        VOLUME ,XXXIX                         MARCH 1, 1963-GRAND  RAPES, MICHIGAN                                  NUMBER 11


                                                                       Hour of the greatest of Divine mysteries!
             M E D I T A T I O N                                       At about the sixth hour!

                                                                                                0 0; D lt


 THE AGONIZING CRY IN UTTER DARKNESS                                   At about the sixth hour!

           "Now from the-s&h  hour there was darkness over             Did I speak of mysteries?
         all the land unto  the ninth hour. And about the nznth        Well, what would you? I hear of desolation for Him
         hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying Eli, Eli,       who is in the bosom of God!
         lama  sabachtan.i?  that is to say, My God, My God, why
         hast Thou forsaken MeY                 Matt. 27:45, 46       -Did God forsake God? God, who is sweetest UNION

                                                                    Personified?
   "And about the sixth hour!"
                                                                       Isn't the union of two natures in the Person of the Son
   God is a God of wondrous order and precision. He in-             of God, even in this terrible hour?
habits eternity, but His hand and counsel rules time and
                                                                       Do we see the obedient Servant of God forsaken?
the hours. And the Holy Ghost is rather specific about
time: He ,has measured distance in the garden of Geth-                 Why is obedience so rewarded? Even at this so supreme
semane; here He is measuring the time of the AFTER-                 moment of His obedience? Is God able to forsake virtue
NOONS SACRIFICE!                                                    personified in His beloved Son?

   I am going to change one word in a beautiful song, a                Moreover, why this questing cry? For what reason
song which you have sung very often:                                does Jesus ask this question of the Godhead, and why does
                                                                    He give it all this terrible publicity? The whole universe:
   "The offering on the altar burned gives great delight            has heard, and this question has been repeated on a million
to Thee!"                                                           tongues. Does He not know? The answer, we may as well

   Yes, it gave great delight to God, this sorry spectacle          anticipate here, the answer is: for My redemption's sake!
of the AFTERNOONS SACRIFICE.                                        I, the Triune God, desire to glorify Myself in Thy horrible

   It is well that we emphasize the time element: God is            suffering! Does the Son not know that which was deter--
our Mentor, Teacher.                                                mined in the secret counsels ere the world was?

   This awful afternoon, at ahout  the sixth hour is the ful-          The Christ of God saw, experienced the awful mysteries:
ness of time. It is the moment when time is full, the time          of salvation. He knew that obedience was to be rewarded
that God has reserved from'all eternities. It is the time           with punishment. He knew, better than any other, that He-
when God has shown His sweetest and most glorious mani-             had come to die. It was the very reason for His coming:
festo: the groaning and crying Godhead on the cross. You            into the world. Many times He had told His disciples that:
may live to everlasting, but. you will never see anything           He would be taken, maltreated, crucilled,  and, finally, that:
sweeter, more glorious than this spectacle: God going to            He would die. Well, He that came to die. and hew  it,.
nethermost hell so that you may sing, sing, sing on and on          crying out for a reason?

to all eternity.                                                       Awful mysteries!

   Oh my God! Why forsaken by Thee Whom I love with                                         0 0 0 *

all the love of My pure heart?

   It is so that all the world may see how adorable We                 We have -read many attempted explanations of this cry -

are!                                                                of Jesus. I say: attempted explanations. And the trouble*

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


       lies in that word: explunatiorx  We, mortals, do little ex-        This I must say at this juncture: God did not hate Him

       plaining of anything. I am told that an attempt to explain      at this hour. When God pours out His wrath upon devils

       that two times two makes four is not as easy as it seems.       and reprobate men in hell, it is the outpouring of His

      And if that be true, what shall we say of one of the, most       hatred.

       exalted mysteries of God such as we contemplate at this            But let me say it a thousand times: God never hated
       terrible hour?                                                  Jesus.     That is also impossi0le.  For He was the faithful
              No, I am afraid that we shall not be able to explain     and loving and obedient Servant, in this hour and in all

      things here.                                                     the time of His sojourning.

          However, although we cannot explain, fathom, com-               And when Jesus must hang there between heaven and

       prehend, `this awful phenomenon of the crying Savior%-,         earth in the thickness of darkness which spoke of wrath

       we are able to do this only because God has given us His        and wrath and wrath of His God, He realizes that this

      Word. That Word sheds light upon our path. Yes, and also         wrath is not deserved by Him. He knows .that He is not

      upon the dying Christ.                                           the recipient of all these bruising strokes because of His

~         And listening to that Word, we may safely say that God       own sin. Hence, the cry.

       was not forsaken of God. That is eternally impossible. That        The cry is really the answer to God's demand: Love

       militates against all that the Word tells us about God. That    Me! Love Me, even when I make Thee experience My

      Word taught us that the very idea of the Godhead is Union,       hell! Love Me! Thou standest in the room of My beloved

       Oneness, the Covenant! God cannot be forsaken of God.           people, and they did not love Me. Now love Me in their

I      The Father cannot forsake the Son. Such a terrible idea         stead, and do it in Thy very hell in this My darkness.
     annihilates the Godhead.                                             And Jesus gives the answer: My God! My God! Oh,

          Neither cannot it be that we see here a negative separa-     note that possessive pronoun. It is more than mere pos-

       tion of God. God cannot forsake His creature, and Jesus         session. In it throbs the love of Jesus for His Father, even

      is also creature. At the very moment that Jesus cried with       while that Father makes Him taste a hell such as devils

       a loud voice: My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken            shall never taste.
      Me? at that moment the law of God was applicable to Him             May I be so bold as to add to Jesus' cry? God forgive
       which saith: in Him we move and have our being. God             me if I am wrong. But I understand Jesus to say: My God,
      was very near to Jesus when He uttered this cry. For Jesus       My God, Thou knowest that I love Thee so. Therefore,
      was also a creature, a very man.                                 Why forsakest Thou Me now in this dreadful hour?

          If I may speak in a seeming paradox, I would say: the           Well, God might say through David: Terrible things, I
       very presence of God causes this feeling of forsakeness of      will answer thee in righteousness!
      our Saviour. And this awful presence, nearness of God is
      symbolized by the three hour darkness. God was very,                And through Isaiah: In these (that is, in sin and wrath)

      very near to Jesus. It was an awful nearness to Jesus.           is eternity, that Israel might be saved.

          No, I cannot explain here, but this I know: Jesus tasted        Awful mysteries of the Cross!

       at this hour the bitterness of an awful cup: God withdrew                                 0 0 0 D
       the taste of His favor and experience of His blessed com-

      munion and fellowship! Remember that Jesus longed for               Why, 0 My God? Why?
       God's communion with all the yearning of His pure soul
                                                                          Shall the Divine answer come?
       and body. It was His very life to feel the nearness of His

       lowing Father.                                                     Well, Jesus seems to be without an answer. Time was

                                                                       when the heavens were rent and a VOICE came down
          But what did He experience?
                                                                       from heaven, saying: This is My beloved Son!
          This God made Him taste the vengeance of righteous-
                                                                          But at this hour  there seems to be no answer.
      ness, holiness and outraged truth. God made Him taste

      that which devils and reprobate men will taste unto all             And yet there is. I would have you note the great,

       eternity. No, God was not far away from Jesus, He was           the Divine TIMEKEEPER AT THE CROSS . At about the

      very near to Him in this woeful hour, but He was near to         ninth hour Jesus cried this pitiful cry. It was the last drop

       Him in His wrath.                                               in the bitter cup of an eternity of death. The answer of God

                                                                       is heralded in the departure of the mob from the hill called
                                0 a a 0
                                                                       Golgotha. There they go, beating their breasts. As so many

                                                                       whipped dogs. It is a prophetic spectacle of the judgment
          In His wrath!                                                day. 0 yes, Jesus did receive His answer. Only a few

          0 God, we must be so careful with our speech. Words          moments, and with trembling voice He will say: It is

      are so dangerous ! What shall I say?            -,               finished!


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                      243



   Oh yes, the answer came. Objectively, for the light
returned. Subjectively: it is finished!                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
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                                                                                                                         C O N T E N T S
                                                                 ME~TATION  -
                                                                                The Agonizing                       Cry In Utter Darkness. . . . . . . . .._.....___.....  ,241
                 Notice for Classis  West                                                Rev. G. Vos


   Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will        EDITORIALS  -
meet, the Lord willing, in Doon,  Iowa, on Wednesday,                           Rank Arminianism  in Calvin Seminary _............................. :...244
                                                                               Please, Professor Henry Stob! _. . . . _. . . . . . .._. . . ___ _. .246
March 20, 1963, at 9 A. M.                                                                Rev. H. Hoeksema
   The consistories are reminded of the rule that matters                       Dekker, Berkhof, and H. J. Kuiper - A Comparison _...........  247
                                                                                          Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
for the classical agenda must be in the hands of the Stated

Clerk not later than 30 days before the date of Classis.  And    OUR DOCTIWE-
all matters that are to be brought to Synod must also be                       Preservation and Perseverance .___.....  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
presented at this classis.                                                               Rev. H. Hoeksema

                              REV. H. VELDMAN, Stated Clerk      A CLOUD OF WITNEssUs  -
                                                                               Achor  (The Valley of Trouble) .._......................................... 250:

                                                                                         Rev. B. Woudenberg


             Thy strength shall overcome                         FROM HOLY WRIT - --
               All those that hate the King,                                   Exposition of I Timothy ..__.............  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252;
                                                                                         Rev. G. Lubbers
             And under Thy dominion strong

               The nations Thou shalt bring.                     INI-IxFEAR-
                                                                               Heart Trouble.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,254
             Thy royal throne, 0 God,                                                    Rev. J. A. Heys
               For evermore shall stand;

             Eternal truth and justice wield                     CONTENDING FQR THE Fm-
                                                                               The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    256.
               The sceptre in Thy hand.
                                                                                         Rev. H. Veldman

             Since Thou art sinless found,                       THE  VOICE OF OUR FATHERS -
               The Lord, Thy God confessed,                                     The Belgic Confession _.__............__............................................                                                                     258:
             Anointeth Thee with perfect joy,                                            Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

               Thou art supremely blest.                         DECENCY AND ORDER -
                                                                               Dealing with
             Thy garments breathe of myrrh                                                                      Secret Sins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  260,
                                                                                         Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
               And spices sweet and rare;

             Glad strains of heavenly music ring                 ALL AROUND us-
               Throughout Thy palace fair.                                     Protestant              Confessional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            :
                                                                               Relief in Spain .._..........................,..........................................  263..
                                                                               Dutch Roman Catholics. . . . . . . . . . .._............................................. 263-
             Amid Thy glorious train                                                     Rev. H. Hanko
               King's daughters waiting stand,
             And fairest gems bedeck Thy bride,                  NEWS FROM OUR C~onc~~s  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 268,
                                                                                         Mr. J. M. Faber
               The queen at Thy right hand.                                                                                                                                                                                                         .


2444                                       T H E  STANDARD   B E A R E R



                                                                   ing to him, clearly teach the universality of the atonement.
              E D I T O R I A L S                                  Heb. 2:9 teaches the death of Christ "for every man." I
                                                                   John 2~2 says that Christ "died for the whole world." Ac-
 i                                                                 cording to Matt. 20~28,  He died for `many.' `I Tim. 2:6, He

        Rank Arminianism in Calvin Seminary.                       died "for all."

                                                                       Dekker also quotes from the Canons. Writes he:
      We still have to examine and disCuss  what Prof. Dekker
                                                                       "In addition to Biblical data we should note what the
in his article in The Reformed Journal  has to say on the
                                                                   Canons of Dort have to say. The question for Berkhof is
question whether the atonement of Christ is limited or
                                                                   the design of the atonement as such. To this detached
unlimited. In other words: did Christ die for all men, or
                                                                   question the Canons do not speak. They speak of the de-
for the elect only?
                                                                   sign of the atonement as far as its `saving efficacy' is con-
      As Dekker put the question: "If God's love in giving         cerned. The relevant statement (from II, 8) is as follows:
Christ is universal, is the atonement universal? Or is it          `For this was the sovereign counsel and most gracious will
limited? . . . Just what is the Reformed doctrine of limited       and purpose of God the Father that the quickening and
atonement?"                                                        saving e5cacy of the most precious death of his Son should

      In answer to this question Dekker, first of all, quotes      extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the
from the Systematic Theology of Berkhof. According to the          gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to
latter, the question of limited or unlimited atonement,            salvation; that is, it was the will of God that Christ by the
negatively, is not whether the satisfaction of Christ is           blood of the cross . . . should effectually redeem out of
sufficient to save all men, or whether the saving benefits of      every people, tribe, nation and language . . . all those and
the atonement are applied to all men, or whether the offer         those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and
of salvation is seriously made to all men, or whether some         given him by the Father; that he should confer upon them
of the fruits of the atonement are beneficial for all men.         faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the
But the question is rather whether God's design in Christ's        Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death'."

atonement was the salvation of the elect only or of all men.           On this part of the Canons, Dekker comments as fol-
`If it had been His intention to save all men this purpose         lows :
could not have been frustrated by the unbelief of man."                " `Limited atonement' as taught by the Canons is not
      For this Berkhof quotes proof from Scripture.                precisely the same, it seems, as that taught by Berkhof. Dort

      Dekker quotes Berkhof as follows:                            did not deal with the design of the atonement in general,
                                                                   as Berkhof does. It dealt rather with the design of the
      `Scripture repeatedly qualifies those, for whom Christ
                                                                   atonement in specific connection with efficacious applica-
laid down His life in such a way as to point to very definite      tion of saving grace. Contrary to the Arminians who taught
limitation. Those for whom He suffered and died are called         that the atonement was intended to apply enabling grace
`His sheep,' John 10:11,  15, `His Church,' Acts 20:28,  Eph.
                                                                   to all men, Dort insisted that the atonement in no sense
5: 25-27, `His people,' Matt. 1:21,  and `the elect,' Rom.         was intended to effectuate saving grace for all men. The
5: 32-35."
                                                                   key phrases in the above excerpt from the Canons are `sav-
      Dekker criticizes Berkhof in regard to the Scripture pas-    ing efficacy,' `justifying faith' and `effectually redeem.' But
sages. Writes he: "These passages do ,not adequately sup-          Berkhof deals with the design of the atonement in a broader

port Berkhofs argument. In none of them is the predication         sense and it seems clear that the Canons of Dort do not
regarding those for whom Christ died stated exhaustively           demand adherence to the doctrine of limited atonement in

,or exclusively. They do affirm that Christ died for His           exactly the way he sets it forth."

sheep, His Church, His people, the elect, but about the               The reader will notice that I quote Dekker rather ex-
possibility that He also may have died for others these            tensively. I do this on purpose, because, in the i&t place,
passages say nothing. Moreover, if the predications made           I want to. do him justice and, secondly, I want our readers
are to be taken as limitations, consistent interpretation of       to understand what he .really  teaches. In fact, I am not
similar passages results in absurdity. Then, for instance,         quite sure that even now our readers will understand him.
Isaiah 58:s teaches that Christ died only for Israel and
Galatians 3:20  that He died only for Paul. It would ap-              But before I quote him further, I must comment on
pear that the passages used by Berkhof as proof for his            what he wrote in the above quotations.

position really beg the question. They are relevant to his            First of all, then, I must criticize his comments on the
argument only when they are first interpreted in the light         texts which he quotes from Berkhofs Systematic Theology
,of the doctrine which they are used to prove,"                    to prove the latter's view on limited atonement.

