. This is a group of those young people        Lord. The past labors of our churches have borne
who are able to get out of their homes for a second         much fruit. The G.L.T.S. is growing in the knowledge
time on the Lord's Day. We meet at the home of Mr.          of and love for the Reformed faith. It is hard to
and Mrs. Ong, the only married couple of the                imagine what the Lord may have in store for the
G.L.T.S.                                                    G.L.T.S. They could become the' center of the
  On Wednesday evening there is a prayer meeting.           Reformed faith in Singapore. There is no other
                                                            church that even comes close to the Reformed faith.
At this meeting one of the leaders of the G.L.T.S. will     Two young men and probably a third has aspirations
give a short exhortation from Scripture and the rest
of the time will be spent in prayer. We find these          for the gospel ministry. Two of these brothers are
meetings very encouraging and meaningful. It is an          presently studying at the Bible college of the
opportunity for all who can come, to pray for the           Presbyterian church. They are greatly desirous of
                                                            further training that will establish them more firmly
church and also to pray for one another. Though this        in the Reformed faith and equip them to become
is somewhat of a new thing for us, we find it very          better ministers.
good. We hear of many of the hardships and trials
that these youthful saints experience as well as their        We can be thankful that the Lord has given our
new found joy of salvation. Most of the prayers are         churches an open door to work here in Singapore and
God-centered and very beautiful. I would like to tell       to share the glorious heritage of the Reformed faith
you about some of the experiences of the saints             which He has delivered to us. Please continue to pray
which have been reported at these prayer meetings           for us and also for the youthful saints here.
but space does not allow me.                                                         Your Missionary and his wife,
  During the week there are many pastoral visits in                                   Rev. & Mrs. Arie den Hartog


332                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE





                                     Letter to Timothy


                                         April 15, 1980      midst. The-question often arises, you know, why the
Dear Timothy,                                                world should really pay any attention to the Church
  In our last few letters we were discussing the idea        of Christ. After all, the Church is very small and
of the conscience as that term is often described in         insignificant. It has no power. In no sense of the word
Scripture. Especially in our last letter we were talking     does it stand in the way of the world in the pursuit of
about the statement in Paul's first letter to Timothy        the wicked goals upon which the world sets its
(4:2)' where Paul speaks of a conscience which is            collective heart. Would it not be the part of wisdom
seared as with a hot iron. And we talked about the           for the world just simply to forget about the Church
fact that a man who continually commits the same             and let it go? But the world can never do this. No
sin can succeed in stilling the voice of his conscience      matter how small the Church actually is, the Church
so that it no longer condemns him. We have to talk           is the constant and living testimony of the truth of
about this a bit more because of the seriousness of          God in the midst of the world. And the Church
this - also for the child of God. How does it happen         serves, therefore, to remind the world constantly of
that a man can still the voice of his conscience?            her evil and sin and of the just judgment of God upon
                                                             her. But it is precisely this which the world cannot
  It might be well, first of all, to remind ourselves        stand, because that testimony of the Church is
that, in an ultimate sense, this is really impossible. It    confirmed in the conscience of wicked men and
is possible that a man so quiets the voice of his            arouses that conscience once again. So the Church
conscience that he no longer hears the condemning            must `be silenced in order for the world to go her own
voice of God when he commits a particular sin.. He           evil way undisturbed. That is why, according to the
can, `so to speak, commit that sin without having any        first verses of Revelation 11, the testimony of the
immediate consciousness of the wrongness of it. He is        two witnesses must be silenced. And that is why,
so hardened to the idea of that sin that he does not         when the dead bodies of these witnesses lie in the
even consider it a sin at all any more. He reaches a         streets of Jerusalem which has become Sodom and
point when he is able to go blithely on his way              Egypt, the wicked rejoice and send presents to one
continuing in the same sin and having no pangs of            another.
conscience about it whatsoever. But there is still,
deep down and beneath the consciousness, that sense            Nevertheless, it is possible for a man to silence the
of wrongness. If, for example, a man has become so           voice of his conscience. And the question remains:
hardened to blaspheming that he curses and takes             how is this done?
God's name in vain without any thought of wrong,               To answer this question, I want to tell you about a
that sense of wrong can `still be aroused in him by          lecture which, years ago, Rev. Ophoff gave to us
someone calling his attention to the sin and repri-          when I was still in Seminary. I do not recall the exact
manding him for it. Once again he is reminded of the         circumstances of the lecture any more, but I think
sin and of the terrible judgment of God upon him for         Rev. Ophoff was lecturing on the hardening of
it, and, momentarily, his conscience once again              Pharaoh's heart. And he was explaining to us what it
speaks. Although he may drive the thought from his           means that the heart is hardened. You must remem-
mind as quickly as -possible, nevertheless, for the          ber that Rev. Ophoff, for all his forgetfulness and
moment, it is there. In a very general sense of the          seeming abstract air, had a profound understanding
word, this is the reason why the wicked world cannot         of human nature. He could make observations about
tolerate the presence of the Church of Christ in her         human nature which had a way of sticking with a


