           The
     STANDARD
          BEARER
           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





     .  .  . READ your Sfandcrrd  Bearer! I fear some-

     times that there is reason for concern in this
     respect. What good is a magazine lying on
     your table or in your drawer? Read it, teach
     your youth to read it, digest it, learn from it,
     and become established in the truth!
     See:  "One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty"
                                                        - page 245





.                                              Vol. LXI,  No. 11, March 1, 1985  -


242                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                            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  -                                                                                  SeconBClass Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                 Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       TruePrayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...242    Department  Editors:  Rev. Ronald  Cammenga. Rev.  Arie den  Hartog. Prof. Robert
                                                                                 D. Decker, Rev. Cornelius  Ha&o. Prof. Herman C. Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko,
  Editorial  -                                                                   Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J. Kortering, Rev. George C.
                                                                                 Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C.  Miersma. Rev. Marinus  Schipper, Rev. James  Slopse-
       One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty . . . . . . . . . .245                  ma, Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
  Translated Treasures  -                                                        Editorial  Of/ice: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
       A Pamphlet Concerning the                                                                  4975  Ivanrest Ave. S.W.
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          Reformation of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247             Church  NewsEdifoc  Mr. David Harbach
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MEDITATION



                                                            True Prayer
                                                                    Rev. H. Veldman


                                                       "Lord, teach us to pray. " Luke 11:l b



  Prayer Day - must we be taught to pray?                                           for corn and gram, for happiness and peace, etc.?
  We do not know what to pray? Must we not pray                                     Surely, we know what to pray, do we not?
for crops, for rain and sunshine and their proper                                       Yet, do we know? The Saviour taught us so dif-
amount, and that they may be sent us at the proper                                  ferently, did He not? He taught us: "Hallowed be
time? Should we not pray for health and strength,                                   Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done."


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     243



This must always be first. Besides, we must pray                 means that we express the .desire of heart and soul
such prayers which we can conclude with                          that God may be glorified in us, that we may
"Amen." This word means that our prayer shall be                 receive His salvation and that, in connection with
heard. And, in this context, Christ, we read, had                whatever the Lord sends us, we may know Him
been praying, and the disciples were struck by the               and experience covenant fellowship with Him.
praying of the Christ, its uniqueness, its complete                What does this mean? What is true prayer?
dedication to the Father, and they wish to pray ac-
cordingly.                                                         True prayer means, first of all, that we address
                                                                 the living God. He is the living God. This is clearly
  0, let us understand: prayer, true prayer is not so            taught us in the Lord's Prayer and throughout
easy after all. To pray, really to pray, to pray to our          Scripture. Indeed, the whole universe, all of crea-
Father in heaven, to pour out our soul before Him,               tion is less than a drop of water on the bucket and a
it is indeed necessary that the Lord teach us to pray.           particle of dust on the balance. That God is the liv-
Always we must learn and be taught to pray.                      ing God means that He created all things for His
       *      *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *     *         Name's sake, and does all things for His Name's
  Today many people pray and many prayers are                    sake, that He is sovereign in all His works and
uttered. Every day our Congress and State Legisla-               ways, that there is none like unto Him. And let us
tures, while in session, begin with prayer. Many                 bear in mind that true prayer is a speaking unto
years ago a president of our country assumed the                 Him. So often we shut our eyes and fold our hands
role of a national high priest to lead the entire na-            without being consciously in the presence of the
tion in a word of prayer, and the result was a prayer            Lord. To pray means that I am speaking, but also
which everyone could pray, except those who had                  that He is listening, and that I am consciously in
really learned to pray. Prayer, today, has become                His presence, overwhelmed by God.
rather national, yea international - who today can-                Secondly, to pray means that we approach Him
not offer a word of prayer? But all this is surely con-          with all our needs. We are needy. God is the  All-
trary to the Word of God and our Reformed confes-                Sufficient One. We are needy. We are needy,
sions. In our confessions prayer is treated as the               physically. In God we move, live, and have our be-
highest manifestation of gratitude, and it is pre-               ing, constantly. We are needy, spiritually. In our-
ceded by a knowledge of our misery and redemp-                   selves we have no life, no grace, no forgiveness of
tion. In Scripture, we must be taught to pray, and               sin. In ourselves we have nothing. We have needs
by none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.                        as a church or as churches. Only, we must ap-
  Prayer, we must understand, must not be con-                   proach Him with our  needs.  This does not mean
sidered merely as a means to get something.                      that we acquire all the luxuries of life and then cry
Viewed thus, we pray for the things we desire. We                to the Lord because we find ourselves "up to our
pray for crops in the spring, and in the fall we give            ears in trouble." This implies that we wish to con-
thanks for them, for health in time of sickness,                 duct ourselves, with our children, as of the party of
peace in time of war, etc. If this be the essence of             the living God, realizing that, physically and
prayer, we can surely dispense with the words of                 spiritually, we are utterly dependent upon the liv-
this text: Lord, teach us to pray. Then we do not                ing God and therefore approach Him with all our
need this instruction. Then we simply ask for the                needs.
things we desire. Then the prayer, "Lord, teach us                 Finally, to pray means that we approach the liv-
to pray," is completely unnecessary.                             ing God with all our needs and with the desire that
  .Some have questioned the propriety of prayer,                 the living God may fill us and satisfy us as He wills,
have said that prayer is unnecessary, yea improper.              unto the glory of His Name. We pray not that we
We need not discuss this. The child of God does not              may impose our will upon His will, not to ask Him
really ask himself, shall I pray? He must pray.                  what we want or desire, but that He may reveal His
Prayer is the spontaneous seeking by the child of                will to us and that we may say, Thy will be done,
God of the living God as the God and Father of his               on earth as in heaven.
salvation in Christ Jesus. We are not concerned                            *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *'
about the philosophical question whether prayer is                 How necessary it is that we be taught!
necessary or proper. Of course, it is necessary and
proper. Prayer is spontaneous. It is, first of all, a              Yes, in principle we know how to pray. The
speaking unto the living God, a personal conversa-               disciples ask this of Jesus and they have learned to
tion with God. To pray means that we pray to God.                know Him and the Father Who had sent Him.
Besides, to pray to God means that we approach                     Still, this request is so necessary. From a subjec-
unto Him with all our needs. Of course! God has no               tive point of view it is so very difficult to pray. To
needs. We have needs.' Thirdly, to pray to God                   be sure, to pray is easy if we merely pray for what


244                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



we naturally desire. But this is not true prayer.          from the heart, then we shall also always turn to
True prayer is that we seek the glory of God's             His Word for instruction. How can we pray, "Lord,
Name. To speak unto the living God, to be con-             teach us to pray, " and then fail to turn to the Word
trolled and prompted by His majesty, His great-            of God? We understand that life's increasing per-
ness, and His glory, to become nothing, to lose our-       plexities and problems demand of us an ever in-
selves in Him - all this implies a struggle, a contin-     creasing study of the scriptures. Hostile forces are
uous struggle, in which we must daily crucify our          always at work all around the church of God. It is
old nature and mortify the flesh, continually sub-         becoming increasingly difficult to pray unto the liv-
ject ourselves to the Lord. This means a fight, a con-     ing God, to conduct ourselves unto His glory. More
tinuous fight, in which we cannot possibly engage          and more we will experience the need of His grace
in our own strength. To pray for Gods sake is              and of His Spirit to live unto the glory of His Name.
humanly impossible. How easy it is to murmur               The Lord, of course, instructs us by His Spirit.
when we experience things that are contrary to the         However, He also instructs us by His Spirit through
flesh!                                                     His Word, the lamp before our feet and the light
  On the other hand, however, true prayer is so            upon our pathway.
very difficult also from an objective point of view.                *     *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
First of all, we know not what to pray for as we             How empty will be our life if we fail to pray thus.
ought. 0, we may know this in general, having been         0, we may pray prayers that are in harmony with
taught the Lord's Prayer. But, we know not what to         our carnal desires. Then we pray, on Prayer Day,
pray for as we ought as far as the specific details are    for rain and sunshine and crops, and on Thanksgiv-
concerned. It seems so often that, walking in the          ing Day we give thanks for the crops we have re-
way of Gods precepts, seeking the glory of His             ceived. Then we pray for health in times of sick-
Name, we court and invite trouble and disaster.            ness, for peace in times of war or when war
And, secondly, true prayer is so difficult, objective-     threatens. We simply pray for the natural desires of
ly, because we must surely pray for grace to be His        our carnal heart and mind. Such prayers, however,
people and of His party in the midst of the world.         leave us empty. What if we receive crops and
To pray for grace to do God's will implies that we         health and all the "good" `things of this life that a
know that will. But this also means that we must be        man can desire and lack the grace and fellowship of
able to distinguish that will of God. We must not          the Lord? What do we have then? We have nothing!
only know what to pray for as we ought, but we
must also know what we must not pray for as we               However, how rich is the fruit of true prayer! To
ought. There are so many movements, mighty                 be sure, the way may be ever so difficult. Trouble
forces at work in the midst of the world in which          and sickness and sorrow may then be our lot and
we have a name and place. Indeed, how difficult is         portion. But God answers prayer, true prayer. He
prayer, subjectively and objectively! 0 Lord, teach        will fill us, not necessarily with earthly things, with
us to pray.                                                the things one carnally craves and desires, but He
                                                           will fill us with Himself, with His grace and mercy
  True prayer is possible only through this instruc-       and Spirit and the blessed assurance that all is well
tion: Lord, teach us to pray.                              unto the glory of His Name and the realization of
  First, we must be taught subjectively. To be sure,       His covenant. Then all is well, really and truly well,
only the Lord can teach us to pray. Of ourselves we        now and even forevermore.
cannot pray; we cannot seek God and the glory of             Lord, teach us to pray.
His Name. Hence, we must be taught by His Spirit,
and ever anew. Always the Lord must teach us,                Teach us to pray truly and sincerely.
from day unto day, that we may know and ex-                  Grant us Thy mercy and the peace that all is ever
perience the true, spiritual attitude of heart and         well.
mind which is so essential to true prayer.                   Then my soul shall surely magnify the Lord.
  But we must also be taught objectively. To be
sure, the Lord has taught us objectively. He did
give His disciples and us the model of the Lord's                              Take time to
Prayer. And, He also gave us through His apostles
His own infallible Word. In that Word of God He                     read and study the
has revealed unto us the will of Jehovah, the norm
and rule of all our conduct in the midst of the                          Standard Bearer.
world. That Word also speaks to us of the coming of
His kingdom in the midst of our present evil world.
If we pray, "Lord, teach us to pray," sincerely and


            One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty
                                              Prof. H.C. Hoeksema





