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

                                      The Standard Bearer                                                                                                            .
                  Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July and August                                                                                                                     E D I T O R I A L S
                                                       P u b l i s h e d   B y
                            The Reformed Free Publishing Association
                                   Box 124, Sta. C., Grand Rapids, Mick                                                                                                          A Few Corrections, Please!
                                          EDITOR: - Rev. H. Hoeksema.
Contributtisg Editors: - Rev. G. M. Ophoff, Rev. G.  Vos,  Rev.
R,  Veldman,  Rev. H. Veldman, Rev. H. De Wolf, Rev. B. Kok,                                                                                                                  In`the Calvin Forum, March, 1949, the Rev. Paul
Rev. J. D. De Jong, Rev. A. Petter, Rev. C. Hanko, Rev. L.                                                                                                                 De Koekkoek writes an article about the situation in
Vermeer,  Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. M. Gritters, Rev. J. A. Heys,                                                                                                              Canada in which occurs the following paragraph :
Rev. W. Hofman.
Communications relative to contents should be addressed to                                                                                                                        "We can see more point to the work of Protest-
REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                                                      ant Reformed missionaries who reportedly also
Michigan.                                                                                                                                                                      try to win adherents to their church. They have
   Communications relative to subscription should be addressed                                                                                                                 at least taken the official position that the  Chris-
to MR. J. BOUWMAN, 1131 Sigsbee St., S.E., Grand Rapids 6,                                                                                                                     .tian Reformed Church is off the beam in the mat-
Mich Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the
above address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each                                                                                                                 ter of Common Grace. And although that has
notice.                                                                                                                                                                        not prevented several of their individual members
Renewals-Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-                                                                                                                   to rejoin our churches, and one congregation, ori-
ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes his subscription                                                                                                              ginally of the same position, to return in a body,
to continue without the formality of a renewal order.                                                                                                                          the official position still is against our denomina-
                                      (Subscription Price $2.60 per year)                                                                                                      tion. Perhaps these brethren are mostly inter-
Entered as Second Class Mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                        ested in those of the (Holland) Reformed Church-
                                                                                                                                                                               es (Art. 31) insofar as these do not see fit to join
                                                                                                                                                                               the Christian Reformed Church. We know that
                                                                                                                                                                               efforts are being made, both here and in Holland,
                                                                                                                                                                               to keep these immigrants from casting their lot
                                                          C O N T E N T S                                                                                                      with us. Some of these are not at all anxious to
MEDITATION-'                                                                                                                                                                   keep away from us because of their church con-
         De Verworpen Steen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  *..: . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                             239               flicts in Holland, and we admire their good sense,
                        Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                          - but others remain aloof. Of course, I think it is
EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                                                                    a pity that while *in Holland serious efforts are
         A Few  Carrections,  Please! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . *..* . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                             292                now put forth toward healing the breach, there
         Propositions Concerning The Covenant Of Grace I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294                                                                                        are those here who would rather widen it and
         Reply Of The Rev. Van Raalte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294                                       start another church, if need be with those from
                       Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                         whom they differ more than from us.            They
CONTRIBUTION-                                                                                                                                                                   should know that although they may find a sympa-
         Marriage In The Church . . ..I...I..............................,..................... 296                                                                             thetic atmosphere in the Protestant Reformed
    I           Rev. P. De Boer                                                                                                                                                 Church along church-political lines, they certainly
OUR  DOCTRINE-                                                                                                                                                                  will not find it in matters of doctrine, particularly
         The Attributes Of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293                  not in that for them so delicate subject of the
                        Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                                                                         Covenant of Grace. If that can be glossed over,
THE DAY OF  SHADOWS-                                                                                                                                                            a good deal more can, and that, perhaps, with
         David Displeased . ..d.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302       . very peaceful results."        r
                        Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                                                                                                                    I feel constrained to reflect. upon this paragraph
SICAN.`S   ZANGEN-                                                                                                                                                         and to insert a few corrections here and there.
 Eeuwige Goedertierenheid,( . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . **a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  *.
                                                                                                                                                             306              First of all, I want to reflect upon that clause, "and
                        Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                        although that has not prevented several of their indi-
IN HIS FEAR-                                                                                                                                                               vidual members to rejoin our churches". In the first
         Training For Life's Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303                            place, it seems somewhat strange that the Rev. De
                        Rev.  J. A.  Heya                                                                                                                                  Koekkoek hears about this way in Edmonton, Canada.
PERISCOPE-                                                                                                                                                                 It leaves the impression that his informants rejoice
         What Authority? ? ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*....................................... . . . ...309 when even a very little dribble of a few members leave
                       Rev. W. Hofman                                                                                                                                      our churches to join the Christian Reformed Church.
                                                                                                                                                                           However, I can assure the Rev. De Koekkoek that
                                                                                                                                                                           there are but very few, not only individual members,


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         293

     but also families, that have forsaken us `and left to breach, there are those here who would rather widen
     the Christian Reformed.. Church. There is nothing to it and start another church, if need be with those from
     rejoice over on their  :part. How otherwise would the whom they differ more than from us." I want to call
     Reverend account for that fact that  .while  at the time special attention in this connection to that statement
     when we were so cruelly cast out of the fellowship concerning healing of the breach in the old country.
     of the Christian Reformed Church we hadin Grand           It is, of. course, true that a few individuals on both
     Rapils only one congregation of approximately 450 sides, of the synodicals and of the liberated churches,
     families, now that same congregation still counts over have indeed put forth efforts to heal the breach. But
     500 families, and from that same congregation there it is also true, as the Rev, De Koekkoek ought to know,  '
     have been organized three other churches of fair size if at least he reads the Dutch papers, in the first place,
     and self-supporting in the same city?                     that those efforts meet with very little success; in the
        Besides, is it such a wonder that a few members        second place, that officially the liberated churches
.    left us? In fact, is this phenomenon not very normal? frown upon these efforts to heal the breach; and
     Does not  also, the Christian Reformed Church con- thirdly, that after Oosterbeek II even the synodicals
     stantly lose membership to other churches?                are opposed to them.         I predict, therefore, in the
        And who, after all, were those individual members light of the present situation that all these efforts to
     that rejoined the Christian Reformed Church? In heal the -breach will prove entirely fruitless, unless
     the first place, there were those'who  from the begin- Oosterbeek and: its. conferences may originate a third
     ning conceived of  -the possibility that in our `small party that ultimately will result in still another Re-
     church they could be big frogs in a small pond. And formed  Church,--prl@h,  however, is not very prob-
     when they could not realize their ambition, they left able.        `,-7;Z..'      ,                       \
     us again. In the second place, there were those that         Finally, I must reflect on the. latter part of the
     belonged to the union ; and when they were admonished preceding quotation together with the sentence that
     and disciplined, they simply left to find a safe refuge follows in the paragraph, namely : "They should know
     in the Christian Reformed Church.        And their re- that although they may find a sympathetic atmosphere
     ception is certainly no credit to the latter church.      in the Protestant Reformed Church along  r  church-
     Then, of course, there were some that loved a woman       political lines, they certainly will not find it in matters
     or a man more than the church and so forsook us and of doctrine, particularly not in that for them so deli-
     the truth. And finally, there were a few that went cate subject of the Covenant of Grace. If that can be
     along with us in 1924 but not for principle's sake. glossed over, a good deal more can, and that, perhaps,
     They left us because they never understood and were with very peaceful results." Now, in the first place,
     `convinced of the Reformed truth. These all found         it is not true that our churches, through their mis- _
     a glad welcome in the Christian Reformed Church.          sionaries, work only among those that are members              -
     But to us their departure simply proves that a healthy of the liberated churches. They work among the
     body is able to throw off its impure elements.            synodicals as well, although it is true that we find a
        Then I must also make a remark about the state-        ready ear among the former' first of all. Secondly,
     ment, "and one congregation, originally of the same I want to call the .attention  of the Rev. De Koekkoek
     position, to return in' a body." I suppose that the       to the fact that our differences with the Christian  Re-
     Rev. Paul De Koekkoek refers to what was originally formed Church, regarding which we may find a sympa-
     called the Protesting First Christian Reformed Church thetic atmosphere in our churches for the liberated
     of Kalamazoo. Yet, although the Rev. De Koekkoek people, do not lie only along church-political lines: for
     is very careful in his statement;  :it' may leave a false the liberated churches also reject the doctrine of com-
     impression, the impression, namely, that a Protestant mon grace ; and we find that some of the members in
     Reformed Church forsook our denomination and left         Canada that emigrated from Holland are rather  well-
     *in a body to  thechristian  Reformed Church; and that indoctrinated on this matter. Some of them even sent
     is not the case. The present Grace Chr; Ref. Church a protest to their consistory about the Three Points
     was never Protestant Reformed, not even in name,          and about the, way they treated faithful ministers in
     and never belonged to the Protestant Reformed Church 1924 by casting them out from the Christian Re-
     denomination. - And besides, the sound members of formed Church fellowship. And although we find, as
     that church in Kalamazoo organized a Protestant Re- we approach those people, that they differ with us
     formed Church, which is also entirely self-supporting on the matter of  the,covenant of grace, it is neverthe-
     and is about to dedicate a beautiful stone building as less a fact that they  ,are quite Reformed in their con-
     their church-home.                                        victions and that they can be readily instructed to
        Further, I want to call attention to the statement:    adopt our view of the covenant instead of their own.
     "Of course, I think it is a pity that while in Holland    You see, fact is that they feel especially at home with
     serious efforts are now put forth toward healing the      us because the truly Reformed immigrants find true

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

Reformed preaching in our churches which they fail                    It seems, at least, as if this is such a compromise.
to find in the Christian Reformed Church in Canada.                   In reality it  is not, because the proposition simply
About this there is rather general complaint among (quotes, except for the last part, the Canons of Dordt,
the immigrants of  ,the: Reformed Churches in the III, IV, 17; and to this all Reformed people subscribe,
Netherlands.                 I .                                   whether they believe in immediate or in mediate re-
                                                   H. H.           generation.
                                                                      Hence, suppose that Dr. Bos, as a liberated man,
                                                                   believes in mediate regeneration, as he very probably
                                                                   does, and the Rev. van Teylingen in immediate regen-
Propositions Concerning The Cove- eration, they can still use the same language, that is,
                                                                   the language of the confession. Hence, the proposition
                     nant Of Grace                                 may not even be a compromise.
                                                                      The only suggestionthat the two brethren approach
The fifth proposition which  Dr. F. L. Bos and                     each other in a compromise is the last clause, `although
Rev. E. G. van Teylingen jointly subscribe to, reads the sovereign power of the Spirit to operate already
as follows :                                                       in the unconscious heart of the child must be fully
       "That the' most wise God has ordained the use of and reverently acknowledged." There Dr. Bos  evi-
the gospel to be the seed of regeneration, and food dentIy  concedes to the Rev. van Teylingen that in the
of. `the soul," and `that, "it must be far from either case of children the possibility of immediate regenera-
instructor or instructed to' presume to tempt God in tion must be granted ; and on the other hand, the Rev.
His church by separating what He in His good pleasure van Teylingen by implication, though not expressly,
h&h most intimately joined together," (Canons of seems to concede that in the case of adults regeneration
Dordrecht, III, IV, 17.) "although the sovereign power is always through the preaching of the Word.
of the Spirit to operate already in the unconscious                   As to our own conviction in this matter, we shall
heart of the child must be fully and reverentIy  acknow- present it, D.V., in a following issue.
ledged."                                                                                                          H. II.
       Let us first of all quote Art. 17, referred to, in full:
"As the, almighty operation of God, whereby he` pro-
longs and supports this our natural life, does not ex-
clude, but requires the use of means, by which ,God
of his infinite mercy&d goodness hath chosen to exert                  Reply Of The Rev. Van Raalte
his influence, so also the beforementioned supernatural In `(Gereformeerd  Kerkblad voor Overijsel en Gelder-
operation of God, by which  we are regenerated, in no land", the Rev. J. Van Raalte replies to my observa-
wise excludes; or subverts the use of the gospel, which tions of some time ago, as follows : .
the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of re-
generation, and food of the soul. Wherefore as the                          ,ONZE  BROEDERS   IN CANADA
apostles, and teachers who  succeded them, piously in-                              EN Ds. H. HOEKSEMA
structed the ,people  `concerning this grace of God, to
his glory; and the abasement of all pride, and in the                In zijn The Standard Bearer komt Ds. Hoeksema,
meantime;. however, neglected not to keep-them by pred. van de Prot. Ref. Church te Grand Rapids terug
the sacred precepts of the gospel in the exercise of the op de brief, die we in ons Kerkblad richtten  aan onze
word, sacraments, and discipline ; so even to this day,            geemigreerde  leden in Canada. Hij vraagt mij, om op
be it far from either instructors or instructed to pre- zijn schrijven te antwoorden.
sume to tempt God and the church, by separating what                   Dat wil ik gaarne doen, maar ik kan niet zooveel
he of his good pleasure hath most intimately joined ruimte van de redactie vragen.
together. For grace is conferred by means of admoni-                ' Ds. H. heeft eigenlijk twee vragen.
tions ; and the more readily we perform our duty, the                  De eerste is, waarom Ds. van Raalte zoo graag
more eminent usually is this blessing of God working correspondentie wil aanknopen met de Chr. Geref.
in us, and the more directly is his work advanced ; to Kerk in Noord-Amerika. Hiervan behoef ik niet veel
whom alone all the glory. both of means, and of their te zeggen.
saving fruit and efficacy is for ever due. Amen."                      Als de lezers  zich het schrijven nog herinneren,
       Now, it is evident that this proposition really pre- dat weten zij dat de inhoud en bedoeling was om de
sents another compromise,-that of mediate regenera- emigranten  leden der Geref. Kerken te waarschuwen
tion in the case of those that can consciously receive TEGEN aansluiting bij de  Christehjke  Geref. Kerk in
the gospel, and of the possibility of immediate regener- Amerika (c.q. Canada).
ation in the case of little infants,                                   Wanneer ds. H. daaruit een pleidooi distilleert


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       295
                                                                                                       - .-.
 VOOR correspondentie met die kerk, begrijp ik hem aangekondigd, dat de leer inzake het Verbond, die deze
L met.                                                        leden  hier in Nederland geleerd hebben (en dat is de
     Hij haalt dat misschien uit de  aan onze  leden  daar    leer van het Infra-lapsarisme) "met wortel en tak moet
 gedane mededeling van hetgeen de Chr. Geref. Kerk worden  uitgeroeid". Ik heb daarover vroeger uitvoerig
 inzake de correspondentie met ons heeft gedaan,n.l.,         geschreven in dit blad, en kan daarop nu niet terug-
 dat die de VOORTZETTING er van heeft geweigerd, komen.
 en dat daaruit onzerzijds nu ook de consequentie moet           Ik kan dat bezwaar ook in andere woorden `weer-
 worden getrokken, dat er van het lidmaatschap van geven: Omdat in de kerken, waartoe ds. H. behoort,
 die kerk ook geen sprake meer kan zijn, en dat onze          een leer wordt geduld, die in strijd is met de Dordtse
 leden  zich dus niet moeten laten  vangen door een scheve    Leerregels cap. III, IV, art. 8 en 9 en met de Heidel-
 voorstelling van zaken, alsof er niets is gebeurd.           bergse Catechismus, antwoord 6.
     En dat zoeken van het voortzetten van de corres-            Over die kwestie wil ik eerst gepraat  hebben, en als
 pondentie was overigens niet in de eerste plaats de we dan elkaar kunnen vinden, dan ben ik bereid tot
 zaak van ds. van Raalte persoonlijk, maar van de Gere-       correspondentie met deze kerken, hetgeen zal inhouden
 formeerde Kerken in Nederland.                               om in Canada en Amerika  zich bij deze kerken  aan te
     Daarom spijt het me, dat ds. Hoeksema mij iets           sluiten, of zich er, mee te vereenigen, want ik hoop,
 laat zeggen, dat ik niet. gezegd heb. Zijn lezers krijgen .dat er spoedig een Gereformeerde Kerk in Canada
 de indruk: Ds. van Raalte wil met alle geweld corres- :tot openbaring zal komen.
 pondentie met de Cbr. ~Geref.  Kerk!, en de werkelijk-          Ds. Hoeksema merkt ook nag het. volgende `bp : "en
 heid is, dat ds. van Raalte adviseert aan de leden  in indien de Vrijgemaakte Kerk (hij bedoelt: De Geref.
 Canada: SLUIT U IN GEEN GEVAL  AAN BIJ DE                    Kerken in Nederland) de verbondsleer van (Prof. W.)
 CHR. GEREF. KERK!                                            Heyns geloven,  dan kunnen zeniet.  als leden  ,(van  onze
     Ds. H. heeft dat stuk van ondergeteekende trou-          kerken) aanvaard  worden,   tenzij,,  ,zij  zich bekeren.
 wens ook overgenomen. Misschien hebben zijn lezers Want Bet is onze overtuiging, dat .de leer van Heyns
 zooveel objectiviteit, dat ze zien, dat de inhoud van niet  ,Gereformeerd,  maar Remonstrants is". (Hetgeen
 dat stuk en de door ds. Hoeksema er van gegeven  inter-      tussen  (-) staat, is door ons ter verduidelijking inge-
 pretatie van' elkaar verschillen.                            voegd. J. v. R.)                    j
     Dan heeft ds. Hoeksema nog een vraag: Waarom                Wij zijn niet o&?rtuigd van het Remonstrantisme'
 ds. van Raalte in dat stuk geen gewag heeft gemaakt van Prof. W. Heyns, al betekent dat niet, dat -we het
 van de  Prot.  Ref. Churches waarvan ds. Hoeksema met elke uitdrukking van hem eens zijn ; b.v. ni,et met
 predikant `is.                                               wat hij  zegt van de voorbereidende genade.
     Als ik het antwoord heel zakelijk moet geven, in            Maar ik wil ds. Hoeksema wel meedelen, dat onze
 de gee&,  of met de bedoeling, waarmee het indertijd mensen er een heel andere verbondsbeschouwing op na
 werd geschreven, dan kan ik het heel kort zeggen:            houden, dan hij doet  : ik zou het niet zo'n wonder vin-
 Omdat ik in dat stuk niet anders  Wilde  doen,  dan onze den, indien hij er bezwaar tegen had om hen met die
 mensen waarschuwen TEGEN aansluiting bij de Chr.             leer te aanvaarden ; consequent zou het zeker  wezen.
 Geref. Kerk, die probeert hen in te  palmen en met              Op nog een  opmerking  moet  ik iets zeggen. Ds.'
 bedriegelijke voorwendsels te vangen. Daarmee zal Hoeksema zegt n.1. ook dit: "Ik hoop, dat het grond-
' ds. H.  echter niet tevrveden zijn, want hij zal  op-       motief voor het verschil in houding bij ds. van Rialte
 merken: Maar U hebt hen  tech aangespoord om de              (hij bedoelt met die houding dan de zienswijze die  hij
 Kerk van  Christus  tot openbaring te brengen naar op de houding van ds. v. Raalte heeft, die we1 corres-
 Zijn Woord !, en dat is niet nodig,  want de Kerk van        pondentie met de Chr.  ,Geref.  Kerk,  maar niet met de
 Christus  is in Canada al, want dat zijn de Prot. Ref.       Prot.  Geref. kerken  zou,.-willenr   niet, dit is, dat wij
 Churches, en die noemt U niet !      ".                      klein en veracht,  zijn."    ".
     Ik begrijp best, dat ds. H. dat bedoelt.                  -fk  wil,  ds.`"Hoeksema  antwoorden, dat het kiezen
     Maar dan wil ik in de eerste plaats opmerken, dat voor bet trouw blijvenaan  de Belijdenis en het accoord
 de Prot. Ref. Churches in Canada niet vertegenwoor-          van kerkelijke  `eame%`w&king  in Nederland ook  be-
 digd zijn : die hebben daar geen enkele Kerk (tenzij         teekent zich te houden  bijeen 17cZei*e  groep. Me dunkt,
 dat ze sindsdien in Hamilton een kerk hebben  ge'insti- dat moet hem genoeg zijn om dielonderstelling  royaal
 tueerd) .             ., 1. .                                terug te nemen.              "/  .'
                                                                                           I,.
     Bovendien weet ds. H. ook wel, dat ik  bezw&r heb                                                          J. Van Raalte.
 tegen de Prot. Ref. Churches, ondanks het vele goede,
 dat ik van haar weet.                                           We thank the Rev. Van Raalte for his reply. But
     Wat dat bezwaar, is ?                                    we are not quite satisfied with it, and hope to reflect
     Ik zou het zo kunnen uitdrukken: Dat ds. H. in zijn      on it in the next number of our Standard Bearer.
brochure DE GELOOVIGEN EN HUN ZAAD heeft                                                                                 H. H.

