           The
     `STANDARD
       BEARER
/           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





       How does Jesus accomplish this drawing
     to Himself? By His almighty power, which
     brings about the results He intends. He does
     not employ beggings, pleadings, offers, invi-
     tations, as though "coming to Jesus" is in the
     hands of men who may decide to "be a good
     sport," and "give God a chance." God works
     through Christ, and when Christ draws, He
     not only says, "they shall be drawn,`.' -but, !`I
     will do it; I will draw them."
                See "Jesus Lifted Up" --page  353
                                                            `t*,


                                                Vol.  LXII, No. 15, May  1,  1986  -


       338                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER




                                        CONTENTS                                                                             THE STANDARD  BEARER
                                                                                                                                      ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                          Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
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              Our Heavenly Father Is Sovereign Lord . . . . . . .338                             Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
         Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341            Department Editors:  Rev. Ronald  Cammenga,  Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
                                                                                                 D. Decker, Rev. Barry Gritters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko,
         Translated Treasures  -                                                                 Rev. Ronald Hanko, Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J:Kortering,
                                                                                                 Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. James Slopsema,  Rev.
              A Pamphlet Concerning the                                                          Gise J. Van Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
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              Moral Aspects of Medical Technology (5) . . . . .344                                                       Grandville, Michigan 49418
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                                                                                            I
       MEDITATION
I    Cornelius Hanko





                Our Heavenly Father Is Sovereign Lord

                          Ques. 104. What doth God require in the fifth commandment?
                          Ans. That I show all honor, love and fidelity to my father and mother, and.all in authority
                       over me, and submit myself to their good instruction and correction, with due obedience; and
                       also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities, since it pleases God to govern us by
                       their hand. Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 39.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  339



   "I love the Lord, the Fount of life and grace!"          over all as Potentate of potentates, the King of kings
   I love Him, because IIe first loved me, drew me          and Lord of lords (I Timothy  6:15). He is the
to Himself as His child by His Word and Spirit, and         righteous Judge. No man can or may resist His will
taught me that He is the only true and living God!          with impunity!> fi* e b 
                                                                                       4 D>K FW&  p""  rdm&l;t`
                                                               ~~~~~t~re--~~~~"~-~:Hi~~~
   He also teaches me from the pages of holy Writ
to know Him in all the fulness of His glorious
divine perfections as God above all, the ever
blessed, adorable One!
   He reveals His Name in all the works of His
hands, and even more fully in His inspired Word,
that I may speak to Him, addressing Him as my
God and Father in prayer and worship, and speak
of Him in awe and reverence!
   He has set apart a day of rest, His Sabbath, that
on the first day of each week I may begin the span
of a new week in the communion of saints, to be
prepared by Him for whatever He lays upon my
way in the week that lies before me, looking to the
eternal rest that remains for the people of God!
   I may confess Christ as my Savior and Lord, and
thus live before my sovereign Lord and heavenly
Father in humble fear, reverence, and obedience as
His child, even as He teaches me in this fifth com-
mandment!
  This commandment requires that I show all
honor, love, and fidelity to those by whom it
pleases God to govern me. This is required of me
and us all as members of the household of faith. By
submitting to them, we submit ourselves to our
God and to His wise authority over our lives. We
manifest our love and faithfulness to Him by walk-
ing in submission and obedience before Him in
every sphere of life. Not to do so is to sin against
Him! Our love to God is manifested in our love to
our neighbor. The second table of the law follows
from the first. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth
his brother, he is a liar, for he that loveth not his
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God
whom he has not seen?" (I John  220).  Thus the
fifth commandment serves as a transition from the
first to the second table of the law.
  This commandment is the more important to us,
because it appears first on the second table. Keep-
ing this commandment is mandatory for keeping
those that follow. Refusal to submit to authority
opens the way for hatred, jealousies, murder, for-
nication, adultery, stealing, slander, and associated                  .----__.----
                                                              ~~ii$ -a.nage-o~~~~i~s!  (_Eve~X~mm%id-
sins.                                                       -ment-of~G~dis-d~~~i~~~  Every precept for decency
                                                            <L--,,-;_--
  Here we are brought. face to face with God as             and good order is defiantly trodden under foot.
GOD, the almighty Lord of heaven and earth. He is           I--Iu;s~a~d~s~~~~~~f~~~~~~~~~~~~~i~~~~~~~~~~~l~~,
the eternal One, Who created all things, upholds            sat~is~y~~g-~ve-r-y~~e~~~l~~t.
                                                            -."..-.                            Wilsr_e_~~d~s~i~t~~~~~~~
and governs them, and has sovereign right to rule           task--of--h~~~~~~~~~~d~~~~i~~~~~ild~~~.   They
                                                            haTe-%?gz out of their oppressive four walls to ex-
Cornelius Hanho is a minister emeritus in the Protestant    ercise their talents, to seek out a career, or to obtain
Reformed Churches.                                          appealing luxuries with their own money. Grads&


  340                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



   ly they take over the church, in shops and offices,                      us the beautiful wife in I Peter 3:1-6 and the vir-
   as well as in the government. Sad to say, the men                        tuous woman in Proverbs 3 1, whom her children
   are often to blame by shirking their duty at home                         call blessed long after she has gone to glory. They
   and beyond. After spending a day at work they                            speak of her to their children and their children's
  prefer to retire to the quiet solitude of their den and                   children, even as her influence continues in the
 --TV set: Family, life; ,parents and. children. gathering                  generations under God's blessing!
around to enjoy each  other-Is>   fellowship,:is  a thing                      Fathers, you are called to function in the office of
  of the past. Both husband and wife are too tired or                       believers as prophets, priests, and kings in your do-
  too involved in social affairs to make a home for the                     main, your home! Your authority and ability come
  family. Children learn to shift for themselves, and                       from Christ! Be faithful in prayer, worshiping, in-
  soon become far to independent to respect any kind                        structing from the Scriptures, admonishing in all
  of authority. They become unmanageable inschool                           godliness, with prayer and supplication. Mothers,
  and in the  `neig,hborhood.  Parents cannot  under-                       be prayerful assistants for God's sake.
  sta.nd  `that others have problems with their
  children, while -they have no problem at home.                              `Children;--eve-your-~_aye~-.with---the-loue
                                                                                                           - - -
  Soon the teenagers become involved in drugs, un-                          wherewJth  you--love-God! Ramect-them-as-give&o
                                                                             7.  <:/-L-s .-~ -__----  .
  wanted pregnancies, abortions, and conflict with                          y-ou-of-God-~.Y~u-aid~vinel~~~~~~~~~~~~y~~al~of
                                                                                                            +-.- ___.._
  the law. Thislack  of respect  .for authority spreads                     ;~.~~~~~~g~t~~~~~g~~he~by~~o~e~~ot~er~th~~~G~
                                                                                                                               _-.-_- -
  to every sphere of life in a growing spirit of lawless-                   EIiniSeK   i~~d~gave=~~~~o-~n~-parents-.t~~~~-
  ness!                                                                     i~trucfivou-in~:th~-~~~~~~~~~h~~l-d~~g-~~~  H.o.nor&-iem
                                                                            f_oY_cZll.s:sak~  And-as-ymrgrowplder-a-ndbegint@
      ' -Th~~chur~h_does--not--esoa~e-th.                                                                                    --._---
                            - - - -   --,_  _-                              ~.~~~th~~.t~e-y~ha~~~~~-~~e~~~~~~as~y_aurdo~t~e.n
   We are children of our time more than we often                           s-~ll~r~~c_t~the~and.~ob~~~~h~~~~i~~~~f~~r~~f
   realize. ~~~~~e~ar~se~~mo~~-t-ha-n.-l~vers-of
                           ._._. ~--_ .---                                                                 _----.
                                                                            God.  ~~~~~~~--yo-u~ha~e~~h~~~h~tQ~opp~~~
                                                                                                                           ,._.- ---- -  .-._  -_.
                                                                           ~~~~~~~~h~~~v-d-em~~d~~~~u.-somet~.mg-that-ls
                                                                            c-on~a~~to---wil~~~f~G~d.  They may not require
                                                                            that you lie, or steal, or commit some other sin
                                                                            against God!
   chi~dren-,lfo-od-~cl~t.hlng,._aut~mob~l~,--spo~t~~eq~i~                                    _ -   _._
  ~-~~~~~_chu~~;-artdr:~~risti~~~h~~.
                 Alo%g::wit%i'                                                 Our-ministers  ,.-- eldersF=d-deacons-are-m am-
  ~~~~~~~e~~~-~~~-s--a~-s~irit-o~=spiKitual
                                                  -._.  _--_-               bassadors--of-Jesus--
                                                                                     i__               
                                                                                             .__..--_--C-hrist,c~ll~d~~~~~G~~~t~~gh
                                                                                                            -
 r laxity2
*_-__.~  .~~~~~~t~c-existence~~i~es-us..lit~le~tim~~;_:lf~                  t~~~~-s---u~~er;sh~pherds~~~f~~th~~i~f
  a-~y;~f~~~~~i~~~~~~~.  Modern psychology                                  S~~h~~~f-~~~~~~~l~!~~~~~lgo not-tbVuild:&s
  has replaced the sound counsel of the Scriptures.                         ;~hZurch;-Chris;tr~~~~~   Ch~ist~a-d-d~~~~~~~.us--th~~~h
  Preaching, especially doctrinal sermons, creates                         c~helri-,-~o~th--l-L~~~~~r~hini~~-Ch~t!~~~r~~s~~ce  to
                                                                                                      ------de_   __--. -----  =i__xI
  boredom. There is a growing `clamor for more                              he_a-r-w_l-ia~~~~~i~l~y-to-us-for-to-usforr
  musical numbers, puppets, dialogue, movies,                               souls  Le~~~s~~~~~`~n~~~~l~~t~~~i~~
                                                                            - - -
  liturgical dances, and even potluck, which are sup-                      ;&Etth@ity? That includes. respecting the office
  posed to be more spiritually edifying than sermons.                       bearer for the sake of his office. Therefore we
  The `authority of the Scriptures is lost! Children                        should shun the growing practice of calling
  grow up without any real spiritual  gui,delines.  The                     ministers, elders, and deacons by their first name.
  people perish because they lack knowledge!                                  ~~o~rnanyerrl~l~yers-and-empl~~ees~i~e~~t~~
                                                                                     .__. ---
                                     --.-
      In?h%ZgeXh.e:f if~-~~bmm~~dm~e~~~~e~k~~l~ud-er                          . `tual-int-imacy-of-~~-~~-a-nd--his--work~rs~-.(
                                                                                 _---_- --___ _---..                                            Rut
                                                                                                                      - -.--.. -._. _.__. Y
 ~~h~~~~ver:-Hono~~t~i~fa~~~~~~~h~~~~~~~!                                        +:orzeven-st-ri-ire-toZattain-;it?                            52
                                                                                                                            Tli.eniastetel   .--  -722~
                                                                                 .i-~~h~~~a~~h~~ged-~t-o~~~ernp~~~er~ernplo~~e
                                                                            s&ration,   b~~~~s~~st.ill-irnpli~~~~~~~~r~~~~d~ob-~~~
  ;by~~Sp_e~-ng-those-who~~-G~~d~~as~:p~~~~-~~e~~~                                                    - I -                                            -
  f~rs~~~~t~~~~~~a~~~t~~~~~n.~e~.er-~~~~~~~~h~~~~~~
:,-life-r:;:'
..-`0
     Husbands, love your wives! Scripture allows for
  no exception to this rule. Husbands should love
  their wives sufficiently to die for them, even as
  Christ died for His Bride.
