                                                                                                        .                         .~                  `
                                                                                                                                                      ...`
                                                                                                                                                                       ..                -_,

vOLUI$E             xxx1             _         -.             DECEMEER   15,  1954-   GRAND  RAPI%,  .MICHIGA~                          ;.     .'          -                   NcM~ER.~~
                                                                                                                                                                               .

                                                                                                             A'poor  coilpIe of young'Je&  h&l  travelled  the iorig dis-
          . .  M E  IJ I T A T  -B--O  N'                                                            t&e from Nazjfeth to Bethl&e&at`&e  behest  of Augustus.
II                                                                                                   The whole earth had- tti be taxed. -And obedient  tb `the .COIII-
          r                                                                                          mand of that mighty' potentate  thejr also had set out. to the
               The Grace of Our  krd Jesus Christ  -                                                 city of their fathers, for-the?  were df the iideage bf.D&d.
                                                                                                        They had  ai-rived  too  late to find  room for  the&in the
                     " k n d   sh,e  b-rought  forth  h e r   f i r s t b o r n   S o n ,   a n d
                  wrapped Him in swaddling. cloths, and laid Him in'a                                inn. And so they- had found shelter in one of ~those Eaves at
                  manger; because there was no room for them in the                                  the outskirts of the city where the cattle and sheep- wqe kept.
                  inn.".  Luke  2:7.                                                                   No, there was no room &r them at the inn.
                   _ "For  ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,                                                         . .
                                                                                                        Also that is highly significant.. This odcurrance  caSts a
                  that, though He  Gas rich,' yet for your `sakes He                                 shadow before over  the  life -of the little Babe. Henceforth
                  became poor, that- ye: through His poverty might be
                  rich." II Cor.  S:9.                                                               the world will  ha& no  ro&n for Him. And finally He will
                                                                    .                           hang between heaven- and eart'h on the accursed tree. Their
       The  M y s t e r y   o f   thk  I n c a r n a t e   W&d!   -                                  reiusal to give  &ill1   $lace'at His birth will find its  natural.
       That is Christmas, worthy the term.                                                           logical fruit in their absolute rejection of the Christ of God.
       There was an Old Testament saint who set himself to                                              At any rate, Joseph and Mary made themselves as con-
singing in his old age. Listen to him: "And let  the  .beauty                                   fortable as they could under the circumstances.
of the Lord our God be upon  us  !" Correctly,, our English                                                  But so it was that, while they-were there,. the days were
fathers have given that chant of Moses to  us  in this form:                                         accomplished that she should be delivered !
"On  us  let  Jhe grace and beauty  df  fhe Lord our God  re-*                                          Give birth to your firstborn in a stable?
main !" They knew that grace is beauty, beauty of the God-                                              Take care of a little B$e .without the necessary tools and
head.                                                                                          1 conveniences ?
       Well, that  Prayer  of  Moses was answered  0i-1 that first                                           No bed, no cradle, -no layette,. no. doctor or midwife in
Christmas morning when MarI7 gave birth to her firstbegot-, attendance  ?
ten, and laid Him in a manger.                                                                               I am sure that the number of babes born in like circum-
       Grace is the beauty of the Godhead. It is. the beauty of                                      stances are few.
all His'virtues, it is the beauty of His majesy  and splendour.                                         Mary gave birth to her firstborn, and, having nothing else,
`- The simple shepherds knew it. And so `they glorified                                              wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid" Him in that
God.                                                                                            foul  sllielling  manger.
       But it takes spiritual sight  to see that beauty. It is no                                            Do I say too n&h when I call `the whole scene a mani-
beauty such as- the wicked world desires. They are satisfied                                    festation of great `poverty1
with' tinsel and make believe.                                                                                                                                   -.
       Wheh the.natural  eye looks on at the wondrous scen'e  at                                        Paul spoke of His poverty. And. how He became poor.
Bethlehem, they see nothing but a foul stable, a sour manger,
a little babe wrapped in  s\iraddling   :clothes>  a pondering                                          And, no doubt? Paul spoke of the same scene which now
mother and a silent man. the man Joseph.                                                        holcls our, attention. He saw and described the poverty. For:.
       That2 all.                                                                                    He was rich.
       A n d   e n o u g h .                                                                            Ancl here I hesitate.
       That scene spells everlasting grace and beauty, a beauty                                       I What does it mean that Jesus Christ  zuas rich, meaning,
such-  as will make heaven sing for the endless ages of eternity. of  couise.. that He was rich prior to His  entrancc  into that
      The histoiy is sober.                                                                     stable, prior to His birth on earth.                                                _


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                                                                                   .-
                                                                                 .
   Did Paul have in mind the Godhead of Christ? But then,          and beauty so that you  &ight be glorious-eternally. He beau-
he would not use the, past tense of the verb,-for  at the time     tifies the meek with salvation.
Christ lay in the manger His Godhead was still rich, in,fact,          "That ye through His poverty might be rich."
His Godhead owned the  whole Universe.
   Did Paul have in mind His human nature ? But then how
can that be? His human nature was not yet. How could the               And the stamp of that poverty stayed with Him through-
Christ of God be rich when He.did not exist as yet according       out His whole life on earth:
to His human nature ?                                                  He complains  .that the foxes have holes and the. birds
   Dear reader, I. do not profess to know the answer to this       have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.
dilemma. I will but venture an opinion.                                He is so poor that His name is The Curse of God.
   I think that Paul  .l?ad in" mind His  riches  such as the          He is so dreadfully poor that Paul gives Him the strange
Christ of God -always had .in the counsel of God which is          name of SIN ! "He became sin for us !"
living and real before God's face from all `eternity. Yes, `the        He is so poor, and this will show ,the.bottomless dep& of
Christ  was even before he appeared at Bethlehem.. Dd we           His poverty, that He finally cries in hellish darkness : My
not read several times that Christ was among Israel in the         God, My God why hast:Thou foisaken  Me?
desert? And He Himself said at one time to the unbeliev-               And remember that all this poverty came upon and with-
ing and hostile Jews: Before Abraham was I am.                     -in Him while all the -time He *was unspotted and clean, beau-
   And Jesus knew that He was glorious from all eternity.          tiful and lovely, good and upright. All  He did  was' carry
And so we hear Him pray to His Father  (W.hich  is the             -this burden of everlasting poverty for  the elect sons. and
Triqne `God) : "And  now? 0 Father, glorify Thou  Me. with         daughters of' God given Him by the Father to redeem out of
Thine Own-Self with the glory which I had with Thee before         their poverty into which they had willingly cast themselves.
the world was.!"                                                       But. He was poor.
   Attend to this: God does  n&t pray to God. And so we                And He became poor; motivated by a love that  iS  un-
he& in this prayer the Son of God in,himan  nature praying                                             ,
                                                                   speakable.
to the Triune `God and referring to His glory which He had                                            AC
with the Father before the world was.
   But that glory was not while He was on earth. 0, surely,            And `He did it to make us all rich".
for a moment that glory  would return to  I&m, as for in-              What  shail I say  oi that?
stance, when He stood and talked with Moses and Elijah on              The greater part of the riches I have never seen.
the mount of transfiguration  ; and perhaps  also- when He
caused those wicked soldiers in the garden to fall backward            Let us see: He took away all our sins and guilt and
on the ground.                                                     nailed it on the accursed tree. Imagine : to be without sin !
                                                                    To be, brought before the Face of Jehovdh and not to fear!
   But usually His glqry was not on earth.                         to stand within the circle of holy angels  and not blush  !
   He became abjkctly  poor.                                           He took away all our &se, hell and damnation. When
                                                                   we die we need not go to hell! What glory, and what riches
                                                                   of' deliverance !
 E$t it was our poverty which He took vicariously on,.                 Oh yes, the. Gospel of Christmas tells me that my sins
His own poor head. .                     0                         . are forgiven, that I am adopted-to be a son of God forever,
   And that is the grace of our Lord Jesus ChriSt.                 that I have the right to eternal life, and that I have peace
   Thaf  iS the beauty of  the,Ldrd our God.                        with God and the holy angels.
   That He iook someone else's misery on Himself.                    ~The  whole. church of Christ is. justified. Hallelujah !
   And what a misery !                                                 And that-is not all.
   Attend to this : our poverty is that we lack all virtue and         Through the poverty of Jesus I become a  teinple  of the
that we have all wickedness. And that poverty He took over          living God  ; God is going to dwell within me ! What un-
from us put of the motive of purest love. And that is His           speakable riches !
beauty.           .~                                                   What am I saying, my brother? He does already dwell
   Let us draw up some sort of catalog.                             in me in principle. It is through the Babe wrapped in swad-
   We are sinners, guilty,  cursed,- dead, and condemned and        dling clothes that God. came to dwell within my poor heart
damned unto everlasting death in hell and the pit that burns        in the moment of regeneration. And He came and dwelled
with fire and sulphur.                                              there through my conversion. He  gave me faith thru that
   Study that catalog, dear reader. I assure you that it fits - wonder-of grace, and I believe, oh yes, I believe, Lord !
you and me,                                                            And according to the promise of Jesus that God of  my
   `And it is the beauty of your  and my Christ that He tooi        salvation abided with me. And so He is my Companion on
it-from you and in its stead He gave you of His own glory           life's way in-sanctification, through which I hate sin and love!


                                                      T H E `:   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                               -                                                                             .-

goodness, lay off the dld  ,qlan of sin and take on the new
man `In Christ.                                                                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
    That leaves me basically a happy man.                                                      .S+-monthly,  except  vzonthly  during  July and August
    Through  my tears I can smile.                                                            Published by the  REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING  ASSOCYIATION
    For I see the poverty of Jesus as my own, and I receive'                               P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand  Rtipids 7,  Mich.
the beginning of the beauty ancl the riches of the Christ of                                                    Editor  - REV. HERMAN  HOEKSEMA
God.                                                                                      .Communications relative to  contents should be addressed to Rev;
    Oh, surely, the scene in Bethlehem's stable is the beauty                              H. Hoeksema, 1139  Frtiklin St.,  s. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!                                                    All  matter&  relati?e to  subScriptions  shoulizl  bg addressed to `Mr.
                                                                                           G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E.,  Gmnd Rapids 7, Michigan.
                                                                               G.V.        Announcements and  Olbituaries  mu& be mailed to the above
                                                                                          #address and  w+ll  :be published  ,at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
                                     `Tsio            ..                                   RENEWALS.:  Unless-a definite request for discontinuance is re-
                                                                                           ceived, it is  `assdmed`that the subscriber wishes the subscription
    Lynden,  wash.,   Can&  R.  Harbach. Rev. J. Heys, Geo.                                to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
Lubbers.                      ,.'                                                                                 Subscript&n price: $4.60 per year                                 -
    May I remind the consistories that all church news is to                                Efrtered   as  Second Class  `mutter  at  Gra&  Rapids, Michigan
be sent, not to  me, but to Mr. G. Stadt, 754 Prince St.,
Grand Rapids, Mich.? Also that our churches are interested
in knowing what  trids and calls the vacant churches make ?
                                                                               H.H.                                       C O N T E N T S   `L

                         Announcement                                                  ?VfanITATIOX  -
                                                                                               "TheRzF;  ,GfosOu,r Lord Jesus Christ". . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . .121
    The Officers Conference (Elders and Deacons) will                                                      . .
meet on Tuesday Evening, January 4, 1955' at S o'clock in                              EDITORIALS  L
the Huclsonville Protestant Reformed Church. This meeting                                      "Indepmde~itism" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
                                                                                                     R e v .   H .   Hbcksema
-is for present and past Elders and Deacons. The Rev. .G. M.
Ophoff will deliver a paper on the Subject: "Esconmunica-                              As  TO  BOOKS-
                                                                                               De-  Levemgang  van  Gerbe&  Gervaas.  . . . . . . .  .I . . . . .  .125
tion." Let's  al.1 be out!                                                                     Daily Manna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .125
                                                    Mr. Joe King, Clerk                        Het Raadsel van ons Leven.. . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . ,125
                                                                                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema                                             0
                           IN         MERj;ORIAM            -                          OUR DOCTRINE  -
                                                                                               The Triple Knowledge (Part III  - Of  TghankfulnCss)  . . .  ,126
   The Lord,  ix; His inscrutable  wisdo,m, and according to His                                     R e v .   H .   H o e k s e m a                 .
determinate  counsel,`was   plersed to call from this  &-thly scene                                                                 II
                                                                                       THE DAY  OP  SHAKERS-
                   M R S .   J A C O B   V A N   K A M P E N                                   Expositi'on of  Isa%h.  .;. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
b,eloved mother zn d mother-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Van                                           Rev. G. M. Ophoff
Kampen.  May the bereaved experience the comfort of the Holy                           FROM HOLY  WRIT-
Spirit,  who- comforts the people of God with the word of the                                  "Justification of Separ&e Exi&ence?".  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Eternal Word who said : "I am the resurrection, and the life : he                                    Rev. G. Lubbers
that  believe& in me,  thcugh he were dead, yet shall be live: And
whosoever. liveth ind  believeth in me shall never die."                               I N  H I S  F E A R -
                                                                 John  11:25,  26              "The ,Gate is Open". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . .134
                                                                                                     Rev. J. A. Heys
                The Ladies Aid Society of  Holkmd,  Michigan
                   The Men's Society of Holland, Michigan                              CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH  -                                        5'
                                                                                               IPhe Church and the Sacraments.. . . . . . . . . . . . .  ;. .  .136
                                                                                                     Rev. H.  Veldman
        THE TEN  COMMANDRItiNTS   I:N  V E R S E                                       Tne  VOICE  OF OCR  F.~TRERS-
            Thou shalt have no more gods but Me,                          _                    The Canons of  D,ordrecht (Art. 14). . . .  .-. . . . . . . . . . . .  .13S
                                                                                                     Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
            Before no idol bow the knee,
            Take not the name of God in vain,                                          DECESCY   AND  ORDER-
            .Nor clare the Sabbath-day profane,                                                "Tthe Ministry of the Word". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
                                                                                                     Rev. G.  Vanden Berg
            Give both thy parents honor due.
            Take heed that thou no murder do.                                          ALL AROUND Us  -
                                                                                               God's Way with the Jews... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
            Abstain from words and deeds unclean :                                                   Rev. M.  Schipper
            Nor steal, though thou be poor and mean ;
            Nor make a willful lie, nor love it,
            What is thy neighbor's dare not covet.                   -


                                                                                                                            .
                                                                                                                                 L

