           The
     STANDARD
          BEARER
*           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                   Y





     .  .  . Indeed., we who were poor have now be-

     come rich, unspeakably, unbelievably rich.
     What shall we say? In the cross of Christ we
     glory. Do we glory in that cross? Shall we
     then present ourselves, body and soul, as liv-
     ing sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving?
     What else can we do? To Him be all the
     praise and the glory, to God as the God of
     our salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
     See "Rich Through Christ's Poverty"
                                                        - page 482


.                                        Volume LIX, No. 21, September 15, 1983 1


482                                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER
                                      CONTENTS                                                                                           ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                               Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
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                                                                                                     Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       Rich Through Christ's Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .482                                Department Editors: Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, Rev. Ronald
                                                                                                     Cammenga, Rev. Arie  denHartog,  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. Richard  Flik-
  Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485                   kema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Mr. David Harbach, Rev.
                                                                                                     John A. Heys, Rev. Kenneth Koole, Rev. Ja Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers,
  Editorial -                                                                                        Rev. Rodney  Miersma, Rev.  Marinus S x.
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MEDITATION

                                 Rich Through Christ's Poverty
                                                                                      Rev. H. Veldman

                       `%or ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes
                  He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."                                                                                  II Cor. 8:9


  To give, liberally and cheerfully, is possible only                                                   their collecting for other needy churches. And in
by the grace of God. We read in verse 1 of this                                                         verse 1 the apostle ascribes this liberality to the
eighth chapter of II Corinthians: "Moreover, breth-                                                     grace of God bestowed upon these churches of
ren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed                                                      Macedonia. Indeed, to give liberally and cheerfully
on the churches of Macedonia." Paul is speaking                                                         one must first receive the grace of God; however,
here of the churches of Macedonia which, notwith-                                                       when this happens one must give. This follows
standing their great affliction and deep poverty, ac-                                                   from the grace of God, is its absolutely necessary
cording to verse 2, abounded in their liberality in                                                     fruit.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                483



  And now, in this text, verse 9, the apostle refers          Our Lord Jesus Christ became poor. Must this
to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, although       poverty be understood as according to His divine
rich, for our sakes, because of us, He became poor,         nature? Does the Word of God here teach that
that we might be rich. This is a very profound              Jesus, the Son of God, while in the state of humilia-
word, and it reminds us of another equally pro-             tion, laid aside His divine nature and riches? Or
found word of God, recorded in Philippians 25 ff:           does this text teach us that Jesus hid His glory
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ          which He possesses as God, so that it was covered
Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not        by His humiliated human nature? This cannot be
robbery to be equal with God. . ..`I But, as is also the    the meaning of this scripture. We read a similar
case in Philippians 2, this very profound scripture         thought in Philippians 2:6: "Who, being in the form
is recorded with a very practical intent and pur-           of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
pose: knowing this grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,          God." We read in our text: "For ye know the grace
we, being so tremendously rich, must also reveal            of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, being rich, He for
this as we consider the needs of others in the midst        your sakes became poor." Literally, however, we
of the world. Being rich, having been so unspeaka-          read: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus
bly poor, it is hardly proper to shut up and close our      Christ, that, being rich, He for your sakes became
bowels of mercy and compassion.                             poor." We do not read in Philippians 2:6 that He
                     **********                             was in the form of God but "being in the form of
                                                            God." And this means that He continued in the
  Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.               form of God, essentially. And in our text we do not
What a knowledge!                                           read that He "was rich," but "being rich." He
  The word grace, which means fundamentally                 therefore continues to be rich while becoming
"beauty, attractiveness," referring to the truth that       poor.
God is beautiful and eternally attracted unto Him-            The idea of this scripture is therefore plain. Even
self, as the triune God, in the bond of infinite good-      as in Philippians 2:6 He is and remains God, but
ness and perfection, also appears in the Word of            made Himself of no reputation, emptied Himself
God as meaning unmerited and condescending                  according to the human nature, so, in this word of
goodness and favour, viewed subjectively from the           God, while being God and remaining rich, He
viewpoint of the sinner. The sinner is wholly un-           became poor as in His human nature. In His be-
worthy of the grace of God, and therefore the grace         coming poor His being rich as God remained unaf-
of God, from the viewpoint of the sinner, is com-           fected.
pletely unmerited. It is this thought of God's conde-         Our Lord Jesus Christ became poor. How true
scending goodness which receives the emphasis               this is at the time of His incarnation, when He was
here. This is plain because we read that Christ,            born in Bethlehem! No, this does not mean that He
although rich, became poor for our sakes, because           became poor simply by becoming man. In the first
of us.                                                      place, He is and remains God. The birth of the Son
  What a knowledge this is! We know this. We                of God in our flesh and blood did not involve Him
know that Christ, being rich, became poor because           in any change of His Godhead. And, secondly, He
of us. We know that the eternal Son of God,                 is still man, also in His state of exaltation and glori-
although rich, impoverished Himself in order to             fication; but He surely is no longer poor. His pover-
make us rich! Surely, this wonderful truth is not           ty does refer to how He became man: He was born
known by us through natural observation, with our           in our guilty relation to the law. He took upon Him-
natural eyes and ears. This is not something we             self the humiliated human nature, assumed respon-
could ever conclude from what we could see and              sibility for all the sins of all the elect throughout all
observe. How could we, viewing Calvary, ever con-           the ages. However, He became poor, throughout
clude that we were being made rich by the suffer-           His life, especially upon the cross of Calvary. How
ing and poverty of the Sufferer upon Golgotha?!             He impoverished Himself, became poor! He made
Does not all appear hopeless upon the cross of Cal-         Himself of no reputation (Phil. 2:7); He emptied
vary? How, then, can and do we know this? We                Himself, as we read it literally in this passage in
know this, first of all, by divine inspiration. The         Philippians 2. He destroyed Himself. He descended
Lord has revealed the wonder of this upon the               into death and hell; He destroyed Himself eter-
pages of Holy Writ. And, secondly, we know this             nally, submitted Himself to the eternal and infinite
by the testimony of the Holy Spirit in our hearts;          wrath of God, cried out in utter amazement, "My
this knowledge is the experiential knowledge of             God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" In-
divine grace; by His Spirit we have experienced this        deed, He made Himself of no reputation forever;
amazing wonder in our hearts. Spiritually the Lord          He perished everlastingly. This is the unfathomable
has made it known unto us.                                  mystery of the cross. What a poverty!


484                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



   We are become rich. What an amazing riches!              eternal and infinite wrath of God, in His vicarious
   What a riches of grace, even in a negative. sense        atonement, His suffering and dying for us as our
of the word! We have been saved, delivered from             Substitute, for His people. He became poor for our
hell, from everlasting damnation! We have re-               sakes, because of us, in order that we should be
ceived the forgiveness of all our sins; we have re-         rich; that is the purpose that drove Him and the re-
ceived a payment that covers all of our iniquities;         sult He achieved. His poverty is our riches, in-
we have been declared righteous before God. What            asmuch as His poverty is the bearing of all God's
a wonderful. salvation, when viewed negatively.             wrath upon our sins and the meriting of everlasting
This is surely great and wonderful! Yes, but it is          life and glory.
merely the negative aspect of our deliverance. And            How was this possible? This we can understand
if our salvation be great when viewed negatively,           only in the light of the truth that He, being rich,
how great our deliverance must be when viewed               became poor. This can only be explained in the
positively! Indeed, we have been made rich. And,            light of the truth that this amazingly poor and im-
what a riches!                                              poverished Sufferer is the Son of God, is rich as the
   Imagine if we were to receive all the gold and all       eternal Son of God. This is what we read here: "For
the silver and all the cattle upon a thousand hills;        ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that,
imagine if we were to receive title to all the goods of     being rich, He became poor." He became poor
this present time, if we were to inherit all of this        while being and remaining rich. It is because He is
world's wealth. Receiving all this we would have            the Son of God that He could die for others, pay the
nothing in comparison with the riches we have               guilt of others, inasmuch as, being the Son of God,
now received. After all, this world is a perishing          He had no guilt of His own. It is because He is the
world, and it is this with all that it contains. We are     Son of God that He could bear the et.ernal and infi-
heirs of everlasting life and glory. To be sure, in         nite wrath and indignation of the Lord. It is because
that city of our God there will be no sickness, no          of the fact that He is rich, as the eternal Son of God,
pain, no death, no sorrow, no crying, no distress of        that His amazing humiliation into the depths of hell
any nature, no sin. But, positively, we shall inherit       demanded an exaltation of like degree, into ever-
a riches, a glory so great that, upon receiving it, we      lasting life and heavenly immortality. What a
shall declare that the half was never told us, that no      miserable caricature the Arminian presents to us of
human heart could ever conceive of it, no human             the cross of Jesus Christ, our Lord! He would have
eye could ever see it and no human ear could ever           us believe that this Man of Sorrows died for all
hear it, a glory so great that it could never enter into    men, head for head. He speaks of a Christ Who also
the heart of man. .We shall receive new heavens             died for those who perish. He would therefore have
and a new earth, shall receive a salvation according        us believe in a Christ that died in vain. He would
to body and soul, of heavenly life and immortality.         rob us of the wonderful atonement of Calvary. In-
We shall never hunger again, never thirst again; we         deed, we who were poor have now become rich,
shall be perfectly adapted to the service of the Lord,      unspeakably, unbelievably rich. What shall we
the one and only blessed God; we shall see God              say? In the cross of Christ we glory. Do we glory in
face to face, in Jesus Christ our Lord, together with       that cross? Shall we then present ourselves, body
all the saints from the beginning until the end of          and soul, as living sacrifices of praise and thanks-
time. We shall enjoy perfect liberty, free from all         giving? What else can we do? To Him be all the
sin and death, to serve the living God forever and          praise and the glory, to God as the God of our
ever, in never ending heavenly life and glory.              salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
  We have become rich - how? 0, the text does
not mean that He became poor in order that we
should be rich in the sense that we became rich
merely by viewing Him as our example. A mere                    The Standard Bearer
example can never change and therefore help us.
We are dead in sins and in trespasses and no
example can ever induce us to turn to the living                 makes a thoughtful
God Whom we hate and despise. We read literally:
He became rich for OUT sakes, because of us. Indeed,                           gift for the
the secret, we must understand, lies, of course in
His poverty, in His atonement. How seemingly im-                      sick or shut-in.
possible and contradictory! How can poverty make
one rich? He became poor, made Himself of no rep-
utation, emptied, destroyed Himself. The secret lies
in His emptying of Himself, in His bearing of the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   4 8 5



                                             Editor's Notes

End of Volume 59                                            am glad to note that they are increasingly "going
With this issue we have come to the end of Volume           public, ' ' as I suggested some time ago. Be sure to
59. The annual index will be found in this issue,           read their informative letter.
thanks to my editorial assistant, Mr. D. Doezema.                                      *****
That reminds me: on October 1 the Standard Bearer           Publication News
celebrates its sixtieth birthday!
                         * * * * *                          It begins to look very much as though the RFPA
                                                            Publications Committee will go to press with Ger-
"Open Letter"                                               trude Hoeksema's Bible story book early this fall.
In this issue you will find a rather lengthy contribu-      Although it is highly improbable that the book will
tion entitled "Open Letter."' It concerns the move-         be ready before Christmas, we will strive mightily
ment for Reformed higher education. Personally, I           to achieve that goal.
EDITORIAL

                         The CRC and the Doctrine of
                Reprobation - Further Evidence
                                               Prof H. C. Hoeksema