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

                      Contribution                         for your opinion I'm writing publicly. This discussion
                                                           is in the nature of the case one in which our people in,
                                                           general are interested and can profit by.
       From the Rev. P. De Boer we received the follow-       Let me begin by saying that, as I understand, it has
ing contribution :                                         well-nigh been a prevalent practice in Edgerton, not
Rev. Ii. Hoeksema;                                         only in our Prot. Ref. Church, that marriages are
                                                           solemnized in the church. By the latter I do not mean
                 Marriages In The Church.                  that marriage ceremonies were merely solemnized in
       This article is being written on a rented typewriter the church buildings, but that marriages took place
while I am sitting in a room in the Kahler Hotel here in a divine worship. Marriages in the church here in
at Rochester, Minnesota. The latter part of February Edgerton  do not generally mean ceremonies performed
my wife and I spent the greater part of two weeks here     in the building, but regular divine worship during
at the Mayo Clinic, and now (the third week of March)      which  the. marriage vows are taken by the bridal
we are here again. This time we are staying in a           cquple. If marriages are performed in the church they
hotel connected with the Clinic by a sub-way to make are solemnized in divine worship, though not neces-
it as easy as possible for my wife for whose condition     sarily on Sunday.
we are here., As you may remember-the people of               In March 1944, a request came from someone in
Redlands  certainly will-some four years ago my wife the congregation for the solemnization of a marriage
was very seriously ill with what was finally called in divine worship, requesting however permission for
"encephalitis", from which it took about a year for bridesmaid, best-man, etc. At that time--this was
her to recover. Well, about six weeks, ago the double while the Rev. G. Vos was minister in Edger-ton-the
vision that started things off the other time began consistory ruled as follows: "that the bridal pair only
again. Gradually the pain in the left eye became more shall appear before the pulpit, and that in harmony
severe, the eye finally remained closed entirely, and with sober and correct Reformed church polity no other
the repeated spasms of pain leave hervery weak. We worldly usages shall be tolerated". (Consistory min-
hesitated to come to Rochester this week, wondering utes, March 6, 1944). According to this ruling all
if my wife could stand the trip, but doctors advised us attendants at weddings are called "worldly usages",
at all events to take her to Mayo's because the case       which to my mind can mean nothing more than sinful.
was a difllcult one. There is something fundamentally If they are sinful they are sinful in divine worship
wrong but to date the doctors are not yet -sure.  just     not only but also in all other places where marriage*
what the trouble is, although they now seem to think map be solemnized. The appearance of the bridal pair
they are on the right track and hope to be able definite- alone is called in harmony with sober and correct
ly to say within a few days.. In the meantime my wife Reformed church pohty,  in plain words a "mouthful"
spends most of the time in bed, resting-up between that demands evidence which is not expressed. Though
appointments. Our prayer is that it may please the naturally I would submit to this decision in practice,
Lord to give the physicians the necessary wisdom to I cannot personally subscribe to the view that all the
discover the nature of the ailment and to prescribe attendants, etc., are in themselves "worldly usages",
some remedy, but that above all He may teach us            worldly in the sense of sinful.
Christian submission to His way, knowing that all             Again in September 1948, the consistory received a
things wol'k together for good to them that love God request for the solemnization of marriage. This re-
and are the called according to His purpose.               quest was for marriage in a divine worship together
       The purpose of this `article, however, is to write with two attendants and flower girls. However, the
about marriages in the church. Some months back request was also that in case the consistory would
you as editor of the Standard Bearer placed a question not allow the attendants, flower girls, etc., in a divine
concerning this matter and briefly gave some of your worship, the building would be granted for the cere-
views on the matter. At that time you invited  Edger-      mony apart from., a worship. At this time the con-
ton's consistory to write on the matter in the Btandard    sistory  reconsidered its decision of March 1944, and
Bearer. To date nothing appeared. However, with now decided "that. in a divine service the preaching
the permission of the consistory, I would like to quote    of the Word should have all emphasis, and to have
various decisions of our consistory on this matter of m&e  thsn the bridal pair before the pulpit tends to
marriages in the church and thereby bring this entire distract rather than add to the sanctity of Holy wor-
matter before the attention of our people. Without ship. Hence the consistory considers it advisable in a
intending exactly a debate I would like to hear what marriage ceremony that takes place in a full divine
you think of our present decisions. If we have erred worship to allow only the bridal pair. Otherwise we
we want to know our error and go in the right direc-       see a danger that couples may seek to outdo each other,
tion with this matter. Rather than write personally which will hinder rather than add to the basic idea of


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      297

 divine worship of God meeting with His people". (Con-       building shall be in a divine worship. Church Order,
 sistory minutes, Sept. 10, 1948). You will notice that Art. 70.
 in this decision the consistory does not at all speak of       2. That only such marriages shall be solemnized
 "worldly usages", of "sober and correct Reformed as in 1, where both parties are members (by baptism
 church polity".    The cohsistory feels that a divine or by confession) of our Prot. Ref. Churches, or de-
 worship consists of God meeting with His people, that clare their intention to become such. Ground : only
 more than the bridal pair before the pulpit will open those that are members can truly before God take
 the door to more and more additions to the forms part in a Prot. Ref. divine worship.
 connected with the marriage ceremony and thereby               3. That in these public marriages only the bride
 focus the attention upon matters other than the pri-        and the groom shall appear, as per our decision of
 mary idea of divine worship. We granted the use of Art. 3 of Sept. 10, 1943." End quote.
 the building in that case for a marriage ceremony
 arranged as the bridal pair wished it, but without             The second point needs some explanation. It has
                                                             happened in the past that a marriage was solemnized
 divine worship. Personally, I have in the past been
 in favor of marriages solemnized without divine wor- in divine worship in our church where one of the
 ship, whether in the church building or in some other parties was not a member of the Prot. Ref. Church,
 suitable hall. In the past I have not felt too much for     nor intended to become .one, and where the couple
 Church Order, article 70, that obligates the consistory intended to affiliate with a church of another denomin-
 to see to it that all marriages are performed in the        ation after their marriage. Personally I am convinced
 church, which means not the church building but a that it is not proper to solemnize a marriage in a divine
 regular divine worship.     Yet, the more I think of worship where one of the parties involved is not of
 this entire matter the more I am in favor of Church the Prot. Ref. Churches nor intends to be. Church
 Order, article 70, which (by the way) we are obli-          weddings in the full sense of the Word, which imply
 gated to carry out,' or in the way of gravamina to          approval before God on the part of the consistory
                                                             and the church, ought to take place where both are
 change.              .
    The question you received was in regard to this          of the Prot. Ref. Churches, or where the one not  it
                                                             member declares his intention to become such. Only
 request, just mentioned in the fore-going paragraph.
 In this instance the consistory did not condemn at-         such marriages can properly be contracted in the
                                                             presence of ,God  and His church and with the official
 tendants as "worldly usage" but laid down a rule for
`" divine worship and what should form a part of it.         sanction of the consistory. At any rate our consistory
                                                             has expressed that only such marriages where the
 In such a wedding that takes place in a full divine         parties involved are members of our church, or where
 worship the consistory clearly is within its jurisdiction one who does not declares his intention to become such,
 when it draws up some general rule that shall obtain shall be solemnized before the church. Other weddings
 for all marriages performed as part of a divine service.    &an take place in the home or in a hall, if the parties
 Certainly in such services there should be a general wish, but marriages in the church are only for those
 practice to which all must conform. The consistory who are members of the Prot. Ref. Church. How can
 simply was seeking to establish some general practice anyone who in his heart says that some other church
 for divine worship. We did not open the door for the institute is the true church, that the Prot. Ref. Church
 use of weddings in the church arranged as the couples is not the church institute to which he is commanded
 might desire. But this left out the ministry of the         of Christ to belong, properly before God's face take
 Word, which I felt more and more to be more im- part in a divine worship of the Prot. Ref. Church?
 portant than all other forms and practices.                 You understand we realize some may look at this
    But this is not the end of the matter. In February matter differently, but we are seeking objectively to
 we received a request for the use of the church build- determine some method by which to determine these
 ing for a marriage by someone though a daughter of matters: and concrete church membership is the ob;
 the church no longer a member. Again this whole             jective standard by which we must go. In the back of
 marriage matter came before our attention.                  our'mind?s  Art..27 of the Confession of Faith.
    Now the consistory decided as follows. I quote:             Well, Rev. Hoeksema, I have written enough .`to
 "In view of the fact that repeatedly requests come for start some discussion on a matter that is repeatedly
 public church weddings with divine worship, or for a problem to consistories. We are convinced that in
 the -use of the church building for marriage cere-          view of the general American disregard for the sanc-
 monies without divine worship, by those in the church tity of marriage, it is fitting that `marriages be per-
 and even outside the church, with or without brids-         formed according to Church Order,  A-rt. 70. The
 maids, flower girls, etc., the consistory decided the       preaching of the Word ought to be on the foreground.
following :                                                  We are also convinced that marriage in a divine ser-
    1. That henceforth all marriages in our church           vice ought to be solemnized only between those of the


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Prot. Ref. Churches.            And we are further of the is not merely good or goodness. To be sure, God is a
opinion to avoid all the present day frills connected          Light, and there is no darkness in Him. His entire
with marriages, general as they have become, we Being is goodness, perfection. Were we able to gaze
shall limit the bridal p&y to the couple concerned,            into the infinite depths of His being, we would see
not because bridesmaids, etc. are in themselves sinful, nothing but goodness. The goodness of the Lord cer-
but because in a divine  worship,,,we  need a general tainly implies, therefore, that nothing but goodness
limitation, applicable to all, lest  ,the propriety of a and perfection characterizes the living God. But God
Reformed worship be  foFgotten.  Aren't our  present-          is absolute goodness. He is the Absolute  aGood. He
day marriage customs departing from the primacy of alone is goodness. And He is this not. merely in the
things and losing themselves in secondary matters? sense that all other goodness is of Him. He is not
Is the line we are drawing to your mind the .best to           merely the Sun in Whose light we see light, the Foun-
lead these matters in the'.direction  of Church Order, tain Whose waters we drink. But the Lord is absolute,
Art.  70?                                                      an inaccessible Light,  the.only,  absolute Good, so that
       If anywhere we err in our present stand we want all other good is but a creaturely reflection of Jehovah,
to-correct our stand, but we want to keep marriages made by Him, infinitely distinguished from the Lord.
,aS'part  of church services, and not just in the building.    It is true that, according to the apostle, Peter, in the
We:`l'ook  forward to your comments, and very likely first chapter of his  sec.ond  epistle, we become partakers
after that ,ask for more space.
" .; ., ,.                                                     of the Lord's Divine nature, but this, we understand,
                                             P.  De'.Boer.     must tbe understood in the creaturely sense of the
       We all deeply sympathize with Rev. and Mrs. De word-the Lord enables  .us to live, as creatures and in
Boer.  in their affliction.        We assure them that our the measure of the creature, the life which He eternally
prayers are :ascending  to the throne of grace in their lives as God. Hence, inasmuch as He is the Absolute
behalf. May they abundantly  experience  that God's Good, the, alone and only living. God, the Wholly In-
grace is always su&ent.'                      I                comparable One, Who alone is God and besides Whom
-      The rest .of this article I hope to answer as soon there is no other, He is therefore the only, absolute
as I have time and space.                                      Standard or Norm. He alone determines what is good
                                                    H. H.      or evil. All good and evil is determined by its relation
                                                               to Him, the alone living Gpd. The question whether
                                                               an act is good or evil cannot be determined, therefore,
 "                                                             before a court of human justice, cannot be decided by
                                                               a standard of human, worldly, ,civic righteousness or
                                                               justice. Man's opinion of us is not  Chte  determining
       >. :_       OUR  D O C T R I N E                        factor, does not determine the issue. God, and God
                                                               alone, is the Standard or Norm of ~a11 good and evil ;
                                                               the all-important question is: What is our relation to
:                 The Attributes Of God                        Him, the Incomparable  One?,
                                                                  The righteousness of God, to quote the definition
      I The Righteousness  Of  God.  (cont.)  _                OF the Rev. H. Hoeksema (whose defnitions, we readily
      :  & our preceding article we called attention to        admit, we frequently quote), is that virtue of the
various ,passages  from the Word of God which teach Lord, according to which all His willing and acting
us that the Lord is righteous in Himself. Attention are in perfect harmony with His holiness and the
was called, briefly, to the following portions of Holy infinite perfection of His being, and that according
Writ: Deut. 32:4, Nehemiah 9 :3, Psalm 145 :7, Jere- to His own eternal and infinitely perfect judgment of
miah  12:l.           And `we concluded our article with the Himself. The Lord knows Himself perfectly. And
statement: `What -this righteousness of the Lord im- He is the God of infinite perfection. Our being is
plies .we shall see, the Lord willing, in our following deeper than our consciousness:, We are told that that
article." We understand, I am sure, that this truth of part of an iceberg which is underneath the surface of
the  ri~ghteousness  of the Lord is corroborated by many the water is seven times larger than the part above
more passages of the Word of God.                              the. surface. This, relatively speaking, also applies
                                                               to the life of the human being. Our subconsciousness
                What T&is Divine Righteousness Implies.        is surely greater than our consciousness. But the Lord
       We have already remarked that the word "right- is infinite in  - perfection, knows Himself perfectly.
eousness" signifies literally: to be right, straight, as a There is in God no subconsciousness. All God's being
straight line ; to be in harmony with a certain standard, is known unto the Lord.
norm. The righteousness of God implies, in the first              Moreover, as that infinitely good and perfect God
place, that the Lord is the Absolute Good. The Lord the Lord knows and wills Himself. We will as we are

                                                                        t


                                            T H E   STANbKRD   B E A R E R ,   -                                         299

     and according to what we are. Even as the nature of that taketh His name in vain"; Nahum 1:3 : "The Lord
     a particular tree determines its fruit and as a fountain is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all
     determines whether its water shall be bitter or sweet, acquit the wicked : the Lord hath His way in the whirl-
     so also we will as we are. Out of a good heart proceed wind' and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust
     good thoughts, and out of an evil heart proceed evil of His feet;"-He does not excuse the wicked, Ezekiel
     thoughts. Our being'determines our willing. We are 7:4, 27: "And Mine eye shall not spare thee, neither
     not as we will to be (although it is ever true that the    will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon
     sinner is in complete harmony with himself as a sin- thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of
     ner), but we will as our heart is. God, however, is as thee: and ye shall know that I am-the Lord. . . . The
     He wills to be. He eternally wills Himself. There is king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with
     in the Lord no discord, no disharmony between Him- desolation, and the hands of the people of the land
     self and anything of or in His being. The Lord wills shall be troubled : I will do unto them after their .way,
     Himself exactly as He is and is in perfect harmony and according to their deserts will I judge them; and
     with Himself.                                              they shall know that I am the Lord?  ; see also Egek.
        Finally, in connection with this righteousness of 7  :9, 8 :18, 9 : lo-He does not accept a gift and with
     God, the Lord is righteousness. He is not merely Him is no respect of persons, De@; 10 :17: "For the
     righteous, does not merely possess righteousness. Right- Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a
     eousness is not something which simply cleaves unto great God, a mighty, and a terrible, Which regardeth
     the Lord, a virtue which He can exercise or lay aside,     not persons, nor taketh reward"-He judges impartial-
     a perfection which can  be" divorced from His being. ly, Job 13 :6-12 : "Hear now my reasoning, and hearken
%    Righteousness is the  Lo+  being. He  i.s righteous- to the pleadings of my lips. Will ye speak -wickedly
                                                                                                                ,.
     ness. Every vibration  .of His eternal being is right- for God? and talk deceitfully for Him? Will ye aczliept
     eousness ; were the Lord to cease being righteous He His person? will ye `contend for God? Is it good th$t
     would cease to be God. The righteousness of the Lord He should search you out? or as one&an  cmocketh
     is therefore the infinite and spontaneous activity of another, do ye mock Him? He  *wills surely  ,reprove
                                                                                                                      . . ..t
     His holy and eternal Self, never to be divorced from you,  if:.ye do secretly accept persons.  #Shall  n&.His
     Him in all His eternal and infinite existence.             excellency make you afraid? and His dread fall upon
        Hence, as that righteousness God the Lord always you? Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your
     reveals Himself in all His dealing with the children bodies to bodies of clay."; see also Job 22 :2-4,34  :lO-12,
     of men.                                                    35:6,  7-He is righteous and all His judgments are
                                                                upright, Psalm 119 :137 : "Righteous art Thou, 0 Lord,
        This Righteousness of God Taught Thdughout              and upright are Thy judgments," and Psalm 129:4:
                           L.Scrip ture.                        "The Lord is righteous : He hath cut asunder the cords
        The Lord is Judge of all the earth and He will oi the wicked."-Also, the punishment of the wicked
     reward the righteous and the wicked, according to is repeatedly mentioned with His righteousness, II
     Gen. 18 :23-25 : "And Abraham drew near, and said,         Thess. 1:5-10 : "Which is a manifest token of the right-
     Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? eous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy
     Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city:     of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer : Seeing
     wilt Thou also destroy and not spare the place for the it is a righteous thing&$h God to recompense tribula-
     fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from tion to them that trouble you ; And to you who are
     Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
     with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In  *
     the wicked, that be far from Thee : Shall not the Judge flaming fire taking vengeance on them that  knowi. not
     of all the earth. do right?" And, although it is true      God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord `Jesus
     that God's righteousness toward the wicked. is not         Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting de-
     mentioned in Scripture as often as His righteousness struction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
     with respect to the godly (often, however, the Word glory of His power; When He shall come to be glorified
     of God speaks of His wrath, indignation, etc., toward in His saints, and to be admired in all them that
     the wicked), yet, it is surely taught in the Word  iif believe (because our testimony among you was be-
     ,God. He does not hold the guilty innocent, Ex. 20 :5,7 : lieved) in that day. Wherefore also we pray always
     "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve for you, that our God would count you worthy of. this
     them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visit- calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His- good-
     ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto ness, and the work of faith with power : That the name
     the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and
     .  f . . Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the
     God in vain ; for the Lord wilt not hold him guiltless Lord Jesus Christ." ; see also Ex. 6 :5, 7:4, Ps. 7:12,

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

9:5-g,  28:4, 62:13, Ps. 73, 96 :lO, 13, II Chron. 12:5-7,    preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I
Neh.  9:33, Lam.  1:18, Is.  5:16,  10:22,  Dan. 9  :14,      am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
Rom. 2:5.                                                     power of God unto salvation to every one that  believ-
   Moreover, the Scriptures also teach us that the            eth ; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For there-
Lord rewards the righteous. Repeatedly the Psalms in is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
speak of this righteousness of the Lord toward the faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
wicked.--"My defense is of God, Which saveth the                 God is Constantly Righteous in all His Dealings
upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous, and God
is angry with the wicked every day," Ps. `7 :lO-11 : "In                     With the Children of Men.
Thee, 0 Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be                 Hence, God's righteousness toward the creature is
ashamed : deliver me in Thy righteousness. Bow down the manifestation of the infinitely and perfectly right-
Thine ear to me; deliver  me. speedily: be Thou my            eous God as He always maintains Himself in all His
strong rock, for an house of defence  to save me", Ps. dealings with the children of men. Because He is
31: l-2 ; "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil : He preserv-     righteous He blesses His people and rewards them
eth the souls of His saints ; He delivereth them out of with eternal life for the sake of Christ Jesus and
the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the right- because of His perfect satisfaction of the Divine justice.
eous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice          And because He is righteous He always assumes an
in the Lord, ye righteous ; and give thanks at the re-        attitude of condemnation toward the wicked, whom
membrance of His' holiness." Especially in the pro- He sees and has eternally willed'as  wicked and un-
phecy of Isaiah does the Word of the Lord speak of the godly, and punishes them, temporally and eternally.
salvation of God's people in connection with the right- This is clearly and undeniably taught us in Lord's Day
eousness of God.-"And he saw that there was no man, 4 and 5 of our Heidelberg Catechism. In Lord's Day
and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore 4 the question is asked: "Will God suffer such dis-
His arm brought salvation unto him; and His right- obedience and rebellion to go unpunished?" And the
eousness it sustained him. For He put on.righteousG           answer reads : "By no means ; but is terribly displeased
ness as a breastplate, and an helmet  of salvation upon with our original as well as actual sins ; and will punish
His head ; and He put on the garments of vengeance them in His just judgment temporally and eternally,
for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a  cloke.  . . .      as He hath declared, Cursed is every one that con-
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me ; because the           tinueth not in all things, which are written in the
Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the book of the law, to do them." Then, in Lord's Day 5
meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,           this question appears : "Since then by the righteous
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal
of the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the        punishment, is there no way by which we may escape
acceptabble  year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance that punishment, and be again received into favor?"
of our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; To appoint unto To this question the Catechism answers: "God, ;will
them that mourn in Zion; to give unto them beauty have His justice satisfied : and therefore we must make
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment this full satisfaction, either by ourselves, or by an-
of praise for the spirit of` heaviness ; that they might other," The teaching of "Common Grace" is that the
be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the         Lord is also favorably inclined to the reprobate wicked
Lord, that He might be glorified", Is. 59 :16-17, 61:13.      in this temporal, earthly life but will reveal Himself
And also in the New Testament this righteousness              exclusively in His wrath in the eternal hereafter. And
of the Lord, which constitutes the ground of our sal- the teaching of Arminianism is that the Lord would
vation, is repeatedly taught. We read in John 17:25:          save all men, that His gospel is a Divine invitation to
"0 righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee:           all men, and that therefore God would save all men
but I have known Thee, and these have- known that             regardless of ,the payment of their sin and guilt. How-
Thou hast sent Me." And in II Tim. 4 :8 : "Henceforth ever in Lord's Day 5 we are told that the satisfying
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which of God's justice is the only possible w,ay whereby we
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that          can once more be received. into Divine favor.  ,The
day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that          salvation,of  the sinner is, therefore, impossible without
love His appearing." And in I John 1:9 : "If we con-          the full payment of, his guilt. And in Lord's Day 4
fess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our we are told that the Lord punishes  ,t,emporally and
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And eternally, i.e., always. And this receives added empha-
we are surely acquainted with the fact that  the'right- sis in the question, whether the Lord will ever suffer
eousness of the Lord is indeed the keynote of Paul's such disobedience and rebellion to go  unpunishe,l.
epistle to the Romans, as expressed, e.g., in Remans          Never, therefore, does the Lord assume an attitude of
1:15-17  : "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to favor toward the sinner whose sin and guilt is not


                                        T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           301
                                               .
covered and blotted out by the blood of Jesus Christ, that right. A just judge is a judge who not only knows
our Lord. Always the Lord is condemning'the repro- what is right but also fearlessly enforces the right.
bate ungodly, visiting His wrath upon him, and caus- We now understand that, among men, righteousness
ing all things to work together unto his eternal desola- and justice do not necessarily include each other. Many
tion.                                                        judges know the right but wilfully pervert justice and
    That the Lord is always, continually punishing the ignore their high calling. This is particularly true in
wicked is clearly taught in Psalm 145 :I7 ff., where we their treatment of the right as distinguished from the
read: "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy poor and also in the many industrial troubles and
in all His works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that problems of our present day. Many judges do not
call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He proceed from the question, What is right?, but from
will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him: He also the consideration of personal interest and self-aggran-
will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord            dizement. They are not interested in the right but in
preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked themselves. God's justice and righteousness, however,
will He destroy." Verse 9 of this psalm, we will recall, cannot be separated. They are always one. This is
is quoted in support of a general favor of God to all        due to the fact that the Lord is His attributes, that He
men. We should notice, in this passage of verses 17-20,      2:4 righteousness, that He is therefore righteous in all
that the verses 18-20  are an explanation of verse 17.       His life, His thinking and willing, in all His being.
In verses  18-20 we are told that. the Lord is nigh unto He is always in complete and perfect harmony with
all men that love Him, call upon .Him in truth; that         Himself. Consequently, the Lord is always. just. God's
He will fulfill the desire of them,tha,t .fear Him, will     justice, in distinction from His righteousness (never
hear their cry, and save them, that He preserveth all separated from it)  ,`is that virtue of the Lord whereby
them that love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.      He always manifests Himself as the righteous Jehovah,
That the Lord will thus be nigh unto them that csll          as the God Who always wills Himself and reveals Him-
upon Him in truth, etc., and will destroy all the wicked,    self  *as such.      Continually He maintains Himself.
is because He is righteous in all His ways, and holy in Hence, He is ever the God of salvation toward His
all His works. Hence, that He will destroy the wicked people in Christ Jesus and for the sake of Christ Jesus,
does not merely apply to the hereafter. This the but He is also always the God of righteous indignation
"Common Grace" theorists would have us believe.              and wrath toward them who do not fear Him and whom
They teach that, in this life, the Lord is also graciously He has not known in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
inclined to them but that in the hereafter He will re-                                                 H. Veldman.
veal Himself unto them exclusively in His wrath. Ps.
145, however, teaches us differently. The Lord, we
read in verse 17, is righteous in all His ways, and holy
in all His works. Hence, the Lord always is nigh unto
all them that call upon him, etc,, but He is also ctlwuys
destroying the wicked. Also with respect to the wicked                               Attention
He is righteous in  all  His ways and holy in  all  His
works. Throughout the ages the Lord has condemned                         LEAGUE OF  MEN'S SOCIETIES
the world and His every act toward that world is an
act of judgment, of condemnation, causing all things         Keep April  7 open for an important lecture by
to work together for their condemnation, so that in all
that they do they are gathering for themselves treas-               ,.          PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  ZSIROS
ures of wrath in the Day of Judgment. God is right-
eousness. That He  is righteous and always maintains who will lecture for us on Thursday evening, April 7th
Himself as such is a rock upon which the theory of at 8 o'clock, at the First Prot. Ref. Church, at Holland,
"Common Grace" must necessarily suffer shipwreck.            Michigan, on a very interesting subject:
                     God's  Justice.                                       Ybnwnunism   .mnd The Church"
   Intimately,connected  with the virtue of God's right-
eousness is His justice. The Lord's righteousness and This will be very interesting, for you will obtain news
justice are one. This is not necessarily true among from behind the Iron Curtain, from the Christian
men. Among men the one may be present without the point of view. Professor Zsiros is of the Reformed
other. Righteousness in distinction from justice, we Churches in Hungary, and is now a guest professor
would define as the objective right, that which is con- at the Western Seminary at Holland, Michigan.
formable to the law and should be done. Justice, in
distinction from righteousness, is the enforcement of                        LET'S ALL BE THERE!