124                                                            S T A N D A R D .   B E A R E R

II                                                                          could depose office-bearers, nevertheless,  classis has jurisdic-
            . E  Q  -I-  : T 0 R I A L  -S.                             1 tion over the consistory.
                                                                                 I quote from the record:
                                                                                 "What classis.is it that has charge of your church? That
                         I n d e p e n d e n t i s m                        is, in what jurisdiction is the Eastern Ave. Church ?
                                                                                 "We are resorting under Classis  Grand Rapids East.
      .When-  the -complete record of our case in the Superior                   "You are within the jurisdiztion  of Classis  Grand Rapids
Court. is published, which I sincerely hope will be done in                 East, are you not ?,'                                ,
some future time, `it will be revealed that our opponents cle-                   `Yes, sir.
fended .a congregationalistic or independentistic form of                        "And the  classis Grand Rapids  .East is the next larger
church government: the con&tory  alone has power, classis                   body in the Eastern Ave. Church with reference to its gov-
and synod have no power whatsoever.                                         ernmental affairs, is it not?
       I think it will even be shown that they testified that the
consistory is the highest .cdurt, while classis and synod are               .    "The Classis  is not a body in the Eastern Ave. Church.
                                                                                 "No, but`it is the next higher body in the church?
the lower and lowest courts respectively.                                        "Next to the congregation, yes, sir.
       T h a t   w a s   t h e i r   v i e w ,          . .                      "Which has jurisdiction over the church,. is it not?
       And to defend and maintain this conception of church                      "There is a controversy in our church about that, Mr.
polity -was, of course, their privilege.                                    Linsey.
       But what is far worse is that they tried to leave the                     "Yes, in your church there is, now that you have charge
-impression with the court that their view is the Reformed                  of it.
conception of church polity. In this they did not succeed,, be-                  "No, I mean in the Christian Reformed Church. ,
cause the judge had before him in court a copy of the                            "Well, in any event there is no dispute about this ?
Church .Order.                                                                   "There is a quite a little dispute about that, whether the
       And what probably was worse still, they attempted to                 classis has jurisdiction over the consistory, in our doctrine . . .
make  the impression with the court that  .their  view is the                    "It has not been very long, has it i
same as that of the Rev. Ophoff. and the.uadersigned.  They                      "It is quite a while.
tried to show, by all kinds of faulty and partial quotations                     "Bultema took that position didn't he ?  _
that the brethren Ophoff and the undersigned had- always                         "Well, yes, Bultema took that position  ;  I did not take
`taught the. same church political view as they.                            that position.
       The trouble ig, of course, that just as those that apostat-               "Do you take- that position ?
ized from the Protestant Reformed  .truth (as every fair                         "No, I will admit here in `court-otherwise I think the
minded outsider will admit they did) never really. under-                   court. will never understand -that the  classis has jurisdic-
stood that truth and certainly, never loved it, so they also                tion over theconsistory.
failed-to grasp the principles of Reformed Church Polity as                      "All right, all right, .we have got so far then. Now then
taught in our seminary. by. Prof.  -0phoff  and as always                   it was proper for  classis for these three men to appeal to
maintained by myself. .                                                     classis, was it not?
       Although, indistinct-n from some other Reformed                           "Yes,-`sir, it was.
writers and also from the Christian Reformed Church since                        "And this matter being before classis, classis could pass
1926, we always maintained that no classis  or synod could                  upon the question as the whether or not the censure should
ever depose a consistory under normal cirmustances, yet we                  stand or whether it should be lifted, couldn't they?
understood very well and always maintained that, in the                          "They could advise the consistory, yes.
church connection and under the Church Order, classis and                        "And if they advised the consistory that the censure
synod have real power and authority even over the  con-                     should be lifted, it then became the duty of the consistory
sistory.                                                                    to lift it, did it not ?
       If this were not true, how could there ever be a-possibility              "No, sir; no, sir.
of appeal from the consistory to  classis and from  classis to                   `Why not?  _
synod  ? Does one ever appeal from a higher to a lower                           "Because the consistory could appeal to the synod.
court ?                                                                          "Well, if they did not appeal to synod, it would be their
       Besides, although the  classis or synod certainly cannot             duty at once to lift it, wouldn't it?
depose office-bearers, no consistory can, in the church con-                     "Yes, I think it would in the church connection.       -    _
nection, depose them without the consent of the  classis.                        Thus far- the quotation.
       In this connection it is interesting to reveiw  my testimony              Notice, that in court I took the position- that the classis
in court in 1924. Even then I admitted that, although at                    has jurisdiction -over-the consistory, even though I did not
that time there was still a `controversy in the Christian Re-               agree that this jurisdiction included the authority to depose
formed Church about the question whether or not a classis                   office-bearers. Notice, too, that I took the -position that, sivt


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                          125

the  chz~clz  comoction  the consistory was bound. to lift the              the same author on the principles of missions. In it the
censure of the three brethren that were censured, unless the                author. is very apologetic, almost from beginning to encl. The
consistory appealed to synod. This meant, of course, that.                  author begins with a chapter on ,,Het grote ontwaken" (The
`although it could not depose the consistory, it had power to               great awakening) by which he means that a child, for the ,
declare us out of the denomination.                                         first time, awakens to the-reality that he stands in the miclst
   The court record will show that, in 1954, the opposition                 of a world of riddles. Then he faces the question what we
even denied this.                                                           know, which is followed by the chapter on faith by which the
   .I will continue this in the next issue, D.V.                            author does not -refer to saving faith in Christ. but simply to
                                                                  H.H. . the general subjective assurance, inborn in man. without
                                                                            which he cannot know anything, etc. etc.
                     AS TO BOOKS                                                I was wondering whether, perhaps, in this book we have
                                                                            an illustration of  what the author, in his book on missions
                                                                            calls "the approach." He certainly  cloes not address the
   De  Lraensga.vzg   vwt  Ge&n   Gervnns,  (The Life-Course                Christian that has the faith in Christ in his -heart.
of Gerben Gervaas) by Go Verburg. Published by J.  H.                           This does not mean .that the book, though it is philoso-
Iiok,  N.V..  Kampen,  The Netherlands. Price f  5.40.                      phical and apologetic, is not worth while reading  `am1 in-
   This is  a`story and an interesting one. What is more., teresting. It is written in a style with easily brings it within
it is a Christian story. I hardly know how to characterize                  the reach of the general reader that still can read Dutch.'
it: It is' not a romance, it is hardly a novel. It is a story                                                                                H.H.
of a Christian School teacher, a principal of the  .Christian
school in Heijlingen. When he  was sixty. five years old he                                 A s   t o   Cont.ributiogs
had to retire. At that-occasion all the parents of the school-
children and others arranged a farewell party for Mr. Ger-                      It is high time that I remind our readers of the rule
vaas, who had been and was still highly esteemed by all. At                 which, years ago. the staff of the Standard Bearer laid down
the party; it was. suggested that Mr. Gervaas write a sort of               for contributions.
biography, which it was thought would be very beneficial for                    That rule is that contributions must observe the limit of
both his contemporaries and his posterity, seeing that, accord-             three hundred words.,
ing to -the opinion-of everybody he had led such an exemplary                   Perhaps, most of our contributors and readers are not
life. Mr. Gervaas considered this a good idea. He starts to                 even aware of the. fact that such a rule exists.
write and sits lost in thought on the first page of the first                   It. is possible, too, that I myself am partly to blame  .if
chapter; finally, gives it up, and tries to write on a different            they have forgotten it. I certainly  clid not always. strictly
period of  .his life; he again fails . . . .      "              .  -       adhere to and,~maintain  this rule. I was too lenient and very
   But why should I tell yo& the story. Read it for yourself.               liberal. Frequently I published contributions that far ex-
It is, I think, very realistic: Most Christians can, most prob-             ceeded the space limit. This was, in part,. due to circum-
ably, find themselves in it.                                      H.H.      stances: the Standard  Bearer  did not always have a com-
                                                                            plete staff of editors.
   Daily Manna. a  calendar for  :he year 1955. Edited by
Rev. M.  Monsma;  published by the Zondervan Publishing                         But now it is different.
House, Grand Rapids,  Mich.  Price $1.85.                                       We again have regular editors. To each of them a certain
   This calendar contains three hundred and sixty' five                     space is assigned in our paper.
meditations  .supposed to be read one for every day of the                      The -result is that I cannot find room for contributions
year' 1955. Naturally, seeing that these meditations are to;                of a thousand to twelve hundred words as, recently, I have
be read at the rate of one a day, and that the year has not                 been receiving again.                                               ~ .
                                                            .
even begun, it is impossible for me to reveiw their contents                    Let contributors, therefore. as much as possible observe
here. They are written by different ministers. All I can.                   the rule.  '
say, therefore, is that this is often an edifying form of Chris-                Personally, I like contributions from as many of our
tian literature, and that what I have read in the past of Daily             readers as are able to write. And if at all possible I usually
Manna, also under the editorship of the  Rev. Rfonsma, in- place them even if they exceed to a certain extent the space
spires me with a measure of confidence to recommend this                    limit.
calendar to our readers.                                          1-I H.        But if I receive long articles-that  wd~~lcl  occupy- two or
   Het  Raadsel  wan  0n.s  Lrzw~  (The Riddle of our Life)                 three pages in our magazine, the reader will understand that
by Dr. J. H.  Bavinck. Published by  J. H.  Kok,  Rampen,                   it is impossible for me to place them.
The Netherlands. Price f 3.50.  '                      s                        I&  kavz  deen  ijzey  sect  handen  bveken.  I  camlot  break iron
   This book, which, by the way, enjoys its  third, edition                 with my hancls.
and print, I did not enjoy as well as the book I reviewed of                                                                                 H.H.


126                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                         It seems rather easy to- report someone's statement and to
            dUR  DOCT'RINE , II distort his. words without apparently even becoming `guilty
                                                                         of lying. Sometimes one does not .even have to change the
                                                                         words. He can quote them literally, but the words are. lifted
               THE_ TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                     out of their proper connection. They are quoted only in part,
                                                                         while the statement would appear in an entirely different
       AN EXPOSITION OF THE  I%IDELBERG   CATECBISM                      light if the whole were quoted. Sometimes even a man's
                               I                                         word is fa1sifie.d  by laying stress and emphasis upon a dif-
                PART  III  - OF. THANKFULNESS                            ferent part of the statement made, emphasizing something
                          L                                              which was not stressed at all by the original speaker. Or, the
                           ORD'S  DAY  43                                words are quoted in entirely different circumstances from
       In II Sam.  19:27 Mephibosheth complains to the king              those in which the original statement was made. And so they
that his servant had slandered him. Of the wicked among the              receive an entirely different meaning than they originally
people of Judah Jeremiah complains : "They are all grievous              conveyed. Also in this way a man really becomes guilty of
revolters, walking with slanders : they are brass and iron ;             backbiting and slandering. For the .purpose.  is the destruc-
they are all corrupters." Jer. 6 :28. And in chapter 9, vss. 2-5,        tion of the good name of the neighbor or of the brother.
he complains : "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging                     Finally, the Catechism sums up the matter.  in the .state-
place of wayfaring men: that I might leave my people and                 merit, "that I avoid all sorts of lies and deceit, as the proper
go from them! for they be all adulterers and assembly of                 works of the devil." This'also includes the sin of lying about
treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow              one's self. This is true, for instance, of the sin of boasting.
for lies : but they arenot valiant for the truth upon the earth;         It is the sin of exalting one's self above another, or of speak-
for they  proced  from evil to  .evil  and they know not me,             ing about one's self with the intention of giving others a high
saith the Lord. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour,                 opinion about one's self, about one's deeds or accomplish-
and trust ye not in any brother : for every brother will utterly         merits, or of the things belonging to one's self. In the world
supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And               there are even traditional boasters. God forbid that they
they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not-speak            should also appear in the church. Men and women that al-
the `truth : they have taught their tong.ue  to speak lies, and          ways vaunt about themselves, there are. Sometimes they are
weary themselves to commit iniquity." Also the term  back-               such traditional braggers that they do not care very.  much
bit&g occurs in Scripture. In Psalm 15 :3 we read : "He that             whether you believe them or not. They just like to boast
backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neigh-             anyway. On the other hand, one can lie about himself
bour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour." And               when he is accused of a certain sin or misdemeanor and tries
in Proverbs 25 :23 : "The north wind driveth aw.ay  rain : so            to deny it. He `is ashamed before the brethren that he has
doth an angry c0untenance.a  backbiting tongue." In Remans               committed this sin,.and so he denies it and lies. about himself.
1 :30 backbiting is listed in the enumeration of the corruptions         Also this should not be found in the church,. among the chil-
of those that are of a reprobate mind: "Backbiters, haters of            dren of God: in the first place, because God in Christ Jesus
God,`despiteful,  proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, dis-        demands that we shall always speak. the truth in love, also
obedient to parents." And in II Cor. 12 :20 we read : "For I             concerning ourselves; but in the second place, too, because
fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would            it is only in the way of truth and in the way of confessing the
and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not:                 truth concerning ourselves that there is forgiveness of sin
lest there be debates, envyings, riots, strifes,  backbitings,           and peace with God through `our Lord Jesus Christ. In the
whisperings, swellings, tumults." Besides the Word of God                way of impenitence there is no mercy. And as' the Heidel-
employs other terms to denote this same sin, such as  table-             berg Catechism expresses it, we only bring down upon us
bewws,  Ps.  1O:lS;  11:13-;   12:17;   14:3;  whisperers, Romans        the heavy wrath of God. But in the way of confessing our
1  :29 ; Prov. 1s :8 ; 26 :20, 22 ; Ps. 41 :7 ; and tattifys,  I Tim.    sin before God and  .before one another, there is grace and
5 :131 No wonder that James in his epistle, 3 :6, thinking no            ,peace..       ;
doubt especially of this most despicable evil, calls the tongue               Ov& against all this lying and slander and falsifying a
a fire `and a world of iniquity : "And the tongue is a fire, a           man's words and boasting of self stands the admonition `of
world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that              the Word of God that we shall always speak the truth in
it defileth  the whole body, and- setteth on fire the course of          love concerning one another and concerning ourselves, before
nature ; and is set on fire of hell." -                                  the God of our salvation. But what does this imply  ? Does
   In close connection with backbiting and slandering, we                it mean that we shall speak the truth about our neighbor all
must call attention to what the Heidelberg Catechism calls               the'time and. in all circumstances ? Does it mean that always
falsifying a man's words. This too is a very common and very             and everywhere I shall say all that I know about him ? God
evil business. One can change and falsify a man's words,                 forbid. This certainly would not be speaking the truth in
either spoken in conversation or printed, in a very subtle way.          love. Does it mean that I am obliged to publish all that I


