                 The
     STANDARD
                BEARER
r                A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                           Y





     .  .  .    The best thing that we can do to bring
     order and decency in the life of the church,
     to insure peace and harmony in our Chris-
     tian schools, and to prepare our children to
     live in all godliness and honesty in society is
     to set our homes in order according to the
     teaching of the Fifth Commandment.
                   See "God is Sovereign" - page 234





                                                     Volume LXI, No.  10, February 15, 1985  A


                                                                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER
                             CONTENTS                                                                                ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                           Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                            Published b the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
 Meditation  -                                                                                   SeconCT Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                 Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
    The Necessity of Good Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218                  Department Editors: Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
 Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221    D. Decker, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko,
                                                                                 Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J. Kortering, Rev. George C.
 Editorial  -                                                                    Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. Marinus Schipper,  Rev. James Slopse-
                                                                                 ma, Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
    One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty (3) . . . . . . . .221                     Editorial Office: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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                                                                                                  Grandville, Michigan 49418
    The Idol: Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223      Church  NewsEditoc  Mr. David Harbarh
                                                                                                                          /-..
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    Gambling Is Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224                            Grandville, Michigan49418
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MEDITATION


                        The Necessity of Good Works
                                                                     Rev. C. Hanko


                Ques. 86: Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ,
            without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?
               Ans.: Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by His blood, also renews us by His
            Holy Spirit, after His own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our
            gratitude to God for His blessings, and that He may be praised by us; also that every one may be
            assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereofi and that, by our godly conversation, others
            may be gained for Christ.                                                        Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 32


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               219



  Of Thanksgiving.                                            Jehovah has redeemed us through the atoning
  This heading above the third section of our               blood of His dear Son. He paid the ransom price to
Catechism reminds us that we are now learning to            deliver us from the bondage of sin and corruption,
confess the third part of our one and only comfort,         and merited for us the right to eternal life with
the true thankfulness, which makes our all suffi-           Christ in His glorious presence.
cient comfort complete in Christ.                             This gives us the necessary boldness to enter into
  We have already confessed with our Book of In-            the sanctuary in prayer, to bow before God's face,
struction that we are fully aware of the immensity          to worship in humble adoration, and to pour out
of the guilt of our sins and the vast extent of our         our hearts in prayer and supplication  with  thanhs-
depravity. No, better, we are daily burdened with           giving.
the great misery of our sins, or our guilt, and of our        We have the right as God's children to serve
depravity. Deep sorrow floods our hearts at the             Him, to keep His commandments, to exercise the
very thought of it.                                         communion of saints with God's people, to partici-
  Not as if we seek our comfort in our misery. We           pate in the public worship, to hear the preaching of
also know how God has prepared a way of deliver-            the Word - in one word, to enjoy the blessings of
ance through the atoning blood of His Son. That is,         salvation in anticipation of eternal covenant fellow-
we experience the riches of God's grace whereby             ship with God in glory. We belong. We belong to
we are daily assured that, though our sins are as           our faithful Savior Jesus Christ with body and soul,
scarlet, we are made whiter than the snow by the            in life and in death. In Him we have the right to
cleansing power of the blood.                               true thankfulness and to give expression to it.
  From which follows that we know how to be                   We can be thankful.
thankful for such a great deliverance. The same               Our Catechism teaches us that thankfulness con-
grace of God that justifies and sanctifies us also fills    sists of a daily conversion, a walk in sanctification
our hearts with love to God, which causes us to re-         according to Gods commands, and an intimate life
joice before Him in true thankfulness.                      of covenant fellowship with our God that comes to
  Thankfulness and the giving of thanks are                 expression in prayer.
synonymous.                                                   This is more beautifully expressed in Ephesians
  True enough. But how can an empty vessel pour             2: 10: "For we are His (Gods) workmanship,
forth water? Still more, how can a filthy vessel pour       created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
forth pure water? How can a wretched sinner, who            God hath before ordained that we should walk in
has nothing good of himself, give thanks to God, a          them."
thanks that is pleasing in His sight?                          Imagine that! God's workmanship! Each of us a
                                                            masterpiece, coming forth from the hand and
  Our fathers answer that by saying that thankful-          master mind of God! God formed Adam. God made
ness is, first of all and primarily, receiving. We bub-     a Moses, an Elijah, a Peter, a Paul, each in his own
ble over with that which we receive. We are filled          time and place, and He also made you and me. He
to capacity with the mercies of God, which come to          made us soul and body, with our own nature, gifts,
expression in us with sincere thankfulness in word
and in deed.                                                and talents, according to the purpose we must serve
                                                            in His church, and even in the world round about
  This our Catechism teaches us. We are delivered           us, and in the world to come.
from all our misery through Christ. Through Christ            He created us also as new creatures in Christ! We
alone. This is merely of grace. It excludes any merit       are born again as sons and daughters in His house,
of us. Pure grace! Therefore it must follow that our        no more to live unto ourselves, but unto Him Who
thankfulness is the fruit of God's grace working            made us.
daily within us. By the power of His grace we may
give thanks. We can. We will. And therefore we                 Created unto good works! We tend to regard
must.                                                       good works as those deeds which we perform
                                                            beyond the call of duty. Our life is our own, but a
  We may give thanks.                                       small part of it we give to the Lord. How wrong we
  Even though the prayers of the wicked are an              are! Whether we eat, or whether we drink, whether
abomination in God's sight, we who are unworthy             we are at work - father in his employment, mother
sinners have access to the throne of grace through          in the home, the teenager in his or her engage-
our Intercessor, Jesus Christ. Even though our ex-          ments, the child in school, at home or out to play -
pression of thanks, at its very best, is so very im-        we are duty bound to do all to the glory of God.
perfect and polluted with sin, our God receives us          God has determined our place in life, our own
in Christ.                                                  unique place, which no one else can fill, in order


220                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



that He may carry out His purpose in us, even as          may, we can, and we are also willing, according to
we perform those duties which God has eternally           the new man in Christ, to give God the thanks for
ordained for us to carry out, for a witness in this       all our life and being!
world, for the welfare of the saints, unto the com-         From this follows that we also must.
ing of His kingdom and the glory of His Name. We
are His friend-servants, called out of darkness into        The main question of this Lord's Day is this:
His marvelous light to tell His praises. By His grace     Why must we as redeemed and saved saints still ex-
we can!                                                   press gratitude to God?
  We are also willing.                                      The answer is: This is the necessary fruit of
                                                          Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross and of His
  Christ breaks our stubborn, rebellious will. He         work of grace in our hearts by His Holy Spirit.
restores His image in us in true knowledge,
righteousness, and holiness, that as prophets,              Why does a stream rush down the mountain
priests, and kings we may know Him, love Him,             side? Because God created water to run down hill.
and serve Him with a willing heart. He enables us         Why does a flower turn toward the sun? Because
to want to "testify with the whole of our conduct         God causes it to seek its life from the sun. Why
our gratitude to God for His blessings."                  does a child spontaneously turn to its mother?
                                                          Because it belongs to the nature of the child to seek
  This becomes evident in our daily sorrow for sin,       its mother in all its needs. Why must a child of God
hating and opposing all that is evil, according to the    turn to God, approaching Him as the overflowing
new man in Christ. This also becomes evident in a         Fountain of every good and perfect gift? Because he
daily walk in sanctification, as we live our lives an-    is Father's child, with Father's love in his heart.
tithetically opposed to the evil world round about
us. This especially becomes evident in our daily            Yet at this point our fathers raise a warning
devotion to God in prayer.                                finger against all spiritual laxity and indifference.
                                                          They warn us that no one can enter into eternal life
  In our prayers we extend needy hands to God.            as long as he continues in his unconverted life of
When your child is hungry you do not want him to          sin. Sin may not reign in us. Sin must be daily con-
go to the neighbor to be fed, but you enjoy having        fessed and forsaken! Only when we rush to the
him rush to you in eager anticipation that you will       cross, embrace it and seek all our salvation in
care for him. What greater expression of thankful-        Christ, can we enjoy the assurance of God's mercy
ness can we show than that we approach our                and live in true thankfulness before our God.
heavenly Father with all our needs and cares, pour-
ing out our souls before His face in eager supplica-        Good works have their own fruit in our lives.
tion? The Psalmist asks, "What shall I render unto          Our purpose must always be: "That God may be
the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" This I will     praised by us."
do: "I will take up the cup of salvation," counting         That purpose may be attained when we walk in
my blessings. And then I will ask for more. (Psalm        full assurance of faith! And that full assurance of
116:X2,  13)                                              faith is attained only through a `godly walk in close
  Yes, we count His blessings as part of our thank-       communion with our God.
fulness. There are times when we are troubled,              That purpose is also attained by letting our light
downcast, burdened with anxious care. The night is        shine  - in the family, in the church, and in the
so very dark; we despair of the dawn. Things will         midst of the world- that the members of our fami-
never be right again. Yet when we stop to count our       ly, the members of the church, and also those who
blessings and to remind ourselves of God's faithful-      are outside may see it. God uses us for the gather-
ness, we can again cry out with the Psalmist, "Bless      ing of His church and the coming of His kingdom.
the Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within me, bless     Even that is a wonder of grace!
His holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and
forget not all His benefits!"  (Psalm  103:1, 2). We        To Him be the glory!

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                              Give the Standard Bearer!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    221



                                          Editor's Notes


  Photograph. Elsewhere in this issue you will find             XVII has not yet appeared. Please keep this in
a photograph of the late Rev. Schipper. This photo              mind, so that when the 17th chapter appears you
should have appeared in the February 1 issue with               can read (or re-read) them in proper sequence.
the obituary article. Contrary to our explicit in-                         * * * * * *  * * * *
structions, it was omitted by our typesetter, Com-                Church Order. In spite of the fact that it has been
mercial Printing. We apologize to the family of the             advertised more than once, the new edition (loose-
late Rev. Schipper, and especially to those who                 leaf and green cover) of the 
made a special effort to provide the                                                             Church Order of the Pro-
                                         Standard Bearer
with this picture.                                              testant  Reformed Churches is not being purchased at
                                                                breakneck  sneed. Esneciallv all our officebearers
                                                                                                  1
         * * *        +     xc     c * * *     *                should  haveA this  uprto-date edition. The price is
  Out  of  Order.  Our typesetter made another                  $6.00 ($6.50 by mail). It can be obtained from: Prot.
blunder. The article by Rev. Lubbers  (From  HoZy               Ref. Seminary Bookstore, 4949  Ivanrest Ave., SW,
Writ)  which appeared in the February 1 issue was               Grandville, MI 49418.
chapter XVIII in his current series; but chapter

EDITORIAL



       One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty (3)
                                                    Prof. H.C. Hoeksema




