STANDARD
     BEARER
       A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                        .





.  .  . if the will of man is the ultimate deter-

mining factor, then Christ is not a complete
Savior. He may be a partial Savior; He may
be a Savior Who has made salvation avail-
able; He may be a Savior Who gives His sal-
vation only to those who take the initiative
by coming to Him to obtain it; but He is not a
complete Savior.
See "My Sheep Hear My Voice" - page 223



                                           Volume LIX, No. 10, February 15,1983-


218                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER
                                    CONTENTS                                                                                  ISSN 0362-4692
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         The Fall of Jericho. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218        Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
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      Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221    Cammenga, Rev. Arie  denHartog,  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. Richard  Flik-
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         Distortions of Fact and History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221                  Gise J. Van Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
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L-
MEDITATION

                                                       The Fall of Jericho
                                                                             Rev. H. Veldman

                     "`By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. "
                                                                                                                                                Heb. 11:30

  How unique is this thirtieth verse in Hebrews 11.                                         They were compassed about by Israel: this was
Whereas throughout this chapter we read of the                                              surely an act of faith.
faith of the people of God, of Abel and Noah and
Abraham etc., here we simply read that "by faith                                                "By faith," we read. Now faith itself has no
the walls of Jericho fell down." However, by impli-                                         power. Faith has no power in itself, did not itself
cation the faith of God's people is surely stated                                           cause the walls of Jericho to crumble and fall down.
here. Do we not read here "by faith"? This is surely                                        Faith, here in Hebrews 11, is the gift of God, God's
the faith of God's  people. Besides, we also read:                                          means peculiarly adapted unto God's revelation to
"after they were compassed about seven days."                                               His people of His salvation. Faith is never a substi-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              219



tute for atonement, which the Lord, then, would            The fall of Jericho is a wonder. As one may sus-
graciously accept from us instead of atonement.          pect, many and various interpretations have been
Neither is faith a means whereby we do good works        given  .of this incident. Why discuss them at this
- good works which God accepts as a ground for           time? Some, seeking to rationalize the incident, say
our salvation, as Roman Catholicism teaches. And         that God caused an earthquake to destroy these
neither is faith ever a condition which limits God,      walls. This may very well have happened. How-
so that God will act provided that we first believe.     ever, is it not wonderful that an earthquake would
  Faith is God's means. God, of course, caused the       occur only underneath the walls and not the city
walls of Jericho to crumble and collapse. And faith,     (not a home was destroyed), and that that part of
as God's gift, is here the way in which this occurs,     the walls was not affected where Rahab's house
the means peculiarly adapted as that means of God        stood? Indeed, the fall of Jericho is a wonder. I need
which He bestows upon us and works in us. Faith          not rationalize it. All I need know, and this is quite
always clings to God, in Christ Jesus, looks away        enough, is that it was God Who caused these walls
from self and seeks all its salvation and help in and    to crumble.
from the Lord. How true this is also in this passage       The fall of Jericho is a wonder, a divine wonder
in Hebrews 11.                                           of grace.
WONDERFUL                                                  What is a wonder? A wonder, in Scripture, be-
  Jericho, some five to six miles from the Jordan, a     longs to the sphere of divine grace. A wonder is
rather small city (Israel marched around it seven        always divine grace in operation.  The  wonder in
times in one day), was a fortress, encircled by a        Scripture is the grace of God. God's grace is that
very strong wall, a wall so wide that houses were        marvelous work of God whereby He translates
built upon it. And it appears from Joshua  6:l that      man, and all creation as man is its king and head,
the people of Jericho were determined to defend it.      out of the power of sin and guilt and corruption and
                                                         death and lifts it up into everlasting life and glory.
  Joshua is instructed by the Captain of the host of     Whenever we see a miracle in the Bible, we see a
the Lord. Notice what we read in Joshua  5:13-15.        sign or symbol, a picture of this wonder-grace  of
And this continues into chapter 6. Joshua was            the living God. The Word of God is full of miracles.
standing near Jericho, undoubtedly beyond the            That is also what we have here at Jericho. What
reach of any flying arrow, considering, how to at-       causes these walls to collapse is the power of God,
tack the city. The Lord, however, does not permit        the power of His grace; what we have here is a
him to be in doubt very long. Soon he beholds a          mighty symbol of this grace of God.
man standing over against him and with a sword in
his hand.                                                  Centrally the wonder of God's grace is Christ
                                                         Jesus, in the way of His incarnation, suffering and
  Who is this warrior? Upon the inquiry of Joshua        death, resurrection and glorification. It is through
He replies that He is the Captain of the host of the     Christ and because of Him that the people of God
Lord. He is undoubtedly the same as the Angel of         and all things are translated out of sin and death
the Covenant, and He Who visited Abraham at              into everlasting life and glory. Of this mighty grace
Mamre with two angels. He is personally the              of God all miracles are signs and pictures. When-
Christ, the Son of God, and the revelation in the        ever we see a miracle in Scripture we see a picture
Old Dispensation of the'Triune Jehovah, as the God       of this grace. When the dead are raised to life, the
of His covenant, the God of our salvation. In Beth-      blind see, the deaf hear, etc., we see a picture, in
lehem He becomes Immanuel. He calls Himself the          natural life, of what the grace of God accomplishes
Captain of the Lord's host. This explains why He         spiritually. And when the walls of Jericho fall
appears as a warrior. As the Captain of the Lord's       down, it is the grace of God that does it; it is a
host, He now gives Joshua His battle instructions.       wonder of grace, a symbol of God's grace as it
He leads the army of the Lord; He presently causes       destroys the power and kingdom of the world, and
the walls of Jericho to collapse and crumble. So         establishes His own kingdom, symbolically at Jeri-
Christ is here, at the battle of Jericho!                cho, and centrally and finally in Jesus Christ, our
  We read of these instructions in Joshua  6:2 and       Lord.
also in verses 3-5 and in verse 10. First, He informs
Joshua that He has given Jericho into Joshua's           PROPER
hand. How vital this is! And then follow the battle        Proper is, first of all, the destruction of, Jericho as
instructions. We might be inclined to say: what a        such. We must understand the meaning of Jericho
ridiculous scheme of battle! The people of Jericho,      and Canaan. Jericho was the key to the entire land
watching Israel from the walls, must have thought        of Canaan. A mighty fortress, it was the kingdom of
them a crowd of fools!                                   darkness and of this world, and the nations of


     220                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



     Canaan, too, were this kingdom of darkness. They           number of man, the week without the sabbath,
     had heard of the exploits of Israel's mighty God but       labor without rest, the hopeless folly and futility of
     were determined to resist and destroy the cause of         the natural man. How beautifully this is symbolized
     Israel's God, Jehovah. Besides, their measure of ini-      here! Seven priests must carry the ark, and these
     quity was full. Sin's manifestation had reached its        are preceded by seven priests carrying the seven
     climax, in as far as that was possible for these na-       trumpets of rams' horns. Seven days they must
     tions in the Old Dispensation.                             march around the city of Jericho, and upon the
        Canaan was the land of the promise. In that land        seventh day, undoubtedly the sabbath day, they
     the Lord would establish His kingdom. To be sure,          march around the city seven times. So, the entire
     it was all a type and shadow of the kingdom of God         incident is characterized by the number seven, the
     as it would be established by the Lord in Christ           number of God's covenant, symbolizing Israel's
     Jesus. Yet, although a type, it was nevertheless also      entering the rest of God. It symbolizes God's vic-
     very real. There Israel enjoyed the forgiveness of         tory over all Israel's enemies. It symbolizes their
     sin through the blood of the Old Dispensation.             being led by the Captain of the Lord's host, Jehovah
     There God would reveal to Israel His statutes, and         as the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ, our
     Israel would love and serve Him as His people.             Lord.
     There Israel would be the Lord's distinctive people;       BY FAITH
     the Lord would rule over them by His grace and               Applying this to Jericho, apparently what a folly
     Spirit.                                                    we have here! How foolish the entire maneuver
       This explains why Jericho's fall is proper. Fact is,     must have appeared to the inhabitants of Jericho!
     the kingdom of ,God in Christ and the kingdom of           Nothing happens to the city during all this march-
     darkness cannot exist side by side. There is simply        ing. Finally the loud blast upon the trumpets, the
     no room for both. And this applies throughout the          shout of victory of the people, and, mind you, there
     ages. Sin and grace, God and Mammon, Christ and            is no victory in sight. And then the walls of the city
     Belial, etc., can never exist together; it is always       crumble and collapse.
     either-or. Sin is always completely devoted to sin;          By faith Israel got the victory. Indeed, the Lord
     and the grace of God, too, is absolute. This applies       had given Jericho into the hands of Joshua., But
     to us now only in principle. And in the day of our         Israel must march. The Lord is surely testing and
     Lord Jesus Christ the kingdom of this world will be        trying the faith of His people. After thirteen circuits
     completely destroyed, and God will be all in all.          there was still no sign of collapse. Utterly foolish
       Proper, secondly, is the manner of Jericho's fall.       this marching appears. But Israel must believe,
     On the one hand, Israel is led by the ark. The ark is      must continue to believe against hopeless odds;
     the outward symbol of the presence of Jehovah. In          their eye must be fixed upon the Lord, the Captain
     all heathen temples an idol was in their holy of           of the Lord's host and the number seven; they must
     holies.  But in the temple of the Lord was the ark. In     believe the Word of God in Joshua 6:3-5. And they
     that ark from which extended two golden                    got the victory. Not because of their faith, but in the
     seraphim, giving it the appearance of a throne,            way of their faith the Lord gives His people the
     were the pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that               victory.
     budded, and the ten commandments. The symbol-                How true this is throughout the ages! Do we re-
     ism is plain. It is a beautiful picture of God's rule      call the incident of Naaman? How foolish it seemed
     over His people as He rules over them, through the         what he was commanded to do! But Naaman be-
     mercy seat, the blood of Christ, and by writing His        lieves. And he is cleansed. We, too, must believe in
     law into their hearts. This ark, now, leads the way        the Captain of our salvation and His blood of
     as it did in all of Israel's wilderness journeyings.       Calvary. We must believe in a cross, and surely that
     The meaning is that Jehovah, or the Captain of the         cross appears to be utter folly! Is death the way of
     Lord's host, or Jehovah as in Christ, the God of our       life? Does shame lead to glory? We must trust
     salvation, is always leading us, also here at Jericho.     wholly in God, always, also when such faith
       On the other hand, we must note the number               appears to lead us into ruin. Yet, believe in God,
     seven. Seven is the symbolic number in Scripture           and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we shall never
     for God's covenant. As such it can be either a com-        be put to shame. In the way of faith the Lord will
     bination of 3 plus 4 or 6 plus 1. As 3 plus 4, seven is    save us. Even over against hopeless odds. Salvation
     the number of God's covenant as the communion              must be and is wholly of the Lord.
     of the Triune God with man, with His people in
     Christ Jesus. As 6 plus 1, seven is the number that                     Read and Study
I    symbolizes the rest of God's covenant; it is the                       The Standard Bearer
     week with the sabbath, labor with the rest; 6 is the
I


                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                221



                                      Editor's Notes

  Be sure to take note of the New Zealand News-            If some of our readers are wondering why some
letter from the pen of brother Arie van Echten, of       departments seldom appear on our magazine, the
Palmerston North. This will give you an opportun-        answer is that your editor cannot very well publish
ity to become acquainted with the brothers and sis-      what he does not receive. Some of our department
ters among whom and in behalf of whom the Rev.           editors are very faithful about fulfilling their obliga-
John A. Heys has been laboring. If you have a map        tion to write and are even ahead of schedule; others
of New Zealand available, it will be helpful to con-     fail to live up to their pledge to write even after re-
sult that map, to understand the North Island area       peated urgings from the editor. Sometimes an
in which the Rev. Heys is laboring. Places like Wel-     editor feels like publishing blank pages with the
lington, Otaki, and Palmerston North are all in the      notation, "This space should have been filled by
southern part of North Island.                           Rev. N." But that would be a waste of space and
                      *  * *  +: *                       very un-edifying.
                                                                                *  *  *  *  *
  Since I last mentioned this, we have received a
couple more good-sized gifts toward the publication        After the first of these notes was written, today's
of the  R.F.P.A.`s Bible story book. We are still far    mail brought from the Rev. J. Heys a photo of the
from the goal of sufficient funds to proceed, how-       brethren of the New Zealand Prot. Ref. Fellowship.
ever; and more gifts, your gifts, are very, very         Now you can meet the brethren in picture as well
welcome. Write to: RFPA Publications Committee,          as in words.
P.O. Box 2006, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501.