(Note: In our previous installment we concluded            their ancestry back to the  Afscheiding.  Some of
our discussion of the meaning of these One Hun-            them can trace their ancestry back to the colonies
dred Fifty Years and Sixty. We are now ready to            in the Holland, Michigan area, and from there back
discuss their relationship.)                               to the churches of the Secession in the various prov-
One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty:                         inces of the Netherlands. Others in our churches
Their Relation                                             can trace their heritage back to parents or grand-
                                                           parents who came to this country in the later immi-
  We may raise the question whether there is any           gration of the late 1800s and early 19OOs,  parents or
connection between these two events, the Seces-            grandparents who were of Secession heritage in the
sion of 1834 and the beginning of our  Standard            "old country." My own parents, for example, were
Bearer.                                                    of Secession heritage, even though in their early
  If by connection is meant direct historical con-         childhood the Churches of 1834 and the Churches
nection, the answer to this question is very plainly       of 1886 (the Doleuntie  churches, associated with the
negative. Direct historical connection there was           name of Abraham Kuyper) came together to form
not: the two events were ninety years apart and            the Gereformeerde Kerken (GKN) in 1892. And so
took place in two different countries with the             there are many among us who can trace their heri-
Atlantic Ocean between them.                               tage rather directly back to the Afscheiding.
  Nevertheless, it is possible to trace an indirect          But is there more than an historical connection?
connection, for the simple reason that God con-              The latter may be interesting as mere historical
tinues His covenant and His church in the line of          data. If you are a "history buff," it may be interest-
the generations of believers. And from that point          ing to trace that connection; and there is probably
of view it is plain to see that our Protestant Re-         an element of nostalgia involved if one can trace his
formed Churches trace their heritage to the Seces-         origins, for example, to the "colonies" and can read
sion of 1834. First of all, as we have seen, the Seces-    and study stories of those days. There happens to
sion movement was transplanted to our country              be at present a considerable revival of interest in all
through the colonization process in 1847. Especial-        kinds of historical data pertaining to the colonies
ly in western Michigan, in the Holland area, this          and their struggles, failures, and successes.
took place, so that there was a replica in miniature         That in itself, however, is not of much value.
of the Secession movement in that area. Secondly,
the Christian Reformed Church arose out of those             Another question is whether there is a connec-
colonies in 1857 by way of the separation from the         tion involving a spiritual, doctrinal, ecclesiastical
Reformed Church in America after the colony                heritage.
churches had first been led into the latter denom-           In this respect, I find a twofold relationship.
ination through the influence of Rev. Van Raalte.            In the first place, there is a doctrinal connection.
And our Protestant Reformed Churches arose out             There has come down to us as Protestant Reformed
of the Christian Reformed Church in 1924 and as            people from the Secession the heritage of the Re-
the true continuation of the Secession movement, a         formed faith. This heritage has been transmitted to
process in which our  Standard Bearer  was instru-         us today via the line of generations mentioned in
mental.                                                    the preceding. I know very well: the Secession is
  In connection with this, we may point out that           not known for its great doctrinal development. I am
many of the members of our churches can trace              referring now to the Secession movement especial-


246                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



ly in its early years. On the other hand, I do not         ciples for sixty years. There are not many church
believe it is fair to accuse the Afscheiding as a whole    papers and religious periodicals of which that can
of pietism, as is frequently done. Nevertheless, I         be said today. But our  Standard Bearer  has been
think it is a fact that especially in the early years      faithful. It is basically the same kind of paper today
there was not a large degree of development in the         that it was sixty years ago. Thank God for that!
Secession as far as the Reformed truth is con-               And the lesson is that our  Standard Bearer  will
cerned. One reason for this is undoubtedly the fact        continue to be of significance in the future only in
that the early leaders of the Secession were simply        that same way, that is, only as it continues to be the
too busy for this: busy preaching twenty and more          same kind of magazine that it has been for sixty
times per week, busy teaching, busy fighting the           years. We must not only not depart and become
battle, busy helping the churches to become                apostate. But we must remain sharp and distinctive
established.                                               and antithetical - yes, also polemical as occasion
  But the Secession is indeed known for its return         demands. And we must continue, too, to develop
to and faithfulness to the Reformed faith as set           positively as we have in the past. If the day should
forth by Dordt! This is its outstanding characteris-       come that the  Standard Bearer  becomes dull and
tic. You might say that it was a kind of holding ac-       colorless, just like many another religious maga-
tion. Even in this respect, I know, one can point to       zines, if the day should come that it loses its distinc-
many weaknesses and struggles and divisions. But I         tiveness and fails to lift high the standard of the
am referring now to the main line of the Secession         Reformed truth, then it should cease publication.
and to its principle as this comes to expression, for      The market is glutted with colorless, non-distinc-
example, in the Act of Secession or Return of the          tive, and apostate periodicals; why add another?
congregation of Uh-urn, where the Secession began.           To that end our  Standard Bearer  must remain
  In this respect our  Standard Bearer  is surely          FREE. It must be in a position to speak freely, with-
related directly to the Secession; and we are not          out ecclesiastical harness and restraint  - even if
ashamed to trace our origin to it! But there is a dif-     the day should come, which may God graciously
ference. God has given to us through the years of          forbid, that the  Standard Bearer  should have to
our existence the opportunity and talents for further      speak out against our Protestant Reformed Chur-
development and enrichment. I think in this con-           ches!
nection especially of the truth of the covenant as           For that purpose our magazine must have the
the eternal covenant of friendship established             strong support of its readers and subscribers. And I
through Christ with believers and their seed.              am not referring only, nor even in the first place, of
  But there is also an ecclesiastical or church            financial support. That is necessary also. But at pres-
political relationship between us and the Secession.       ent there are no worries in that regard. And this is
  Again, though the churches of the Secession              not the first priority. But READ your Standard Bear-
were beset by many internal troubles and differ-           er! I fear- sometimes that there is reason for concern
ences and struggles, the mainstream of the Seces-          in this respect. What good is a magazine lying on
sion was sound in this respect. It was not ingrown.        your table or in your drawer? Read it, teach your
It was not sectarian. It was not narrow in the wrong       youth to read it, digest it, learn from it, and become
sense of the term. But the Secession represents a          established in the truth!
return to the truth of the office of believers. It           Finally, all glory and thanksgiving be unto our
represents a return to the principle of the autonomy       God! We have nothing of which to boast in our-
of the local church. It took a firm stand  - and at        selves. All is of Him and of His sovereign grace and
great cost! - against hierarchy. And it represented        covenant faithfulness!
a return to the principle of the sacred right and call-
ing of reformation.
  In this respect, too, we Protestant Reformed are            Give a subscription to
related to the Secession in principle.
One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty:                              the Standard Bearer
Their Lesson
  Looking back over the sixty years of the ex-                      as a gift to a friend
istence of our magazine, let me remind you that our
Standard Bearer has been of significance only in so                  or relative today.
far as it was faithful to the principles mentioned in
the preceding. And I wish `to emphasize that it has,
by God's grace, indeed been faithful to those prin-


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                247



TRANSLATED TREASURES



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




(Kuyper, in this paragraph, is discussing the marks       leave your church. A church fellowship consists of
of the true and the false church. He does this so that    churches, in the sense in which the term is now
the child of God who is called to engage in church        used, and the church consists of members. (This
reformation may be able to distinguish the two            usage is not historical. Originally, church fellow-
from each other.)                                          ship meant a certain local church.) Thus you are a
  The church of Christ, without losing her essence        member of your  church,  and your church is a
as church, can be both mutilated and impure and           member of your church fellowship. Your church can
even, as Calvin says, infected in part by corruption.     leave the fellowship, but you can only leave  your
This mutilation usually is first recognized in a ces-     church.  We do know that there are churches who
sation of discipline. This impurity manifests itself      have accepted members into the "fellowship," who
in imperfections which creep into the preaching           do not become members of a congregation. But this
and the administration of the sacraments. And this        inconsistency need not detain us. For you, for me,
corruption in turn becomes manifest in false doc-         for each one, the question is only: Must I, may I,
trine which accompanies the faithful preaching of         leave the church of Amsterdam, Rotterdam,
the Word.                                                 Utrecht?
  Further, where this illness and mutilation con-            I have absolutely nothing to do with what hap-
tinues, the church soon loses her essence as church       pens elsewhere; only with my own church. The
and fades away into a lifeless society.                   communal responsibility for what happens else-
                                                          where is the responsibility of the  consistory,   not of
  And finally, where poisonous gases accumulate           the individual  member.  This can result in severing
in this dead body, this lifeless church soon becomes      the bond between my church and those other chur-
the false church when it, under Satan's influences,       ches, but it can never deprive my church of the
persecutes the truth and those who confess it.            essence of church.
  Following the directives of Calvin, we earnestly           In the seven letters to the congregations of Asia
warn anyone to be sure that the church, which he           Minor, the Lord Christ never pointed out a respon-
intends to leave, has so completely been forsaken          sibility of members towards the church federation.
of God that not only its well-being, but also its
essence as church is lost.                                   Just as our fathers did not leave the church of
                                                          Amsterdam because that church was affiliated with
  Just because your church is sick or crippled, you       the churches of Rome, and did this because they
may not withhold from her your love. Just because         judged that the essence of the church still belonged
she is sick, she has a greater claim on your compas-      to her, so also we may not give up our churches
sion.                                                     even though they are in an impossible church fel-
  Only when she is dead and has ceased to be your         lowship, because this does not deprive her of the
church and when the poisonous gases of the false          essence of the  church.l
church threaten to kill you, do you flee from her            And as far as the churches themselves are con-
touch and withdraw your love from her.                    cerned, I only ask: Does that church in which I live
  Above all, one must pay attention to the fact that       (my church) still offer me the preaching of the
the question is never whether you shall leave a cer-      Word and the administration of the sacraments in
tain  church  feZZowship,   but only whether you shall    such purity that the essence of both these means of


2 4 8                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



grace is still present?                                    all too often in Israel the whole church was lost.
   The fact that idolatry exists along with the            And yet, the imperishable church always flour-
tolerably pure administration of the means of grace        ished again. In the dark night of the Middle Ages, it
does not take away the essence of the church, but it       often seemed as if the church was dead. And yet,
does place the consistory before the obligation to         once again it raised its head. Also in the days of the
cut out this abomination. Nevertheless, it does not        Reformation not all the church was immediately re-
require of the individual member that he leave that        stored. It was from  1517  to 1570 that the work of
church. The organization of my church is indeed            church reformation developed through all the chur-
sick, mutilated, and partly committed to corrup-           ches.
tion, but not to the extent that it no longer offers me       This should warn us to be careful in our own
with tolerable purity the means of grace, and there-       day. He who considers the church from an external
fore has not yet lost her essence and her life.            and regimented perspective, without piety or
                                                           sincere love, immediately packs his suitcase and is
   In this same way the prophets stayed in the             ready at any moment to travel. But he who serious-
church of Jerusalem even though idolatry had crept         ly and conscientiously puts himself before the
in. And our fathers continued to live in the Romish        question: Am I trying to escape judgment? Am I
Church for many years before they came to Ref-             throwing away that which is still alive? Am I bury-
ormation.                                                  ing what only seems to be dead? 0, he hesitates and
   This last remark should lead to a still more            tarries. He always still hopes and seeks new
serious warning.                                           remedies to stimulate the spirit of life. And when
   Some act as if the obligation and calling of God's      others mock him, asking: How long will that trifl-
children is to break every connection with their           ing with your corpse continue? Then he reverently
church without delay, as if on the same day.               puts his finger on his lips and whispers: It is my
                                                           mother!
   But this seems to us to be contrary to Scripture
and history.                                               `While there is an element of truth to what Kuyper says here, it
                                                           must not be forgotten that there is a corporate responsibility
   If a coma accompanies a human sickness, some-           between the individual member and his denomination as a
times even like the appearance of death, the church        whole even though that corporate responsibility is actually a
experiences the same phenomenon. It seemed as if           reality through the consistory of the local congregation.