(Note: At this point we are still discussing the sub-           man Hoeksema had twice been appointed editor of
topic, "One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty: Their                the "Our Doctrine" department  in The Banner.)
Meaning." We have completed a brief account of                  Controversy was raging in the churches. There
the Secession of 1834 and its transplantation to this           were those who had sworn to avenge the ouster of
country and continuation in the Christian Re-                   Dr. Jansen. And especially Danhof and Hoeksema
formed Church in 1857. We are now ready to                      were the objects of their wrath, partly because both
discuss the "Sixty Years.")                                     of them had played an important part on the Ma-
                                                                jority Committee in the Jansen case, partly because
  It is some ninety years later. The scene is Grand             they were the only two who had not backed off
Rapids, Michigan. The time is what might be                     when the Jansen forces began to make common
termed the post-Jansen era, a period when the sup-              grace an issue.
porters of Dr. Ralph Jansen, ousted from Calvin
Seminary for higher critical views, were still seek-              What was to be done?
ing to justify him and had succeeded in making                    Fifteen men from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo
common grace an issue in the Christian Reformed                 were meeting in the parsonage of the Eastern
Church. The Revs. Henry Danhof and Herman                       Avenue Christian Reformed Church on April 8,
Hoeksema had parted ways with the rest of the                   1924. Their purpose was to make it possible to
staff of The Witness. The official church papers, De            publish brochures, and, if possible, a magazine, "to
Wachter and The Banner had been closed to them,                 offer the aforementioned ministers (Danhof and
so that they could not defend themselves and                    Hoeksema) the opportunity to defend themselves
discuss the common grace issue (even though Her-                against their attackers in the eyes of the Reformed


222                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



reading public." (quoted from the minutes of the               However, let it also be emphasized that our Stun-
first meeting of what later came to be called the Re-     durd Bearer  never intended to be merely negative,
formed Free Publishing Association). At their first       merely on the defensive, or merely polemical. This
meeting this small group of men raised $425.00            was also made very plain in that last chapter of Om
toward the expenses of this new venture (would            Recht en Waarheid,  where plans for the magazine
that be about $4000.00 in today's dollars?) Later in      were first outlined. It would be well worth our
the year more meetings were held and more funds           while to translate that `chapter in its entirety,
raised. By June, 1924, the membership was 196             because it so clearly sets forth the purpose to which
men; and well over $3000.00 had been raised.              our magazine has adhered through all these sixty
  That was the beginning of the R.F.P.A., a small         years. However, to put it very briefly, from the out-
and inauspicious beginning indeed, but a very en-         set The Standard Bearer purposed to develop posi-
thusiastic one.                                           tively the Reformed  line of the truth and the Re-
                                                          formed world-and-life view. To this purpose we
  The earliest publications of the R.F.P.A. began         have, by the grace of God, adhered. There have
before the Synod of 1924 and before our Protestant        been changes in format and changes in division of
Reformed Churches were born. They were two                duties among staff writers; and there have been
booklets, or brochures. And in those days, when           various cosmetic changes (for instance, the addition
Dutch was still the predominant language in the           of a church news section). But to its original pur-
churches, they were in the Dutch language. The            pose The Standard Bearer has adhered.
first was Lungs Zuivere Banen (Along Straight Paths),
in which the Revs. Danhof and Hoeksema set forth               One more question may be raised in this connec-
their views with respect to common grace both             tion: what has been and is the connection between
negatively and positively. The second was  Om             The Standard Bearer  and our Protestant Reformed
Recht en Waarheid (For the Sake ofJustice and Truth),     Churches?
in which the two ministers defend themselves                   Historically, of course, there was a close connec-
against their attackers.                                  tion from the outset. For the publication of The
  We are interested now especially in the second          Standard Bearer became the occasion and one of the
booklet, because in its last chapter the authors an-      alleged reasons for the ouster of the Revs. Danhof
nounce their intention to begin publication of The        and Hoeksema and G.M. Ophoff. Today, perhaps,
Standard Bearer,  whose anniversary we are cele-          that may even seem unbelievable and perhaps a bit
brating on this occasion. In this chapter the two         absurd. But it is a fact that according to the records
ministers announce in great detail their intentions       of  Classis  Grand Rapids East and  Classis  Grand
and their plans as to the nature and content of The       Rapids West of the Christian Reformed Church, the
Standard Bearer.                                          publication of The Standard Bearer was among the
                                                          reasons why they were deposed! The "S.B." has in-
  It was only  after  the Synod of 1924, where the        deed played a significant part in our history, there-
Three Points of Common Grace were adopted by              fore. Besides, over the years, our magazine has
the Christian Reformed Church, that  The Standard         been everywhere recognized as the literary voice of
Bearer  made its appearance in October of 1924. It        our Protestant Reformed Churches; and frequently
appeared first  ,as a monthly magazine, but after a       it has played a significant part as a medium of in-
year as a semi-monthly periodical. Bear in mind,          itial contact and instruction in connection with our
therefore, that  The Standard Bearer  began as a          home mission activity. Moreover, everywhere
Christian Reformed periodical (roughly compar-            through the years  The Standard Bearer  has been
able say, to the status of a magazine like  The           recognized as the journalistic voice of our Protes-
Ou tZook today).                                          tant Reformed Churches, even to the point that is
  As to its character, unquestionably the first pur-      often thought of and even referred to as our chur-
pose of our magazine was to be a medium of                ches' magazine. The latter, of course, is not true.
defense for our original editors and their doctrinal      Ours is not a "church" paper. The organization
position. And it served that purpose well: The Stan-      which publishes it is "Free," that is, free from all
dard Bearer  immediately gained attention, both           ecclesiastical control. No consistory, no  classis,  no
favorable and unfavorable. Moreover, The Standard         synod has any say-so about  The Standard Bearer.
Bearer  has continued to have that character ever         And thus is must remain!             (to be concluded)
since. It has had through the years, and it still has,
an antithetical and polemical and apologetic stance.                      Read and stildy
It purposes to maintain the truth over against
heresy, and that, too, first of all, in the circle of                 the Standard Bearer!
Reformed churches. This is no accident; it is inten-      i
tional.


                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               2 2 3



ALL AROUND US
Rev. G. Van Baren





                                                     The Idol: Sports


  A number of articles in recent publications have                               Competitive  sports  are  against  Christian principles,
called attention to a "sacred cow" which even in                              undermine  Christian  values  and distort  our  God-given
our circles is not often mentioned: sports as                                 urge  to  play,  according   to  Shirl  J.  Hoffman,   associate
idolatry. One hears often, with regard to TV, "I                              professor  of  physical  education  at  the  University  of
have it only because of my interest in sports." And                           Pittsburgh.
who would dare condemn sports? Is it not the "in-                                "Competitive  sports,   as  they  are   played   in  our
nocent" programming which can be enjoyed by the                               culture,  don't   exemplify  Christian  qualities,"  said
Christian on TV? Is it not  the  engaging activity asso-                      Hoffman  at  the  Calvin   College   Mid-Day   Series  this
ciated with school?                                                           week.
  There appeared a quotation in the  Christian News                              "Competitive  sports   extinguish   the  Christian
                                                                              signals.   They  push   a  form  of  winning   at  someone
(Sept. 10,  1984),  taken from  U.S. News and World                           else's expense.  Thus,  winners in our  culture appear  to
Report, containing some sobering thoughts:                                    be better."
      "Sports-Crazy   Americans"   was   the  cover  story   of                 The  Mid-Day   series  is  held   throughout   this  month
   the August  13 U.S. News  &World  Report.  The weekly                      at  Calvin.   Hoffman,   who   is  also   director  of  graduate
   said  that   "richer  and  with  more   leisure  time  than                studies   at  the  Pittsburgh   University,  has  studied   the
   ever,  the U.S. has truly become a sports-crazy  nation.                   relationship   between   sports   and  Christianity  for
   In every  age  .group,  in every region,  in every  walk  of               several  years.
   lie,   a  passion   for  athletics  is  blossoming   -  .  .  .  ."           He  believes  sports,   at  least   as  this  society  plays
      "On  TV,   viewers   can  watch  events   ranging   from                them,   are a distortion   of the Christian  message.
   Monday-night  football to Irish rugby  or Thai boxing.  `I                   He noted  that  Christian athletes today."are describ-
   know   people   who   will  line  up  three  televisions   on  a           ing their athletic endeavors  as worship  experiences."
   Sunday   afternoon   in  football  season   -  two   for  net-
   work  football  games   and  one  for  whatever  ESPN                        This is a perversion of the Gospel,  a strange  depar-
   might   be  showing,'  says   Prof.   Charles   Prebish  of                ture from what  Jesus Christ taught.
   Pennsylvania   State   University.                                           "Sports  is an experience, not a discipline," he said.
      "Replacing religion? Prebish,  whose field  is religious                "Sports   have   become  an  increasingly   important   part
   studies,   has  created  controversy  even   at  sports-                   of the Christian  life.
   minded   Penn  State   by  arguing   that  sports,   for  an  in-            "The trend,  even on Christian campuses,  is toward
   creasing   number  of  Americans,   has  `replaced   tradi-                larger   sports   teams.   Chapel   services  often  finish  a
   tional religion  as a means  of teaching ultimate reality.'                poor  second  to the big games.  And this  must make us
      "Religion   or  not,  sport's   appeal   lies   in  the  sense  of      think."
   freedom   and  release  such  activity  offers  from  the                    With this emphasis  on sports,  Christians  are taking
   monotony   and pressures  of everyday  routine."                           themselves further from the basics of their religion.
      U.S.  News   &  World   Report   quotes   Amherst   Prof.                 Hoffman  indicated   that  many   college   and  profes-
   Allen  Guttmann,  author of From Ritual to Record: The                     sional   athletes   today   are   calling   themselves  Chris-
   Nature of Modem Sport: "Taking  part in athletics gives                    tians,   but they actually  aren't exemplifying  Christian
   people   a sense  of control and mastery that  might  not                  values   on the playing  field.
   be present in other parts  of their lives."                                  "We  are   seeing   many  athletes  today   who   dedicate
     Too  many  are making  sports   an idol.                                 their efforts to God," he said. "It seems  as if there no
  Another such article appeared in the G.R. Press,                            longer   are  any atheists   in the dugouts."
January 26, 1985, titled: "Do Competitive Sports                                "The question,  though,  is, why,  how and where are
Off end God?' '                                                               Christian  athletes to play?"