EDITORIAL

                  Distortions of Fact and History
                                             Prof. H.C. Hoeksema



  Two successive issues of Clarion, The Canadian         sooner or later the speaker would have to say some-
Reformed Magazine (Jan. 14 and Jan. 28, 1983) have       thing about 1924 and its events and decisions, see-
carried a transcript of an address by the Rev. D.        ing that the latter certainly played a significant part
DeJong to a Christian Reformed Elders Conference         in the 125-year history of the Christian Reformed
in Lethbridge, Alberta. The address is entitled "A       denomination. And sure enough, eventually the
Canadian Reformed View of the Christian Reform-          speaker arrived at the point of making a parentheti-
ed Church." As the title suggests, the Rev. De Jong      cal reference to 1924. Let me give a little back-
is a Canadian Reformed (Liberated) minister. Ac-         ground. In the preceding section of his address the
cording to his own testimony in the course of the        Rev. De Jong, speaking of the Canadian Reformed
address, he came to Canada and to the so-called          and the Christian Reformed, states: "And yet, how
Liberated Churches there in 1963. The occasion of        much could we have done together and profited
his address to the afore-mentioned Elders Confer-        from each other's history and experiences and
ence was the 125th anniversary of the Christian          talents, if living together in the unity of the true
Reformed denomination.                                   faith as Church of Jesus Christ in the same country
                                                         and on the same continent would have been  pre-
  It was rather natural, I think, that simply in         ferred...over stubbornly clinging to the wrong
general I would be curious as to a Canadian Re-          course taken in the beginning" (when the Christian
formed view of the Christian Reformed Church.            Reformed Church repudiated the Liberated and
But more specifically I was inquisitive as to what       cast their lot with the Synodicals of the Nether-
he might say about the history which led to the          lands, HCH). Then, after pointing out in what
formation of the Protestant Reformed Churches. I         respects the Canadian Reformed might have pro-
figured  - and proved to be correct in this  - that      fited, the Rev. De Jong goes on to state:


222                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



         But the same things apply to you even more. It is re-      show all of this to be true) that the Christian Re-
       markable that those among you who strive for a re-           formed Church in 1924 rejected  nothing,
       demptive-historical approach in preaching find most-         emphatically nothing, much less "a doctrine of a
       of their inspiration in the writings of those professors     God who gave unconditional promises to the
       and ministers who played a role in and after the Lib-        elect." The Synod of 1924 actually did not even
       eration of the Churches in Holland in 1944. How
       much, and how much earlier, could the whole of the           adopt any pronouncement concerning the views of
       Christian Reformed Church have profited from this,           Henry Danhof and Herman Hoeksema. It did not in
       also by learning to recognize and to avoid the dangers       so many words reject any of their views. It even
       of conservatism on the one hand and liberalism on the        gave the two men the testimony that they were
       other hand, just as in the Reformed Churches in The          Reformed in the fundamentals, though with a
       Netherlands the two even went hand in hand when it           tendency to onesidedness. It did not even advise
       came to a monster alliance against those who went            that discipline be exercised with respect to them,
       back to the Scriptures and to a better understanding of      though it had the opportunity to do so in the form
       the Reformed Confessions in the light of the Scrip-          of a proposal from the advisory committee. The
       tures.                                                       Synod of 1924 did not even have before it anything
  Now it is not my purpose to comment on the                        at all concerning "unconditional promises to the
above assessment of Liberated preaching and of the                  elect." And all this the Rev. De Jong might have dis-
history of the Liberation in 1944 and following                     covered if he had done his homework  - if not in
years, though much could be said about it. I only                   the abundant literature about the period available
quoted this paragraph for background. Now                           from Protestant Reformed sources, then at least in
follows the paragraph in which reference is made                    the Acts of the Christian Reformed Synod of 1924.
to 1924:                                                            But no! The Christian Reformed Church in 1924
         It was the stubborn  defence of scholasticism by a         "rightly rejected" a doctrine of "a God who gave
       conservative wing which imposed upon the churches            unconditional promises to the elect." Distortion of
       in The Netherlands a doctrine of a God who gave un-          fact and history! Were there any knowledgeable
       conditional promises to the elect (the same doctrine         men present at that Elders' Conference who perked
       which you find in the Protestant Reformed Church             up their ears at a distortion of that kind?
       and which was rightly rejected by the Christian
       Reformed Church in 1924). Unconditional promises               In the third place, this distortion of fact and his-
       to the elect as contents of the preaching easily leads to    tory led to a further distortion by way of what it
       a boasting of your being elect, or to a growing world-       failed to recognize and to mention. For in 1924 the
       liness in your lifestyle, because it takes away the ser-     Synod of the Christian Reformed Church did in-
       iousness from the preaching of God's Covenant                deed adopt and elevate to the status of binding
       promises and threats.                                        church doctrine the Three Points of Common
  Now, first of all, is it not remarkable that the only             Grace. And while the Christian Reformed Church
reference to 1924 in this entire address is a paren-                did not reject anything in 1924, the Protestant Re-
thetical remark? For anyone who knows anything                      formed Churches have ever since that time indeed
at all about the Christian Reformed history is cer-                 rejected something. To put it in the language of our
tainly aware that 1924 and all that stands connected                Declaration of Principles, they reject the following
with it was anything but a parenthesis. Not only                    erroneous teachings of the Three Points: "A. That
was 1924 a major crisis in that history, but the deci-              there is a grace of God to all men, including the
sions and events of 1924 have influenced the Chris-                 reprobate, manifest in the common gifts to all men.
tian Reformed Church ever since. Nevertheless,'                     B. That the preaching of the gospel is a gracious
one could perhaps allow a mistake of this kind on                   offer of salvation on the part of God to all that ex-
the part of a Canadian Reformed observer to pass                    ternally hear the gospel. C. That the natural man
on the ground that, not having had any direct                       through the influence of common grace can do
experience of the things involved, he was not in a                  good in this world."'Again, if the Rev. De Jong had
position to evalua-te properly their significance.                  had his facts and history straight, he might have
Meanwhile, of course, it remains true that a little                 had a far better understanding of the history of the
study might have gone a long way toward a proper                    Christian Reformed Church and, consequently, a
perspective.                                                        far different address to that Elders' Conference.
  But, in the second place  - and this is much                        In the fourth place, if he had done his home-
worse - the statement that is made about 1924 has                   work, the Rev. De Jong would certainly not have
absolutely no basis in fact. It is a complete distor-               distorted the facts by referring to us as "the
tion of history and fact, so complete that one who                  Protestant Reformed Church." We are not a
investigated the facts and the history even super-                  "Church" but "Churches." This may seem minor
ficially would be amazed at the Rev. De Jong's                      and insignificant to some, but it is not. For involved
statement. Consider the fact (and the record will                   in this seemingly insignificant difference is the very


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                              2 2 3



important difference in church polity to which the             Why do I write about this?
Rev. De Jong refers in his next paragraph. Still               I write because in my experience such distor-
speaking of "the stubborn defence of scholasticism           tions about the Protestant Reformed Churches have
by a conservative wing" in the Dutch controversy             come from the direction of the Liberated rather fre-
in the mid-194Os, he writes:                                 quently, especially ever since the rather heated
     Remarkably, it also led to a church polity which de-    controversy concerning the Declaration of Princi-
   manded unconditional obedience to church assem-           ples which eventually led to a parting of the ways
   blies, because it had no understanding for the            between the Liberated and us.
   covenantal character of both God's Word and the             Not many months ago a similar distortion ap-
   Church.                                                   peared in  De Reformatie.  Professor-emeritus L.
  Leaving aside that matter of the alleged lack of           Doekes made some reference to the Protestant Re-
understanding for the covenantal character of                formed Churches. In that reference he made the
God's Word and the Church, I would remind the                claim that we hold to the doctrine of presupposed
Rev. De Jong that already in 1924-1926, the Chris-           regeneration  - a claim that has frequently been
tian Reformed Church opted for the hierarchical              made by the Liberated over the years.
view of church government according to which it is
the prerogative of a broader assembly (in 1924 it              Now I am well aware that the mere mention of
was the Classis,  with the later stamp of approval of        the Declaration of Principles to the Liberated is like
the Synod of 1926) to suspend and depose  office-            waving a red flag before a.bull. And in a way, I can
bearers. We went through that battle long before             understand this  - both because of the history and
the Liberated Churches in the Netherlands had                because in the Declaration we repudiate the doc-
their beginning. In fact, it was partly our sympathy         trine of a general, conditional promise. But what no
for the Liberated with respect to church polity              one seems to want to recognize or acknowledge is
which led to our churches' granting of a sympathet-          the fact that the very same Declaration of Prin-
ic hearing to the late Dr. K. Schilder in 1947. We are       ciples also repudiates the doctrine of presupposed
a federation of autonomous churches, not a single            regeneration. In section "III" of the Declaration we
church with various branches or subdivisions.                find this statement: "We repudiate: 1. The teach-
                                                             ing: . ..b. That we may presuppose that all the chil-
  Now it seems to me that there are but two pos-             dren that are baptized are regenerated, for we know
sible explanations for distortions of this kind.             on the basis of Scripture, as well as in the light of all
Either the explanation lies in ignorance, in which           history and experience, that the contrary is true."
case the problem can be readily remedied and cor-
rection made. Meanwhile, such ignorance should                 And yet some continue to shove in our boots the
not break out into print. Or the explanation lies in         doctrine of presupposed regeneration.
deliberate distortion, which, of course, is far more           This is another distortion of fact and of history.
serious - especially when such distortion is public            We reject it!
and when it concerns matters of the church and of
the truth of God's Word. Then one can only ad-                 And it is time for some to pay attention to the
monish and warn that repentance must take place.             facts!
MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE


                                       Letter to Timothy

                                       February 15, 1983     but do so in such a way that he presents Christ as
Dear Timothy,                                                an  example  Whose life we ought to imitate. No mat-
  There are many things which a Christ-centered              ter how many times the  name  of Christ is men-
sermon is not.                                               tioned, his sermon is not a Christ-centered one, for
  A Christ-centered sermon is not necessarily a              the Christ of the Scriptures is not merely an
sermon which mentions the name of Christ many                example, but Savior.
times. I do not think it is difficult to imagine how           I could mention, I suppose, that certainly the
this is possible. A very Modernistic preacher may            Scriptures admonish us to follow Christ as our
mention Christ's name fifty times in his sermon,             Example. I am reminded, as an illustration of this,