      In opposition to these passages quoted by Berkhof,              They are John lO:ll, 15; Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25-27;  Matt.

Dekker refers to other Scriptural passages which, accord-          1:21;  Rom. 8~32-35.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              245


   In John 1O:ll we read: "I am the good shepherd: the              that also this passage does not state "exhaustively or ex-

good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Similarly, in         clusively" that Christ did not die for the `bthers." But

vs. 15 of the same chapter: "As the Father knoweth me,              notice:

even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the              1. That the text states very definitely that Christ died
sheep."                                                             for the Church. It is the Church which He purchased with

   Do not these passages teach as plainly as is ever possible       His own blood.

that Christ did not die for all men, that God did not intend           2. What is the Church? The answer of Scripture is:
that Christ should die for all men, that, therefore the atone-      "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
ment is limited to the elect? Dekker admits that the texts          who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
teach that Christ died for His sheep, but he adds "but              places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him
about the possibility that He may also have died for others         before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
these passages say nothing." I am sorry to say that to me           and without blame before him in love: Having predes-
this is sheer nonsense. For, who are Jesus' sheep for whom          tinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
and for whom alone He lay down His life? I will quote               himself, a`ccording  to the good pleasure of his will". And
from the same chapter of the gospel according to John to            then in vs. 7: "In whom we have the redemption through
show that He did not die for other than His sheep, as Dek-          his blood, the forgiveness of sins . . . . "
ker regards it as at least a possibility. I refer to vss. 26-30:       And again vs. 23: `Which is his body, the fulness of
`But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as             him that filleth all in all."
I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
                                                                       3. From these texts we learn:
and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck               a. That the Church consists of those whom God has
them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me,                 chosen from before the foundation of the world. For that
is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck! them out          Church and for none other Christ shed His blood. That
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."                      Church and none other has redemption in the blood of
                                                                    Christ.
   This entire passage teaches very clearly that none but
the elect are the sheep of Jesus. But, strange as it may               b. Moreover, that Church is the body of Christ, a com-
seem, Dekker would not and does not deny this. He speaks            plete organism with all the members occupying their own
of the possibility that Jesus may have died for others. This,       place in the body. No one can add to that body without
of course, is an impossible possibility, a contradiction in         marring the whole. The `bther" of which Dekker speaks
terms. But this contradiction is not mine but Dekker's.             simply do not exist, surely not as possible members for
                                                                    whom Christ shed His blood.
   However, because of this I must call your attention
especially to vs. 26 of the above quoted passage: "But ye              c. The only possible conclusion to which anyone can
believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto         come is that the atonement in the blood of Christ is partic-
you." Notice:                                                       ular and limited to the elect only.

                                                                       The next passage to which Berkhof refers in proof of
   1.    That the Lord does not say: Ye are not of my sheep,
                                                                    limited atonement is Eph. 5:25-27:
because ye believe not, but, on the contrary: `Ye believe
not, because ye are not of my sheep."                                  `Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved.
                                                                    the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify
   2. This implies that only the sheep of Jesus are able to
                                                                    and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That
believe and that, too, because no man can believe of him-
                                                                    he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having:
self: faith is the gift of God.
                                                                    spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be:
   3. Hence, the fact that they do not believe is proof of          holy and without blemish."
the fact that they are not of Jesus' sheep, whom the Father             Since also this passage speaks of the fact that Chr%t
has given Him.                                                      gave Himself, not for all men, not for others, but only for-
   4.    And since Jesus died only for His sheep and for none       the Church, we will not repeat what we have written on.
other He certainly did not die for the `bthers" to whom             this subject on the preceding text.
Dekker refers. God did not love them, He did not love                  The next passage is from Matt. 1:21,  which speaks of
all men. Atonement is not for the "others," it is not general       the name Jesus and interprets that name by saying: "for-
but particular; it is not unlimited but limited.                    he shall save his people from their sins." Also this is clear-

   Acts 20:28 is also quite definite and to the point. It           in itself. Jesus means Jehovah - Salvation or Jehovah --
reads as follows: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and         saves. And whom does Jehovah save? All men? No, but-:
to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made           "his people," those whom the Father gave to Jesus. For-
your overseers to feed the church of God, which he bath             them alone He shed His life-blood. Atonement is not gen-
purchased with his own blood." Dekker is of the opinion             eral, but particular; not unlimited but limited.


     246                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B - E A R E R
.
            Finally, Berkhof refers to the text found in Ram; 8:32-           .l.    First of all, I want to say: peccuti: I should not have

     35 whichreads as follows:                                             made such a broad statement. Even though this is prob-

            "He that spared not his own Son, but. delivered him up.        ably the only instance in the New Testament in which the
     for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all         term `world" means all men, it certainly has that meaning
     things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's                 in Rom. 3:19.

     elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?             2. Yet, even in Rom. 3:19  the term does not mere@
     It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is       mean `all men" but it signifies: all men as they are under
     even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession           sin and condemnation before God: "that all the world may
     for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?                become guilty before God." Hence, in my challenge to
     Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or           Dekker I should have written: "I challenge Prof. Dekker to
     peril, or sword?"                                                     find one text in Scripture in which the term `world' mereiy

            It seems to me that this is not a strong text. I was           or simply means all men."

     wondering whether Dekker, perhaps, had the wrong refer-                  3. And do not forget that the chief question is that or
     ence, but this is not the case: I looked it up in Berkhof's           whether God loves the world in the sense of "all men."
     Systematic  Theology. Of course, the text certainly speaks            For this Prof. Dekker cannot find any support at all in
     of limited atonement in the words: "He that spared not his            Rom. 3:19.
     own Son, but delivered him up for us all." Nevertheless,
                                                                              Finally, I wish to thank Prof. Dekker for the "nice
     Dekker might argue that the words "`for us all" might refer
                                                                           words" of praise he directs to me. Even though I am
     to all men. It is true that the text speaks of the elect, but
                                                                           probably too old by this time to appreciate this, still, over
     this is not immediately connected with God's delivering up
                                                                           against all the hatred that has been slung at my head for
     His Son "for us all." I do not mean to say, of course, that
                                                                           the sake of the truth (1924 was inspired by hatred, not 
     the words "for us all"                                                                                                                    by
                                do not refer to the elect and to them      love of the truth, of this I am convinced) it is kind of
     alone for the pronoun `us" cannot possibly refer to all men.
                                                                           pleasant to hear a different note once.
     But the text does not literally say that Christ died only for
                                                                                                                                              H.H.
     the elect, as Berkhof has it.

            But it is also true that Berkhof quotes many more texts

     to support the doctrine of limited atonement. And, besides,
     he also discusses some of the texts which the opponents                              Please, Professor Henry Stob!

     adduce in defense of unlimited atonement. And it is rather               In your article in the R@onned  JourruzZ  under the head-
     striking that the "world" as in John 3:16  occupies a large           ing "Does God Hate Some Men," you emphasize that words
     place in the defense of general atonement. According to               have meaning and this meaning must be defined. I agree
     Berkhof the term                 has a variety of meanings, but it
                           world                                           with you. Now, I wish to criticize your article in The
     does not always mean all men.                                         Stun&.rd  Beurer, as you might well expect. But before I
                                 Q 0 0 0                                   do this, I would like to have you give us a clear definition
            I am not through yet with this discussion, neither is          of the word hate or hatred. You use many words, but you
     Prof. Dekker as I notice from the Reformed JournaZ.  Nat-             never come to a clear definition of the term hatred.
     urally, I am deeply interested in this discussion, not merely             The definition must, of course, not be philosophical, but
     because the view of Prof. Dekker is, to my mind wholly                Scriptural.
     unbiblical and unreformed, but also because I am wonder-
                                                                              The original words are, as you well know, in the Hebrew
     ing what the Christian Reformed Church will do about this
                                                                           SANEE, and in the Greek MISEOO. Kindly look up all
     all. Will they condemn Prof. Dekker? This, I say again, is
                                                                           the references given in Scripture, form a concept, and then
     impossible unless they first retract the error of the First
                                                                           formulate a definition.
     Point of 1924. Will they allow the teaching of Prof. Dek-
     ker in the Calvin Seminary? Then it is forever "good-bye"                Please, Professor Stob!                                         H.H.

     to Reformed doctrine in the Seminary and in the Christian

     Reformed .Church.  Then, in other words, the bitter fruit of                                  SYMPATHY RESOLUTION                 {`I
     1924 has completely become ripe.                                         The Ladies' Society of the Oak Lawn Protestant Reformed
       I have to add one more item to my present editorial on              Church expresses its heartfelt sympathy to one of its members,
     the view of Prof. Dekker that God.  loves all men. It is this:        Mrs. C. Haak, and family, in the sudden loss and departure from
                                                                           this life of Mrs. Haak's  father,
            I made the rather bold statement that I challenged
                                                                                                    BERTUS  DOORNBOS
     Dekker to produce one text in which the term `World"
                                                                           who passed away at the age'of 79 on February 17, 1963.
     means "all men."
                                                                              "Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every
            Well, he took up my challenge, and he found one text           side." Psalm  71:21.
     in which `i;vorld"  does indeed mean "all men." Now what                                                   Oak Lawn Ladies' Society
                                                                                                                Rev. G. Vanden  Berg, President
     shall I say about this?                                                                                    Mrs. G. Vroom, Secretary


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               247


         Dekker, Berkhof, and H. J. Kuiper-                      for the reprobates that dwell under such preaching. He
                                                                 does not bless them by this, but curses them through it.
                     A Comparison                                He uses that preaching, in as far as it concerns them, merely

                                                                 as a means to plunge them more deeply into destruction,
   It is rather ironic that Professor Harold Dekker in his
                                                                 hence, as an instrument of His hatred. This is a positively
current articles in the Reformed Journal should find him-
                                                                 unscriptural thought. The Scriptures teaches us most cer-
self criticizing Prof. Berkhof's views on limited atonement,
                                                                 tainly, that we must consider the offer of salvation a tem-
and for that reason should find himself to be the object of
                                                                 poral blessing also for those that do not heed the invitation.
no little questioning in Christian Reformed circles. This is
                                                                 The following considerations serve to prove this:
ironic, because as far as the fundamental issues are con-

cerned, Prof. Dekker certainly stands in the line of 1924,          "(1) That God calls the ungodly unto conversion is

and therefore in the line of Prof. Berkhof and the late Rev.     presented in Scripture as a proof thut  He desires their sal-

H. J. Kuiper, two of the foremost defenders of the First         vation. In the prophecy of Ezekiel we listen to the voice of

Point and its general, well-meant offer of salvation. The        the Lord in words that speak of tender mercy: `Have I any

chief difference is that Prof. Dekker is more consistent, and    pleasure at all (even in any measure) that the wicked should

carries his views to their logical consequence, i.e., the        die? saith the Lord God; and not that he should return from
denial of limited atonement-something which the Prot-            his ways and live? And again: <For I have no pleasure in the
estant Reformed have always insisted was implied in the          death of him that dieth (i.e., of him that dieth in his sin)
First Point, but which Be&of  and Kuiper did not quite           saith the Lord God: wherefore, turn yourselves and live ye.'
want to accept.                                                  These passages teach us as clearly as words are able, that

   Anyone acquainted with the writings of Berkhof and            God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (notice that
Kuiper in defense of the Three Points of 1924 will recognize     he does not say `the elect wicked' but *of the wicked' entirely

at once that Prof. Dekker is not essentially deviating. His      in general); and the tender calling, to which we listen in

statements concerning the love of God are strikingly similar     them, witnesses of His great love for sinners  and of His
to those of Berkhof and Kuiper, though perhaps a little          desire to save the ungodly." (italics mine, H.C.H. ). De D&C

more blunt.                                                      Punten,  p. 21.