224                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



          Hoffman   said  he  isn't  opposed   to  sports;   quite   the             Humans  need  to play,  to take  part  in sports,  but as
       contrary.  Sports  are a form of play,  and play, he said,                 Christians  they must  also think deeply  about the way
       is an important  part  of human existence.                                 in which they do play.
          "The urge  to play  is a divine  gift, given  for a divine                 "Sports,  as we know  them today,  lack the form and
       purpose.   God  planted   the  desire   to  play   and  man                substance,  the right   stuff to  be God-ward   gestures."
       created the variety of formats in which to express  it."                      "Christian  athletes   in  the  deep   recesses  of  their
          Sports  for Christians,  he added,  should  be an oppor-                minds   know  that sports,  as we know  them,  aren't ac-
       tunity to exempliiy Christian  values.                                     ceptable."
          But  that  isn't happening,  not in sports   as we know                    Sports   too  often  these  days   come  neatly  packaged
       and practice them.                                                         with religious  justification.  Teams get  God  working  on
          "Competitive   sports   today   give   us  a  chance  to                their  sides,   he  said.
       demonstrate   our   own   superiority   over   someone   else.           In light of the above two reports, there is room
       Winners are regarded  as being  better than losers."                   for much sober reflection. How many of us place
          Importance  is  placed,   at  least  in  most  organized            sports above society attendance? How much time is
       sports,   on  the  killer  instinct,  which  enables   athletes        spent in the home watching sports  - while family
       "to keep  pressure on an opponent."                                    relationships suffer? Are sports even occupying our
          Christ   taught   his  followers  to  love,   to  value             attention on Sunday afternoons (how many
       another's  life,   to  be  humble.                                     watched the recent "super-bowl"?)?
          "As  Christians   we  supposedly   learn   to  love   our             And in school sports, is not emphasis placed on
       neighbors,  but then when the whistle  blows  we have                  the "winning"? It is true that we are reminded that
       to be tough.  We have  to squash  them.  We have  to win               the play is the important thing. Still, what losing
       one  for good  old   First Baptist."                                   team gains a following? And what kind of excite-
          "Sports   encourage   dissension   and  rivalry,   an  at-          ment is generated by a winning team? What ad-
       titude  of `do it to them before they do it to you,"' he               miration is directed to the player who manages to
       said.                                                                  score the most points? Seldom, if ever, is that team
          Competitive   sports   devalue   the  importance,  the              member honored who scores no points. And, what
       sheer joy of play.                                                     activity is best attended: a championship basketball
          "We're kidding  ourselves  to think the highest  levels             game  - or a lecture on the Sovereignty of God?
       of  sports   image   the  ideals   of  faith.   How   can  we  sup-    Why is "school spirit" enhanced and school sup-
       port   an  activity  in  which  injuries  are  almost   guar-          port increased when there is a championship team
       anteed?"                                                               at that school? What would most young men prefer
         Hoffman   isn't  suggesting   everyone   turn  in  their             in school: playing on the team  - or singing in
       shoulder   pads,   hang   up  their  spikes   and  put  their          choir? What would a young lady prefer: being a
       hockey sticks in moth  balls.                                          cheerleader  - or playing in the band?
          "I'm  calling  us to re-think our  ideas  and approaches              I ask the questions for your careful reflection.
       to  sport,"  he said.  "We've got to design  more  flexible            The above articles can serve to enlighten that
       ways   to  express   the  emotional,   playful   side  of  our         reflection.
       natures."





                                                      Gambling Is Sin


  The Christian News, Sept.  10, 1984,  contained                                    "Record $40 million  Lotto  pot sets  off frenzied  rush
also several articles about gambling. One becomes                                 for  gold" was   the  front  page  headline   of  the
conscious of this terrible evil especially here in                                September  1-2  St.  Louis   Globe  Democrat.
Michigan where this is a "sport," run and pro-                                       After the lottery jackpot  was  won,  the Globe said in
moted by the state. There is a designed attempt to                                an  editorial   that  "In  fact,  when  stripped   of  its  gaudy
get many people to gamble. The Christian News                                     trappings,  the lottery can be seen  as one  of the biggest
writes:                                                                           con  games   ever   invented,   one  that  uses   its  victims to


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                           225



    promote  it."                                                                Burke,  president  of the Public Gaming  Research Insti-
      Major  newspapers   throughout   the  nation   recently                    tute, in Rockville,  Md. Forty-six states  now  have  some
    published  a series  of articles from the Associated  Press                  form  of  legal   gambling.   Bingo   is  legal   in  43  states,   as
    on gambling.                                                                 long  as  it  is  conducted  by  charitable  or  non-profit
                                                                                 organizations.   Some  of the largest  bingo  games   in the
      The  first  of  the  series   of  four  began:   "A  new                   country  are  conducted  on  Indian  reservations   .  .  .  .
    `American  Dream',  strikiig  it rich by taking  a chance
    on change  - is putting  billions  of dollars  into  state  cof-           The article concludes by emphasizing the sin of
    fers and millions  of dollars  into  bettors' pockets as the             gambling. It is for many an addiction which, when
    fever spreads  from baccarat tables of Atlantic City  to                 one is away from the game, causes a "restlessness,
    new   lottery games  in  Washington  state."                             irritability, chills, stomach pain, headaches and
       "In  a  pastime   where  numbers  are   keys   to  the                nausea." The sin is the abuse of good gifts which
    dream,   numbers  also   tell  the  story:                               God gives. It is a reliance upon "chance" to gain
      "Americans bet $44 billion last  year in legal  games                  vast wealth without diligent labor. The poor, who
    - more   than   half  as  much  as  they  spent   on  auto-              so much desire to become rich, are most likely to
    mobiles  - averaging  $200  for every  adult  and child in               gamble  - though they can least afford to.
    the  country,   according   to  an  Associated   Press   survey            The evils of this sin will become increasingly evi-
    of  officials  in  all  50  states   and  the  District  of Colum-       dent in the future. Let every child of God beware
    bia."                                                                    this evil - and oppose it where he can in the area in
      "More and more  people  are  treating  gambling  as an                 which he lives.
    acceptable  form  of  leisure   activity,"  said  Duane

TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE



                                      The Apostles' Creed (I)
                                                                   Rev. H. Veldman





                         Introduction                                          "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" is indeed the
  Having concluded a series of six articles on                               keynote of the gospel. We read in Acts 16:30: "And
"Preservation and Perseverance" and two articles                             brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to
on "Integration and Segregation," we now would                               be saved?" And this question the apostle answers in
call the attention of our readers to the twelve ar-                          verse 31: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
ticles of our Apostles' Creed. This is a beautiful                           Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." In-
confession. That it is a confession is clear from its                        deed, how scriptural is the truth that we are saved
content: I believe in God, the Father, Almighty, etc.                        by and through faith! We read in Ephesians  2:8:
It is a beautiful confession, first of all, because it is                    "For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that
so brief. This creed is easily memorized, also by                            not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." In Galatians
children. And it is a beautiful confession, secondly,                        2:20 we read the wonderful words: "I am crucified
because of its broad, comprehensive content. True,                           with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
there are fundamental truths not mentioned in this                           liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
creed, such as the doctrines of sovereign election,                          flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved
of sin, of the preaching of the gospel, and of the sac-                      me, and gave Himself for me." And the same
raments. Yet, it  iS broad in its content. It begins                         apostle writes in Galatians  3:2: "This only would I
with the doctrine of creation and reaches its climax                         learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of
in the everlasting hereafter: I believe in the resur-                        the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Is this not what
rection of the body and in life everlasting.                                 it is all about in the epistle to the Galatians, that


226                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



faith and works are set irreconcilably over against        understand, all important. It is a matter of our
each other? And does not James in his epistle, em-         salvation.
phasize the absolute importance of a living faith?                  * * * * * * * * * *
Saved by grace through faith is surely scriptural.           We must believe, as we read in Question and
  We are saved by grace through faith. And we              Answer 22, "all things promised us in the gospel."
add: of course! How else can a sinner be saved? Is         Two interpretations are possible of this expression.
not salvation humanly impossible? Are we not               First, all Scripture here refers to the promises of
hopelessly guilty, burdened down with a guilt we           the gospel. Even as all Scripture, for example, is
can never pay? Are we not conceived and born               called the law, or the law and the prophets, so also
dead in sins and in trespasses? Are we not darkness,       all Scripture is designated here as the promises of
haters of God and of the neighbor? Is not all salva-       the gospel, and the heart of that gospel is the prom-
tion alone in Christ Jesus? He is the reservoir of all     ises of the gospel as realized in Christ. Secondly,
salvation, of all the blessings of salvation. In us is     the promises of the gospel are separated from the
nothing but sin. In Him is our all. How else can we        rest of Scripture, and although we believe (hold for
be saved than in unity with Him, by being united           true) all that is written in the Bible, yet saving faith
with Him? What else is faith than that almighty            takes hold only of those parts of the Bible which set
power of the alone living God whereby, united              forth the promises of the gospel. Now, we adopt the
with Him, we live out of Him by a true and living          first interpretation. The second interpretation
faith? Indeed, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" is       reminds us of Report 44 of the Christian Reformed
the keynote of the gospel. It is the keynote of the        Church,' which report drives a wedge between
glad tidings (gospel) because it alone reveals salva-      parts of the Bible. Besides, we must certainly take
tion to a hopelessly lost sinner.                          hold of the entire Bible, the entire Word of God as
  However, what must we believe? How pertinent             revealed in the scriptures. That this is true is evi-
is this question? Today we have so many so-called          dent from Question and Answer 23 (What are these
revivalists; and all that they mention and em-             articles?), which speak not only, strictly speaking,
phasize is to believe in Jesus. And yet, in all these      of the promises of the gospel, but of all the funda-
circles there is a woeful lack of knowledge concern-       mental truths of Holy Writ.
ing every fundamental truth of Holy Writ. And this
is not all. They also oppose and ridicule you when
you confront them with these fundamental truths.
Why is this?
  Indeed, we must believe. But, what must we
believe? In Lord's Day 7 of our Heidelberg Cate-
chism, Question 22 asks: "What is then necessary
for a Christian to believe?" And the answer reads:
"All things promised us in the gospel, which the ar-
ticles of our catholic undoubted Christian faith
briefly teach us." Then, in answer to Question 23:
"What are these articles?" our Heidelberg Cate-
chism sets forth the Apostles' Creed. So, must we
believe all this? The Arminian revivalist has a
gospel he can write on a thumbnail. But, must we
believe all this, these articles with all that they im-
ply? Why must we believe all this? Why must we
believe in God Triune, in sovereign double predes-
tination (election and reprobation), in absolute
depravity, particular atonement, irresistible grace,
the perseverance of the saints? Why must we
believe all this? To be saved? Question 20 reads:
"Are all men, then, as they perished in Adam, saved
by Christ?" And the answer reads: "No; only
those who are ingrafted into Him, and receive all
His benefits, by a true faith." And then the ques-
tion is asked: "What is true faith?" Upon this
follow Questions and Answers 22 and 23 which we                          Reverend Marinus  Schipper
have already quoted in this paragraph. Is the ques-                             1906  - 1985
tion what we must believe important? It is, we