       Wives, even as you gave-up your maiden name                         ZguilQ??  Judges must answer to their Judge, and
  and took;your husband's name at marriage, so also                         rulers to their Ruler, for what they have done with
  serve him now as his God-given helper, that he                            the power invested in them. Xiindwe-must--besub
                                                                                                                           --A_ ___.._. ~_- -.--
  may fulfill his calling in the home, in the church,                       j ~~~~t~lh~~~~~~~~obeving=sp_eed-laws~an~~~t~~~
  and in the midst of the world! Scripture describes to                    -Qigh&. The time is not far off that we will be  com-


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          341



      pelled  to maintain our faith over against the power             with promise!
      of the antichrist, which will involve suffering for                   Typically that referred to Israel as a nation in the--
      ourselves and our families, even to loss of homes,               typical land of Canaan. Spiritually it refers to  us<:,
      going hungry, and facing death. It was at the time             ,? who look forward to the heavenly Canaan, where  11
      when the church suffered under the cruel  oppres; p
      .sion of the Roman emperors that Peter wrote, "Sub-" $,,i we shall live in intimate communion of life with  ii
                                                                       God to the praise of the glory of His grace in Christ!,Y
~`~~?nit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the  \\ Jesus!                                                                (`,'
;/ Lord's sake: whether it be to the king as supreme; `\ `;:,
      or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by                 -
                                                                    /,j  v- Already in this life, God-fearing parents see His
,, him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the  ;.;I promise realized in their children and  their\,,\;
*`<:praise  of them that do well'" (I Peter ,213, 14). fcZ$J           children's children, who walk in His fear. They
                                                                      *begin to realize what it means that God says, "I will
 `
q :I We are called to render "unto all their  dues:`\?\                be a God unto you and to your seed after you." It is
' tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom  1                    a foretaste of that day when we shall stand before
      custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor" ,i
                                                          ,,[,,,       God with the saints of all ages to say, "Behold us,              \iJ
_$Rom.  13:7).                                            L/'  `\
                                                               \ii`-.b<Lord,  and the children Thou hast given us, for we                 4
        This is referred to as the first commandment                   are thine!"



                                            Editor's Notes

        No Editorial. To make room for some long over-                 volume of meditations by their former pastor, the
      due book reviews, editorials are omitted in this                 late Rev. Gerrit Vos. This one bears the title,  The
      issue.                                                           n/love   GZovious Covenant. Congratulations! This
                *  *  *  *  $4  *  *  *  *  *                          volume is available from Hudsonville's Reformed
        No  Gremlin. As you may have noticed in the                    Book Outlet (see announcement elsewhere in this
      April 1 issue, an editor may have frustrations. In               issue).
      the very issue in which I hoped to have corrected,                           $  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
      by means of a note, the mistaken impression that                      Memo  To Synod of 1986. Synod should take care
      Prof. Hanko was the author of my editorials, the                 of a housekeeping chore before it becomes too late.
      same mistake was made again. Let me assure you                   Our new edition of the Church Order was inten-
      that Prof. Hanko is not the editor and is not respon-            tionally printed in looseleaf form so that changes
      sible for the editorial in the April 1 issue. What is            could be readily made without reprinting the entire
      that "law" to the effect that if anything can go                 book. By this time there is a rather large number of
      wrong, it will go wrong? At any rate, I found out                significant changes which ought to be made. Some
      that there is no gremlin involved; the problem was               of these are due to mistakes and omissions in the
      apparently with our typesetting service, Commer-                 original printing; some are due to changes made by
      cial Printing.`Perhaps I should quote a certain well-            synods since the book went to press. These should
      known Dutch proverb about an  ezeZ, but I shall                  be tabulated, and looseleaf pages should be printed
      refrain. Meanwhile, I am waiting with bated breath               and distributed so that the book may be kept up to
      for the April 15 issue.                                          date. Some individual or committee should be
                * * * * * * * * * *                                    made responsible to tend to this chore on a regular
        New Book. The Men's Society of our Hudsonville                 basis. Otherwise the entire purpose of producing a
      Prot. Ref. Church. has recently published a third                looseleaf edition will be frustrated.               HCH

                   Take  the  time  to  read  and  study
                                 . the Standard  Bearer!


342                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



TRANSLATED TREASURES
Dr. A. Kuyper





                         A Pamphlet Concerning the
                          Reformation of the Church


(In ihe last paragraph Kuyper has distinguished beiween  refor-    Mar&' VI, p. 490f.; and Turretin, "Theol. Hand."
mation and revolution by pointing out that reiormation  is
                                                   ,               T. 1, XVIII, p. 84,  para. 30.
always done in obedience to God.)                                    All these theologians are unanimously of the
62. Concerning Reformation and the                 j               opinion that Article 36 of our Confessions actually
       Magistrate.                                 ,               lays on the magistrate the obligation to execute a
  The question is also brought up and i&of impor-                  heretic on the scaffold in the final analysis.
tance: does not a part of the work of reformation                    They differ from Rome in this that they leave to
belong to the magistrate? The question is lespecially              the magistrate its own judgment. Rome teaches that
whether the magistrate is not called,  duthorized                  the magistrate must pass sentence on the ground of
and obligated "to prevent and  exteryinate  all                    the ecclesiastical judgment. Our fathers say, on the
idolatry and false religion."                                      other hand, Let the magistrate decide for himself.
  Our conviction in this respect does  got agree
with that of our fathers. We do not make a secret of                 They also grant that as a general rule the
this difference. Only God's Word, not the word of                  magistrate should not resort to this extreme punish-
the fathers, is finally authoritative for  us..And it is           ment except in the worst instances and with the
on the ground of God's Word that we are convinced                  worst heretics, etc.
in conscience not to follow our fathers in this                      Also, it was usually added since the time of a
subordinate part of their Confessions.                             Marck that the magistrate ought not to do this to a
  The reason for this is that these words from the                 heretic as long as he was not a threat to the
Confessions designate and imply that the obligation                Republic. But however mildly and however care-
rests on the magistrate not only to, admonish                      fully their sentiments were expressed it finally
heretics if they refuse to perform their public duty,              comes down to this, that when other means have
but also to arrest, imprison, and pass sentence upon               failed, the extermination of idolatry must be carried
them, and execute them on the scaffold.                            out by fire and sword.
  This actually is implied in these words.                           We oppose this Confession out of complete con-
                                                                   viction, prepared to bear the consequences of our
  The proof of this is Calvin's writings: "that                    convictions, even when we will be denounced and
heretics must be executed with the sword"; Beza's                  mocked on that account as  unReformed.
Essay, "that heretics must be corporally punished
by the civil magistrate"; and further the sentiments                 We would rather be considered not Reformed
of Maresius in his explanation of the Confession.                  and insist that men ought not to kill heretics, than
Compare also the sentiments of our theologians:                    that we are left with the Reformed name as the
Voetius in his "Dispute. Theol." III, 802-809, and                 prize for assisting in the shedding of the blood of
II,  122;  H.  Alping in his "Script. Heidelb." Tom. 2,            heretics.
p. 2, probl. 20, p. 335, f. 9; Spanheim, "Vind.                      It is our conviction: 1) that the examples which
Euang, ' ' 1,  II,  lot. 20; C. Van Velzen, "Pheol.                are found in the Old Testament are of no force for
Pratt." II, 1, I, p. 632; Gerdesius, "Bibel, menstr.               us because the infallible indication of what was or
Belg." m. Jan. 1742, p. 30; J. a. Marck, "Med                      was not heretical which was present at that time is
Pheol." C. XXIII,  para. 32; De Moor, "Comm. a                     now lacking.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              343



  2) That the Lord and the Apostles never called           paragraph in Article 36, lay upon the people of God
upon the help of the magistrate to kill with the           the demand that they shall approve of the execu-
sword the one who deviated from the truth. Even            tion of heretics. No, even more, if God wills it, they
in connection with such horrible heretics as defiled       must confess and take upon themselves the respon-
the congregation in Corinth, Paul mentions nothing         sibility for the blood of heretics once again.
of this idea. And it cannot be concluded from any            If the children of God are of a mind to do this in
particular word in the New Testament, that in the          their land, then naturally they must condemn us in
days when particular revelation should cease, that         this matter.
the rooting out of heretics with the sword is the
obligation of magistrates.                                   But a better testimony speaks in them: "I may
                                                           not erect a scaffold for the heretic!" Let them then
  3) That our fathers have not developed this              also have the courage openly to add their vote to
monstrous proposition out of principle, but have           ours so that the proponents and opponents of the
taken it over from Romish practice.                        burning and beheading of heretics may stand in
  4) That the acceptance and carrying out of this          clear and total opposition to each other.
principle almost always has returned upon the                As is known, we deny least of all that which is
heads of non-heretics and not the truth but heresy         implied for the magistrate in Christ's kingship and
has been honored by the magistrate.                        in both tables of the law. This, however, is treated
  5) That this proposition opposes the Spirit and          in earlier paragraphs and need not be repeated
the Christian faith.                                       here.
  6) That this proposition supposed that the                 Permit us to add only this.
magistrate is in a position to judge the difference          As much as our opponents must maintain that
between truth and heresy, an office of grace which,        also Nero was obligated to burn the heretics accord-
as appears from the history of eighteen centuries, is      ing to his own judgment (i.e., the people whom he
not granted by the Holy Spirit, but is withhezd.           held to be heretics), they actually concede that this
  We do not at all hide the fact that we disagree          obligation can only be carried out properly by the
with Calvin, our Confessions, and our Reformed             magistrates who make profession of the Reformed
theologians.                                               religion.
  We readily testify that we therefore are not com-          And because there is no such magistrate who as
pelled by necessity through invincible testimony to        yet has appeared in our land, we want the question
let this difference come out.                              asked if it is good to condemn brethren concerning
  We completely agree that those who accede to             such a painful question as the question of the scaf-
this paragraph in Article 36 have an easier position       fold for the obstinate heretics.
in this respect.                                             At any rate, we indulge in the hope that even
  We admit that he who in this respect represents          those teachers who are zealous with respect to the
us in the church as deviating from the Confessions         preference for the maintenance of this  "scaffold-
is true in his testimony.                                  sense" in Article 36, will be themselves the first to
                                                           shrink back from the consequences of their posi-
  Notwithstanding this serious objection which we          tion when the mayor of their town actually permits
do not consider lightly, we would nevertheless con-        a heretic to be brought to the scaffold or the stake.
tinue frankly to insist: ~FZ the name of the Lovd we do
not ash a scaffoZd for the heretic.                          We think that in that hour they would, rather
                                                           than to call for the blood of heretics, themselves
  Because of this the church of our Lord Jesus             carry water to extinguish the stack of wood, or in
Christ should understand and it should be sharply          loving zeal cut the ropes which already are tied on
bound on the soul of the children of God who know          the neck of their fellow citizens.
love: Those teachers who claim to maintain this

                        Take  the  time  to  ready  and  study
                                       the Standard Bearer.
                Give .a gift of the Standard Bearer today!