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      127

  know about myself? Also this is not true. Of course not.                                 A. First, that all our lifetime we may learn more
  Others certainly do not have to itnotv all that I know about                             and more to know our sinful nature, and thus  become
  myself. There are many things` that God only knows                                  the more earnest in seeking the remission of sin, and
                                                                                           righteousness in Christ;  likewise,_that we constantly
  and has to know and that. I have to confess before  Him                                  endeavor and pray to God for the grace of the  HoI,
  alone. It would be quite impossible for the small beginning                              Spirit, that we may become more  and- more conform-            .
  of the new life in us and'the many sins we commit in thought,.                           able to the image of God, till we arrive at the per-
  word, and deed, to live as a church of Jesus Christ if we knew                           fection proposed to us, in a  fife to come:
  about one another what  God. knows'about  us. Life would be-                                           Chapter 1
  come impossible and intolerable. Such is not necessary . But
  to speak the truth in love certainly implies that we shall                ^          I The Perfection of the Law Preached
  never bring a false report about our neighbor, yea, that if at                 It is evident at first sight that in Lord's Day 44 we have
  all possible, we shall conceal an evil report about the brother,          not only an explanation of the`tenth comandment. There
  even though the report be true. And it implies that rather `is much more. This Lord's Day combines especially three
  than spread the evil report about him, you shall visit  him               elements. First of all, it speaks of the significance and the
  and speak with him face to face, in love, before God in Christ.           sense, the deep inner meaning, of the tenth commandment.
  When we speak the truth in love,  it,is our purpose to defend             In  t,he second place, it raises the question as to the pos-
  the honor and good reputation of the brother and sister,                  sibility of perfection in this life for the Christian: can the
  rather than maliciously to besmear one another's name. In                 Christian keep this law of God perfectly?. And it  .answers
  this there is a rich blessing for the church of J.esus Christ in          that question with a Yes-No. And thirdly ,in connection
  the world, just as there is a curse in. sinning against the               with the negative part of the answer which the instructor of
  ninth  commandmeht.  The curse is that by the lie there is                our Heidelberg Catechism gives to that second  queston,  it.
  under the wrath of God, created an atmosphere of suspicion                raises the equally logical and natural quesiton: why, then,
  and malice and hatred and envy and distrust in which one                  should the' law be preached so strictly, if no one can keep it
  chokes rather than'lives.  The liar destroys his neighbor! de-            anyway  ? -
  stroys himself, and destroys, if possible, the church of Christ.
  But if we speak the truth in love, there is, under-the blessing                It is evident at once why the Catechism connects these
-. of God, created an atmosphere of confidence, the confidence              last two questions with the esposition of the tenth com-
  of love, of-seeking one another's well-being, in which it is a            mandment. The reason lies in the very nature of this corn--
  joy to live, in which one can breathe freely as a..child  of God          mandment.  This precept differs from the preceding nine in
  in the Lord  sTesus  Christ. He that speaks the truth in love             this, that openly and directly it points the finger  _ to our
  saves his neighbor, saves himself, and saves the church of                inner life when it forbids  us to covet. All the other  com-
  Jesus Christ. For God dwells where the truth dwells. Hence, `mandments  fail to do this. It is true that they all certainly
  as children of God we have a double calling, or rather, one               imply this, and that they all concern our inner life: for the            *
  calling with two as.pects  : put off the old man, that moves in           principle of the whole law is the love of God. But they do
  the sphere of lying: and put on the new man in Jesus Christ               not directly point `the finger at that inner life of the Chris-
  our .Lord, that always speaks the truth in love. Then there               tian, at his thoughts and desires, at his will, and at his
  will be joy and peace and light in the midst of Zion, and God             deepest heart. All the other- commandments, - Thou shalt
  will dwell~with  us.                                                      not serve idols; Thou shalt not profane the name of God;
                                                                            Thou shalt observe the sabbath; Thou shalt honor father
                            LORD'S DAY 44                                   and mother; Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, or
                                                                            bear false witness. -these all, as to form, lay the hand upon
              Q. 113. What  doth the tenth  comandment require              our life in the outward sense of the word. It would seem
              of us?                                                        that the  Decalogue.  until you come to the tenth command-
              A. That even the smallest inclination or thought,
              contrary to any of God's commandments, never rise             ment,  is satisfied with the outward conformation to the
             in our hearts  : but that at all times we hate all sin with    precepts of God. To this the apostle Paul refers in Remans
              our whole heart, and delight in all righteousness.            7 :7 : "What shall we say then ? Is the law sin? God forbid.
              Q.  11~2. But can those who are converted to God              Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law; for
              perfectly keep these commandments?                            I had not known coveting, except the law  hacl said, Thou
              A. No :  but even'the holiest men, while in this life,        shalt not covet."            ,
              have only a small beginning of this obedience  ; yet so,           The'tenth  commandment in its very form, in its literal
             ,that with a sincere resolution they begin to live, not        expression, very clearly claims the whole inner life of man.
              only according to some,  but all the' commandments of
              God.                                                          It forbids covetousness. To covet is a question of my inner
              Q. 115. Why will God then have the ten command-               life, not of my outward act. No one can detect when I covet
              ments so strictly preached, since no man in this life         anything, unless, perhaps, it comes to manifestation in the
              can keep- them?                                               espressiqn  of my eyes or face, It surely is none of another's


       128                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       business whether or not I covet. My mere act of coveting            reason that God has created us in such a' way that we must
       surely does not injure my neighbor. And,therefore,  coveting        desire and long for many things. The very power to covet
       does not appear to be a real sin whatsoever. Nevertheless,          is a God-given gift. No one  `can help to covet. And the
       the tenth commandment approaches us with the prohibition:           apostle Paul admonishes the church at Corinth: "But covet
       "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor's"              earnestly the best .gifts." I Cor.  12:31. You can no more
         It is for that reason that the Heidelberg Catechism  cor-         help to covet than you can help to see with your eyes and
     rectly. sees in this tenth commandment the manifestation of           to hear with your ears and to taste with your mouth. .God
       the perfection of the law. The spiritual perfection of the          gave us a soul and body that must covet and that covets all
       whole law becomes revealed in the tenth comamndment. And            the time. This is true simply because we are dependent
       it is because of that character of the tenth commandment that       creatures, dependent ultimately and absolutely upon the God
       the  Catechisms with it joins the question: can anyone keep         that created us, but at the same time dependent mediately
       that law perfectly ; can the Christian keep that law of God         upon many things in the world round' about us. If we are
       without fail ? And of course,' for the same reason the next         hungry, we covet.-food. If we are thirsty, we covet drink.
       question follows : what, then, is the, use to preach the law        We `covet a home `to live in, and we covet clothing to cover
       of God, if no one can keep it perfectly anyway ? :                  and protect our bodies. Moreover, we are originally created
              That the Catechism does indeed see the perfection of-the     in the image of God, in true knowledge, righteousness and
       whole law reflected  fin the tenth  .commandment  is at  once       holiness, adapted to stand in the covenant of friendship with
       evident. from the way in which it explains it in Question           the Most High. And that means that we were created with-
       and Answer 113. It does not even take pains to enter into a         the very power and faculty to covet the fellowship of
       literal interpretation of, this commandment whatsoever. The         friendship with the  ,living  God. Apart from sin, our mind
       very question is put positively, rather than negatively i what      covets to know God, and we hunger and thirst for the `love
       doth the tenth commandment require of us ? Besides, let us          of the Most High. It is this sinless and pure coveting which
       notice that in the answer to Qu. 113 it passes by the idea of       the psalmist expresses in Ps. 42 :l, 2: "As the hart panteth
       coveting in the narrower sense of the word altogether. It           after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God.
     ~ does not even' call attention to the literal sense of the tenth     My  soul  thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall
       commandment. Literally, as we know, the tenth command-              I come and appear before God?" And the same sinless
       ment reads : "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house  ;          coveting is expressed in Ps.  84:2': "My soul longeth, yea,
       thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant,       even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my
       nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything          flesh crieth out for the living God." In fact, the Catechism,
       that is thy neighbor's" With the literal language of this           in its answer to Qu. 113, refers to the same coveting when
     commandment the Catechism does not appear to be con-                  it explains "that at- all times we hate all sin with our whole
       cerned whatsoever. Instead, it at once strikes at- something
s                                                                          heart, and delight in all righteousness." Man, therefore,
      far deeper. Negatively speaking, this precept of the  Deca-          must normally covet. To covet is to desire something. It is
       logue, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, means "that           to present something before the mind and to desire to pos-
     even the smallest inclination or thought, contrary to any of          sess it and to enjoy it. Man cannot help to covet as long
       God's commandments, never rise in our hearts." Literally            as he is man: But the question is: what is the object of his
       this tenth precept of the Decalogue  does not seem to refer to      coveting ? On what- does he set the desire of his heart ? He
       any thought or desire that may rise in our hearts against           must covet the. right things. As man stobd originally in
       any of the commandments of God. But it simply speaks of             paradise, he certainly was a coveting creature. And as you
       coveting the neighbor's goods. And on the other hand, the           and I hope to stand before the throne of God in perfection,
       Catechism explains the positive requirement of this tenth           dwelling in His tabernacle forever, we shall never cease to
       commandment as follows : "That at all times we hate all             covet. We shall forevermore covet with all  -our heart, with
       sin with our whole heart, and delight in all righteousness.".       all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.
       The interpretation of the Heidelberg Catechism, therefore,          But there the central object of our coveting shall be God,
       is all-embracing and very profound. And we understand, of           and all other things in relation to Him. God in Christ shall
       course, that this is not the narrower sense of this command-        forever be the desire of our hearts. He will have the love
       ment; but it is the conclusion which the Catechism draws            of our hearts, even as we covet His love to us in Christ
       from it with regard to the entire law of  .God.
              As to the literal and narrowest *sense of this command-      .Jesus our Lord.                 *
       ment, it is very evident that it simply forbids  us to covet,          But when the Scriptures refer to the sin of covetousness,
       that is, to covet sinfully, covet the earthly goods that be-        they refer to the fact that our hearts, our minds, our will,
       long to the neighbor. We understand: of course, that in it-         and all our desires have become fundamentally corrupt.
       self it is not sinful to covet. To covet simply means to desire,    Covetounsness, according to the Bible, is one of the sins that
       to long for with eagerness, to wish for the possession of           make it impossible' for us to inherit the kingdom of God.
       anything. In itself this cannot be sinful, for the simple                                                               H . H .


                                                               .


                                             T H E   S'l'ANUARD.BEAKER                                                            129

                                                                    to dwell in, and reduces the rulers of the earth to nothing-
11 THE DAY  .OF SHADOWS  !I ness, -He made the earth. And this  .fact has been trans-
                                                                    mitted from the foundations of the earth, from Adam on.
                                                                    and preserved in its purest form in the-Mosaic account of
                 The Prophecy of Isaiah                             creation. Besides, the invisible things of God are clearly
                                                                    seen since the creation of the world through the things that
   XL 21. Have ye not known  ? Have ye not heard ?                  are made, even His everlasting power and divinity. And
   Hath it not `been toldiyou  from the beginning?                  these things are manifest in them, so that they are without
   Have ye not understood  ~YOPJZ the foundations of  the           excuse for giving glory and thanks to their idols instead
earth ?                                                             of to the true God.
    It is best to regard these questions as directed to  wor-         The circle of the earth is here not the globe of the earth
shippers of idols with whose vile doings the prophet is OC-         but the earth as it presents itself to the eye of its inhabitants,
cupied  in the preceding verse, but directed to idol worship-       namely as enclosed on every hand by the circle of the hor-
pers for the benefit of God's distressed, discouraged but be-       izon. High above the same the Lord is enthroned. ,From this
lieving and penitent people in the captivity of the exile.. This    elevation th+people  appear as grasshoppers. This is figur-
benefit lies in the answer to these questions,- particularly in     ative language. Its purpose is to impress with the fact of
the truth about God that underlies this answer-an answer            God's exaltedness ancl of man's nothingness before Him.
that the Lord `Himself supplies. Of course, this entire  dis-         This idea of the absolute sublimity of the Lord is made
course of twenty six chapters was communicated to the               still more impressive by a `description of the ease with which
prophet for the benefit of this people, the remnant according       He brings the great .ones of the earth to complete and thor-
to the election of grace. The purpose was to stimulate and          ough ruin.
sustain its faith in God, in His ability to provide Him a way         24 Yea; they were not planted:
whereby to lead His people out of their captivity-deliver             Yea! they were not sown:
them from the clutch of the world-power as represented at             Yea, their stock took not root in the earth,
the time by the kings of Babylon- and to bring them home.             When He also blew upon them and they withered,
This must constantly be kept in mind. This second half of             And a tempest bore them away as stubble.
Isaiah's prophecy is preeminently a book of comfort for the           The meaning is, that no more are the worldly rulers
church in Babylon.                                                  ,planted and sown and does their stock take root in the. earth,
    The tense of the verbs of the first line of the above-cited     that is, scarcely do they succeed in establishing themselves
verse is imperfect (the verbs of the Hebrew. text), so that it      in the earth, when the Lord with no effort at all, simply by
is best to translate here, "Will you not know ? Will you not        blowing upon them, brings them to nought so completely
hear?" Thus rendered, the two clauses express the indigna-          that they cannot anywhere be found. Who but God alone
tion of .the prophet, of the Lord Himself, at the hardness of       is capable of such a doing ? Not only that but the only and
heart of idolaters, the heathen, and the impenitent apostate        very reason that He can thus dispose of the rulers is that,
Jews in exile. They refuse to know and to hear, despite             existing as they do by His power, they are less than noth-
the fact that it has been told them from the beginning and          ing before Him. And their `idols are the work of men's
that by the light of reason they understood fi.0~1  the founda-     hands. And `so once again,
tions of the earth.                                                   2.5 To whom will ye liken me:
 The preposition  f~o?n  is not found in the original, but to         Or shall I be equal?
my mind it is plain from the  immediate.context  that it is           Saith the Holy One.
nevertheless there  -by implication.                                  TTerily. to whom in heaven or on earth or in the waters
    Have you not understood ? Understood what ? The ans-            under the earth  will. ye liken Me ? There can be but  one
wer is contained in the two verses that follow.                     right answer. To no one. I God am only. I am God and
                                                                    none else.
    22.    He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,              This, of course, is the answer of faith, of all such only in
           And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers :  _     whose heart is shed abroad God's love. Fools persist' in
           He that stretched out the heavens as a curtain,          giving glory to the idols, to the not-gods of their own
           And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:            making. But that they may be fully without excuse; the
    23.    He that bringeth.the  princes to nothing:                prophet directs to them a final word.
           The judges of the earth as vanity makes.                   35 Lift LIP your eyes and see
    The sentence is without a predicate. The context shows            Who hath created these,  the  &rs,
that this must  be? "Hath made the earth." Who? Not their              IL'hoB He that bringeth out by number their host,;
idols, the work of men's hands, but He that is sitting on the         All by name He calls by the greatness of His might,
circle of the earth from where its inhabitants seem like grass-       For He is strong in power,
hoppers, stretches out the heavens as a curtain and as a tent         Not one is missing.


