              `he
     STANDARD
H         BEARER
            A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





                 A Thought For
                  The New Year

       But the mercy of the LORD is from everlast-
     ing to everlasting upon them that fear him.
                                                       -Psalm  103:17





                                                Vol.  LXIII, No. 7, January 1, 1987  -


146                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER




                                 C0NTEN-k                                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                          ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                            Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
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        The Salt of the Earth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146        Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
   Editorial -                                                                     Department Editors: Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
                                                                                   D. Decker, Rev. Barry Gritters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko,
        Anniversary Books - OPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149                 Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Kortering, Rev. George C. Lub-
                                                                                                                                     1
                                                                                   bers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. James S opsema, Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren,
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MEDITATION
James D. Slopsema




                                             The Salt of the Earth

                     Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it
                 is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
                                                                                                                                    -Matthew  5:13



  It is good at the beginning of each year to be                                        Ye are the salt of the earth.
reminded of the place we occupy in God's creation
as well as the responsibilities that fall to us before                                   This remarkable statement of Jesus appears in
God.                                                                                 His Sermon on the Mount. To the multitudes of


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      147



simple folks that had followed Him, Jesus pro-                    the basic use of salt. The world in which we live is
claimed, "Ye are the salt of the earth."                          not basically sound and wholesome. It is spiritually
   So is it with all in every age who follow Jesus as             rotten. There is in the world of ungodly men ab-
true disciples. They are the salt of the earth.                   solutely nothing that is good to be preserved. Men
                                                                  don't put salt on' rotten meat to preserve it, much
   At the beginning of another year it is good to be              less to restore its original freshness. No more do the
reminded that in Christ we too are the salt of the                children of God serve as the salt of the earth by
earth.                                                            preserving or restoring that which is already
   In harmony with this reality we must also be en-               spiritually decayed.
couraged to act as salt.                                             Besides, the rest of what Jesus says in this con-
THE IDEA                                                          nection points us in another direction. Jesus spoke
   Ye are the salt of the earth.                                  of salt losing its savour or flavor. This points us in
                                                                  the direction of salt as a flavoring.
   Salt had several uses in Bible times. To deter-                        *        *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
mine how God's people are the salt of the earth it is
necessary to discover which use of salt Jesus had in                 The great emphasis in the Bible is that salt is
mind when He compared His people to salt.                         added to food to flavor it and make it tasty.
   In Bible times salt was used, first, for seasoning                The Old Testament speaks frequently of the
food. Salt makes food tasty and agreeable to the                  covenant of salt between God and His people
palate. Said Job, "Can that which is unsavoury be                 Israel. It was the custom for those entering into a
eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white            covenant to ratify their covenant by eating bread
of an egg?" (Job 6:6)                                             with salt. This symbolized that the covenant just
   Salt was also used for medicinal purposes. Salt is             made was agreeable to both parties, pleasant to
an antiseptic. In Bible times new born babies were                their taste. In light of this, Gods covenant with
bathed and then rubbed in salt.                                   Israel was called the covenant of salt, thus in-
                                                                  dicating that it was very pleasing to both God and
   Salt is also a preservative, retarding spoilage in             I s r a e l .
meat. Most likely salt was also used for that pur-
pose in Bible times.                                                 Quite in harmony with all this, God also required
                                                                  that all the meat offerings brought by Israel to the
   Finally, we are told that the salt used in Bible               house of God be seasoned with salt. This salt
times was mined from the marshes, lagoons and                     represented the faith and repentance of Israel
rocks in the Dead Sea area. This salt was mixed                   which made their offerings very pleasing to God.
with various minerals, among which was
magnesium. Consequently, this salt was also used                    With this use of salt in mind Christ called God's
in Bible times to make a saline solution to fertilize             people the salt of the earth.
the land.                                                           When Christ spoke of the earth He had reference
          *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *     *         to the whole earth in all its fulness. He had in mind
  In determining how God's people are the salt of                 the earth with all its powers and resources, the
the earth many latch hold of the idea that salt is a              earth as it is literally teaming with life and activity.
preservative. The people of God are salt, we are                  Of that earth God's people are the salt.
told, in that they act as a preservative in the midst               They are the salt of the earth exactly because the
of the world. As they enter into every sphere of life             earth in all its fulness is made pleasing to God
they are able to exert a restraining influence in the             through their presence.
world of men so that the development of sin is held
in check. And some go even further, speaking in                   THE REALIZATION
glowing terms of God's people being a reforming                      God's people are the salt of the earth in that they
influence in the world. As a result of the presence               are kings and priests of God who use the earth in
of God's people in this world we can expect social                the service of God's name.
evils eventually to be eradicated so that the                       God created man as king to rule His creation. As
kingdom of God will somehow be attained here on                   king man has received the ability to discover the
earth.                                                            various powers of nature and to bring them under
  Yet this can not be how the children of God serve               his control. As king of God's creation man has in-
as the salt of the earth.                                         deed accomplished many great feats. He has
  For this explanation is completely at odds with                 discovered the healing powers in creation and con-
                                                                  quered many dreadful diseases. He has discovered
James D. Slopsema is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed           the principles of art, literature, math, and music
Church, Walker, Michigan.                                         established by God in the creation and developed


I    148                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



     them to a very high degree. He has harnessed the                     Jesus describes here something that quite fre-
     various forces and powers of nature to provide                     quently happened to the salt the people used. The
     many conveniences in life, to travel at very high                  salt taken from the Dead Sea area was mixed with
     speeds, to fly through the air, to land on the moon.               various other minerals and substances. After a
     Man is king in God's creation.                                     while these foreign substances could deteriorate
       And God's people are an integral part of the                     and give the salt a most terrible taste. When that
     human race that rules the creation. In fact, they                  happened nothing could be done to restore it. It
     form the heart of the human race. They indeed are                  was good for nothing but to be thrown out into the
     kings of God's creation.                                           street to be trodden under foot of men.
       But God's people are also priests of God.                          Jesus points this out to suggest that also Gods
                                                                        people, the salt of the earth, are able to be spoiled
       A priest'is one who consecrates himself and all                  for a time so that they no longer act as salt. This
     that he has to the service of another.                             happens when they allow their sinful natures to
       As priests of the living God, God's people press                 control their lives for a time so that they use God's
     the creation which they have been given to control                 creation in the service of sin rather than in the serv-
     into the service of their God. All the resources God               ice of God. When this happens the earth is no
     has given to them - their money, their lands, their                longer pleasing to God, but very distasteful.
     food and drink, their clothing and shelter  - they                           8     *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
     use in the service of God. In like manner do they
     also use the wonderful inventions God has placed                     This implies a calling.
     at their disposal - their cars, their radios and tele-               We must guard against our sinful flesh lest it
     visions, the conveniences in their home. All that                  render us useless as salt. Thankfully, when we
     they are and all that they have they present as an                 allow ourselves to be rendered ineffective as salt
     offering to God.                                                   through our sinful nature, God does not just cast us
       Because of this work of His people as kings and                  aside. Instead He does what can not be done to salt;
     priests, the earth is pleasing to God. His people are              He purifies us and restores us to usefulness. But
     as salt that makes the earth palatable to God's taste.             that is often the hard way of discipline and chastise-
                *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *          ment. Let us guard against our sinful nature!
       God's people are the salt of the earth only in                     And in the power of Jesus Christ let us act as salt.
     Christ.                                                              Let us work as salt in the year that lies before us.
       By nature man is not king and priest of God but                    Let us work as salt all the years of our earthly ex-
     king and priest of God's arch-enemy, the devil.                    istence.
       Originally man was created as king and priest of                   Then we will also be able to look forward to the
     God. And for a time man served God in that capaci-                 privilege of working as salt in the new creation,
     ty so that he was the salt of the earth.                           which we with all the redeemed will be able to con-
       But at the fall that was drastically changed. For                trol completely and render as a perfect sacrifice
     even though man retained his position of king and                  pleasing to God throughout the endless ages of eter-
     priest in God's creation, the fall changed man                     nity.
     spiritually. He became corrupt and depraved. And
     so he became king and priest in the service of devil.
     Man continues to rule the creation as king. But in
     his fallen state he uses the whole of the creation for
     his own pleasure and glory and thus ultimately in                           The Standard Bearer
     the service of the devil himself.
       But in Christ the elect of God are transformed                            makes a thoughtful
     once more into kings and priests of God. In Christ
     the elect of God no longer serve themselves but the                                     gift for the
     God that made them. And so in Christ they become
     the salt of the earth that renders the earth pleasing                             sick and shut-in.
     to God.
     THE CALLING                                                         Give the Standard Bearer today!
       But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith
     shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing,
     but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of
     men.


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                            149



EDITORIAL



                         Anniversary Books - OPC



   Perhaps some of our readers will be aware of the        Hence, I was delighted when I recently received
fact that this year marks the 50th Anniversary of        complimentary copies of three books which were
the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the denomina-          published to commemorate the 50th Anniversary
tion which was born on June 11, 1936, in Philadel-       of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, along with a
phia, especially under the leadership of J. Gresham      request for a review. With that request I gladly
Machen, out of the fundamentalist-modernist con-         comply. And rather than have these books get in
troversy in the Presbyterian Church (USA). At first      line in our Book Review department, I will give
the new denomination had the name Presbyterian           them immediate attention in our editorial columns.
Church of America, a name which ultimately was             The first book is undoubtedly the commemora-
denied them in a court case in 1939. Thereafter it       tive volume proper. It is a large volume (8% x 11 in-
took the name Orthodox Presbyterian Church. This         ches) of 357 pages, printed on glossy paper to ac-
is the denomination which has been closely               commodate the numerous pictures [both colored
associated with Westminster Seminary, although           and black-and-white). It is entitled  The Orthodox
that institution has always been officially independ-    Presbyterian Church  1936-1986 and edited by
ent of the church and although in recent years its       Charles G. Dennison, Historian for the OPC. This is
connection with the OPC has deteriorated and is          the historical volume. An "Introduction" briefly
not nearly so strong.                                    traces the origin and the history of the OPC. This is
  In earlier years the Standard Bearer always had        followed by a section on denominational life and
an exchange arrangement with the  Presbyteriun           activities, with chapters on the Committee on
Gum-dim  (now defunct), which, though never an           Foreign Missions, the Committee on Home Mis-
official magazine of the OPC, nevertheless was           sions and Church Extension, the Committee on
generally recognized as its "voice." And on more         Christian Education, the Committee on  Diaconal
than one occasion the  Standard  Bearer editorialized    Ministries, and the Committee on Ecumenicity and
on things OPC. Some of our older readers will recall     Interchurch Relations, as well as one entitled
especially the  Standard  Bearer's extensive and         "`Here and There in the OPC." Though brief, these
thorough treatment of the doctrinal issues in the        chapters furnish a well-rounded picture of denomi-
"Clark Case" under the title, "The Text of a Com-        national activities. Then follows a lengthy section
plaint," a critique to which attention was paid even     containing the history of every individual congrega-
by the committee of the General Assembly which           tion in the twelve presbyteries (classes) of the Or-
was appointed to study the doctrinal issues in that      thodox Presbyterian denomination. This section
case. Personally, my interest in the OPC was             (pages 61 to 312) also contains many pictures - of
stimulated in the days of my youth through the fact      church buildings, pastors, and former pastors of the
that when our family vacationed in Maine, we fre-        churches. Included in this section is a tremendous
quently attended Second Parish Church in Portland        amount of historical detail. Next follow sections on
and became acquainted with two of that church's          Orthodox Presbyterian Women, on the Total
pastors, John H. Skilton (later a professor at West-     Membership of the OPC, and on the Center for Ur-
minster Seminary] and Arthur 0. Olson. Second            ban Theological Studies. There is an interesting sec-
Parish, by the way, was the church where my late         tion on Westminster Theological Seminary, along
father was invited to preach during one of his vaca-     with pictures, written by Arthur W. Kuschke, Jr.
tion visits.                                             With this there is a special section, very brief, on