302                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                      .
                                                           come supplied for that purpose with instruments of
           Tl3I3 DAY OF SHADOWS                            music of every description-with harps and psalteries
                                                           and timbrels and cornets and symbols. And David and
                                                           the house of Israel played on them before the Lord, and
                 David Displeased                          they leaped with joy. They made a joyful sound, that
                                                           doubtless bore little resemblance to what in this modern
       We are occupied with the transportation of the ark age is called music. But the Lord looketh on the heart,
to mount Zion. There are some points in the narrative so that He was pleased nevertheless. For that crowd
to which we must return. Stating that David with all o.Z players included men whose hearts were true ; and
the people that were with him went to Baal-Judah to none was truer than David's.
bring up from thence the ark of God, the writer in            But the Lord had fault to find with them never-
anticipation of the events that he wants to relate con- theless as is evident from the events narrated below.
tinues, "whose name (the name of the ark) is called There should have been more of awe of God and of His
by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between     ark in their rejoicing, and more of humbleness and
the cherubim." The thought conveyed is that the Lord contrition of heart. It had been well had they decried
put His name upon the ark. The Scriptures identify their national sins before the Lord before rushing to
the Lord's name with His glories, so that to declare       Rirjath to-bring to them the ark that for seventy long
God's name is to say that He "is merciful and gracious,    years they had neglected. For one thing they had
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,         rejected the Lord that He should reign over them. That
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and        great sin had never been publicly confessed except
transgression and sin ;" but it is also to say that "He under pressure.
by no means clears", that He is God righteous and             The manner of treatment they afforded the ark is
holy whose eyes are too pure to behold sin, a consum-      revealing. That holy thing was set upon a cart drawn
ing fire thus, the Everlasting Burning with whom no by oxen and so brought out of the house of  Abinadab:
man-naked sinner-can dwell. Such are His virtues.          His two sons or descendants, Uzzah and Ohia, were the
And together they form the one, pure, white, light         the teamsters; The latter went before the ark and the
in the being of God that the Scriptures call His name. former drove the cart. But they were employing a
And by this name He called the ark. It was there,          forbidden method of transporting that sacred vessel.
was this name, in the speech that rose from the blood      As we have just seen, the law demanded that it be
of atonement that was sprinkled upon the ark's lid ;       carried by its staves and not by any persons but by
it was there in that symbol, pledge and effulgence of the Levites especially appointed to that task. And was
His presence-the cloud-that hovered above its lid,         the ark covered? It is best to assume that it was. For
His mercy-seat and throne. Here He dwelt in the            if it had not been wearing its covering most of that
midst of His people with His Word and Gospel and           crowd playing before it at no great distance perhaps
with His power to save and to destroy.          Here He would have perished right there and then before the
blessed His people in the blood of the atonement; but Lord as the men of Bethshemeth had gerished  for look-
from here leaped also the,fire of His wrath consuming ing on the uncovered ark. But their inattention to the
the godless.                                               legal requirement that the ark be carried by the Levites
   The ark was a  thing of terrible holiness. If it be- is perplexing in view of the presence on the scene of
came necessary to remove it from its place, it had to      David.    And that, crowd must have included many
be carried by its staves as resting upon the shoulders more worthies in Israel. It included priests and Levites
of the Levites. For no man might touch it. So it was and members of the prophetic schools and even the
written in Israel's law. And when so born it has to        prophet Nathan perhaps. Had the knowledge of that
wear a covering. For no man might look upon it. So,        requirement ceased, or must their wrong doing be
too, it was written in Israel's law.                       ascribed to the thoughtlessness and indifference of sin-
   They were taking that holy thing to themselves in ful flesh?' `That they were not ignorant of the law is
Mount Zion. But they were an ill-deserving people. proved by the fact that later on in their bringing the
Could they dwell with the Lord in His holy hill? ark out of the house of Obed-edom they return to the
They did well in what they were doing. For the Lord right method of transporting that sacred chest. The
had sworn truth unto David. It means that He had           best conjecture is that they hoped the Lord would con-
sworn truth unto Christ, for David was a prophetic done their deflection from the right line of action as
person.     But were they sufficiently aware that apart considering that they had a long way to go and that
from the grace of Christ and the blood of the atone- it was much easier to convey the ark on a cart than
ment they were depraved men and that it was the ark carry it by its staves. But they were taking liberties
of Israel's holy God that they were transporting? They with the Lord.         Besides, couldn't they discern the
were putting on a great demonstration. They had reason back of the Lord's requirement 2 Transport-


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     303

       ing the ark on a cart was frought with danger for the pleased), because the Lord had seized upon Uzzah : and
     ark, humanly speaking, especially the way that they he called the name of the place Perezuzzah, meaning
      went about it. They set the ark on a cart and forsook the seizing  of Uxzah. The Lord was angry with Uzzah
       it. At least they could have  ordered~.the.,levi~,~  to on account of his error; but David was angry on ac-
      hold it by its staves that it might not be shaken from count of the stroke that the Lord had laid on Uzzah..
      the cart at the bad places of the strack. But no such He couldn't justify the Lord's severity. What was
      precautionary measure was taken. Ohia went. before; Uzzah then supposed to have done? Allowed the ark
       Uzzah drove the cart. That was deemed sufficient.         to be shaken from the cart? Uzzah's solicitude was
          It all points to one thing chiefly. The ark had lost commendable. He had done well. The stroke was not
       its sacredness for the people. That the ark was God's deserved. So David reasoned by himself. He was
       throne, that His name was upon it, had ceased to be for justifying Uzzah rather than  *God.  The patient Job
      them a reality. It can be expIained.  Since its removal    did likewise in his troubles. So it is written. "For
       from the holiest place of the tabernacle, a whole gener- he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my
       ation had come and gone. The people must again be         wounds without a cause. (17 :6). Such was his com-
       made to tremble before the ark. God and the ark must plaint. It expresses exactly the point to David's griev-
       again become associated in their minds before He can ance. To his mind the Lord had smitten Uzzah with-
       take up His residence in their midst in Zion. With out a cause.
       the enthronement of David the church had entered a           David's reactions were necessarily sinful. For the
       new dispensation of grace. New light will be shed Lord had done it and with him there. can be no in-
_      upon the promise. There will be new manifestations        justice. But this is the position of faith-a position
       of God's mercy and grace and new favors shown all         that David in his heart was not occupying at the
       in connection with the ark. Hence, first the Lord moment. Because he was unable to discern the right-
       mustcorrect the attitude of His people toward the ark.    ness of the Lord's doing he was angry and critical of
       First they must again be made to stand in awe before      God. That was his sin. It is a sin into which we so
       it and thus before Him. First it must be driven home easily fall. How prone we are to lay down the law for
       to them that in the ark they have to do not with a        God, how inclined to judge him according to standards
       dumb idol but with the very throne of the living of our own making instead of considering that what
       God.                                                      he doeth is well done for the sole reason that He hath  "
         That the ark had lost for them its sacredness is also done it.
       particularly evident from Uzzah's rashness. Arriving         Indeed, God's dealing with Uzzah does raise ques-
       at a bad place in the road the oxen stumbled. So reads tions. Assuming now that the ark would have tumbled
       the text in our versions. But the Hebrew verb trans- from the cart had it not received the support of Uzzah's
       lated  stumble is shumat. 1. to let go, 2. to throw down, hands, what under the circumstances would have con-
       to break 2bose, intransitive to set on.e self free. Doubt- stituted right action for him? Should he have allowed
       less the thought conveyed is that the oxen so behaved the ark to be hurled from the cart and damaged with-
       that the ark was in actual danger of being hurled from out stretching forth a hand? That, it seems, was
       the cart. At least, `so it seemed. The place was  a David's difficulty? But he should have perceived that
       threshing-floor and its owner's name was  Nachon.         Uzzah had deserved that stroke. Uzzah himself had
       The Chronicler gives his name as  Chidon.  The re- necessitated his forbidden action by his inattention
       spective meanings of these names-smiting and de- to the legal requirements for the safe transportation
       struction-may indicate that they are not to be taken of the ark. Further, as was stated, the ark had been
       as proper nouns but that they were given to the place provided with staves for its transportation. Yet Uzzah,
       after the event narrated below.                           says the text, took hold of the ark. The meaning
          "Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark, and took hold    doubtless is that he took not hold of the ark by its
       of it." Did he not do well? The Lord didn't thnk so. staves. It all goes to show that Uzzah was not tremb-
       For His anger..was  "kindled against Uzzah ; and God ling before the ark. He, had lived with it all his life,
       smote him there for his error; and there he died by and it had ceased to be a sacred thing for him. He
       the ark of ,God."                                         had taken hold of it, perhaps even by its staves, with
          It must be assumed that David had seen everything. as little dread in his soul as he had felt when handling
       For he was playing before the Lord and following the the ordinary articles of furniture that stood in his
       ark at no great distance. His first reaction was one house. And the sins of Uzzah were the sins of them
       of anger. Charah  is the verb contained in the Hebrew all including David. Not one had raised his voice in
       text. It is the same verb that is found in the first protest at the method that was being employed in
       clause of the preceding verse, which reads, "And the transporting the ark. Yet, the stroke had fallen only
       anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzaah." David upon Uzzah. It pleased God to make an example of
       was angry (the translators, toned this down to  dis- him alone. -4nd that was, His, right. -He could not


304                             1  lF[THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

slay David as He had sworn truth unto him.                   for Christ's sake. He had in His sovereign mercy
       And now we can continue to ask  rquestions,  of chosen Zion. David will dwell with aGod in His holy
course. We can ask whether  to all appearances  the hill, he and all his house. And he had aGod's testimony
ark actually was in danger of being overtaken by dis- ir his heart and in his life that he was Christ's and
aster.     This seems to be indicated by Uzzah's sinful that Christ's God was his God. Had not the Lord in
action, by David's displeasure, and by the behaviour of      His mercy taken him from the sheep tote and made
the oxen. The text states that they stumbled. We may him ruler over His people? And had not the Lord
also translate here, "The oxen kicked", or "became been with him whithersoever he had gone and cut off
restive and threatened to run away". We may further all his enemies out of his sight and made him great
ask whether Uzzah would have died had his attitude ix*. His love of His servant? Yet David was afraid of
toward the ark been right. But his attitude was God "that day". His confidence toward God was gone.
wrong. Hence, the question is pointless.      *              The sight of Uzzah's corpse caused him to tremble.
       Finally, we can ask just what Uzzah shouId  have       David's trembling can be explained. His posture
done to escape the stroke of God. Undoubtedly this is was carnal. He refused to allow Uzzah's sin, which
what he should,have  done. As mindful of the prohibi-. was the sin of them all including David and him by
tion that the ark be not touched, he should have with-       all means, as he was king, to stand out in his mind in
held his hand by all means and cast the care of the its right light. But instead of engaging in earnest heart-
ark upon God, while decrying before the face of God          searchings in the attempt to know his sin and confess
his great sin of having brought the ark in its present it, David justified Uzzah and himself and all the people
predicament by his intention to the requirement of that were with him rather than God. Him he accused
the law that it be born by the Levites. But confession of undue severity. It can be expected that, such being
of sin is the fruitage  of reflection upon the sins that     his state of mind and heart, he should be afraid of God
must be confessed; it is the  fruitage  of earnest heart- and cry out in despair, "How shall the ark of the .Lord
searchings. But for this there was neither time nor come to me!" In uttering that cry he was not in love
opportunity.     The ark was in danger. The moment           extolling God's holiness and the inability of the nuked
required instant action. And Uzzah did act. Follow- sinner to co-habitate with such a God ; rather he was
ing a natural impulse, he, with a leap, laid his hands       criticizing God for what He had done to Uzzah. It was
on the ark to hold it in. place on the cart and paid for a cry that proceeded from sinful flesh. It was a cry
that forbidden doing with his life.                          of unbelief.
       The sight of Uzzah's corpse lying there by the           Such was David's posture not for a fleeting moment
ark not only displeased David ; it also terrified him.       but for a whoIe day and perhaps for the greater part of
"David was afraid of the Lord that day," not ordinarily three long months. That he was actually afraid' of
but at that particular time. He was not saying in his God is clear. He had the ark carried aside in the house
heart as on other days, "The Lord is my rock, and my         of Obed-edom, and he told the people that had been
fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength in playing with him before the Lord that they had better
whom I trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salva- hasten home and put as great a distance between them
tion ,and my high tower. . . ." His faith had suffered       and the ark as they knew how, before the Lord in His
an eclipse, and the cry of his heart now was, "Alas,         wrath kill them all. It's a wonder that the Lord did
how shall the ark of the Lord come- to me !" That not slay him, too. But'the Lord could not slay him for
reads like a.lamentation.  And so it was. The doleful        He had sworn truth unto him;but not for any goodness
events of. the hour had saddened him as well. A deep original in him, certainly.
gloom encircled his soul. e Had the Lord not chosen             But we would like to know more about Obed-edom.
Zion and sworn truth unto David? But if so, what             He showed an astounding courage. With David and
meaneth then Uzzah's corpse lying there by the all the people running away from the ark in terror he
ark? That was God's doing. Wasn't it a clear indica-         received it into his house. He was the only one not
tion that He had not chosen Zion, that, in a word, all       afraid of God. There can be but one explanation ; the
was delusion? The' Lord was making the transporta- Lord had prepared his mind and heart for the recep-
tion of the ark to Zion, the city of David, impossible. tion of the ark at this moment. He must have been
If Uzzah had to die-Uziah whose only  offence  had a true Israelite, one of God's worthies, to begin with.
been, if an offence  it was, that he had shown solicitude    He must also have assumed co-responsibility for the
for the ark-who could stand before the Lord ! Should wrong method that was employed for the transporta-
he take the ark to him in Zion ? Would that not be           tion of the ark and confessed that sin before God
courting death? David was afraid of the Lord. "And           and thus justified the stroke that the Lord had laid
David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him upon Uzzah. Thus he had a good conscience before
in Zion."                                                    God and was therefore not afraid to receive the ark
       But the Lord had sworn truth unto David indeed        into his house. But who was the man? Ex. 6 :16,18,21


                                       T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R                                         305
                    F
speaks of a Obed-edom  who was a Levite of the stock
 of the Korashites, which was a branch of the family
 of Kohath, a son of Jeduthum. At I Chron. 16:38 he                 S I O N ' S   Z A N G E N
appears as a porter in Jerusalem. He may have been
the Obed-edom of our story. But this is not certain.
 But there can be no doubt that he was a Levite. If he            Eeuwige Goedertierenheid
was one .of the Korashites, it can be understood why
the ark was carried to him. The Korashites were                           (Psalm 107; Derde Deel)
porters who bore the ark through the wilderness.               Het eerste vers, dat we moeten  behandelen in dit
    Three months the ark continued in the house of stukje is vers 11; en dit vers geeft de reden aan, waar-
Obededom. David's misery and anguish of soul must om Gods volk zoo vreeselijk moest lijden in het.gevang
have been great during all this time. ,In his unbelief en in het ijzer. Het vers luidt  als volgt: "omdat zij
he had taken the position that no man can, stand before wederspannig  waren  geweest tegen Gods geboden, en
God and live. But he was wrong. The believers in den. raad des Allerhoogsten onwaardiglijk verworpen
 Christ, the penitent and the contrite of heart, dwell  hadden."      Er is een gevleugeld woord onder hen die
securely with Him as saved from His wrath by the den Heere dienen in Nederland, hetwelk luidt : Op den
blood of the atonement. David was speaking ill of God. bodem aller vragen ligt der wereld zonde-schuld. Ik
His lamentation was a denial of Christ; it was a denial mag misschien het gezegde niet geheel en al correct
of the love that God bears His chosen people. To in- neerpennen, maar dat is tech de idee. En het is waar.
struct  His servant and to rebuke his unbelief the Lord We lezen het ook hier. Het vorige vers sprak van het
now  dida  si`gnificant thing. He blessed Obededom  an-d volk dat in duisternis en schaduwe des doods zaten,
all his house. There was gospel in that doing of God. een uitdrukking die ons herinnert  aan het eens ge-
With the ark in his house Obededom perished not but sproken woord tot onzen  eersten Vader: Ten dage als
ho lived and prospered. How could it be?. He believed gij daarvan eet zult gij den dood sterven.
in God through Christ. He lived because of the ark,            En zoo is het gekomen, dat wij  allen  van nature in
that is, on account of the blood of the atonement with de schaduwe des doods verkeeren. Wij hebben gezon-
which the lid of the ark was sprinkled. Thus it was digd, en wij gaan voort te zondigen. Elke zonde die
not merely God but the God of Christ, Christ Himself, wij bedrijven zet het stempel van onze goedkeuring
from whom David in the terror of: his unbelief had op Adam's zonde. We keuren goed, de heele wereld
run away.                                                   keurt.goed  wat Adam en Eva deden.
    "And it was told David saying; The Lord hath               En de Heere zond duisternis,  rondom ons en in ons.
blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth De dood, en dan voral de geestelijke  dood, is een akelige
unto him, because of the ark of God." It is really schaduw  waaronder wij voortstrompelen op het pad
Gospel that they proclaimed to David-the- Gospel of der zonde. De Bijbel noemt die wegen wegen des doods.
God-which the Lord simultaneously spake in his En overal  op die wegen ontmoeten we de onlust des
heart. Attend to the fruits of God's work in him.           Heeren. Overal is er een roepen van God: de ziel die
His heart was cIeansed  of its unbelief and carnal fear zondigt zal  sterven.
of God. He acknowledged and confessed His sin. He              Laat ons het nog eens met nadruk zeggen: als we'
again had confidence toward God-the God and Father in duisternis zi$tten  komt het vanwege de zonde-schuld.
of Christ, and in that confidence he took to him the          .En let er op, dat dit zitten in de duisternis en de
ark of the Lord, and thus again appropriated the Christ schaduwe des doods is nu nog maar een kleine voor-
and the blessing of life in Him.                            smaak. Als we niet, bekeerd worden  door God gaat
    He confessed  his sin. Said he to the people, "None     het van kwaad tot erger.  Het einde is de schaduwe
ought b carry the ark of God but the Levites  : for them    van den eeuwigen dood.
hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to           Dus de reden  voor ons bange en angstige leven is
minister unto him forever.          Charging the sons of "wederspannig tegen Gods geboden zijn." Ge kunt
Zadok, he said to them, "Ye are the chief of the fathers niet dproeien tegen God in. Het wordt een onmogelijk
of the Levites, sanctify yourselves, both ye and your worstelen en zweeten  ,voor  een kleine stonde, en dan
brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord komen de eeuwige watervallen en draaikolken en  maal-
God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for stroomen. 0 wee ! 0 wee !
it. For because ye did it not at first, the Lord God           Er is een kleine moeilijkheid in de tweede gedachte
made a breach upon us, for we sought him not after in dit vers : "en den raad des Allerhoogsten onwaardig-
the due order" (Chron. 15). Again  David  dances   lijk  verworpen   hebben".
before the ark with all his might but now with a whole-        De vraag die we ons stellen is deze: Kan een nietig
some awe of God.                                            menschenkind iets .vermogen  tegen dien raad Gods ?
                                         G. M. Ophoff.      En als we de vraag zoo stellen, dan kan het antwoord

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

                                                                                            Arithmetic          -
                  I N His  ,FEAR                                       "Arithmetic is an exact science dealing with the
                                                                    order and arangement which God has given us in the
                                                                    world of numbers. Although the distinct Christian
               Training For Life's Calling                          treatment of this subject is more difficult and abstract
                                                                    than some others, the Christian teacher `will adapt
       Training In The Arithmetic Class.                            herself to use this branch of study also in the con-
                                                                    sistent scheme of "Thoroughly furnishing the man of
          That a Christian School is not merely a school            God".
       which opens with a word of prayer and has a little
       "Bible lesson" is plain when one places oneself honestly     1. Let us view Arithmetic first of all subjectively.
       before the question : and how shall arithmetic be taught        We "see:
       to <God's covenant children? A Christian school teacher         a. That however endless the variations and com-
       and a Christian school board is not satisfied merely to               binations of the numbers may be, they are
       know that classes are opened with prayer and to know                  founded on and.related  to one another upon the
       that sometime during the day God's Word is read                       basis of divinely established truth.
       and perhaps explained and applied. `But a Christian
       school is surely an institution wherein the covenant                  (1) If 2x2 should suddenly cease to be four,
       child is trained for his life's calling in every subject                  the whole world of numbers would end
       wherein he receives instruction. And training in the                      in chaos and confusion. If you read one
       arithmetic class is not then merely. conducted  tom train                 word wrong, you still stand a chance of .
       the child to count and to take his place among men                        getting the rest of the paragraph right. But
       without being cheated and deceived and so lose his                        have one number wrong and the whole im-
       material things because he does not "know numbers".                       mediately and automatically becomes wrong.
       He must even in this subject see His Maker and learn                      In arithmetic there is no such thing as
       to serve Him through the instruction he receives. in                      "about right" or "almost right".         Here
       the arithmetic class. Hence arithmetic will have to                       everything is  absolute.
       be taught according to specific Chmktian  principles.            (2) Further we deal with unchangeable truth.
          Without a doubt the subject of arithmetic -is the                      We deal with the matter of  ezact Fact.
       most difficult to present from `a distinctly Christian                    Pi-R square is always the area of a circle.
      viewpoint. The  difllculty is not the same as that in                      And 2 Pi-R is always the circumference of
       the history class where events must be interpreted                        a circle. We cannot change that, and we
       and properly evaluated in the light of God's Word.                        will always come out wrong if we do not
       In the arithmetic class the difficulty it to apply this                   proceed on that truth.
       abstract subject with a Christian application. But it                 (3) Hence the teacher can bear in mind two
       can be done as the Rev. Gritters clearly indicates in                     facts : (a) that it is  ,God  Who establishes
       the principles which we will quote presently.                             this truth, and (b) Truth is absolute, more
          In the light of the principles presented arithmetic                     exact yet than  arithmetic.   * As well as in
       is, seen to be a vey valuable subject for the covenant                    arithmetic, so in our entire life we are wise
       child and one that is tremendously beneficial for his                      and proceed wisely only when we proceed
       training. And the subject of arithmetic, without which                     on the basis of the truth as God has  re-
       no normal child can get along in this world, shows us                      vealed it to us.    ,God's truth knows no
       clearly that no unbeliever CAN, to say nothing of                          compromise. It is ONE, and it is EXACT.
       MAY, instruct God's Covenant children in this sub-
       ject. Consider the principles which follow and then             b. Secondly, however varied and multiple may be
       ask yourself whether the school where your children                   the combinations, the world of numbers  pre-
       attend, granted that they open with a word of prayer                  sents.us  one grand unity. There are nine basic
       and have a little "Bible lesson", brings to the atten-                numbers. From all these we can  make, endless
       tion such fundamental and beautiful truths as these                   variations, yet all is one grand' unity. The unity
       to which arithmetic lends itself, nay, God in His wis-                of these numbers is again, TRUTH, FACT. The
       dom has made it adaptable. And no Christiuvz  school                  variations show us the unchangeableness and
       wilfully neglects teaching the child these  thin-gs  in               permanence of the truth. . The teacher  can and
       the arithmetic class. We present below the principles                 should emphasize this in various ways as ap-
                                                                             propriate.
,'     drawn up by the Rev. Gritters for your consideration
       and enjoyment.                                                  c. Thirdly, we are called to handle these numbers,


