    VOLUME  imIx                          JUNE  1, 1963 - GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN                                   NUMBER  17

                                                                     everyone that has sense learns that two times two makes
          M E D I T A T I O N                                        four. And I know so little of this brooding Spirit!

                                                                        But there is so much more!

                                                                        When created things became filthy because of sin, God

            PENTECOSTAL REACTION                                     wrought another work, the work of redemption. And in

                                                                     the fulness of time, the Holy Ghost of God must come to
        "and they were all filled  with the Holy GhokS               brood again upon the work of God's redemption.
                                                 - Acts 2:4a
                                                                        And that time became full  this day of Pentecost.
        "und  that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord,
                                                                        And that Holy Ghost is not anymore the same Holy
         but by the Holy Ghost."                I Cor. 12:3b
                                                                     Ghost that brooded in creation, or that brooded in prov-
        "others mocking said, These men are flcl2 of new             idence, but He is the Holy Ghost as He was given to Jesus
         ,wine."                                 - A c t s   2:13    Christ in His exaltation at the Father's right hand. When

                                                                     Acts 2~33 says that He received the promise of the Holy
   They were all filled with the Holy Ghost!                         Ghost from the Father, then the meaning is that all the

   Who is He?                                                        blessedness of God's Covenant such as men are able to
                                                                     taste unto all eternity, was given tc Christ in His reception
   Is He the Third Person of the great and exalted God?
                                                                     of the Holy Ghost. At that moment in heaven Christ be-
   Yes, but He was more.                                             came filled with all the blessedness such as the whole new

   He was the Holy Spirit such as He was given to Jesus              creation that is to come, and now is in principle in the
Christ at His exaltation.                                            saints, shall enjoy unto all eternity.                 -

   You see, there never before was such a Holy Ghost on                 And this Christ, filled with that Holy Ghost of promise,
earth as there came on that 6.rst day of Pentecost of the            came back in that same Holy Ghost to His church on this
New Testament Church.                                                first day of the New Testament Pentecost. Does not Paul.
                                                                     say that Christ is that Spirit?
   The Holy Ghost as the Third Person of the Trinity had
always been on earth. And it is true that notwithstanding               I wrote above this meditation: Pentecostal Reaction.
His marvellous and everywhere present work, He had never             Well, you can plainly see the positive reaction. Christ came
received the interest and notice from God's people which             back to His church with untold blessedness, the blessedness
He so richly deserved. And the reason is simple: His work            of God's eternal Covenant of grace, and they plainly
is so mysterious and mostly hidden.                                  showed it.

                                                                        I ask you: what is the core of the blessed Covenant life
   Oh, the works of the Holy Ghost are so many and
                                                                     such as we shall live it in perfection in heaven? John shall
glorious! He wrought the mysterious work of brooding
                                                                     give us the answer in his book: they sing the hallelujahs
upon the waters, upon the face of the deep. And after the
                                                                     before the throne of God!
work of God's creation was established, it was that same
Holy Ghost that stayed with all things and wrought again                Now look at those simple folk in the house of John
and again. I know but little of His work, but I marvel.              Mark: they speak about nothing but the wonderful works
                                                                     of God. They sing in prose, but they sing nevertheless,
   Think of it: it is througI1  the ever present work of the
                                                                     and their theme is THEOLOGY. God is praised.
Holy Ghost that as a little child yau learn that the stove
is hot, the marble hard, the carnation fragrant, and that the           Oh yes, they were all filled'with the Holy Ghost.

honey tastes sweet in your mouth. Through the Holy Ghost                With the Holy Ghost of Christ.

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


       That Spirit is brooding again. He is brooding on the            But the Pentecostal church exhibited for a little while

work of redemption.                                                 the heavenly life. Did you note how soon the devil inter-

                                                                    fered? Shades of Ananias and Sapphira!
   Glorious Pentecostal reaction.
                                                                       They exhibited the life of the Covenant of love.

                                                                       And now proof that is particular. I think it is the most
                           0 0 0 a
                                                                    beautiful proof of the whole Bible. Of course, excluding the

                                                                    love' of God in Christ. Look upon that fallen man. His
       They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.                    name is Stephen. He is being stoned to death. No, not for

       And they have proved it.                                     anything evil that he has done. He is stoned for the fact

                                                                    that he has too much of the Holy Ghost of love. And he
       It is peculiar to the Holy Ghost, both in His function in
                                                                    shall prove it, just before the last stone breaks his skull.
the Trinity and in the' Church, to be the Conveyer of the
love of God. He tells the Son that the Father loves Him;            Once more he raises himself and looks on his tormentors;
and He knows, for He searches the depths of the Father              and then he looks toward the heavens. Be still, he prays:
eternally. And returning, He tells the Father that the Son          "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!" And when he had
loves Him too, and He knows, for He searches the depths             said this, he fell asleep. Oh, you may be sure that the Holy
                                                                    Ghost was brooding, brooding upon the work of God's sal-
of the Son of God eternally.
                                                                    vation in Stephen.
       And so He is the Harbinger of love, of love of God in
                                                                       Stephen was filled with the Holy Ghost of Christ.
God.
                                                                       And his reaction proved it.
       God is the loving Covenant God in Himself.
                                                                       Pentecostal reaction.
       And so it is the Holy Ghost in His brooding work of
                                                                       How beautiful!
redemption that brings love, the love of God to the church.

       Paul speaks of it. Hope maketh not ashamed, because                                      0 0 0 *

the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the HtoZy              An they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
Ghost which is given unto us.                                          And they proved it.
       Henceforth the church will love.                                For they loved.

       First, they will love God, His truth, His people, His           But how can I know?
cause in the world.                                                    Paul says that no one can cry out: "Lord Jesus!" but by
       Second, they will prove that love: their whole life will     the'Holy Ghost. That is the way you must read the text.
be an anthem, singing of His marvellous works.                         What does that mean?

       The church began this work already in the Old Testa-            It means this: when the Holy Ghost broods within you,
ment. They left you their record, their psalms, their tears         He shows you the most wonderful work the Father ever
and blood. Yes, sometimes they were killed for their lovely         did. And that most wonderful work of God is to go to hell
endeavor.                                                           for His church who were sinners like the others. And God

       They continued it on that glorious day when the Spirit       went to hell for the church in the Person of the Son, united

came to brood, to brood on the work of God's redemption.            with our flesh and blood.

       And they will continue until time shall be no more,             This is the love of God.

but then they shall love God and His world as never before.            And now the Holy Ghost comes to you, and after re-

The new world shall be a monument to God, the God of                generating and converting you, He shows you a picture of

our salvation.                                                      that love of God, that is, He shows you Jesus the Lord as

       It might be well at this juncture to see some of the         He goes to hell for you. He shows Jesus to you in all His
proofs of the love of the Holy Ghost.                               loveliness and attractive beauty.

       First, general proof. The Church showed a little bit of         And then that same Holy Ghost of Jesus Christ gives
heaven: they sold their possessions and gave to the poor.           you an appreciation of such love and beauty as it is in
No, it did not last long. Not because it was wrong, but             Jesus Christ.
because they lost the erstwhile quantity of grace and love             And then you cry out in ecstasy: Oh, Lord Jesus!

and the Holy Ghost. It is left, but it is small, very small.           You really find the same thing in the Old Testament

       You see, in heaven, no one dare say anymore: that is         when the Bride of Christ says: "He is altogether lovely!"

mine; keep away from my possessions. Everything is of                  When you say, through the Holy Ghost: Lord Jesus!

everyone; and everyone and everything is of God through             then you cry out because of the great admiration for the

Christ and in the Holy Ghost. Of course, that is truetoday,         wonders of grace and salvation which God has wrought

but we cannot-live it, since we are still so evil and sinful.,      through Him.


                                          T H E   STAN.DARD   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                             387


   It really is the same thing as the eternal blessedness of

heaven in the new kingdom,                                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                         Semi-monthly, except monthly during  June, July and August
   Why did God determine in His counsel to have this                       Published by the REFORIID  From  PUBLISEIXNG  ASSOCIATION
Kingdom? In order to show how wonderful He is. That                                                   Editor  - REV. HERMAN  HOEKSEMA
is the answer. And that is the wonder of our God: that He                Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                         Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,
gave us Jesus. And that this Jesus took our curse and                    Mich. Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
damnation away. For that you will sing unto all eternity.                                                   neatly written or typewritten.
                                                                         All church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
   For you are filled with the Holy Ghost.                                                   1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

   They were all filled.                                                   Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee included
                                                                         must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below:
                                                                           All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
                                                                                          Mr. James Dykstra,  I326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
   But not the whole  multitude.                                                                                Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
                                                                               RENEWAL:  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is
   Some said, when they looked upon the wonders of God:                  received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
they are drunk!                                                              tion to continue without de formality of a renewal order.
                                                                                                       Subscription price: $5.00 per year
   Note the folly of the world: when they see something                            Second Cluss  postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan

which they do not understand, they become unreasonable.

Drunk? It was only the third hour of the day. You might
                                                                                                                        C O N T E N T S
see one man in a drunken stupor at that hour, but surely          . ~
not one hundred and twenty.                                       MEDITATION -
                                                                                Pentecostal Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .._....  385
   They show their wickedness.                                                             Rev. G. Vos

   I pity them.                                                   EDITOIUALS  -

   But we will sing. For the Holy Spirit still broods upon                       Rank Arminianism                          in Calvin Seminary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

the waters of grace. You sing: Thy Spirit, 0 God, makes                                    Rev. H. Hoeksema

life to abound! Yes, He does that every spring when He            OUR DOCTPJNE-
kisses the earth. And the grass and flowers blossom.                             The Doctrine o f the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ..390

                                                                                           Rev. H. Hoeksema
   Thy Spirit, 0 Lord, makes life to abound.
                                                                  A CLOUD  OF WITNESSES -
   He does that still in the church. He kisses the church,                      Joshua's            Farewell              . . . . . . . . .._....... . . . . . . ..__... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..393
and the flowers of grace blossom in the church. And God                                    Rev. B. Woudenberg
delights Himself in His beautiful work of redemption.             FROM HOLY WRIT -
   Reactions of Pentecost!     0 God! give them!                                 Exposition o f I Timothy.. . . . . . . . .._.............................................. 395

                                                         G.V.                              Rev. G. Lubbers

                                                                  INHISFEAR-

                                                                                 My Father's World                             (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.......................................... 397

                                                                                           Rev. J. A. Heys
                     CALL TO SYNOD
                                                                  CONTENDING FOR THE  FAITH -

   According to the decision of the last Synod, the Con-                         The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
                                                                                           Rev. H. Veldman
sistory of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand
Rapids, Michigan, notifies the churches that the 1963 Synod       THE VOICE OF 0~ FATHERS -
                                                                                 The Belgic Confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .:. . . . . . . . . . . . . ,401
of the Protestant Reformed Churches will convene on                                        Rev. H. 6. Hoeksema
Wednesday, June 5, D.V.,  at 9:00 A. M. in the-above men-
                                                                  DECENCY AND ORDJSR  -
tioned church.                                                                   The Censure o f Office-Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
   .The pre-synodical service will be held on Tuesday eve;                                 Rev. G. Vanden Berg

ning, June 4, at 800 P. M. at First Church. The Rev. C.           ALLARouNDus-
Hanko, president of the previous Synod, will preach at this                      Race Track Sweepstakes                                   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               1........... 405
service.                                                                         Southern Presbyterian Assembly ,.. . . .._ . . . . . . . . . ..405
                                                                                 Roman Catholics ___........  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..406
   Synodical delegates are requested to gather with the                          More O n Evolution .__. . . . . . .._.....  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                                                                  ..,......................  406

Consistory before the service.                                                             Rev. H. Hanko

   Those in need of lodging are to contact Mr. P. Decker,         CONTRDWITONS  -

108 Mayfield  Ave., N. E., Grand Rapids 3, Michigan.                             Report of the Western Ladies' League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
                   Consistory of the First Protestant Reformed                             Mrs. J. De Boer

                   Church                                         NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
                                                                                           Mr. J. M. Faber
                       Rev. C. Hanko, President

                       P. Decker, Secretary


388                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                  -- .
       ---_--~                                                   :rank'  in his estimate of my view is that I unambiguously
II--- E D I T O R I A L S                                        consider the universal love of God in regard to men to. be
                                                                 redemptive in character.    But both of us agree that God's

       Bank Arminianism  in Calvin Seminary                      love is not two but one, although he limits this one love of
                                                                 God to the elect while I ascribe it to all men. Hoeksema
   In a third article in The Reformed Journal  Prof. Dekker
                                                                 and I also agree that the proclamation' of the gospel is
discusses the question whether the love of God is "one or
                                                                 rooted in this one love of God, although he would not
two," that is, whether there is one love of God to the elect
                                                                 agree that this proclamation brings an offer of salvation,
and another to the reprobate. He refers to the matter of
                                                                 either to the elect or to all men. Then, too, Hoeksema and
common grace and to the "Three Points" adopted by the
                                                                 I agree that those who ground the proclamation of the
Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of Kalamazoo in
                                                                 gospel to all men in a non-redemptive common grace are in
1924. In this connection he also mentions me and, there-
                                                                 a position which is biblically and logically untenable.
fore, I will quote him once more.
   By the way, in a footnote by the managing editor, C.             "It appears that Hoeksema and I also hold equally un-
P. B., we read: "The entire April issue has already been         ambiguous views regarding John 3:16.  The same, un-
committed to a series of articles on literature and therefore    fortunately, cannot be said for everyone who has com-
Prof. Dekker's next article will not appear until the May-       mented on this crucial passage in the present discussion.
June issue, at the earliest." From this it appears that Prof.    Hoeksema holds that John 3:16  means `God .so loved the
Dekker intends to write still more on .the subject of "The       elect.' I hold that it means `God so loved all men.' It is
Love Of God -To All Men." We shall look forward to it.           only right that those who differ from my view (or Hoek-
   In the context of the paragraph from which I will             sema's) should declare unequivocally whether they under-
presently quote, Prof. Dekker criticizes the "Three Points"      stand iyorld' in John 3:16 to embrace all men or only some
as follows:                                                      men. Once this basic question is cleared, discussion can
   "The three points on common grace enunciated by the           proceed. As long as it is .evaded  discussion will be confused
Christian Reformed Church (Synod of 1924) have left              and inconclusive."
                                                           US

a heritage of ambiguity regarding the nature of divine            Again I say that I quote Prof. Dekker extensively and
grace. Although the three points do not teach it, they per-      fuly because, in the first place, I want our readers to under-
mit the view that the general offer of the gospel belongs        stand what he is teaching about the universal love of God,
to common grace, for they use the general offer of the           and secondly, because not many of our readers receive The
gospel as an evidence for a certain favor or grace of God        Reformed Jownal.

which He shows to His creatures in general. If one holds            On the whole, Prof. Dekker describes the differences be-

that the general offer of the gospel is an expression of         tween his views on the love of God and mine quite correctly.

common grace, and if one also holds that common grace is            Only, I have a few questions which I would like him

generically different from special grace, then the general       to answer from the Bible and the Reformed Confessions.

offer of the gospel is rooted in and expression of non-          He writes that he %nambiguo.usly  considers the ' uni-

redemptive divine love.    Can non-redemptive love offer         versal love of God in regard to man to be redemptive in

redemption? Is this not a sheer anomaly? Is it not, more-        character." On this and similar items in his articles I have

over, destructive of the very character of the gospel offer      the following questions, some of which I have asked before

as sincere and well-meant to all men?"                           but to which I have as yet received no reply.