  Dr. Harry Boer and I are in agreement. I believe          Boer's charge than evidence which can be gotten
that he is correct when he charges that his church          from the official pronouncements of the Christian
does not believe and confess the doctrine of sover-         Reformed Church itself.
eign reprobation as taught by the Canons of Dor-              And that evidence is at hand.
drecht. I believe that he is correct when he accuses
his church in his recent book, The Doctrine ofRepro-          Before the 1983 Synod of the CRC was a hybrid
bation in the Christian Reformed Church, "that in           new       confession     called a             "Contemporary
spite of the solemn and weighty affirmations and            Testimony." The Testimony itself is in the form of
promises made in the signing of the Form of Sub-            a prose-poem with the title, "Our World Belongs To
scription, in spite of the unambiguous undertakings         God." Added to the latter is a rather lengthy com-
to defend, teach, preach, and otherwise implement           mentary on the various paragraphs of the Testi-
the teachings of Dort, no doctrine in the CRC is            mony. According to The Banner (July 4, 1983, p. 17)
more ignored, more silenced, more mortifying,               this Testimony was adopted in 15 minutes and
more theologically embarrassing, and more regard-           "recommended to the churches for `use in worship,
ed as evangelistically absurd than the doctrine of          education, and outreach.' The approval is provi-
reprobation." (p. 75)                                       sional, of course." The Testimony will be subject to
                                                            revision and final approval in 1985.
  To be sure, this agreement is from radically dif-
ferent viewpoints. Dr. Boer vehemently denies the             Perhaps we shall comment on this Contempo-
doctrine of reprobation as taught by the Canons             rary Testimony later, even as we did on the RCA's
(and is himself in violation of the Formula of Sub-         "Our Song of Hope."
scription), while I wholeheartedly subscribe to it            At the moment, however, I want to focus your
and live up to my subscription.                             attention on one paragraph of the Contemporary
                                      .i.
  Nevertheless, as to the                                   Testimony, paragraph 33, and on the commentary
                               fact we agree. I also be-
lieve that Dr. Boer in his book proves his claim,           on that paragraph. Both appear under the title
chiefly by pointing to the treatment which his              "Election and Reprobation" on p. 436 of the 1983
gravamen received in the Christian Reformed                 Agenda For Synod:
Church and by the synods of his denomination, as I                            Election and Reprobation
pointed out in my September 1 editorial.                              Therefore the Father chose
  There is no better evidence of the truth of Dr.                     those whom He would save


486                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



             in Jesus.                                                doctrine of election, and that the heartbeat of elec-
            And Jesus' love,                                          tion cannot be sensed throughout the Testimony.
             through His Spirit,                                      But reprobation is not even mentioned! Talk about
             moves us to faith and obedience.                         being silenced to death!
                             (Contempora y Testimony, par. 33)          But if one expects better things from the Com-
         The doctrines of election and reprobation have
   been the subject of much discussion within the Chris-              mentary, he is doomed to utter disappointment.
   tian Reformed Church recently. These teachings also                  Mind you, the Committee who composed this
   mark a crucial difference between Reformed and                     document was mindful of previous synodical state-
   other evangelical churches. We gladly testify now                  ments and mindful of the Boer Gravamen, as the
   why we keep teaching these doctrines.                              footnote indicates. I cannot refrain from wondering
         The Bible shows that God works out His own de-               whether they were also mindful-perhaps subcon-
   sign as He reclaims the world for Himself. The re-                 sciously-of the First Point of 1924. But at any rate,
   demption of sinners is accomplished by the amazing                 they were mindful of Dr. Boer's sharp criticisms.
   grace of the sovereign God Who initiates salvation.                Perhaps they were even painfuZZy mindful?
   Our faith, love, piety, or good works do not force God
   to favour us. In fact, we confess that from the begin-               Notice that one looks in vain for any kind of
   ning of our life on earth we need the forgiveness and              statement which even approaches saying what the
   renewal of God's mercy. But we  ceiebrate  the free-               Christian Reformed Church believes concerning
   dom of God to save those who do not deserve it.                    reprobation. Notice, further, that while this Com-
   So the church confesses that the patriarchs, Israel, and           mentary makes reference to the Canons of Dor-
   the church were chosen in Christ "to grace and to glo-             drecht, it does not make any reference to the two
   ry, to salvation and to the way of salvation. . .`I (Can-          crucial articles concerning reprobation, namely,
   ons of Dort, I, 8). We know and believe this because               Canons I, 6 and Canons I, 15. Notice, thirdly, that
   God has shown it in .the proclamation of the gospel. To            the Commentary does its utmost in the fourth para-
   believe in Christ is, through the working of the Holy              graph in an oblique kind of way to skirt reprobation
   Spirit, to believe in God Who has elected us in Christ             and negate its possible implications. Is this an at-
   to be His own and to remain His own forever. In                    tempt to escape an implication to which the Study
   God's electing love we see the eternal source of our               Committee on the Boer Gravamen refers, a state-
   hope, comfort, and joy (Eph. 1:3-14).                              ment to which Dr. Boer also refers in his book:
         Those sinners who do not come to repentance and              "Furthermore, it would seem to be an implication
   faith stay under God's judgment (John 3:18, 36). God               of the teachings of the Canons on reprobation, plus
   is righteous in this judgment, for He is not the cause of          their teaching on the nature of our fallen condition,
   sin and unbelief. Rather, He calls sinners to faith and
   repentance and states His desire that sinners turn and             that for a person who never comes to faith, it was in
       live (Ezek. 33:ll). Therefore no sinner need fear that,        fact always impossible that he would"? Notice, in
   being reprobate, there is no hope of salvation, for any-           the fourth place, that in the final paragraph of the
   one may turn to Christ and be saved (John 3: 16; Can-              Commentary there are three negative statements,
   ons of Dort, II, 5; III-IV, 8).                                    but still no positive expression concerning reproba-
         In teaching the doctrines of election and reproba-           tion: 1) ". ..we reject the attempt to find a logical
   tion we reject the attempt to find a logical balance be-           balance between the two (election and reproba-
   tween the two. We do not accept Arminianism, which                 tion) . ' ' 2) "We do not accept Arminianism...." 3)
   denies the sovereignty of God, nor fatalism, which de-             "We do not accept...fatalism . . ..`I
   nies the  responsibiIity of humans. We trust in the                  The conclusion is obvious. From this Contempo-
   good pleasure of our heavenly Father and gladly teach              rary Testimony no one could possibly learn what
   how long and strong our tie to God is. "For from Him
   and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be               the Christian Reformed Church believes concern-
   glory forever" (Rom.  11:36).                                      ing reprobation, and that, too, while the Commen-
        (Previous synoclical statements: H. Boer Gravamen, Acts of    tary states, "We gladly testify now why we keep
   Synod 1980, pp. 73-76,486-558.)                                    teaching these doctrines."
  This, I say, is further evidence of the truth of                      And this is a Testimony to be used "in worship,
Boer's contention that the doctrine of reprobation is                 education, and outreach"?
silenced to death in the Christian Reformed
Church. And it is evidence from the CRC's official                      It is plain that the Christian Reformed Church
mouth.                                                                would at least have been more honest if they had
                                                                      heeded Dr. Boer's gravamen and eliminated the
  Notice, in the first place, the fact that in the                    doctrine of reprobation from their creeds. For Dr.
Testimony proper ("Our World Belongs To God")                         Boer's claim is true: the doctrine of reprobation as
the doctrine of reprobation is not so much as men-                    taught by the Canons of Dordrecht is silenced to
tioned. I will pass by the fact, at the moment, that                  death by the Christian Reformed Church.
this is also a totally inadequate statement of the


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 4 8 7



TRANSLATED TREASURES

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


(Kuyper is, in this paragraph, discussing church reformation as        Both are possible.
it involves a break with the denomination. Reformation always          We know that the theory is set forth by men of
begins with an individual or with individuals in a local congre-
gation, but always continually involves the denomination as a       importance that, "As long as you remain under the
whole. The role of a minister is always more serious than that       existing Church Order you are obligated to conduct
of the ordinary members because his office is at stake.)            yourself according to that Church Order." But it is
                                                                     our inner conviction that this is false. The rule,
  We come now to the'second  category which we                       after all, that no obedience to man is possible ex-
defined as conflicts with the church federation.                     cept it be in complete obedience to God's Word,
That is, we speak of those who are called to church                  holds not only for the state and society, but for
reformation not by a few persons (whether                            school and family, and also in like measure and
common members or office bearers) but by the                         even in higher measure for the church.
dealings of the consistory itself.                                     A child stands under the rules of the house. But if
  These conflicts have an entirely different charac-                 ever a command of father or mother or governess
ter in so far as they do not create strife between a                 should lead to something that i's disobedience to the
few persons and the church federation, but                           Word of God, then the child may not obey. The
between the church federation and the whole con-                     same rule applies for servants over against their
gregation as an organized body.                                      mistresses, for school children over against their
   Such conflict can arise in a threefold way. First,                masters, for workers over against their bosses, for
it can happen that a person (whether a common                        soldiers over against their officers, and for citizens
member or an office bearer) is condemned by a                        over against their king. Thus even in a stronger
church federation without the consistory feeling                     sense this is the rule of the consistory over against
free before God to help carry out this sentence. In                  the church federation.
such a case, the consistory defends the one who                        The idea that promises of faithfulness or sworn
was condemned and, if .the church federation main-                   oaths would deprive that rule of its strength is ab-
tains its position, the consistory comes under the                   surdity itself. The Thebes Legion had also sworn a
same condemnation. Secondly, it can happen that                      military oath to Caesar, but nevertheless it refused
the consistory feels compelled not to carry out a                    to participate in idolatrous sacrifices, and permitted
rule or alteration of the Church Order which was                     itself, after being brought back to Geneva, twice to
made law by the church federation. And thirdly, it                   be decimated and then to be killed as sheep for the
is possible that the consistory, seeing no advantage                 slaughter rather than to be obedient to the com-
in remaining in that church federation but realizing                 mand of its general.
that it could be spiritually detrimental to the con-
gregation, breaks with that church federation,                         Also if the Church Order is not yet changed and
introduces a new Church Order and intends to                         one still lives in the church federation, yet a consis-
form a new church federation.                                        tory must never do, out of submission to the church
                                                                     federation or as following that Church Order, what
   According to this point of view, these three cases                it knows is not good, nor honorable, nor responsi-
actually become one with two different possibili-                    ble before God the Lord.
ties. The consistory retains the Church Order and
still remains in the church federation; but the con-                   The all-inclusive reason which settles everything
flict arises through the opposition of the members                   is that every stipulation of obedience, or bond of
of its congregation, or through opposition; from                     promise, or obligation to submission to human
within the consistory and thus the further develop-                  rules, always and above all and under all circum-
ment of the conflict has the result that the consis-                 stances is limited by the all-governing condition
tory, without fear of further confusion, may decide                  which never has to be expressed because it speaks
one of two things, vis., either to continue under the                for itself: Nothing may be done which conflicts
existing Church Order or to set it aside.                            with our obedience to God.


