                  xXx1x                     A
     VOLuivm                                  UGUST 1, 1963 - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                               NLLVEER  19


                                                                      Thou wilt show Thyself upright. With the pure Thou wilt

             MEDI.TATION                                              show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show
                                                                      Thyself froward."

                                                                          So really God built the House where He may dwell

            BU'IEBING  THE HOUSE OF GOB                               with His people.

                                                                          Its beginning is a symbol in the garden of Eden.
          "0 Lord our God, a.11 this store that we ha.oe  pre-
           pa:red  to build Thee an house for Thy holy name               Its type is the altar.
           cometh  from Thy hund, and is all Thine  own. I                Later this altar became the tabernacle and the temple.
           know also, my God, that Thou tries-t the heart, a.ncl
          hast  pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the               And there is continual development.
          uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all          Its central fulfilment  is Jesus Christ, the Lord.
           these things: and now have I seen with joy Thy                 Listen to the definition of the House of God: "I in
          people, whsch  are present here, to offer  willingly        them  and Thou in Me,,
                                                                                             
          unto Thee."                            I Chron. 29:16,17
                                                                          Subjectively this Temple came about through the out-
    Throughout all the ages the Temple of God is being                pouring of the Spirit of Christ. So that Paul later could
built.                                                                ask: "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God?" I

    And the great question has ever been: Who builds this             Cor. 3:16.

House of God?                                                             But its final realization is in the day of Christ in eter-

    The answer to that question is given in our text:                 nity: "In My Father's House are many mansions." John

sometimes it seems as though man is the builder. Listen:              14~2.

"According to the grace of God that is given unto me, as
                                                                                                 0 0 0 0
a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and

another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed

how he buildeth thereupon." I Cor. 3:lO.  Also Stephen,                   Now let us look to the building of that House of God.

Acts 7:47: "But Solomon built Him an house."                              In the Old Testament there came a time when the

    Again we ask: Who builds this House of God?                       building of the House of God came to its completion in

                                                                      the time of Solomon.
                            * 0 0 0
                                                                         Externally and physically we read of the gathering of

                                                                      gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, purple, crimson, fine linen,
    Well, let us look at the House of God.
                                                                      etc. All by the gift of God in the heart of the givers.
    God dwells. But there is a difference, God dwells
                                                                          And all of .this building was by the pattern given by
essentially and spiritually.
                                                                      God to Moses on the mount and later to David for;
    Essentially God inhabits eternity, and as such, His
                                                                      Solomon's building project.
Eternal Godhead touches and dwells also in every atom
of creation.        Literally He fills the Universe, but also            But centrally the meaning of the building Solomon
exceeds it. The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.                 built must be sought and found in the blood of the in-

    But spiritually God only dwells with those who are                nocents  On the mercy  seat*

akin to God. In that sense God is the Light and only                      And around about that mercy seat you found the

dwells with the children of light. God only feels at home             adoration of God. Often you hear of that mercy and

with the virtuous. Attend to this:         "With the merciful         goodness and lovingkindness of God. Sometimes in period

Thou wilt show Thyself merciful, and with an upright man              of great stress when the singers would precede the war-


434                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER


riors in battle, and then they would repeat and repeat           in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

again: For His mercy endureth forever!                           John 3:16.  Or you could listen to Isaiah: He shall see of

                                                                 the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Isa. 53:ll.
                         0 a 0 n
                                                                 Or listen to Jesus Himself: "It is finished!" He began the

   But in the New Testament everything is spiritualized.         building and He finished it, bleeding and dying on the

    It was the end of land, people, city, temple, the vail,      accursed tree.

the ark, the mercy seat,. blood of innocent animals, and            Except the Lord build the house.

tables of stone.                                                    God gave Jesus and He wrought.

   In its stead you now find the worship of God through             Christ gave the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
the Spirit of Christ and the Word of God.                           And that Spirit? Listen: "For it is God that worketh
   There is really nothing left of the externals but the         in you both to will and to do of. His good pleasure."
Book.                                                               Listen to the conclusion of the whole matter: "For of
   And the spiritual Temple of the Lord is the Church            Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to
of the living God in Christ.                                     Him be glory for ever. Amen."

   Now comes the question: Who builds this Temple,                  But do we not build?
who builds this Church of the living God?                           Yes.
   Well, look first at the shadow in the Old Testament.             Look at the builders: Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and

   It really began with the first sermon ever preached,          Solomon, Isaiah, John the Baptist, ,Peter,  Paul and John.
and here is the text: Where art thou? (That question of         -. Later we see Augustine, HUSS, Luther, Calvin, Dordrecht
God was addressed to Adam and Eve.)                              and the fathers. But - they proved by their work- that

   And here is the explanation which God gave: Enmity            the God of our salvation was working in them and through

between God's people and the devil. The Seed would               them.

come. And victory for the Church.                                   And therefore we often read in the Bible: Salvation is

   And God gave a visible pledge: the skins of animals to        of the Lord!

clothe the church. Note the skinned, bloody spectacle of

the animals. Look strongly at those bloody corps& They                                    0 * * ir;

are Christ.

   And then let us look at Moses.                                   Now let us look at the builders, the humans who

   Here he comes down the mountain and his skin shines           received the most wonderful blessing that they might lay
with heavenly glory. No wondtir  : he has. seen the pattern      their hands on the Lord's work.

of the temple of God.                                               And let me assure you: they build this House of God

   And also listen to Solomon: 0 Lord our God, all this          with joy!

store that we have prepared to build Thee an house for              Look f&t at the Old Testament.

Thine holy name cometh  of Thine hand and is all Thine              God tries the hearts.
own . . .                                                           All Israel lay open and naked before His all-seeing
   Also listen to David: Except the Lord build the               eye.
house, they labor in vain that build it . . .                       He knew the intent and motive why all this gold,
   Yes, beloved, God builds the House, and He builds             silver, brass, iron, wood, purple, crimson and fine linen
it alone.                                                        was given to Him.

   All through the weary ages, 4000 years, long, the Lord           And He also knew why Pharisee and publican  and
chose Israel, called Israel, drew Israel from Egypt and          all between builded  and drew near to Him for worship.
Chaldea and established Israel to be the House of the living        And God has established the norm and here it is: God
God.                                                             has pleasure in uprightness.
   The ever recurring refrain of the song of the church             See it in David, in Solomon atid  in the Israel of God.
is this: IT IS ALL THINE OWN!                                       Where the true Temple of God is built, there reigns

                                                 .~              uprightness of heart.       We have `the testimony of the
                         * e * 0

                                                                 Spirit. It is expressed in the text. Listen: "As for me,
   In the New Testament?                                         in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all

   Let us take our cue from Paul: "Was Paul crucified for        these things."

you?" I Cor. 1: 13.                                                 Does that mean that you do not sin? Of course not.

   Or listen to John: `<For  God so loved the world that         But even with respect to your sin you are upright. You

He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth          do not cover up those sins, but you pour out your heart


                                           T H E   STArJDARD,~-l3,EARER                                                                                                                                                              435


like the publican.     Or like David. Listen to him in Ps'alm
51.                                                                                     THE STANDARD  BEARER
                                                                         Semi-monthly, except monthly during  June, July  and August
       In the New Testament we work out .that  which God                  Published by the REFORMED  FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
works within us. That is eternal uprightness.                                                      Editcur  - F&v. Hm HOEK~EMA
       And the flower of uprightness is joy!                             Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
       Listen to Solomon: `I have seen with joy Thy people!"             Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,
                                                                         Mich. Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
       Let me ask you a question here: How do you feel                                                  neatly written or typewritten.

when you enter the church on the Sabbath morning, and                    All church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
                                                                                         1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
when you see and hear the singing of the sweet psalms
                                                                          Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee included
of David?                                                                must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below:
       Listen again to Paul: "God loveth the cheerful giver!"             All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
                                                                                     Mr. James Dykstra,  1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
       It is ever the reward of God upon  His own work in                                                   Grand Rapids 7, Michigan

you.                                                                        RENEWAL: Unless  a definite request for discontinuance is
                                                                         received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
       When your work, `action, operation, manifestation and               tion to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
revelation prove that God worketh within you, heavenly                                             Subscription price: $5.00 per year

joy sings in your heart!                                                      Second Class postage paid at Grand Ra@&,  Michigan

       And it is especially this people who are first to

acknowledge that Salvation is of the Lord!

       Man, you know, is a very proud creature. Just listen                                                         C O N T E N T S

to the whispering in your own heart. It is the result of
the poison of the devil in Paradise: you shall be as God,          MEDITATION-
                                                                            Building the House of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
knowing good and evil.                                                                Rev. G. Vos
       That lie was spoken first by the devil, and wicked men      EDITORIALS-

have repeated this lie throughout all the ages.
                                                                            Synodical Action? __. . . . . .____..  . .._. . . . . ..__.....  ._._........_...... 436
       And they also attached this lie to the Gospel of Christ.             Single O r Double Track Theology? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__....................  436

       But we will sing of the truth: God builds His ever-                            Rev. H. Hoeksema

lasting House! Amen.                                      G.V.
                                                                   OURDOCTRWE-
                                                                            The Doctrine of the Church . . .._.........__................................                                                                           438
                                                                            The Attributes or Virtues of the Church. . ..__.... . . . . . . . .._.. . 440

                  Notice for Classis  West                                            Rev. H. Hoeksema

       Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will      A CLOUD OF WITNESSES-
                                                                            The Beginning of Trouble .._.___.  ..___  _____.  .._   .                                                                .       .        4           4          2
meet, the Lord willing, in South Holland, Illinois, on Wed-
                                                                                      Rev. B. Woudenberg
nesday, September 25, 1963 (the revised date according to
the decision of the classical committee of Classis  West).         FROM HOLY WRIT -
                                                                            Exposition of II Peter 3 . .._......._.....___......................................                                                                     444
All matters for the classical agendum must be in the hands
                                                                                      Rev. G. Lubbers
of the Stated Clerk not later than thirty days before the
meeting of Classis.      Please send all such material to the      IN HIS  FEAR -
                                                                            My Father's World (8) _.........................................................  4-16
address below.
                                                                                      Rev. J. A. Heys
                   REV. G. VAN BAREN, Assistant Stated Clerk

                   Box 222                                         CONTENDING  FOR  THE FAITH-
                                                                            The Church and the Sacraments                                             . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
                   Randolph, Wisconsin
                                                                                      Rev. H. Veldman


                                                                   THE VOICE OF OUR  FATHERS -
                      ACTS OF SYNOD                                         The Belgic Confession                               __....  . . . . . .__.  . . .___  . ..450

                                                                                      Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
       The Acts of the 1963 Synod of the Protestant Reformed

Churches are ready for distribution. A supply has been             DECENCY  AND ORDER-
                                                                            Censura Morum __ __._  ___ __._.  __. __ ______.  . . ..___  .__ . . . . . __..  . . . . . . . _...___..  _... .452
sent to each church so you can purchase your copy for                       Membership Attestation ___............_._........................................                                                                       4S3
$1.00 from either your clerk or pastor. Copies may also be                            Rev. G. Vanden Berg

purchased from undersigned. Please enclose $1.00 for each
                                                                   ALLAROUNDUS-
copy ordered and make checks payable to Mr. C. Pastoor,                     Quotes            __,,.._..........  . . . ..__..___...__....................................................                                             4,54
Synodical Treasurer.                                                        Summer News Items _, __... ._. . . .._ ._ .___,  .._.__..  45.5
                                                                                      Rev. H. Hanko
                              Synodical Stated Clerk
                                    G. VANDEN  B                   N
                                                 ERG                    EWS FROM OUR CHURCHES                                 . . . .___  _. . . . . .._.____.. ..___ ._ __.__  . ,456
                                                                                      Mr. J. M. Faber
                                    9402 South 53rd Court

                                    Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453

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

                                                                    of man and the will of God to save all men. The Baptists,

              EDITORIAL"S                                           too, quote Scripture for their denial of infant baptism. In
                                                                    other words, the statement that the scripturahress of the
                                                               I
                                                                    theology of the Christian Reformed Church is the essence
                      Synodical  Action?                            of the theology of the Church stands itself in need of

       In the last issue of our ~Stund~r~  Bemer  I referred to     proof. In the second place, according to Kuiper, the

an overture by classis  Orange City in regard to the                scripturalness of the double track theology of Kuiper con-

Dekker case which was before the Synod of the Christian             sists in this, that, on the one hand, it maintains whole-

Reformed Church that met last June. I promised that, as             heartedly the truth of sovereign grace or the doctrine of

soon as I had official information of the decision of Synod         predestination, while, on the other hand, it teaches the

in this case, I would inform our readers about it. But, at          sincere offer, on the part of God, to all men without

the time of this writing, I still do not have this informa-         exception. On the one track of Kuiper's theology runs the

tion.                                                               train of sovereign grace and election and reprobation

    What I write here, therefore, is based on unofficial            while on the other track, runs the train of what I&per

information, which is as follows:                                   calls "biblical universalism." This is, indeed, a paradox or

       1. A committee was appointed to serve the Synod with         rather a profound mystery, but Scripture teaches both and,

advice in the matter.                                               therefore, we must accept it. Human logic denies this, in

       2. This committee could not agree on the matter.             fact, cannot possibly accept it; but faith always bows

Hence, they returned to Synod with a majority and a                 before the Word of God. I will come back to this presently.