   I would say "pas op !" Dekker! You are here denying              1. Do you, Prof. Dekker, believe the Scriptural and

the very heart of the "First Point." And do not forget that      Reformed truth of reprobation or not? If so, would you

for this very reason I was cast out of the Christian Re-         say that God loves the reprobate? If the latter is true, ac-

formed Church. But, perhaps, you can get away with it.           cording to your opinion, will you, please, give me a clear

Times have changed. Besides, although Dekker criticizes          definition of what you mean by reprobation?

the first point of common grace, he himself makes the grace         2.    Do you or do you not believe in the free will of the

and love of God more general still than was the intention        sinner? By free will in this connection I mean that, accord-

of the first point.                                              ing to your view, God loves all men with a redemptive love

   But let me now quote what Prof. Dekker writes about           so that in this love He desires to save all men, but if they

the difference between himself and me:                           do not care for that redemptive love of God, and, therefore,

   "It is instructive, I think, to cite at this point Rev.       do not want to be saved, God can do nothing about it.

Herman Hoeksema's criticism of my views as iank  Armi-              3. Is God's love for the redemption of men efficacious

nianism.' His criticism is understandable and I do not take      or not? If the former, how do you explain then that all men

it ill of him, for he is only being consistent and frank. His    are not saved? Or do you believe that all men are actually

definition of what is Reformed involves a similar judgment       saved, head for head and soul for soul? If this is your

regarding any view which affirms a love or grace of God          conception, the question arises: are the majority of men

which is universal. Perhaps what accounts for the word           saved without the preaching of the gospel?


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 389


   4. Is the redemptive love of God changeable or un-            them to salvation, but man is stronger than God. But this
changeable? If your answer is that the love of God is~un-        is in c&&ict,  not only with all Scripture, but also with our
changeable, then it is also eternal in God. Then my ques-        Confessions, especially with the Canons of Dart.  For in
tion is: how do you explain HELL? Does God have those            Canons III, IV, 3 we read that they are to be condemned
that are damned in hell eternally before Himself as those        "Who teach: That in spiritual death the spiritual gifts are
whom He loves? And, please, do not seek refuge in what           not separate from the will of man, since the will in itself
you, perhaps, might call mysteries. They are no mysteries        has never been corrupted, but only hindered through the
for the answer is clearly revealed in Scripture: God loves       darkness of the understanding and the irregularity of the

only His own elect and not the reprobate or, if you prefer,      affections; and that, these hindrances having been removed,

God loves the righteous and He hates the wicked. God does        the will can then bring into operation its native powers,
not iove all men!                                                that is, that the will of itself is able to will and to choose, or

   5. But let us have a few examples from the Word of God.       not to will and not to choose, all manner of good which

   a. Did God love the world of the ungodly before the           may be presented to it. This is an innovation and an error,
flood or did He love only Noah and his family? Of this you       and tends to elevate the powers of the free will, contrary to
may read in II Peter 2 in connection with the false prophets     the declaration of the Prophet: "The heart is deceitful above
of whom the apostle speaks. I will quote the entire pas-         all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt, Jer. 17:9;  and of
sage beginning with vs. 1: "But there were false prophets        the Apostle: `Among whom (sons of disobedience) we also
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers     once lived in the lust of the flesh, doing the desires of the
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,         flesh and of the mind,' Eph. 2:3."

even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon              If Prof. Dekker can give any other Scriptural interpreta-

themselves swift destruction. (By the way, did God love          tion of the passages I quoted thus far, I will be glad to

these false prophets and teachers also with an unchange-         receive it.

able redemptive love? Remember: "God loves - all men!").            c. That God did not love Esau but hated him I have

And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of        already shown and I will not repeat it. But in the same

whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through       connection I also briefiy  wrote about Pharaoh. On this I

covetousness shall they with feigned words make merch-           will elaborate somewhat. The question that must be an-

andise of you:       whose judgment now for a long time          swered by Prof. Dekker is: Did God love Pharaoh with an

lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if        unchangeable redemptive love? In other words, did God

God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down        intend to save Pharaoh with an unchangeable redemptive

to hell, and delivered them up into chains of darkness to        love? In other words, did God intend to save Pharaoh and,

be reserved unto judgment: (Again by the way, did God            in fact the Egyptians, seeing that He loved them? There

love them, too?) And spared not the old world but saved          is not a trace of it in the 6rst chapters of Exodus, nor in

Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bring-      Romans 9. In the passage from Romans 9 we read that God

ing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." The ques-       had raised up Pharaoh in order to show His power in him

tion is: did God love the ungodly world, upon whom He            and in order that His name might be declared in all the

brought the deluge, with an unchangeable redemptive              earth. It is, no doubt, with regard to what the apostle had

love? How do you explain then that they, all perished?           written about Pharaoh that he generalizes the matter and

   b. Did God also love the inhabitants of Sodom and             writes in vs. 18 that God hardens whom He will.

Gomorrah of which the apostle speaks in the same chapter            I do not have to go into detail about the history of the

as follows: "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah        children of Israel recorded in the first chapters of Exodus.

into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making              Only two matters must be mentioned in this connection.

them an example unto those that after should live ungodly."      The first is that, according to Ex. 7:3, the Lord hardened

And the general application of all this may be found in vss.     Pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the people `go;
9, 10: "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out            and He did this before Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

of -temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of       And the second is that the ultimate result was that the king

judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after        and his host were destroyed in the Red Sea.
the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.       And noti I ask again: did the Lord love Pharaoh and

Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to        the Egyptians with an unchangeable and redemptive love?

speak evil of dignities." Again, I ask the question: did God     My answer  is a very emphatic NO. But how about Prof.

love all these false prophets and ungodly men with an            Dzkker? Wiil he answer that question with an equally

changeable redemptive love? If you answer YES, then how          emphatic YES? He must if he wants to maintain that "God

do you explain that they are not' saved? The only answer         loves - all men." I have still more on this subject.

it seems to me, that you can give is that they do not want          But this must wait until our next issue comes from the

to be converted and saved. That, however, means that you         press. A& this, by the way, is July the first.

believe in freewill: God loves them and desires to bring                                                                     H.H.

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


                                                                 church in our first parents. It was through Christ that
11 0 l.l R D 0 C T R I N -E                                 11 Enoch  proclaimed the day of the Lord and that Noah be-
                                                                 came a preacher of righteousness. It was through Christ

                                                                 that the gospel was proclaimed to Abraham and that he was

         THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                              called out of Ur and Haran.  It was through Christ that God
                                                                 called His Son out of Egypt. And through Christ He led

                          CHAPTER II                             His church all through the desert. Christ was the Rock that

                                                                 followed them, out of which Israel drank. Christ is the
         THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
                                                                 end of the law, revealed in all the shadows of the old dis-

                          (Continued)                            pensation. Christ -spoke through all the prophets, and the
                                                                 Spirit of Christ was in them. Christ gathered, throughout
   It is true that this divine calling comes to us through       the old dispensation, His church, as a hen gathers. her
the preaching of the gospel. However, this does not imply        chickens.
that here, at last, the gathering of the church becomes the
                                                                    However, in the fulness of time Christ came, and the
work of man. Never are the preachers of the gospel co-
                                                                 gospel was realized in His death and resurrection and exal-
laborers with God or co-laborers with Christ. When, as, for
                                                                 tation. But He still speaks by His Spirit and Word. He
instance, in I Corinthians 3:9, we read, "For we are laborers
                                                                 commissions His apostles, and in them the church, to preach
together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's
                                                                 the gospel to every creature, and gives them the prom&e
building," this certainly does not mean that the apostles and
                                                                 that He will be with them even unto the end of the world.
also the preachers of the gospel labor together with God.
                                                                 The exalted Lord, through His Spirit and Word, still speaks
But it refers to the relation of the preachers of the gospel
                                                                 in the preaching of the gospel, and gathers His church and
to one another mutually. They are co-laborers together, not
                                                                 builds her and preserves her from every nation and tongue
with God, but of God. The gospel is not ours; but it is the
                                                                 and tribe, and will do so until the last one of His brethren,
gospel of Christ. The gospel is His Word. He revealed it,
                                                                 the children of God, shall have come to Mt. Zion, the city
and at the same time He is also its contents. And He speaks
                                                                 of the living God.
it. And this does not change when He delivers the contents
of that gospel to us in the Holy Scriptures, or when it is          To this we must add that in this world Christ gathers
spoken by the preachers of the gospel. Without His own           this  church in the line of continued generations. When He
Spirit and Word, those Scriptures and those preachers are        establishes His church in the world, He does not simply
powerless. The work of gathering His church never be-            gather individuals at random, but families, and continues
comes dependent on man. Even when the Lord commissions           His church in their generations. Thus it was in the old dis-
and calls prophets, apostles, and evangelists to proclaim        pensation. He gathered His church in the line of Seth,
His Word, or when He gives unto the church pastors and           Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Israel, according to His Word:
teachers, that through them the church may preach the            "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and
gospel to all nations, the work of gathering the church does     thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting
not depend on man whatsoever. Even then it is He that            covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
calls and prepares the preachers. It is He that sends. them      Gen. 17:7.  And the same truth is proclaimed by the apostle
whithersoever He will. And it is He that speaks through the      Peter on the day of Pentecost: "For the promise is unto you
preaching by His Spirit to gather His church. Even though        and to your children, and to all that are afar ofI, even as
it be through the instrumentality of the preaching-and the       many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:39.  Hence, the
instrumentality of the preacher, the church is always            church is the gathering of believers and their children, bap-
gathered not by men, but by Christ through His Spirit and        tized in the name of the Triune God. It is incumbent upon
Word.                                                            the church in each generation to preserve the truth of the
   Now this divine calling is heard throughout the ages,         gospel and to deliver it unto the next generation. The
from the beginning of the world to the very end. Perhaps         children of the church must be instructed inthe fear of the
someone objects that before the fuhress  of time Christ was      Lord. The result is, too, that the church on earth is never
not yet, and that therefore He could not gather His church       pure. They are not all Israel that are of Israel. There is
from the human race during the old dispensation. That is         always carnal seed, that corrupts the church. It is from this
undoubtedly erroneous.     For although in time Christ had       carnal seed that the false church springs, and the final great
not yet been revealed, in God's eternal counsel the Son of       apostasy that will be precursory to the ultimate revelation
God had been anointed the head of His church before the          of the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, that Son of Perdition.
foundation of the world. In the -old dispensation the Son        Hence, the church is always called to watch and pray, and
of God functioned and revealed Himself and sent His Word         to put on the whole armor of God, that she may be able
by His Spirit as the Christ that was to come. It was through     to stand in the evil day. Doing this, she may be of good
Christ that God sent forth His Word of the gospel in para-       cheer: for the gates of hell shall not overwhelm her.

dise, immediately after the fall, and began to gather His           Reformed people confess that the church is gathered


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             391


from the beginning to the very end of the world. Thus, in          the seed-  of. Abraham in a figurative sense. Fact is that
the -Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day XXI, to which: we            according to Scripture the Jews as such, the carnal des-
have already referred, the Catechism asks: "What believest         cendants of Abraham, are not considered the true seed of
thou concerning the holy catholic church of Christ?" And           Abraham at all. Only the children of the promise are
the answer is: "That the Son of God from the beginning to          counted for the seed. It must be maintained, therefore, that
the end of the world, gathers, defends, and perserves to           both in the days of the old and of the new dispensation not
himself by his Spirit and Word, out of the whole human             the Jews, but believers in Christ, are the true children of
race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true        Abraham.

faith; and that I am and for ever shall remain, a living              That this is true is evident from all Scripture. First of

member thereof." And the same is true of the Netherland            all, we refer to the passage of Romans 9:6-S.  There we