                                      T H E S T A N D A R D BEARERI:"!   :  '                                     309

       to work with them. We must. think logically               we "employ all things for His sake. We must
       and apply the divinely established rule to these          remember and account for what we do with His
       numbers. It requires careful thinking. It is a            goods. Our balance sheet must tally. We must
       step by step application of the truth. Each step          be wise, good and careful' stewards of God's
       must be accurate or the product is wrong. Not             things. The care we must exercise in an arith-
       along the way of intuition, nor of imagination            metic problem reveals to us what care and exact-
       but along the way of truth-directed thinking-             ness we must exercise as God's stewards over
       will we arrive at the correct conclusion. And             all the things of this earth."
       the teacher can emphasize that we must likewise                 .       . .                 J. A. Heys.
       follow God's thoughts as they are revealed to
       us in the Bible, and only when we proceed ac-
       cording to the truth (His Truth) will we arrive
       at the right conclusions anent this life and its
      problems. Our arithmetic book has "problems".
       Life also has its problems. They must be solved                      P E R I S C O P E
       as far as they can by Faith and in the way of
       Truth. The wicked never come out right in their
       conclusions of this life. They say: "There is WHAT AUTHORITY??? . . . .
       no God". Psalm 14  :l. For Scripture they sub-
       mit philosophy, Col. 2% And adding up their            In the February 11 number of The Banner  the Rev.
       foolish figures they conclude,  ,"Let us eat, drink A. Persenaire discusses the always important question
       and be merry", and their inward thought is that of the authority of Bynodical decisions. At this time
       their houses stand for aye, Psalm  48:ll. The we will not go into all the incidental applications and
       product is all wrong. The children of God how- implications of the article but will, remain with the
       ever with the wisdom from on high say, "This main questions. We will quote from the article rather
       God is our God", Psalm 48:14,  and "Thy Word freely and add a few remarks.
       is a lamp unto my feet", and "learn to acquire         The Reverend writes: "Both in the Netherlands
       a wise heart by counting aright thy days", Ps. ,and among us there has been much talk of late about
       90.    Also, they redeem the time because the the proper scope and authority of Synodical decisions.
       days are evil, Eph. 5 : 16. And they even acquire In the old country this talk has centered about the
       wisdom to count the number of the Beast. meaning and import of Article 31 of the Church Order,
       Rev. 13 : 18.                                       . . . . Related to these two interpretations of Art. 31,
                                                           are two divergent views of Church Polity, which give
2. Subjectively viewed we find the following:              evidence of being in diametrical opposition most clear-
     a. The use of numbers is necessary for us to take ly, when the question is asked : `May a  Classis  or Synod
       our place in the calling which we have in the       depose a consistory ?`. . . .
       world. To .do any business successfully we must        "Whatever position we ourselves may favor, the
       be able to use numbers rightly. We may by no fact remains that, both in the Netherlands and in this
       means let  arilthmetic  be taught only as a means country, Synods, whether rightly or wrongly, have not
       to worldly success, but the "man  of God" must hesitated to depose officebearers, and even consistories,
       be efficient in his calling here below.             finding their authority to do so by supplementing Art.
                                                           31 with Articles 36 and 79 and 80 of the Church Order
     b. It must assist us in the quest for honesty and     (compare Acts of Synod, 1926, Art. 104, p. 142).
       fair dealings and giving everyone his just dues.       "Hence, we may conclude, that one of the burning
i      We realize that the ability to use numbers as issues facing both the Reformed Churches of the
       such does not make, for honesty, for crooks and Netherlands and our own Christian Reformed Church
       thieves are also very adept at numbers and use is the question: what is the authority of Synodical
       this skill in the way of their evil practices. The decisions?. . . .
       wicked are incapable of any thing which is good,
       says Titus, neither can they use the numbers           "First, the authority of a Synod to make binding
       aright.    But the man of God must be fully decisions is derived, not original. Ultimately this
       equipped to deal justly and honestly with his authority proceeds from the consistories, who have
       fellow man.                                         delegated their authority to the Classes, and through
                                                           the Classes to the Synod. Consistories, in distinction
     c. Finally, it helps to remind us that we are stew- from "major assemblies" have received their authority
       ards. We keep numbers, but the things thereby directly from Christ. All this does not imply, how-
       represented are God's. We must remember that ever, that therefore a Synod has no authority over


310                                    THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

consistories. On the contrary, Art. 36 plainly states this three-fold authority does not pertain to the Major
that it has."                                               Assemblies, but to the office-bearers of the particular
   Here we should insert a few remarks for this is an       Churches.' (Bouwman : Geref. Kerkrecht, 1934, II,
important point. Although in respect to Art. 36 the 21). . .  ."
Rev. Persenaire acknowledges that it implies a differ-         "There is a distinct difference between the author-
ence of authority on the part of the Clasis and Con-        ity `of Major assemblies over minor assemblies, and
sistory, yet he is vague in his clarification of this       the authority of Consistories over congregations. For
difference.      In' fact, he seems to imply in his last this reason Article 36 does not speak of this authority
statement that the nature of the authority of both of Consistories over congregations. (Notice here that
Classis-Synod and the Consistory is the same. To the article exactly does not state that the  Classis has
clarify this point and bring out the actual difference the same jurisdiction over the Consistory as the  Con-
in the nature of their respective authority, we can do sistory over the Congregation. W.H.)            Consistories
no better than to quote from "The Church Order have an independent existence and do not exist for the
Commentary", by the Revs. I. Van  Dellen and M.             sake of the major assemblies. But the. major assem-
Monsma, who by the way, are fellow. office-bearers blies do exist for the sake of the particular Churches,
with the rev. Persenaire in the Christian Reformed          namely, to minister to their welfare with good advice
Church. While discussing Art. 36, they write on pages and wise guidance."
161-163 as follows: "The authority which the govern-           We return and continue to quote the Rev.  Per-
ment exercises over its subjects is juridical authority. senaire : "In the second place, the authority of  Synod-
The authority which the Reformed Churches have ical decisions is limited. They should be in harmony
attributed to their major assemblies in relation to their with the Word of God, and the Articles of the Church
minor assemblies is not juridical, but moral and spirit- Order. When they are proved to be contrary to the
ual. In Dutch we distinguish in like manner between above, they should be repealed at once. No synodical
`rechterlijk gezag' and `zedelijk, geestelijk gezag'."      decision has the compelling force that we attribute
   And in further clarification of this principle they to the Scriptures. But even when, for  example,  on
continue : "A major assembly cannot force a minor some minor point of doctrine or Christian ethics, a
assembly to accept and execute its decisions. A minor Synod should make a pronouncement, which, according
assembly, if it feels that a decision of a major assembly to one's own opinion, is contrary to the Scriptures,
is unBiblica1,  should appeal to the next gathering of      does one then immediately have the right to repudiate
the assembly, or to the assembly next in order. In the the same, and to take actions whereby he seeks to
meantime the appealing body should submit, unless it nullify such a decision?
cannot do so because of great conscientious objections         "Some people are quite ready to answer `Yes' to
before  <God. If the objections are not removed, and        this question. Here in Canada, for instance, a few
if the decision stands, then the brethren concerned Art. 31 families have broken with our Church, which
should, if at all possible, submit if need be under con-    they had but recently joined, because they feel that the
tinued protest and always with the clear understand- `Three Points' of 1924 on Common Grace are in con-
ing that the burdened parties have a full right to re- flict with the Scriptures. They have done this, how-
tain their own convictions. . . ."                          ever, without even taking the trouble to look into the
   "These fundamental principals should never be lost       Acts of Synod. The mere idea of `binding', which has
out of sight. If the Church of Christ ever does lose        been suggested to them by certain Protestant Reformed
sight of these all-important principles, she will suffer ministers, has made them see red. Without even a
for it. And sometimes very severely. . . ."                 cursory examination of the `Three Points', as proved
       "It is also well to remember what Dr. Bouwman        by the Synod, and without offering a shred of evidence
tells us in his previously quoted and very valuable         that these are contrary to the Scriptures and the Con-
work. Says he: "All ecclesiastical authority, given fessions, they have at once rejected them, and separ-
unto His Church by Christ, resides in the particular ated themselves from our Church.
Church. The keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, given               "Such action is plain anarchy, as it would permit
to the Apostles by Christ, and in them to the congre-       the invalidation of all  Synodical  decisions. These
gation were, when the Apostles passed from the scenes       people never seemed to sense the possibility that their
of life, exercised by the office-bearers who had been lack of knowledge concerning what really happened in
chosen under their guidance in the particular Churches.     1924 might at least incline them to acquiesce in Synod's
This ecclesiastical authority consists of three things:     decisions, until such time that they might be able to
Authority to administer the Word and Sacraments;            seek their rescision in the proper ecclesiastical man-
authority to elect ecclesiastical office-bearers; and ner.
authority to exercise ecclesiastical discipline. There         "Yes, even then, if such a rescision would not take
is no other authority in the ecclesiastical sphere. And     place, it is still a question whether they should not


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       311

continue to acquiesce in Synod's decision under pro- Deacons can be suspended or deposed by the major
test, rather than break off fellowship with a Church assemblies, we do not believe that the appeal to Article
which clings to all the fundamentals of  the. Reformed     30 is justified. We believe that it is reasonable to
faith. Should not a small minority, if at all possible,    assume that the early Synods at which our Church
without violating their consciences, be humble enough Order originated purposefully refrained from incor-
to assume that their interpretation of the Scriptures porating a provision in the Church ,Order which would
and the. Confessions may be faulty, and that of the allow our major assemblies to suspend and depose
majority may be correct."                                  Elders and Deacons. As has been pointed out before,
   There are so many implications in these last few the early Reformed Churches were eager to safeguard
paragraphs that it would hardly do to let them go          the integrity and the rights of the particular Churches.
unchallenged. For example, when the Reverend writes The significant 84th article of our Church Order used
of "minor points of doctrine or Christian ethics" upon to be Article  l! Let us recall that it was not until
which  "a Synod should make a pronouncement", he           1581 that the Churches decided that henceforth no
attempts to revert it all to the realm of insignificance Consistory would suspend or depose an Elder or Deacon
and irrelevance.    If that is true of any question a without the concurrent judgment of its nearest neigh-
Synod should never even deign to discuss it; cf. Art.      bor  Consistoryi    Furthermore, it cannot be denied
30 of the Church Order. And if that was true of 1924 that the question of deposition of Elders and Deacons
what a shameful and disgraceful basis it was to depose is an important one. It is not unreasonable to assume
office-bearers ! The same implication is evident when that a provision permitting major assemblies to depose
the writer speaks of "according to one's own opinion". Elders and Deacons was left out of Article 79 purpose-
A question of the interpretation of Scripture may not fully. For notwithstanding the fact that  &Article 79
and cannot be a matter of "opinion". And what is the tells us how Elders and Deacons shall be deposed it
implication of the phrase, "what really happened in does not provide for the deposition of Elders and
1924"????                                                  Deacons by Classes or Synods. And yet the same
   However, the two main questions concern the depo- Article does specify that Ministers shall be deposed by
sition of a Consistory by  Classis or Synod and the the judgment of the Classis.
meaning of Art. 31 of the Church Order. In answer             "We believe, moreover, that it can be contended
to the first, we `will quote again from the Church successfully that the deposition of minor assemblies  `
Order Commentary referred to above. Though the by major assemblies constitutes a negation of the gen-
authors are careful in their expressions, since they eral office of all believers, which should begin to func-
are clearly contrary to the current stream of official tion when certain abnormal situations arise, and that
Christian Reformed Church polity, yet their discus- it likewise should ever be held inviolate by the Church
sion is clear and to the point. On page 327 the authors of God.
ask the question: "May a  Classis depose Elders and           "We realize that both during the formative period
Deacons  ?" and state : "Some have contended that a of the Reformed Churches and during their more ad-
Classis may depose Consistories. The present authors vanced history, Classes and Synods have sometimes
feel that no major assembly, according to Reformed         deposed Elders and Deacons and even Consistories.
Church polity and the Church Order, has the right to       But no one would dare to claim that the Reformed
depose a minor assembly. The deposition of a Con-          Churches have always been true to themselves in mat-
sistory, for example, by a  Classis or Synod would ters of Church government and that they have always
seem to be a violation of the integrity and of the rights interpreted their own Church Order correctly. Prece-
of the particular Church concerned, whereas the Church dents do not decide this issue either one way or the
Order in more than one article speaks to safeguard other.. We should seek to determine the basic prin-
this integrity and these rights. (Cf. Article  30, 84). ciples fundamental to Reformed denominationalism,
Moreover, Reformed Church government does not and we should seek the correct historical and exegetical
tolerate group-disciplining. Discipline, according to interpretation of the various articles of the Church
our Reformed conception, is always individual and          Order which concern this question. Then we should
never communal."                                           draw our conclusions as to what is proper and im-
   And a bit later on pages 328 and 329: "It is true       proper."
that Article 30 specifies that matters which cannot be        The second question concerns the meaning of Art. 31
finished by minor assemblies, though rightfully be- of the Church Order. The Article reads as follows:
longing to their domain, become the business of the If anyone complains that he has been wronged by the
major assemblies. But in view of the fact that the         decision of a minor assembly, he shall have the right
disciplinary articles of the Church Order clearly speci- to appeal to a major ecclesiastical assembly, and what-
fy how discipline regarding office-bearers is to be        ever may be agreed upon by a majority vote shall be
exercised and in no way intimate that Elders and           considered settled and binding, unless it be proved


I 312                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
    to conflict with the Word of God or with the Articles         then the Churches must bear with the aggrieved bro-
    of the Church Order, as long as they are not changed ther, if at all possible. If, however, the matter be of
    by a General Synod.                                           far-reaching import, then the aggrieved brother should
         The point in question regards the binding power be asked to conform and submit as long as he remains
    of this declaration especially in connection with the to be a member of the Church concerned. If his con-
     exception: unless it be proved to conflict with the          science will not at all permit this, he  shoul~i ultimately
    Word of God, or with the Articles of the Church affiliate with a Church not so binding his conscience."
    Order.                                                           Finally, the Rev. Persenaire speaks of seeking re-
         It is quite evident that the Rev. Persenaire knows cision of disputed decisions in the proper ecclesiastical
     the correct and proper answer to this question. But          manner. But at the same time he shuts the door for
     it is also evident that he doesn't like that answer and any action by reminding his readers that the Three
    attempts to belittle the matter again. The first is           Points have been "proved" by the Synod. And does
    clear when he states that a decision should be re- he forget, that-in respect to the questions of 1924, the
    spected "if at all possible" and "without violating their Synod's of the Christian Reformed Church have, on
    consciences".    That expresses what the Article does at least three different meetings, officially refused
    and is certainly the proper answer and also the posi-         euen to dticuss  the matter, when approached in the
    tion of the Liberated Churches in the Netherlands official ecclesiastical manner?
     and our own Churches in this country. Therefore,                                                          W. Hofman.
    when this is not possible and decisions do bind one's
     conscience, Rev. Persenaire should, upon his own
     ground, honorably admit that those who disagree have
     a right and calling to  act  according to the  dicta:cs
     of their conscience. But he belittles this action; im.
     plying that it is due to pride and ignorance and even                               IN  MEMORIAM
     condemns it as anarchy. This is being neither  nonesc
     ncr fair; neither with himself nor with those who               The Men's Society of the Fourth Protestant Reformed Church
     hold that position. Moreover it is a  nega:ion of his        of Grand Rapids,  Mkhigan,  hereby expresses its sincere sym-
   I own ini-v pretation of the Church Order and, hence,  1       pathy to the family of one of its members, Mr. George Stuursma,
     contradiction and condemnation of the  Xeverend   ililn-     whore brother
     self against his own better judgment.                                             JACOBS  STUURSMA
         Here also we would like to quote once again from
     the Church Order Commentary. On page 146 the passed away very suddenly the morning of Wednesday, March
     author states : "The question is sometimes asked:            16. May the bereaved family experience the comforting near-
     To whom must it be proved that a certain decision ness and sustaining grace of our covenant God in abundant
     is in conflict with the Bible, before a Church or an measure in this hour of sorrow.
     individual may count that a matter. is not settled                                               R.  Veldman,  Pres.
     and binding? Must the ecclesiastical assembly which                                              A.  Haan,  Sec'y
     made the decision first declare that the  unBihlica1
     nature of the decision has been proven, before any
     one may withold submission? Or may a Church or                                         *  *  *  *
     individual withhold submission when that Church or
     individual is fully convinced that the conclusion reach-
     ed is unBiblica1,  even before the assembly concerned                               IN  MEMORIAM
     has has reversed its conclusion? The latter by all
     means.    The Church or the Churches cannot bind                The Mary-Martha Society of the Manhattan Protestant Re-
     the conscience. The Bible only, as God's infallible and formed Church, wishes to express its sincere sympathy with
     authoritative Word, can do this. If one is convinced         ohe  of  its  members,   Mrs.  Ham  Leep,   in  the  loss  of  her
     that the Churches bid him to do one thing, and the  father'
     Bible another, he must follow what he believes to be                              WILLIAM ALBERDA
     Scriptural. . . .                                               May the God of all grace comfort the bereaved with His
         "If after due consideration the assembly concerned own blessed presence, and cause them to rest in the assurance
     decided that its decision is  unBiblica1,  then instant that His ways are perfect and that there remaineth a rest for
     reversal is naturally in order. If, however, the appel- the people of God.
     lant cannot persuade the assembly, and the assembly
     fails to persuade the appellant,  and the appellant  does                                  Rev. P. Vis, Pres.
     not feel free before God to submit and conform himself,                                    Mrs. M. Vander  Molen,  Sec'y.


 VOLUME XXV                                                            April 15, 1949 - Grand Rapids, Mich.                                           NUMBER 14
                                                                                    -_-... -^-              gather the body of the Apostles of the Lord for the
             M E D I T A T I O N                                                                            promulgation of the first edition of Easter.`.~ Were they
                                                                                                            not the representatives of the entire New Testament
                                                                                                            church?
  ..^  ..__  "-^-."l___._ll."  ..-_-..._  --^..-._--."_"   -.....   "^^ .-
                                                                         __~
                                                                                      l.l_l_ .._._.            But Mary, the Magdalene?
            The Glad Tidings Of Christ's                                                                       Oh yes, unto all eternity, she shall be pointed out to
                                                                                                            you as the happy soul whose eyes first saw the founda-
                                     Resurrection                                                           tion of the new heavens and the new earth: the Lord
                                                                                                       .    Jesus Christ in glory !
                        "And the angel answered and said unto the women,                                       L,ast  year we pointed you to that wonderful story
                     Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which                                      in Holy Writ.
                     was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as                                        At this time we will hear the same Gospei:  He is
                     He said."                                                Matt.   28:5,   6a.           risen ! But now as it was given to the women !
                                                                                                               Again we are startled.  -                           .
        It is true that Paul determined with himself not to                                                    What? First to a woman who was known for the
 know anything among the churches, but Jesus Christ awful condition that seven devils dwelled in her?
  and Him crucified. However, the crucifixion of our                                                           And now we hear that the second edition of Easter
  Lord Jesus Christ would not be the topic of so much will be given to  women?
  joy and true gladness were it not for the fact that the                                                      But, Lord, men are the leaders of women, are they
  crucified Lord was risen the third day. Without the not? And what aboct the government of the church?
  joy of Easter because of the fact of the resurrection,                                                    When shall, when will that body of office bearers hear
  the Cross on that Friday would be an enigma, a ter- the  story  from Thy  own  mouth7
  rible symbol of abject failure.                                                                               But the Lord does not answer us with respect to
        But now we rejoice, for our Lord arose the third                                                    His deeds. No one has heard it. We must guess.
  day, according to the Scriptures !                                                                           The Lord is risen !
        For He is risen !                                                                                       As told to the women.
        That shall be the glad shout of the Gospel !                                                                                   *  1  *  *
        And that shout shall be repeated from mouth to
  mouth, from clime to clime, from people to people, until                                                      And yet, it is true to the style of the Lord Jesus
  the whole world shall have heard the glad story of Christ.
  Easter, and time ended. `For when the whole world                                                            Thus He acted always.
I shall have heard that story, then shall be revealed the                                                       He went to Galilee, not so much to  Judea.
  second coming of that Lord of glory.                                                                          He called sinners, not the righteous to repentance.
        For He is risen !                                                                                       He chose His sojourn with the humble, the meek,
        Oh, God's ways are higher than our ways.                                                            the lowly, the publicans and sinners.
        When the Godhead, in the depths of eternity, before                                                     He stretched His holy hands to the little children,
  the world was, decided and counselled who should hear taking them as an example for the strong,  big men to
  the first edition of that glorious Gospel, their choice follow, or to bless them, to bless them. . . .
  fell on Mary the Magdalene out of whom the Lord cast                                                          His ways are higher than our ways.
  seven devils.                                                                                                 Fittingly so, for He came to reveal the Father.
        How differently we would have done that.                                                                And the Father? He  chose the lowly, the meek,
        1 think that the majority would have counselled to                                                  the little ones, the simple,  the ignoble, those which had


I 814                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
        -                          .-                                                                            _--.  -
        no power, in order to put to shame all that arises be-           Yes, `He arose from the dead. And that has wonder-
        fore Him in arrogance, in deep consciousness of their ful significance.
        vaunted power, ability, nobility, riches..                       It means for Jesus that He had the victory.
             He chose that which was not, in order to shame the          First, over all His enemies. Oh, how they had har-
        things that are. . . .                                        rassed Him. The whole world was arrayed against
         And therefore, I think, the Lord  shewed Himself Him.                Jew, Roman, and  *Greek  reared their heads
        in the second instance to a group of simple women.            against Him,  .and it was the Jew first. Shades of
             Simple women?                                            Caiaphas and Judas.
             Yes, and I can prove it.                                    Second, the devil with his devils are conquered.
             They were even simple-in their sinning.                  The whole of this foul world of devils were against
             Do you realize*that  we have but a few words of this Him. John on Patmos has given us the whole astound-
        company of women?                                             ing story in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. There was
             I have in mind the attempt of James and John to          a great red` dragon standing before the woman for
        assure for themselves the seats on the right and on the four thousand years to devour the little manchild  as
        left of the Lord when He should arrive in His glory of soon as it should be born. But when it was born, God
        the Kingdom. And they used a woman for this proud snatched it away from his jaws. Jesus crushed the
        gesture, their mother, the wife of Zebedee.                   head of the devil on the accursed tree.
             Do you know any other utterance of these women?             Third, the curse of the law is conquered. That
             Well, they had come all the way from Galilee, not curse clung to Him. It clung to Him so thoroughly and
        to talk, to converse, to talk theology with Jesus and         so tenaciously that the Holy Ghost; looking upon Him
        their kinsmen,, the disciples, but to minister to the         in the state of His humiliation, called Him a curse.
        wants of the men-folks, especially the Lord. They had         Imagine it if you can: One of Jesus' names is the
        gone along on the way to  Judea to minister especially        Curse! But Jesus suffered to be the curse, and He
        to Jesus' wants. They would wash His clothes, they suffered so much and so intensely that all that curse
        would prepare the food by the wayside, and they would is gone, annihilated. And in its place came blessing.
        gently remind Him when it was time to rest. Oh yes,           His name is now Blessing of God.
       and they would take their little ones to Jesus, so that           Fourth, He overcame the grave, death and hell. He
        He would bless them.                                          entered into them, and swallowed them unto victory.
             Yes, I think they were simple women, and with the We have the attestation of that tremendous truth on
        word, simple, I mean lowly minded, not given to  man- every page of Holy Scripture, either in prophecy or
        ishness, quietness.                                           as historical fact.
             But how these women loved Him!                              And note that this is the Gospel.
             Note how they wept at the cross, how they prepared          We  are.world,  under the dominion of devils, under
        spices for His burial, how early they were at the sepul-      the rightful curse of God, because of our sin, and there-
        chre ! Oh yes, they loved Jesus in their simplicity.          fore on the way to the grave, death and hell.
        And Jesus knew it. And God knew it.  4nd God deter-              But Jesus conquered them all, annihilated them all,
        mined them and their loving hearts from all eternity. never to return.
        And at the same time He determined their reward.                 We are taken out of the world by regeneration and
       They would be chosen as the party of the se$ond  part          conversion; we are made enemies of the devil because
        to see the risen Lord.                                        God put enmity between us and him ; we are saved
             For He is risen !                                        from the  curse of the law, and ever since such libera-
             Hear, ye women that love and seek Jesus !                tion the law is our great friend, our rule and norm of
  1          He is risen indeed! He is not here.                      a glorious life of love ; and we see through the grave
                                  *  *  *  *                          a new way to heaven, we arose from death, and we
             For He is risen !                                        do not have to go to hell anymore. Instead,-we `may go
             Yes, they sought the Lord, but it was the  crucified     to heaven !
        Lord which they sought.                                          Is that not a glorious Gospel?
             Attend to what the angel tells them: I know that            For He is risen !
        ye seek Jesus, which was crucified !                             He is not here !
             But that crucified Jesus is risen from the dead!                                 * *  8  8
             In these words I have penned down the contents
        of the everlasting Gospel.                                       For He is risen !
             He was crucified.                                           What does that mean?
             That means that He  was dead. Later, much later,            It means that Jesus is entirely changed now. Re
        He said as much to John : I am He that liveth, and            is not the same Jesus anymore.
                                                               was
        d&ld!                                                            He is completely changed.  He is  now heavenly,