 130                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                  .             :                                                                 #'
    The stars are His creation. How otherwise would they            was finally granted. To the former the prophet tenders  a
come forth as a result of His calling each one of them by           reply that was calculated to shame their unbelief and revive
 name? Truly, to His power there is no limit. He is the             their faith In  God.-
 incomparable God.                                                     28 Hast thou not known ? Hast thou not heard ?
   How unspeakably privileged His captive and afflicted                Eternal God, Jehovah,
 people there in Babylon were to posses Him as their God!              Creator of the ends of the earth,
 But they were deriving no comfort from that fact. For in              He does not tire, He does not become weary,
 their unbelief they were harboring in their souls wrong               There is no searching to His understanding.
 thoughts about Him as is clear from their complaint that              29 He giveth to the weary strength,
 the prophet voices in order that he may reply to it.                  And to them that have no strength He multiplieth
   27 Why sayest thou 0 Jacob, and speakest thou 0 Is-                   strength.
 rael,                                                                 30 Faint the youths and grow weary,
        My way is hidden from the Lord. _                              The choice men utterly fall :
   And my judgment is passed over from my God ?                        31 But they that wait upon the Lord renew their strength,
   To awaken in them the awareness of how precious they
 are in God's sight and how secure by reason of His promises           They run and do not weary ;
 to them, he addresses them by the names that were born                They walk and do not faint.
 by their ancestral father. The meaning of the name "Jacob"            God is eternal, without beginning and end, which must
 is heel-lifter. A "Jacob" is one who in the way of the good        needs imply that He is the everlasting fountain of His own
 fight of faith-a faith that identifies him with Christ in          blessed existence and as the infinitely good God the over-
 whom he has the victory-displaces the reprobate and  in-           flowing fountain of all good. God is He, the I am, the creator
 herts the earth. The name "Israel" means, one who wres-            of the ends of the earth, of the far-off land of their captivity.
 tles .wth God and prevails. An "Israel" is one that in             It is His creature.. By His will it exists. Here, too, He
 prayer wrestles with God for the blessing  and is made to          reigns supreme. How can  He  be faint and tire? How can
`prevail, that is, He receives of God the blessing. He is thus      there be any diminishing of  His  strength  ? How can  HB
 made to prevail also over men, the adversary. That is what         want penetration, necessary knowledge qf the measures to
 those captives were by God's mercy. They were  Jacob-              be adopted  ? How can there be any limit to the power of
 Israel.                                                            such a God that He should not be able to save  ? And He
   But. Jacob-Israel, God's `people in Babylon, were unbe-          gives strength for the journey home to His people who, be-
 lieving. And in the despondency of their unbelief they went        cause they know that they are without strength, seek all
 to reasoning about God as though He were a man, ascribing          their strength with Him. And as they possess in Him an
 to Him the weaknesses and limitations of a man. As in              inexhaustible source of strength through Christ in His
 their minds the Lord was associated with the temple in             Spirit, they walk and run without getting tired. Not one of
 Jerusalem that was in ruins they allowed themselves to be          them falls not again to rise. All shall appear in Zion.  Notf
 directed in their contemplations of Him by the feeling that        one shall be missing. Now the prophet was not telling them
 `had stolen over their souls that from sheer weariness or lack     things that they did not know and had not heard. They did
 of interest He was no longer taking'any  notice of their course    know. They had heard. But the prophet will continue
 of life, of their warfare in Babylon and the sufferings that       preaching to them God as revealed in Christ's face, in order
 it entailed, and that He had abandoned them to the enemy.          that He may become very real to them.
 The hope that the Lord would judge between them and                   The  con&ero+  .jrowz the east is operative as the Lord's
 their captives and deliver them out of the adversary's hand        a.gent,  xli. I-7.
 had faded. Perhaps He was unable or lacked the proper                 1. Be silent before me, 0 Islands; and let the Nations
 penetration, the necessary knowledge of the required meas-                  renew strength  ;
 ures. For Babylon-was strong. As a world-power it seemed                 Let them draw nigh, -yea let them speak.
 unshakable. If it was to be made to pass away, it would                  Let us (I, the Lord, and you nations) come together
 have to be by a miracle. Besides, it was a long way home.                for judgment.
 And the journey would have to be made by foot. And the
 way was rough and crooked. It led over hills and through             2. (Tell Me) who raised  h&z up from the east,
 deep valleys. Would they have the strength, courage and                  With righteousness called him to his feet,
 endurance, they and their wives and their little ones? There             Gave before him the nations,
 was no end to their doubts and fears and misgivings. Yet in              And made him. to tread down kings?
 their unbelief their souls mourned after the Lord. And                   His sword made them as dust,
 they loved Jerusalem better than life. I speak now of  then              And his bow as driven stubble,
 remnant according to the election of grace and not of the            3. He pursued them and passed in peace,
 Jews who chose to remain when the leave to return home                By the way he had not gone with his feet.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    131
                                                                                                                                   .._-___   - -

     4 Who hath wrought and ddne  this?                                                         Feature Articles
        He that called the generations from the beginning,
             I the Lord, the first,                                        At a  reecnt meeting, the editorial staff of the  Stnndard
             And with the last; I  nln He.                             Bcn.l-rr decided to ask all our ministers, outside of the staff,
     This is more conclusive evidence  *that with the L&d              to write, for the coming year, the Lord willing, each  twot
   there is power to save. The spoiler of nations from the east        i`feature  articles" on a subject assigned to them.
   is the Cyrus of subsequent chapters. By him the Babylonian              It appointed the Revs. H. C. Hoeksema and H. Veldman
   empire that had been built on the ruins of the kingdom of           as a committee to draw up a schedule for this @-pose and to
   Assyria was to be brought to nought. In describing his mili-        correspond with the ministers involved.
   tary successes the prophet uses the perfect tense. For                  This they did. The ministers all accepted the invitation.
   though his appearance in history was still-a matter of the          And the result of the labors of the committee is the following
   distant future, his achievements were as good as  accom-            schedule :
 plished, seeing that the mouth of the Lord had spoken it.
   The great one was to  be active as the agent of the Lord.               Scheduk  of Feature Articles for S.B. and  Replaceemnts
   What w0dc1  prove this to God's believing people in Babylon         Date           Feature articb and writer       Rubric, author, replaced
   is that the Lord had foretold `his appearance. This would           Jan. 1  - "Our  Immedi'ate Mission  Field"---  -Voice  of our Fathers
   be the  uncontrovertible  evidence that the Lord raised him                            C. Hanko                         H. C. Hoeksema
   UP and was. performing His work through him. God wanted
_ His people to know this. Not alone that it was their only            Feb. 1  - "Common or Individual Cup in.  _.  ._ -Decency and Order
   comfort but they also had to praise Him, which they cc&1                          "Communion,"  H-. H. Kuiper              G. v. d. Berg
   ody do in the knowlkdge that it was He who had wrought              Mar..  1 -"John  21:25,-Hyperbole  or-.-L...-..Contending for the
   and done it. He the, Lord, the first and the last.                                Fact  ?" R. Veldman                  Faith, H. Veldman
     To make the truth about God more impressive, the prophet
   is made to present t,he Lord as proposing that He and the           April  l.- "Consistorial Supervision of League-  _-  ----In His Fear
   nations come together for judgment, that is, controversy.                         or Federation Activities,"                   J. A. Heys
   Let them say who raised  up  him from the East (Cyrus).                                G. Lanting
   But there is no reply. For even before the controversy  com- May  1  - "Principles of Christian  Givilig Applied-  -All Around  US
   mences  the Lord commands that they be silent and be in-                          to Offerings in the Churches"             M. Schipper
   strutted  of him, hear His answer, which  ,is,  "He hath                               J .   McCqllam
   wrought and done this, He that called the generations from
   the beginning, I the  Lord? . .  ."                                 June  1 -"The Social Principle(s)-of  the..------From Holy  Writ
                                                                                     Epistle to Philemon,"                     G. C. Lubbers
     The marvelous work that the Lord accomplished through                                E. Emmanuel
   Cyrus filled the nations that lay within the scope of his
   conquests with a great dread.                                       July  I  - "Participation of Children in  the-------Day of Shadows
     5. The isles saw it; and feared;                                                Lord's Supper," C. Hanko  _,             G. M. Ophoff
        The ends of the earth were afraid.                             Aug.  1 -"Social Security and the  Office-----Decency and- Order
        But what was their reaction  ? Instead of giving Him                         of Deacon," H. H. Kuiper                  G. v. d. Berg
   the glory, they took refuge to their own gods. To render
   them favorable they hastened to make new images to their            Sept. 1 - "Deut. 24 :l-4 and the Scriptural- __ __ __ -Day of Shadkws
                                             /
   glory.                                                                            Principles of Divorce and                G. M. Ophoff
                                       /'
     5c  *(They)  drew near  ana  `came.                                             Remarriage," R. Veldman
     G T~iey helped every one his neighbor;                            Oct. 1 -"Choosing a Vocation"--_----  __________..__  In  His Fear
        And  ezer_zr one said to his brother, Be  string.  ._  .,,                        G. Lanting                              J. A. Heys
     7. So the engraver encouraged the founder,                       - Nov. 1 -"The  `Mdch Cattle' of Jonah  4:11"-_----All Around  US
        And he that made smooth with the hammer him that                                  J.  McC'ollam                          M. Schipper
              smote the' anvil,
      Saying, it is ready for sodering:                                Dec.,  I- "The Anti-Christian Implications.  ._ __ -From Holy Writ
        And he fastened it with nails that it should not be                          of Russian Communism"                     G. C. Lubbers
                                                                                 E. Emmanuel
              moved.
     The prophet goes into this detail of idol-manufacture to              This ought to be an improvement for our paper, not be-
   bring out the absurdity of idol-worship. Here the  work-            cause the present co-editors are not ably filling their space
   men appear as encouraging each other,  the reason being that        (which, to my mind, they do), but because "variety is the-
   there was haste.                                                    spice of life."
                                                           G.M.O.                                                                       H.H.


 132                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 I                                                                 in which I stand to concede to Rev. Howerzyl that it is
             F R O M   HOLY  WRIT ethically correct in God's Church to write "and while we
                                                              !I appreciate . . . we would point out the hopelessness of his
                                                                   task when the stand taken by those with him, not according
           Justification of Separate Existence?                    to the words perhaps but in their intention and purpose,
                                                                   was  esactly to rule out such preaching as he advocates." I
        The Rev. J. Howerzyl is busying himself with the con-      say again: none need take my word without proof! But God
sideration of the question of "Our Right Of Separate Exist-        does not permit anyone'to  believe so much evil insinuation
ence." It is time for a little searching of' the heart. That       either of the Rev. Howerzyl. With. such reasoning the
Rev. Howerzyl had to come to this as a spokesman for the           wicked operate, brother Howerzyl, of whom I sing in Psalm
many brethren and sisters, who took ecclesiastical position        1 ! I "`warn" you, I "admonish" you, I ."exhort"  you to walk
with him, I had long ago foreseen to happen. And that .the         in the freedom in Christ and not mistake liberty for licence.
term the "right of separate existence" would become a              I fear for you with a great fear! You are not thus beau-
 "certain justification" of their existence I could too have       tifully useful to the Lord! If you would indeed fight Jeho-
prognosticated. And that he would have to face the  `!doc-         vah's battles, furnish proof and do not slander ecclesiastical
trinal" side of the "controversy" is also not strange  ; for       gatherings !
that is exactly the point. It is a "doctrinal matter" and not          Show the "right" of your existence!
at all a matter of "personalities" as has so often been falsely       That is quite different than a mere attempt at "justifi-
alleged.                                                           cation" of one's separate existence.
        Now I rejoice in this that Rev. Howerzyl is willing to        If Rev. Howerzyl will, before the Throne of God in the
state (not merely concede!) that  .we  must~look  for the dif-     midst of God's church, show that either Synod or Classis  is
ference in the doctrinal position and "that a mere church          guilty `of the making preaching of sound, Reformed exhor-
political difference  cnn never, in the final instance, justify    tations impossible, I will grant him not only that I am
separte existence." (I italicize) I take it that' with. "final     "fighting a losing battle," but that it is far worse ; than I am
instance" Rev. Howerzyl has in mind, that God has spoken           not  fi,ghting  the battle, if I do not bring it to the attention of
His verdict about the right of existence, and we have read         these bodies in the way of overture and protest!
this verdict accurately and must put our hand upon our                Let Rev. Howerzyl prove the following with literal and
mouth, because He has spoken -and we have heard it; as             complete quotations and proper inferences :
Paul says : Let God be true and every `man `a liar ! Howbeit,         `1. Where, in the Declaration of Principles, the Synod of
I rejoice that I can reply to Rev. Howerzyl on a matter that       1951 .has -curtailed  the freedom of preaching "admonitions
is doctrina.1 and that can and must. be `judged by objective       of the Gospel." In this day of "challenging," which gives
standards !                                                        the impression of "pistols at dawn" I will simply be content
        Rev. Howerzyl "finds" the right of existence, separate' to quietly affirm that  as yet  Rev. Howerzyl has not quoted
existence in this that certain "decisions taken" have ~made        such a decision. He speaks of "decisions taken." May I
the warnings, exhortations and admonitions of the gospel'!         point out the following in- the Declaration of  .Principles,
impossible. A serious charge; if true. So serious in my mind       which I have -not seen quoted yet by anyone who opposed
that I shall, as long as God gives me breath, say, that those      this Declaration. It is the following:
who deny these are, according to III, IV, 17,,of the Canons,          "B. And we maintain :
preachers who tempt God, just as well as those preachers            1. That God surely and infallibly fulfills His promise
are tempters of God, who lose sight of the difference between      to the elect.
admonitions of the Gospel and the command of law, and                 2. The sure promise of God which he realizes in us as
place the latter on the back of the saints for whom Christ         rational moral creatures not only makes it impossible that
shed His blood! But no Church gathering can make de-               we should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness but also
cisions with impunity which deny exhortations, admonitions         confronts us with the obligation to love, to walk in a new
and warnings of the Gospel! However, I most positively             and holy life, and constantly to watch unto prayer. All
deny that `such decisions were ever taken ; neither did the        those who are not thus disposed, who do not repent but
`Synod of 1951 perpetrate this evil under the sun, nor did         walk in sin, are the objects of His just wrath and excluded
Classis  East become guilty of this `perversion of the preach-     from the Kingdom of heaven.
ing of the Gospel.                                                   (3) That the preaching comes to all; and that God
        None need to take my word  ,for it. A mere allegation,     seviously  cowmuutds  to faith and repentance, and that to  al2
with a lot of exclamation marks, is no proof. If such deci-        those  who  -comae and `believe He promises life  artd peace."
sion have been taken then they should be: quoted. The very         Page 23. This is literally II, IV 8 of the Canons. (I italicize).
words employed should be quoted, Rev. Howerzyl! It is              If the above curtails anyone in preaching exhortations;
below the dignity of the office of a Minister of Jesus Christ      admonitions, etc., `it must be that it does not give free play
                                                                                            -