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 227



   And then we read in Question and Answer 23 of            in these twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed.
the Apostles' Creed. Now the apostles were certain-         First, we believe here in the Trinity. We read this in
ly not the authors of this creed. First, there is ab-       Articles 1,2, and 8. This involves us in the doctrine
solutely no evidence for this. And, secondly, it was        of the Trinity, that God is one in essence and three
not the calling of the apostles to prepare confes-          in Persons, and that these three Persons are God
sions of faith for the church; it was rather their call-    and therefore co-eternal and co-equal. Secondly, in
ing to lay the foundation of the church. This creed         this Apostles' Creed we believe in Jesus Christ,
has this name because it sets forth, in brief, the          God's only begotten Son, our Lord. On the one
teachings of the apostles. We have already called at-       hand, we have here the triple name of our Lord
tention to the fact that this creed, although brief,        Jesus Christ. Here you have the name Jesus,
nevertheless sets forth the fundamental doctrines           Jehovah saves, the name Christ, which means the
of the church. Not all the fundamental doctrines            Anointed One, and also the name Lord. Here,
are set forth in this creed, as we have already noted.      therefore, you have the Saviour in all His signifi-
Yet, although brief, it is also rather comprehensive.       cance. And, on the other hand, we read here that
It begins at the beginning, at the creation of the          this Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son. The
world, and it leads us finally, over the cross, into        Apostles' Creed, therefore, holds before us the
life everlasting.                                           truth of the eternal Godhead of our Lord Jesus
   That we must believe all this, these articles, is        Christ; we read here that He is God's onZy begotten
denied today in all our modern day and age, as by           Son, and this name is given to our Lord Jesus Christ
our sickening Arminian revivalists. Today they pre-         because He is the only natural Son of God, Light of
sent a gospel on a thumbnail. The fundamental               light, Life of life, God Himself. Then, we read in Ar-
truths of Holy Writ are simply silenced. When do            ticle 3 of this creed: Who was conceived by the Ho-
you hear of the fundamental truths such as election         ly Ghost, born of the virgin Mary. This article sets
and reprobation, particular atonement, irresistible         forth the truth of the Incarnation. Here you have
grace, the perseverance of the saints? Today alI the        the tremendous truth that the eternal Son of God,
preaching simply centers in the sinner, calls upon          God Himself, also became man; that He became
him to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,         man and remains God; the Eternal became tem-
and this is accompanied by bands and orchestras             poral and `remains eternal; the Infinite became
and soloists and professional sports celebrities, and       finite and remains infinite; the Boundless One
the "sawdust trail," offering to all salvation and          became limited and remains boundless. The creed
begging the sinner to accept Jesus before it is too         here teaches us the tremendous truth that our Lord
late. A preaching that is designed to edify, build up       Jesus Christ was born of a virgin without the will of
the church in all the knowledge and grace of our            man. He was the rock or stone hewn out of a moun-
Lord Jesus Christ is simply unknown. But this is            tain without hands. This holds before us the exclu-
not all. There is more, much more.                          sively divine origin of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
  Fact is, in these circles, also in what are known         became like unto us in all things, sin excepted.
as fundamentalist circles, the fundamental truths of        Fourthly, Christ's humiliation and exaltation are
the Word of God are not only silenced, but they are         set before us in this creed in Articles 4-7. Our
also boldly denied. The love of God is presented as         fathers speak here of His humiliation. Mind you,
universal, and they will ridicule you if you are            the wonderfulness, the great significance of this
"crazy enough" to say that the love of God is partic-       passage can be understood only when the question
ular. This has happened to the writer of these              is asked: Who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
lines. They preach a universal suffering and death          crucified, dead, buried, descended into hell? After
of the Lord Jesus Christ and hold you in contempt if        all, to suffer under Pontius Pilate, to be crucified, to
you are foolish enough to speak of a particular             die, to be buried, to descend into hell cannot be
atonement. They preach that the sinner is not whol-         restricted to a few. Many suffered under the
ly dead, is able to accept the gospel and, if you           Roman governor, were crucified, died, were
maintain the absolute depravity of the sinner, they         buried. And is it not utterly hopeless for one to de-
will accuse you of denying man's responsibility and         scend into hell? Hence, what kind of Saviour is this?
of making God the author of sin. Indeed, they deny          So, the wonderfulness of this can be understood on-
every fundamental truth of Holy Writ, and they go           ly when you ask: Who suffered under Pontius
along with every heretical wind of doctrine. They           Pilate, etc.? And, then we have His exaltation: His
are Arminian to the core and despise everything             bodily resurrection from the dead and the grave,
that makes man nothing and exalts the living God            His ascension, sitting at the right hand of God and
as the only and truly sovereign Lord of heaven and          return to judgment.
earth.                                                        The Lord willing, we will continue with this in
  Notice now, generally speaking, what we believe           our following article.


228                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



THE LORD GAVE THE WORD




                          Missionary Methods (27)
                                              Prof. Robert D. Decker





  In the previous article we noted that Rufus               sionary Society of London to preach in Sierra
Anderson emphasized the absolute necessity of the           Leone, West Africa: "When Mr. Johnson first took
preaching of the Word on the mission field. With-           up his abode at what was afterwards called
out preaching, the church simply cannot be                  Regent's Town, in Sierra Leone, the people num-
gathered. Because this preaching, as well as the            bered about a thousand. They had been taken at
work of elders and the ministry of mercy, must be           different times from the holds of slave ships; were
done by native converts it is necessary that schools        wild and naked; and being from twenty-two dif-
be established. In some fields it is a must that the        ferent nations, were hostile to each other. They had
Scriptures be translated into the native tongue. But        no common medium of intercourse, except a little
all of these activities, as necessary and salutary as       broken English, had no ideas of marriage, lived
they may be, must be kept in strict subordination to        crowded together in the rudest huts. They were
the chief task of the missionary, viz., the preaching       devil-worshippers, and most of them lazy, thieving,
of the Word. According to Anderson the aim of mis-         plundering, brutal savages.
sions is the gathering of the elect out of the nations.
These must be organized into local manifestations             "Mr. Johnson was at first exceedingly discour-
of the institute of the church of Christ. The means         aged. But he resolved to preach Christ to them as
by which this is accomplished is the preaching of           the Saviour of sinners, in the simple manner of the
the Word. With this we are in hearty agreement.             gospel, and to open to them the miserable state of a
We would add to this the fact that the preaching of         sinner rejecting such a Saviour. His resolution was
the Word also has a hardening effect in the hearts         the same with that of the Apostle Paul, when he
of the reprobate and renders them thus without ex-          surveyed the desperate pollutions of the Corin-
cuse. Still more, when the Gospel shall have been          thians,  '-to know nothing among  them,  save Jesus
preached to the nations for a witness, then shall the       Christ and Him crucified.' There is no other ade-
end of all things come (Matthew 24:14).                     quate power of deliverance. After pursuing this
                                                            course the greater part of a year, preaching salva-
  To support his views  on,preaching  and on the           tion through the Lord Jesus, a remarkable change
value of native preachers, Anderson relates some of        began to come over the people. Old and young
the history of various mission fields of his day. This     became concerned for their souls. There was, in
material is not only interesting, even fascinating,        short, an outpouring of the Spirit. Many sought
but it illustrates the mighty, sovereign power of the      retirement in the woods for prayer; and soon the
grace of God through the preaching of the Word. It         neighboring mountains echoed, in moonlight even-
ought to be remembered that Anderson is writing            ings, with the hymns of worshippers. Mr. Johnson
about foreign fields in the  18OOs,  a time when he        has left a record of the experience of many of the
estimated: "One hundred thousand dollars a year            converts, in their own simple and broken, but ex-
would board and educate  four thousand  native             pressive language, when examined, as they all
youth (emphasis mine, R.D.D.). That sum would              were, for admission to the Lord's Supper. I am im-
support five hundred or six native ministers with          pressed by his record of their convictions of sin;
their families . .  ." (Rufus Anderson, R. Pierce          their acknowledgements of the divine forbearance;
Beaver, ed., To Advance The Gospel, p. 106).               their distrust of their own hearts; their inward con-
  Anderson first cites the work of Rev. William            flicts; their tender consciences; their faith and pa-
A.B. Johnson, a missionary sent by the Church Mis-         tience; their benevolence; and their love for souls.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                             229



The outward changes `were most striking. The peo-         were hanged; they were speared; they were stoned,
ple learned trades, became farmers, attached  well-       and the stoning was a most barbarous mode of ex-
kept gardens to their dwellings. They built a stone       ecution. They were thrown down a fatal precipice.
church large enough,  Twith the help of galleries, to     Loaded with heavy iron collars, and chained
seat closely nearly two thousand persons; which           together, they were driven into banishment. They
was regularly filled wi-th decently dressed, orderly,     were burned at the stake, and some were crucified.
and serious worshippers. They built a parsonage,          Many were sold into slavery. It is believed that
school-houses, store-houses, a bridge of several          more than two thousand persons suffered as Chris-
arches - all of stone. Most of the adult population       tians, during this persecution, in some cruel form
were married. Their night dances and heathenish           or other.
drumming ceased, and so did their oaths, drunken-           "So far as was possible, they associated together
ness, and stealing; and the schools contained a           as Christian communities; and there were those of
thousand children.                                        their number intelligent and courageous enough to
  "All this Mr. Johnson lived to see; but he died in      act as pastors and teachers, though always at the
1823,  only  seven years (emphasis mine, R.D.D.) from     peril, and sometimes at the sacrifice, of life. The
the commencement of his mission! Was there ever           result was a continual growth in numbers through
a more wonderful religious change? It shows the           all the persecutions.
power of the simple gospel, both to convert the
savage, and to civilize him. It shows the power of          "The queen was succeeded by her son; who
the cross of Christ . . . . In the year 1842,  twenty-    favored the Christians, and invited the return of the
four years after Mr. Johnson began his mission, one       missionaries. This was seven years ago, and now. . .
fifth of the population of Sierra Leone was at            there are within and around the capital of
school, and the attendance at public worship was          Madagascar, ninety churches, with more than five
estimated at twelve thousand. In 1862 native              thousand members; one hundred and one native
pastorates were established, and ten parishes             pastors; and twenty thousand claiming the Chris-
undertook the support of their own pastors; and no        tian name. In the space of four years, the number of
less than six different missions were sent by the         nominal Christians was more than doubled, and
people to the unevangelized tribes beyond the col-        the number of the communicants was increased
ony. The present number of nominal Christians in          tenfold . . . . We may read the history of Roman
the colony, is said, on high authority, to be eighty      persecutions from Nero down, and we shall find
thousand, of whom twenty thousand are communi-            none more cruel than the one in Madagascar, and
cants; and the missionary work at Sierra Leone is         none more distinguished for the inflexible firmness
regarded as having been accomplished" (Anderson,          of its martyrs; upon whom, it should be remem-
pp. 107-109).                                             bered, the fiery tempest burst in the very infancy of
                                                          their religious life. Nor should we forget that these
  Anderson continues: "Look next at the great             heroic martyrs belonged to the negro race" (Ander-
island of Madagascar, situated on the eastern coast       son, pp. 109, 110).
of Africa. Here we shall see, as of old, infant chur-
ches struggling successfully against the utmost ef-         Anderson continues by giving several examples
forts of the civil power to destroy them. The Lon-        of native preachers. Among these he cites a certain
don Missionary Society commenced a mission on             "Bartimeus, an eloquent blind native preacher at
that island in 1820, under the protection of the King     the Sandwich Islands. From the lowest physical, in-
Radama. The missionaries gave the people a writ-          tellectual, moral, and social degradation and wretch-
ten language, a grammar and dictionary, school            edness, in his state of heathenism, Bartimeus (so
books, a hymn-book, and the Bible, and taught             named at his baptism) gradually rose, under the
some thousands to read the Scriptures. The con-           new creating power of the gospel, to be a devoted,
verts were virtually, if not formally, embodied in        active, eloquent, and successful minister of the
churches. A pagan queen, the widow of Radama,             Word. The late Dr. Armstrong, a judicious and able
succeeded her husband in 1828, and, being hostile         missionary, who was with him five years, speaks
to the Christian religion, forbade the observance of      thus of him: `He is a short man, and rather cor-
its ordinances, and the reading of the Bible; and         pulent, very inferior in appearance when sitting,
persistence in either was punishable with death.          but when he rises to speak he looks well, stands
Perceiving that the gospel continued to gain              erect, gesticulates with freedom, and pours forth,
ground, notwithstanding her decree, she, in 1835,         as he becomes animated, words in torrents. He is
banished all the missionaries. The Christians, still      perfectly familiar with the former as well as the
increasing, were then subjected to fierce persecu-        present modes of thinking of the islanders which
tion, which continued through twenty-five years,          gives him a power in comparisons, allusions and
until her death in 1861. They were poisoned; they         direct appeals, which no foreigner will ever