150                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



the only living member of the original Westminster         worthwhile addition to your library.
faculty, the well-known Dr. Cornelius Van Til. At            The third book was not begun with the intention
the conclusion of this book there is a complete            of serving as an anniversary publication. It is a 135
Ministerial Register, with brief biographical              page paperback from the pen of Robert K. Church-
sketches, of every minister who has ever been or-          ill, an OPC minister who was ordained in 1936
dained and served in the OPC. No one who reads             by the first General Assembly. The Rev. Churchill
this book can fail to be impressed by the tre-             died in 1980 with his book not completed; the book
mendous amount of work which has gone into the             in its present form was completed by George E.
preparation of this volume.                                Haney, in time to be added to the publications in
  The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is a relative-          observance of the  OPC's fiftieth anniversary. The
ly small denomination; its membership is a little          title is Lest We Forget (A Personal Reflection on the
over 18,000. Humanly speaking, it does not                 Formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church). It is
"count" in the ecclesiastical world. Besides, its          autobiographical, and offers a very personal ac-
future, in view of repeated attempts to accomplish         count of Mr. Churchill's life from his conversion to
a merger with the PCA, may be in doubt, although           his ordination and early ministry. The significant
this year the "Joining and Receiving" proposal was         aspect of the book is its account of the struggle
defeated. However, anyone who is interested in             which led to the formation of the OPC. The book is
American Church History should add this volume             interesting, but not the best of these three com-
to his library. As far as I know, it is the only com-      memorative volumes.
plete and detailed history of the OPC.                       This rather detailed summary of these three com-
  The second book sent to me is Pressing Toward            memorative volumes is not to be construed as
The Mark (Essays Commemorating Fifty Years of the          meaning that the  Standard Bearer  is promoting the
Orthodox Presbyterian Church.)  It is edited by            Orthodox Presbyterian Church and that it has no
Charles G.  Dennison and Richard C. Gamble. As             criticism of that denomination. Over the years, as
the title indicates, this is a book of essays  - thirty    the pages of our magazine will witness, the con-
of them, in a hard-cover book of 489 pages. These          trary has been true. Nevertheless, for those who
essays are on a very broad range of subjects, some-        wish to be well-informed about the American
what loosely gathered into four main divisions: 1.         church scene, we recommend these volumes.
Foundations for Historic Presbyterianism. 2. The                                                                    HCH
American Presbyterian Experience. 3. Perspectives                 *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    9    *
on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. 4. The Mis-           Note: Apparently these books are not being com-
sion of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. A brief          mercially distributed. If you wish to obtain them,
fifth section offers a bibliography of the writings of     write to: Committee for the Historian of the Ortho-
J. Gresham  Machen. Most, though not all, of the           dox Presbyterian Church, Box 48, Coraopolis, PA
writers are OPC men. As one might expect in a              15108. The prices are as follows:
volume of this kind, there is wide variety. I have            The Orthodox Presbyterian Church 1936-1986,
not yet read all of the essays, but chose a few which            $21.00
appeared interesting to me. The editor himself                Pressing Toward The Mark, $19.95
wrote a chapter entitled, "Thoughts on the Coven-             Lest We Forget, $4.95
ant." Peter A. Lillback is the author of another
chapter in the first section, "The Reformers'
Rediscovery of Presbyterian Polity." I found
especially interesting three essays in the third sec-
tion, namely, "Perspective on the Division of
1937" [This is the division in which Carl McIntire,           Give a subscription to
J. Oliver Buswell, Allan  A. MacRae, and others left
the infant denomination in the struggle about pre-              the Standard Bearer
millennialism and Christian liberty and formed the
Bible Presbyterian Church.], "The Battle over the
Ordination of Gordon H. Clark" [a discussion                   to a friend or relative
which goes beyond the complaint against Clark's
doctrine at the time of his ordination], and "The              as a thoughtful gift!!
Life and Death of a Dakota Church." In the fourth
section I found interesting Lawrence Eyre's essay,
"Reflections on Professor John Murray." But there
is a wealth of information and perspectives in this
volume. Get it, and read it for yourself. It will be a


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       151



WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Herman C. Hanko
                                 c




        Moral Aspects of Medical Technology
                                                    WI


   In our last article in which we discussed in vitro     deep underground to protect them from nuclear
fertilization (IVF) we made passing reference to the      disasters."
fact that it was possible that many children con-           These are some of the results of IVF, frightening
ceived in a test tube were being used for experi-         in prospect and wholly contrary to every principle
mental purposes. We did not want to say too much          of Scripture, especially when we remember that
about this because little is known concerning this;       these "embryos" are children.
those who engage in such practices do so in great                *       *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
secrecy, and instances are hard to document.
   Recently, however, I received an article from a          We turn now to other avenues of medical
Standard Bearer reader in England which speaks of         technology which are becoming increasingly com-
this very practice. Because governments are think-        mon to aid people in having children. The U.S.
ing of passing legislation which would control IVF,       News  & World Report  of November 11, 1985 in-
some doctors and scientists in England are con-           troduces an article on this subject in this way:
cerned that such legislation will be passed before             "Where do babies come from?"
they have an opportunity to express their opinions.            That age-old question is provoking some startling
The result was that a questionnaire was sent to              new answers as `doctors begin manipulating life.
Europe's practitioners of IVF inquiring concerning             Today, some children are created in test tubes.
their views on various aspects of the problem. The           Others are carried in the wombs of surrogate mothers.
results, as published in the New Scientist of July 3,        And with sound-wave scans, prospective parents can
1986, were startling.                                        know if their baby will be a boy or a girl months
  All were agreed that experiments on animals                before birth. Soon, they will even be able to choose
were not enough, and that research on human em-              the sex.
bryos was necessary. The disagreements were over               In Australia and the Netherlands, five children
such matters as whether to form embryos                      have been born from frozen embryos. It is not beyond
specifically for purposes of experimentation or to           the imagination of doctors that parents some day may
use "spare" embryos; whether embryos ought to                freeze their fertilized embryos for 100 years or more,
be frozen for future use or not; and, if frozen, how         leaving instructions for their children's births in
                                                             another era.
long they should be kept; whether parental consent
was necessary for freezing embryos and using them           Various techniques have been developed to solve
for experimentation; and whether it was acceptable        the problem of infertility, and we shall discuss
to take sperm and ova donated specifically for ex-        them together in this article.
perimental purposes  - something already prac-              One such technique is artificial insemination.
ticed rather widely. Some envisaged a day in the          Two types of artificial insemination are practiced:
future when "most people will reproduce using egg         artificial insemination using the semen of husbands
or sperm from genetically screened individuals.           (AIHJ and artificial insemination using the semen of
The gametes themselves will be stored in freezers         donors (AID). It is estimated that around 250,000
                                                          people are living in this country alone who have
Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New    been conceived in this way, while 15,000 to 20,000
Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.            are added each year. In many cases, both semen


152                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



and ova are frozen and stored (especially when                      Sometimes a child is conceived in a test tube from
donors are used) and banks can be found in many                     sperm and eggs of a married couple, and implanted
parts of the country. Sperm banks are located in 12                 in a surrogate mother who carries the child to term
cities throughout the land, and ova are stored in                   and then gives it to the natural parents. Sometimes
various universities.                                               the egg of the mother is implanted in a surrogate
   So common has this become that some scientists                   mother and fertilized by artificial fertilization by
predict that the day is not so far off when sperm                   sperm either from the father or from a donor bank.
and ova will be sold commercially "off the shelf"                   Sometimes the surrogate mother is simply im-
and that home insemination kits will be made                        pregnated with sperm either from the husband of a
available for "do-it-yourself" conception.                          couple wanting a child or from `a donor bank, but
                                                                    the offspring is promised to the couple making use
  The freezing and storage of sperm and ova (and                    of the surrogate when the child is born. All these
even embryos) have made possible conception                         variations are at present being used, although the
under different circumstances. Men sometimes                        method is not yet as common as IVF because of
store their sperm, not because they want it to be                   various legal problems.
used promiscuously, but because they want to have
a vasectomy performed, but consider the possibility                   Yet another method is called embryo transfer.
that they (and their wives) might change their                      The issue of U.S. News & World Report referred to
minds about children in the future. Others store                    above says of this:
their semen in the case of death of one of the                            This technique is employed for women who cannot
parents. E.g. a wife who loses her husband can then                     produce eggs but can carry a fetus.
have a child by him even after he dies.                                   Doctors first match up the infertile wife with an egg
  But other possibilities result. People make use of                    donor who ovulates at about the same time - a key
artificial insemination for various reasons. Some do                    step since hormone levels must be the same in both
so because of infertility in one of the marriage part-                 women for successful transfer.
ners. But sometimes single women who do not                               The donor then is artificially inseminated with the
wish to marry, or lesbians wish to have children,                      husband's sperm. Five days after fertilization, the egg
and they can obtain sperm from donor banks. The                         is inserted into the wife's uterus.
news media have carried stories repeatedly of                             A Chicago firm called Fertility  & Genetics
sperm banks set up to preserve the sperm of very                       Research, Inc., has devised a procedure using a
intelligent people so that donor sperm can be used                     special catheter for embryo transfers. It forecasts a
to "guarantee" (if that is possible, something not                     market of up to 50,000 candidates.
yet proved) the superior intelligence of offspring.                   All these techniques are becoming increasingly
Nobel prize winners, e.g., have in some instances                   common and will undoubtedly become more so in.
donated sperm for future use. Some parents carry                    the future. In fact, there is little doubt but that
genetically transmitted diseases which they do not                  these techniques will not only be refined and be
wish to pass on to their children; the use of donor                 made more successful, but that new techniques
sperm or eggs will bypass these dangers and                         will yet be discovered and new ideas will be put in-
tragedies.                                                          to practice. Many of these things were unheard of
  Another method which has been recently                            fifty years ago; what will another fifty years (if the
developed to aid parents who cannot have children                   Lord tarries) bring?
of their own is "surrogate motherhood." In intro-                     It is understandable in a way that the world of
ducing his discussion of this technique, John Jeffer-               unbelief should, having developed the necessary
son Davis in his book, Evangelical Ethics quotes the                scientific and medical technology, make use of
following ad which appeared in the Boston Globe in                  these procedures. After all, from an evolutionary
December of 1980:                                                   viewpoint, there is nothing sacred or holy about the
                                                                    conception and birth of a child; and in fact an em-
         Childless couple - wife unable to conceive looking
       for white female who would volunteer to be artifi-           bryo is nothing but a blob of tissue until it is born.
       cially inseminated with semen of husband and then            Manipulating the birth process and experimenting
       give child to couple. All responses confidential. All ex-    on embryos is no different than cutting up guinea
       penses paid. Kindly direct responses to Noel P. Keane,       pigs and subjecting rats to laboratory experiments.
       attorney, 1129 Parkland Towers East, Dearborn,               Evolutionism is reaping a harvest unforeseen when
       Michigan 48126. (313) 336-9290.                              Darwin first suggested this theory of the origin of
  It is estimated that there are about 60 children                  the species.
living in this country as of 1983 who were born in                     Yet some theologians, some even found in the
this way.                                                           evangelical camp, also support these techniques -
  There are, of course, variations of this method.                  although often with various limitations; and they