minority report. I asked for copies of these reports, but
                                                                       3. But, secondly; since 1924, the glory .has, indeed,
thus far I did not receive them. However, it seems quite
                                                                    departed from the Christian Reformed Church. This is
sure that the majority report advised Synod to act accord-
                                                                    my answer to the question which Kuiper makes the theme
ing to the overture of Orange City and have Prof. Dekker
                                                                    of his article in "Torch and Trumpet." Even if we under-
submit to an examination by Synod, while the minority
                                                                    stand by the theology of the Christian Reformed Church
report was of the opinion and advised Synod to express
                                                                    Kuiper's "double track theology," this is true. Many, if
that there was no cause for any such action.
                                                                    not the majority of the Christian Reformed people and
       3. It seems that Synod finally decided to return the
                                                                    ministers do not care one whit for Reformed theology and
overture to Classis  Orange City in order that they might
                                                                    doctrine. This is evident -from many facts, both doctrinal
explain and furnish suflicient  grounds for their overture.
                                                                    and practical, such as the question concerning the in-
       If this be true, the matter is, of course, postponed for
                                                                    fallibility of Scripture, the question concerning the uni-
another year. As the Dutch has it, `het is op.de  lange baan
                                                                    versal love of God to all men, the question concerning
geschoven."
                                                                    divorce, the question concerning membership of the
       As soon as I have the reports and the' official decision,
                                                                    worldly unions and even of the lodge. The Christian
I hope to inform our readers.                              H.H.
                                                                    Reformed Church is no longer interested in the truth,

                                                                    specifically in Reformed truth, it is much rather interested

                                                                    in becoming big, large membership and big buildings. And
           Single Or Double Track Theology?                         it is very worldly-minded.      And I claim that all this

       We were discussing, in our last Standard Bearer, the         has become the case especially since the Synod of 1924

articles in "Torch and Trumpet" by Emeritus Professor               that adopted the "Three Points" and the theory of "com-

R. B. Kuiper on the theme: "Is the Glory Departing?"                mon grace."    Besides, it adopted not only the Kuiperian

       First of all, I wish to make a few remarks on this           version of "common grace," but also its Arminian form.

theme which is put in question form.                                This is the reason why Prof. R. B. Kuiper has no ground

       1. In the first place, when Kuiper speaks of the glory       to stand on in his criticism of Prof. Dekker. Dekkcr

of the Christian Reformed Church he refers to his "double           teaches that God loves all men; Kuiper teacher the same

track theology." He does this, too, in distinction from our         thing. Does not the "First Point" literally express that

so-called "single track theology." Evidently, according to          "`there is a favorable attitude of God to humanity in

him, also Arminianism believes in a single track theology,          general and not only to the elect"? What is the difference

but their theology is false universalism.                           between God's favor and His love? There is none. Besides,

       2. What is meant by double track theology? First of          the Second and Third Points afford ample ground for the

all, according to him it means that the theology of the             co-operation of the Church and the world, for they teach

Christian Reformed #Church  is eminently scriptural. It is          that through the common grace of God sin is so restrained

biblical: "Its scripturalness is the essence of the theology        that the world and the unbelieving reprobate can do

of the Christian Reformed Church." Of course, this does             much good. And, therefore, I maintain that especially since

not mean much, for all heretics say the same thing.                 1924 the Christian Ref. Church has departed from the truth

Arminianism also appeals to the Bible to prove the freewill         and from the way of the truth, bo*h  doctrinally and prac-


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             437


     tically,  and I answer the question which Kuiper makes the       decree;  he graciously softens the hearts of the elect, how-

     theme of his article in "Torch and Trumpet" with an un-          ever obstinate, and inclines them to believe, while he

     qualified YES: the glory has indeed departed from the            leaves the non-elect- in his just judgment to their own

     Christian Reformed Church. But now let us proceed.               wickedness and obduracy.        And herein is especially dis-

     - As I mentioned in my former article on this subject,           played the profound, merciful, and at the same time the

     Kuiper discusses the error of Arminianism, which, accord-        righteous discrimination between men, equally involved in

     ing to him, is universalism and this is based, not on            ruin; or that decree of election and reprobation, revealed

     Scripture, but on human logic. Of this, i.e., of human           in the Word of God, which though men of perverse, im-

     logic instead of Scripture, the fathers of Dort must have        pure, and unstable minds wrest to their own destruction, yet

     nothing. They believed, to be sure, in predestination, but       to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable consolation."

     also in the sincere offer, on the part of God, of salvation.        This, to my mind, is logic based on the Word of God.

        On this I wish to make the following observations:               And listen further to the logical definition which the

        1. According to Kuiper, while the Remonstrants base           Canons give, on the basis of Scripture, of the decree of
     their Doctrine on Human logic, the fathers of Dort base          election in I, 7: "Election is the unchangeable purpose of
     their doctrine on Scripture no matter how the Scriptures         God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, he ha&
     may apparently contradict themselves. The latter, namely,        out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure
     that the Scriptures, as far as we can see, imply a contradic-    of his own will, chosen, from the whole human race, which
     tion when, on the one hand, they teach unconditional             had fallen through their own fault, from their primitive
     election and reprobation, while, on the other hand, they         state of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number
     maintain the sincere offer of salvation, is what Kuiper          of persons to redemption in Christ, whom he from etetity
     teaches.                                                         appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the
                                                                      foundation of salvation."
        But is it true that the Remonstrants base their doctrine
                                                                         Is not this logical reasoning without any expressed or
     on human logic? I do not believe it.
                                                                      implied contradiction and reasoning that is based on the
        Let us quote, for instance, the first article of the          Word of God, as will be evident if we read further in the
     Remonstrants. It reads as follows:                               same article of the Canons?
        "That God, by an eternal, unchangeable purpose in                "This elect number, though by nature neither better
     Jesus Christ his Son, before the foundation of the world,        nor more deserving than others, but with them involved
     hath determined, out of the fallen, sinful race of men, to       in the common misery, God hath decreed to give to Christ,
     save in Christ, for Christ's sake, and through Christ, those     to be saved by him, and effectually to call them and draw
     who, through the grace of the Holy Ghost shall believe           them to his communion by his Word and Spirit, to bestow
     on his Son Jesus, and shall persevere in this faith and the      upon them true faith, justification and sanctification; and
     obedience of faith, through this grace, even to the end;         having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of
     and, on the other hand, to leave the incorrigible and un-        his Son, finally to glorify them for the demonstration of his
I    believing in sin and under wrath, and to condemn them as         mercy, and for the praise of his glorious grace; as it is
     alienate from Christ, according to the word `of the gospel       written: `According as he hath chosen us in him, before
     in John 3:36: `He that believeth on the Son hath everlast-       the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and
     ing life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see
~                                                                     without blame before him in love; having predestinated
     life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,' and according
I                                                                     us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
     to other passages of Scripture also."                            according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of

        Is this based on mere human `logic? Their logic may           the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
~
     be faulty as far as their interpretation of Scripture is con-    in the beloved.' Eph. 1:4,  5, 6. And elsewhere: Whbm  he

     cerned, but it surely is not based on mere human logic,          did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,

     but on the Scriptures, as is evident from the text they          them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also

     quote at the end of this article.                                glorified.' Rom. 8:30."

        The Canons do not agree with the first article of the            All this is, indeed, logical. It is a logic that is based

     Remonstrants, not because it is based on logic, for they         on Scripture. For it is Scripture itself. And there are no

     themselves use logic, and, naturally, reason logically, bllt     contradictions in the Bible, as Kuiper would have it. It is

     because the Remonstrants present a wrong interpretation          not a question of logic, still less of contradictions in Scrip-

     of Scripture. Say they in Canons I, 6:                           ture. It is, therefore, not true that Arminianism is logical,

        "That some receive the` gift of faith from God, and           or based on logic, while Reformed truth is illogical. The

     others do not receive it, proceeds from God's eternal decree,    truth is never contradictory. No human mind can grasp

     `For known unto God are all his works from the beginning         contradictions. But the truth is a question of exegesis or

     of the, world,' Acts 1515.  `Who worketh all things after        interpretation of Scripture.

     the counsel of his will,' Eph. 1:ll. According to which             But of this next time,  the Lqrd  willing.            H.H.


43s -                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                   father, and he shall be my son . . . . And thine house and

      O U R   D O C T R I N E   j thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy
                                                                   throne  shall be established for ever." These are the "sure

                                                                   mercies of David."    Of these sure mercies the angel  Gabriel

        THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                                 spoke td Mary in these words: "He shall be great, and shall

                                                                   be called the Son of the highest: and the Lord God shall
                         ChAPTER  11                               give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall

         THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH                               reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom

                                                                   there shall be no end." Luke 2:32,33. And it is of these
                         (Continued)                               same "sure mercies" that the apostle Paul speaks in the

    Such is the teaching of Scripture throughout, both of          words already quoted, as being fulfilled in the resurrection
the Old and New Testaments. -Only in this light can we             of Jesus from the dead.
understand the words of the apostle Peter on the day of               What, then, is the conclusion from all this? First, that
Pentecost. With a sudden insight into the mystery of the           the "sure mercies of David" are fulfilled to us, the church of
kingdom of God that before had been dark and incompre-             the new dispensation, the children of the fathers of the old
hensible to him and to his fellow apostles, he proclaimed to       dispensation, Secondly, that they are fulfilled in the
all the house of Israel that the promise had been fulfilled,       resurrection and exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that God had raised up Jesus and exalted Him at His own            thirdly, seeing that the "sure mercies of David" consisted
right hand, and had given Him the promise of the Holy              of this, that the throne of David should be established for
Spirit. And he concludes by addressing the house of Israel         ever, the exaltation of Christ means that He now sits on
in the following words: "For the promise is unto you and           that throne, and that the church is the house of Jacob over
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many       which He reigns. One people of God, one house of Jacob,
as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:39.  It is clear that      one throne of David, and on that throne one King, the risen
the promise that is here mentioned is the same as that             Lord - such is the plain teaching of Holy Writ. The throne
which was proclaimed throughout the old dispensation.              of David is not destroyed; nor is its glory temporarily ob-
That promise, according to the apostle Peter, is now ful-          scured. It is fulfilled and raised to its highest level in the
filled on the day of Pentecost in the gift of the Holy Ghost.      exaltation of Jesus Christ our Lord.

   The same truth is expressed in the words of the apostle            A study of Scripture, that is, a study of the Old Testa-

Paul, spoken in the synagogue of Antioch: "And we declare          ment in the light  of the New, always yields the same

unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was              result. If you will only interpret Scripture in its own

made unto the fathers, God hath .fulfilled  the same unto          light, you will ever reach the same conclusion, namely:

their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; As          that there is only one people of God, and for that one

it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son,           people are all the promises of God. Throughout the history        .

this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he           of this world there is only one, holy, catholic church; and

raised him from the dead, now no more to return to cor-            there is only one people of God. To that one people of

ruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure            God, to the one, holy, catholic church, is promised the

mercies of David." Acts 13:32-34.  Here too it is very evi-        everlasting glory of the covenant of .God.  For this we may

dent that the Scriptures speak of one and the same promise,        refer to several passages of Scripture. Take, for instance,

which was made to the fathers of the old dispensation, is          Jeremiah 31:31-34:  "Behold, the days come, saith the

fulfilled in Christ, and now is proclaimed to all the elect,       Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of

to the church of the new dispensation. For this promise is         Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the

fulfilled centrally in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.    covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I

We may note here too that the resurrection of Jesus from           took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of

the dead is presented here as the fulfillment of the promise       Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an

concerning the `<sure  mercies of David." Of these `<sure          husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the

mercies" Isaiah had spoken in the 55th chapter of his              covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After

prophecy: "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and           those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their

your soul shall -live; and I will make an everlasting cov-         inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be

enant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. 55:          their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall

3. If you should inquire what is meant by these sure               teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his

mercies of David and by this everlasting covenant, you will        brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me,

find the answer in II Sam. 7:12-16,  as well as in Psalm 89.       from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the

God would establish the seed of David and his kingdom              Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember

forever : `He shall build an house for my name, and I wi?l         their sin no more."     It is evident that this promise is

establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his         emphatically made in the old dispensation, and that too,


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   ,BEA.RER                                               439


to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. Yet,            vanished away.       But this is not the case with our Lord

according to the ,eighth  chapter of the epistle to the           Jesus Christ. His priesthood is unchangeable and eveis

Hebrews, this promise `of a better covenant is now fulfilled      lasting. Christ was priest, according to chapter 7 of the

in the church of the new dispensation. For Christ "hat11          epistle to the Hebrews, in distinction from the priests of

obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is the            the Old Testament, with an oath: "For those priests were

mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon         made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that

better promises."       And to describe that better covenant      said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou

that is now realized and of which Christ is the Mediator,         art a priest for ever after the brder of Melchisedec." The

the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews quotes the passage       Old Testament priests did not remain and could not

from Jeremiah 31. The promise to the house of Israel and          remain because they died, and others took their place. But

to the house of Judah is fulfilled in the church of the new       `this man, because he continueth ever, hath  an unchangeable

dispensation. There is one people and one promise, the            priesthood." Besides, in the old dispensation only the high

promise of the everlasting covenant of God with His chu&.         priest ever entered into the most holy place: "The Holy

Besides, in the last verse of this same chapter of the epistle    Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all

to the Hebrews the author writes: "In that he saith, A new        was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle

covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which              was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then

decayeth and waxeth  old is ready to vanish away." Heb.           present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices,

8:13.                                                             that could not make him that did the service perfect, as