488                                          THE   h-ANi3~1313   BEARER



   Many are the consequences which the conflict              sciousness penetrates in the consciences of the
which thus arises can bring about. And this is all ac-       office bearers, and by them is brought into the con-
cording to what the membership of the consistory             sistory, then such a consistory shall weigh whether
is, what the inclination of the church federation is,        the existing Church Order permits a reformation of
what the constitutional position of the church is,           the church according to the demand of God's
what the connection between church overseers and             Word. If not, then one should so revise that Church
consistory is, and whether the congregation, com-            Order that the obstacles which stand in the way of
pletely or by majority, supports or opposes the con-         reformation would disappear. And if this is not pos-
sistory in the conflict which affects it.                    sible, then the only solution is that those who op-
  If the legal relation is free from every sense of          pose reformation should not interfere with those
party spirit in the administrative government as             churches who desire it.
well as in the judge; if the prelates remain faithfully        Even if one takes this last position, a change of
on the side of the consistory; if the consistory need       the Church Order is not yet absolutely necessary.
not be apprehensive that their members are in col-           But if, on the other hand, the consistory becomes
lusion with the opposition;-then such a conflict             certain that the existing church federation is going
presents little danger and the church federation             to oppose necessary reformation, that the federated
shall as a rule end the matter by conceding the              churches are not prepared for nor inclined to an al-
point. This is more likely if the lower body of the         teration of their Church Order; and that the officers
church federation (e.g., the classical government)           of the church federation will not permit the re-
refuses to lend itself to execute the decisions.             forming church to proceed;-yes, then there is not
  But we may not hide the fact that circumstances           the least doubt that a consistory is bound to break
are seldom so favorable. In a number of consistor-          temporarily with the denomination and to intro-
ies a minority, usually with preachers at the head,          duce a better Church Order on the ground of the
choose the side of the church federation over               historical confessions. If such a consistory can do
against faithfulness to God's Word. In almost all           this together with other consistories so that it
congregations a part of the church members lend             immediately enters a new church connection, so
themselves to the opposition. In far and away the           much the better. But also, if this does not succeed
majority of cases the classical government assumes           and the consistory stands before the choice of going
the role of policeman. In very many cases the pre-          its own way or of refraining from reformation, its
lates hand over the building, assets, and whatever          obligation is clear to continue an independent exis-
more there is to the officers of the church federa-         tence.
tion. All in proportion to whether the government              Such a consistory has the right of this step
representatives who serve the king are obviously            because of two considerations. First, it has this
for or against the church federation, either the ad-        right from the obligation which rests upon it to
ministration will ignore everything or oppose it.           keep the church faithful to God's Word. Secondly,
And finally, the outcome is determined by whether           it has this right from the circumstances that each
in the highest governing judicial circles historical        church, which continues in church federation re-
investigation has led to a better knowledge of the          tains the right to loose one's self from that bond.
church political question, or whether a lack of such        This is true because no church ever possesses the
an investigation compels them to maintain the con-          right to sell itself into slavery. Suppose a consistory
ventional policy. This will determine whether the           had taken on a contract to bind its church for all
decision of the highest rightful power maintains the        time, even if that were possible, and that the bond
original right of the churches or harms that right          would result in apostasy from the living God, then
perhaps for all time.                                       such a contract would be already null and void be-
  Circumstances are almost the same where the               cause each immoral alliance would be declared in-
conflict arises not under the existing Church Order         valid by the civil law.
but because the Church Order is set aside. This is             Taking such a step such a consistory in the mean-
all the more true where consistories, who come into         time would have to pay very careful attention to
conflict with the Church Order, when the danger of          four things.
separation arises find it advisable to break imme-             Surely, first of all, it would have to pay attention
diately with the Church Order.                              to the fact that the pressure and impulse for such a
  It can happen that the consistory sets aside the          step does not arise from a Phariseeistic pride, from
Church Order without a definite occasion. As soon           turbulent discontent, or from superficial church
as in a church of God an upright and genuine con-           ideas, but that it is deeply rooted in the desire and
sciousness of guilt concerning the unlawful                 obligation of the soul to be subject to the Word of
condition of the church is aroused and this con-            God. Every impulse which is not rooted in obedi-


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                            489



ence to God's Word is revolutionary pride and                ger that the decision, before it is carried out, turns
must be opposed.                                             around into its opposite.
  Secondly, the consistory must see to it, as it takes         Further, the consistory may not only react
such a step, that it correctly lays the foundation for       against the false and corrupted church federation,
the new movement, not by breaking with history,              but it must allow censure to work in the congre-
but by maintaining the historical confession of the          gation and must manifest the power of saving and
church as basis. At the same time it must draw up a          condemning love, not only against corruption of
newly introduced Church Order which does justice             doctrine, but also against profanation through
to the principle of God's Word, introduces no new            careless walk of life.
tyranny and not only opens the way for a new                   No less must the preaching of the ministers serve
church federation but is itself taken up in this fed-        to enlighten the congregation and to bind reforma-
eration.                                                     tion of heart and house on the soul.
  Thirdly, such a consistory goes to work with cau-            Finally, the consistory, whether in planned
tion. They must be harmless as doves, but also wise          meetings or through circulated letters, must en-
as serpents, as Jesus has also commanded us.                 lighten the congregation concerning what is hap-
Where there are three or four ways of doing things,          pening and help her to live along in the struggle
the consistory must avoid the reproach of risking            which is fought for the honor of God and His Word.
carelessly the well-being of the church and her
future existence through inconsideration or a fool-            In short, just as you would not let an artistic
ish disposition of the matter.                               work of your beloved be done in your home where
                                                             there was much noise, but would allow it to be
  If one takes an example from the relationship be-          done only under quiet prayers and with holy ear-
tween the consistory and government representa-              nestness, thus also it ought to happen with this ar-
tives, if a situation is not good but can possibly be        tistic work in your church.
made better, it is reckless to neglect this.                   Prayer should be made in a clear consciousness
  At the very least good and efficient preparation is        of the danger that can threaten.
necessary for such an important work.                          There should be the conviction that reformation
  If the conflict arises regarding a matter, no one          must nevertheless happen.
can make a choice for himself, but must follow the
direction of Him Who has placed him in that posi-              And besides all this there should be a shattering
tion. If, on the other hand, as is the case of the in-       of hearts and consternation of spirit so that refor-
troduction of a new Church Order, one has the                mation may result in a true and upright work be-
choice of the time for separation, then that choice          fore Almighty God.
of the proper time must be made with serious con-              And if a few traitors appear in the bosom of the
sideration,                                                  congregation or unfaithful members of the congre-
  A consistory which engages in such a holy work             gation repudiate the consistory; if the higher gov-
must not work hastily nor without the clear con-             ernment attacks those who work for reformation,
sciousness of what it is doing.                              government representatives work against them, a
                                                             magistracy hinders them, and the judge finally con-
  And fourthly, the consistory must show moral               demns them, all of this must be borne, endured,
earnestness also in this that it makes the congrega-         and wrestled with in the name of the Lord. When
tion realize that a holy work is undertaken for its          the Roman Caesar locked up the church members
own salvation.                                               of Nicomedia in the church building and burned
  The consistory shall show this by not taking im-           them, that patience and suffering was so much
portant decisions with a majority which is too nar-          more terrible than we endure, and yet the church
row to be worth mentioning so that there is the dan-         of God triumphed over that mighty Caesar.

FROM HOLY WRIT

            Believing All the Prophetic Scriptures
                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers

Chapter VIII                                                   We have now come to the discussion of the so-
 The "Seven Dispensations" of Scofield's                     called fourth dispensation of Scofield's "dispensa-
 Bible-continued                                             tions."


490                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



  Scofield takes his point of departure for this          fellow heirs of the promised Spirit of Pentecost.
"fourth dispensation" in Genesis 12: 1. He captions          Briefly stated, Scofield teaches:
this section as follows:                                     (a) The promise is really "despensational," and
  "The Fourth Dispensation: PROMISE-from the              is a period of trial, testing. Fact is that this promise
call of Abraham to the giving of the Law (Gen. 12: l-     relates to Israel's reception of the earthly land of
Exodus 19:8)."                                            promise. That is why, when Israel went into the
  Should we inquire more about this "dispensa-            land of Egypt, she lost the "blessings" of the
tion," then we read the following from Scofield's         promise. For this "promise" is really temporal and
pen:                                                      conditional.
  "(a) The dispensation of promise is connected              (b) At the time of the law-giving, Israel said
  with the "Abrahamic Covenant" (Gen. 15:18),             "Amen" to the law of God, and placed themselves
  and by it the "descendants" of Abraham became           under the law, when "they rashly" accepted the
  distinctive heirs of the promise.                       law (Exodus  19:8). We read there "And all the
  "(b) In Egypt the descendants of Abraham lost           people answered together, and said: all that the
  their blessings but not the Covenant.                   LORD hath spoken we will do."
  "(c) The Dispensation of Promise extends from              Such is the Scofieldian construction of the Scrip-
  Gen. 12: 1 to Exodus 19:8 and was excZusiveZy Isra-     tures on this truth of the "law" and the "promise."
  elitish. (italics mine)                                 We are also certain that with possibly certain modi-
  "(d) The Dispensation must be distinguished             fication that is the teaching of nearly all Dispensa-
  from the Covenant. The former was a mode of             tionalism in our land.
  testing; the latter was everlasting and uncondi-          Let us try to analyze this rather strange and un-
  tional.                                                 biblical teaching.
  "(e) Only the dispensation, as a testing of Israel,       In the first place, it should be repeated, the Bible
  ended at the lawgiving."                                knows nothing of these "seven dispensations."
  Now the above-stated propositions of Scofield           These are wholly an invention of Scofield, who
are not very clear and lucid. What is clear and out-      here follows the teachings, of the "Plymouth
standing is that the promise, as a dispensation, was      Brethren" of England. As we have shown in an ear-
exclusively for the natural descendants of                lier chapter (Chapter V) the term "dispensation" re-
Abraham: TE means that it excluded all the na-            fers to a Divine arrangement of God's Covenant
tions, and did not at all pertain to the elect sons of    blessings of Salvation in the New Testament times,
God both from the "Circumcision" and the                  wherein all the blessings of God's Covenant are for
"Uncircumcision," to Jew and Greek both, to those         all the elect, Jew and Greek, bond and free, male
who belong to Christ and, therefore, are Abraham's        and female. In this New Testament Dispensation
seed (Gal. 3:29).                                         we see the fulfillment of the Promise of God to
                                                          Abraham and to his seed forever (Eph. 1:lO; 3:2;
  It should be noticed that in the above-quoted           Col. 1:24). Compare also Galatians 3:6, 7 and 3:26-
propositions, which we will here consider, the terms      29).
"promise" and "covenant" are really manipulated
in a very strange way. What makes this so grievous          Secondly, it ought to be noticed that the term
is that the clear and sound teaching of the biblical      "promise" in the Scriptures is no less unconditional
pattern is contorted beyond recognition in so doing.      and everlasting than is God's Covenant. God's
It should be quite evident that here we are not           covenant-words in the Old Testament prophetic
dealing with a mere "literal interpretation" of "Is-      Scriptures were promisory in character. They were
rael" but a systematic reconstruction of such             oath-bound promises of God, which He swore by
biblical terms as "Promise," "Covenant," and !`dis-       Himself, because He could not swear by anyone
pensation." Scofield does not believe all the             greater, and thus this was the end of all contradic-
prophetic Scriptures concerning the truth of the          tion (Hebrews  6:13). These were the words of
"Promise." Somehow the "promise is dissected              promise to Abraham which God spoke at the
from the covenant-oath of God to the heirs of the         Mount Moriah, where Abraham sacrificed Isaac
promise. There can be a promise which is but for a        upon the altar (Gen.  22:16, 17; Ps.  105:9; Luke
time, a certain dispensation of trial; however,           1:73). Hence, it is rank heresy to teach a promise,
God's Covenant is unconditional and everlasting.          which is only for the natural seed of Abraham, and
Even so, it is very clear, upon close consideration,      a promise which God could and actually did abro-
that the "covenant" which is unconditional and            gate at the time of the law-giving at Sinai, as teaches
everlasting, is not the same as the New Testament         Scofield.
in Christ's blood for both Jew and Gentile, who are         Thirdly, we must most strongly insist, that it is