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                          153



do so on the basis of Scripture. They appeal most          rather carelessly with the remark that people who
often to levirate  marriages (Deut. 255) and the ex-       react so vehemently against these practices are only
ample of Abraham and Hagar when Abraham and                reflecting their own narrow and legalistic back-
Sarah's desire for a child led them to make use of         ground; that the very fact that they cannot give
Hagar as a means to obtain offspring.                      coherent and intelligent reasons why these things
  It seems to me that almost spontaneously the             are wrong is proof that such reactions are only gut
child of God, aware of what Scripture teaches con-         feelings which have not basis in the Word of God.
cerning morality in general and marriage and pro-            Nevertheless, we must not so easily shrug aside
creation in particular, reacts against all this.           these feelings. It is true that we ought to give in-
Perhaps he, if pressed, is not able to give specific       telligent and understandable reasons from the
reasons why these practices are wrong, and he may          Word of God why these things are wrong; but the
even find himself the loser in a debate with some-         fact is nevertheless, that when the moral sensibili-
one glib of speech and more knowledgeable than he          ties of God's people are shocked, we ought to sit up
in these rather strange areas of Christian life. But       and take notice. The moral sense which has
he senses immediately that these things are wrong,         developed in them over the years is a moral sense
contrary to the will of God, and involve those who         which has been sharpened and honed by a study of
practice them in disobedience. There is, I think, a        Scripture and many years of seeking in Scripture
natural repugnance, a sharp distaste, a moral hor-         the answers to life's problems. The people of God
ror even, at the thought of doing these things. His        often have a moral sensibility which theologians
moral senses are attacked and his moral sen-               lack.
sibilities are abused.                                       But we must look more closely at this and at the
  We might be inclined to shrug these feelings off         pertinent Biblical data in a later article.
THE DAY OF SHADOWS
John A. Heys





                          An Appropriate Approach



   The first time that God called Jonah to go to           side upon them. It is credited with having 1500
Nineveh (Jonah  1:2), but also the second time that        towers which were 200 feet high. But we can take
He called him to preach there (Jonah  3:2), God            the Word of God for it that it was a great city in
called Nineveh "that great city". In fact in the           size. Great it also was in the judgment and evalua-
Hebrew we read "a great city to God". The idea un-         tion of men in that day. It was THE city of that day
doubtedly is that it was exceedingly great in com-         and age.
parison with other cities in that day. We cannot be          We must not, however, get the impression that
sure of the exact measurements, but it may have            this caused Jonah to fear going there and preaching
had a million or more citizens. Jonah  4:ll reveals        what God had bidden him to preach. He did not
that there were in it 120,000 little children too          flee to Tarshish because he was afraid of the
young to discern yet between their right and their         Ninevites. We are expressly told in Jonah  1:3 that
left hands. It is claimed that the city was 60 miles in    he rose up to flee "from the presence of the Lord".
circumference, had walls that were 100 feet high           It was not because of what he feared the Ninevites
and wide enough for three chariots to ride side by         might do to him, but rather because he feared what
                                                           God would do through his preaching. It is certainly
John A. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant      true that it was a dangerous undertaking for Jonah
Reformed Churches.                                         to go there and preach the message given him. But


154                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



he needed no visa to get into the city. We may be         ing to be overthrown; and that only those therein
sure that he did not need to go through immigration       who repent and flee from their sins are going to
and custom inspection and state his reason for com-       escape the awful wrath of God. Not only was
ing and how long he intended to stay in that city.        Nineveh a great city, but also a city of great wicked-
But to "cry against it; for their wickedness" (Jonah      ness. Not only is this present world far greater than
1:2) and to publish throughout the city "yet forty        Nineveh; it is also a world of greater wickedness.
days and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (Jonah 3:4)           Now the book of Jonah does not in very much
was something its citizens would not like to hear.        detail list or describe the wickedness that came up
Could he expect the authorities through their police      before God out of Nineveh. We do read in Jonah 353
or soldiers to silence him by capture, by expelling       that the king passed a decree that all must turn
him, or even by death? That was not Jonah's con-          from their "evil ways, and from the violence that is
cern when he was called the first time. It certainly      in their hands". But if we go to the book of Nahum,
was not now after the second call. His experiences        we get a clearer picture of Nineveh. In Nahum
as to what God could do to him, after that terrible       3:1-4 we read, "Woe to the bloody city! It is all full
storm, and being cast into the belly of hell, revealed    of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not . . . .
clearly to him that there was far more to fear, as far    Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the
as God is concerned, than men of flesh and blood.         wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts,
  Now that it was a great city, and was labelled as       that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and
such by God Himself, does bring out a point we            families through her witchcraft." From all this it is
must not overlook. Man may reach amazing                  plain that Nineveh broke the first and second tables
heights, as far as earthly standards are concerned;       of God's law left and right.
and he may become very great in the judgment of             And when you consider all the crime in the
men and in their estimation; but, if he walks in sin,     world today, all the sabbath desecrations, false doc-
he can expect God to overthrow him. Earthly               trines which also are witchcraft, the defense and
wealth and grandure, becoming very numerous               protection of homosexuals  - repeating the sins of
and affluent, mean nothing before the holy wrath          Sodom and Gomorrah that called for fire and
of the holy God Who by sin is defied and denied.          brimstone - and millions of abortion murders, one
  Let the truth of the day of shadows speak to us         wonders whether the modern Nineveh of this
today. Man has today attained to much more than           world has forty years yet before it is overthrown!
Nineveh had in Jonah's day. In the field of science
and technology; in man's conquest of space, that            Bearing all these things in mind we ought to see
moves him to boast of having walked on the moon           that it is an appropriate approach when God gives
and of coming back home safely; in the innumer-           Jonah these words to preach to the Ninevites: "Yet
able multitude of labor-saving devices, which seem        forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown". That
to have removed from mankind the curse to a very          was not a message Jonah concocted because he did
great extent, and God's word that in the sweat of         not want the city to be spared. We may believe, and
our brows we would have to toil for food and drink,       must believe, that God gave Jonah that message.
living in cities that have skyscrapers Nineveh could      Yes, God gave him more to preach. He surely did
never have built; in the midst of all the comforts        not preach only eight words. In fact in the Hebrew
and conveniences we know today; does it not seem          it is only four words. No, we need to know much
as though man will some day escape the holy wrath         more. The sinner must know that it is God Who is
of God and nullify the curse?                             coming with punishment, and that He comes with
                                                          this overthrow because of sin. The Ninevites must
  Do not for one split second think that! Modern          know that the earthquake, or fire and brimstone -
Nineveh is going to be overthrown. The Nineveh of         as was the case in the overthrow of Sodom and
the Antichrist will bring pleasure to mankind un-         Gomorrah  - the pestilence or invading army is
heard of yet today. And although that Antichrist's        God's tool and comes because of His holy wrath.
kingdom will make Nineveh look sick and weak              They must know that the overthrow is because
and tiny, the day is ahead of us when it will be          "their wickedness is come up before" Him.
overthrown. Though it is not widely published,
cancer is on the increase. The recent story of what         It is quite possible that they recognized Jonah by
happened in the Russian nuclear power plant,              his clothes, facial features, and speech, to be a Jew,
sending cancer-producing gases around the whole           and thus one from the nation that worshipped
world, reveals that God is not mocked. Acid rain,         Jehovah. They may have seen him as a representa-
which man does not seem able to stop or control,          tive of this God Who had done such wondrous
likewise brings cancer to mankind and death to            works for Abraham's seed in the past. Nevertheless
God's plant world. And we are the Jonahs of today         they have to know their sinfulness in His sight and
who must cry out that the present Nineveh's are go-       that this woe is coming because of their guilt. As