Confession of Faith, where we read, in Article XXVII: `We          read: "Not as though the word of God hath taken none

believe and profess, one catholic or universal Church, which       effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

is an holy congregation, of true Christian believers, all ex-      Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they

pecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his       all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. .Tliat

blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost. This Church        is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not

hath been from the beginning of the world, and will be to          the children of God: but the children of the promise are
the end thereof; which is evident from this, that Christ is        counted for the seed." We may in this connection em-

an eternal King, which without subjects, cannot be." With          phasize the most important points in this passage as far as
this confession the Reformed Church stands opposed to the          they have bearing on our present discussion. First of all,
view of those who present the church as an interim, as the         let it be noted that the passage speaks of the Jews, of the
body of Christ in distinction from the kingdom-people, Is-         nation of Israel, the literal descendants of Abraham. Theirs

rael, that is gathered from the day of Pentecost until the         was the promise. Yet, now Christ has come and the prom-
fulness of the Gentiles shall have been gathered in. Over          ise has entered upon its fulillment,  the majority of Jews
against this view, the Reformed church insists that the            were lost, did not receive the promise. Hence, the question
church is in the world from the very beginning, that also          arose: did God fail to fulfill His promise? Has the Word of
the saints of the old dispensation belong to the body of           God taken none effect? If the promise of God was given to
Christ, that with the church of the new dispensation they          the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, how must it
form one people-of God, and that for them all there is one         be explained that so many of the Jews are lost? Secondly,
and the same promise and the same salvation.                       it is clear that in answer to this question the apostle em-'

                                                                   phasizes that not all the descendants of Abraham, not the
   It may be well to demonstrate the Scriptural ground on          Jews as such, are counted as Abraham's seed. The promise
which this confession rests. Many seem to think that the           has not failed. All are not Israel that came from the loins
church found its inception after the first coming of Christ,       of Abraham. The fact that they are the natural seed of
after His death and resurrection, after His ascension and          Abraham does not make them children of God. Thirdly,
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That outpouring of the          the passage makes plain that also in the old dispensation
Spirit really constitutes, according to them, the birth of the     only spiritual lsrae1, believers, they that were born not of
church. The nation of Israel, according to this same con-          the flesh but of the promise, are counted for the seed.
ception, is an altogether different people, separate from the      When, therefore, you read that God gives His promises
church, occupying a position all their own in the economy          to Abraham and his seed, you must not make the mistake of
of salvation. They are the kingdom-people of Christ. For           applying that Word of God to the Jews as such. For it does
them is meant the separate promise of the land of Canaan           not mean the natural descendants of Abraham at all. Only
for an everlasting possession. It may therefore be expedient       the children of the promise are counted for the seed. In
to show from Scripture that it is nevertheless the truth that
                                                                   other words, though for a time the seed of Abraham were
throughout the ages of the world there is one holy catholic
                                                                   Jews, the Jews as such were never the seed of Abraham.
church, one people, not two.
                                                                   This is the plain and undeniable teaching of the Word of

                                                                   God in this particular passage.
   First of all, let us call attention to the very important

truth that according to Scripture there is only one true seed         Secondly, I must call your attention to Romans 4:11-16:

of Abraham, and that these are the elect, the believers, the       "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the

spiritual children of God, both of the old and of the new          righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircum-

dispensation. It is true, there are children of Abraham ac-        cised: that he might be the father of all them that believe,

cording to the flesh and children of the promise, or spiritual     though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might

children. But this does not hold only for the old dispensa-        be imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision

tion, but also for the new. It cannot be maintained on the         to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also

basis of Holy Writ that the Jews are the real seed of Abra-        walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,

ham, properly                                                      which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise,
               SO called, while the church is spiritual Israel,


3 9 2                                      T H E   STANDAhlj  B E A R E R


that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abra-              In the epistle to the Galatians we may find the clearest
ham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the right-        statement of the unity of the people of God from the old
eousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs,       and from the new dispensation. Thus, in Galatians 3:7-9
faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:            we read: `Know ye therefore that they which are of faith,

Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there           the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture,
is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be     foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the           preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee
seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that             shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith
                                                            also

which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of              are blessed with faithful Abraham." It is emphasized here
                                                              US

all."                                                               once more that the seed of Abraham are the true believers
                                                                    in our Lord Jesus Christ. To this it cannot be objected that
    In this passage we need only underscore those elements
                                                                    the Bible is referring here to the seed of Abraham in the
that have bearing on our subject and which are so clear
                                                                    spiritual sense, and that no mention is made of the Jews
that they cannot be gainsaid. The first point to be noted
                                                                    as the real seed. For to this possible objection we may re-
is that Abraham is here presented as the father of only one
                                                                    ply: 1) That this distinction is contrary to Scripture, as
seed, whose sole distinguishing characteristic is faith. These
                                                                    has been shown before. Only the spiritual children of
children of Abraham are from the Jews, the circum&ision,
                                                                    Abraham are counted for the seed, according to the Bible.
but-also from the Gentiles, the uncircumcision. He is the
                                                                    2) That the above passage must be read in connection with
father, therefore, of all believers. Secondly, here too we
                                                                    verse 16: `Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
may note that the Jews as such, the literal descendants of
                                                                    made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of
Abraham, are not counted as.the  seed. For he is said to be
                                                                    one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." From the fact that
the father of circumcision, that is of the Jews, only in SO
                                                                    the singular, and not the plural, of the word seed is used
far as they walk in the steps of the faith of their father.
                                                                    the apostle draws the conclusion that centrally and es-
Not all that are circumcised are Abraham's seed. And
                                                                    sentially the seed is Christ. But if this be true, it follows
thirdly, the passage also teaches clearly that to this spiritual
                                                                    undeniably that they only that are in Him, that is, ,in
seed of Abraham, from the Jews and also from the Gentiles,
                                                                    Christ, that is, believers, whether they be of the Jews or
there is only one promise, namely, that they should be
                                                                    of the Gentiles, are with Him the seed of Abraham. 3)
heirs of the world. This promise was never through the
                                                                    That to this seed are all the promises made. They are
law, but only through the righteousness of faith. Hence,
                                                                    blessed with Abraham, and they only, not others. Note the
they that are of the law, that is, the descendants of Abra-
                                                                    last verse of this same chapter: `And if ye be Christ's, then
ham according to the flesh, as such are not heirs of the
                                                                    are-ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
promise.    It is of faith, that the promise might be sure to
                                                                    4) That the apostle literally denies all separation of Israel
all the seed, the one spiritual seed of Abraham, from the
                                                                    and the church, as if they were two peoples, when he com-
Jews and also from the Gentiles. There is one father Abra-
                                                                    pares the people of God of the old and of the new dis-
ham, one seed of Abraham, one promise to all the seed.
                                                                    pensation to a growing child. In the old dispensation the
And this one promise can be attained only in the way of
                                                                    child is still a minor, placed under the constant tutorship
faith. The position that the Jews are the real seed of
                                                                    of the law. In the new dispensation, however, he has
Abraham, while the church of the new dispensation are
                                                                    reached the age of majority, and is become a free son. This
the spiritual seed, is therefore untenable, and must be con-
                                                                    is evident from the first section of chapter 4 :"Now I say,
demned as contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture.
                                                                    That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing
    This is also the plain and simple meaning of the text           from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors
in Romans 2:28, 29: "For he is not a Jew, which is one              and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward           so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and           elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in        was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." This           under the law, To redeem them that were under the law,
passage can stand without comment as far as it sheds light          that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
upon our subject.    The Jew outwardly is he who is a des-          ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
cendant of Abraham according to the flesh, without the              your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no
faith of his father Abraham. But the text literally denies          more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God
that he is a Jew at all. He is not counted as the seed. Only        through Christ."    The point that we want to bring out is
he is a Jew inwardly, spiritually, in whose heart has been          that the child who was a servant is Israel under the law in
wrought the spiritual reality that corresponds to the sign          the old dispensation, and that the grown up child that is
of circumcision, that is, faith and the new life. Only he           free is the church of the new dispensation.
can be called an Israelite. Not the Jews, therefore, but only

the circumcised in heart are Abraham's seed.                                                                                H.H.


                                            T H E   S,TANDARD.   B E A R E R                                                     393


                                                                      for the blessings which they had received from the Lord,

11 A CLOUD OF W.lTNESS-ES  11 and it was expressed in the faithfulness of their worship.

                                                                         For Joshua especially these were surely years of richest

                                                                      blessing. His joy was always in the faithfulness of the

                    Joshua's Farewell                                 people. As he saw the people settling in the land of Canaan
                                                                      and worshipping Jehovah their God, he could not but feel

        And it came to pass a long time after that the                fully satisfied. But already at the entering of the land of

      LORD had  given rest unto Israel from all! their ene-           Canaan Joshua was well advanced in years. He and Caleb

      mies round about, that Joshua waxed old and &i&en               were the oldest men in the nation and the only ones who

      in age.                                                         remained of the preceeding  generation. Thus the time

                                                                      soon came when he felt that he could not live much longer.
        And Joshua called for all Israel! an.d for their eiders,
                                                                      It is quite possible that Jehovah spoke to him too, telling
      and for their heads, and for their judges, and, for their       him this. Feeling the responsibility of a leader to his fol-
      officers, and said unto them, I am old arnd stricken in
                                                                      lowers, like that of a father to his children, he summoned
      age. . . .
                                                                      before him all of the leaders of the people. To them he
        And, behold, this day I am. going the way of all the          would speak his final words of spiritual admonition.
      earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your
      souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good              The final instructions of Joshua were given to the lead-
      things which the LORD your God spake  concerkng                 ers of Israel at two different  meetings. We are not told the
      you; a.11 are come to [pass  unto you, a:nd not one thing       location of the first, only that it was attended by the elders,
      hath failed thereof.                    Joshua 23: 1,2,14       heads, judges and officers of Israel. Without hesitation
                                                                      Joshua told them that he was old and about to die. There
    To Joshua came the privilege for which Moses had                  was no hint of sadness, remorse, or desire for sympathy.
longed and had never received. He finished his work of                He was merely informing them of what was bound to be of
bringing the children of Israel into the promised land of             importance to the nation. The departing instruction with
Canaan, and thereafter he was allowed the opportunity of              which he wished to lkave them was this, `Ye have seen all
sharing the blessings and rest of the land himself. Even              that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations
as Caleb received a special inheritance for his faithfulness          because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath
to the Lord, so did also Joshua. He was permitted to                  fought for you . . . Be ye therefore very courageous to keep
choose an inheritance within the allotted portion of the              and to do all that is written in the book of the law of
tribe of Ephraim. He chose for himself Timnathserah. In               Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand
this was reflected the strength and courage that still re-            or to the left; that ye come not among these nations, these
mained with Joshua even in his old age. This was not a                that remain among you; neither make mention of the name
city which had been merely captured from the Canaanites               of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve
and was ready to be inhabited. This was a city which he               them, nor bow yourselves unto them: but cleave unto the
had to build himself and make  a fit place for habitation. By         LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day." Although
his choice Joshua showed his willingness to labor in the              this generation had never perpetrated any of those idol-
land which had been given them, and he gave an example                atrous practices which had been performed by their fathers,
which all Israel could well take and emulate.                         there was no question in Joshua's mind but that the poten-

   Years passed by and Israel lived at peace in their newly           tiality and inclination toward such sins still remained.
acquired inheritance. Those must have been among the                  Nothing could be more dangerous than refusing to rec-
most blessed years that the nation of Israel ever experienced.        ognize the possibility of falling into such sin. As long as
The generation which entered the land was one which had               Israel would flee from these sins, (God  would be with them
passed through unusual hardships through the forty years              to bless them and make them strong, "Qne  man of you shall
of wandering in the wilderness and this had worked to give            chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that
them spiritual strength and stability. Through those years            fighteth for you, as he hath promised." But even more
they had come to see the folly of their parents who had               emphatical Joshua was in his warning, "If ye do in any
so often murmured and rebelled against the way of the                 wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations,
Lord. Through these years the elders of the people also               even these that remain among you: know for a certainty
had learned to take up the duties and re;pDnsibilities  of            that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of
leadership in the place of men like Joshn~  and Mose;. Busy           these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and
with the responsibilities of building their homes aad  laying         traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in
out their fields, the Israelites were leirt wit11 little opportun-    your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which
ity of the leisure which is so often the cause of si::. These         the LORD your God hath given you."

were the years during which Israel felt the full gratitude               The second meeting Joshua called found much the

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


same danger resting upon his heart. Again the elders, heads,      ftilljr they answered, "God forbid that we should forsake
judges, and officers of Israel were there, and it seems likely    the LORD, to serve other gods; for the LORD our God, he
many of the common people were also. The                          !t is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of
                                                meeting  was
called at Shechem, a place of particular historical impor-        Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those
tance. It was here that Abraham had %rst  come upon en-           great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way
tering Canaan to receive the covenant promises of His God         wherein we went, and among all the people through whom
and to build an altar for worship. It was here also to            we passed: and the LORD drave out from before us all
                                                        whi.c$

Jacob had returned when coming from Padanaram to purge            the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land:
his household of all the idolatry that had been carried with      therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God."

them from Laban's  home. Finally it was here that they had           But Joshua knew of what he had spoken. He told them,
sworn covenant together before God from Mount Ebal and            "Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is
Mount Gerizim upon their entrance into this their in-             a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor
heritance. It was a place well suited at which Joshua could       your sins.    If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange
give his final parting instructions to the people.                gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you,

       As Joshua began to speak, there were two points he         aft&r that he hath done you good." There .was still-evil
wished to impress upon Israel. He started by saying, "Thus        in that nation and it was sure to come out. Sins would be
saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the           committed which would have to be punished. Only a
other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father       remnant would escape and even that would be purely ac-
of Abraham, and the father of Nachor:  and they served            cording to God's elective grace.