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              491



not at all true that Israel "rashly accepted" the law     and, thereby, failed to pass the test of the "dispen-
at Sinai, and thereby showed that they did not            sation of the promise."
stand, as standing the "test" of being under                Now, it seems to me, that this is a clever ploy to
promise. This is not true from the very nature of         avoid teaching that the promised mercies of God
the meaning of the law-giving as a taskmaster to          never end, yea, that they extend to the end of the
Christ (Gal. 3:24); but it surely does not follow from    world, and into the highest heavens, and into the
the very terms of God to The People by Moses in           everlasting and heavenly Kingdom of God in Jesus
Exodus 19:8. The words of God through Moses are           Christ! As Scofield teaches the dispensation of
not an abrogation at all of the "promise." For Israel     promise, he cannot but fail to connect the promise
did not rashly accept a new way of "testing," but         with the fulfillment of the law at Calvary, where
they are saying an "Amen" of faith to the Covenant        Jesus cried with a loud voice: It is finished! (John
words of Jehovah, Who declares to Israel: and ye          19:30). There is no saving grace in the Promise to
shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy        Abraham!
nation. They are told that they are God's peculiar
treasure in all the earth. Does not the LORD really         In light of this it is no wonder that Scofield
promise them that they shall be those who are             speaks of "seven covenants." These are purported
called out of darkness into His marvelous light? Are      to be: the Adamic (Gen. 3:15); Abrahamic (Gen.
they not foreseen as the newborn babes, who are to        15:18); Mosaic (Ex. 19:25); Palestinian (Deut. 30:3);
be God's spiritual stones in His temple, built upon       Davidic (II Sam. 7:16); New (Heb. 8:8). Without
the Stone chosen in Zion? Thus Peter quotes this          going into the fallacy of these "covenants" we ob-
text from Exodus 19:1-9 in II Peter 2:4-10. The great     serve in passing that these covenants do not mesh
prophetical perspective in these words of Jehovah         chronologically with the "dispensations." We
are fulfilled in the gathering of the church, the         observe here a very obvious arbitrariness of divi-
spiritual strangers "throughout Pontus, Galatia,          sions, even if they were true. Here we are treating
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, elect according to         with mere whim and fancy of a mere man. My
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through              point is that when once he has severed the "Cove-
sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and       nant" from the "Promise" of God, there is no end
the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (I Peter     to these cunningly devised fables, and erroneous
l:l, 2).                                                  constructions.
  No, at Sinai God did not abrogate the "promise"           Meanwhile, let us be thoroughly convinced in
but brings in the "law" of obedience of Christ, the       our heart and mind that it is indeed false doctrine to
royal law of liberty, which has in it the grand cove-     teach that the "promise" in Genesis 12:l was the
nant proclamation: I am the LORD thy God which            first time that God announced His sure gospel
had brought you forth from Egypt, the house of            promise to the elect church. The gospel-promise
bondage! (Exodus 20:2). And now Israel must walk          was first of all revealed by God Himself in Paradise
in her "part" of the covenant, claiming the fulfilled     to Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:15) and it was further
promises in Christ, in Whom they are all "yea" and        shown in its meaning to Abraham as one of all the
"Amen" to the glory of God the Father.                    prophets (Gen. 20~7) and it was portrayed in the
                                                          shadows and types of the Old Testament tabernacle
  Fourthly, we should admit that Scofield's asser-        and the ceremonial ordinances and feast days, and
tion that the "covenant"' is "everlasting and uncon-      it was finally fulfilled in God's Only-Begotten Son
ditional" is the gospel-truth as far as it goes. How-     (Rom. 10;4).
ever, in Scofield's teaching, this is Dispensational
jargon! This does not mean that the Promise is sure         Besides, let it not be overlooked, we, in the New
to all the Seed by God's unbreakable covenant mer-        Testament dispensation, are not left in the dark
cies in David, but that the covenant of God to flesh-     concerning the Divine connection between the
ly Israel concerning their inheriting the earthly         "law" and the "promise." Jesus came to fulfill all
land of Canaan cannot be broken. Israel will surely       the promises of the Old Testament Scriptures
be delivered from Egypt, will temporarily lose the        (Matthew 3: 15) and He also gives His word of warn-
"blessings" of the land, but will surely return to        ing, that He is come to fulfill the law in its deepest
their covenanted earthly land of promise. Whereas         spiritual sense as He tells us in detail in Matthew
Scofield makes a false contrast between the               5:20-48.
"promise" and the "covenant" what he teaches                We must never read the Scriptures through the
concerning the Covenant is not Scriptural teaching        "notes" of Scofield. Ever blind leaders lead the
at all. He severs, in his teaching, what God has          blind. Let us be as those who cling to the sound
immutably joined together. And, therefore, he             teaching of the Bible, also in regard to such truths
teaches the untruth that the promise was abrogated        as the "Promise" of God, as the Oath-bound Word
at Sinai, and that Israel "rashly accepted the law"       of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord.


492                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



THE DAY OF SHADOWS

                                    Mocked By Wine
                                                Rev. John A. Heys


   "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and          as is true of all unbelievers, have antichristian am-
whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." So             bitions. His realm though vast did not include all
spake the wisest of all mere human beings. Solo-           men of that day. He was, at the very time that the
mon in Proverbs 2O:l warned his son, and all who           incident recorded in Esther 1 took place, preparing
read the book of Proverbs, against being deceived          for war against Greece, which did not belong to his
by wine and strong drinks. And he did so at a time         realm. He wanted to annex Greece, and in that
when men did not know of the damage that alcohol           sense had antichristian ambitions and did want to
does to the brain, liver, and blood vessels. Those         rule over all nations, tongues, and tribes, as the
few moments of fleshly pleasure that wine and              Antichrist will do for a brief period of time.
strong drinks give are soon changed into years of             For half a year-one hundred and eighty days, or
suffering of that same flesh and a hastening of the        six months of thirty days each-Ahasuerus held
day of death. Such also is the mockery of wine. And        feasts. We must not think of one prolonged feast,
although this aspect was not known then, and               but rather of a series of feasts that took one hun-
comes to light through more recent scientific and          dred and eighty days to complete as planned. We
medical research of the human body, its member's           may note that to these feasts were invited all his
functions and diseases, Solomon knew that wine             princes, nobles, and servants, who in Esther 1:3 are
mocks and strong drink brings raging.                      called "the power of Persia and Media." These
  Solomon also knew that any man deceived by               were the men through whom he ruled those one
wine and strong drinks is not wise. He knew that it        hundred and twenty-seven provinces. And it would
gets man into troubles and shame. He knew that it          hardly be safe to call them all at one time to
would make the normally meek and quiet boister-            Shushan to stay there and feast for half a year! This
ous and noisy. The word raging as used by Solomon          would invite too much insurrection and revolt in
has the root meaning of noisy. Alcohol taken inter-        the provinces, where people who were neither
nally removes man's inhibitions and moves him to           Medes nor Persians seethed under their subjection,
louder speech not only but raucous laughter. And           had passions that were inflamed, and resented be-
those who are sober and watch the intoxicated add          ing ruled by a "foreigner," that is, not one of their
to the noise with their laughter. Then there are the       own men. Much wiser it would be to have these
broken objects, the tables and chairs overturned by        princes come at different times and a few at a time.
the clumsy, staggering walk that add to the din.             At the end the king makes one grand celebration
  Many years after Solomon penned down these               that included all the people in his capital city. Per-
words, and in a land far from where he wrote them,         haps he was so pleased with the results of his feasts
a king, whose duty it was to rule the people of his        that he was moved to schedule this feast of all
land, was ruled by wine to bring scorn and shame           feasts in celebration of seeming success. For the
upon himself, yea even contempt. Of this we read           purpose of these former feasts is pointed out in
in the first chapter of the book of Esther. Ahasuerus,     Esther 1:4: ". ..he showed the riches of his glorious
a powerful king who ruled over one hundred and             kingdom, and the honour of his excellent majesty."
twenty provinces from India to Ethiopia, willingly         This indicates, first of all, that these princes and
subjected himself to the power of wine and let him-        servants either did not know of this riches and
self be ruled by it, and revealed himself as one who       honour, or that the king feared that they did not
is not wise. For he invited the scorn and contempt         know them. So they must come to Shushan to learn
that followed and opened the door to noisy con-            first hand. They must feast with the king to experi-
tempt and wrath among the women throughout his             ence it and go home with a good impression of him
vast domain. He asked for it, and it took some swift       as a great king! He is, and for four years was, pre-
drastic action to stem it.                                 paring for war with Greece. He needs desperately
  Ahasuerus could hardly be listed as a typical            the co-operation of these princes.
antichrist, even though he ruled a large portion of           These feasts were then for propaganda purposes.
the world as it was then known. He did definitely,         Not only were they designed to create a good im-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              493



pression of the king but also to discourage any ideas      confident heart. He was not merry because of good
that might lead to revolt and insurrection while his       health and a soul free from troubles. He was, as
armies were occupied with fighting Greece. There           Solomon suggests, deceived by wine to feel good
must be no domestic warfare while he fights a              when he had no good reason for such a sense of
foreign nation. The princes must give wholehearted         well-being. He had reason to be weary of all the
support to him and not dare to take advantage of           celebrating and to be bored by it all. After all that
him when his hands are tied in war with Greece.            eating and drinking, his psychological as well as
He needed also their co-operation to supply him            physical condition was not what a man who eats
with men.                                                  and drinks in moderation would know. Of his
  The feast at the end of this period of displaying        physical condition and all the cares and anxieties of
his riches and honour to the princes of the 127 pro-       so vast and varied a domain he lost sight momen-
vinces was a lavish one. The decorations were care-        tarily because of his imbibing of too much wine.
fully chosen as far as color and material are con-         You may be sure that the officers saw to it that his
cerned. Gold, silver, and fine linen were used. Mar-       drinking vessel never got even half empty.
ble with blue and red lines, but also marble with            He was by wine deceived into believing that he
white and black designs in them were chosen for an         had made a better impression on the princes than
attractive floor for the beds of gold. Among the           was warranted. He, with all the affairs of the State
drinking vessels there was no monotony. Although           resting heavily on his shoulders, could feel merry!
all were of gold they were all different patterns.         And verse 10 says it was due to wine. It declares
This may reflect the various provinces with their          that when his heart was merry with wine, when the
different cultures and art styles. All this would          wine began to take its effect, he began to be merry.
impress the princes of his riches and honour. And          Plainly the meaning is that before this his heart was
by the beds we are to understand reclining couches         not merry. And plain from the statement is also that
for eating purposes. Their tables were not as high as      it was wine that made the change.
ours. There was no sitting on chairs to eat but re-
clining on the left side. The feet were far from the         Up to this moment that king had wisely kept the
table and not under it. The head and arms were             men and the women separate. We read in verse 9
closest. They took it easy when they ate and drank.        that Vashti the queeen made a separate feast for the
In our hustle and bustle of our hectic life-style,         women. Up to that time he was strictly business
meals are not a relaxing moment, but we cater to           and with men who did his business. It was his
the fast foods industry and eat our food on the run,       riches as king and his honour as ruler of such a vast
as it were. Here they took time and relaxed at the         domain that had occupied his thoughts and his
table.                                                     time. But the more wine he drank the further all his
  Wine was used in abundance, and to excess. The           business as king flowed away on a sea of alcohol.
only law concerning wine was that every man                  And now his thoughts center on himself and his
should do according to his own pleasure. There             own personal life. He begins to think of his own
were no scheduled toasts as in the previous feasts         private riches consisting in the unusually beautiful
during the 180 day period. There were not set times        wife that he had obtained. He wished to display her
when the wine vessels would be refilled. A man             before the princes and to all the people of the city.
had merely to wave his empty vessel and servants           And to make sure that all get the point that he is
would come swiftly to fill it. Or else officers kept an    making, she must come with the royal crown. This
eye on the vessels, and as soon as a vessel was seen       will associate her with him and make it clear that
to be half empty it would be refilled. Wine flowed         this is his property and his riches. He wants all to
freely. And it was good wine. It was royal wine, or,       be sure that this honour is also conferred upon him.
if you will, wine fit for a king. The same word royal        Instead by wine he was deceived, for it moved
we find in verses 7 - 11 which speaks of the royal         him to set the stage for all the good impressions that
house and royal crown. It was wine that men did            he had made with the princes and nobles to vanish
not get the opportunity to drink every day. It was         in a matter of a few moments. He who wanted all to
superior to the average lot of wine and usual grade        know how well he could rule showed that he could
of it. One would be tempted to want his cup refilled       not rule his own wife! He was not as big a man as
and to take full advantage of this treat which soon        he wanted others to believe. He was not as rich as
enough would come to an end.                               he tried to display. His own wife did not honour
  The king also indulged beyond what his capacity          him, and what he thought was a rich possession
for wine was. And we read that his heart was merry         was shown to be that on which he did not have a
with wine. In other words the king had an artificial       firm grip and had slipped away from him. He had
sensation of well-being. It was one that came out of       shown his strong points, and wine moved him to
a drinking vessel, not one beating within a joyful         behave in such a way that his weak points stood out