                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                             155



sinners they were not living in the consciousness of    contrast He makes in His Parable of The Pharisee
their evil, and considered themselves blest by their    and the Publican! The Pharisee saw no sin, and
idols. And because Jonah is sent to warn the elect      therefore no need of Christ and of God's mercy.
and to bring them to repentance, God would see to       The publican saw nothing but sin. Our King James
it that they in the preaching have Him presented,       Version does not bring this out as clearly as the
and their sin against Him condemned in no uncer-        Greek. But, whereas the Greek uses the definite ar-
tain terms.                                             ticle  the very seldom, it is used by Jesus here, and
  That this also happened is evident from the           the  publican smites his breast, hangs his head in
decree of the king. He not only mentions God as the     shame, and cries out, "God be merciful to me the
one - He uses the name Elohim - Who will over-          sinner." He saw the need of mercy. He realized that
throw Nineveh, but he also points to the sin of         he deserved the torments of hell. Repentance, sor-
these Ninevites as not only the reason for that         row for sin, seeking salvation where it may be
punishment, but as that which deserves such an          found, demands a clear and unquestionable aware-
overthrow.                                              ness of guilt before God. And without that misery
                                                        of knowing how sinful we are, the cross has no
  And the tragedy is that so little is said today       meaning. Yea, not seeing their sin, the chief priests
about sin in the preaching. The approach of those       committed the further sin of crucifying the Son of
who call themselves evangelists is that God loves       God.
everybody. On bumper stickers too there is the in-
correct statement: "Smile, God loves you." It             When God, before man sinned, said that sin
would be well if we would instead read wherever         would bring forth death, Satan said, "No, it will im-
we go, "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of      prove man's lot, for he will become like God." And
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,"     even as God still says that the wages of sin is death,
Romans 6:23. And do you note that Paul's approach       Satan assures man that sin will benefit him. And
is sin and its worthiness of punishment? Then, too,     the sad truth is that today we hardly ever hear of
did God come to fallen Adam and Eve shouting, "I        hell and damnation. Instead, many churches deny
love you! I love you! Come and get salvation?" Not      it and call it a sin to believe that the God Who is
at all. He first made them painfully aware of their     love would maintain a place like that!
guilt. In fact before there was any sin in the world      Churches there are also who would not think of
yet, He warned righteous man and spelled out            reading God's law to the congregation during the
clearly what sin would bring. And even as God's         worship services. That is inappropriate, since we
approach to fallen Adam and Eve was appropriate         are under grace and not under the law. But they
- very fitting and served their appreciation of the     will place throughout their buildings signs reading,
promise of The Seed of the woman, Who would             "No Smoking"; and they will mark off parking
deliver us from the power and dominion of Satan -       places for the handicapped. Yes, man may have
so He gave Jonah a message to preach that fit the       laws and insist that they be kept. But the unchange-
situation perfectly and served to bring the elect to    able God Who wrote the law in stone with His
repentance. He sent Jonah with a warning in order       finger can change and drop that law; and it is so in-
to work a turning away from sin and unto Himself.       appropriate to speak words about displeasing Him.
That is why all that is pointed out to us and pre-      Speak only of His love.
served here in Holy Writ about Jonah's preaching          Yet God's approach through Jonah is as appro-
are those words, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall      priate today as it was in Jonah's day. It worked then
be destroyed". But we may believe that he said          and brought repentance and the enjoyment of sal-
more, and that he was even questioned for further       vation. And if we do not know God's law, we can-
knowledge by some of the elect in the city. After       not know His Son as our Saviour. Nor can we see
all, although Jonah wanted Nineveh destroyed, and       any reason for and need for His cross. And we will
was even angry when the city was spared because         not know the love which He reveals in Scripture.
of a goodly number of converts, God sent him there
to work repentance and gave him the preaching
that he must preach in order that this repentance
would be realized.                                          The Standard Bearer
  Take Jesus Himself in His preaching as an exam-
ple. Was He forever shouting how much God loves          makes a thoughtful gift
everyone? Was He trying to get through to the
Scribes and Pharisees how much God loved them
and invited them to come and get salvation? Do we         for the sick or shut-in!
not find Him constantly in every contact with these
self-righteous Jews pointing out their sins? What a


156                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



                                 "Good Morning, Alice"
                                                    Gise J. Van Buren





   Communication can sometimes approach the ab-                  At times, communication by spelling could prove
surd. One notices this especially when part of this            almost too slow. Once, Alice indicated a need to use
communication is carried on with a spelling-card.              the toilet. The canvas of the lift was adjusted
Alice often insisted on spelling out something                 carefully under her. Slowly she was raised to a sit-
which, subsequently to us, seemed utterly unim-                ting position and then lifted from the bed. As she
portant  - especially for a person in her position.            was swinging in the air, Alice tried to say some-
On one occasion, she expressively kept looking                 thing which we couldn't understand. So we
across the room. Obviously, she wanted to tell us              stopped half-way between the bed and her destina-
something. All kinds of questions could not arrive             tion. Was her arm pinched? "No", she shook her
at the problem. So we took out the spelling-card.              head. Was her leg pinched? Frantically she  sig-
Slowly she spelled out: d-r-a-p-e. A  .glance across           nailed  "NO!" Was she seated properly in the lift?
the room quickly showed that the drape was not                 More frantically: "Yes!" Should we get the spelling
hanging quite right. A little adjustment was made,             card? Desperately, she shook her head, "NO!"
and Alice was happy again.                                     Finally, it dawned on us: "You have to `go' very
Good Morning Alice:                                            badly! ' ' With relief she emphatically nodded,
                                                               "YES!" We hurried!
   Like David in many of his Psalms, Paul here tells of
how he has lived in faith. I really can't understand how       Good Morning Alice:
they can talk that way, can you? It just seems I
wouldn't dare say I have fought a good fight when I              Did I ever talk to you about understanding who our
know how many times I've failed. My sin is in me and           enemies are? It doesn't really matter to the beauty of
with me until I die - how can I say, I have kept the           this text, but I often wonder when we take an O.T.
faith?                                                         verse and apply it to ourselves - who is the enemy?
   I don't know if I'm right or not, but I think Paul is         For David or Isaiah it was real nations - wicked
speaking here of the new man in him, like in IJohn 3:9         people; but who is it for us? Is it our own sin, or wicked-
where John says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not            ness around us or what? Do you know what I mean?
commit sin - because he is born of God. Anyway, the              Anyway the first part of this text (Deut. 33:27) is
verse does give us something to think about and strive         wonderfully  clear.
for.                                                             The eternal God is Thy refuge and underneath are
   Verse 8 is a most beautiful and comforting verse.           the everlasting arms.
That crown of righteousness is laid up for all those who         The eternal God, my God, is my refuge, the place of
love His appearing.                                            safety to which I can always flee for safety from sin,
   The question I have to ask myself is: "Do I love His        safety from hurt, from depression, from fear. And then
appearing?'                                                    the text says, `and underneath are the everlasting
  It is easy to say I do, but if I really do, I would love     arms. " We not only may flee to Him, but we may
the way He "appears" now too! Do I love to hear Him            always know that He is holding us up with everlasting
in the preaching? Do I love to hear Him in His Word?           arms. His comfort is there forevermore to hold us up to
Do I read it often or only now and then?                       keep us from whatever that enemy may be.
  If I long for that wonderful day, then I must be                                              In His love, Your friend
preparing for it in this day.                                  Please read: Ruth 1:16-17
                                    With love, Your friend       Alice paid close attention to details. Nothing
Please read Deut. 33:27                                        seemed to escape her attention. One day she was
                                                               clearly very upset. She had many knick-knacks col-
                                                               lected over many years from many places  - too
Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed         many things, we kept telling her. Now she looked
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.                               insistently in the direction of one of the shelves on


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        157



 which these were placed. We noticed nothing                        but what they say to us if we really read them and seek
 wrong. Finally, on her card she spelled:  m-i-s-s-                 to understand the full meaning for our life is much more
 i-n-g! Someone had moved one of the objects. But                   than that.
 who? Several days later, and after many accusing                     I really should have started with verse 4 because
 glances by Alice at various members of the family                  that's where the sentence begins.
 in turn, the object was discovered. Someone had
 packed it up while dusting, thinking it would be                     Grace and peace come to us from our eternal God
 better off from the shelf. The object was replaced,                and from Jesus Who is of God the Father, raised first
 to Alice's great relief. Alice wanted things to remain             from the dead, now ruling over all the nations of this
 unchanged. It was almost as though she had con-                    world. Unto Him Who loved us, died on the cross to
 vinced herself that life could continue unchanged if               wash us clean from every sin we commit, and by Whose
 everything about one remained the same.                            sacrifice we are also made kings unto God, to Him be
                                                                    glory and dominion forever and ever. And we know
 Good Morning Alice:                                                that He will reign forever. Amen. So will it be.
   Did it ever strike you how Ruth could leave every-                 If only we had time to spend really meditating on all
 thing behind her as she did?                                       verses in Scripture and be able to know what beautiful
   Naomi actually tried to convince her to go back to               message they bring us, we would truly be closer to God.
 her own people and her own gods. But God was moving                                                    With love, Your friend
 so graciously in her heart that all desire for those old
 wicked ways was replaced by a desire to be with the                Please read Heb. 12:l
 people of God.                                                       Little things, the routine things, meant much to
   No matter how strong her natural desire for her own              Alice. She had always taken great pride in the ap-
 family was, her new desire for God and His people was              pearance of her hair. It was a lovely silvery-white.
 now stronger.                                                      Always, she had had it washed and set weekly. She
                                                                    continued to have this done during her illness. One
   It's often that way with people God regenerates and              of the last times she went out to have this done was
 converts as adults. They have so much more zeal for                a week before Christmas. It didn't matter that she
 God's Kingdom than we who have been blessed with a                 couldn't get out much anymore, her hair had to
 childhood under a Christian parent.                                look "nice". And since she had always done it this
   Ruth's confession should really make us stop and                 way, she insisted on doing it still.
 think - how much do I desire God's Kingdom? Enough                 Good Morning Alice:
 to willfully give over my sinful desires and press on with
 the spiritually sensitive children of God around me, or              This verse will always mean something special to me.
 am I remaining in the Moab of my willful sin?                 I think it's always that way when you share a verse with
                                                               someone else, or someone else shares it with you.
                                   With love, Your friend             Maybe that's why writing to you has meant so much
 Please read Rev. 1:5-6                                             to me.
   Alice had enjoyed attending evening church serv-                   One time I stopped at the home of a couple who had
 ices as long as she could get out in her wheelchair.          gone through a tragedy and I knew were having a difi
 She enjoyed meeting the people at church even                 ficult time. I had no idea what I was going to do or say,
 when she could no longer speak. But the time now                   but I just felt I wanted to go.
 came when it was no longer possible for her to be
 out and to sit that long, But a direct phone hook-up                 Well, I got there and they were at the table together
 to church with an amplifier enabled her to hear the           sharing the comfort of this verse. I will never forget it
 services in bed. She enjoyed that and could hear                   because as so often happens, I was spiritually uplifted
 clearly everything that was said and sung.                         instead of helping them.
 Good Morning Alice:                                                  This is what the verse says to me: because God has
                                                               surrounded us with the wonderful examples of the
   These verses are so beautiful! You know, I find that             tremendous faith of so many of His children, we can
 more and more. When you read a longer passage                 and must in faith, set aside any burden we have, and
 (which you have to first to get the right meaning) you        push away that sin of not trusting in God's promises,
just get a light idea of the beauty of it. It's only when      and with patience day by day live our lives true to Him.
" you spend time with a couple of verses and read them
 over and over, that it really speaks to you of the beauty                                             In His love, Your friend
 and comfort that is there in them.                            Please read Ps. 46:l Oa
   These verses tell us, just reading over them, that          I                                                               I
Jesus loved us and died for us, and makes us kings and         1 Read the Standard Bearer!  )
 priests unto God. That's what the verses speak about,         I


158                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE
Herman Veldman





                           The Apostles' Creed (10)