other gods." There were several reasons he had for point-            But the people did not understand. Confidently they
ing that out. Israel being a chosen nation as it was, there       answered, "Nay; but we will serve the LORD."
was always the danger of their beginning to think that they
                                                                     Thus it was that Joshua made a covenant with the
were chosen because of some special virtue on their part,
                                                                  people that day at Shechem. There under the oak where
as though they were somehow immune to sin. Joshua
                                                                  Abraham had built his altar and Jacob had buried his
wanted them to understand that their fathers before them
                                                                  teraphim, Joshua wrote the words of the people in a book
were sinners and there was nothing in their race that'made
                                                                  and set up a great stone before them. To the people he
them especially virtuous.     The fact that they constituted
                                                                  said, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it
a chosen nation was purely the grace of God.
                                                                  hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake
       Continuing from there, Joshua went on to point out how     unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye
completely their nation's history was guided by this grace,       deny your God." With that Joshua gave to the people his
in the calling of Abraham from Ur, in the journey of Jacob        final blessing and farewell, and shortly thereafter he died.
to Egypt, in the sending of Moses and Aaron to lead tie
                                                                     The life of Joshua was a life of one particularly blessed.
children of Israel forth from Egypt again, and in the re-
                                                                  To him was given the privilege of bringing to completion
peated victories Israel gained as they returned unto' Ca-
                                                                  the work that Moses had begun. Through him Israel was
naan. It was so completely evident that all was the working
                                                                  brought into its typical rest. He was a type and picture of
of the grace of God. It was as God said, "I have given you
                                                                  his namesake who was to come, even Jesus.
a land for which ye did not labour,  and cities. which ye
                                                                                                                          B.W.
built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards, and olive-

yards which ye planted not do ye eat." Israel as a nation

with all of its blessings was a product purely of divine
grace. This fact was the heart of Joshua's argument.                                    Announcement

       From that Joshua advanced quickly to his conclusion.          The Standard Bearer :Staff  will meet Thursday evening,
"`NOW therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity         June 6, in First Church in Grand Rapids. Will all the staff
and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers
                                                                  members please take note? The meeting begins at .8:00
served on the other side of the Bood,  and in Egypt; and
serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve          o'clock.
the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve;                                                          J. A. HEYS, Secretary

whether the gods which your fathers served that were on

the other side of the %ood,  or the gods of the Amorites, in

whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will
serve the LORD."                                                                This mighty God forever lives

       The people were shocked at his suggestion. How'could                       Our God and Saviour to abide,
they ever think it evil to serve Jehovah so as to begin choos-                  And till our pilgrim days shall end

ing for themselves between the gods of the heathen? Force-                        Will ever be our faithful guide.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             395


                                                                    the women in the church. Timothy is here reminded of the

IpRoM HOLY  W R I T   11charge of Christ in this respect!
                                                                       In Chapter 4:6 Paul informs Timothy concerning the

                                                                    proper teaching of the use of the creation of God in the

                                                                    service of the latter; marriage is not to be rejected, nor a
                Exposition of I Timothy
                                                                    Gnostic abstinence from foods. All must be used and noth-
                                                                    `.mg is to be rejected, since it is sanctified in God's service,
                       (I Timothy 6:20,21)                          by the Word of God and by prayer. If Timothy will put

                                                                    the church in remembrance of these things he will -be an
   We have now arrived at the conclusion of Paul in this
                                                                    honorable and a good minister of the gospel! And in I
first epistle to Timothy, and in this essay we shall be finished
                                                                    Tim. 4:12-16  Paul tells his son, Timothy, that he must give
with our study of this letter so full of instruction, admoni-
                                                                    heed to himself and to the doctrine. Thus he shall save
tion and reproof that the man of God be thoroughly
                                                                    himself and those who hear him.
equipped unto every good work; particularly that a min-
ister of the gospel of Christ Jesus might know how to keep             Furthermore, in Chapter 5:21 Paul admonishes Timothy
the trust, the commitment of the gospel, free from error,           that in his dealings with officebearers who offend, he must
and thus save himself and also save those who hear him.             be blameless in his judgment; he must do nothing by pre-
                                                                    judice or by preferring one before the other. He must have
   Writes Paul at the conclusion of this letter: "0 Timothy,        the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ without respect of per-
keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane         sons. This too is a charge, and a very solemn one at that!
and vain babblings, and oppositions of science fa:kely  so
called: which some professing have erred concwning  the                In this -final Chapter 6 Paul issues repeated "charges" to
faith. Grace be with thee. Amen."                                   Timothy. It seems that, as he comes to the end of the letter,
                                                                    he becomes the more insistent that Timothy reprove error
   It is noteworthy that Paul ends this letter with once            and keep himself pure from the same. In verse 2 he
more directing an earnest appeal to Timothy to `keep that           writes, "These things teach and exhort." He has here refer-
which was committed to thy trust." We said that Paul does           ence to the relationship of slaves and master, be this master
this once more, and now in a rather final and concluding            believing or unbelieving, in their new relationship to Christ
sense. Repeatedly in this letter we see this urgent appeal          Jesus, who has saved them from the guilt and corruption
of Paul to Timothy who is stationed in the congregation             of sin. He must teach that in this life, whatever the rela-
at Ephesus. A little leaven of error, if not removed instan-        tionship, we are to work out our salvation with fear and
taneously and resolutely, will corrupt all of doctrine and          trembling. In verse 11 Timothy is reminded that he is a
life in the church.                                                 man of God, a prophet in the true sense of the term: he
   Permit us briefly to recapitulate the instances in this          is the mouthpiece of God! He must flee all love for money

letter in which Paul directs his urgent appeal to Timothy           and earthly gain, and must pursue righteousness, godliness,
to keep the charge committed to him by the Lord.                    faith, love, patience, meekness. He is charged by Paul very

   In Chapter 1:18 we read: "This charge I commit unto              solemnly before the face of God that he keep this com-
thee, son Timothy." Timothy must war a good warfare in              mandment irreproachable and spotless until the appearance
the church in his ministry.      He must "`charge some that         of our Lord Jesus Christ in His day.

they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to endless             And, now, he once more has a "charge" for Timothy. It

genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly            is with great urgency that he underscores, in these last

edifying which is in the faith." Vss. 3, 4. Those legalists         two verses, all that he has charged Timothy with in this

who would place the believers under the principle of                entire letter.

law, be this Jewish legalism or Gnostic speculation, must              The charge concerns the "commitment," the trust which
be gainsaid. Timothy must preach that other word of the             was given to Timothy in the laying on of hands before
gospel of the glory of the blessed God in Jesus Christ; the         many witnesses. This commitment refers to the keeping of
gospel which was so signally exhibited in the case of Paul          the pure words of the doctrine of Christ, the teaching of
himself, saving him notwithstanding that he had been a              sovereign grace, love and mercy. It refers to all that Paul
persecuter  of the church of God.                                   has instructed Timothy with in the foregoing part of this

   In Chapter 3:14  Paul tells Timothy why he wrote him             letter, as we signaled above briefly. This is evident from

concerning the matters which indicate how the affairs in            the Greek term teen pa,ratheekeen.  The article here in-

God's church must be conducted - the church which is the            dicates the well-known trust that was just pointed out in

temple .of the living God. Paul had written concerning              its various aspects and facets in this letter overagainst all

prayer for those in authority. He had also written concern-         false teachings and gainsayers. The singular form of the

ing the public prayers in the assembly of the saints; it            noun "commitment" refers to the entire work of Timothy as

should be the men who ,should lead the services and not             an office from God. It sums up all the several `charges" of

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


Paul in this letter. We have here more than mere repeti-            Christ, the church, sin, grace, atonement, applied salva-
tion. It is forcefully placing before Timothy and us the            tion, or the doctrine of the last things. They have no ethics
entire thrust of this epistle.                                      which befits man as the image-bearer of God, or a walk of
                                                                    sanctification and godliness. All their teaching is vain,
       Many and powerful are the forces of Satan to remove          empty. Such are the ways of those who depart from the
from the hope of the gospel. Timothy must not let himself           faith in Christ. They are like Esau, that profane one who
be tempted. He must stand guard and not fall asleep on              despised his birthright. They have no distinction between
his watch. The term here employed in the Greek text is              that which is holy and that which is profane. All must be
phukwson.  This word means to guard, to keep the watch.             secularized. God is not in all their thoughts.
Positively this implies the doctrine we taught as outlined
by Paul here in this letter., Otherwise, there is nothing over         Wherefore Paul calls them such that have a teaching of
which to keep to watch. Negatively this means that Tim-             opposition, they are against the "thesis" of the truth. They
othy shall turn away from all that is antithetical to the           have no paltform and teaching of their own, but only a
teaching of the word of truth.                                      denial of the truth. They are "antithetical." It is for this
                                                                    reason that their knowledge, their "science" is a pseudonym;
   Paul singles out this negative aspect here.                      it operates vnder  a name that is not merely inept and ill
   The form of the verb here is the present participle, mid-        chosen; it is a name that is designed to deceive. They are
dle of the verb elctvepoo:  to turn away from. The tense of the     liars, these apostates from the truth, and they have noth-
participle indicates that simultaneously with the defending         ing to teach the church. We do well that our sons and
of the truth there must also be a turning away from all that        daughters do not worship at the shrine of this worldly
opposes the truth. One cannot interpret this to mean -a             learning concerning religion.
mere negative turning away from error and nothing more.                Sad to say some did. Hymaneus and Alexander did so,
This certainly means that, hand in hand with the confes-            and suffered shipwreck in the faith. Some others did at
sion and maintenance of the pure preaching of the gospel,           Ephesus and they too,. professing this false knowledge,
there must be a rejection of all errors repugnant thereto.          departed from the faith. They did not simply deny certain
Shall we maintain a strong testimony positively, then that          peripheral truths, but they denied the truth in Jesus.
positive witness must go hand in hand with a strong pole-
mic against all error. We have a good example of this in               Well may Timothy be reminded of the seriousness and
this letter of Paul as well as in the other epistles of the         earnestness of this life-and-death question of truth and
Apostles. And this shall be the norm in the church of               error.

Christ. Those who insist on a "positive testimony," but                But then too he must understand that one can keep the
who are adverse to sound and healthy apologetics, do not            charge only by the power of the Holy Spirit. Writes Paul
really cling to the truth with all their heart. They failed to      in II Tim. 1:14: "That good thing which was committed
hear the urgency of Paul in this letter to Timothy!                 unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which was committed

       Paul here also charactreizes the false teachings of those    unto us." Here in this verse 21 Paul adds, "Grace be with
who love not the gospel, for what they really are.                  thee, Amen." Certainly this does not merely mean to be a
                                                                    closing salutation with no reference to this immediate ex-
       In the first place, unbelief ever desires to prate its       hortation. Only when the grace of God is with Timothy
learnedness.     They pretend that they have a toehold on           will he stand. It is all of grace, the power of the Holy
knowledge which the believer in Christ does not possess.            Spirit which works faith in the heart. Then the preacher
They like to speak of their very special knowledge (gnoosis).       and every believer says: "I believed, therefore did I speak."
They look down over their noses upon the simplicity of the          For the victory is by faith and is, therefore, of grace alone.
Bible believer. But Paul calls their number; he calls them
by their proper name.       They are apostates from the faith.         All these promises are, of course, in Christ Jesus. He is
They fell away from truth to error. Writes Paul in Chapter          the `Amen." He will cause His church to stand. He causes
1:6,  7: "From which some having swerved have turned                His word to become efficacious in the heart of Timothy. He
aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law;       will cause also His Word through the feeble effort of the
understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they af-           writer of this rubric to be efficacious unto salvation. It is
firm." And, earlier in this sixth Chapter he writes concerning      with this glad assurance that we now come to the end of
such: "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about               our exposition of this first epistle of Paul to Timothy. Amen.

.questions  and strifes of words, whereof cometh  envy, strife,                                                               G.L.

railings, evil surmisings." Such are literally "sick" in their                                -       -
hearts and in their head. They are not learned at all, ex-                    The words which from my mouth proceed,
cept in their own vain imagination. Of such there be many                       The thoughts within my heart,
in our day of education.                                                      Accept, 0 Lord, `for Thou my Rock

       They have nothing positive to teach concerning God,                      And my Redeemer art.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              397


                                                                   shut;~ I will go before thee, and make the crooked places

           I N   - H I S   F E A R                                 straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut
                                                                   in sunder the bars of iron. And I will give thee the treasures

                                                                   of darkness, and hidden riches and secret places, that you

                                                                   mayest know that I, the Lord which call thee by thy name,
                   My Father's World                               am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and

                                                                   Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I
                               (6)                                 have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me."

   Another subject taught the covenant child which lends           Isaiah 45:1-4.  And God said this through Isaiah many,
itself very easily to Christian interpretation and requires        many years before Cyrus was born. To Abraham, who
such a Christian treatment is the subject of history.              lived some four hundred years before God destroyed Phar-

   In this subject as well the truth comes out very clearly,       aoh and his host in the Red Sea, God declares what would
and must be underscored by the instructor of covenant              happen to his seed and the length of time before that seed
seed, that this is his Father's world. History is far more         would return to Canaan "with great substance." Genesis
than a record and interpretation of man's actions and              15: 13-16. The cross of Christ was predicted and prophesied.
achievements through the ages gone by. It is a systematic          See Luke 22:22;  Acts 2~23  and Luke 2~34,  35. But why
account of the unfolding of God's counsel as He, in His            continue? How can there be any prophecy? How can
providence and grace governs all things, uses His rational-        Genesis 3:15  be declared by God unless He has at every
moral creatures to do His bidding and leads all things in          moment complete control of all His creatures and has de-
the preparation of the return of Christ, that He may be            creed all that which the rational-moral creatures shall do?

glorified in the full salvation and glorification of His Church       Shall we say that He permits these things? Shall we say

in the new creation.                                               that He is the Alpha and Omega only to a degree? Shall

   Every historical event must be ascribed to God and con-         we say that He is not always first and that the creature who

sidered to be decreed by Him from all eternity. It is God's        came after Him somehow in some things does get ahead of

world in this respect as surely as it is in the sense that He      Him? Why confess Him to be GOD when we still want to

brought forth the whole universe and all that which it             believe Satan that we can be like Him and that He is not

contains. Psalm 33:6-g.                                            really the God that we were led to believe at first? And if

   This, of course, is denied.                                     He permits, has He not backed down at least momentarily

   The Evolutionist, who likes to rule God out of His own          and let man be god? Is one any whit less guilty when he

creation by maintaining that He did not bring it and its           permits a sin which-he could have prevented than if he

content into being, denies it. Although he cannot explain          decreed that sin in an utter abhorrence of it? May not the

where that original cell, that first gaseous vapour  came          sovereign God decree a black background that the light and

from, he foolishly goes on in his sinful philosophies and is       purity of His holiness may shine forth by sharp contrast?

believed by others who. hate God and say, "This is man's           Who is going to punish Him for that?

world."                                                               Let us be careful that we do not dethrone Him. Let us

   But many in this big church-world in which we live              be sure that we speak the language of Scripture, for only

also rule Him out of the control and government of His             then do we speak the language that God speaks. Do we

own rational-moral creatures and deny that He is the Al-           read in the Book of Job that God permitted Satan to take

mighty One. To them almighty simply means most mighty.             away all his goods and to afflict him with dreadful disease?

