                 The
 STAAIDARD
                 BEARER
                 A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE




.     .     .    1 God's smiting of His people is a
                  2' _
measured smiting; it is always with
moderation.. . . He may smite according to
the place in glory which His people shall
occupy in the everlasting day-a place for
which they "must be. fitted and prepared. He
may smite according to the measure of our
sins.... But of one thing we may be certain:
the Lord  `our God always smites with that
measure that is necessary to bring us to the
destination.

See "Saved Through Smiting" -page  194


                                                     Volume LIX, No. 9, February 1, 1983 -


194                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



                               e
                                                                                                                 TI~~TANDARDBEA~~R
                                    CONTENTS                                                                             ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                                Published b the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
  Meditation-                                                                                         SecondClass Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                      Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       Saved Through Divine Smiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194                   Department Editors: Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, Rev. Ronald
  Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197    Cammenga, Rev. Arie  denHartog,  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. Richard  Flik-
                                                                                      kema,  Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman  Hanko,  Mr. David Harbach, Rev.
  Editorial-                                                                          John A. Heys, Rev. Kenneth Koole, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers,
                                                                                      Rev. Rodney  Mieisma,  Rev. Marinus  Schipper, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.
       Needed: Students! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            Gise J. Van Baren,  Rev. Herman Veldman.
                                                                              197     Editorial Office: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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MEDITATION


                            Sa.ved Through Divine S,miting
                                                                      Prof. H. C. Hoeksema

                     Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the
                     slaughter  of them that are slain by him?                                                                         Isaiah 27.7

  The two  questions  of this verse are rhetorical.                                      is celebrated in song as a beautiful vineyard, kept
And the answer is expected in both instances is an                                       night and day watered faithfully by Jehovah. For
emphatic No!                                                                             He shall cause "Jacob to take root: Israel shall blos-
  The questions may seem at first glance to be                                           som and bud, and fill the face of the world with
rather sudden and without connection in the chap-                                        fruit." Implied, therefore, is the truth of the  inde-
ter. However, the connection is there; and it is very                                    structibility of the church. For in the figure of the
beautiful and comforting.                                                                vine which again takes root lies the idea that it con-
                                                                                         tinues to live. The situation and condition of the
  In the first part of this chapter the church of God                                    church of Christ in the midst of the world may


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 195



sometimes be pitiful and apparently hopeless. But            they cannot hurt us." And the prophet refers to the
reality is that the church  never goes down to defeat.       wicked Assyrian world-power  (l&15) as the axe
Reality is that the situation of Christ's church in the      wherewith the Lord of hosts heweth, and the saw
world is never hopeless! Never is the church                 which He shaketh. Nevertheless, this does not
destroyed, and never can the church be destroyed!            change the fact that throughout the ages the church
   Indeed, the people of God are smitten, and even           and the righteous are sorely smitten, and smitten
slain. God smites both the righteous and the                 precisely because they are righteous. In fact, the
wicked, both Israel and Babylon. But there is an in-         more righteous they are in the midst of the world,
calculably great difference. He never smites Israel          the more severely they are smitten.
as He smites those that smote him; nor is Israel                Could not Israel sing, Psalm 129: "Many a time
slain according to the slaughter of them that are            have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel
slain by him. Because of this difference, Israel             now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from
always and again takes root and blossoms and                 my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
buds, and shall fill the face of the world with fruit.       The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long
The vine of God's planting may be severely pruned            their furrows."
betimes. But Jehovah our God roots out the thorn                And cannot the church of the new dispensation,
and the thistle, while the vine is preserved.                looking back across the centuries of fierce persecu-
                         *::y***                             tion, join in this Psalm?
How God smites the righteous!                                   And could not many an individual saint from the
   There is a smiting of which we may say that it            past testify of being smitten and slain for the sake of
comes directly from God, without any mediation of            God and His Christ? Could not the apostle Paul pro-
men. This is a smiting through the sufferings of this        duce a long list of sufferings in the cause of the
present time in general. God smites His church and           Gospel of Jesus Christ? Just listen:  "....in  labours
His children through natural calamities and disas-           more abundant, in stripes above measure, in
ters. He smites them with hunger and famine and              prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews
pestilence. He smites them with dreadful sicknes-            five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice
ses and pain and lingering suffering. He smites              was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I
them with grief and sorrow of every kind. The                suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been
pages of history are written full of such suffering. It      in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of
comes upon Israel, the church, as a whole; it comes          waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own
also upon the individual child of God. In fact,              countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in
God's people often complain of it that they are              the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among
smitten much more than the wicked, that the                  false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in
church is made to suffer much more than Babylon.             watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings
Sometimes-think of Asaph, for example, in Psalm              often, in cold and nakedness" (II Cor. 11:23-27).
73-they complain that they alone are smitten,                   Looking at experience, looking at the things that
while the wicked have prosperity and peace and               are seen, one would be inclined to exclaim that
plenty.                                                      things are all wrong, that there is no wisdom in the
  But it would seem that the prophet has some-               Most High, that He smites His people much more
thing else in mind. For he refers to "those that             and to a much worse degree than He smites the un-
smote him," that is, that smote Jacob-Israel. And            PdlY *                  *****
those that smote him were the powers of this
world, the wicked, Assyria, Babylon. The refer-                But the Word of God emphasizes that the reverse
ence, therefore, is emphatically to a smiting and a          is true.
consequent suffering that comes upon the church                And to emphasize it very strongly, Scripture
and the children of God through the agency of the            phrases it in question form: has God ever smitten
wicked world-power, through the agency of the un-            His people as He smote the wicked, and that, too,
godly, who hate and persecute and seek to destroy            the very wicked who smote His people?
the people of God. Nevertheless, we must not for-
get that also this smiting comes from the hand of              God forbid!
our heavenly Father. Our Confession puts it                    There is a fundamental difference!
this way in Article  13:  "...He rules and governs                                   * * * * *
them according to His holy will, so that nothing               The difference between Jehovah's smiting of His
happens in this world without His appointment."              people and His smiting of the ungodly consists, first
And again: ' ' . . .He so restrains the devil and all our    of all, of a difference in  motive.  When the Lord
enemies, that without His will and permission,               smites His people, He always does so in love!


196                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



  That is not true of the reprobate, ungodly world.         and the ungodly. There is nothing in them to be
Contrary to the philosophy of some, God's wrath,            perfected. In them is no principle of life and sancti-
only God's wrath, is upon that world. The hatred of         fication. One does not expect grapes from thorns,
His eternal good pleasure is against them. The              nor figs from thistles. And when the Almighty
hatred of His righteous wrath against their ungodli-        smites the ungodly world, He has no purpose of
ness He manifests toward them; never-not even               perfection with those ungodly. They are vessels of
for a moment-His favor! The face of the Lord is             wrath, and they are that according to the eternal
against them that do evil, to cut off the remem-            will of God.
brance of them from -the earth. In His righteous              But God's people are still imperfect-and they
wrath and in His eternal hatred, He smites the un-          must be perfected. That is true of the church as a
godly. Even in their prosperity there is still a revela-    whole: there is always present in that church in the
tion of His wrath: for when He causes the wicked            midst of the world a kernel, a remnant according to
to prosper, He is setting them in slippery places, in       the election of grace; but there is also present the
order to cast them down to destruction. And how             carnal chaff. True it is, also, of the individual be-
much more is this true when He pours out the vials          liever. There is in him a delight in the law of God
of His wrath in fierce judgments upon that world!           after the inward man; but there is also still the law
Then God reveals Himself as the Righteous Judge             of sin which is in their members. And while the un-
and as a consuming fire!                                    godly reprobate must be formed unto vessels of
  But with regard to His children and His church            wrath, and that, too, according to the determinate
this is different, fundamentally different!                 counsel of God, Jehovah's purpose with His church
  He loves them!                                            and His people is that they must become perfect.
                                                            Ultimately they must be formed according to the
  From all eternity He has known them and fore-             image of Zion which He has in both the palms of
known them, even as He has conceived of them in             His hands.
His eternal good pleasure, even as He has graven
their image in both the palms of His divine hands.            Hence, His church must indeed be preserved in
Zion's walls are continually before Him! And even           the midst of an ungodly world.
as He has known them from eternity, He has loved              But it must also be purified from unrighteous-
them with an eternal love. And in that love He has          ness.
given them to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in              And for this purpose God's smiting is necessary.
order that He should bear-and bear away for-                His smiting of His people is profitable, sanctifying,
ever-all the wrath of God in their place.                   perfecting. It ends in their everlasting glory!
  And it is that motif of love which characterizes            Not so for the wicked! If God as Judge smites in
Jehovah's smiting of His people, whether He smites          His wrath, who shall stand? If the ungodly are not
them directly and through the sufferings of this            only smitten, but slain, how can that ever prove
present time, or whether He smites them through             profitable? But that is the portion of Babylon, of the
the agency of their enemies.                                Antichristian world-power, and of everyone who is
  Bight here, therefore, is the underlying differ-          ungodly. They are like the chaff which the wind
ence. It is the difference between hatred and love,         driveth away. They go away into everlasting de-
between wrath and favor. It is the difference               struction; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
between a judge who smites out of fierce                    teeth. How dreadful!
vengeance against trampled righteousness and jus-             But there is hope, glad hope, when God smites
tice and a father who smites out of fatherly love.          His people! For He never smites them to death, no
  In all our chastisements we must keep this in             matter how deep their way may become under His
mind, first of all!                                         hand. He purifies them, sanctifies them, glorifies
  He loves us!                                              them. Just as a vine can be stripped of almost every
                         * * * * *                          branch by the pruning-knife, but it lives and is not
  But is not this divine smiting a loss for me, for the     destroyed, so it is with the church, with His people.
church?                                                     Jacob's iniquity is purged away; the whole fruit is
                                                            to take away his sin.
  No, it is all gain! It is always for our profit!            Church of Jesus Christ, when the enemy rises up
  In fact, it is necessary: without it we cannot be         and you are persecuted, rejoice! Great is your re-
perfected.                                                  ward in heaven. Child of God, pay attention to this!
  For here in the world God's people are still im-          Our God chastises us out of His eternal love, and to
perfect.                                                    our profit.
   Still imperfect-that cannot be said of the world                                  *****


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                              197



       Thus we may understand, too, that God's smiting            But there is a second limit to God's smiting of His
     of His people is a measured smiting; it is always          people that is of great comfort. It is this: He always
     with moderation.                                           smites according to the measure of our strength and
       That implies, in the first place, that a limit is set    our endurance!
     by God Himself. When He smites the wicked, it is             Is that not a great comfort? He never sends more
     without measure. But not so for God's people: there        than we are able to bear!
     is always a boundary and  a.limit. No, we do not             That is true for His church. It is true for the indi-
     know that measure; but God does! There may be              vidual believer.
     various factors which enter into the divine determi-
     nation of that measure. He may smite according to            The way may seem very dark and hopeless and
     the place in glory which His people shall occupy in        impossible to us. Sometimes we might be inclined
     the everlasting day-a place for which they must be         to say, "Now God has slain them; they are lost
     fitted and prepared. He may smite according to the         under His wrath.' They can never survive!"
     measure of our sins, according to the measure of             But this is not necessary! He knows our frame.
     corruption that is present in His church or in us in-      He is mindful that we are dust. He always smites
     dividually-to purge it away. Our character and our         with measured strokes. He never sends too much.
     circumstances enter into the measure of that smit-         With the temptations He always gives the way out.
     ing. But of one thing we may be certain: the Lord            Till His tender mercy shall break forth and shine
     our God always smites with that measure that is            in full glory, to the praise of His holy name!
     necessary to bring us to the destination.                    Then we shall be smitten nevermore!