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 333


man and which, as. the years went by, proved to be            is perfectly justified, that there are extenuating circum-
more filled with profound insights than one first             stances which make it entirely' proper for him to do
suspected. I cannot, of course, reproduce his lecture         what he did. And, having persuaded himself, he
word for word, but I remember vividly the gist of it;         becomes convinced of his own arguments, marvels at
and it went something like this.                              the skill with which he assembled the evidence, and
  If one looks at the matter of hardening from. the           uses this evidence in his defense of the proposition
human side, then this is what happens to a man when           that he need not confess to any wrong.
he hardens his heart. He is a man who does something            Now there are, of course, degrees of hardening. It
wrong, something evil and displeasing in the sight of         is a certain process which the sinner carries on. It
God, something contrary to God's will. Whatever may           does not happen overnight. It takes, sometimes, a
be the immediate motives for doing this wrong, he             long time. But the fact remains that, once having set
knows, at the time he did it, that what he did was            himself upon this path, it becomes increasingly
wrong in the sight of God. He knows that beyond               difficult to turn back. Scripture speaks of the fact
contradiction, for God impresses the wrong upon his           that there is ,a kind of ultimate hardening which
conscience. But, said Rev. Ophoff, he does not want           makes repentance impossible: "For it is impossible
to confess that what he did was wrong. Again, he may          for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
have a thousand different reasons for refusing to             of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
confess the wrong, among which is surely his own              Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God,
sinful pride; but whatever the reasons may be, that is        and the powers of the world to come, If they shall
not important. The important thing is that he refuses,        fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;
for one reason or another, to make confession.                seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
  Now, in the light of this refusal to make confes-           afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Hebrews
sion, what must he do? Well, the thing to do, of              6:4-6). And just because this is a certain process, the
course  - really, the only thing to do  - is to justify       voice of the conscience must be increasingly stilled
what he has done. He must explain why he refuses to           and will be stilled as a man continues to justify his
confess. And the only way he can explain his refusal          conduct. He can at last reach the point where he
to confess is to justify what he has done. And so he          becomes completely cold and indifferent to the truth
begins to do this - first of all, in his own conscious-       of the Word of God and hateful of it.
ness. He has to convince himself first of all. If he has        If one, on the other hand, looks at this matter
not convinced himself he can never succeed in                 from God's point of view  - and  one.must do this
convincing others. In order to convince himself he            because  God  hardens the heart  - then one must
begins to marshal all kinds of evidence of one sort or        remember especially two things. One is that this
another to prove to himself that what he did was not,         increasing hardness of heart is the judgment of God
in fact, wrong. If this evidence he summons to his            Himself upon the sinner who sets himself against,
assistance is to work, he must also, quite clearly,           God's law. God punishes sin with sin. God judges so
commit some form of intellectual dishonesty. I recall         inexorably that the sinner increases in sin and hatred
distinctly that Rev. Ophoff himself used this very            against God. God punishes the sin which a man does
term : "intellectual dishonesty." He meant by that            by hardening him in his sin as the expression of His
that, when one commits a sin of any sort, there is no         own righteous wrath until the sinner is literally
real sound evidence which can excuse that sin. A sin          "beyond" repentance i until it is "impossible . . . to
is always a sin. It is a transgression of the will of God.    renew them again unto repentance." This is also the
So there is no evidence which is valid which can              teaching of Romans 1. God reveals His wrath from
justify the sin. In the summoning of such evidence,           heaven. Idolatry becomes homosexuality because
then, he must be intellectually dishonest. But this           God, in His wrath, "gave them up to  uncleaness
does not disturb him too much. His goal is to prove           through the lusts of their own hearts. . .  ," and
to himself that what he did was perfectly all right.          because God "gave them over to a reprobate mind."
Now, man is very adept at collecting this type of             God sovereignly carries out His own eternal purpose
evidence and he comes with mountains of it. He has            in this' way. Secondly, God always does this through
all his reasons carefully laid out why it was right, in       His own Word. It is His Word which pricks the
this instance, to do what he did.                             conscience of the sinner and arouses in him that voice
  The trouble is, said Rev. Ophoff, that, once having         of condemnation. At last he cannot stand that Word
collected all this evidence, he can actually succeed in       any more because it reminds him of the folly of his
persuading himself that the evidence is valid and that        own attempts to justify himself and speaks its
what he did was therefore, in his case, no sin. And           condemnation of his wickedness. And so he becomes
when he has convinced himself, then also he is                more and more hateful of that Word until he, in fury,
hardened; He has convinced himself that sin is not            refuses to hear anything of it any more. This is why
sin, that wrong is right, that a violation of God's law.      the preaching (whether from the pulpit or in pastoral