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  133

 to the Pelagian-Arminian in him. Such preachers cannot                 zyl extends to me calls for a -reply from my heart. I must
 breathe freely in a Reformed oxygen tent. I will not leave             give an answer to all who request an answer of the hope
 this "oxygen-tent" of Reformed expression for the suffo-               that is in me.~ Since I serve God in a good conscience I am
 cating "air" of pretended liberty of preaching "exhortations"          ready to give this reply.
 of the promise to all upon the condition of faith !"                      Writes the Rev. Howerzyl: "We who rejoice in the
     But let Rev. Howerzyl furnish proof to the contrary                freedom to preach as he (Lubbers- G.L.) instructs  US
 from Synod's decisions. It seems to me that this .part of the          ca.11 out to lhk to join `US in that freedom to preach the whole
 Declaration of Principles is the very preaching he applauds            gospel of our -God, whereby God reveals that salvation is of
 in me. If so, I am really in good company. Fact is, that               Him from beginning to end, but . . ." (I underscore,)
 this part of the Declaration of Principles came from the                  This is my reply : I shall continue to do all I can in. the
 Creston Consistory. Rev. H. Hoeksema moved to adopt it,                strength of God to help you, but I cannot "join" you!
 and Synod adopted it too. That was fighting a winning                     The question is  i  does- God call  me  though  Rev. Hower-
 battle for the truth  ; it was constructive criticism where it         zyl that I cease walking where He does not place His candle-
 was needed. It was building the walls of Jerusalem. What               stick, and that I come and confess "that I have loved you"?
 have you to write on the Arch of Triumph for your battle               Confer Rev. 3 :9. Does the Son of Man, who has the "seven
 of words and. endless "points of order," which looked more             stars in His right hand" say through Rev. Howerzyl to Rev.
 like a "chess game" than a real battlefield,. Rev. Howerzyl?           Lubbers that he be  obed,ient to Him,  he must "join" Rev.
     2. Where did  Classis  East in its decisions in regard to          Howerzyl and those with him ! ?
 the "Statements" of Rev. De Wolf make it impossible to                    That is the  sole  question! All the rest is small, sinful,
 preach exhortations, warnings and admonitions through                  disobedient endeavor of mere man whose breath is in his
 which God confers grace  ?                                             nostrils. Let us put the shoes from off our feet as we stand
     Let, Rev. Howeriyl point this out with words in which              at the Burning Bush, lest He, who is a Consuming Fire,
 the intention is  enpressed.  Let Him not simply be content            destroy us even in our seeming szsccess!  Psalm 50:16-23.
 with mere allegations. That is not fighting Jehovah's .battle             The question of whether God tails me to labor with Rev.
 but the battle of Satan's attempt at confusion. In the same            Howerzyl is whether in so doing I should. be a "co-laborer
 Article from which Rev. Howerzyl quoted (October, 1, 1954              under God" with him, or whether I should be an accomplice
 issue) I also wrote the following: "At the same time let not           in evil, working Satan's confusion ! Let us not pretend that
 those admonitions be confused with "prerequisite acts' but             we can play with God's holy fire and not be burned!
 rather as enjoining us, requiring of us to work out our sal-              Hence, the sole question is : what saith the Lord ?
 vation with fear and trembling . . . Satan thrives on mis-                If Rev. Howerzyl speaks truthfully, factually, then the
 understandings, and heretics work with them. But teachers              Lord speaks through him. Deut.  18:20-22. Can Rev.  How-
 in sound doctrine speak the truth in clarity and in all sin-           erzyl be judged to belong to the calibre of preachers, who
 cerity as before God !" Let the brother show with the actual           say with Paul, "Therefore seeing we have this ministry,
 words where  Classis  East made this exhortation of the                even as we obtained mercy, we famt not: but we have re-
 Gospel impossible.  `1 assure him here and now that there              nounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in crafti-
 is a very strong  communis  oppinion on this score in our              ness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the
 ranks concerning the needs of preaching admonitions. I                 manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
 merely wrote that "solme  people" are confused on this point.          man's conscience in the sight of God." II Cor. 3  :l, 2.
 Why blow this up beyond recognition ?                                     The facts are against him ; the actual decisions which `he
     Inconclusion I beg Rev. Howerzyl to trace down for me              refers to under "decisions taken" do not corroborate `his
 a ten page document I sent to Rev. Hofman which docu-                  contention.
 ment the latter sent to the "midwest," and that he for the                Does a prophet in Israel need to. fear to speak the whole
 sake of righteousness in God's church publish it. In good              truth ? Can those who .do not speak the  whole  truth save
 part this is also a reply to some earlier untrue allegations           themselves and. those who hear (read) them? I Tim. 4  :16.
 on the part of Rev. Howerzyl. It is true they are allegations          Rev. B. Kok may write, "I can't quote the whole Standard
 couched in such language as  "as I see it," "it seems" etc.            Bearer,". but he need not do this to speak the "whole" truth. I
 They `are untrue allegations nonetheless. Let him print this           I would despair of working as a "co-laborer" with such
 document lest he stifle the voice of one who would rejoice             workmen as Rev. Kok! I only ask Rev. Howerzyl to quote
 in "free speech."                                                      the next three sentences of my article and then ask him
                                                           G .   L .    whether he can still use it as a stone in his building and
                                                                        architecture! He must not do what Rev.  Kok contended to
 P o s t   Scviptm4:                                                    be his right once to me in a recess of the Court Trial before
     I feel  cdnstrained  to add just a  .few observations to the       Judge Taylor. When I chided him for his partial and slanted
foregoing  ; the matter of the invitation, which Rev. Hower-                                (Cmtiwed   du  page 144)


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   - B E A R E R
-
                                                                    those who hold on to that Armini&ism will find in the writ-
                                    F E A R                         ings of the last few years in Concordia, Reformed Guardian
                                                                    and in the protests against the Declaration of Principles valu-
                                                                    able material for  arguments  to defend the statements that
                    The Gate Is Open           L                    substitute "offer" for "promise."
     Time will reveal whether our title is an understatement           Try it out once yourself.
of the case or not. An overstatement it surely is not. The             Try them all, from the old  a&l worn argument that if
 gate is open for an influx of all Arminianism !                    you do not offer salvation to all who hear upon the condition
     Nor is it the expression of what we enjoy observing.           that they believe, you will make man carkless  and profane
 Contrary to all the evil things that have been written to and      and deny the responsibility of man, unto the "apology" of
 said concerning the undersigned, we do not' rejoice to see Rev. De Wolf  tha,t you are sorry that people do not  under-
 those who left us walking still further in their error. We         stancl  that you mean "offer" in a Reformed sense.
 would rejoice to see them review the whole case  lut  His             By the way, you can do that with  .any and all heresy,
                                                                    you know. You can simply say: you mean conditions in the
 Fenr, tightly close the gate. and. after repairing the damage
 done, keep with us a strong defense against all Arminianism        Reformed sense!  You simply mean offer in the Reformed
 and danger of Arminianism.                                         sense. You mean civic righteousness in the Reformed sense.
                                                                    You deny infant .baptism:  but you deny it in thk Reformed
     But at present the gqte is open- in that denomination that     sense. You believe. that the bread ancl wine change into the
 falsely calls itself Protestant Reformed and at the same time      body o,f Christ; but you believe that in the`Reformec1  sense.
 defends those literally heretical statements of Rev. De Wolf.      You believe in Purgatory : but you believe that in a Reformed
     If they continue in that unyielding defense'of these state-    sense.
 ments, its inevitable fruit will soon appear. In fact, now al-        As long as you do not define that "Reformed sense," give
 ready, according to their own official stand they no longer.       it no content, and evade -all questions about what the Con-
 have the moral right to deny any one of their constituency         fessions called a Reformed condition, that is, indeed. a con-
 the right to use those .statements  of Rev. De Wolf as freely      venient  argumenf  to use. Time will reveal that those who
 as he pleases. Officially they have never condemned them           left us will have their own arguments turned upon them-
 any more than he has. They have not officially, or otherwise,      selves, if in the future they would still try to close the gate.
 banned the use of such expressions.                                   And if the schismatic action which was perpetrated to
     Nor  h&e they the moral right  10 deny any of their            defend those arminian statements of Rev. De Wolf is allowed
 members the right to substitute the word "offer" for "prom-        to run its full course, they will find ultimately that the whole
 ise" in that first statement of Rev De Wolf. Never have they       fence is down. And therefore our title is not and cannot be
 made plain or even attempted to make plain that there is one       an overstatement of the case.
 degree less of Arminianism in saying "God promises every-             At the prksent moment, however, it surely is true that
 one of you that if you believe you will be saved" than in the      the gate is open.  What is more the sad history  .of the last
 statement of 1924 that "God sincerely offers salvation unto        few years reveals that it was deliberately opened.
 all who hear the. Gospel on the condition that they believe."          We have in mind with our title especially that the gate
 According to the official stand of both their  Classis  and        which makes possible affiliation with the Liberated and opens
 Synod they cannot deny any of their memb&s, ministers or           the doors of their churches to all the arminian conditional
 students from believing or stating:  ,"God offers sincerely        promise and the loose, independentistic church polity of the
 salvation to all who hear the Gospei if they will believe."        .Liberated  is wide open.
 Nor may they lodge protests against anyone who preaches                It is that gate that we have in mind as we write these.
 that "The preaching of the Gospel is a well meant promise          lines, and all those who have trouble seeing the awfulness- of
 to all who hear that Gospel." For a promise that is not well       what was perpetrated in 1953 ivill do well to consider what-
 meant is no promise. And to say that God gives promises            we begin to write in this and following articles.
 that are not well meant is blasphemy. Let it be clearly un-           We challenge all those who left us to produce one bit of
 derstood that a conditional promise is always a proposition.       evidence that tiill prove that this gate is tightly closed and
 God makes no propositions. He would cease to be .Gocl the          &rely  padlocked. We challenge all the defenders of Rev.
 moment He would make a proposition with the creature that          De Wolf's conditional theology to -come out in print and
 depends upon Him.                                                  even condemn the glaring  Arlilinianism  in Prof. Veenhof's
     But those that left us must expect in the future all man-      Appel. We challenge them to show' us and the Liberated
 ner of arminian expressions in their circle. And, assuming . that by an unyielding defense of Rev. De S;1701f's  statements
 for the moment, that they are sincere when they say that           they cnn condemn Prof. Veenhof's view of the promise.
 they still love the Protestant Reformed truth, if they would           Significant it is that when the Declaration of Principles
 then in the future see the evil to which they opened their         was being discussed at  the Synod of 1951  several  of those
 churches and make efforts to stop the tide of Arminianism,         who now defend Rev. De Wolf's statements stated that al-


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              135

though they could not subscribe to the statement in the                 the arminianism of Rev. De'Wolf's statements. Many there
Declaration that "the promise is unconditional" they did not            are that are more than ready to do that. Many there are
want  the arminian  cond$ional  theology of the Liberated.              who say- that we with our doctrine stand "in the way of the
 Some stated that literally. Some at that time condemned                free course of the Gospel." They brand our preaching a
 Rev. De Wolf's statements before  1%~  even   nlade  tlteln.           "passive doctrine." They falsely spread the silly notion thit
    -Thus `on page 127 of Vol. 2s of the Standard Bearer you            we cannot preach admonitions unless we also become con-
will find a report of what Rev. Gritters said at that Synod             ditional. Ever hear any of those statements made about us,
about Prof. Veenhof's arminianism. He said that he did not              Rev.- Blankespoor  ? It is, indeed, a doctrinal issue.
need the Declaration to defend the truth. He said: "And                    But, even though all those who have been deceived into
when Prof. Veenhof says that God promises His salvatidn                 following this way of schism and heresy are not ready to
to all the children  that- are born in the covenant, head for           subscribe to the arminianism of Rev. De Wolf's statements
head, I can find plenty of other ammunition from the Con-               and gf .the Liberated conditional doctrine which these state-
fessions to counteract this." But why, Rev. Gritters could              ments express, on an official level the gate is open.      .
you not two years  latter find any ammunition to  condem'n                 Let those that falsely claim to be Protestant Reformed
and counteract the arminianism of Rev. De Wolf's state-                 come out publicly in Concordia alid the Reformed Guardian
ments which goes even beyond the sphere  bf. the children               with the Protestant Reformed truth, the Scriptural truth that-
born to covenant parents and says that God promises every-              God's purpose in the preaching of the Gospel to the rep-
 one? Look up this report of Synod and you will find more               robate is never a gracious one but altiays is to harden them.
suCh statements.                                                        Let them tell us  and the whole Liberated world- that they
    Silence has fallen since.                                           still stand there. Let them close the gate to all Arminianism
    It is an astounding thing, and an evidence of the true              and danger of Arminianism by so doing!
situation,, that all through the defense of Rev. De Wolf's                 This they cannot do!
literally arminian statements, these defenders did not once              They cannot, first of all, because they  would have to
condemn the conditional theology of the Liberated.                      abandon Rev. De Wolf and demand of him that he apologize
    Condemnation by them of the Liberated doctrine has not              for the statement ihat teaches that the purpose of the preach-
once appeared in print since we began that sad chapter of               iing to the reprobate is to give him a promise that he can
trying to rid our own churches of this arminianism as                   be saved, if he will believe. Try to harmonize those two, if
preached from our own pulpits by Rev. De Wolf and his                   you can! God has the (Gospel preached to the reprobate
supporters.                                                             for no gracious purpose at all but to harden them  iti
    And under the multitude of words and pages written                  their sins. And God promises everyone -and that includes
since  Classis  East condemned those statements of Rev. De              lthe reprobate  - that if they believe they will be saved. On,
Wolf, the second ground for demanding an apology of Rev.                their own pulpits they cannot any longer preach that doctrine
De Wolf has gone unnoticed. But it speaks volumes.                      of reprobation with all its significance without agreeing with
    Classis  decided: "We believe that it is necessary for us           us that Rev. De Wolf must retract that first statement. Their
to state this in the light of our past experiences and history          power in their own pulpit is gone,  and it will so& become
with the Liberated churches  zvlzo   ztse  these  awzinian   expres-    evident in their preaching.
sions." The italics are ours. Against that the defenders of                We are constantly being assured  t&at they preach election
Rev. De Wolf voted. Yet they never raised one argument                  just as strongly as we do. That is not the point. Do they
or complaint about this ground. Deny it they could not. And             also leave a gate open for  the reprbbate ? Do they preach
they cannot today.                                                      tl& reprobation which says that God does  nof promise
    However, that reason for condemning the statements of               salvation, even conditionally, to the reprobate ? Does anyone
Rev. De Wolf must not be overlooked or forgotten. We                    of their ministers DARE to stand before his people and say:
who preached in Chatham  and in Hamilton, we who preached               Congregation, there ,is .no promise for the reprobate, and we     -
the Protestant Reformed truth there and witnessed faithfully            must never say or allow it to be said that. God promises
concerning it, we who loved that Protestant Reformed truth              eve?*yone  that if they believe they will be saved,  fqr that
and hated all arminianism, we were severly criticized time              would be a promise of God to the reprobate ; and He sover-
and again. And time and again we ran into these statements              eignly has the Gospel preached to the reprobate, not in order
such as Rev. De Wolf refused to condemn as being literally              to offer or promise them anything but for this reason, namely,
heretical.                                                              as was plainly the case -with Pharaoh, to harden them in
    And because they refuse to condemn these statements of              their sins. This is not simply the  ~~esult  of that preaching
Liberated, arminian doctrine, the inevitable  frtiit will  soon         to them. It is God's  ptrrpose.
appear.                                                                    And we want to correct a typographical error which
    The gate is open.                                                   unitentionally  we allowed to creep into our last article at
    We do not mean that all in their constituency are ready             this  pbint. We want to do Rev. De Wolf justice. On page
to embrace that doctrine of the Liberated or even to embrace                                (Continued on. Page 13Z)