494                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



in bold relief.                                            deceives also in this respect that it leads a man to
  No, he was not stone drunk. He had not lost con-         think that he still has control of himself. It already
trol of his members to stumble and fall off his seat       controls that portion of the brain that would other-
and throne. Outwardly he appeared to be sober. He          wise warn us that all is not well.
could handle that wine. But his thinking processes           Let us beware of false joys and of seeking joy ar-
were not only slowed down, they were affected to           tificially out of a bottle or cup. Instead look to that
give warped judgment. A man intoxicated to the             of which wine in the sacrament of the Lord's
point of what we call drunkenness is beyond what           Supper speaks, for true, lasting joy, that has no
the king was. He became furious in his anger. We           aftertaste, no hangover and no let-down. Look to
read that he was "very wroth, and his anger burned         the cross and the return of Him Who died thereon
in him" (Esther 1:12). This a fully drunken man            for our sins. There is no mockery or raging there for
cannot do. This ought to warn us, and we had               those who look to Him Who died there for our sins.
better be on our guard that wine does not deceive          He who seeks comfort in the cross is wise. His cup
us into thinking otherwise, that long before one           of joy will always be full, With David he will say in
begins to stagger and slur one's words, it warps           the New Jerusalem, "My cup runneth over" (Psalm
one's judgment, slows down one's reflexes, impairs         23:5). Christ, Who in His first miracle changed
one's judgment, AND WE ARE UNDER THE                       water into wine, will keep the believer's cup full.
INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL long before we are                    For in Lamentations 3:22, 23 we read, "His com-
completely overpowered by it. You do not have to           passions fail not. They are new every morning:
be drunk to be under the influence of alcohol. It          great is Thy faithfulness."
GUESTARTICLE

                       The Wonder of Adoption (2)
                                                Rev. Ronald Hanko


  In studying the biblical truth of adoption we            Christ, therefore, the full breadth, and length, and
have seen that election is the eternal source of our       depth, and height of the love of God in Christ
adoption as the children of God. The wonder of             shines forth.
"the adoption of sons" is first revealed in the fact
that it is "predestinated," and the close relationship       As election then, is the eternal source of son-
between election and adoption reveals the sover-           ship, the work of Christ incarnate provides the ZegaZ
eignty of God's predestinating purpose. Even the           basis for sonship. Even in the earthly picture there
earthly picture of adoption reflects the fact that it      must first of all be a legal basis for adoption. When
has its source in a sovereign choice. Nevertheless,        we adopt children we must, before anything else,
that relationship between election and adoption            obtain the legal right to make those children ours.
also shows us that election is not a mere arbitrary,       There are certain procedures which must be fol-
intellectual choice of certain persons, but rather a       lowed, certain legal formalities to be observed,
revelation of the fountain of love and mercy that          court appearances to make, and documents to
flows forth from the heart of God Himself. Election        sign-all part of the ZegaZ process of adoption. We
is the marking out of sons and daughters unto the          obtain the legal right of sonship  through Christ. It is
closest possible relationship of love and fellowship       as though our adoption papers are signed with His
with the living God in Christ. That too, as we have        blood and sealed with His resurrection power.
seen, is reflected in the earthly picture.                   This legal basis for sonship is necessary because
  God further reveals that wonder of adoption in           of sin. Just as in the earthly picture, the adoption of
the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Adam, by virtue         grace implies that those who are adopted are, by
of his creation in the image of God, was also a son        their first birth, strangers. We do not have to adopt
of God in paradise, and as God's son he reflected in       those who are born as sons and daughters, nor need
an earthly measure the glory of God, his Father.           we obtain the legal right to be their parents. But we
But God, in His inscrutable wisdom, chose to               are not born as the children of God. By nature we
reveal the full glory of our adoption not in the first     are strangers and aliens to the covenant of grace
Adam but in the second, and through Him in the             (Eph. 2:12) and have forfeited all the rights of son-
way of sin and grace. In the redemptive work of            ship in our father Adam. By nature we are children


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               495



of the devil, as Jesus told the unbelieving Jews           had not yet been provided in the work of Christ.
(John 8:44). And through death, which is the penal-        That which makes all the difference between the
ty for sin, God actually puts Adam and Adam's'             Church of the Old Testament and the Church of the
children out of His house and consigns them to the         New Testament is the "sending of the Son" at the
house of their father below.                               time appointed by the Father. In the fulness of time
  Yet the wonder of adoption is exactly that               Christ came that we might receive the adoption of
through Christ's work God adopts these children of         sons.
death and hell and the devil as His own children.            It is in this connection that we may also under-
As Paul says in Ephesians 2:13, 19, "Ye who some-          stand what Scripture means when it speaks of
times were far off are made nigh by the blood of           Christ as the "firstborn among many brethren"
Christ . . . . Now therefore ye are no more strang-        (Rom. 8:29). That concept of the firstborn is very
ers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the           rich and beautiful. That Christ is the firstborn
saints, and of the household of God."                      means, first of all, that He is first in God's counsel
  And notice once again the emphasis on the sover-         as the One in Whom God purposes to reveal His
eignty of our salvation in this connection. Even in        glory (Col. 1: 15-19). And especially in connection
the earthly picture of adoption it is not the adopted      with our adoption this means that Christ as first-
child who seeks and obtains the right of sonship,          born is the head and ruler of the whole of God's
but the adopting parents. So also God in His infinite      family. That was one of the privileges of the first-
mercy obtains for us in Christ all the rights and          born already in the Old Testament (Gen. 27:29, 40;
privileges of children. Galatians 4:4-6 emphasizes         49:10, etc.), and it is also Christ's privilege as the
this both in connection with the work of Christ and        first begotten in the house of God (Ps. 89:24-29,
in the application of adoption by the Spirit of            Heb. 3:6).
Christ.                                                      In the second place, that Christ is firstborn Son
                                                           means that He represents His brethren before the
  But what we must notice especially in Galatians          Father. This too was true of the firstborn son in the
4:4, 5 is the tremendous truth that adoption is the        Old Testament and was prophetic of Christ's place
great purpose of all the work of Christ. Christ was        and calling in God's family. It is for this reason that
"made of a woman, made under the law" first of all         Israel is often called "Ephraim" in the Old Testa-
for the redemption of those who were sold into the         ment Scriptures (cf. Jer.  31:9), for although
horrible slavery of sin. But even that is not the ulti-    Ephraim was not the firstborn son of Jacob or of
mate purpose of Christ's entrance into the world.          Joseph, he nevertheless had the place of the first-
Even the purpose of redemption is to be found in           born in that he received the birthright of the first-
the adoption of sons. All `of Christ's humiliation         born (Genesis 48). And Christ the firstborn speaks
when He emptied Himself and came in the form of            as the representative of His brethren in Hebrews
a servant, all His agony, His cross and His tomb           2:13 where He says before God the Father, "Be-
have one grand purpose in the counsel of God, that         hold, I and the children which God has given Me."
"we might receive the adoption of sons."                     Even more importantly, the firstborn is present-
  The supreme importance of the work of Christ             ed in Scripture as the one who opens the way for
for us is seen in the contrast that is drawn in Gala-      his brethren. Thus it is that the firstborn son is com-
tians 3,4 between the church of the Old Testament          monly called throughout the Old Testament "the
and the church of the New. Because Christ had not          one who opens the womb" (cf. Ex.  13:2, 12-13,
yet come, the church of the Old Testament did not          etc.). Christ as firstborn is the one who opens the
enjoy the blessings of sonship  as we do. To be sure,      way for us into the presence of the Father where
the Israelites were also the children of God. In Exo-      we are received as God's children (cf. Heb. 10:19-
dus 4:22, 23 God sends Moses to Pharaoh. with              22).
these words: "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son,         Christ, the firstborn among many brethren,
even My firstborn; and I say unto thee, Let My son         therefore, is the one who through the grace of God
go, that he may serve Me and if thou refuse to let         opens the way of sonship for us by laying its legal
him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-       foundation in His blood. He gives us the right to all
born."                                                     the privileges and blessings of sonship. In Him we
  Nonetheless, as Paul points out in Galatians 4:1-        have the right to God's love and the privilege of
3, the children of Israel, though sons, were in fact       calling Him "our Father." In Him we may come to
no better than servants in the house of God because        God with our needs and cares expecting that He
they were under the law as a tutor and governor.           cares for us and will not fail to give us what we ask.
Under the law they were "in bondage" and did not           Jesus points this out in Luke ll:lO-13: "For every-
fully enjoy the rights and privileges of sonship,  be-     one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh find-
cause the legal basis of adoption, though promised,        eth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If


4 9 6                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,       These things are  but a few examples of the
will he give him a stone? of if he ask a fish, will he    importance of this blessed truth of adoption for all
for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an      of life. Its comfort is without end. Because of the
egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being      legal basis for sonship  which is laid in the blood of
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your               Christ there is no one who can lay anything to the
children: how much more shall your heavenly               charge of God's elect-not even their own con-
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"        science-and no one or anything that can separate
The right and confidence of all our prayers is built      them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
upon the work of Jesus Christ as our elder brother.       our Lord: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ
   Even our attitude toward trial is tempered by this     that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is
knowledge of our legal right of sonship  in Christ.       even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh in-
As Hebrews reminds us, if we are "wearied and             tercession for us" (Rom. 8:33-39).  In Christ God
faint in our minds" then it is because we "have for-      says of us, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on
gotten the exhortation which speaketh unto (us) as        him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his
unto children, My son, despise not thou the chasten-      feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and
ing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of       let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead,
Him: for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth and           and is alive again; he was lost, and is found" (Luke
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (12:3-6).          15:22-24).