                                            Editor's Notes

     Rev. M. Schipper, a regular contributor to our             The campaign for extra funds for the publication of
     Meditation department, is still recuperating from re-      the Bible story book to be produced by the RFPA
,    cent surgery and therefore unable to take his usual        Publications wing has, at last report, brought in
     turn in writing meditations. That accounts for your        close to $3000. A good beginning! This is a remind-
     editor's taking a turn as substitute. Rev. Schipper,       er that the campaign has not ended. We need more
     the oldest of our retired ministers (going on 77), at      dollars-many of them-in order to proceed with
     last report also expected to have to undergo further       this large project.
     surgery, this time for the correction of an aneurysm
     on his aorta. May the Lord sustain and comfort our
     brother!

     EDITORIAL


                                       Needed: Students!
                                                   Prof. H. C. Hoeksema

       The approaching end of our first semester at our           That also served to remind me of the fact that our
     Protestant Reformed Seminary and the beginning             churches need more students. Note, please, that I
     of the second served to remind me that two of our          did not say: our seminary needs more students.
     present five seminary students expect to graduate          But: our  churches  need more students. For this is,
     this year, the Lord willing. That also means that          indeed, not a private need which we at the semi-
     after this year our churches will have only three          nary have. The seminary is the seminary of our
     students left in our seminary department (There are        churches, and the needs of the seminary are the
     none in the pre-sem department at present.), and           needs of the churches. The students are trainees for
     these three will be three years away from gradua-          the ministry of our churches. It is indeed the
     tion (1986).                                               churches  which need more students.


198                                         THE  STANDARD BEARER



  It is also the churches, and the covenant homes in         soon as possible. And now when the need has ap-
our churches, which must produce these students              parently been met for the time being, and when
-under the providence of our God, of course.                 there is even an apparent surplus of potential
  For that reason I am also calling your attention to        ministers, are we about to fall into the doldrums
this need. We do not have and we do not want a ye-           again and to be satisfied that there is really no great
cruiting  program at our seminary. It is the calling of      need?
the churches to produce students for the ministry               That would indeed be shortsighted.
in our denomination.                                            And it would be wrong.
  But, you say, the need is surely not great. It                And it would be dangerous.
might even be argued that there is no need at all.
After all, we will have two graduates next June for             I say again: you and I do not know what the
whom there are at present no open places in the              future holds, or rather, what the Lord's plan holds
churches. Besides, in only three more years there            for our future. We do not know what sudden need
will be three more graduates. What will we do with           may arise. We do not know what fields of labor the
all the potential candidates for the ministry?               Lord may have for our churches, what calling we
                                                             may have in even the immediate future. And we do
  My answer is: I don't know. Neither do you                 not need to know. We need only believe, and obey.
know. None of us can lift the veil and peer into the
future.                                                         In  the. third place, let us bear in mind that the
                                                             need for students is also long-range. A high school
  But let me remind you, in the first place, of the          graduate who needs all of his pre-seminary and all
Scriptural truth that the harvest truly is great, but        of his seminary training, remember, is eight years
the laborers are few, and of the consequent neces-           away from candidacy for the ministry. Put in con-
sity to pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send       crete terms, that means that a student who begins
forth laborers into that harvest. Do we believe that?        his pre-sem program next fall would graduate in
Then let us obey the injunction, and pray fervently.         1991, if the Lord tarries. How far off that seems.
  Let me remind you, in the second place, that we            How much can transpire in our churches before
soon forget. It was not too many years ago that our          that time, much that could change our needs and
churches and our seminary suffered from a very               make them even greater and more pressing.
severe shortage of ministers and students. There                Hence, let our churches and our people remem-
were years when we had one or two students in our            ber this need before the throne of grace.
seminary but when the need for more students and
more ministers was looming large on the horizon of             And let our elders and parents impress this need
our churches. Also at that time there were some              upon our covenant young men.
who did not foresee the coming need. There were              And let our young men consider the question
others who saw the need and who pleaded that it be           whether the Lord has not bestowed on them gifts
met. Then there came a time when it became neces-            which would indicate that the Lord is pointing
sary to take emergency measures and to institute a           them in the direction of preparation for the
speed-up program in our pre-seminary and                     ministry of the Word.
seminary departments in order to meet the need as

THE DAY OF SHADOWS


                Divinely Transcendent Thoughts
                                                  Rev. John A. Heys

  In Isaiah 55:8, 9 the sovereign God of our  salva-         trasted with what we had planned as the way we
tion declares, "For My thoughts are not your                 wanted our lives to develop?
thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the              How often likewise is it not that what we had
Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,          planned for our children, and what God had in
so are My ways higher than your ways, and My                 mind for them as the way which He ordered are
thoughts than your thoughts." And how often is it            complete opposites? This is the case so often not
not that we find this to be so very true as far as           only with their natural lives but also with their spir-
what happens in our lives is concerned, as  con-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               199



itual lives. Adam and Eve certainly did not plan           thoughts to agree with the sovereign way and
their son Abel's natural life to end so soon and in        thoughts of God. And this is the lesson that we
such a tragic way. Nor did they plan the life of their     must learn and relearn so often. This is the truth
firstborn Cain to be that of a murderer. Isaac did         that time and again reveals to us the need of getting
not choose a reprobate walk of life for Esau, nor a        down on our knees and praying for grace to say,
life of trickery and deception for Jacob. Yet the          and also to mean it when we say it, "Not my will,
truth of Isaiah 46:9, 10 stands, "Remember the for-        but Thy will be done."
mer things of old: for I am God and there is none            It often pleases God to take a child, a wife, a hus-
else; I am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring       band away and to disrupt so completely all our
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times         plans and thoughts and the way we wanted for
the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel       them. The way we planned for them as far as their
shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure."               natural life is concerned is suddenly an impossibili-
  Jacob experienced this difference between man's          ty. Sometimes the way of their spiritual lives also is
and God's ways when it appeared as though his              shown not to be God's way with them. The way He
most beloved son Joseph seemed to have been slain          has for the neighbour and his children is also so
by a wild beast. This was not the way Jacob had            often different from our thoughts. The neighbour's
planned for his son. And Joseph experienced this as        child is sickly, frail, and apparently destined to live
well when he brought his two sons before his dying         but briefly on this earthly globe. But that child,
father to have them blessed. He planned to have his        though sickly and frail, continues to live while our
older son, Manasseh, receive the richer blessing,          healthy, strong son or daughter is suddenly
and therefore that his father would place his right        snatched away from us by a swift stroke of an un-
hand on his head while pronouncing the blessing in         expected disease or "accident."
God's name. Therefore he placed them before his
father so that Manasseh was on Jacob's right and             I  speak here of "accident" in quotation marks
Ephraim on his left. But Jacob crossed his hands to        because with God there is no such thing. An acci-
place his right hand on the head of Ephraim and his        dent is something unplanned. It can bring joy as
left hand on the head of Manasseh.                         well as sorrow. Cures for diseases have been, dis-
                                                           covered by "accident." But with God there is
  Jacob did God's bidding and not his son Joseph's.        nothing that has not been planned in every detail
And he therefore refused to interrupt the blessing         from before the foundation of the world. And when
and reverse the pronouncement of it.                       it looks to you as though God has crossed His hands
  Undoubtedly God had revealed to Jacob before             by mistake, just bear in mind that you are the one
he placed his hands on the heads of these grand-           who is making the mistake. Let us commit that
sons that the richest blessing would go to Ephraim.        thought in Isaiah 55:8,9  to memory and take it with
The crossing of his hands was deliberate, inten-           us wherever we go, to have it whatever may
tional, and with purpose. He had made no mistake,          happen. His ways are not only different from our
either purposely or in faulty judgment. It was not a       ways, He declares in these verses, but His ways are
case of faulty eyesight in a dimly lit tent. It was not    higher. Higher they are because He is above us in
a case of mistaking the taller one as the older one,       His unchangeable sovereignty. His thoughts and
which would make it necessary to cross his hands.          ways are also way above our wisdom. For He
It was not a case of thinking that Joseph had made         knows how to work ALL things together for good to
the mistake of placing the wrong son in front of his       those that love Him. We are not wise enough to do
right side. Jacob's answer to Joseph's "Not so, my         that. We so often choose a way and have thoughts
father, for this is the firstborn" reveals that Jacob      which, if executed, would hurt us.
knew God's will and had acted accordingly. He                Jacob had experienced this before this event.
said, "I know it, my son. I know it." And we also          Had he had his way, Joseph would not have been
read that his father refused to change his hands. He       sold into Egypt; and what would they have done
knew not only what he was doing, but he knew that          during the famine? Jacob did not plan as Benja-
this was God's way and according to God's                  min's way that he go down to Egypt to buy corn.
thoughts which are always higher than our ways.            Had he not, would Jacob have ever seen his son
For His thoughts and ways are sovereign.                   Joseph again? And the disciples-and Peter was
  Joseph, therefore, must and did submit. Hearing          their spokesman-said when Jesus spoke of suffer-
the word of God from his father's mouth, and               ing and dying for our sins, "Be it far from Thee,
recognizing that what his father said was God's            Lord; this shall not be unto Thee" (Matthew 16:22).
word, he submitted. For this God had given him             And if God's ways were not higher than our ways,
grace so that, after hearing what God spoke                where would our salvation be? That cross was no
through his father, Joseph did not utter one word of       accident for sure. But neither is any event in our
protest. By God's grace he changed his way and             lives. We cannot keep track of every little detail.