They ascribe the initiative to creatures. They present a god       And was all this experience of Job the matter of Satan's

who accommodates himself to circumstances which ulitima-           counsel and not of God's? Satan planned his `campaign."

tely he will conquer.      They maintain that he has a plan,       He decided after some thought with what sickness to afflict

which is realized after he has put down those who at least         Job; and God did not know till Satan began to act just what

temporarily interrupt and work delay, but they deny that           he intended to do? Let us be careful lest we make Satan

He decreed the foolishness and sins of men and that He             a demigod and deny the Almighty His wisdom, sovereignty

realizes His counsel or plan through the foolishness and           and almighty power.

sins of men.                                                          It is true that twice in Scripture we read, "if the Lord

   Scripture is very plain on this score. Shall we listen to       permit." See I Corinthians 16:7 and Hebrews 6:3.  How-

it or turn from it to hold on to our own preconceived              ever these passages are not referring to that counsel of God.

notions? "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as          or are they references to sinful acts. This same word you
the rivers of waters: He turneth it wtihersoever he will."         may find translated elsewhere "give leave" as in John
Proverbs 21: 1.    "Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to        19:38  where we read that Pilate gave Joseph of Arimathea

Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,  to subdue nations          leave to take the body of Jesus and to bury it. In Mark
before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open           5:13 we read that Jesus gave the evil spirits leave to enter
before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be        the swine after being commanded to leave the man in


 398                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D .   - B E A R E R


 whom they dwelt. Scripture never speaks of God permitting           Let us say that our Father did it, when things turn out
 sin. But Scripture clearly and repeatedly speaks of God          for our good. Let us rather say that ALL things work to-
 decreeing sin, determining it and willing it then in a deter-    gether for our good because God has planned them all and
 minative sense. At the same time Scripture emphasizes that       has them under His perfect control always and in all ways.
 ethically He does not will it but hates it. He hardened          And how could all things work together for our good, if
 Pharaoh's heart, and we do not read of Pharaoh hardening         some of these things were determined by Satan and man
 his heart until AFTER God has told Moses to go down              instead of by God? Paul do'es not say that all things will
 to Pharaoh with God's message and after God has clearly          in the end turn out all right. He does not say that nothing
 told Moses in advance that He will harden Pharaoh's heart.       shall continue to work against us. All things work together!
 And He gives the reason as well. God decreed the harden-         ALL things WORK together. Does that not imply a De-
 ing of Pharaoh's heart as well as the sin that Pharaoh com-      signer, a mind that plans it all as all the parts of a jig
 mitted with that hardened heart that He `inight show forth'      saw puzzle fit perfectly together? And Paul mentions sin
 His "power in" him and that His name might be proclaimed         and sinners when he says that no creature and nothing in
 through all the earth. See Romans 9:17.  In a determina-         the future and no principalities and power - and this in-
 tive sense He willed that sin of Pharaoh in order that He        cludes the evil principalities and powers of Satan's kingdom
 might show His power in destroying him  and his host in          -shall be able to seperate               from the love of God. No,
                                                                                                    us 
 the Red Sea and in order that His name might be pro-             not for one moment shall they be able to do this. -All things
 claimed through all the earth. And this certainly did take       will work TOGETHER, and that means they will serve
 place. All the nations in Canaan, as Rahab reveals, had          each other to serve us.
 heard of His mighty works and trembled. See Joshua 2:1-              Consider father Jacob who cried out, "All these things
 11. And yet at the same time He did not will that sin            are against me." Genesis 42:36.  His sons had deceived him
 ethically and punished Pharaoh in His intense hatred of all      concerning his son Joseph. And Joseph tells them later on
 sin. For sin is rebellion and a denial of His lordship. And      that they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. God
 when we find in our hearts the evil thought that then God        meant it for good. But then God meant it! God decreed it.
 cannot punish Pharaoh nor us, for we do only that which          God planned it as surely as these sinful brqthers  meant it
 He willed in that determinative sense, we better listen to       and planned it. They could mean it and plan it only be-
 Paul who declares in this same connection, "Who art thou         cause their sin was in His counsel from eternity. The his-
 0 man that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed          tory of Israel and of Egypt required the events that hap-
 say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus2"          pened. And though it seemed to Jacob as though all was
 And a few verses later, "What if God, willing to show His        working against him, when now Benjamin must go along to
 wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much            Egypt, it was all - the sins of his sons not excluded-
 longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And    worked together for Jacob's good.
 that He might make known the riches of His glory on                  This same truth we may trace in all historical events.
 the vessels of mercy which He hat11 afore  prepared unto         In some events this truth will be clearer than in others.
 glory7                                                           But in all history the truth must be revealed that this is the
    Notice that God is &Zing to show His wrath and does           covenant child's  Father's world. And this we hope to show
 not permit. And how could He ever will to show His               more fully in future articles.                                J.A.H.

 wrath without willing that sin for which He will punish?

 The text speaks likewise of "`vessels fitted to destruction."

 Who fitted them? Men? And they did this although God                                        IN MEMORIAM

 did not want them so to be fitted? Did an outside force             On May 22, 1963, it pleased our heavenly Father to take into
 determine these things for God? And did He simply accom-         the Church of the firstborn in heaven our dear wife, mother and
                                                                  grandmother,
. modate  Himself to this situation and .finally  by His super                    MRS. CORNELIUS LUBBERS-GRIT
power conquer that which MAN determined? Does man                 at the age of 84 years.

determine and God simply fit to destruction?                         May the God of all consolation comfort our hearts in the blessed
                                                                  hope of the resurrection of the redeemed of the Lord whose death is
    And does God sin against man, if and when He wills            precious in His sight.
to show His wrath in that man and fits him as a vessel of                                       Mr. Cornelius Lubbers
 destruction? 0, that we would find more love of God! 0                                         Mr. and. Mrs. Lawrance Timmer
                                                                                                Mr. and Mrs. James Van Til
 that we would find more desire to have Him be the God                                        Mr. and Mrs. Joe Grit
 that He is and not a God Who is characterized by our                                           Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Berens
                                                                                                Rev. and Mrs. George Lubbers.
 weaknesses and sentimentality! Can a GOD sin against a                                         Mr. and Mrs. John C. Lubbers
man? Can the Creator ever become obliged to the creature?                                     . Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lubbers
                                                                                                Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Jelsma
 0 that men would say, "This is my Father's World." 0                                           Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Lubbers
 that they would not rule Him out of any part of it or any                                      Mr. and Mrs. Bert Maring
 of its events!                                                                                      33 grandchildren
                                                                                                      37 great-grandchildren


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                                          T H E   STAND.AR'D   B E A R E R                                                       399


                                                                          `I fail to see how the teaching that it becomes His body
II Contending For The- Faith                                          is opposed to His words, `This is My body.' In St. John
                                                                II    VI, 47-67, you will find our Lord very emphatic about it.

                                                                      Like- yourself, the Jews said, `How can this man give US
                                                                      His flesh to eat?; and Jesus did not begin to mitigate His
         The Church and the Sacraments                                doctrine and say, `Of course, I don't really intend to do

                                                                      that. What I will give you will be ordinary bread in a kind
         THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION
                                                                      of little memorial ceremony. You really won't have to eat

 VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS (LORD'S SUPPER)                              my flesh in reality.' Listen to what our Lord did say, `Amen,
                                                                      Amen, I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son

                   THE ROMISH VIEW                                    of Man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you.

                                                                      He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath ever-
   765. It is absurd to say that Christ's body and blood              lasting life.' And He goes on to drive home the actual sense
can be in a wafer made by nuns from flour and water.                  of His words. `For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood
   "The fact that nuns make the wafers from flour and                 is drink indeed.' You see how He left the Jews no loophole.
water has nothing to do with the case. No Catholic dreams             Nor were they under any misapprehension. They knew
that the Presence of Christ is due to any influence of the            what He meant, and He knew that they were thinking
nuns, or those who make the wafers. Nor is it due to the              exactly what we Catholics hold now. They said, as you
activity of the flour and water employed. But God, Who is             say, `This is a hard saying. Who can hear it? And many
Omnipotent, can easily change the substance of bread into             left Him from that moment. He saw them going, and knew
the substance of the human nature of Christ, leaving un-              why they were going. But He would not unsay His words
changed the appearances that are the object of our sense-             in order to keep them. He let them go."
perceptions, should He so desire. No one can deny this
                                                                         We will occasion later to comment on the Romish in-
power to God. The only point is, does God do SO? He Him-
                                                                      terpretation of this passage from John 6. But, just one
self says that He does. For the Gospels clearly show that
                                                                      comment now. It is indeed true that Jesus knew why they
Christ left Himself under the appearances of bread and
                                                                      were leaving Him. Because they had to eat and drink His
wine in the Eucharist. Well I remember how a Wesleyan
                                                                      flesh and blood in that literal sense of the word? If we
clergyman tried to convert a well-read Agnostic. The Ag-
                                                                      understand these words in the purely literal, natural sense
nostic asked him whether he believed in the Gospels and
                                                                      of the word, then they carmot  mean anything else than that
that God really did come to earth, and appear at Bethle-
                                                                      the Jews had to eat and drink the body and blood of the
hem under outward appearance of a little wriggling baby
                                                                      Lord as He then stood before them. But, Jesus certainly
in Mary's lap! `Of course, I do,' replied the minister. `Then
                                                                      knew why they were leaving Him. BECAUSE NO MAN
if I could believe that,' said the Agnostic, `I would at once
                                                                      CAN COME TO HIM EXCEPT THE FATHER DRAW
join the Catholic Church. It is no more difficult to believe
                                                                      HIM, AND BECAUSE SALVATION IS STRICTLY DI-
that God is present in the Eucharist as Catholics believe,
                                                                      VINELY SOVEREIGN, WHICH DOCTRINE, INCI-
and their doctrine is equally clearly taught in the Gospels
                                                                      DENTALLY, IS DENIED BY ROME.
you say you accept.' He was not a Christian, unfortun-

agely. But he was logical in this particular matter. You                 767. If Jesus said, "This is My body," He also said, "I
profess to believe in Christianity but you are not logical."          am the true vine," and "I am the door." In those cases it

   In connection with this answer, it is not a question of            was metaphorical, for our Lord is not a vine or a door in
Divine power, what God is able or not able to do. Where               reality. Logically, therefore, we should say, "This repre-

does the Lord change anything into something else, so that            sents My body."

the thing He changes remains exactly as it was? The Ro-                  "That is not a logical conclusion. In fact, it is a dread-
mish clergy here declares that God Himself says that He               fully shallow fallacy, and quite opposed to our Lord's clear
does in His Word. Where do we read in the Word of God                 statements which I have just given you. There is no logical
that the bread and wine ARE CHANGED INTO THE                          parallel between the words, `This is My body,' and `I am the
BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR LORD? And that reference                        vine', or `I am the door.' For the images of the vine and
to the baby in Mary's lap is supposed to establish the                the door can have, of their very nature, a symbolical sense,
Romish doctrine of transubstantiation? How ridiculous!                Christ is like a vine because all the sap of my spiritual life
That baby in the lap of Mary is exclusively human as far              comes from Him. He is like a door, since I go to heaven
as His human nature is concerned and as far as His being in           through Him. But a piece of bread is in no way like His
Mary's lap is concerned. Is that human nature of Christ also          flesh. Of its very nature it cannot symbolize the actual body
Divine? That would be pantheism.                                      of Christ. And He excludes that Himself by saying, `The

   766. It is totally against all Scripture teachings to say          bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world;

that the bread becomes actually the body of Christ.                   and My flesh is meat indeed.' That is, it is to be actually


400                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B%ARER


eaten, not merely commemorated in some symbolical way."            a symbolical memento. If Christ  intended to give merely a