                                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                                 '    Confession is simply the expected and honourable procedure.
                   Contending For The Faith                                           Moreover, the development of the Church along the line of
                                                                                      outward and earthly power was also to be expected. The
                                                                                      Word of God also points us in this direction. The thirst for
I The Church and the Sacraments power is always present in the Church of God. And it is
                                                                                      surely our task to maintain constant vigilance against this
            VIEWS DURING THE SECOND PERIOD  (300-750 A.D.)                            evil.  '
                                                                                      The  Post-Constmtine  fieriod.
                                      THE CHURCH                                          Continuing with the development of the Church in  exter-
          Constcrrrz&e.`s   1:nfl1tence   atpon   the  Chwch.                         nal power ani glory in the world during this second period,
                                                                                      300-750 A.D., we believe it to be of interest to call attention
              We have already called attention to the fact that Con-                  to the occurrence of events immediately upon the cleath of
          stantine, in his famous Edict of Milap, granted Christianity                Constantine,  -the  "`first Christian emperor," With the cleath
          equal rights with the he&then  religions before the law. Tlid               of this tremendous figure his monarchy also came, for the
          age of persecution by the heathen world has be&me  history.                 present, to an encl. The empire was divided aniong his tl&-ee
          The Word of God. as recorded in Rev. 12 :12-17, had been                    sons : Constantine II. Constance, and Constantius. The`clays
          fulfilled with respect to the heathen world. Of course, more                of the monarchy were temporarily ended.
          persecutions would follow for the Church of God in the New                      The accession of the three sons of ConstBntine  the :Great
          Dispensation, even until the end of the world. But this phase               was not in. Christian style, but after `the manner of genuine
          of the fury of the devil  hacl  ieen  fulfilied.  Christianity had          Turkish, oriental despotism : it trode `upon the corpses of the
          been legally established. Its place in the midst of the world               numerous kindred of their fathers, excepting. two nephews,
          was now assured. Constantine surely had taken care of this.                 Gallus  and Julian, who were saved only by sickness and youth
              However, the Edict of Milan also proved to have a very                  from the fury of the soldiers. Three years later a war fol-
          great advantage for the Church of God. It was now no                        lowed of the brothers for the sole supremacy. Constantine
          longer a shame but an honour to belong to  the Church of                    II was slain by Constance, who was in turn murdered by a
          Christ. The Christian name began to be held in high honour                  barbarian field officer and rival, Magnentius. After the de-
          and esteem. This name now secured inany and great mate-                     feat and the suicide of Magnentius, who had hitherto reigned
          rial advantages. It had become a passport to political, mili-               in the East, Constantius became sole emperor, and he main-
          tary, and social promotions. The result was that thousands                  tained himself through many years until his riatural death
          upon thousands of' heathens joined the Church. To be                        i n   3 6 1 .
          counted and regards as a heathen was now a disgrace, The                        The sons of Constantine the Great did their Christian
          Church grew by leaps and bounds. Many who joined the                        education little honor and departed from their father's pru-
          Church were Christians in name only. The Edict of Milan                     dent policy of toleration. Constant&,  temperate and chaste,
          of 313 opened the floodgates through which a mighty stream                  but also jealous and vain and  weak! entirely under the
          of corruption poured into the Church of God as revealed  and, conrtol of eunuchs, women? and bishops, entered upon  a
          constituted in the midst of the world. And the Church be-                   violent suppression of the heathen .religion,  pillaged and de-
          came more and  niore  a national institution, a kingdom of                  stroyed many temples,  gave-the  booty to, the church or to
          this world. `This will become more evident later when we                    his eunuchs, flatterers, and worthless favorites, and prohi-
          trace the power of the popes in the history of the Church and               bited, under penalty of death, all sacrifices to and worship
          of the world. Whereas the heathens had been in control of                   of images in Rome, Alexandria, and Athens, although the
          the world and had persecuted the Church, this relation was                  prohibition could not be carried out. Hosts now came over
          not reversed. The civilized world passed over into `the control             to Christianity, though, of  c&u-se,  for the most part with
          by the Church. And the power of the'church increased until                  the lips only, and not with the heart. But this emperor
          the kings and princes of this world shook and trembled before1              proceeded with the same intolerance against the adherents
          the pope at Rome who finally-was able to do with the mightyt                of the Nicene orthodoxy and punished them with confisca-
       -. of the earth as he pleased. We will see more of this in sub-
  -                                                                                   tion and banishment. His  bkothers  supported Athanasius,
          sequent articles.                                                           but he himself was a fanatical Arian. In fact, he meddl&l in
              This clevelopment need not surprise us. -To view the name               all the affairs of the church which was convulsed during his
          of Christian with honour and esteem is indeed also applicable               reign  L&h doctrinal  colltroversy. He summoned a multi-
          to the church-world of today. The Scripture surely point us                 tude of collncils,  in Gaul and Italy and Illyricum  and in &ia.
          in this direction. We are told that, as the end of times ap-                aspired  to,the renown of a theologian, and was fond of being
          proaches, the `love of many will wax cold. This surely im-                  called bishop of bishops, though, like his father, he postponed
          plies that many will then have the name of Cliristians  who                 baptism &il shortly before his death.
          are not Christians. Todajr,  in many churches, it is a disgrace                 There were  those. it is true, who justified this violent sup-
          not to be a member in'full communi&  in the Church of God. pression  of idolatry by reference to the  extermination  of  th:


                                             ,THE   S'I'ANDARD   BEARER                                                        1         3                    7
   -._                                                                                                                                                  ~_
                                                                               .
   Canaanites under Joshua in the Old Dispensation. How-             neglected the laws of decency and cleanliness. In military
   ever, intelligent church leaders,. including Athanasius and       and executive talent and personal bravery he was not in-                      _
   Hilary, gave their voice for toleration, although even they       ferior to Constantine ; while in mind and literary culture he                       _
   mean particularly toleration for orthodoxy, for the sake  of      far excelled him. His reign, however, was a complete failure.
   which fhey themselves had been deposed and banished by the        The ruling passion of Julian and the soul of his short but
   Arian power. Athanasius, for example, is quoted as follows        most active and remarkable reign was fanatical love of pagan
   (the reader will understand that our churches today would         religion and bitter hatred of the Christian religion, and that
   hardly endorse this statement) : `"Satan, because there is no     at a time when the former had already forever given up to
   truth in him, breaks in with axe and sword. But the Saviour       the latter the reins of  govermnent  in the world. He con-
   is gentle, and forces no one, to whom He comes, but knocks        sidered  it to be the great mission of his life to restore the
   and speaks to the soul : Open to Me, My Sister? If we open        -worship of the gods and to destroy the religion of Jesus in
   to Him; He enters; but, if we will not, IIe departs. For the      the midst of the world. He would fain believe that the gods
   truth is not preached by sword and dungeon, by the might          had called him to this hopeless and utterly futile task. And
   of an army, but  .by `persuasion and eshortation. How can         unto this end all the means, which talent, zeal, and power
   there be persuasion where fear of the emperor is uppermost?       could command, were applied; in him paganism makes a
   i-Iow exhortation, where the contradicter  has to expect ban-     final and utterly futile attempt to destroy Christianity. This
   ishment and death ?" With equal force Hilary confronts the        is Julian's place in history, the place which the Lord had
   emperor with the wrong of his course, in the words: "With         assigned' to him. Unto that end the Lord gave him great
   the gold of the state thou burdenest the Sanctuary of God         gifts and talents, equipped him, from a natural point of view, -
   and what is torn from the temples, or gained by confiscation      unto his life's calling. And he used those talents to the full,
   or extorted by punishment, thou obtrudest upon God."              in order that the utter folly of that which opposes the living
       Paganism, however, made a final attempt to recover lost       God and His Christ may be fully revealed. Julian repre-
. . ground.and.  regain its ascendancy in the Roman empire dur-      sents the final gasp of heathenism-to uproot the Cause of the
   ing- the reign of Julian, the Apostate. Julian, surnamed the      living God and of His Christ in the midst of the world. How
   Apostate, a nephew of Constantine the Great, was born in          he  atempted, to destroy the Cause of the Christ we will see
   the year, 331, and was-therefore only six years old when his      `in a subsequent article.                                 H. V.
   famous uncle died. The general slaughter of his kindred,
   not excepting his father, at the change of the throne, could                       (Co~&mxl   fvovt   p a g e   135)
                                                                                                  IN HIS FEAR
   hardly be expected to instill enthusiasm-and respect into the     120 of the last Standard Bearer the statement should read
   .young prinae for the Christian religion. That Julian was an      that Rev. De Wolf said "that he believed that he could s_ay
   apostate does not mean, we understand, that he ever enter-        to any man that he  met  that God promises to him  ~that
   tained any love for Christianity and the Christian religion.      he would be saved, if he believes." The last issue had it thus :         '
   He was an apostle because he was educated in- the Christian       "that he said that he believed that he could- say to any man
   `religion, wore its mask for a considerable number of years,      that he ?xecmt  that God promises . . . ."
   and later discarded this mask, declaring himself in favor of          In the second place they cannot' do this because they have
   heathenism or paganism. ,                                         gone on record as rejecting the Declaration of Principles
      Julian became the sole head of the Roman empire in the         which stands foresquare upon that truth when it says that
   year,, 361, and openly declared himself a friend of the gods.     the "promise is unconditional and for the elect alone." And
  ! Of him we are told that he sought to unite the fame of an        that statement was one of the most hotly contested of all.  -
 Alexander, a Marcus Aurelius (one of the emperors  j,.  a           the statements in the Declaration.
   Plato, and a Diogenes (a Greek philosopher). He practiced             O,.the arminianism  in Rev. De Wolfjs statements !
 _ the strictest economy in the public affairs and banished all          How dare  ' they defend them and still call themselves
   useless luxury from his court, dismissing with one decree         Protestant Reformed ?
   whole hosts of barbers, cup-bearers, cooks, masters of cere-       , How dare they call themselves Reformed ?
   monies, and other superfluous officers, with- whom the. palace        An interesting question and an important one which we
   swarmed, although he-surrounded himself with equally use-         hope to present more fully next time is this : what moral right
   less pagan mystics, babblers, sophists, soothsayers,- etc: In     have those who left us to refuse the congregations of Hamil-
 . `striking contrast with his predecessors he maintained the        ton and Chatam  to come in through that open gate and be-
   simplicity of a philosopher and an ascetic in his manner of       long .once again to their denomination ?
   life, and gratified his pride and vanity with. contempt of the        With what would they close the gate ?
   pomp and pleasures of the imperial purpose. He lived, chiefly         How could they do that and, still defend the statements
   on `vegetable diets, abstaining now from this food, now from      of -Rev. De Wolf ?
   that food, according  to- the taste of the god or goddess to          What ammunition will you find in the Confessions, Rev.
   whom-the day was consecrated. He wore common clothing,            Gritters, that does not also strike a death blow to Rev. De
   usually slept on the floor, let his beard and nails grow, and     Wolf's conditional theology?                              J.A.H.


        13s  i                                        T H E   S T A N 'D A R D   B E A R E R
-

                                                                              aspects of the truth. But there are also the full-grown sheep,
                  The Vqice of Our Fathers                                    who must no more be fed with a bottle, but must have solid
                                                                              food. There may also be adulf believers who never progress
                                                                              any further than a very simple apprehension of this truth:
                     , The Canons of Dordrecht                                while there are others who love to be led into this t&h in
                                                                              all its  marvellous  ramifications. And therefore, discretion
                                   PART TWO                                   must certainly characterize the preaching of the truth of
                                                                              election, whether in the services for public worship or in the
                         EXPOSITION OF  .THE CANONS                           catechism classes.
                                                                                 In the second place, the preaching of the truth of election
                          FIRST HEAD OF  D~GTKINE                             must be marked by "piety," as the English rendering has it.
                       OF  DIVINE  PREDESTINATION                             The original may probably be rendered by "piously and
                                                                              holily."  Negatively, this certainly means that the truth of
                            Article 14 (concluded)                            election must .be proclaimed not simply in a cold ancl dead
                                                                              manner, `as a mere academic truth, not as a matter of phi-
            With the above general observations in mind we may                losophy and debate and mental exercise. Sometimes the
        well profit from the stipulations set forth in this article.          expression "cold doctrine" is employed in this connection.
            In the first place, we are told that `the spirit of discretion    Nor is this possibility to be shrugged off. Preaching is more
      must characterize our preaching of election. Discretion is              than mere exposition of a certain doctrine, and more than a
        prudence, or the practical application of wisdom It takes             logical and clear defense of the truth over against the lie.
        into consideration reality. And in this case, discretion takes        And while the latter are necessary especially in respect to
        into `consideration the reality of the earthly existence and          this truth of predestination, the danger of bringing nothin?
        manifestation of the church for which the truth of election           more than these is not exactly imaginary. In this connection
        "was peculiarly designed." That church is, of course, essen-          it is worthwihile to note that the Scriptures always present
        tially  the~gathering,  the assembly, of the elect. And in  th?       the doctrine of election as a living truth and as- an integral
        positive sense of the word. the doctrine of election was cer-' part, not only of a scheme of doctrine, but of the whole com-
        `tainly designed for those elect. However, there are all'kinds        forting gospel of our salvation in Christ. Think, for example,
        of differences to be found in the membership of that church           of the direct connection that is established in Ephesians 1
        on earth. And the preaching must surely take these differ-            between our election and our. forgiveness and adoption and
        ences into consideration. There are, in the first place, hypo-        sanctification. And pasitively, this piety and holiness implies
        crites. We know this both from Scripture and from experi-             a large measure of humility before God and the brethren:
        ence. And especially in the preaching of election,.therefore,         a deep reverence, because we stand face to face with the
        one cannot proceed on the false assumption that all the               thoughts of God's unfathomable and eternal good pleasure:
        members of the church on earth are elect, have a right to the         and love toward the flock, which is the object of that go&l
        comfort afforded by this truth, and can actually be com-              pleasure. In this connection, we may cite not only that
        forted by it. The contrary is true. The truth of election,  -         wonderful doxology at the close of Remans  11, and the warn-
        and this implies the  preachin g of the truth of reprobation          ing of Romans 12 :3 that by grace a man should not think
        necessarily,  - must be so preached that the hypocrite cannot         of himself more highly than he ought to think, but also the
     `- possibly feel at ease in Zion. The keys of the kingdom must           notable example of the apostle Paul himself in his attitude
        be employed to shut as well as to open. Furthermore, there            toward his kinsmen according to the flesh, Romans 9 :1-S.
        are converted and unconverted elect. And. the preaching of              In the third place, this article stipulates that the truth o!
        election must-reckon with this fact.. To be sure, this does not       election must still be published in the church "in due time
        mean that for the converted the preaching  fo1loiv.s   thr            and place." And that "&be time and place" must be uncler-
        "track" of sovereign election, while for the unconverted the          stood,  - as a literal translation of the article would bring
        divergent "track" of human responsibility must be followed.           out,  - gas-"its  o-&n   &tS and place." This stands in close
        But it certainly implies that election-preaching must take            connection with what we have written previously about an
        place not in separation from, but in its proper relation to the       apparent\ slothfulness in preaching the truth of election.
        calling, to repent and believe. And thus there are many               Here again we must remind ourselves that this. stipulation is
        distinctions- in the visible church which must be  reckone            not due to the fact that the-fathers actually found that there
        with. There are strong believers, who are genuinely and               were some who preached election outside of its own time and
        clearly assured of their own personal election; and there. are        place!. But there quarrel was with the Arminians. And
        weak believers, who are inclined toward  doubt; There are             these Arminians accused the faithful preachers of the Re-
        differences of age. There are the young children, lambs. who          formed truth that they "were always preaching election,"
        must according to their capacity be instructed in this truth,         and that "when they preached, they were forevermore in
        but who have. not yet even the mental capacity for the deeper         the counsel of God." And against these accusers the fathers
                                                                                                        7