                                      TBE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    315
                          ^-                                             ___                          -     -            -I__-
spiritual, glorious, eternal. First He was, even as we crucified. You are seeking a dead Jesus, but you are
are, earthly, flesh and blood, miserable, temporal, and seeking Jesus nevertheless.
mortal.                                                         And therefore you need not fear. I have a wonder-
   Jesus   has received a life that is different from any    ful story to tell you.
life ever before manifested. He is different from the            And here it is. He is not here : He is risen from
glorious Adam. His resurrection is different from the the dead.
resurrection of Lazarus and others.                              Fear not ye!
   He is the very Personification of Eternal Life.               You have no reason to fear, but on the contrary,
   And that means that He is ever turning to the you have reason to begin your song of gladness which
Father, approximating that Father unto all eternity.         shall grow longer and longer unto all eternity.
   For He is risen!                                              But why?
   That glorious chant has even deeper significance:             Here is the answer: their love for Jesus is a- proof
it means that the Triune God approved of the work He         that God loves them. No, it is not the ground of God'd
did. It means that God accepted the price He paid for love for them. How could it ever be? I am no original
His own. It means that God was even now taking this lover of God, or of His Son! I am an enemy of God
Holy Child to His bosom. It means that He would by nature, and so were these simple women.
receive a Name that is above all that is named in this           But our burning love in the heart is a proof .that
world and in the world to come.                              God put it there. And the Holy Bible tells us very
   For He is risen !                                         plainly and very often that He only puts the love of
   It is the chant that shall be repeated from age to        God in His children, and they are those who are elect
age, until time is no more. And then it shall be from all eternity.
translated in perfect language, song and music, and             These  ,women  are elect women, for they loved Jesus.
the same chant shall make heaven musical forever!            It was a proof for themselves, the angel, and for us.
   Oh yes, Jesus is risen, is risen indeed !                    Oh ye women that seek a body of Jesus, be ye not
   And the women saw Him!                                    afraid. You have the love of God in your hearts, and
   Hallelujah !                                              my testimony as an angel of the Lord is destined to
                        * *  *  4;                           make you gladder still. Come now, go to the disciples,
                                                             and on the way you will be met by Jesus. He will show
   For He is risen !                                         Himself to you, and then you will sing forever. To see
   Fear not ye!                                              Jesus in glory is to see God the Father.
   Oh, that little word ye!                                     And to see God is heaven itself. .
   Do not overlook it. It has a charm that shall make           Fear not ye!                                      .-.
your heart sing.                                                                       `*  + *  2s
   Fear not ye !                                                  * ~
   I think that when the angel uttered these words,             These women were no theologians.
he was looking at the foolish, impossible and wicked            A while ago, I spake of our song becoming longer
watch that ran for their lives towards Jerusalem,            and longer; yes, and also deeper.
where they would utter the lie in committee. The lead-          Jesus' resurrection means that  we are justified
ers of Israel would place a lie in their mouths, and that    before the great white throne. Our sins were upon
lie has been repeated.                                       Him on Good Friday. But when we see Him next, all
   And when the angel looked at these watchmen run- our sin and guilt is gone. His glory in the garden f
ning in deathly fear of the heavenly vision, and when        Jqseph is proof that God accepted the price of His
the angel saw fear written in every attitude of these        blood for all my sins and guilt.
simple women, he said unto them : Fear not ye ! And             Jesus' resurrection is also the  power'of a new life.
you may be very sure that there was a subtle emphasis           That means that the glorified, resurrected Lord
on that last word. Oh no, do not ye be afraid. You           Jesus  :will  dwell in the hearts and minds of all His elect
need not be.                                                 people. Paul would say later on : I live, but no more I :
   Fear not ye, for I know you, dear women. You              Jesus liveth in me ! That is the life of the new birth,
have made history. You have ministered unto my the life from above, the life of the resurrected Lord
Lord Jesus Christ during His sojourn on earth: we,           Jesus.
angels, have watched all you have done for Jesus, for           Jesus' resurrection is the pledge of our glory in
we also were around about Jesus.                             heavenly places. If my Head is risen to be with God
   Fear not ye, for we know that you are lovers of forever more, I, as His body with all  :God's people,
Jesus. You have proven your love for Him in many cannot remain behind. Listen to Jesus Himself : where
ways. But your  very presence here at the tomb is I am you will be also !
proof of your love. You are-seeking Jesus who was               0 glorious Easter!                                G. Vos.


316                                                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        _l_l-
                           The Standard Bearer                                                                                                                                      -EDITORIALS
           Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July and August
                                           Publishe&  B y
                   The Reformed Free Publishing Association
                         Box 124, Sta. C., Grand Rapids, Mich,                                                                                                         Reply To The Reverend Van Raaltb
                               EDITOR: -  Rev. H. Hoehsema.                                                                                                               At the close of his article the Reverend van Raalte
Contributing Editors:  - Rev. G. M. Ophoff, Rev. G. Vos, Rev.                                                                                                          writes : "I will answer the Reverend Hoeksema that
R. Veldman, Rev. H. Veldman, Rev. H. De Wolf, Rev. B. Kok,
Rev. J. D. De Jong, Rev. A. Petter, Rev. C. Hanko, Rev. L.                                                                                                             the choice in favor of remaining faithful to the con-
Vermeer, Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. M. Gritters, Rev. J. A. Heys,                                                                                                           fession and the agreement of ecclesiastical correspon-
Rev. W.  Hofman.                                                                                                                                                       dence (cooperation) in the Netherlands also means ad-
  Communications relative to contents should be addressed to                                                                                                           herence to a small group. I think this must be suf-
REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                                              ficient for him to retract this supposition whole-
Michigan.                                                                                                                                                              heartedly."
  Communications relative to subscription should be addressed                                                                                                                                      .
to MR. J. BOUWMAN, 1131 Sigsbee St., S.E., Grand Rapids 6,                                                                                                                The reference to what I am supposed to retract is
Mich Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the                                                                                                                in the following paragraph on "Once More: Advice to
above address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each                                                                                                         Immigrants" in the issue of our  Standard Beurer of
notice.                                                                                                                                                                January 15, 1949: "Now. I ask in the hope that the
Renew&+:-Unless  a definite request for discontinuance is re-
ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes his subscription                                                                                                      Rev. van Raalte will serve me with a well-motivated
to continue without the formaiity of a renewal order.                                                                                                                  answer : why is this? How must it be explained that
                           (Subscription Price $2.50 per year)                                                                                                         he is so opposed to establish correspondence with the
Entered as Second Class Mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                Protestant. Reformed Churches, while he seeks such
                                                                                                                                                                       correspondence with the Chr. Ref. Church? I hope
                                                            -                                                                                                          that the underlying motive for this difference in at-
                                                                                                                                                                       titude with the Rev. van Raalte is not that our churches
                                                                                                                                                                       are small and despised."
                                             C O N T E N T S                                                                                                              My reply is that I will very gladly retract my sug-
MEDITATION-                                                                                                                                                            gestion (it was not even a supposition), on condition,
   The Glad Tidings of Christ's Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313                                                               however,  !that the Rev. van Raalte will answer my
                Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                            question.      This he has not. done as yet, at least not
EDITORIALS-- .                                                                                                                                                         to my satisfaction.
   Reply to the Reverend Van Raalte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..=....... 316
               Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                           My question was briefly this:
                                                                               .
THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE-                                                                                                                                                     Considering that the Chr. Ref. Church accepts the
   An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318                                                                       theory of presumptive. regeneration, while we do not
                Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                       accept this view ; considering that the Chr. Ref. Church
OUR DOCTRINE-                                                                                                                                                          in 1926 officially accepted the hierarchical principle
   The Attributes Of `God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  * . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 that  classis and synod have power and authority over
                Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                                                                        the local consistories, while we as Prot. Ref. Churches
THE DAY OF  SHADOWS-                                                                                                                                                   accept wholeheartedly the principle of the autonomy
   The Ascent Of The Ark Of The Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325                                                                   of the local congregation  ; considering that in 1924
   Michal's Contempt Of David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323                              the Chr. Ref. Churches accepted the doctrine of com-
                Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                                                                                                                      mon grace in the well-known Three Points, while we
STON'S   ZANGEN-                                                                                                                                                       repudiate that doctrine  ; finally, considering that the
   Eeuwige Goedertierenheid . . . . . . . . *.a . . . . . . . *                                                                                    " 328
                                                                                      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    Chr. Ref. Church in America adopted in 1908 the Con-
                Rev. G. Vos                                                                                      . .  ,.*I                                             clusions of Utreeht, which our Churches have never
`IN HIS  FEAR-                                                                                                     ,~ :                      .d+:r:                    adopted : how is it possible that the Rev. van' Raalte
   Training For Life's Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...*.. I...331 is willing to seek correspondence with the Chr. Ref.
               Rev. J. A.  Heya                                                                                              ,.                                        Church, while he is opposed to correspondence with
FROM HOLY WRIT-                                                                                                                                           .** `)       the Protestant Reformed Churches?
   The Office In The Church . . . . . . . ..I... i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :r::ir...r  . . . . 333                                        The Rev. van Raalte writes that I make him say
                Rev. C. Hank0                                                  ,-                                                                                      something <that he has never witten, namely, that he
PERISCOPE-                                                                                                                                                             is eager to have correspondence with the Chr. Ref.
   Report From Canada . . . . . . . . . . :.., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .335 Church ; that he wrote exactly in the opposite, that he
            Rev. W. Hofman                                                                                                                                             strongly  Advised  the immigrants in Canada not to join
                                                                                                                                                                       the Chr. Ref. Church in America. Writes he:


                                     T,HE S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 317

   "Daarom  spijt het me, dat ds. Hoeksema mij iets of the covenanlt  does not consist in a promise in the
last zeggen, dat ik niet gezegd heb. Zijn lezers krij- sense of a general offer. All the children of the flesh,
gen de indruk: Ds. van Raalte wil met alle geweld or rather, all external children of the vocenant, all
correspondentie met de Chr. Geref. Kerk!, .en de covenant members do not receive a certain life. God
werkelijkheid is, dat ds. van Raalte adviseert aan de does not promise every child of believers the salvation
leden  in Canada: SLUIT U IN GEEN GEVAL  AAN                   in Jesus Christ. No more than there is a certain gen-
BIJ DE CHR. GEREF. KERK!"                                      eral offer in the preaching for every one that hears it,
   This is only partly true. The Rev. van Raalte did no more is there a certain'general promise in the cove-
not write that the immigrants must in  no case join nant oft God. This view must be extinguished root and
the Chr. Ref. Church in America.                               branch. It lies entirely on the line of Pelagius and
   The fact that the Rev. van Raalte refuses corre- Arminius.'
spondence with the Chr. Ref. Church and that he ad-               "I still maintain that this is true."
vises the immigrants not to join the latter is not a              I want to remind the Rev. van Raalte that in my
matter of principle, but is based on the practical con- brochure, De Geloovigen en Hun Zaad, I did not at-
sideration that the Chr. Ref. Church refuses to con- tack the covenant view of the liberated churches, but
sider the Liberated churches as the true continuation simply the view of Prof. Heyns, which, to my con-
of the Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands. If viction, is certainly Pelagian and Arminian. Accord-
only they will change their stand and attitude in this ing to Prof. Heyns all the external children of the
respect, the Rev. van Raalte will be glad to establish         covenant receive a certain grace, a certain life, which
correspondence and to advise the immigrants to join            enables them either to accept or reject their  co%
the Chr. Ref. Church. This, to my mind, is plainly ex- nant obligation. If this is not Pelagianism applied to
pressed in the following paragraph from his article, the sphere of the covenant, then I do not know what
"Advise to Immigrants" i                                       Pelagianism means. Nor do I believe- that the liber-
   "Misschien vraagt  U,  wat U dan  nasr  o&e  mee-           ated churches in the Netherlands accept this view of
ning moet  doen?                                               Heyns at all.     In  fac,t,  the Rev. van Raalte himself
   "Dat is eenvoudig :                                         writes in his article that he does not accept this part
   "In gehoorzaamheid aan Gods Woord Uwen weg of the doctrine of Prof. Hyns. Yet, I want to remind
gaan, gelijk gij dat in Nederland hebt gedaan ; en him that this part is very essential in Heyns' dodrine.
daarbij,  als het noodig is, alleen staan.                        Of course, when the liberated churches emphasize
    "Wil de synode der Chr. Ger. Kerk op haar  be- that the promise of the covenant is for all children of
sluit terugkomen, en de oude correspondentie voort-            believers, elect and reprobate, carnal and spiritual, I
zetten, dan verandert de zaak.                                 certainly do not agree with them. The promise of .God
   "Maar zij heeft reeds tweemaal het bewijs geleverd,         is sure, is yea and amen  .in Jesus Christ our Lord.
dat zij dat niet wil, zoowel in 1947 als in 1948."'            God certainly will fulfill His own promise without a
                                                               doubt. And that promise includes the gif$t  of8 faith,
   From  ,this it is very plain that if only the Chr.          which God certainly does not bestow on all the children
Ref. Church will continue the former correspondence,           of `believers, but only on the elect. And as I said in
the Rev. van Raalte is on his part prepared to do so ;         my answer to the Rev. Meima, I still look for an ex-
and in that case he will advise the immigrants to join planation from any liberated theologian that squares
the Chr. Ref. Church.                                          the view that the promise of God is for all the children
   This is by no means a matter of principle.                  of believers with the Reformed confession that God
   And therefore I must still ask him to answer my bestows the gift of faith only upon the elect.
question as stated above.                                          For the rest, it is a complete mystery to me how
   As far as the quotation from my  De  Geloouigen             the liberated churches can adopt the view of Prof.
En  @xn  Zaad is concerned, to which the Rev. van              Heyns and at the same time deny the theory of com-
Raalte refers in his article,  T reply as I did to the         mon :grace.      This involves a plain contradiction in
Reverend K. Meima in the Standurd  Bearer of March terms. Really, Prof. Heyns in 1924 had the `victory;
1 ,   1 9 4 9 :                                                and his view was adopted especially in the now no-
   "The expression, `This view must be extinguished torious First Point adopted by that synod.
root and branch,' occurs in the context of the follow-            And as far as Canons III, IV, 8 and 9 and Question
ing paragraph in `De Geloovigen en Hun zaad' " :               6 of the Heidelberg Catechism are concerned, I would
   I` `We can, therefore, on the basis of Scripture, as like to learn from the Reverend van Raalte how our
well as of the Reformed line, as it is especially in- teaching is in conflict with those parts of the clonfes-
dicated in the form for the administration of baptism,         sion at all.
reach first of all this negative result, that the  present-       If he will do so, I will certainly reply ato them.
ation of Prof. Heyns is to be rejected. The essence                                                           H. H.

                                                                                                  .

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

                                                                              schaft des Volkes Gottes sollten berauben, die doch
       TIIE TRIPLE  INBVLEDGE                                                 durch das giittliche  Wart dazu bestimmt  und diejenigen
                                                                              sin, von  denen  man vermuthen  ~011,  sie seien von Gott
                                                                              erwlhlt." achaff,  Glreeds  of  Christendom,  Vol. III,
     An Exposition Of The Heiclelberg p, 224.
                                                                                 We may note here, the following: 1) That baptism
                              Catechism                          :            is here designated as the washing of regeneration,
                                                                              evidently with reference to Titus  3:5. 2) That it is a
                                PART TWO                                      visible sign administered through the ministry of the
                    O f   M a n ' s   R e d e m p t i o n                     Church. 3) That it is such a sign only for the elect.
                                                                              And 4) that children are baptized because they belong
                             LORD'S DAY 26                                    to the communion of cthe people of God and are pre-
                "Qu.'  69 How are thou admonished and assured by              sumed to be regenerated.
                holy baptism, that the one sacrifce of Christ upon the           From the Second Helvetic Confession, dated from
                cross is of real  advantage  to thee ?                        1566, we quote the following: "There is but one bapt-
               "A. Thus: that Christ appointed this external wash-            ism in the Church of God; for it is sufficient to be
                ing with water, adding thereto this promise, that I am        once baptized or consecrated unto God. For baptism
                as certainly washed by his blood and Spirit from all
                the pollution of  my soul, that is, from all my sins, as      once received does continue all a man's life, and is a
                I am washed externally with water, by which the fil-          perpetual sealing of our adoption unto us. For to be
-               thiness of the body is commonly washed away.                  baptized in the name of Christ is to be enrolled, en-
                "Qu.   70  What is it to be washed with the blood and         tered, and received into the covenant and family, and
                Spirit of Christ?                                             so into the inheritance, of the sons of God ; yea, and
                "A. It is to receive of God the remission of sins,            in this life to be called after the name  of God ; that is
                freely, for the sake of Christ's blood, which he shed
                for us by his sacrifice upon the cross; and also to be        to say; to be called a son of God ; ;to be purged also
                renewed by the Holy Ghost, and sanctified to be mem-          from the filthiness of sins, and to be endued with the
                bers of Christ,  that so we may more and more die             manifold grace of God, in order to lead a new and in-
                unto sin, and lead holy and unblameable lives.                nocent life. Baptism, therefore, does call to mind and
                "Qu.   71 Where has Christ promised us, that he will          keep in remembrance the great benefit of' God per-
                as certainly wash us by his blood and Spirit, as we are       formed to mankind. E'or we are all born in the pol-
                washed with the water of baptism?
                "A. In the institution of `baptism, which is thus ex-         lution of sin and are the  .<hildren of wrath. But GoJ,
                pressed: `Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptiz-    who is rich in mercy, does freely purge us from our
                ing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,           sins by the blood of his Son, and in him does adolt
                and of the  ,Holy  Ghost,' `he  that  believeth, and is       us to be his sons, and by a holy covenant does join us
                baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall    to himself, and does enrich us with divers gifts, that
                be damned.' ~This promise is also repeated, where the         we might live a new life. All these things are sealed
                Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration,
                and the washing away of sins."                                up unto us in baptism.       For inwardly- we are re-
                                                                              generated, purified, and renewed of God through the
                                       1.                                     Holy  SpirK  ; and outwardly we receive the, sealing of
             The Sacrament of Baptism in the Reformed                         most notable gifts by' the water, by which also those
                                `Confessions.                                 great benefits are represented, and, as it were,  set
            The text here in our English translation is quite before our eyes to be looked upon. And therefore
     faithfully reproduced, except that in question  `70 in- are we baptized, that is, washed or sprinkled with
     stead of the word "freely" we read in the original visible water. For the water makes clean  that ,which
     "au-s ynuden", through grace.                                            is filthy, and refreshes and cools the bodies that fail
            For the importance of the. subject it may be of and faint. And the grace of God deals in like manner
     interest to us to consult the rest of the Reformed                       with the soul  ; and that invisibly and spiritually."
     confessions on the subject of holy baptism.                              Schaaf, Creeds of Christendom,  Vol. III. pp. 589-890.
            In the First Helvetic Confession, which  dates  from                 Note here: 1 1) That baptism is a sign and seal of
     1536, we read in Art. 21: "Die Taufe ist  nach der                       our being enrolled and received into  <the covenant and
     Einsetzung des Herrn ein Bad der Wiedergeburt,                           family and into the inheritance of the sons of  $God.
     welches  der Herr semen Auserwghlten  miteinen sicht-                    2) It is a sign and seal of our being purged from all
     baren  Zeichen durch den Dienst  `der Kirche, wie oben                   our sins by the blood of His Son and of our being
     gesagt und -erliutert  ist, anbietet und darstellt.                      adopted as children of God. And 3) it is a sign and
        "In diesum  heiligen Bade taufen wir unsre Kinder seal of our inward regeneration and renewal through
     darum, weil es unbillig  w&e, dasz  wir diejenigen, die the Holy Spirit.
     von uns,:einem  Volke Gottes, geboren sind, der Gemein-                     Our own Belgic Confession has a long article on