       In the first place, in connection with the above answer,    symbol of His body, and not His body at all in reality, He
it is not true, we must understand, that the Protestant con-       chose the very worst words to convey His meaning when
ception of the Lord's Supper is merely a ,feast  at which we       He said without any qualification, `This is My body.' It
commemorate the death of our Lord. This may be the                 was so unnecessary to choose that expression, and so ab-
Zwinglian view of this sacrament, but it is surely not the         surd that'the  Apostles would certainly have demanded an
Calvinistic  conception of the same. In the second place,          explanation of what He meant. But they did not. They
the reference to "question" 767 to the Scriptural figures of       knew that He meant what He said. (Indeed, they knew
the vine and the door is pertinent and very well taken. And        that He meant what He `said. They knew that He did not
the answer of Rumble and Carty to this objection against           mean that that bread and wine were His body and blood
the Romish view is pure sophistry. They surely evade the           in the natural sense of the word. Jesus did not have to ex-
issue. The logical conclusion that we should therefore say,        plain His words because they knew very well that He did
"This represcents  My body," is indeed true and logical.           not mean what Rome makes of those words. They knew
Jesus is called in Scripture a door, because we must go            this just as well as when He said to His disciples that He
through a door, and we. must also go through Jesus. Jesus          was the door and the vine. They knew very well that
is called the vine, say Rumble and Carty, because all the          there is a figure  of speech called the metaphor. - H.V.)
sap of our spiritual life comes from Jesus. True! But is           You must remember that, long before the actual giving of
Jesus the sap and is the sap Jesus, even as the bread and          His body to be eaten at the Last Supper, our Lord had
wine are Jesus according to the view of transubstantiation?        given the Apostles the opportunity to express any notions
Of course not! So Jesus calls Himself the Bread and Water          of repugnance His doctrine might awaken within them. In
of life. And this is supposed to mean that the bread and           John VI we read of our Lords promise to do what He did
wine at Communion have changed into Jesus Himself? This            at the Last Supper.    `The bread that I will give is My
is pure sophistry !    If Jesus be the door and the vine sym-      flesh.' `Except you eat the flesh of the- Son of Man,' etc.
bolically, then He is also bread and wine in the symbolical        Many of His listeners, rightly understanding that He meant
sense.                                                             His actual flesh, expressed their repugnance. `This saying
                                                                   is' hard. Who can hear it? And they left Him. Then Jesus
       768. The use of the word "is," is explained by the fact
                                                                   turned to His Apostles, and gave them the opportunity to
that in the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus, there was
                                                                   express their repugnance also, and to leave Him if they
no word for represents.
                                                                   wished. Will you also go away? St. Peter replied, in
       "That was a favorite argument of the early Protestants.     magnificent faith, `Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast
But it has been abandoned now. For, iirstly,  research has         the words of eternal life.' (And Peter also added: "We
shown that there were nearly forty different ways in which         have believed and have known thou art that Christ, the
Christ could have said, `This represents My body,' in the          Son of the living God." Peter, in'his  answer, does not say
Aramaic language. Secondly, even prior to this research,
                                                                   that they know that His body and blood are simply received
the fact was pointed out that the Greek language abounded
                                                                   through the mouth, as we eat and drink bread and wine,
in symbolical expressions, and St. Mark, St. Luke, and St.         but that they have believed and have known. Peter, there-
Paul, who wrote in Greek under the inspiration of the Holy
                                                                   fore, emphasizes that we receive this Christ only through
Spirit, should have expressed the figurative sense in that
                                                                   faith. - H.V. ) St. Peter did not pretend to comprehend
language, had the figurative sense been intended by Christ.
                                                                   the mystery. But he knew that our Lord meant to give His
Instead, even while using Greek, they select words which
                                                                   very flesh in the one way which those who went had un-
exclude the symoblic sense."
                                                                   derstood, and he simply accepted our Lord's assurance be-
       So, research has shown that there were nearly forty         cause of his firm  faith in Christ (for this, we understand,
different ways in which Christ could have said, "This              there is not one iota of proof-H.V.). But the point to note is
represents My body," instead of saying: "This is My body"?         this: Having overcome any ideas of repugnance then when
But then it is also true, is it not, that there must have been     our Lord promised to give His very flesh as food, there is
about forty different ways in which He could have said: "I         no reason to expect expressions of repugnance from the
am the door or the vine."                                          Apostles when the promise was fulfilled at the Last Sup-
       769. The Apostles must have taken the symbolical sense,     per."
for they did not remark on the repugnant literal sense.               Just one remark here. Notice, please, what we read in

       `You overlook two points: At the Last Supper it is far      John 6:63.  The Romish fathers should also quote this verse.

more likely that the Apostles would have remarked upon             Here we read that the flesh profits nothing. And the Sav-

our Lord's words if He had meant them symbolically rather          iour  adds that the words He speaks are spirit and they are

than in a literal sense. There were many other alternative         life. Hence, it is not simply a matter of eating His' flesh

expressions by which our Lord could have made it clear             and drinking His blood through the mouth.

that He did not intend to give His actual body, but merely                                                                  H.V.


                                                                   .,                  .;
                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               401


                                                                         the Son of God in the likeness of sinful flesh and in the

              The Voice .of Our Fathers                                  human nature. In fact, it is possible only because He is
                                                                         at the same time the eternal and only begotten Son of God.
     /                                                                   According to His divine nature, He is the Son of God, not

                                                                         from the time that He assumed our nature, but from all
                       The Belgic Confession                             eternity. He has no beginning and no end.

                                                                            Positively, our Confession states the following: 1) Jesus
                         ARTICLE  X (continued)                          Christ is the only begotten Son of God. 2) He is begotten

                                                                         from eternity. 3) He is co-essential and co-eternal with the
     Christ's D&y  as Expressed by our Confession (continued)            Father. 4) He is the express image of His person ("sub-

          Thus, for example, Arius maintained that tile  Son of God      stance" would be better here than "person"). 5) He is the

     is a title that is given to Christ and that is applicable to        brightness of His glory. 6) He is equal unto Him in all

     Him especially after His resurrection, but that denotes Him         things. 7) And in the last sentence of the article this is all

     as a very highly exalted human being, so high that God              summed up: "`He therefore is that true, eternal, and al-

     bestowed upon Him a unique honor of being called His                mighty God, whom we invoke, worship, and serve." We

     only begotten Son. And so also the Socinians and the Uni-           may note here, by the way, that the term "co-essential" is

     tarians and the Moderns of the present day did not and do           not quite accurate, either according to the translation or

     not object to the doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God.            according to the idea, even though it is a term frequently

     They will even go so far as to call Him the only begotten           used. The idea is, of course, that Christ is of one essence,

     Son of God. But following the devious paths of their here-          of the same essence, with the Father. And this is literally

     sies, they deny that He is really God, the Second Person of         expressed in the original French and in the Dutch. The

     the Holy Trinity; and they explain His divinity in terms of         French has :d'une  essence nvec le Pk. And the Dutch
     His true and real humanity. But it is not difbcult  at all to       agrees with this: maar  &nswezens  met den Vader.
I
     set forth the fundamentals of the truth that Jesus is the
I                                                                           We may notice at once that the various elements of this
     only begotten Son of God, and to do so in simple an un-             statement of our Confession employ several Scriptural
     equivocal language. Either He is really God, or He is not.          terms. Christ is "the only begotten Son," John 1:18.  And it

          Negatively, our Confession calls attention to two factors.     is likely, as we have pointed out in connection with Article

     In the first place, it states that He was "not made nor             VIII, that this passage employs the expresson "only begot-

     created (for then he should be a creature) ." Hence, He is          ten God.". He is of one essence with the Father. John 10:30.

     not the Son of God through an act of Gods omnipotent will,          He is "the express image of his person," and "the brightness

     whereby He calls the things that are not as if they were.           of his glory," Hebrews 1:3.  He is equal unto Him in all

     In His divine nature He does not have His origin in the             things, John 5:18.  Here, then, our Confession gives expres-

     divine plan, in the eternal counsel of God. He is not the           sion to the truth of the eternal generation of the Son, and

     product of the creative work of God; but with the Father            that too, of Jcsszls  Christ, our Savior, as the only begotten

     and the Holy Ghost He is the Creator. He is not one of              Son of God, according to His divine nature. What is im-

     the divine thoughts, but with the Father and the Holy               plied in this truth? It means, in the ftrst  place, that in

     Ghost He is the Author of the eternal counsel of God. But           distinction from all other sonship,  there is one Son that is

     it was just exactly this error, namely, that Christ was a           begotten, generated, by a unique act of the Father within

     creature, a mere creature, which really constituted the             the divine being, and that too, from eternity. To beget is

     error of the heretics from the time of Arius on. They made          to bring forth a being like unto one's self. Adam is called

     Him very high, elevating Him above the rest of God's                the son of God in Scripture. And why? Because God begot

     creatures. They would even try to present it as though this         him, creating him after His own image. Through that act

     created Son of God pre-existed, that He.was  the Mediator           there was a creaturely likeness and reflection of God in

     of creation too, and as though He had a part in the creation        man. In this same sense we speak of the act of begetting

     of the world. But that He was from eternity they denied;            among men.    Of Adam we read that  he begat a son in his

     and they lowered Him to the level of the creature, putting          own likeness, after his image. Genesis 5:3.  Hence, the idea

     him on a line with men and angels. The only difference              of generation is such, that it is an act of love whereby one

     was one of degree. In the second place, from this negative          reproduces himself in another, begets an individual like

     point of view, our Confession emphasizes that Christ as the         himself, in his own image. Only we must remember that

     only begotten Son of God, according to His divine nature,           there is an infinite difference between divine and human

     did not begin to exist at the time of His incarnation. It is        generation. Among men, fatherhood cannot function alone:

     true, of course, that Jesus Christ was also born. In the            it requires motherhood. The Fatherhood of God is perfect

     fulness of time He was born of a woman. And He is the               in itself: the Father generates the Son of Himself. Among

     firstborn among many brethren, the firstborn of every crea-         men the act of generation is momentary and strictly tem-

     ture, the iirstborn  of the dead. But all this is true only of      poral in nature; but God is Father eternally. Among men,


402                                         T H E   ST-ANDARD   B E A R E R


the sons that are begotten do not receive their continued         In the second place, it makes a comparison of Genesis 1
subsistence through a continued act of generation; God the        with John l:l-3: "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Father generates His only begotten Son by an act of in-           Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same

finite love from eternity to eternity. Moreover, while the        was in the beginning with God. All things-were made by

likeness of being to which a man gives subsistence.through        him; and without him was not any thing made that was
the act of generation is only partial and imperfect, the like-    made." Here, therefore, as our Confession points out, we
ness produced through God's act of eternal generation is          are taught "that all things were made by that Word, which
infinitely perfect and exact. In the second place, we must        he calleth God." Now at this point our Confession might

remember that this act of eternal generation takes place          well have continued with its proof from John 1, and

with.in  the divhe Being.    The act of generation and the        pointed out that this Word was made flesh, and dwelt

process of reproduction among men results in both another         among us - is, therefore, Jesus Christ. But it refers instead

person and another being. The Son, however, while per-            to Hebrews l:l-3,  where we are taught that God made the

sonally distinct from the Father, is one in essence with the      worlds by His Son:     "God, who at sundry times and in

Father, never separated from Him. He is of the same es-           divers manners spake  in time past unto the fathers by the

sence. All the divine attributes which the Father possesses       prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his

belong eternally to the Son also. The same divine nature,         Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom

the same mind, the same will, that the Father possesses be-       also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his

longs to the Son also. The Son is wholly God, in the whole        glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding

divine nature, with all its infinite attributes and -virtues,     all things by the word of his power, when he had by him-

as Son, begotten eternally of the Father. He is the same          self purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the

God confessed in Article I of our Confession, or, as this         Majesty on high." Here again, the Confession might well
article puts it, `that true, eternal, and almighty God, whom      have pointed out that according to Hebrews 1 this Son by

we invoke, worship, and serve." And remember, once more,          whom God made the worlds is our Lord Jesus Christ. But

Article X of our Confession posits all this concerning Jea;zcs    the Confession prefers literal proof. Hence, it forges one

Chvist,  according to His divine nature.                          more link in this strong chain of proof by stating that the

                                                                  apostle also teaches that God created all things by Jesus
   We may briefly call attention to the two significant ex-
                                                                  Christ. The reference here is directly to Ephesians 3:9:
pressions from Hebrews 1:3 which our Confession employs.
                                                                  "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the
The term "brightness of his glory" expresses with respect
                                                                  mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been
to the Son the following: 1) The idea of distinct personal
                                                                  hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." And
subsistence. The Son is the reflection of the Father's glory.
                                                                  this reference, we may add, is supported by a passage
2) The idea of infinitely perfect likeness. All the divine
                                                                  like Colossians 1: 15, ff. Hence, the plain teaching of Scrip-
perfections, glory, are reflected in the Son. 3) The idea of
                                                                  ture is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word, is :God,
eternal generation, constant derivation: the reflection or
                                                                  the Creator.
radiance of God's glory is caused by the constant emitting

of the light that it reflects. In the text in Hebrews this ex-       The second element of proof employed by our Confes-
pression is paired with and complements another, "the ex-         sion concerns the eternity of the Son. First of all, the
press image of his being."    The original word translated        Confession argues from the preceding proofs: `Therefore it
"express image" refers to an impress made in wax. And it          must needs follow, that he, who is called God, the Word,
emphasizes especially the thought that the Son is the full        the Son, and Jesus Christ, did exist at that time when all
and exact image of the Father, and that He eternally derives      things were created by him." And secondly, the Confession
His personal subsistence as the image of God within the           offers literal proof, by referring to the well-known words of
divine -Being from the Father, Who makes the impress.             Micah 5:2: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be
These two expressions taken as they occur together, there-        little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee `shall
fore, set forth very beautifully the doctrine of the eternal      he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
generation of the Son.                                            goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." And

                                                                  to this the article adds proof from Hebrews 7:3: ". . .`hav-
Proof for this Doctrine                                           ing neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made
   Our Confession does not offer very elaborate proof from        like unto the Son of God . . ." Here the reference is ob-
Scripture in this article. Nevertheless there is a very care-     viously to the priesthood after the order of Melchisedec.
ful chain of proof given, the teaching of which is very
                                                                  Nevertheless, the deepest background of this everlasting
simple and undeniable. And we may note, too, that our             priesthood must be found in the truth that the Priest after
Confession follows a very good method here, that of com-          the order of Melchisedec is the eternal Son of God Himself.
paring Scripture with Scripture.

                                                                                       (to be continued)
   The article begins by calling attention to what "Moses

saith,"  namely, in Genesis l:l, that God created the world.                                                            H.C.H.


                                                                1





                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              403


                                                                           sistory, meeting for the consideration of the case with the
          11  D E C E N - C Y   a n d   O R D E R   11 consistory of the nearest Christian Reformed church. By
                                                                           the concurring vote of both consistories, a minister may be

                                                                           suspended from office; whether he shall be desposed from

                                                                           office shall be subject to the decision of the classis,  reached
                      The Censure of Office-Bearers                        with the concurring advice of the Synodical Deputies.