230                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



possess. Often, while listening with exquisite               Two truths are illustrated by these examples. 1)
delight to his eloquent strains, have I thought of         There comes a time when the missionary must
Wirt's description of the celebrated blind preacher        move on. The native church must be left to stand in
of Virginia.' . . . Bartimeus died in the autumn of        its own right as a manifestation of the body of our
1843 . . . . His calling to be a preacher was evidently    Lord. We must not be afraid to "cut the tie." 2) The
of God. He had original endowments for that ser-           foreign church needs its own pastors. A large part
vice. He had great strength of memory, and there           of the work of foreign missions must be the training
has already been a reference to his eloquence"             of native pastors.                    to be continued. . .
(Anderson, pp. 115, 116).

FAITH OF OUR FATHERS



                                   The Nicene Creed
                                               Rev. James Slopsema




Article 10 - We acknowledge one baptism for the re-          This idea of unity as expressed in Ephesians 4 is
       mission of sins.                                    also incorporated into the whole of the Nicene
  In this article the early church first of all            Creed. In Article 1 the early church confessed her
acknowledged one baptism.                                  faith in "one God, the Father Almighty." In Article
                                                           2 she confessed her faith in "one Lord Jesus
  This confession is based on Ephesians  44-6:             Christ." On that basis she also confessed her faith
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are         in Article 9 in "one holy catholic and apostolic
called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one          church." And now in this article the church ac-
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who         knowledged "one baptism." By one baptism Gods
is above all, and through all, and in you all."            people are all incorporated into the one holy
  The  context.of  these verses deals with the unity       catholic and apostolic church of God.
of the church. In verse 3 the saints are exhorted to         It would appear as though this truth of one bap-
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In      tism was incorporated into the Nicene Creed to re-
verses 4-6 cited above we find the basis for this uni-     ject the baptism of certain heretical groups that had
ty. The basis for the unity of the church is to be         either departed from the church or been cast out.
found in the fact that there is one God, one Lord,
one Spirit Who works in the members of the                   Already at this early date the church had debated
church one faith and one hope.                             whether it was proper to acknowledge the validity
                                                           of baptism administered by various splinter groups
  To this is added the idea of one baptism. The bap-       and heretical sects.
tism referred to here is not first of all the sacrament
of baptism but the spiritual baptism symbolized in           There were those led by the church father
water baptism. This spiritual baptism consists of in-      Cyprian who maintained that the baptism of
corporation into the church and covenant of God            heretical groups was not valid. Those who had
through the washing away of sins in Christ's blood.        received heretical baptism and who sought en-
Of this profound spiritual reality the sacrament of        trance into the catholic church had to be baptized.
baptism is a visible sign and seal. Consequently, it       Cyprian refused even to speak of rebaptism under
is through the sacrament of baptism that one is also       these circumstances for fear of giving any validity
incorporated into the church as institute. The point       at all to the baptism by heretics.
however is that there is only one baptism, not               This position of Cyprian was totally consistent
many. Also this suggests and establishes the unity         with the doctrine of the church that had developed
of the church. By one baptism the elect of God are         already at this time. As we saw in our discussion of
all incorporated into one church.                          Article 9, the doctrine of the church at this time


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                             231



allowed for only one institution of the church. The       Sanctifier. Because of the nature of this heresy the
body of Christ was limited to the one institution         baptism of the Sabellians was also declared by the
controlled by the bishops, who, it was claimed,           church to be invalid.
were the personal successors of the apostles. The           Finally the baptism of the Montanists was re-
implication of this is clear. Since the sacraments are    jected, evidently because they did not use the bap-
entrusted by Christ to the church institute, to be ad-    tism formula found in Matthew  28:19  - they did
ministered by her alone, it simply follows that the       not baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Ho-
baptism administered by the one catholic church is        ly Spirit.
alone valid. All other baptisms administered by
those who have departed from this mother church             However, the council of Constantinople did ac-
are fraudulent. Those who come from these                 cept and declare valid the baptism of other
heretical groups must renounce their false baptism        heretical groups. Surprisingly, the council accepted
and receive proper baptism from the church.               the baptism of the Arians, who taught that the Son
                                                          of God did not possess the same being or essence as
  Opposition to this view was found primarily in          the Father and therefore is an inferior god to the
the western branch of the church. Led by the              Father. The council also accepted the baptism of
Roman bishop Stephen there were those who ad-             the Sabbatians, who taught that those who had
vocated a more pragmatic position. They were in-          fallen away during times of persecution ought not
clined to accept the baptism by heretics provided         to be allowed back into the church. Accepted was
that baptism was administered with the intent to          also the baptism of the Quartodecimanians, who
baptize and done in the name of the Father, Son,          differed with the catholic church on the date of the
and Holy Spirit.                                          Jewish Passover and Jesus' death. Finally, the bap-
  In the great council of Constantinople  (381),          tism of the Apollinarians was accepted. The  Apol-
which added the article we are now discussing to          linarians denied that Jesus possessed a complete
the Nicene Creed, the church officially decided to        human nature.
accept the baptism of some heretical groups but re-         It would appear from this that the early church
ject the baptism of others.                               had decided on certain requirements that had to be
  Rejected as invalid were the baptism of the Euno-       met for her to accept the baptism of heretical
mians, Sabellians, Montanists, and others.                groups as valid. These requirements were evidently
                                                          two in number. First, it would appear as though
  The baptism of the Eunomians was rejected               baptisms must be administered in the name of the
because their baptism was not administered accord-        Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, using the baptism for-
ing to the accepted practice that prevailed at that       mula found in Matthew  28:19. This however did
time in the catholic church. The catholic church          not require that those administering the baptism
practiced immersion at this time. By immersion is
meant the dipping of the head of the candidate into       believe the doctrine of the Trinity; for the council
                                                          of Constantinople did accept the baptism of the
the water in which he stood. In certain circum-           Arians. The second requirement was that baptism
stances (scarcity of water, physical infirmity, etc.)     be administered in such a way that the candidate be
baptism by pouring from a shell or vessel or from         immersed three times in water. If these two re-
the hand on the head was considered equivalent to         quirements were met, baptism was considered
immersion. The important element in the admini-           valid regardless of who administered it.
stration of baptism however was that there be three
immersions, in the name of the Father, Son, and             According to the 9th Article of the Nicene Creed
Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Eunomians was re-         this is the one baptism acknowledged by the early
jected and declared false by the council of Constan-      church. She did not acknowledge several different
tinople because they "baptize with only one im-           baptisms. She did not acknowledge single immer-
mersion."                                                 sion baptism. She did not acknowledge baptism ad-
  The baptism of the Sabellians was rejected              ministered in the name of the Son alone, as some
because of their teaching of the "Son-Fatherhood."        were inclined. There was only one baptism that
The Sabellians denied that the Father, Son, and Ho-       was valid  - a threefold immersion in the name of
ly Spirit are three distinct persons in the Godhead.      the Father, Son, and Holy  Spnit.
They taught rather that these three are only three          With certain modifications the Reformed chur-
manifestations of one person. The Father is God as        ches historically have taken a similar position.
He revealed Himself in the Old Testament as the           They have acknowledged one baptism. This one
Creator. The Son is the same person who later             baptism has essentially two requirements. These
revealed Himself in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer.         are the two requirements laid down in the Scrip-
The Holy Spirit is the same person as the Father          tures. First, baptism must be administered in the
and Son only now revealed after Pentecost as the          name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by a


232                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



church that acknowledges the truth of the Trinity.          All those who have received this one baptism
Secondly, baptism must involve the washing of             have the sign and seal of a deeper, spiritual baptism
water as a sign of the washing away of sins in the        - incorporation into the one church and covenant
blood of Jesus Christ. All other considerations are       of God through the washing away of sins in the
immaterial as far as the validity of baptism is con-      blood of Jesus Christ. Where there is faith the bap-
cerned. Whether baptism is administered by way of         tized person is also able to lay claim to this inner
immersion or sprinkling, whether there is a three-        spiritual baptism. He is assured and guaranteed by
fold immersion or not are all immaterial. These           the very sacrament of baptism that he has been in-
elements do not belong to the essence of the sacra-       corporated into the one holy catholic and apostolic
ment. Nor does the validity of the sacrament de-          church by the blood of Jesus Christ. Having that
pend on the personal faith of the person performing       confirmation through baptism it is his solemn duty
the baptism or the orthodoxy of the church ad-            to seek and promote the true unity of the church
ministering the sacrament. This is because baptism        with all those who share with him in this one bap-
is an institution of Christ. Its efficacy and power       tism. Doing this he can truly confess with the
therefore belong exclusively to Christ and not to         church, "I acknowledge one baptism."
the church or minister who administers it as an
agent of Christ.