   For purposes of comparison I will reproduce some of              It is to be noted that Berkhof, according to his own
the statements of Berkhof and Kuiper as quoted in an             statement, applies all this to the wicked entirely in general,,
instructive little brochure by the Rev. H. Hoeksema, "Cal-       and not merely to the elect.
vin, Berkhof, and H. J. Kuiper, A Comparison." The quota-
                                                                    Berkhof also cites Ezekiel 33:Il,  also, remember, with!
tions from Berkhof in this brochure are translated from his
                                                                 a view to `the wicked entirely in general," and therefore,.
"De Drie Punten  in Alle Deelen  Gereformeerd." And the
                                                                 the reprobate, as follows: "There is still another passage in
quotations from Kuiper are from his "The Three Points of
                                                                 Ezekiel in which the Lord expresses the same thought in still'
Common Grace:" There are also quotations from Calvin's
                                                                 stronger language, in which He even confirms it with an
writings against Pighius in the above named brochure,
                                                                 oath, viz., Ez. 33:ll. `As I live, scaith the Lord, I have no,
which make it abundantly evident that Calvin agrees with
                                                                 pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked.
neither Berkhof, Kuiper, or Dekker. But for the present, I
                                                                 turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil
merely want to show that Dekker is in the line of Berkhof
                                                                 ways; for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel? Are these
and Kuiper.
                                                                 not words of tender lovingkindness, in which a Father im-.
   Prof. Dekker writes concerning John 3:16:  "Whether           plores His backsliding children to return to the house and.
taken as the cosmos or as the human race, `world' in this        to the heart of father?" De Drie Punten,  p. 22.
passage clearly covers all men. By no strain of exegesis can
                                                                    There is surely no d8erence  between this and Prof..
God's redemptive love be confined to any special group."
                                                                 D-ekker's  writings, though the latter are perhaps more blunt..
And again: "God loves His enemies; God loves all men."

Further: "The universal love of God is also revealed in His         There are several passages also in H. J. Kuiper's printed:

invitation of the gospel, sincerely extended to all without      sermons on "The Three Points of Common Grace" which.

reservation or limitation." Reformed Journal, Dec., 1962,        remind one strongly of the writings of both Prof. Dekker

p. 5.                                                            and Prof. H. Stob, who writes on God's hatred in February,

                                                                 1963 issue of the Reformed Jorrrnul.
    Now listen to the Berkhof of a few decades ago: "The

following link in the argument of Synod is this: The gen-           Wrote the Rev. H. J. Kuiper, pp. 15, 16: "Let us em-.

eral and well-meant offer of salvation is a sign of God's        phasize the fact, that your conception of God depends upon

favour toward sinners, is for them a blessing from the Lord.     your answer to the question whether God shows any favor -

This must emphatically be pointed out, because they, who         to the reprobate. A certain Christian has well said: `Our.

cannot agree with the declaration of Synod, maintain that        God is a just God, but not a cruel God.' He has no pleasure :

the preaching of the Word is merely intended as a curse          in the misery of any of His creatures. He sends the wicked _

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


earthly blessings as the fruits of His kindness, in order to      surd as it is serious. So far as we know, the only argument

convince them of His sincere willingness to bestow upon           in support of this astounding charge is that God cannot

them the greater gift of salvation in Christ. God is just         sincerely offer salvation to reprobate sinners, unless Christ

and stern but He is not harsh and cruel. He is not a God          has actually paid for their sins and unless they have a will

who reveals to a large part of humanity nothing but His           that is free to choose the salvation offered them. Our an-

wrath. Even the reprobates are His creatures, the works of        swer is that this does not at all follow. It is true that

His hands; and in His goodness and grace He lavishes              human logic cannot fully harmonize the doctrine of elec-

blessings upon them as long as they live, even though they        tion and reprobation, of a particular atonement and of

perish in their sins. Thus He magnifies His love as well as       man's total depravity (which implies that our will by

His wrath in the reprobate; even as He glorifies His justice      nature is free to choose only the evil but not the good) with

as well as His grace in the redeemed.                             that of the general offer of grace. But does this mean that

   "Neither can you maintain the sincere offer of salvation       both cannot be true? There is not one doctrine in lfoly
to all who hear the gospel, unless you accept the truth           Writ which does not involve us in intellectual difhculties.
which is formulated in the first point of Synod. If God as-       Think of the mystery of the One Being and the Three Per-
sumes no attitude of favor to the unthankful and evil, he         sons, of divine sovereignty and human freedom, of original
cannot sincerely offer them the blessings of redemption . . .     sin and the sinlessness of Christ, of the union of the two
                                                                  natures in the one divine person of Christ."
   "There is no one here in the audience who can say, `God
hates me.' Suppose you knew that you will ultimately be              Prof. Dekker has accepted the consequence of general
lost; even then you could not say, `God does not care for         atonement, but is not quite ready apparently to accept the
me.' The gospel we preach is a gospel for sinners -for all        equally necessary consequence of free will. And so he also
sinners. It is glad tidings also for you. God has no pleasure     seeks refuge in the mystery as follows: "Those who still
in your death but therein that you turn and live. He hates        bear His image will surely be the objects of His love even
your sins but He does not-hate you. He invites you to come        though not actually redeemed.

to Him and be saved. That very fact will make your punish-           "Of course, no matter how we understand all of these
ment doubly deserved if you should be lost. You will never        matters, mystery remains. Can we explain that God loves
be able to say: `I have not tasted God's goodness and grace;      all men while not all men are saved? Surely not. But is
I have never experienced His love.' You will have to say:         there anything that we really can explain about the love of
`I have spurned His love, rejected His grace; and now there       God? Let us carry out our mission to all men according
remains for me a righteous judgment, a well-deserved wrath        to the plain Biblical givens, leaving the unexplainable
whose flames will burn forever and ever'."                        where is belongs -in the infinite mystery of the heart of

   Compare also the following:                                    Him who is Himself love. `The ultimate mystery for mis-

                                                                  sions is the mystery of divine love."
   Dekker: "The doctrine of limited atonement as com-

monly understood and observed in the Christian Reformed              In the light of the above, I repeat my contention that

Church impairs the principle of the universal love .of God        Prof. Dekker is in essential agreement with the fathers of

and tends to inhibit missionary spirit and activity."             the First Point. And I add another contention: the ad-

   H. J. Kuiper: "One of the most serious aspects of the          herents of the First Point can hardly criticize Prof. Dekker
present denial of the doctrine of Common Grace is the             in good conscience.
denial of the general offer of salvation. It robs the gospel                                                              H.C.H.

ef its evangelical note. It is bound to create an attitude of                                -       -
religious passivism and fatalism which has been the curse

of every church `where the preaching of election was not                                 Announcement
.counterbalanced  by the sinner's responsibility and of God's

sincere offer of salvation to all without discrimination." The
Three Points                                                                             TEACHER NEEDED
                 of Common Grace, p. 13.
   Finally, it is to be noted that both Prof. Dekker and the         The South Holland - Oak Lawn Protestant Reformed
late Rev. H. J. Kuiper take refuge in what they call the          Christian School is in need of a teacher for Grades 7, 8, and
mystery. The only difference is that Prof. Dekker, moves          9, who will also serve as administrator. Any qualified
that mystery one step farther away, after having accepted
                                                                  teacher interested in this attractive position for the 1963-`64
the consequence of general atonement, which the Rev.
Kuiper did not want to accept.                                    term and willing to consider it is asked to correspond with
   The Rev. Kuiper wrote on p. 12 of his The Three Points         our Board Secretary;
,of Common Grace, as follows: `This objection (that Synod                                           Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
virtually committed itself to the Arminian doctrines of the                                         9402 S. 53rd Court

,General  Atonement and the Free Will, H.C.H. ) is as ab-                                           Oak Lawn, Illinois


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               249


                                                                     It certainly is not very clear what Arminius means in
      O U R   D O C T R I N E                                     the words we just quoted of him. But this is usually the
                                                                  case with those that want to deny the Reformed truth and

                                                                  still claim to be Reformed and remain in the Reformed

                                                                  churches.
                         CHIAPlm   V I

                                                                     And Arminius writes further: "I therefore add, that in
     PRESERVATION AND PERSEVERANCE                                this way I have hitherto-discriminated between these two

                                                                  cases. At one time I did say, with an explanation subjoined
                         (Continued)                              to it, `that it was possible for believers finally to decline or

   And once more, they quote from Hebrews 6:4-8, where            fall away from faith and salvation.' But at no period have
we read: "For it is impossible for those who were once            I asserted, `that believers do finally decline or fall away
enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were       from faith or salvation.' This article, therefore, is ascribed
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the             to one who is not its author; and it is another offense
good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,            against historical veracity."    Then Arminius explains that
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repent-         there is a vast difference between saying that it is possible
ance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God            for believers to decline from faith and that it is possible for
afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which         believers to decline from salvation. And he explains this
drinketh in the rain that cometh  oft upon it, and bringeth       by saying: `<For the latter, when rigidly and accurately
forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth        examined, can scarcely be admitted; it being impossible for
blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and              believers, as long as they remain believers, to decline from
briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is        salvation. Because, were this possible, that power of God
to be burned."                                                    would be conquered which he has determined to employ in
                                                                  saving believers. On the other hand, if believers fall away
   These passages of Scripture seem to be in opposition to
                                                                  from the faith and become unbelievers, it is impossible for
the doctrine of the certain preservation and perseverance
                                                                  them to do otherwise than decline from salvation, that is,
of the saints. It seems, therefore, that those who oppose
                                                                  provided they still continue unbelievers."
this doctrine have a solid basis in -Holy Writ. Arminius, of
course, was accused of teaching that the saints could finally        It is, however, evident, no matter what Arminius writes.
fall away. And in answer to that accusation he writes (Cf.        and however much he camouflages the truth, that he be-
The WrXngs  of Arminius, Vol I, p. 280, ff. ) : "I say, that      lieves in the possibility of the saints falling away from faith.
a distinction ought to be made between power and action.          and salvation.
For it is one thing to declare that `it is possible for the          All this is true not only of Arminius, who died in 1609,.
faithful to fall away from faith and salvation' and it is an-     but also of the Remonstrants, who followed him and who
other to say, that `they do actually fall away.' This distinc-    composed their own Five Articles.

tion is of such extensive observance, that even antiquity it-        As I said before, it seems that Scripture teaches the pos-

self was not afraid of affirming, concerning the elect and        sibility of a falling away of those that have been purified.

those who were to be saved, `that it was possible for them        by the blood of Christ, that have known the way of right-

not to be saved;' and that `the mutability by which it was        eousness and have walked therein for a time, that were

possible for them not to be willing to obey God, was not          once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and were-

taken away from them,' although it was the opinion of the         become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the-

ancients,'    that such persons never would in reality be         good Word of God and the power of the age to come, ac--

damned.' On this very subject, true, the greater part of our      cording to Hebrews 6, the text we just quoted above. AC-.

own doctors lay down a different theory. For they say, `that      cording to Scripture, they fall away so definitely and finally.

it is possible for such persons to fall away, if their nature,    that the end is worse than the beginning, that they in--

which is inclined to lapses and defection, and if the tempta-     crease in ungodliness, and that they can never be brought.

tion of the world and Satan, be the only circumstances            to repentance again. Besides, the Remonstrants argued that:

taken into consideration: but that they will not finally fall     the doctrine of the certain perseverance of the saints simply.

away, because God will bring back to himself his own elect        makes careless and profane men. And als-o this objection.

before the end of life.' If one asserts `that it is not pos-      appears to have considerable weight. The whole Word of

sbile  for believers, in consideration of their being elect       God admonishes the believers to watch and to pray, in.

persons, finally to fall away from salvation, because God         order that they may not fall away. They are admonished to.

has decreed to save them,' I answer, the decree concerning        be faithful, even unto death, that they keep that which they.

saving does not take away the possibility of damning, but         have, that no one take their crown. The Word of God ad-

it removes damnation itself. For.`to  be actually saved,' and     monishes the people of God that they shall not be high--

`a possibility of not being saved,' are two things not con-       minded, but rather fear, seeing that they also may be brok-

trary to each other, but in perfect agreement."                   en off as branches from the olive tree.                   H.H. _


2    5      0                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                       creatures, animals and people. The entire city was pre-
     A CLOUD OF WITNESSES /                                            sented  as one great sacrifice unto Jehovah, by whose power
                                                                       alone it had-been overcome. This was the firstfruits  of the

                                                                       promised land. To the Lord it was given.

                                                                             Once Israel turned from the smoldering rums of that
                 Achor (The Valley of Trouble)
                                                                       once great city, the enthusiasm of the people began to run

                                                                       high, until they were impatient to be on into the heart of
             But the children of Tsrael~committed  a trespass in
                                                                      the land. The gates of Canaan had very apparently been
          the accursed thing: for A&an,  the son of Carmi, the
                                                                      thrown open wide before them. Henceforth it seemed noth-
          son of Zabdi,  the son of Zerah,, of the tribe of Judah,
                                                                      ing would be able to interfere with their advancement.
          took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the            They had seen the power of their God and no one could
          LORD wa.s  kindled against the children of Israel . . .     fail to trust in Him any longer. He would go forth in power
             And they raised over him a great heap of storm           before them, and in faith they would follow after. Could
          unto. this day,  So the LORD turned from the fierce-        anything withhold the power which had brought down this
          ness of his a,nger.  Wherefore the name of that  place      great destruction upon the city of Jericho?
          was called, The valley of Achor (i.e., trouble) unto               The next logical step in their advancement was quite
          this day.                                Joshua 7: I, 26    evident. On the hills overlooking the plains of Jericho was

     It was a miracle beyond question. In all of Canaan               a city named Ai, guarding the way to the mountain plains
there was not a city more impressive in size and power,               and passes. But the city was small and one could hardly
more strongly fortified, more forbidding to an enemy than             anticipate from it any real trouble. It almost seemed a
was Jericho. When Israel approached, its heavy gates were             shame to send against so small a fortification Israel's entire
closed up tight, its lofty bulwarks and towers heavily                army. Joshua sent forth scouts to investigate and soon
manned, it was a city on guard. But Israel made no attack.            they returned to confirm what he had already suspected.
Without a display of force, the army merely took to march-            The advice of the scouts was, "Let not all the people go up;
ing around it. Seven days they marched around and on the              but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite
seventh day seven times led by seven priests with seven               Ai;  and make not all the people to labour  thither; for they
great trumpets in their hands, each repetition of that num-           are but few."
ber reminding Israel anew of the covenant of God which                 The whole matter seemed quite simple and quite in-
the number seven represented. And then it happened; the               significant compared to Jericho. With confidence the three
seven trumpets were lifted to the lips and sounded, as                thousand men of Israel went up to engage the men of Ai
though to announce the approach of Israel's God and King,             in battle. But somehow it did not work out the way that
Jehovah; with a shout of triumph the voices of the people             they had expected. Going into battle the first casualites
were added; and without the touch of a human hand the                 suffered were of Israel and not of the men of Ai. In fact,
walls of the city instantly crumbled. Here was a work that            at every turn of the battle the children of Israel saw that
could only be the hand of Almighty God. All that remained             they were being bested. Soon the army of Israel was fall-
was the portion of wall in which Rahab dwelt, a monu-                 ing back until at last it turned in full retreat. Israel had
ment to her faith.                                                    been defeated.