             In connection with the 79th Article of the Church Order          "Art. 84. When a consistory finds that it cannot in good
          we have been discussing the matter of the suspension and         conscience acquiesce in the opinion of its neighboring con-
                                                                           sistory regarding any discipline case involving an 05ce-
          deposition of office bearers because of gross or public sins.
                                                                           bearer, it shall `be at liberty to present the case to classis,
          We have seen that in case an elder or deacon is found to
                                                                           or, when it cannot acquiesce in the judgment of classis,  to
          be guilty of such sins he is not only suspended from office
     I                                                                     present the matter to synod."
          but immediately deposed by the consistory in conjunction

          with the consistory of the nearest church. In cases involv-         Mention must be made yet of the role of the Classis  and

          ing ministers of the Word suspension only follows and the        Synod (represented in the Synodical Deputies) in this
          question of deposition from office is left to be decided by      matter.    Frequent mention is made of the Classis  in the

          the Classis  with the advice of the Synodical deputies for       articles quoted above and our own Church Order states

          examination. The reasons for this difference were given in       that "whether ministers shall be entirely deposed from

          our last article.                                                office, shall be subject to the judgment of the Classis,  with

                                                                           the advice of the Delegates of the Synod mentioned in
             We have noted that this matter is very serious and of
                                                                           Article 11." May the Classis  depose an office-bearer? May
          great significance.    This is indicated not only by the fact
                                                                           the Classis  depose a Consistory? Remembering our own
          that the Church Order devotes separate articles to the sub-
                                                                           history these questions take on special significance and so
          ject of censure of office  bearers but the Word of God itself
     ~                                                                     we want to quote rather extensively in this connection from
          intimates the seriousness of this when in I Timothy 5:19 it
                                                                           Monsma and Van Dellen's  Church Order Commentary. On
          is said, "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but
                                                                           page 327'  we read:
          before two or three witnesses." And when the Christian

          Reformed Church proposed a revision of the Church Order             "Some have contended that a Classis  may depose Con-

          in 1956 they devoted four articles to the material covered       sistories. The present authors feel that no major assembly,

          in Articles 79 and 80 of our present redaction. We fail to       according to Reformed Church polity and the Church

          find any substantial change in these articles but we like        Order, has the right to depose a minor assembly. The depo-

          their formulation because they separate various matters that     sition of a Consistory, for example, by a Classis  or Synod

          are pressed into one article in our Church Order. This is        would seem to be a violation of the integrity and of the

          conducive to clarity. Against this proposed revision, how-       rights of the particular Church concerned, whereas the

          ever, it may be said that justice is hardly done to the          Church Order in more than one article seeks to safeguard

     ~    material of our present Article 80 which treats the enumera-     this integrity and these rights (Cf. Art. 30, 84). Moreover,

          tion of gross sins for which o5ce bearers are to be sus-         Reformed Church government does not tolerate group-

          pended and deposed.       A bit more of the original might       disciplining. Discipline, according to our Reformed con-

          have been retained here.                                         ception, is always individual and never communal.

             The articles referred to read as follows:                        "Is it then permissible for a Classis  or Synod to depose

                                                                           individual office-bearers? Regarding Ministers Article 79
             "Art. 81. Besides being subject to the discipline de-
                                                                           clearly stipulates that a dual Consistory meeting may sus-
          scribed in the foregoing articles, the office-bearers shall
                                                                           pend a minister.    Furthermore, the article reads, `Whether
          also be subject to suspension or expulsion from their
                                                                           these shall be entirely deposed from office shall be subject
          office. Sins which call for such action are these: neglect or
                                                                           to the judgment of the Classis,  with the advice of the Dele-
I         abuse of office; departure from sound doctrine and godly
                                                                           gates of the (Particular) Synod mentioned in Art. 11.' This
          conduct; violation of promises made when signing the
                                                                           provision is clear. No minister shall be deposed unless the
          Formula of Subscription.
                                                                           Classis  concerned judges that deposition is in order. Depo-
             "Art. 82. Elders and deacons guilty of sins as indicated      sition of ministers `shall be subject to the judgment of the
          above, shall be suspended or expelled from their office by       Classis.' And Classis  shall be guided in rendering its opi-
          action of the consistory, which for the consideration of the     nion by the advice of the Synodical delegates according to
          case meets with the consistory of the nearest Christian          Article 11. Without the concurring advice of these dele-
          Reformed church. Suspension `or expulsion from office shall      gates, no Classis  may decide that a certain minister should
          take place upon the concurring vote of both consistories.        be deposed. This last provision was added to Article 79

             "Art. 83. Ministers guilty of sins as indicated above,        as an additional safeguard by the Holland Churches in

          shall only be suspended from office by action of the con-        1905, and by our churches in 1914.

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


       "Regarding Elders and Deacons Article 79 specifies that     assemblies. But in view of the fact that the disciplinary
these shall be suspended or expelled from their office by          articles of the Church Order clearly specify how discipline
sentence of their Consistory and that of the nearest Con-          regarding office-bearers is to be exercised and in no way

sistory.                                                           intimate that Elders and Deacons can be suspended or
                                                                   deposed by the major -assemblies, we do not believe that
       "If any case is so involved and so complicated that the
                                                                   the appeal to Article 30 is justified. We believe that it is
two Consistories concerned judge that the judgment of all
                                                                   reasonable to assume that the early Synods at which our
the Churches of the Classis  is needed, then the matter
                                                                   Church Order originated purposefully refrained from in-
should be brought to Classis.  In such a case the Con-
                                                                   corporating a provision in the Church Order which would
sistory is expected to abide by the decision of Classis.  The
                                                                   allow our major assemblies to suspend and depose Elders
Consistory follows the advice of Classis.  The Classis  in
                                                                   and Deacons. As had been pointed out before, the early
such a case has a full right to appoint certain delegates who
                                                                   Reformed Churches were eager to safeguard the integrity
are to serve the Con&tory with advice and who are to help
                                                                   and the rights of the particular Churches. The significant
the Consistory to carry out the conclusions of the Classis.
                                                                   84th article of our Church Order used to be Article l! Let
       "If the case of an Elder or Deacon is brought to Classis    us also recall that it was not until 1581 that the churches
by way of appeal on the part of individual members of the          decided that henceforth no Consistory would suspend or
Cliurch,~  or on the part of one or more consistory members,       depose an-Elder  or Deacon without the concurrent judg-
the appellants feeling and claiming that the Consistory as         ment of its nearest neighbor Co&story. Furthermore, it
a whole is negligent or in error, then what is the correct         cannot be denied that the question of deposition of Elders
procedure? Then Classis  deliberates and draws its con-            and Deacons is an important one. It is not unreasonable to
clusions. If the decision is to the effect that the Elder(  s )    assume that a provision permitting major assemblies to
or Deacon(s) should be suspended or deposed, the Con-              depose Elders and Deacons was left out of Article 79
sistory concerned is informed regarding this decision and          purposefully. For notwithstanding the fact'that Article 79
proceeds to execute the judgment rendered. Again, the              tells us how Elders and Deacons shall be deposed it does
Classis  has a full right to appoint a committee to help the       not provide for the deposition of Elders and Deacons by
Consistory in the execution of its task. If a Consistory feels     Classes or Synods. And yet the same Article does specify
that it cannot in good conscience accept the advice, it may        that Mnisters  shall be deposed by the judgment of the
appeal to Synod. If Synod sustains the Classis  the Con-           Classis.
sistory should give immediate execution to the judgment of
the Classis.  That is to say, the Consistory should suspend           `We believe, moreover, that it can be contended success-
or depose the office-bearer in question. Failure to do so          fully that the deposition of minor assemblies by major as-
would bear dire consequences. For in such a case those             semblies constitutes a negation of the general office of all
Consistory members and individual members of the Church            believers, which should begin to function when certain ab-
concerned who desire to adhere to the decisions of Classis         normal situations arise, and that it likewise involves an in-
and Synod should meet and declare the deflecting or re-            fringement upon the right of reformation which should ever
calcitrant Consistory members to be out of office, and new         be held inviolate by the Church of God.

Elders and Deacons should be elected in their place forth-            `We realize that both during the formative period of
with. An extraordinary congregational meeting of this kind         the Reformed Churches and during their more advanced
should be called under the guidance of classical delegates,        history, Classes and Synods bave  sometimes deposed Elders
or of a neighboring Consistory, preferably the former, to          and Deacons and even Consistories. But no one would
give assurance that all things will be done in good. order.        dare to claim that the Reformed Churches have always

       "If any Consistory member thus deposed refuses to ac-       been true to themselves in matters of church government

knowledge his deposition and seeks to exercise his former          and that they have always interpreted their own Church

rights, he makes himself liable to discipline as an individual     Order correctly. Precedents do not decide this issue either

member.                                                            one way or the other.    We should seek to determine the

       "If one or more deposed Consistory members, together        basic principles fundamental to Reformed denominational-
with certain adherents-belonging to the Church concerned,          ism, and weshould seek the correct historical and exege-
refuse to honor the acts of deposition and the election of         tical interpretation of the various articles of the Church
new office-bearers, and when these moreover begin to hold          Order which concern this question. Then we should draw
separate meetings for worship, Classis  should declare these       our conclusions as to what is proper and improper."

members to be a schismatic group, outside of the denomi-              All of this rings a familiar note, doesn't it? In our his-
nation and having forfeited all rights and privileges.             tory as churches we have confronted these questions re-

       "It is true that Article 30 specifies that matters which    peatedly in various ways. And no one denies that some of

cannot be finished by minor assemblies, though rightfully          the fundamentals of Reformed Church polity are involved

belonging to their domain, become the business of the major        here.                                                G.v.d.B.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA,RE;R                                                       405


                                                                  to the weaknesses of its citizens in order to 6.nd  an `easy

11 A L L   A R O U N D   US-~/l way' to meets its financial obligations."
                                                                      The money that the state will raise through this lottery

                                                                  is designated for "educational purposes" and will be used

                                                                  in the public school system. This is also intended to soothe
RACE TRACK SWEEPSTAKES
                                                                  the cOnscienCe  of those who otherwise might object.

   One by one sins become legalized and the moral stand-             But "educational purposes? or not, gambling remains a
ards in this country continue to disintegrate. The latest         sin in whatever form it may appear, and even when it is

step in the legal support of sin is the passing of a law by       legalized by those in authority. The trouble is that people

the legislature of the state of New Hampshire to permit a         have become accustomed to this sort of thing when it is
state-operated racetrack lottery.                                 sponsored by various companies who print their enticing

   While many states have in the past legalized racetrack         advertisements for sweepstakes on the back of cereal boxes

gambling, this is the &st time that a state has chosen to         or on soap wrappers usually requiring the completion of
run such a gambling operation in order to add to its rev-         some inane jingle or of some "I like ___.....____._....__..  because"

enues. Other states have considered at one time or another        in 25 words or less. Even grocery stores have learned to
the possibility of such a method of adding to their source        promote their business by some form of lottery - although

of income, and will be watching closely to see what hap-          usually it is necessary for a person to buy a certain amount
pens in this new venture.      There are also those in the        of groceries before he can have opportunity to pick a "lucky

Federal Congress who would like to see a national lottery         number" or put his name in a pot from which winners will

run by the Federal government which could be used to raise        be drawn. From this type of lottery, it is but a step to the
additional money to try to balance a swollen budget. Al-          gambling which New Hampshire is promoting to add to its

though this is all quite new here, it has long been practised     revenues.

in Europe especially in England, although the lottery was            Yet the Scriptural principle of Christian stewardship

often on soccer games.                                            surely condemns all this. Our Father in heaven provides

   The whole thing runs something like this. Tickets of           us with the necessities of life. But our present day is filled
$3.00 each can be purchased either at a race track or at a        with the craving for material things; and so a something-
State liquor store. A number is drawn blindly from a drum         for-nothing deal or a quick-get-rich scheme is very attrac-
- a number placed on horses that run in the sweepstakes           tive and appealing. Nor do ends justify means. The promo-
races. The winning number is determined by the winning            tion of education is not a legitimate reason to sin.
horses. The top prize for the winning gambler will prob-             But there is very little moral consciousness left in this
ably be between $40,000 and $75,000, while the state of           country.

New Hampshire is expected to net about $4,000,000  after
the expenses are paid and the prizes awarded. This will be        SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN ASSEMELLY

the revenue of two races run under government control                The Presbyterian Church US, better known as the South-
and sponsorship.                                                  ern Presbyterian Church, recently held its 103rd General

   The state hopes to make most of its money from out of          Assembly meeting in Huntington, West Virginia. This

state people. There is a law which prohibits the shipping         denomination is a comparatively conservative Church of

or mailing of lottery tickets across state lines; so plans are    928,056 members which also publishes the well-known

being made for an out-of-state resident to come into the          Prsb yteriun  Journal.     Several decisions made at this as-
state to buy his ticket, then to leave his ticket with a state    sembly are of interest.

agent to return to collect his prize if he should be a winner.       The assembly elected as its moderator, Rev. William H.