                                                                  pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats
    And we must not forget, as has already been said, in
                                                                  and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinanccss,
the thirteenth verse of the eighth chapter of the epistle
                                                                  imposed on them until the time of reformation. But
to the Hebrews, that literally all the Mosaic institutions
                                                                  Christ being come an high priest of good things to come,
of the old dispensation are mentioned in the New Testa-
                                                                  by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
ment as having been fulfilled. This is well lmown,  and it
                                                                  hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the
can never be contradicted. In fact, almost the entire
                                                                  blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
epistle to the Hebrews is a testimony to the truth that
                                                                  in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
old things have passed away, never to return, and that
                                                                  redemption for us." Hebrews 9:S-12.  The sac&ces of bulls
all things have become new, never to vanish away. YOU
                                                                  and goats have been abolished forever; nor will there ever
understand, of course, that when the epistle to the
                                                                  be found a place for them again. Nevertheless, the idea
Hebrews proclaims that old things have vanished away,
                                                                  and the essence of the sacrifice has been fulfilled in the
this does not mean that they have been destroyed. But
                                                                  sacrifice of Christ on the cross, as we have already quoted
while their old and shadowy form is no more, as a promise
                                                                  above. The form of the Old Testament temple, or taber-
of better things to come, they have now been realized.
                                                                  nacle, was abolished; nor can it ever be rebuilt. For,
The Old Testament high priest has had his day; nor will
                                                                  Hebrews S:5, 6: "Who serve unto the example and shadow
there ever be room for him again. But his office did not
                                                                  of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God
vanish and did not cease to exist: it has been realized and
                                                                  when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See>
raised to everlasting perfection in the High Priest, Jesus
                                                                  saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern
Christ. He came as the Son over His own house, as the
                                                                  shewed  to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a
same author to the Hebrews has it in chapter 3:5 and 6:
                                                                  more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the
"And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a
                                                                  mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon
servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be
                                                                  better promises."    It is for this reason that we now have
spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own hous?:;
                                                                  boldness "to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and
                                                                  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for
the rejoicing of the hope &XI unto the end." Similarly,
in the same epistle to the Hebrews, 4:14, 15, we read:            us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that' is           an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near
                                                                  with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold
                                                                  hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
fast our profession.    For we have not an high priest which
                                                                  washed with pure water." Heb. 10: 19-22.
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but

was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."          All the shadows of the Old Testament and of the old

Because we have that great High Priest, Jesus Christ, we          dispensation have been fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord,

may come boldly unto the throne of grace and tid  mercy           such as the temple and the altar, the high priest and the

and grace to help in time of need. And according to the           sacrifice, the holy place and the veil. The church is the

same epistle to the Hebrews, Christ is called of God to be        true house df the Son of God. She is the temple of the

high priest after the order of Melchisedec. The high              living God; and the promise is fuElled in her, "I will

priest of the Old Testament was changeable and ultimately         dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God,

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


and they shall be my people." Hebrews 3:6. As also  the             faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange

apostle Paul teaches in II Corinthians 6:14-18:  "Be ye             country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the

not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what             heirs with him of the same promise; For he looked for a city

fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and             which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

what communion hath light with darkness? And what                   And then, in verse 12: "Therefore sprang there even og

concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he               one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the

that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath             sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore

the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the          innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received

living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and             the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were

walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be            persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed

my people. Wherefore come  out from among them, and                 that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For

be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the Lmclean           they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a

thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto            country. And truly, if they had been .mindful  of that

`you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the              country from whence they came out, they might have had

Lord Almighty."       The old, earthly Jerusalem is no more.        opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a

It vanished away and was destroyed. However, the essence            better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is

of Jerusalem is not destroyed and will not be destroyed             not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared

forever.    For tjms  the apostle writes in Galatians 4:26:         for them a city."    How could Abraham die in faith, in

"But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother          the faith of the promise of God? The text ,quoted  above

of us all." To be sure, the old Mt. Zion still exists in the        gives the answer.    He knew that the promise of God had

land of Canaan; but it has lost all its significance. And           respect unto a better country, a heavenly country. The

why? Only because its reality has now gloriously been               promise of God, therefore, is sure. It is Yea and Amen

realized for all the people of God. For, according to               in Christ Jesus our Lord.       Abraham and his seed shall

Hebrews 12:22,  23: "But ye are come unto Mount Sion,               surely inherit the land of Canaan. And all the seed of

and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,        Abraham, gathered from Jews and Gentiles, that is, the

and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general             one, holy, catholic church, looks forward to the possession

assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in          of that land after the resurrecgon,  when the &al word of

heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of          the promise shall be fuElled.  As we read in the book of

just men made perfect."          On that Mt. Zion and in that       Revelation, 21:1-3: "And I saw a new heaven and a new

heavenly Jerusalem is Christ, the Seed of David; and He             earth: for the first heaven and the &st earth were passed

now reigns and shall reign forever. The promise made to             away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the

the fathers has been fulfilled to us, their children. For           holy city, new Jerusalem,      coming down from God out

another fulfillment you must not and may not look.                  of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

   But how about the land of Canaan? Did not God                    And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold,
promise to the fathers the land of Canaan for an ever-              the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
lasting possession                                                  them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall
                      ?    This certainly is true; but even this
does not refer ultimately to the earthly land of Canaan.            be with them, and be their God." To be sure, God always
God will still fulfill that promise to Abraham and his seed;        fulfills His promises.     But those promises will not be
and they shall surely inherit the land, and inherit it for-         realized, even to Abraham and his seed, until all is
ever. But, first of all, we must not forget that the seed           accomplished in the new creation, the new heaven and
of Abraham comprehends all believers, all the children of           the new earth. Hence, I repeat: there is one people. And
the promise, gathered from Jew and Gentile. About this              for that one people there is only one promise. And that
we have already written, and we shall not repeat. Only,             promise includes all the world. And that people to whom
we must now emphasize that they surely shall inherit the            the one promis,
                                                                                   n is made is the one, holy, catholic church

land of Canaan. And again, if we interpret the land of              existing both in the old and new dispensations. On the
Canaan in the light of all Scripture, we will not look for          basis of all these passages of Scripture, we maintain that
it in the old Palestine, at the Mediterranean Sea, but in           those who believe in the millennialist theory are certainly
the new earth. For the promise to Abraham and his seed              wrong.

is that they shall be heirs of the world. Did Abraham
understand this promise in that sense of the word? He                                         CHAPTIER  III

surely did! He believed the promise of God. And he.                  THE ATTRIBUTES OR VIRTUES OF THE CHURCH
died in the faith of that promise, even though he never

possessed a foot of ground  in the earthly land of Canaan,             Usually the virtues, or attributes, of the church are

except the field of Ephron, which he bought for a hundred           mentioned as the following: in the first place, her oneness.

shekels of silver. For thus we read in Hebrews 11:9,  ff: "By       This implies that the church of all ages and from all

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


nations and tribes is essentially one. It is the unity of the     of Christ, in order then to devise ways and means to

body of Christ, and therefore a unity of her Head, a unity        eliminate the differences between them and to unite them

of the Spirit, and a unity of faith. We .will  come back          all in one gigantic institution. This, of course, is the

to this presently.                                                attempt in our ecumenical age. But although it may

   Scripture always emphasizes that the church is one in          result in amalgamation, it certainly does not tend to the

Christ Jesus her Lord. "So we, being many, are one body           manifestation of the true unity of the church. It would not

in Christ, and every one members of one another." Romans          be the unity of the body of Christ. Rather, therefore, we

12:s. Again: "For as the body is one, and hath many               must proceed from the truth of Scripture that the church

members, and all the members of that one body being               is one. And we must ask the question: what is the source

many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirjt          and character of this unity and fellowship? And then only

are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews             can we deal with the question how we can best strive for

or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been            the realization of this unity of the church on earth.

all made to drink into one Spirit." I Cor. 12:12,  13. And            In answer to the question concerning the character of

again, in Ephesians 1: 22, 23: "And hath put all things           this unity, it must be emphasized that it has its source in

under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things       Christ. Christ is its principle. Without Christ this spiritual

to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that         unity, or communion, does not exist for a moment, no more

filleth all in all." And, to quote no more, in Eph. 4:4-6 we      than the light exists without the sun. For Christ, the

read: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are          Christ of the Scriptures, the Son of God, Who came into

called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith,          our world, Who assumed our nature, Who was. crucified

one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all          and slain, Who died on the cross for the sins of His people,

and through all, and in you all."                                 but Who also was raised on the third day, and Who is

   So much about the unity of the church. And on this,            exalted in the highest heavens at the right hand of God-

as well as on the other attributes of the church, we mhst         this Christ received the promise of the Holy Ghost. And

elaborate a little.                                               by that Holy Ghost Christ dwells in His body, the church,

   When we speak of the unity of the church, we mean              and in all its members individually. Thus Christ is the
that there is only one church, and that the members of this       Head of the church, as the Scripture teaches, not only in
church are perfectly united together in the bond of spiritual     the sense that He represents her - which, of course, is also
affinity and fellowship, so that they form one spiritual          true-not ody as her Lord, Who rules over her -which,
body. You must understand, of course, that we are speak-          I say again, is also a fact-but also organically, as her
ing of the church not as we observe her in the midst of           unifying principle.      All the members of the church, and
the world, but as an object of faith, the church as she is        that too, as members of one body, partake of the one
according to the eternal purpose of God and as she in-            Christ. The one life of the risen Lord pulsates in the whole
cludes all the elect, and no one else,-the church as once         church and all its members. Hence, the members of the
she shall be revealed in all the beauty of her perfection         church have one mind, the mind of Christ; they have one
in the day of Christ, and as she is gathered and realized         will, the will of Christ; they have one love, which unites
by Christ in every age, from the beginning of the world           them to one another, the love of Christ. One Spirit quickens
even unto the end. And that is not the case with the              them, the Spirit of Christ.           One Word instructs and en-
church as we see her. On earth we behold many churches.           lightens and directs them, the Word of Christ. Just as we
But in reality there is only one church. In the world we          may speak of a natural unity and affinity  of the whole
are confronted with the sorry spectacle of strife and             human. race, rooted in the fact that God created the whole
division in what is known as the church. This, however,           of mankind out of .one blood, so there is also a spiritual
is not found in the true church as we now discuss her and as      unity and fellowship of the church that has its principle in
                                                                  the truth that there is one Lord and one Spirit, and that
she is a perfect unity.    The members of His church are
in perfect agreement and harmony one with another. They           this one Lord through that one Spirit dwells in the whole
are spiritually united in the bond of peace.                      church and in all its members. Christ is the principle of
   This must be maintained, no matter how divided and             the unity and communion of the church.                               H.H.

disrupted the church may appear in the world. From the
                                                                                     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
truth that the church is one we must proceed also, in order
                                                                     The Lord was pleased in wisdom and love to call unto Himself
to answer the question how we may seek and work together          a faithful member of our Consistory,
for the manifestation and realization of this true unity                                 HERMAN J. DE VRIES
of the church in the world. We dare not contemplate the              We commit the bereaved wif'e  and children to His bountiful
strange medley of what still calls itself church in the world.    care, for my God shall supply all your need according to His
                                                                  riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
We must not proceed from the erroneous supposition that                                     The Cotisistory  of the Prot. Ref. Church
every church, whatever creed or superstition or human                                       af Randolph, Wisconsin
                                                                                                      Rev. G. Van Baren,  President
philosophy it may embrace, is still part of the true body                                             Wm. Huizenga, Clerk


442                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   -BEARER


                                                                  the command of God. God never suggested that the

11 A CLOUD `OF WETN.ESSES  11 enemies of Israel be held captive as trophies of battle,
                                                                  &d surely not that their bodies should be mutilated. God

                                                                  had commanded for them immediate death without ex-

                The Beginning of Tsouble                          tended suffering. But here already the children of Israel
                                                                  were tempted to follow the example of the heathen rather
          And a.n angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal           than the way of the Lord.
       to Bochim, and said, I made you to go `up out of              Generally, however, in spite of this error, the tribe of
       Egypt, and haoe  brought  you unto the land which I
                                                                  Judah was more than usually faithful to its duty in the
       sware  unto your fathers; and I said, I will never
       break my covenant with you.                                land of Canaan. They looked upon the heathen as the
          And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants        wicked nations that they were that had to be cleared from
       of -the land; ye shall throw down their altars: but        the land of covenant promise. Time and again they sallied
       ye have not obeyed  my voice: why have ye done             forth. in campaigns against their heathen neighbors, en-
       this?
                                                                  larging the borders of the land that had been given to
          Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them  out
       from before you; but they shall be as thorns ,in your      them. Prominent among these forays were those of Caleb
       sides, and their gods shall be a snure  utzto  you.        as he even in his old age rose against the giants of Anak
                                                 Joshua 2: l-3    that he might have Hebron as was promised. Under

                                                                  leadership such as his the tribe of Judah prospered and
   There have been times in the history of the Church
                                                                  grew; but in this they were the exception. Save for a few
of God when it has stood spiritually strong and prosperous;
                                                                  scattered efforts, it was generally considered more con-
but these times have been rare and short lived. This was
                                                                  venient to allow the Canaanites to keep the scattered
true of the generation that entered the land of Canaan
                                                                  distTicts which they still possessed and live along side of
with Joshua. It was a generation that was strong, stronger
                                                                  them. After all, the people were tired of fighting and it
than their fathers who had perished in the wilderness, and
                                                                  seemed that more could be gained by working on the
stronger than their children that followed them. They
                                                                  land they had obtained rather than always pressing on in
were the ones who had grown to maturity during the
                                                                  battle to gain more and more when they did not reaily
forty years of wandering in the wilderness under the
                                                                  need it.
punishment of the wrath of God. They knew the serious-
                                                                     In fact, as time went on, it began to appear that certain
ness of sin. Therefore they were strong. This was the
                                                                  advantages might well be obtained from allowing these
generation that fought the battles of the Lord faithfully
                                                                  nations to remain scattered throughout the land of Israel.
against the wicked inhabitants of Canaan; this was the
                                                                  These peoples were by now all completely frightened at
generation that was so quickly roused against the tribes
                                                                  the power which Israel held in battle. They no longer
over Jordan when it appeared, even though mistake&v,
                                                                  showed any inclination to cause any trouble; rather they
that they built a strange altar at `which to worship; this was
the generation that kept itself pure from idol wo&ip              were more than willing to appease the wrath of Israel
                                                                  whenever the occasion called for it. This turned easily to
even after the death of Joshua. But such strength V&S
unusual and it could not last. Younger generations grew           the advantage of the people of Israel. Just to protect their
and came to strength which did not know the chastise-             own safety the inhabitants of Canaan were often willing
ment of the wilderness, and gradually they departed from          to pay tribute at Israel's demand and even to serve in the
the way of the Lord.                                              capacity of servants. In many cases formal agreements were
   After the death of Joshua there still remained much            made by which the children of Israel promised not to inter-
to be done before the land of Canaan would be exclusively         fere with the life and possessions of the Canaanites if only
the possession of the children of Israel. There were still        they would faithfully render to Israel regular tributes. All
many pockets of resistance in towns and districts through-        told it appeared to be a rather profitable arrangement.
out the land. Realizing its calling in this regard, the tribe        In this, however, there was something radically wrong.
of Judah called Simeon  to join it in a campaign against          This was an arrangement quite different, for example, from

the Canaanites that still inhabited the borders of their          that which was made by Joshua with the Gibeonites. The
land. The campaign was eminently successful. Some ten             Gibeonites came to Israel in awareness and fear for the

thousand of the Canaanites and Perizzites were slain.             greatness of Israel's God, and feeling the uselessness of the