224                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



of what Peter writes to God's people: "For what             which illustrates this, I think. It was back in 7th or
glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults,       8th grade in a Christian school in the Chicago area.
ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well,        We had a missionary speak for the school. I do not
and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is accept-    remember any details about the speaker or the
able with God. For even hereunto were ye called:            speech. But I do remember that, when I arrived
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an          home, my father asked me what I thought of the
example, that ye should follow His steps" (I Peter          speech. I told him that I did not care very much for
2:20, 21). But this is not Christ the example of the        it. He, of course, asked the reason for this. I was
Modernist, in whose eyes Christ is nothing but an           hard-put to give an answer, but finally blurted out:
example; even here Christ is our Savior, and He is          "She kept mentioning the name of Christ all the
our Example only because He is our Savior: "Who             time." No more than I had said it, and I was some-
did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth... .       what ashamed. And my father was taken aback by
Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on           this and responded: "Isn't it good to mention
the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live          Christ's name  in,a speech?" I had to confess that
unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were                indeed it was. But more than that I could not say.
healed" (vss. 22,24).                                       Looking back over the years, I became persuaded
  An Arminian preacher can also mention the                 that the difficulty was that the repeated mention of
name of Christ many times in a sermon, but still            the name of Christ was a kind of a blasphemy be-
not preach a Christ-centered sermon. In fact, it is         cause Christ was presented in a very Arminian
characteristic of Arminian Fundamentalism that              way.
the name of Christ is mentioned repeatedly. And,              There is another kind of sermon which is not
indeed, this deceives many. But a Christ-centered           Christ-centered. There are times when a sermon is
sermon it is not. It cannot be a Christ-centered ser-       preached and Christ is made the "third point," so
mon because it makes man's will the ultimate de-            to speak. If the minister, in good Reformed tradi-
termining factor in the work of salvation. And if the       tion, has a sermon of three points, then in the third
will of man is the ultimate determining factor, then        point he speaks of the cross of Christ, of the need of
Christ is not a complete Savior. He may be a partial        divine grace, and of the fact that Christ, through
Savior; He may be a Savior Who has made salvation           His cross, is our Savior. This is not a Christ-centered
available; He may be a Savior Who gives His salva-          sermon either. It may be a Christ-ended sermon;
tion only to those who take the initiative by coming        but it cannot be more than that. It is very well pos-
to Him to obtain it; but He is not a complete Savior.       sible, and, in fact, often done, that such a third
  Our Heidelberg Catechism has a very strong                point really contradicts the whole tenor of a sermon
question and answer about this. I refer to Q & A 30:        and is little more than an attempt at the end to
"Do such then believe in Jesus the only Savior, who         patch up what is essentially Christless. A  man-
seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of them-        centered sermon which ends with strong emphasis
selves, or anywhere else? They do not; for though           on Christ and His sovereign grace - no matter how
they boast of Him in words, yet in deeds they deny          loudly shouted or emphatically preached - has not
Jesus the only deliverer and Savior; for one of these       become Christ-centered.
two things must be true, that either Jesus is not a           It is reminiscent of the remark of a rather astute
complete Savior; or that they, who by a true faith          man who years ago characterized the preaching
receive this Savior, must find all things in Him            which he heard with the words: "De genade komt
necessary to their salvation." There you have it  -         achteraan als `n hinkende paard"; i.e., "Grace trots
in very strong language. If one denies that Jesus is a      on behind like a limping horse."
complete Savior, one may boast of Him in words,               No amount of references here and there in a
but one nevertheless denies Him  - does not                 sermon to Christ and to the need of grace can make
believe in Him. That is strong language, but very           a sermon Christ-centered which is not Christ-
true.                                                       centered in its whole theme, approach, emphasis,
  So, you see, the mere mention of Jesus' name is           and direction.
no guarantee that a sermon is Christ-centered. A              What then is a Christ-centered sermon?
minister must not fool himself into thinking that he
has prepared a Christ-centered sermon if he has               There are a number of things I want to say to you
mentioned our Lord's names a few times; nor must            about this; and I am sure that I will not be able to
a congregation be so insensitive to biblical truth          say them all in this letter. But in the space I have
and sound preaching that it thinks it has Christ-           left in this one, there are especially two points
centered preaching when it hears Jesus' name men-           which I want to make.
tioned.                                                       A Christ-centered sermon is, quite obviously, a
  I recall an incident from my grade school days            sermon which speaks always and only of Christ.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 225



But what precisely does that mean? Well, it means            many hymns and what is so very, very right about
in the first place, that the sermon tells of Who             our Psalters. What is true in songs can also be true
Christ is and what He has done. It is a sermon               in sermons.
which speaks of Christ as the eternal Son of God               However, a truly Christ-centered sermon is in
Who came into our flesh and became like us in all            the nature of the case also a God-centered sermon.
things, except our sin. It tells of Christ's whole           What I am talking about is not two distinct and sep-
work beginning with His birth in Bethlehem, going            arate characteristics which stand unrelated to each
on through His earthly ministry and suffering, con-          other. It is not incorrect to say that a sermon which
centrating upon His death on the cross, and climax-          is not God-centered is also improperly Christ-cen-
ing in His resurrection from the dead, His ascen-            tered. (That was a somewhat complicated way to
sion and exaltation into heaven and His return               say it.) A sermon which is Christ-centered in the
upon the clouds of heaven to judge the living and            right way is also God-centered; and a sermon
the dead and to make all things new.                         which is truly God-centered is also Christ-centered.
  Now, quite obviously, it is impossible that every            This should be obvious from a few considera-
sermon speak of all this. It is also impossible that         tions. Surely all Scripture, so completely  Christ-
even one part of this be fully and detailedly treated        centered, is nevertheless the revelation of God to
in any given sermon. But the point is that the               Whom belongs all praise and honor and glory, for
sermon must  proceed  from this truth. A sermon              of Him and through Him and to Him are all things
must have this truth as its central theme  - no              (See Romans 11:36).
matter what may be the specific subject under dis-
cussion. A sermon must have this current running               And a truly Christ-centered sermon is a sermon
through it like the electric current carried by a            which sets forth Christ as truly God Himself. God
wire. A sermon must develop this fundamental                 was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
truth no matter what aspect of Scripture is being            God, in the person of His own Son, came into our
treated. I want to give you some specific illustra-          flesh, for Christ is Immanuel, God with us. God
tions of this in a future letter; but let this be suffi-     lived among us; and in our human nature, which
cient for the present: all the truth concerning Who          the Second Person of the holy trinity united with
Christ is and all the truth concerning His glorious          His own divine nature, God died on the cross to ac-
work centers in the cross. For it is on the cross that       complish the redemption we could never accom-
our Savior accomplished full and complete salva-             plish. God is our Redeemer and Savior, our Help
tion as the eternal Son of God Who came into our             here in life, and our Hope for all time.
flesh. And every sermon has to have its starting               Every sermon which is truly Christ-centered,
point there.                                                 therefore, is a sermon which begins and ends with
  In the second place, every sermon which is                 God. Only then is it truly Christ-centered and
Christ-centered is also God-centered.                        Christ-filled.
  It is possible to be Christ-centered in a wrong                                                        Fraternally,
way. In fact, this is precisely what is wrong with so                                                    H. Hanko



                           New Zealand Newsletter
                                 TO THE BRETHREN AND SISTERS OF THE
                                  PROTESTANT REFORMED CHURCHES


Dear Brethren and Sisters in our Lord Tesus  Christ,         must admit to some initial degree of apprehension
Greetings from the Wellington and  Palmerston-               and that for two reasons: 1. We happen-to have an
North Protestant Reformed Fellowships in New                 author and ex-journalist in our midst, and 2. Those
                                                             who read the Standard Bearer must, of necessity,
Zealand!                                                I    be a discerning audience. An encouraeina nod from
  At our combined meeting at Otaki,  somewheri               our brother-author however,  seemed to have  set-
half-way Wellington and Palmerston-North, the                tled the matter. As far as the members of the Stan-
brethren honoured me with the assignment of                  dard Bearer family are concerned, we welcome cor-
"writing something for the Standard Bearer." I               respondence, even criticism.


226                                            THE STANDARD BEARER





       Left to right: Rev. J.A. Heys, J.P. de Klerk, A. van Echten, B. van Herk, K. Inskeep, R. Kane, A. Vooys

  Ever since the cooperation of the Holland,                  tion!) are now in New Zealand for the second time.
Michigan consistory, the Mission Committee's                 Four years ago they laboured among the members
recommendation, Synod's final approval, and last              of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Christ-
but not least the willingness of brother and sister           church, a town situated on the South Island. This
Heys to serve, the desire to "do something" has               time they work among the members of the Protes-
been with us. For well-nigh half a century many of            tant Reformed Fellowships on the North Island. It
us have known and confessed that "with God noth-             is now about five years ago since our brother had to
ing shall be impossible", yet to actually experience          submit to open-heart surgery, yet in spite of this
this truth in such an amazing fashion is a humbling           serious operation and in spite of being well into his
exercise. Just think of it, six (6) families of (Protes-      seventies and, ironically, further in spite of his
tant) Reformed persuasion dared ask for a minister           being retired, you find him tending part of the
. . . and got one! It becomes more remarkable still          Lord's vineyard somewhere on one of the corners
when viewed against the background of some of us.             of the earth! Such teaching by way of example
  It is the purpose of this newsletter to inform you          ought also to be a humbling experience to us all.
that there are members of the body of Christ                  God grant us the ability, the health and the desire to
"down under" without whom you can't function                  "labour for the Master, from the dawn till setting
properly, neither could we without you. This, of              sun." Mr. D. Engelsma, in his capacity of secretary
course, has already been recognized through the               of the Mission Committee, wrote to us on the 14th
labours  of our beloved pastor, the Rev. John A.              of April last year, "it was the committee's recom-
Heys, who took up residence in the hills of Maun-             mendation to Synod that Rev. Heys labour in your
garaki near Lower Hutt (Wellington area) good                 area for an `approximate' six months' stay." Of
three months ago. The work of our brother is main-            course we ought not to say a thing like that but ru-
ly confined to the Wellington area where four                 mours have it that we `exploit' the elasticity of that
families have resoled to defend and propagate the             statement to best advantage. . . .
faith once delivered to the Saints. The names of                One of our families, Mr. and Mrs. K. Inskeep, re-
these families are as follows:  Inskeep, Kane, van           side in Otaki. This township is approximately 49
Herk and Vooys. The other two families reside near           miles to the north of Wellington and 44 miles south
Palmerston-North where Mr. Heys preaches every               of Palmerston-North. Geographically therefore,
second Sunday of the month. The names of these               combined meetings at their place are extraordinari-
families are: de Klerk and van Echten (A.).                  ly convenient. Not everybody has the ready cash to
 The Lord's surprising provision in the form of a            make the change over from petrol to LPG or CNG,
pastor now labouring in our midst was a humbling             and money is hard to come by nowadays. Kevin
experience; yet something else needs to be said.             runs a small fruit farm, has a degree in horticulture
Brother and sister  Hey-s (who need no  introduc-            and is the youngest member of the fellowships.