344                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Herman C. Hanho





         Moral Aspects of Medical Technology (5)
                                                              Abortion




  The physical and psychological consequences of                      Cornelson's story, and the jury deadlocked on both
induced abortion are many and serious. John Jeffer-                   occasions (pp. 139, 140).
son Davis in his book  EvangeZicaZ Ethics  refers to                 -The long-term risks to future childbearing are
many of them. We include such a list here for its                  many and great, and evidence is fairly strong that
significance to the whole question. (A detailed                    abortions include the risk of breast cancer.
discussion of this subject may be found on pp.                       -Davis writes concerning the psychological
138ff.)                                                            consequences: "There is evidence that guilt,
  -While some debate is still going on over this                   depression, and other forms of psychological con-
question, it seems certain that the death rate among               flict plague many women who have had abortions"
those who have abortions is significantly larger                   (p. 142). But the psychological price that has to be
than the death rate of mothers who carry their                     paid is not limited to the mothers; it is also to be
children to full term.                                             found among the fathers, the doctors who perform
  -Nonfatal complications resulting from abortion                  the abortions, and the nurses who assist. Davis
are many, including infection, blood clots, lacera-                refers to a striking instance:
tion of' the cervix, accidental perforation of the                        Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who was once the director
uterus, and long-term adverse effects on childbear-                   of an abortion clinic in New York City that performed
ing capacity.                                                         as many as a hundred abortions a day, later changed
  -Live births are not at all uncommon, especially                    his pro-abortion position when the medical evidence
                                                                      convinced him of the humanity of the unborn. He has
in second trimester abortions. These babies must                      personally observed the psychological impact of the
be killed after birth either by merely letting them                   routine killing on his clinic staff. Doctors began "los-
die or killing them with overt physical violence.                     ing their nerve in the operating room," he recalled. "I
Davis writes:                                                         remember one sweating profusely, shaking badly,
         In 1977 Dr. William B.  Waddill  performed a  salt-          nipping drinks between procedures." Some nurses
       poisoning abortion on an  18-year-old  girl in Orange          were plagued by depression, and one doctor's wife
       County, California. The baby was born alive, and ac-           complained to Nathanson at a party that her husband
       cording to later testimony, Dr.  Waddill  ordered the          was dreaming continually of blood. "I was seeing per-
       staff to do nothing and to let the baby die. Dr. Waddill       sonality structures dissolve in front of me on a scale I
       went to the hospital, and a pediatrician testified that        had never seen before in a medical situation," he said.
       he saw Waddill  choke the 2.5 pound baby girl. "I saw          "Very few members of the staff seemed to remain ful-
       him put his hand on the baby's neck and push down,"            ly intact through their experiences" (p. 144).
       testified Dr. Ronald Cornelson in court. Cornelson            -Reports continue to surface of experimentation
       also claimed that  Waddill  suggested injecting the baby    on aborted fetuses and use of these aborted fetuses
       with potassium chloride or filling a sink and drown-        for other purposes. In an article appearing in Sword
       ing her. In two separate.murder trials Waddill  denied      and Trowel, a certain Michael R. Gilstrap reports on
Herman C. Hanho is professor in the Church History and             a book written by William Brennan entitled:
New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed               Medical Holocausts,  VoZume I, Exterminative
Seminary.                                                          Medicine in Nazi Germany and Contemporary


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         3 4 5



America. A few paragraphs from this article will il-                height. All these changes occur before the fifth month,
lustrate the point.                                                 when the mother usually is first able to detect move-
                                                                    ments within the womb . . . .
      The usage of these bodies (of aborted babies) range
   from the manufacture of soap and cosmetics to desk                 . . . Numerous studies have shown that the unborn
   paperweights. Brennan cites the testimony -of two                can respond to different colors of light directed toward
   British reporters, Litchfield and Kentish who were               the mother's belly, and to different types of music.
   told of a gynecologist who "sells the fetuses to a fac-          (Vivaldi, apparently, is calming, while hard rock is
   tory. . . a chemical factory. . . . They make soap and           not.) "We know that from about 17 to 24 weeks, gesta-
   cosmetics . . . and they pay very well . . . .                   tional age, all the system are operational. The baby
                                                                    does respond, and early learning can occur," stated
      This  sort'of exploitation is present in the United           Ludington (pp. 136, 137).
   States as well. Brennan cites a story published in the
    Washington Post,  February 26, 1976. The  Post  story         From a Biblical point of view, the whole debate
   discloses that between 1972 and the middle of 1974,          concerning abortion revolves around the question
   D.C. General Hospital's Pathology Department was             whether the fetus is or is not a person. As we noted
   preparing and selling aborted human bodies and               at the end of our last article, if the fetus is not a per-
   organs to commercial firms. During this period the           son at any time during its development, to abort it
   pathology department grossed $68,000 from this traf-         is nothing more than ridding the body of a glob of
   fic in human flesh.                                          tissue.  But'if the fetus is a person, then abortion is
      What was done with these infants? The catalog of a        disposing of a person, and is, therefore, murder.
   Chicago biological supply firm gives us one answer. In
   their catalog, this firm offered for sale human em-            Now it ought to be clear that the Bible does not
   bryos and other organs encased in a "paperweight"            give us ready-made definitions of the terms "per-
   type of plastic block to customers throughout the            son, "  "soul, " "mind, " "will," etc. The Bible is not
   United States. The cost advertised in 1976 were $90          written for that purpose, for it is the infallibly in-
   for a human brain, $60 for intestines and $70 for            spired record of the revelation of Jehovah God as
   lungs. A human foot encased in plastic was priced at         the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ. But it
   $70 and "embedments of human embryos" were                   stands to reason that the Bible, even being the kind
   listed for $97.80.                                           of book that it is, will have much to say about these
  We refer to these consequences of abortion not                things. Herman Bavinck writes in his "Biblical and
so much because they in themselves make abortion                Religious Psychology":
wrong: the rightness or wrongness of abortion will
have to be decided on Biblical grounds; but because                   Scripture furnishes no popular or scientific
these are not just natural consequences resulting                  psychology any more than it hands us an outline of
from medical procedures, but are God's judgments                   history, geography, astronomy, husbandry, etc. To
                                                                   this extent it is completely accurate to say that the Bi-
upon wicked people who engage in wholesale                         ble does not teach us how the stars move, but how we
murder. Paul writes in Galatians  6:7: "Be not                     go to heaven . . . .
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap." Sin has its conse-                  But. . . the study of Holy Scripture introduces us to
                                                                   man's soul life. in a way in which no other book does
quences because God is a holy God and punishes                     or can. It describes for us what changes in that man,
the workers of iniquity in his wrath and anger. No                 who remains the same according to his essence, are
man can commit sin (especially as terrible as                      and are produced through sin and grace. It follows
murder) and "get away with it" before God.                         that man through these changes, until, in the deepest
  While the Bible is clear on the truth that a fetus is            hiding places of his heart, it brings to light what hap-
a person from conception, a growing body of                        pens in secret, and manifests itself also in this sense to
medical knowledge supports this. Davis writes:                     be a Word of God which is living and powerful and
                                                                   penetrates to the dividing of soul and spirit. And final-
     No discussion of the medical aspects of abortion              ly it never does all this in abstract connections, but it
   should ignore the facts of prenatal development. Ad-            makes us see everything in the full reality of life. It
   vancements in medical knowledge are making it in-               puts persons on the stage for us, which are worthy of
   creasingly clear that human life of a very special order        each one's considerations, and who together form a
   is being destroyed every time an abortion takes place.          gallery which can never be seen anywhere else. And
   Eighteen to twenty-five days after conception, the             among them, or better, high above them, Christ
   baby's heart is already beating. At eight weeks, brain          stands, the unique One among men, full of grace and
   waves can be detected and fingerprints have already             truth.
   formed. By the ninth and tenth weeks, the thyroid              A couple of considerations will demonstrate
   and adrenal glands are functioning, and the child can        what this means and how it applies to our subject.
   squint, swallow, and move the tongue. By the twelfth
   and thirteenth weeks, the child can suck his thumb             In the first place, while it may be difficult to
   and recoil from pain if pricked with a needle. By the        define in a formal way what the term "person"
   fourth month the unborn child is eight to ten inches in      means, it is clear from the whole of Scripture that,


346                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



among all God's creatures, only man has a rational           other words, the creed made a distinction between
and moral soul. He alone possesses a mind and a              "nature" and "Person" and said that the Scriptures
will. He alone can think and know, can desire and            teach that Christ possessed a complete human
wish, can remember and reason, can laugh and cry,            nature of both body and soul, though no human
can hate and love. This soul-life is the absolute proof      person, but that the divine nature was united with
that evolutionism is wrong. It is not difficult to           the human nature in the Person of the eternal Son
see that, on evolutionary premises, abortion is per-         of God.
missible. If man is only material, if he possesses no          What is of interest and importance to us is the
spiritual soul, to abort a fetus is indeed to rid one's      fact that the creed distinguished between nature
body only of a blob of cells. Even man is nothing            and person, but at the same time insisted that
else but a blob of cells; birth and development after        Christ's human nature, like ours in everything ex-
birth do not change that. We ought to notice in              cept our sin, was a personal human nature because
passing that this is exactly why abortion leads to           Christ united in Himself, as the Second Person of
euthanasia  - mercy killing so-called, and that the          the Holy Trinity, both this human nature and the
murder of infants finally bears its fruit in the             divine.
murder of any person.                                          Now it is clear from Scripture that this was true
  But however that may be, if a man hasa rational            of Christ from the moment of conception. It was
and moral soul, he is also a person. It is impossible        not true that Christ's human nature was conceived
to conceive of one who has a mind or a will and is           in the natural way in which other people are con-
not at the same time a person. One cannot have an            ceived so that Joseph was the natural father of
impersonal soul. And the opposite is also true. One          Christ's human nature, but that after this human
who is a person is one with a mind and will. One             nature had developed for a while, the Person of the
cannot even think of a person who does not think,            Son of God united Himself with it. Scripture
will, remember, reason, desire, and all the rest.            teaches a virgin birth. When the angel Gabriel ex-
One cannot have just a person. So the question is: Is       plains to Mary how it is possible for her to be the
a fetus, from the moment of conception on, a                mother of Christ, he says, "The Holy Ghost shall
creature of God with a soul? If it is, the fetus is also     come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
a person.                                                    overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing
  In the second place, we must remember that this           which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
question of person is ,an extremely important ques-         of God" (Luke  1:35). From the moment of concep-
tion in connection with the doctrine of Christ. And         tion in the womb of Mary, Christ was the eternal
this is a matter of the creeds of the whole Christian       Son of God united with our flesh.
church. When the Christological controversies                  If this seems far removed from our subject, let it
troubled the church in the 4th and 5th centuries,           be understood that Christ was like us in all things
the church finally defined the truth of Scripture in         except for our sin. Christ was a Person from the
the well-known creed of Chalcedon, a creed which            moment of conception, though, of course, the Per-
is accepted by the whole of Christendom. But that           son of the Son, of God. He possessed a human body
creed defined the truth concerning Christ as being          and a human soul, but that human nature was a
this: the human and the divine natures of Christ            personal human nature from the moment of con-
were perfectly united in one Person, "the only              ception.
begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ." In




                            Good Morning, Alice (9)
                                                  Gise J. Van Buren



  The new electrically controlled hospital bed, on           Alice's room to awaken her for breakfast. She'd run
occasion, provided some entertainment for Alice              into the room and often climb into bed with "Aunt-
also. Little Janis, who adored "Auntie Alice," each          ie." One morning, Alice pushed the controls,  mak-
morning would eagerly await instructions to go to            ing the bed move.  Janis was terrified and told


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   347



"Auntie," "Don't do dat; dat naughty!" Alice                        Good Morning, Alice:
chuckled about that for weeks  - and made sure                        I'm a little late this morning. The kids are off to
that we all heard about it! Since she was not able to               school already. I guess after the extra vacation day
speak well anymore, that was not easy for her to                    yesterday, I'm a little slow getting with it.
do. But Alice insisted on sharing her "joke" even as
she also continued to try to contribute to conversa-                  Did you spend some time just looking outside yester-
tions about her. She refused to allow this limitation               day? I found a few minutes to just sit at the patio door
to inhibit her participation.                                       and watch the snow, it is so beautiful and light and fluf-
                                                                    fi. And then last night the ground just sparkled as the
Good Morning Alice:                                                 light hit it. I threw some more corn out late last night
   Well, I hope the mail goes through today.                        and even though it sank down into the fruffj, snow, the
Yesterday's storm was really something! As long as                  rabbits found it. This morning there were tracks all
everyone is safe at home, I do enjoy it. It is beautifully          over again.
white this morning.                                                   I've read the verse for today over and over, and I'm
   The end of all things is at hand. Did you ever think of          not really sure if I know exactly what the "light" is, but
how that is put: things? The end of all things. It's as it          I'll share what the verse means to me.
