           The
      STANDARD
          BEARER
            A REFORMED SEWi-MONTHLY  MAGAZINE
f





       A proper commemoration (of Reformation
     Day)  .certainly includes a rededication of
     ourselves to the great truths: of the Reforma-
     tion-the  tr.uths of the gospel.  .according to
     -the Scriptures -and  .our Reformed creeds. It
     includes a rededication .to the purpose `and
     the sacred calling  to. proclaim those truths.
     And it includes- a  renewed- dedication to
     strive for reformation in-the churches today.
          See  "ReformationDay,  1980" -page~53



                                         Volume LVII;No. 3, November 1, 1980


                                                                                                                              I

5                 0                                                                       THE STANDARD  BiARER



                                                                                                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                               CONTENTS                                                                                       ISSN 0362-4692
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                                                                                                                                   Published by the Reformed Free Publishing As&iation,  Inc.
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                                                                                                                   Editor-i&Zhie$   prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                 In the Matter of Baal-Peor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50                              Department  Editors:  Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, Rev. Arie
                                                                                                                   denHartog,  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J. Engelsma, Rev. Richard
     Editorial-                                                                                                    Flikkema, Rev. Cornelius  Hanko,  Prof. Herman  Hando,  Rev. John A. Heys, Mr.
                                                                                                                   Calvin Kalsbeek, Rev. Kenneth  Koole, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George C.
                 Reformation Day, 1980. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53                            Lubbers', Rev. Rodney Miersma. Rev.  Marinus Schipper, Rev. James  Slopsem?,
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     Convocation Address-                                                                                          Editorial Office: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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                                                                    In Hie- Matter &Baal-Peor . .
                                                                                                     R e v .   M .   S c h i p p e r

                                        _            "And Israel abode.in Shittim,  and the people began to commit whoredom with the
_c____---~-- daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the
                 ._..                             people did eat, and .bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor:
                         I                        and the anger of the Lord-was kindled against Israel. . . : `:Jor the rest of the text, confer
                                                  Numbers  25:1-9).                                                                            .,

                              -




                                   `
                                             _
     The preaching of'. the gospel, according to its                                                                  m,ust be positive as well as negative. To be sure, it
divine intention, must prepare a people for the                                                                       must be positive! It must declare all the truth of
coming of the Lord.                                                                                                   God's Word for the instruction in the way of  righ-
     That preaching, shall it reach God's purpose;  ' teousness. No `doctrine may be neglected. But it
                                                                                                                                                                                             -.
                                                                                                                                                               _-
            .-- --.-
          .x'
._  ,'


                                            THE SiANbARD BEARER                                                 5'.,



must also be negative! It must warn against the             course) that Peter and Jude were writing  to. the
temptation to forsake the truth,  ,It must show in          church of two thousand years ago, let me point out
no uncertain terms the pitfalls Satan and the world         to you that this history is prophetically set forth in
will lay on the path of  God's. people to destroy           the letter to the Church in Pergamos (Revelation
t h e m . .            ;  .-                                2:14) where-the Lord Jesus is describing the  condi-
  Therefore from time to time the church must ex-           tion of the church as it reaches to the time of His
pect `that the preaching `will sound- a warning. Not        second coming, and therefore most significantly for
only will it sound an alarm respecting the- evils of        us. Listen to what He says: "But I have a few things
our time, but it will also show from sacred history,        against thee, because thou hast there them that
from history past, examples of departure from the           hold, the doctrine of Balaam who taught- Balak to
truth into sin and corruption that was meant to be          cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel
dinned into our ears, upon whom the end of the              to- eat things sacrificed unto. idols, and to. commit
ages is come.                                               fornication;"  :
                                                              Make no mistake about it, the history recorded in
  Such an example from  histo'ry  we have in the            our text was written for us, upon whom the end of
words of. our text,                                         the ages is come. And when we write concerning
  Amazing is this history which speaks of the sin of        the matter of Baal-peor, we are calling attention to
God's people who are about to enter the promised           .history that repeats itself, and is t&efore  related to
land. You might think that the closer Israel came to        us.
Canaan the .promised land and the type of heaven,             To be noticed, first of all, in connection with the
the holier that people would. become. But such was          matter of Baal-peor, is Israel's sin.
evidently not the case, for it was then that they re-         Israel's sin, as described in the text,. was'
vealed themselves to be most, corrupt. You ask,             occasioned by Balaam, the son of Beor. Balaam, we
How can this be? And the answer is two-fold. In the        remember, lived in Mesopotamia. This is the land
first place, it must be remembered that Israel              to which Abram  .and his family moved after the             -
always dwells in the flesh that never wills any good        Lord first called him in Ur of Chaldees. After the
thing, that never wants to go- to heaven, .and which,-      Lord called him the second time to go to the land
of course; will never go to heaven, for flesh and           He -would show him, the relatives of Abram re-
blood shall not inherit. the kingdom of God. And, in        mained in Mesopotamia. Terah, Abram's father,
the second place, it must not' be- forgotten that as        and Nahor, Abram's brother with his family, these
the history of God's covenant in the world  devel:          all remained in the land. This most probably
ops, the` carnal element also increases in number,          accounts for the fact that Balaam knew so much
which number when it becomes a majority causes             about Jehovah and reckoned so much with the
iniquity to abound.                                         doctrine concerning Jehovah in his prophetic utter-
  Amazing, too, is the fact that the history referred       ances; while we know that Balaam  -loved not
to in our text is repeatedly called to our attention in    Jehovah, but the wages of iniquity, and used his
the Scriptures. Hundreds of years after the historic       knowledge for his own advantage.
fact the psalmist calls the attention of the church of        We recall also how Balak, king of Moab, called.
his day to it (Psalm 106:28-31). "They joined them-         for Balaam to `curse the people of God, who now
selves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of       appeared a threat to the very life and well-being of
the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with              his nation. Balaam, with an outward show of piety,
their inventions: and the -plague broke in upon             replies that he cannot come without Jehovah's per-
them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judg-            mission, nor can he utter anything but what Jeho-
ment: and so the plague' was -stayed..." Still hun-         vah shall put in his mouth. Balak.entices him with
dreds of years later the prophets Hosea  and Micah          silver, gold, and high honors; and finally Jehovah
speak unto apostatizing Israel about to go into cap-        also permits him to go to Mount  Pear: only to.
tivity, of this historic incident  (Hosea  9:lO; Micah     pronounce the blessing upon Israel, not the curse.
6:5). And, lest you and I should conclude that this         Balaam, however, after his dismissal by the king of
-history had only to do with some miserable Jews in         Moab, was not satisfied to let the matter rest.' As we
the old dispensation that sinned to their destruc-          learn subsequently (Numbers 31: 16) he gave  in
tion, we point out that this history is repeated in the     struction to the king of Moab as to how  .he can
New Testament more than once. Peter speaks of it            bring a curse upon that people Israel. Let Balak
in his second epistle (II Pet. 2:15), as does also Jude     cause the fair daughters  .of Moab to entice the
(verse 11). "Which have forsaken the right way and         young men of Israelto  commit-fornication. And be-
gone astray- following the way of Balaam . . . ran          cause such. fornication was related to the worship
greedily after the error of Balaam for reward . .  ."       of Moab's gods, Israel would be brought to worship
And if you are inclined to conclude (falsely, of            the gods of the heathen. This advice of Balaam was


52                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



followed by the king of Moab. And so, we learn in            did was in open defiance of all that is called holy
the text: "ihey (the-daughters of Moab) called the           and refined.
people unto the sacrifices- of their gods.. . .  : and         Mind you, the man of Israel brought the Midian-
Israeljoined himself unto Baal-peor."        :               itish woman into the camp of Israel. This cannot-be
 .Israel joined to Baal-peor!                                interpreted in any other way than that he openly
      Peor, of course, stands for Mount Peor from            defies the strict mandate Jehovah had imposed
which Balaam could only bless Israel with prophe-            upon His .people, namely, -Israel shall dwell alone.
tic utterances; but Peor also  .becomes the place            This was the divine intention as Moses had inter-
where Israel merits the curse.                               preted it when the Lord called him to lead Israel out
                                                             of .Egypt, the house of bondage. ~"For wherein shall
      Baa1 was the common Canaanitish male:  god, the        it be known here that I and Thy people have found
son  .of El, the father of gods and head of the              grace in Thy sight? is it not in that Thou goest with
Canaanite pantheon. Baa1 was the farm `god,                  us? so shall we be separated, I and Thy people,
reputed to increase the family, the field, the flocks        from all the people that are upon the face `of the
and herds. In one word, Baa1 was the god of materi-          earth' (Exodus  33:16). Later Moses declares,
al prosperity. Animal sacrifices, ritualistic meals,         "Israel then shall dwell in safety alone" (Deut.
and licentious dances accompanied the worship of             33:28a). And even Balaam prophesied: "From the
this heathen god. And close to the temples! for wor-         top of  the- rocks I see him, and from the hills I
ship were constructed houses for prostitution both           behold him:-lo, the people shall  :dwell alone, and
.for males with males, and males with harlots. An            shall not be reckoned among the`nations" (Num.
attraction it was to the carnal nature of the children       2319).  But in defiance of all this the young man of
of Israel. The urge became magnified when the sin            Israel brings the heathen woman into the camp of
is clothed in religious garb. Then the temptation            Israel. A devilish attempt to make Israel lose its dis-
works that leads to the conclusion: it is good to sin.       tinction,    its separatistic character. Then he
      That Israel joined himself to Baal-peor meant          commits fornication with her. Not bad enough was
that what the majority of Israel did according to the        it that the.Israelites  went into the camp of Moab to
lust of the flesh, they did purposely, with evil in-         commit fornication; here he takes the woman into
tent. Not only was Israel' enticed as Balaam                 Israel's camp to commit his sinful act.
suggested they would be, but they willingly gave               .In the sight of all the congregation!
themselves over to this sin. Mind you, this evil. is
magnified when you consider the fact that Israel               You must see'it'with me: this was done purpose-
sins with better knowledge, and that, too, just              .ly, in open defiance. Not with shame would he
when they were about to enter the promised land.             commit his act in some secluded and secret spot,
Understand well, not all Israel fell for this sin; for       but openly, before the eyes of all, that all might wit-
as we will see in a moment, some, the remnant                ness what they were doing.
according to the election of grace, are found weep-            Before the eyes of Moses, the God-appointed
ing at the door of the tabernacle. But when the              leader and saviour of -Israel, as if to say to Moses,
majority becomes carnally minded, you witness the            See what I think of the law of God which you gave
awful depravity of which human nature is capable.            us. You have imposed upon us the stringent rule of
Such is the description of Israel's sin. But there is        Jehovah: "Thou shalt not commit adultery;" but I
more!                                                        say unto you that I hate that law of God, and I'm
      We must also pay attention to this sin in its bold     going to violate it now before your very eyes.
defiance. This became evident in the example of                Before repentant Israelites, who were humbled
that Israelitish man who came into the camp  with            before God at the door of the tabernacle. Here,
that Moabitish woman.                                        indeed, was the remnant according to the election
      That we may never forget them they are men-            of grace who had not followed in the sin of Israel to
tioned by name. Zimri, the son of Salu, prince of            commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
the chief house among the Simeonites; and Cozbi,             When they saw the wickedness of Israel, they fled.
daughter of Zua, head over a people and of the chief         immediately to the tabernacle to pray for mercy
house in  Midian. These two were not therefore of            upon Israel. But this defiant young Israelite-virtual-
the so-called scum of society, but of the elite of both      ly says to this repentant people: You silly ones! This
Israel and  Midian. Had they been of the so-called           is what I think of all your fear of God.
scum, one might conclude that they did not know                Unbelievable wickedness!
better, or that their environment was largely the              One stands amazed-at its audacity!
cause of their depraved act. But the Scripture                 Yet it is not so amazing when you consider that
makes the point of clearly identifying them to show          these are the depths of sin into which the carnal
that they knew what they were doing. What they               seed will fall apart from the grace of salvation.'