     200                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



     But so much higher is God's way and are His                thoughts are always logical-and simplistic in the
     thoughts that the minutest detail is all planned so        sense that they are always logical and never illogi-
     that all does work together for good to  thos.e that       cal-and He has His purpose in all that which He
     love God.                                                  decrees.
       Jacob, who crossed his hands, as directed by               A more profitable question would be to ask
     God, to give the richer blessing to Ephraim, the           whether we can rightly  call.all this a case of Jacob
     younger grandson, will himself face a situation            blessing his sons. What is recorded about Judah
     shortly thereafter wherein he will have to submit to       and Joseph will unequivocally receive a Yes vote.
     God's way and to His thoughts. Realizing that he           Zebulon, as an haven for ships, Gad who shall in
     was dying he called his twelve sons to him to bless        the end overcome, Asher who shall be fat and yield
     them. And in the course of pronouncing the bless-          royal dainties, Naphtali, in as far as he will speak
     ings, in God's name he will have to say things about       goodly words will receive qualified Yes votes to-
     his sons that no earthly father relishes expressing.       gether with Benjamin, who will divide the spoil.
       In especially two instances Jacob could rejoice in       But Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, who will be-
     what he had to say about Judah and Joseph. The             come a servant, and Dan, whose prediction causes
     Messiah would come in Judah's seed; and Joseph's           Jacob to cry out that he waits for God's salvation,
     seed shall know great growth and prosperity. But           would seem to pose a big question mark behind the
     what he had to say about his first three sons, Reu-        statement that Jacob blesses his twelve sons.
     ben, Simeon, and Levi was by no means flattering             And yet, in two ways, and sometimes in one of
     or what a father would like to have to say about his       two ways, we'may call this blessing them. We may
     children. Their sin and violence were presented            note that Hebrews  11:20 states that by faith Isaac
     without varnish or disguise. He spelled it out in no       blessed Esau and Jacob concerning things to come.
     uncertain terms and called a spade a spade. He ex-         Esau blessed? When Romans  9:13 presents him as
     pressed God's thoughts and not simply his own,             one whom God hates? And when Psalm 1: 1, 2 tells
     and gave no biased and partial father  defence of          us that they only are blessed whose delight is in the
     which his own flesh and blood had done, and of             law of the Lord and meditate in it day and night?-
     what his own flesh and blood had done, and of                Consider that the word bless means to speak well
     flesh color God's thoughts and way with his sons.          of someone or something. And since Jacob is speak-
       In that light too we may and must look at the            ing God's word, it is the truth and in that sense
     order in which he spoke of his sons. The first four        well. What Jacob has said is well spoken, and what
     are the first four sons born to him of Leah. We have       Isaac said about Esau was well spoken, for these pa-
I    no problem there. Understandably Jacob would               triarchs said exactly what God gave them to say.
I    have liked to list Joseph first, even as he gave him       They spoke the unadulterated truth of God's higher
     that princely coat. But he is speaking God's word          thoughts.
     here, and therefore God's thoughts. And being                However, we ought also to bear in mind that it is
     directed by God he, after following the natural ex-        a blessing to call the child of God's attention to his
     pected order, departs from it to mention his ninth         sin and evil nature. Rebukes, expositions of sins
     and tenth sons before Dan, his fifth son. What is          and sinful natures for the purpose of bringing to
     more, he mentions Zebulon, the tenth son, before           consciousness of sin, sorrow, and repentance are
     Issachar, the ninth son. It is true that these also are    most certainly blessings. To hide from one, to let
     Leah's sons, but why this order? Then, too, Dan            one go on in one's sins is not a blessing by any
     who was born of Rachel's handmaid is mentioned             stretch of the imagination. Take heed to what Solo-
     seventh while he was actually Jacob's fifth son, and       mon in his wisdom, and speaking for God, Whose
     Naphtali, who was Jacob's sixth son, is mentioned          thoughts are higher than ours, wrote in Proverbs
     tenth.  Asher, who was Jacob's eighth son, is listed       28:13, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper;
~    ninth. Rachel's handmaid, Bilhah's sons, Dan and           but  whoso  confesseth and forsaketh them shall
     Naphtali, though Jacob's fifth and sixth sons are          have mercy."
     listed seventh and tenth.                                    If your children are walking in sin, bless them by
       What shall we say of all this? Well, certainly, if       uncovering that sin so that they may find mercy in
     we have learned the truth in regard to the crossing        the way of confession and forsaking. Let them walk
     of the hands of Jacob by God's direction, we shall         in sin just because they are your flesh and blood
     say that God's ways and thoughts are higher than           and your fleshly heart goes out to them and you
     ours. We need not strive to find some hidden order         really are not interested in their receiving a
     in this list that does not follow the chronological        blessing. Be sure that your children will not prosper
     order, or on the surface show a logical order. Be          in sin. Bless them with the truth and an uncovering
     assured that it is logical, for it is the product of       of their sins that they may grow in spiritual sensi-
     God's thoughts and not Jacob's. And God's                  tivity to loathe and flee from sin.


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          201



ALLAROUND US
Rev. G. Van Baren



                               More on the Union Issue

  In a court case reported also earlier in this                  The account appears very clear. One can not be
column, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals up-             forced to join a union contrary to his religious con-
held a lower court ruling which supported a                   victions-nor may he be fired nor may an employer
woman who refused to join a union and refused to              refuse to hire one on the ground of his refusal to
pay dues to that union. The Grand Rapids' Press               join a union on religious principles. The case for
gave this report in its issue of December 15, 1982:           members of our churches would be even stronger
     A Michigan woman who refused to pay union dues           than that of the woman mentioned in the article.
   because of her religious beliefs must be rehired even      The Seventh Day Adventists do indeed oppose
   though the union has a closed shop contract, accord-       union membership and the financial support of the
   ing to a federal appeals court.                            s a m e - y e t   d o   n o t   m a i n t a i n   t h a t   c h u r c h
     The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a           membership is absolutely incompatible with union
   lower court Tuesday, ruling that Doris McDaniel was        membership. One can be a member of the Seventh
   illegally fired from her job with Essex International's    Day Adventists while belonging to the union. Our
   wire products division in Berrien Springs,  Mich.          churches do not allow this. Therefore, it would
     McDaniel said her Seventh-Day Adventist Church           appear that our own members would have even a
   teaches members not to belong to labor unions or sup-      stronger argument against belonging to a union
   port them financially. She was fired on Dec. 28, 1972,     than did the woman mentioned above.
   after refusing to pay union dues under the closed-shop        So often the law of the land is used against the
   agreement where she worked.                                Christian. I am convinced that we ought to use the
     A three-judge appellate panel ruled unanimously          law properly where we can in order that our own
   Tuesday that Essex International and the Internation-      lives might be made a bit easier. We have a law
   al Association of Machinists should have tried to work     which does not allow religious (and other) discrimi-
   out an arrangement with McDaniel, of Mount Pleas-          nation. We have a court ruling which specifically
   ant, Mich. The union insisted she be fired.                applies that law to the matter of union membership
     The court said the firing violated the Civil Bights      and religious conviction. Then, why can not one or
   Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimina-        more of our members test this for themselves? Let
   tion because of religious beliefs.                         us see once if one can begin work in a closed shop
     "No expenditures for overtime or additional wages        without joining a union because of religious convic-
   would have been involved," the court said. "Nor was        tion. Let us see if any employer refuses to hire be-
   there any issue of seniority.... There was no evidence     cause one can not belong to the union. And let us,
   that any other employee would be adversely affected        as fellow saints, be ready to support such effort
   if McDaniel had been permitted to retain her job with-     when it is properly done.
   out joining the union or paying union dues."                  It seems to me also that no one ought to lose his
     It was the second time the case came before the 6th      job because of refusal to work on Sunday. That too
   Circuit.                                                   would be a matter of religious conviction. One
     The union rejected McDaniel's offer to pay her           ought not just submit to that which is contrary to
   share of the union's collective bargaining costs and       the laws of the land.
   donate the rest of her union dues to a non-religious
   charity. The union said she should pay normal union
   dues and fees.
     The appellate court said Title XVII of the Civil                          Take time to
   Bights Act prohibits employers from firing someone
   because of their religious beliefs.                                 read and study the
     "The prohibitions of the act apply equally to unions,
   which are forbidden to interfere with employment                   Standard Bearer
   opportunities because of a person's religion or `to
   cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate
   against an individual,' " the court stated.


202                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



                            * How Absurd Is Evolution

  Two other quotes from the Grand Rapids' Press,                      otherwise," says Sir Fred Hoyle, internationally
both found in the issue of December 11, 1982, treat                   recognized astronomer and mathematician.
the matter of evolution and creationism. One arti-                      He directly challenges both the Darwinian concept
cle reports of an attempt to stop the teaching of cre-                of gradual evolution of different life forms from com-
ationism in Hudsonville Public Schools. The ACLU                      mon origins, and also that the first living cells de-
is involved:                                                          veloped by random processes in some primordial
                                                                      ooze.
          The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liber-
       ties Union has demanded copies of any materials                  The chances of that happening are not sensibly
       issued by the Hudsonville School District regarding its        "different from zero," he says.
       position on the teaching of creationism and evolution.           Hoyle, 67, with numerous honors in his field,
          If the materials substantiate that the school district      makes the case in collaboration with Chandra  Wick-
       is teaching creationism in its classrooms, a complaint         ramasinghe, also a British scientist, in a new book,
       will be filed with the Michigan Attorney General's             "Evolution from Space," published by Simon and
       office....                                                     Schuster.
          In November the West Shore chapter of the ACLU                They say biomolecules are now known to be so
       demanded that the Hudsonville schools terminate the            enormously complex that "quite explicit instructions"
       teaching of creationism in its 10th grade biology class-       were necessary for their assembly and that other
       es or face legal action.                                       means than "natural selection" were required for
                                                                      life's development.
         The school board refused to act on the demand and
       Superintendent Jack Musser said that until someone                "The requisite information came from an "intelli-
       can prove the district is violating the Constitution in        gence,' the beckoning specter," they conclude, calling
       presenting both theories, the practice will continue....       it a series of questionmarks, or God. "The new evi-
                                                                      dence points clearly and decisively to a cosmic origin
          "...The boards' `policy' is simply that we agree both       of life."
       (evolution and creationism) should be presented."                In making their case, they array findings of micro-
         A resolution adopted by the state Board of Educa-            biology, mathematics, computer technology and the
   tion in March states that it is "opposed to the                    fossil record against the Darwin theory, declaring it
   teaching, in public educational institutions, of any               has been undercut by new knowledge.
       course in religion which is outside of the realm of a
       secular program of education."                                   They say that paleontologists for years have recog-
                                                                      nized that "the slow evolutionary connections re-
         The resolution specifically singles out creationism          quired by the theory did not happen" but it hasn't
       and orders any school district attempting "to indoctri-        made much impression on general opinion.
   nate toward any particular belief or disbelief [to) cease
       and desist such teaching."                                       The chances of random chemical shufflings in some
                                                                      primordial soup producing the complex basic en-
          Simon said it's up to the Department of Education           zymes of life are only one to 10 to the 40,OOOth  power,
   to stop Hudsonville if the district is teaching creation-          or one followed by 40,000 zeros, the two scientists
   ism in its classrooms.                                             calculate.
          "If no action is taken there, we are fully prepared to        In effect, they say, the chances are nil, so "out-
       challenge in court any religious instruction in our            rageously small" it would be incredible "even if the
   public schools,  " Simon added.. . .                               whole universe consisted of organic soup." They add:
  Of great interest was another article in this same                     "Darwinian evolution is most unlikely to get even
issue of the Press which presented the views of two                   one polypeptide (chain of essential life substances)
British scientists that Darwinian evolution is                        right, let alone the thousands on which living cells de-
simply absurd and impossible. These, of course, do                    pend for survival.
not hold to the Scriptural creation account, yet in-                     "This situation is well known to geneticists and yet
sist that life on this planet could only come through                 nobody seems to blow the whistle decisively on the
the effort of some outside direction.                                 theory. If Darwinism were not considered socially de-
          An eminent British scientist has mounted a new              sirable...it  would of course be otherwise."
       assault on the Darwinian evolutionary theory, saying              . ..For some, it may not "matter too much that belief
       the possibility of it being true are "so utter minus-          in Darwinism is at variance with the truth," the
       cule" as to be absurd.                                         authors say, but "it does matter that students of
          Modern developments in micro-biology have                   biology are taught the same incorrect history" of life's
       "made it overwhelmingly clear that the truth is quite          development.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  2 0 3



     . ..They say that Darwinism depends on "muta-               right size to ride on, the light waves of stars,' arriv-
   tions" or "garbling" of genetic inheritance, which is    -    ing `at peak intervals, thus explaining the sudden
   almost always harmful, as a means to program evolu-           bursts of new life forms shown by the fossil record
   tion to more complex forms, and add:                          . . . . " Their theory is no more Scriptural, of course,
     "Every competent space mathematician would                  than is evolution. Yet these men concede that some
   assure you that such a Darwinian idea had no chance           outside "force" must have brought life to this
   of working.... Every computer expert will in fact             earth. Surely then the Scriptural account is not so
   assure you that throwing random mistakes into a com-          "unscientific" as it is often made to be. And imag-
   puter is no way to improve it...."                            ine the nonsense of forbidding the "unscientific"
  These scientists continue by stating their "vastly             creation account to be taught in a biology class
more logical theory-that life stemmed from  micro-               while insisting that evolution is the only "scientif-
genetic fragments from outer space, `exactly the                 ic" account. But that is the foolishness of man!