THE DAY  OF SHADOWS



                              The Moment of Truth
                                                Rev. John A. Heys





   Strikingly Mordecai, after being highly honoured        on the ground where he sat in his mourning, seems
by the king with a parade through the streets of           wholly out of place. We have no problem seeing
Shushan while  Haman  cried out concerning him             what kind of man the king was. Imagine a king who
that he was the one in whom the king delighted,            highly honours a man who saved his life, and then
went back to. his sackcloth and to sitting on the          forgets him entirely in less than one day. It was a
ground in front of the king's gate. It is easy to un-      one-time and short-time exaltation and reward that
derstand that  Haman  went home with his head              he bestowed upon Mordecai.
covered and feeling greatly humiliated. But for
Mordecai, after having the royal garments re-                 Mordecai's actions however were not at all
moved, and after getting down from the royal               strange and out of place. Taking all the facts into
horse, to return to sackcloth and to his former place      consideration we can see his reasons for this  be-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                249

                                                                                 .

haviour. His life and the lives of hispeople were          be decreed. The king is filled with both curiosity
still in danger not only but actually consigned to be      and apprehension. He is eager to know why Esther
terminated in a few months by the decree of the            wanted these two banquets,with  Haman present. Is
very king who had honoured him so highly. Morde-           there a political or social condition in the kingdom
cai protected the king, and was rewarded with a            unknown to him? Is his life and his kingship in
parade in his honour. But the decree that he and his       danger as before when Esther notified him of the
people must be exterminated had not been re-               plot of the two chamberlains?
voked. The king had no knowledge of the fact that            Quite plainly the king was getting impatient. He
Mordecai belonged to this people that must be ex-          does not wait for Esther to keep her promise and to
terminated for the king's good and the kingdom's           make known at this banquet her petition Instead
well-being. Mordecai then had good reasons for             when the banquet had just begun, he again asks her
mourning and returning to his former state. As an          what her petition is, adding the promise once again
unbeliever he did not recognize God's providence,          that it will be granted to the half of his kingdom. In-
or read this as a sign that the God of Israel could in-    deed the moment of truth has come. What her
deed send "enlargement and deliverance." His ac-           father-uncle had so unequivocally commanded her
tions were out of place for a believer. But looking        not to reveal she must now make known. The truth
for enlargement and deliverance from another               must come out into the open. And if it was - and it
place, rather than from God, explains his conduct.         was  - dangerous for the queenship to let it be
Instead of sitting on the ground in sackcloth, he          known that she was a Jewess, it is even more
should have been on his knees praying and thank-           dangerous now to reveal that she belongs to this
ing God for this evidence that He can reverse the          people that is consigned to death by the king. Her
decisions of men.  Haman sought his death. God             deceptive ways in the past would only underscore
made that enemy honour him in a most spectacular           Haman's words that this people was not to the
way. Mordecai should have seen God behind the              king's or the kingdom's profit. Being deceptive
king, and Haman as a tool which the Almighty had           about this matter, could she be trusted in the
completely in His control.                                 kingdom with anything?
  Esther, on the other hand, is about ready to enter         In a very clever way she presents the matter to
into the moment of truth. The second banquet of            the king. She asks for her life and the life of her peo-
wine is prepared. Soon the king,  Haman,  and              ple. Plainly her own life was her chief concern.
Esther will be in their places at the table. And           Had she merely said to the king, "If it please the
Esther will have to reveal to the king what she had        king let the life of my people be given at my peti-
been hiding all this time. The truth will now come         tion," she would automatically be included in that
out and remain hidden no longer. She will have to          people and be safe, if the king granted this request.
reveal that she is a Jewess. By revealing that her life    But no, she echoes the sentiment expressed in her
is slated to be taken from her she will reveal that        shameful, unvarnished fatalism, namely, "If I
she is a Jewess. When she makes her petition               perish, I perish." And remember that she agreed to
known to the king she reveals the truth of her iden-       do as Mordecai commanded her only after he made
tity among the people that had been branded by             it crystal clear to her that she too would die with
Haman as a danger to the king and kingdom, and             her people. Not until she saw that her own life was
accepted as such a people by the king without any          in danger did she agree with that fatalistic outcry of
investigation whatsoever.                                  her own perishing.
  There were then at this table three with dis-              Cleverly enough she mentions her own life first,
turbed thoughts and differing emotions. Esther is          also in order to bring to the king's attention how it
filled with  fear..Her life hangs in the balance. She      will also hurt him. His wife's life is in danger. He is
will in a few moments know whether, as she said to         in a position wherein he will suffer the loss of
Mordecai, she will perish in her attempt to save her       another wife, and this one a most beautiful wife of
people.  Haman is a deeply humiliated man who              whom he was proud, as is plain from his extending
wonders what place he is going to retain in the            the rod to her when she came in without being
kingdom. Extremely hard it was for him to look             called.
across the table into the face of the king who had so
deeply humiliated him. He did not have the fear of            For Haman it was also the moment of truth. For
death. Had he not been summoned to this honour             he is about to find out that although he had con-
of banqueting with the king and queen? He feels            vinced the king that the Jews were a people that "is
shame, deep shame and wonders whether he is go-            not for the profit of the king to suffer them" to live,
ing to be abased by being demoted from his high            he himself will be shown to be the one who is not to
position in the kingdom. But he does not yet have          the king's profit, for he has gotten the king to
reason to fear the death, that in a few moments will       decree that his wife must die. He is not simply


250                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



touching Mordecai and the Jews. He is touching the            ruled the king and the kingdom as far as her people
king by touching his wife. Here was a truth that              are concerned.
would cost him his life. But he does not know it un-             And now we see why Esther wanted  Haman  at
til Esther opens her mouth to make known her re-              those two banquets. It was not because of love or
quest.                                                        even respect for him. It was not because she de-
  Note those first words of Esther, "If I have found          lighted in his company. It was not to honour him
favour in thy sight, 0 king, and if it please the king        but to humiliate him before the king. It was to cast
. . . ." Consider also the words of the king that pro-        him into the agony she and her people had been
duced this reply, "What is thy petition queen                 suffering since the king's decree. They had death
Esther?" Quite a husband-wife relationship here, is           staring them in the face; and Haman must have that
it not? Granted tha-t Ahasuerus is king and that              fear now, and that from an wholly unexpected
Haman is present so that the wife must honour the             source. He had moved the king to exterminate all
king before his officers, the king did address her            his enemies, that is, Haman's,  and she is now striv-
warmly as queen E&her,   using her personal name.             ing to rid her people and herself of this enemy
She could at least have addressed him as "0 hus-              through a death sentence upon him. It was hate, a
band, king." In that way she would have honoured              vicious hatred in her soul, under the guise of
him before  Haman.  She however holds her dis-                respect and friendly thoughts to him, that would
tance. There is no warmth in her speech to this man           get back at Haman.  It was the moment of truth also
who decreed her death sentence and that of her                from the point of view that her true evaluation and
people. In a cold, reserved way she approaches him            thoughts toward this right-hand man of the king
with whom she was joined in the bonds of mar-                 were made crystal clear.
riage, and with whom she considered herself to be                And what shall we say of all this? Certainly both
one flesh according to God's ordinance.                       Esther and Haman were under the power of sin as
  What is more, her "If I have found favour in thy            citizens of Satan's kingdom of darkness, even as our
sight, 0 king" reveals her fear of him in spite of his        old man of sin is until we are delivered through the
promise to grant her request even to the half of his          blessing of death. Yes, death is a blessing for the
kingdom. The word "if" in Scripture sometimes                 believer, for it delivers him from the dominion of
means since, as in Colossians 3: 1. Here in Esther 7:3        Satan and from all sin. But we err if we say that
it expresses doubt. Esther is not at all sure that the        Satan moved Esther to perform these devilishly
king will grant her request. This was no formal,              clever deeds. He did not give her this clever plan.
platonic way of approaching a king. This man is her           Ever since God told him irnmediately after the fall
husband, and one who had decreed a matter far                that the seed of the woman would crush his head,
more important than half of his kingdom. Actually             Satan tried to keep Christ, The Seed of the woman,
she was going to ask for  all  of his kingdom. She           from being born. He would not now move Esther to
would make a request that would make the king                try to reverse the decree that would prevent His
step down and cause the work of his right hand            b i r t h .
man to be brought to naught. Her request was one                 Too often and too easily we blame Satan for our
that would make her rule the king and his                     sins and overlook the fact that we are born with a
kingdom. If she got her way, she would decide the            totally depraved nature, born spiritually dead  -
policy of the kingdom in.regard to the Jews and un-           not sick, weak, partially paralyzed  - and we sin
do a decree of the Medes and Persians that altereth          because in the beginning Satan succeeded in bring-
not.                                                          ing us to this state. We are not always  - or even
  No doubt the king did not see it that way; and his         often - moved by Satan or one of his henchmen to
great desire to keep his beautiful wife made him              commit a particular sin. Many would like to explain
turn against the man with whom he had agreed,                 Revelation 20:2 as teaching that with the binding of
and to debase him and have him executed. And as it           Satan a tremendous drop in sin will be found in the
turned out, the request of Esther did not make her           world. Not at all! Were Satan and all his fallen
rule the kingdom as far as the treatment of the Jews         angels cast into hell today, our old natures would
is concerned. The decree was not reversed, but the            still develop in sin. The cancer is there. And the
Jews were given the right to defend themselves and           death of others with cancer will not stop the growth
to fight for their lives on that day when the decree         of ours. Only a rebirth with the life of Christ will
was to be executed. Yet the request as such was              stop sin in us.
that her will overrule what the king had willed with             Instead see Gods counsel here and His grace to
Haman  and at his suggestion. Her will, as becomes            His people. He is using Esther for the good of His
plain when later pn she appeared once more before             church. Trust Him, and so be sure that all the
the king, was that his decree be  reversed  (Esther           moves in the future of those in the kingdom of
8:5). If that would take place, Esther would have             Satan will work together for our good.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 251



FROM  HOiLY WRIT



        Believing All the Prophetic Scriptures
                                                 Rev. G. Lubbers

                                                CHAPTER XVII
                                   The Mystery of the "Seventy Weeks"
                                                   in Daniel 9