                                           THE STAN,DARD BEARER                                               53


  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against           tinue to the end of history.
Israel. He orders Moses to behead the leaders. He            In the second place, we learn that apostasy will
brings a plague upon Israel whereby twenty and            continue even until the Lord comes in judgment to
four thousand were slain.                                 slay all the wicked, and that apostasy will not only
  In the midst of this dispensation of God's holy         be realized through an enticement to forsake the
wrath rises up one who was zealous for his God,           cardinal truths of the Scriptures, but also through
one who would defend,His righteous prerogatives:          the enticement to fornication, such as Balaam
Phinehas, of the priesthood of Aaron. Taking a            p r o p o s e d .
javelin in his hand, he followed the wicked pair             And, finally, we learn that there will always be
into the tent and slew them both while they were in       the remnant according to the election of grace. That
the act. We learn later in the chapter that Jehovah       remnant not only rushes to the door of the taber-
exalted him for his righteous deed by giving unto         nacle to confess Israel's sin and to plead for Jeho-
him His covenant of peace forever. So, the plague         vah's mercies, but, like Phinehas, rises up when
was stayed.                                               the majority falls, to stand zealously to defend the
  What must we learn from this history?                   cause of Jehovah in the world. That remnant shall
  In the first place, we learn that the doctrine of       be exalted, and that remnant shall enter the Canaan
Balaam is still with us today, and that it will con-      o f   r e s t .

EDITORIAL

                             Reformation Day, 1980
                                              Prof: H. C. Hoeksema



  The day previous to the publication of this issue       lose our Reformation heritage, the call for reforma-
was Reformation Day.                                      tion will have a hollow sound, the claim to be
  Various bulletin announcements in our churches          children of the Reformation will become mockery,
which came to my attention in the past few weeks          and the work of reformation (as far as we are
made it plain that the day was not passing by un-         concerned) will be a failure.
noticed, but was, in fact, receiving considerable            If Reformation Day, therefore, may serve as an
attention. And this is good, provided that our com-       occasion to remind, us of our on-going calling and
memoration of this date-connected with the occa-          task, its observance will be salutary. To help it
sion of Luther's nailing his theses to the door of the    serve as such a reminder these few lines are dedica-
castle-church at Wittenberg in 1517-is more than a        ted.
kind of nostalgic remembrance of the great Refor-            Certain first of all, no one who has his eyes open
mation of the sixteenth century. A proper com-            to the ecclesiastical situation today can doubt the
memoration certainly includes a rededication of           need of Reformation. Whether one looks at the
ourselves to the great truths of the  Reformation-        Reformed community or the Presbyterian circle, let
the truths of the gospel according to the Scriptures      alone looking at the ecclesiastical scene at large,
and our Reformed creeds. It includes a rededication       whether one looks at the North American scene or
to the purpose and the sacred calling. to proclaim        looks across the sea to the countries where the
those truths. And it includes a renewed dedication        Reformation had its origin, the picture is not en-
to strive for reformation in the churches today.          couraging. It is not a picture of return to the funda-
  And all of these, you understand, are matters not       mental truths to which the Reformers were used of
for one day out of the year, when perhaps we              God to call the church back to the old paths. The
remember to pause and give some thought to the            opposite is true. Turn where you will, whether in
matter; but they are matters for constant attention       the immediate Reformed community or outside of
on the part of God's people individually and on the       it, the picture is one of DE-formation, of decline in
part of the church in the midst of the world. In fact,    both doctrine and life. Anyone who reads the reli-
it is safe to say that unless they are indeed the ob-     gious magazines and journals of today will have to
ject of our constant attention and striving, we will      testify to that fact. There is little love of the  Re-


54                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



formed faith, still less knowledge of it, and still less    door, to the end that the ever-abiding remnant may
adherence to it, as well as almost no willingness to        be gathered.
fight for it and to sacrifice for it. Even among  so-          But to do that we must be constantly vigilant that
called "concerned" people and forces within                 we ourselves remain Reformed, in the first place.
various denominations, most often the battle                The temptation is always present to compromise
lines-if they are drawn up at all-are drawn up not          with respect to the truth, to file down the sharp
over specifically Reformed truths, but about rather         points and edges for the sake of being more popu-
vaguely evangelical and fundamentalist issues. In           lar, more palatable, for the sake of getting a recep-
most instances one has to "search with a candle"            tion. But we must remember that to the extent that
for the Reformed truth.                                     we give up and lose our Reformed distinctiveness,
      Occasionally there may be some half-hearted           to that same extent we lose both the right and the
and half-way measures toward reformation. There             ability to call people and churches to reformation.
may be here and there an attempt to emphasize the           We must by all means and at all costs keep our dis-
so-called Five Points of Calvinism without em-              tinctive Protestant Reformed heritage.
bracing the whole of the Reformed faith. And even              In the second place, we may well remind our-
the latter attempt is frequently weak, and often            selves of our calling to maintain that heritage
compromised by a hedging with respect to                    antitheticalzy,  that is, with rejection of all heresies
particular atonement or by an adherence to the              repugnant thereto. Is it not striking that in the
principally Arminian notion of a well-meant and             Formula of Subscription, which all officebearers
general offer.                                              must sign, you find not only the positive vow "dili-
      And there are those who are even sometimes            gently, to teach and faithfully to defend the afore-
optimistic that eventually the truth of the gospel          said doctrine," but also a solemn promise to
will triumph and that there will be a great revival         militate against error? It reads as follows: "We
and return to the faith. But this is whistling in the       declare, moreover, that we not only reject all errors
dark.                                                       that militate against this doctrine, and particularly
      What is our calling as Protestant Reformed            those which were condemned by the above men-
people and churches in that situation? What is the          tioned synod (the Synod of Dordt), but that we are
calling of any truly Reformed church?                       disposed to refute and contradict these, and to exert
                                                            ourselves in keeping the Church free from such errors."
      Shall we give up? Shall we say, "What's the use?
The situation is hopeless"?                                    These notes must be heard constantly in the
                                                            preaching on the Lord's day and in the catechism
      God forbid! For then we are not true sons and         room where the children and young people of the
daughters of the Reformation. Did a Luther or a             church are instructed.
Calvin give up, even in the face of overwhelming
odds?                                                          Otherwise we cannot remain "Reformed, and
                                                            always reforming."
      No, we shall labor wherever the Lord opens a

CONVOCATION.ADDRESS


                        Getting the Principal Thing
                                               Prof. Robert D. Decker




      Mr. Chairman, Theological School Committee,           Church in North America. We trust that he will
colleagues of the  faculi$, students, and fellow            find his study with us profitable and blessed.
saints in Christ, God calls us together tonight to          Unless I am mistaken, for the first time in our
begin another session of our seminary. Frankly I            history we have a foreign student, Mr. Lau Chin
am rather excited about this year. We have new              Kwee, from Singapore. This means`that our useful-
students this year in both the seminary and  pre-           ness and influence are expanding beyond  .the
seminary departments. Among them is a student               sphere of our own Protestant Reformed Churches.
from our friend and neighbor the Free Reformed              God is giving us work to do that will have effect not


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               55


only for our churches but for churches and saints          He determined all things in His council. He
on the other side of the world. For this we are and        determined the goal or purpose of all things, the
ought to be very grateful to God.                          glory of Himself in the saving of the elect in Christ.
  But this makes our calling at the seminary that          Thus in His wisdom God determined the way to
much more serious. This is true especially in view         reach that goal. He created all things by and for
of the theological environment in which we work.           Jesus Christ so that in all things Christ has the pre-
Liberalism, modernism, neo-orthodoxy, it makes             eminence. God determined the way of sin and
little essential difference what one calls it, has won     grace, of death and the cross and the resurrection.
the day. That's true even of Reformed churches             In His wisdom God makes everything work for that
and seminaries both in this country and abroad,            goal. He upholds and governs the entire universe
especially in the land of our fathers. It grieves us to    and all of history to reach that goal, His own glory.
have to say it but it is true and we have to work          This fundamental truth of the Word of God is
with that. Many seminaries at best have become             denied by every heresy which plagues the church
schools for the training of scholars and professional      in our day.
theologians. The result of this is that a new hier-          Wisdom in us is to know God and His truth and
archy or priesthood has arisen in protestantism, the       `to order our lives in harmony with God. Wisdom is
professional theologians who place themselves              to know all that God has revealed of Himself and of
between the Scriptures and the people of God. The          the world which He created and governs. It is to
result is expressed in lament of the Prophet Hosea,        know God's purpose for that world and the world
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."           to come when our Lord returns at the end of the
Our calling is crucial. We must expound the holy           ages. We are .wise when we live according to, that
and infallible Scripture, teach and maintain the           knowledge of God, when we are in harmony with
truth as systematized and summed in our Reformed           that reality. Wisdom is always practical. Wisdom
confessions. We must always submit in child-like           implies that we conform or adapt our living so as to
faith to the inspired, infallible Word of God. We          be in harmony with God. Jesus gave us the perfect
must defend the traditions of our fathers: Calvin's        illustration of that in His Sermon on the Kingdom
Calvinism, the Reformed faith. We must do all of           in Matthew 7:24-29. In this passage our Lord tells of
this in order that pastors and teachers may be             the wise man who built his house upon the rock.
prepared to shepherd God's flock through                   This man knew the reality of wind and rain and
preaching and pastoral care at home and on the             acted accordingly in the building of his house.
mission field. We need men who will declare the            When the wind and rain beat  .upon that house it
whole council of God publicly and from house to            stood, for it was built upon a rock. The foolish man
house. Our students, therefore, must study and             built his house upon the sand. Though he knew the
learn and be convicted of the Reformed-faith and of        reality of the wind and rain he did not reckon with
the necessity to preach it in all of its power' and        that reality, he  did- not conform and adapt. Thus
beauty. In all of this they must be motivated by the       when the wind and rain beat upon his house it fell.
compassion of the. Great Shepherd for the sheep.           The application Christ makes is this: the wise man
Finally, if they are to do that they need the wisdom       is the one who hears and does My word; the man
of God. That is what is needed to shepherd God's           who hears the sayings of Christ and does them not
flock. That, therefore, they must be getting in the        is a fool. That, therefore, is wisdom. It is to know
seminary; for wisdom is the principal thing. This is       God and to live in harmony with God. That man is
what the Scriptures teach us in Proverbs 4:7: "Wis-        wise. Very simply put, as Jesus said, it is to hear
dom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:          and do the word of God. Psalm 53 says that the fool
and with all thy getting get understanding."               says in his heart there is no God. The fool does not
What is wisdom? The term in the text means:                say that because of ignorance, for God is every-
intelligence or knowledge or skill. A wise person          where revealed in His creation, even His eternal
has knowledge and is skillful, that is, he is able to      power and godhead. No man can claim ignorance
use the knowledge. The word "understanding" is a           of God; no one can escape the knowledge of God.
further explanation of the idea of wisdom. It means        In spite of that, he says there is no God. That is why
discernment or perception. Wisdom is to perceive,          he is a fool. He refuses to reckon with God and to
apprehend truth, reality and to be skillful in the use     order his life to conform to God's revelation.
of that truth. For wisdom is to know the truth and           That wisdom is the principal thing! Wisdom is
adapt oneself to it so as to live in harmony with it.      the chief thing. We do not mean to minimize
  That wisdom is found first of all in God. God is         scholarship. But the fact is that one may know all
the God of infinite wisdom, the all-wise ever              kinds of theology. He may even have a thorough
blessed God. God is that because He is omniscient,         knowledge of the Bible and be able to expound the
He knows all things. God knows all things because          Scriptures skillfully. But if he does not know God


     56                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



     and does not do that word of God he is a big fool.       This is our uniaue and blessed nrivilene in the
     On the other hand, one may lack formal training in       seminary, to be busy all of the time in  ;ll of the
     theology and have very little intellectual power and     courses with the. Scriptures. Seize that opportunity
     ability. But he knows God to be his Father for           and learn to know God's Word in order that you
     Jesus' sake. He-knows God to be everything and he        may be wise. At this point I wish to repeat what I
     lives that way. That man is. truly wise. Wisdom is       said in my pre-seminary graduation address last
     the principal thing. This is where everything must       spring. Seminary  `is not something incidental to
     begin and this is where everything must end, in the      your life, it is your life! The ministry of the gospel to
     wisdom of God. This is the one thing that matters.       which you students aspire is not just a profession
     Nothing in this life has any value or meaning or         among others, just a job. It is not even a matter of
     purpose apart from the wisdom of God. This is            .putting  in much time and effort.  The, ministry of
     preeminently true of our work in the seminary too!       the gospel demands a total life commitment. Hence
     All of our lecturing and exposition of the Word  of*     your calling is to study diligently and to work hard.
     God, all of our learning and acquiring of homileti-      You may not be a lazy or do slipshod, work in the
     cal and pastoral skills means nothing apart from         seminary. God does not need or want lazy
     wisdom. The fool with all of his knowledge and           ministers in His churches. God wants men who are
     education, his skill, his wealth and fame goes to the    competent,  commited to the faith, and, above all,
     place of fools, hell. He that is wise has the            wise. God wants men who are willing to die for the
     ornament of grace and the crown of glory according       Reformed faith after the manner of many of our
     to verse 9. The wisdom of God is the principal           fathers. Be faithful and diligent in your studies for
     thing.                                                   the sake of the truth, for the sake of the churches,
           Therefore, get wisdom. This means, very simply:    for God's sake..
     lay hold of it, grasp it, learn to know wisdom, make       That is what you need for the ministry. A
I    it a part of you. Live according to that wisdom. The     minister needs many gifts. He needs a thorough
     context tells us how: by refraining from evil and        knowledge of the Word of God and the ability to
     pondering the paths of our feet. By living and           expound the Scriptures as they apply to the lives of
     walking in the ways of God and not entering the          God's people. He must, the Bible tells us, be apt to
     path of the wicked we live according to the wisdom       teach, patient, gentle; he must have the love of
     of God.                                                  Christ in his heart. But the principal thing'he needs
           But how are we to do that? How are we to get       is the wisdom of God. If with all of those gifts he is
     wisdom? In a sense we do `not have to get it for         a fool, he cannot effectively shepherd God's flock.
     wisdom is the gift of God's grace to His children in     He needs wisdom to feed and nourish and to rule
     Christ Jesus. Christ is the wisdom of God. Christ        and guide the people of God. God says to you in His
     reveals God to us especially in His cross and            Word tonight: get that wisdom.
     resurrection. Upon His ascension to glory Christ           That is the calling of the professors as well. They
     poured out His Holy Spirit to guide us in all the        must be wise. They must faithfully and with
     truth and to strengthen us to live according to          diligence expound the Scriptures, defend the truth
     God's Word. By that Spirit we have been born             over against all heresy repugnant to it. They must
     again so that we see and know God. And we have           instruct the students from the Word of God in the
     already been instructed in the Word of God from          skills which, they need as pastors and teachers for
     infancy in our  covenants  homes and schools and         God's flock. They must live lives that are worthy
     churches. By the grace of God we manifest the            examples of the wisdom of God for the students to
     wisdom of God by hearing and doing the Word of           follow. In the way of faithfulness to this calling the
     God in our lives. Still the Word of God says: "Get       seminary will prosper, the faith of our fathers will
     wisdom." The meaning is: grow in it, increase in         be preserved, and the churches and mission fields
     God's wisdom.                                            will be blessed with men of God who are wise
           This means we.must know God's Word. Therein        shepherds of the sheep. God's name will be
     is the wisdom of God revealed, and only therein.         praised. May God in His mercy grant it.


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       57


ALLAROUND US
Rev. G. Van Baren


                         Movies Portray Real Life?

  One often hears, in excuse for the horrible sins             presenting "real life," why is the vast majority of
portrayed in the movie and television, that one                presentations about the most horrible sins? The
must present "real life." Adultery, fornication,               hypocrisy of the claim of presenting "real life" is
murder-all these are "real life." Yet the desire to            rather obvious. The only "real life" the movie
portray "real life" stops at the point of religion.            industry is interested in is the kind which titillates,
This fact was pointed out  in.a news release in the            the kind that attracts an audience which enjoys
Grand Rapids Press of Sept. 6, 1980:                           portrayals of the grossest forms of adultery and
     A church film producer and critic says "movies            murder. This industry is not interested in "real
   these days reflect almost every aspect of life and death    life," but rather in the godless life. Yet some
   but seldom do they deal with an experience common           "Christians" condone this sort of thing.
   to millions in every age-religious faith," except to          On the other hand, were the movie industry to
   spoof it.                                                   portray religious scenes, even apart from the
     The Rev. Robert Lee, film producer for the                "negative stereotypes," we should strenuously
   Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. and film reviewer for        object. How can an industry, dedicated merely to
   a radio series sponsored by the council and the             profit and entertainment, comprised, as far as one
   Episcopal Church, says most Americans believe in            can observe, of the greatest of unbelievers, portray
   God and pray, especially in situations of fear or           any kind of religious scene? Would not such
   extremity but he adds:                                      portrayal be stench in the nostrils of the Almighty?
      "Movies censor out this reflection of real life more     What Christian could find pleasure, entertainment,
   often than no."                                             and much less godly instruction, in such presenta-
     Also, although 40 percent of the US. population           tions? I trust that none would.
   worships each week, movies rarely depict worship              Which brings one to the point: on what basis can
   except occasionally as a "comic interlude," he says.        the Christian enjoy the film industry presentations
   He says clergymen, when depicted, usually are shown
   as negative stereotypes-"inept, blundering, prissy or       (I would refuse to  call this "film  arts")?  If the
   vain and  fuddy-duddy."                                     religious can not, will not, (and from God's
                                                               viewpoint, may not) be presented; and if what is
      Script writers "seem to have been seduced by
   secularism to the point of embarrassment at including       presented almost inevitably involves the glorifica-
   bona fide religious moments," he says.                      tion of violations of God's laws; how can the Chris-
                                                               tian find a seat within the theatre or in front of the
That presents an interesting point. If the movie and           TV to see this?
drama in general are so terribly concerned about


                              A New "Means of Grace"?

  Some reports and decisions of major church                      of couples who live together without being married.
bodies are being presented in the various religious                  The report upholds the traditional view of marriage
periodicals. One shocking example of the direction                 but takes a much more positive view of "living
in which churches are going can be seen from a                    together" than any previous study by the Canadian
report presented to the General Synod of the                      wing of the 65-million member worldwide
Anglican Church of Canada.  (Christi&  News, June                  denomination.
23,198O):                                                            It says that some forms of informal cohabitation can
                                                                   be sacramental and a "means of grace" for the couple
     An Anglican Church report says it's time to drop             involved. It distinguishes between various kinds of
   "conventional prissiness" and the habit of "passing             living together and says that where "free consent and
   by on the other side" because of the growing number             sexual consummation" are found in the context of a


~
 58                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



         life commitment, a marriage already exists "in                  minister, a chaplain to an institution or a church
         substance" if not conventionally or legally.                    administrator?
           . ..Bishop Geoffrey Parke-Taylor...said in an                   In your consideration, how important is his
         interview that the church in the past had fallen into           domestic situation?. . . .
         the trap of being overly condemnatory.                        The action of the General Synod of the Anglican
           "There are a lot of anachronisms in our attitudes;        Church of Canada was reported in the Presyterian
         more and more people are living together without            Journal, Aug. 13, 1980:
         formal marriage and the sooner we face this reality              ,The  General Synod...did not know what to do with
         the better. But we walk a knife edge on the issue. If           a  kormal study report on the general subject of
         we condone such relationships, we're seen  as too              marriage, divorce and living together. The problem
         permissive; if we're rigid and judgmental, we turn              was that the report condoned the common practice of
         people away just at a critical time when they need our          living together without benefit of marriage.. . . Among
         ministry."                                                      the clergy who favored the report's findings was the
           . ..Although  the church has traditionally limited the        Rev. Gary Patterson of the Caledonia Diocese who
         word "sacramental" to church weddings, the report               said he found the report "exciting and realistic."
         says:                                                           Others were critical. Professor Donald Master, of
           "In an age when devout Christian men and women                Guelph University, a layman, said, "I find it
         are found living together without the official sanction         absolutely incredible in a day of slipping morals that
         of marriage, we know from their experience that they            the church should approve of something which many
         minister God's grace to one another."                          heathen would not accept." The Synod, uncertain as
                                                                         to what to do, referred the report to the House of
           God, the report says, is not confined to his                  Bishops "for further study."
         sacraments, nor is the sacrament limited to the
         church's actions and thoughts.                                That such reports could be presented is itself
                                                                     shocking. That those who write such a report are
           "We must be prepared to marvel in silence when            not themselves subject to the discipline of the
         we see that he can make common law marriage' on             church, is almost inconceivable. That a church
         occasion a means of grace."                                 body does not forthrightly reject and repudiate
           The authors go on to say they would like to see all       such a report seems impossible. There is,
         such relationships officially sanctioned, "but God's        evidently, no study of Scripture in this regard.
         action does not require our sanctions.".                    There is no concern with the clear and unmistak-
           . ..Appended to the report is a series of "pastoral       able testimony of Scripture against adultery and
         cases" suggested for use in group study of marriage         fornication. Rather, sin is termed a "means of
         and related problems. One of these postulates a case        grace" under certain circumstances. The concern
         of a minister who is cohabiting with a Christian            seems to be that the church appear neither too
         woman and has applied for a church position for             "permissive" nor too "judgmental and rigid." This
         which he is eminently qualified. The questions are:         is the sad consequence of denying the infallibility
           Does it matter if the position is that of a parish        of Scripture.



                                                  Submit-or Else!

        The  Christian  News, June 23, 1980, reports also                  The church, which has 166,190 adult members,
     the action of Presbyterians where the ministers                     decided to ordain women in 1966 but about 15
     are told to accept women in the ministry-or                         percent of its 993 ministers are adamantly opposed
     resign.                                                             to the move.
                                                                           The long-simmering controversy came to a head
           Presbyterian Church ministers opposed to women
         clergy have been given 10 years to change their minds           here when delegates to the assembly debated the "test
                                                                         case" of `Daniel  MacDougall of Bridlewood Church,
         or get out, the 106th General Assembly has decided.            Toronto.
           The assembly meeting in Windsor also decided to
         ban from now on the ordination of anyone opposed to               Mr.  MacDougall,  after receiving his theological
         women clergy. The ruling requires Presbyterian                 training, asked to be ordained, but, in so doing made it
         ministers to cooperate fully with female elders and             clear he was opposed to women clergy and could not
         clergy, but will not-until  1990-force  them to take            in good conscience participate in such ordinations.
         part in ordaining women themselves.                               The East Toronto Presbytery refused to ordain him


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   59



   and so did a church board of appeal.                             soon, when the "liberal" has seized firm control,
     . ..The motion outlining the lo-year deadline for              there is no longer "voluntary" action, but it
   dissidents contained a clause permitting Mr.                     becomes compulsory. The Presbyterian Church
   MacDougall to be ordained but imposing. the ban on               appears to moderate its decision by allowing the
   ordination of anyone opposed to women clergy.. . .               ministers 10 years during which to "see the light."
  So, ordination of women has come to the full                      Yet one sees the mark of the  anti-Christian  church
cycle. First, there is permitted ordination of women                -the "church" which demands of its ministers and
into the offices of deacon and elder. Later, women                  members to subscribe to that which is plainly
are allowed to be ordained into the ministry. All                   contrary to the Word of God. We'll be seeing more
this is presented as a "voluntary" sort of action. But              of this, doubtlessly, in the future.

THE.SIGNS OF THE TIMES


                 Clowns, Jesus,. and the Preaching
                                                         Rev. R. Flikkema



  It is  9:30 A.M. on a Sunday morning. God's                       colored wig; Instead of having his face washed, he
people, and you with them, are all seated together                  has his face full of makeup. You look at your
in God's house of worship. You are all prepared to                  minister in disbelief! Why, you say to yourself, he
worship and serve your God by singing praises to                    looks like a clown, and he even acts like a clown!
His name, by reading His Word, and by hearing the                   Look at him! He has just jumped off the pulpit! He
voice of the Great Shepherd of the sheep speak to                   is going through the aisles passing out popcorn to
you through His herald, His official ambassador,                    everyone! He is even giving a piece to me! And now
your minister. And you are very eager for that too.                 look at him! He is  ,riding a bicycle, the wheels of
Anxiously you await the moment for your minister                    which are all bent up, up and down the aisles! Am I
to come through the door onto the platform and                      in church, or am I in a circus? Maybe I have come
before the pulpit. Anxiously you await the moment                   to the wrong place!
when your minister will say, "Beloved in our Lord,                    Recognizing those thoughts in your mind, and
hear now the Word of God. Thus saith the Lord."                     that look of disbelief on your face, your minister
  But in the midst of your preparedness, in the                     jumps up on the platform once more and he says to
midst of your eagerness to hear your minister                       you: "Perhaps you are wondering  .what in the
preach the Word of God to you, you have a very                      world I am doing. Perhaps you are wondering why
uneasy feeling. On this Sunday morning you sense                    I am dressed like a clown, passing out popcorn, and
that something is wrong. Very wrong! There is in                    riding a bicycle with bent up wheels up and down
the air a new sound, a strange sound, one which                     the aisle. I am a clown. That is what every Chris-
you are not used to hearing. It began already when,                 tian and particularly every minister should be.
instead of hearing the organist play some fitting                   Don't you know that? Never again will you see me
organ music, a  versification, perhaps, of one of                   on this pulpit wearing a minister's frock. Never
your beloved Psalms, which in the past always                       again will you see me preaching from this pulpit a
served to place you in a mood for proper worship,                   sermon of forty-five minutes or so in length. From
you heard a song the words of which were familiar                   now on I am going to be a clown. And if you want
a few years ago: "Be a clown! Be a clown! All the                   to know why I am going to be a clown, turn with
world loves a clown!" And having heard, that, you                   me to the Word of God in Paul's first Epistle to the
say to yourself: what in the world is going on? And,                Corinthians. There you read in the third chapter,
even more, you ask yourself that question when                      the eighteenth verse, `Let no man deceive himself.
your minister does walk through the door and does                   If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this
stand before the pulpit. He does not look at all like               world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.'
your minister. Instead of wearing a nice suit                       `Let him become a fool, Paul says in that verse.
befitting the office of the ministry, he is wearing                 And still further, turn with .me to what the Apostle
some baggy clothes. Instead of having his hair                      Paul says in the fourth chapter of his first Epistle to
combed and in place, he is wearing a brightly                       the Corinthians, verse ten. `We are fools for


60                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



Christ's sake,' Paul says. in that verse. That is why I              the Corinthians to become "fools for Christ's sake"
am dressed like a clown. That is why I act like a                    because God has "made foolish the wisdom of the
clown. I have become a fool for Christ's sake."                      world."
      Perhaps, having read this article thus far, you are        As proof, therefore,- of this clown ministry they cite
beginning to think to yourself, what a farfetched bit            the Apostle Paul. Interesting it is to note, however,
of nonsense Rev. Flikkema is writing. I never read               that they do not only cite the Apostle Paul, but they
anything so ridiculous in my life. To think that I               also cite the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus
would ever see the day when my minister shuns. his               Christ. Concerning that fact the article says:
minister's frock and dresses up like a clown! To                     They discern multilayered analogies between the
think that I would ever see the day when my                          clown and Christ: the clown's joy in living and mimed
minister passes out popcorn and rides up and down                    delight in simple things, like the scent of a flower, for
the aisles of my church on a bicycle with bent up                    instance, recalls Jesus' command to "consider the
wheels! To think that I would ever see the day                       lilies of the field, how they grow." The simplicity and
when my minister justifies his clownish appear-                      child-like persistence of the clown can have a special
ance and actions by quoting the Word of God in I                     meaning for Christians. "The clown refuses to accept
Corinthians 3 and 4. What nonsense!                                  the limits of the possible," explains Tim Kehl, a pro-
                                                                     fessional clown and magician who is also a United
      Yes, what nonsense! But, nevertheless, what I                  Church of Christ minister. "A clown will insist on
have written is not nonsense in the sense that it                    riding a bicycle whose wheels are out of kilter or
does not take. place. It does take place. In  Time                   trying to walk a slack tightrope. Sooner or later he will
magazine's September 1 issue in its department on                    succeed-to the great delight of the audience. The
"Religion" you will find an article entitled                         resurrection of Jesus is the supreme example of God's
"Becoming Fools For Christ." And underneath that                     refusal to accept the limits of the possible" (emphasis
title you will find a subtitle which reads "Clowning                 mine-R.F.). Through love, the clown, like Jesus, can
                                                                     transform the ordinary into the sacred.
as an aid to holy ritual and service." If you have
Time  magazine in your homes, you ought to read                    And, finally, as proof of the fact that this clown
`this article. But if, however, you do not, allow me             ministry is by no means small in numbers, I submit
to quote some pertinent excerpts from the article.               the following quote:
        On the darkened stage, a white-faced clown with              Today there are 3,000 clown ministry groups in the
      bulbous nose, orange woolen wig and baggy red-and-             U.S. who put on big noses and suits of many colors in
      white costume sits at a table reading a large book             order to serve God.
      marked  BibZe (emphasis mine-R.F.). He eats from a           Sound good? Is this type of ministry, this, what I
      box of popcorn as big as a milk crate. Beside him two      called in the beginning of the article, "a new
      mimes in blue leotards do their silent best -to act        sound, ' ' a proper thing to follow? Do the argu-
      starved. When the clown notices, he merely makes
      the sign of the cross and calmly resumes reading and       ments, the proof, in I Corinthians and in the life
      eating. Now a large banner unfurls upstage saying          and ministry of Jesus sound persuasive? Concern-
      FEED THE HUNGRY! At last the clown gets the                ing the passages in I Corinthians, it is not the intent
      message and hands small bags to two members of the         of this article to say a great deal. The only thing I
      audience, with gestures to indicate that each is to put    want to say is that anyone who uses those passages
      a piece of popcorn into the mouth of his neighbor and      of the Word of God as proof that ministers, as well
      embrace him,  then.pass  on the bag so the neighbor        as God's people, should dress up like clowns,
      can do the same. Soon the audience of 200, nearly all      simply does not understand those passages of the
      dressed as clowns, is busy munching and embracing.         Word of God. He simply does not! Concerning the
As an explanation for the above,  Time  has this to              proof of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus
say.                                                             Christ, it is also not the intent of this article to say a
      It was not a bizarre come-on from Barnum and Bailey.       great deal. There are, however, two remarks in that
      Not at all. The 200 clowns were a congregation. The        connection that I do want to say. In the first place,
      `popcorn passalong was part of a two-hour Christian        when I read this article it struck a very familiar
        Communion service conducted entirely in mime and         note. As I read this article my thoughts immedi-
        gesture by the Rev. Floyd Shaffer, the red-and-white     ately went back to my high school years. I
      clown, who is really a Lutheran minister from              remembered a chapel exercise that we were
      Roseville, Mich.                                           required to attend. It was a film. It was a film about
For our Michigan readers, that brings this type of               a clown who went about doing good things for the
thing close to home. Concerning the "theological                 people round about him. But in the end no one
justification" for this new ministry, the article goes           understood this clown or appreciated the good
on to say:                                                       things that this clown did for them. And because
      The clergy. clowns find a theological justification for    they did not, they hanged him. That's right. They
      their unusual ministry in the injunction of St. Paul to    hanged him! Or was it that they crucified him? It


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                               61



really makes no difference. The point is that this       house on the Lords Day. He commands them to.
clown was supposed to represent Jesus! Jesus,            preach. Not to be clumsy! Not to be boorish! Not to
according to that film, was that clown! And that         be a bunch of incompetents! Not to be a performer!
brings me to the second observation that I want to       Not to play the fool! Not to make jokes or be a
make, and that is this. I took exception to that film    buffoon! But to be a preacher and to preach! And
which represented my Savior as a clown then. And         woe unto the preacher if he does not do that! It is by
I take exception to that film and any other person       the preaching, the God-ordained means of the
or organization representing my Savior as a clown         official proclamation of the Gospel, that God saves
now. Jesus was no clown! A clown, according to my        His people-not by a bunch of clownish actions.
Webster's dictionary, is by definition, "A clumsy,       Those who want to quote the Apostle Paul ought to
boorish, or incompetent person. A performer who          read what the Apostle Paul has to say in I Corin-
entertains, as in a circus, by antics, jokes, tricks,    thians 1, verses 16 to the end. The one word of the
etc.; jester. A person who constantly plays the fool,    Apostle Paul in all those verses is: preach. Preach
makes jokes, etc; buffoon." That according to            for it is "the power of God, and the wisdom of
Webster's dictionary is what a clown is. I submit to     God." Preach "lest the cross of Christ should be
you that Jesus was not clumsy! He was not boorish!       made of none effect." Preach for "it pleased God
He was not an incompetent person! He did not             by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
entertain people! He did not play the fool! He did       believe.",If you want to talk about foolishness, then
not make jokes! He was not a buffoon! But on the         all you have to do is preach. To the ungodly world,
contrary, He was the Savior, the Son of God in our       preaching is foolishness. But not to  God., To God,
flesh Who preached the good news of salvation to         preaching, a minister standing upon the pulpit and
those whom the Father had given to Him from all                      "Thus saith the Lord," is "the power of
eternity, and Who preached everlasting damnation         g%nFnd the wisdom of God."
to all those whom the Father had not given to Him           But the so-called church today does not like the
from all eternity.                                        God-ordained means of the preaching, and in its
  And the point is, He preached! And so also does        place has set up a bunch of clowns. Is that a sign of
He command every single one of the men whom              the times? To be sure. He that hath an ear, let him
He has called to stand before God's' people in His       hear.

IN HIS FEAR


        Worshiping the Lord in Godly Fear and
                                           Reverence
                                             Rev. Arie Den Hartog



  Worshipping God is the highest of all religious         worship. He is One to Whom belongs all praise and
obligations-and experiences. We are commanded to         honor and glory and adoration.
worship God. This is the solemn obligation which
God has placed on every man. We ought to                    In past articles we have considered the fact that
consider .worship our most important duty toward         the proper fear of God is the heart of true Chris-
God. It ought to be the very heart and center of our     tianity. But there is today very little fear of God
life. We must worship the Lord in holy fear.              among men. Sadly this fear of God is absent also
Especially must it  be, evident that we are a  god-       from many Christian churches. We too must ask
fearing people by the attitude that we have toward        ourselves whether we truly fear the Lord. If we are
the worship of God. We must say with the                 indeed a people who fear God this must be evident
Psalmist, "But as for me, I will come into thy house     in our worship of God.
in the multitude of thy mercy; and in thy fear will I       To worship God means that we come conscious-
worship toward thy holy temple." We as Reformed           ly into His presence and bow before His feet with
people believe that God is absolutely sovereign. A        fear and trembling. When we worship God we ac- ,
sovereign God is One to Whom belongs all                  knowledge God as the Sovereign Almighty God, the


62                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



Creator of heaven and earth and all they contain.         we must worship God and not with the careless-
To worship God means that we stand in awe of His          ness which is so characteristic of much of the
perfect holiness and righteousness. It means that         worship of our day. We must worship God in Spirit
we receive in our hearts and souls a profouhd             and in truth. We'must not worship God out of mere
impression of who and what God is and that we             custom or form. God abominates mere form
exalt and praise His great and holy name. To              worship. It is hypocrisy which is stinking to His
worship God means that we give unto Him whole-            nostrils. Only that which is true spiritual worship
hearted praise and thanksgiving for all of His            and holy is acceptable unto the Lord. Only that
wonderful deeds and mighty works. It means that           worship which is in harmony, with the Word of
we acknowledge Him as the source and fountain; of         God is acceptable unto Him. All our thoughts and
all blessing and as the only sovereign God of our         actions in the worship of God must be controlled
salvation.                                                by what He has revealed of Himself in His Word.
      We are commanded to worship the Lord. This is         We must worship the Lord with fear and trem-
not merely something that man may take a light            bling, especially in His house on His holy day.
attitude toward; it is not something which he does        Indeed we must also worship Him in our homes at
according to his whim and fancy. It is the-command        His altar. But especially are we commanded to
of the Lord God Himself. The first commandment            worship `the Lord in His sanctuary. We are
of the law commands us to worship the Lord. "It is        commanded to do this. That is the main reason why
written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and         we must go to church from Lord's Day to Lord's
Him only'shalt thou serve" (Mattew  4:lO). We are         Day. If we are god-fearing we will consider it a very
commanded to worship God because He is the Lord           serious matter when our seat in church is empty.
our God. We are the creatures of His hand. In Him         To. stay home from the worship services, for a
we live and move and have our being. In the               reason less than that God in His providence keeps
worship of God the Psalmist says, "Know ye that           us from going there, is a refusal to worship Him
the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and       and a manifestation of a lack of the fear of God.
not we ourselves" (Psalm  100:3). We are com-               We go up to the house of the Lord there to dwell
manded to worship God because He is Jehovah the           in the holy sanctuary of the Lord, in His presence.
Sovereign God of our salvation. He says in His la&r,      God dwells in His house in the cloud of His glorious
"I am the Lord thy God who hath brought thee out          presence. No, this does not mean that God dwells
of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage.":       in temples made with hands. There is no special
      We must worship God with fear and trembling,        holy significance to the church buildings in which
with holy reverence and awe. We fear before Him           we worship. The Lord is pleased to dwell in the
because we know what a great and terrible God He          midst of His people through His Word and Spirit.
is. We fear before Him because we know what He            "Where two or three are gathered together in my
has done in days of old and what He continues Ito         name there I am in the midst `of them." There is
do as the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. We          indeed a real spiritual presence of God with His
fear before Him because we know that He is  h{ly          people on the Lord's Day. We must be profoundly
and therefore a consuming fire to all workers of          conscious of this as we worship God in His house.
iniquity. We worship Him with fear, knowing that          We must worship God in fear and trembling as He
He demands that men love Him with all their heart         is pleased to manifest Himself among His people
and soul and strength and mind. We know that God          through the means of the preaching of the Word
hates any deviation from His holy law. We worship         and the use of the holy sacraments.
God with great fear for we know that His salvation          We must be profoundly conscious of the fact that
is entirely of His sovereign grace and mercy alone.       the Word which is preached on the Lord's Day is
Nothing whatsoever can we ourselves bring into            not the word of men but the Word of God Himself.
His presence. We worship God in fear because we           Of course, the preacher must be earnestly faithful,
know that by nature we are worthy only of the             that he come as a true spokesman of the Lord and
wrath and displeasure of this great and terrible          not with his own words. But also when we in the
God. It is only of His mercy which faileth not, that      congregation hear the Word, we must be like the
we are not consumed. We worship the Lord with             saints of Thessalonica for which the apostle Paul
fear because we know that. none can stand in His          gave thanks. "For this cause also thank we God
presence save those who come through the blood of         without ceasing, because when ye received the
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. To worship the        Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it
Lord in fear means that we stand trembling at the         not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the
foot of the cross, we dare not enter into God's holy      Word of God, which effectually worketh also in
sanctuary save in the shadow of the cross.                you that believeth." When the Word of God is
      With a deeply spiritual attitude and disposition    preached in church we must do as the words of


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                63


Habakkuk 220 tell us. "But the Lord is in His Holy         time for his thoughts to wander to the cares of this
Temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him."        world. Rather this prayer is a time when he is knit
To keep silent before the Lord means that not even         together heart to heart with his fellow worshipers
the slightest inclination against the Word of God          and when he has close and dear fellowship with the
arises in our hearts. It means that we say with our        Lord his God.
whole heart, "What the Lord says, that we will do."           If we truly worship the Lord in fear it will be
When we hear the Lord speak to us through His              manifest in all our actions and all our attitude about
Word we rejoice at the wonderful God of our salva-         worship. It will be manifest even in things which
tion. We give thanks unto Him and exalt His name           are in themselves small yet important. It will be
for all of His wonderful greatness and goodness.           manifest in our seriousness about preparing to
  To worship the Lord in fear means that we attend         come to the house of the Lord. We will indeed
carefully unto the law when it is read. We do not          spend time in serious prayerful preparation. When
listen to it as merely a necessary, routine, formal        Israel came to the mount of the Lord it was
part of the worship service. Each time the law is          commanded of them that they should sanctify
read we allow our hearts to be searched and all'our        themselves.lest  the wrath of God come upon them.
sins to be discovered. In fear and trembling before        When we come to the house of the Lord we sanctify
the holy God we acknowledge and confess our                ourselves through faith in the blood of the Lord
great sin in His sight. In fear we repent in deep          Jesus Christ. The fear of the Lord ought to cause us
humility. In fear we make a sincere godly resolve to       even to prepare ourselves physically and mentally
walk in a new and holy life.                               that we might be alert to hear the Word of the Lord.
  The god-fearing man is evident in the offerings          In the fear of the Lord we come to His house with
that he brings unto the Lord. He is deeply                 expectancy to hear His Word. The fear of the Lord
conscious that the Lord sees him and knows his             brings us to the house of the Lord in time for us to
heart when he brings his offering. The god-fearing         spend time in prayer and meditation before the
man knows that he cannot in any way repay God              worship service. The fear of the Lord makes us
for all His benefits. But he knows that God is sore        attentive to the preaching of the Word. Surely we
displeased when men bring niggardly offerings              do not fall asleep under the preaching of the Word
unto the Lord, when men have great abundance               for we know that this is a most dreadful affront on
and give only precious little. The god-fearing man         the name of `the God Whom we worship. A more
knows that God loves the liberal and cheerful giver.       total ignoring of the Word of God and more godless
                                                           attitude in the worship service than sleeping in the
  The god-fearing man can be heard in his singing.         presence of God is hardly imaginable. In the fear of
That does not mean that he  `can necessarily               the Lord we teach our children also to sit still in
formally sing more beautifully than the man who            church and to listen to the preaching of the Word.
does not fear God. It does mean that he sings to the       We teach them that, according to the promise of
Lord with zeal and with the heart. He does not             His covenant, God is the God of His people and of
merely mumble the words in a laborious way. He             their children. Even our. dress is an expression of
sings with the heart to the Lord in praise and exalta-     the fear with which we come into the house of the
tion of His great and holy name.                           Lord and the, high reverence. and honor we pay
  The god-fearing man can be seen in his prayer            unto our God.
unto the Lord. He bows in deep humility unto the              Is it indeed evident in things small and great that
Lord, pouring out his heart and soul unto the Lord         we are truly god-fearing people when we worship
with exaltation and thanksgiving, supplication and         the Lord in His holy tabernacle? Surely the Lord is
co'nfession. He prays earnestly with and for the           honored only by such a spirit of worship.
people of God. The congregational prayer is not a
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

                   Matthew - The Gospel of the
                                Promised Messiah (1)
                                                Rev. J. Kortering

  Among the twenty-seven books of the New Test-            Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Three of these
ament, God has seen fit to include four gospels:            gospels are known as the  synoptics, Matthew,


64                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



Mark, and Luke. They are called that because they           writing style, vocabulary, etc.). The point is that the
take a general view of the ministry of our Lord. The        Spirit so overruled the writing that the differences
authors either witnessed personally or had access           that are contained in them were intended by the
to oral tradition or written material that dealt with       Spirit. They did not creep in as human errors or the
this history. They wrote concerning this with a             like. Secondly, the same thing would apply to the
certain purpose in mind. John, the other gospel             possible use of secondary materials. By this we
writer, is not concerned about such an overview,            mean that the authors consulted other writings in
but rather writes concerning certain aspects of the         connection with their own writing. Some see
spiritual nature of Jesus' ministry. The Lord Jesus         evidence that Matthew and Luke relied upon
instructed us about witnesses: "in the mouth of two         Mark's gospel when writing their own accounts. In
or three witnesses that every truth may be                  addition, mention is made that Matthew used
established" (Matt. 18:16). The Holy Spirit gave us         another source called the "logia." Generally, the
four witnesses concerning the gospel of Jesus               "logia" refers to writings that Matthew was to have
Christ. The truth is thereby firmly established.            made when he was a disciple of Christ and that he
THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM                                        wrote. these in Aramaic. Some say these writings
                                                            are the same as what we now have in the gospel of
      Since we are concerned with the gospel of             Matthew, that they were simply translated from
Matthew at this time, we have occasion to raise             Aramaic into Greek. Since this is much disputed,
what has become known as the synoptic problem.              the only valid point is that, whether the authors
Briefly and simply stated this problem focuses              used secondary material or not, the Holy Spirit
upon the differences between the synoptic                   overruled such use so that the end product was
accounts. All three authors deal with the same              clearly the Word of God and free from human
events, same teachings, same historical settings, yet       error. The same thing would be true of "oral tradi-
each one writes differently in certain instances. A         tion" or witnesses which contributed to the content
careful comparison (such as a harmony of the                of the gospel accounts, Luke  24:46-49.  Thirdly, we
gospels) indicates these differences. Take the              can understand that different authors might write
sermon on the mount as an example. Mark makes               differently about the same event.. Each one saw
no mention of the sermon at all. Between the other          what the Holy Spirit wanted him to see from his
two synoptic accounts, Luke mentions that it took           own perspective. For example, the reference to the
place on a level place (Luke  6:17), and Matthew            sermon on the mount preached on a level place or
says Christ went into a mountain (Matt.  5:l).              in a mountain can easily be reconciled: Christ went
Matthew's account includes much more detail than            up into the mountain and sat down upon a level
that of Luke (Matt. 5-7 as compared to Luke 6:17-           place within the mountain. Similarly, the use of
49). There is a difference in the selection of words        words may vary without error. Matthew refers to
that Jesus used, e.g., the beatitude recorded in            "poor in spirit" while Luke speaks of "poor." The
Matt. 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is    intent is the same though the words differ. Finally,
the kingdom of heaven," whereas in Luke 6:20 we             each author wrote the gospel with his own  Spirit-
read, "Blessed are ye poor for yours is the kingdom         filled purpose in mind. To attain this purpose, each
of God." Some commentators suggest that                     wrote concerning the events that best fitted that
Matthew and Luke refer to two different instances,          purpose, and wrote in such a way that would com-
yet the consensus among conservative Bible                  municate it so that the reader could understand.
students is that there was only one sermon                  Instead of thinking in terms of inner contradiction,
preached and that Matthew and Luke refer to the             the believing Bible student will marvel at the
same one. The question is brought up, how these             wisdom wherewith the Holy Spirit led each of the
gospel accounts can be considered reliable when             authors to write his own account. When placed side
such differences are evident.                               by side these convey an accurate and complete
      In the pursuit of answering this question, many       message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
books have been written and scholars have re-
searched many fascinating details to come with              THE AUTHOR AND DATE
plausible explanations. Without getting into the              The gospel of Matthew makes no direct. mention
realm of the technical, we summarize a few of the           of the author. The only internal evidence is that in
considerations that have been set forth. First, our         the list of the disciples in Matthew 10:3 he is called,
faith in the Holy Spirit's authorship allows for such       Matthew the tax cokctor,  perhaps a reference to his
individual recording of the gospel accounts. We             unworthiness, while Mark, Luke, and John only
reject a mechanistic view of inspiration (the Holy          refer to him by name. The author wrote as a Jew for
Spirit simply dictated the words to the authors) and        Jews. The gospel presumes knowledge of Jewish
hold to the idea of organic inspiration (the Holy           customs and way of life. Mention is made of such
Spirit used each author with his own personality,           things as "bringing thy gift to the altar" (Matt.


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  65


5:23), "phylacteries" (Matt.  23:5), or "whited            return of Christ and the kingdom of heaven. Within
sepulchres" (Matt. 23:27).                                this structure, Matthew takes its place at the  begin-
  There is no dispute concerning Matthew's being           ning. First,' it begins with the generations of Jesus
the author. He is the publican (Matt. 9:9-13). He is       Christ, much like the Genesis of the Old
also referred to as Levi, the son of Alphaeus (Mark        Testament. Second, his concern is for the Jews to
2: 14). We read nothing of him after Acts 1: 13 where      believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy, a
he is listed as one of  t.he disciples in the upper        beautiful transition from the Old Testament.
room, waiting for the Holy Spirit. The early New           Finally, the message concerns Jesus as the Messiah
Testament church and the early church. fathers             Who was long promised to the people of God. The
accepted Matthew as the author of this gospel. This        New Testament begins on such an exalted note.
certainly is a tribute to the power of the Holy Spirit     THE CENTRAL MESSAGE
and of grace that took a "publican," most notorious          As we approach the first book of the New Testa-
for their way of sin, and made him a vessel fit for        ment, we ask ourselves, What must we look for as
writing the Holy Word of God.                              we read it? What purpose does God have in writing
  In trying to determine a date for the writing, a         it? In answering this, we consider the following.
few things enter in. The 24th chapter, which                 First, Matthew is not a biography of Jesus. God
records Christ's teaching concerning the  destruc-         doesnot tell us what we may call "human interest"
tion of Jerusalem and the end of the  ,world,  must        features. We do not learn a "life of Jesus." This is
have been written prior to A.D. 70 since there is no       not the purpose; and if we should anticipate this we
reference to the event having taken place. Besides         will be disappointed.
this, the gospel breathes with a spirit of concern for       Secondly, we do not mean by this that the gospel
the spiritual welfare of the Jews (the great theme of      of Matthew does not have historical detail. There is
Christ as Messiah) while at the same time                  much history in this account. The record. of Jesus'
expressing joy in the complete gathering  of, the          birth, His beginning ministry, the work He did as
church `including the gentiles (Matt.  28:19, 20). It      the Messiah, is a record of real history.
was properly suited to the needs of a church such
as Antioch, which needed the proof of Messiahship            Thirdly, this record of history is given us not to
for the Jews, but also the great gospel ministry for       satisfy our historical curiosity. We are not to read
the gentiles. Taking this into consideration, the date     this gospel as "history buffs." Rather, as John
can well be placed between A.D. 60-70.                     speaks for the other authors, "But these are written
                                                           that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
  This means that the first gospel which we find in        Son of God; and that believing ye might have life
our Bible was not the first New Testament book             through his name," John  2:31. As we read the
written. The following books more than likely were         gospel of Matthew, we must keep this ever before
written before Matthew: James, Galatians, I and II         our minds. This is written that we  `may believe in
Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, Romans,               Jesus
Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Philippians, I
and II Peter, and Mark. The question might arise             Finally, Matthew writes this gospel to set forth
why Matthew is placed first in our New Testament           Jesus as the Messiah. The one in Whom we believe
Bibles. .The church under the guidance of the Holy         is none other than the promised Messiah! The Old
Spirit was led to select which books were to be            Testament saints believed that He would come; the
included in the inspired canon of Scripture.  Simi-        prophets spoke of His coming; the blood of bulls
larly, we may believe the Spirit led them to arrange       and goats cried  .for their fulfillment in Him; and
the books as they did. The general orderly progres-        now the Holy Spirit moved Matthew to  ,write  the
sion of the message of the gospel can be learned by        first gospel to tell the Jews and the entire church
reading Matthew through Revelation. The ministry           that this Jesus did indeed come and is King as God
of Jesus is recorded, the spread of the gospel             has promised.
through the minstry of the apostles, the letters of          We will examine the message in outline form in
instruction to the early church, and finally the           our next article.


     The STANDARD BEARER
     makes a `thoughtful Gift
     f    o     r         a.shut-in.


66                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



THESTRENGTH OF-YOUTH

                   Choosing at the Becoming of Age
                                               Rev. Rodney Miersma


      Decisions! Choices!                                  to be even possible one must be a rational, moral
      Sooner or later everyone must make a choice.         creature. In order to choose, one must act accord-
Not everyday choices such as "What shall I eat?" or        ing to intellect and reason. The intellect and reason
"What shall I wear today?" are meant here. The             must make a judgment with respect to two or more
choice that I want to bring to your attention is as        objects after considering their relative importance
important as life itself.                                  and value. After considering' the" pro and the con
                                                           one shows a preference of the one or the other. In
      As young people, you must make a choice              addition to the intellect there is also the will. This is
between the kingdom of heaven and the pleasures            the follow-up action whereby the will desires that
of the world. "Wait a -minute!" you say, "as an            which the intellect has preferred. Thus, it stands to
elect child of God I have been chosen by Him; I did        reason that an inanimate object such as a stone or
not and could not choose Him." Correct you are.            fence post cannot choose. Even if we turn to living
God certainly chooses His people unto everlasting          creatures such as trees and plants we see immedi-
life; but man also chooses. He either chooses the          ately that they do not have the capability to choose.
way of sin or by God's grace he chooses the way of         But what about the animals? Even though they may
life.                                                      show preference for one thing or another, they do
      This fact is seen in Scripture, especially at Mt.    not consciously, rationally, and morally make a
Ebal and Gerizim where there is placed before              choice, nor can they do so.
Israel the blessing and the curse. Or think of Joshua        As young people, however, as rational, moral
in his old age when he stands before  .Israel,             creatures, created in the image of God, you not only
"Choose you this day whom ye shall serve." Joshua          can choose but do choose very often. This occurs
had made the choice, as `is evident from his               daily in one's life with respect to natural things
confession, "As for me and my house, we shall              such as what to eat, what to study, or what to wear.
serve the Lord." Thus, today as well, you, `as             But, more important, with your intellect and reason
covenant young people, must make a conscious               you must make decisions as to spiritual things.
choice. between what your old nature tells you and         Consciously and willingly you must decide for or
what your regenerated heart is saying. The two             against God, for or against Christ and His kingdom.
sides are well defined; it is either the world and its     This was the nature of the choice of Moses.
pleasures of sin, or Christ and His kingdom. From a
natural viewpoint you will never be able to make             The second consideration is that you as a
this choice. Such a choice can only be made by             covenant, rational, moral young people, must make
faith, the evidence of things unseen.                      this choice when you become of age, just as Moses
                                                           did "when he was come to years." In other words,
      We have another example of such a choice made        one must not only be a rational, moral creature, but
by faith recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures. I         one must reach a certain stage of development in
refer to the choice made by Moses when he became           order to choose. The more important the decision,
of age, as we find it in Hebrews 11:24-26: "By faith       the more advanced must this development be. You
Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be            certainly would not expect a small baby in the
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing             cradle to make a choice. No doubt the babe is a
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,        rational, moral creature as well as is an adult. The
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for. a season;          babe may also be a child of God, his heart regen-
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches            erated already at the time of conception. Yet that
than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto       child has no conscious knowledge of the objects
the recompense of the reward."                             between which a choice must be made. He knows
      As we take a good look at the whole matter of        nothing of the covenant of God, nor does he know
making a choice, there are certain considerations          the pleasures of sin. He has neither knowledge of
that must be borne in mind. First of all, it is very       his sin and misery in which he was conceived and
evident and easily understood that for a real choice       born nor of his salvation in Christ from that sin.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 67


Such a child simply has not reached the stage of           which is comparable to our seventy, to eighty. The
development at which he can choose for God's               point, however, is not to say that one must make`
kingdom or the world of sin.                               profession of faith at a specific age such as seven-
  In fact, almost all the decisions are made for him       teen or eighteen, but when one comes to years,
by his parents. They choose his, clothing, his home,       when one reaches the age of discretion spiritually.
and his school. What is true concerning his natural          In your case, having been instructed in covenant
life is also true concerning his spiritual life. The       homes from the day of your birth, this coming of
parents choose the church wherein he is baptized           age will not be late in your life. And you will want
and indoctrinated. As long as the child has not            to reveal this. choice publicly before God and His
come to age, the parents will make these decisions         people. Putting this off really is a sign of a definite
for him.                                                   spiritual weakness, maybe even a revelation of the
  The day arrives, however, when this cannot be            fact that you have made a choice, but not for God's
done anymore. As young people you have reached             kingdom. A child of God knows and loves his Lord
that stage of development, or soon will, when you          and desires to make public that which he has
must make a conscious choice with respect to spiri-        decided in his heart through the operation of the
tual things. This is what is sometimes called as "the      Holy Spirit.
years of discretion," here applied to one's spiritual        Moses made that choice after a bitter struggle in
life. As we see in this passage from Hebrews, Moses        his heart, and, we might add, at exactly the right
arrived at this point in life when he was forty years      moment in history so that he might serve as God's
old. This does not mean that he did not come to            servant to lead His people out of Egypt, the house
years of discretion before, this time,-not that he did     of bondage, into the land of Canaan, a picture of
not make a conscious choice before he reached the          heaven.
age of forty. However, it was at forty that he came          The object of Moses' choice and the reason why
to a definite conclusion and revealed his choice.          he chose what he did we will discuss in more detail
Moses had had a very strange history. Born in              next time. But in the meantime let us remember
Egypt at a time when all the Hebrew male babies            that we, you and I, must and always do make the
were supposed to be killed, he was hid for three           same choice as Moses did. He refused to be called
months at home by his parents, who then set him            the son of Pharaoh's daughter, which meant that he
afloat in the river Nile for he could not be safely hid    had cast his lot with the people of God, although
any longer. Soon the daughter of Pharaoh                   they were maltreated and oppressed. So we are
discovered him and adopted him for her .own child-.        called to do the same thing and to make the same
Because he was yet so small he was returned to his         choice, not only once, but constantly. We cannot
home through the instrumentality of his sister             belong to the people of God and to the world at the
Miriam who was watching from a distance. In the            same time. That is impossible. Moses chose to
covenant home of his parents Moses learned of his          suffer affliction with the people of God instead of
people and their God. The rest of his education was        enjoying the pleasures of the world for a season.
obtained in the courts of Pharaoh.                         We must and always do make the same choice
  Therefore, although the age of forty seems late          before the face of God.
for such a choice, when we remember the circum-              But we will wait until next time to look at this in
stances of Moses' life and education we begin to           detail. For now we must remember that there is a
understand. In addition we may bear in mind that           time when this choice must be made. Doing so we
Moses lived to be one hundred twenty years old,            will rejoice with God's people in our confession.

FAITH OF OUR FATHERS

                    Of God's Covenant With Man
                                             Rev. Ron Van Overloop


  In the seventh chapter of the Confession,` the           four sections deal with God's relationship to the
Westminster Assembly gives its presentation of the         believer in Christ after the fall. In this issue we will
covenant. The first two sections treat God's  rela-        treat only the first two sections.
tionship to man before the fall, while the remaining


68                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



        1. The distance between God and the creature is so              proper only to God: the creatures are but the shadows
        great, that although reasonable creatures do owe                and appearances of being.  (The Works of Thomas
        obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could             Goodwin  D.D., vol. VII, Edinburgh: James  Nicholl,
        never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness              1863, P. 10).                                          ._
        and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on             Secondly, our consideration of this first section
 ,.     God's part, which He hath been pleased to express by         points out the teaching that man owes obedience to
        way of  covenant.a                                           God. This is simply because of his creation.
           a. Isaiah  40:13-17;  Job  9:32, 33; I Samuel  2:25;
              Psalm  113:5, 6;  100:2, 3; Job  22:2, 3;  35:7, 8;    Creation places upon man the obligation and
              Luke 17:lO;  Acts 17:24,25.                            responsibility to obey God. This fact is supported
                                                                     by Psalm  100:2 and 3. "Serve the Lord with glad-
        2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant           ness.. . . it is He that hath made us." When man has
        of works,a  wherein life was promised to Adam, and in
        him to his  posterity,b  upon condition of `perfect and      done all these things commanded him, he still must
        personal obedience.c                                         say, "We are unprofitable servants: we have done
           a. Galatians 3: 12.                                       that which was our duty to do."
           b. Romans  10:5;  5:12-20:                                  Permit me again to quote from Thomas Goodwin
           c. Genesis  2:17; Galatians  3:lO.                        in order that we might gain a better perspective of
       At times this chapter of the Confession has been              what the authors of the Westminster meant.
used to indicate the deficiency of the Westminster                        This first estate I would term, upon many accounts,
as a Reformed Creed. We would urge caution.; It                          the estate of pure nature by creation-law; and as
cannot be denied that an initial reading would lead                      rightly as our divines do call the covenant we were by       ;
the Reformed believer to give criticism. However,                        nature brought into  foe&s  naturae,  the covenant of
there are several items which should be pointed out                      nature, which is founded upon an equitable inter-
for a fair representation of the-Westminster Con-                        course set up betwixt God the Creator and his intelli-
fession. If after these items are produced and the                       gent unfallen creatures, by virtue of the law of his
                                                                         creating them, and as by their creation they came
deficiency remains, then let the criticism be                            forth of his hands; God dealing with the creature
brought.                                                                 singly and simply upon the terms thereof, and the
       Let us note the title given to this chapter. It                   creature being bound to deal with God according to
seems rather significant that the title speaks "Of                       that bond and obligation which God's having created
God's Covenant with Man," using the singular. Yet                        him in his image, with sufficient power to stand, and
sections two and three speak of the first covenant                       having raised him up thereunto out of pure nothing,
                                                                         lays upon him." (p. 22)
and of the second covenant. Our study produced no
known reason for this apparent discrepancy. We                             "The first covenant of works under which Adam
would prefer that the numbers were dropped and                          was created is termed by divines foedus naturae, the
that the Confession would follow its caption, i.e.,                      covenant of nature; that is, of man's condition, which
that there is historically one positive relationship                    from and by his creation was natural to him; yet I
                                                                        would rather call it the creation law, jus creationis, or
which God has with man, namely, a relationship of                       of what was equitable between God considered
covenantal friendship.                                                  merely as a Creator on one part, and his intelligent
       Concerning the first section let us note first of all            creatures that were endued with understanding and
that this section purposefully and beautifully sets                     will on the other,..." (p. 23)
the tone for the whole chapter. It establishes the                     Thirdly, this section teaches that the distance
fact of the infinite distance between God and the                    between God and man is so great that' man could
creature. What more proper way can anyone find                       have no fruition, i.e., enjoyment of God apart from
with which to begin any consideration. of the                        an act of God. Although some describe the activity
relationship between God and man.                                    of God in taking up a relationship with Adam as
       Thomas Goodwin, one of the men who sat on the                 grace, the Confession does not. Rather it uses the
                                                                     phrase "voluntary condescension." It certainly was
Assembly which                    authored the Confession,
introduces a chapter in which he deals extensively                   an undeserved act of God whereby He condescend-
with this concept of the infinite distance between                   ed to avail Adam with a right knowledge of his
                                                                     Creator. But we desire not to use the concept
God and man with the followingcaption.                               "grace" to define the relationship of God with pre-
        The infinite distance between God and the creatures,         fall Adam because Scripture uses this concept to
        in respect that he is the maker and preserver of them;       refer to the power of saving fallen and sinful man in
        in that also he is eternal, and so before they had being     Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, Adam before the fall did
        he dwelt alone in Himself, and possessed all things in       not deserve to stand in a positive relationship to
        Himself.-He is the high and lofty One, and is so
        supremely excellent, as it transcends all other; His         God. It was only the condescending goodness of
        name is holy, and so is above the creatures, and             God that made the positive relationship possible.
        separated from them.-The true name of Being is                 Now this enjoyment of God which Adam was


                                                    THE STANDABD BEARER                                             69



privileged to receive because of God's voluntary                 Scriptural objections. The first is that "nowhere do
condescending- goodness is called  ."covenant."                  we find any proof in Scripture for the contention
With such a definition, the Westminster Confes-                  that God gave to Adam the promise of eternal life if
sion may not be charged with making the covenant                 he should obey that particular commandment of
an agreement or pact between God and man.  ~I                    God."- The second criticism given is that obedience
would wish that all those in present day `who.                   to God is an obligation anddoes not merit a special
possess the Westminster as their  creedal basis                  reward from God. The third objection deals with
would be very much,conscious  of this presentation               the -difficulty of conceiving when the so-called
of the covenant by the Confession. I believe that                probationary period would have ended and what
this presentation of the covenant,. viz., enjoyment              would have happened then. The fourth objection is
of God based only upon a voluntary condescending                 that this conception of the covenant of works
goodness of God, would force them to refrain from                presents the covenant relation as something
defining the relationship of God with man as an                  incidental to man's life in relation to God and not as
agreement or pact.                                               fundamental and essential. The fifth objection is
  It is important to notice that-the condescending               that "from the point of view of God's sovereignty
act of God which makes it  p-ossible  for Adam to                .and. wisdom this theory of a covenant of works
have a relationship with God did not occur as a                  appears `quite unworthy of God.  .It presents the
separate event apart from man's creation. Rather                 work of God as a failure to a great extent" (p. 220).
Goodwin presents it as existent  `!by virtue of the              These objections are very much to the point.
law of" God's creating him. Thus this covenantal                   Let us notice that Rev. H. Hoeksema gives these
relationship is given with man's creation; and                   objections to what he calls "this rather generally
therefore it is a fundamental and essential relation-            accepted doctrine of- the covenant of works" (p.
ship and is not an agreement established sometime                217). The question we must face is whether the
after man was called into being.                                 -rather generally accepted doctrine of the covenant
  In section two the Confession informs us how it                of works he mentions is the same conception of the
was that Adam before the fall enjoyed God  as' his               covenant of  ,works contained in the Westminster
blessedness and reward. Let us consider now this                 Confession. Is the presentation which Dr. Charles
presentation of the covenant of works.                           Hodge gives of the covenant of works in the 1800's
  Rev. H. Hoeksema, after quoting from Dr.                       the same conception which the writers of the West-
Charles Hodge, summarizes the generally accepted                 minster Confession had in the 1600's?
doctrine of the covenant of Iworks.                                It is our contention that the "rather nenerallv
     Here, then, we have a rather clear and  compre-             accepted doctrine of the covenant of work\" of the
   hensive exposition of what is commoniy meant by the           last century and a half existing in most churches
   so-called covenant of works.. We may summarize its            with the names of Presbyterian and Reformed is
   various'elements as follows: 1) The covenant of works         different- from the doctrine of the covenant of
 was an arrangement or agreement between God and                 works as presented in the Westminster Confession.
   Adam entered into by God and established by Him               It may appear to be the same merely because of the
   after man's creation. It was not given with creation,         wording of the second section of chapter VII which
   but was an additional arrangement. 2) It was a means          calls Adam's  ,relationship  to God a covenant of
   to an end. Adam had life, but not that of highest             works consisting of a promise and a condition.
   freedom. He was lapsible. And the covenant of works
   was arranged as a means for Adam to attain to that              Our studies of the writings of the Hodges, James
   highest state of freedom in eternal life. 3) The specific     Thornwell, and others of their time and since then
   elements of this covenant were a promise (eternal             revealed a difference in conception of the covenant
   life), a penalty [eternal death), and a condition (perfect    of works from that of men such as Thomas Good-
   obedience). 4) In this covenant Adam was placed on            win  (16OO-1680),  who sat on the Westminster
   probation. There would come a time when the period            Assembly, and Thomas Brooks (1608-1680). It is
   of probation was ended and when the promise would             our premise that we must  ,go to Goodwin and
   be fulfilled. 5) At the end of the period of probation
   Adam would have been translated into a state of glory         Brooks. in order to learn the conception of the
   analogous to the change of believers that shall live at       covenant of works contained in the Westminster
   the time of Christ's second advent. 6) The fruit of this      Confession and not to the Hodges, et. al:
   obedience of Adam would have been reaped by all                 .In order to substantiate this contention we
   Adam's posterity.  (Reformed Dogmatics,  RFPA, p. 216)        believe it necessary to quote rather extensively.
  Rev. Hoeksema continues by saying, "Many and                   However, this would require more room than what
serious objections may be raised against this rather             we are allowed for this article.  .Therefore, we will
generally accepted doctrine of the covenant of                   continue with this in. the next issue of the Standard
works" (p. 217). He then proceeds to give five                   B e a r e r .


 70                                               THE STAND;+RD  BEARER



       We-conclude by reminding ourselves of the care                sible-apart from an act of condescending goodness
 with which the Westminster Confession  approach-                    of God whereby Adam could know God.and enjoy
 es the whole subject of the relationship of God and                Him. This sets the basis for any consideration of the
 man. The perspective is that an infinite distance                   positive relationship between  God. and man both
 separates the holy and lofty One from His creatures                 before and after' the fall into sin.
 and.-makes any enjoyment of God by man  impos-
                    .-
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                                                    .
             Asinud SecrktarfS Report .y 
                                                                                        .~          R.FJ?.A.

                             The 18th of September, 1980
 Dear Members and Friends of the R.F.P.A.,                              Our continued need of financial support was
       I Corinthians  1558, "Therefore, my beloved                   made known to the consistories of our Protestant
 brethren, be ye, stedfast, `unmovable,' always                      Reformed Churches by letter. Emphasis was placed
 abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye                  on increasing the number of church collections per
 know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."                   year; encouraging, by  way. of bulletin, support for
       God has greatly blessed our labors by enabling.us             the  Standard Bearer  to a greater measure; and
 to publish the Standard Bearer for the past fifty-six               encouraging to-be married and young married
 years. In August, 1900 copies of the Standard Bearer                couples. to be subscribers.  The_letter ended with
 were printed. We used 150 copies of that issue for                  these words, "We as a Board are confident our
Bound volumes. Our business manager mailed 775 `.                    people will respond once the need is known. May
 copies locally and 764 copies outside the G.R. area,                God continue  to'bless  us as churches as we labor
 which is a ,slight increase in subscriptions over last              for and to the glory of-His  Name and to the coming.
 year. Our Foreign subscriptions have ,beenreduced                   of His Kingdom."
 to 117 copies per issue.                                              The Board has been trying to combat the increase . .
       Our Treasurer reports that gifts this year totaled            in costs of producing the  Standard Bearer.  In the
 $14,700.96. Of this amount,  $8;688.25 was from                    -month of June of this year we asked Commercial
 church collections and  $6,012.71  was from  indivi:                Printing to do our typesetting, at a reduction in
 dual gifts. Your generous gifts are needed in order                 cost.        ,.
 that the Standard Bearer be-printed and be sent to                    The Board has also been trying to locate a place
the four corners of the earth.                           *           in which to store  Standard Bearer  materials  .and


                                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                                  71



  R.F.P.A. publications. We `approached Synod of                                                            the saints have  .written and  will.continue  writing,
  1980 through the Theological. School Committee                                                            D.V., by the grace of our Covenant God.
  concerning the purchase of land on which to build.                                                           The Board. wishes to thank  our. business
  Synod'disapproved the request.                                                                       `manager, Mr. Henry  VanderWal for his devoted
     Over the past year, our Editor-In-Chief and                                                            efforts and hard work, and to thank the  .following
  Department Editors have supplied us with articles                                                         brethren for their hard work over the past years:
  regarding God's Word. These men have.  main-                                                              Jim Van Overloop, Fred Huizinga, and David
  tained, kept, and proclaimed God's Word of Truth;                                                   Harbach. Thank you brethren for your sincere
  have been stedfast in refuting, uncovering, and                                                           c o n c e r n .
  bringing to light false doctrines which have                                                                  The Staff and Board .of the R.F.P.A. sincerely
  misconstrued, perverted, and distorted the Holy                                                           desire your unceasing prayers and faithful support.
  Scriptures; and have purposed, concluded, and
determined  to. adhere to the reformed doctrine of                                                                                                                  The Board of the R.F.P.A.
  election and reprobation-. These faithful servants                                                                                                                David Harbach, Sec'y.
  earnestly contending for the faith-once delivered to                                                                                         .-
                                                                    `.
                            :
                                              I              N      MEM~RIAM                                                       RESOl+JTlOtiOF                                                sYMPAiHY
     On September 27, 1980; it pleased our Father of all mercy to take                                         The School Board of the Hull Protestant `Reformed  .Christian
  `unto Himself, our wife, mother `and- grandmother, MRS. JOHN                                              School of Hull, Iowa expresses their sincere sympathy to fellow
  HOEKSTRA. In sorrow we  rejoice.to  know our loss was her gain.                                           board member Mr. Bernard  Driesen  and family in the loss of their son
                                                                                                            and brother, Mark  Driesen,  who was a student in the seventh grade,
     "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were                                         of our school.
  dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with  han.ds,
  eternal in the heavens." (II Cdrinthians  5:ll.                                                              "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the.
  Mr. John Hoekstra                                                       -.                                nam,e of the Lord.." (Job  I:21  1
  Miss Beverly Hoekstra                                                                                     Mr. Jim  Kooima,. Pres.
  Mr. and Mrs. Bernard  Driesen                                                                             Mr. Wm. K. Kooiker, Sec.
     Sherilyn, Judith,  Lpri, Mark, Brian                                                                                                                    i.
  Mr. and Mrs. John Hoekstra
     Scott, Monica, Jeremy                                                                                                     RESOLUTION OF  SYMPATl-iY
                                  ,.                    ;                                                       The Martha. Ladies Aid of the Hull Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                                                            expresses its Christian sympathy to Mrs. Bernard  Driesen  in the loss
                           ~EOO~NGANNIVERSARY   _                                           y               of  ttieir son, MARK, at the age of twelve years.
     On November 2, 1980, our parents, MR. AND MRS. BERNARD                                                     "We are confident, I say, and  willing.rather  to  be.absent  from the
  LUBBERS, will celebrate their  30th.wedding  anniversary. We, their                                       body, and to be present with the Lord." (II Corinthians  5:8).
  children and grandchildren, are thankful for giving  us. God fearing
  parents who have brought us up in the fear of His name..                                                  Rev. R. Cammenga, Pres.                                                  .-
                                                                                                            Mrs. Egbert Gritters, Sec'y.
     Our prayer is that God may bless them with His  graEe in the years                                                                                             _     _.                      .i
  that lie ahead.                                                               .._~
  their children and grandchildren                                                                                                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY  ..
   Jerry and Bonnie Lubbers
         Scott, Jeremy, Eric, Jessica                                                                  `        We take this occasion to express our Christian sympathy to three
     L i n d a   L u b b e r s                                    `) .                                      of our members, Mrs. Ann  Van`Meeteren,`Charles  Van Meeteren and
     Bruce and  DebLubbers   :                                                                              Beverly Feenstra in the loss of their husband and father, ADRIAN
   J o n a t h a n ,   J o s h u a                                                                          V A N   M E E T E R E N .   :
     Gord and Sue Lubbers                                                                                    We find our comfort in the words of the psalmist-"Thou shalt
     Ed and Melanie Hekstra                                                                                 guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."
     Ken and Machele Elzinga-                                                                               (Psalm73:24).                                    ..                       .~
         J a s o n   .'
     BradLubbers                                                                                            T h e   M a r y - M a r t h a   S o c i e t y
     Doug Lubbers                                                                                           The Men's Society.

                                                                                                                                                .
                                        _          `
                                                   .                                                                                                                                                          -


                                                             News                        .Ffom-Out.                                             Churches
                                                                                                                                                                                ,
                                        :
                            _'                                                                   :                                                                                    .~                /
                                                                                                                                                                                            '
                 ,'
                             :...                                                                                    .
     `Rev. `Ramps. of our -Doon congregation declined, .                                                         From a trio of Reverends Miersma,  I&riper,  and
  the call extended  Ihim from the First Protestant                                                         Engelsma, Hope Protestant Reformed Church of
  Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan.                                                                     Redlands has extended a call to Rev. Engelsma.

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





72                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

While without a pastor of their own, Redlands has         service was-being considered. But that's still not
obtained the services of some of our "retired"            all; the construction of a two-story educational
ministers. We learn from a  Redlands bulletin that        wing on the premises adds to the present chaos, so
Rev. Heys even had an opportunity to show his             `much so that the Bible study .class of our congrega-
slides of New Zealand and Singapore during his            tion has been cancelled for several weeks.
s t a y   t h e r e .                                     Hopefully all this will straighten itself out and will
      Speaking of the `travels of emeritus ministers,     not discourage you from visiting our Edmonton
                                                                    .
Rev. Lubbers, with the permission of the Pella            congregatron  when you- just happen to be passing
Consistory, from which church he was emeritated,          by. To facilitate that visit we include the address of
left in mid-September for Skowhegan, Maine. Rev.          the Mt: Zion-Lutheran Church: 11533 135th St. We'
Lubbers plans to spend eight or nine weeks preach-        suggest, however, that you call Rev. Moore about
ing for a group of about 50 souls in the Skowhegan        the exact time before you stop in.
area.                                                       Living in the space age as we do, the word
      Although the Sunday School seasons of our           satellite does not make `us `take particular notice.
churches vary considerably, the following excerpt         However, the term satellite school just might. At a
to the parents of Sunday School children of First         September 29 meeting our Hope School in Walker,
Church could prove helpful to all who use Our             Michigan adopted exactly that idea when they
Guide:  "Our hope is that the Sunday School paper         approved the following School Board proposals:
will provide the tool, as the Sunday School- class        `!Proposal   #l  - The Board recommends that the
does the incentive,. for systematic study of the          society approve the purchase of approximately 17
Scriptures with your children. The paper was              acres of land at the northeast corner of New
designed, as is obvious from a reading of it, not         Holland  Street.and   +th Avenue at a total cost of
simply for  chiZdren, but for  parents with  their        $82,800.00. Proposal .#2 -- The Board recommends
children. It's designed, too, to serve as a study         that the society approve to proceed with plans to
guide. We trust that those who intend to put some         build a ten  ,room Satellite School with all-purpose
worh `into the lessons will find the papers to be         room and kitchen on the above parcel at an approx-
-helpful. And we hope that you do;`for, as is the case    imate cost of $610,000.00 including furnishings."
in every worthwhile venture, the benefits derived           In mid-September  ,our business manager, Mr.
are in, direct proportion to the. time and energy         VanderWal, received a letter of inquiry concerning
expended.!'                                               people who receive the  Sfundurd Bearer  in the Ply-
   Since June 29 the First Protestant Reformed            mouth, Vermont area and the Whitehall, Granville
Church of Edmonton has been holding its worship           area of New York State. Their plea for information
services in the Mt. Zion Lutheran Church of               reaches even further than that,- however, for they
Edmonton. It seems that the building in.which they        write: "If there are any. other subscribers in
had been meeting is slated for  -a date with the          Vermont, or even western New Hampshire, we
wreckers' ball to make room for a multiple housing        would welcome the names and addresses of these.
unit. It is apparent that this move has not been          people so that we can make contact." Why do they
without its challenges. Due to the services of the        want to contact these people? "We wish to share
Lutheran congregation at !O A.M., our group must          our tapes,- (i.e., studies in Bible Doctrine, First
meet at 11: 15 for their morning service. What about      Protestant Reformed Church sermons, etc.) and
the afternoon service? Well, that's more compli-          possibly study the Heidelberg Catechism." If any
cated yet. `Although there is no need to work             in our reading audience fits the above specifica-
around the Lutheran services, since they are non-         tions or knows someone who does,- contact Roger
existent, their usual 3 P.M. service makes it             and Carolyn. Steward, P.O. Box 33, Plymouth, VT
difficult to  fit- lunch in between the services. The     05056.         s
last we heard was that a 7:00 or 7:30 P.M. worship                                                         C.K.