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE'

                   I Thessalonians - Pastoral Care
                   for an Infant Church (conclusion)
                                                      Rev. J. Kortering


  We must now examine the letter itself to see how               the face of contention (2: 1, 2). The gospel that he
it is that the inspired apostle expresses his care for           preached was given them as a sacred trust from
the church at Thessalonica which had so recently                 God and therefore he declared it to them not in de-
come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.                          ceit, nor corrupted it in any way so as to please
BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE LETTER                                      men, but rather in sincerity for God Who trieth the
                                                                 heart is his witness (2:3-5).  He then makes two sig-
  1. The salutation ( 1: 1). In this verse Paul extends          nificant points. First, while laboring with them, he
his greetings along with Silas' and Timothy's to the             did not require them to pay for his livelihood. In-
church at Thessalonica. He greets them with the                  stead he worked at tent-making, even though it
usual apostolic blessing.                                        meant he had to work night and day. They should
  2. He expresses thanks to God for the church                   appreciate that this meant personal sacrifice on his
(1:2-l()). In doing this, Paul mentions this fact not            part  (2:6, 8, 9). Secondly, his method of labor was
only  (1:2), but recalls the reasons for this thank-             gentle and loving, as a nurse cherisheth her chil-
fulness. The church at Thessalonica believed the                 dren  (2:7), as a father comforts his children  (2:11),
gospel and expressed this faith by works of love                 while he maintained a good example, so that they
and patience (1:3). This was a demonstration of the              could look to him for guidance (2: 10, 12).
power of the gospel whereby Paul had come to
know that they were elect of God (1:4, 5). This con-                4. He reminds them of the effect the gospel had
vinced Paul that his labor among them had not                    upon them (2:13-16).  He rejoices with thanksgiving
been in vain for they had become followers of the                that they received the gospel, not as the word of
Lord, having received the word (1:6), and had even               man, but as the Word of God  (2:13).  By receiving
become examples to the believers throughout the                  the word, they joined the Christians in  Judea who
whole region  (1:7, 8). This faith of the Thessaloni-            suffered at the hands of the Jews  (2:14).  He re-
ans was so powerful, it caused them to forsake the               hearses, further, that the Jews in  Judea had killed
world of idolatry and to believe in Jesus' resurrec-             the prophets, even THE prophet. Now, they forbid
tion from the dead and His coming again in judg-                 the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles, and in
ment (1:9, 10).                                                  this way filled up the guilt of their sins, making
                                                                 themselves worthy of the wrath of God (2: 15-17).
  3. Paul presents the defense of his ministry
among the Thessalonians as his answer to the op-                    5. In this next section, Paul discloses his person-
position generated by his enemies  (2:1-12). He re-              al concern for the welfare of the church there, and
minds them that he was not a coward, for after he                he tells how he seeks their good  (2:17-3:13). Even
was shamefully treated at Philippi, he still came to             after he endangered his life by going to Thessaloni-
Thessalonica and boldly preached to them there in                ca, Paul still desired to return to them for spiritual


204                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



fellowship, but was hindered by Satan (2: 17-20). In-      complacent in their evil ways (drunken); but He
stead, Paul sent Timothy to comfort them (3: 1, 2).        will suddenly appear and destroy them (5:3, 7). As
He further explains that persecutions are divinely         the children of the light, we should not sleep, but
appointed and believers are to expect them. Never-         watch, be sober, look for His coming as a soldier
theless, he was much concerned to know how they            prepared for battle  (5:4-6,  8). The motive of this
withstood the tempter  (3:3-5).  Upon Timothy's            watch is that when Christ comes, we will receive
return and assurance that they were faithful, Paul         our full salvation in Him; that is, we will live to-
is comforted and rejoices before God with thanks-          gether with Him. This is reason to comfort and to
giving  (3:6-g). He reaffirms his desire to return to      edify one another (5:9-11).
them and to strengthen them in their faith by a per-          10. In conclusion, Paul exhorts them on a varie-
sonal visit  (3:lO). In the meanwhile, he commits          ty of subjects  (5:12-22). They are to esteem very
this desire to God in prayer and asks God to make          highly those office bearers who labor in their behalf
them increase in love toward each other and to             (5: 12., 13). They are to warn the unruly that they not
strengthen their faith until the Lord returns (3:11-       render evil for evil, but, contrariwise, they are to
13).                                                       comfort and uphold all the rest no matter what
  6. The apostle Paul explicitly instructs them con-       their degree of spiritual growth (5: 14, 15). It is their
cerning sexual purity (4: l-8). He presents this teach-    privilege to rejoice, pray without ceasing, quench
ing as a commandment of God which they already             not the spirit, despise not prophesyings, hold fast
know, since he had told them before (4: 1, 2). The         that which is good, and finally abstain not only
purpose of this teaching is their sanctification           from evil, but also the very appearance of evil
through abstaining from fornication  (4:3). This in-       (5:16-22).
cludes a husband possessing his vessel (his wife) in
holiness and not in the concupiscence (passions) of           11. Once again he offers a prayer to the faithful
lust as the Gentiles do. This is an obvious reference      God for their sanctification, including their whole
to heathendom from which they were converted               spirit, soul, and body to be preserved blameless at
(4:4, 5). In addition, one may not defraud his             the coming of the Lord Jesus (5:23,24).
brother (commit adultery secretly), because the              12. He expresses final requests  (5:25-27). These
Lord is the avenger. All such sins are contrary to         include a request that they pray for him  (5:25),
God's will, for He has called us to holiness by His        greet each other with a holy kiss  (5:26),  read this
Holy Spirit (4:6-8).                                       epistle to all the brethren (5:27).
  7. We are to work to provide for our daily needs           13. He blesses them with the usual, "grace of
(4:9-12).  He gives this instruction in the setting of     our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." (5:28).
brotherly love  (4:9, 10). Labor is a private matter       QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
(be quiet, do your own business). By doing this they
will be a good example to outsiders and also have            1. What was the city of Thessalonica like when
sufficient material needs for themselves (4: 11, 12).      Paul arrived there on his second missionary
                                                           journey?
  8. He now instructs them concerning those in
their midst who had died and of whom they were               2. Give a brief review of Paul's missionary
afraid that they would be left out in the coming of        labors in organizing the Thessalonian church. (See
the Lord  (4:13-18). There is sorrow when a loved          Acts 17 and references in the letter itself.)
one dies, yet in that sorrow there is hope  (4:13).          3. What prompted the uprising of the Jews
Christ died and rose again, even so all who have           against Paul as he labored in Thessalonica? Give
died in Christ shall arise  (4:14).  The order is im-      some details of this history.
portant. Negatively, the living saints will not pre-         4. Do we derive from I Thessalonians  2:9 and II
vent (precede) the ones who have died. Positively,         Thessalonians  3:8 that there is a time when a
Christ will first raise up those who have died in          minister may labor with his hands to support him-
Him; then the living ones will be translated imme-         self financially while he preaches the gospel?
diately, "caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air." This will be            5. Demonstrate from this letter that the church
public and well announced, for the Lord will come          at Thessalonica, though young in faith, was a good
with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the          example of Christian conduct. How do we account
trump of God (4:15-18).                                    for this sudden change? (See I Thess. 1:2-10.)
  9. Paul gives specific instruction about the re-           6. How does Paul show bravery and diligence to
turn of Christ and the correct way to watch for Him        preach the gospel when he was determined to
(51-11). He will come suddenly, unexpectedly, as a         return to Thessalonica? What lesson is there in this
thief in the night  (5:1, 2). Those who are in dark-       for us?
ness will think He will not come, and they will be           7. What lesson can a preacher learn from this


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               205



letter in how to engage in pastoral care in a congre-       to provide for our daily bread. What abuses might
gation that is young in Christian faith?                    Paul have in mind that he intendedio correct?
  8. Review the problems that were evident in the              11. Show that Paul's teaching concerning "our
church at Thessalonica and show how Paul deals              being caught in the air to meet the Lord" (4:13-18)
with each of them?                                          cannot possibly refer to a rapture as the  premille-
  9. Show from this le-tter that Paul expresses             narian teaches.
warmth and love for the church. How did Paul also              12. Give some specific suggestions concerning
show this to them in very deed?                             that which we can and should do as we watch for
  10. In 4:9-11 of this letter we are urged to work         Christ's return.

FAITH OF OUjR FATHERS

                                            Nicene Creed
                                                Rev. James Slopsema



Article 1 I believe in one God, the Father Al-              there are no other gods. Jehovah is God alone.
          mighty, Maker of heaven and earth,                Therefore man is to honor and recognize no other
          and of all things visible and invisible.          as God. This truth is also taught in Deuteronomy
  It is quite obvious that the formulation of this          6:4; "Hear, 0 Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord."
article as well as the next article is based on I Corin-    Solomon in turn pleaded with God to maintain the
thians  8:6: "But to us there is but one God, the           cause of His people, "that all the peoples of the
Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him; and          earth may know that the Lord is God, and that
one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and          there is none else" (I Kings  8:60). The New Testa-
we by Him." Notice the similarity. The apostle              ment Scriptures also teach this same truth. Paul
Paul writing to the church of Corinth states, "there        writes to Timothy, "For there is one God, and one
is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all                 Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus
things." Article 1 of the Creed confesses faith in          Christ" (I Timothy  2:5). There is also the passage
"one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven              upon which the very wording of this article is
and earth." Then the Creed, following the pattern           based: "But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of Paul in I Corinthians 8:6, proceeds in Article 2 to      of Whom are all things, and we in Him" (I Cor. 8:6).
confess faith in "one Lord Jesus Christ...by Whom             It was necessary for the early church to empha-
all things were made."                                      size and maintain this truth. It had to be maintained
  In general, Article 1 teaches that there is but one       first over against the paganism that flourished at
God. This is certainly the idea of the first part of the    that time.
article, "I believe in one God." This one God is in           Wherever the apostle Paul went on his mission-
turn further identified. He is the Father. He is also       ary journeys he came across idolatry. The Gentiles
the Almighty One. In our English rendition of the           recognized and  wo?shipped  many gods. That was
creed, "Almighty" is used as an adjective describ-          true for example in Athens. Visiting this city on his
ing "Father." The English speaks of the "Father             second missionary journey Paul observed that
Almighty." The idea of the Greek in which this              Athens was "wholly given to idolatry" (Acts 17:16).
creed was originally composed is somewhat dif-              Images representing all the idol gods of the Athe-
ferent. There we read of the Father Who is also the         nians abounded. There was even the altar to the un-
Almighty One. And, finally, this one God is identi-         known god. This kind of thing existed in every
fied as the Maker of heaven and earth, of all things        locality. Each locality had a number of idol gods,
visible and invisible.                                      each with its own rank and importance. There was
  We turn our attention first to the confession of          a god for every area of life, for every need of man.
the early church that there is but one God. This cer-         In spite of the rapid growth of the church in the
tainly is the teaching of the Scriptures. This truth is     first two centuries after Christ, paganism continued
implied for example in the first commandment of             to flourish throughout the Roman world. The
the law, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."         Roman government tolerated any religion as long
The reason for this commandment is very simple:             as it did not contradict or in any way undermine