   There has been surprisingly little opposition to such a        McCorkle.  This was somewhat significant, for there seems
bill. The Roman Catholic Church has nqver  opposed lot-           to have been a struggle between liberals and conservatives
teries, and in fact, runs  them in its own parishes to raise      to put `their own man" in this important and influential
money for the Church. Some clergymen have opposed the             office. The liberal nominee was Dr. Frank Caldwell,  pres-
bill by questioning the wisdom and propriety of raising           ident of the Louisville Theological Seminary. Rev. Mc-
money by such methods. They have pointed out that gam-            Corkle was nominated by the conservatives as a man known
bling of any sort usually attracts the most undesirable of        for his middle-of-the-road moderation. He was elected by
underworld characters and professional gamblers, and is           a squeaking 229-218 vote.
associated usually with scandals of one sort or another. One         The question of ecumenicity aIso came up for various
religious editor objected on the grounds that "it will also       decisions. For one thing, the assembly rejected an overture
appeal to those who have the gambling instinct to get             calling for withdrawal from the National Council of
something for nothing - and to those psychologically sick         Churches. Secondly, the assembly decided to continue talks
people who gamble to lose. . . . Surely many recognize that       with the Reformed Church of America. These talks have
the morals of a society are not enhanced when a state caters      been going on now for some time and aim to bring these


406                                        T H E   STANDA+  B E A R E R


two Church bodies together so that "ultimately the Pres-           Roman Catholic Church. On the one hand, he suggested
byterian and Reformed communions in the United States              that it was absolutely necessary to do something to change
should present a united life and witness according to the          the rules governing mixed marriages. Especially in de
Reformed faith and Presbyterian order." Thirdly, although          United States, England and Northern Europe, where mixed
there was considerable support for it, the assembly re-            marriages occur most frequently, the priest suggested that,
jected the request of those who wanted union talks also            instead of the Catholic partner working for the conversion
_                -
with the Presbyterian Church USA, a denomination some-             of the Protestant partner as canon law now demands, each
times called the "northern cousin" of the Southern Pres-           partner have respect for the Christian faith of the other. On
byterians, although it is considerably more liberal. Fourth-       the other hand, as far as children born from mixed mar-
iy, the assembly rejected proposals to support the "Blake-         riages not performed by the Romish Church are concerned,
`Pike" Church union plan, but did vote to send observers to        it is intolerable, said the priest, that these children should
the Consultation on Church Union (the formal name of the           be considered illegitimate by the Church. And, instead' of
six-denomination Blake-Pike negotiations ) .                       the Church insisting on children from mixed marriages
       A decision of a little different kind was also made that    being educated as Roman Catholics, he suggested that this
may have far-reaching consequences in the denomination.             could much better be left up to the consciences of the
Proposals had come to the. assembly which requested                parents.
changes in the Book of Church Owler  to permit the ordina-                The Romish Church is interested in improving relations
tion of women in the offices of ministers, elders and dea-          with their "separated brethren"; but this was too much.
cons. These proposals had stirred considerable comment in          His views were roundly condemned back home; and severa
the Church papers prior to the assembly meeting, and                Church leaders there suggested that the Church point out
provoked the liveliest debate at the Assembly. But the             that Priest Kueng was speaking strictly for himself and not
resolution was passed that sent the proposals down to the          for the Church. Others suggested that the Church ought to
local presbyteries for consideration. If a majority of the         put a stop to such talk and prohibit its clergy from depart-
presbyteries and the next Assembly meeting approve it, the         ing so radically from the official position of the Vatican.

changes will be made. The vote was 249-173. In a separate

action the Assembly urged women to express themselves to           MORE ON EVOLUTIONISM

their presbyteries on the issue.                                          In a recent issue of Chrzktianity  Today,  a brief article

                                                                    appeared which shows' once again how far the Church
ROMAN CATHOLICS
                                                                   world has gone in the direction of evolutionism. We quote
       The Roman Catholic Church grew faster than any deno-         the article in full.
mination in this country the past year. There were almost
                                                                               In the United States on his annual visit, noted British an-
a million new members added to this church, although,                       thropologist Louis S. B. Leakey suggests that man is over-
surprisingly enough, there were only 125,670 converts, while                specialized in his hands and brains. As a result man has
the rest were all born within the Church. The number of                     created the tools of his own self-destruction. But Leakey sees

converts is the lowest of any number in the last decade.                    a ray of hope in that man may save himself if he properly uses
       The Roman Catholic population in the United States is               his overspecialized brain.
                                                                               At a news conference in Washington last month, Leakey
now 43,851,538  baptized church members, or 23.3% of the                    averred that his continued fossil findings in East Africa present
total U.S. population. In ten years the Church has increased                "no major conflict" with the Scriptures. He has written, none-
44.1%. The largest concentration of Catholics is to ,be found               theless, that "the stock which eventually gave rise to man

in the archdioceses of Chicago ( 2,293,900  members ), Boston               separated from that of the great apes and the gibbons, at least
( 1,733,620  members) and New York ( 1,704,350  members).                  in Lower Miocene times, perhaps 25,000,OO  years ago."
                                                                               Leakey,  son of Anglican missionaries, also has said that the
Ordained Catholic priests number  56,540.
                                                                           African continent was `the main evolutionary center" for the

                           e 0 0 xt                                         higher primates and the birthplace of man himself, because

                                                                           there is "`far more evidence concerning apes and `near-men"'

       Pope John XXIII has been slowly pushing the Roman                    from that continent than any other area.
                                                                               Leakey  and his wife, who now work under the auspices
Catholic Church towards a more liberal attitude in the                      of the National Geographic Society, are widely regarded as the
Church's relation to outsiders. This has been also the                      world's foremost prehistorians.
dominant tone of the Vatican Council. Once in a while it                       Meanwhile, in New York, the-National Council of Churches

seems, the liberal attitude gets out of hand a bit.                         issued a' press release which concludes that `in most people's
       A certain Swiss-born priest, Hans Kueng, has been in                 minds there is no longer any conflict between the teachings of
                                                                            the Bible and those of Charles Darwin on man's origin."
this country recently, He is the dean of the theological
                                                                               The release cited weekly NCC telecasts "which accept and
faculty at the University of Tuebingen and a consultant at                  explain the theory of evolution." It said that heavy mail from
the Vatican Council. In his remarks in an interview in                      viewers shows that "scarcely one in 1,000 still finds any con-

Chicago, this priest made several suggestions which placed                 ilict between the Darwinian theory and the book of Genesis."

him a considerable distance from the official position of the      .                                                            H. Hanko
                                                                   `_,


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       407


                                                                       Edger-ton ladies then favored us with two musical selec-

                                                                   tions, "0 Worship the King" and "Children of the Heaven-

                                                                   ly Father."

                                                                       Rev. Kortering answered three questions sent in by the
     Report of the Western Ladies' League                          societies. Explain Prov. 3:23.  What is meant by "years of

                                                                   discretion" as found in the third question in the Baptism
   On the afternoon of April 18, 1963, the Western Ladies'
                                                                   Form. Explain Acts 19:1-6.
League met at Doon,  Iowa. We opened by singing Psalter
                                                                       Mrs. Kortering thanked the Doon ladies, our hostesses.
numbers 298 and 30. Rev. Kortering led us in prayer. Our
                                                                   Psalter number 394 was sung and Rev. Hanko closed with
president, Mrs. Kortering, read Prov. 31:10-31.  Mrs. Kor-
                                                                   prayer.
tering then introduced our speaker, Rev. H. Hanko, who
                                                                                                     MRS. J. DE BOER, Reporter
spoke on the topic: "A Mother's Witness."

   The problem today is that women are demanding a voice

in the affairs where previously men only were heard. And if
she is a Christian, her Christian witness is essential. The                            WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
result is that women hold office in every level of local,             On June 6, our beloved parents,
state, and national politics. The same is true in the sphere                      MR. AND MRS. HENRY MEULENBERG

of the Church. More and more churches are inviting their           hope to commemorate their 40th wedding anniversary.
                                                                      We, their grateful children, thank and praise our Covenant God
women to participate in church government. In addition to          for them and for using them to'  instruct us to walk in the fear of
this women are seldom found in the home. There is -the             His name. Our prayer is that they may continue to experience the
                                                                   Lord's blessing on their earthly pilgrimage.
problem of women working and attending all types of
                                                                                                  Mr. and Mrs. G. Bol
women's groups. Another aspect to the problem is that a                                           Mr. and Mrs. David Meulenberg
mother's work in the home is a diihcult  task, not only is                                        Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Meulenberg
                                                                                                  Mr. and Mrs. John Bos
it physically difficult, but also spiritually wearying. They                                      Mr. and Mrs. Henry P. Meulenberg
gain the impression that they do nothing that has any value                                       Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Meulenberg
in it. But Scripture is very careful never to relegate a                                          Judie Meulenberg
                                                                                                       and 17 grandchildren
woman to a place of non-importance.

   Rev. Ha&o suggested we walk down the dusty paths

of history and stop at the homes of women of Scripture,                                        PSALM I

such as the homes of Sarah, Tamar, Deborah, Manoah  -                          That man hat-h perfect blessedness
the mother of Samson, Ruth, Hannah, Abigail, Bathsheba,                        Who walketh not astray
the widow of Zaephath, the Shunnamite, and Jehosheba.                          In counsel of ungodly men,
These women were shining lights in moments of darkness.                        Nor stands in sinners' way.
They are always mentioned in connection with God's cov-
enant and were passionately interested in bringing forth                       Nor sitteth in the scorner's chair:
the covenant seed, the promised line of Christ, but also                       But placeth his delight
                                                                               Upon God's law, and meditates
the whole spiritual seed of the church. They were in-
                                                                               On His law day and night.
terested in preserving the truth of the covenant and were

concerned that their children be instructed to walk in that                    He shall be like a tree that grows

way. The importance of the home emphasizes this calling.                       Fast by a riverside,

The mother in the home is of greatest importance. Her                          Which in its season yields its fruit,

witness is to be found there and there alone. It is her                        And green its leaves abide.

calling to bear children, covenant seed, without which the                     And all he doth shall prosper well.
whole church cannot be saved and brought to glory. She                         The wicked are not so;
works for these children. In all her daily duties she is                       But like they are unto tbe chaff
working for a seed that -belongs to God and is redeemed by                     Which wind drives to and fro.
Christ's blood. Can there be a nobler calling? This is our
                                                                               In judgment therefore shall not stand
calling, inspiring, glorious, thrilling, a task no one else can
perform. The generation to come is in our hands to be                          Such as ungodly are;
                                                                               Nor in the assembly of the just
molded and shaped and fitted in God's wondrous purpose
                                                                               Shall wicked men appear.
for eternity. `Our labor is never in vain because presently

we will be in glory with the Lord.                                             For why, the way of godly men

   After the lecture a group of ladies from Hull sang                          Unto the Lord is known,

Psalter number 383.                                                            Whereas the way of wicked men

   After business we sang several Psalter numbers and a                        Shall quite be overthrown.

collection was taken for Beacon Lights, totaling $36.60.                                                           Scottish Psalter, 1650

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


                                                                  Hoeksema Sunday,`June  30, under the theme, `%od's Great
       NEWS FliOM  OUR. CHtiRCf4ES                                Love Toward the World." The Radio Committee of the
                                                                  Reformed Witness Hour invites our readers to listen to
               "All ttze  saints s&&e thee . . ." PHIL: 4:21      these Distinctively Reformed Radio Programs, and for those

                                                                  who cannot tune in,`we  remind you that printed copies of

                                             May 20, 1963         the sermons can be obtained by writing to The Reformed
                                                                  Witness Hour, Box 1230, Grand Rapids 1, Michigan.

       Redlands  has extended a call to Rev. C. Hanko of First

Church. The trio also included the Revs. G. Lubbers and              Hudsonville's Choral Society shared the fruits of their
j. Kortering.                                                     practice sessions with the congregation, giving a public

                                                                  program after the evening service, May 19.
       Our Missionary, Rev. G. Lubbers is considering the call

which came to him from our Loveland congregation. The
others on that trio were the Revs. B. Woudenberg and                  In many of our churches the activities of the various
.G. Vos:  .                                                       societies have again Come  to a sudden halt with banquets
                                                                  to celebrate the event. It is a good thing that our church

       Southwest Church has announced a new trio: Revs. G.        councils do not follow this example with regard to public
Lanting, G. Lubbers and B. Woudenberg.                            worship services as some modern churches do. `Tis really
                                                                  too bad that our societies cannot meet the year `round as a

       Lynden's trio consists of the Revs. G. Lubbers, G. Van     continuous demonstration of the communion of saints.
                                                                                                       _
den Berg and H. Veldman.

                                                                      Hudsonville opened the doors to their Summer Sunday

       The date of Rev. H. Veldman's installation at Hope has     School session, May 5. The memory verse for the littlest
been re-scheduled for the morning of May 26. He hopes             ones was appropriately, "Seek ye the Lord."

to preach his inaugural sermon in the evening service.

                                                                     Through correspondence between the consistories of

       Holland has scheduled a Mission Program for May 31         First Church in Grand Rapids `and Redlands, California,
featuring our Missionary who will give a talk and show            permission was given Mr. and Mrs. Donald Ezinga, of First
pictures of his newest field of labor.                            Church, to have their infant baptized by the Redland's
                                                                  pastor in their May 5th service. Mr. Ezinga is with the

                                                                  Armed Forces stationed near San Francisco and is being
   At a congregational meeting held May 9, Holland's con-         transferred to Mississippi.
gregation decided to purchase property upon which they

hope to build a church edifice, D.V. The Building Com-
mitee was on hand the previous Saturday afternoon to show            At one of the April meetings of Hull's Ladies' Society
the proposed site to the members of the congregation.             the after recess program consisted of a discussion on "Chil-
                                                                  dren and the Worship Service," which was introduced by

                                                                  Mrs. W. Hoksbergen and Mrs. G. Hoekstra.
   Contribution from the Radio Committee: A great Gift,

a great Commission, a great Calling, a great and important
                                                                     Three annual business meetmgs were announced in the
question, and a great Promise are the general subjects of
                                                                  area bulletins: The Society for Prot. Ref. Secondary Educa-
Prof. H. C. Hoeksema's radio sermons which, the Lord
                                                                  tion, May 16 at Southwest Church; Adams St. School, May
willing, are to be heard over the Reformed Witness Hour
                                                                  21; and,  Hope's School, June 10.
during June. On Sunday, June 2, "Receiving the Gift of the

Spirit," a Pentecostal message, will be aired. The great Com-
mission of the Church to "Preach the Word," will. be ex-             Did you ijcn.ow  that The Reformed Witness Hour can
plained the following Lord's Day, June 9. A message re-           now be heard in the Houston, Texas, area over F.M. Statoin
minding the listening audience of the great Calling of the        KFMK?  At present this program is heard between 6 and
Church, as "Ambassadors for Christ," to say, "thus saith          6:30 P. M. on Sundays.

the Lord," will be heard Sunday, Jtie  16. Proclaiming the

truth concerning God's love for the world (John 3:16),  the          A harbinger of Spring: Picnic dates announced in sev-
great and important question ."Whom  Does God Love?"              eral builetins.
will be answered, June 23. The great Promise of God, "that

whosoever believeth in God's only begotten Son shall not

perish, but have everlasting life" will be treated by Prof.          . . . . See you in church.                    J.M,F.