     Without resistance of anv kind. the armv of Israel                      The first stragglers from the battle of Ai were met at
                                   .                 ,
climbed over the rubble into the very heart of the city.              the camp of Israel with cries of anguished disbelief. How
Missing were the usual shouts of a plundering army. In-               could this have ever happened? In a matter of moments
stead there hung over the men of Israel a reverential awe,            the whole camp of Israel was thrown into utter confusion.
almost  as if they were entering a sacred temple. This                What had happened to their faith? Here they had fully
great demonstration of divine power could not be lightly              expected that henceforth Jehovah would lead them on from
ignored or even taken for granted, while in their ears still          victory to vitcory until they had taken total possession of
seemed to echo the command which had been given, "And                 the land. They had all trusted this. No one any more had
the city shall be accursed even it, and -all that are therein,        been holding back. And now this. What was wrong? Had
to the LORD . . . And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from            their God deceived them? Was he unable to perform for
the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when            them all that he had prormsed.  Utter dismay swept like a
ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel            tidal wave through the camp. No one knew how to explain

.a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and           it.

vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD:                    Even Joshua was beside himself with disappointment.
they shall come into the treasury of `the LORD." Systema-             He could not understand it either. No, he would not utter
tically  they went through the city gathering the silver and          words of open rebellion as the people might, but neither
gold and vessels of metal, to bring them to the priests of            could he keep himself from thinking that somehow God
God, and destroying everything else, including all living             had let him down. In anguish he tore at his clothes, covered


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EARER                                                   251


his head with dust and threw himself upon the ground               deed like that, stealing, as it were, directly from the Lord.

before the ark of the Covenant. Until evening he lay there,        Hardly a sound was to be heard in the charged atmosphere

and then he prayed, "Alas, 0 Lord God, wherefore hast              as Israel went through the formalities in the drawing .of-

thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us         lots. Slowly the finger of God began to point. First the

unto the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God         tribe of Judah was singled out; then  the family of Zerah;

we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of Jordan.        then the household of Zabdi; finally it was Carmi, and his

0 Lord what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs           son Achan. Before the cold, cutting glance of all Israel the

before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhab-        man stood, exposed. Here was a man who had fallen deeply

itants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ             into the way of sin. Not only had he taken of the goods of
                                                      US round,

and cut off. our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do        Jericho, but when the wrath of Jehovah turned against his

unto thy great name?" Try as he might, Joshua had not              nation, he had continued not to recognize that he was the
been-able to keep the discouragement out of his voice. He          cause of this trouble. Even when the nature of the sin was an

felt that God had failed them, and it became evident in            nounced  by special revelation he had not spoken, half trust-

his prayer.                                                        ing that his care in secrecy would keep him hidden. Closer

   But for prayers such as that the Lord had no patience.          and closer the finger of God came through the means of the
Not as though it wa so strange for Joshua to pray that way;        lot until  it rested directly upon him, and still he was silent.
Moses had done much the same in one of the early crises            I%.nally  Joshua spoke, "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to
of his ministry (Ex. 14: 15). But it was finally a prayer of       the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him;
weakness more than faith. The Lord's answer to it was a            and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.`>

harsh rebuke, "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon            At last, while Israel waited, Achan opened his mouth

thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also trangressed       and explained, `Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God

my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even             of Israel, and, thus. and thus have I done: when I saw

taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dis-        among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two

sembled also, and they have put it even among their own            hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty

stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand be-        shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and,

fore their enemies, but turned their backs before their ene-       behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent,.

mies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with           and the silver under it." Achan's voice was cold with resig-

you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among            nation. He acknowledged his deed but without a real con-

you." Here was Joshua's trouble. He had looked for Is-             fession. His regret was not for that he had sinned but for

rael's weakness in God instead of in the people. Ought he          that he had been discovered.

not to have known that God would not change from His                  Quickly Joshua sent messengers and quickly they re-
purpose and that the cause of Israel's defeat was to be            turned again. In the ground under Achan's tent they had.
found in the unfaithfulness of the people. Rather than             found the spoil just as he had explained they would. Con-
bring his prayer of bitter accusation, he should have been         cerning his guilt there could no longer be any question.
searching for the transgressor among the people. Exactly,             It was a solemn procession that left the camp of Israel:
God continued to spell out for him how he ought to be              that day for the administration of justice. With them was.
proceeding.    "Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify         taken Achan, the spoil he had stolen, his family, and all his.
yourselves against tomorrow` for thus saith the LORD God           possessions.    There in the presence of all they were stoned.
of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee,        to death and all was burned with fire. It was necessary, as.
0 Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until         Hell is, that Jehovah God might be justified. Over all that
ye take away the accursed thing from among you. In the             remained of Achan was raised up a great heap of stones,.
morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your            and from that time forth the place was known as the valley-
tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD             of Achor. It was the valley of trouble in which Israel first:
taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and           learned that even in the promised land sin would sit11 re-
the family which the LORD shall take shall come by                                                                             .a
                                                                   main to afflict them.
households; and the household which the LORD shall take
                                                                                                                             B.W._
shall come man by man.       And it- shall be, that he that is

taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he
and that he hath: because he hath wrought folly in Israel."                              Announcement

   Here was a thing which Israel had not thought to ima-              The Free Christian School of Edgerton, Minnesota, is-
gine, that in the very face of God's power demonstrated at         in need of 2 teachers for the 1963-64 school term. A prin--
Jericho anyone should have dared to transgress.: the holy          cipal for grades 5-6-7-S and a teacher for grades l-2-3-4..-
command dedicating the whole of the city as a sacrifice to         Address all correspondence to:
God. One can well imagine the tension among the people                                               M R .   ARTHYUR  V~Y
as they came together wondering who could have done a                                                Edgerton, hliunesota

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


                                                                 the coins: "In God do we trust", and places the filthy lucre
       F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T   / in its rightful category.
                                                                    Now Paul knows very well that underneath the striving

                                                                 of those who would liberate the slaves, or keep them

                 Exposition of I Timothy                         captive, and who did not see all things in relationship to
                                                                 Christ, was the thought of material gain. It meant that
                       (I Timothy 6:6-10)                        these  would have this world, the lusts of the flesh, the

                                                                 lusts of the eyes and the pride of life.
                              b.                                    Hence, Paul will give us a decription  of all who "would

                                                                 be rich".    The term in the Greek for "would" is 
   We saw in our former installment on these verses that                                                                   Hoi
                                                                 aboulomenoi".  
the man of gbdly  contentment is rich in God. And it                                They are here viewed as a class of men and
                                                                 women in distinction from those who are content with food
alone is true riches, affording satisfaction for the entire
                                                                 and raiment. Here is the dividing line between these 
man, body, soul and spirit, and that, too, for time and for                                                                two
                                                                 classes. It is either contentment of godliness or the 
eternity.                                                                                                                   dis-
                                                                 contentment of ungodliness. And there is no-no-man's-land
   When this is applied to our present existence here on
                                                                 separating these two classes of people. It is either haters
earth it can be summed up as is done by the apostle in
                                                                 or lovers of God, and that concretely mainfested  in the
verse 8 "But having food and raiment, with these things
                                                                 attitude towards the world's goods. It is serving God or
let us be content."
                                                                 serving Mammon. It is either-or! Wherefore let it be
   It should be observed that the apostle employs the
                                                                 understood that Paul is speaking of very evil people: they
present active participle  "having". This underscores that
                                                                 are those who life's ambition it is to be rich in tbis world's
this is a having in the "present time". It is a possession
                                                                 good' That is their plan and strategy. To this class belong
which we have `today".       Contentment does not ask any
                                                                 the "`have not's" as well as the "haves"; both ends of the
anxious questions about tomorrow. That is a symptom  of
                                                                 class of "men". Paul is here speaking definitely of "men".
the life of the world, the nations. They are  forever busy
                                                                 Men "`anthropozrs"     are cast into destruction. He is not
with the question of what shall we eat and what shall we
                                                                 making the very sinful and erroneous distinction of those
drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed. They have
                                                                 who speak of the "majority group" in distinction .from  the
their prophets of doom and their prophets concerning
                                                                 "minority groups".     The poor man who desires to become
business and prosperity; they endeavor a "controlled"
                                                                 rich and the rich man who desires to become richer are
economy.     The "ever normal granery"  is their ideal. But
                                                                 both in the same class. They are both on the same highway
such is not the concern of the godly man, who is rich in
                                                                 of sin; essentially there is not any difference.  Paul is not
God, trusting in him, expecting allgood things from Him
                                                                 interested in a social gospel of equality, nor is he
alone, knowing that fruitful years and barren years, riches
                                                                 interested in the maintenance of the "status quo" of the
and poverty, sickness and health come not by chance but
                                                                 white man's supremacy. That is simply outside of the view-
from the hand of our heavenly Father, who knoweth  that
                                                                 point of Paul's admonition. He is speaking of the horn0
we need all these things.      The -Christian, the contented
                                                                 genus, white or black, or red or yellow or brow.  And de
Christian, sees faithfulness of God in his slice of bread and
                                                                 dividing line is between those who are godly and those who
in his one suite of clqthes.  He sees the promise fulfilled:
                                                                 are ungodly, between believers and unbelievers!! Two clas-
your bread is certain, and your water is sure. And he
                                                                 ses of people. And now he will tell us what happens to and
observes with David: I have been young, and am old,
                                                                 is the lot of those. whose ambition and striving is to be
but I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed
                                                                 rich in earthly possessions and prestige and honor.
seeking bread! What he has in the "present mometit"  is
sufficient, for he does not have `faith in the future", which       On which side do you belong; what are you striving
is idolatry, but in the living God!                              for? By our fruits we shall be known! We cannot serve
   However, Paul adds the injunction "let us therewith be        God and Mammon?!

content."                                                           Let us then notice what Paul says about the class who

   Such contentment is becoming to us, and it is true            are walking in ungodly discoratent, who hate the ways and

wisdom. For our God is not an idol to forget us, but he          judgments of the Most High, and kick against the pricks of

makes our needs his care. The motto written on our               the dealings of Divine Majesty, whether they are socialists

A.merican  coins `<In God We Trust" must be more than            and communists who say that the Christian religion is the

a mere motto. I believe that it has been removed from the        "opium of the people", or the rank and file which simply

coins now. It possibly is better so for it is mostly the         want a little bigger piece of this world's goods.

Mammom  itself of idolatrous man. It is an idol which               Paul says of such that they "fait  .into  temptation and

leaves its~ devotees in the lurch. It is most deceitful.         snares and many ignorant and h,urtful'  L&s, wMch  drown

However, the contentment of godliness says, when it uses         men in destruckion  and perdition" I Tim. 6:9b.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D : . - ` B E A R E R                                         253


  We do well to try to understand the implication of this         perdition. All-their riches will be taken from them and

sorry end of those who seek merely earthly riches and are         will again be sought by those who will follow this same

not rich in God, and that, too, for our very life's sake.         path of all who desire to be rich.

That they "fall" is really that they become a victim. They           Paul here gives  in a capsule form the entire teaching of

do not really attain the end of contentment, security for         Scripture on this point.     One is here reminded of the

which they seek. They buy so much life insurance and              vanity of vanities of the book Ecclesiastics.  Is the sum

iocial  security that they worry how to Pay the premium -         of all man's endeavors not weariness and vexation of
unless you are the United States government who seeems            spirit? I hear the preacher repeat it: all is sadness, wrong,

to have the inalienable right to go into debt without paying      a vexation of spirit. Who v;rill  show us any @od in this
it! Life insurance agents forever tell you eat you must           vicious circle? It drones like the death-knell: "Beh6ld  all

make your future sure. And it becomes a wearisome cycle,          is vanity and a vexation of spirit." Here it is true: "in`much

the vicious circle, a virtual maelstrom of uncertainty, and       wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge

anxious asking: when will the bottom fall out of my little        increaseth sorrow. And the preacher majr' lotik  at `&other
basket, and all I've ga&thered  toward my security slips          facet of human endeavor to gain advtiiitage  in this world -
through my fingers! Foolish man falls head-long into the          without God - this also is vexation and -V&&y;  it is full'  of
very thing he thinks to avoid, and that, too, in every            travail and vexation of spirit; it is travail  of the spirit `to
dimension of society.                                             rlo profit! Ecclesiastes  1:14;  2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6; 6:9. AX

   Man who desires to become rich (not being contented            is weariness, sadness; a breaking, a destruction!

in godliness) falls into temptation. The world's goods               Small wonder that when "some" of the congregation in

allure him.    The grass in the neighbor's pastures looks         the times of the apostles "reached out" for this goal they

greener than in his own. And so he `<reaches"  out, and gets      pierced themselves with many sorrows. All they had was

"ensnared" in the web of his own plans and aspirations in         disappointment, torment and anguish in their souls. Yes,

the judgment of God. He thinks that another has "taken"           they fell from the faith; they were deceived by their own

him. When a "holiday" is proclaimed on the banks he is            lusts. And their sorrows were many! Everywhere they

ready to shoot the banker, preferably the <`International         went, morning, noon and night, it is nothing but bitterness