   The truth of the providence of God is not men-          Things are as and because the Lord knows them. In
tioned in our Apostles' Creed. This, however, does         the Arminian sense the Lord simply knows and
not mean that this conception must therefore not           sees beforehand, things are not as and because the
be maintained by the church of God and by us.              Lord knows them, but the Lord knows them as and
There are also other truths that are not mentioned         because they are. God, of course, is the sovereign,
in this creed, truths such as the Trinity, divine pre-     unconditional Cause and Worker of all things. All
destination (election and reprobation), the depravi-       things are not only made but also upheld and
ty of the sinner, the preaching of the gospel and the      governed by His eternal will and counsel. This
sacraments as the means of grace, etc. This truth,         truth a truly Reformed man will always maintain
although not mentioned in this creed, is surely im-        with all that is in him.
plied in it. Our Heidelberg Catechism, mentioning            Secondly, what a tremendous difference one
this truth in Lord's Day 9 and devoting an entire          word can make. We read at the conclusion of
Lord's Day to it (Lord's Day 10) is surely not in er-      Answer 27: "yea, and all things come not by chance
ror when treating this subject as it does. That God        but by His fatherly hand." What a difference it is,
created all things surely implies. that He also            at the end of this answer, when we read the word
upholds all things.                                        "divine" instead of "fatherly." That the Lord
  In this connection we wish to make a few                 causes all things to come into being by His divine
preliminary observations. First, the word or term          hand applies to the ungodly as well as to the godly.
providence  is not scriptural. The only place where        However, there is nothing particularly comforting
the word occurs is Acts 24:2, and there the word is        about this. The thought that God, the living God,
used as applied to Felix, the Roman governor of            the Wholly-Other, is God alone, Who always seeks
Judea. This fact itself, however, need not discredit       and maintains Himself, rules over all things, such
the word as far as its being used by us is concerned.      as herbs, grass, rain and drought, etc. . . .  ., is for
Fact is, other terms we use, such as Trinity and at-       the wicked a most frightening thought because this
tributes, are not scriptural either. What is more          means that in all things God is against them. Then
serious is that we may well question the correct-          nothing is for them. But if we change the word
ness, propriety of the term itself. The word prov-         "divine" into "fatherly" and read this answer as
idence means literally, "foresight, to see before          we have it in Lord's Day 10, then this answer
hand." We use the word provide, provision, in that         becomes most wonderful, because it is then my
sense. Looking into the future, considering the            heavenly Father Who is always caring and pro-
future, we then make the necessary provisions.             viding for me, in rain and in drought, in health and
God, however, is not simply characterized by fore-         in sickness, in prosperity and in adversity, in and
sight in the sense that He knows and sees the things       through all things. This is the comfort of the prov-
beforehand. It is true that Scripture speaks of God's      idence of God.
foresight. In Scripture God's foresight is creative.         It is because of the providence of God that we,
                                                           according to the beginning of Answer 28 are patient
Herman Veldman is a minister emeritus in the Protestant    in adversity and thankful in prosperity. Our
Reformed Churches.                                         Heidelberg Catechism defines the providence of


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                              159



God as the almighty and everywhere present power            we must expect of this world as well as its end. Ini-
of God whereby, as it were by His hand, He                  quity will abound, the means and forces of this
upholds and governs heaven and earth and all                world will be pressed into the service of ungodli-
creatures. And then,, after asking in Question 28:          ness, and the faithful will be few and will have no
"What advantage is it to us to know that God has            standing room in the midst of the .world. All crea-
created, and by His providence doth still uphold all        tion is under the curse of God, and the creature is in
things?" we read that we may be patient in adversi-         the bondage of corruption and subject to vanity.
ty and thankful in prosperity.                              There simply is no material in this world for a
   How far short we fall of this! Indeed, we know           perfected kingdom of God. This view denies the an-
the truth so well. How well we know that God's              tithesis, according to which everything is being
power is almighty and everywhere present. How               worked out by God in this world along the lines of
well we know, in times of heat and cold, that both          election and reprobation. Instead of all things
are of the Lord. How well we know in times of               developing toward the kingdom of God and of His
storm and tornado that we are in God's hand. How            Christ, all the forces and institutions of this world
well we know in times of sickness and death that            are especially being used by the forces of evil for
the Lord has given and that He takes away. How              the realization of the kingdom of the antichrist, and
well we know that all crop failures, wars and               the danger is great that the latter may be viewed as
rumours  of wars are controlled and directed by the         the kingdom of God. And instead of improving
Lord Who does all things according to His                   with all its boasted culture and civilization, the
sovereign will and purpose. Should the Lord take            world is characterized by corruption, apostasy,
from us our dear one and we are asked whether the           hatred, war, and destruction more than ever
Lord has done this, there would be none among us            before.  Indead of improving, things are ever
who would answer in the negative. Indeed, we                becoming worse.
know all this so well. And yet, how little we ex-             Secondly, God's providence (and we must also
perience this truth! Of course, the doctrine of crea-       reject this) is viewed as maintaining a sort of inter-
tion demands the doctrine of God's providence.              val period. This view presents God's providence as
This doctrine, we have observed, is not mentioned           a matter of common grace. According to this con-
in this Apostles' Creed. However, the fact that God         ception the Lord maintains His original creative or-
made all things means that all things are dependent         dinance. The Lord had commanded Adam to dress
upon Him and can therefore continue to exist only           and to keep the garden, as His covenant friend and
by God's continuous providence. God's creation              co-worker. It was man's calling to cultivate the
means that all things are called into existence by          earth and all its fulness, to employ all its powers
the irresistible word of God's power. God's prov-           and gifts and talents as the servant of God, to ex-
idence also implies this mighty word of God's               plore and develop and bring to light the hidden
power. It means that the same divine power causes           wonders of the universe, and thus to bring the
all things to continue to exist. But why do we ex-          world to its highest possible perfection. This was
perience this so little? It is because of our carnality,    the original creation ordinance of God. And now
because all afflictions, etc., are contrary to our car-     the Lord maintains this original creation ordinance
nal pleasure and desires.                                   by His common grace. Satan attempts to destroy
  What is the basic purpose of the providence of            this present world, deprive God of the glory of His
God? First of all, this purpose is certainly not to         Name, would frustrate this plan of God (when, I
realize the kingdom of God in the postmillenarian           ask you, does the devil attempt to destroy this
sense. According to this theory history, then, finds        world? It is this world which he would exactly
its meaning in the gradual development of all things        preserve and maintain.) But now the Lord inter-
in the direction of the kingdom of God upon the             venes with His common grace, checks the power of
earth. In the development of the present world and          sin in man, exerts a good influence upon man,
of human culture and civilization the kingdom of            enables him to do much good in the world, and
God is gradually coming and being realized until            thus continues to maintain His original creation or-
the kingdom of this world shall have become the             dinance or idea. Man continues to function as a
kingdom of God and of His Christ. God's govern-             cultural being, busies himself in culture, develops
ment of this world is such that it leads to the goal of     himself and all things, all the powers of the earth,
the perfected kingdom of God. Think of all the em-          strives to make this world a better place in which to
phasis today upon a social gospel, also as advocated        live. And this is also the social gospel which is mak-
in Reformed churches, to make this world a better           ing increasing headway also in the church world to-
place in which to live. What an impossible view! It         day.
is completely contrary to what Scripture every-               This view, too, is impossible. First of all, as we
where holds before us in regard to the development          have already remarked, the devil certainly never at-


160                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



tempts to destroy this world, to plunge it into ruin               who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
and chaos. What he did attempt was to gain this                    that in all things He might have the preeminence.
world for himself and make it his kingdom with                     For it pleased the Father that in Him should all
Adam as its head, ruling it as his representative,                 fulness dwell." What a potent, wonderful passage
even as the Antichrist will presently represent the                this is! We should note the following. Christ is
devil. Secondly, it surely was never God's intention               before all things. The apostle here is speaking of the
to maintain an original creation ordinance or idea.                eternal Son of God but as according to His human
The Lord never retraces His steps, does not simply                 nature, inasmuch as He is the Head of the Church.
maintain what once was. We refer the reader to                     That He is before all things is true as in God's
that passage which we have quoted several times in                 counsel, inasmuch as, historically, He is not before
the past, namely Ephesians 1:9-10. Here we read                    all things but was born in the fulness of time. And it
that it was the mystery of God's will to gather                    pleased the Father that in Him should all the
together all things in Christ, and therefore not                   fulness dwell, and that all things were created by
simply to maintain an original creation ordinance                  Him and for Him. The Lord does not simply
or idea. And potent is surely what we read in Colos-               preserve an original creation ordinance or idea, but
sians  1:15-19: "Who is the image of the invisible                 all things occur, including sin, to serve the Christ.
God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him                   God would glorify Himself in the highest possible
were all things created, that are in heaven and that               way, in the way of sin and grace. This is supralap-
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be               sarianism? It is and it is surely in harmony with the
thrones, or dominions, or principalitiks, or powers:               Word of God.
all things were created by Him, and for Him: And                     The Lord willing, we will continue with this
He is before all things, and by Him all things con-                wonderful truth of the scriptures in our following
sist. And He is the head of the body, the church:                  article.
GUEST ARTICLE
Ronald J. Van Overloop





                     Why Missions and Evangelism



  (The thought patterns of this article are unashamedly based      the command does not move us as we ought to be
on an excellent book, which I would highly recommend all           moved. Even the spiritual poverty of the pagan will
readers to obtain and read. It is A Vision For Missions, by Tom    not so inspire as we ought to be inspired, though it
Wells, The Banner Of Truth Trust, 1985.)                           might move us for a while. And the growth of our
   Evangelism and mission work are conducted and                   own church or mission is often selfishly motivated.
performed for a variety of reasons. Evangelism is
performed because God and Jesus command that it                       We need a grander reason and motivation. The
be done. Also there is the need for the gospel on the              Scriptures give us the grander perspective we need,
part of those who are the object of the work. And,                 to perform evangelism and mission work as con-
thirdly, this work is performed so that one's church               stantly and consistently as we ought, and in the
or mission station can grow.                                       manner that we ought. That perspective is that we
   None of the above given reasons are really suffi-               do this work especially because God is worthy to be
cient or completely adequate as to why evangelism                  known and praised and proclaimed for who and
and mission work should be a constant activity on                  what He is.
the part of any church. The shame for not obeying                     Psalm 67: l-3 is a clear proof. This is a prayer that


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                             161