                                           THE STA DARD BEARER                                                227



Whether his neatly trimmed beard stems from a de/-         of preaching to save them that believe. Irrespective
sire to conceal his real age or perhaps serves as a        of cultural backgrounds, the preaching's content is
moment0 of his puritan background, we cannot               always  the, truth, and "he that doeth truth cometh
tell. We do know that Kevin is a New Zealander bi          to the light."
birth and of Presbyterian background. He was also             Bob was baptized and confirmed in the Church
a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of            of Ireland. He became engaged to a Roman Catholic
Christchurch for some time. His hunger for  Refo$-         girl and for about a year he joined the Roman
mation  truth led him to build up an extensive li-         Catholic Church. At the age of 27 he was converted
brary which would cause the mouth of any Re-               as a result of a tract distributed by the Brethren. He
formed minister to water. In his spare time Kevin          then became part of the Brethren Movement for a
looks after the "Protestant Reformed Tape Li-              period of ten years. During this period he experi-
brary." This means our outreach is still in the pro-       enced a growing conviction of the Scriptural-ness of
cess of being built up, Those who subscribe to this        Calvinism. The reading and study of books
library are confronted with the one theme: God's           published by the "Banner Of Truth", especially
sovereignty displayed in the salvation of sinners.         A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, greatly influ-
Yes, Kevin has developed a delicate taste for things       enced his spiritual development. An increased
Reformed.                                                  spirit of discernment made him see the unpalata-
  Kevin and Ann have a 5 year-old girl and are             bility of many aspects of Brethren teaching. Finally,
eagerly anticipating the arrival of number 2 in            in 1977, he joined the Wellington Fellowship.
about four weeks' time.                                       Bob and his wife, Glenys, have two children.
  Besides counting New Zealanders by birth, our            Their boys are diligent in attending the Rev. Hey's
fellowships have a number of New Zealanders by             catechism classes.
choice. I refer of course, to those who. immigrated
since 1950 into this fair land where "the hills re-           New Zealand is a wonderful country. To live in
joice; the pastures teeming with flocks that skip          this country is a tremendous privilege; it's so easy.
and spring, the golden grain, in valleys gleaming-         to fall prey to self-indulgence in this environment.
all sing to God the King." (Psalter  419:5b).  What a      Constantly we need to be reminded that Abraham,
Church we would have if only God's rational crea-          the father of all believers, "sojourned in the land of
tures would do the same thing! I guess the thoughts        promise AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY." The
of all God's people wander off occasionally to the         folks of our fellowships realize this fact and confess
vision of the Redeemed, the great multitude which          that they are strangers and pilgrims who desire "a
no man can number. . . but then, back to the reality       better country." A glimpse at our newspapers tells
of the endtime,  we know that faith will be at a pre-      it all.
mium.                                                         In our next newsletter, the Lord willing, we hope
  Most of us, naturalized New Zealanders, have             to focus more on the Dutch element of our fellow-
been in this country for some period of time; three        ships, or should I say the Dutch heritage? Dutch,
of our families often reminisce and reflect on the         New Zealand, English, Scotch, Irish. . . God has
days when the Reformed Churches of New Zealand             made of one blood all nations of men and com-
were established 30 years ago, and that not quite          manded them to repent. Someone said, "true grati-
without feelings of nostalgia. The youthful enthusi-       tude is exercised in the depth of unworthiness and
asm, the excitement of taking a stand for God in the       the consciousness of guilt." True words. May the
midst of an apostate Presbyterianism, the challenge        Lord fill our hearts with the fear of His Name,
of the unknown, the building of a new future in a          cause us to break with sin, and to return to the God
foreign land. . . .                                        of our fathers.                   A. van Echten
  Besides immigrants from Dutch extraction how-
ever, we count among our members a lady from
Scotland, Mrs. E. van Herk, and a Mr. Bob Kane                   The Standard Bearer
from Northern Ireland. Mrs. Kane is New Zealand
born and of Anglican background.                                 makes a thoughtful
  Bob, who is our Wellington secretary, was first
introduced to the Protestant Reformed Churches
and their teaching at the time of Professor H.C.                              gift for the
Hoeksema's visit to Wellington in 1975.
  His story of the Lord's leading in his life is a very               sick or shut-in.
interesting one and remarkable in many ways. It
shows the wisdom of God to use the "foolishness"


228                                          THE STANDARD `BEARER



THE LORD GAVE THE WORD


            The! Place of the Individual Believer
                                  in Mission Work (2) r
                                            Rev. Ronald VanOverloop


  In our first article on this subject we considered        by gratitude. This is heartfelt gratitude for so great a
what is the primary responsibility of the individual        deliverance, for so great a Savior and salvation, and
believer. Three introductory observations were              for so great a hope. This sense of gratitude thrives
made. First, every true believer is concerned with          as the believer lives within the sphere of the
and desirous for and prays for the growth of the            preached Word. Therefore the believer's chief re-
church of Jesus Christ. From this perspective it is         sponsibility, whether on the mission field or in an
easy to see that this is true of the believer in the es-    established congregation, is to support the pure
tablished `congregation as well as in the mission           preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
field. The second introductory observation is that,                                ***+*
apart from an increased consciousness of the desire           From this delightful and eager support of the
for the organization of a congregation for the              pure preaching flows most naturally the responsi-
believer on the mission field, the activity and role        bility to give witness to this truth. Out of this heart-
of the individual believer in an established congre-        felt gratitude for so great a salvation the true be-
gation is no different from that of the believer on         liever will not be able to keep his mouth shut. He
the mission field. Thirdly, the true believer is very       will eagerly fulfill his role as prophet-bubbling
conscious that it is by the sovereign power of the          over. He delights greatly in the great salvation God
Lord Jesus Christ that the church grows. Not only           has wrought and which he experiences personally.
does He know who "should be saved," but also His            Out of the inner delights comes the ability to speak
is the right and power to add to the church, which          of what God has done for them. They are excited
is His Body.    -                                           about it. Of this activity of witness we speak in this
  The primary responsibility of the individual be-          article. First some introductory remarks are neces-
liever is to support the pure preaching of the gospel       sary to put this activity of witness in its proper
of Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and exalted. It is        perspective. Secondly, we will give the substantia-
that gospel which is able to make men wise unto             tion of Scripture for this activity. And then let us
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.           note some characteristics of witnessing.
The Lord adds to the church by saving men, and He             The proper place of witnessing is under the head-
brings men to the consciousness of salvation                ing of sovereign, divine salvation. The salvation of
through the preaching of the Word of God (Romans            the sinner is solely by God's power and grace. Al-
10:13-17). Zealously receiving the Word with all            though this is a work of God alone, yet God is
readiness of mind the true believer has not as his          pleased ordinarily to use means. Therefore we have
primary responsibility a special method of witness-         the preaching of the Gospel, through which God
ing but the wholehearted support of the preaching           imparts and strengthens faith. This Gospel is
of the Gospel. It is through that Gospel that Jesus         preached and proclaimed by the church; the
saves and thus adds to the church.                          church has an active role in this preaching. How-
  This support of the pure preaching of the Gospel          ever, the lively preaching  per se  is limited to the
is in perfect harmony with the subjective experi-           extent of the voice of the preacher. Those a mile
ence of the redeemed saint. That Gospel-preaching           away are without that lively preaching because
is the food which sustains, his soul. Not only does         they cannot hear it. Therefore, God ordinarily uses
his lively interest in the Word of God manifest itself      means also to bring people under the sound of the
in an eager and expectant gathering on the Lord's           preaching. That means consists of believers who
Day, but also throughout the week he reads the              gratefully and enthusiastically receive that Word.
Word, speaks of it, and meditates upon it. His              They are the biblically appointed way. Usually this
whole life is lived within the sphere of that               is called witnessing; sometimes it is termed
preached Word, which life is characterized chiefly          "preaching in the broader sense," on the basis of


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                             229



Acts 814.                                                 ness%as  the stars for ever and ever." According to
  The confession that salvation is solely by God's        John Calvin in his commentary on this passage, this
sovereign, irresistible grace does not deny His use       passage is first directed to teachers, but it also em-
of the preaching of the Word as the ordinary and          braces all  pious-worshippers of God. "No one of
usual means to impart faith. Nor does it deny His         God's children ought to confine their attention pri-
use of the believer's witness to bring elect souls        vately to themselves, but as far as possible, every
under the preaching of the Gospel.                        one ought to interest himself in the welfare of his
                                                          brethren. God has deposited the teaching of his sal-
  What is the Scriptural substantiation for the be-       vation with us, not for the purpose of our privately
lieving activity of witnessing?                           keeping it to ourselves, but of our pointing out the
  Psalm  51:13, "Then will I teach transgressors          way of salvation to all mankind. This, therefore, is
Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto             the common duty of the children of God,-to
Thee." In showing his gratitude to God for for-           promote the salvation of their brethren."
giving his sins, David says he will exert himself to        Thus we see it to be the teaching of Scripture that
effect the conversion of others. Delivered from sin       you and I and every believer give vent to the con-
and death David will teach transgressors God's gra-       sciousness of the salvation God has given to him.
cious ways. So overwhelmed with his own experi-           The sense and certainty of his own election and sal-
ence of so wonderful a forgiveness, David cannot          vation causes the believer to render "grateful re-
be quiet about it. "Those who have been mercifully        turns of ardent love to Him, Who first manifested
recovered from their falls will feel inflamed by the      so great love towards them" (Canons of Dordt,  I-
common law of charity to extend a helping hand to         13).
brethren; and in general, such as are partakers of                               * * * * *
the grace of God are constrained by religious prin-
ciple and regard for the divine glory, to desire that       It is not a question of whether a person wit-
others should be brought into the participation of        nesses, but of how he gives witness. We always
it." So writes John Calvin on this verse. Notice too      show others who and what we are. Therefore, to
how confident David is about expecting the conver-        complete a speech on the responsibility of the be-
sion of others. "We are too apt to conclude that our      liever in mission work, we will consider some of
attempts at reclaiming the ungodly are vain and in-       the elements of giving witness to the truth.
effectual. We forget that God is able to crown our          First of all, and as Rev.  Houck pointed out so
attempts with success." Again, John Calvin.               well in his speech, be honest. That means that you
  Consider Proverbs  11:30, "The fruit of the righ-       are yourself, not putting on a special image. It
teous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is     means that you live your faith and do not hide it
wise." The whole life of the righteous is as a tree of    under a bushel. SO let your light shine, that in
life. What the tree of life was in Paradise and will      giving thanks to God for salvation you manifest His
be in glory (Rev.  2:7; Prov.  lO:ll, 31,  32), so the    wondrous work in your whole life. With God as a
righteous are. By their life (prayers, deeds, exam-       natural, integrated part of the believer's whole life,
ple, influence) they nourish (Rev.  2:7; Prov.  1O:ll)    it is not hard to be spiritual and to speak of Him.
and comfort and heal (Prov. 12:18; 15:4).  In I Corin-    God is not compartmentalized, but is in the whole
thians  9:19-22 Paul does not deny God's sovereign        of the believer's life. Non-christians easily detect
work in salvation, but he knew God used means.            the reality of a genuine God-like, heartfelt know-
Paul also knew that such a use of means did not           ledge and experience of the grace of God.
ascribe any power to himself or take away from
God's grace. The unbelieving husband is said to be          Secondly, learn to listen. Do not leap in to resolve
won by the godly life of his believing wife (I Peter      every question immediately, but ask some ques-
3:l). James  5:19, 20 says the believer converts his      tions. Read through John 4 and consider how Jesus
sinful neighbor. These verses must be understood          bore witness of the truth to the Samaritan woman.
in the light of Matthew  5;16, "Let your light so         Rev. Herman Hoeksema, in a sermon on Luke
shine before men, that they may see your good             24:25-27  which was delivered on May 2, 1954, said
works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."        the following:
One of the reasons why believers must do good               "And the Lord said, `What thing?' The Lord
works is that "by our godly conversation others           wanted to draw them out.
may be gained to Christ" (Heidelberg Catechism Q.           "You know, that is one of the most fundamental
86).                                                      principles of education. The most fundamental
  Similar to Proverbs  11:30 is Daniel  12:3, "And        principle of education is that, if you approach a
they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the    man that has a problem, you must let him talk, let
firmament; and they that turn many to  righteous-         him talk. You do that too when you talk to others.