But then they did a strange thing. They took Adonibezek,          idol gods which they had worshipped. They came to Israel

the king, captive and after cutting off his thumbs and great      quite willing to surrender their own national identity, to

toes led him back from the battle as a trophy of war. He          be incorporated as servaqts  into the nation of Israel, and to

served admirably for this purpose, for as he himself said,        bow in worship before Jehovah the God that Israel wor-

"Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their          shipped. But this was not true of the rest of the peoples of

great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as        Canaan. Their leagues with Israel were merely a matter of

I have done, so God hath requited me." But this was not           utility. They felt no fear at all for the God of Israel, and


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  443


no willingness to bow before him and worship. They merely         out of .Egypt,  and have brought you unto the. land which

recognized Israel's superiority in battle and paid the price      I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my

of tribute SO that they might continue to live in safety in       covenant with yoa. And ye shall make no league with the

the manner in which they were accustomed, They kept               inhabitants of this land; ye shall ,throw  down their altars:

their idol gods; they continued their idolatrous festivities      but ye have not obeyed my. voice: why have ye done this?

and practices; they continued to worship at their heathen         Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before

altars. It was so that they could continue to do this that        you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their

they were willing to pay the price of tribute.                    gods shall be a snare unto you." Suddenly the people

    The result of this indiscretion on the part of the            realized the seriousness of their error. They had relaxed so
children of Israel was far more serious than what they were       long from battle that now it was too late. God would no
at hrst inclined to think. We can just about imagine the          longer drive out these nations from before them as He
excuses that were given. They were tired of fighting. They        would have if they had remained faithful to their original
might far better occupy themselves with improving the land        calling and intent upon entering Canaan. Forever these
they already had instead of always pressing farther, that is,     nations would be there to divide and ensnare them. Now
with doing something positive instead of always fighting.         they saw it, and there went up from the people a great
And what harm could possibly come from letting the few            cry of sorrow. That was why that gathering place was
Canaanites that remained stay there. If they ever wanted to       ever after called Bochim.
cause trouble, then Israel would be able to handle them.              But the trouble of Israel did not lie just in the fact that
And as far as the idols and altars were concerned, they           God would no longer drive out the heathen from before
couldn't change the hearts of those people just by taking         them; it was also that through the years in which they had
their images away and that would only irritate them. And          preferred ease to fighting Israel's battles they had lost the
the children of Israel should be strong enough to resist any      courage and strength to resist evil. At Bochim they might
temptation they presented. Israel had learned often enough        well cry out with sorrow because of the judgment that was
that the idols of the heathen were useless compared to the        announced upon them; but when they returned to their
power of faith in Jehovah God. How could any Israelite            homes there was still no one willing to do anything about
ever be tempted by those childish practices after all that        it. Carnal ease had laid hold upon them and held them
Jehovah had done? And then it paid well to have their             ensnared as with chains. Not as much as a gesture was
tribute.                                                          made to force the heathen peoples among them to put away
                                                                  their idols and altars so that Canaan might be free from
   What the Israelites failed to take into consideration was
                                                                  temptation even if the Canaanites themselves could not be
the weakness of their own flesh. They might well have been
                                                                  removed. But no, the people mourned the future and went
strong enough then to stand in battle against any force the
                                                                  on living in their ease while the temptations of sin grew
heathen could muster, but once years had gone by in which
                                                                  and came closer. And then it happened. Children of Israel
they refused to fight and use the strength that was given to
                                                                  began to join themselves to the heathen peoples and the
them, they might well find that this strength had left them.
                                                                  service of their idols. It didn't make sense; their own God
Even more, it might well have appeared perfectly foolish to
                                                                  was far greater and more powerful. But it was natural; sinful
them to think that anyone would ever leave the service of
                                                                  man is attracted to sin. It was what God Himself through
Israel's mighty God to bow before idols of wood and stone,
                                                                  His angel had said, "Because that this people hath trans-
but regardless of what common sense might dictate, the
                                                                  gressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and
fact was that the festivities of idolatrous worship were very
                                                                  have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth
appealing to the lust of the human flesh, much more
                                                                  drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua
appealing than the discipline and worship of Jehovah.
                                                                  left when he died: that through them I may prove Israel,
They were grossly overestimating their own strength when
                                                                  -whether  they will keep the way of the LORD to walk
they thought no Israelite would ever leave the reasonable
                                                                  therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not."             B.W.
service of Jehovah just to cater to his fleshly desire. Man in

his service of sin can be an utterly foolish creature. It was

out of a wisdom that.thoroughly  understood human nature

that God had commanded that idolatry be removed from the                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
land of promise, and it was foolishness for them to use              The Martha'Society  of the Doon  Protestant Reformed Churches
their reasoning to get around it.                                 `wishes to express their sympathy to Mrs. Pete Van Den Top and

   Yet it was iinally  God Himself that had to point out to       family, in the death of her mother,

the children of Israel how seriously they were erring. While                              MRS. FRIXD BUMA

Israel was gathered at Bochim, very likely a place by the          May the Cod of all grace comfort the hearts of the bereaved

tabernacle at Shiloh, He sent His angel to speak to them.         family.
                                                                                                 Mrs. James Blankespoor, Secretary
There the angel of the LORD said, "I. made you to go up                                          Rev. H. H&o,  President

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


                                                                              These mockers are not men who had not come into

              FR0.M  H O L Y   WRIT / contact with the preaching. The seed of the gospel had been
/                                                                          sown in their hearts too under the preaching. But the god
I                                                                          of this age hath blinded their eyes. Satan came and plucked
                      Exposition of II Peter 3                             the Word preached away. You can see the "glimmerings" of
                                                                           this rejected light of the Gospel in their proud and senseless
                                      b .                                  denial of the promise of Christ's final return to dwell

         A man who walks after his own lusts, refusing to walk             with his people forever.    Men who have never come into

     in the holiness of the righteous, and who mocks with the              contact with the gospel promise through the preaching, as

     hope of the latter, accounting him the most wretched of all           it is accompanied by the command of faith and repentance,

     men, must have some semblance of basic reasoning to                   cannot speak this language of unbelief as is here uttered.

     justify his own conduct before his own conscience. But he             This is not the language of the Gentiles, whom God suffered

     deceives himself and, therefore, attempts to deceive others           to walk in their own ways (Acts 14:16), but the language

     also!                                                                 of those who have come face to face with Christ, the one

                                                                           man whom God hath appointed to judge the world in
         Such is the empty, braggart talk of these mockers, who
                                                                           righteousness (Acts 17:31)  . They see the judgment-seat and
     open their vile mouth against heaven, and say: where is the
                                                                           Him that sitteth upon the Throne! And, yet, they mock!
     promise of his coming, of his Paromia?!  You say and it has
                                                                           They mock against impending judgment and eternal con-
     been dinned into our ears from the cathedras  of apostles
                                                                           demnation and doom, and would laugh it out of court!
     and prophets that when Christ comes and dwells forever

     with his people that there shall be then a new heaven                    It is really laughter which is a bit hollow; it is accom-

     and a new earth? Look, say they mockingly, there is                   panied with a few beads of cold sweat pressed out by an

     nothing in the realm of human experience and history to               anguished heart and conscience. It is the crackling of thorns

     justify tbis hope of yours, nor is there an earnest of its fulfil-    under a pot!

     ment anywhere in history from the time of the "Beginning"                Let none be deceived by such mockers!
     till the present moment !     Tell us ye -who hope upon the
~    Lord, "more than watchmen look for morning light," where                 Peter will not meet them by answering a fool according
     is that promise of God? If God has not fulfilled his promise          to his folly. And, yet, he will, lest they be wise in their
     hitherto, nor given an earnest of the same, will he do so             own conceits. For he meets them at the bar of God's Word.
     in the future? Better to eat, drink and be merry, for                 He employs the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit.
     tomorrow we die!                                                      He quenches these fiery darts of evil men; he steals all
                                                                           their imaginary thunder.    And he does so by citing from
        Nay, these mockers, in their childishness and obstinate            two books, the book of creation and the book of the written
     wickedness, even posit the claim overagainst all the hopes            Word of God (Belgic Confession, Article II). We, the
     of the righteous, that "from the beginning -of history, since         church of God, know God by these two means. We really
     the fathers fell asleep all things remain" in the same sta.tus        know and read the book of creation because we have the
     quo  (verse 4b)!    They speak the language of all men who            book of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. And he
     have no eye for the heavenly and eternal things of the
                                                                           maintains that these two works, the book of creation as
     Kingdom of God. Theirs is the same aim as that of all                 explained and interpreted for us in the revelation in Christ
     humanism: to make this world a better place. They do not              in the Scriptures, is the only rule of knowledge and faith,
     look with Abraham and the other patriarchs for the city
                                                                           "sufficient to convince men, and to leave them without
     which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God                excuse"!
     (Heb. 11:lO). They do not seek a better country, that is, an
                                                                              And, now he will have it out, once and for all, with these
     heavenly, as did these "fathers." They cannot see the glory of
     the hope of the resurrection which buys a burying-place in            mockers! He wages a devastating polemic against these
     the field of Machpelah (Gen. 23:17-20).  They are without             mockers. Their mouths shall be stopped in all endless ages
     hope and without God in the world! They are estranged                 by thi.s same Word in the preaching in the church in the
                                                                           world-by the militant church which fights the battles of
     from the life of God (Eph. 2: 12; 4: 18). They do not have
     "this hope upon God" and therefore do not purify them-                the Lord! It is the glittering sword of God!

     selves as he is pure (I John 3:3). Seeing these see and see              In the first place these mockers are not ignorant men

     not, hearing they hear and understand not; they have shut             in the sense that they intellectually do not know better.

     their eyes and closed their ears; when the things of the              They understand very well. It is not a matter of their

     kingdom of God happen" in parables and in the judgments               intellect; it is a matter of their will. Says Peter, `<For  this

     of God in history before their eyes, they have no eyes to see,        they are willingly ignorant of . . , " (vs. 5). This reminds

     nor have they ears to hear (Matt. 13:14,  15; John 12:40;             us of the word of Christ to the unbelieving Jews as recorded

     Acts 28:26,  27; Isaiah 6:9)!                                         in John 7:16,  17 " . ; . My doctrine is not mine, but his


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             445


that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of      after. the %ood,  the promise of Christ's return to Abraham

the doctrine, whether it be of, God or whether- I speak of       is more clearly enunciated, and a great deal of history

myself."      Yes, mockers are willful unbelievers who dis-      moves with rapid strides to the realization of the great

honestly refuse to see the facts as interpreted by God           mystery of godliness; through types and shadows, priests

himself. And that is their folly of willful unbelief and is      and sacrifices, the Christ is portrayed, and as the time

the deep source of their mocking jibes at the hope of the        of Christ's birth draws nigh, the power and coming of

righteous!                                                       the Lord is proclaimed with greater intensity and clarity

                                                                 by the prophets; moved by the Spirit of Christ they sought
    Peter now shows the church something which they had          out the time and the manner of the time of the suffering
already been told implicitly and explicitly many times. He       of Christ and of the glory of this coming to follow! And
will show them something about the very constitution of          thus we see that the `before" the Flood and the after the
the heavens and the earth themselves which refutes all the       Flood-the "now"-are  quite different.
contentions of these mockers concerning the promise of
                                                                     However, Peter points out the singular and astounding
Christ's coming. He singles out and sets in bold relief the
                                                                 fact. It is the following:
constitution of the entire world, the universe, as this was
                                                                     1. The heavens were of old kept by the Word of God.
upheld by the Word of God before the flood in distinction
                                                                 By the term `heavens" Peter does not refer to the heavens
from the universe being upheld by the same Word of God
                                                                 which are God's throne, but refers to the Xrmament"
a#er  the flood. Such is the import of the adverbs"then"  and
                                                                 which was called heaven. And these heavens, this %rma-
"now"! Their unbelieving allegation that nothing has
                                                                 ment, was placed `between the waters which were above
changed in the constitution of the creation contained by the
                                                                 and which were beneath." The fundamental composition
Word of God is unfactual. It will be dashed to pieces on
                                                                 of this firmament is `water." And it is thus upheld by the
the fact of the great transformation which took place in and
                                                                 Word of God.
through the Flood in the days of Noah, when, too, there
                                                                    2. The earth too was in the water and out of the water.
were mockers, and the longsuffering  of God upon His
church waited with judgment (I Peter 3:20).                      It is quite probable that even our earth was so related to
                                                                 the water that it was one continent. It was contained in
   For what is the case?                                         one unit and not in many continents. It was contained by

   By virtue of God's creation in the six days, recorded in      God in the water and out of the water. The very "elements"
Gen. 1, the wondrous heavens and earth were held up,             were water, both of the heavens and of the earth.

sustained by the Word of God. The world is not self-                Such was the world in which Adam, Abel, Seth, Methu-

contained, by natural law, as teaches the proud and un-          selah, Enoch and all the fathers died or from which they

believing Deist, who does not allow for the miracle of           were translated.