Bankers", little understanding that he was ensnared by his        and dissatisfaction. It was poverty in their souls. Joy and

own "desire to become rich"! It was the `lust" of covetous-       peace and contentment they do not have. The continual

ness, the fundamental `idolatry" of Mammon that deceived          feast of the righteous they do not enjoy. Their very merri-

him. His own idol causes him to pass through the tie!             ment and laughter is superficial, thin; it is like the crackling

   The wrath of God is upon all ungodliness of man. God           of thorns under a pot.

is not mocked. The-earth is still the Lord's and the fulness         Such is the lot of all who would seek to become rich
thereof; He does with it what he pleases and He sits in           in this world where the wrath of almighty God is revealed.
judgment. And those who will to be rich find that lust            And no dose of "Common Grace" will possibly alleviate
is very `hurtful" and very "unwise".. They did not have           this bitterness of man. For this `love of money" is an evil
the power of proper understanding of God and true riches,         root. On it grows no good fruit, but it breaks out into all
a.nd their very seeking has .implicit  in it something very       manner of evils. They who love money must need be very
hurtful to their soul and body. It wears out their body           cruel. Does not the gangster kill his victim, and does not
and spirit. For riches has wings and will take off as do          the entire world of "business" live by the principle that the
the eagles. It is a wearying business this trying to be rich.     "bread of one man is the death of the other man". Does
Competition is the spice of life, but it drives men to the        not the avaricious farmer gloat when he hears that the fruit
mental institutions, to wreck and ruin and finally to the         and vegetables are frozen and have dried out in another
grave. It is the sentence of God upon Adam: in the sweat          region.    Does not ever the hire of the laborer cry to the
of thy brow thou shall eat bread. Gen. 3. And all these           LORD Sabbaoth? And is not the love of money revealed in.
things become so weary that no one can utter them. And            the evil of "interest rates" which make one pay twice for
in the midst of this mad-house of confusion (go to the            his property.
Board of Trade) all manner of paneceas  are concocted by             The solution? To make this world a perfect social order?
man, and men cry to each other "it's a great life if you don't    God forbid! It is in the contentment of godliness; having
weaken", and the "art to relax" is preached, and the need         food and drink and to be therewith content. A certain
of modern man's vacation is stressed, on some lonely island       artist grasped this point and painted an old woman, bare
of Robinson Crusoe.                                               walls, a bowl of soup, a glass of water, the open Bible

   But they who are not rich in God are very guilty before        and hands folded in prayer and thanksgiving to God. You

God. Him they have ignored, the Giver of all things. Him          hasten to assure me that you saw that picture? Did you

they do not know as a providing Father. And they are cast         hear the message, and do you heed it?

into destruction from the presence of God, and into eternal                                                                  G.L.


254                                         T H E   S-TANDARD   B E A R E R

                                                                   are predicted to countless numbers of unborn babes, if
               I N   H I S   F E A R                               atomic radiation -which also came out of the test tube -
                                                                   is increased but a little bit. Doctors who are heart special-

                                                                   ists die of heart troubles. Authorities on the "cure" and

                        Heart Trouble                              prevention of cancer are given a few weeks to. live before
                                                                   their malignant tumor brings the last beat of their hearts to
       There is no advantage in giving cold statistics.            come and be a matter of history. Diseases once "licked"

       It makes no difference either just what the cause of all    by penicillin and sulpha drugs bounce back with more
this increase in the number of heart ailments, heart attacks       power and danger. Disease germs appear which cannot be
and deaths due to them is. Whether it is because of our            subdued by antibiotics which formerly were used to destroy
way of life, our soft living, our sheltered life, or whether it    them. No, God is not mocked and Christ still is The Way
is due to the fact that men live longer than in years gone         because He is The Truth and The Life. The Lamb of God
by, and the wear and tear on this ever -active  muscular           still takes away the sins of the world, and no disease or
organ makes itself evident because man lives to a ripe old         death today is taken away in any other way than through
age. Maybe others who died of other diseases at earlier            the blood of the cross. We are not becoming just a little
ages, if they had been spared from these by antibiotics            bit closer to being "like God" by our inventions, discoveries,
and new found surgical methods, would have died of some            educational systems and research. We are just as far away
heart trouble later on anyway. I say it makes little differ-       from Him now as Adam was in Paradise before Satan
ence as far as the fact is concerned that it is our number         whispered the devilish lie in his ear that he could become
one killer.                                                        like unto God. No, we are farther away from God than
                                                                   we were at that time. For we lost all that good content
   If `we knew just what the cause is, we might possible           out of the image of God. We lost all our righteousness and
find a way to eliminate it in many cases, and ano another          holiness, all our true knowledge and fear of God which is
disease would become killer number one. We are not to              the beginning of wisdom.     Instead of becoming like unto
be careless about such matters. We may not tempt the               God, we became like unto the devil. And it may be said
Lord our God, Jesus told the devil in the wilderness. And          too that we look like the devil. Spiritually we certainly do!
when means are at hand to give us cure and care, we must           And it is only by the grace of God that we have the
make use of them. We must take the very best care of               promise of being made partakers of the Divine nature,
our bodies that we can. They too are a gift of God over            that is, to be clothed once again with God's righteousness
which we are called to be stewards.                                and holiness, to have true knowledge and wisdom.

       Man is concerned about the fact that heart trouble is on
                                                                      Really it makes no difference how a man dies and what
the increase. A little twinge of pain in his chest and he
                                                                   the cause of the stopping of his heart is. If he does not
considers very seriously the matter of having an examina-
                                                                   die of one disease, it will be another. If it is not a disease
tion. Doctors and medical organizations urge you to have
                                                                   it is through violence and injury of one sort or another.
a complete physical at least once a year. It is simply
                                                                   Or even if he simply is "lived-out" and his body is literally
considered to be a MUST for a man over forty years of age.
                                                                   worn out, really what difference does it make HOW we
   And after all is said and done, even were man able to           came to that stilling of our hearts? The main fact is that
cure these heart troubles, control the cholesterol in the          the heart beats no more, and we are dead.
blood, find ways to eliminate the fatty deposits already              Heart disease: It is the human race's ONLY killer!
choking up the arteries and have blood pressure always
completely under control, another disease is sure to appear           Adam, as the head and representative of the whole
to baffle man; and by means of a disease in an entirely            human race had heart -trouble. And his heart stopped
different part of his body his heart is caused to stop beating.    beating! It never began to beat again! We all died in him!
God is not mocked. The curse is not going to be conquered          His heart stopped beating with the love of God; and he
by science and invention, by medicine and surgery. Only            really had heart trouble! The love of God, that coursed
the cross is the cure, for it removes the guilt of sin and         through his arteries and veins and moved all his being in
thus destroys the wages of sin, the effects and fruits of          praise and service of the living God as being pumped by
sin. We are not going to get away from death by what               that heart, poured out of that heart in one mighty gush-all
men discover and perform.        The test tube will not show       of it- when his heart was pierced by the arrow of Satan's
us the way out of this life which is nothing but a continual       lie. Man died!

death and into a more abundant life. Already we have                  0, let us not deny that! Scripture is too plain about
dreadful and pathetic deformities in new born babes                that. ~Let  us not say that man by nature was spiritually
because of what came out of the test tube and seemed to            sick and weak, partially paralyzed but yet with enough of
be such a boon to agitated mankind. Horrible mutations             a spiritual pulse in his arteries and veins that he can still


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   - B E A R E R   ~                                       255


will to be saved. His pulse is not weak. His pulse is gone,          According to Scripture the heart of man is the spiritual-

for he has no love of God coursing through his arteries           ethical center of his being. Scripture does not mean that

and veins. He has heart trouble of the worst sort. His            fleshly, muscular organ that pumps blood throughout your

heart has stopped beating with the love of God. Paul says         body. But there is a beautiful similarity ,to be noted

to the church at Ephesus that we are DEAD in trespasses           between that physical organ and the spiritual heart. Your

and sins. Jesus says that we have to receive life out of          whole being is connected to that heart, and all the being

heaven before we can even see the kingdom of God. For             depends upon that heart. If it does not send a flow of

He said to Nicodemus that except a man be born again-             life giving blood to one cell, that cell will die. All must

1iterally:born  from above-he cannot see the kingdom. Paul        stand in a living and continual contact with that heart.

says to the church at Rome that the carnal mind-and that          No less true is it that the heart of man-as Scripture speaks

is your and my mind by our natural birth-is enmity against        of it-is the center of man's life from an ethical-moral point

God, is not subject to the law of God, and indeed CANNOT          of view. Out of it are all the issues of life. It sends spiritual

BE subject to that law. And God said to Adam, did He not          impulses to every muscle, cell and fibre. Solomon says that

that in the DAY that he ate of that tree he would die?            as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. And since the

                                                                  heart of man is filled with spiritual poison-he hates God and
   Physical death did not overtake Adam for another nine
hundred and thirty years.                                         the poison of Satan's lie is still there-it pumps that hateful
                             It comes much quicker to you
                                                                  poison into every thought and desire, every act and
and me. And after Adam there was a man, named Methuse-
lah, who lived even longer: nine hundred and sixty nine           ambition, every faculty and ability. No wonder Paul and
years! Another thirty one years and he would have lived           the psalmist both say that there is none that doeth good,
                                                                  no not one!
to be a thousand years old! But Adam died that day. He

died spirit;lcaZ?y  that day, in fact he died the very moment        Heart trouble: That is man's whole trouble.

that the shaft of the arrow of the lie of Satan pierced his          All our griefs and woes, all our diseases and miseries,
heart and that love of God gushed out in its entirety.            all death and the grave are due to the heart failure of
Spiritually Adam became dead. And by that we do not               man in Paradise, when his heart failed to beat any longer
mean that he could'do  nothing spiritually. It is true that       with the love of God. Now we have a heart with a definite
dead men perform no work. And that is absolute! They are          murmur. It rebels against God and all that pertains to
not even able to desire to be made alive. Lazarus did not         Him and His kingdom. It is a heart as hard as stone. It
ask Jesus to raise him. His sisters had to do that for him.       is cold. It hates God. This must be changed, or there is
And Jesus did not first ask Lazarus whether he wanted to          no hope for us.       We need a new heart. We need a pure
come back to this life, He called Him by the irresistible         heart. .For the pure in heart shall see God. Indeed we get
power of His Divine Nature. He called life into him as            down to the heart of the matter when we lay our linger
He called unto him. But the desire did not originate in           on the heart of man as that which caused us all our trouble
that dead body of Lazarus.     Truly dead men perform no          and as that which must be restored to its former function.
work, not even of hearing or seeing or thinking or willing.       The cross is the basis and can be the basis because the Son
But when we speak of spiritual death we do not mean               of God in our flesh had no heart trouble and performed a
that there is NO spiritual activity at all. Were that the         work of perfect love while suffering our punishment. But
case our spiritual lot would not be tragic. We can do no          salvation fn us requires a new heart. And God promises
spiritual good but we are active continually in `spiritual        that too in Ezekiel 36:26,  `A new heart also will I give
evil. That man died spiritually the day-the moment- that
                                                                  you, and a new spirit will I put in you: and I will take
he ate of the forbidden fruit means that he is absolutely         away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you
incapable of doing anything spiritually good until God            a heart of flesh."
regenerates him with the life from out of heaven. His heart
has stopped beating with the love of God. He has none of             Then when this physical heart finally is stilled through
it in his veins again until regeneration.                         one disease or another, by one cause or another, the sinful
                                                                  heart is likewise stopped to beat no more with that hatred
   Does that heart trouble concern you at all?                    against the living God. God has taken it away. We will

   Well, - you have to be spiritually alive to be troubled        have no heart trouble thereafter. But we shall see God.
by it. Except a man be born again he cannot even see that         They who walk in His fear look forward to that day. They
there is such a thing as spiritual death.                         long for the day when their spiritual heart gives them no
                                                                  more trouble but throbs only with the love of God.
   But there surely is such a calamity as spiritual death.                                                               J. A. H.
There is such a disease as spiritual heart trouble so that a

man's heart beats only with the hatred of God and sends

that hatred into every fibre of his being to lead him into all       "A man's. Sunday self and weekday self are like two

kinds of wickedness.                                              halves of a round trip ticket - not good if detached."