230                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



  "Take my advice in that respect. When you talk            method used by our fathers in the Canons. Learn to
to others about our Reformed truth or about Re-             express the contents of your faith positively, care-
formed doctrine, others that do not know the Re-            fully, and biblically. Thus you stimulate and arouse
formed truth or that do not want it even, let them          interest.
talk; let them present their own problem."                         These general guidelines for witnessing do not
  In the normal situations at work or play, initiate        come with guarantees of positive responses. There
and develop relationships in which you can realis-          will be rejection, and the truth will be denied. The
tically, relevantly, and lovingly convey to them the        gospel is determined to be a savor of life and a savor
gospel of Jesus Christ. In your day-to-day contacts         of death.
establish such a relationship that you can listen. It              But knowing what God has done for you in His
is most difficult to speak to someone you do not            sovereign grace makes you delight in that truth as it
know. One reason the Scriptures give for Jesus              is preached to you. You immerse yourself in it and
speaking in parables is because that is what "they          live in the sphere of it. Then you cannot help but
were able to hear" (Mark  4:33). In contrast to the         talk of it with enthusiasm and zeal. Because you are
disciples to whom He "expounded all things" (vs.            saved from hell and given to taste the righteousness
34), Jesus spoke in parables to the people because          of God in Christ you enthusiastically receive the
that is what they could understand. Having a                Word of the truth with all readiness of mind and
knowledge of His listeners' ability to grasp, Jesus         you joyfully confess His name.
spoke accordingly.                                                       "Now with joyful exaltation,
  Another reason for listening is that from a human                       Let us sing Jehovah's praise.
viewpoint men resent being trapped into a one-way                         To the rock of our salvation
conversation with one who does not `bother to                             Loud hosannas let us raise."
listen. It makes us wonder if the speaker really
cares or is just giving his talk. The second great                 Sing it! Live it! Not only in church, but in all your
commandment is to love our neighbor, which is               life.
concern for their highest good, namely, the salva-                       "Thankful tribute gladly bringing,
tion of their souls. If you listen to them, then you                      Let us come before Him now
gain their willingness to listen to you.                                  And with psalms His praises singing,
  Thirdly, stimulate; learn to arouse as Jesus did                        Joyful in His presence bow."
with the Samaritan woman and as Paul did in                        May God give us the grace to meditate on the
Athens. As Paul shows in I Corinthians  9:19-22, it         blessed Gospel of our salvation to learn it and live
was most important to him that the truth of Jesus           it.
Christ be proclaimed. That means that the witness                  Text of an address given at the Mission Emphasis
is essentially positive. When asked to give expres-         Day at the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Protestant Reformed
sion to your faith, it is best not to say first what you    Church last May.
do not believe, but to be positive. This is the

ALLAROUND US
Rev. G. Van Baren


                      Government Control Over
                                    Christian Schools


  Many in the state of Michigan are rejoicing over                    The First Amendment says flatly that Congress
a court ruling which appears to loosen a bit the                    shall make "no law" respecting an establishment of
grasp of "big brother" from parochial and private                  religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. That
Christian schools. The increasingly oppressive                     provision many years ago was extended to state legis-
regulations of the state threaten the very existence                lature as well as to the Congress.
of the Christian schools. In the Grand Rapids' Press,                 But the sovereign state of Michigan, in patent indif-
James Kilpatrick, a syndicated writer, stated.                      ference to the First Amendment, enacted a law that


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         231



   provides on its face for "the supervision of denomi-         quirements, this has surely in itself been no guaran-
   national and parochial schools." The act demands a           tee for quality Christian education. The fact re-
   certain "course of studies" in such schools. Under the       mains that, Scripturally, the state has no authority
   law, all teachers at these schools must obtain state cer-    over the education of my children; that is a  God-
   tification.                                                  given parental responsibility. We must carry it out
     There is still more to this Michigan law. Section 4 of     then, however sacrificially, to the best of our
   the act authorizes the state superintendent of public        ability. Nor ought we to succumb to the tempta-
   instruction to close non-complying schools and to            tions of asking the state for some kind of financial
   force their students to attend public schools.               assistance to carry out our duties. Another warning
   One of the purposes of the act, not so explicitly stated,
   is to recover for the public schools the $2,000 in state     about that temptation is found in  The Christian
   aid that is lost whenever a pupil goes to a private          News, Nov. 29,1082:
   school.                                                           The American Council of Christian Churches...is
  Time  magazine, January 10, 1983, presented a                    opposed to tuition tax-credits for private schools.
lengthy report on this same decision. Some of its                    Government support, direct or indirect, can so
comments were:                                                     easily become government influence in the program
                                                                   and instruction of a school. Almost forgotten is the
     The independence of that ministry was resounding-             application of the double imperative in the Scriptural
   ly upheld last week. In a strong, unambiguous deci-             mandate: "Render unto Caesar the things that are
   sion, a Michigan judge reaffirmed the First Amend-              Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."
   ment guarantee of separation of church and state by               The tax credits are based on the superficially attrac-
   exempting private Christian schools from state super-           tive notion that government should foster competition
   vision of their curriculum and teachers. Ministers,             between tax supported and privately funded schools
   teachers and parents of the Bridgeport Baptist Acade-           by making it more feasible for parents to choose
   my and the Sheridan Road Christian School, both near            among them. For the Bible-believer, tithes and offer-
   Saginaw, had charged that attempts by the state's               ings-not taxes under any guise-are God's methods
   board of education to supervise curriculum and                  of financing Christian education.
   teacher qualifications violated their religious freedom.
   Judge Ray Hotchkiss agreed, ruling that the board, by             Therefore be it resolved that the American Council
   imposing its secular standards of education on reli-            of Christian Churches advises its constituent
   gious schooling, "interfered with plaintiffs' constitu-         members and Bible-believers everywhere to look
   tional right to freely exercise their religion." Said           above and beyond the emotional and economic expe-
   Hotchkiss: "This court fails to see a compelling state          diencies to the Scriptural principles involved. Render-
   interest in requiring nonpublic schools to be of the            ing unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's is a spiri-
   `same standard' as public schools in the same district.         tual mandate-for the believer to pay his taxes as a civic
   Such a scheme does not ensure even a minimum de-                duty.
   gree of quality of education." Hotchkiss, however, did         Finally, there is a disturbing letter in The Chris-
   uphold the state's right to impose on the Christian          tian News, Jan. 10, 1983, written by the Vice-presi-
   schools health and safety requirements, to which they        dent of a certain "Missouri Roundtable." It appears
   had never objected.. . .                                     to present an authentic warning concerning
     In the Michigan trial, the issue of teacher certifica-     dangers to Christian schools:
   tion turned out to be more of an embarrassment to
   state officials than to the Christian schools. Education          This special letter is coming to you to alert you to
   experts could not agree on which standards the Chris-           the fact that our precious American freedom of reli-
   tian teachers needed to follow, nor could they prove            gion is in serious jeopardy!
   any link between certified teachers and good educa-               . ..During the first week of December, Congress by
   tion. Noted Judge Hotchkiss, a former public school             voice vote removed what were known as the  Ash-
   teacher: "The overwhelming evidence shows that                  brook-Dornan Amendments from an appropriations
   teacher certification does not ensure teacher compe-            bill for the IRS. This stripped away the protection
   tency and may even inhibit it."... He called state regu-        enjoyed by private Christian schools and all private
   lation of private schools "an incredible conflict of in-        schools for the last 206 years. If the situation is not
   terest."                                                        corrected, schools and ultimately churches and indivi-
                                                                   duals will lose their protection from the dictates of
     . ..Michigan officials intend to appeal Judge Hotch-
   kiss's verdict. Says Assistant Attorney General                 government. Believe me, the first amendment of free-
   Richard Gartner: "The state now has no process to               dom of religion is now in its first stages of assault!
   approve non-public schools.". . .                                 On August 22, 1978, the IRS had issued regulations
  It remains to be seen what develops from this                    that in effect said they had the power to regulate our
                                                                   entire lives because, using their reasoning, every tax
court decision. It has surely attracted nation-wide                deduction or exemption is in fact a subsidy and all
attention. It can provide some relief for the Chris-               subsidies will, of course, be regulated and controlled
tian schools. Though our schools also do have the                  by the government. This was done under the guise of
required certified teachers and meet other state re-               preventing "discrimination."


232                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



         What `does it mean? It means that the IRS, and in-                      appropriations bill for the IRS. Your Senators and
       deed all of government, can dictate to us all in the pri-.                Congressmen can be reached by asking for them
       vate sector of our lives-schools and churches in-                       through the Capitol switchboard (l-202-224-3121), or
       cluded. The government can now force private                              by writing to them in care of House of Representa-
       schools and even churches to hire people they nor-                        tives, Washington, D.C. 20515; or U.S. Senate, Wash-
       mally wouldn't-homosexuals, drug addicts, etc.                            ington, D.C. 20510. Please don't delay.
       They can also deny tax exemptions unless a school or                    The above letter appears to be an authentic
       church proves itself innocent of vague and nebulous                   warning. A few years ago, the Congress placed re-
       guidelines. Why? "Tax deductions are tax subsidies
       and therefore belong to the government." This is the                  strictions on the IRS when they began playing loose
       reasoning of the IRS and many of our liberal law                      and free with the "tax deductions are government
       makers.                                                               subsidies" idea. Now if this restriction is taken
                                                                             away, the Christian schools would be hearing from
         Action is needed immediately! Contact your Con-
       gressmen and Senators and ask them to support what                    the government again-and perhaps lose their right
       is known as the Ashbrook-Dornan Amendment to the                      to continue to operate. But all of this, one can ex-
                                                                             pect in these last days.


                                                Marriage Report

   The GKN in the Netherlands has adopted a                                      such a study. A delegate from, the "Youth Synod"
"Marriage Report" according to the R.E.S. News Ex-                               noted that in youth circles the report had been re-
change. In its issue of December 7, 1982, it reports:                                ceived with `great enthusiasm.' He said, "We do not
                                                                                 wish to abolish marriage, but other forms of relation-
         "Faithful in love" is the title of a report on marriage                 ships are not unbiblical."
       and other personal relationships adopted by the
       general synod of the Reformed Churches in the                           But anyone with a simple understanding of
       Netherlands (GKN). The synod rejected the criticism                   Scripture, and professing its infallibility, knows
       of its advisory committee that the report fails to in-                what the Bible teaches concerning  .homosexuality
       corporate an exegetical study. One delegate, Rev.                     and fornication. The above "Marriage Report" can
       G.H. Homans,  articulated the view of many synodical                  not alter plain Scriptural teachings in the eyes of
       delegates when he said that there was no need for                     God.