God, nor for his judgments. The world is always thus                And by this very "element" in which all things were
constructed and by faith we-understand this work of God,         contained by the Word of God, upon God's mighty Word
that the things which .we see are not made of things             they also perished; it perished by means of its own element
which do appear (Heb. 11:3). And, therefore, since all           when let loose by the Word of God, after Noah had been

is upheld by and suspended from the Word of God, it              safely shut up in the Ark.
is God Himself who from moment to moment does with                  However, let the mockers not deceive the church. May           .
this world what He pleases and gives us in its history           the believers take heart. God gave them an "earnest" in
and by his severe judgment already an "earnest" in the           the %ood.  He changed things and set the stage for the last
great Flood of the final judgment and return of Christ.          great stage of history as it is the fulillment  of the promise
We say he gave an "earnest," that is, he gives us a little       of Christ's coming and the triumph of the Seed of de
bit of the final change itself in that first and great catas-    Woman over the seed of the Serpent!
trophe of the Flood! The believers received a little bit of
                                                                    ,4nd, as we shall point out further in future essays, this
the final return of Christ, and the wicked received a little
                                                                 final coming of Christ and the dissolution of all things we
bit of the final judgment itself!
                                                                 see portentiously set forth before the eyes of the wicked,
   For we must not conceive of the world after the flood         and as a beckoning beacon for the righteous, in the fact
as having returned to its former status quo. In a sense          that now by the same Word of God which contained the
the old things had passed away and God had ushered In            world before the %ood by water, now contains it as a
a new world which was adapted for a history which must           treasure kept in store for fire.
needs lead to and end in the final coming of Christ. It is as
                                                                    Truly, all things did not remain as they were from the
a new `brder" already a promise of the Lord's coming in
                                                                 beginning.
greater. judgment and salvation as preached already by

Enoch, the eighth from Adam (Jude 14, 15). We see this              Of this the mockers are willingly ignorant!

in many things.     Men's lives are shorter lived upon earth                                                              G.L.


446                                        T H E   STANDAR,D   B E A R E R


                                                                  receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and

              IN~HIS   F E A R                                    h&our,  and glory and blessing." Revelation 5:12.
                                                                     And because God's is this world, He will use every

                                                                  bit of it, including the men that are therein and their
                    My Father's World                             kingdoms to realize the day of Christ's return. Although

                                                                  that world is not to be identified with the Church and
                                (8)
                                                                  does not have a history that parallels that of the Church,
       Christian education must never lose sight of Christ.       it does, as we pointed out last time go in the same direc-
       The unbeliever loses sight of Christ even though every     tion and has its culmination in the same event wherein
 day he deals with Christ, and therefore is also without an       the history of the Church here below culminates: the
 excuse. But let that not be said of the training and instruc-    glorious return of Christ at the end of time. The end of
 tion that is given to covenant youth.                            time means that. It means that the end of world history
       Whether the unbeliever likes it or not, he is always in    has been reached. Church and world in their histories
his speech acknowledging Christ. 0, we do not mean                upon this earth rush towards that end from different angles
simply that he uses Christ's name in vain. That he certainly      and from different points of view; but they end at the
 does do. And what folly always to be using the name of           same place and time.
 a person who does not exist! What folly to emphasize one's
                                                                     Bearing that in mind we will not be tempted to teach
words and speak all day long of one whom you despise!
                                                                  our children to have a Christless view of all that which
Why call on God to witness your words and call upon Him
                                                                  has transpired in the history of this world, nor of that
to damn your neighbour, and the creatures He has made
                                                                  which shall yet take place in the few years that may
that are in your way, if actually there is no God? Man's
                                                                  remain. The antichristian forces are growing. World, his-
profanity itself condemns him in his unbelief.
                                                                  tory seems to be the far more important thing today. The
    But that to which we referred above is the fact that all
                                                                  Church and its worship, its truth and doctrine are being
men, whether they like it or not, are forced to reckon
                                                                  relegated more and more to the background and even for-
time by the birth of this Christ Whom they hate and want
                                                                  bidden.    Instruction of the youth of our land may not
to deny as The Christ. It is not of the works of the world
                                                                  contain Bible reading anymore. The Lord's Prayer may
that we speak of B.C. and A.D. when we refer to time.
                                                                  not be uttered. In the institutions of "learning" (But God
And try though. he may, no man is ever going to change
                                                                  says that the fear of the Lord is the principle of wisdom)
that! Until Christ returns men are going to reckon time
                                                                  Christ must be ruled out, and that this is our Father's
by His birth and speak of that which transpired before
                                                                  world must be denied! And because we are, as far as our
Christ was born or in the year of, our Lord. Even the
                                                                  %esh is concerned, also part of that world, we are prone to
atheist and the foolish evolutionist, who want to speak of
                                                                  be more concerned with world history than to trace the
millions and billions of years ago and has man as the
                                                                  Iinger of God as He gathers His Church and realizes
product of an evolutionistic process rather than as the work
                                                                  the day of Christ.
of a wise God Who formed man out of the dust of the

ground and breathed into his nostrils. the bread of life,            That the spirit of the age in which we live is Christ-

still must speak of millions and billions of years before         less and that history is taught very emphatically today

Christ was born. Christ is there! He is a "factor" where-         from a Christless point of view hardly needs proof. Past

with to reckon in all history. And the world will never           history is cited as reason for Christless endeavours today.

get rid of that "`factor".    They killed Him once; but even      The course of recent history has only strengthened the

then they did not have the victory. Now He is in heaven           world in the conviction that it must produce an anti-

where they cannot touch Him and where He governs                  christ, a false Christ. Where today is there instruction

every move that they make. He now is King of kings and            that points the whole world to the kingdom of Christ and

Lord of lords. Christ now has dominion over land and sea.         the true peace to be found therein? Christian schools

Earth's remotest regions now His empire be. The world             themselves must ever be on their guard in interpreting

can deny that, if they like.      And they do like to forget      historical events so as not to advocate this pseudochrist.

and deny it. But that does not change the fact. He HAS               Never may the teacher of God's children leave the

-the book with the seven seals and no man is going to             slightest impression upon the minds of his pupils that man

take it out of His hand. All that which transpires in his-        is going to attain to peace in his Christless way. The signs

tory will take place at His bidding. Did He not say to            of the end are wars and rumors of wars, nation rising

His disciples just before He ascended up to heaven that all       up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Matthew

power, that is, all authority is given Him on earth .and          24:6  and 7. Alliances, of- nations, treaties and agreements

in heaven? That is what He said. Who shall take any               to ban atomic weapons, unions of nations and world coun-

of it away from Him? You cannot reach Him. God gave               cils will not achieve peace.    And the attempts of men to

it to Him. He is the One Who was found "worthy to                 realize peace by these  methods may not be lauded as


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               447


noble and Christian before the eyes of Christ's little lambs.         Christ is the Prince of Peace because He justiEed  us

HOW can we laud that which ignores and denies Christ?             before the face of God. Being justified by faith we have

HOW can we approve of any peace effort that snubs and             peace wlt7x  God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And

insults the Prince of Peace? Men who gather together              having peace with God, we shall be at peace with all men.

in the interest of "peace" and then agree not to call upon         For Christ, the Prince of Peace, also sheds forth His Spirit

the Prince of Peace for His Spirit and guidance are not           in our hearts and gives us a life that does not have lust

to be credited with Christian activity. That is Christ-           to war in our members. And not until there is on this earth

less and antichristian. And although the children may be          only those who have the life of Christ in them through a

taught that at the end, or toward the end of history man          rebirth by His Spirit and have received glori6ed  bodies

will achieve a little false peace that is attained because of     which have through death and the resurrection been freed

fear and for convenience' sake, world history will end in the     from the old man of sin will there be peace on earth again.

most terrifying war that man has ever been able to wage               There has been no peace since man fell and joined the
in the great battle of Armageddon. The blood of men               army of Satan to live a life of opposition to the living God.
never brings peace, it simply sows the seeds of a war             Soon enough Cain kills Abel. Lamech  boasted of his
to follow. That also is plainly the teaching of all world         murder.    Five kings fight with four kings in the land
history. Let the child see from his history books how man         of Canaan and Lot is captured. And the history of this
has progressed from his fighting with bow and arrow and           world has been a history of warfare and conquest, of battle
spear and sword to gun and cannon and dive bomber                 and bloodshed. How many of the dates a child must learn
and guided missile with atomic warhead. Let the history           in his formal training in school are there not that are dates
of warfare be traced from tribal battles in limited areas         of battles or "peace" treaties? And there will be no peace
to global campaigns and oceanwide naval battles, to say           on earth till Christ comes back to rid the world of all
nothing of battles raging in the stratosphere and vast            the unbelievers and bring upon the earth a purified
reaches of the heavens. And then do not delude that               people that loves God.
trusting child by telling him that ma.n  is going to reverse         How then can we interpret history, if we deny this
this havoc that through the six thousand years of man's           Christ and look at world history as though He never had
existence upon this earth has gained such terriiic  mo-           a part in the history of this world? At Christmas time the
mentum! If he could not stop it when it moved at a far            world makes much of the angels' song of "Glory to God in
more moderate speed, comparatively speaking, what are             the highest and on earth peace, good will toward man."
his hopes of stopping it now?                                     He likes to separate these and speak of a peace that is not

                                                                  to the glory of God. He likes to work for a "peace" that
   There is only one hope of peace; and that is not the
                                                                  ignores the very Child at Whose birth and because of
blood of men or the treaties of men. It is the blood of
                                                                  Whose birth the angels sang of this God-glorifying peace.
Christ and His Spirit. There will be no peace as long as
                                                                  Let that not be done when the children of God's covenant
one sinner still lives on this earth. James tells us that wars
                                                                  receive their instruction in the history class. Christless
and fightings come because of our lusts that war in our
                                                                  history is distorted history.
members. No League of Nations, no UN, no antichristian
                                                                     We are rapidly approaching the day of the antichrist.
world power and unification of all nations under the terror
                                                                  And if ever there was. a time that our youth ought to under-
of a war that destroys all human life can remove that lust
                                                                  stand history correctly and be .warned  against the philos-
from man's hearts and minds. The nations of the world
                                                                  ophies that seek to condition man' for this antichrist it is
always approach the matter from the wrong, the anti-
                                                                  NOW! That antichrist has always been in the world; and
christian, Christless point of view. You do not improve the
                                                                  John tells us in I John 2:18 that "there are, already many
faulty mechanism of your watch by shining up the case.
                                                                  antichrists and that this is a sign whereby we may know
You do not cure the tainted water in the well by painting
                                                                  that it is the last time. Let that antichristian spirit be seen
the pump handle white. You cannot make the salt water
                                                                  in all the history of the world from Paradise onward, so
of the ocean taste sweet by serving it in a golden vessel.
                                                                  that the child knows it and can recognize the antichrist
-4nd  surely man can never attain to peace as long as the
                                                                  when he comes. And, to do that let him see, Christ in the
heart of man is not changed in its enmity and hatred of
                                                                  Ch&tian approach to the history of .this world. Let him
God. Hating God man cannot love his neighbour. And
                                                                  not simply count time by, Christ's birth; but let him see
therefore that whole deceptive peace of the days of
                                                                  that all the world. serves His Church as the chaff serves the
the Antichrist will be shattered by the lust that wars in
                                                                  wheat. Then when presently the scaffolding is torn down
the members of Cog and Magog; and we will see a world
                                                                  or begins to be torn down and earthquakes in diverse
war that is in every sense a world war. It will be a war
                                                                  places, famines and pestilence, the devastation of nuclear
that embraces all of Father's world because the natural
                                                                  warfare in the battle of `Armageddon appear imminent, he
man will not recognize it as Father's world and despises

Father's Son Who came into that world to save His Church.                             (Continued-on page Gl)


4 4 8                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                 him, and will make Our abode with him." John 14:23.  The
II Contending -For The Faith 11 plural indicates a new mode of presence of the Persons of
                                                                 the Blessed Trinity. Now this new relationship, or union,

                                                                 with all three Divine Persons errists  in all who are in God's

                                                                 grace. But, as is evident, such a union can be ever
            The Church and the Sacraments
                                                                 intensified. One can grow in grace, and in the love of God.

                                                                 Now I can answer the question. Every Sacramental Com-
            THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION
                                                                 munion intensifies our degree of grace, and, consequently,

                                                                 the intimacy of our union equally with all three Divine
 VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS (LORD'S SUPPER)                         Persons of the Blessed Trinity."