CONTRIBUTION

                       An Open Letter Concerning
                      Reformed Higher Education
                                    Rev. David Engelsma, James Lanting, and
                                                  Lamm Lubbers


   This open letter is addressed to all members of        ber of Protestant Reformed men from the eastern
the Protestant Reformed Churches and to all others        and western sections of the Protestant Reformed
who have a concern for the instruction of the             Churches in the U.S. and from Canada met in
children of the covenant in all aspects of earthly        South Holland, Illinois on January 12, 13, 1982. A
science on the basis of the truth of the Reformed         second meeting was held in Grand Rapids on June
Faith as set forth in the Reformed Creeds.                8, 1982. The third, and most recent, meeting was
   It concerns Reformed higher education, i.e.,           held in South Holland on March 4, 1983. The
college-level instruction.                                Conference has recently distributed a "Newsletter"
                                                          in all the Protestant Reformed Churches.
   It is sent on behalf of a group of Protestant Re-
formed men that calls itself the "Conference on Re-         These meetings reflect a longstanding concern of
formed Higher Education." At a meeting held in            Protestant Reformed people for Reformed higher
Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 4, 1983, the              education, especially the training of prospective
group decided "to have a committee draft...an             Protestant    Reformed       schoolteachers.     Oddly
article for publication in The Standard Bearer and        enough, in the light of our traditional opposition to
other periodicals." It was stipulated that, among         church-schools, this concern surfaced at the Protes-
other things, the article should outline "the             tant Reformed Synods of 1948,1949, and 1950. The
purpose and provisional structure of our Confer-          Theological School Committee brought to the
ence group."                                              Synod of 1948 a letter from "The Society for Protes-
   This history of the "Conference" is quickly told.      tant Reformed Education," asking "to what extent
The immediate cause was conversation among men            the facilities of the Theological School can be made
of Classis  West, mostly laymen. Contact was made         available to prepare persons interested in the teach-
with other laymen who shared the concern for Re-          ing profession to qualify them for teaching in
formed higher education and who would be able to          schools of our own" ("Acts," p. 63). Synod advised
attend meetings, for a day or two, to explore the         the Society "that we have no facilities for a com-
idea and its possibilities. The result was that a num-    plete normal course. However, that we can supply,


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               497



we hope, the very necessary Protestant Reformed             of establishing a full college were seen to be so great
point of view by having prospective teachers take           as to daunt even the most hopeful. Therefore, with-
Principles of Education and read specified outside          out losing sight of the ultimate goal, the Conference
literature upon educational subjects, as produced           has concentrated on realistic beginnings. An able,
by our men and others" ("Acts," pp. 65, 68).                interested Protestant Reformed teacher could be
  The T.S.C. returned to the Synod of 1949 with             called, full-time, to give instruction to college stu-
another letter from the Society for Protestant Re-          dents in certain, fundamental subjects. These
formed Education. This letter asked that "a normal          courses, although of special value for the would-be-
course be added to the curriculum of our Theo-              teacher, would also be beneficial for other college
logical School this coming year." The motivation            students. Investigation has shown that such
was the need for "teachers, able and equipped, to           courses could be accredited through existing Chris-
teach our children the required subjects permeated          tian colleges. While giving these courses, the
by the Protestant Reformed life view" ("Acts," pp.          teacher could also work at developing a more com-
64, 65). Also at the Synod of 1949 was an overture          plete program. In time, yet another teacher could
from the Consistory of Randolph, Wisconsin, that            be added to the staff.
Synod "consider ways and means of establishing                To enable such a teacher to give this instruction,
our own normal Training School to train prospec-            it was thought desirable, if not necessary, to send
tive teachers in our own Christian Schools"                 him, or her, to a graduate school for advanced
("Acts," pp. 67, 68). Synod decided to place this           study and a degree. A Christian college has ex-
matter before the faculty and the T.S.C. for study          pressed its willingness to set up a summer course,
and possible execution ("Acts," p. 68).                     taught by qualified professors, which interested
  The Synod of 1950 received for information a re-          Protestant Reformed teachers, and others, could
port from the T.S.C. that Rev. H. Hoeksema had              take for credit towards a master's degree.
drawn up an outline of "Principles of Education"              It is our conviction that college-level instruction
and that Rev. G. Ophoff was teaching a course               of prospective Protestant Reformed Christian
along these lines, under the auspices of a Teachers'        schoolteachers in the truth set forth in the Re-
Club in Grand Rapids ("Acts," pp. 29, 30). Here,            formed Creeds, as maintained by the Protestant Re-
apparently, the matter rested.                              formed Churches, is part of our calling in the cove-
  The Conference has no official standing, whether          nant, to the extent that God enables us to provide it.
ecclesiastical, educational, or otherwise. Nor does         This Faith is God's own truth that must be the
it seek this. It has been a free association of some        foundation of all teaching.
who thought that the possibility of giving Reformed           The education of our teachers in State universi-
instruction at the college level, especially to pro-        ties and colleges is unsatisfactory, since the Word
spective Protestant Reformed teachers, was worth            of God is not the light in which these schools teach
looking into. As part of its investigation, the Confer-     the students to see light. The teaching of existing
ence has studied the history of Reformed higher             Christian colleges is widely and seriously
education; curriculum; accreditation; organization;         weakened by the errors of the doubt and denial of
finances; and other areas. We have conferred with           the infallible inspiration and full authority of Scrip-
our teachers. It is this purpose, this cause, and           ture ("higher criticism"); of theistic evolution; of
some of the fruit of our study that we now lay be-          the philosophy of the A.A.C.S.; of common grace;
fore you and ask you to consider.                           of socialism, if not Marxism; of the current "liber-
  The purpose of the Conference is indicated in the         al" dogmas of revolution, feminism, pacifism, and
brief, working "Statement" which the participants           sexual permissiveness; and `of the lack of zeal for
drew up and signed at their first meeting: "We              godliness of life.
believe that higher education based on Reformed               Our desire is college-training that is excellent,
principles as set forth in the Reformed Creeds is a         both academically and spiritually. Qualified profes-
legitimate concern for Reformed people. We...re-            sors, themselves trained and competent in their
solve that in order to preserve Reformed higher             own fields, would not merely pay lip-service to the
education in our age, especially as it relates to           great doctrines of the Reformed Faith, much less
teacher training, we will promote the cause of a Re-        busy themselves to call these doctrines into ques-
formed teacher education program. We agree to               tion and to undermine them, as they teach future
form committees to study the possibility, and the           teachers, but would teach their subjects in the light
ways and means, of reaching these goals."                   of these doctrines-the inerrant inspiration of the
  The agenda for the first meeting ambitiously              Holy Scripture; creation and providence; the fall of
called for an investigation of the possibility of a Pro-    the human race in a real Adam; God's curse upon'
testant Reformed Teachers College. The difficulties         fallen man and his world, outside of Christ; the


 498                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



 Divine judgment of a universal flood; the antithesis                                   Canada, where there are Protestant Reformed
 between elect Church and reprobate world; the                                          Churches, in order to present this cause to our
 Lordship of the risen Son of God; the binding Law                                      people, and to others who may be interested, so
 of God in Holy Scripture for marriage, family,                                         that they may take steps, if they are so inclined, to
labor, economy, government, and personal behav-                                         organize as an association, to carry out this work.
 ior, and the end of the world. Surely, this is a                                       Already, men in various locations are advised to
worthy, and a thrilling, concern.                                                       speak to school and church groups. A public
    No one ought to dismiss the matter out of hand as                                   meeting is scheduled in the N.W. Iowa-Minnesota
no concern of his, on the ground that it is a matter                                    area on September 6, 1983, in connection with the
 of college-training and his children do not attend                                     meeting of Classis West. We ask that you attend the
college. Since it is training of those who will be                                     meeting that may be held in your area and give the
teaching Protestant Reformed children in the grade                                     matter a careful hearing. Our hope is that Consis-
schools and the high schools, it is a concern of us                                    tories, School Boards, and others will promote the
all. Those without children as well as those with                                       cause, as they have opportunity. All who desire
children can embrace and support this cause, as a                                      moTe>nformation, have suggestions, care to com-
cause of God's covenant and truth. Nor do we see                                       ment, or desire a meeting in their area can write the
even the first courses that might be offered as limit-                                 Conference in care of our secretary:
ed to prospective teachers. Other college students                                                   Mr. James Laming
would benefit as well. Indeed, students from
churches other than the Protestant Reformed might                                                    Box 156
well enroll, if they are desirous of the perspective                                                 South Holland, IL 60473.
of the Reformed Faith.                                                                      The task is large; the cost is high; our resources
    All of this, we repeat, is only the thinking of the                                are small. But the need is also great; and the bene-
Conference and is, of course, not binding on any                                       fits are precious-the welfare of the children of the
future organization.                                                                    covenant and the glory of God's Name in the know-
                                                                                       ledge of His truth. Let us make a beginning, trtist-
    It is the intention, now, of the Conference to hold
public meetings in various areas of the U.S. and                                       ing in the Lord, Whose we are and Whom we serve,
                                                                                       to bless the small beginning, as He has done before.

                                                                            Index

                           TEXTUAL INDEX                                               Drama  of Christianity, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 239
Psalm 121:1,2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HV 146        For Whom Did Christ Die?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 190
Isaiah258 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 290        Four Trojan Horses  of Humanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 238
Isaiah26:19.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..HC H 290           The God They Never Knew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 23
Isaiah27:7.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..HC H 194          How to Handle Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 334
Hosea 13:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 290        How to Make the Right Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 311
Matthew 2: 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 122       In Retrospect: Remembrance of Things Past. . . . . HCH 287
John  1:29b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 26    International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Vol II HCH 214
I Corinthians 15:54-57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 290               Jehovah Shepherding His Sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 430
II Corinthians 8:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 482        Kitto's Daily Bible Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 310
Galatians 2:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 98          Language of  Canaan and the Grammar
Ephesians 2: l-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 242           of  Feminism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..H H 383
Ephesians 2:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 50        Learning Jesus Christ Through the Heidelberg
Ephesians 2:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 434           Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..H H 359
Philippians 2:9-11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 362            Learning to Live With Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 238
Hebrews 6:11,12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 386           More Difficult Sayings ofJesus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 119
Hebrews  11:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 218        New Testament Student and His Field . . . . . . . . . HCH 334
James  2:25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 314    Picking Up the Pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 191
                                                                                       Preaching With Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 406
                           BOOK REVIEWS                                                Religions  of  the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 214
                                                                                       Report  of  the RES Consultative Committee to
Biblical Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 502              the RES Churches in South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 119
BomAnew  toaLivingHope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 23                     Three Men Came to Heidelberg and Glorious
Church Between Temple and Mosque, The. . . . . . RDD 118                                  Heretic: the Story of Guido De Bres . . . . . . . . . HCH 287
Commentary on Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 286                 T r u t h A p p a r e n t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H C   H   4 0 6
Cults in North America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 191             Who Am I and What Am I Doing Here???. . . . . . . . HH 239


                                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                            499