GUIDED INTO ALL TRUTH



             The Doctrine of Scripture and the
       Reformation: Unity and the Non-Issue
                                                Rev. T. Miersma





  We have been concerning ourselves for some              But the striking thing about the doctrine of Scrip-
time in this column with the history of the doctrine      ture held by the Reformers, from different coun-
of Scripture as a larger part of the history of doc-      tries, speaking different languages, and of varying
trine. That study has now brought us to the thresh-       backgrounds, is this, that they were united in one
old of the Reformation. It is to the doctrine of          common view of Scripture as the Word of God and
Scripture as developed and defined by the Refor-          as the sole authority for the faith and life of the
mation that we now turn our attention. We can             church. "Scripture alone" was truly the watchword
well express our subject in these terms. The Re-          of the Reformers.
formed doctrine of Scripture developed by the Ref-          This unity of thought and doctrine was not due,to
ormation was not the work of only one man or in-          any one man or his labors. Luther in Germany and
dividual but was the work of the Reformation as a         Zwingli in Switzerland both arrived at essentially
whole. Whether we turn to Luther or Calvin, to            the same view of Scripture independently and from
Zwingli or others of the Reformers, always there is       very diverse backgrounds. In various ways and by
an underlying unity of thought and agreement              various means, God led the Reformers to the Word
among them on this doctrine.                              of God and to Scripture's own testimony concern-
  It is true that there were individual differences in    ing itself. In so doing, He led them also to sound
the way the Reformers expressed themselves, or            principles of interpretation and of understanding
differences in the points which received emphasis         that Word of God, principles which were not new,
among them. Nor did every Reformer see the doc-           but had already been laid down in Scripture and
trine of Scripture with the same clarity or insight.      developed in seed form by the early church. It is


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               233



this which makes the Reformation truly a re-forma-         over infallible and inerrant, was not an issue of the
tion, a return to the doctrine and truth of the Word       Reformation. It was confessed by the Reformers
of God and a reforming of the church upon the              and by Rome, at least in principle. Rome indeed in
foundation of Scripture.                                   its veneration of tradition denied in practide  what it
  In that return to Scripture the doctrine of Scrip-       confessed formally, but nevertheless, that the
ture taught in the Word of'God itself was again set        Scriptures were the infallible and inerrant Word of
forth and developed. Rut it was now developed in           God was never the issue.
clearer form than that achieved by either the early          The church of Rome, in its response and answer
church or the forerunners, Wyclif and Huss.                to the Reformation at the Council of Trent, 1546, in
Though they may have differed on other points, in          its fourth session, declares concerning Scripture
the doctrine of Scripture the Reformers were essen-        thatit".  . . receives and venerates with equal affec-
tially one. It was this doctrine which set them apart      tion of piety and reverence, all the books both of
from the rationalism and unbelieving scepticism of         the Old and New Testament - seeing that one God
the Renaissance and from the church of Rome,               is the author of both - . . . ." While Rome added to
which set tradition alongside Scripture and placed         the list of the Old and New Testaments the
the church's authority over the Word of God. The           apochryphal books, yet the principle of divine
Reformers were united concerning the one princi-           authorship was never denied. Though Rome speaks
ple: "sola   Scriptura," or "Scripture alone" as the       of inspiration in mechanical terms of dictation,
sole authority for faith and life, the foundation of       rather than the organic view held by the Reform-
doctrine and the church. From that principle they          ers, which things we shall more fully consider, the
would not waver.                                           Lord willing, yet, that the Bible was God's Word, of
  This means that in our study of the Reformed             divine authorship, infallible and inerrant, and of
doctrine of Scripture we are confronted with a             divine origin and inspiration was not an issue even
wealth of material to be drawn from the writings of        between the Reformers and Rome. We will not find
the Reformers and from their history, for this one         therefore that this issue, which is today a prom-
principle of "Scripture alone" was a matter of             inent one, is an issue which was much debated by
much controversy, not indeed among the Reform-             the Reformers directly.
ers themselves, but between them and their
Romish opponents. It is to these controversies and           It is important that we understand this non-issue
the issues raised by them that we shall direct our at-     clearly. It is so often contended today that the
tention in coming articles. They embrace such              Reformers, in their views of inspiration and Scrip-
questions as, which books form the Word of God?            ture, held a low view of these matters. Thus the
from where does Scripture derive its authority? and        Reformers are often claimed by those who today
does it have sole authority? Such questions also           would deny divine inspiration, infallibility and  in-
concerning how Scripture is to be interpreted, by          errancy, as even advocating these modern-day opin-
whom, and by what means, confronted the                    ions. The appearance of proof for this idea is given
Reformers. These questions are also today very             by selecting various statements of the Reformers
much living questions in the Christian church at           which speak rather freely of the Word of God, the
large, and it is important therefore that we know of       books of Scripture, their authorship and contents.
them and of the answers to them. As we consider            This abuse of the Reformers' writings is nothing
these questions we will see that on these matters          more than a deliberate distortion of the facts of
the Reformers indeed speak with one voice.                 history and the Reformers' views. The Reformers
                                                           were free to use the language they did and in the
  One issue however deserves our attention from            form they did simply because these modern
the outset. That issue may properly be called the          heresies had not yet arisen in the church. It is
non-issue of the Reformation. For indeed, in all           historical falsehood to read back now into the
their discussions, even with Rome, neither  .Rome          Reformers issue which they did not even consider
nor the Reformers had any disagreement upon one            at the time and which for them were never points
point, at least formally, and that was this, that the      of controversy. To pull, for example, as is so often
Bible was the authoritative, infallible,  inerrant         done, offhanded comments of Luther from the
Word of God. Rome indeed disagreed with the Re-            notes and reminiscences of his students and friends
formers' definition of the nature and source of that       (Luther's  TabZe Talks), and which were made while
authority, disagreed with the Reformers that Scrip-        sitting at table, and then to present them as the
ture had soZe authority, setting beside it also what it    authoritative view of the Reformer on the doctrine
conceived to be an infallible oral tradition received      of Scripture is nothing more than the practice of
from the apostles. But that the Scriptures were the        deceit upon the ignorant. In like manner, imprecise
Word of God, possessed authority, and were more-           statements of Calvin have been selected to show


234                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



that he taught both Arminianism and the theory of          faith. Likewise our Belgic Confession of Faith in Ar-
common grace. Indeed, in such a manner one could           ticle Three declares, "Therefore we call such
make the Reformers teach nearly anything one               writings holy and divine Scriptures," and again in
wished.                                                    Article Five, "We receive all these books, and these
  The united testimony of the Reformers as a               only, as holy and canonical, for the regulation,
whole and of the Reformed creeds which they pro-           foundation, and confirmation of our faith; believing
duced gives expression to one clear principle, that        without any doubt, ALL things contained in them, . . .I'
the Scriptures are the Word of God, of divine              (emphasis added, TM). This is the Reformed view,
authorship, fully sufficient for faith and life, and to    the view of the Reformers under whose influence
be received in all their parts as the Word of God, in-     and. doctrine our creeds were written. He who
fallible and without error. The current departures         teaches otherwise, or that church which teaches
from this truth in the churches of the Reformation         otherwise, or in its decisions manifests that it so
and the denial of these things is simply not Re-           teaches, has departed from the position of the
formed, but rather innovation and heresy. Nor is           Reformation and can no longer call itself Reformed
there any need for lengthy reports on these subjects       or Lutheran. In the light of the fact that Scripture's
in Reformed churches which hold to the three               infallibility and inerrancy was a non-issue in the
forms of unity, as has also been the case in recent        Reformation, even between the Reformers and
years. Our Heidelberg Catechism, for example,              Rome, but one of agreement, to deny this principle
states in Question and Answer 21, that true faith          is to depart from the historic Christian faith; and, as
holds for truth ". . . aZZ that God has revealed to us     our Catechism makes plain, it is a matter of
in. His Word' (emphasis added, TM), and that this          unbelief, for it is not the expression of "true faith."
belongs to the certain and assured knowledge of

IN HIS FEAR



                     God is Sovereign (continued)
                                               Rev. RonaZd Hanko





  We have seen that the underlying truth of the            true of the man who, in the exercise of authority,
Fifth Commandment is God's sovereignty. God is             either in domestic or civil relationships, is a tyrant
the one Who has all power and authority in heaven          and a bully. He too, by his own actions, denies any
and earth, and He is the one Who gives power and           lip-service he pays to a sovereign God, by refusing
authority in the different spheres of life, so that not    to use his authority as a gift from God.
only kings and governments, but also parents, hus-                When the Fifth Commandment speaks only of
bands, employers, and church officebearers rule at         the relationship of parents and children, we are not
His command.                                               to think that it has nothing to say about these other
  Our confession of God's sovereignty, therefore,          relationships of authority and submission. That the
is no mere lip service, but something that is woven        Fifth Commandment governs all these relation-
into the very fabric of our lives. We confess God's        ships is evident from the fact that Scripture often
sovereignty by bowing to or exercising  God-               speaks of rulers, masters, and others in authority as
appointed authority in every sphere of life. A man         "fathers" (Gen. 4:20, 21, II Rings 5:13, I Cor. 4:15, I
who speaks of God's sovereignty and professes an           Tim. 5: 1, 2). The Fifth Commandment speaks only
admiration for that truth, but refuses to submit to        of parents and children because it is a summary,
those whom a sovereign God has appointed to rule           but as a summary it points to the very heart of the
his life, is revealed as a liar and a hypocrite by his     whole issue of authority and submission to authori-
rebellious and disobedient conduct. The same is            tv*