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        319

holy baptism from which we quote the following:             washed and cleansed by his blood, and then renewed
"We believe and confess that Jesus Christ, who `is the in purity of life by his Holy Spirit. We hold, also,
end of the law, hath made an end, by the shedding that although we are baptized only once, yet the gain
of his blood, of all other sheddings of blood which men that it symbolizes to us reaches over our whole lives
could or would make as  a  propitiation or satisfaction and to our death, so that we have a lasting witness
for sin; and that he, having abolished circumcision,        that Jesus Christ will always be our justificaition  and
which was done with blood, hath instituted the Sacra- sanctification. Nevertheless, although it is a sacra-
ment of Baptism instead thereof, by which we are re- ment of faith and penitence, yet as God receives little
ceived into the Church of God, ,and separated from children into the Church with their fathers, we say,
all other people and strange religions, that we may         upon the authority of Jesus Christ, that the children
wholly belong to him, whose ensign and banner we of believing parents should be baptized."                  Schaaf,
bear: and which serves as a testimony to us, that he Creeds of Christendom, Vol. III, pp. 379-380.
will forever be our gracious God and Father. There-            Two elements here draw our attention:  1) That
fore he has commanded all those, who are his, to be baptism is a sign and seal of our incorporation into
baptized with pure water, `in the name of the Father, that body of Christ and therefore of its resulting bene-
and of the Son, and of the Holy ,Ghost' : thereby signi- fits, the washing away of our sins and the renewal
fying to us, that as water washeth away the filth of by the Holy Spirit ; and 2) that the grace  of. baptism
the body, when poured upon it, and is seen on the body      is not limited to the moment when we are baptized,
of the baptized, sprinkled upon him, so doth the blood but lasts throughout our whole life.
of Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost, internally          The Scotch Confession of Faith, dated 1560, con-
sprinkle the soul, cleanse it from its sins, and regener- tains no separate article on the sacrament of holy
ate us from children of. wrath, unto children of God. baptism, but speaks in Article 21 of the sacraments in
Not that this is effected by the external water, but by     general ; and in this article it has the following sen-
the sprinkling of the precious blood of the Son of God ; tence concerning the sacrament of baptism: "No, we
who is our Red Sea, through which we must pass to es-       assuredly believe that by baptism we are ingrafted in
cape the tyranny of Pharaoh, that is, the devil, and to     Christ Jesus, to be made partakers of his justice, b;:
enter into the spiritual land of Canaan. Therefore, the which our sins are covered and remitted."
ministers, on their part, administer the sacrament, and        Here, too, baptism is presented as the sign and seal
that which is visible, but our Lord giveth that which of our incorporation into the body of Christ and of the
is signified by the sacrament, namely, the gifts and        washing away of our sins. Idem, p. 468.
invisible grace ; washing, cleansing, and purging our          The Thirty-Nine Article of the Church of Eng-
souls of all filth and unrighteousness ; renewing our       land, dated 1562, has the following article on holy
hearts and filling (them with all comfort ; giving unto     baptism : "Baptism is not only a sign of profession,
us a true assurance of his fatherly goodness; putting and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are
on us the new man, and putting off the old man with         discerned.from  others that be not christened, but it is
all his deeds." Art. 34.                                    also a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby,
   Here it is said of baptism: 1) That it is instituted     as by an instrument, they that receive baptism right-
instead of circumcision. 2) That by it we are received ly are grafted into the Church ; the promises of the
into the Church of God and separated from the whole forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons
world, that we may wholly belong to God. 3) That of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed ;
by it God testifies that He will forever be our gracious    Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of
,God  and Father. 4) That it is a sign of the washing       prayer unto God.
away of the filth of our soul and of regeneration from         "The Baptism of young children is in any wise to
children of wrath unto children of God. 5) That this be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the
is not effected by the external water, but by the grace institution of Christ." Art. 27.. Idem, pp. 504, 505.
of God "washing, cleansing and purging our souls of            We note here that baptism is presented: 1) As a
all filth and unrighteousness; renewing the hearts, sign whereby the people of God are distinguished from
and filling them with all comfort ; giving unto us a        the world. 2) As a sign of regeneration or of the new
true assurance of his fatherly goodness ; putting on birth. 3) As an instrument whereby they that right-
us the new man, and putting off the old man with all        ly receive the sacrament are grafted into the Church
his deeds."                                                 of Christ. 4) As visible signs and seals of the prom-
   From the French Confession of Faith, dated 1559,         ises of the forgiveness of sins and the adoption unto
Art. 35, we quote: "We confess only two sacraments sons of God by the Holy Ghost. And 5) as means for
common to the whole Church, of which the first,             the confirmation and strengthening of our faith.
baptism, is given as a pledge of our adoption ; for by         In the Anglican Catechism which dated originally
it we' are grafted into the body of Christ, so as to be from 1549, the child is instructed to answer as follows:

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

       "Qu. What is your name?                                selves are bound to perform,"  Idem,  pp. 517, 518, 521.
       "A. N. or M.                                              This is rather interesting because ilt presents the
       "Qu. Who gave you this name?                           truth concerning the ,sacrament  of baptism from the
       "A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Bap- subjective point of view, that is, from the point of view
tism ; wherein I was made a member of Christ, the             of the believing child. This, of course, is also the case
child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of in the Heidelberg Catechism when, in Question 69, it
heaven.                                                       asks  :` "How art thou admonished and assured by holy
       "Qu. What did your Godfathers and Godmothers           baptism, that the one sacrifice of Christ upon the
then do for you?                                              cross is of real advantage to thee?" So also in the
       "A. They did promise and vow three things in           Anglican Catechism the child is made to answer by
my name. First, that I should renounce the devil and faith, of course, that in baptism he was made a mem-
all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked ber of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the
world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. Secondly,       kingdom of heaven. And hence, he is also presented
that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian       as accepting his part of the covenant of God when
Faith. And, ,thirdly,  that 1 should keep God's holy will he promises that he will renounce the devil and all his
and commandments, and walk in the same all the days           works, the pomps and vanity of the wicked world and
of my life.                                                   all the sinful lusts of the flesh, that he will believe all
       "Qu. Doest thou not think that thou art bound to       the articles of the Christian faith, and that he will keep
believe and to do as they have promised for thee?             the holy will of God and His commandments and walk
       " A Yes, verily ; and by ,God's help so I will. And    in the same all the days of his life. And this is re-
I heartily thank our heavenly Father that he hath peated in the question and answer concerning the in-
called me to this state of salvation through Jesus            ward and spiritual grace signifieed in baptism ; for
Christ our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me there the child answers that baptism signifies death
his grace, that I may continue in the same unto my            unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness ; and he
life's end."                                                  answers : "Being by nature born in`sin, and the child-
       And a little further we read:                          ren of wrath, we are hereby made the children of
       "Qu. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained g r a c e . "
in his Church ?                                                  In the Irish Articles of Religion, dated 1615, we
       "A. Two only, as generally necessary to salvation :    read the following article on the sacramen$t  of baptism :
that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.          "Baptism is not only an outward sign of our profes-
       "Qu. What meanest thou by this word Bacrament?         sion, and a note of difference, whereby Christians are
       "A. I mean an .outward  and visible sign of an in-     discerned from such as are no Christians ;' but much
ward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by           more a Sacrament of our admission into the Church,
Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the              sealing unto us our new birth (and consequently our
same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.                      justification, adoption, and sanctification) by the  co&
       "Qu. How many parts are there in a Sacrament?          munion which we have with Jesus Christ."  Idem p. 243.
       "A.  z`wo: the outward  visible-.sign,  and the in-       This article adds nothing new to the confessions
ward spiritual grace.                                         we have already quoted.
       "Qu. What is the outward visible sign or form in          And finally, we quote from the Westminster Con-
Baptism?                                                      fession of Faith, dated 1647, which in chapter 28 con-
       "A. Water; wherein the person is baptized IN           tains the following paragraphs on holy baptism:
THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON,                          "I. Baptism is a Sacrament of the New Testament,
AND OF THE HOLY GHOST.                                        ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn ad-
       "Qu. What is ithe inward and spiritual grace?          mission of the party baptized into the visible Church,
       "A. A death unto sin, and a new birth unto right- but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant
eousness: for, being by nature born in sin, and the           of  &race,.of  his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration,
children of wrath, we are hereby made the children            of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God,
of grace.                                                     through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life : which
       "Qu. What is required of persons to be baptized?       sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be con-
       "A. Repentance, whereby they forsake sin ; and         tinued in his Church until the end of the world.
Faith, whereby they steadfastly believe the promises             "II. The outward element to be used in this sacra-
of God made to them in that Sacrament.                        ment is water, wherewith <the party is to be baptized
       "Qu. Why, then, are infants baptized, when by in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
reason of their tender age they can not perform them?         Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel lawfully called
       "A. Because they promise them both by their thereunto.
Sureties; which promise, when they come to age, them-             "III. Dipping of the person into the water is not


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           321

     necesssary  ; but baptism is  righ*tly  administered by His work, and His gifts. He does not even withdraw
     pouring or sprinkling water upon the person.                  His love completely from the sinner  ih his present
         "IV. Not only.those  that do actually profess faith sinful state, though the latter's sin is an abomination
     in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of         to Him, since He recognizes even in the sinner His-
     one or both believing parents  are  to be baptized.           image-bearer. John 3 :16 ; Mat&  5 :44,45. At the same
         "V. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neg- time He loves believers with a special love, since He
     lect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so contemplates them as His spiritual children in Christ.
     inseparably annexed unto it, as that no person can be It is to them that He communicates Himself in the
     regenerated or saved without it, or that all that -are fullest and richest sense, with all the fulness of his
     ,baptized  are undoubtedly regenerated.                       grace and mercy. John 16:27; Rom. 5 :8; I John 3 :l."
         "VI. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that.            Notice, in connection with `this quotation of Prof.
     moment of time wherein it is administered ; yet, not- Berkhof, in the first place, that we again are con-
     withstanding, by the right use of this ordinance the fronted with that miserable distinction between a
     grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited      special and a general love of God: the love of God to
     and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of          His people {Prof. Berkhof designates them as believ-
     age or-infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according ers) and His general love to the sinner in general. To
     to the counsel of God's own will, in his appointed            declare that "He does not even withdraw His love
     time.                                                         completely from the sinner in his present sinful state
         "VII. The sacrament of baptism is but once to be          (apart now from the word "completely") " would evoke
     administered to any person."  Idem,   pp. 661-663.            from us no criticism if only the sinner be understood
        Also in this Westminster Confession there is no to be the elect sinner. If the Lord were not to reveal
     new element unless it be that it by implication re-           His love to the sinner in his present sinful state surely
     pudiates the theory that baptism is based on presump- none could be saved. But it is plain from the rest of
     tive regeneration, and also that it, by implication at        the quotation, as also from the word "completely"
     least, emphasizes the truth that the efficacy of baptism which appears in the same sentence, that the professor
     is experienced only by the elect.                             refers to the sinner i.n general, the sinner in his present
.                                                   H. H.          sinfd state, apart therefore from  the Christ. On the
                                                                   one hand, to quote the professor, "since God is absolute-
                                                                   ly good in Himself, His love cannot find complete satis-
                                                                   faction in any  obbject  that falls short of absolute  per-
                                                                   perction."    One might well ask the professor, "Does
                                                                   the Lord ever find an incomplete satisfaction, a satis-
                OUR DOCTRINE                                       faction that is not perfect and complete but imperfect
                                                                   and incomplete?" And, on the other hand, He does not
                                                                   withdraw His love completely from the sinner in gen-
              The Attributes Of God                                eral. Prof. Berkhof teaches, therefore, a two-fold love
                                                                   of God.
                      THE LOVE OF GOD                                 This two-fold love of God the professor `dares to
                                                                   teach in spite of the ever-recurring refrain in. Holy
        Another aspect of the generic concept, "Goodness Writ that the Lord hates `the sinner and is angry with
     of God", is the .love of God. In his exposition of the the wicked every day (mind you, every day, hence :
     communicable attributes of the Lord, Prof. L. Berkhof, always). We read in Psalm 5 :4-6: "For thou art not
     in his Reformed Dogmatics, also discusses `the attri- a  God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall
     butes of God's love. On page 71 he writes as follows,         evil dwell with Thee. The foolish shall not stand in
     and we quote: "The love of God. When the goodness Thy sight  :. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou
     of God is exercised towards His rational creatures, it shalt :destroy  them that speak leasing: the Lord will
     assumes the higher character of love, and this love abhor the bloody and deceitful man." And in Psalm
     may again be distinguished according to the objects 7 :lO-16': : "My defence  is of God, which saveth the up-
     on which it terminates. In distinction from the good- right in heart. God judgeth the righteous;-and God is
     ness of God in general, it may be defined as  that per-       angry with the wicked every day. If he turnnot,  he
     fection of God by which He is eternally moved to self- will whet his sword ; he hath bent his bow, and made it
     communication. Since God is absolutely good in Him- ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments
     self, His love cannot find complete satisfaction in any of death ; he *ordained his arrows against the perse-
     object that falls short of absolute perfection. He loves cutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath
     His rational creatures for His own sake, or, to express conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He
     iLe.otherwise,  He. laves  in them ,Himself;  His virtues,    made. a pit, and digged  it,:and is fallen. into the ditch

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

     which he made. His mischief shall return upon his love of God to the sinner involves the Christ, His Son,
     own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon and the sinner's salvation. God's love to the sinner is
     his own pate. I will praise the Lord according to His such that He would save him, actually gave His only _
     righteousness ; and will sing praise to the name of the begotten Son for that purpose. This is unadulterated
     Lord most high." And in Psalm  11:4-7:  "The Lord arminianism.                  \.
     is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven:           Concerning the love. of God the late Prof. Bavinck
     His eyes behold, His -eyelids try, the children of men.      writes as follows in Vol. II, 183, f.f. (we translate) :
     The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him "Moreover, the goodness of God reveals itself as love,
     that loveth violence His soul hateth. Upon the wicked when- it does not merely bestow blessings; but itself.
     He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an hor- In the Old Testament there is not such repeated men-
     rible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. tion of this love as attribute of God ; nevertheless, this
,    For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness ; His coun- mention is not wholly lacking, Deut. 4  :37; 7 :8, 13;
     tenance doth behold the upright." And in Psalm               10:5; II Chron.  2:ll; Is.  31:3;  43:4;  48:14;  63:9;
     18:25-27  we read: "With the merciful Thou wilt shew Jer.  31:3; Hos.  ll:l, 4;  14:5; Zeph.  3:17; Mal.  X:2.
     Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt And not merely virtues and attributes, as justice and
     shew Thyself upright; With the pure Thou wilt shew           righteousness, Ps. 11:7 ; 33 :5 ; 37 :28 ; 45 :8, but also
     Thyself pure ; and with the froward man Thou wilt personsare its (love, H.V.) object, Ps. 78 :68 ; 146 :8 ;
     shew Thyself froward. For Thou wilt save the afflict- Prov. 3 :12 ; Deut. 4 :37 ; 7 :8,13 ; 23 : 5 ; II Chron. 2 :ll ;
     ed people ; but wilt bring down high looks." And in Jer.  31:3; Mal.  1:2. Much clearer is the revelation
     verses 37-42 of this same psalm we read : "I have pur- of this love-of God in the New Testament, inasmuch as
     sued mine enemies,. and overtaken  &hem  : neither did I God .hath  now given Himself in the Son of His love.
     turn again till they were consumed.: I  .have.  wounded The Hebrew "ahebhah," is not rendered  "eroos,"  which
     them that they were not able to rise : they. are fallen      is the common word for the sensual love, neither by
     under my feet. For Thou hast girded `me with strength "philia," which is the word to denote the love between
     unto the battle: Thou hast subdued  umderme  those that      kindred, but "agapee," which is strange to the common
     rose up against me. They cried, bu*t there was none Greek language and also does not appear in the writ-
     to save them: even unto the Lord, but He answered ings of Philo and Josephus, but is exactly adapted to *
     them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust be- express the full, pure, Divine love, as is the Latin
     fore the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the caritas (dilectio) in distinction from  amor.            The re-
     streets."     And in Psalm 59  :5 we read the amazing lation between the Father and Son is described as a
     prayer that the Lord show not mercy to any wicked life of love, John  3:35;  5:20;  10:17;  14:31;  15:lO;
     transgressors : "Thou therefore, 0 Lord of hosts, the        17:24, 26. But in Christ, Who loves Himself and
     God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not        verified His love in His surrender of Self, John  15:13,
     merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah." Besides        that love also reveals itself toward men, not merely the
     these few passages from the psalms, this love of God world, or the church in general, John 3 : 16 ; Rom. 5 :7;
     to His people and His hatred of the wicked is the re-        8 :37; I John 4 :9, but also individually and personally,
     curring refrain throughout the book of Psalms and John 14 :23 ; 16 :27 ; 17 :23 ; Rom. 9 :13 ; Gal. 2 :20. Yea,
     also that of Proverbs.                                       God does not love, but He is love, I John 4 8, and His
            Finally, in connection with Prof. Berkhof's quota- love is ground, source, example of our love, I John 4  :lO.
     tion on the love of `God, how must we understand his         It is true that one can speak in general of the love of
     reference to John 3  :16? What may be the difference God toward the creatures and toward men, philoktisia,
     between his quoting of that text and the reference to amor complacentiae and philanthroopia, amor  benevol-
     that particular passage of the Word of God as it is so entiae, but the Scripture uses for that  purposes mostly
     common today in our arminian day and age? Ob- the word, goodness, and generally speaks of the love
     viously, this "general love of God to sinners" seeks of God, as it also does of His grace, only in relation
     more than merely their natural and. temporal good. to : the people or congregation whom He has chosen.
     Its scope is surely wider than that theory of "common This love, now, is not in that sense the essence of God,
     grace" as it was expounded by the late dr. A.  Kuyper.       in that it constitutes the center and the heart thereof
     He taught that "common grace" is purely natural and and the other attributes are its  modi. . . . , for all
     temporal, concerns itself only with the natural and attributes are His essence equally; in God is no higher
     earthly, does not reach out to the things heavenly and or lower, no less or greater. Nevertheless, love is sure-
     eternal, the things of our eternal salvation. But John ly identical with the Divine being. It is independent,
     3 :16 speaks of the love of God wherewith He loved the       eternal, unchangeable as God Himself. It has in Him
     world and which consisted therein that He gave His its origin and also returns unto Him through the
     only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him creatures" -thus far the quotation of Bavinck.
     might not perish but have everlasting life, Hence, the           In connection with this quotation  of Bavinck, we


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          823

should note, in the first place, that also this eminent must surely know that the word "world" does not al-
theologian emphasizes the personal element in the ways have the same significance in Holy Writ. When
attribute of the love of God. He writes that the good- we read that Abraham became heir of the world (Rom.
ness of God reveals itself as love when it gives Himse&f.    4 :13) or when the apostle, John, admonishes us not to
Secondly, one more remark of the late Prof. Bavinck          love the world, it is quite obvious that the word cannot
should not pass unnoticed. It is true that also he have the same significance in both instances. Or, wheu
speaks of a general goodness of God (see our article         we are told in John 3 :16 that God so loved ithe world
on God's goodness) ; nevertheless he must declare that that He gave His only begotten Son and in John 17
the Scriptures generally speak of the love of God, as it that Christ prays not for the world, we all realize that
also does of the grace of God, as only in relation to the the?!world" of John 3 :16 cannot be the same as that
people or congregation which the Lord has chosen.            in John 17 9. To maintain, therefore, that John 3 :16
Generally, therefore, :the Word of God speaks of the         speaks of a general, universal love of God because of
love of God toward His people in Christ Jesus, the           the  word' "world" in that passage  is wholly unwar-
particular, irresistible, saving love of God.                ranted. Secondly, Holy Writ ascribes a power, an effi-
                                                             cacy to the cross which no arminian dares to attribute
      A Cwrrent  Conception of the Love of God.              to that accursed tree. We are told, e.g., that God
   God is love-this, is it not, is the ever-recurring purchased U-S with His own precious blood-hence, on
refrain in our modern church day and age. God is the  cross of Calvary we were purchased, bought with
love, for "God so loved the world, that He gave His the precious blood of Christ. Or, the Word of God tells
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him us that we were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb
should not perish but have everlasting life."` God is        of God-and to be redeemed implies that we were
love, and this means that He loves all men, seeks the bought with a price. Again; the Scriptures inform us
good of all, pities them in their woes and distress. that the cross is the power. of God unto salvation, and
Hence, this loving God seeks man's welfare and not ,his      that the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world.
death, his salvation and not his damnation. This con- That the Lamb of God has taken away the sins of the
ception also lies at the root of the sinner's wicked world certainly means that these sins are gone. If,
reasoning in Lord's Day IV of our Heidelberg Cate- then, these sins of the world refer to the sins of ail
chism, where we read in Questions .lO and 11: "Will mankind in the universal sense of the word, none can
God suffer such disobedience ,and rebellion to go un-        possibly perish ; surely, a man cannot perish whose sins
punished?", and the answer follows: "By no means; have been taken  away;  Such an  r>ne appears before
but is terribly displeased with our original  as  well as the tribunal of God without sins, without guilt, without
actual sins ; and mill punish them in His just judgment condemnation. Hence, the cross itself is the power ol
temporally and eternally, as `He hath declared, Cursed God unto salvation. It does not derive its power from
is every one that continueth not in all things, which are us, but we from .it ; it doesnot owe its saving efficacy
written in the book of the law, to do them"; and then:       to our free will, but .we owe our salvation to that cross.
"Is not God then also merciful?`, and the answer:            The cross does not save us because we believe, but we
"God is indeed  mrciful, but also just; therefore His        believe because the cross ,has redeemed us out of all
justice requires, that sin which is committed against sin and merited for us  reverl&ing  life. Hence, the
the most high majesty of God, be also punished with          "world" of John 3  :16 is the world .of God's love; of
extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment of body        God's everlasting and unchangeable love (there is no
and soul." Moreover, this conception of the love of other love of God), the world for which He gave His
God is surely the predominant note in all the so-called only. begotten Son, which was. redeemedby the blood
evangelical preaching of today.                              of that Son, and which shall appear in everlasting
   This view of the love of God we reject, and it must *perfection when that Son shall return upon the clouds
be rejected upon the basis of the Word of God. In the of heaven  ,to make all things new; L. This also enables us
first place, it is Scripturally untrue, finds no basis in to understand the, second part of John 3  :16, namely :
the Word of God. Nowhere does the Word of God "that. whosoever believeth on Him should not perish
teach that ,God  loves all men in, the general and uni- but have everlasting life." Presupposing that Christ,
versal sense of the word. And this also applies to           as the arminian would have us believe, died for all men
John 8 :16, Ma$tt.  5 :44-45, and Luke 6 $5-36. The first and, therefore,. also for those who perish, why or how
of these passages has already been quoted. In the            can anyone. be assured of everlasting life just because
first place, to maintain that John 3  :16 speaks of a he believes on Him? Did He not die for all men, also
general, universal love of God because of the word for those who are lost? How, then, can it be comfort-
"world" in that passage is surely unwarranted and ing to know-and believe that He died for me? How-
reveals a sad lack of knowledge of the Holy Scriptures.      ever,. if-the: death of Christ be atoning, the blotting
Anyone who has any knowledge of the Word of God out of my sin and guilt and the meriting for me of


324                                      T H E   STANDA%RD  B E A R E R

everlasting life, then, to believe on that Christ, to make no distinction among them. We must not simply
know that He died and shed His blood for me, assures         love those who love us and hate those who hate us-
me of everlasting life. Faith, then, is that gift of God that is characteristic of the publicans. Neither does
whereby He having convicted me of sin and guilt and the Lord love those who love Him and hate those who
,hopelessness  and having united  .me  ,unto the living hate Him. If He did, how could He ever love us? Are
Christ, enables me to cling unto that Christ, to embrace we not, by nature, haters of Him? Of this love of God,
Him as the Lamb of God Who shed His blood for me             which is never determined by the attitude of the sinner
that I might live and for that reason I also shall live in the sense that our love toward the Lord determines
even forevermore.                   .                        His love toward us, the rain and sunshine are a figure.
   Neither do Matt. 5:44-45  and Luke 6:5-6 teach a The sun shines not only upon the good but also upon
universal love of God. In the first passage we read: the evil ; the rain falls not only upon the just but also
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them upon the unjust. This also characterizes the love, of
that curse you, do good to <them  that.. hate you, and       God. God does not simply love those who love Him;
pray for them which despitefully use .you~:and  perse- He also loves those who hate Him.  Of course, and all
cute you; That ye may be the children of your Father of Scripture verifies this, this love of God, upon the
Which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise            evil and the good, the just and the unjust, has for its
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the         objects, exclusively, the elect people of God in Jesus
just and on the unjust." And in Luke 6 :5-6 we read:         Christ, our Lord. That God hates the wicked every
"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend,            day, and that His curse is in the house of the ungodly,
hoping for nothing again ; and your reward shall be surely means that He hates them always and that His
great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for curse always accompanies them.
He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye           Secondly, this universal love of God is not only
therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful."        Scripturally untrue, but it is also rooted in a human-
We should note that the passage in Luke merely speaks istic conception of the love of God. Indeed, God is love.
of the unthankful and the evil (not the unthankful and       However, the fundamental error of this view is that
thankful, the evil and the good), and this can sureIy        it humanizes this love of God, places man at the center
refer to the people of God who, apart from the love of it ; it is not God-centered, but man-centered. God
and the mercy of God, are unthankful and evil. This          is love. But, let  us'emp?lasize it with all the power at
characterizes all the people of God as they are of them- our command: GOD is love. And this means, funda-
selves. How could we possibly" be saved if it were not mentally, that God loves eternally Himself. And His
for the fact that the Lord is kind to the unthankful and     people He loves only as He sees and knows them, sover-
the evil. +God loved us, indeed, as sinners ; and it is      eignly, in Jesus Christ,  His Son, our Lord.
only because of and through the love and mercy of God                           (to be continued)
that we, sinners by nature, become saints. To quote                                                  H. Veldman.
Luke 6:35-36  as a proof for the universal love.of  God
is, therefore, unjustifiable-this text can serve as a
proof for <the general mercy of the Lord only if it be
supported therein by the rest of Holy Writ, and it                      YQUNG MEN - ATTENTION!
therefore be shown that these "unthankful and evil"
also refer to the reprobate unthankful and evil.             Young, men  .who desire a limited Pre-Seminary
   In Matthew 5 we are admonished to love  our enemies course of instruction in our Theological School, are  re-
{not God's enemies-this would involve us'in a direct /quested to meet with our committee the evening of
contradiction with Psalm  139:X-22)) and also that           April 22 in the Fuller Ave. Church. If, because of dis-
the Lord causes the sun and the rain to shine and fall tance involved, you are not able to attend this meeting,
on the just and unjust, the evil and the good. We are write our Secretary before that date.
not told in this passage that the Lord is merciful to the       `Young men who desire to attend our Seminary in
unjust and just, the evil and the good, but that He September to prepare themselves for the Ministry of
causes His sun to shine on them, etc. However, if this the Word of God, are likewise requested to be present
passage intends to regard this shining of the sun, etc., at this meeting. They should come with a statement
as a token of Divine love and mercy, then the text           of health from a reputed physician and a testimonial
surely would compel us to, conclude that one can re- from their consistory as to their membership and walk
ceive too much of this mercy and kindness of the Lord. of life.
If our crops receive too much sun they may wither
and die ; and, on the other hand, if they receive too                     The Theological School Committee :
much rain, they may rot or be washed away. Matt.                                     Rev. Gerrit Vos, Secretary
5 ~44-45 would admonish US to love all our enemies, to                            Hudsonville, Michigan.