                                           -A-                                                     Creation, 44% Believe in Recent. . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 128
                                                                                                   Creation Days, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 368
About `This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 244                      Creeds,TheChurchandHer(l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 236
About This Special Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 437                             Creeds,TheUseof (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RH 282
Adoption, The Wonder of (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 494                                 Crisis of Doctrine or Ethics - or Both? . . . . . . . HCH 29
Adoptionof Sons, The (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RH 473
Alcohol, Our Approach to the Problem of (1). . . . RC 369                                                                                     -D-
Alcohol, Our Approach to the Problem of (2). . . . RC 400
Alcohol, Our Approach to the Problem of (3). . . . RC 475                                          "Dance," Response to the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 11
Alcoholism and Drunkenness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 393                                   Daysof  Noah, The (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 57
Amyraldianism, the Marrow, and the                                                                 Days of Noah, The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 163
   Atonement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 111                    Days of Noah, The (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 278
AnnualReport  of the R.F.P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PK 43                                D e a d i n S i n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C   H   2 4 2
Another Gospel! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 78                         Deathbed Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 85
Appeal for Help with a Large Project, An. . . . . HCH 126                                          Decline of the GKN, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 125
Arminianism and the Atonement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . SH 109                                    Definite Atonement and Preaching . . . . . . . . . . RDD 114
Arminians and Romans 7, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 262                                    (Dekker Case) and the Atonement, 1924,1967.  . CH 116
"AsitBegantoDawn" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 295                               Depraved in Heart and Will. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 249
At the Point of the Wedge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 415                              Distinctive Traits of the Godly Christian
                                                                                                       Home (I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AdH 421
                                            -B-                                                    Distinctive Traits of the Godly Christian
                                                                                                       Home (II)                                                                   AdH 465
Banner vs. The Presbyterian Journal on                                                             Distortions of Fact and History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 221
    Guatemala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 302                    Divinely Transcendent Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 198
Barren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    275      Divorce and Remarriage, On                                                      G V B   8 7
Behold, the Lamb of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 26                              Doctrine of Depravity and Preaching, The . . . . GVB 255
Believing all the Prophetic Scriptures (I) . . . . . . . GL 44                                     Doctrine of Irresistible Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Believing all the Prophetic Scripture (II). . . . . . . . GL 69                                    Doctrine of Limited Atonement, The . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                 97
Believing all the Prophetic Scripture (III) . . . . . . . GL 177                                   Doctrine of Total Depravity, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Believing all the Prophetic Scriptures (IV) . . . . . . GL 214                                     Duty of Obedience, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM 134
Believing all the Prophetic Scriptures (V) . . . . . . . GL 284
Believing all the Prophetic Scriptures (VI) . . . . . . GL 349                                                                                -E-
Believing all the Prophetic Scriptures (VII) . . . . . GL 426
Believing all the Prophetic Scriptures (VIII). . . . GL 489                                        Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                     5
Born Dead in Sins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CJH 247                      Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 197
ByGrace.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 434                   Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 221
                                                                                                   Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 485
                                           -C-                                                     Election and Atonement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 100
                                                                                                   End of the Beginning, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 304
CRC and the Doctrine of Reprobation -                                                              Evolution, How Absurd is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 202
    Further Evidence, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 485                             Exhortation Concerning our Families, An (1) . RGM 154
Calvary and Reconciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 104                              Exhortation Concerning our Families, An (2) . RGM 181
Cancer Cures Smoking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 37                              Extravagant Funeral, An . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 271
Careless and Profane Christians. . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 439
Changing Congregations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 129                                                                         -F-
China in the News and the Good News
    inChina.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..RD D 141                     Faith and Irresistible Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 445
Christian Reformed Church - After 125 YearsGVB  301                                                Fall of Jericho, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 218
Christian Reformed Delegates Confront the                                                          I Thessalonians - Pastoral Care for an
    Gereformeerde Kerk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 150                                Infant Church (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 166
Christian Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 367                      I Thessalonians - Pastoral Care for an
Christ's Blood of Atonement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 234                                   Infant Church (Conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 203
ChurchandHerCreeds(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 236                                  I Timothy - Advice for Office Bearers (1) . . . . . . JK 280
Church and Persecution, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 127                                  I Timothy - Advice for Office Bearers (2) . . . . . . JK 299
Colossians - Christ the Head of all Things (1) . . . JK 64                                         44% Believe in Recent Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 128
Colossians - Christ the Head of all Things                                                         Free Offer and Irresistible Grace, The. . . . . . . . . HH 454
    (Conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 138                Full Assurance of Hope, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 386
Comforting Pinpoint of Light, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 463                                 Function of Cell Groups in Singapore Work
Communion of Saints, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH                             2         (E.R.C.S.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .LCK 20
Contribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JHS 3 19
Correspondence and Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 80                                                                              -G-
Covenant and the Atonement, The . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 357
C o v e n a n t J o y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J A   H   3 9    Gathered Unto His People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 156


500                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



"Gereformeerd Weekblad is no More". . . . . . . GVB 13                           Missionary Methods (15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 297
God's Providence and Sin (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 61             Missionary Methods (16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 351
Gods Providence and Sin (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 159             Missionary Methods (17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 398
God's Providence and Sin (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 207            Mocked by Wine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 492
God's Providence and Sin (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 325            More on the Union Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 201
God's Providence and Sin (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 346            M o r m o n i s m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G V   B   1 5 2
Gods Providence and Sin (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 378             My Sins Forgiven! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 74
God's Sovereign Love for His People. . . . . . . . . . . SH 332
Gospel According to? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 329                                                    -N-
Government Control Over Christian Schools. . GVB 230
Government Support - and Control? . . . . . . . . GVB 38                         Necessity of the Incarnation, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 130
                                                                                 Needed: Students! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 197
                                  -H-                                            New Zealand Newsletter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AVE 225
                                                                                 News From New Zealand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JdeK 398
Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH               2     News From New Zealand (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JdeK 423
Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 74                  News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 24
Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 57,58 . . . . . . . . . . CH 170                    News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 48
Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 59-61. . . . . . . . . . . CH 266                   News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 96
Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 62-64. . . . . . . . . . . CH 338                   News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 120
Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 410                 News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 144
Heynsian Theology? MARS - A Monument toHCH 148                                   News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 168
Highly Exalted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HCH 362     News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 192
How Absurd is Evolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 202             News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 2.16
                                                                                 News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 240
                                   -I-                                           News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 288
                                                                                 News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 311
IfGodBeForUs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 458        News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 360
Irresistible Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 438     News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 384
Irresistible Grace and Preaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 451                News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 407
Israel and Millennialism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 151          News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 432
                                                                                 News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 480
                                   -J-                                           News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 504
                                                                                 N i c e n e C r e e d , T h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   9
Jehovah.My Portion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RGM 308          Nicene Creed, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 65
Judicial Ground of Universal Depravity . . . . . . . RH 251                      Nicene Creed, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 136
Justified Solely in Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 338      N i c e n e C r e e d , T h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   1 5 2
                                                                                 Nicene Creed, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 205
                                  -L-                                            N i c e n e C r e e d , T h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   3 0 6
                                                                                 NiceneCreed,The...........................J S 355
Laying On of Hands, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 186           N i c e n e C r e e d , T h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   3 7 6
Letterfr0mtheE.R.C.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TBK 19              N i c e n e C r e e d , T h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   4 0 4
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 33     N i c e n e C r e e d , T h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   4 2 9
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 55     1924,1967  (Dekker Case) and the Atonement . . CH 116
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 94
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 179                                               -o-
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 223
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 273    On Divorce and Remarriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB                                87
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 320    Open Letter Concerning Reformed Higher
Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 344        Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . DE 496
Liberty and Maturity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB 15        Our Approach to the Problem of Alcoholism. . . . RC 369
Limited Atonement, The Doctrine of . . . . . . . . . . . . .             97      Our Approach to the Problem of Alcoholism (2) . RC 400
Liturgy for "Peace". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 12        Our Approach to the Problem of Alcoholism (3) . RC 475
                                                                                 Our Calling as Protestant Reformed
                                  -M-                                               Churches to Be Specific (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 341
                                                                                 Our Calling as Protestant Reformed
MARS - A Monument to Heynsian                                                        Churches to Be Specific (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 365
   Theology?..............................HC  H 148                              Our Calling as Protestant Reformed
Marriage Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 232        Churches to Be Specific (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 389
Marrow, and the Atonement;                                                       Our Expectation From the Hills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 146
   Amyraldianism, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 111          Our Hope in the Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 170
Minister-Rabbi Conversation, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH 35                   Our 1983 Synod - On The Agenda. . . . . . . . . . HCH 390
Minister-Rabbi Conversation, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH 59                   Our Only Comfort? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 327
Minister-Rabbi Conversation, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH 81                   Our Order of Worship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 391


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                              501



Our Sure Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 371             Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 22
                                                                                         Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 215
                                    - -P -                                   -.          Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 408  :;
                                                                                         Report of Classis West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 72 ,
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                               Report of Classis West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 335 '
   Church, A (by Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . . . HH                             31    Reprobation  - Further Evidence, The
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                  CRC and the Doctrine of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 485
   Church, A (by Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . . . HH 83                                Response to the "Dance" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 11
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                               Resurrection Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 290
   Church, A (by Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . . . HH 175                               Rich Through Christ's Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 482
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                               Righteous by an Irresistible Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 447
   Church, A (by Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . . . HH 232                               Righteous in Christ Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 266
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the
   Church, A (by Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . . . HH 487                                                                         -s-
Paul's Letter to Philippi  (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . JK                   17
Perfection of Christ's Death, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 106                       Satisfaction of the Cross, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 102
Persecution and the Church Today (2) . . . . . . . . . KK                          13    S a v e d b y G r a c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H   V   5 0
Phariseeism - Still Prevalent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 419                     Saved Through Divine Smiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 194
Pilgrim's Perspective, A (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 41                 II Timothy - Counsel for Pastors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 381
Pilgrim's Perspective, A (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 92                 Schuller's "Confession". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 367
Pilgrim's Perspective, A (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 185                Seminary Convocation Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                                    5
Pilgrim's Perspective, A (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 330                Seminary Graduation  - 1983. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 413
Place of the Individual Believer in Mission                                              Seminary Graduation Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 415
   Work (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 161        Separation or Isolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB 468
Place of the Individual Believer in Mission                                              Should We Expand the Mission Endeavors of
   Work (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 228           Our Denomination?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 322
Planned Parenthood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 88                  So Many Good Works - But No Common
Pot Calling the Kettle Black, The . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 461                           G r a c e ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W   B   2 6 0
Practical Implications of Calvinism, The. . . . . . AdH 373                              Sovereign, Efficacious Call, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 443
Practical Implications of Calvinism, The (2) . . . AdH 395                               Special Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           97
Preaching of the Gospel: A Means of Grace. . . . . CH 410                                Special Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        241
Presenting the Gospel to Strangers (1) . . . . . . . f . . SH                      67    Special Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        433
Presenting the Gospel to Strangers (2). . . . . . . . . . SH 89                          Spiritual Strengths and Weaknesses of the
Promise, The . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SH 470            Protestant Reformed Churches, and
Proper Relationship of the Woman to the Man. . CH 140                                        Possible Remedies (1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 188
Protestant Reformed Higher Education . . . . . . HCH 293                                 Spiritual Strengths and Weaknesses of the
                                                                                             Protestant Reformed Churches, and
                                    me Q-                                                    Possible Remedies (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 209
                                                                                         Synod of 1982 - Critique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 317
Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 140         Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches
Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 186             - 1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 413
QuestionBox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 234
                                                                                                                                   -T-
                                    - -  R- -
                                                                                         Titus - The Holy Life of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . JK 402
RES and the WCC - Unresolved. . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                            53    "Together On the Way" - The Train
Rahab'sFaith..............................HV  314                                            is on the Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 173
Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet                                                    Total Depravity and "Common Grace" -
    Concerning the (Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . HH 31                                     in the Light of the Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 257
Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet                                                    Total Depravity and the Antithesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 253
    Concerning the (Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . HH 83                                 Total Means Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 245
Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet                                                    Transformed by Sovereign Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 449
    Concerning the (Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . HH 175
Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet                                                                                              -u-
    Concerning the (Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . HH 232
Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet                                                    Union Issue, More on the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 201
    Concerning the (Dr. A. Kuyper) translation . . HH 487                                Union Question, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 151
Reformed Higher Education, An Open Letter                                                UseofOurCreeds,The(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 282
    Concerning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..DE 496
Reformed or Baptist: Either. ..Or . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                      77                                              -w-
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, The . AL 424
Reincarnation of Pighius, The 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 269                      WCC - Unresolved, the RES and . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 53
 Report from Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 353                 "Who Loved Me, and Gave Himself for Me" . HCH 98