                                                                    That God's people, at the Lord's Supper, have fellowship
                  THE ROMISH VIEW
                                                                 with the Triune God, no protestant will dispute. But, of

                                                                 course, that we receive the Triune God, in the bread and
   Quoting from the Radio Replies by the Fathers Rumble          wine, according to the Romish doctrine of transubstantia-
and Carty, we concluded our' preceding article with              tion, we reject. And what an absurdity! The bread and
Question and Answer 779 of Volume II, whether in Com-            wine are changed into the actual ,body  and blood of the
munion the Trinity was received or only the Second               Lord. The body and blood of the Lord surely refer to
Person. And the answer was that, in the Romish conception,       Christ's human nature; When Jesus said to His disciples,
the people receive not only the Second Person but also           "This is My body," He was certainly referring to His human
the Trinity. And now we continue with these replies.             body. Of course, we maintain that He referred to His body

   780. What relation arises between the soul of .the            as broken upon the cross of Calvary, and He therefore

comnnmicant and the First and Third Persons of the               referred to the fact that the broken bread is a symbol of

Trinity?                                                         His atoning suffering upon the cross. And now Rome

                                                                 would have us believe that the communicant, when re-
   "The whole idea of Communion is to bring us into a
                                                                 ceiving the bread, also receives the Trinity, the entire
special union with God, and that means into a more intimate
                                                                 Godhead. And this is supposed to rest upon the Scripture,
union with all Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. The
                                                                 "Except ye eat My flesh and drink My blood"? Since when
Blessed Sacrament is the,medium  by which, in virtue of our
                                                                 is it true that "flesh and blood" in Scripture designate the
Lord's humanity, we attain that union, His humanity links
                                                                 Godhead, the Blessed Trinity?'
us with His divinity because itself is united with that

divinity in an indestructible and personal union. And in            781. What is the Mass?

that divinity we are brought equally into relation with all        "The Mass is the sacri&e of the Christian dispensation
three Divine Persons. What is this relationship given by         in which the very body and blood of Jesus Christ under de
Sacramental Communion? God is present everywhere by              appearance of bread and wine are offered to God by a
His immensity, knowledge and power. But that is His              lawfully ordained priest.    This sacrifice of the Mass is
natural presence. No one can escape it. Yet, if men cannot       offered to render honor and glory to God, to thank Him
escape God's immensity, knowledge and power, they can            for His benefits, to make reparation for the sins of mankind,
escape His love, forfeiting it by sin. If a man repents of       and to beg of God the graces and blessings we need. It
his sins and recovers God%  grace, God is united to that         represnets and continues in our midst the one great sacrifice
man in a new way, no longer natural but supernatural. He         of Jesus on the Cross, and is offered for all the purposes for
is one with such a man, not only by the contact of power,        which He died."
but by the far more intimate contact of love. That there
                                                                    782. Christ meant His disciples, each time they broke
is a difference between these two modes of presence and
                                                                 bread, to remember His death, and so renew their love
union all men admit. Two people, physically present to
                                                                 for Him each time.
each other in a room, could be miles apart in quite another

sense. There may be nothing in common between them.                 "He meant that, but far more also. Not only were we

They are not drawn to each other. We even say they               to remember His death for us, but He left His very body

behave distantly to each other. There is a chasm between         under the appearances of bread so that we might reoffer

the spirit of one and the spirit of the other. Now it is this    to the Father, Him who was our victim on the Cross. Not

chasm between the soul and God which is eliminated               only were we to remember His death; we were to show

when grace replaces sin, and when a man ceases to rebel          His death as often as the celebration occurred, thus

against God's .wSl in order to love Him. And that means          fulfilling the prophecy of Malachy.  "For from the rising of

a union of intimate and personal friendship with all three       the sun to the going down, My name is great among the

Persons of the Holy Trinity. Thus, Christ said, "If anyone       Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there

love Me, My Father will love him, and We will come to            is offered to My name a clean oblation; for My name is


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EARER                                                    449


great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 1:ll.               "It is true that our Lord merited eternal life for us

Nor were we merely to renew our love for Him. He was to              by His death on the Cross. But the fruit and grace of that

renew His life in us. So He said, "As the living Father hath         sacrifice are applied to our souls by the SacraGents.  Now

sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me,             the central Sacrament of all is the Holy. Eucharist (yet not

the same also shall live by Me." John 658. It is difficult           considered essential by Rome-H.V.). We receive the prin-

to understand why you should wish to belittle the greatness          ciple of supernatural life by Baptism, but the Eucharist is

of His gift."                                                        ordained for the preservation of that life. The most' im-

   Malachi 1:ll is translated in our King James version              portant function for a living being is to live. And it lives

as follows: `<For  from the rising of the sun even unto the          by nutrition. The growth and development of a tree is an

going down of the same my name shall be great among                  act of continuous nutrition. Now the Eucharist is for the

the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered            spir+al  nourishment of the spiritual life. And it does all

unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be              for the life of the soul that ordinary food does for the

great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." Notice            life of the body. It sustains the life of grace. It repairs

that Roman Catholicism speaks, in this text, of a sacrifice          loss of spiritual vitality. It promotes progress towards a

and of a "clean oblation." Now it must be evident, if we             perfect devel.opment  in holiness. And it gives the joy of

would interpret this passage literally, that the prophet             health in the spiritual order. And since the Eucharist is

refers, not to the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, but to the    the very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, our

sacrifices of the Old Testament. But it is also evident that he      Lord rightly said, "He that eateth Me, the same shall live

refers to the future inasmuch as he speaks of the rising             by Me." There is one essential difference, of course, be-

and going down of the sun, and that God's Name shall                 tween the activity of the Eucharist, and that of ordinary food.

be great among the Gentiles. So this Word of God merely              Ordinary food nourishes our bodies by becoming absorbed

refers to the spread of the gospel among the Gentiles, and           and transformed into our own living tissues and cells. But

he emphasizes the pure and perfect service of the Lord               the opposite process occurs in the Eucharist. Holy Com-

whereof the sacrifices in the Old Dispensation were a                munion absorbs us into a unity with Christ. It is a greater

symbol. We need not refer to John 658.                               and stronger food than any merely natural food. Instead of

   783. Hebrews lo:12 says that Christ's was a finished              merely fostering our natural life, it intensifies our participa-

or perfected work or sacri&e.                                        tion in a higher and supernatural life."

   "The Catholic Church teaches that the Sacrifice of the
                                                                             This is certainly no clear answer to the objection as
Cross was a complete and perfect sacrifice. The Mass is
                                                                     voiced in the question, namely that our eternal life is due
not a new sacrificing of Christ in the same sense, but is a
                                                                     only to the death of Christ upon the cross. And we also do
new offering and application of the Christ sacrificed on Cal-
                                                                     well to remember that Heb. lo:12 emphasizes that `?his
vary. The absolute Sacrifice occurred on Calvary, the Mass
                                                                     man", Christ Jesus, after he had offered one  sacrifice for
is a relative Sacrifice, deriving its value from the Cross.
                                                                     sins for cum,  sat down on the right hand of God. And it is
Just as prior to His death on Calvary, Christ offered His
                                                                     clearly the thought in Heb. lo:12 that this man, Christ
Body and Blood at the Last Supper, saying, "This is My
                                                                     Jesus, sitting down on the right hand of God, does not
Body which is given to you, this My Blood which is shed
                                                                     sacrifice Himself anymore, inasmuch as He once offered
for you," so in the Mtiss, not now by anticipation but in
                                                                     for sins upon the cross.     That sacrifice upon the cross is
retrospect, Christ the Victim is offered to His Father."
                                                                     surely a finished and perfect sacri&e.
   One might almost  think that the Romish view is pre-

sented here as if the bread and wine were merely symbols                785. He added, "He that eateth this bread shall live

of the death of Christ upon the cross, when we read that             forever." Yet the Eucharist does not stop death. Those who

in the Mass Christ is offered to His Father merely in                have received Holy Communion die just as those who have
retrospect, and not in anticipation of the cross. But we             not.

know that Rome does not view the bread and wine in the                  The Eucharist is opposed chiefly to the forces which
Lord's Supper as mere symbols. Answer 783 states that the            lead to the death of the supernatural life of grace within
absolute sacrifice occurred upon Calvary, that the Mass is           the soul. But it also robs the natural death of the body
only a relative Sacrifice, deriving its value from the Cross.        of all permanent power, since it will lead to the restora-
But Rome also teaches that the sacrifice of the cross also           tion of bodily life in a glorious resurrection. Even though
derives its value from the Mass, and that the Cross of our           Christ died, He overcame the power of death by His resur-
Lord is only of power and value if and when Christ is                rection. Death could not keep Him in the tomb. By re-
offered daily in the Mass.                                           ceiving the Body of Christ in Holy Communion, you re-
   784. What did our Lord mean when He said, "He that                ceive the right and title to your own glorious resurrection.
eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me." John 6:58.  Is           In the Eucharist our Lord continues His work for you."
not our eternal life due to the death of Christ upon the
Cross?                                                                                                                         H.V.

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


                                                                     the. Lord shall call." We have already cited several pas-

       Thk Voice of Our Father&                                      sages fr@m the New Testament, such as Matthew 16:13-18;
                                                               I John 1:l; 14, 17, 18; John 6:67-69;  John 20:30, 31; Romans
                                                                     1:3,  4; homans  9:5; Galatians 2:20, etc. To these we add
                 The Belgic Confession                               Luke 1:34,  35: "Then said Mary unto the angel, HOW shall
                   ARTICLE X (continued)                             this be, seeing I. know not a man? And the angel answered

Proof for this Doctrin.e  (continued)                                and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
   As we mentioned previously (see June 1 issue), OLIY               and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: there-
Confession does not offer very elaborate Scriptural proof for        fore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall
the truth confessed in this article. However, because the            be called the Son of God." And in I Timothy 3:16 we
truth that Jesus Christ is God is a truth that runs through          read: "`And without controversy great is the mystery of god-
all of Scripture, it is not difficult at all to multiply passages    liness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit,
which in one way or another teach this doctrine. To several          seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in
such passages we called attention at the beginning of our            the world, received up into glory."

discussion of Article X, in treating the importance of this              In the second place, there are passages which ascribe

doctrine. We add a few more proofs at this time.                     to Christ divine attributes, or virtues. Our Confession has

   Christ Himself declares that He is one with the Father;           already cited and proved from Scripture the attribute of

and the term that is used in the original in this connection         Christ's eternity, quoting the well-known words of Micah

can only be understood to mean that He is one in Essence             5:2.  Also a passage like Isaiah 9:6 is proof of His eternal

with the Father: "I and my Father are one." John 10:30.              existence. In Revelation 1:8 both His eternity and His om-

Throughout Scripture, as we have already noted, He is                nipotence are proved: "I am Alpha and Omega, the be-

called God and the Son of God. The passage already cited,            ginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is,- and

from I John 5:20,  is important in this connection, because          which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." For the

it is sometimes claimed that Christ is never called "the             attribute of omniscience we cite John 21:17: "He saith

God" in the original; that is, they claim that the name              unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest  thou

"God" with the article is never applied to Christ (1x0  Theo@,       me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third

in the Greek). But in I John 5:20 you have a clear example           time, Lovest  thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou

of this: `And we know that the Son of God is come, and               knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus

hath given us an understanding, that we may know him                 saith unto him, Feed my sheep." For the attribute of omni-

that is true, and we are in him that is true, even his Son           presence John 3:13 furnishes proof: `And no man ha&

Jesus Christ. This is the ftue  God, and eternal life."              ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from

   Moreover, there is implicit proof in the fact that Scrip-         heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." Philip-

ture ascribes divine names, divine virtues, divine works,            piaps 3:21 also speaks of His almighty power: "Who shall

and divine honors to Christ. This, of course, could never            change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto

be done except for the fact that Christ is the only begotten         his.glorious  body, according to the working whereby he is

Son of God, co-essential and co-eternal with the Father.             able even to subdue all things unto himself." The un-

But many instances of this can be adduced from Scripture.            changeableness of Christ as the only begotten Son is also

   In the first place, we cite some passages which ascribe           taught in a passage like Hebrews l:lO-12: `And, Thou,

to Christ divine names. Aheady  in the Old Testament thi.s           Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;

is done proplietically. Thus we read in Isaiah 9:6: "For             and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall

unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the             perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as

government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall            doth a garment; and as a ves-ture shalt thou fold them up,
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The                 and they shall be changed: but thou art the same and thy

everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Jeremiah 23:5,  6 is       years shall not fail."
another such clear prophecy concerning the Christ to come:              In the third place, divine works are ascribed to Christ.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise            The Confession already has given proof from Scripture that
unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and            the work of creation, a divine work, is attributed to Christ.
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the               Likewise, the work of providence is, according to Scripture,
earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall            among the works of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of
dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be               God. This is clear from several passages. We mention,
called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Joel 2:32                       first of all, John 3:35:    "The Father loveth the Son, and
furnishes similar proof: "And it shall come to pass, that            hath given all things into his hand." Luke lo:22 reads: "All
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be                things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man
delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be de-           knbweth  who the SOn ii, btit  the Father;.  and who the
liverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom            Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                451



him." Cf. also Matt. 11:27.  John I7:3 also speaks of Christ's    hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall

power of government: "As thou hast given him power .over          live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he

all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou    given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given

hast given him." Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Christ's power to          him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the

uphold all things: `Who being the brightness of his glory,        Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,

and the express image of his person, and upholding all            in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

things by the word of his power, when he had by .himself          And shall come forth; they that-have done good, unto tae

purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty        resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the

on high." Colossians 1:17 teaches that "by him all things         resurrection of damnation." It is not our purpose to give

consist."    Very strikingly Christ demonstrated His power to     a detailed explanation of this entire passage here. But let

forgive sins to the scribes and Pharisees, a work which was,      us note the following:

according to their own criticism of Jesus, divine, Matthew            1) The underlying truth in this entire passage is that

9:2-S:  "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the       Jesus, the Son of man, is the Son of God. This was precisely

palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith sai.d         the issue as far as the Jews were concerned. In fact, this

unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy            was a greater stumblingblock  to them than the sabbath i+

sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes        sue, which led up to this discourse of our Lord. But we may

said within themselves, This man blasphemeth." (Confer            add: this was the issue as far as the Lord Jesus Himself was

in this connection Mark 2:7, "Why doth this man thus              concerned also. One cannot fail to notice the strong em-

speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?")           phasis on His Sonship  throughout this entire passage.

And now we continue from Matthew 9: `And Jesus                        2) Jesus ascribes to himself the power and the work of

knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in           the spiritual resurrection of the dead in verses 24,25, when

your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be           he speaks of the fact that he that heareth and believetb His

forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may        Word "hath everlasting life" and "is passed from death unto

know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive           life," and when He speaks of the hour that is coming and

sins (then saith  he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up    that now is, in which the dead shall hear the voice of the

thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and de-           Son of God and shall live.

parted to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they             3) Jesus literally attributes to Himself as the Son the

marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power          power and the work of the general resurrection of the dead,

unto men." Colossians 3:13 speaks of this same work of            both of the wicked and the righteous, in the hour that "is

forgiveness: "Forbearing one another, if any man have a           coming," that is, the final hour.

quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do           4) Jesus literally speaks of His work of judgment and

ye."    Also the divine works of the resurrection and the         of His "authority to execute judgment also, because he is

judgment are ascribed to Christ. A rather lengthy, but            the Son of man."

significant passage in this respect is found in the gospel           Other passages which speak of this same work are found

according to John, 5:17-29:  "But Jesus answered them, My         in Matthew 25:31,  32; Acts 10:42;  Acts 17:31;  Philippians

Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews           3:22; and II Timothy 4:l.

sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken          Finally, we mention the fact that divine honor and

the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making        worship are paid to Christ. Of Thomas we read in John

himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said              20:28 that he worships the Lord Jesus after His resurrec-

unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do         tion: "My Lord and my God." And Stephen .also at the

nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for          time of his death "calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,

what things soever  he doeth, these also doeth the Son like-      receive my spirit." Acts 7:59.

wise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all             In the light of all the above, how fitting is the closing

things that himself doe&t:  and he will shew him greater          statement of Article X: "He therefore is that true, eternal,

works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father           and almighty God, whom we invoke, worship and serve."

raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son                                                              H.C.H.

quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man,

but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men                                  IN HIS FEAk
should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He                             (Continued from page 447)
that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father               will see the glorified Church behind all that scaffolding and
which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that      have courage and hope rather than doubt and fear. He will
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, bath          not think it strange but instead the faithfulness of our

everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but       Covenant God that the kingdoms of this world rush to their

is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto        ruin. And he will have no doubt as to God's purpose with

you, The hour is coming, `and now is, when the dead shall         all history.                                              J.A.H.