Peter's telling us this life is full of a clutter of things, but      My God loved me enough to give His Son to die for
life everlasting with our Savior is the crystal clear               me, but more: sinful woman that I am by nature, I
beautiful reality. He then tells us to be sober and watch           don't even desire light. Yet He loves me enough to shine
unto prayer. It's as if he's telling us, "Don't waste your          in my heart and give me just the beginning of under-
time concentrating on things," but rather, in prayer                standing of Who He is and of His glory by knowing
often, center your thoughts on that everlasting life.               Jesus Christ.
  And then receiving the end of my faith - the salva-                 There is no better way that I can know more about
tion of my soul. True, my salvation was purchased on                Christ than by reading and reading and reading His
the cross and totally accomplished through Christ's                 Word. And how blest we are, Alice, that we can hear
death, resurrection, and ascension, but for me, my soul             His Word preached to us in church and often at home
is still in the bondage of my nature and my sin.                    on our tape recorders. If  we would only use the
   Glorious will be the end of all things when I receive            knowledge that He has given to us, we would continual-
the salvation of my soul and am rid of my old nature                ly grow closer to Him and give Him all glory.
and sin.                                                                                             In His love, Your friend
  May God bless you today, Alice, as you think on this              Please read Psalm 5:s
glorious salvation of  yours.
                                      With love, Your friend          Other arrangements had to be made for Alice for
                                                                    toilet facilities. It no longer was possible to take her
Please read II Cor. 4:6                                             to the bathroom in the wheelchair. It became im-
  Alice could not use her hands well anymore. By                    possible to move her from the wheelchair in those
mid-April of 1981 she signed her last document -                    close quarters. But brother John had another of his
the income-tax return. She no longer signed her                     solutions: a stool and tub installed near Alice's bed.
checks and would ask someone else, usually Judy,                    It became a regular routine to help her to one or
to sign Alice's name to the birthday and anniver-                   other of these necessary appointments. And John
sary cards which she still sent out regularly to all                knew just how to handle Alice. A turn-table was on
the relatives. Though still able to push the button-                the floor next to the bed. John would help Alice to a
controls of her hospital bed, this was becoming                     sitting position on the bed and place her feet on the
more difficult to do too. Finally, she could manip-                 turn-table. Then with his knees against hers, he
ulate only one knuckle of her left hand to push the                 could lock her legs straight so that she could stand
"up" or "down" button. Even this little measure of                  momentarily. Quickly and easily she could be
self-control was being taken away. What agony to                    turned around. This worked well for several
lose what one almost considers the "right" to con-                  months. Nor did Alice seem to mind this new pro-
trol one's own bodily movements! Though Alice                       cedure  - perhaps especially because it gave her
never said that all this was unfair, one could not but              another opportunity to get out of bed for a short
wonder what she must have thought. While others                     time.
possessed so much, even this little freedom of
movement was being taken from her.                                  Good Morning Alice:
                                                                      It was a busy day yesterday, and yet I did read this
                                                                    verse over a couple of times. "My voice shalt thou hear
Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed              in the morning, 0 Lord; in the morning will I direct my
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.                                    prayer unto Thee, and will look up."


348                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



  Sometimes I think most Christians neglect praying as        Good Morning Alice:
they should and then I realize I don't know how often            I can't say I conquered this morning, that God was
others pray. I'm just finding excuses for my terrible         first in my thoughts, but let's just say there was an im-
lack. There just is no excuse. A child of God will turn       provement. I will continue, again, to strive to make
to Him in prayer. And then I think, well, there are a lot     God and His goodness my first thoughts when waking,
of times during the day when I think about God and            and then draw near to Him in prayer.
am very aware of Him, but that's still no excuse for not
calling on Him in prayer.                                        I wonder, Alice, would it be a sinful crutch to put the
                                                              words, "Remember Thy Creator," next to my alarm
  I must consciously direct my prayer unto Him every          clock? I wish I could know your answer. It certainly
day, before I do any other thing. It seems as if it should    does help to write you every day.
come so natural because I really do desire it. Then why
is it that I cannot control myself to do it? I really have       I sometimes feel as if I'm getting down to the very
no reason -just excuses.                                      basics of my life as a child of God. It's sort of like self
                                                              examination every day. I'm glad you join me in it,
  This is a hard verse for me to take to myself. I'm go-      Alice.
ing to think more about it and share more with you
tomorrow.                                                       I know that prayer is an important part, if not the
                                                              most important part, of the life of the child of God -
                                  With love, Your friend      of my life and yours. What a wonderful example we
Please read Mark 1:35                                         find in Scripture. How often and how close Jesus came
                                                              to God in prayer. It was always hard to think why Jesus
  Until the end of May, Alice could still feed                had to pray, being God Himself I know there's more to
herself. In fact, she insisted on doing so. But it was        it than this, but just as we are to strive to live as He
agonizing just to watch her try to do this. Ever so           lived, so He gives us the example of how we are to pray.
slowly she  would force her face downward toward              Jesus, perfect as He was, got up "a great while before
her plate. It was as though some unseen force was             day" and went to be by Himself to speak with His
holding her head back. Then, with tremendous ef-              Father.
fort, she would try to raise her hand (which seemed
weighted down by some heavy object), until she                  If I can get up early to get ready for a coffee date, or
could place a small spoonful of food into her                 just a busy day, I certainly should be able to get up ear-
mouth. Someone had to cut the food into very small            ly to draw near to God.
pieces or mash it that it would be soft enough to               I'm sure you can find time to be alone with Him also.
swallow. But after May of 1981, Alice conceded                  May we.both grow closer to our God as we strive to
that it would be better if she allowed others to feed         draw nearer to Him in prayer.
her. It was a humbling concession  - to admit that
one can not even feed oneself.                                                                 In His love, Your friend
                                                              Please read Phil. 1:2-6

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Jason L. Kortering



                         Leviticus - Reconciliation
                                     Through Sacrifice


  The name "Leviticus" is derived from the  Sep-              ministered by the Levites in their duty in the tem-
tuagint Bible,  Levitikon  (Levitical) as an adjective        pie. We must be careful not to limit these laws to
added to  Biblios  (books), hence Levitical books.            the priests; rather we must concentrate upon the
This reference is made to the laws which were  ad-            sacrifices, which typified Jesus Christ in His suffer-


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          349



ing and death.                                             the Old Testament,  summarizes this very pointedly.
   Since Leviticus is part of the Pentateuch, the                How, then, should the contrite sinner bring his of-
author was Moses, as we have considered in detail              fering to the Lord? There were several steps in the
in previous articles.                                          process. The animal chosen had to be a perfect
   We also noted before that Genesis sets forth the            specimen, free from blemish or defect, for to the holy
historical occasion for God's dealing with His cove-           God only the best must be brought. When the animal
nant people. The patriarchs experienced God's                  was brought into the sanctuary, the offerer was to lay
                                                               his hands upon it, or as the phrase literally says, was
covenant promise and dealings in their lives. God,             to lean his hands upon it. This act symbolized the
however, did not intend to save simply individuals.            transfer of sin from the offerer to the offering. Thus
He had chosen Israel as a nation from among all the            the'offering was regarded as the substitute for the of-
nations under heaven. The time spent in Egypt                  ferer. Sin with its death-bringing penalty had rested
allowed the formation of this nation. As they came             upon the offerer. But, by laying his hands upon the of-
out, God began to deal with them as a nation. At               fering there was symbolized the fact that the penalty
Sinai He gave them their laws, which formed the                of death now rested upon the offering and no longer
legal basis for the theocracy, His rule over them.             upon the offerer.
The laws pointed out the need that Israel had for                After the offerer's hands had lain upon the offering,
their Redeemer. These were set forth in the laws               there followed the next step, the slaying of the offer-
recorded in Exodus. Now, when we begin to ex-                  ing upon the place of slaying (the altar). The offering
amine the book of Leviticus, we discover that these            was to be slain by the hands of the one who brought it,
too were given at Sinai, only now they focus more              and by the priests its blood was to be applied to the
intently upon the spiritual heart of the law.                  altar. Thus, for example, we read, "and he (the of-
                                                               ferer] shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the
THE PLACE OF SACRIFICES                                        priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood and
   According to Exodus 19:6, "And ye shall be unto             sprinkle the blood about the altar that is by the door of
me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation." The               the tabernacle of the congregation" (Lev.  1:5).  The
question arises, how could Israel be such a holy na-           sacrifice, therefore, was slain, its blood poured out
                                                               and as the symbol of life, brought before God by being
tion? The people themselves were not more holy                 applied to the altar.
than the other nations. The history of their wilder-
ness sojourn makes this very plain. Their holiness               The blood was said to make a covering for the soul,
did not reside within themselves, for they too were            "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have
among the fallen children of Adam and Eve.                     given it to you upon the altar to make covering for
Rather, holiness had to come from without. They                your souls; for it is the blood that makes covering by
had to  become  holy. That way was in the priest-              reason of the life" (Lev. 1'711).  The thought seems to
hood. The Levitical family was chosen to be the                be that the blood which was shed and applied to the
                                                               altar blotted out or obliterated sin from the sight of
firstborn of all the families in Israel. They were set         God by being smeared over the altar. Man and his sin
aside for the work of the tabernacle. The main part            is that which needs covering, and this covering is pro-
of that work took the priest into the tabernacle to            cured by God, not by man. Thus at this important
offer sacrifices. Therein lay the power of holiness.           point, we are reminded again that the salvation of the
The blood of the sacrifice typified the blood of Jesus         sinner is by grace. It is of God and not of man. "The
Christ in His atonement. The liturgical washings               priest (as the representative of God) shall cover him
typified the removal of the pollution of sin by the            on account of his sin" (Lev.  4:35). Such is the divine
Holy Spirit of Christ.                                         interpretation.
   As Moses repeatedly pointed out in the book of                Next followed the burning of certain parts of the
Leviticus (some 56 times he asserts that Jehovah               animal upon the altar. This burning was to offer a
imparted to him these laws) God gave these laws                sweet-smelling odour to the Lord. Thus it was sym-
for the purpose of making a sinful people "holy un-            bolical of that substitutionary consecration which was
to Jehovah." We learn that this  took~place in two             offered to God by the victims. We are reminded of the
                                                               words of Paul, "Christ also loved us and gave himself
ways: the removal of guilt (justification) and the             up for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for an
removal of the filth of sin (sanctification). The              odour of a sweet smell", Eph. 5:2. Lastly, and peculiar
details as to how the Israelite had to prepare                 to the peace offerings, there was the sacrificial meal,
himself and come with his offerings for this                   prepared by the Lord Himself. Thus was symbolized
ceremonial reconciliation to God are given in this             the blessed fact that sin had been expiated, and the
book of Leviticus.                                             barrier between God and man removed. It also in-
   E.J. Young, in his book entitled An Introduction to         cluded a state of positive favour and blessedness. (See
                                                               Geerhardus Vos,  Biblical Theology).
Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed      We do well to study this book, not simply to be
Church of Grandvilb, Michigan.                             better informed of the liturgy of the sacrifice, but to


350                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



appreciate the gospel. Christ is the fulfillment of         head and kill it before the tabernacle. The priest
the law. We receive a better understanding of His           would sprinkle the blood on the altar and consume
ministry and His suffering and death, when we               certain parts of its inwards (3:1-17).  The sin offering
consider it against the background of the Old Testa-        consisted of a sacrifice for a specific sin done
ment law. This law was fulfilled in Him. He                 against the law of god in ignorance by an individual
brought to completion all the types and shadows in          priest or member of the congregation. They had to
order that the spiritual principle of the law might         bring a bullock, lay their hands on it, and kill it.
be written in our hearts. Our reconciliation unto           Then the priest would sprinkle its blood seven
God is in the death of His Son. By His blood our            times before the Lord and consume its fat with cer-
guilt is taken away, and through the Holy Spirit's          tain inwards on the altar. Its skin with other parts
work within our hearts we begin to keep not only            was burned on a wood fire without the camp. If the
some, but all of God's commandments.                        whole congregation sinned, the elders had to per-
BRIEF OUTLINE                                               form this ritual on their behalf. If a ruler sinned, he
                                                            had to come with a male goat and do likewise. If the
  A general over-  %w of the book indicates that            common people did sin, they had to offer a female
there are two  mai, parts. The first covers chapters        goat or lamb and follow similar procedure (4: l-25).
1-16 which deal wr:h the sacrifices themselves as a         The trespass offeving involved a person who swore
way for justification, i.e., the removal of the guilt of    and one did not correct him, a person who touched
sin. The second part covers chapters 17-27 and con-         an unclean animal or touched an unclean person,
cerns itself with the way in which man enters into          or sinned by swearing an oath by pronouncing
covenant fellowship with God, i.e., that of sanctifi-       some good or evil. He had to confess his sin, and
cation.                                                     bring a trespass offering of a female sheep or goat. If
  1.  The details concerning sacrifices  (l:l-7:38).        he was poor, he had to come with two turtledoves
The  burnt offering  must consist of a male bullock         or two young pigeons. If that were not possible, he
without blemish, on whose head the one bringing             had to bring flour without oil or frankincense, a
the sacrifice should lay his hand. The animal would         token of which the priest offered. If a person sinned
then be killed, and the priest would sprinkle its           while sacrificing or in ignorance, he had to come
blood on the altar and door posts. The parts of the         with a ram and temple shekel as offering  (5:1-19).
animal were consumed on the altar. The same thing           The trespass offering was for sin done knowingly,
was to take place if they brought a sheep or goat. If       such as lying or stealing, an act of violence, or
they brought a bird, a turtle dove, or young pigeon,        swearing falsely. Such a one was to restore what he
they had to wring off its head at the side of the altar     stole and offer a ram. The burnt offering was to be
and consume the body upon the altar (l:l-17).  The          placed on the altar whose fire burned day and
meat  (or meal)  offering consisted of flour, oil, and      night. The priest had to be properly clothed. More
frankincense, part of which the priest offered on           detail is given on the meat offering. The remainder
the altar, and part of which the priests used for           which was not offered was to be baked into
themselves. Distinction was made between the                unleavened bread to be eaten by the sons of Aaron.
meat offering baked in the oven, baked in a pan,            The meat offering was used in consecration of the
and fried in a pan, all of which had to be without          priest (6: l-30). More details are given on various
leaven. If it was the firstfruits of corn, it had to be     sacrifices, the trespass offering, and the peace offer-
seasoned with salt (2:1-16).  The peace offering was        ing. The portion for the priest is described in
taken from the flock, either a sheep or goat, male or       greater detail (7: l-38).
female. The one offering it had to lay his hand on its

                 The Standard  Bearer. makes a
                             thoughtful gift for the.
                                   sick and shut-in.
           Give a gift of fhe Standard  Bearer.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                            351



IN HIS FEAR
Arie den Hartog





                                                 Self Denial



  The Christian life is one of self denial. This is the      Christian living has self denial as its great require-
tremendous requirement of being a follower of the            ment. You can do nothing as a Christian without
Lord Jesus Christ. Many claim to be followers of             first of all denying your self. Self denial involves
the Lord. Few are willing to deny themselves. Some           daily cross-bearing. It involves suffering, shame,
of these even have very high-sounding confessions            and persecution. It involves much pain and sorrow
and seemingly high standards of morality. But none           and humiliation. It is hard; it involves great
who refuse to deny themselves can be disciples of            sacrifice. Ultimately it involves the crucifixion and
the Lord. Jesus said, "If any man will come after            mortification of ourselves. There is a great monster
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and          of self in all of us by nature. That monster first ap-
follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall            peared in man when he believed the lie of the devil:
lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake        "ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil." Con-
shall find it" (Matthew  16:24-25). The requirement          stantly that monster rears his ugly head in the life
of self denial is absolute. All Christians must live in      of man. Natural man lives only to gratify himself, to
self denial, not only those who will be ministers,           glory in himself, to advance and promote himself.
missionaries, teachers and leaders, office bearers in        With all his power and intellect, with all of his
the church. He who refuses to deny himself is not            science and industry, his technology and civiliza-
and cannot be a Christian, and all of his claims to          tion wicked man seeks to promote himself, to seek
this are vain. Self denial is required at the very           his own advantage and his own glory. He will be
beginning of the Christian life. It is not merely for        the lord and master of his own life and destiny.
those who are advanced in the Christian life or for          This is man's greatest evil. In refusing to deny
those who have had a second experience, as some              himself he denies God. He refuses to worship and
today teach. One cannot even begin to follow Jesus           serve God and to give to God the honor and glory
unless he first of all denies himself. So absolute is        that is due unto His name alone.
this requirement, that anyone who refuses to fulfill           Many have been the vain and false appearances
it shall lose his life. The alternative to self denial is    of self denial in the history of the world. Heathen
hell and destruction. That is what the Lord means            religion puts forth a form of self denial. Its priests
in the amazing words quoted above. The Lord will             and' adherents are often exhorted to live in
utterly cast down all those who are proud and self           asceticism. They are told to refrain from marriage
seeking. The whole of the Christian life is one of           and from social intercourse with their fellow man.
self denial. Self denial is not merely an initiatory         They are required to live lives of voluntary poverty
rite of the Christian faith once performed at the            and to live in temples and monasteries. They will
beginning, after which we are finished with it. We           suffer hunger and deprivation. They will go
must live daily and constantly in self denial. Self          through excruciatingly painful religious rituals and
denial must be wilful and voluntary; it must be lov-         elaborate ceremonies, all in acclaimed self denial.
ing obedience to the Lord. Jesus in the above                Humanism glories in its own form of self denial.
passage speaks of actually living the Christian life         Those who will deny themselves according to the
and what this really requires. Every single area of          standards of the world, and live among the poor
                                                             and downtrodden of the world will receive the
Arie den Hartog, a missionary of the Protestant Reformed     honor and respect of their fellowman. They can be
Churches, is currently laboring in Singapore.                the heroes of the world. False Christianity has its


352                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



forms of self denial. Through the history of the             merely be a pious platitude in our life but a real,
church there have been those who have extolled               practical matter.
the virtues of voluntary lives of poverty, suffering,          Self denial for the Christian begins at the cross of
and asceticism. Many thousands have isolated                 Christ Jesus. There can be no self denial without
themselves in monasteries and convents to live sim-          that cross of Christ first of all. Paul describes this in
ple and strict lives. They have denied themselves            II Corinthians  5:14 and 15. For the love of Christ
marriage and the pleasure of this present life. The          constraineth us; because we judge, that if one died
more devout have also submitted to floggings and             then were all dead: and that He died for all, that
painful, strenuous rituals and ceremonies. But               they which live should not henceforth live unto
none of this is required of the Lord as an end in            themselves, but unto Him which died and rose
itself. In all of this men have not denied themselves        again. The evil monster of self in us had to be
but in fact have always sought their own glory and           crucified with Christ before we could ever begin to
the praise of man. The self denial which the Lord            live in true self denial. The love of Christ as mani-
requires of those who follow him is of a funda-              fested and realized in the cross of Christ constrains
mentally different type.                                     the Christian from henceforth no longer to live un-
  We must deny OURSELVES. The Lord does not                  to himself but to live unto the Lord Jesus Christ in
require merely that we deny to ourselves certain of          all of his life. In the cross and resurrection of Christ
earthly pleasures and riches, or merely that we live         we are made new creatures, old things are passed
a life of poverty and isolation from society as an           away. Only because of this great reality can true
end in itself. It  .is not wrong for the Christian to        self denial follow in the life of the Christian.
marry and to enjoy the earthly gifts and pleasures             Christ is the supreme example of self denial that
that God gives to us in this present life. But the           we as Christians must follow after. That is what it
monster of self within us must be destroyed, it              means to be a disciple of the Lord. We must have
must be crucified, hated, and utterly destroyed in           the mind of Christ in us. "Who, being in the form
us. This is the beginning of true self denial. Self          of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
denial is the opposite of all self seeking, self glorify-    God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took
ing, self promoting, and self indulging.                     upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in
  Self denial has a positive purpose. There is no            the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a
good merely in suffering and shame and humilia-              man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient
tion and `deprivation as an end in itself. God does          unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philip-
not delight in seeing His people suffer shame and            pians 2:6-8). What an amazing self denial is de-
persecution and pain and death as the end of their           scribed in these verses. From the very time of His
life. Self denial is necessary for us because in all of      birth Jesus humbled Himself, He denied Himself.
our life we must seek the glory of God as the                Therefore He was born in a lowly and stinking stable
supreme objective. We must live only to serve and            in the midst of abject poverty. For He sought the
glorify the Lord our creator and redeemer. We must           glory of God and the salvation of His people. All His
live to promote His truth and righteousness, the             life long He bore shame and humiliation. He had no
welfare of His church and kingdom. We must seek              place even so much as to lay His head. He suffered
the highest good of His people in the world. We              constantly the contradiction and persecution of sin-
must live to show forth His glory and power and              ners though He is the Lord of glory. Especially in
greatness. In order to do this we must be willing to         the garden of Gethsemane do we see the utter self
deny ourselves. If we seek to glory in ourselves we          denial of our Lord. He stood in the shadow of the
will deny the glory of God. If we seek our own ad-           awful cross. He knew the dreadful suffering under
vantage and honor and safety in this world we will           the wrath of God against sin that this would involve
not be able to fulfill the Lord's requirement for our        for Him. Earnestly He prayed until sweat-like
lives. For the Lord's sake we must be willing to             drops of blood fell from His brow. "0 My Father, if
sacrifice even ourselves. Because this world hates           it be possible, let this cup pass from me: neverthe-
God and His Christ, those who follow the Lord will           less not as I will, but as thou wilt . . . . 0 My Father,
be persecuted, they will be put to shame and                 if this cup may not pass away except I drink it, thy
humiliated. If we would follow the Lord we must              will be done." From Gethsemane the Lord gave
be prepared to suffer pain and sorrow, even mar-             Himself up to be falsely accused, tormented, and
tyrdom for His name's sake, that His truth may be            crucified by wicked hands. He willingly suffered
promoted and that His glory may shine forth. Truly           all of the dreadful agony of the cross for the Lord's
to make the glory of God the supreme object of our           sake, for the glory of the Lord, for the righteousness
life requires self denial. Whenever we refuse to             and holiness of God, and for the salvation of the
deny ourselves we will rob God of His honor and              people of God. Never has there been and never will
glory. Doing all things to the glory of God must not         there be, through all the ages of time and eternity, a


                                            THE STANDARD  BiARER                                              353



self denial such as that of our Lord. We cannot            of shame and humiliation and judgment. Our salva-
possibly imitate that self denial in perfection. Yet in    tion is truly only of the Lord. If we believe this it
order to be followers of the Lord we must be willing       must follow that we deny ourselves.