INTRODUCTION                                               from Shiloh in the days of Eli (Jer. 7:12, 14; 26:6, 9).
  The impelling reason for discussing this ninth           Jeremiah prophesies the word of the LORD, "Then
chapter of Daniel in the series of essays on Dispen-       will I make this house like Shiloh, and make this
sational Premillennialism ought to be obvious to           city a curse to all nations of the earth."
anyone having but a smattering of knowledge con-             Now we must believe all the prophetic Scrip-
cerning the basic tenets of Premillennialism, par-         tures!
ticularly in the teaching of the so-called seven years
of tribulation. According to this teaching, which we         We must not believe only certain parts which we
hold to be erroneous, this tribulation period is the       then try to fabricate into our own humanly con-
time between Christ's coming in the "rapture," and         ceived constructions. Scripture must interpret Scrip-
His return to raise up the millennial kingdom. This        ture, and we must believe the further interpretation
return is denominated "the revelation."                    of the prophecy, as God gives added instruction
                                                           and details concerning the fulfillment of His own
  It is the teaching of Premillennialism, both  post-      sure promise. Even in our refutation of very ob-
and pre-tribulation, that the Scriptural basis for this    vious errors, yea, even heresies, we must so inter-
teaching must find its bedrock in Daniel  9:27,            pret the Scriptures that the truth stands out so
where we read "and he shall confirm the covenant           sharply and clearly that the errorists must yield the
with many for one week . . .  ." This "one week"           field. Thus did Jesus interpret the Scriptures when
constitutes the "seven years" of the Great Tribula-        He said repeatedly, "have ye not read?" (Mt.  12:5;
tion, so it is alleged. In view of this strange conten-    19:4;  21:42). We could give many, many more
tion by Dispensationalism it is encumbent upon us          Scripture references. Hence, the question is for us
to search the Scriptures whether these things are          to do two things. We must read Daniel 9 well, and
true; whether they are truly a correct interpretation      we must interpret it according to all the Scriptures!
of the word of prophecy in Daniel, as explained by
the angel Gabriel to Daniel upon his prayers and             Our method of discussion will be such that we
supplications.                                             contend earnestly for the faith which was once
  There is a mighty and positive reason for study-         delivered to the saints. This does, however, not
ing this magnificent revelation of God to Daniel in        mean that our writing will be basically "contro-
far-off Media-Persia! It is that these are the Scrip-      versial" in nature. We need more than formal
tures which are able to make us wise unto salvation        polemics. We must contend with trowel and sword,
which is by faith in Jesus Christ. For let us not          and in that order, too. We must build the temple of
forget that in this chapter we are shown the               truth and keep the work area free from those who
Messiah, the Christ in His mediatorial work at the         will not build according to the plumbline of the
Cross of Calvary. In this Christ, Jerusalem is saved,      Scriptures.
and God causes His face to shine upon His sanc-              Hence, we must offer positive, constructive ex-
tuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. The Old        egesis, based on good methods of interpretation and
Testament temple is indeed left "desolate," with no        sound rules of hermeneutics. Only thus will we
one to dwell in it. The glory of the Lord was              rightly divide the word of truth, so that we shall not
departed from it, even as the glory had departed           be ashamed to present it to God and to His church.


252                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



THE HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE OF DANIEL 9                             It is in the year that "Darius the son of
  This historic perspective we are given in the                Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes was made king
verses 1-2. (I suggest that you take your own Bible            over the realm of the Chaldeans." This is the
and read these two verses, and also that you read              time when Cyrus, king of Persia, will give his
the entire 9th chapter of Daniel.)                             decree that the people of God return to rebuild
                                                               Jerusalem and the holy temple (Ezra 1: l-4). At this
  The first question which should be faced is this:            time Daniel is an old man already! He was perhaps
what do I mean with the designation "historic                  some ninety years of age. He had been an inter-
perspective." When I speak of perspective I am                 preter of the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan.
referring to the searchlight of the prophetic word as          2:36-39; 4: 19-27) and also had interpreted the hand-
it shines in a dark place, and as this light continues         writing on the wall in the festal hall of Belshazzar
to shine more and more brightly unto the time                  (Dan.  5:17-31). Daniel stands here as a prophet in
when all God's promises are fulfilled in Christ                the very transition from the time or period of David
Jesus. That perspective we will be able to see clear-          till the Babylonian Captivity of Judah, to the time
ly revealed by God in this 9th chapter of Daniel.              when there is the return from the Captivity till the
The prophecy speaks of the "seventy weeks deter-               time of Christ.
mined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to
finish the transgression . . .`I (Dan. 9:24). Woven in-          It is the time predicted by Jeremiah the prophet.
to this prophecy we see the fact that all the history            We read in Jeremiah 25: 11, 12 the following:
of Israel is unto the Seed which must come, the                       "And the whole land shall be a desola-
Messiah. Our fathers see here in this prophecy the                 tion, and an astonishment; and these na-
"Gospel of the Promise," and rightly so. Here is no                tions shall serve the kingdom of Babylon
mere bickering over words and syllables, but here                  seventy years.
we see the unerring work of God, who never for-
sakes His people, whom He foreknew, that is, the                      "And it shall come to pass, when seventy
elect of both Jew and Gentile.                                     years are accomplished, that I will punish
                                                                   the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith
  So much for the term "perspective."                              the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of
  But we must also notice the term "historic." The                 the Chaldeans, and will make it a perpetual
Word of God gives "dates" in the unfolding of                      desolation."
God's counsel. Hence, the prophets are very                      That point in history has come to pass; that
specific about the time, when they received a                  prediction of God has been and shall be ac-
revelation from God, if such indication of time is of          complished.
importance to understand the meaning of the pro-
phetic instruction.                                              Hence, it is not merely to the former status-quo of
  Thus it is here. We are dealing here with "salva-            Israel's typical kingdom-life that Judah shall return,
tion-history",* our Dutch fathers called this  "Heils-         and to the former glory of the earthly temple of
Geschiedenis." This is the history of the revelation           Solomon.
of the Christ of God, the Messiah, prophet, priest,              It shall be a progressive going forth "till Messiah
and king of God. This Messiah is God in the flesh,             comes! ' '
Immanuel, God-with-us!                                           The entire history of Israel and Judah clearly ex-
  When there is a great moment in the fulfilling of            hibited that the "law" made nothing perfect; all
this promise, a so-called high-point, something by             cried with a loud voice for the coming in of a "bet-
which the ages will be affected and will ever be               ter hope" (Heb.  7:19). We need a Messiah and a
remembered, we call this "historic." Not all that              better hope by which we draw nigh to God!
happens in time is historic in this sense! Here we
have a great moment in the history of Gods                       We cannot really doubt that Daniel, when he
church. We stand here, so to speak, at the cross-              drew near to God with his supplications, was not
roads in the history of the Israel of God and of the           deeply aware that from the "desolations" of
church of the ages! We stand at that point where in            Jerusalem there must rise a better hope. And when
the royal line of the kingdom of Judah the second              Daniel intercedes before the face of the Lord, it is
"fourteen generations" end and the third "four-                thus that his prayer is heard and interpreted by
teen generations" begin, according to Matthew                  God Himself, and He sent Gabriel to interpret the
1: 17. The line runs from Abraham-David-Salathiel.             meaning of the Captivity for "seventy years" by
It is the  becoming into being  of the kingdom, the            the unfolding of the message of the "seventy
high-point  typically, and the  time of the "dry-ground,  "    weeks," or, better, the "seventy sevens."
from whence Christ, as the root of David, will come               Such is the historic perspective here in Daniel 9.
forth in the virgin-birth from Mary.


                                              THE  STANDARD BEARER                                           253



THE "BOOKS" BY WHICH DANIEL                                    Daniel had the Spirit of the Most High God in
UNDERSTOOD THE DURATION OF THE                               him.
DESOLATIONS                                                    So true was this that, even as Joseph in Pharaoh's
  It is a remarkable fact that here in Daniel  9:2 is        court, so Daniel stands here in the court of the
the only instance in which the plural is found for           earthly ruler of the world as God's prophet.
the Hebrew word for "book": sepharim.  In legions              He stands here with the "books" in his hand and
of other passages we find the noun "book" in the             reads and studies them with the deep yearning in
singular. To cite just a few we call attention to            his heart that God may fulfil the promise made to
"book  of the generation" (Gen.  5:l);  "booh  of the        the fathers of old. And, whereas Daniel believes the
covenant" (Ex.  24:7);  "bock  of life" (Ex.  32:32, 33);    Scriptures, he tries to understand and interpret
"book of the law" (Dem. 3O:lO; 31:26); "booh of the          them. In a sense he attempts to penetrate into the
Chronicles" (II Kings  1:18).  These were all smaller        impenetrable mystery which still shrouds the
books, which were incorporated by the Scribes in             future fulfilment. One thing Daniel knew: the Lord
the Sacred Canon. However, the term here                     was going to perform great things. The Lord had
("books") must refer to all the Scriptures which             given great and precious promises, and soon the
were in existence in the days of Israel's "desola-           horizons would lift on the heavens; God would
tion" in Babylon for seventy years. Surely Daniel            break through the heavens and He would "visit His
was an ardent student of Moses, the Psalms, and all          people" in mercy!
the prophets which were before him. And these                  For a Bible-believing man is a Bible-praying man.
"books" he must have studied in view of ascertain-
ing the time and the manner of the time of the suf-            And such a man is very beloved of God (Dan.
ferings to come upon the Messiah and concerning              9:23).
the glory to follow (I Peter l:lO, 11).                        God does not hear sinners, who are unrepentant!
                                                             (John  9:31; Prov.  15:26-28).

ALL AROUND US




                        Time's `"Man of the Year"?
                                                 Rev. G. Van Baren





  Annually, Time magazine chooses a "man of the              written by C.R. ministers including an editorial on
year' ' and places his picture on the front cover.           the subject. Generally, the treatment given our
Could you imagine, even in your wildest dreams,              churches was fair. Though we have often expressed
that  Time  should perhaps place on that cover our           disagreement with the Christian Reformed Church
Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema? I could not conceive of             on various points (beginning with the "common
such either. Yet, perhaps even more unbelievable,            grace" issue of 1924),  and though we have been dis-
would one expect to find such a picture on the front         appointed often in the way that Editor  Kuyven-
cover of the Banner? Yet there it was - in living col-       hoven has been using the Banner to introduce sub-
or  -  on the cover  of  the  Banner  of February 4,         jects which appear to create dissension in their
1985. In the photo, behind the subject, was the              ranks  - still, there is a time when appreciation
painting of Luther, Calvin, and H. Hoeksema                  must be expressed too. We thank you, Editor Kuy-
(found in our Seminary library).                             venhoven, for this issue of the Banner. We did truly
  The  Banner  featured the "Protestant Reformed             appreciate it.
Perspective" and contained a report of an interview            In the interview with Prof. H.C. Hoeksema,
with Prof. H.C. Hoeksema, and several articles               some interesting questions were asked and