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


                                                                    charge of their office.-" `In this form it has remained  until

11 DE.CENCY and ORDER 11 today. From this it must not be concluded that the matter
                                                                    of the doctrine and life of the office bearers is of no

                                                                    concern and may be ignored. On the contrary, there is a
                       Censura Morum                                very close relationship between "doctrine and life" and the
       The ministers of the Word, elders and deacons, shall         "discharge of the office."    The point is that the former is
before the celebration of the Lord's Supper exercise chris-         already covered in previous articles of the church order
tian censure among themselves, and in a friendly spirit             while the latter is the exclusive concern of the article we
admonish one another with regard to the discharge of their          are now treating. It goes without saying that this matter
office."                                    -Article 81, D.K.O.     is important and ought to receive proper attention by the
       The caption above this article is a Latin expression that    consistory for the well being of the entire church.
signifies a censorship or examination of conduct. In the
                                                                       A question remains as to what is the proper procedure
present connection it aplies  to the custom introduced by
                                                                    or manner in which this censura morum is to be conducted?
Calvin and A Lasco  by which the office bearers of each
                                                                    It would be interesting to know from ofFice bearers in the
church are to exercise a mutual censure with respect to the
                                                                    various churches just how this article is executed in their
discharging of their respective offices.
                                                                    church. We have a feeling that there is not much  uni-
       This practice is peculiar to churches that have the
                                                                    formity in the churches with respect to this matter. We
Reformed or Presbyterial form of church government.
                                                                    could be wrong on this point but we do feel that the
Under the hierarchical or episcopal system such a mutual
                                                                    custom should be quite, similar in all the churches. Two
censure is not possible. Under our system the office-bearers
                                                                    different methods have been suggested. First there is the
are equal in authority, each in his own sphere, and super-
                                                                    practice according to which each of the members of the
vision is mutual but under the episcopal system the office-
                                                                    consistory in turn leaves the meeting and then it is asked
bearers are of different  rank and authority and conse-
                                                                    regarding him whether any of those present have any-
quently those that occupy the higher officers exercise super-
                                                                    thing to allege against his service. If anything is alleged he
vision over those who are lower in rank. The archbishop
                                                                    is confronted with the allegation and if it is shown to be
supervises the bishop; the bishop supervises the priest, etc.
                                                                    true he is admonished in a friendly way.  It is claimed that
The provisions of Article 81 then belong exclusively within
                                                                    this is the most effective way because, human nature be-
the framework of Reformed Church government.
                                                                    ing what it is, one is more apt to speak about a fellow
   The phrase "before the celebration of the Lord's Supper"
                                                                    office bearer in his absence rather than in his presence. The
appeared in the original church order of 1575  but it was
                                                                    identity of the accuser can remain hidden from the accused.
taken out of Article 81 in 1556. In the Netherlands it was
                                                                    We question however the ethics of this method and even
not re-inserted but the Christian Reformed Church in our
                                                                    more doubt seriously whether it can be conducive to the
country reincorporated it in their redaction of 1914. So
                                                                    "friendly spirit" mentioned in the article.
we also have it in our church order today. From the point
of view that this guarantees that this mutual censure will             The second method allows the office bearers to remain
take place in every consistory at least four times a year           in the meeting and then by a roll-call each is asked whether
it is undoubtedly advantageous that this phrase appears in          they have anything to allege against the other. Under this
the article. Actually, however, it does not belong there            method the president of the consistory can simply ask in
since the matter of censura moruM  has really nothing to            general whether any of the consistory members has any
do with the celebration of the Lord's Supper. The question          criticism to offer of his fellow office-bearers respecting
here is not whether any of the office bearers have any              the discharge of their office? A reply to this question can
grievances against each other that would hinder them in             then be solicited from each member individually. In our
celebrating the Lord's Supper properly. If such is the              opinion this is the preferred method since it is more in
case these matters need to be treated by themselves. Surely         harmony with the purpose or intent of censura morum.

it is true that office bearers should never go to the Lord's           The practice of censura morum requires a high spirit-

Table unless the right brotherly relation exists between            uality. It must never revert into fault finding. Its purpose

them but this is equally true of all believers and should           is not to create criticism. It must always be constructive

not require a special investigation. The question of censura        in character and done out of the love of Christ and with

morum concerns the proper execution of the duties of the            the purpose of helping one another as office-bearers

offices of the church.                                              of His Church.        The office-bearers need to submit

   It may be observed however that in the original re-              themselves one to another in the fear of God and

daction of this article provision was made so that this             otherwise this practice cannot have the         desired pos-

censure or investigation should include "doctrine as well           itive fruit.    In some instances a private heart to heart

as life". Again it was the Synod of `s Graver&age  in 1586          talk between consistory members may be preferred to a

that changed the article to read "with regard to the dis-           discussion of the matter in the consistory. But whether


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    493


this be done or the matter is brought up at the time of            immature, incomplete members are covered by Article 82."

mutual censure, it must be done in the spirit of meekness          And SO we interpret Article 82 to include both kind of
with each esteeming the other as better than themselves,           members.

                                                                      -We must admit, however, that those covered by the

                 Membership Attestation                            third form mentioned above are not included under Article
                                                                   52. We mean those who receive the certscate  of dis-
   "TO those who  remove from the congregation, a letter
                                                                   missal. The certificate of dismissal is used for those who
or testimony concerning their profession and conduct shall
                                                                   not only remove from the local church but who also remove
be given by the consistory, signed by two; or in the case
                                                                   from the denomination. Concerning them there is no tes-
of letters, which are given under the seal of the church,
                                                                   timony concerning their profession and conduct given.
signed by one."                          -Article 82, D.K.O.
                                                                   This certificate merely states that after the date specified
   The matter of membership certificates or more com-              the bearer is no longer a member of the aforenamed c@rch.
monly referred to as "church papers" is the subject of this        We mention it in this connection only because it is one of
article of the church order. This matter was already men-          the forms issued to those who "remove from the congrega-
tioned in connection with Article 61 of the church order           tion."
but in a somewhat different connection. That article pro-              Several matters of piactical  importance may be con-
vides that those who come from other churches shall not be         sidered in connection with church membership, transferal
admitted to the Lord's Supper without proper attestation.          of membership, dismissal of membership and related
The viewpoint is that of the church receiving members              matters. Some of these we hope to consider in our next
whereas in Article 81 we are dealing with the matter of            article but we have &pace  now to comment yet on the last
issuing letters of attestation to those who remove from the        part of Article S2. We note that the letter or membership
congregation.                                                      attestation is, according to the church order, to be "signed
   In our churches there are three d.ifEel;ent  forms that are     by two" or in case it is issued under the seal of the church
issued by consistories and that fall into the category of          it may be "signed by one." The reason for this is because
attestation certificates as described in this article. They        the certificate must be isued  by the consistory. Sometimes
are: (1) The Transfer Form For Baptized Members. (2)               it will happen that a member will request either the
The Transfer Form For Confessing Members. (3) The Cer-             minister or the clerk of the consistory to issue this cer-
tificate of Dismissal. The first two of these are issued when      tificate. This is unproper. It may not be done. Even the
members remove from one congregation to another church             two together have no right to issue certificates of member-
within the denomination. This is why they are called               ship. The testimony given must be that of the whole con-
"transfer forms." They serve the purpose of transferring a         sistory  and this must be done officially. The official
member from one Protestant Reformed Church to another.             character of this action is designated either by the seal on
The difference in these two forms is found in the first part.      the certificate or by the double signature.
In that for confessing members we find this testimonial:              Sometimes this requires some embarrasment and even
"The consistory  of the Protestant Reformed Church hereby          offense. C&.&tories as a rule meet but once a month and
certifies that . . . . . is a member of the above congregation,    members who then request a certicate  of membership
and as far as known to us, is so-und  in faith and upright         immediately after a consistory meeting was held have to
in walk."    In the case of a baptized member, however,            wait for a month until the next meeting. This needless
the transferal form merely states: "The consistory of the          delay in most instances is not the fault of the consistory but
Protestant Reformed Church hereby certifies that . . . . . is      of. those requesting their certicate. They should give the
a baptized member of the above church, and therefore  is           consistory ample notice of their intent and if this is done
subject to the instruction and discipline of that church."         they will be able to take their letter of testimonial with
   The reason for this difFerence  is obvious. Members             them when they remove from the congregation.
by baptism only are incomplete, immature members who                                                                          G.v.d.B.

thus far have failed to make a profession or confession of

faith and concerning whose profession therefore nothing can
be said. For this reason the Church Order Commentary                                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY

asserts that "we say that strictly interpreted Article 82 re-         The Ladies' Aid Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                   of Grand Rapids, Michigan, mourns the loss of a very faithful
fers to members-in-full only." Yet, undoubtedly realizing          member,
&at  if this position is strictly maintained, it has to be ad-                          MRS. JOHN PASTOOR

mitted that the Church Order has nothing to say about                 May our God graciously comfort the bereaved husband and
                                                                   family as we are once more reminded that "hope maketh  not
the baptized members, the authors of the Church Order              ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
Commentary add: "Nevertheless Article 82 does not exclude          the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom. 5:5.

those who by virtue of their birth and baptism stand related                                       The Ladies' Aid Society
                                                                                                   Mrs. J. Vander Wal, President
to the Church and under its care. By implication also the                                          Mrs. C. Hanko, Secretary

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


                                                                                       Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in par-
                                                                                       ticular?. They answer: `"No."    They are obliged to admit this
                                                                                       if tiey are consistent. They say: "No; Christ has died that any
                                                                                1      man may be saved if-" and then follow certain conditions of
                                                                                       salvation. We say, then, we will just go back to the old state-
                                                                                       ment - Christ did not die so as beyond a doubt to secure the
QUOTES                                                                                 salvation of anybody, did He? You must say, "No"; you are
                                                                                       obliged to say so, for you believe that even' after a man has
       With the controversy concerning general atonement still                         been pardoned, he may yet fall from grace and perish. NOW,
swirling and not likely to be immediately settled - even in                            who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why, you! YOU
                                                                                       say that Christ did not die so as to infallibly secure the salva-
Reformed circles, it is worth our while to consider a few                              tion of anybody. We beg your pardon when you say we limit
quotes from others of bygone years who wrote on this sub-                              Christ's death; we say: "No, my dear sir, it is you that do it."
                                                                                       We say Christ so died that He infallibly secured the salvation
ject. These quotes are by no means intended to be a corn-                              of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ's
prehensive survey of the views of others; they are merely                              death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved,
a few interesting observations that came to my attention.                              and cannot by any impossibility run the hazard of being ally-
                                                                                       thing but saved. You are welcome to your atonement; you may
       The first quote is of C. H. Spurgeon, an English theo-                          keep it. We will never renounce ours for the sake of it.
logian, tie11 known even today for his gifts as a preacher.                               When you hear anyone laughing or jeering at a limited
                                                                                       atonement, you may tell him this:  General atonement is like a
             The doctrine of redemption is one of the most important                   great wide bridge with only half an arch; it does not go across
         doctrines of the system of faith. A mistake on this point will                the stream, it only professes to go half way; it does not secure
         inevitably lead to a mistake through the entire system of our                 the salvation of anybody. Now, I had rather put my fGOt upon
         belief.                                                                       a bridge as narrow as Hungerford, which went all the way
             There are different  theories of redemption. All Christians               across, than on a bridge that was as wide as the world, if it
         hold that Christ died to redeem, but all Christians do not teach              did not go all the way across the stream. I am told that it is
         the same redemption. We diifer  as to the natur  eof atonement,               my duty to say that all men have been redeemed, and I am
         and as to the design of redemption. For instance, the Ar-                     told that there is Scripture warrant for it - "Who gave Himself
         minian  holds that Christ, when He died, did not die with an                  a ransom for all to be testified in due time." Now, that looks
         intent to save any particular person; and they teach that                     like a very great argument indeed on the other side of the
         Christ's death does not, in itself, secure, beyond doubt, the sal-            question, for instance: "The whole World is gone after Him."
         vation of any man living. They believe that Christ died to                    Did all the world go after Christ? "Then went out all Judea,
        make the salvation of all men possible, or that by the doing of                and were baptized of Him in Jordan." Was all Judea  or all
         something else any man who pleases may attain unto eternal                    Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children,"
         life; consequently they are obliged to hold that if man's will                and "The whole world lieth in the wicked one." Does "the
         would not give way and voluntarily surrender to grace, then                   whole wcrld"  there mean everybody? If so, how was it, then,
         Christ's atonement would be unavailing. They hold that there                  that there were some who were `bf God?" The words
         was no particularity and speciality in the death of Christ. Christ            "world" and "all" are used in some seven or eight senses in
         died, according to them, as much for Judas in hell as for Peter               Scripture, and it is very rarely that "all" means all persons,
        who mounted to heaven. They believe that for those who are                    taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that
         consigned to eternal fire, there was as true and real a redemp-               Christ has redeemed some of all sorts - some Jews, some Gen-
        tion made as for those who now stand before the throne of                      tiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemp-
        the Most High.                                                                tion to either Jew or Gentile.
             Now we believe no such thing. We hold that Christ,.when
         He died. had an object in view. and that obiect will. most                  The following quotes are from John Calvin's Treatise,
         assuredly and beyond a doubt, be accomplished. We measure             "The Eternal Predestination of God." This pamphlet is in-
        the design of Christ's death by the effect of it. If anyone asks
        us: What did Christ design to do by His death? we answer               cluded in the book CaZ~vin's  CU&&L&L
        that question by asking him another: What has Christ done?
         or: What will Christ do by His death? For we declare that the                    `But the great question lies here: Did the Lord by His
        measure of the effect of Christ's love. is the measure of the                  eternal counsel or&&  salvation for all men? It is-quite mani-
         design of it. We cannot so belie our reason as to think that                  fest that all men without difference  or distinction, are out-
        the intention of Almighty God could be frustrated, or that the                wardly called or invited to repentance and faith. It is equally
         design of so great a thing as the atonement can by any way                    evident that the same Mediator is set forth before all, as He
        whatever be missed. We hold -we are not afraid to say what                     who alone can reconcile them to the Father. But it is as fully
        we believe-that Christ came into this world with the inten-                    well known that none of these things can be understood or
        tion of saving `a multitude which no man can number," and                     perceived but by faith, in fulhhnent  of the apostle Paul's decla-
        we believe that as the result of this, every person for whom                  ration that "The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
        He died must, beyond the shadow of doubt, be cleansed from                     every one that believe&" then what can it be to others but
        sin, and stand washed in blood before the Father's throne. We                 the "savour of death unto death?" as the same apostle elsewhere
         do not believe that Christ made any effectual atonement for                  powerfully expresses himself.
        those who are for ever damned; we dare not think that the                         Meantime, this blind instructor (Pighius ) never thinks of
        blood of Christ was ever shed with the intention of saving                    the fact that Israel (the "open-eyed" one, according to his
        those whom God foreknew never could be saved, and some of                     lucid interpretation) was made "open-eyed" by the peculiar
        whom were even in hell when Christ, according to some men's                    grace of ,God,  for he had been chosen of God even in the
        accounts, died to save them.                                                  womb of his mother. Nor do any others ever possess "eyes" to
             Jesus Christ came into the world "to give His life a ransom              see God, or His truth,. but those whose minds God Himself
        for many."     The greatness of Christ's redemption may be                     enlightens by His Sprrrt.  And those only are deemed worthy
        measured by the extent of the design of it. He gave His life                  the light of His Spirit whom He adopted for Himself even
         "a ransom for many."     We are often told (i.e., those of us                while still in their blindness, and whom He makes His children.
        who are commonly nicknamed Calvinists. and we are not very                    After this, Pighius, like a wild beast escaped from his cage,
        much ashamed of that; we think that Calvin, after all, knew                   rushes forth, bounding over all fences in his way, uttering such
        more about the Gospel than almost any man who has ever lived.                 sentiments as these: "The mercy of God is extended to every
        uninspired) that we limit the atonement of Christ, because we                 one, for God wishes all men to be saved; and for that end He
        say that Christ has not made a satisfaction for all men, or all               stands and knocks at the door of our heart, desiring to enter.
        men would be saved. Our reply to this is that, on the other                   Therefore, those were elected before the foundation of the
        hand our opponents limit.it:  we do not. The Arminians say:                   world, by whom He foreknew He should be received. But
        Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it: Did                   God hardens no one, excepting by His forbearance, in the
        Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men? They sav:                same manner as too fond parents ruin their children by cx-
        "No, certainly not."    We ask them the next question: Did                    cessive indulgence." Just as if a.nyone;by  such puerile dreams