206                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



the rule of Rome. The one exception to this was the         ines himself to be the only God. Jesus in turn is an
Christian religion. This was indeed ironical. There         aeon, in fact the highest aeon, emanating from the
was no religion that promoted fidelity to the state         unknowable God. For the salvation of the world he
more than the Christian religion. The Christian             has taken upon himself the appearance of man. Ob-
church taught her members that they must be in              viously he did not assume the actual flesh of man
subjection to the higher powers (Romans 13: 1). The         for that is intrinsically evil. Hence, he took only the
Christians were model citizens. Nevertheless their          form of man. The Holy Spirit in turn is also another
religion was not tolerated. The Christian religion          aeon, subordinate to Jesus.
was outlawed. The saints were time and again per-             There is more to this philosophy of Gnosticism.
secuted by the Roman government. Many of God's              This is sufficient for our purposes now. It is quite
people at this time even suffered martyrdom.                obvious that Gnosticism was essentially polytheis-
  In the year A.D. 313 all this was changed. Con-           tic, acknowledging many gods. Gnosticism speaks
stantine, the Emperor of Rome, supposedly was               of many aeons or spiritual beings that comprise the
converted to the Christian faith. We question the           pleroma  or fulness of divine power and attributes.
true character of Constantine's conversion because          The aeons were essentially gods.
there never was much evidence of true faith in his            Gnosticism was a force to be reckoned with even
personal life. Furthermore, there is much evidence          during the time of the Apostles. The apostle John
to substantiate the contention that his conversion          for example speaks in his epistles of those that deny
to Christianity was for political reasons. Be that as       that Jesus is come in the flesh (I John  4:3, II John
it may, the result of it all was the Edict of Toleration    7). This was the Gnostic idea that Jesus, the highest
in A.D. 313. As the name indicates, this edict              aeon, took only the form of a man. This idea John
allowed the existence of the Christian church.              thoroughly condemns. Those who taught this were
Christianity was placed on an equal footing with all        deceivers, antichrists. Such like the saints were not
the other religions of the empire. In the years that        to bid godspeed or even receive into their homes (II
followed the Christian religion was even promoted           John  7:lO). Gnosticism reached its zenith around
and made the state religion of the Roman Empire. It         the middle of the second century and for a while
became mandatory to belong to the church. In spite          threatened the very existence of the church. By the
of all this, paganism did not die out until the six-        time the Nicene Creed was written this heresy was
teenth century.                                             on the decline. But it was still a force to be
  This all means that in A.D. 325, when the church          reckoned with. And so also against this form of
sought to confess her faith through the Nicene              polytheism the early Christian church confessed
Creed, paganism was still flourishing. Hence, the           her faith in one God.
church very deliberately confessed faith in but one           This same truth that there is only one God is also
God. Over against all idolatry the Christian con-           taught in our Reformed Creeds. It is expressed, for
fessed, "I believe in one God."                             example, in the Heidelberg Catechism, L.D. 8 Q.
  This truth that there is but one God was also con-        25. There the Catechism asks, "Since there is but
fessed by the early church against the errors of            one only divine essence, why speakest thou of
Gnosticism. Gnosticism was an admixture of Greek            Father, Son and Holy Ghost?" The answer is,
philosophy, pagan idolatry, and Christianity. Gnos-         "Because God hath so revealed Himself in His
ticism taught that God is an impersonal force be-           word, that these three distinct persons are the one
yond the scope of man`s comprehension or ability            only true and eternal God." This truth is also set
to know. From this unknowable God however ema-              forth in the Belgic Confession, Article 1: "We all
nates or issues forth a series of aeons or spiritual        believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth,
beings. These aeons have divine characteristics.            that there is one only simple and spiritual Being,
Altogether these aeons comprise the pZeroma  or ful-        which we call God...."
ness of divine power and attributes. Over against             It is necessary for the church to confess this truth
this spirit world of perfection and light is the            even today. Idolatry abounds today even as in the
henoma, the world of matter which is eternal (i.e.,         Bible times and in the early years of the Christian
without beginning) and intrinsically evil. The Gnos-        church. In its most crude form, idolatry is to be
tics also spoke of the Demiurge or World maker.             found today in those countries that are still pagan.
This Demiurge was created by a fallen aeon from             This is especially true of many countries in Africa
the spirit world. This Demiurge in turn has formed          and southeast Asia. There images of all kinds are
from the evil matter of the henoma the present visi-        honored and worshipped as gods. Those who
ble world over which he also rules. The present             worship these images embrace many such gods.
world is therefore intrinsically evil. According to         But idolatry also abounds in our own country and
Gnosticism, the Demiurge or World maker is Jeho-            in the so-called Christian world. The Heidelberg
vah, the God of the Old Testament Jews, who imag-           Catechism defines idolatry as placing our trust in


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               207



any object other than the one true God, Who has             because God has failed to reveal Himself sufficient-
manifest Himself in His Word (L.D. 34 Q. 95.)               ly. The fault is man's who has blinded himself in
From that viewpoint there are many idols today              his unbelief. As a result, unbelieving man has but
before which men bow. There is, for example, the            one thing to do. He must invent his own gods. This
idol god of money. How often do not men place               he has done throughout all history. However, the
their trust in riches rather than in the promises of        gods he invents are powerless to help him. They
the living God? This is to deny the true God and to         provide very little security for man as he faces the
make money one's god. In like manner anything               harsh realities of life and the harsher realities of
can become one's idol god. All that is required is          death. Hence, man has become polytheistic. He in-
that one place his trust in it, find his security in it.    vents ~many  gods. And in the multitude of his gods
Thus, entertainment, friends, government,                   he hopes to find peace and safety.
insurance, and a host of other things are and be-             Over against this folly of unbelief is the calling of
come the idol gods of men.                                  the church of Jesus Christ to confess her faith in the
  Idolatry of this kind characterizes fallen man. He        one only true God, the Father Almighty, Maker of
is nothing but an idolator. The reason is very sim-         heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisi-
ple. Man has been created with a sense of depen-            ble. This faith she must confess in her creeds, in
dence. He has a need for some higher being in               her preaching as it goes to the uttermost parts of the
which he can place his trust and find his security.         earth, and in the lives and conduct of her members
He must have a god. Rut the natural man refuses to          as they live day by day in total dependence on God
acknowledge the one only true God, the God that             alone.
alone can provide him with all he needs. This is not

TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE

                      God's Providence and Sin (3)
                                                  Rev. H. Veldman


  Having God's providence and sin now clearly be-           and sin. I must have an explanation, first of all,
fore us, we face the question: what is the connec-          because of the fact of the power of sin. It is simply a
tion as such between them, according to Scripture,          fact that we must contend with this power of sin
without as yet discussing how they are actually re-         within us. Is there any child of God who is not
lated to one another. And then we would remark,             aware of this awesome power of sin within him?
in the first place, that the child of God surely de-        How vividly this fearful struggle is held before us
mands a scriptural explanation of this phenomenon           in the seventh chapter of Paul's epistle to the
of God's sovereign providence and sin. His soul             Romans! How wretched he knows himself and how
cries for this explanation. He cannot ignore it or          he longs to be delivered out of the body of this
brush it aside. He cannot adopt the attitude of the         death! But we must also deal with the power of sin
stoic or the American Indian and simply harden              in the world round about us. That wicked world
himself against all affliction and suffering, the           hates God and His church. And seemingly they
results of sin in the midst of the world. That stoic or     may proceed unmolested in their wickedness.
Indian may appear cahn outwardly but inwardly he            Seemingly that wicked world may afflict and
seethes and rebels. Neither can he be indifferent           torment the church of God to their hearts' content.
with respect to all these sufferings of our present         And then the psalmist in Psalm 73 asks whether
time, assume the attitude that we may just as well          there be any knowledge with the Most High. Now
take the bitter with the sweet. Our Lord Jesus              it is surely for the child of God of the greatest sig-
Christ was surely not such a stoic and neither was          nificance to know whether God is God or whether
He indifferent, resigned to the fact that He might as       that world rages against the Lord as having power
well realize that the bitter must be taken with the         in itself, and that therefore the cause of God's righ-
sweet. It is certainly not pleasing in God's sight          teousness must remain in doubt even unto the end.
that, when He afflicts us, we react indifferently, re-      It is surely for him of the greatest significance to
act as if this mighty hand of God does not affect us.       know whether God is truly God and He alone.
  Indeed, the child of God craves and demands an              Secondly, however, the problem of God's provi-
explanation of this phenomenon, God's providence            dence and sin demands an explanation because of


208                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



the living God. This explanation is of even greater        dence of God. Concerning this truth Scripture
importance than that which involves the reality, as        leaves no doubt either. The Word of God speaks
such, of the power of sin. Indeed, my soul cries for       very plainly also to this effect. Do we not read in
this explanation because of God Who is the God of          the Scriptures that God forms the light and creates
my salvation. I am sure that we can understand             the darkness, yea, that He makes peace and creates
this. He is the alone living God. He declares the end      evil, as in Isaiah 45:7? Joseph is brought into Egypt
from the beginning and His counsel shall stand.            through the abominations of his brothers; but when
And this counsel is even as God is: all-comprehen-         these brothers finally appear before him in Egypt,
sive, eternal, unchangeable, efficacious, and inde-        and they fear that he will avenge himself upon
pendent. However, this God Who alone is God is             them and seek reprisals against them for the evil
my God. Him I love, the eternal, only true God. My         they committed against him, he declares to them
soul must have an explanation of the fact of sin be-       very plainly that the Lord had turned all their evil
cause of Him Who is my God. Does the Lord de-              thoughts unto good. Repeatedly we read in the
light in iniquity? But is He not good? Or, does sin        Word of God that the Lord hardens the hearts of
exist independently of the eternal Jehovah? But can        men. He hardens Pharaoh's heart and even pro-
there possibly be anything that exists independent-        claims unto Moses that He will work in Pharaoh's
ly of Him? Is there an evil in the city and the Lord       heart unto that end-indeed, Scripture employs a
has not done it? (Amos  3:6). Or, if God be sover-         language in this connection which we otherwise
eign, the only Ruler of heaven and earth, how must         would never dare to take upon our lips. The king's
we explain that the world may continue it its mad          heart, we read in Proverbs  21:1, is in the hand of
iniquity? To answer that the Lord permits these            the Lord, as the rivers of water; He turneth it
things to happen does not satisfy, and this for the        whithersoever He wills. Was it not the Lord Who
simple reason that God does not merely permit              caused David to count the people? We read in 2
anything to happen-fact is, He worketh all things          Samuel 24:l: "And again the anger of the Lord was
after the counsel of His own will, Or, to answer that      kindled against Israel, and He moved David against
the Lord does this iniquity would be in conflict           them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." And,
with His adorable holiness, righteousness, and per-        mind you, David sinned in this numbering of the
fection. But, to give sin a place independent of the       people. We all know how Shimei cursed David
Lord would be a denial of His sovereignty. And be-         when he fled from before the face of Absalom; yet
cause my soul thirsts after the living God, because I      David himself declares that this cursing by Shimei
desire that God remain God, I must have an answer          was of the Lord. Godless hands nailed the Lord
to the question concerning sin in connection with          Jesus Christ to the accursed tree; nevertheless, He
His divine providence. The text, "For of Him, and          was delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-
through Him, and unto Him are all things," must            knowledge of God (Acts 2:23). We will have oppor-
surely be applied also to the reality of sin and ini-      tunity later to call attention to this particular Word
quity. In other words, also the fact of sin must im-       of God. Upon the question whether sin is inde-
part comfort to the child of God.                          pendent of God, or whether this power of evil
  In answer to this very urgent question, it must be       occurs also through the providence of God, so that
maintained, first of all, that God is really God in all    the Lord from moment unto moment is realizing
the operation of His providence. We cannot empha-          His counsel, there can be but one answer, without a
size too strongly that this must be understood in the      single moment of hesitation: there is no evil in the
absolute sense of the word. It is not only true that       city which the Lord does not perform (Amos  3:6J.
the Lord supports all things, but also that He is ab-      Of this there cannot possibly be any doubt. The
solutely sovereign in His government over all              Word of God surely declares that there is only one
things. We must surely maintain that there is              God, and that this God is God alone, and that He
nothing more certain than the word of His mouth.           performs all His good pleasure. We can never stress
When He speaks, it is; when He commands, it                this truth too emphatically. The Scriptures allow no
stands. All things take place through that almighty        compromise in this matter. God, God alone, also
Word of the Lord. And we may say that, generally           now and throughout the ages, is the Cause, the su-
speaking, there is agreement with regard to this           preme Cause of the existence of all things. We must
truth. The Scriptures state very plainly, so plainly       not hesitate to say this. Every curse, every evil
that they really tolerate no dispute, that even all the    thought, every rebellion of sinful man, is of the
hairs of our head are numbered, and that a sparrow         Lord alone, sovereignly, not only from eternity, but
does not fall from the housetop without the will of        He is ever working it from moment unto moment.
our heavenly Father.                                       Can we possibly doubt this? Is God not the alone
  Secondly, however, we must also understand               living God? Does He not, according to Isaiah 46:19,
that the reality of sin takes place through the provi-     declare the end from the beginning, and from  an-