254                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



answered. Here are just a few:                                           Therefore, their semi-monthly magazine  (Sfundczrd
          Q. And the Protestant Reformed position on these              Bearer) has not grown weary in sixty years of telling
       three points [of common grace)?                                   its readers what terrible things happen to a church
                                                                         that believes that in "Gods common grace" a bridge
          A. On the first point, we maintain that the grace of           can be built from the church to the world.
       God is never common, always particular, for the elect
       alone. The gospel is not a conditional offer to all men,            Of course, these tactics and teachings, which are
       and God is not willing to save all men, head for head             essentially worldly (and of which we ourselves must
       and soul for soul. We maintain the gospel is the power            repent as well), cannot please God and do not help
       of God unto salvation, which operates sovereignly in              either one of our denominations.
       the hearts and lives of the elect only, through the                 In China a government simply told different
       preaching of the Word as a means of grace.                        denominations to join together or cease to exist. As a
          On the second point, we teach that sin is not                 result, the churches united. I wonder what power it
       restrained in the heart of the sinner but that sin               will take to bring us together.
       develops in history along with the organic develop-             Editor Kuyvenhoven also presents his own brief
       ment of the race. This doesn't mean that every man            summary of the "Three Points" of `24:
       commits all sins. But sin develops along with life in
       the world. Adam and Cam and his generation did not                  In addition to the saving grace of God, displayed to
       have the capacity and the means to sin as men of the             the elect unto eternal life, there is also a certain favor
       twentieth century can sm.                                        or grace that God shows to his creatures in general
                                                                         (Ps.  145:9, Matt.  5:44-45, etc.].
          In connection with the third point, we take the posi-
       tion that the natural man, apart from the grace of God              Without renewing the heart, Gods Spirit restrains
       in Christ, always sins and cannot do good in all that he         sin in unregenerate individuals, and by the same ac-
       does. All that is not of faith is sin.                           tivity he makes human society possible (Gen.  6:3,
                                                                        Acts  7~42, 2 Thess.  2:6-7, etc.).
  The interviewers also wanted to know about the
lifestyle in the Protestant Reformed Churches. And                         Although the unregenerate are incapable of doing
both the question as well as the answer serves to re-                   any spiritual gqod,  they are able to do civic good. God
mind us too that others observe us  - and our                           is the source also of that goodness and their virtue (2
                                                                        Rings  10:29-30, Luke  6:33, Rom.  2:14, etc.).
children  - to see whether we "practice what we
preach."                                                               This summary is of interest, perhaps, more for
                                                                     what it omits than for what it states. There is no
         Q. Let's switch the topic from theology to lifestyle.       reference (in the first point summary) to the "free
       Are Protestant Reformed persons less worldly than             offer" of the gospel. It was that part of  "common
       Christian Reformed persons?                                   grace" which disturbed Hoeksema and Danhof
         A. I don't say they all are, but they should be. Take       most of all.
       the theater - your churches have justified it. I don't
       say that our young people are all faithful in staying           In an article, "Is Reunion Possible?" Dr. John H.
       away from the theater or from the theater on tele-            Kromminga gives his own observations concerning
       vision, but they should be, and our churches teach            the Protestant Reformed Churches:
       them to be. The same is true of the dance.                          In the ensuing years, the Standard Bearer has given
  Concerning the origin of the Protestant Re-                           a good deal of attention to Christian Reformed discus-
formed Churches, the interviewers asked also:                           sions on the doctrine of reprobation and somewhat
          Q. Let's go back to the split in 1924. Could it have          less to a wide range of issues, such as biblical criticism,
       b e e n   a v o i d e d ?                                        dancing, and the emergence of the Mid-America Re-
                                                                        formed Seminary. With reference to the last-named,
         A. Hoeksema and Danhof were not the ones who                   the editor expressed shock at this new seminary's
       started it. Others began to accuse them of denying               association with the ideas of William Heyns, of whom
       common grace. At the time, if common grace had not               Herman Hoeksema was a critic while a student at
       been elevated to church doctrine, if it had been left to         Calvin Seminary. The whole dreary process reflects
       the area of discussion and difference but with the               two pertinent facts: that few Christian Reformed prob-
       status of an extra-confessional matter, there never               lems have escaped the attention of the  Standard
       would have been a split in 1924. It was Classes Grand            Bearer  and that it is hard to find any Christian Re-
       Rapids East and Grand Rapids West that took it upon              formed spokesman, of whatever stripe, who has a
       themselves to discipline Hoeksema and Danhof and to              clear and proper grasp of the issues.
       do what the synod had refused to do. And then the
       1926 Synod rejected the appeal of Hoeksema and                      There is little satisfaction in conducting a review
       Danhof against that.                                             such as this. But the facts lie before us, and they are
  Kuyvenhoven, in his editorial, presents his own                       ominous regarding any possibility of reunion. The two
view of our churches:                                                   churches are not only no closer than they were in
                                                                        1924 or 1961, but they have moved and are moving
          . . . The Protestant Reformed Churches need us and            farther apart. While the Christian Reformed Church
       our sins as the justification of their separate existence.       has not explored the potential of the doctrine of com-


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             2 5 5



   mon grace to its fullest extent, it is far along in a more           The same issue contains a very favorable book
   positive address to the surrounding society than it was           review of the latest book of the Rev. George C. Lub-
   in 1924 and is not likely to abandon the gains made.              bers, "The Glory of the True Tabernacle." The re-
   The Protestant Reformed Churches have not only                    viewer writes:
   added many issues to the original dispute but derive                        Lubbers' commentary on Hebrews is a careful and
   much vitality from criticism of the Christian Re-                     comprehensive exposition of one of the New Testa-
   formed Church. Repentance for some past mistakes                      ment's more difficult books. He identifies perceptive-
   might be possible from either side, but the central                   ly the primary theme as the glory of the new taber-
   issue  is not about to be resolved or compromised.                    nacle. Although it is evident that he is acquainted with
     There certainly are reasons to desire reunion.                      the original languages and makes use of scholarly
   Believers give the world a confusing witness when                     tools, his reliance on them is never obtrusive.
   they are so close in many respects and yet so divided                       The careful exegesis of relevant Old Testament
   ecclesiastically. Some observers merely find this                     passages quoted in Hebrews is a major contribution to
   cleavage hard to explain to the casual inquirer. Others               this substantial work. A devotional theme is retained
   find it difficult to justify in an age when the antithesis            throughout, and the style is clear . . . .
   between faith and unbelief is as deep as ever and the
   church should present a united front against its real                       A helpful book for preachers and for lay readers
   adversaries. Still others find it hard to endure, parti-              who wish to understand this significant apostolic
   cularly when families are unable to meet peacefully                   work better.
   together except in a conspiracy of silence.                          For those of our readers who might want their
     I would therefore welcome the demonstration that                own copy of this issue of the Banner, send $1 .OO to:
   my analysis is wrong. But in all honesty I cannot see             The Banner, 2850 Kalamazoo Ave., S.E., Grand
   that the record supports any hope whatsoever for re-              Rapids, MI 49560. Ask for the issue of February 4,
   union.                                                            1985.

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE




 Revelation - Christ's Victorious Return (2)
                                                          Rev. J. Kortering





  Before considering an outline of this book, we                     fect of the vials will be seen. Secondly, we must un-
should take note of two things. First, that the seals,               derstand the time factor: "the things that must
trumpets, and vials mentioned in the book must not                   shortly come to pass," (1: 1). The perspective is that
be interpreted to be historical sequence, as if the                  of Gods dealing with time. The next major event in
first seal introduces a series of historical events that             God's calendar is the end of the world. And it will
are followed by events pictured in the trumpets,                     not be an interruption at the end, but will flow
followed by events pictured in the vials. Rather,                    forth from all the events in history. Those things
they are to be viewed as historical events running                   began to come to pass immediately after John wrote
parallel. The seals, trumpets, and vials deal with                   of them, and they are consummated at the end of
events that began at the ascension of Christ and end                 time. Similarly, when Christ said, "Behold I come
in His personal return. The difference between                       quickly" (22: 12), He did not say I come immediate-
them is the measure of intensity, or effect they                     ly, rather quickly, with all due speed. The events of
have upon the world. The seals affect the earth by a                 history are the means by which Christ will return.
tenth, the trumpets by a third, and the vials present
total destruction. At any given period in history                    A BRIEF OUTLINE
there may be seals broken, trumpets blown, and                          1. Introduction (1: l-l 1). John received revela-
vials poured, but as the end approaches the total ef-                tion from God  (1:l). He bear record of it  (1:2), and


256                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



announces blessings upon the readers  (1:3). Greet-        horse by which disease and death take one fourth
ings to the seven churches  (1:4-8) come from the          of the earth's inhabitants  (6:7, 8); the fifth seal
seven spirits and Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness        shows the souls of the martyrs under the altar, cry-
(1:4-6).  Behold He  cometh and every eye shall see        ing for vengeance (6:9-11);  and the sixth seal brings
Him  (1:7, 8).                                             earthquakes and heavenly signs of judgment so that
   2. The vision of the glorified Christ and John's        the great in the earth cry to the mountains to fall on
task  (1:9-20).  John on the Isle of Patmos was in the     them  (6:12-17).
Spirit on the Lord's day (1:9, 10). He is commanded          6. The vision of the sealing of the 144,000
to write the seven churches  (1:ll). He beholds the        (7:1-17).  Increasing judgment is pictured as four
glorified Christ in the midst of the golden candle-        winds  (7:l). Before they are allowed to blow, the
sticks  (1:12-16).  He expresses fear, but is encour-      angels urge the sealing of God's people (7:2, 3). The
aged by the Living Christ to write the things he has       number sealed is 12,000 from Juda, Reuben, Gad,
seen  (1:17-20).                                           Asar, Nephthalim, Manasses, Simeon, Levi,
   3. The letters to the seven churches  (2:1-3:22).       Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin, totalling
He writes to Ephesus that they had lost their fist         144,000  (7:4-8).  These same sealed ones are now
love and must repent and do the first works (2:1-7).       pictured as a great number which no man could
To Smyrna - they were in the midst of tribulation          count, clothed in white robes before the throne in
and Christ exhorts them to be faithful unto death          heaven (7:9). They join the four beasts, the twenty-
and receive the crown of life (2:8-11).  To Pergamos       four elders, and the angels, crying, "Salvation to
- they lacked discipline and did not cast out those        our God and to the Lamb ' (7: 10-12). One elder asks
who held to the doctrine of Balaam and the                 the identity of this throng and John answers that
Nicolaitans; they were to correct that  (2:12-17). To      they are those who came out of the great tribulation
Thyatira - they were given to mysticism by means           and are glorified in heaven, being delivered from all
of the woman Jezebel who taught them to experi-            misery  (7:13-17).
ence the depths of Satan in order to enjoy grace;            7. The vision of the seven trumpets (8:  l-9:21).
Christ said He would send judgment upon her and            The seventh seal actually becomes seven trumpets
her followers and  the church must triumph over            (8: 1). Silence in heaven represents the prayers of
her (2:18-29). To Sardis - they had a reputation of        the saints that arise to God as they anticipate the
being a living (successful) church, but they were          coming of judgments  (8:1-5).  The first trumpet
spiritually dead; they were to repent and overcome         sounds and judgment is cast upon the earth; trees,
(3:1-6).  To Philadelphia  - they received an open         and grass as a third part are burned (8:6,7); the sec-
door from Christ and were faithful in spreading the        ond trumpet brings fiery destruction to the inland
gospel  (3:7-13).  To Laodicea  - they were neither        waters and rivers  (8:10, 11); the fourth trumpet
cold nor hot, hence Christ said He would spew              brings destruction to a third part of the sun, moon,
them out of His mouth; He stands at the church             and stars, and terrible woe is pronounced (8:12-13);
door calling those who are alive to receive Him            the fifth trumpet opens the bottomless pit, releasing
(3:14-22).                                                 locusts as scorpions to sting men, but not to kill
  4. The vision of Gods throne (4: l-l 1). John was        them  (9:1-12);  the sixth trumpet releases the four
called to behold a throne in heaven; it reflected the      angels which held back the hoards of men beyond
glory of God  (4:1-3;  5, 6). The twenty-four elders       the Euphrates. They come with power to kill and
surround the throne  (4:4). The four beasts adore          deceive and not repent  (9:13-21).
God (4:6-g). The twenty-four elders join in praising         8. The vision of the angel and the little book
the Lord  (4:10, 11).                                      (10: l-11). A mighty angel comes from heaven,
  5. The vision of the book and its seals (5: l-6: 17).    adorned in clouds and shining face, covered by a
Attention is directed to the book in the right hand        rainbow. He has in his hands a little book (lO:l, 2).
of God (5: 1). The question is raised, who is worthy       This book contains the remaining judgments that
to open the book? Silence indicates that no one is         must still be brought to pass (10: 17). Hence, John is
worthy, and John weeps. Only the Lamb as slain is          commanded to take the book and eat it. It is sweet
worthy (5:2-7).  All heaven responds with jubilation       to his taste, but bitter in his belly  (10:8-10). They
(58-14). The first seal is opened, a white horse (the      represent the prophecies that John must yet bring
gospel) rides forth conquering and to conquer (6:1,        to the people (1O:ll).
2); the second seal is broken and a red horse rides,         9. The vision of the two witnesses (ll:l-19).
taking peace from  the earth  (6:3, 4); the third seal     John measures the temple, excluding the court
reveals a black horse, the rider of which has a            which is for the gentiles (ll:l, 2). Power is given to
balance in his hand and poverty and riches are             the two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days (11:3).
described  (6:5, 6); the fourth seal produces a pale       They are the anointed servants of God and have