                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D .   B.EA,RER                                                              455


          as these, co'uld  escape the force of all those things which the      the fact that the churches are becoming more deeply in-
          anostle  nlainlv  declares in direct contradiction to such senti-     volved all the time. Associations of Churches (the National
          ments! -And just  as if it were nothing to his readers, when
          Paul positively asserts that, out of the twins, while they were       Council of Churches, e.g.) have passed resolutions placing
          yet in the womb of their mother, the one was chosen and the           themselves squarely on the side of the Negro; ministers and
          other Tejected!  and that, too, without any respect to the works
    -~    of either, present or future (of the former of which there could      ecclesiastical assemblies have devoted more and more time
          be none), but solely by the good pleasure of God that calleth!       to issuing admonitions intended to assist the Negros in their
          As if it were nothing, when the apostle testifies that "it is not
          of him that willeth,  nor of him that runneth, but of God that        struggle; various assorted clerics have taken part in demon-
          sheweth mercy," who hardened whom He will, and hath mercy            strations, freedom rides, sit-ins and other activities devised
          on whom He will; . . .                                               to force the nation to accept this minority race. As prom-
     So-called Calvinists, both here in this country and the                   inent a man as Eugene Carson Blake (an official in the
Netherlands, would do well to re-read their Calvin.                            Presbyterian Church and a leader in the recent "Pike-Blake

                                                                               merger talks") found himself in jail briefly for his part in

SUMMER NEWS lTEM§                                                              demonstrations.
                                                                                   Apart from the still unanswered questions of the prob-
    It is perhaps time to catch up on some of the more im-
                                                                               lems of segregation and integration in the light of Scripture,
portant news items of the summer months. With particular
                                                                               i:: should go without argument that the Church (at least
concern for the news of the Church world, we call atten-
                                                                               officially) should-not engage in these unecclesiastical mat-
tion to the following:
                                                                               ters; their sole calling is to preach the gospel. This is most
    1) Pope John XXIII has died and-Pope Paul VI has
                                                                               emphatically true when the battle for negro rights has
been elected to take his place. The fact that only four bal-
                                                                               entered the streets and is being fought with the weapons
lots were cast by the cardinals to elect him speaks of a
                                                                               of violence, force, coercion and downright rebellion. But
surprising unanimity of opinion among the highest clergy
                                                                               the churches of America that have lost the gospel have
of Roman Catholicism. This is especially surprising in the
                                                                               nothing else to do it seems.                                     H. Hanko
light of the fact that Pope Paul favors, for the most part, the

policies of his predecessor. Paul has aheady  gone on record

in favor of more vernacular in the mass, the continuance
                                                                                                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
of the Vatican Council, closer relationships with Prot-                            On July 30, our beloved parents,
estants, and perhaps even continued efforts to improve rela-                                     MR. AND MRS. DEWEY ENGELSMA
tions with Russia. In spite of the fact that many higher                       commemorated their 25th year of marriage.

clergy within the Romish Church opposed these policies,                            We, the children, express to them our heartiest congratulations
                                                                               and warmest appreciation for the covenant training so unhesitantly
it seems that Paul was elected without too much difficulty.                    given us.    Above all, we give thanks to God for His love in using
We can therefore expect increasingly strong movements to                       our parents to direct our feet on the pad which leads to eternal
bring all Protestants within the ranks of the-Roman Cath-                      glory. Mmay  the God of all wisdom continue to bless them in their
                                                                               life together.
olic Church.                                                                                                       David Engelsma
   2) The Supreme Court continued its battle to eliminate                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Lammert Lubbers
                                                                                                                   Lenore Engelsma
prayers and Bible reading from the public schools. In con-                                                         Michael Engelsma
nection with two other cases the Court declared that any                                                           Lois Engelsma
                                                                                                                   Ruthanne  Engelsma
form of religious exercise was forbidden by the Constitu-                                                          Jonathan Engelsma
tion if- it was practiced in the public school system; for it                                                      Mark Engelsma
                                                                                                                   Elizabeth Engelsma
necessarily denied atheists and unitarians the free exercise                                                       Kenneth Engelsma
of their religious belief and imposed upon them religions                                                               and .one  grandchild

contrary to their own. The effect of all this is to give legal

status and constitutional sanction to the false religions of                                               IN MEMCRIAM

secularism and atheism under the guise of introducing into                        On June 16, 1963, it pleased the Lord to take unto Himself our
the schools strict neutrality. But there is no neutrality.                     dear husband, father and grandfather,
`Who is not for me, is against me" Jesus says. The surprising                                             HERMAN DE VRIES
                                                                               at the age of 61 years.
part of it is that, while the decision of last year on the same                   I Corinthians 15:22, 23: "For as in Adam all die, even so in
matter raised a tremendous hue and cry and even prompted                       Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order.
several congressmen to introduce bills for a constitutional                    Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His coming."
                                                                                                                  Mrs. Herman De Vries
amendment, these recent decisions went by with very little                                                        Mr. and Mrs. John De Vries
comment and a negligible amount of criticism. How soon                                                             Mr. and Mrs. Gerald De Vries
                                                                                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Martin De Vries
people become accustomed to false religion. No doubt                                                              Mr. and Mrs. Donald De Vries
because they have no faith to begin with.                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. James De Vries

   3) The battle for equal rights for Negroes has made the                                                        ~~~"`"
front pages of the nation's press all summer long.. From                                                          Henry
the point of view of this column, its interest is primarily in                                                    Morris
                                                                                                                    and 9 grandchildren


456                                           T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B E - A R E R



                                                                     25 - H. Veldman, Sept.1 - R. C. Harbach, Sept. 8 - open,

       NEWS F.ROM.OUR. CHURCHES                                      Sept. 15 - G. Vos, Sept. 22 -C. Hanko, Sept. 29 -G.
                                                                     Lanting, Oct. 6 - G. Vos.
                "All the saints  salt&  thee . . ." PHIL: 4 :21         First Church: Aug. 11, (evening) - H. Veldman.

                                                                        Redlands: Sept. 1, 8,15 - M. Schipper.
                       s

                                                July 20, 1963           Loveland: Sept.- 8,15 - H. Veldman.

Rev. B. Woudenberg, of Edgerton, declined the call                      The Finance Committee, Elders J.C. Lubbers and M.

from Southwest.                                                      Wiersma, tendered their report, which was adopted.

       Rev. G. -Laming,  of Holland, declined the call from             The Lynden Prot. Ref. Church asked permission to ask

L y n d e n .                                                        for collections in the churches of Classis  East for their

       Rev, G. Lubbers, our Missionary, declined the call            building program.    This request was granted.

from Loveland. Loveland's new trio consists of the Revs.                Southwest Church asked permission to place on nomina-

Woudenberg and Lanting, and candidate D. Engelsma.                   tion again ministers whom they had already called. This

Lynden's  new trio consists of Revs. Lubbers, Woudenberg             request was granted.

and candidate Engelsma.                                                 Questions of Article 41~of  the Church Order were asked

                                                                     and answered satisfactorily. Rev. H. Veldman was ap-
              Report of Classis East, July 10, 1963                  pointed to thank the ladies of Hudsonville for their cater-
                       at Hudsonville, Mich.                         ing. Elder D. Meulenberg, in the name of Hope Church,

       Rev. G. Lantmg,  in the absence of Rev, R.C. Harbach          thanked the Clasis for the pulpit supply given them during

who was chairman of the April Classis,  led in opening de-           their vacancy, and especially their moderator, Rev. C.

votions and presided over this session of Classis.  Rev. M.          Hanko, for his services to them.

Schipper served as clerk.                                               Classis  decided to meet again in Hudsonville, on Wed-

       The chairman greeted the delegates, and especially            nesday, Oct. 2, 1963.

welcomed the Rev. H. Veldman, who had so recently come                  After the chairman made a few closing remarks, Classis

to Classis  East from Classis  West.                                 sang Psalter No. 221, and Rev. H. Veldman closed the

   All the churches of Classis  East were represented by             meeting with prayer.

two delegates except Kalamazoo which had only one.                                                Rev. M. Schipper, Stated Clerk.

       Most of the material before Classis  was of routine nature
and was treated with dispatch. Classis  had finished its                Did you know: that a Sunday School was organized ,m
work before the noon meal when an excellent dinner was               Hull, and will hold sessions during June, July and August?
served by the ladies of our Hudsonville Church. The Stated           And, that Edgerton's congregation is again meeting in their
Clerk and the Classical Committee tendered their reports             own church after many years of separation? The first ser-
which Classis  accepted for information. The Church Vi-              vice was held June 2 and was a moving experience for the
sitors gave their report of the annual visit to all the              congregation as they entered the building which had been
churches. They reported that the Lord was apparently                 so familiar in the past but which now gendered a feeling
blessing our churches, and that all the churches, though             of strangeness after almost ten years of absence. The people
small in number and size, are prospering spiritually.                are indeed thankful to God that after their long wait He
   The committee appointed at the April Classis  to study            has brought their possessions back to them again. The
the overture of Southwest Church, relative to adopting a             Pastor's family moved into the parsonage June 26.
rule whereby the Stated Clerk would forward to each                  And that Lynden held their first service in their new church
church at least two weeks prior to the meeting of Classis            building July 7? Though the building was not completely
all the material appearing on the agenda, was not ready to           finished it was used as soon as possible, thereby saving
report. This committee was continued, and will report to             the rental fee of the lodge hall in which they had held
the next Classis.                                                    services.

   Southwest Church requested classical appointments for                The Reformed Witness Hour welcomes a newcomer to
the next three months, which was granted. The Stated                 their microphone, Rev. R.C. Harbach, recently installed as
Clerk read a proposed schedule from the Classical Com-               pastor of our Kalamazoo Church. The general theme for
mittee from Classis  West, which Classis  placed along with          his sermons for this month is, "Fellowship with the Father"
the request of Southwest Church in the hands of a com-               as revealed in the First Epistle of John. The titles: Aug. 4 -
mittee consisting of Revs. C. Hanko, M. Schipper and Elder           "The First Epistle of John"; Aug.11 - "The Word of Life
D. Meulenberg. Their report was adopted later by Classis,            Incarnate"; Aug. 18 -"The Life Manifested"; Aug. 25 -
and is as follows:                                                   "Our Fellowship With the Father."
   Southwest: J~rly 21 - C. Lanting, July 28 - open, Aug.

4 - R.C. Harbach, Aug. 11 - open, Aug. 18 - G. Vos, Aug.                . . . . See you in church.    --                    J.M.F.