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


                                                                 perform supernatural good works and places him in the
II Contending For The Faith II position to merit eternal life. Except in very exceptional
                                                                 cases, this infused grace `is imparted to the sinner only

                                                                 through the sacrament of `baptism; baptism is absolutely

            The Church and the Sacraments                        necessary unto salvation. The Word of God is no longer
                                                                 important in this conception of Rome; all emphasis is laid

         . . THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                         upon the sacrament, and, of course, upon the Romish

                                                                 hierarchy which administers it.
              VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS

                                                                        THE PROTESTANT VIEW OF BAPTISM
                 THE PROTESTANT VIEW
                                                                    In the Gallican or French Confession of Faith, Art. 35,
       In distinction from the Protestant view, the Roman        we read the following: "We confess only two sacraments
Catholic Church lays all emphasis upon the sacraments.           common to the whole Church, of which the first, baptism,

Whereas the Protestant view stresses the priority of the         is given as a pledge of our adoption; for by it we are

Word of God, Roman Catholicism assumes that the sacra-           grafted into the body of Christ, so as to be washed and

ments contain all that is necessary for the salvation of the     cleansed by his blood, and then renewed in purity of life

sinner, need no interpretation, and therefore render the         by His Holy Spirit. We hold, also, that although we are.
Word completely superfluous as a means of grace.                 baptized only once, yet the gain that it symbolizes to us
       According to Rome, the sacrament of baptism is the        reaches over our whole lives and to our death, so that we

secrament  of regeneration.     They declare accursed who        have a lasting witness that Jesus Christ will always be
claims that the sacraments do not contain the grace which        our justification and sanctification. Nevertheless, although
they signify, or do not confer that grace on those who do        it is a sacrament of faith and penitence, yet as God receives
not place an obstacle thereunto, but who insist that they        little children into the Church with their fathers, we say,
are outward signs of grace or righteousness received             upon the authority of Jesus Christ, that the children of

through faith. According to the Romish Church, the grace         believing parents should be baptized." In this article we

bestowed upon him that is baptized delivers, through the         are taught that baptism is a sign and seal of our incorpono
external operation of the sacrament, from the guilt of           tion  into the body of Christ, and therefore of its resulting

original sin and all the actual sins committed up to the time    benefits, that is, the washing away of our sins, and the

of baptism. It also delivers from the corruption of the          renewal by the Holy Spirit; and this article also informs
defilement of sin and from eternal punishment. And it            us that baptism emphasizes that the grace of baptism is
incorporates the one baptized into the communion bf              not limited to the moment when we are baptized, but
saints and effects spiritual renewal by the infusion of          continues throughout our whole life.

sanctifying grace.                                                  Article 34 of our Belgic Confession or Thirty Seven

       Rome, therefore, connects regeneration with the water     Articles reads as follows: `We believe and confess that

of baptism, and makes all salvation dependent upon the           Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law, hath made an end,

sacrament and upon the Romish hierarchy. According to            by the shedding of his blood, of all other sheddings of

Rome, the first effect of baptism is the remission of sin.       blood which men could or would make as propitiation or

And when Rome speaks of the remission of sin, it means           satisfaction for sin; and that he, having abolished circum-

not only pardon, but also the removal of sm. Rome simply         cision, which was done with blood, hath instituted the

connects justification and sanctication.  It declares ac-        Sacrament of Baptism instead thereof, by which we are

cursed who deny that the guilt of original sin is remitted       received into the Church of God, and separated from all

by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is conferred         other people and strange religions, that we may wholly be-

in Baptism, or even asserts that the whole of that which         long to him whose ensign and banner we bear, and which

has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away          serves as a testimony unto us that he will forever be our

(Council of Trent,  Session V, 5). It is true that there         gracious God and Father. Therefore he has commanded all

remains in the baptized concupiscence, or an incentive to        those who are his to be baptized with pure water, in the
sin, but this is remedied, according to Rome, by the other       earne  of the Fathel; and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
sacraments, especially that of penance. And, positively, the     thereby signifying to us, that as water washeth away the

sacrament of baptism bestows the grace of a Divine quality       filth of the body, when poured upon it, and is seen on the

which is essentially identical with man's lost gift of donum     body of the baptized, when sprinkled upon him, so doth the

superadditum (the added gift which God gave Adam in              blood of Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost, internally

in. addition to his natural perfection), and thereby makes       sprinkle the soul, cleanse it from its sins, and regenerate us

man like unto God, incorporates him into the body of             from children of wrath unto children of God. Not that this.

Christ, and thus into Christ Himself, and enables him to         is effected by the external water, but by the sprinkling of


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                257


the precious blood of the Son of God; who is our Red Sea,        in Lord's Days 26 and 27, Questions 69 through 74.

through which we must pass to escape the tyranny of                   Question 69: How is it signified and sealed unto thee in

Pharaoh, that is, the devil, and to enter into the spiritual     holy Baptism that thou hast part in the one sacrifice of

land of Canaan. Therefore, the Ministers, on their part,         Christ upon the cross?

administer the Sacrament, and that which is visible, but our          Answer 69: Thus: that Christ has appointed -this  out-

Lord giveth that which is signified by the Sacrament, name-      ward washing with water, and has joined therewith this

ly, the gifts and invisible grace; washing, cleansing, and       promise, that I am washed with his blood and Spirit from

purging our souls of all filth and unrighteousness; renewing     the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, as certain-

our hearts and filling them with all comfort; giving unto us     ly as I am washed outwardly with water whereby common-

a true assurance of his fatherly goodness; putting on us the     ly the filthiness of the body is taken away.

new man, and putting off the old man with all his deeds.              Question 70: What is it to be washed with the blood

   Therefore, we believe that every man who is earnestly         and Spirit  of Christ?
studious of obtaining life eternal ought to be but once               Answer 70: It is to have the forgiveness of sins from
baptized with this only Baptism, without ever repeating the      God, through grace, for the sake of Christ's blood, which
same: since we can not be born twice. Neither doth this          he shed for us in his sacrifice on the cross; and also to be
Baptism only avail us at the time when the water is poured       renewed by the Holy Ghost, and s`anctified  to be members
upon us and received by us, but also through the whole,          of Christ, that so we may more and more die unto sin, and
course of our life. Therefore we detest the error of the         lead holy and unblamable lives.

Anabaptists, who are not content with the one only baptism            Question 71: Where has Christ promised that we are as

they have once received, and moreover condemn the bap-           certainly washed with his blood and Spirit as with- the

tism of the infants of believers, who, we believe, ought to      water of Baptism?

be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as              Answer 71: In the institution of Baptism, which runs
the children in Israel formerly were circumcised upon the        thus: Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
same promises which are made unto our children. And,             in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
indeed, Christ shed his blood no less for the washing of the     Ghost. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved;
children of the faithful than for adult persons; and, there-     but he that believeth not, shall be damned. This promise is
fore, they ought to receive the sign and sacrament of that       also repeated where the Scripture calls Baptism the washing
which Christ hath done for them; as the Lord commanded           of regeneration and the washing away of sins.
in the law, that they should be made partakers of the sac-.           Question 72: Is, then, the outward washing of water itself
rament of Christ's suffering and death shortly after they        the washing away of sins?
were born, by offering for them a lamb, which was a sac-         -
                                                                      Answer 72: No; for only the blood of Jesus Christ and
rament of Jesus Christ. Moreover, what Circumcision was
                                                                 the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sin.
to the Jews, that Baptism is to our children. And for this
                                                                      Question 73: Why, then, doth the Holy Ghost call Bap-
reason Paul calls Baptism the Circumcition  of Christ."
-end of quote.                                                   tism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of
                                                                 sins?
   In this thirty fourth article of our Belgic Confession the
                                                                      Answer 73: God speaks thus not without great cause:
Fathers emphasize, first of all, that the sacrament of bap-
                                                                 namely, not only to teach us thereby that like as the filth-
tism signifies that we are received into the Church of God
                                                                 iness of the body is taken away by water, so our sins also
and separated from all other people and strange religions.
It also emphasizes that we wholly belong to God, whose           are taken away by the blood and Spirit of Christ; but much
                                                                 more, that by this divine pledge and token he may assure us
ensign and banner we bear, and it serves us a testimony
                                                                 that we are as really washed from our sins spiritually as
that the Lord will forever be our gracious God and Father.
Thirdly, this sacrament is not only a sign of the washing        our bodies are washed with water.
away of our sins, as water cleanses the body of its filth,            Question 74: Are infants also to be baptized?

but it is also a sign of regeneration, regenerating us from           Answer 74: Yes; for since they, as well as their parents,

children of wrath unto children of God. And, in opposition       belong to the covenant and people of God, and both re-

to Rome, the sacrament of baptism emphasizes that all this       demption from sin and the Holy Ghost, who works faith,

is effected, not by the external water, but only by the          are through the blood of Christ promised to them no less

sprinkling of the precious blood of the Son of God, and by       than to their parents, they are also by Baptism, as a sign of

the grace of God. And, finally, this thirty fourth article       the covenant, to be ingrafted into the Christian Church,

teaches us that this sacrament must be administered only         and distinguished from the children of unbelievers, as was

once, inasmuch as we are born only once, and that it must        done in the Old Testament by Circumcision, in place of

also be administered to the infants of believers.                which in the New Testament Baptism is appointed.

   Our Heidelberg Catechism treats the subject of Baptism                                                                   H.V.


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                                                                 of the unfathomably deep mystery of God as the Triune

          The Voice of Our Fathers                               One.
                                                                   But we live by faith. And that means that we live by

                                                                 the Word of the Scriptures, also in respect to the truth
                  The Belgic Confession                          of the Holy Trinity. Moreover, that faith is not merely the

                                                                 cold acceptance of objective facts set forth in Scripture.
                           hTICLE  Ix
                                                                 Jt is a living faith. Its knowledge is not merely a knowledge

                                                                 about God, and a knowledge that God is Triune. It is the
                    TWO-FOLD PROOF                               knowledge of God Himself, the living, spiritual knowledge

                                                                 of fellowship and experience. Hence, the truth that is
       It is to be noted that this article does not merely       objectively set forth in the Holy Scriptures concerning the
present proof from Scripture in support of the doctrine of       Trinity is also subjectively known and experienced from
the Trinity. This is plain from the opening statement of         the operations of the Triune God, and, therefore, as our
Article IX: "All this we know, as well from the testimonies      Confession has it, chiefly by those we feel in ourselves.
of holy writ, as from their operations, and chiefly by those
                                                                    The peculiar emphasis of the opening statement of this
we feel in ourselves."     Hence, the evidence of which the
                                                                 article, therefore, is quite in harmony with the fact that
article speaks is two-fold: proof from Holy Scripture and
                                                                 our Confession is a confession of faith, which must certainly
evidence from experience.
                                                                 be emphasized in connection with the mystery of the
       Undoubtedly this is to be connected with the later        Trinity.
statement of this same article: "In all which places we are

fully taught, that there are three persons in only one divine    Proof from the Old Testament
essence. And although this doctrine far surpasses all human

~mderstanding,  nevertheless, we now believe it by means            When furnishing Scriptural proof for the doctrine of the

the Word of God, but expect hereafter to enjoy the perfect       Trinity, our Confession calls attention to the fact that it is

knowledge and benefit thereof in Heaven." The article            not so necessary to enumerate as to choose out with discre-

therefore emphasizes that this doctrine is a deep mystery:       tion and judgment those places in the Old Testament which

it far surpasses our comprehension. We must remember,            teach us to believe this Holy Trinity. And while it is

of course, that a mystery is not something that is absurd.       true, as is stated later in the article, that `%hat which

It is not a contradiction. There are no absurdities and no       appears to us somewhat obscure in the Old Testament, is

contradictions in the Christian faith, even as there-is only     very plain in the New," nevertheless this same rule of

perfect knowledge and wisdom and harmony in God Him-             discretion and judgment must also be followed in choosing

self. The Christian faith does not and cannot accept two         the New Testament passages that teach us to believe the

diametrically opposite propositions. For example, it could       IIoly  Trinity. For while it is true that the doctrine of the

never accept the proposition that God is one and that He         Trinity is a profound mystery, which can be hewn only

is three in the same sense. Nor does the doctrine of the         from the revelation of the Triune God in Scripture, this

Trinity require this.     Although it is indeed a mystery, it    does not mean that you will find  a ready-made doctrine

involves no contradiction. A mystery can be known and            of the Trinity in the Bible. Directly the Scriptures do not

accepted; two members of a contradiction can be recog-           speak of the Trinity, or of the Three Persons in the one

nized, but never accepted. As soon as you recognize a            Essence, or of the mutual relation of the Three Persons to

contradiction, you must needs reject one member or the           one another. Scripture is no textbook of systematic doctrine

other. Never do the Scriptures, therefore, require the           from which you can simply quote literally to prove this

believer to believe that which is self-contradictory. But        dogma. It is revelation. In Scripture you have God Himself

often is the Christian confronted by the mystery in Holy         condescending to speak to us on our own level, in our

Scripture, that is, by that which can be known only by           own language, of Himself. And when God so speaks to us,

revelation, and by that which, while it may be known, is         He always stands revealed before us as the God Who is

unfathomably deep, - in fact, is known exactly as that           One, and also Three, Who through His threeness is made

which is unfathomably deep. Especially is this true when         known as the one, only, simple, and spiritual-Being Whom

God Himself, in His Being and nature, is revealed to us.         we call God, the Triune Jehovah. By the same token,

Indeed, we may know Him, because He reveals Himself              therefore, w.e should be able to demonstrate this truth

to us. And we also live in the hope that hereafter we shall      clearly from Holy Scripture.    And the passages which we

know God perfectly and enjoy Him forever. For then we            must loook  for and choose with "discretion and judgment"

shall enter fully into the fellowship of the triune, covenant    are -not only those passages which show a plurality of

God. But neither now. do we, nor then shall we ever be           Persons, and specifically a threeness of Persons, in God,

able to comprehend the infinite God, or probe the depths         but also passages which show the unity of the Godhead.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            259


         Our Confession immediately cites a classic passage from         Persons in the one divine Essence. It may even be said

     the book of Genesis which is a striking proof for two               that this speech of God to Himself indicates a fellowship,

     reasons. In the first place, this proof is taken from the           or communion, of Persons.

     opening chapter of Holy Writ. And, in the second place,                 The above is the only proof from the Old Testament
     it is a passage which contains at once both of the elements         which our Confession adduces. At this point Article IX
     mentioned above, the unity and plurality. The entire                makes the observation that what appears to us somewhat
     passage of Genesis 1:26  and 27 reads: "And God said,               obscure in the Old Testament is very plain in the New.
     Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let           And with that remark it immediately turns to the New
     them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the           Testament and cites a few proofs, to which we shall
     fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,       presently give our attention.
     and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
                                                                             First of all, however, we may ask and answer the
     So God created man in his own image, in the image of
                                                                         question: why is the threeness of Persons in God more
     God created he him; male and female created he them."
                                                                         obscure in the Old Testament? Our answer is, in general,
     To this the Confession adds, without further comment, the
                                                                         that this lies in the very character of the old dispensation
     text from Genesis 3:22:  "And the Lord God said, Behold,
                                                                         in comparison with the New. In the hrst  place, we must
     the man is become as one of us, to know good and
                                                                         remember that God's people in the old dispensation lived
     evil . . . " A brief word of interpretation is given by the
~                                                                        in a world that was filled with the polytheism of the
     Confession, as follows: "From this saying, let us make man
I                                                                        heathen. The main temptation, and the besetting sin, of
     in our image, it appears that there are more persons than
                                                                         Israel in the old dispensation was that of idolatry, and with
     one in the Godhead; and when he saith, God created, he
                                                                         it, polytheism, the belief in and worship of many gods.
     signifies the unity. It is true he doth not say how many
                                                                         And therefore, while the plurality of Persons in the God-
     persons there are . . . " In further consideration of this          head is by no means missing in the Old Testament, there
     passage and its interpretation, we may note the following:
                                                                         is a very strong emphasis on the oneness of God throughout