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                235



       The Fifth Commandment reminds us, then, that         mine right and wrong, to demand obedience and
the family is the basic unit of human society. All          submission to His determination, and to punish
other relationships are only a development of that          and reward rebellion and submission, so it is with
most basic family relationship. That development            those whom God has placed over us. They must
was necessary as human life became more diverse             uphold and reward the good and condemn and
and complicated and as men multiplied and spread            punish the evil (Rom.  13:3, 4). In doing this, how-
over the earth. The example of Abraham shows,               ever, they must also confess God's sovereignty by
however, that all the other relationships governed          determining right and wrong, and punishing and
by the Fifth Commandment have their source in               rewarding according to the perfect standard of
the relationship of parents and children and are            God's law, and not according to some standard of
dependent upon that relationship. Abraham was               their own. In other words, it must be God's authori-
not only the father, but the religious authority, the       ty that they uphold. Those who are in authority do
priest, in his household (Gen.  12:7,  8), and the          this by dealing justly, honestly, and in love with
highest civil authority (Gen.  13:8,  14:14 ff), and        those who are under them (Eph.  5:25,  6:4, 9, Col.
thus the authority in every area of life for his fami-      3: 19, 21, 4: 1). Authority .without love and justice is
lY*                                                         not the authority which God has given, but petty
       All this means that the breakdown of authority in    tyranny which provokes disobedience and discour-
society, in the church, and in the schools must be          ages obedience.
traced to the home, that is, to the breakup of the            What must be emphasized, though, is that the
family, and the refusal both of parents and children        failure of those who hold positions of authority are
to recognize the authority that God Himself gives to        never an excuse for insubordination and rebellion.
parents in the home. We cannot expect things to go          The submission which God demands is  uncondi:
well in the churches and schools when parents do            tional, and there are no circumstances at all where
not take upon themselves their God-given authori-           God permits rebellion against authority in the
ty, either because they are too busy or too lazy, and       home or in society. It is for this reason that the
when neglected children do not learn to submit to           Commandment speaks of "honoring" authority
authority in their own homes. The refusal of                rather than "obeying" it. In speaking this way God
parents to exercise their authority, and the subse-         recognizes that those who hold authority are sinful,
quent disobedience of children is the grossest form         even if they are children of God, and that their
of sin against the Fifth Commandment, not only be-          demands may conflict with God's Word. There
cause it strikes directly at the sovereignty of God,        may be times, then, when God's people must
but because it strikes at the very foundations of           refuse obedience to the demands of a husband, of
human society, and produces hellish chaos and               parents, of government, or of employers. But even
lawlessness in all of life. The best thing that we can      then we may not cease to recognize their authority
do to bring order and decency in the life of the            or make any attempt to overthrow it either in word
church, to insure peace and harmony in our Chris-           or deed, or fail to obey in other things.
tian schools, and to prepare our children to live in          Clear conflict with God's command is the  onZy
all godliness and honesty in society is to set our          reason for not obeying, and there is no reason or ex-
homes in order according to the teaching of the             cuse for rebellion. Unfairness, oppression, cruelty,
Fifth Commandment.                                          and dishonorable deeds are never an excuse for
       As we have already indicated, the calling of         rebellion, not even for disobedience. Acts  5:29
children to submit to their parents implies the call-       teaches us to obey God even if it means disobeying
ing of parents to exercise their God-given authority        men, but I Peter 2:18-20 teaches that we must sub-
over their children. It is sad that so many parents         mit always. There Peter commands servants to be
today are not even home often enough to have any            subject to their masters, not only when they are
real authority over their families. In refusing to          treated well, but even when they are mistreated.
fulfil their responsibilities they are the cause of         Peter gives us the example of Jesus to emphasize
their children's lawlessness. And this is true in           this for us in I Peter 2:21-25.  In His trial, Jesus sub-
every area of life. The cause of rebellion is not only      mitted both to the religious and the civil authorities
to be found in the wicked hearts of those who               of that time, though both were corrupt and wicked.
rebel, but in the wickedness of those who will not          He was reviled, treated most unjustly, threatened,
fulfil their responsibilities in the positions of           persecuted, and finally murdered by those whom
authority that they have received.                          God had placed in positions of authority. Yet He
       Parents, and others in authority, therefore, con-    never refused submission, not even when Caiaphas
fess God's sovereignty by faithfully and diligently         put Him under that hypocritical oath that He tell
undertaking their duties. And just as God's authori-        them whether He was the Christ. By His own ex-
ty means that He has the sovereign right to deter-          ample He teaches us what our submission must be


236                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



in every area of life, even when we must for God's       God's sovereignty and its application as Paul sums
sake refuse obedience. Never may we revile those         it up in Romans  13:1, 2.
whom God has placed over us, never may we                  It is this commandment also which condemns
threaten them, never may we sin against them, or         membership in labor unions. The purpose of such
deal evilly with them, even when they do so to us.       organizations is always, in one way or another, to
Our only recourse in such cases is that which Jesus      force employers to live up to their responsibilities.
Himself took - the way of committing Himself to          Again, there is no question that employers often
Him that judges righteously. For this the Christian      treat their employees unfairly and wickedly, but it
must need suffer much, injustice and oppression,         is no excuse for rebellion. For his faith in a
but he does so confidently, knowing the example of       sovereign God the Christian will have to suffer
Christ, and his part in Christ's reward.                 much, being unable to accept the better-paying
  The application of these principles is very far        jobs, but also in these  things he remembers the
reaching. It condemns, for example, the rebellious       reward that a righteous judge has promised him
origin of our own government - rebellion not only        and commits himself to the keeping of that great
against an oppressive government in England but          Judge.
also against God, as reflected in the teaching of our      In the home, in the church, and in society, in the
Constitution that government has its origin in the       exercise of authority and in submission to authori-
consent of the governed and not in God. The frui-        ty, the Christian is known by his fruits as one who
tion of this godless principle is seen in the            believes in and honors a sovereign God.
lawlessness of our society today.                          In his obedience he lays hold on the sure promise
  The unrighteous origins of our government do           of a sovereign God, for this Fifth Commandment
not mean, though, that we may add our own dis-           has great promise for those who love God and keep
obedience and rebellion to the chaotic condition of      His law. Paul even calls it in Ephesians  6:2 "the
our society. By whatever means the authority of          first commandment with promise," not because
our government has been established, it is from          the first four have no promise, but because this is
God and we must submit for His sake, even to the         the first which makes the promise known, found-
extent of paying our taxes (Matt.  17:24-27, Rom.        ing that promise in the glory of a sovereign God.
13:6,7). Nor may we have any sympathy for the op-        Submitting to all authority, therefore, we have the
pressed citizens of communist countries or of our        proof and assurance that we shall live long in the
own country when they rebel against the govern-          land which God gives  - not the earthly land any
ment, nor may we support them in any way. The            more, but the heavenly Canaan of which the earth-
Roman government of Jesus' day was no better             ly land was but a shadow. There we shall have life
than many  governmlents today, but Jesus and the         forever under the sovereign rule of God and of His
Apostles never advocated any form of "liberation         Christ and have authority and power and dominion
theology" but rather by word and example taught          over all God's works, through Christ Jesus our
the theology of submission, that is, the theology of     Savior, who submitted even to death for us.

THE STRENGTH OF YOUTH



                                            Fear of God
                                             Rev. Ron Cammenga




  "The fear of God," the Presbyterian John  Mur-           There is in the church today a sad lack of fear of
ray has said, "is the soul of godliness," (Principles    God. This is a lack of fear of God that often shows
Of Conduct,  p. 229). Murray is right. The fear of       itself in the flippant, disrespectful, even irreverent
God is the essence of the Christian life. There can      way in which the worship services are conducted.
be no godly, pious living apart from the fear of God.    The solemnity and reverence of the worship  ser-


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  237



vices more and more are done away with. Preaching        told that he "trembled" (Acts  24:25). But this was
becomes a time for relating humorous stories and         no genuine fear of God. In fact, this kind of fear
jokes. God is addressed in prayer as if men were         stands opposed to the genuine, saving fear of God
talking to their next door neighbors. The people         that characterizes the believer. The Apostle John
come to church dressed more and more casually,           writes, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love
the younger men wearing blue-jeans and the               casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that
younger women wearing slacks. The things of              feareth is not made perfect in love" (I Jn.  4:18).
Gods Word, spiritual things are not taken serious-         But in distinction from the fear of terror, of
ly, but regarded with indifference.                      dread, there is the good, necessary, and proper fear
  Undoubtedly this general loss of the fear of God       of God.
in the churches today is due, in large measure, to         This proper fear of God is occasioned, first of all,
the widespread acceptance of the false teaching          by a recognition of ourselves as-guilty sinners and
that God is a God of all love and that God loves all     as those who, on account of the guilt of our sins, are
men. Just in proportion as the churches have made        liable to God's righteous judgment. In the end, it is
their message the message of the universal love of       impossible to eliminate entirely from the Biblical
God, they have muted the message of the wrath            teaching concerning the fear of God the terror
and fear of God. And the loss of the message of the      which His righteousness and judgment cannot help
wrath and fear of God has bad the most disastrous        but produce. Surely, this is not the only thing, or
effects on Christian living.                             even the main thing, that characterizes the fear of
  There can be no Christian life apart from fear of      the child of God. But it is an element! It does enter
God. The whole motivation for Christian living,          into the picture!
why we do the right and hate the wrong, is only            That ought not seem strange to us. This is true
this: the fear of God.                                   even in earthly relationships. Every believing son
  The Scriptures make plain how indispensible to         loves his father. But that doesn't prevent him from
the Christian life is the fear of God. The Psalmist      having a certain fear of his father also, especially a
says in Psalm 11  l:lO, "The fear of the Lord is the     fear of the wrath of his father and the chastisement
beginning of wisdom." Wpright  Job is described by       of his father should he sin against his father. And it
God Himself in Job 2:3 as "a perfect and an upright      is exactly that fear that motivates him not to do
man, one that feareth God." The Virgin Mary pro-         what would be displeasing to his father. This same
claims concerning God in Luke  1:50, "And His            thing, now, is true of our relationship to God. Mur-
mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to        ray states:
generation." The Apostle exhorts us in II Corin-             . . . it is quite obvious that the Scripture
thians 7: 1, "Having therefore these promises, dear-         represents the dread or terror of Gods
ly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthi-       wrath as belonging to the total concept of
ness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in         the fear of God. Even where there is no sin,
the fear of God." In I Peter  2:17 we are admon-             and therefore no existent wrath, we cannot
ished, "Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear            eliminate the fear of incurring God's dis-
God, honor the king." In Jeremiah 32:40 God prom-           pleasure as one motive deterrent to the com-
ises the children of Israel, "I will make an ever-          mission of sin (Principles Of Conduct, p. 235).
lasting covenant with them." In the same verse He          The Scriptures often emphasize this aspect of the
goes on to explain what the establishment of His         fear of God. The Psalmist declares in Psalm
covenant will mean: "I will put my fear in their         119:120, "My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and
hearts, that they shall not depart from me." The         I am  afrai-d of Thy judgments." Jesus says to His
whole Book of Proverbs calls covenant parents to         own disciples, "Be not afraid of them who kill the
bring up their children in "the fear of God." Of the     body, and after that have no more that they can do.
outstanding men of faith in the Old Testament,           But I forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him,
such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Job, David, and          which `after he hath killed hath power to cast into
Solomon, it is said that they "feared God."              hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Luke  12:4, 5).
  Obviously, the fear of God exhorted upon the           The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews urges this
child of God is distinct from the fear of pure dread     fear upon his readers: "Let us therefore fear, lest, a
and terror. There is nothing godly or Christian in       promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of
this attitude. James tells us that the devils possess    you should seem to come short of it" (Heb.  4:l).
this kind of fear of God. He writes in James  2:19       The Apostle Peter exhorts in I Peter  1:17, "And if
that "the devils also believe, and tremble." Of that     ye call on the Father, Who without respect of per-
unbelieving monarch, Felix, which confronted by          sons judgeth according to every man's work, pass
the gospel-preaching of the Apostle Paul, we are         the time of your sojourning here in fear." In the