to take up our cross and follow Him. We must be              Self denial does not however end in shame and
willing to suffer shame, humiliation, and even             humiliation. When the Lord humbled Himself and
death for the Lord's sake. We cannot do what He            became obedient unto the death of the cross, God
has done. We can only follow Him. It is necessary          highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above
that we follow Him for the glory of the Lord. In the       every name in heaven and earth. The way of self
whole of our calling to deny ourselves, in all of the      denial for the Lord led to the cross, but the cross led
sacrifice and suffering and humiliation that such a        to the resurrection and to the exaltation and glori-
life involves, we must always keep before us the           fication of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord of lords
Lord's supreme sacrifice and absolute denial of            and the King of kings. Hebrews 12 tells us that
Himself for our salvation.                                 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, endured
  The reality of self denial in our Christian life         the cross, despising the shame, for the joy that was
should properly follow the true understanding of           set before Him, and is now set at the right hand of
the Reformed Faith. As Reformed Christians we              the throne of God. Those who will truly deny
believe in the Sovereignty of God. We believe that         themselves following the Lord Jesus Christ will
all the glory belongs. to God in all things and also       receive an exceedingly `great and precious reward.
really in all our life. If on the one hand we confess      They will be glorified together with the Lord Jesus
to believe in the sovereignty of God and on the            Christ. Before man they will be put to shame and
other hand refuse to deny ourselves, our whole             humiliated and even put to death. But the Lord will
confession is nothing but hypocrisy, no matter how         raise them up and exalt them and cause them to live
perfect and glorious that confession may seem to           forever in heavenly glory before His blessed
be. As Reformed Christians we believe in the total         presence.
depravity of our nature. We believe that of                  All of the above must come to real and practical
ourselves we are miserable, wretched sinners,              expression in our lives as Christians. In our next ar-
hopelessly lost in sin and condemnation. We are ab-        ticle we desire to consider some of the real and
solutely dependent upon the Lord. We are not at all        practical aspects of the Christian life of self denial.
worthy of any praise and glory. We are worthy only

GUEST ARTICLE
Robert C. Harbach





                                      Jesus Lifted Up



  In John 12:32 we read the prophetic words of our         this contact with these Greeks was that He must
Lord, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men un-     die, also for them, and that His death would bring
to Me." The immediate context, verse 20, shows             forth the "much fruit" of verse 24, and the conver-
that through two of His disciples, Jesus was ap-           sion of His servants, verse 20, whether Jew or Gen-
proached by certain Greeks. This filled Him with           tile. So the above theme; which we see as (1) Stated
joy, for it was, already, a fulfillment of the earlier     in Certainty, and (2) Viewed as Accomplished.
prophecy, chapter 11, verses 51 and 52, "that Jesus
should die . . . not only for that nation (of the Jews)      When Jesus said,  "$1 be lifted up," He was not
only, but that also He should gather together in one       toying with a mere theory or hypothesis which
the children of God that were scattered abroad"            must yet be proved out to a certainty. Nor-is this an
(among the Gentiles). Thus our Lord's response to          "if" of unbelief:  "if  He be the King of Israel, let


354                                            THE   STANDARD  BEARER



Him come down from the cross" (Matt. 27:42). Also             kinds of new revelations from God added to and
banished from the picture is the "if" of doubt:  "if          placed above or on a level with Holy Scripture.
Thou canst do any thing-. . . help us" (Mk. 9:22,24).         Beware of over emphasis on the Spirit, at the ex-
There is an "if" (not here) which points to  man's            pense of exalting Christ. For true Christian ex-
(not God's) inability: "if  THOU wilt, THOU canst             perience says, I am weak, but He is almighty; I sink
make me clean" (Mk. 1:40). But here, Jesus is using           into depressing gloom; but He is Light; I am ig-
the "if" of actual fact, as in,  "IfI by the Spirit of        norant, but He is omniscient. I am earthly; He is
God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God               heavenly. I often stray from Him, but He is the
come unto you" (Matt.  12:28). This is the "if" of            Shepherd Who always returns me to the right way.
certainty, in the sense of  since: "since  I cast out           Beware, too, of that exalting of Christ which is
demons," since I be (will be) lifted up! Compare the          really exaltation of "Free Will." Exalt "Free Will"
same "if" of certainty in John  14:3.                         and man is exalted: an idol is made of man. So
   The emphatic "I, if I be lifted up" places Him an-         when faith is exalted. They say that all men by
tithetically to "this world," and to "the prince              nature have faith, are born with it, and need only to
(ruler) of this world," verse 31. The wicked world            put it in the right object, in spite of the fact that
system, in  oppositioln  to God, is judged, con-              Scripture insists, "All men have not faith" (2 Thes.
demned, and sentenced to final destruction by the             3:2). They hold that God has voted for you, the
death of the Cross. Here on earth are two opposing            devil against you, and now you must cast the
companies, the world and the church. Unbelievers              deciding vote or veto. But the natural man,
belong to the former company, as Jesus had told               spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, must be
them: "Ye are of this world; I am not of this world."         made alive, made a new creature in Christ, and be
So that, if you are not of the true church, you               endowed with the gift of faith. Then, as Thomas,
belong to the world judged and condemned by the               he will not exalt the experience of sight and touch,
death of Christ. "If you are not a Christian, you are         but with one arm will embrace Jesus as Lord, and
a member of that great corporation called the                 with the other as God!
world" (Spurgeon). Also by the Cross shall the                  "And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto
prince of this world be thrown out of it. A defeated          Me." Free-willers emphasize that "all men" in sup-
enemy and usurper of a blasted kingdom, his                   port of their "general atonement" and "universal
predestined end is the Lake of Fire.                          redemption" theories. Christ is drawing all men,
  It is plain that Jesus is talking about His being           only, some of them will not have it so. They will
lifted up in death on the cross, as He once before            not come to Him. Why not? If He is drawing every
had prophesied: "As Moses Zified up the serpent in            child of Adam to Himself, why do so many draw in-
the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be                iquity and wickedness along "as with a cart rope"
Zifted up"  (3:14).  A little while later, when the           (Isa. 5: 18) and fall away into hell? Why does a large
Pharisees had charged, "Thy record is not true"               majority of humanity find itself "drawn away of
(8: 13), He answered (8:28),  "when ye have lifted up         their own lusts and enticed"? Why are so many
the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I am"                 drawn off by an opposing power, "led captive by
(what I say). The Lord all through His earthly                the devil at his will"? The detestable inference is
ministry was always looking forward to the time of            that Jesus is a weak Jesus, Who, although He wants
His crucifixion and death. But He looked through              to draw all men, and labors to do so, is not able.
all His humiliation to His exaltation, for He said He         Such humanistic thinking is, to the enlightened
would be lifted up  from  the earth, i.e.,  out of  the       believer, intolerable!
earth, implying not only the hanging on the cross               The italicized men in the text shows that it is not
between earth and heaven, forsaken of both, but               in the original, but reads, "I will draw aZZ unto Me,"
also that He would be taken  out  of the earth  into          i.e., all sorts and conditions of men, all classes of
heaven, as per verse 23, "the hour is come that the           men, out of every tribe, tongue, people, nation, and
Son of Man should be gZorified," glorified not only           from every age to the end of the world. "AZZ that the
in the saving death of the cross, but also in being ex-       Father giveth Me" (Jn. 6:37)  is the meaning. Better,
alted out of earth into heaven to be seated at God's          instead of the word men, would be the word Mine:
right hand.                                                   "I will draw all Mine unto Myself." This is what the
  Beware of those speaking of lifting up Christ in            text is really saying. John  17:lO confirms this: "All
Christian experience when they then parade their              Mine  are Thine, and Thine are  Mine,  and I am
dreams, visions, voices, healings, miracles,                  glorified in them." The Lord is saying, among other
tongues-speaking, baptism of the Spirit, and all              things, I will draw all Mine even from the islands of
                                                              the seas  - from Vancouver Island, from Jamaica,
Robert C. Harbach is a minister emeritus in the Protestant    Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia,
Reformed Churches.                                            England, Ireland, Scotland; also from Africa, China,


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                               355



Russia, America, from everywhere! That is the  aZZ        sky for multitude, and as the sand of the seashore,
intended in the text.                                     innumerable. He will draw them up out of a horri-
  How does Jesus accomplish this drawing to Him-          ble pit, out of the miry clay, set their feeton a rock,
self? By His almighty power, which brings about           and establish their goings with a new song in their
the results  He  intends. He does not employ  beg-        mouth (Ps. 40:2, 3). To do this He needs not choirs,
gings, pleadings, offers, invitations, as though "com-    organs, cathedral architecture, beauty of ritual, or
ing to Jesus" is in the hands of men who may              experts in oratory. Christ's people, in their sinful
decide to "be a good sport," and "give God a              flesh, and in their unregenerate state, are always
chance." God works through Christ, and when               unwilling to come unto Him; but they shall be will-
Christ draws, He not only says, "they shall be            ing in the day of His power (Ps. 110:3). For Christ in
drawn," but, "I will do it; I will draw them." Then       the preaching of the Word has mighty, effectual at-
they come to Him and He loses none of them. None          traction to Himself. By the Word of the Cross the
would come to Him if Jesus did not draw them by           sinner is enlightened and blessed with spiritual dis-
sovereign, irresistible, invincible grace. (Consider      cernment, so that His eyes become fixed on Jesus
John 5:4-O.) The way the Lord works in saving us is       Christ and Him crucified, and He is irresistibly
that He draws us and we come! The sinner may              drawn to Him. The things of Christ, taken by the
draw away the shoulder from Him (Neh.  9:29), as          Spirit and revealed unto him, are disclosed and re-
far as he is able. Will his evasive action succeed?       vealed to him under the mighty sway of omnipo-
Being one of the Lords chosen, only up to a point.        tence.
He may say, I will not be drawn by Him. He may              Then we may express it, as one Christian poet so
draw away from the preacher, withdraw from the            very well does: "My ever precious Lord, I long
preaching of the Word, and from the Spirit in the         have will'd, Because Thou gavest me the will, That
preacher; but when the Spirit begins to operate in        none but Thee should have dominion o'er My soul;
his heart, then he cannot and no more will resist. It     and when I see Thee on Thy throne, The voice that
is then that Christ begins to draw him. Then he will      thunders dreadful, dark despair To sinners ruined,
as surely be drawn to Jesus and heaven as Jesus is        Pharisees most proud, Shall say, `Behold a subject
there Himself. Then he will run to Him, fly to Him;       of My Grace  - A blessed child of My own Spirit
in fact, His sheep shall  floch to Him. They will         born; The purchase of My own atoning blood, The
come to Him so suddenly and in such numbers that          gift of My all-glorious Father's love, Make room, ye
the church will cry, both in astonishment and ex-         angels; lead him to his seat, that there he may for
ultingly, "Who hath begotten these? These, where          ever gaze and muse O'er glories that he tried to
had they been?" (Isa  49:21). Abraham's true              spread on earth!"'
spiritual seed shall be so many as the stars in the





                                      Book Reviews


WHAT CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD                                While there is much good argumentation in this
KNOW ABOUT INFANT BAPTISM,  John P.                       booklet and while it is presented in a very simple
Sartelle; Presbyterian  $r Reformed Publishing Co.,       way, when it comes to the matter of infant baptism
Phillipsburg, N.J.; 28 pp., $1.95 (paper). Reviewed       specifically, the book fails. Though baptism is
by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema.                                   called a sign of salvation by the author, neverthe-
  This little booklet is intended to be a popular ex-     less all that he says about infants is: "The infant
planation of the meaning and significance of infant       stands in his father's faith, unable to make his own
baptism. Its purpose is admirable; and there is in-       profession, but bearing the mark of his father's
deed room for a brief, well-written, and attractively     faith upon him, which calls him to his Lord in his
published booklet of this kind.                           earliest years." This is a far cry from what our


     356                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



     Reformed creeds and our Form for the Administra-               EPHESIANS FOR THE FAMILY, A DAILY
     tion of Baptism state.                                         DEVOTIONAL COMMENTARY,  Duane E.