        1. God is in these words revealed as addressing Hirnsdf.         the Old Testament Scriptures. In the second place, we

     That this is true is plain from the simple fact that this           must remember that there was a tremendous change with

     speech of God concerns the work of creation; and no one             the fuhress  of time. In the new dispensation the Father

     but God Himself could have any part in this creative act.           sends the Son into the flesh. And on Pentecost Day the

     Creation is exclusively the work of God.                            Spirit is poured out upon all flesh. And from this viewpoint

                                                                         it is to be expected that both in the New Testament
        2. Yet it is the one God Who is presented in the text
                                                                         Scriptures and in the experience of the saints of the new
     as speaking and as creating. The objection is sometimes
                                                                         di.spensation  the Trinity is much more clearly revealed
     raised that the Hebrew word for "God" is in the plural
                                                                         than in the old dispensation. There is from that point of
     form, Elohim,  and that this implies a plurality of gods.
                                                                         view progress in revelation.
     This objection, of course, does not arise from faith, but
                                                                            Nevertheless, in the second place, we must certainly
     from the critical, unbelieving, evolutionistic view of the
                                                                         not have the idea that the truth of the Trinity is no further
     Scriptures which tries to find a progress from polytheism
                                                                         revealed in the Old Testament than in the passage cited
     (many gods) to monotheism (belief in one god) in the Old
                                                                         by our Confession. For there are many more passages.
     Testament. As far as the fact of the objection is concerned,
     namely, that the noun                                               The truth of the unity of God is so strongly and frequently
                               Elohim  is plural in form, we may
                                                                         emphasized that we need not take the time to cite many
     concede it. As far as the validity of the argument based on
     the fact is concerned, however, we deny it. And that denial         passages.    Let us merely mention the well-known words of
     is based on the text. If the meaning of                             Deuteronomy 6:4,  5: "Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God
                                                 Elohini  were plural
     (gods), then the verbs "said" and "created" would also be           i.s one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
                                                                         thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."
     plural. But the verbs are singular, which means that the
                                                                         But this plurality of Persons in God is referred to in
     subject, "God," is also singular. And this is the common
     form of speech throughout the Old Testament in the                  numerous passages.    First of all, there are many passages
                                                                         which speak of the Angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament.
     Hebrew. Hence it is, according to the text, the one God
     speaking and creating.                                              And we must remember that this Angel of Jehovah, while
                                                                         He is distinct from God, is at the same time Himself God.
        3. At the same time, however, is is evident from this            As such He speaks to Hagar in the wilderness, and Hagar
     pasage  that there is a plurality in that one God. This is          recognizes Him as God too. Genesis 16:lO:  "And  the
     indicated by the words "irs" and "our." God is one. His             angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed
     creative act is one. His image and likeness are one. And            exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude."
     yet He is more than one in such a way that He is able to            And again, in vs. 11: "And the angel of the Lord said unto
     speak to Himself. This therefore indicates a plurality of                               (Continued on page 261)

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


                                                                 to leave it all to the consistory, then the backbone of church
       D E C E N C Y   a n d   O R D E R                         discipline is severly  injured."  (Italics is mine, G.V. ) Like-
                                                                 wise Dri F. L. Rutgers writes: "The decay of discipline,

                                                                 which began already in the beginning of the 17th. century,

                                                                 should certainly be attributed to a large extent to the fact
                 Dealing with Secret Sins                        that in the convictions of the church members this principle

                                                                 of our Church Order has been weakened."
       "Secret sins of which the sinner repents, after being

admonished by one person in private or in the presence of           Now this is all very obvious for such neglect is not the

two or three witnesses, shall not be laid before the con-        mere violation of an order prescribed by man but it is a

sistory."                                    Art. 73, D.K.O.     refusal to walk in the order and decency of the Word of
                                                                 God. This is very serious indeed. To show this we will
       "If any one, having been admonished in love concerning    quote just a few of the many passages of the Word that
a secret sin by two or three persons, does not give heed,        direct us to our calling as individual believers with respect
or otherwise has committed a public sin, the matter shall        to sin concerning which we have personal knowledge.
be repqrted  to the consistory."              Art. 74, D.K.O.
                                                                    I Thessalonians 511 states: "Wherefore exhort one
It will be evident that Articles 73 and 74 of the Church         another, and build each other up, even as ye also do."
Order, quoted above, are closely related. They both deal
                                                                    Hebrews 3:12, 13 reads: "Take heed, brethren, lest
with the manner in which the believer is to deal with or
                                                                 haply  there shall be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief,
treat the secret sins committed by the brother in Christ
                                                                 in falling away from the living God: but exhort one another
and of which he is aware. Article 73 tells us that where
                                                                 day by day, so long as it is called Today . . . D
repentance is gained the matter need not be laid before the

consistory of the church while Article 74 explaini  that it         "Brethren," we read in Galatians 6:l "if a man be over-

is mandatory that this be done in the case of impenitence.       taken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an

Both of these articles are in effect a continuation of the       one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou

72nd. article in which the principles of Matthew 18 are set      also be tempted."

forth. We must deal with the matter of sin according to the
                                                                    And finally, in James 519, 20, "My brethren, if any
principles of the Word of God as explained in Matthew 18
                                                                 among you err from the truth and one convert him, let him
and this necessarily involves following through with the
                                                                 know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of
instructions given in the two articles quoted above.
                                                                 his yay shall save a soul from death and shall cover a

  Underlying all three of these articles is a fundamental        multitude of sins."

Scriptural principle. That principle is that Christian disci-       How di%Yerent  from these plain directives of the Word
pline must begin with believers as individuals. and not          of God is the spirit that is manifest in the church today.
with the consistory. This is very important and the neglect      It is a spirit of rash individualism. It assumes the attitude
of this principle is very costly to the church. We see the       that the life and conduct of each individaul is solely a
evidences of this most glaringly today. It is, of course,        private concern and it resents any attempt or interference
always easier to leave the matter of sin to be dealt with        by another even though this other is motivated only by the
by the consistory and to reason that if the consistory           desire to correct faults and lead in the way of righteousness
doesn't concern itself with it, I shouldn't or don't need to     wherein alone the blessings of life can be enjoyed. It is
either. However, this is wrong. It is wrong, first of all,       based on an entirely faulty conception of liberty and
because especially if the matter deals with secret sin, the      appeals to th? perverted slogan that "conscience is the only
consistory may not be aware of it and therefore unable to        guide in all moral conduct". And this attitude reflects itself
t:reat  it even if it desired to do so. Such sin may not be      not only toward fellow members in the church who may
left to develop until it reaches a proportion where it           still attempt to carry out their responsibilities in the matter
becomes obvious to the consistory if we have knowledge of        of the exercise of Christian discipline but, as was stated, it
it and are able to exercise a labor of love that may be          breaks the backbone of Christian discipline with the result
corrective. We become guilty because of our neglect as we        that the same evil rebuff  is met by the office-bearers of the
explained in our last article. But in the second place, if       church. Does this perhaps explain why the church in
the matter is left unattended, it may very well be that by       general today has ceased to exercise the power of disci-
the time it comes to the attention of- the consistory the        pline? Each member is permited  to do and to believe what
matter may be so far developed that it is beyond correction.     is right in their own eyes so that within the church you

       `The Church Order Commentary" states that "when           find  all kinds of conflicting practices. Some say it is

church members refuse to do their Christian duty toward          permissible to belong to worldly societies while others,

each other and no longer admonish each other, but desire         members of the same church, affirm that they don't believe


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               261


that. Some say they have the right to divorce and re-marry          own best interest and safety of others, that at least. h+

while others admit this is contrary to God's word. Some             minister be informed. In such extreme cases the patter

allow theatre attendance while others disapprove. Some              should be reported confidentially, and in some cases if

say the Bible is not literally the infallibly inspired Word         possible with the transgressor's consent."

of God while others then insist tha't  it is. So we might               The point of Articles 73 and 74 of the Church Order is
continue, but the point is that none concern themselves             very simple. It is simply this. If we know df a secret sin,
with their calling to correct the evils existing, for the church    committed by a brother or sister, it is our Christian duty to
itself  is more concerned about numbers than truth. This            l.ead  the offender to repentance. This must be done along
is fatal for the church. Scripture says, "A little leaven           the way prescribed in Matthew 18 as we wrote in our last
leaveneth the whole lump." Sin condoned, left uncorrected,          article. If all such attempts fail to gain the desired result,
works its way through till the whole is spoiled.                    we are to report the matter to the consistory so that the

   Each member of the church, therefore, must know and              office-bearers of the church may-labor to save the soul of

realize their calling to "wrestle not against flesh and blood,      the erring one.      If we, through private labor, succeed in

but against principalities, against powers, against the             making the transgressor see the error of his way so that he

rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual             is brought to confession and repentance, the matter does

wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:12)  This warfare begins        need to go any farther.        It then does not need to be

with the proper treatment of those sins which are called            reported to the consistory. The brother is forgiven and the
"secret".                                                           matter is dropped.

   It is rather difficult  to difFerentiate  strictly between a        There is one other matter implied in Article 74. That
secret sin and a public sin. Usually the distinction is made        is contained in the phrase, "or otherwise has committed a
that a secret sin is one that is known to only a few while          public sin". This implies that public sins are always to be
a public sin is on that has been committed openly and is            reported to and treated by the consistory. The reason for
generally known. But de difficulty with this distinction            this ought to be evident. A public sin gives public offense.
lies in the fact that in a large  church a sin might be known       The whole church is affected by such things and not just
to a half dozen persons and still be regarded as a secret           one or two against whom a sin may be committed privately.
sin while the same trespass in a small church and known             If then the public offense is to be removed, it can be done
to the same number of individuals would be regarded as              only through the consistory as representing the whole
a public sin.                                                       church. The consistory must then deal with the matter and
                                                                    decide what matter of reconciliation is to be effected where
   Perhaps we could say that a sin is private or secret as          there is evidence of repentance. W&h this matter of de
long as it does not cause or create a general, public offense.      reconciliation of the sinner we will concern ourselves next
A sin, for example, committed against another member of             time, D.V., in connection with Article 75.
the church and,which  in itself does not form an offense to                                                              G.v.d.B.
the entire church may be considered secret even though it

becomes generally known.       The matter must be treated

according to Matthew 18 and in such a case those re-

sponsible for making  this secret offense generally $pwn                               THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
ought likewise to be treated for sin. Similarly a sin that is                            (Continued from page 259)
known only to a very few might be considered public by              her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and
the very nature of the sin. For example, we might mention           shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard
such sins as stealing and murder or, for that matter, any           thy afEiction."     Note that here the angel of the Lord is
crime punishable by the civil magistrates. These are                distinct from the Lord Who heard Hagars' aaction.  And
public sins even though they may not be generally known.            notice that the deity of this angel of the Lord is co$rmed

   Back in 1571 the Synod of Emden  ruled that secret               in vs. 13 of the same chapter: "And `she call&d-the %&e.of-;
sins, though repented of, which constitute great danger to          the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she
State or Church, such as tieason,  or the misleading of souls,      said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?"

should be reported to the Minister of the Church, so that,                                 (to be continued)
his advice having been gained, one might hmow  what to do.                                                                H.C.H.
Seven years later the Synod of Dort, 1578, dropped this

second provision of the 73rd. Article of the Church

Order and maintained only the first provision. Monsma and                         Sweeter are Thy words to me

`t-an  Dellen,  however, state: "Common sense still tells us                      Than all other good can be;

that in case a brother or sister has committed a very                             Safe I walk, Thy truth my light,

grievous and dangerous sin, that then it may be to his                            Hating falsehood, loving right.