God reveal Himself to His church, with the result            bor is not, is because of something in God, not in
that they will know Him better. The reason for this          me; He sought me. If the minister or missionary or
request: that God's way may be known upon the                believer would look to God, Who has chosen a
earth, and His saving health be known among all              multitude, the number of which is more than the
nations (vs. 2). Believers make the request to know          sand upon the seashore, then he can take courage.
God better, so that they might proclaim Him. The             This God is worthy to be known and proclaimed for
third verse gives the result, namely, that all the peo-      Who He is.
ple praise God.                                                Consider God's perfect knowledge and wisdom.
   That God is worthy of being known and then                He knows everything about the physical world, in-
proclaimed for who and what He is in Himself, is             cluding Satan and his host. He knows everything in
the central theme of the whole Bible. "Thou art              the spiritual realm. And all His knowledge is ac-
worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and               companied with perfect wisdom. He is ever at work
power" (Rev. 4: 11). The Westminster Shorter                 in His world, seeking His own glory and the good of
Catechism catches and expresses this well in its             His people in the best possible way. Only this  all-
first question and answer: "What is the chief end of         wise God is worthy to be known and proclaimed.
man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to en-             God is worthy to be known and proclaimed in
joy Him for ever." Every page of the Bible shows             His righteousness. He is the perfect standard of
God's worthiness to be known and praised and pro-            right, there being no measure that stands over or
claimed.                                                     next to Him with which we can compare Him.
   This being the case, the basic responsibility any         Even His acts of judgment are glorious because
church, missionary, or individual Christian has              they reveal His justice and righteousness. His
toward the need to proclaim God is the increasing            righteous acts give us a glimpse of His glory. He is
of our knowledge of God Himself. The more we                 worthy to be known and proclaimed.
know God the more we will not only see the need                Consider, finally, God's covenant faithfulness.
to proclaim Him, but also the way in which we                This attribute means that we can trust God to keep
should proclaim Him. Our knowledge of the God                His Word; our trust rests on His trustworthiness.
we proclaim is going to have a profound effect on            No God-sent missionary is a failure, for Jesus is the
our motivation for, attitude about, approach to, and         victorious Prince. This God is worthy to be known,
methods for this work.                                       served, followed, and proclaimed for Who He is.
   In order to see this point, consider some of God's          God is best known in the Person and work of the
attributes.                                                  Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we can see best just how
   God's Self-sufficiency means that there is                worthy God is to be known, praised and pro-
nothing that God needs. He is never frustrated. He           claimed. In Jesus the glory of the Father is best
does not need us to carry out His plans. Knowing             seen. At the cross we confront the highest and
this fact determines what kind of Christians we are          clearest revelation of God's righteousness and love.
and the kind of witness we leave. The salvation of           Just a moment's meditation of Jesus makes it ob-
men is not to benefit Him, but ourselves. He does            vious that God is worthy to be known and pro-
not NEED us. That He saves men and uses them to              claimed.
proclaim the gospel is not necessity on His part, but          God is great! Therefore, He is worthy of praise. It
grace. Also he is not a helpless God, but Sovereign.         is the knowledge of God that enables us to serve
   Consider the sovereignty of God's power. He has           Him, to proclaim Him, and to praise Him.
the right and power to assert His pleasure. Joseph             Therefore those who know God are equipped to
saw God's sovereign control of unwitting servants,           proclaim Him. And those who know God best are
so that they carried out His purposes. The fact that         the best equipped to serve Him and to tell of Him.
David knew God was in control even of his enemy              To the degree that we have learned God, we are
(II Samuel  16:lO) made God worthy of being                  equipped to serve and proclaim this glorious God.
known and proclaimed for what He does. The mis-                The most important and practical consequence
sionary knows that nothing can stand in the way of           of this is that we fill our minds and hearts with
God's gospel. And he knows that even that which              thoughts of God. Most of modern evangelism em-
seems detrimental will be used by God for the                phasizes the need of zeal for men. In such circles
spiritual benefit of His Church.                             we rarely hear of the glorious privilege of knowing
   Consider the sovereignty of God's grace. That He          God and of making Him known. Although the Bible
saves any, and that I am a Christian and my                  knows of man's needs, the Great Commission says
            L                                      neigh-
Ronald J. Van Overloop  is a missionary-pastor of the        nothing of what men need. Its emphasis is dif-
Protestant Reformed Churches in the Northwest Chicago        ferent. This does not mean that man's needs are
area.                                                        unimportant. Rather the Bible takes another  view-


162                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



point, namely, that man's needs are not first. The        sovereign determination and control of all things
gospel must be presented in such a way that the           does not make us passive nor lethargic. It is not
convert does not ask, "What is in it for me?" but,        God's decrees or providence, but His commands,
"How can I best have the joy of knowing Jesus and         which are the Christian's rule for life.
how can I act accordingly?"                                 We must find our inspiration in God's character,
  To the degree that we know God, it is not only          not in our successes. This is true, of course, not on-
true that we can make God known, but it is also           ly in the work of evangelism, missions, and
true that we must make Him known. This is not as          witnessing, but also in every sphere of life. This is
difficult as it sounds, but the supreme passion of        true for the housewife, student, employer and
those who know God is to declare God's glory and          employee, the rich and poor. We must burn in-
to praise Him from Whom all blessings flow. It is         wardly at the thought of God's glory, for then we
our personal knowledge of God that inspires us and        will not burn out in His service.
moves us, that drives us to obedience to His com-           It is always easy to criticize others' evangelism.
mands.                                                    But, as is always the case, criticism is also a call. It
  The better we know God the more we will be              reminds us to deepen our own knowledge of God,
praying. Our knowledge of God makes it plain that         to search the Scriptures, and to testify of Christ. To
the outcome is solely up to our sovereign God.            mine the Bible's treasures is our life's work, and to
When Jesus spoke of the great need for missionary         find our satisfaction in God is our goal. Let us pray
laborers to gather in the plenteous. harvest, He          and learn: otherwise our criticism is little more
made plain that their first responsibility was to pray    than hot wind.
to the Lord of the harvest. These prayers are not on-       If we love our Savior, let us seek to know Him
ly that He will provide the missionaries, but also        and to make Him known.
that He will provide the harvest, the fruit upon the
labors.                                                     Those who know Him best are the best equipped
                                                          to make Him known, for it is the knowledge of God
  Our knowledge of God will spur us to action.            Himself and of the Jesus He sent which is the
Contrary to the false charge of some and to the evil      grandest vision for missions.
practice of others, the knowledge of God's
GUEST ARTICLE
Robert C. Harbach





                                   Jesus' Blood Shed


  At the institution of the Lord's Supper, Jesus had      ble. In our churches, and we say it humbly, you
spoken these words, "For this is My blood of the          hear prayers exalting Christ crucified. Those same
new testament which is shed for many, for the             prayers express our earnest desire to walk even as
remission of sins" (Matt. 26:28). He could speak of       He walked, and also express the church's longing
His blood as already shed, for He is the fore-            for the coming of the Lord. In the preaching you
ordained "Lamb slain before the foundation of the         hear but one theme - Jesus Christ and Him cruci-
world." John the Baptist did too, introducing Jesus       fied. So we preach, though this be to the Jews a
not only prospectively but actually taking (bearing)      stumbling block, and to the heathen foolishness;
away the sin of the world (Jn.  1:29).                    for to those being saved and added to the church
  How do we speak of the blood of Christ? In the          daily, it is the wisdom and power of God!
Modernist churches it is spoken of as little as possi-      Its  VitaZ Importance. The words "My blood" have


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                    163



much more meaning than merely to signify Christ's             ture calls that blood the blood of God (Acts 20:28).
death. Death may occur without any blood being                Scripture also bears out the fact that the covenant
shed. There are modern New Testaments which                   h a s   i t s   o r i g i n ,   g r o u n d ,   f o u n d a t i o n ,   a n d
change the familiar reading, "in whom we have                 maintenance from the side of God alone. On that
redemption through His  bZood"  (Eph.  1:7) to, "For          side we take our stand.
by the death of Christ we are set free" (cp. Today's             God's part in the covenant stands absolutely
English Version). This is a false and perverted               sure, having this seal, "The Lord knoweth them
translation, especially when the words "the blood"            that are His." Our part in the covenant, which is to
are found to be omitted some sixteen times. The               depart from iniquity and live in all godliness, is
word  death  is used instead. But although Jesus gave         guaranteed by Jesus its Mediator and Surety. He,
Himself up to death, even the death of the cross, He          through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
died by the shedding of His blood. Therefore, in our          makes you "perfect in every good work to do His
"Form for the Administration of the Lord's                    will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in
Supper" (p. 60) we retain the words, "I have given            His sight." This He pledges in His unconditional
My body to the  death  of the cross, and shed My              covenant, saying not, "If you will do your part, I
blood for you . . . ."                                        will do My part," but "I wiZZ and you shaZZ."
  Jesus commanded His remembrance in obser-                      The word  covenant  is here properly translated
vance of the Lord's Supper: "This do ye in remem-             testament, the idea being of a last will and testament
brance of Me." Then why do some Christians                    which originates only with the decree of the
neglect the sacrament (the means of grace)? Why is            Testator (Heb.  9:16, 17). Of necessity, the drawing
it that some in the church never have partaken of             up of that last will and testament is strictly
the Lord's Supper, nor prepare themselves to do so?           unilateral. So with the affixing of the seal in the
Does our faith respond to this command of Christ's            blood of the Testator. In this way alone God reveals
personally and individually?.It cannot be complied            Himself just and the justifier of the ungodly (Rom.
with by proxy, nor by an alternate in one's absence           4:5).
from the Lord's Table, nor by a substitute depu-
tized to take one's place. Each believer has personal            As we have seen, this is "the everlasting cove-
contact with the blood of Jesus, and so must come             nant." There is no other covenant. Arminians to-
personally to the Table of the Lord. Each believer            day, like the Remonstrants of old, say "everlasting"
must be able to say at His Table, "He loved me and            does not mean everlasting. They tell us that Scrip-
gave Himself for me. " We are commanded in "this              ture references to "the everlasting covenant" and
do  ye" and "drink ye," not to a funeral, but to a            to "everlasting life" point to a period to which an
festival; not to a fast, but to a feast, a thanksgiving       end may come sooner or later. Arminians, in order
feast. Why then would any saint keep from the                 to keep their enthroned idol of "Free Will," must
Lord's Table as though its spread was distasteful? Is         reject the everlastingness of Heaven! But thinking,
not the Bridegroom's dying love to us better than             especially perverted thinking, does not make it so
wine? (Song 1:2).                                             - does not make everzasting to mean no more than
                                                              something that possibly may come to an end,
  Its Covenant Connection. "This is My blood of the           sooner or later. Carry out logically the implication
new testament," or new covenant. God in His own               of this insufferable thinking and then the future of
being, in the three persons of the trinity, lives a           the impenitent wicked holds for them no "everlast-
covenant life. These three persons are three                  ing punishment."
sovereign friends of one another. The triune God
brings His people into covenant relation with Him-               Members of the covenant are not all men (it is
self, making Himself their Sovereign Friend and               not a "common grace" covenant), but those who
them His friend-servants. For the covenant relation           belong to "the great Shepherd of the sheep"; they
is a relation of friendship. The covenant itself is           are the sheep. Then how may you know that you
unilateral, one-sided, since God establishes His              are in the covenant? Do you trust alone in the
own covenant with His people, making them to be               power, of the blood to save you? Do you  want  to
of the party of God. The covenant was neither in-             believe you are one of His sheep? Then He has
itiated nor maintained by mutual agreement be-                already saved you. He will also keep you to the end
tween God and man. We are of God's party in the               and through eternity with an everlasting salvation.
covenant, and our part in it is to live a new and holy           Covenant theology gives the glory to God alone.
life of thankfulness. The covenant bears the seal of          Other theologies magnify man, perhaps man's little
the blood of the atonement. Holy and divine Scrip-            finger, or man's two cents, his boasted power to
                                                              "accept Jesus as his Savior." These other theologies
Robert C. Harbach is a minister emeritus in the Protestant    teach that it is all uncertain whether any shall be
Reformed Churches.                                            saved, it being just as possible that not one ever