        If I were a parent who had to be convinced by               Spencer;  Dorrance  & Co., Bryn Mawr,  Penna.; 392
     this booklet of the meaning and necessity of infant            pp., $12.95 (cloth); reviewed by Prof. H.C.  Hoek-
     baptism, I would be singularly unconvinced. And,               sema
     in my opinion, a poor and weak argument for in-                   This is a book, as its sub-title suggests, which
     fant baptism is almost worse than no argument at               falls in the category of devotional reading. Devo-
     all.                                                           tional reading seems to be on the increase in
                                                                    popularity at present. Hence, this is a "plus" for
     EXODUS (BIBLE STUDENT'S COMMEN-                                this book. Besides, generally speaking, this book
     TARY),  W .H. Gispen; Zondervan Publishing                     would have to be classed as  good  devotional reading
     House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; 335 pp., $15.95                 (which does not imply agreement with all that is
     (cloth); reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema                       written). That is another "plus" for this book. One
        This is a volume in a projected complete transla-           can gain considerable benefit from it.
     tion of the well-known Dutch series of commen-                    In several ways the book is unique. In the first
     taries, Korte Verklaring. The Korte Verklaring is a set        place, it takes the reader systematically through the
     of 62 volumes by various conservative Reformed                 Epistle to the Ephesians: In the second place, it is
     Dutch scholars on the whole Bible. It was designed             intended to take one through Ephesians day by day
     as a popular commentary, i.e., for the reader who              in the course of one year. The sections of the book
     has no knowledge of Hebrew and Greek and no                    are divided according to the calendar, beginning
     understanding of textual critical questions. The               with Ephesians  1:l on January 1. For each day
     Dutch writers are from the earlier, more conser-               there is a brief exposition-meditation which con-
     vative era in the Reformed churches in the Nether-             centrates on a key word in the passage. In this ex-
     lands, Among the writers are many well-known                   position the author refers to the Greek original in
     and conservative Reformed scholars, such as                    transliterated form  - something which I do not
     Gispen,  Aalders, Greijdanus, Goslinga, Noordtzij,             deem helpful for the average reader, and which
     etc.  -                                                        might even be harmful if it makes him think he
        For years I have made use occasionally. of the              really understands the original. But, in the third
     Dutch edition, and I have found it helpful for quick           place, the author intends even more. In the Intro-
     reference and for rather reliable interpretation. For          duction he presents "The 15 Minute Plan," which
     popular use, the value of these commentaries lies              is as follows: " 1. Read the study, `Light on the Key
     partly in their general reliability and partly in their        Word,' with care. 2. Memorize the verse listed
     brevity, although their brevity can sometimes also             under `The Word Hidden in Your Heart.' You have
     be a disadvantage. No commentary, of.course, can               two days for each verse, with the seventh day being
     be recommended as one hundred per cent correct.                set aside for review of the three verses learned in
                                                                    the prior six days. Write the verse on a piece of
        Books are rather expensive, especially when one             paper and take it with you wherever you go.
     buys entire sets. However, a less painful way of               Review, review, review! Work on memorizing it in
     building a set of commentaries is to purchase the              every spare moment! Review before retiring at
     volumes of this projected set as they appear; even-            night. God will abundantly bless you for your pa-
     tually, when Zondervan Publishers completes pub-               tience and endurance!"
     lication of this set, you will then have a very worth-
     while set of commentaries. Available already are                 It should be evident that if only from the
     the volumes on the Pentateuch and the commen-                  systematic memorization of Ephesians which
     tary on Isaiah. Incidentally, the 62 volumes of the            would result from following this plan, there could
     Dutch set will be reduced in number considerably,              be tremendous benefit. The key, of course, is in
     since in the English translation in many instances             faithfully sticking to the plan. Besides, there is un-
     the smaller Dutch volumes will be combined into                doubtedly benefit to be gained from the key-word
     one English volume.                                            studies. These I have not analyzed carefully, but I
                                                                    found several good examples. Word studies of this
       The Bible translation used in this set is the New            kind, of course, have a very limited value.
     International Version  - not my favorite, but not a
     drawback in this commentary.                                     Hence, a book of this kind would be helpful for
I                                                              I    individual devotional reading. It would hardly be
                     Givti a gift of                                suitable for use in family devotions.
                                                                      Recommended.
                the Standard Bearer!


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             3 5 7



THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE                               theologians have called the curbing of sin and its ef-
ENCYCLOPEDIA, Volume Three: K-P (Fully                         fects God's "common grace." Through God's good-
Revised),  Geoffrey W. Bromiley, General Editor;               ness to all men and women, believers and unbelievers
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids,                  alike, God's faithfulness to creation still bears fruit in
Mich.; 1060 pp., $37.50 (cloth). [Reviewed by Prof.            humankind's personal, societal, and cultural lives.
H.C. Hoeksema]                                                 "Common grace" is thus distinguished from God's
                                                               "special grace" to his people, whereby sin is not only
  "ISBE," as it is often referred to, has long been a          curbed but forgiven and atoned for, making possible
recommended standard reference work for re-                    true and genuine renewal from within. These terms
ligious and theological libraries. It has been on my           can be improved upon perhaps (some have suggested
library shelves as long as I have owned a library.             that the term "conserving grace" is preferable to
And while, as with many works of this kind, one                "common grace," since God's grace in Christ is also
must use it with discretion and be .on guard against           "common" in that it is offered to all humans], but
higher critical influences, nevertheless I class  ISBE         they are valuable in that they reflect a recognition that
as one of the better reference works. If you want to           God never lets go of his creatures, even in the face of
add a Bible encyclopedia to your library, consider             apostasy, unbelief, and perversion. In our ter-
                                                               minology, structure is never entirely obliterated by
it. (Considering its size and quality, it is not expen-        (mis) direction. (p. 50)
sive. Besides, you can add the volumes one at a
time, as your budget permits.)                               If there was ever any doubt in the minds of those
                                                           who have studied AACS thinking that this
  This third volume is indeed fully revised, and it        philosophy is post-millennial, this book will put
contains articles by men who had not previously            such doubts to rest once and for all. It is thoroughly
contributed to Volume III. I have compared this            post-millennial throughout, not only- because it
volume with my older (1929) edition. The volume is         really has no place for the second coming of Christ
illustrated with more than 325 photographs, in-            (although the idea is mentioned from time to time
cluding 37 color plates; 86 maps are included.             in the book), but particularly because the whole
  Recommended.                                             book speaks of the possibility and likelihood of the
                                                           kingdom of Christ being realized in this present
CREATION REGAINED,  Biblical Basics for a                  world, if only people would adopt AACS thinking
Reformational Worldview, by Albert M. Wolters;             and get busy applying AACS philosophy to life so
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985; $7.95                that all of life is brought under the rule and control
(paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                      of Christ.
  Wolters has produced yet another book in                   We have in the columns of the Standard Bearer
defense of AACS (Association for the Advancement           spoken often enough of basic errors in AACS think-
of Christian Studies) philosophy. While it does not        ing to omit references to the specific errors in-
differ basically from the many other publications          volved in this philosophy  - although they are there,
written in defense of this erroneous but influential       often with exclamation marks. We limit this review
philosophy, it does seem in some respects to be dif-       to an emphasis on the real danger of the post-
ferent. In a way, the book is somewhat more con-           millennialism explicit in this book.
servative than other writings from AACS men, as,             While the author speaks sometimes of the second
e.g., in giving to Scripture a greater prominence.         coming of Christ, he never makes clear what that
But from another viewpoint it has departed from            second coming involves. He denies that it involves
earlier AACS writings on the matter of common              a total destruction of this present world with all its
grace. I recall that in the early years of this move-      works, and he speaks of the fact (a la A. Kuyper)
ment I had the opportunity to talk with a number of        that the culture of this present world will be
AACS men; and without exception they assured me            brought into the New Jerusalem, though purged
that they had grave reservations about the whole           from sin (p. 41). But what the relation is between
idea of common grace, and some even went so far            the coming of Christ and the realization of the king-
as to say that they saw the position of our own Prot-      dom he never says.
estant Reformed Churches as being`more Biblical
than the stand of their own denomination. I was a            While his view of the consequences of the fall is
bit suspicious of these claims because it was not at       not altogether clear, he insists that the creation re-
all clear to me how, with their philosophy, they           mains sufficiently unaffected in its structure (a key
could avoid common grace. But be that as it may,           word with him) to be restored in this present world.
this book firmly commits the movement to com-              In fact, the "structure" of this creation remains the
mon grace. In a key passage the author writes:             same as prior to the fall; it is only the "direction" of
                                                           the creation which has been altered by sin. While
     The theological tradition offers another way of       this could, conceivably, be correctly interpreted, it
   understanding the restraint of creation. Some           is used by the author to bolster his post-millenial


358                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



views.                                                    with such subjects as these: What causes war?
  All this leads to what is perhaps the most obvious      What is the relationship between military and
element of post-millennialism: salvation is only a        police force? Can there be a just war? The premises
restoration of the creation to its original status in     of pacifism, the consequences of war, the limits of
Paradise prior `to the fall. He has no place for the      obedience to the government, `war as judgment on
work of the grace of God through Christ which lifts       nations, and nuclear weapons.
the people of God and the creation far above what           With much of the book we agree and find in it an
the original creation ever was. Christ's role is sim-     answer to those who plead for peace at almost any
ply to repair what was spoiled by Adam's fall. (See       price. Boettner argues that Scripture does not  for-
such references as pp. 58, 60, 61.)                       qid the Christian to engage in war, and points out
  Quite obviously, this leads to a fundamental            that obedience to magistrates is an essential part of
dualism in the book. God has no control whatso-           the Christian's calling. He argues that only wars of
ever over the fall, sin, the devil and his hosts, and     self-defense are justifiable, but that if the issue is
the workers of iniquity in this present world. They       not clear in a particular instance, the government
operate completely apart from God's power, and            must be given the benefit of the doubt. With all
the work of grace is only to overcome their evil in-      these things we agree.
fluences, reverse the effects of sin, and restore the       At some points, however, we disagree. One of
creation to what it was before Adam fell. Then the        Boettner's arguments for war is heavy use of the
kingdom of Christ will be realized.                       Old Testament and the calling of Israel to fight in
                                                          many battles throughout her history. While there
  A book of this sort can be dangerous if read un-        may be some argument here, Boettner fails to take
critically. It is full of fine-sounding phrases, seems    into account the fact that Israel was a theocracy, a
often times to be Biblical and that even in the           type of the church, and that her battles were typical
Reformed sense, and holds before us the vision of a       of the Christian's warfare against sin, the devil, and
mighty victory of the kingdom of Christ over all the      the world. There is evidence here of his post-
works of darkness in this present world. It is a loud     millennialism. Boettner, it seems to me, is also
call to arms, a shout to rally the people of God to       weak when he gives as one of the reasons why Paul
march on from victory to victory, a battle cry to do      obeyed the Roman magistrates the fact that Rome
battle with all the forces of darkness, which cannot      was a reasonably law-abiding government. At least
help but stir the fervor of the saints, and a promise     by implication this seems to leave room for the
of great victory in this present world.                   Christian to join in rebellion against constituted
  But should the people of God be moved to re-            authority if a government ceases to be law-abiding.
spond to this sort of thing, they will soon discover      We wonder whether this is Boettner's position.
to their profound despair that they are fighting the      Finally, Boettner argues strongly for conscription as
enemies' battles, wrapped up in this present world        being essential for this country's self-defense.
to the exclusion of their calling to seek the things      While we do not know whether conscription is ac-
which are above, marching in armies which seek            tually necessary at this point in our history,  Boett-
only an earthly kingdom, and finally falling              ner fails to take into account the fact that a Chris-
headlong into the arms of Antichrist himself.             tian, taken into the services, is taken from the in-
                                                          fluences of home and family, is deprived of the
THE CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE TOWARD WAR,                        means of grace in the church, and is cast into armed
by Loraine Boettner; Presbyterian and Reformed            forces where evil and sin are increasingly common.