238                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



Old Testament, the person who sinned presumptu-          i n   A c t s   9:31, "Then had the churches rest
ously, was to be put to death. God Himself gives         throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria,  and
the reason for this, "And all the people shall hear,     were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord,
and fear, and do no more presumptuously" (Deut.          and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multi-
17:13).                                                  plied." Believers are exhorted to "work out your
  But, in the second place, the fear of God which        own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12).
the Scriptures enjoin is a fear motivated by             The ungodly, who reject the revelation of God and
reverence for and love of the God Whom we fear.          refuse to worship Him, are described in Romans
The fear of God con-tains  an unmistakable element       3:18: "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
of dread, but goes beyond that. It is more than mere       There is nothing more conducive to godly, holy
dread aroused by the apprehension of God's wrath.        living than the fear of God. There is nothing that so
And, in the end, dread of judgment will never itself     much motivates the child of God to hate and flee
produce the love of God and hatred of sin in which       from sin as the fear of God. There is nothing that
salvation consists. The fear of God that character-      produces in his life carefulness to know and obey
izes the believer is a fear which manifests itself in    the will of God as the fear of God. There is nothing
adoration, love, and humble supplication of God. It      so sadly lacking in the church today as a proper and
is the fear that consists of awe, reverence, honor,      healthy fear of God.
and worship before a God Whom we know to be a
holy God, a God of all glory, truth, and righteous-         Such a fear of God is of benefit to us ourselves.
ness.                                                    It's demanded by God Himself, but it's also benefi-
                                                         cial to us ourselves. There is no book of the Bible
  The Apostle John has this fear of God in mind          that emphasizes this truth so much as the Book of
when he says in Revelation  15:4, "Who shall not         Proverbs. "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days:
fear Thee, 0 Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou        but the years of the wicked shall be shortened"
only art holy: for all nations shall come and wor-       (10:27). "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to
ship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made             depart from the snares of death' (14:27). "By
manifest." The Psalmist says in Psalm 2: 11, "Serve      humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and
the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."         honor, and life" (22:4).
And in Psalm 5:7, "But as for me, I will come into
Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy: and in            Let each of us make the prayer of the Psalmist in
Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple."         Psalm 86: 11 our own: "Teach me Thy way, 0 Lord;
The good condition of the early church is described      I will walk in Thy truth: unite my heart to fear Thy
                                                         name. ' '




                                       Book Reviews


A MOMENT OF TRUTH (THE CONFESSION                        But for that very reason the stand taken last year by
OF THE DUTCH REFORMED MISSION                            the Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed
CHURCH  1982),  Edited by G.D. Cloete and D.J.           Churches of the Netherlands (GKN), and the Re-
Smit; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand              formed Ecumenical Synod declaring apartheid to
Rapids, MI. ISBN O-8028-0011-4, 161 pp., paper,          be heresy is also involved. If you want to under-
$9.95.                                                   stand something of these matters and just what it is
WALKING ON THORNS, The Call To Chris-                    that the CRC, the GRN, and the RES are supporting
tian Obedience,  Allan Boesak; Wm. B. Eerdmans           and approving, then you should read these books.
Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI. ISBN 0-8028-             In the fall of 1982 the Dutch Reformed Mission
0041-6, 65 pp., paper, $3.95. (Reviewed by Prof.         Church in South Africa, what is called a "colored"
H.C. Hoeksema)                                           church in distinction from a black church or a
  These two books are closely related. They are          white church, declared that the situation confront-
both concerned with the struggle against apartheid       ing the churches in South Africa with respect to
in South Africa by non-whites in the church there.       apartheid constituted a status confessionis,  a condi-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               239



tion in which the very truth of the gospel is at stake.    must witness against and strive against any form of
In this connection they drafted a confession of faith      injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters,
with respect to the apartheid question, a confession       and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream; that
which sets the DRMC apart from its "mother"                the Church as the possession of God must stand
church, the Dutch Reformed Church of South                 where He stands, namely against injustice and with
Africa. The first of these books contains the text of      the wronged; that in following Christ the Church
that draft confession, as well as nine essays examin-      must witness against all the powerful and privi-
ing the historical precedent, background, theologi-        leged who selfishly seek their own interests and
cal meaning, and practical consequences of this ac-        thus control and harm others."
tion.                                                         The second book purports to be a book of ser-
  But be warned that what you will find in this            mons by  Allan  Boesak, president of the World
book and in this confession is the social gospel un-       Alliance of Reformed Churches and darling of the
disguised; maybe today you would call it "libera-          World Council of Churches (this book was first
tion theology." Here is a sample, from Article 4:          published by the WCC, which should be a suffi-
"We believe that God has revealed Himself as the           cient negative recommendation!). They are not
one Who wishes to bring about justice and true             really sermons, but propaganda speeches in the
peace among men; that in a world full of injustice         nature of a takeoff from various texts and with a
and enmity He is in a special way the God of the           religious crusade character. I have never heard
destitute, the poor, and the wronged and that He           Boesak speak or preach, but when I read these
calls His Church to follow Him in this; that He            messages, I am reminded of Martin Luther King,
brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to         Jr., both as to the content of the messages and as to
the hungry; that He frees the prisoner and restores        the admitted charisma of which they give evidence.
sight to the blind; that He supports the down-                I close with an editorial note which really goes
trodden, protects the stranger, helps orphans and          beyond the scope of a book review. If this is what
widows, and blocks the path of the ungodly; that           the CRC and the RES believe, as in the light of last
for Him pure and undefiled religion is to visit the        year's decisions it is fair to believe, then why not be
orphans and the widows in their suffering; that He         honest and join the World Council of Churches?
wishes to teach His people to do what is good and to       This would also be a final solution for the RES of
seek the right; that the Church must therefore             their perennial and perplexing problem of World
stand by people in any form of suffering and need,         Council membership; the RES could disband!
which implies, among other things, that the Church


                       News From Our Churches
                                                 January  31,1985



  Rev. Jon Smith has accepted the call to serve as          location gives them a magnificent view of the bay
pastor to Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in             and of the city of  Petone right below them. The
Houston, Texas. Hull Protestant Reformed Church            Wellington Fellowship is comprised of four
in Iowa has called Prof. R. Decker to serve as              families while Palmerston North is comprised of
pastor, from a trio including also Rev. R. Hanko            two families. They worship in St. Michael's
and Rev. G. Van  Baren.                                     Lutheran Church in Naenae at 11 A.M. and 7 P.M.
                                                            Once a month they travel to Palmerston North to
  Rev.  Houck is doing better. He is  able' to get         preach on the second Sunday of the month. Right
around and do his work again for which he is                now they are in the summer season, which means
thankful. Jeremy is much improved. His kidney               that their Christmas was like a warm June day.
problem is in remission so he is losing weight and         They have experienced extremes in weather, strong
feeling much better. His kidney problem is                 winds at 93 mph and an earthquake. Although
characterized by flare-ups and remissions lasting in        separated from us by 10,000 miles they are with us
varying periods of time until he is a teenager.            in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
  Rev. and Mrs. R. Miersma and Eric have a                    The mission church in Blue Bell, PA meets at the
pleasant home in Korokoro. It is built on long poles        Lower Providence Community Center, Hillside
because it is located on a hillside. This splendid         Avenue in Blue Bell. Worship services are at 10:00


  THE STANDARD BEARER
        P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





240                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER

A.M. and 6:00 P.M. One of their members, Dan                               ing the new school in the fall. The starting of this
Holsopple, made public confession of his faith in                          new school has presented some unusual circum-
Covenant Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey.                                    stances for Hope School in Walker, MI. Several of
   The Mission Committee sponsored a conference                            the present school board members in Hope have in-
on home mission work which was held in the                                 dicated that they would resign since their children
Grand Rapids area in the early part of January. The.                       will be attending Heritage School. This meant that
subject of the conference was the growth of a mis-                         Hope School had to elect five new board members
sion group and the relationship between the Mis-                           to begin working with the board. Due to require-
sion Committee and the calling church.                                     ments of the constitution these newly elected in-
                                                                           terim members will receive an advisory vote until
   Tapes of Faith's Choir Program, The Christ ChiZd                        they actually fill the positions of the board
Cantata,  are available for $4.00 from Dan Boone,                          members who resign.
454-4616.
   The Board of the Heritage Christian School in
Hudsonville, MI has hired Mr. Gerald Kuiper as the                                                     NOTICE!!!
school's administrator/teacher. Mr. Kuiper is cur-                            An Officebearers Conference will be held, the Lord willing, at the
rently assisting the board in many aspects of open-                        Protestant Reformed Church in Randolph, Wisconsin on Tuesday,
                                                                           March 5, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. The subject  - "THEONOMY".
                                                                           Those in need of lodging or transportation from the Dane County Air-
                                                                           port (Madison) should notify Randolph's Clerk - Mr. Martin De Vries,
                            NOTICE! ! !                                    Route 1, Box 70, Randolph, WI 53956; Phone  -  (4141 326-5195.
                                                                           The public is invited.
   All students enrolled in the Protestant Reformed Seminary, who
will be in need of financial assistance for the coming school year, are
asked to contact the Student Aid Committee, Mr. Larry Meulenberg,                                      NOTICE!!!
Secretary, 342 Begole, SW., Grand Rapids, Ml 49504. (Phone 616-
453-8466). This contact should be made before the next meeting of             Classis West of The Protestant Reformed Churches will meet in
the Committee on February 21, 1985, the Lord willing.                      Randolph, Wisconsin on March 6, 1985, at 8:30 A.M., the Lord will-
                                                                           ing. Delegates in need of lodging are to inform the Clerk of the Ran-
                                                                           dolph Consistory.
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                          Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk
   The Ladies Society, "Ruth," of Hope Protestant Reformed Church
extends its Christian sympathy to one of its members, Mrs. Louis
(Esther) Kamps, in the death of her father, REV. KELLY TUCKER.                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in       The Council of the South Holland Protestant Reformed Church ex-
Me."                                                                       tends its Christian sympathies to its fellow Council Member, Mr.
                                                                           Wilbur Bruinsma, and to the family of the late LEWIS BRUINSMA in
   "In My  Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I          the death of their brother, husband, father and son.
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."                        It is our prayer that they may be comforted by the Word of our
                                        Mr. John Huisken, President        Saviour Lord, - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
                                        Miss Marilyn King, Secretary       Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us
                                                                           again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                       dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
                                                                           not away, reserved in heaven, for you." (i Peter 1:3, 4)
  The Adult Bible Study Society of  SouthEast Protestant Reformed                                                 Rev. David J. Engelsma, Pres.
Church expresses its Christian sympathy to Mrs. M.  Schipper in the                                               Louis R. Regnerus, Clerk
death of her husband, REV. M. SCHIPPER.
   "That I, with body and soul, am not my own, but belong unto My
faithful Savior Jesus Christ."                                                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                               Rev. C. Haak, Pres.            The South Holland Ladies Society expresses its sincere sympathy
                                               Mrs. D. Hauck, Sec'y.       to one of its fellow-members, Mrs. Phyllis Bruinsma, and to her
                                                                           children and grandchildren. On December 12, 1984, the Lord took
                                                                           unto Himself their beloved husband, father and grandfather, MR.
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                       LEWIS BRUINSMA, at the age of 54 years.
  The Adult Bible Study Society of  SouthEast Protestant Reformed            We commend them to the gracious keeping of Jehovah our merci-
Church expresses its Christian sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Richard            ful God, Who is a Husband of widows and a Father to the orphans.
Kamminga in the death of her mother, MRS. GERTRUDE OFFRINGA.                  "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us
  "For this God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide ever     a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (II Corinthians
unto death." (Psalm 48: 14)                                                4:17)
                                               Rev. C. Haak, Pres.                                           Rev. David Engelsma, Pres.
                                               Mrs. D. Hauck, Sec'y.                                         Mrs. Kathy Vander Meulen, Sec'y.