 334                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



 work or in ;Christian  discipline) is a1ways.a two-edged    .ma.n to whom it is spoken.
sword. It is a savor of death unto death too. And this         And so, as God does His work in hardening, the
must never be forgotten. This is why elders who do           sinner becomes more and more insensitive to sin. He
the work of discipline must continue to bring the            throws that Word from him and will hear it no more.
Word to those who err until either the sinner is             And so his conscience no longer speaks at all. He is
brought to repentance or until the sinner will not           hardened and repentance becomes impossible.
listen to them any more. God does His work. And His
work hardens or softens  - always. And this is why              But now  we. must speak of the other side of the
that Word must always be brought in all its truth. If        picture. That is, we must speak of how that same
the Word of God is not brought, it will never have           "vicious cycle" in which the sinner is caught is
any of the proper and ordained effects. If man               broken by the wonder of confession of sin. But this
softens that Word or tones it down or adds his own           shall have to wait.
word, it will never either bring to repentance or                                               Fraternally in Christ,
harden because it will not reach the conscience of the                                                      H. Hanko



                                           Book Review

GOD'S ETElWAL.GOOD PLEASURE, by Herman                       sovereign work of God in salvation in the New
Hoeksema; Reformed Free Publishing Association,              Testament. This problem continues to occupy the
 1979; 371 pp., $9.95. (Reviewed by Prof.`H. Hanko.)         attention of the Church, numerous books are written
                                                             on the subject, and it is of considerable concern
                                                             especially to those who work in -Jewish missions.
   In the early part of the 1940s Rev. H. Hoeksema,          Because Paul's main concern in these chapters is with
pastor of the First Protestant Reformed Church of            this very question, the author treats the whole
Grand Rapids, preached a series of sermons on                problem in a thoroughly. exegetical way. The key
Remans  9-11. These sermons were eventually pre-             chapter is, of course, chapter 11.  ,And the book
pared for publication and were widely circulated in a        contains thorough exegesis of this'chapter.
hard cover book. For many years now this old book
has been out of print. Because of the general interest          In the second place, the whole section of Romans
shown in the material, there have been, over the years,      9-l 1 treats the central truth of sovereign grace - the
many requests for the book - requests which could            truth of sovereign predestination, including both
not be filled. Now the Reformed Free Publishing              election and reprobation. On the one hand, this truth
Association has reprinted the book and has made it           is under severe attack today even within Reformed
available again to all those who are interested in the       circles. On, `the other hand, outside of Reformed
truths of sovereign grace.                                   circles there is a renewed interest in this truth and
                                                             there are evidences that many are seeing clearly that
   Through an oversight, the original book did not           this truth is indeed the central truth of Scripture.
 contain Rev. Hoeksema's sermon on the important             (There is something ironic about this: those who have
passage, Remans. 9: 17,18. This left the original book       historically maintained this truth are turning from it
somewhat incomplete. Prof. H. C. Hoeksema has                while many who have historically been Arminian are
prepared a chapter on this text from the sermon              turning to it.) Nevertheless, this book deals with the
notes of his father and from other writings of Rev.          whole question and does so with thorough and
Hoeksema on this subject. The chapter fits well into         complete exegesis. This is its strength. And it ought
 the book and one would not know that it was                 to be noted in this connection that the discussion of
 prepared by a different author without the reference        predestination includes also all the doctrines of
 to this fact in the Preface.                                sovereign grace as Paul himself treats them in these
   This is an important book and we hope and pray            chapters. The book is a lucid treatment of the
 that it will have increasingly wide circulation. It is      fundamental truths of Calvinism as they are taught in
 important for a number of reasons, only a few of            these three chapters of Romans.
 which we are able to mention here.                             In the third place, the book is important because it
   It is important, first of all, because it deals with      deals with these subjects pastorally. This is the value
 what has often been called, "The Jewish Problem";           of a book which is really a printing of sermons. It is
 i.e., the question of the place of the Jew in the           not a verse by verse commentary; it is not an abstract