                                                  T H E   STA,NDeARD   BEAR,ER                                                           139
   --.^ ". .--_
  answer, as it were: No, if you mean that we are always                 church. Take it away, and the whole body of the truth dies.
  preaching the truth of election in the'narrower  sense of the          For there is not a single element of the entire truth of Holy
  term, so that all the content of our sermons is election, then         Writ that can stand ultimately without the truth of sovereign               _
  you are mistaken. That is not our position at' all. We main-1          election. And therefore, we may conclude concerning this
  tain that the truth of election has its own time and place in          proper time and place : 1) This does not mean that the
   the whole system of the truth, and that therefore it has its          preaching always devotes all its attention to this "heart." If
  own time and place in the preaching. And with that stipu-              a man is sick? it would be a foolish doctor indeed who would
  lation, we insist, nevertheless, that it must be preached, -
          ._                                                             limit his examination to the heart. His patient may be se-
 _ something that you  Arminians do not want." As we have                riously ill of ,a burst.appendix,  and die .even  while the doctor
   already indicated, therefore; this article of the Canons cer-         devotes all his attention to his patient's heart. So also in the
  tainly condemns those who would maintain a total silence               body of .the $uth : there is much more than the heart. And
   about the truth of election in the proclamation of the gospel.        this must also. be preached  .2) It does mean that sound
   Such are not only non-Reformed ; they are anti-Reformed.              preaching will always take care' that the heart is in good
      However, it may be ob,served  that while the fathers sti-          condition, and ,will therefore surely emphasize the truth of
  pulate.that  this truth must be published "in its own time and         election, and strive to have the believers thoroughly founded
  place," they do not define that proper time and place. And             in this most fundamental of all truths. 3) And in the broad
   about this way we may make a few observations. There are              sense of the word, "its own time and place" means that the             -
   those who think they have fulfilled their obligation in this          heart-beat, the pulse, of this heart of the church will beat
   respect if they occasionally, very occasionally, preach about         healthy and strongly in all of the preaching. Even while
   this truth, or even if they occasionally say a few words              the church is busy with the task of proclaiming in the nar-
   about it in the course of a sermon, if they "bring it                 rower sense of the word such truths as vicarious atonement,
   into" the sermon. And. incidentally, since this article is not        or regeneration, or conversion, for example, that truth of
   only for the instruction of preachers, but for the whole              election will pulsate regularly and strongly through the
   church,  .we may also mention the fact that there are those           preaching. If it does not, then the truth of election is being
   who are satisfied if the preacher "brings it into" his sermon         deprived of its proper time and place.
   occasionally, or if he occasionally preaches an election se?-           ' And finally, the fathers make the negative stipulation:
  mon. They will assure you that their minister is Reformed.             "without vainly attempting to investigate the secret ways of I
   "Why," they say, "he even preaches  bn election." In the              the Most High." This is stated, of course, not in the spirit
   light of all that the  Can&s  say about this truth, however,          of those who object to the preaching of election by a mistaken
   it cannot possibly be maintained that such preachers have             citing of the text, "The secret things belong to the Lord our
~ .actually met the stipulation, "in its own time ,and place."           God ;" nor with the idea that we may not penetrate as far as
      Of course, the standard of the truth also in this respect is       possible, in the light of Scripture, into this truth. For then
   Holy Scripture. If it is true, therefore, that Holy Scripture         the fathers of Dordrecht were themselves guilty of this very
   is characterized by this, that it does nothing more than oc-          thing. It does mean, however: 1) That in the consideration
   casionally mention -election or-occasionally "bring it in" or         of this truth you finally come face -to face with the mystery,
  occasionally and in a disjointed fashion teach this truth,             beyond which you cannot penetrate and may not attempt to
   then, to be sure, the preaching of the gospel `must be char-          penetrate, No further answer can be given in our quest for
  acterized-by the very same thing. And then we must not seek            the reason of election than this : "The good pleasure of God
  to answer this question by determining the ration of so-called         is the sole cause of this gracious election." 2) That you may
   "election texts" to the total number of .Scripture  verses, in        not attempt to investigate this truth along any other `course
  order then to determine accordingly the "due time and place"           than that of Scripture itself. All rationalism and false mysti-
   of election preaching. For then you would come to the con-            cism' also in respect to the truth of election is ruled out.
  clusion that if eternal election is taught in only one or two
  passages of Scripture, it would have to be preached indeed,               Along such lines, therefore, let this glorious truth be
  very, very rarely. But the importance of any one truth in              proclaimed.
  relation to the whole systenpof  the truth'is not to be measured          That will be, as the- Canons have it, first of all, "for the
  by the number of words devoted to it in Scripture. It is not           glory of God's most holy name." For it is exactly in this
  to be measured by volume and numbers. Hence, even if                   truth that God's name as God, Who is really GOD, is praised
  eternal  .election  were taught definitely only once. in Scripture,    and glorified in the highest. degree, while the sinner is by
  - something -which is by no means the case, - even then                this same truth most deeply humbled. And that will be at the
  the relative importance of this truth for the whole system of          same time, as the Canons have it, "for the living comfort of
  the truth would be unchanged. .And then, if the question be            His people." Certainly, only His people can ever derive any
  asked, "What place does Scripture allot to the truth of elec-          -comfort from this truth. For the reprobate there is never
  tion ?' the answer is: "First place." The truth of election is         any comfort in the gospel. But then, let it be observed, this
  of prime importance. It is the COY ecclesiae,  the heart of the                             (Cohured  0~6  page  141)
                                             :


                                             TH,E  STANDA'RD   B.EARE.R                                                d .

                                                                      is done an attenlpt  is made to repair the`damage  done through
                         CY and ORDER                                 the  -neglect of previous instruction by supplying an over-close
                                                                      of defective Sunday School teaching but this-fails to obliterate
                                                                      the great evil. For more than one reason suc11  methodology
              The Ministry  Of The Word                               is ineffective in building the church.
                          (Continued  j                                     In other circles where  renlnants  of the covenant  concep-
                          A s   Tenth                                 tion are still found, catechetical labor is still  perfornled  al-
   To  the functions of the minister of the Word belong               though its inlportance  is nlinitmized  and it is nlore and imore
also the .task of instructing the covenant seed catechetically        being supplanted by various organic activities of the church.
in the Word of God according- to the faith (belief) of the            The trend today is to suppress the institutional work of the
church. Although this function is not spedifically  mentioned         church and give pronlinence  to social .encleavors.  Only where
in Article 16 of the' church order. it is certainly included in       the true concept of the covenant of God running in continued
"the ministry of the Word." Catechism instruction is that             generations is understood and faithfully  nlaintainecl  does
spiritual labor of the church, bestowed upon the children of          catechetical instruction flourish. Parents should realize this
the covenant.  perfo~mecl  through the minister or elders, in         and desiring the spiritual welfare of  the- generations will
which the Word of God is officially ministered unto their             then give every measure- of assistance ancl cooperation pos-
needs.. Its purpose is to bring the seed of the covenant to           sible to the iminister in this iimportant  work. And the nlinister
the conscious joy and confession of their faith and salvation         who understand this will relegate this labor to the foreniost
and to further prepare -them to understand the preaching of           of his duties.
the Word. Its basis  .lies in the fact that  Gocl Himself es-               The  iminister  is a  catechete!   Catechisni  instruction is not
tablishes His covenant in the line of continued generations.          a sicle-line activity to keep  hinl busy  cluring thE: week or a
If this were not the case and God did not conn6c.t  #the histori-     nlatter  he can dispose of in the hour'of  actual class instruc-
cal development of His covenant  withy  the organic continuity        tion but it is a work that involves elaborate planning and
of generations, and if, therefore, there were no certainty that       intensive.preparation  because it is part of the high calling of
God would gather His church from the natural generations,             God to "feed the lambs'of Christ !"
                                                                       -
of believers, there would be no  b&is for the institution  `of         I Feed  then1 he  nlust in the green pastures of the Word.
catechetical instruction ancl the incentive for the preacher to       His is the task of instructing theln in the whole counsel of
engage zealously in this labor would be lost. Now, however,           God as revealed in tile Scriptures. JJnto that he is called by
it is quite different. God said to Abraham, the father of             God and the church. Woe unto  hinl that neglects to bring
all believers, "I will establish `my covenant between me and          the gbspel unto the little ones and youth. The pastor !must
thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations foi an ever-       unveil the nlysteries of the faith and that in such a way that. .
lasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after         the children of the covenant of different'age  levels and with
thee" (Gen. 17 :7). And so God also gave to the father; the           different abilities are able to grasp and appropriate the
command of Deut. 6 :7, "And thou shalt teach them diligently          truth. These children must be carefully led from spiritual
unto thy children,. and shalt talk of them -when  thou sittest        inlnlaturity  into the state of  lnaturity  so that they are able
in thine house, and when thou &?dkest  by the way, and when           to assulne  their place in the church as living nlembers  of the
thou liest down, and  &hen thou risest  up." `To this the be-         b&y of Christ. Through this labor they  nlust be outfitted
lieving fathers respond in the baptism of their children when         as soldiers in the arnly  of God. To fill such a place in Christ's
they  proniise  that "they will instruct their children in the        church is firstly, of course, a  nlatter of grace.  The best in-
aforesaid doctrine or help or cause them to be instructed             struction, without the sanctifying application of the grace of
therein to the- utmost of their power." Or, in the words of           the Holy Spirit, avails nothing. But., secondly, to fill such
Psalm  78:4. 6, "`We will'not hide them from their children,          a place in the church necessitates strong fortification and
shewing  to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,           thorough training because the  eizemies  of the truth of God
and his  strmgth, and his wonderful works that he hath                are many who  front  within and without inflict suffering upon
clone . . . that the generation to  come might know them, even        the faithful.  Furthernlore,  the winds of false doctrine blow
the. children which should be born ;-who should arise and             front every corner and are even now beconiing nlore  violent
declare  then1 to their children." In the realizatibn of this         than ever and to. withstand these the seed of the covenant
calling the catechetical labor of the church has a place of           niust be inst&ctecl  thoroughly~  in the positive knowledge of
greatest importance.                                                  the Worcl of God so that they nlay be steadfast, immovable,
   The  nlinister and the church that understands this will .always  abounding in the  work  of the Lord. To thoroughly
not take this work lightly. It is understandable that in the          equip unto every good work in the Lord is the pastor's ob-
Anlerican  church worlcl. where the conception of God's cov-          jective in instructing the seed of the church.
enant is obsolete, this phase of nlinisterial  labor is lost alto-          In brcler to  accon$&h this labor well, it is important
gether. Their la'bor is largely expended upon the adult whom -that the preacher. is endowed with certain gifts ancl talents
they  lmust  win for'Christ and bring to conve'rsion. When this       essential. to every teacher. Every minister is not an  able

                                                                                                 .


                                             Ti-IE   S'l'ANUARD   B E A R E R                                                              141

catechete. Some lack the essential gifts. Others possess them        early years.  Arid  what then must one expect of the next
but fail to develop them and the result is that catechetical         generation to be. reared by parents  that are ignorant and
instruction  becolmes a routine matter of one or. two hours          churches that are secularized ?
per week with' them. It is no easy matter to be a teacher               With this in mind the present trend of minimizing the
of children. On the one hand the teacher must remain above           importance of the minister's catechetical`labor is understand-
those who are instructed. He must win their respect  and- able but.n? less deplorable. We do well to take heed. T-here
love. They must be able to look to him with confidence. A            is' roolm  in our midst for a warning. Consistories must see
certain distance between teacher  and pupil should always            to it that the seed of the covenant receives adequate instruc-
prevail so &at the authority and dignity of the former is felt:      tioti. Catechism classes are frequently conducted on a six to
by the latter at all tilmes and respected. Where this is lacking     eight month yearly basis. This is equivelent to about twenty-
the Word brought  -ill meet inattentive ears and  unres-             five hours annually.
p o n s i v e   .hearts.                                                Hardly can this be said to be adequate. It is my  cbn-
    On the other hand, if the teacher is to succeed in  in-          viction that catechetical labor should extend no less than the
culcating knowledge and instruction  into the mind of the            term of the Christian day ,school which is almost ten months
child, he must be able also to stand on the same level as the        of the year. The  itilportance  of the work demands this  at-
child in order that he may enter into the very sphere of its         tention.  Think of it pastors, elders, and parents with a view
experiences, He must understand their pi-oblems,  assist them        to the profit of the church and the spiritual advantage of the
`in their difficulties, be patient with them and deal with them      children.._ Let us lay up a good foundation for the time to
as much as possible as though he was. one of them. To -do                                               -
                                                                     come !                                                 -
this he- must  l&e them in the spiritual sense as his own                               s                                        G . v . d . B .
children, take a deep interest in and have a serious concern -
for their spiritual well-being.
                                                                                   THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
    The catechete that so approaches his class will not have
difficulty in &eating and retaining their interest and atten-                           (Coittimced  from  fioge 139)
tion. When  he succeeds in getting their interest in what he.        truth furnishes the ultimafe  in comfort. Such is the Word of
&as to tell them, there will be no great problem of maintain-        God: "Wherein God, willing lmore abundantly to shew unto
ing order in  the'  cla?s. And,  should he have those in his -the heirs of promise the  iimmutability  of his counsel,  con-
his class who apparantly reveal indifference to them instruc-        firm&d  it by an oath : That by two im,nlutable  things, in which
tioriand  becolme unruly, he will handle these with disciplinary     it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
measures in order that he may save them with the rod of              consolation, who have-fled for refuge to ,lay hold upon the
correction. It must not be forgotten that he brings`to them          hope set before us:" `Heb. 6:17, 18.
                                                                                                   n
only the Word of God and all that are born historically in                                                                           H&.H.
the sphere df the church are not receptive to that Word, Of
this, too, the minster is aware. He knows that he must deal                                   IN MEMORIAM
with a two-fold seed and although he does not divide his               Thi: Men's Society of the South Holland Protestant Reformed
cl&s into elect and reprobate, (which is impossible) he m&t          Church hereby expresses its sincere sympathy to two of its
always be prepared to cope with those that are recalcitrant          fellow members, Frank Van  Baren and Micheal Van  Baren in
so that also in the catechism class he may. "reprove,, rebuke,       the sudden death of
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" upon the autho-                                   JAMES KUIPER
rity of Christ. (II Tim.  42)                                           May the rich promise of God's Word- comfort  and  sustain
                                                                     them in thdir sorrow.
   `This is not the place to treat the"subject  of catechetics at                                  Mr.  W-m.  T`erpstra,  President
length but it may be pointed out that through the faithful                                         Mr. G. A. Van  Baren,  Secretary
execution of this phase of the` pastor's labor the church of         Note: Since this In  Memoriam notice was sent in Mr. Frank Van
the future is built and  Imade strong. It is  t&e that Christ,       Baren also passed away.
not man,' builds His church but this fact does not exclude
means. And, -according to His  promise,  it  is through the
faithful labors of the church that Christ continues His church          It is the habit of making, saciifices  in small', things that
from generation to generation. When these labors are                 enables us for  inaking  them in great, when it is asked for
neglected, a generation arises that knows not the L&-d with          `US. Temper, love of  preemincenc,  bodily indulgence, the
the inevitable result of apostacy  and degeneracy. We have. quick retort, the sharp irony;--  in checking these let us find
only to look about us to see this in effect. It is appalling that    our cross and carry it. Or, when  .the moment comes for
so few of the present generation are able to ca;ry on an in-         some really great service, the, heart will be petrified for it,
telligent conversation in spiritual things. The cause of this        and the blinded eyes will not see the occasion of love.
may be tra=ed to both a lack of -and  ineffective instruction in'                                            -Anthony W.  Thorold


142                                           `I'HE'STANDARD   BEARER                                               ,.:;: ;.
                                                                                                               *    a.
-.-                                                                                                                                  -    -