                                         TH'E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         or  'r
                                                                                                                     3 23
                                   -                                                         .._
     I____xI_ ^.. ".~-- -----_  --
.                                                                     Said David to Zadok and Abiathar and to the chiefs
            TH.E DAY  (II?  SHAD6WS                                of the Levites, "Ye are the chief of the fathers of the
                                                                   Levites; sanctify yourselves, both ye and your breth-
                                                                   ren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of
       The Ascent Of The Ark Of The Israel'unto the place that I have prepared for it. For
                                                                   because ye did it not at ,the first, the Lord our God
                            Covenant                               made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not
                                                                   aright, " `approached him not in a manner prescribed
        As terrified by the stroke that the Lord had laid by the law, had neglected to testify our reverential fear
     upon Uzzah, David had carried the ark aside into the          of him by observing the legal ordinance that only
     house of Obededom the `Gittite.  But as reassured by Levites should bear the holy  *things.'
     the visible tokens of the Lord's favor toward  Obed-             In stating the reason  of the Lord's anger David
     edom's house because of the ark, David again made limited himself to their failure to seek God  aright;  he
     preparations to bring up the ark of God "from the made no mention of Uzzah's rashness that had con-
     house of Obededom into the city of David." The sisted in his taking hold of the ark. David's silence
     Chronicler gives a detailed account of all his prepara- concerning that error can be explained. He was con-
     tions for the removal.                                        centrating on the fundamental cause of the Lord's
        "He prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitch-        displeasure, which was the wrong attitude that had
     ed for it a tent." It was meant only as a provisionary been assumed toward the ark as so glaringly revealed
     sanctuary and modelled, we may suppose, after the old in their leaving the,task  of conveying that sacred vessel
     tabernacle that was still standing in  Gibeon (16  :39 f.,    Co men who had not been appointed thereto. In their
     21:29  ; I Kings 3 :4 ff.)                                    ignorance  ;they had used a wagon drawn by oxen and
                                                                   had thereby brought the ark into the kind of predica-
        At the end of three months, it must be, when he            ment that had occasioned the rashness on account of
     had received the glad tidings of the Lord's blessings which the Lord had smitten Uzzah. Doubtless the
     upon the house of Obededom, David said, presumably majority of the people including David had. acted in
     to his court personnel, "None ought to carry the ark ignorance. The two high priests and the chief of the
     of God but the Levites ; for them hath the Lord chosen        Levites had greater sin, they being the ministers
     to carry the ark of  ,God, and to minister unto him for- of the sanctuary and th,e. teachers of the law. Their
     ever." David was resolved that the former errors com- inaction bespeaks a sad deterioration of the priest-
     mitted in transporting the ark be not repeated. His hood. They were well deserving of David's rebuke.
     statement was a confession that it was unlawful to con- But David was holding himself accountable. Said
     vey it upon a cart, as had been done.                         he not, "For we sought him not  aright."  It was
        David then gathered by their representatives all well that he thus  sgoke. Being king, it was also
     Israel together in Jerusalem, whether for the second his calling to make him a copy of the law and to read
     time the text does not state. But it must be assumed therein all the days of his life. So the Lord had com-
     that it had to be done anew as it is not likely that the manded. But if David had been ignorant, he was now
     people had kept  ;tO Jerusalem and its environs during fully enlightened from personal study of *the law and
     the interval of the three months. The assembly in- not because the priests or the chiefs of the Levites had
     cluded the natural representatives of the people - the instructed him. For he must instruct them, and be-
     elders and the captains over thousands - and the              sides admonish them to sanctify themselves, which
     representatives of the priesthood and of the common consisted in keeping from their wives, from contact
     Levites.                                                      with the dead, and in washing the body and the clothes.
       `. David now summoned into his presence the repre- As commanded by David, the priests and the Levites
     sentatives of the priesthood and of the Levites, to coun- did sanctify themselves "to bring. up the ark of the
     sel with them regarding the order, of the solemnities Lord God of Israel".
     f verses 2-15) . "And David assembled the children               Levitical singers were appointed for the solemnity
     of Aaron, and the Levites." Present were the two with instruments of song to accompany the singing
     high priests, Zadok and Abiathar (verse 11). They             (verses 16-24). There were three classes : 1) guitars,
     were the sons of Aaron. The other members of the called psalteries in our versions; 2) harps or lutes;
     gathering were the six chiefs named in verses 5-10,           3) instruments that bore a name meaning "making to
     with their brethren. They were the Levites. Repre- hear", perhaps cymbals. The purpose of these ap-
     sented were four Kohathite families to only one  Mera-        pointments is, expressed by the clause, "to lift up the
     rite and Kohathite. The reason of the preference for sound with gladness," to express joy. All the singers
     the house of Kohath was that theirs was the task of           and musicians are mentioned by name. There were
     conveying the ark.                                            two ranks of them, divided into three choirs after the


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musical instruments on which they played. The sing- in a special attire for the occasion. All were clothed
ers with the cymbals beat the time. They who had with a robe of Byssus (fine linen). "And upon David
the psalteries sang in a high, clear voice, that is, so- was a linen ephod." It formed the distinguishing part
prano. The basso was sung by the harpist. There of the clothing of the king as the sovereign of the
were sixteen singers in all. That was not a large num- priestly people. "Thus all Israel brought up the ark
ber.                                                         of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with
   "And Chenaniah, the chief .of the Levites, was for the sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with
song: he instructed about the song, because he was           cymbals, making a sound with psalteries and harps."
skillful." The text in the Hebrew reads, "And  Chena-        It may be assumed that the shouting and the trumpet-
niah, the chief of the Leviets, for bearing; he instructed ing and the music made by the three choirs-their
in bearing, for he was skillful." Some refer the phrase playing and singing-alternated and also that the cele-
to the bearing of the ark, which is again in question in bration did not begin until foot was set in Jerusalem.
the following verses. Chenaniah supervised the busi-         It is not likely that it was continuous from the time
ness of bearing the ark. For he was thoroughly ac- of the departure from the house of Obededom to the
quainted with the legal regulations relative the cere- time of the arrival in Jerusalem. That David, now,
monies of the law.. But verse 27 shows that Chenaniah        too, sang and played and danced, leaped with joy be-
must be associated with thesingers as their leader and fore the Lord appears from the statement (verse 29)
instructor. The verse contains the notice, "and the that Michal looking out of the window saw him.
singers and Chenaniah the master and the bearer with . The text at II  Samue1_2:14  reveals that David
the singers."                                                danced before the Lord with all his might. His joy
                                                             was unbounded and with reason. The ark came to him
   "And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers in the city of David conveyed thither by the Levites
for the ark." The references is to the guarding of the whom the Lord was helping. It was a wooden struc-
doors of the tent that gave access to the ark, and in        ture overlaid with gold. But it was the ark of the
the present solemnity to the guarding of the ark on          covenant of the Lord. As associated with the "cloud"
the way. The following verse names Obededom and and with the blood of the atonement as sprinkled upon
Jehiah also as the doorkeepers. The latter two must its lid it was the cymbal of the glories of the triune
be regarded as following the ark and the former two          Jehovah as revealed in the face of Christ over `His
as going immediately before it or on each side in the        people.    There by the ark God was present in `His
solemn procession. Seven priests blew the trumpet power and love and grace and truth as active in the
before the ark according to the prescription, Num. vindication of His holiness unto the destruction of His
10 :l-10.                                                    enemies and the salvation of His people to the praise
   All this makes it possible to visualize the solemn of His name. This had become abundantly evident
procession in the order of its several parts. Leading through the years of Israel's national existence. It
the procession were the singers with their instruments had become evident in connection with the capture of
of music arranged in three choirs. Following after the ark by the Philistines. Death had rioted in the
them were the first two doorkeepers. After these enemy land wherever the ark had come. Death had
marched the seven priests blowing the trumpets before rioted among- the men of` Bethshemesh because they
the ark and close by it. Next in order were the second had looked at the uncovered ark. And the stroke of
two doorkeepers on each side of the ark. The Iast place God had fallen upon Uzzah because he had touched it.
in the procession was occupied by David and the elders On the other hand, the house of Obededom and all that
of Israel, and the captains of thousands. That, doubt- pertained to him had been blessed because of the ark.
less, was the arrangement of the several divisions. "So Where the ark was, there was God in the sense just
David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over explained. To play before the ark as contrite of heart
thousands, went up to bring the ark of the covenant trusting in God through Christ was to play before the
of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy" face of ,God and live.. To dwell with the ark in Zion
(verse 25). "And the children of the Levites bare the was to dwell with God and live as the object of His
ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves there- redeeming love. David understood ; and a great glad-
on, as Moses commanded according to the word of ness flooded his soul which found expression in his
theLord" (verse 15). And God helped, assisted with- dancing before the Lord with all His might.
out mishaps the Levites to convey the ark to its destina-       Doubtless Psalm 24 in the psalter of David was the
tion, so that they escaped the stroke that the Lord song that was sung on the way. It is clear from its
had laid upon Uzzah. As an expression of their humble content that it was composed against the background
gratitude, they offered seven bullocks and seven rams of the event of the removal of the ark. It is that event
(verse 26). David, the Levites that bore the ark, and that the psalm plainly celebrates. Its introductory
the  singers with their leader, Chenaniah, were dressed lines read,


                                   THE   STANDARD  B E A R E R                                                     327"

   "The earth is  th,e Lord's, and the fulness thereof;    two psalms. But that is not justified. The connection
     The  .world and they that dwell therein.              is obvious, and it is close. The question, "who shall
     For he hath founded it upon the seas,                 ascemlinto  the hill of the Lord." here receives its pri-
    And established it upon the floods."                   mary answer. The King of glory, who is enthroned
   The expression "its fulness" signifies all the earth's upon the ark, and from whom the pure of heart receive
inhabitants but properly mankind. They belong to blessing and righteousness-our Lord Jesus Christ-
Him absolutely, He being their sovereign Creator. He shall come in. For He alone is worthy. Let the
Hence, He doeth with the inhabitants of the earth gates lift up their heads, let them be lifted up, that His
according to His will, having mercy on whom He             entrance may be  larg>e.
will have mercy, and hardening whom He will. The                  `Who is the king of glory?
former approach the ark, draw near to God, ascend                  The Lord strong and mighty,
His holy hill, and live and are blessed. The latter do             The Lord mighty in battle."
likewise and perish as did the Philistines and the men           ,To what workings of his strength and might the
of Bethshemesh and Uzzah.                                  psalmist could have directed attention,-workings of
   Who is the favored man that  iives in God's pre- which the ark was the seat. It was the ark-it was the
sence? In the language of the psalm,                       Lord,-who had led His people triumphant from Sinai,
    "Who shall ascend into the holy hill  of the Lord?     through the desert, across the Jordan and into Canaan;
      Who shall stand in the holy place?"                  At the power of the ark, when it had encompassed the
   ,In a word, by what is he known? What is the state city seven days, the walls of Jericho fell down, the gods
of his heart? How does he order his life among men? of the Philistines fell prostrate to the ground, and
This is an inquiry, perhaps of a single voice in David's death devoured in their cities.
                                                            .
choir. David had asked this question before but  .in              "Lift up `your heads, 0 ye gates ;
his unbelief, and so, too, the men of Bethshemesh.                 Even lift them up. ye everlasting doors ;
Their  question had been, "Who is able to stand before             And the king of glory shall come in.
the holy Lord God?" (II Sam.  6:9). And David had                  Who is the king of glory?
asked, "How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?"                 The Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory."
(II Sam. 6 :9). Being unbelieving, his reply had been            The Lord of hosts is He, "the hosts of heaven", that
as we have seen, "No one is able to stand before the       He created, brings out, and calls all by their names by
holy Lord God." But as was stated, he was wrong. the greatness of His might (Isa. 40 :26), the hosts of
His lamentation was a denial of the atonement  and,of  8 stars ; then, the hosts of angels which surround the
the love that God bears His people in Christ. But with throne of God (I Kings 22 :19) ; and lastly the hosts
his heart cleansed of unbelief, he now gave true answer, of His redeemed people, who war the warfare of the
    "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart,           Lord by His mercy.
      Who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity,                 Who is the king of glory? In the language of the
     Nor sworn deceitfully,                                New Testament Scriptures, the Lord Christ who by His
     He shall receive the blessing of the Lord."           sufferings and death on the cross overcame the power
   But are these words not destructive of all hope? of Satan, sin, and death and by His own blood entered
Where is there to be found such a man? Attend to the into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
answer of the inspired poet, "And righteousness from       (Heb. 9:11, 12). It was the Christ that the psalmist
                                                           in the final instance was saluting. It was His victories,
the God of his salvation," righteousness both imputed
and infused,                                               as foreshadowed by the triumphs of the ark, that he
                "which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto beheld. It was of His ascent that he sang.
all and upon all them that believe" (Rom. 3 22). "Upon           With the ark of the Lord set in. his place, in the
all them that believe."                                    midst of the tabernacle that David pitched for it, Zion
    "This is the generation of them that seek him,         was the city of the great King, in whose palaces God
     That seek thy face, 0 Jacob."                         was known (Ps. 48 :2,3). Out of Zion God shined now
   Jacob is Christ in the first instance and then the and henceforth, and from Zion He helped His people.
people that seek God through Christ.                       In the gates of the daughter of Zion they showed forth
    "Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates ;                      all His praise and rejoiced in the God of their salvation.
     And be ye' lifted up ye everlasting doors ;           The true Jew loved Zion more than his chief joy. With
                                                           their faces turned toward Zion the Jews in exile pray-
     And the king of glory shall come in."                 ed ; and when the Lord turned again the captivity of
   These and the following lines form the second part Zion, they were like them that dream. Their mouth
of the two parts of the psalm. They are sharply di- was filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing.
vided. On this account some have regarded them  `as        (Psalm 126). But the church has risen--wit& %Qrist:


328                                   THl3  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

She has come unto mount Zion, and the city of the could not  endur,e  seeing him praise God. When he
living. God, the Jerusalem which is above and which returned, she could not wait until he had set foot in
is the joy of the whole earth. And the things that            the house to speak her mind. She went forth to meet
she. seeks are above where Christ sitteth at  .the right him, and in words of biting sarcasm told him what a
hand of God in the highest heavens.                           sorry fool he. had made of himself. These were her
       The solemn act of removal of the ark was followed words, "How glorious was the king of Israel today,
by David's' offering burnt-offerings and peace-offer- who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the hand-
ings before the Lord whether through the priests is maids and servants as one of the vain fellows is wont
not stated ; but it must be assumed that in all such shamelessly to uncover himself." These were words
cases the action with the blood by which atonement calculated, to cut to the quick.
was made for sin was the work of the priest. When                "It was before the Lord", was his reply to her,
the offerings were ended and not before, David blessed meaning, `I was rejoicing in Him, and extolling His
the people in the name of the Lord Sabaoth and, on mercies'. He had leaped and shouted like a man de-
the ground of the atonement of Him-this same  Lord-           lirious with joy. But there was a cause. In his own
from whom their righteousness was. It was not as to words, "It was before the Lord, which chose me before
the form of its words the Aaronic blessing (Numbers thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler
6  22 sq.), which might be spoken only' by the high-          over the house of the Lord, over Israel ; therefore I will
pri,est,  but like Solomon's (I Kings 8  :55), a  benedic-    play before the Lord." And if it is vile to joy in the
toryaddress to the whole assembly.                            Lord." I will yet. be more vile than this,,,,and  will be
   Before allowing the people to pass from his pres- base in mine own eyes." And if she must despise him
ence, David dealt among the multitude of Israel, as on that account, it is well. The maidservants of whom
well to the women as to the men, a cake of bread, and she spake will understand, "and of them shall I be held
a measure or cup (perhaps of wine) and a raisin-cake,         in honour."
(a mass of dried grapes compressed into a cake). "So             "Therefore Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no
the people departed every one to his house". And              child unto the day of her death," not' because David
David returned to his house to bless his household as forsook her but because the Lord smote her with bar-
he had blessed the people.                                    renness to vindicate his servants.
                                       G. M. Ophoff.                                                   G. M. Ophoff.

       Michal's Contempt Of David
    But there was a fly in the ointment of his spiritual
joy. The fly was Michal, the daughter of Saul. As                       S I O N ' S   Z A N G E N
the ark of the Lord had come into the city and was
passing David's house, Michal watched the  procession
through a window. It already spake ill of her that                     Eeuwige Goedertierenheid
she had not joined the celebrating multitude and was
keeping her to the house. She shimply  wasn't inter-                         (Psalm 107; Vierde Deel)
ested.    She saw David dancing before the Lord as               In het 16de vers beluisteren we de reden voor het
divested of his kingly robes and as clad in a linen ephod gezang van Gods volk die uit  banden verlost wierden:
like all the rest of his servants. Perhaps he was the         "want Hij heeft de koperen deuren gebroken, en de
only one who danced. At least the text makes mention ijzeren grendelen in stukken gehouwen!
of him only as dancing with all his might. Michal's              Dat is figuurlijke  taal, maar o zoo duidelijk.
anger burned. Being a woman devoid of true religious             Zoo spoedig het menschdom zondigde, zoo spoedig
impulses, and on this account unable to appreciate his vond de mensch  zich in  banden. Het zijn de  banden
enthusiasm, she despised him in her heart, looked down des doods en de snoeren des verderfs die  OILS  omknellen.
on him with malicious hatred. He  was only putting En ge kunt zoo gebonden zijn en tech denken,  dat ge
on an act for political reasons.      He wanted to in- als een vogeltje zoo vrij zijt. Dat komt hier vandaan,
gratiate himself with the good men in his realm. It dat die banden ons binden  in het -hart! Als het . hart
was his silly way of letting the people know that in gebonden is, zie, dan is het vreeselijk. Dan denken  we
him they possessed a king who was to them a brother vrij te zijn, maar het is het woelen in de atmosfeer van
among the brethren. But with such outragious and zonde en verderf.
degrading performances to his credit, how could he               Zoo staat de zaak met den mensch van nature, maar
expect the people to pay him the homage due to a king. zoo gaat het soms ook voor tijd en wijle met het kind
Her ,trouble.  was. thati being.a graceless .woman. she       C&K&,


                                       T H E   STANDARD   B E A R E R                                           331

hen komen met zwaren gang naar Zijn Huis. En the authority they exercise is God's authority. It
daarom is er dien morgengroet van God in den zegen. is the authority of the same God to Whose Kingdom
Hij wil U direkt uit die kuil rukken. En Hij doet het they belong that is exercised through men, through
ook. Alles in dien dienst is er op ingericht, dat gij        kings, and rulers. In fact it is only the citizens of
de verlossing zult ervaren die in Christus Jezus is.         the kingdom of heaven who can really obey the tem-
        Zoo spoedig gij Gods Huis binnentreedt, zoo spoedig poral rulers. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews,
ziet en hoort ge van de verlossingen Gods.                   in speaking of Enoch,  says that it is not possible to
        Waarom, denkt gij, dat Gods volk hun beste klee-     please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). Since then
ding aantrok?                                                the authority exercised by kings and rulers is God's
        Omdat zij vooruit al  weten,  dat God hen verlossen authority exercised through men, no man can really
zal.                                                         bow before ,that authority without faith. There may
        In de Kerk Gods is het een en al verlossing!         be compliance with the law. There may be heeding
        Dat gaat zoo vast op, dat God Zijn volk leert om     it outwardly to the last detail for carnal, earthly
erop te vertrouwen. Zij vertrouwen er op als ze nog reasons, because it benefits society, insures peace and
een eindweegs van Gods Huis zijn. Gedenkt hier aan happiness among men, etc. etc., but there is never
dien verloren zoon.                                          the heeding of laws because man would bow before
                                                             God and is willing to do His bidding EXCEPT BY
        En zoo zullen zij gehoorzamen als God hen  toe-      FAITH. Simply pleasing the earthly authorities does
roept:  ,Gaat tot Zijn  poorten  in met lof, met lofzang in not even make a man a good citizen except by the
Zijn heilig hof ! Looft  Hem aldaar met hart en stem; standards of sinful men. But he who pleases God, Who
prijst Zijnen Naam: verheerlijkt Hem!                        exercises His authority through men, is truly a good
        Dat dan de menschen Gods Zijne goedertierenheid citizen according to God's judgment, and there is no
loven, en Zijne wonderwerken voor de kinder-en der righteousness (and no civic righteousness) except that
menschen !                                                   which God calls righteousness. And the citizen of the
                                               G. Vos.       kingdom of heaven by faith obeys GOD and is pleasing
                                                             unto Him. He is a good citizen. No man, no neigh-
                                                             bour, no nation needs to fear violence at his hands.
                                                 s
                          --                                 He will be called an obstructionist presently beousc
                                                             he will not practice sin, bust he is not a man that you
                                                             need fear. He fears the Lord, and therefore you need
                                                             not have fear of him.
               I N   H I S   F E A R                            But in order that our children may know how to
                                                             serve our government, and thus God through the
                                                             earthly authorities, it is necessary for the covenant
          Training For Life's Calling                        child to be instructed in this subject we call Civics.
                                                             As we stated before, training for life's calling is
Training In The Civics Class.                                training for the eternal' calling of God's child. His
                                                             calling in this life is to serve God but it is also
        With this installment of the general theme, "Train- his eternal calling to do so. And in this Christian
ing For Life's Calling" we will bring the series to a        school the child is not simply given a little informa-
close. The last subject taught in Christian schools tion about government and legislation. The duty of
which we will consider and which ought to have a the Christian school in this branch of the curriculum
specific treatment is Civics. It is a subject which is~ to train the child for his calling to serve God by
must be taught our children, though they are citizens obeying the authorities God placed over him. But
of the kingdom of heaven. In fact we would say that `let us consider the principles governing this subject
they must be taught it just exactly because they are         which are drawn up by the Rev. Gritters. These prin-
citizens of that kingdom. The citizen of that kingdom ciples are as follows:
walks in obedience and righteousness even when he is
still on this earth. And though by the marvelous work 1. Civics in the Christian school curriculum is the
of regeneration we are born into that  king,dom  of            study which serves to acquaint us with the nature
heaven, we still remain as long as we  ,are still on           and function of our government in order that we
this earth the citizens of that particular kingdom             may more intelligently and readily obey her.
of which we were citizens when the work of re-                 a. When we deal with the government and our re-
generation was accomplished. And God demands of                   relation to any and all government, the teacher
the citizens of the kingdom of heaven that they obey              must ever bear in mind the doctrine of total de-
the earthly authorities PERFECTLY. For, after all,                pravity. Let us recall what Scripture says about