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                    335

                                                                                       ,'

discussion of the objective truths of the doctrines of                      proper subject matter only for those who are old in
grace; it is a-pastorally warm and homiletically rich                       the faith. This book proves that this is not so. The
treatment of these truths which demonstrate beyond                          gift of Rev. Hoeksema was his ability to make the
contradiction that (contrary to the allegations of                          truths of Scripture clear. This book is proof of that.
Daane, Boer,  c.s.) these truths of Scripture can and                       Even our .young people can read it and understand it.
must be preached from the pulpit. It is also because                        But all can profit by it.
of this characteristic of the book that the book can                            We hope that this book finds a place in the homes
be read with such enjoyment. It is good to read for                         of all our people - even if you have the old edition;
instruction; it is good to read for devotional                              and we hope and pray that it may be circulated
literature.                                                 ,               widely throughout the world to the instruction of
   Finally, the book is clearly written and easily read                     God's people and the strengthening of the faith of
by all our people. So often it is thought that these                        many.
doctrines are difficult to understand and that they are





                                 NOTICE!!!                                                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
    Here is Rev. Den Hartog's address in Singapore:                            The members of the Adult Bible Study Society of The Southeast
                        Rev. A. Den Hartog                                  Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Ml, extends heartfelt
                        32 D  - Block C                                     and sincere Christian Sympathy to their fellow member, Mr. John De
                        Pacific Mansion                                     Vries in the loss of his wife. May God comfort him by His Word and
                        River Valley Close                                  Spirit.
              ,         Singapore 0923                                         "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to
                        Rep. of Singapore                                   glory." (Psalm  73:24j.

                                                                                                                       Rev. M.  Schipper, Pres.
                                                                                                                       Mrs. Eileen  Hauck,  Sec'y.

                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On April 19, 1980, our parents, MR. AND MRS. KENNETH  LAN-
NING, will celebrate, the Lord willing, their 40th wedding anniversary.                        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   We, their children and grandchildren, thank our Heavenly Father for          On March 31, 1980, our parents, MR. AND MRS.  GERRITT  PIPE
the years of love and instruction that they have given us. It is our        celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. We, their children. thank
prayer that the Lord may continue to bless them in the years to come.       God for the 35 years He has given them together and for the Christian
   "0 taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that          home and instruction which was given us through them.
trusteth in him." (Psalm  34:8)                                                                                     their children,
                                     Judy Lanning                                                                      Ted and Jane Pipe  '
                                     Lester  & Mary  Barnhill                                                       Tim and Lois Pipe
                                           Lisa & Daniel                                                               Bill and Karen Pipe
                                     Gary  & Patricia Lanning                                                          and 11 grandchildren.
                                           Andrew                           Grand Rapids, Ml