TRANSLATED TREASURES


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



[In the last article Kuyper began a discussion concerning refor-                Common members can come into conflict with
mation by means of separation from the denomination. He sug-                 the church federation in two ways: because they
gested, in this connection, two possibilities: one possibility is            act contrary to a certain rule laid upon the churches
that the consistory  of a local congregation is in conflict with the         by the church federation, or because they are
church federation; the other is that an individual is in conflict            wronged by the church federation in an appeal to a
with the church federation. Kuyper now proposes to discuss
these two possibilities separately.)                                         broader gathering.
   An individual who comes into conflict with the                              If you take the first instance and if such a mem-
church federation can be either a common member                              ber is branded as an "opposer of ecclesiastical or-
of the church or a person who is in a certain office                         dinances,  " then the church federation can either
or in a certain ministry connected to the church.                            look through its fingers and let the irregularity take


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              233



its course, or it can demand that the opponent cease       tioned above. Either he will submit himself to the
from his unlawful action. If the opponent gives in         sentence and then no conflict exists any more; or, if
to this, then the matter is ended. But if he, out of       he cannot submit, then the church federation might
obedience to the Word of God, considers it impossi-        drop the case; or if it comes at last to excommunica-
ble to give in and carries  .on his case, then the         tion, then he is under the same obligation as we de-
church federation will discipline him and will try to      scribed above, i.e., he must take independent
make him submit. The means which the church                action.
federation will use to do this are: 1) denial of eligi-      Actually, conflict between common members
bility for ecclesiastical offices and positions; 2)        and the church federation brings up the question of
denial of the use of sacraments; 3) suspension from        a break with the church as such, the reason why we
membership; 4) finally, excommunication.                   postpone further discussion of this sort of conflict
  The one who "resists," convinced that he may             to the following paragraph.
concede nothing, continues to press his case even            In the meantime, it remains for us, before we
though discipline after discipline comes upon him.         come to the question of the conflict of consistory
And when the sacraments are denied him, e.g., he           and church federation, to discuss the unusual con-
continues to go to the sacraments.1                        flict which arises not from the common members,
  This places the consistory before the question           but from persons in ecclesiastical offices.
whether it will help to punish the one who resists           This kind of conflict is of a more serious kind.
or, shrinking back from this, will refuse to execute       Discipline of common members is less damaging,
the punishment laid upon him. If the last happens,         and common members are subject to less disci-
then the conflict passes over from the individual          pline. Excommunication of common members
person to the consistory and we will discuss this          almost never occurs. A certain shame joined with
possibility later. But if the consistory does the first    an awareness of helplessness usually prevents
and assists in punishing the one who resists eccle-        ecclesiastical men from persecuting anyone with
siastical regulations by withholding the means of          spiritual punishments or from punishing them with
grace, then the conflict climaxes against the indi-        banishment when nothing else is to be charged to
vidual who is unrighteously condemned and the              them than that they are zealous for the honor of
conflict is between the individual and the ecclesias-      God. But the matter is qui-te different if ,the oppo-
tical federation which desires to force him to do its      nent is an office bearer or some ecclesiastical per-
will.                                                      son. Then there is much more of his influence to
  In such a case, it would be irresponsible for such       fear and the church federation has in its power
a person to submit. This would be a departure from         much more powerful means to punish him. He
his former faithfulness. And nothing would remain          who is in office an be suspended from that office or
for him but to come to the sacraments and, if these        set out of that office. The same holds for non-
are denied him by force, to institute with likemind-       official positions in the church. A supervisor who
ed people their own administration of the means of         wants no part of ungodliness can give much trouble
grace. Or, if there are no likeminded people, he           to the church federation, but the church federation
must seek in another church what his own with-             can also take away from that supervisor his mem-
holds from him.                                            bership. A janitor, a  precentor, an organist, who
                                                           will not slavishly go along with the church, can be
  If this leads to his excommunication, then he            punished with regard to his daily bread. This can
need not consider himself as excommunicated from           also be done to religious teachers who are con-
the church. But the obligation does rest upon him          sidered trouble-makers. And, with respect to offi-
to proceed with a new organization in his church           ces, what is easier than to remove on high authority
and, without outward show or desire for scandal, in        a deacon or elder who dares to test the ecclesiastical
the fear of God, to labor for it because he longs for      ordinances with God's Word? But what ought to
the pure administration of the means of grace for          stand on the foreground is the seriousness of a con-
himself, his own, and those who stand with him.            flict between a church federation and a minister.
  The second possible case is when he comes into           All other conflicts reach their apex in this. This is
conflict with the church federation by the decision        true on the one hand because of the powerful influ-
of a broader gathering. This can happen when               ence which a minister exercises and because of the
either he himself appeals against a decision of his        public nature of his actions. But this is also true on
consistory, or when his consistory agrees with him,        the other hand because the church federation can
but then another person appeals against this deci-         attack him directly and set him outside his office
sion of the consistory. Actually, however, it comes        and work, yes, out of his house and goods and
down to the same things, and the progress of the           money.
conflict will coincide with the progress we men-             It is from this kind of conflict that almost all


234                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



thoroughgoing reformations are born, and the              pour out this overflowing grace in the heart of
reason is clear why right here the highest moral          many ministers of the Word, to break in them the
power becomes manifest.                                   temptation of false reasoning with which they justi-
  A common member of the congregation can                 fy themselves, and thus to give to the church of
allow himself to be cut off without really having         Christ those natural leaders for its reformation
wrestled with his God, perhaps even in an insolent        without whose leadership and cooperation the
way. And, having been cut off, he remains what he         reformation of a church rarely succeed. And if the
always was. Especially today the accompanying             prayer is heard, then also the extraordinary
suffering amounts to almost nothing.                      measure of moral courage and faith which develops
                                                          in the ministers shall give to their words such a fer-
  For a supervisor or janitor, for an elder or dea-       vor and to their appearance such a power that the
con, to be deposed is most disagreeable, although in      opposition in the church federation succumbs of it-
the end he is not ruined. A supervisor loses a cer-       self.
tain monetary influence. A janitor loses a very
small part of his earnings. And an elder or deacon           Only through the spiritual awakening of the min-
returns to ordinary life without having lost what         isters of the Word can a church be saved; but also
the world considers desirable.                            only by the passivity of ministers a hostile church
                                                          federation remains strong.
  But this is entirely different for the preacher. For
a minister of the Word excommunication.is nothing            The consequence of a conflict between ministers
less than being cut off. from his life's position, a      and a church federation is always very serious.
taking away of his sphere of work, a deprivation of          It is serious in a tragic sense when a minister of
the whole of his existence, and that with the goad        the Word, after a moment of zeal, again lays his
behind it either to be unfaithfully silent, or to con-    head in the bosom, gives in, and thus the work of
tinue teaching. But then he will have to continue         God which he undertook is abandoned.
the conflict in a new way of suffering. Think of             It is serious in its direct consequences, This is
Kohlbrugge, what that way of suffering cost him.          true because a minister who is suspended must in
  On that basis we say that there is a much higher        such a case continue to preach in the church. Or if
grace demanded from the minister of the Word to           this cannot be, then he must preach outside the
remain faithful in such a conflict than from a com-       church. And if he is excommunicated, then he must
mon member or elder. The moral triumph over               gather the faithful to himself and preach the Word,
flesh and sin must be so much stronger in the min-        if necessary, in a stable or barn, from a shipdeck or
ister. His readiness to serve his Lord so much more       in an open fieid.
invincible, his desire for obedience so much strong-         Having come to this point, this conflict can also
er his willingness to make sacrifices must shine so       very easily lead to a break with the church itself,
much more brightly.                                       even as the consequences of the conflict between
  Common members and also elders who are so               common members and the church federation
ready to complain about the unfaithfulness of our         spoken of in the following paragraph.
ministers must also ask themselves once if they           `In the following paragraph Kuyper says that in this way the
would be found as faithful if their whole life's pasi-     matter is brought before the consistory and the consistory is in
tion, yes, the bread of their wives and children           this way forced to deal with the question. It is probably more
were at stake.                                             in keeping with Reformed church polity, however, for the in-
  But, on the other hand,. one must then also be           dividual to submit rather than to force the issue by going to
zealous in prayers whether God might be pleased to         the sacraments even when they are denied him. He can bring
                                                           the matter to the consistory by way of protest and appeal.

QUESTIONBOX

                       Christ's Blood of Atonement
                                                  Rev. C. Hanko

  A reader asks:                                           Only Christ as God's Son can do this. Therefore He
  "I have a question on Christ's suffering and             must assume our human nature, to suffer and die
death for our sins. Our sins require satisfaction, so      on the cross, and bear away God's wrath and curse
that God's wrath against our sins can be satisfied.        against us.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              235



   "Jesus bore God's wrath against sin in perfect,         22:44). He was beaten until the blood flowed from
willing obedience and love to God. In this way He          His many wounds. On the cross, nails were driven
satisfied Gods justice and atonement was made.             through His hands -and feet. He suffered a slow,
When He died and voluntarily gave His life, His            painful death in complete self-surrender to the
bZood  was shed. Was the atonement only in the fact        Father, giving, as it were, His precious blood drop
that he willingly and obediently bore God's wrath          by drop for our sins. When His side was pierced,
for our sins, or was there also satisfaction and           blood and water flowed forth as a testimony of His
atonement in the shedding of His blood? Was Jesus'         completed sacrifice by the shameful, accursed
blood special and precious, and did it .have saving        death of the cross. Jesus gave His all, His very life,
power? In other words, did He have to shed His             to save us from our sins. Greater sacrifice can no
blood to pay for our sins, or was that the giving up of    man make than that!
His life?' '                                                 This blood also speaks of our intimate union with
   It is refreshing to receive correspondence from         Christ. Already during His public ministry we read,
someone who so thoroughly understands the doc-             "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
trine of atonement, especially in our day when this        unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,
doctrine is misrepresented and openly denied.              and.drink  His blood, ye have no life in you." And
  If I understand correctly, the question is this:         again in verses 55, 56, "For My flesh is meat in-
What is the particular significance of the fact that       deed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth
Christ shed His blood as an atonement for our sins?        My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me,
                                                           and I in him."
  Throughout the Scriptures there is a strong
emphasis on the shedding of Christ's blood as an es-         It is only through that intimate union with Christ
sential part of the atoning sacrifice for our sins.        that we become partakers of, Him and of all His
                                                           benefits. The Spirit of Christ lays a bond of faith be-
  We find this repeated reference already in the           tween us and our risen, exalted Lord. By faith we
Old Testament. The fig leaves with which our first         appropriate Christ's flesh and Christ's blood.
parents covered themselves were altogether useless         Therefore our Lord teaches us that we eat and
in covering their sin before the face of God. God          drink His flesh and blood, both through the preach-
supplied the skins of animals, thereby teaching            ing of the Word and through the administration of
them that only by the shedding of blood-what a             the Lord's Supper. (See the Heidelberg Catechism,
fearful sight that must have been for our first            Lord's Day 29, question 79, and the Netherlands
parents-could satisfaction be made for our sins. In        Confession, article 35.) In this last mentioned arti-
faith Abel brought a lamb for a sacrifice. Through-
out the entire old dispensation sacrifices were            cle reference is made to eating and drinking "the
brought, blood was shed, either on a lone altar, or        proper and natural body and the proper blood of
in the tabernacle, or later in the temple. What a          Christ." From time to time this has raised a few
stream of blood flowed throughout that dispensa-           eyebrows. But when we continue reading we
tion of shadows! What a countless number of ani-           realize that also here a spiritual eating and drinking
mals were sacrificed before the Lord! Yet Hebrews          by faith is meant. "This feast is a spiritual table, at
teaches us that all the blood of steers and bullocks       which Christ communicates Himself with all His
could not atone for a single sin, but was a type and       benefits to us, and gives us there to enjoy both
shadow of the substitutionary suffering of Christ on       Himself, and the merits of His sufferings and death,
the cross. Hebrews  9112 tells us, "Neither by the         nourishing, strengthening, and comforting our poor
blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He         comfortless souls by eating His flesh, quickening
entered in once into the holy place, having obtained       and refreshing them by the drinking of His blood."
eternal redemption for us." In the old dispensation          Among the benefits of salvation that we receive
the shedding of blood spoke of the necessity of the        through Christ's death Scripture specifically men-
substitutionary sacrifice of our Lord on. the cross        tions our  redemption. God has purchased His
and was a promise of God's great gift of grace for         church with His own blood (Acts  20:28). "We are
our salvation.                                             redeemed, not with corruptible things, as silver or
  The shedding of Christ's blood on the cross cer-         gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a
tainly speaks to us of His willing and obedient sur-       lamb without spot" (I Peter 1:19).  Paul also assures
render to God for those given to Him of the Father         us, in Ephesians  1:7, that we have redemption
(John  lO:ll, 15, 18). He laid down His life for His       through the blood of God's beloved Son, even the
sheep, thereby carrying out His Father's will (John        forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
4:34,  6:38,  17:4,  19:30). It can be said that there     grace. (See also Col. 1:14; Rom. 3:25). We are saved
was no other way whereby we could be reconciled            from- eternal wrath, for we are justified through
to God and made worthy of eternal life. Already in         Christ's blood (Rom. 5:9).
Gethsemane Jesus sweat great drops of blood (Luke            Another benefit that Scripture often mentions is