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              257



power to destroy the enemy with the word out of           (12:7-10). A second beast arises out of the earth. He
their mouth  (11:4-6).  The beast makes war with          appears as a lamb with two horns, though he
them and kills them, leaving their dead bodies            speaks as a dragon (12: 11). This vision explains how
upon the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half        the  anti-Christ succeeds in getting all men every-
days  (11:7, 8). The wicked celebrate the defeat of       where to worship the beast. He does wonders and
these witnesses ( 11: 11-13). The seventh trumpet is      miracles and pleases men (12: 12, 13). In delight, the
blown and the kingdom of heaven is revealed in its        people make an image to the beast and give life to
victory as the temple of God that is in heaven            the image, so that all who do not worship the beast
(11:14-19).                                               are exposed and killed  (12:14, 15). He devises a
  10. The vision of the dragon and the woman              mark on the right hand and forehead, so that with-
(12:1-7).  Satan is pictured as a red dragon who in       out it one cannot buy or sell. His number is 666
the Old Testament days attempted to devour the            (12:16-18).
man child as soon as the woman (the church)                  12. The victory of the Lamb and the defeat of
would bring Him  forith   (12:1-4).  When Christ is       Babylon ( 14: l-20). The Lamb is presented as stand-
born, He is caught up into heaven  (12:5).  The           ing on a mount with 144,000 who had the Father's
woman fled into the wilderness where God pre-             name on their forehead ( 14: 1). All are singing a new
pared a place for her (12:6).  A reference is made to     song before the four beasts and the twenty-four
heaven where Michael and the dragon (Satan)               elders  (14:2, 3). They are described as virgins who
fought. Satan was defeated and cast to the earth and      are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. They are
his fallen angels with him (12:7-g).  Heaven rejoices     without fault, and in their mouth is no guile (14:4,
in the defeat of Satan, but the inhabiters of the         5). An angel announces the everlasting gospel. All
earth and sea are warned of his great wrath               are to fear God and give Him glory  (14:6, 7).
(12: 10-12). The dragon persecutes the woman who          Another angel announces the fall of Babylon ( 14:8).
gave birth to the man child and she receives wings        The third angel follows, announcing that all who
to flee into the wilderness. The serpent tries to         have the mark of the beast shall drink the wrath of
drown her, but the earth swallows up the water            God and be tormented with fire and brimstone
and the dragon fights with her seed (12: 13-17).          (14:9-12). Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord;
   11. The vision of the  anti-Christ (13: 1-18). A       they shall rest from their labors and their works
beast arises out of the sea having seven heads and        shall follow them  (14:13). The Son of man is pic-
ten horns with crowns upon each head. He is partly        tured on a cloud, having a sharp sickle (14: 14). An
leopard, bear, and lion. The dragon (Satan) gives         angel calls to Him to thrust in the sickle and reap.
him power and authority (12: 1,2). One of his heads       He does that (14: 15, 16). Another angel comes out
is wounded  (12:3).  The masses of people worship         of the temple and cries to Him to thrust in the sickle
him even though he blasphemes God  (12:4-6).  He          again. This time He gathers grapes in the winepress
makes war upon the saints and persecutes them.            of God's wrath (14: 17-20).
This causes people everywhere to worship the beast

THE STRENGTH OF YOUTH



                               For the Truth's Sake
                                              Rev. Ron Cammenga




   In the end, there is only one thing that matters in    ficant it may be in the eyes of men, no matter how
the life of a church or in the life of an individual.     it lacks resources and means, that church is great,
That one thing is that that church or individual has      and prosperous, and important. If a man has the
the truth. If a church has the truth, no matter how       truth, no matter how lowly his station in life, no
small it may be numerically, no matter how insigni-       matter how adverse the circumstances of his life,


258                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



he really has everything, and has every reason to            shall all be damned who believe not the truth.
rejoice and be glad.                                         Daniel, in Daniel  8:12, describes the coming Anti-
   How important is the truth! How we ought to               christ as the one who casteth down the truth to the
value and cherish and be willing to give up every            ground. And Paul mentions as the outstanding sin
earthly thing, even our own life, as some have, for          of men in the last days their sin of not enduring
the sake of the truth! How miserable is that man,            sound doctrine, but turning away their ears from
temporally and eternally, who is without the truth!          the truth (II Tim.  44).
   God Himself gives the truth this chief and                   How critical is the truth! Everything depends
primary place. Holy Scripture abounds with in-               upon the truth! This is the line of demarcation
struction in the importance and necessity of the             among men, that which divides sharply and abso-
truth. In I Timothy  315   the apostle Paul describes        lutely. Either a man knows and loves and adheres
what the church is and what her calling is in the            to and confesses the truth, or a man hates the truth,
world. There the Apostle says that the church is             rejects the truth, and opposes himself to the truth.
"the pillar and ground of the truth." In Titus  1:l          A third possibility there is not.
Paul tells us the great aim of his gospel ministry.             There is such a thing as truth. The truth exists
That aim was that through his ministry the elect of          and has objective reality. There are those today, as
God might be brought to the acknowledging of the             there have always been, who question and who
truth. We hear so much about love today; we're               deny the existence of truth. These men ask the
supposed to love everyone. In I Corinthians  13:6            same foolish question that Pontius Pilate asked of
Paul tells us about love: "Love rejoiceth not in in-         Jesus, "What is truth?" (John  18:38). These men
iquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." The importance          claim that the truth cannot really and certainly be
of the truth comes out in Ephesians 6. In this               known by men. Men cannot know for certain
passage the Apostle is busy describing the Christian         whether there is such a thing as truth, whether
armor which the believer must put on in order to             truth exists. And if it does exist, at least men cannot
stand against the wiles of the Devil. And what is the        know what the truth is and what are the contents of
very first piece of that armor, the piece upon which         this truth. This is what we call "agnosticism" or
every other piece of that armor depends? Verse 14:           ' `skepticism, ' ' something that has overrun the
"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with          whole area of education today.
truth."  _                                                      This skeptical attitude has also had its influence
  This emphasis on the truth isn't found only in             on the churches. The churches today are filled with
the writings of the apostle Paul. Jesus Himself em-          this wickedness. That's plain from the low esteem
phasizes the importance of the truth for the Chris-          that many in the churches have today for doctrine.
tian life in a passage like John  17:19, where He            That's plain from the people who view doctrine,
teaches that the believer is sanctified through the          truth, as something far too deep and irrelevant any-
truth. The whole Christian life, our entire walk of          way for the ordinary Christian, and want only a
sanctification, depends upon the truth. The apostle          gospel that tells them how to live a good life in the
John writes in III John 4: "I have no greater joy            world.
than to hear that my children walk in truth." Since
the Apostle is God's Apostle, God Himself has no               This'whole position is condemned by the Scrip-
greater joy, this is His greatest joy, that His children     tures. There IS such a thing as truth. The truth ex-
walk in the truth.                                           ists and is real. And the truth can be known, and
                                                             must be known by every believer.
  Throughout history man's great sin is his rejec-
tion of God's truth. In Romans  1:18 and 25 Paul               This truth is revealed in Holy Scripture. The con-
identifies the ungodly as those who hold the truth           tents of the truth is the Holy Scripture. The Scrip-
in unrighteousness, and who change the truth of              ture reveals the .truth  to you and to me, and it is the
God into the lie. The prophet Jeremiah points out            truth in every book, in every chapter, in every
Israel's chief sin, the sin for which God rejected the       verse, in every word. Jesus Himself says in John
nation and caused her to be carried away into cap-           17:17, "Thy word is truth." In Daniel  lo:21 the
tivity, as her not being valiant for the truth (Jer.         Scriptures are referred to as the "Scriptures of
9:3). Similarly, Isaiah laments in Isaiah  59:14, 15:        truth." The Apostle writes in Colossians 1:5 of "the
"Judgment is turned away backward, and justice               word of the truth of the gospel." The truth is all of
standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and    the doctrine, the truth is all of the warnings, the
equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth." In II              truth is all of the history, the truth is all of the law
Thessalonians 2: 10 the outstanding sin of reprobate         and commandments of God in Christ contained in
men is that they receive not the love of the truth,          Holy Scripture.
and the Apostle goes on to say in verse 12 that they           This is why we can know and why we MUST


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               259



know the truth: God has revealed the truth in Holy         But He courageously defended that truth, con-
Scripture. We're not left to wonder what the truth         demned and exposed the lie. His stand for the truth
is. We're not in bondage to what this great man or         was antithetical, as it always must be. Those who
that religious leader tells us is the truth. We're not     want only the positive aspect of the truth, who
left to our own opinion and we may not have our            don't want to hear, for example, in the preaching
own opinion about what is the truth. God has made          the word of rebuke, warning, and condemnation,
known the truth, and God has done that in Holy             simply do not want the truth. Always the truth op-
Scripture.                                                 poses the lie.
  Because the truth is set forth in Holy Scripture,          And finally, our calling to have the truth means
we stand so vehemently opposed today to those              that we must persevere in the truth. We can only
who deny the infallibility and trustworthiness of          do this by being members of a church that faith-
the Bible. What is happening as a result of this is        fully preaches and defends the truth. Church mem-
that the truth is being taken away. The truth is           bership is of the utmost significance as regards this
taken away from God's people today by the many             whole matter of the truth. This must determine our
corrupt versions of the Bible that are peddled as          church membership. Not the personality of the
Holy Scripture. The truth is denied by those who           preacher, not the size of the congregation, not the
charge that there are errors and mistakes and inac-        fr-iendliness of the people, but the truth must deter-
curacies, both in the history and in the doctrine of       mine our church membership. Where the truth is
the Bible. Don't the people see what the outcome of        preached, and where that truth is further set forth
all this will be? Don't they realize? Don't they see       in the sacraments and defended by Christian
that what is being taken away from themselves and          discipline, there I am called to be a member. I must
their children is the truth? And don't they see that if    be a member of the true church of Jesus Christ in
the truth of Holy Scripture is denied, God's people        the world. And that true church of Jesus Christ is
are completely at sea as regards the truth? Then           found in the church that stands on-the truth.
where shall they turn for the truth? And who will            And then for no earthly reason may we with-
give them the truth?                                       draw ourselves from that true church. Not for the
  Having the truth carries with it certain definite        sake of a career, not for the sake of a boy-friend or a
responsibilities. First, the responsibility is to con-     girl-friend, not for an education, not for any reason
fess the truth. We must never minimize this aspect         may we leave the church that preaches the truth.
of `our calling to have the truth. Especially the          But we must remain where the truth is. This is why
young people must take seriously this calling. They        it is wrong, sinful, to leave a true church, such as
must confess the truth; they must confess Christ           our own is. God is the One Who commands us to
Who is the truth. We must not be silent about the          have the truth'by our membership in a church that
truth; but openly and publicly we must confess that        preaches the truth. Since God requires this of us, it
truth. In the particular calling and station in life in    is simply wrong of us to leave and forsake that true
which God has set us, we must be a witness to His          church.
truth. We must never be ashamed of. the truth.               We must have the truth. We must have the truth
  Secondly, our calling to have the truth is the call-     for the truth's sake. We must have the truth for the
ing to live the truth. We must not only confess the        sake of the salvation of ourselves and of our
truth, but we must live all of our life in harmony         children. We must have the truth for the glory of
with the truth. The Apostle doesn't say in III John 4      the God Whose the truth is.
that his greatest joy is that we know the truth. His         God grant that as churches and as individuals we
greatest joy isn't even that we.confess the truth. But     continue to have and continue to walk in the truth.
his greatest joy is that we "Walk in truth." ALL of        May God use us for a witness to His truth in all the
our walk must be in the sphere of the truth. Not the       world.
philosophy of men, not what the majority of the
people are doing, not what my own feelings are in-
clined to, but the truth - this must be the standard           The Standard Bearer
of my behavior.
  Thirdly, the calling to have the truth also carries            makes a thoughtful
with it the calling, both for the church and for the
individual believer, to stand for the truth, to stand                        gift for the
against and to oppose whatever is NOT the truth.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is Himself the truth
personally, did just this during His earthly                          sick and shut-ins.
ministry. He not only positively set forth the truth.