                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On April 25, 1980, the Lord willing, our parents, MR. AND MRS.              On May 6, 1980, the Lord willing, our beloved parents and
JACOB KUIPER, SR., will commemorate 45 years of married life. We,           grandparents, DONALD AND JESSIE  RIETEMA  celebrate their 55th
their children, are thankful to God for His preservation of our loved       wedding anniversary.
ones both physically and spiritually. We are thankful too for their many       With humble gratitude and thanksgiving we join with them in
years of sacrifice to give us Christian instruction in home, school and     praising our Covenant God for His continued faithfulness and love for
church. It is our prayer that the Lord will continue to bless and guide     them through the past years.
them.
                                                                               We thank them for their love and concern to each one of us and for
   "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon       the Christian training and example we were `privileged to share. May
them that fear him, and his righteousness unto  children:s children; To     they experience God's blessing and guidance in their remaining years.
such as keep his covenant,           and to those that remember his
commandments to do them." (Psalm 103: 17  &  18).                               their children  -                             Bonnie Rietema
   their children  -                                                                   Ben and Grace Rietema                  Don Rietema
         Henry Jay Kuiper                        Art and Mary Bleyenberg               Ken and Joyce Rietema                  Bruce and Barbara Bomers
         Ike and Jane Kuiper                     John and Marie Hoekstra        their grandchildren  -                        Ann C. Rietema
         Jay and Nancy Kuiper                    Rich and Betty Peterson               Rodney and Ardith Rietema              I<enneth  Rietema
         Gerald and Bonnie Kuiper                Bob and Renae Kuiper                  Michael and Joyce Engelsma             Ronda Rietema
         Bob and Etta Van Dyke                   Ron and Linda Corson                  Brian and Carole Wechsler          and 8 great-grandchildren.
         Clair and Jan Kuiper                    and 41 grandchildren          Open house celebration  - Saturday, May 3,  - 2 to 4 P.M. at the
         Al and Sharon Brummel                   3 great-grandchildren.     Fulton Manor, 1450 E. Fulton SE, Grand Rapids, Ml.


THE STANDARD BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064            ._.__.  __  _._...___   ~.  _  _~-.
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





                                                                                        .-w-Y*

336                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER





                                       REPORT OF  CLASSIS WEST

                                                         March 26, 1980



   Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches                      Five churches requested subsidy in the amount of
met in South Holland, Illinois on March 4, 1980. In                    $47,500. Another church asked for special subsidy.
welcome relief from the extended sessions of Classis                   These requests, with  Classis' approval and pertinent
recently, the meeting lasted one day. Rev. W.                          decisions, were sent on to Synod.
Bekkering led  Classis in opening devotions. He                        A Classical appointment schedule was adopted for
addressed the delegates briefly from I Thessalonians                   Redlands: March 30, April 6, and April 13 - Koole;
1:8: "For from you sounded out the word of the                         April 27, May 4, and May 11 - Kuiper; May 18, May
Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in                     25, and June 1 - Lanting.
every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad;
so that we need not to speak any thing."                                 Results of the necessary elections were:
                                                                         -
   Eleven ministers and twelve elders represented the                         Classical Committee: Rev. R. Cammenga (3 year
churches of Classis. Missionary R. Van Overloop and                           term).
                                                                         -
Rev. G. Lanting were present and were given the right                         Delegates ad examina: Rev. K. Koole - primus
of the floor. Rev. R. Cammenga, pastor of Hull,                               (3 year term); Rev. M. Kamps  - secundus (3
attended  Classis for the first time as a delegate and                        year term); Rev. R. Flikkema  - secundus (1
was promptly pressed into duty as president  .of the                          year term).
                                                                         -
meeting.                                                                      Church Visitors: Rev. D. Engelsma, Rev. J.
                                                                              Kortering.
   Three elders attended Classis .as delegates for the                   - Primi minister delegates to Synod: D. Engelsma,
first time and signed the Formula of Subscription: P.                         M. Kamps, J. Kortering, and D. Kuiper.
Brummel (Edgerton); M. Poortenga (South Holland);                        - Secundi minister delegates to Synod: W.. Bekker-
and D. Scheele (Lynden).                                                      ing, K. Koole, R. Miersma, and J. Slopsema.
   Classis granted the request of a Consistory that the                       Primi elder delegates to Synod: G. Buteyn
special committee of  Classis appointed to give                          - (Randolph), A. De Jong (South Holland), G.
assistance to the Consistory be continued. It adopted                         Griess (Loveland), and E. Van Voorthuysen
an overture of South Holland that  Classis obtain                             (Redlands).
official, annual inventories and reports concerning an                   - Secundi elder delegates to Synod: B. Haak
estate that has been willed to  Classis. It sent on to                        (South Holland), H. Nieuwenkamp (Edmonton),
Synod, without comment, an overture of Mr. T.                                 M. Smits (South Holland), and J. Sugg (Hous-
Feenstra concerning the Constitution of the Com-                              ton).
mittee for Contact with Other Churches and con-                          Classis accepted Pella's invitation to hold the next
cerning the report of "Minister on Loan."                              meeting of Classis. there. The date will be Wednesday,
   In executive session, Classis advised a Consistory to               September 3, 1980, the Lord willing.
proceed with erasure.of a'baptized member.                                                        Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk