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                              209



cient times the things that are not yet done, saying,               viewed as excluding one another. There is in God
My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My plea-                  nothing that resembles iniquity, as we also read in
sure? Do we not read here that the Lord declares                   James  l:j3: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times                  am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
the things that are not yet done? Is not this a truly               with evil, .neither  tempteth He any man." The Lord
marvellous thing? Who but God is able to do this?                   is truly a Light; He is Light, the overflowing foun-
0, do not say that the Lord merely knows all about                  tain of all good. How now is it to be harmonized
these things. The Arminian will concede to you that                 with our God, Who never beholds iniquity, that sin
the Lord knows about the sinner's unbelief. He                      is nevertheless never to be explained as indepen-
claims to believe in a divine election and reproba-                 dent of Jehovah, Who has formed the wicked, note
tion based upon foreseen faith and unbelief. But                    well, the wicked unto the day of evil? Indeed, we
this Word of God in Isaiah 46:lO not only declares                  must and surely can say something about this. Yes,
emphatically that the Lord knows all things, it also                we must say something about this. This we can and
states that He will  do  all His pleasure and that                  must do in the light of the testimony of the Word of
therefore His counsel shall stand. Indeed, we may                   God. And we have already called attention to the
not and shall not separate sin from the providence                  fact that my soul cries for -an answer, and that be-
of the Lord. He is absolutely sovereign; He is in                   cause of the power of sin but also and primarily be-
absolute control. And sin is no exception to this.                  cause of the living God. We must understand that
Concerning this we need not doubt as far as the                     God and sin surely exclude each other. If we fail to
testimony of Holy Writ is concerned.                                maintain this we lose God. And we cannot afford to
  However, confessing this truth of God's Word,                     lose God. He is the thrice Holy One of Israel! With
this connection between the providence of God and                   this truth our salvation stands or falls. We can ex-
sin, we become seemingly involved in an irrecon-                    pect no good from a God who loves sin and iniqui-
cilable conflict with the holiness and righteousness                ty. As stated previously, we cannot fathom this
of God. We cannot escape the word of God in Job                    problem, understand it intellectually. And we do
34:lO: "Far be it from God, that He should do                       not propose to offer such an explanation. God is the
wickedness; and from the Almighty that He should                    divine and sovereign Potter and we are but the clay,
commit iniquity." Or, turning to Habakkuk 1: 13                     and how presumptuous it would be for clay to
we read: "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold                    fathom and understand the eternal and infinite
evil, and canst not look on iniquity." And the apos-                Potter! But we can say something about it. This we
tle John writes so uncompromisingly in his epistle,                 can do because the Scriptures lead us in this. And
chapter 1, that He is a Light in Whom is no dark-                  we must never fail to take God at His Word. Only,
ness at all. And, is not our God a consuming fire?                 we must believe aZZ that the Lord has revealed to us
Hence, the Lord God and sin must surely be                         in His Word.

SPECIAL FEATURE

      The Spiritual Strengths and Weaknesses
               of the Protestant Reformed Churches
                            and Possible Remedies (2)
                                                         Rev. R. Flikkema

   In the previous article the first part of a lecture given       of all over against an ungodly world and over
   to the Eastern Men's and Ladies' League was printed.            against an increasingly apostate ecclesiastical world
   In that article the speaker emphasized what the                 that tells us that those strengths must not be our
   strengths of our churches are. He ended that article by         strengths. Today as never before the church is
   emphasizing that those strengths must ever remain               being bombarded with the devil's tool,  worldli-
   our strengths. Here follows the conclusion of that
   lecture.                                                        mindedness. And it is eating away at the church of
                                                                   Jesus Christ like a cancer-so much so that the
  We must ever insist that those strengths remain                  church today has forgotten about its distinctively
the strengths of our churches. We must do so first                 Reformed heritage. It has-tossed out of the window


210                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



the precious time-honored truths of the Word of                                    corded in the Old Testament. When Israel forgot
God. It has dispersed with the preaching, or, if not                               that their strength was altogether rooted in God's
that, it has so watered down the preaching that you                                everlasting strength, God sent heathen nations to
can not tell that it is preaching. It has made elders                              chastize Israel. Our chairman read tonight from
and discipline a laughingstock. God's people can do                                Isaiah 26. You read in verse 16 of that chapter,
just about anything that they have a mind to do,                                   "Lord, in trouble have they (that is, Israel) visited
without any fear that they will be called to task.                                 Thee, they poured out a prayer when Thy chasten-
Covenant homes and schools are that in name only.                                  ing was upon them." God chastened Israel. And
Covenant youth are not being instructed. That is                                   why? Because Israel had forgotten that their
what is happening in the church today. And as a re-                                strength was not in themselves; it was not in horses
sult of all of that, the church today has given itself                             and chariots that they possessed. They had
over to worldlimindedness: to the pursuit of sinful                                forgotten that their strength was not to be found in
pleasures, to the social gospel, to making this world                              the heathen nations round about them or even the
a better place in which to live. And God's people                                  idol gods of the heathen nations round about them.
are being destroyed. God said long ago through the                                 They had forgotten that their strength was to be
mouth of the prophet  Hosea,  "My people are de-                                   found only in the Lord Jehovah. You read in verse 4
stroyed for lack of knowledge"; and that is happen-                                of that chapter, "Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in
ing. But the point is, we must be on our guard that                                the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." They
that never happens to us. If it does, we will not have                             forgot to sing the beautiful words of PsaZter number
any more strengths left! Evidently when this topic                                 298:
was formulated, the committee felt that we have as                                         My steadfast heart 0 God, will sound Thy praise
Protestant Reformed Churches, both strengths and                                      abroad with tuneful string; The dawn shall hear my
weaknesses. But I submit to you, if we allow what I                                    song. Thy praise I will prolong, And where Thy
have just been talking about to happen to us, we                                      people throng, Thanksgiving bring.
will not have strengths and weaknesses. We will                                            Thy truth and tender love are high as heaven above;
have only weaknesses! And if we have only weak-                                       Thy help we crave. Be Thou exalted high above the
nesses we have nothing left!                                                          lofty sky; Lest Thy beloved die, 0 hear and save.
   And that brings me to the question, namely, how                                         God's word shall surely stand; His Name through
is it that these strengths are our strengths! And in                                  every land shall be adored; Lord, who shall lead our
what way is it that these strengths will remain our                                   host? Thy aid we covet most, in Thee is all our boast,
strengths? Is that due to ourselves? Is it the case                                   strong in the Lord.
that we are the ones responsible for the fact that we                              They forgot, and Because they forgot, God chas-
are Protestant Reformed Churches? Is it the case                                   tened them.
that the distinctively Reformed heritage that we
have and the precious truths of the Word of God                                      And the same thing will happen to us, if we dare
that we do have is a matter of our doing? Is it the                                to think that our strengths are the result of our-
case that the preaching of the Word which we                                       selves-what we have done. If we think that those
have, faithful ministers of the Word that we have, a                               strengths are in the absolute sense  OUY strengths,
faithful seminary, and sound pulpits from Sabbath                                  forgetting that they are not ours but the Lord Jeho-
day to Sabbath day,-is all of that a result of what                                vah's strengths, we might just as well close the
we have done? Is it the case that our elders and                                   doors of our churches and go home because there is
d e a c o n s   f u n c t i o n   i n   t h e i r   o f f i c e   a s   t h e y    nothing left but the chastening of the Lord. The
do-dispensing the mercies of Christ, standing                                      point that I am trying to make is that our strengths
upon the watchtowers of Mt. Zion, calling sinners                                  are all due to the Lord Jehovah. The fact that we are
to repentance-is a result of their own skill and ex-                               Protestant Reformed Churches; that we have the
pertise? Or the fact that we have covenant families,                               distinctively Reformed heritage that we do; that we
godly parents and children, covenant schools and                                   have the precious truths of God's Word, the
teachers wherein the covenant seed is instructed, is                               preaching, discipline, covenant homes and
that a matter in which we may boast?                                               covenant schools, is all due to this blessed truth:
                                                                                   "In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
   Inevitably in the history of the church, and par-
ticularly I refer to the history of the children of Is-                            OUR WEAKNESSES
rael, when Israel thought so, God took their                                         In so far as we understand and remember that
strengths away from them so that all that remained                                 we are strong; in so far as that truth permeates our
were weaknesses. When Israel tried to stand in its                                 churches, our preaching and our covenant homes;
own strength, boasted in what it had accomplished,                                 in so far as we teach that truth to our children, we
when it forgot about God, then sudden destruction                                  are strong. But in so far as we forget that truth, we
came upon Israel. Just read the history of Israel re-                              are weak.


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                            211