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


                                                                         whole matter of the worship of God is patterned for them.
     11 A L L .A R -0 U N D U S 11                                       All it requires is an external conformity to the code of the
                                                                         Church and absolute reliance upon the institute of the
                                                                  -J[
     v                                                                   Church. Anything spiritual and of the heart is not, strictly
~

                                                                         speaking, necessary.
     PROTESTANT CONFESSIONAL                                                It was against all this that the Reformers, with amazing

          A committee of the United Church of Canada has                 insight, battled. Luther already saw clearly that all this
     recently suggested in a report entitled, "Church Member-            would never do. He insisted on the Scriptural doctrine of
     ship, Doctrine and Practice in the United Church of                 the office of all believers. Believers, who possess the
     Canada," that Protestants should return to th& Roman                anointing of Christ and the Spirit of Pentecost are all
     Ctitholic  practice of making confession to some  man. They         prophets and priests and kings. As prophets they can and
     suggest either a minister or some trusted Christian friend.         do know the Word of God. As priests they pray to God
     They quote Calvin and Luther in support of their conten-            directly through Jesus Christ and confess their sins at the
     tion; although neither wanted the confessional of Romish            foot of the throne of grace. As kings they are called to
     religion. Especially Calvin merely spoke of the need of             fight the battle of faith and to march under the banner of
     confessing to one another our sins when we had offended             the cross in the armies of the Captain of their salvation.
     by them. The committee admitted that the idea of con-                  But all this implies heavy responsibilities. Jesus tells

     fession of sin had been made into a sacrament of penance            the Samaritan woman that a day is coming when men will

     and had been abused~bg  "tyranny" and `lay exhibitionism";          worship God neither on Mount Zion nor on Mount Gerazim,

     but insisted nonetheless that it would be worthwhile for            but "they that worship him must worship him in spirit and

     Protestants to adopt this practice.                                 in truth." John 4:24. It is this worship of God in spirit and

                                                                         in truth which is so intensely difficult.  It- demands that
          The Roman Catholic insistence upon confession to a
                                                                         we study diligently the Word of God to grow in the knowl-
     priest is closely bound up with their entire theology. The
                                                                         edge of Him Whom to know is life eternal. It demands a
     clergy and not the laity constitute the Church. The clergy
                                                                         broken spirit and a contrite heart when we cry out for
     intervene between God and man; this intervention takes
                                                                         forgiveness and mercy.     It demands a continuous battle
     place in all three aspects of the Christian's office. The
                                                                         against the world not only, but against our own sinful flesh.
     clergy holds alone the office of prophet so that the people
                                                                         It demands that in Church we sing with the heart and  not
     cannot understand the Word of God except through the
                                                                         only with the lips; that we pray in spirit and not from
     interpretation of the pope `and his under ministers. The
                                                                         habit; that we bow in humility and not simply by falling
     clergy holds the office of priest so that there is no forgive-
                                                                         on our knees; that we listen with believing hearts and
     ness of sins apart from the sacrifice which the priest makes
                                                                         submissive wills rather than with curious minds and only
     in the mass, or apart from the power that is given to him
                                                                         undeviating and blind devotion to an ecclesiastical institute.
     alone to forgive sins in the name of Christ. The clergy
     holds the office of king so that the Church polity of the           It demands that in all our lives, from the heart, there be
                                                                         a constant doxology of praise and glory to God.
     Romish Church is thoroughly hierarchical and dictatorial
     without the laity having so much as a word to say in the               Yet there is a constant cry to retreat from these' high
     government of the Church.                                           callings. One hears over and over again a. plea for more
                                                                         elaborate ritual in the Church services and so-called im-
          No doubt this committee report is but another step             provements in the liturgy. There are, for example, those
     among rn%ny to try to bring Protestants back to Rome and            who say that the sermon is too long and ought to be
     merge all Churches with the Romish Church. It is but                abbreviated because people have difEiculty  concentrating
     another attempt to cross the chasm of the Reformation.              for such long periods of time. There are those who would
          Yet the matter also goes deeper than that. There is            change the congregational prayers because they cannot
     something here against which we must be warned, and                 keep their minds on what the minister is saying and such
     with which we tiust have nothing to do.                             long prayer is conducive to sleep. There is a constant

          Romish religion is very easy. To worship God after             clamor for choirs, for responsive readings, for a recital of
     the manner of the Romish Church requires no real effort.            the Apostolic Confession in unison by the congregation,
                                                                         etc., etc. Usually the reason that is given as a basis for
     It is also for this reason that it is a very appealing religion.
     All the people really have to do is give their souls over to        these proposed changes is that the form of worship which
     the Church. If they sin, a trip to the confessional wipes           we now have tends towards habitual worship and therefore
     their souls clean. If they attend the mass with any amount          lip service rather than worship from the heart. If-only  the
     of regularity they have almost a guarantee of a safe trip to        form of worship would be changed, so it is said, the whole
     heaven. If the number of their sins requires a brief stay in        worship service would become more meaningful.

     purgatory, money and masses will buy their way out. The                But this is emphatically not the case. It may be, for


                                            T H E   STAN.$?;ARD.  IB.EARER                                                                          263
                                                              :.- /~_             -" z.

example, that if the congregation would recite the Apostolii                       &minations  would cease, the following letter, dated November,
                                                                                   1962 is of interest.)
Confession in unison, that it would mean more. But this
                                                                                       "IS the anti-Protestant feeling any better in Columbia or
would last for just a week, and then it would be as habitual                       are you still persecuted at times?'
as ever. It would once again require as strenuous an effort                            This question came last week in a letter from a friend in
to worship God in spirit and in truth as it does now. But                          the U.S., and is typical of many we hear these days, especially
                                                                                   in view of the Vatican Council. Recent papal declarations on
always the danger is that, once having catered to a trend                          ecumenicism and unity, plus increased effort for Roman
to make liturgy more elaborate and ritual more extensive,                          Catholic-Protestant dialogue naturally give rise to such ques-
                                                                                   tions.
the trend is usually impossible to reverse. It grows, for                              The very day that I received the above letter, a frightened
the clamor continues. And the end is the superficial and                           and disillusioned pastor from a rural church arrived in
meaningless worship of the Romish Church. And we do                                Cartagena to seek our help. Three weeks previously he had
                                                                                   returned to his parish armed with a sheaf of official government
not want to go back there.                                                         documents from top government officials in Cartagena, and
                                                                                   municipal officials in the county seat, declaring the right of
                                                                                   evangelicals  to meet for worship and to build a chapel without
                                                                                   being molested for their faith, surrounding him with constitu-
RELIEF IN SPAIN                                                                    tional guarantees.

   Recently in Spain there have been some moves towards                                However, the local priest had then paid a short visit to that
a lessening of persecution of the Protestants by the Romish                        community. The result: that evening the chapel, now under
                                                                                   construction, was totally destroyed, and an unruly mob armed
Church. The Spanish Catholic heirarchy has agreed to a                             with machetes, axes, clubs and rocks attacked the home where
bill proposed by the government that would give Protes-                            the pastor was located, screaming for his blood, while the
                                                                                   local police studiously absented themselves from the scene.
tants certain rights which were previously denied them.                            Miraculously the pastor slipped out through the weeds and
                                                                                   escaped into 
They would, under the bill, have the right to their own                                             the night, taking a canoe down the river.
                                                                                   When the whole event was reported to police headquarters in
schools; they would be permitted to distribute Bibles; there                       Cartagena, the commander himself commented that this
would be a general relaxation of the now stringent rules                           sounded like a spat between the priest and the Protestants,
                                                                                   implying that he had no jurisdiction over such matters and
&at apply to Protestant marriages. The decision of the                             could offer no guarantees or justice.

Spanish heirarchy however will not be final until the bill                             Present day terminology used by Rome in her I$al&sa;
                                                                                   with Protestants call us `separated brethren."
also receives the approval of the Vatican.                                         Columbia, however, no such terms are heard. The evangelical
                                                                                   Protestant is still a `Xeretic"  and therefore an enemy of God.
  Although we surely can rejoice that there is one step                            And being in error he has no rights, not even to life itself.
being made towards lessening of persecution, there is a                                                       -David M. Howard, Field Director
certain irony in it all. In the first place, the Romish Church                                                  Latin America Mission
has never before admitted that there was any such thing

as persecution there. If this was always true, why the bill?             DUTCH ROMAN CATHOLICS
In the second place, the bill is a govermental bill, but                     The latest census taken in the Netherlands, according
cannot go into effect without the approval of the Romish                 to The Bmner, reveals that there are more Roman Cath-
heirarchy and the Vatican. This is a strange business. In
                                                                         olics in that country than there are members of the Nether-
the third place, the relaxation of rules is still limited. The           lands Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches com-
bill says nothing about the rights of Protestants to meet                bined. The Netherlands Reformed Church (Hervormd or
on the Lord's Day or any other day for worship. One gets                 State Church) has 3,240,490  members; the Reformed
the impression that this is nothing more than a sop thrown               Churches (Gereformeerd) has 1,068,§90  members; the
towards the Protestants to lessen world criticism and to                 Roman Catholic Church has 4,600,OO members. While
make the Romish Church look good in these ecumenical                     the Roman Catholic Church itself has claimed to have the
clays. Another concession of the devil.                                  majority of the population, this census shows that 40.4% of

                            O'S e                                        the population belong to this denomination. This is how-
                                                                         ever, a jump of 1.9% since 1947. In the same period the

                                                                         percentage of the population of the Reformed Churches has
   In Columbia, South America, persecution goes on. In a                 dropped.
recent issue of the Predytedun  Journal a letter is quoted
                                                                             It always comes as somewhat of a surprise that so many
prefaced by several remarks by the editor. We quote the
                                                                         in the Netherlands should become Roman Catholic. Espe-
editor's remarks and the letter in full.
                                                                         cially is this true when one thinks of the days of bitter
     (Editor's note: Columbia, South America, has received much          persecution that our fathers suffered  at the hands of the
     attention in missionary circles, as missionaries haGe suffered
     an unusual amount of persecution in that land . . . at the          Romish Church during the 16th Century. Nevertheless, the
     hand of the Roman Catholic Church. Christians have died,            sad departures from the truth even among thit Reformed
     churches have been burned, stonings and beatings have been
     frequent. The U.S. State Department intervened when U.S.            Churches make this somewhat inevitable. There are few
     aid funds became involved in the construction of "public"           fighting any more the battle for the truth of the Reforma-
     schools dominated by the Roman Church from which Protestant
     children were barred. Peace Corps members have been used            tion.
     in projects benefitting the Roman Church. In the light of this                                                                      H. Ha&o
     history and recent promises by Columbian officials that dis-


264                                       \  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAii&`R


                                                                   scheduled for Feb. 14. Doon's  Moderator, Rev. J. Kortering,

       NEWS FROM OUR. CHURCHES                                     officiated at this service.

               "All the saints saltite  thee . . ." PHIL:~:~~         All those who have ever attended our Seminary are well

                                                                   acquainted with Rev. H. Hoeksema's "Dogmatics", a com-
:.                                                                 plete systematic treatment of Christian Doctrine. This work
                                              Feb. 20, 1963
                                                                   was originally mimeographed and bound in six volumes,

       Rev. G. Vanden  Berg, of Oak Lawn, has declined the         100 copies of this monumental work were so prepared.

call which came to him from Hope Church, in Grand                  Besides our Seminary students, many other students have

Rapids.                                                            obtained copies so that the entire supply of 100 copies have

                                                                   gone into the Reformed church world. Now that the supply
       Rev. J. Kortering, of Hull, Iowa, declined the call from    has run out, it is desired that the entire work be printed
Southwest Church in Grand Rapids.
                                                                   and published in one volume. To that end a committee of

       Rev. R. C. Harbach, Lynden's pastor since 1955, has         volunteers-has been organized; some preliminary work has

declined the call from Loveland, and has accepted the call         been done, but ways and means must still be found to

from Kalamazoo.                                                    sponsor &is undertaking, which will surely be appreciated

                                                                   by all serious Bible students. This committee seeks expan-
       The Publication Committee of Oak Lawn and South             sion and invites our men to join them in this worthwhile
Holland churches is regularly mailing pamphlets to out-            endeavor. If interested, contact Mr. Wm. Kamps, 2386
siders, under the general theme, "Word of Life." The               O'Brien Rd. S.W., Grand Rapids, Mich.  -..
current series is on "The Lord's Prayer" which has been

written by Rev. J. A. Heys, the titles -of which suggest the          Notice that a debate  was held in a recent Young
content of each petition: "The Upward Look", "As A Little          People's Society meeting in South Holland on; "Resolved
Child", "Top Priority", "Kingdom Zeal", `A Sanctied WllP',         that smoking is wrong" -sets one to wondering what argu-
"Bread For `Today", "Paid in Full", "Till Seventy Times            ment the negative team could present to claim it to be
$
beven",     "Fear of a. Fiery Trail", "Freedom -of Religion".      ,.@t

They will mail  out some 2,700 copies of each issue, and, as               *
a result of a recent canvass taken, they plan to mail 1,000           At an Open House Feb. 19 Edgerton  congregation

copies of past issues in a new area.        All this indicates a _. helped Mr. and Mrs. Art Bleyenberg celebrate their 65th
a very effective way of witnessing to others of the truth of       wedding aniversary. Their farriily  includes seven daughters
Scripture as it lives in our-churches.                             and four sons, with 150 direct descendants. Edgerton's
                                                                   bulletin said in part, "May their remaining sojourn be spent,
 At a combined meeting of Men's Societies of Oak Lawn              in confidence and trust knowing that `all the paths of the
.and  South Holland Rev. Hevs  was scheduled to answer a           Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant
@e&ion,  "Does God's Sovereignty Make Him the Author of            and His testimonies'  y'

Sin?" The same subject, in lecture form, will be treated by

Rev.  Hey?  in our Isabel and Forbes churches.                        Friday evening, Feb. 26, our Missionary, Rev. Lubbers,

                                                                   scheduled a lecture in Houston, Tex., on, "The Church's
 First Church's Feb. 17 bulletin carried this saddening            Calling Toward the Ecumenical Movement."
announcement: "Mrs. H. Hoeksema suffered  a light stroke

during the early part of this week. She is showing a slight            On the Reformed Witness Hour broadcast for March 3
improvement". At this writing that "improvement" is still          Rev. H. Hoeksema will preach on II Pet. 5: 10, "Fitted
slight, and only intermittently so.                                Unto Destruction". March 10 Rev. Hoekseia  will begin a

                                                                   series of Lenten sermons under the general theme, "The
       Rev. C. Hanko, of First Church, addressed a Hostess
                                                                   Rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ", the first being, `FRejected
Supper gathering at Hu~dsonville  sponsored by their Mr.
                                                                   at Nazareth".    March 17 the topic will be, "Rejected at
and Mrs. Society,  Feb. 14. His timely and thought provok-
                                                                   Capernaum"; March 24, "Rejected by the Rulers"; and
ihg topic was, "Communism".
                                                                   March 31 the speaker will explain that "our Lord Jesus

       Hope's entire congregation, men, women and children,        Christ deliberately chose Judas Iscariot  to be one of His

came otit  the evening pf Feb. 7 to bid farewell to Rev. H.        disciples that He might be rejected by him". The title of

Hanko and family. Because they lacked facilities to house          that sermon will be, "Rejected by His Familiar Friend".

such a large gathering the social was held in First Church's       R.emember,  copies of these sermons may be had for the

parlors. Their pastor conducted his farewell service Feb. 3.       asking.                                                       I'

       Rev. H. Hanko's Installation Service at Doon was                , . . see you in church.                             J.M.F,