502                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



Who, Then, Shall Be Saved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 393           Wonder-Work of Regeneration, The. . . . . . . . . . . RH 441
WomantoWoman.........................G  VB 38                                 Worship of the Magi, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 122
"Women in Office". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB    89    Worthwhile Commentary, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 175
Wonder of Adoption, The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 494




                                                        Book Review

BIBLICAL INSPIRATION, by I. Howard Mar-                                       biblical figures, discrepancies in chronologies, etc.
shall; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983; 125                              On pp. 54-57, e.g., he discusses various ways in
pp., $4.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                              which the Bible speaks of truth. He points out that
   Of the writing of books on the doctrine of inspir-                         the Bible uses language in a great variety of ways,
ation there is no end. And it is somewhat doubtful                            sometimes to set forth factual data, sometimes in
whether this latest book will advance the cause of                            the asking of questions - which have no "truth"
the truth of inspiration or whether it will serve to                          implied in them, and sometimes in commands
quiet the current storm of controversy which rages                            which also do not imply any truth of falsity. (This is
over this truth.                                                              so obvious that one wonders why the author bela-
                                                                              bors the point.) Then again he points out that there
   The author's expressed intent in adding to the                             are parables in Scripture which cannot be taken as
number of books on this subject is to mediate be-                             factual truth-also an obvious fact. He reminds his
tween the "conservative" position which insists                               readers that sometimes God is not speaking to man,
that the doctrine of inspiration means that the Bible                         but man is speaking to God, as in the Psalms. The
is totally  inerrant in all its parts, and the more                           latter is not necessarily "Truth" either-although
moderate position which holds that the Bible is                               he fails to reckon with the fact that the psalmists
only fallible in what God intended it to teach-the                            often spoke to God by divine inspiration also, a
position which is more or less taken in most evan-                            means which God used to reveal His Word. Finally,
gelical circles. Not a great deal of attention is paid to                     he points out that the question of truth involves the
unbelieving higher criticism, although the author                             deeper question of "true for whdin?" - as with the
refers to it now and then and criticizes it rather                            Old Testament levitical laws.
severely. The result of this position is that the truth
of infallibility (or inerrancy) comes under heavy                                These questions lead him into flatly erroneous
attack at certain crucial junctures.                                          positions. He speaks of parts of the Bible as human
   Perhaps a quote from the blurb which accom-                                (115), allows for some higher criticism (go), admits
panied the book will help to understand the posi-                             that later biblical teaching can correct former and
tion of the writer.                                                           earlier biblical teaching (108), and insists that the
                                                                              cultural situation determined what the instruments
         Marshall first considers various theories of the na-                 of inspiration said ( 110).
       ture of inspiration, in the experience of the original
       writers, and for the status of the biblical text. This                    The weaknesses of the book can be summarized
       leads to a consideration of the "entire trustworthi-                   under the following points. In failing to distinguish
       ness" of the Bible, the inerrancy debate, and the place                properly between important concepts, he creates
       of biblical criticism, on which he argues, "It is possi-               problems where there are none. He fails, e.g., to
       ble to distinguish between the proper use of methods                   distinguish between formal and material inspira-
       of linguistic and historical study and the adoption of                 tion, between revelation itself and Scripture as the
       skeptical presuppositions . . . the answer to skepti-                  infallibly inspired record of revelation, and be-
       cism is not to ignore it but to do a better job."                      tween inspiration proper and graphic inspiration.
   The heart of the argument of the book can be
found in the author's discussion concerning what                                 He fails to do justice to the miracle of Scripture;
exactly is meant by accuracy or truth. While this                             i.e., that Scripture belongs to the wonder of grace
point is discussed in more than one place in the                              and that it is not understandable in empirical terms
book, the author argues that the Bible is by no                               of investigation. While he denigrates the efforts of
means accurate according to modern standards of                               higher criticism to explain Scripture in human
accuracy, although it is accurate by biblical stan-                           terms, he nevertheless opens up the doctrine of in-
dards. He refers in this connection to the use of                             spiration to critical analysis and thus makes room
summaries of speeches, round numbers used b                                   for higher critical methods.


                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       503



  He raises questions where none really exist and                            to examine closely the position of infallibility. This
brings a certain doubt into the mind of the                                  has its value and worth, for we must defend the
believing child of God.                                                      biblical doctrine of inspiration on all fronts. But as a
  He fails to deal properly with the fundamental                             solution to the problem, it is inadequate.
truth that Scripture interprets Scripture, with the
result that "discrepancies" are found in the record
of Scripture which do not, in fact, exist.                                              Know the standard
  And all of this is easily summed up in the one ob-
jection that he introduces a human element in
Scripture which ought not to be introduced-in the                                                   and follow it.
interests of guarding against any kind of "dictation
theory."                                                                       The Standard Bearer
  I found the book stimulating and enjoyable in
certain regards. It is well written and it forces one


                                  NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING
                                                                     of the
                REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
                                                        to be held at the
          SOUTHWEST PROTESTANT REFORMED CHURCH
                                      on September 22, at 8:OO P.M.
         Rev. C. Hanko will speak on the subject  - "CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH." Three
         Board members are to be chosen from the following nominations: Tom Bodbyl, Leonard
         Holstege, Charles Kalsbeek, Dave Kamps, Henry Kamps, Robert Pastoor.  ALL  members
         are urged to attend!

                                                                                                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                               On August 17, 1983, our beloved parents and grandparents, MR.
   On September 25, 1983, our parents, REV. AND MRS. ROBERT
                                                                    . . .    AND MRS. CORNELIUS  KAMPS, celebrated their 35th wedding anni-
C. HARBACH, will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. We,               versary. We are thankful to God for the preservation of our loved
their children, are thankful to our heavenly Father for the years of love    ones, both physically and spiritually. We are also thankful for the
and covenantal instruction with which we have been blessed. We are           years of covenant instruction, love and care which they have given
also thankful for the many years of Rev. Harbach's ministry in our           us.
churches. We pray the Lord will continue to bless them in the days to
come.                                                                               "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I
                                                                             make known Thy faithfulness to all generatons." (Psalm 89: I).
   "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful
God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him                Carey and Lois Kamps                           Jim and Sandra Westing
and keep His commandments to a thousand generations." (Deuter-                      Matthew, Tim, Kyle, AnnaLynn                Kimberly
onomy T:9)                                                                   Dave and Karla Kamps                            Ruth Kamps
                                                                                    Laura, Sarah
Philip Harbach                                                                                                              L y n n   K a m p s
                                                                             Terry and LaVonne Kooienga
Janice Harbach                                                                                                              Jonathan Kamps
                                                                                    Jared, Tara

                                                                                                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                               On September 7, 1983, our parents and grandparents, MR. AND
   On October 4, 1983, the Lord willing, MR. AND MRS. MARCEL                 MRS. BENJAMIN BOSMAN celebrated their 35th wedding anni-
STRAAYER celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. We, their                 versary. We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for all the Christian
brothers and sisters in the Lord are thankful to our Heavenly Father         love and devotion they have given us. We pray that the Lord will con-
for them and pray that the Lord will continue to bless them in the           tinue to bless and keep them in His care.
years ahead.                                                                        "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope
   "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this        is in the Lord his God." (Psalm 146:5)
time forth, and even for evermore." (Psalm 121:8)                            their children and grandchildren
The Adult Bible Class                                                               Richard and Nancy Bosman
First Protestant Reformed Church,                                                     Benjamin, April, Adam, Rebecca
Edmonton, Canada                                                                    John and Elisabeth Bosman
Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Pres.                                                         Samuel

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



     ,.                                    -  ~~~~
           504                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

                                    News From Qur Churches
                                                           August 30,1983
             On September 7, 1983, the convocation of the           this July 31 bulletin announcement: "Services for
           Theological School of the Protestant Reformed            the proposed Byron Center-Cutlerville Church will
           Churches took place at Southwest Church. Prof.           begin Sunday, August 7th, 1983, at Byron Center
           Decker delivered the convocation address. In addi-       Christian Junior High School, 8840 Byron Avenue.
           tion to our regular students, there will be three        Services will be held at 9:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.
           part-time students from Canada and a special stu-        These services are under the supervision of the
           dent, Mr. Jaikishin Mahtani, from Singapore. May         Hudsonville consistory and will have two elders
           God bless the Professors and students as they study      and one deacon present at the services before
           the Word of God.                                         organization.. . ."
             I have met Mr. Mahtani and his wife, Esther.              Covenant Protestant Reformed Church, in
           This will be a frequent occurence,  since they live      New Jersey, has progressed in the building of its
           nearby. Their address is 4962 Ivanrest Ave., S.W.,       church:  ". ..the scaffolding is down from the
           Apt. B, Grandville, Michigan, 49418. Telephone           steeple, an extra partition and some odds and ends
           number 616-532-6832. We hope that they will ex-          of framing have been done in the basement. We
           perience the richness of the communion of the            expect the men to install the heating system this
           saints while in Grand Rapids.                            week." I gleaned that from their July 10, 1983 bul-
             Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Mahtani were busy              letin.
           visiting our churches as they made their way to             On September 6, 1983, the. "Conference on Re-
           Michigan. Loveland Protestant Reformed Church            formed Higher Education" held an informational
           had this notice in their July 31 bulletin: "Mr. Mah-     public meeting at Hull Protestant Reformed
           tani will show some pictures and update us on the        Church. Part of this meeting was to give a history
           mission work of Singapore. . . . We rejoice in what      and explanation of Reformed Higher Education, a
           work God is doing there and we are thankful for          college level education based on the truth of the Re-
           the opportunity to learn more of this by the servant     formed Faith.
           of God who is in our midst today."                         `Hope Protestant Reformed Church had a fare-
                                                                    well program for Rev. S. Houck, who has accepted
             The annual meeting of the Reformed Free Pub-           the call as missionary to Ripon, California. May
           lishing Association will be held September 22, 8         God bless the work in Ripon and bring fruit upon
           P.M., at Southwest Church. Rev. C. Hanko will            the labors of Rev. Houck.
           speak on the subject, "Contending for the Faith." I
           hope that the members of the Association will              Covenant Christian High School will celebrate its
           make a concerted effort to attend this important         15th Anniversary on Saturday, October 8. Anyone
           yearly meeting.                                          having pictures of interest is asked to contact the
             The Council of Southwest Protestant Reformed           school office, 453-5048.
           Church made the following change in their evening          Southeast put this announcement in their July
           worship service, "...the evening doxology (is            24, 1983 bulletin: "The Evangelism Society has re-
           changed] from `May The Grace' to Psalter #197."          cently made available to the congregation the book
                                                                    `Three Men Came to Heidelberg,' and `Glorious
             Hope Protestant Reformed Church's Consistory           Heretic' (the story of Guido de Bres). We believe for
           of Walker, held a meeting of its interested members      those that love the Reformed truth an even deeper
           on Thursday, August 18th, with a view to organiz-        appreciation can be gained concerning the cate-
           ing a congregation in the Grandville area. The           chism and the Belgic Confessions. Price - $4.00.
           meeting was well attended and a committee was            Contact Bruce Van Solkema."
           formed to investigate the various aspects of organiz-
           ing a congregation in the Grandville area or sur-          "Those who are engaged in active and useful ser-
           rounding areas. It is the hope of the Consistory that    vice for the Church, are not prepared exclusively
                                                                    by their own exertions, or framed to it by their own
           this will relieve the crowded conditions in Hope.        talents, but stirred up thereto by God." John Calvin
I            Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church had             (on Ps. 105)                                DH