  And weak we as Protestant Reformed Churches                 about our cars; why we can talk for hours about
are becoming. Notice, I said we are becoming weak.            sports-the national sports teams, and yes, even
I did not say we are weak because we are not weak.            about our sports program in our own Christian
But we are becoming weak. Weakness and weak-                  schools. You explain that once. Explain to me why
nesses are a process. That does not happen over-              parents and young people-and it is indeed not just
night. But rather, that takes place over a period of          young people, but parents too-go to movies and
time. And I am convinced that that process is oc-             partake of all sorts of other things that have no
curring in our churches. There are increasingly ap-           place in the life of the church of Jesus Christ. You
pearing flaws, cracks if you will, in the walls of our        explain to me why even our young children can
strong city. And I submit to you that we had better           talk for hours about television programs that they
recognize that there are.                                     watch. But when it comes to talking about that
  What are those flaws and cracks? They have to               which we ought to talk about, we have very little
do exactly with a certain lack of enthusiasm, appre-          time and very few words to say about that. You ex-
ciation, and zeal for our strengths and the Lord              plain that to me!
Jehovah in Whom is all our strength. Oh yes, we                 And do not say that such has always been the
have as I said our heritage, the truth, the preaching,        case-that things were that way years ago too.
discipline, covenant homes and schools. And too,              Maybe that is true. I am not in a position either to
we even recognize them to be our strengths, and               affirm or deny that. As I said in my introduction, I
even more, recognize that those strengths come                am young and did not live years ago. But, frankly, I
from God. But our weaknesses are to be found                  am sick and tired of hearing as a defense for how
exactly in a certain non-appreciation, or rather I            things are today that things were just as bad years
should say, a lack of an all-encompassing appre-              ago, so that we ned not worry, for things turned out
ciation for them. And by an all-encompassing ap-              all right years ago, and things will turn out all right
preciation I mean that there is nothing else in all           today. I for one will not tolerate such reasoning!
the world that means more to us than our strengths            And you may not either!
and the Lord Jehovah Who is our strength. And that              There are cracks in the walls that are ever be-
all-encompassing appreciation would be in having              coming larger. They consist in a lack of an all-en-
our whole life as churches characterized by the fol-          compassing enthusiastic appreciation for the
lowing words found in Isaiah  26:8, "Yea, in the              strengths that Jehovah has given us. I wish that
way of Thy judgments, 0 Lord, have we waited for              were not so. It grieves me to say that is so. But say it
Thee; the desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to           Ido.
the remembrance of Thee"; verse 9: "With my soul
have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit         THE CERTAIN REMEDY
within me will I seek Thee early"; verse 12: "Lord,             Well, then, the question is: what must be done
Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for Thou also hast             about that? What is the solution, the remedy if you
wrought all our works in us"; verse 13: "0 Lord               will, to those weaknesses? For, that something
our God, other lords beside Thee have had domin-              must be done, that some solution, remedy, must be
ion over us, but by Thee only will we make                    found and applied is certain. Notice, I speak of
mention of Thy name." And that all-encompassing               remedy in the singular. The theme given me for this
appreciation would be to sing, not merely with our            lecture speaks of remedies in the plural. I choose to
mouths, but from our hearts with conviction and               speak not of remedies but remedy. And further, I
enthusiastic zealous appreciation for what God has            choose to speak not of  possible  remedies but of a
done for us:                                                  certain remedy. What is that certain remedy?
       Thy truth and tender love are high as heaven             The answer to that question is not so difficult.
   above; Thy help we crave. Be thou exalted high above       Negatively, the answer to that question is that we
   the lofty sky; lest Thy beloved die, 0 hear and save.      not deny the reality of those weaknesses and say
      God's word shall surely stand; His name through         that they do not exist. It is not to close our eyes to
   every land shall be adored; Lord, who shall lead our       them and hope that they will somehow go away of
   host? Thy aid we covet most; In Thee is all our boast,     themselves. That is not the answer. If your child is
   strong in the Lord.                                        sick, you do not say he is not sick. You do not say
  But for some reason that all-encompassing enthu-            maybe he will get better of himself. If there are
siasm is not there as it should be. Again, I do not           cracks in your walls, you do not say there are no
say that it is not there at all. But it is not there as it    cracks. You do not say those cracks will go away of
should be. Instead we are increasingly becoming en-           themselves. I assure you they won't! They will only
thusiastic about other things, earthly things! If this        get bigger. But rather, when your child gets sick,
is not true, you explain to me why we can talk for            you give him medicine. When there are cracks in
hours about money, for example, about our homes,              your walls, you endeavor to get rid of them. So too


212                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



with our weaknesses. We endeavor to get rid of                  Are you willing to put that remedy into practice?
them.                                                         Are our homes and churches willing to put that
  How? What is the remedy? It is this: by saying              remedy into practice? Only you and I and our
with the prophet of old, "Trust ye in the Lord for-           churches can answer that question. But answer it
ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting                  we must. If our answer is no, we will be destroyed.
strength." And not just say it but mean it; live by it        If our answer is yes, we shall certainly be blessed.
in our covenant homes, teach it to our covenant               Hear then the Word of God, and with that I  con-
children. That is the very simple remedy. But that            elude, "Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord
which is not so very simple, but rather very  diffi-          Jehovah is everlasting strength." May God so grant
cult, is putting that remedy into practice. That is           it, is my prayer.
the difficult part.

FROM HOLY WRIT


           Believing All the Prophetic Scriptures
                                                    Rev. G. Lubbers



                       Chapter IV                             us something of this "pattern" or "form" of "doc-
       THE PATTERN OF SOUND DOCTRINE                          trine." We refer, first of all, to what he writes in
                                                              Romans 6: 17b. He is here speaking to the "called in
   In this chapter we will begin to consider that             Jesus Christ, to all that be in Rome..." (Rom.  1:6  -
there is a most intimate and necessary relationship           7). He speaks as one who is a debtor, by virtue of
between having good, biblical hermeneutics, as we             his apostolic office, both to the Greeks and to the
noticed in the teaching of Jesus after and before His         Barbarians, both for the Jew and the Greek (Rom.
suffering and death, and adhering to the pattern of           1:14-16). And Paul writes the great truth of the
sound doctrine, and the pattern of sound words of             promise that Abraham is not merely the father of
truth. Without the former, the latter is nonexistent;         those who are of the circumcision, but he is the
this is as true as it is clear that day follows night.        father of all who walk in the steps of that faith of
  Such will be the burden of this chapter!                    our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncir-
  When we speak of the pattern of sound doctrine              cumcised (Rom. 4: 12). The sign and seal of the righ-
we are not, first of all, interested in counting words        teousness of Abraham's faith makes a distinction
and syllables; nor are we interested in an "isolated          between Jew and Jew, and designates that only
passage" of Scripture such as we find in Daniel 9:27          they are heirs who walk as did father Abraham.
or Revelation  20;2 and 7, but we are interested in           Thus spoke Jesus to the Jews in John  8:39: "If ye
the totaZ message of Scripture, the Gospel of God, as         were Abraham's children, ye would do the works
this can be and is pointed out by Scripture itself.           o f   A b r a h a m . "
We are profoundly concerned, when we ask after                  And the doctrine to which we have been deliv-
the "form of doctrine" (Rom. 6:17b), as to what the           ered, whether believers, Jew or Greek, is that God
Holy Spirit would have us understand by these                 has saved all His own by one man, Jesus Christ.
words. And then we must read this statement in the            The entire human race died and perished in one
light of the immediate context, and in connection             man, Adam, and the entire church is saved by one
with the truth of Scripture which is being revealed           man, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5: 12-20). And so marvel-
to us in a given passage. We must have good, sound            ous is that grace that where sin abounded, grace did
exegesis! We must and may not put our own con-                much more abound (Rom.  5:20). And now we are
tent and meaning into the terms!                              no more under law but under grace! And grace
                                                              makes us cry out against the accusation that "we
  There are various passages in the New Testa-                sin more that grace abound," with the exalted
ment where the term "form," "pattern" occurs.                 "God forbid!" We are no more slaves of sin, but we
And these are all employed by Paul in his letters to          are free-born sons of Sarah, born from Jerusalem,
the churches as the Apostle to the Gentiles.                  which is above (Rom. 6:2, 14; Gal. 4:23, 5:l).
   It is in the Epistle to the Romans that Paul shows           Such is the pattern of "sin and grace" to which


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              213



we have been delivered. We have now no other               in the heavenly vision to Ezekiel, the matter and
wiZZing choice but to serve the Lord, not in the old-      truth of the exactitude of the pattern of the heaven-
ness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit.      ly. is. underscored. In Ezekiel  43:1-12  we have a
We are delivered, given over into a new bondage of         beautiful and instructive Word of God for the
liberty to serve God, as sons and daughters of the         "house of Israel" in the captivity of Babylon. Truly,
living God.                                                the temple is destroyed, the walls are broken down,
  Now this does not yet indicate that especially           and the city lies in ruins. But God is going to re-
Premillennial Dispensationalism has discarded this         build a temple of the pattern of the perfection of
"pattern or form of sound doctrine." Our purpose           holiness. It will be filled with "the glory of the
here is to demonstrate clearly that when we speak          LORD" (verses 4, 5). And all shall be "most holy"
of a pattern of sound doctrine, it must be quite clear     (verse 12).
that we are rightly dividing the word of truth, and          Yes, notice this pattern of the. temple!
rightly setting forth the doctrine itself, so that we        It is not the pattern of a mere earthly tabernacle
see in it a consistent Gospel-pattern.                     of Moses, nor of the Solomonic temple as planned
  When we say "Gospel-pattern," we insist that             by David; but it will be the "place where I will
this means that we will find this "pattern" in all of      dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever,
the Old Testament prophecies, from Genesis to              and My holy name shall the house of Israel no more
Malachi, and that we will find this same pattern,          defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whore-
only now far more clearly and gloriously, set forth        doms, nor by the carcasses (dead bodies) of their
in all the New Testament Scriptures.                       kings in their high places."
  Both the church in the Old Testament and the               And then Israel must be shown these things con-
church in the New Testament were delivered to this         cerning that glorious future temple. It is the temple
fawn of  doctrine.  It is not something "new" in the       which Jesus built as the great temple-Builder (John
sense that this form of doctrine did not obtain for        2:19; Hebrews  3:5, 6). Yes, that temple shown to
the true children of Abraham in the Old Testament.         Ezekiel in the vision is the perfected church in
This is abundantly evident from Romans  3:21               glory, in which Christ shall be glorified in the saints
where we read that this "righteousness of God              (II Thess. 1:lOa).
without law," as now manifested in the Gospel,               Such is the pattern of the temple!
was witnessed and testified of by the law and the
prophets, that is, in all the Old Testament Scrip-           Such is the "law of this house" (Ezekiel
tures (Rom. 1:2; Heb. l:l, 2).                             43:12b).
                                                             And the entire church, the Israel of God must see
  Such is the basic keynote in the foreword, cove-         this house; and, seeing it, they must confess their
nant-word, of Exodus 2O:l: "I am the Lord thy God.         sin in the obedience of the Gospel. They will then
Who have brought you forth from the land of                need to "measure the pattern"! All is exactitude in
Egypt," the house of spiritual bondage!                    God's holy temple. It is the holy God coming to
  But let us press on.                                     dwell with His people in everlasting covenant; the
  There is a certain form of the heavenly taber-           tabernacle of God shall be with man.
nacle of God with man all through the Scriptures.            And now we must pause here just a bit, and re-
Moses is shown this "pattern" on the holy mount at         flect on the import of this for the preaching of the
the time of the law-giving. The Builder and Maker          Word, and for good Hermeneutics which lies at the
of the heavenly temple shows Moses exactly how to          basis of sound preaching and exposition of the
fashion the temple, its furniture, as the house            Scriptures. The question is then not, first and
where God dwells with His people in covenant fel-          uppermost, concerning a merely literal interpreta-
lowship. All is "according to the pattern which I          tion of certain words, names, and phrases as this
shewed thee on the mount." Moses is reminded ex-           pertains to historic Israel in the prophecies, but it is
pressly by the Lord concerning this "pattern";             really the basic question of the form of doctrine as
Moses must follow this pattern very exactly and            this is rooted in the great pattern which God
meticulously. This is true of the entire structure of      shewed  Moses on the Mount at Horeb.
the tabernacle, its rooms, its furniture, as an earthly      It is to understand that this "tabernacle" is really
picture of heavenly realities (Heb. 9:9).                  a picture of God dwelling with His people in all the
  This meticulous following of the instructions of         glory of grace, so that Israel will not die. That is
Jehovah concerning the pattern of the heavenly is          why, when Moses will ascend to the top of the
also followed in the building and construction of          mount with Joshua, he first receives the  Theopha-
the temple by Solomon (I Chron. 28:11, 12, 18, 19).        ny of the living God, at the occasion when he read
And, to be sure, in the picture of the temple shown        the "words of the LORD, and all the judgments" to


214                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



the people. Yes, then Moses took the blood and              in the  New Testament in Christ's blood. Yes, Jesus
sprinkled it on the people, and said "behold, the           thus interpreted all the Scriptures to the travelers to
blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made             Emmaus on the evening of the resurrection day. It
with you concerning all these words" (Exodus                was thus from Moses and all the Scriptures that
24:8).                                                      Jesus expounded unto them the things concerning
  And then we read something amazingly wonder-              Himself!
ful. It is the wonder of grace at the time of the law-        Everywhere the "pattern" is this: the Christ
giving. We read, "And they saw the God of Israel,           must suffer all these things and enter into His glory.
and there was under His feet as it were paved work          And Jesus can ask the question: Must the Christ not
of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven        suffer all these things according to the Scriptures?
in its clearness, and upon the nobles of the children         And such opening of the Scriptures makes the
of Israel He laid not His hand: they also saw God           hearts of the saints burn within them in holy joy
and did eat and drink" (Exodus 24: 10, 11).                 and peace (Luke 24:32).
  Do you see the pattern here of the heavenly?                Truly, all this calls for hewing to the line in exact
  It is the pattern of grace, sovereign grace in the        preaching according to the pattern of sound words
blood. God did not, according to His awful glory,           (II Tim. 1:13).
cause them to perish who saw God through the                  Unto this we have been delivered.
blood of the covenant! (Exodus 19:21).                        Let us "measure the pattern," and let all the
  That is the pattern of sound doctrine. Such is the        house of Israel know that God has made this Jesus,
form of doctrine to which we have been delivered,           crucified, both Lord and Christ (Ezekiel 43: 10; Acts
whether in the:Old Testament shadows in hope, or            2:36).