                                                                        ceived is, according to Mr. Huisjen. Gocl's way with  ihe
             A L L - A R O U N D   IaS                                  Jews. So he understands,  Bnd I believe, correctly so, such .
                                                                        passages as Ronlans 10  :19 and 11  :ll.
                                                                         The- writer delineates upon his subject in an interesting
God's  W-n?,  zuith  the Jews.                                          way and impresses upon his readers that the salvation of  tha
This is the title which Mr. Albert Huisjen placed over                  Jews and God's;, way with them .concerns  ~1s in several ways.
his article  irr the latest issue of the Reformed Journal of            There are especially four sub-divisions in his article .which
November, 1954. Mr. Huisjen!  according to a footnote in the            clearly define this  Jewis  problem as related to  us.  Writes
article, has been for many years, and is now, a missionary to           Mr. Huisjen : "Observe that it involves us in : a. divine pro-
the Jews from  the Christian Reformed Churches.                         vision ; a particular relationship ; -an unique mission ; and a
       The subject of this article caught our eye because for           godly deportment."
sometime now the matter of Jewish Missions has `been of                  Under the part entitled, "A Divine Provision," the writer
personal interest to  me. A year  .or two ago, while I was              reminds his readers that according to Dent.  32 :21, which is
studying the eleventh  ch.ipter  of the Ronlans  w?th our               part of the Song of Moses quoted by Paul in Ram. 11 :14, it
Ladies' Society in South Holland, 1 was alllazed  to note how           is clear that the people  tihom God would raise up for the
much this portion of Scripture had to  say~about the Jewish             pupose of provoking the Jews to jealousy  &-e none other
problem. In fact, when we were finished with our study I                than the Christian people. He writes :  "No other people could
concluded that of all possible l>lission  fields the missiori  among    possibly serve this purpose of God. There have been times
the Jeks was the one which the Lord.in His Word definitely              that God used other peoples to chastise Israel, but to provoke
asserted would be the productive one.          ~                        them to jealousy concerning their salvation, only a people
       Since tlqat time I have been wondering why it is that ok         can do  -who  hafe  becomt God's people indeed. From this
Churches have never, to my knowledge, given serious thought             prophetic word of the Lord God-we must conclude that our
to this matter. While we have considered and even investi-              being raised LIP to provoke the Jews to jealousy concerning
gated the possibility of missions in other fields, no one, as           their salvation was as much determined by God as was our
far as I know. has ever pointed 0~11 the necessity of investi-          salvation. In this Old Testament Scriptures lies the embryo
gating the possible openings in the field of Jewish Missions.           of  ,Jewish evangelism, the precursor of our mission to, the
Then, too, I have raised the question in my own mind how it             Jews !"
is that the Christian Reformed Churches. which, to all in-                  As to the second-part of his article entitlkd,  "A Particular
tents and lkposest  h&e espendecl years of effort in Jewish             Realtionship"  .Mr. Huisjes writes : "God's way with the
Missions both in Chicago and in Paterson. K.J., have only               Jews concerning their salvation also involves us in a partic-
seen a token of success. The question &at bothered me was : ular. relationship with them, a relationship such as is not
-Has the approach the&  churched made to the Jewish problelk            found between  us  and other peoples."
been the wrong one 7 When I read the informative article,                   He then points out wherein this relationship consists.
of Mr. Huisjen I could hardly conclude that they have made              There are four points to which he calls attention : 1. "First,
the wrong approach. And Mr. Huisjen surely ought to know                we are particularly related to the Jews ,in that our salvation
since the burden of Jewish evangelization has been for many             is closely  iktertwined   wifh them. Paul speaks of this in
years his personal  cok%m.                                              Ronlans 11  :l 1 when he says, `Have they then  stumblecl
       Mr. Huisjen introduces his well written article \yith the        that they sl~o~~lcl fall ? God forbicl : but rather through their
rather striking observation that "the apostle Paul. the apostle, fall salvation is  come to the Gentiles fdr to provoke them
who was especially- commissioned as the apostle of the                  to jealousy." The fall of the Jews was subservient to  our
Gentiles, has thrown more light on God's  way with the                  salvation and OUY salvation, in turn, is :to be subservient to
Jews, concerning their salvation. than any other New Testa-             their salvation . . .  ."  `.    .
nl+t writer. It was Paul, in fact, who gave the Church her                 7 "
                                                                           -. Secondly, we  a're particularly related to  the Jews in
directives concerning her mission to the Jews." The writer              that both they and we are branches of  -one  root. They  are
argues that "as the apostle of the Gentiles, Paul was to                the natural branches,  we are the ingrafted. Paul speaks of
establish the church as a body of believers called out from             this realtionship at length in Rokans 11 :16-24  . . . ."
all peoples and it was this. body of believers- whom God                   3. "The  most relevant -point in our relationship  to the
would use to bring the Jews. under the ministry of the                  Jews, however, is found in Ronlans  11:17. There we read,
Gospel.`.' Mr. Huisjen bases this observation on  Ronlatis              `What then ? Israel bath  not obtain&d  that which he seelcetb
11  :13, 14 where he declares : "Paul  magnifiecl  his  offike.  as     for; but the election hath obtained it.' Here we have just
the apostle of the Gentiles in that he sought to build up flie          such a relationship as naturally genders jealousy. We have
Church in faith and godliness so that she might deport her-             inherited that which,  w&s  firsf promised to the Jews and
self as havink  inherited God's_promises once given to Israel           which they believe they should have. The Jews incleecl  have
and thus provoke the Jews to emulate her." This provocation.            a rich heritage by promise of God. Paul describes this
of the Jews through the riches which the Gentile church re-             heritage when he  .says: `-To  whom  pertaineth  the adoption,


                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               143               :
                                                                                                                ___-  -.-
          and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law,         and continual sorrow in his heart for he could wish himself
          and the service of God, and the promises.' The Jews are              accursed  froin Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen accord-
          not devoid of a -knowledge of these promises nor of a feeling ! ing to the flesh . .  .,  ?'
          for them, but in -their selfrighteousness  .they have not ob-           -"Second,  if we would be godly as concerns the Jews it
          tained them. Now when Paul tells us that the election-hath           must also be our heart's desire and prayer to `God for Israel
          obtained it, he has reference to none other than those whom          that they may be saved. `Brethren, my heart's d&ire and
          the Lord has called-unto Himself in Christ Jesus. By profes-         prayer to God for Israel is-that they-may be saved."'
          sion we are the members of the body of Christ, we are the                "Third,  if we would be  gbdly  conkerning  the  Jetis we
          elect. Hence, we  are  the people whom God would use to              must be guided, nbt by .our intuition or feelings, but by the
          provoke the Jews to emtilation  and we are the people whom           Word of God. The reasbnings mentioned above might be
          God  can use to that end ; our. particular relationship with         rational, but it is not Biblical. To those who thus reason
          them involves our doing so."                                         Paul says, `I  say then hath God cast away his people ? God
              4. "Although not as specifidally  set fdrth in Scripture, but    forbid. For I am also an Israelite . . . . God hath not cast
          clearly by the providence of God, we are involved in still           away his people which he foreknew.' Then, taking his stand!
          another meaningful relation  to.the Jews . They are our neigh-       upbn  the  Scriptur-c,  Paul  brings  Elias into the picture and
          bors in a true sense of that word.. . . . Increasingly therefore, says, `Wot ye not what the  Scripure   saiih of  Elias  ?' Paul             ,
          we find ourselves side- by side with the Jews ~today.  Thou-         had recourse to the Old Testament but we have rec&rse to
          sands upon thousands-&tuaily  reside in the shadow of Chris- both, the-Old and the New Testament . . . ."
          tian churches, and our Church also has its quota. Do we need             "Wet ye not what the Scripture saith  ?  `The gifts and
          proof that this is meaningful  ?"                                    calling of God aye without repentance. For as ye in times
              Regarding the third point "A  ~Unique  Mission," Mr.             past. have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy
          Huisjen points out that "God's way with the Jefs  further.           through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not
          involves us in a unique mission  i.ri their behalf . . . . The       believed,  that through your, mercy they may also  .obtain
          provocation- to jealousy, implemented by our particular rela-        mercy.' Romans 11':29-31.  God's way with the Jews as con-
          tion to them, makes our mission `to the Jews  unique. The            cerning their salvation involves us in a mission, and it is a
          Jew is..provoked  to jealousy or emulation when he comes ta          purposeful and glorious, mission. But are we faithful.?"
          see thaf the Christian has truly bkcome heir of God's -prom-,            Mr. Huisjen writes much more than that I  have here
. ises. And this  &e+`c&es  to  se& by observing Christian' life,              quoted, and what 1. have quoted I know does not really do
" not the Christian life of an individual Christian merely, but                justice td his fine article. I do believe, however, that enough
          the collective Christian life, the life of the Church, the body      has been quoted to show that he is quite well aware of the
          of Christ."                                      i-                  Jewish  prpblem  and the proper approach to its solution.
              In the- concluding paragraph under this third point the          This does not mean, however, that ,he has answered all my'          .
          writer says : "Now Paul tells us plainly that he labored `to         questions also those regarding  the conduct of Jewish missions
          condition thechurch for her mission to the Jews. Says, Paul,         in the Christian Reformed Churches.  .For example if the
          `For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch  as I am the apostle          approach to the Jewish problem subgested  by  -Mr. Huisjen
          of the Gentiles, I magnify my office: if by any means I mar          has also. been that `of these Churches  and it has been meticu-
          provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and save some           lously  applied throughout these many years of Jewish mission
          of them.' Obviously, Paul was here not speaking of his labor         work, how is it that to all intents and purposes there has
          with the Jews, but, of his- labor with and in the Church `in         been so little response  a&d such meagre fruits  ? Unless I
          behalf of the Jews. Paul `sought to build up the Church in' have been wholly misinformed, the results of Jewish mission
          faith and godliness so that  she might-the better answer to her      work have been never phenomenal in the Christian Refbrmed
          high calling with- respect to the Jews."         _.         _        Churches.
              Under the  .last thought, "A Godly-  Deportmknt,"   &I?.             Is the answer to this question to be found in the fact
          Htiisjen  writej:  : "Last but not least` God's way with the         that these Churches have spoiled their approach with an
_ Jews concerning their` salvation involves us in a godly de-                  offer of grace in the preaching of the gospel  ? A Jew likes
          portment. Scripture elsewhere tells us that godliness is prof-       consistency, you'know-;  he hates the contradictory. An offer
          itable -unto all things and so it is in our mission to the:          of grace in the preaching of the gospel is a plain contradicl
          Jews. Without godly deportment there is no' provoking the            &n to what Paul declares  in Romans in the heritage of the
     Jews to emulation. In considering-this part of our subject we             Jew. I `wonder !
          make our observation oh the basis of Romans 9, 10 and 11."           :  But  how. about' our-own Churches  7 When I read and
              Regarding-  this  observatjon the writer points out three        re-read  the+  wonderful sermons of the Rev. H. Hoeksema
          things :                                                             which he preached, some. years ago to  <his own congregation
             ."First `if  we would be godly  .as concerns the Jews  we.        and  i&orporated  in the. book called: "God's Eternal Good
          must be embued with a spirit, of Godly compassion -for them,
                                                      .                        Pleasure," arid especially the;one on Romans 11 :l 1, rni heart
          as  -1vas the ap&t!e  Paul. Paul,  observe,_had  great heaviness
     _                                                                         `thrills with the truth that Gtid has promised to' save also the
                               i>                                .
                               L  ._
.                                       T-  --




                         ._                                                                                         -


          -.*.        i
      `. :,
                                                                 -
       :`a                                                             -_--______--                                       - _.--             ._-_  _  --.--.    -        -
                                                                                          --  ._.  :.  -.+  ___   .-^~~     ._  ._  ."
      .-._________
J,44,                                    _               _              T - H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE-R-  of.-
                                                                                           . .
                                                              .--.     ;_     _     I
1.                                . .
~evv?&d~ingraft  `him into -his own  %livk-tree.  -How much                                                                               Chastening
      more assurance do we need that, proceeding from this  -truth,                                                       I know not why His hand is laid
      ijewish.  mission will be sUccessf~rl?  I propose that  our- Mis-                                                   In chastening onmy  life.
      sion Committee consicler  seriously of investigating the pos-                                                       Nor why it is my little worlcl
      sibility of  %onducting  Jewish missions, and advise our                                                            Is filled so full of strife.
       Churches of their fin-dings.'  -  .e                                        .,  M . S .
                      ._                                                                                                  I know not why, when faith looks up
                                                                                                                          And seeks for rest from pain
                                  .  (Coizfimd  fmt   pagi  133)
               .                              FROM HOLY `WRIT                                                             That o'er my sky fresh-clouds arise
      -quotations he `retorted, `!I have a right to  pr.ove my point,                                                     And drench, my path with rain.
       haven't I 7" I told him then and  there?;  "you `have only a                                                       I know not why. my prayer so long
- right to speak the.  evI;ole  truth  `and  nothing  @t  `the;  trzdlz.,                                                 By Him .has. been denied :
       so help you .God." If a writer, breaking out into print, puts                                                      Nor why, ,while others' ships sail on,
       himself in that position` where the two-edged sword of jus-                                                        Mine should in port abide.
'  tice  and, equity demands that to  sp-eak  the  &OIE truth he                                                          But I do know that G&l is love,
 must quote the  zalde  Standard Bearer or any other  C~O~LI-                                                            - That He my burden -shares,
       ment, may (I say this ,with great trembling ! j God help him                                                       And though I may not understand,
by His Holy `Spirit, Who leads into all truth ! I tremble                                                                 I know, for me He cares.
       when I think what will hapen to those who offend the little                                                       -1 know the heights for which I long
       ones for whom Christ died with confusion and wind. I                                                              -Are often reached through pain,
       shudder about the `mill-stone" and- the "deep sea" !                                                         I know the sheaves mu&needs  be threshed
                    I-also noticed, just a few minutes ago; that Rev. Hower-                                              To yield the golden grain.
      .zyl's  pen slipped when -quoting me he wrote, "It is a pity                                                        I know that, though He may remove
       that people are confused on this point" ! I do like to believe                                                     The friends on whom I lean,
       that the change  was~,r&ntentional.  What I actually wrote                                                         `Tis that I thus may learn to love
       was, "It is a  pity$hat  some (notice: "some") people are
       confused on this point.:: The,.confusion  is not as general as                                          t:-: And trust the One unseen.
                                                                                                                    .
        Concordia's  "editing":-might-.seem  to indicate. But suppose                                                     And, when at last I see His face
       it were ? What then ? It would merely mean that with more                                                         `i And know as I am known,
       patience we instruct the erring!                                                                                   I'will not care how rough the road
                    ~-When  I read the decisions of  "Classis  West" on the                                               That led me to my home.
Statements of  Rev., De Wolf I cannot help but ask: what                                                                                                  - Grace Troy.
       child's play is -this ? I ask : does God call me to join such
        "babes in the  wood?? Oh, I like to believe the very best                                                         I Cried to God in My Distress
        of Rev. Howerzyl. Love believes no evil  ; neither does it                                                        I cried to God in my distress,
        close its eyes to the naked reality! My spirit groaned within                                    I                   And by the Lord my prayer was heard:
        me in travail when I read the decisions of  Classis  West.                                                        0 save  me, Lord, from lying lips
        which were sent to my address by Rev. M. Gritter of Pella.                                                           And from the false, deceitful word-.             =
        Iowa. The words of Dr. A.  Kuyper' Sr., came to my mind. '
       who spoke of "Snelle Afloop  der ~Wateren" !                                                                       What woe for falsehood can atone,
                    Here I stand in obedience to God and Christ who has                                                      Or punish the deceitful tongue ?
       the "seven stars in His right hand.`>- Without looking to the                                                      The tongue whose speech consumes like fire,
       left or to the right I shall keep my eye on God's precepts,                                             '             Whose words like deadly shafts are flung ?
        knowing that no matter what happens, the just do not live
        by speculation but by faith!                                                                                      Alas for me, whose lot is cast
                                                                                         G. L.  .-                           With.those  who find their joy in strife!
                                                                                                                          With those who hate the paths of peace
                                              Annouficement                                                                  I long have dwelt and spent my life.
                    Classis  East will meet in regular Session on Wednesday
        morning, January 5 at 9 o'clock, in the Hudsonville Prot-                                                         In thought and act I am for peace,
        estant Reformed Church. Will the Consistories, in need of                                                            Peace I pursue and ever seek:
        subsidy, kindly fill in the blanks sent to their address ? Will                                                   But those about me are for strife,
        they regard this amlouncement  as a personal reminder?                                                               Though I in love and kindness speak.
                                                 .  -         Geo. C. Lubbers, Stated Clerk                                                                          Psalm 120
                            _-