260                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



GUES?' ARTICLE




                             1. Jesus Strengthened
                                             Rev. Robert C. Harbach





  "There appeared an angel unto Him f?om heaven,           ple. True, He could have called to His own aid
strengthening Him." Luke  22:43                            twelve legions of angels (Matt. 26:53), or He could
  THE TEXT. The first question here is whether             have strengthened His weakened human nature by
the text is genuine or spurious. Some ancient              the power of His divine nature. But there is no need
authorities do not contain the verses 43 and 44. The       to argue against the biblical record of how it actual-
New American Standard Version, the New Interna-            ly was done.
tional Version, and the Weiss Greek text call atten-         THE APPEARANCE. "There  appeared  an angel
tion to this omission. The Nestle Greek text lists the     unto Him." The next question is whether this was
authorities for the omission, basically on the             only a subjective appearance, in the mind of Jesus,
authority of Manuscript (Codex) B. But these verses        having no objective, visible manifestation. This
are supported by the Greek New Testament Ac-               would be docetic, in the sense that the angel was, or
cording to the Majority Text, by Codices Aleph and         all angels are, fantasmal or apparitional, figment of
D, the Caesarean Text, some Old Latin manu-                the imagination. Angel appearances can be
scripts, and by Justinius, Irenaeus, and  Tischen-         presented as real, historical, objective, and visible,
dorf. These latter authorities very definitely and ab-     and yet actually be spurious, as in the case of the
solutely place these verses within the text of holy        accounts recorded in the Apocrypha and in certain
Scripture as genuine. It is said that our text was         Swedenborgian, Mormonite, and charismatical
omitted on dogmatical, not exegetical grounds, by          books. But this angel visibly and objectively ap-
the orthodox because heretics used it to deny              peared, just as one did to Zacharias, who with his
Christ's deity. But Scripture teaches that Christ has      natural senses saw him and received from him a
both a divine and a human nature, and that the lat-        rather lengthy audible message (Luke 1: 1 l-22). This
ter, wherever stressed in Scripture, in no wise            was no appearance in a dream, but just as objective-
denies the former. We are content to let the Bible         ly real as when the devil, a fallen angel, appeared to
speak for itself, whether for Christ's absolute deity,     tempt the Lord, after which "angels came and min-
or for His true and complete humanity.                     istered unto Him" (Matt. 4: 11) , a fulfillment of John
  THE INCIDENT. This occurred immediately                  1:51.
after the Lord's first prayer in Gethsemane (v. 42).         ANGELS TODAY? Do angels appear today with
He needed this strengthening, for as He continued          messages and miracles? Is there today continued
even more earnestly in prayer He got into an agony         divine revelation in visions, voices from heaven,
of soul to the point of sweating as it were great          dreams, tongues, healings, appearances of God and
drops of blood falling down to the ground. This He         Jesus? "Yes, definitely!" say the modern-day char-
did "with strong crying and tears," His entire             ismatics (Neo-Montanists) , along with Roman Cath-
human nature shrinking from the horror of the              olics, Christian Scientists, Mormons, "Children of
Godforsakenness which was His Father's will for            God," Jehovah's Witnesses, and the "Moonies." A
Him to endure. His supplications were heard as             popular electronic charismatic club produces
they were prayed from his godly fear  (apo tees            "witnesses" telling how Jesus suddenly appeared
eulabeias,  Heb. 5:7). In this way, the Father instant-    beside them in their car while driving along the
ly replied to His fainting Son Who was suffering in-       highway, talked awhile, then as suddenly disap-
finite sorrow (Matt.  26:38) in the place of His peo-      peared; or how they died, when an angel appeared


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               261



to their bodiless soul to say that it wasn't their time    Think how the Lord experienced (1) fatigue (John
yet, and so brought them back to life from the dead.       4:6), (2) sleep (Matt. 8:24)  and (3) enervating hunger
May we tolerate this sort of thing? Not for a mo-          (Matt.  4:2, 11). Here, He had become extremely
ment! We have Moses and all the Scriptures. We             weak, for no less than a mighty angel was sent from
must hear them. For "if one went unto them from            heaven to strengthen Him, and angels are not sent
the dead, they will not repent" (Luke 16:30). If they      on superfluous missions, nor does God do anything
believe not the canonical Scriptures, "neither will        unnecessary. But here is mystery: the Creator (John
they be persuaded, though one rose from the                1:3) needing to be strengthened by one of His
dead." Why not? because the holy Scriptures alone          creatures! We ought not to cringe at the thought
have an incomparable sufficiency to be the only            that the Son of God became so weakened as to need
rule of faith and conduct (Belgic Confession, VII).        the divine means of angelic aid to strengthen Him.
"Nothing, at any time, is to be added, whether by          He was totally exhausted, mentally and spiritually,
new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men"       by the agony producing the terrible bloody sweat.
to the whole counsel of God as contained in the ho-        Part of His prayer was, "Thou hast brought Me into
ly Scripture (Westminster Confession, I, VI). The          the dust of death" (Ps. 22). He was tempted in all
Scriptures alone teach what man is to believe con-         points like as we are, sin excepted; only, He suf-
cerning God, and what duty God requires of man             fered in the place of His people to redeem them
(Westminster Larger Catechism, Ans. 5). "The               from their sins. Christ's hellish agonies are abso-
Word of God, . . . contained in the Scriptures of the      lutely unique.
Old and New Testaments, is the ody  rule to direct           NOT DEROGATORY. Why should the angel
us how we may glorify and enjoy" God (Shorter              strengthening Him seem derogatory to His divini-
Catechism, A. 2). Therefore, the true church takes         ty? He was once a babe, and had to be strengthened
the stand that no extra-biblical revelation is divine      and nourished from the womb and then from the
revelation.                                                breast of His mother. In infancy He was not only
  COME AND GET YOUR MIRACLE! So cry the                    weak, but utterly helpless. The Mighty God veiled
modern healers advertising their meetings. Thou-           His omnipotence with the true humanity of in-
sands flock to these extravaganzas. They seek a big-       fancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, and manhood.
name prophet. They want a special, personal reve-          Because He got hungry, thirsty and tired, He had to
lation from God. They will not have a sermon               be strengthened with bread, water, rest, and sleep.
based on a text from the Bible. They will not have         Will Arians, or other heretics, grasp this side of the
preaching. They hope they can dream something,             truth to support their denial of Christ's deity? Let
or hear a voice in the sky; then they think they have      them; but Satan and his dupes are fools. On His
something. They prefer an angel who appears to             human nature, Scripture says, "Jesus therefore be-
tell them how to make a lot of money, rather than          ing wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well."
to have a humble, faithful (perhaps young) minister        On the divine side it says, "the everlasting God, the
who breaks the bread of life to God's people. But in       Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth
the Word of God purely preached right out of the           not, neither is weary." Angels must wonder at this,
Bible we have a more sure word of testimony than           but there is more about Him at which to wonder.
we ever could have in any of the modern sensa-             He was strengthened by the angel in Gethsemane
tional substitutions.                                      lest He die; for there He nearly did die (Matt.
                                                           26353). But He had to die on the cross. There He in
  A UNIQUE AGONY. A liberalistic (or modern-               weakness gave up His life. That completes the proof
istic) humanizing of the gospel will speak of our          of His true humanity. Yet at the same time He
own afflictions in which we, too, suffer our               was and is "the true God and the Eternal Life."
Gethsemanes. Refuse this sort of thing. You hear it        Why did He become so weak? To make us, His
from Jesse Jackson, who dresses up his political           weak ones, as strong as David, as strong as the
talks in shallow religious verbiage, telling us that       Angel of God!
the Blacks have had their Gethsemane, and their
Crucifixion, but not yet their merited and long              HIS STRENGTHENING. "There appeared an
overdue Resurrection. However, that's coming!              angel unto `Him from heaven, strengthening Him."
This is to make gospel grace common, for the Lord          How could an angel strengthen Him? If we mean
Jesus Christ trod the winepress entirely alone.            by that, how is that possible, we ought to under-
Besides, it is extremely blasphemous, and God will         stand that just one angel alone is mighty (Psalm
not give His glory to another.                             103:20), strong enough to shut the mouths of lions
                                                           (Dan.  6:22), strong enough to strengthen any
  HIS WEAKNESS. The human physique, at its                 human being (and Christ was and is a human being
best, has its limitations: its infirmities (Belgic Con-    without being a human person). Daniel had
fession, XVIII), its finitude, its relative weakness.      become so weak that there was no strength in him,


262                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



yet an angel strengthened him, making him strong           can do this and actually have much experience in
(Dan.  10:13-19;  11:l; cp.  8:16-18, Gabriel =  "Godis    doing it. Let all the angels of God fall down in awe,
my strength."). Perhaps we are unable to answer            wonder, and worship of this blood-red Son of God!
this "how." But at least we have shown the angels

QUESTION BOX


                              Ignorance Winked At
                                                  Rev. C. Hanko