                                        -Book Reviews

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCY-                          of facts, the reader must also begin to make his own
CLOPEDIA, Vol. II, E  -J; G.W. Bromiley, Gen-               critical evaluation.
eral Editor; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Grand                 Recommended: for ministers, seminarians,
Rapids,  Mich. 1175 pp. (cloth), $35.00. [Reviewed          school libraries, and anyone who can afford a good
by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema]                                    Bible encyclopedia for his library.
  This is the second volume of Eerdmans' new edi-
tion of  "ISBE." It is attractively published, well         RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD,  Earl  Schipper;
bound, and-though $35.00 is quite a chunk of                Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; 151
money-not expensive, considering the size and               pp. (paper), $3.45. [Reviewed by Prof. H.C.  Hoek-
scope of a volume like this.                                sema]
  The claim that this new edition is fully revised is         This paperback is part of Baker's Contemporary
not mere propaganda or window-dressing. I                   Discussion Series. Each chapter concludes with dis-
compared this new volume with the second volume             cussion questions and a bibliographic guide de-
of the old edition and found the claim to be entirely       signed to kindle further study and discussion. The
true. Editors, contributors, and even subjects  ti-eat-     format of the book, therefore, is helpful. The fac-
ed are in many, many instances new. Your library            tual contents of the book, as it treats Hinduism,
will be improved by the addition of the new                 Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam, are also helpful
"ISBE."                                                     and, as far as I could judge after brief perusal,
  To be sure, this does not mean that you can swal-         accurate-though. rather brief and condensed.
low "hook, line, and sinker" everything that this or          My objection-and it is a fundamental criticism
any other encyclopedia tells you. A look at the             of the book-is to its viewpoint. The author, who is
names of some of the contributors will warn you,            teacher of religion at Grand Rapids Christian High
"Approach with caution." Thus, for example,                 School, rejects the position that all non-Christian
when James Daane writes on `"Infallibility," your           religions are "completely immersed in the black-
Reformed antennae will send you signals. But this,          ness of total depravity." As might be expected, his
after all, is true of any encyclopedia, be it secular or    appeal in this connection is to "general" revelation,
religious. As soon as it enters the area of explana-        to common grace, and even to influences of special
tion and interpretation, in distinction from the area       revelation. As a result, we must have "our minds


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       215



open to the insights and moral values held by                              who holds to the theory of common grace and who
people of other religions," and "we may view non-                          misconstrues what is often referred to as "general"
Christian religions as human response to God's                             revelation
revelation, even though disobedient and misdirect-                           My judgment is, however, that it is precisely this
ed as a whole perspective."                                                approach which makes the book worthless as a re-
   Mr.  Schipper is, of course, not the first to take                      liable guide in studying and evaluating the religions
this approach to false religions. You can find the                         treated in this book.
same approach in many a "Reformed" theologian

               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The Martha Ladies Aid Society of the Hull Protestant Reformed             The members of the Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of  SouthEast Protes-
Church expresses its sincere sympathy to Mrs. William Kooiker in the       tant Reformed Church wish to express their sympathy to Mr. and
death of her sister. "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting        Mrs. Jack Feenstra in the passing of his mother, MRS. HENRY
upon them that fear Him."  (Ps.  103:17)                                   MEULENBERG.

                                     Rev. Ron Cammenga, Pres.                 "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
                                     Mrs. Henry J. Hoksbergen, Sec'y.      would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." (John  14:2).

               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                                                 Rev. Carl Haak, Pres.
                                                                                                                                      Judy Kuiper, Sec'y.
   The Consistory of the Hull Protestant Reformed Church expresses
its sympathy to our fellow office-bearer, deacon Gerald Brummel, in                        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
the death of his father, GERRIT BRUMMEL. "And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who             The Consistory of Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Redlands,
are the called according to His purpose,"  (Ram.   8:28).                  CA, expresses Christian sympathy to our fellow  -officebearer,  Elder
                                                                           Larry Huisken and to his family in the death-of -his mother, MRS.
                                            Rev. Ron Cammenga, Pres.       MINNIE HUISKEN.                                       _
                                            Bert Van Maanen, Clerk.
                                                                              It is our prayer that they may find comfort in God's Word.

               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                         "Cast thy burdens upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He
                                                                           shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm  55:22).
   The Senior Mr. and Mrs. Society of the Faith Protestant Reformed
Church expresses their sincere sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Andy                                                                   Rev. K. Koole, Pres.
Brummel in the passing of his father, MR. GERRIT BRUMMEL.                                                                      C. Van Meeteren, Clerk.

   "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
heart, and my portion for ever." (Psalm  73:26).
                                                                             The Adult Bible Society of the Protestant Reformed Church of
               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      Pella, Iowa, wishes to express sincere Christian sympathy to one of
   The Board of the Free Christian School of Edgerton, Minnesota,          its members, Bernie Menninga, in the passing of his wife,  NETTIE.
wishes to express their sympathy to our principal, Mr. Peter  Brum-           "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil. 1  :21  ).
mel, in the loss of his father, MR. GERRIT BRUMMEL.                                                                     Rev. G. Lanting, Pres.
   "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."                                                      Catherine Vander Wiel, Sec'y.
(Psalm 1 16:15).

                                                     Wm. Buys, Pres.                      FULL-TIME TEACHER NEEDED!
                                                     Ron Brands, Sec'y.

                             NOTICE!!!                                        Covenant Christian High School is accepting applications for one
                      TEACHER NEEDED                                       full-time teacher for the 1983-l 984 academic year. Areas for which
                                                                           applicants can apply are Bible, Business, Church History, Contempo-
   The Free Christian School of Edgerton, Minnesota, is in need of a       rary Religions, German, and History. Send letter of application to Mr.
principal responsible for teaching the upper grades.                       David Ondersma, Chairman of Education Committee, 6761  Brook-
                                                                           wood Dr., Grandville, Ml. 49418.
   Contact Al Brummel, 251 Maple St., Edgerton, MN 56128 or
Harlan Buys, RR 2, Edgerton, MN 56128.



                                        Report of Classis East

   Classis  East met in regular session on January 12,                     evening hours. First, a brother brought three  pro-
1983 at the First Protestant Reformed Church,                              tests to the  classis, the first two of which were
Grand Rapids. Rev. M. Joostens chaired this                                against prior decisions of classis and the third a pro-
meeting. Each church was represented by two                                test of his censure. Classis decided that the first two
delegates.                                                                 protests were illegally before classis on the grounds
   There were several serious matters before the                           of Articles 31 and 76 of the Church Order  respec-
classis which required  classis to labor into the                          tively.  Classis  rejected the appeal of the brother re

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




                                                                                ~---7-?
216                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


his censure on the ground that the brother holds to           The following synodical delegates were elected:
the heresies of fatalism and antihomianism, and             MINISTERS:  Primi: R. Flikkema, C. Haak, M.  Joos-
thus also upheld the grounds for censure given by           tens, G. Van  Baren;  Secundi:  W. Bruinsma, M. De
the consistory. Secondly, a brother brought an              Vries, R. Hanko, R. Miersma; ELDERS:  Primi:  D.
appeal against a consistory. This matter was judged         Engelsma, F. Hanko, E. Ophoff, Sr., G. Van  Over-
not to be settled in the consistory according to Arti-      loop; Secundi: G. Bouwkamp, C. Kuiper, D. Lotter-
cle 30 of the Church Order.                                 man, R. Teitsma.
  Southwest Church brought an overture to synod               In other voting, Rev. C. Hanko and Rev. J.A.
concerning student aid to seminary and  pre-                Heys were elected to serve as church visitors with
seminary students. The council of Southwest pro-            Rev. H.  `Veldman as alternate. Rev. C. Hanko and
posed the establishment of free-will offerings              Rev. M.  DeVries were elected to serve three-year
throughout the churches to supplement the aid               terms as primus and secundus delegates ad examina
given by synod through its Student Aid Committee.           respectively. Rev. M. Joostens was elected to serve
The money would be handled by the synodical Stu-            a three-year term on the Classical Committee.
dent Aid Committee. In this way also, it was urged,           In money matters,  Classis  approved and for-
the various congregational student aid committees           warded to synod subsidy requests for 1984 from
could be eliminated.  Classis  sent the overture to         Covenant for $15,750 and from Kalamazoo for
synod without its approval on the ground that it is         $9,000. Expenses for this  classis amounted to
the duty of the synod to support our students ac-           $428.37.
cording to Article 19 of the Church Order.                    The next meeting of  classis will be on May 11,
  Classis also dealt with and approved three re-            1983 at Hudsonville.
quests from consistories for the increase of censure                                       Respectfully submitted,
to the second step.                                                                        Jon. J. Huisken
                                                                                           Stated Clerk

                         News From Our Churches
                                                 January  15,1983

  In the near future you should begin to see adver-        on the service" and "It will teach our members to
tisements for a "Child Development Conference"             pray personally before the worship service." The
under the theme, "Bringing up Children in an In-           reasons for the consistory greeting the congregation
creasingly Evil World." The Kalamazoo committee            as they exit from the auditorium are that "This will
has formed the basic outline for the day's activities.     give better expression to an orderly conclusion for
The desire of the group from Kalamazoo Protestant          the worship service"; "It will given an opportunity
Reformed Church is to include parents, teachers,           to the office bearers to express greetings to the con-
ministers, and young people on panels that will dis-       gregation and thus express the true love for one
cuss the proper spiritual development of our cove-         another in Christ"; "Opportunity will be given to
nant children in more concrete situations through          welcome visitors who are present for worship";
various phases of life. Time will be allowed for           and "The elders will be better able to supervise the
audience participation. This looks to be a very            attendance of members at the worship services."
worthwhile day in which we can be strengthened             May God bless these changes.
in our understanding of an important fact of cove-            If you wanted to call Rev.  & Mrs. Heys in New
nantal living.                                             Zealand at 8:00 PM Wednesday, their time, from
  Loveland Protestant Reformed Church has re-              Grand Rapids, you would have to call at 2:00 AM
cently made changes in their order of worship. The         Wednesday, Grand Rapids time. In other words
reasons given for a moment of silent prayer are            add 18 hours to our time or, if you prefer, subtract
these: "It will give recognition to the need for the        18 hours from New Zealand time. In either case the
corporate body of Christ (minister, elders, deacons,       telephone number 01 l-64-4-697-856.
and  members) to  pray together for God's blessing                                                            DH