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         fallen man in relation to the governments that                 the teacher will have to impress upon the minds
         be. Fallen man, is by nature a rebel'against God               of the youth, for in this domain our natural de-
         and government. 2 Peter. 2 : 10. He is self-willed.            pravity exerts itself very strongly. For such
         Jude 8. He follows the example of Adam who in                  examples of true obedience see: that of Christ
         turn followed the devil. 1 Tim.  3:6. And he is                Himself, Matthew 23 :2, 3 and of Paul, Acts 23:
         not subject to the law of God nor can he be.                   2, 3, 5 and of Peter, I Peter 2 :13, 14.
         Rom.  8:`7.                                                 c. But we must bear with its weaknesses (Heidel-
          (,l) Natural man will comply with certain laws                berg Catechism and ans. 104, be faithful in sub-
         out of a sense of fear or favor, for utilitarian or            jection, patient in persecution (Belgic. Confes.
         self-defense reasons.       But even then constant             Art. 36 and James  5:?19,  ourselves be governed
         policing is necessary if there shall be even an                by the Spirit of Christ, to show fidelity to the
         outward semblance of obedience.                                powers for God's sake (Titus 3 : 1) , "Put them in
          (2) All such is far beneath the dignity of the                mind to be subject to the powers".
         lofty calling wherewith the Christian is called.             We have only a few remarks to make in this connec-
         These facts the teacher can emphasize.                    tion at this time.    The space allotted us for these
       b. The Man of God, regenerated by the Spirit of the articles is more than filled. At another time the tre-
         Saviour and having the love of God in his heart,         mendous field of Civics as it ought to be taught in a
         proceeds upon the new principle of the Scriptures         Christian school may be treated. For the present we
         which is as follows :                                    will simply make two general remarks.
          (1) All government is ordained by God. It is                First of all, of course, the class in Civics, though'
         government OF GOD.               This pertains to all the teacher' must prepare the lesson from the view-
         government whether it be up from the father in            point of the truth of the total depravity of man, must
                                                                   not be a class in Dogmatics, and the doctrine of total
 >       the home, through the church and school to the
         masters and employers.                                    depravity must not displace the subject of Civics, not
                                      .I ._,                       even temporarily. The child must be taught Civics
          (2) This government touches us in various hun- from the *viewpoint of that doctrine, but he must not
         dreds of ways, and civics ought to help acquaint be taught Total Depravity as it reveals itself in the
         us with the scope of it.                                  realm of civil things. And we may add, of course,
          (3) We are absolutely called of God to obey this that the school teacher who does not believe this doc-
         government FOR HIS SAKE.                                 trine of total depravity is not qualified to teach in a
          (a) If the government leaves its proper domain Christian school. In a Christian  school we believe what
         and interferes with the things which belong to Ghyist  taught and must teach in accordance with His
         the church, we shall not obey her. See Dan. 3 :16- teachings. And Christ said that except a man be
         18, and Acts 4 : 19, and 5 :29.                           born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. How
                                                                  then shall he even do things righteous in the realm of
          (b) But in all other things pertaining to her            civic things? That he can do things which  ?nen con-
         domain we shall submit to her both in the punish- sider to be righteous and good, we will not deny. But
         ment of evil doers and the protection of them that        righteousness is only what God calls righteousness.
         do well. We are called to obey UNCONDITION- Righteousness is one of the characteristics of God's
         ALLY. See the Heidelberg Catechism question kingdom. Are we not told by Christ to seek the king-
         and answer 104.                                           dom of God and its righteousness. Implied is, of course,
 2. Finally, however, we deal with the practical reality           that no other righteousness, whether it be of the
       that civil government, as all other things in this          Scribes and Pharisees which we must exceed (Matt.
       life, stands in the sign of sin and corruption.             5  :20), or what the modern generation calls righteous-
                                                                   ness, has ANY value before God. And without regen-
       a. The office of government is of God, indeed, but          eration Christ declares that we `cannot even see that
          Scripture shows us in the past history that the righteousness of God's kingdom. For if we cannot see
         office is often filled by persons who themselves the kingdom, we cannot see the righteousness thereof.
         refuse to acknowledge God's law. The same holds How then shall the natural man DO the righteousness
         true today.                                               which God calls righteousness.
       b. This however may never induce us to disobey or              In the second place we wish to make the remark
         attempt to overthrow the present existing form that NOW if at any time the Covenant Child should
         of government.      Even when those who them- receive a specific training in this subject of Civics.
         selves do not acknowledge God's.la*w  are our law- We live in the midst not only of all kinds of philo-
         makers, we must obey them, This is a fact that sophies and dangerous teachings regarding authority,


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         333

the power, the right of the State, but we live also in alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matt.
a time when these views can be widely propagated 28 : N-20.
through press, radio and the like. Besides the world           2. But Christ calls through the channel of the
is so very small now. The nations live on top of each church. When Christ commissioned His disciples He
other, so to speak. And the result of all this is that actually commissioned His church. The apostles were
in our land, as well as all over the world there is a representatives of the church of the new dispensation.
growing spread of revolution. Men do as they please.        Through them the keys of the kingdom of heaven were
They defy their government, and others even uphold          entrusted to His church.       And through them His
them in their sin and maintain that we should have church was instructed to preach the gospel to all na-
the freedom and right to defy our government. The           tions. Thus Christ assures His church that He will be
covenant child today cannot be taught too often or too with her even until the end of time.
emphatically the principles of God's Word which re-
veal to us our proper attitude toward HIS authority            Even in the prophecy of Isaiah Zion is called the
as it is exercised through  the'state.                      bearer of good tidings, that is, the preacher of the
                                          J. A. Heys.       gospel. Isaiah  40:9,  "0 Zion, that bringest good tid-
                                                            ings, get thee up into the high mountain; 0 Jerusalem,
                                                            that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with
                                                            strength ; lift it up, be not afraid  ; say unto the cities
                                                            of Judah, Behold, your God  !"
                                                               In this connection we must consider that significant
                                                            passage in I John 2:20,  "But ye have the unction from
           FROM HOLY WRIT                                   the Holy One, and ye know all things." The Holy One
                                                            referred to in this text is Christ, the Chosen of God,
                                                            Who is appointed from all eternity to be consecrated
      The Office In The Church                              to God as the chief Servant in God's house. He is the
                                                            Anointed of God (Christ means anointed) in Whom
The Speciul  Office and the Office of Believers.            all the fulness of blessedness dwells and Who unites
   In our previous article we noticed that the office of all things in heaven and on earth to the glory of the
ministers, elders and deacons is an institution of God.     Father. When He came into the flesh He received of
Furthermore,. that those who are called to this office God the Holy Spirit qualifying Him unto the work He
                                                            was called to do. This Spirit descended on Him in the
are undershepherds of the chief Shepherd Jesus Christ.
Christ is the great office bearer. They are His serv- form of a dove, signifying that He was ordained and
                                                            fully qualified by God to carry out that work. He was
ants and ambassadors vested with authority to speak able to witness of the Father as the great Prophet sent
and to act in His name. This was true in a very unique of God. He was capable of bringing the perfect sacri-
sense of the apostles in the early church after Pente-
cost, but this is no less true of the office bearers in the fice for sin as the most excellent High Priest Who
                                                            laid His own life upon the altar. And He could fight
church today.                                               the battle against all the forces of sin and darkness
    We now do well to note, first of all, that God calls    and overcome them. Therefore He was exalted at the
to the office through Christ. Secondly, that  Chritit       right hand of God in heavenly glory. And there Christ
calls through the channel of the Church. And finally,       again received the Holy Spirit in a measure that quali-
that anyone who is called to the office must necessarily    fies Him to carry out His work as our exalted Lord in
be called through the medium of the church.                 heaven. From heaven He reveals to us the Father
    1. Scripture always stresses that God alone calls through His Word and Spirit. Before the face of the
to the office in the church. And since Christ is the        Father He intercedes for us as our Advocate. More-
exalted Lord, to Whom is given all power (authority)        over,, He rules over all things unto the coming of- the
.in heaven and on earth, God calls through Christ. Day of the Lord and His return with the clouds of the
Jesus instructs His disciples in Matthew 9:38, "Pray heavens.  I'
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send        "Ye have the unction from the Holy One. The
`forth laborers into His harvest." And before His as- "unction" refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit which
cension to heaven He commissions them, saying, "All Christ bestows upon His church whereby they become
power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go           partakers of His anointing in the office of believers.
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in      Therefore they are called Christians, according to
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and ,of the Lord's Day 12 of our Heidelberg Catechism. Unction
Holy Ghost : teaching them ,to observe all things what- is a figurative expression reminding us of the manner
soever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you          in which certain persons were designated to the  ofr"icc


 334                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 -1--_                      --.._                 -.                                                   l___"._l
of prophet, priest, or king in the old dispensation.        the individual believer, but also in the church as insti-
These persons were anointed with a special ointm.en,        tute.  The believers come together for the communion
of sweet fragrance as a sign that they were ordained        of saints, for the ministry of the Word and the sacra-
of God and filled with a special gift of the holy Spirit    ments, for prayer and worship, for instruction and
Who qualfied them to the office to which they were edification. Thus they form a congregation, an essem-
called. We recall that Saul was anointed by Samuel bly of believers with their seed, a local manifestation
and that shortly after this the Spirit came upon him,       of the body of Christ. Christ has instituted the special
manifesting His presence in the fact that Saul began office'among them. Thus through the office of minis-
to prophesy. Thus even wicked Saul, much to Israel's ter, elders and deacons Christ dwells with them and
shame and his own destruction, was appointed of God blesses them. Christ ministers His Word and sacra-
to be king over Israel and even qualified for a time        ments through His church by means of the office.
to carry out this work. But God also  ordain,ed such        Christ exercises His keypower  among them through
men as Elijah the lone prophet in Israel, Aaron the         the church and by means of the office. And Christ
first highpriest, and David the man according to God's also manifests His-mercy through His church and the
heart. God revealed His will and counsel through the office. In one word, the exalted Lord always works
prophets.    He qualified the priests to serve in His       through the medium of the church and thus through
house. He gave authority and wisdom to the kings to the office bearers who He calls.
sit upon the throne of Israel's theocracy.
    The unction from the Holy One in the new dispensa-         3. Therefore anyone who is called to the office must
tion is far richer than the office ever could be in the     necessarily be called through the medium of the church.
dispensation  o$ shadows. In the first place not just a        We must bear in mind, of course, the distinction
privileged few, but all the true believers receive that between the office of believers and the special office of
anointing. The Spirit Who dwells  in.the church of the ministers, elders and deacons. Although all true be-
new dispensation is the Spirit of the exalted Christ,       lievers have the anointing of the Holy One, God separ-
Who shares all His blessings of salvation with her.         ates some out of the midst of His church to fulfill the
God blesses Christ with all spiritual blessings in the      special office. This is evident, for example, from I Cor.
heavens. Ephesians  1:3. And Christ in turn bestows `12 :28, 29, "Now ye are the body of Christ, and mem-
those blessings upon His church. He is her Head and bers in particular. And God hath set some in the
the church is His body, so that His life quickens her,      church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
His power governs her, His blessings belong to her as       teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing,
much as to Himself. _ Thus He shares His anointing,         helps, governments, diversities of tongues." In pass-
His office with His church. In the second place, every ing it may be well to mention that some of these gifts
believer is endowed not with but a single office as in are no more evident in the church today such as, pro-
the old dispensation, but with all three offices. All       phecy, healing and diversities of tongues. These gifts
believers are prophets, but they are also priests, and were peculiar to the church immediately after Pente-
they are at the same time kings. Together they fill the cost to make known to the believers the presence of the
office of believers as a prophetic, royal priesthood, in Holy Spirit among them. After the presence of the
which each member holds his own unique grace of God Spirit had become established these peculiar gifts dis-
in Christ Jesus. And finally, the church of the new appeared with the office of the apostles. But we still
dispensation has a much fuller and richer revelation have the abiding gifts of teaching and government.
than the church of the old dispensation was ever privi- Although they are the property of the whole church,
leged to possess. In that sense the least in the king- yet they are exercised by those who are called to the
dom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. The office. On the other hand, we should bear in mind that
.apostle  John assures us, "ye know all things." We no the office of ministers, elders and deacons can never be
more live in the time of types and shadows, but in the separated from the office of believers, or from the
dispensation of the fulfillment. Christ is exalted to church.
the right hand of God in the highest heavens and re-           Christ calls out of the midst of His Church. See
veals the Father to us from heaven through His Word Eph. 3  :7, 8, "Whereof (God's promise in Christ by the
and Spirit. We possess the full revelation of Jesus gospel, verse 6) I was made a minister, according to
Christ concerning those things that eye hath not seen,      the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the
ear hath not heard, and never entered into the heart of effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less
man. Although we still behold all things only in the than the least of all the saints, is this grace given, that
mirror of ,God's Word, we do know in principle all that     I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
we ever shall know, even when we shall see face to face     riches of Christ." Notice this, "According to the gift
and  know   as  we  are  known.                             of the grace of God given unto me," and .also, "who am
   This unction from the Holy One manifests itself in the least (yet one) of all the saints."


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     335

    Christ calls through the church. This is evident         in Canada. We hear that a Reformed Church (U.S.A,)
 from Acts  13:2, 3, "As they (the five prophets and has been organized in Hamilton, by people drawn from
 teachers who w.ere  in the church at Antioch) minis- the Christian Reformed Church and new immigrants
 tered unto the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,       there. This is an unpleasant surprise to us who under-
 Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where- stood that the Reformed Church (U.S.A.) had decided
 unto I have called them. And when they had fasted not to go into the Canadian field in which our church
 and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent had so heavily and successfully interested itself. Also
 them away,"                                                 because in the `past more than one conservative of the
    Therefore no one is called unless he is talled sub- Reformed communion expressed to us the desirability
 jectively by the Spirit of Christ in His heart and ob- of an eventual union of the Western wing of the Re-
 jectively by the Spirit through the medium of the formed Church with the Christian Reformed, and
 church. The subjective calling must be sealed by an decidedly against the  practise  of establishing competi-
 objective calling through the church. Was that pos- tive churches where a church of either denomination
 sibly what Paul was waiting for at Antioch? We need was established. The new Canadian field offered a
 but refer further to John 10:X, 7, 8, "Verily, Gerily, I most beautiful opportunity to help realize this ideal.
 say unto you he that  entereth.not  by the door into the    The rearing of competitive churches, supposedly of the
 sheepfold but climbeth up some other way, the same is same faith, does not seem to be calculated to bring
 a thief and a robber. . . . Then said Jesus unto them about that desired result. Naturally, things are differ-
 again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of ent if it is honestly believed and can be clearly proved,
 the sheep. All that ever came before Me are thieves         that people of the Reformed persuasion will not be safe .
 and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them." Or           i.1 the bosom of the Christian Reformed Church in
 again as in Rom. 10:14, 15, "How then shall they call       Canada.
- on Him Whom they  have.not believed? And how shall            "We can see more point to the work of Protestant
 they believe in Him Whom they have not heard? And Reformed missionaries who reportedly also try to win
 how shall they hear without a preacher. And how shall adherents to their church. They have at least taken
 they preach, except  they be sent?"                         the official position that the Christian Reformed Church
                                                             is off the beam in the matter of Common Grace. And
     Summing up, we conclude that Christ calls by His ahhough that has not prevented several of their indi-
 Spirit through His church, so that Christ ,fulfills  His    vidual members to rejoin our churches, and one con-
 office in the church by His Spirit through the church gregation, originally of the same position, to return
 by means of the office bearers. Those who minister          in a body, the official position still is against our de-
 the Word and the sacraments, govern the church and          nomination. Perhaps these brethren are mostly inter-  "
 cfFicially bestow mercy can do so only in Christ's name ested in those of the (Holland) Reformed Churches
 and on His authority as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. . (Art. 31) insofar as these do not see fit to join the
                                             C.  Nanko.      Christian Reformed Church. We know that efforts
                                                             are being made, both here and in Holland, to keep
                                                             these immigrants from casting their lot with us. Some.
                                                             cf these are not at all anxious to keep away from us
                                                             because of their church confhcts  in Holland, and we
                             .-_---____..                    admire their good sense, but others remain aloof. Of
                    P E R I S C O P E   - course, I think it is a pity that while in Holland serious
                                                             efforts are now put forth toward healing the breach,
                                                             there are those who would rather widen it and start
             Report From Canada                              another church, if need be with those from whom they
                                                             differ more than from us. They should know that
                                                             although they may find a sympathetic atmosphere in
    In the March issue of  fhe Calvin Forum,  the the Protestant Reformed Church along church-political
 Rev. P. De Koekkoek, Christian Reformed minister lines, they certainly will not find it in matters of doc-
 of Alberta, Canada, reports on Reformed church life trine, particularly not in that for them so delicate sub-
 in Canada. He speaks of the progress his Church is ject of the Covenant of Grace. If that can be gIossed
 making and of the problems which are faced and              over, a good deal more can, and that, perhaps, with          i
 solved. . The concluding paragraphs are of especial very peaceful results."
 interest to us.                                                On more than one occasion attention has been
    L` . . . . just recently word reached us from Hamil- called to what the Rev.' De Koekkoek calls "serious ef-
 ton and Chatham,  Ontario, pointing to conditions which forts toward healing the breach" in the Netherlands.
 disturb our hopes for a united Reformed church life         A great deal has been made of this, in an attempt to


  :jS(j                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
  -~ ._...- "--." ..-........... "."l___---.--------ll_..."                                __l.".-                             --
  also use it as an argument for "unity" and "peace" in `of freedom-loving men all over the world". The pur-
  Canada and this country. Personally, we are inclined pose of the Protestant-Catholic conference was stated
  to question both the "seriousness" and "heaiing" quali- to be "that clear understanding be reached as to what
  ties of these efforts. From reports as they come from each means by religious liberty for all men. . . . and
  the Netherlands, the movement could, perhaps, better as to the methods whereby the full observance thereof
  be likened to an attempt to- salve the wounds and                  should be sought".
  bandage them up even though they may continue to                      The question of such a conference was not decided
  fester underneath the covering. The process would                  but the proposal was referred to the executive com-
  have to be another strange compromise which could be mittee of the F.C.C. for further study. Although no
  satisfactory to none and give only a semblance of unity,           decision was reached the affair nevertheless is signifi-
  as always, with the sacrificing of principle.                      cant. More and more it indicates the way in which the
           The attempt to heal breaches among Churches is false prophet may arise !
  not new; it is an oft repeated subject. The strange
  thing about so many of these trials is the common char-
  acteristic of deliberately passing by the history of the                      l
  break. The pattern is usually the same: the break Christian Giving . . . . .
  is deplorable (too bad, should .never have occurred)                  Faithful and proper Christian offering is an indi-
  and the call is made to re-unite as brethren in Christ cative gauge of the spiritual life of an individual and
  who, as of the same faith, belong together. But the                Church. It's too bad that money for various Kingdom
  sins of discipline and deposition of faithful officebearers        causes must often be "taxed", "wheedled" or "begged"
  is ignored. These facts are usually relegated to ob- out of us by many and various means and schemes.
  livion and conveniently forgotten, or escaped by sub-              It is also a serious sign. True, the cash is raised some-
  terfuge, as though they mean nothing. And if union how, but the blessedness that should accrue to the .
  is accomplished in this manner, nothing is really  heal-           cheerful giver is often lost in the process. We were
  4 ; it's a patch-work affair.                                      reminded of some of these things in connection with
           A final remark is applicable to both this above and an  editorial  in the March issue of  The Presbyterian
  the article upon which we commented last time. These Guardinn,  under the heading "Tithing". In the early
  brethren, and many more in the Christian Reformed part of the article it is pointed out that the present
  Church, are greatly concerned lately about "unity"                 average American annual income is $1500  per year
  and "peace" in Canada. But how strange that they The writer then figures that in his own denomination
1 have never sought to "heal the breach" of 1924 in their the funds available amounted to less than half a tithe.
  own Church. How is it possible that they can be so                 It might be interesting and revealing to compute the
  concerned while at the same time they make no effort figures for our own denomination. But the pertinent
  towards those who, according to their judgment, have points are drawn in the last two paragraps which
  walked in the "error of the denial of common grace",               folIow.
  while at the same time they give them the official testi-              "We ought not to base our giving, however, just
  mony of being fundamentally Reformed?                              on cold figures like this. We are to give to the work
                                                                     of the Lord, who loved us and gave Himself for us. We
                                                                     are to give that others may know Him, and the power
                                                                     of His resurrection, yes, and the fellowship of His suf-
  Federal Council Meeting . . . .                                    fering. Giving is an expression of our duty. It is also
                                                                     an expression of our love.           "~.
           Not long ago a meeting of the leaders of the Federal
  Council of Churches of Christ in America, was held in                  "The financial needs of the church `are not effective-
  Cleveland, Ohio. This liberal and modern organization ly met on the basis of special `campaigns'; We get sick
  supposedly represents  35,000,OOO  American Protest- and tired of `campaigns'.                      It is a sign of spiritual
  ants. The four-day session concerned itself with the inertia that we are dependent on the emotional uplift
  decision of Christian influence in international affairs. of a campaign to get needed,-things done. The finan-
                                                                     cial needs of the church are most effectively met when
           Among the propositions before the meeting was a there is regular, proportional and orderly giving, when
  proposal for a conference on religious liberty among the people are faithful  in laying aside, at regular inter-
  Protestant leaders and representatives of the Roman                vals, according as the Lord has prospered them, a sum
  Catholic Church. The plan was conceived because for His work. This- is the true course of faithfu1
  "recent actions of the Hungarian government leading stewardship."
  to the conviction of Cardinal Mindzenty (Catholic) and
  Bishop Ordass (Lutheran) have shocked the conscience                                                           W. Hofman.