164                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



come to Jesus. But covenant theology stops every                 "The blood of the new covenant is shed . . . for
mouth, lest any should boast, so that a saved person           the remission of sins." The word remission means a
gives all the glory to God. Our last mercy on earth            releasing, a release from a debt. Man owes God a
will be covenant mercy; our first mercy in heaven,             debt of obedience, which, with the Fall, he failed to
covenant mercy.                                                pay. Fallen man became morally, spiritually, and
  Its Intended  Effect.  "For this is My blood of the          totally impotent, incapable of doing any good and
new covenant, which is shed for many, for the                  inclined to all evil. This debt, in arrears by ten thou-
remission of sins." This many does not mean "all               sand talents with nothing to pay it off, could only
men as ever were, are, and ever shall be." For                 daily increase. Yet to this was added the debt of
`%zany (not all) will say'unto Me in that day, `Lord!          punishment for disobedience. Now man owes the
Lord! . .  .'  " (Matt.  722). Also, "the love of many         double debt of (1) perfect, personal, and perpetual
(not all) shall wax cold" (24: 12). Many is here used          obedience to His law, and (2) the debt of punish-
in the sense of "some." Many  is also used in ex-              ment for his fall by disobedience. He is called to ac-
clusive reference to God's own people, as in, "the             count for this double debt. For every transgression
Son of Man gave His life a ransom for  many"                   of the law shall receive a just recompense of
(20:28). Gods people are believers, and "as many as            reward, that of righteous judgment and punish-
were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48).          ment, either in the sinner himself, or in a surety
Gods people are the elect, and our great high priest           who pays the debt on his behalf. "Is there no
prays for them all, for He said in prayer to the               (other) way by which we may escape that punish-
Father, "Thou hast given Him power over all flesh              ment (that debt), and be again received into favor?
that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou            God will have His justice satisfied!" Payment must
hast given Him" (Jn. 17:2).  John Gill put it this way:        be exacted from us who owe it all. We must pay the
"the persons on whom He confers this gift are not              penalty either personally or vicariously. To do so
all men, but such as the Father in the everlasting             personally would mean to endure extreme, that is,
covenant has given to Him as His people and por-               everlasting punishment of body and soul in hell.
tion, His spouse and children, His jewels and His              Our only hope is in the double debt being paid off
treasure, to be saved and enjoyed by Him: whom                 vicariously, by our Representative, our Savior, who
He has chosen and preserved in Him, and made His               with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all
care and charge. To these, and every one of these,             our sins and delivered us from all the power of the
Christ gives this great blessing (17:2);  nor shall any        devil. In that way alone are we  reZeused  from our
of them come short of it; and it is for . , , this that all    debt. So we are not our own, but are bought with
creatures and things, all power in heaven and in               the infinitely precious price of His own blood. The
earth, are given to Him." So all through this New              debt of sin and the penalty of death are justly put
Testament dispensation He is "bringing many sons               away. The Lord cannot deny Himself or deny His
unto glory" (Heb.  2:lO). He has chosen them to                own holy nature by forgiving sin at the expense of
Glory, prepared it for them and them for it; He will           His justice. Jesus paid it all with His own life,
infallibly lead them to it!                                    blood, and death. Thus His the justice, ours the
                                                               mercy.



                                          Book Reviews

CHRISTIAN AND REFORMED TODAY,  by                              ment. The same doctrinal errors appear in this book
John Bolt; Paideia Press, 1984; 158 pp., ($6.95                which have appeared in the writings of other men
($8.95 Can.) paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko).             from the ICS. The errors set forth in the book are,
  If anyone is in any doubt that the Association for           however, important enough to discuss, though
the Advancement of Christian Studies (AACS) and                briefly, in this review. Let us trace the argument
the Institute of Christian Studies (ICS) have main-            which the book constructs.
tained their doctrinal and philosophical position                The general purpose of the book is, as the title in-
over the years, he has only to read this book; it will         dicates, to deal with the problem of what it means
soon convince him that no change of substance has              to be Christian and Reformed in today's world. The
been made in the thinking of the men in this move-             answer is given along strictly neo-Kuyperian and


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 165



Dooyeweerdian lines.                                       salvation . .  ." (p. 28. See also pp. 31, 36, 38, etc.).
  Very clearly the author must face the question at          Now this incorrect distinction is carried through
the very outset what is a definition of "Reformed."        when applied to the other Persons of the trinity. He
Here already he makes a fundamental mistake. He            makes a distinction again between the second Per-
rejects traditional ideas, such as the idea that the       son of the trinity and our Lord Jesus Christ and
truth of God's sovereignty lies at the heart of the        argues that, as the second Person of the trinity,
Reformed faith, and comes to the conclusion that,          Christ is the creation Word, while as the Son in our
"A Reformed person is  trinitarian in theology and         flesh He is Redeemer. While, in a certain sense, this
catholic  in vision." "Reformed Christianity," he          distinction is, of course, true, his conclusion is that
says "purports to be nothing more or less than             we have two callings: one cultural and the other
authentic orthodox, catholic Christianity." And he         spiritual; one dealing with the creation in which we
adds to this, "In other words Reformed Christianity        live, the other dealing with salvation and the mis-
is self-consciously non-sectarian" (pp. 20, 21). Now       sion task of the church. Between these two callings
this is simply not true in any genuinely historical        there is apparently no relation whatsoever because
sense of the term. Whether one interprets "Re-             the author repeatedly speaks of "tension" between
formed" to be all that which stands in the tradition       these two callings (cf. the whole of chapter 4 where
of the Protestant Reformation, or whether one              this matter is discussed).
speaks of "Reformed" in the more limited sense of            The same applies to the Holy Spirit. There are
that branch of the Reformation, in distinction from        two works of the Holy Spirit, one in creation and
Presbyterianism, which developed continental               one in salvation, and between these two works
federal theology, the definition of Bolt is neither        there is no discernable relationship. It is true that
historically nor theologically correct.                    the author repeatedly reminds us again that these
  But it soon turns out that he has a purpose in           two must not be separated and only distinguished,
defining Reformed Christianity in trinitarian terms,       but the fact is that he himself constantly makes
for the whole book is really based on his conception       separation and never shows us how they are
of the trinity. Yet, in his conception of the trinity      related. And so, here too the citizen of this world
too he is wrong. Rather than proceeding from the           has a twofold task  - one having to do with the
Biblical viewpoint that all the works of God are           cultural mandate and the other with salvation of
from the Father (as the triune God), by the Son (as        souls (See Chap. 5, especially pp. 81, 83).
our Lord Jesus Christ), and through the Spirit (as the       These distinctions lead quite naturally to a dis-
Spirit of Christ), he ascribes separate works to each      tinction (traditionally made in Reformed theology)
Person of the trinity. By means of this distinction        between the church as institute and the church as
he really becomes guilty of tri-theism, for one Per-       organism. The church as institute is to be busy with
son acts in a given work apart from the other two.         salvation and mission work; the church as organ-
And, even more importantly, while claiming to              ism is to be busy with social, cultural, and political
believe in the equality of the Persons of the trinity,     activity (pp. 68, 69). And, again, while the distinc-
he teaches a certain pre-eminence of the Father in         tion between the church institute and the church
the work of creation: "What does make Reformed             organism is a proper one, his use of this distinction
trinitarian Christianity distinctive however, is that      is neither correct nor Reformed.
the Father and creation receive the pre-eminence"
(P. 26).                                                     From all this follow several important conclu-
  But this too is not without purpose, for by giving       sions. In the first place, the Christian has really a
the first Person of the trinity in the work of creation    dual calling in the world, one which relates to the
pre-eminence, he separates our work in creation            cultural mandate and the other which is concerned
from our salvation, and in fact gives to our work in       with the salvation of sinners. Nowhere in the book
creation a certain precedence over our salvation.          is the relation between these two callings set forth.
Here again it is true that repeatedly throughout the       The most the author ever says is that the Christian
book he claims not to make separation between the          must subdue the world and live as a saint, must em-
two - creation and salvation; but the fact is that he      phatically do the former while continuing to be the
does and does this repeatedly. He is too well aware        latter. This is a totally unacceptable dualism in the
of Reformed thought to make such a separation ex-          life of the child of God which is neither Biblical,
plicit, but in the interests of maintaining his philo-     nor Christian, nor Reformed.
sophical position, he nevertheless makes this                In the second place, he concludes that the cove-
distinction and does so in a very decisive fashion:        nant of grace  can' never serve alone as a basis for
"When Reformed trinitarian theology begins with            Christian schools (p.  lOl), although the author
the Father, this has some important implications. It       could just as well have said that it cannot serve at
means specifically that creation has priority over         all as a basis for Christian schools. In fact, he  af-