  A reader writes:                                               More specifically, what, then, is meant by the
  "Acts  17:30: `And the times of this ignorance           "ignorance" of the pagans of the old dispensation?
God winked at; but now commandeth all men                  This cannot possibly mean that they were entirely
everywhere to repent.' Does this mean that the             ignorant of God, that they did not know that God is
heathen before Christ were excused and will be             God.  Their idol worship was not, as some would
saved?"                                                    have it, an attempt to seek out and to find the living
                                                           God, a reaching out for salvation. This is blatantly
  As our reader obviously realizes, it would be con-       contrary to the Scriptures, particularly to Romans
trary to the Scriptures to maintain that ignorance is      1.
an excuse to sin. It is true, of course, that to sin
knowingly is far worse than to sin in ignorance. But             In the last part of Romans 1 Paul writes, "The
Scripture does teach that sin committed in ignor-          wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ance is still sin in the sight of God. We need only        ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold
refer to the highpriestly prayer of our Savior on the      the truth in unrighteousness." The reference is to
cross, where He prayed for His people who had              the heathen outside of the sphere of the gospel,
joined in with the others in committing that               who made themselves guilty of ungodliness, i.e.,
atrocious deed of killing the Lord of Glory without        living apart from God; and of unrighteousness, that
realizing the import of their  offence, pleading,          is, transgression of God's holy law. Moreover, they
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they         held the truth in unrighteousness. The idea is that
do." See also Hebrews 21-4.                                they knew the truth, yet they suppressed it in their
                                                           wicked opposition to the living God.
  That still does not explain what Paul meant in his
address to the Athenians, who professed to believe               We ask, how is it possible for "ignorant" pagans
in "an unknown god," when he said that in times            to suppress the truth? The answer is in verse 19,
past God winked at the ignorance of the heathen.           "Because that which may be known of God is
                                                           manifest in them, for God hath shewed it unto @em. `I
  The first question -that arises is, what is meant by     Even those who never heard the preaching of the
"this ignorance?" The second question is, what             gospel nor had any acquaintance with the Scrip-
does it mean that God winked at this ignorance?            tures still have a certain knowledge of God. They
  In general, we can answer both questions by say-         not only know that there is a god, but they know
ing that the last part of the text interprets the first    also that God is God, for God shows it unto them.
part. That is, God left the heathen of the old dispen-     They know, Paul goes on to say, "God's eternal
sation outside of the preaching of the gospel, and         power and godhead." Creation speaks to them of
beyond the call to repentance. Now in the new dis-         God. The daily happenings of God's providence are
pensation the gospel is proclaimed to the ends of          a testimony to them that God is the almighty,
the earth, wherever God in His good pleasure wills         sovereign God. There is a testimony of the Holy
to send it, accompanied with the call to all nations       Spirit which no one can escape that God must be
to repent of their sins and turn to the living God.        served. Imagine those foolish Athenians, who had a
There is a much broader and clearer presentation of        number of false gods, yet to play it safe also had an
the gospel, with an added responsibility to those          altar to "an unknown god." Paul exposes their ig-
who reject it.                                             norance by showing them how ridiculous it is to


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              263



serve all sorts of gods, when there is only one God,       man, woman, and child upon the face of the earth
Whom they profess to serve in their ignorance. If          to hear the gospel, offering them salvation upon
they truly confess this God, there is no place left for    sincere repentance. The gospel comes only where
their idols, which are mere sham, for the true and         God in His good pleasure sends it. "Everywhere" in
living God is in the heavens, besides Whom there is        the text means exactly that, "wherever God in His
and can be no other.                                       sovereign good pleasure causes His Word to be
  Thus, specifically, in the old dispensation God          preached." And the "all men" refers to all nations,
winked at this ignorance, overlooked it, as it were,       tribes, and tongues, in distinction from the narrow
ignored it. The preaching of the gospel did not go         confines of Israel.
out to these pagan nations, but was limited to the           Paul speaks of that preaching of the gospel as the
narrow confines of national Israel. Only with rare         call to repentance. He impresses upon the Athe-
exceptions, as was the case with Nineveh, did God          nians that they may have served idols in the past in
reach out to proclaim His Word to the heathen, call-       ignorance. In that ignorance they also had an altar
ing them to repentance. In Jerusalem was the tem-          to an unknown God. But now they can no longer
ple. There were the sacrifices. In Palestine the           plead ignorance. The preaching of the Word has
prophets lived and spoke. Even Christ limited His          come to them as a savor of life unto life and a savor
ministry almost completely to the Jews in Palestine.       of death unto death. God proclaims to them His
  But that was no longer the case in Paul's time, for      glorious salvation of eternal life through the resur-
the new dispensation  had. come. After Pentecost           rection of His dear Son Jesus Christ. Anyone who
the church becomes universal, and the gospel goes          rejects that gospel by refusing to repent from his
forth even to the ends of the earth, "commanding           idolatry and all his sins only proves the hardness of
all men everywhere to repent."                             his heart and deserves a greater condemnation.
  Even that does not mean that God causes every            Woe to those who reject so-great a salvation!

                        News From Our Churches
                                                February 15, 1985


  Rev. Slopsema has received the call to Lynden            "The Heirs of the Covenant" (Rom. 9:6-8); "The
Church in Washington from a trio that included             Covenant and the Jews" (Rom. 11); "Our Part in
Rev. M. Joostens and Rev. R. Hanko. Prof.- R.              the Covenant" (II Cor.  7:l); and "The Covenant
Decker declined the call from Hull Church in Iowa.         Home" (Psalm 128). The set of tapes costs $10.
Edger-ton Church in Minnesota has formed a trio:           Write or call: Mr. Clare  Haveman, 1695 S. Maple,
Rev. M. De Vries, Rev. D. Engelsma, and Prof. H.           Zeeland, MI 49464. Telephone: 616-772-2808.
Hanko. Rev. D. Kuiper, at the request of Hope
Church's consistory (Walker), has agreed to teach            The Consistory of Southwest Church in Michi-
in place of Rev. Veldman who plans, D.V., an ex-           gan has revised the procedure for admittance to the
tended stay in Lynden, Washington. Rev. Kuiper             Lord's Table for members of other Protestant Re-
will be teaching two Monday evening catechism              formed Churches as follows: All those who wish to
classes. Rev. Kuiper has also been busy preaching          partake of the Lord's Supper with us shall personal-
in our various churches from time to time.                 ly or in writing confirm to the Council that they are
                                                           members in good standing of a Protestant Re-
  Our brethren in Pennsylvania have asked and re-
ceived the permission of the consistory of Covenant        formed Church. Requests may be made at a regular
Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey to change their              Council meeting or to the Council before the wor-
name to Covenant Protestant Reformed Mission               ship service.
Church.` The main reason for the name change is              After much waiting and government bureauc-
that they are no longer meeting in Bluebell, but in        racy, Rev. Bruinsma has received his work permit
Lower Providence, PA.                                      for one year and his automobile. It was much in his
  Cassette tapes of the series of sermons in North-        favor to be able to take care of these things per-
ern Ireland by Prof. Hanko and Rev. D. Engelsma            sonally on the Island. He writes, "The news con-
on the Covenant of Grace are now available., The           cerning our churches here is very favorable." A
series includes "The Idea of the Covenant" (Psalm          Classis  meeting was held in Jamaica on January 5 to
25); "Christ, the Mediator of the Covenant" (Heb.          form several committees. One of these committees
9:15); "The Covenant and the Fall" (Rom. 5:19-21);         is to see to the beginning and forthcoming of a

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





                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER

Theological School under the instruction of Rev.                         tuary is scheduled for the week of February 11.
Bruinsma. The ministers and elders are showing a                         After they are erected, the roof can be put on.
great deal of interest in this possibility. Another                         Rev.  Houck writes, "With much joy we have
committee will take up the work of attempting to                         witnessed the Lord's use of our labors to instruct
incorporate the churches in Jamaica. There is a                          the members of our mission group in the Truth. . . .
good working relationship between the ministers                          Although no new members have been added to our
on the Island.                                                           group yet, we are working with many who are in-
  Rev. Joostens and his family visited the Bruin-                        terested in the Reformed Faith . . . . Many new op-
smas in December. Rev. Joostens' daughter, Faith,                        portunities have been given to us by the Lord so
wrote in a report on the trip: "Sunday morning we                        that we have much work to do."
drove up to Cave Mountain. We took our rented                               The new clerk of First Church is Mr. Ted
brown jalopy up as far as you can go . . . . Then we                     Looyenga, 1708  Radcliff, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI
hiked up the mountain to the Church. Rev. Bruin-                         49506. Telephone 616-949-1914.
sma and Mandy stayed at home because his foot                                                                                                DH
was too sore to hike . . . . The church building was
in terrible shape, but we had a nice sermon by Dad                                             IN LOVING MEMORY
and heard some Jamaican songs and choruses sung                             On December 12, 1984, it pleased our Heavenly Father to take
by the congregation."                                                    unto Himself our beloved husband, father and grandfather, LEWIS J.
                                                                         BRUINSMA, at the age of 54 years. We rejoice that he is in glory with
  The Building Committee of First Church in                              his Lord and we pray that Jehovah, our covenant God will uphold us
Grand Rapids, MI reports that progress of the con-                       by His grace and give us the peace that passeth all understanding.
struction is somewhat uncertain because of the                              "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
winter weather and because of the need to wait for                       (Psalm 116:15)
manufacture of some special products. At this time,                      Mrs. Lewis Bruinsma                Duane Bruinsma
                                                                         Don and Jann Bruinsma              Grandchildren  - Daniel, Jennifer
delivery of four large, wooden arches for the sanc-                      Debbie and Paul De Young              and Stefanie Bruinsma
                                                                         Douglas Bruinsma
                                                                                                                           South Holland, Illinois
             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  The Adult Bible Society of the Doon, Iowa congregation expresses             CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE MINISTRY
its sincere sympathy to Mrs. Maryann  Aardema and her family in the         All young men desiring to begin studies for the 1985-86 academic
death of her mother, MRS. HENRIETTA MANTEL.                              year in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches
  "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God,       should make application at the March 21,1985 meeting of the Theo-
my strength, in Whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my        logical School Committee.
salvation, and my high tower." (Psalm 18:2)                              Pre-Seminary Students:
                                                                            A transcript of grades from high school and college (if any), a letter
             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      of testimony from the student's pastor or consistory, and a certifi-
                                                                         cate of health from a reputable physician must accompany the appli-
  The Adult Bible Study Society of the  SouthEast Protestant Re-         cation.
formed Church expresses its sincere sympathy to our fellow
members, Mr. and Mrs. Sid Vander Wal in the recent death of her          Seminary Students:
father, MR. PETER VOGEL. May our Lord comfort the family through            A testimonial from the student's consistory that he is a member in
His Word.                                                                full communion, sound in faith and upright in walk, a certificate of
  "0 give thanks unto the Lord for He is good: for His mercy en-         health from a reputable physician, and high school and college tran-
                                                                         scripts must accompany the application. All applicants to the semi-
dureth forever." (Psalm 118:l)                                           nary department must have completed the equivalent of a four-year
                                               Rev. C. Haak, Pres.       college education (125 semester hours) and must meet the course
                                               Mrs. D.  Hauck, Sec'y.    requirements for entrance to the seminary department. These en-
                                                                         trance requirements are listed in the seminary catalog available from
             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      the school.
  The South Holland Ladies Society expresses its sincere sympathy           All seminary department applicants must appear before the theo-
to one of its members, Mrs. Elaine Holleman, in the death of her         logical School Committee for interview before admission is granted.
father, MR. JAMES WIERS.                                                 In the event that a student can not appear at the March 21 st meet-
  May she be upheld by God's grace and comforted with His Word           ing, notification of this fact along with a suggested interview date
as found in II-Corinthians  5:l  - "For we know that if our earthly      must be given to the secretary of the Theological School Committee
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,      before this meeting.
an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."                      All correspondence should be directed to the Theological School
                                  Rev. David Engelsma, Pres.             Committee, 4949 lvanrest Ave., S.W., Grandville, Michigan 49418.
                                  Mrs. Kathy Vander Meulen, Sec'y.                                                       Jon Huisken, Secretary