Publishing Co., 1985; 91 pp., $3.95 (paper). (Re-         If the government calls, the Christian must go, of
viewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                                 course. But we personally are thankful that our
  This book is a reprint (brought up to date) which       young men need not go into the armed forces in
first appeared in 1940, written by a well-known           such times as these. Presumably Boettner would
                                                          respond: "Would you rather lose all your freedoms
Presbyterian writer who is also the author of such        by Communist takeover?" The. answer is: If con-
familiar books as "The Reformed Doctrine of Pre-          scription is necessary to keep this country free, the
destination" and "Roman Catholicism."                     young men of the church will go too. But we are
  The book is written and republished as a Chris-         still thankful that they need not serve during times
tian response to the anti-war movement which is           of peace.
present in our country and growing increasingly
strong. Boettner argues that war is justified by
Scripture under certain conditions, but also argues
from the viewpoint of the serious threat which Rus-
sian Communism poses for our country and its               and study the Standard Bearer!
freedom. In the course of the discussion he deals


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         359



                        News From Ox& Churches
                                                      David Harbach



  One recent Sunday evening, while visiting                    refrain from leaving the sanctuary unless it is very
another family, Mr. Jake Kuiper of Hope Protestant             necessary," and "The consistory reminds parents
Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan, mentioned                   to show'consideration for other members in dealing
the fact that he needed a copy of the Covenant                 with small children which may disturb the worship
Witness pamphlet, "The New Morality," by Rev.                  service."
Kortering. He has received requests for this pam-                The collection plates used by First Church,
phlet and has tried cornacting  several people to ob-          Grand Rapids, Michigan, were made with special
tain a copy, but to no avail. If you would like to            care and skill by Mr. Ryven P. Ezinga. Making
help out Mr. Kuiper, please send a copy of the pam-            these plates was quite a challenge for Mr. Ezinga,
phlet mentioned above to this address: 671 Wilson              not only because there were forty-two wooden
Ave., S.W., Grand Rapids, MI 49504.                            parts and felt liners in each of the sixteen plates he
  Rev. and Mrs. Heys have changed their place of               made, but also because he is blind. He handles his
residence from 5107 Ridgeview Drive to 5112                    power tools (circular saw, drill press, lathe, router,
Ridgeview Drive, Hudsonville, MI 49426. Please                 shaper, etc.) all by feel. And if you looked at his
also make this change of address in your copy of               hands you would notice that he has all of his
the Acts of Synod, 1985.                                       original fingers.
  Loveland Church, Colorado, held a lecture April                Loveland Church is looking for a larger organ to
16. Rev. Cammenga spoke on the subject "Free                   buy that is suitable for their new sanctuary. At pres-
Grace Versus Free-Will." On April 17, Rev. Heys                ent they are considering the purchase of a used
spoke at a Sunday School Teachers' Mass Meeting                Allen organ at a cost of $2,600.00.
in Holland Church, Michigan, on the topic "Prepar-
ing for the Sunday School Lesson."                               The Young Peoples' Convention in South
                                                               Holland will include three speeches: "In Truth" by
  Evangelism news from South Holland Church in-                Rev. Kamps, "In Godliness" by Rev. Gritters, and
cluded this request. "We were unable to attend the             "In Comfort" by Rev. Slopsema. The convention
marriage conference . . . therefore, we request that           will be held, D.V., July 28 to August 1.
you send us a set of tapes . . . that we also may
benefit from the instruction to strengthen our mar-              The Free Christian School of Edgerton, MN, is
riage, that our marriage may better reflect the mar-           seeking a teacher for grades  5-g/administrator.  If
riage of Christ and His Church. . . . We also request          you are interested, contact Al Hendricks 1-507-
the set of tapes . . . on the history of Gideon. May           442-5221 or Harley Buys l-507-442-8454.
God bless you in your labors, that His Name be                                                  Booh Ourlec-
spread abroad and His Word proclaimed."
                                                                                     3505 Kelly, Hudsonville, Michigan 49426
  A video tape depicting our churches' work in                                                  Phone 669-6730
Jamaica is now available. The tape is in VHS for-
mat and is one hour and twenty-five minutes in                              Announcing the Publication of
length. It is recommended for group use both for                       The third book of meditations by the late
societies and for home gatherings of family and                                        Rev. G. Vos
friends. Call Dan Pastoor at 1-616-532-6118 or Don
Faber at 1-616-243-9563 to reserve a showing. In                         THE MORE GLORIOUS COVENANT
the Grand Rapids area, video equipment can be                      It is available at the Reformed Book Outlet
provided if necessary.                                                       at 10% off the $7 .OO price:
  The winter months seem to have produced some                                           at $6.30
restless children in our churches. Many of our                               (For mail order, add 10% for
churches reserve the last two or three rows in the                              postage and handling)
back of the sanctuary for those families with little               Let us help you build your religious library
children. Our church bulletins, however, have not                                   with quality books
escaped notices such as, "Small children should                             from the Reformed Book Outlet,
                                                                        a not-for-profit organization sponsored
David Harbach is a teacher at Adams St. Prof. Ref.               by societies in Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church
Christian School, Grand Rapids, Michigan.


  THE STANDARD BEARER
        P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan  49508



                                                                                                              --      _._.     .~        --


                                                                                             /N.                      ._.





360                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER

                                                                                            WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                            To order an                                      On May 4, 1,986, the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR. AND
                       anniversary booklet                                 MRS. FRANK DYKSTRA SR. will celebrate their 30th wedding an-
          featuring twenty-five years of the                               niversary. We are ever thankful to our heavenly Father for blessing us
                                                                           with God fearing parents who have instructed us in the fear of His
 ?ROTESTANT  REFORMED CHRISTIAN SCHOOL                                     name. It is our constant prayer that God will continue to bless and
                                                                           keep them in His care.
                     of South Holland, Illinois                               "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be
                           sepd $5.00 to                                   the peace of thy children." (Isaiah 54:13)
        Protestant Reformed Christian School                               Frank and Dawn Dykstra
                                                                              Michael, Matthew, Nicholas
                16511 South Park Avenue                                    Hilbert and Beverly Kuiper
              South Holland, Illinois 60473                                  Rosanna, Hilbert, James, Joanna

                WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                                                                             On April 11, 1986, our parents, MR. AND MRS. ARTHUR  ZAND-
  `On May 14, 1986, the Lord willing, our parents and grandparents,        STRA, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. We, their children
MR. AND MRS. GERALD BOUWKAMP will celebrate their 40th wed-                and grandchildren rejoice with them and are grateful to our Lord for
ding anniversary.                                                          covenant parents who sought to teach us the way of God. We pray
  We thank God that He has given us a God-fearing upbringing               they will continue to experience the blessings of our faithful God in
through them and that they have had these years together. It is our        the years that He may give them.
prayer that He will continue to bless them in the years ahead.             Art and Judy Zandstra                              Howie and Karen Hoekstra
   "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will      Jodi, Lisa, Jennifer, Joel                               Heather, Carrie
not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6).                                      Garry and Joan Eriks
                                                                             Garry, Melissa, Beth, Nicole
their children and grandchildren:
Henry and Shirley Bergman                Gerry and Kathy  Schut
   Barb, Tom, Julie, Dan                 Dave and Dawn Bouwkamp                                      IN MEMORIAM'
Gary and Rachel Bouwkamp                 Carol Bouwkamp                      In loving memory of our dear husband, father, grandfather, son
Bill and Ruth Rutgers                    Lori Bouwkam.p                    and brother, MR. HOWARD E. PASTOOR, who was called to his eter-
   Pamela, Sandra, Ruthie                                                  nal home May 1, 1985, one year ago.
                                                                             "Let not your heart be troubled: .ye believe in God, believe also in
              RESOLUTlON  OF SYMPATHY                                      me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
   The Men's Society of the Southwest Protestant Reformed Church           would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:1, 2).
expresses sympathy to Mr. James Schipper and family in the death of        Mrs. Marcia Pastoor                       Don and Linda Van Dyke
his father-in-law, MR. CHARLES PLAS.                                       Mary Pastoor                                      Brenda, Bryan, Jeremy, Michael
   "For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even    Howard and Eileen Pastoor                 Kevin Pastoor
unto death." (Psalm 48: 14)                                                  Heidi, Rachael,  Julie, Laura           David Pastoor
                                                                           Ron and Kathy Kooienga                    Mrs. Henrietta Harkema
Philip Lotterman, Pres.                                                      Chad, Joel, Katie, Kyle                 Mr. Donald Pastoor
Bill De Kraker, Vice Sec'y.                                                Kenneth and Sheri Pastoor                 Mr. and Mrs. James Knott

                WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On May 8, 1986, our beloved parents, MR. AND MRS. HENRY                    On May IO, 1'986, our parents, MR. AND MRS. EDWARD CAM-
VANDER KOLK, will celebrate 40 years of being married in the Lord.         MENGA celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. As children and
We, their children and grandchildren thank them for their loving care      grand-children we are grateful to God for all that He has done for us
and Christian instruction. We thank God for sparing them for us and        through them. We commend them to God's grace and blessing in the
each other these many years.                                               years to come. "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that
   "He hath remembered His covenant forever, the Word which He             walketh in His ways. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and
commanded to a thousand generations." (Psalm 105:8).                       peace upon Israel," Ps. 128:1, 6.
Gerald and the late  Ruthanne Vandenberg                                   Rev. Ron and Rhonda Cammenga
   Pamela, Mark, Eric                                                         Rebekah, Catherine, Ben, Chuck, Laura, Leanne, Amy
Jerry and Shirley Vander Kolk                                              Randy and Joyce Cammenga
   Brian, Brent, Jared, Joel                                               Rev. Ron and Nancy Hanko
Jim and Kathy Vander Kolk                                                     Jennifer, Ryan, Sarah, Jessica, Herman, Cornelius
   Michael, Clinton, Jordan, Travis                                        Sandy Hilldore and Jamie
Mike and Linda Zuverink                                                    Robert Cammenga
   Mitchel, Ross, Tina                                                     Thomas Cammenga