236                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



our sanctification through the blood. "The blood of        the Lamb and by the word of their testimony"
Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin'! (I         (Rev. 1210, 11). In Revelation 7: 13, 14, John sees a
John  1:7; Rev.  1:5). Peter addresses the believing       great multitude that no man can number arrayed in
strangers and pilgrims scattered throughout the            white robes before the throne. The angel informs
world as "Elect according to the foreknowledge of          John that "these are they which came out of great
God the Father, through the  sanctification  of the        tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of      made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Jesus Christ." This blood of our Savior purges our           Christ's blood has its peculiar significance, first
conscience from dead works (Heb. 9:14). It gives us        of all, in the fact that it speaks of His willing and
boldness to enter into the holiest, that is, into inti-    obedient sacrifice unto death, the giving of His very
mate fellowship with our God (Heb. 10:19). There-          life to atone for our sins. And secondly, it speaks of
fore this blood is also referred to as "the blood of       the fact that He became like unto us as partaker of
the everlasting covenant" (Heb. 13:20; Eph. 2:13).         our flesh and blood that we may be partakers of
  The final outstanding blessing that Scripture            Him and of His benefits in intimate communion of
mentions is our  gZorification.   The saints in heaven     covenant fellowship with our God forever.
have overcome the power of Satan "by the blood of
GUESTARTICLE


                  The Church and Her Creeds1 (1)
                                                Rev. RonaZd Hanko



  There is an essay by a well-known British author         cerning the Word of God. Now it is not my purpose
of this century entitled "Creed or  Chaos?"2  In the       in this article to defend the Scriptural basis for
essay the author defends the use of creeds in the          creeds or to fight for our creeds, but rather to en-
church, and the title of the essay very aptly de-          courage the faithful use of our creeds. This is im-
scribes the urgency of maintaining and defending           portant because the creeds are not just dead docu-
our creeds. The only alternative is ecclesiastical         ments but the LIVING confession of the church of
chaos. History has proved that, especially in the          Christ. Those Scripture passages which are used to
last century. The church has moved off her creedal         defend the creeds make it very clear that the creeds
foundation, has separated herself from the church          are indeed this living and believing response of the
of the past and from the Word of God, and is no            church to the revelation that God has given in His
longer protected from the chaos that the floods and        W o r d   ( P s a l m   116:10,  M a t t h e w   10:32,  12:34,
winds of doctrinal change, spiritual ignorance, and        Romans 10:9, 10, II Timothy 2:12, I Peter 3:15).
worldliness bring.                                            Listen once to what the Reformer John Knox says
  Many actively oppose the use of creeds and the           in the preface to his "Confession":
doctrines taught in the creeds; but an even greater            For we are most certainly persuaded that
problem is that of neglect of the creeds. Whether              whoever denies Jesus Christ, or is ashamed
this neglect is the fault of the leaders or of the lay-        of Him, in the presence of men, shall be de-
men is really a moot question-the fact is that the             nied before the Father, and before His holy
creeds are neglected by both pulpit and pew. The               angels. And therefore, by the assistance of
creeds have become dusty archives because the                  the mighty Spirit of our Lord Jesus, we firm-
church is silent concerning them. And where                    ly promise to abide to the end in the Confes-
silence rules, ignorance follows. Also among those             sion of this our Faith.3
who still subscribe to the great creeds of the Refor-      Remember that this is Knox's justification for writ-
mation, the prevailing attitude is one of embarrass-       ing a creed.  He makes it very clear that this creed
ment when the creeds are mentioned, perhaps be-            is not just a doctrinal statement on paper but a con-
cause they have heard too often that the creeds are        fession of faith. And because it is a confession of
not "relevant." But such an attitude is very wrong.        faith in the Saviour Himself, Knox speaks of "abid-
  We must defend our creeds unashamedly as the             ing" in that confession and refers to Matthew lo:32
living Confession of the church of Jesus Christ con-       as his biblical warrant.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              237



  We too must "abide" in our Confession and must            The second use of the creeds follows from this
do that not only by keeping our creeds, but also by       first use, then, and that is the juridical use of the
making faithful use of them. There are many dif-          creeds. This means that in connection with the
ferent ways in which our creeds can and must be           Word of God the creeds have a place in settling dis-
used. In the remainder of these articles it is my in-     putes and guiding the affairs of the church. The
tention to distinguish and discuss seven different        creeds are not the final arbiter of truth and practice.
usages of our creeds: constitutional, juridical,          The final arbiter is the Word of God. The creeds
apologetic, liturgical, homiletical, pastoral, and        themselves must always be tested by Scripture and
devotional.4 We certainly do not claim that these         submitted to authoritative inspection of Scripture.
are the only ways in which our creeds can be used,        Nonetheless, through use of the creeds the church
but they are nevertheless basic both in the life of       has the guidance of the past history of the church
the church and the members of the church.                 and of the Spirit who certainly worked in the
  We shall see too that some creeds are used more         church of the past. It would be both foolish and
in one way than in another-that is, in fact, the          very wrong to ignore that guidance as though the
reason why we have creeds in the plural and not           church of ages past was not Spirit-filled and Spirit-
just one creed. Some of these different uses also         led.
overlap, but the point is that in these and other           We must remember that in all disputes, whether
ways we must make a conscious and deliberate ef-          of doctrine or practice, the church's calling is not to
fort to retain our creeds as our living and abiding       run after every new thing, but to "stand . . . in the
confession of faith concerning the Word of God.           ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is
  The first and most basic use of our creeds is the       the good way, and (to) walk therein" (Jeremiah
constitutional use. By this we mean that the creeds       6: 16). Thus the members of the church find rest for
are the basis for the organization of the church.         their souls.
This is not apart from the Word but in connection           Again, it is not only the Three Forms of Unity
with it, for the creeds are the confession of the         which have juridical significance, but also our
church concerning God's Word. A key Scripture             minor creeds stand as the testimony of the church
reference in this connection is Matthew  16:16-18,        of the past concerning the doctrines of the sacra-
where Jesus Himself tells Peter that on the rock of       ments and of the offices in the church. It is here
Peter's confession concerning the living Word of          also that we must be admonished and encouraged
God, Jesus will build His church. By such a confes-       to make full use of our creeds in our Consistories
sion the church separates herself from all those          and other ecclesiastical assemblies. We must not be
who do not confess the same faith, whether in hea-        ashamed to use our creeds in relation to the prob-
thendom or in apostate Christianity, for how "can         lems and difficulties which arise out of the life of
two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos          the church.
3:3). At the same time this Confession of the church        Very closely connected with this legal or juridical
concerning the Word of God becomes a basis of             use of the creeds is the apologetic use. Here we re-
unity with all those who are agreed in faith and          fer to the calling of the church to contend earnestly
hope. Through her creeds the church declares her          for the faith which was once delivered to the saints
purpose to unite in fellowship with all who make          (Jude, 3). An apology is what Peter speaks of in I
the same confession, in order the better to realize       Peter  3:15: "an answer concerning the hope that is
her calling to be a light in the world.                   within us." We are commanded to be ready always
  Our own three major creeds, the Heidelberg              to give such an answer, and it is in obedience to
Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons          that command that many of our creeds were writ-
of Dort are even called sometimes, in this connec-        ten. The old ecumenical creeds of  Nicea and of
tion, "The Three Forms of Unity." Also our                Athanasius, the Belgic Confession, the Canons of
"minor" creeds, however, are "forms of unity."            Dort, and other creeds such as the Westminster
By our minor creeds I mean such things as our             have this as their primary purpose. The Belgic Con-
Forms for the Sacraments and for the ordination of        fession even quoted I Peter 3:15 on its original title
Pastors, Elders, and Deacons. These. creeds also are      page as an explanation of its existence.
"confessions" concerning important practices and            That apology or answer which is demanded of
principles of Christianity, and thus a basis for unity    the church and her members has both a positive
and fellowship with those of like faith. This consti-     and a negative side. The positive side is the calling
tutional use is the basis for all the other uses of       to give a positive witness to the truth of God's
creeds. Only if the church is constituted and built       Word, and the negative side is the calling to do this
upon a specific confession concerning the Word of         over against all error of doctrine and life. The
God will the creeds be part of her life and practice.     creeds mentioned above do both. None of them is


238                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



completely or even especially negative, though             that "we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
they do witness fearlessly against the errors of Ro-       things which we have heard, lest at any time we
manism, Arminianism, and Anabaptism. Nor have              should let them slip. For if the word spoken by an-
they in their defense of the faith become outdated.        gels was steadfast, and every transgression and dis-
These three errors are still those that "trouble           obedience received a just recompense of reward;
Israel" today, and our creeds stand as a mighty bul-       how shall we escape if we neglect so great salva-
wark against the errors of Rome and of reformed            tion; which at the first began to be spoken by the
apostasy. The world has not changed, but still lies        Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that
in darkness, and the lie also works by its power in        heard Him" (Hebrews 2: l-3).
the world as it did from the very beginning. We            IMuch of this article is taken from a speech given on this sub-
may not, therefore, turn our backs on the church's         ject in May, 1982 in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.
witness from the past, but be encouraged by it to a
love of God's Word and courage for the battle.             2Dorothy  Sayers in Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World,
                                                           pages 3 l-45, (Eerdmans, 1969).
  These first three uses of the creeds have to do es-      3Twentieth  Century Edition of Knox's History and Confession,
pecially with the church"s official life. The remain-      page 342 (Revell, 1905).
ing four are more closely connected with the
worship of Christ's church and the spiritual life and      4The credit for these distinctions must be given to Rev. Peter
walk of the child of God. To these we turn in a fur-        De Jong who used most of them in a speech given in North-
                                                            west Iowa several years ago.
ther article. In the meantime may we remember