166                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



firms that the covenant of works is really the basis        God and His righteousness" in distinction from tak-
for education in the schools (p.  102), and this is         ing thought for our life, what we shall eat and what
because the primary (if not only) task of the schools       we shall drink and wherewithal we shall be clothed
is to prepare children for their work in subduing           (Mt. 6:25-34); he is to "seek those things which are
the earth. Here too there is some kind of absolute          above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
distinction implied between the church and the              God." He is to "set his affection on things above,
school. The church gives spiritual instruction,             not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:1-3).
while the school gives cultural instruction. The              And this is not just half of his calling so that in
church prepares people to engage in saving souls;           addition to this he must also fulfill a cultural task
the schools are interested in teaching children how         which is not related basically to this calling, for "ye
to fulfill the cultural mandate. And it ought to be         are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
rather clearly understood that the latter is the most       When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
important of the two (cf. pp. 102, 104, 105,                shall ye also appear with him in glory." This calling
113-116).                                                   is an  onZy calling. He is to live exclusively as a
  And all of this leads to a certain implicit post-         citizen of the kingdom of heaven. He is to do this in
millennialism. The author does not come out forth-          every aspect of his life. He is to use the creatures of
rightly for post-millennialism, and in fact, in some        this creation which God will someday make new in
passages, seems to argue against it; but it is there        the new heavens and the new earth as a citizen of
for all that. Consider, e.g., a statement such as this:     the kingdom of heaven. That is, he is to use them in
"Christians are not only to save men from sin; they         seeking the kingdom of heaven. And to prepare him
see themselves as obligated to build the kingdom of         for this kind of life in the world, he is given the
God on earth" (p. 36). Even Scripture is called in to       home, the church, and the school, all of which are
support this thesis: "Scripture is not o&y about sal-       to labor in unison towards this one glorious task.
vation from sin but it is also a word about creation"         In other words, God ordained in His eternal
(p. 36). And the great Reformed fathers (Calvin,            counsel that even the original creation (as well as
Kuyper, and Bavinck) are extensively quoted in              the fall) would have its meaning and significance
support of these theses - when in fact they taught          only as it stands related and subservient to redemp-
nothing of the kind.                                        tion. The creation and the cultural mandate have
  We have written on other occasions concerning             no meaning and importance apart from salvation
the errors of this movement, and need not go into           and the realization of the kingdom of Christ. After
detail here. Nevertheless, there are two or three           all, by Christ "were all things created, that are in
points which ought to be made. While the basic er-          heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
ror is undoubtedly to be found in the application of        . . . and he is before all things, and by him all things
the truth of the trinity to the life of the child of God    consist. And he is the head of the body, the church:
in the world, other errors follow from this. One            who is the beginning, the firstborn from the death;
such error is a failure to take sin seriously. When         that in all things he might have the preeminence"
Adam fell as the head of the creation as well as the        (Col. 1:16-18). This is not said of the second Person
head of the human race, this had important impli-           of the trinity in distinction from our Lord Jesus
cations for the cultural mandate, for the fall of the       Christ. This is our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the
head of the creation brought upon it the curse, a           Head of the body, the church.
curse which makes all true cultural activity in this          It is only with a radical and  unBiblica1  view of
present creation impossible. In the second place,           common grace that one can come up with a posi-
and closely related to this, no dualism exists in the       tion such as Bolt advocates. It is dangerous teaching
life of man. In this sin-cursed world sinful man is         and must be rejected by those who want truly to be
able only to develop in sin until the cup of iniquity       "Christian and Reformed today."
is full. But the purpose of redemption in Christ is
accomplished by God in the salvation of His
church. This does not mean that the people of God           CALVIN AND HIS TIMES,  by Jansie van der
anabaptistically are called to separate themselves          Walt; Potchefstroom University for Christian
from the world, for the creation remains God's and          Higher Education, .1985;  151 pp., $7.50 (paper).
is destined to be redeemed with the elect in Christ         (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)
Who is Head of all and Who has reconciled all                 While a number of good biographies of Calvin
things to God by His death. Every creature of God           are to be found on the market, we do not regret that
is good and is to be used with thanksgiving by              this one has been added. The author, professor at
Gods people. But the child of God has not two call-         Potchefstroom University in South Africa, is some-
ings, basically separate from each other: he has            thing of an authority on Calvin, and he has used his
one, for that one calling is to "seek the kingdom of        vast knowledge of the Calvin Reformation to


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  167



prepare a very good biography of the  Genevan
Reformer. As the title suggests, the book puts
Calvin's life into the terms in which he lived and
thus gives many details of Calvin's life which are                   `Start the New Year
not to be found in most existing and popular biog-
raphies. The book is well-written and easy to read                   off right by faithfully
by people of all ages including children from Junior
High level upwards.                                                  reading and studying
  We strongly recommend the book as a very
worthwhile addition to home, church, and school
libraries. It can be obtained from: The Institute for                the Standard Bearer!
Reformational Studies, c/o Potchefstroom Universi-
ty for Christian Higher Education, Potchefstroom,
2520 Republic of South Africa.

                        News From Our Churches
                                                       Ben Wigger


                                                     January  1,1987


  With this issue of the Stundcd Bearev we begin a             pect Park Veterans Hall.` The first congregation
series of church profiles. The idea is to have all of          consisted of five families. Two elders and one
us get better acquainted with each other. So from              deacon were also ordained at that time.
time to time the news column will contain a short                About one year later, they got their first minister:
profile of one of our churches. We begin with Cove-            Candidate Arie den Hartog, who was ordained by
nant Protestant Reformed Church of Wyckoff, N.J.               Professor Hanko on Oct. 6, 1974.
  The inception of the church dates back to the                   In July, 1976, they changed their name from the
early  1970's, when a copy of  The  Stcmdard Bearer            Prospect Park Protestant Reformed Church to
fell into the hands of Mr. & Mrs. Charles de Groot.            Covenant Protestant Reformed Church. They
Favorably impressed, they read it thoroughly and               chose this name because it reflects the glorious
passed it around to several of their friends, who,             truth of God's covenant of peace which had
like them, were at the time experiencing,difficulties          become so clear to them as a result of their
with various aspects of Christian Reformed doc-                fellowship in the Protestant Reformed churches.
trine and practice. Meanwhile, somehow or other,
the Reverend David Engelsma had gotten wind of                    In 1975 they purchased a parsonage and proper-
the interest in the Protestant Reformed church in              ty for a building on Squawbrook Road in Wyckoff.
that part of the country. And in April, 1973, he ar-           After various problems, both administrative and
ranged a meeting with several couples, including               legal, they finally obtained a building permit from
the Charles de Groots, their son Clarence and his              the town, In June, 1979, more than a year later, the
wife, and Mrs. Thomas Nelson. After this meeting,              foundation of their new building was laid. And
Rev. Engelsma promised to send them one of the                 although much progress has been made, to date
denomination's pastors to preach for them for a                they have not progressed to the point where the
month. In due time Rev. Robert Decker arrived and              municipality will permit them to worship in the as-
preached his first sermon at the home of the                   yet-incompleted building.
Charles de Groots. Throughout the summer of 1973                  In 1979 they changed their temporary meeting
various ministers and seminary students preached               place from Prospect Park Veterans Hall to the
for them. Later, after their request to organize as a          United Methodist Church of Franklin Lakes.
congregation was granted, the Reverends H.                        Rev. den Hartog stayed with them until
Veldman and C. Hanko arrived, and on Sept. 11                  November, 1979 after which he was succeeded by
their organizational meeting was held in the  Pros-            Candidate Ronald Hanko, who was ordained by his
                                                               father on November 9 of the same year.
Ben Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed                 In 1983 a group of people in the northern
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.                               suburbs of Philadelphia asked their church to spon-

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





1 6 8                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER

sor them as a mission field, and in June, 1984, this                        In other news: During the Christmas season now
was approved. On September 23, 1984, Rev. K.                             past, many of our schools presented programs.
Hanko was ordained by his father as their mis-                              The band and choir of Adams School presented a
sionary there.                                                           program on December 18.
    In February, 1986, Rev. R. Hanko accepted a call                        Hope School in Walker gave a band concert
from Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in                               December 3 at Covenant High School.
Houston. After eight months of supply pastors and
struggling along by themselves, Rev. Richard  Flik-                         Heritage School presented a combined band and
kema arrived to be their new pastor in October                           choir concert at Heritage, December 11.
1986.                                                                       Covenant High joined in with a band and choir
    The congregation is comprised of largely middle-                     concert December 17 at First Church.
class people of the type one would expect to find in                        Over the past several months many of our chur-
a large metropolitan area: a mix of blue-collar and                      ches have taken collections for our sister church of
white-collar workers concentrated largely in the                         Wellington, New Zealand. As many of you know,
service industries; some small businessmen and                           the congregation there is small and therefore not
maybe one or two professionals. Here are specific                        able to pay all the expenses of supporting their own
examples: cabinet maker, carpenter, landscaper,                          minister and they have asked our churches to help
draftsman, librarian, milkman, computer techni-                          them in this. The figure that we must raise comes to
cian.                                                                    approximately $13,500 per year. The Contact Com-
    The congregation is also especially thankful that                    mittee reports that as of December 2 more than
by joining forces and working together evenings                          $15,000 has already been collected to help out the
and weekends, they were able to renovate the par-                        Wellington congregation.
sonage and have it ready for their new pastor, Rev.                         The Reverend A. den Hartog has accepted the
Flikkema, when he arrived with his family last                           call to Randolph, Wisconsin.
September. By utilizing the many talents and skills
of the members, they were able to do a                                                     WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
professional-looking job on it.                                             On January 18, 1987, our parents, MR. AND MRS. THYS
    They would also like to mention in this connec-                      FEENSTRA celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.
tion, that they managed to keep almost all the                             We are thankful to our covenant God for the many years we have
                                                                         enjoyed with them, and for the good instruction and guidance that we
regular activities of the church functioning during                      have received through them. We pray that God will continue to be
the eight months they were without a regular                             near them and bless them in their remaining years.
pastor.                                                                     "So we thy people and sheep of the pasture will give thee thanks
                                                                         for ever; we will show forth thy praise to all generations."
                                                                                                                                (Psalm 79:13)
                           NOTICE!!!                                     Bill and Shirley Feenstra               Donald and Janice Feenstra
   The Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School of Walker,              Everett and Audrey Van Voorthysen       Marvin Feenstra
Michigan, is in need of a teacher/administrator for the forthcoming      Wacy and Marjorie Armstrong                25 grandchildren
1987-l 988 school year.                                                  John and Beverly Feenstra                  38 great-grandchildren
   Any teachers interested in applying for this position please write    Gerald and Celia Feenstra
the school at 1545 Wilson Avenue, Grand Rapids, Ml 49504; or con-
tact Clare Tinklenberg (616) 457-3212, or Rich Van  Baren (616)                        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
531-8048.                                                                  The members of the Adult Bible Study Society of the SouthEast
                                                                         Protestant Reformed Church wish to express their Christian sym-
                           NOTICE!!!                                     pathy to Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Vander Wal in the death of her mother
           TO ALL TREASURERS OF OUR PROTESTANT                           and mother-in-law, NELLIE VOGEL at the age of 91 years.
           REFORMED CHURCHES AND THEIR SOCIETIES                           "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
   All collections taken and gifts given to the Mission Committee for    (Psalm 116:15)
the Jamaican Mission Field should be sent to: MR. CLARE PRINCE,          President  - Rev. S. Key
7435 PINE GROVE, JENISON, Ml 49428.                                      Secretary - Miss A. Reitsma