                                        Book Reviews

FOUR TROJAN HORSES OF HUMANISM,  by                        various practical problems which arise in connec-
Harry Conn; Mott Media, 1982; 143 pp., $5.95               tion with the presence of evil in this world and ex-
(paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                      poses in this connection the shallow view which is
  While the book, in an interesting way, exposes           held by modern "liberalism." His conclusion to the
the errors of humanism in our society, its apologet-       whole discussion is that the believer's only answer
ic value is limited because of the author's defense        to evil is that ultimately God will triumph over it
of the doctrine of free will. which leads him also to      and gain the complete victory.
wrong conclusions about God's providence in this             The book ought to be read by many, for Plantin-
world. It is worth reading if one is interested in         ga's approach is always an effort to be biblical. It is,
knowing more of how humanism has a strangle-               however, not all hat easy to read since there are in
hold on our culture, but it is of little value in help-                         il
                                                           it many philosop ical discussions concerning the
ing one develop a biblical defense against this devil-     philosophical aspects of evil. It is not necessary,
ish heresy.                                                though, for one to be trained in philosophy to read
                                                           and appreciate this book.
LEARNING TO LIVE WITH EVIL, by Theodore                       There is one serious flaw in the theology which
Plantinga; Eerdmans Publishing, 1982; 163 pp.,             Plantinga presents, a flaw which is not unexpected.
$5.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                It is a flaw of such a serious nature that, from a cer-
  The problem of evil in the world has long attrac-        tain point of view, it seriously erodes the value of
ted the attention of theologians and philosophers.         the book and places it outside, true Reformed think-
Plantinga adds his bit to the discussion in a very in-     ing. I refer to the fact that Plantinga does not hold
teresting and worthwhile book which is written             firmly to the idea of God's sovereignty also over the
from the perspective of historic Calvinism.                devils and sin. He discusses this question, but it is
  After Plantinga discusses the three main kinds of        less than satisfactory. This deficiency is even evi-
evil in the world (natural, moral, and demonic) he         dent from his solution to the problem which he
gives an historical survey of the four major answers       finds in the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom  of
to the problem of evil as proposed by philosophers         God and the final overthrow of the forces of evil.
and theologians: evil as ultimate, evil as necessity,         It is true that supralapsarians and infralapsarians
evil as non-being, and evil as alienation from God.        have a different conception of God's sovereignty
In the latter part of the book Plantinga discusses         over sin; but the fact remains that even a Reformed


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                  239



infralapsarian would not deny this crucial point. It                          THE DRAMA OF CHRISTIANITY, An Interpre-
is also true that we face here a great mystery of                             tation of the Book of Revelation, by S. L. Morris;
God's providence; but mystery or not, we cannot                               Baker Book House, 1982; 147 pp., $4.95 (paper).
deny the clear teaching of Scripture in this respect.                         (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)
If one denies the sovereignty of God over sin, one                               As anyone who has even a passing acquaintance
must, in some way, make sin a power in God's                                  with the book of Revelation will know, it is impos-
world outside God's control. This is unacceptable                             sible to treat adequately this important and difficult
dualism which is not only contrary to Scripture, but                          book of the Bible in a book of fewer than 150 pages.
which also robs the believer of his comfort.                                  This is undoubtedly the weakness of this reprint.
   It is at this crucial point that we demur from                             However, the explanation which this book gives of
P l a n t i n g a 's   w r i t i n g s .                                      Revelation is basically sound. One may disagree
WHO AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING HERE???,                                         with the interpretation of some of the details, but
by Mark W. Lee; Mott Media, 1982; 144 pp., $9.95,                             the overall explanation of the book is correct. For
$5.95 in paper. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                                  this reason the book has a certain value. It is a good,
                                                                              concise survey of Revelation and will assist the
    Writing about the doubts Christians have relat-                           reader in grasping the whole of the book and the
ing to self identification, acceptance, and the direc-                        general outline of it. It can very well serve as an in-
tion and quality of life, Dr. Lee gives a mixture of                          troduction to a more detailed study. It is recom-
current psychology and religion to help the Chris-                            mended for that purpose.
tian understand himself. A book of more Scripture
and less psychology would be of more enduring                                    Especially interesting is the author's explanation
value.                                                                        of Revelation 20 which is, on the whole, correct. In
                                                                              it he also refutes the position of the pre-millennial-
                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                        ists, but fails to point to their basic error: a denial of
                                                                              the kingship of Christ over His church.
    The members of the Ladies Aid Society of First Protestant Re-
formed Church were saddened in the loss of one of their members,                 The book could serve admirably for a study
MRS.  TILLIE MEULENBERG. We express our sympathy to her family.               guide in societies which are making this book the
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and           object of their discussions.
glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly"
(Psalm 84: 1 1).

                                                   Mrs. N. Phillips, Pres.
                                                   Mrs. H.  Baar, Sec'y.                         FULL-TIME TEACHER NEEDED!

                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                           Covenant Christian High School is accepting applications for one
                                                                              full-time teacher for the 1983-l 984 academic year. Areas for which
   The Priscilla Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church              applicants can apply are Bible, Business, Church History, Contempo-
(Grand Rapids, MI) expresses their sincere sympathy to their fellow           rary Religions, German, and History. Send letter of application to Mr.
member, Mrs. Gerrit Bol, in the death of her mother, MRS. HENRY               David Ondersma, Chairman of Education Committee, 6761  Brook-
MEULENBERG, whom the Lord took unto Himself on January 10,                    wood Dr., Grandville, Ml. 49418.
1 9 8 3 .                                                                                                        NOTICE
    "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm
116:15).                                                                         Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will meet on
                                                 Mrs. C. Kregel, Pres.        Wednesday, March 2, 1983, at  8:30 A.M., in South Holland, Illinois,
                                                 Miss R. Sietstra, Sec'y.     the Lord willing. Delegates in need of lodging should inform the Clerk
                                                                              of the South Holland Council.
                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                                Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk
                                                                                                                      Classis West
   The members of the adult Bible Society of  Doon,  (Iowa), Protes-
tant Reformed Church wish to express their sympathy with the love                                OFFICE-BEARER CONFERENCE
of Christ to two of their fellow-members, Mr. and Mrs. James  Hoog-
endoorn in the death of their father-in-law and father, MR. JOHN              Subject:        The Work of the Elders with the Alcoholic
MANTEL.
                                                                              Time: Tuesday, March 1, 1983 from 9:00 a.m. to  4:30 p.m.
    Our prayer is that God will be their comfort in their sorrow.
                                                                              Place: South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, South Holland,
                                                   Rev. M. Kamps, Pres.               Ill.
                                                   Barb Hunter, Sec'y.
                                                                              Papers given by:
                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                           I) Prof. Robert Decker, professor in our Theological School, "An
   The Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of South East Protestant Reformed                   Introduction to the Problem Among Us"
Church extends its sincere sympathy to two of their members, Mr.                 2) Mr. Paul Van Koevering, member of our Holland, Michigan con-
and Mrs. Jack Feenstra, in the passing of Mrs. Feenstra's sister,                   gregation, "Alcoholics Anonymous-A Critical Analysis"
MRS. GERALD DE  VRIES.                                                           3) Pastor Ron Van Overloop, missionary in Birmingham Alabama,
   May they find comfort in the words of I Cor.  15:22. "For as in                  "The Use of `Wine' in the Scripture"
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."                     Anyone who is interested in this subject is welcome to attend the
                                          Rev. Carl Haak, Pres.               Conference. For more information and suggested reading on this sub-
                                          Mrs. Harlow W. Kuiper, Sec'y.       ject contact your pastor.


  THE STANDARD BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064                         -     .---
Grand Rapid's, Michigan 4.9506





240                                        THE STANDARD BEARER


                           News From Our Churches                                                               .

  Now that the second semester at our seminary             labors.
has begun, Ken Hanko and Barry Gritters are look-            The council of the Protestant Reformed Church
ing forward to their graduation this coming spring.        of South Holland was also busy during January.
Their graduation this spring will end many recent          They sent "a committee of Elder M. Smits and for-
years of intense training and academic instruction.        mer Elder A. Lenting to our Birmingham mission
I know that both seminarians are earnestly await-          field...as part of (their) oversight of the field." Per-
ing the confirmation of their calling to be a minister     haps Rev. Van  Overloop will send me some
in one of our churches or our mission fields. May          information concerning his labor in that part of
God graciously provide them a place of labor in His        God's kingdom.
vineyard.                                                    The Kalamazoo Protestant Reformed Church is
   In the last issue I commented about the Activities
Committee of Kalamazoo Protestant Reformed                 also busy sponsoring "The Protestant Reformed
                                                           Chapel" at Bradenton, Florida. The winter chapel
Church sponsoring an all day conference on the             services are held at Bradenton Christian School.
subject, "Bringing Up Children in an Increasingly          Rev. C. Hanko will preach there through February,
Evil World." This weekend many of us received a            and Rev. G. Lubbers will preach there into  mid-
letter from the Committee stating the same infor-          April.
mation but also asking for a response to two ques-
tions. "What do you see as the greatest need in              First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand
bringing up children today?" "What would you like          Rapids has requested that Rev. Flikkema, with the
discussed about it?" The "it" no doubt refers to the       consent of the Council of Hope Protestant Re-
"greatest need in bringing up children today."             formed Church, labor in Jamaica from February 27
Several people from the Grand Rapids and Kalama-           through March 20. Actually, three ministers are
zoo area will participate on panels, Friday, April 8.      planning on going to Jamaica so that their stays
If you desire to respond to the above questions            there will overlap by one week. Rev. Joostens will
and/or plan to attend this worthwhile conference           be going first. All three ministers will go for three
send your information to 427 North Fletcher, Kala-         weeks' time. The third member has not been con-
mazoo, Michigan, 49007, by February 24th. The              firmed as yet.
Activities Committee will greatly appreciate your            First Protestant Reformed Church is also plan-
response. By the way, the parsonage telephone              ning on a special congregational meeting February
number of Rev. Woudenberg has been changed to              14th. "The purpose of this meeting is to gain con-
1-616-345-4556.                                            gregational approval for the following consistorial
  The consistory of Hope Protestant Reformed               recommendation: `That we extend the closing date
Church in Redlands, California has been busy with          for the sale of our property from February 1 to July
interested people in Ripon.  Ripon is approximately        1, 1983.' " The prospective buyer requested this ex-
350 miles northwest of Redlands  by air and approx-        tension so that adequate funds can be provided and
imately 70 miles east of San Francisco by air. The         so that a bond issue can be approved by the state of
Reformed Witness Hour broadcasts over station              Michigan.
KLOC in Modesto, which is 12 miles southeast of              I gleaned this from Covenant Protestant Re-
Ripon. Rev. Koole and Mr. J. Jabaay flew up to             formed Church's bulletin: "Hope Protestant Re-
Ripon  the week of the 9th of January. "They led a         formed Church, Redlands, CA is still looking for
very good discussion dealing with the Theory of            loans from our people to finish its building project.
Common Grace. Some new contacts were made as               They need a total of $40,000 to complete the pro-
well which seem promising." "The group is re-              ject. They are offering Treasury Bill rates with a
questing a  missionary and the Consistory would            minimum of 10% interest, payments to be made an-
like to reach the point where (they) can commit a          nually. There is no minimum on the loans. For in-
full time missionary to the area in good con-              formation contact Mr. Dennis Van Uffelen, 1-714-
science." May God add abundant fruit upon their            794-4467."                                    DH


