                                                FEBRUARY 1,  1964  - GRAND  RAPIDS,  MICH&N                              NURSER  9

                                                                          That is the effectual call.       '
           M E D I T A T I O N                                            Let him that is athirst  come!
                                                                          God never calls promiscuously. He does not wish every-
           TAME  THE WATER OF LIFE                                      one to .come. He never called Pharaoh, Judas, Bileam, etc.
                                                                          God calls His sheep only, and they come.
     "And let him  that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him
     take of the  water  of life freely." Rev.  22~17                     That truth you will find on a thousand pages of the Holy
                                                                        Bible; that is, if you have eyes to see the truth.
  Let him that is athirst  come!                                          It is unworthy of God when we should present it other-
  That does not mean everyone!                                          wise than that only the sheep are called to fhe fold. Jesus
                                                                        told us very plainly: I give My life for My sheep. And:
  Man, by nature, will not come, and cannot will to come                My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me!
to procure salvation. Man does not want the bread and
water of life. He cannot desire it, and he does not thirst                Unworthy of God! As though He is ever thwarted in His
and hunger for it.                                                      counsel! The very thought is blasphemy? Imagine if you
                                                                        can, God standing with abundant grace in His holy hands
  And my evil and perverse nature of sin and iniquity will                                                                                  ..:
                                                                        and millions that refuse-to be "graced".                            ---
never manifest itself clearer than when brought into con-
tact with the water and the bread of life, and that is Jesus.             No, throughout the Word of God He calls His own by
Then my nature rears itself in wicked pride and godless                 n a m e .
hatred against God, and then I crucify Jesus afresh. Such                 I hear the call to the weary, the hungry, the thirsty, the
is my nature, and such is the nature of all men, without                heavy laden, the willing ones, those that believe, those that
one exception.                                                          follow, etc.
  When God preaches to men: I command you to listen to                  He discerns the state of the heart and calls that state by
Me, and to convert yourself, and to walk on the way of                  name. He knows all our hearts and the secrets within. He
truth and righteousness to My glory! Then man says: Never!              knows the hearts of His sheep for He gave them that heart
                                                                        which is forever longing for Him and His communion.
  Whosoever will let him come! and man says: I will not
come and take the water of life!                                          And it is also God who takes care of it that every one of
                                                                        those calls is heeded. He says to those eternally blessed
  And the outcome is that his debt is greater before God                human beings: Seek My Face! And every one of them
when you preach the Gospel to him, his heart becomes                    answers: Thy Face, Lord, I will seek!
harder, for the Gospel is also a savour of death unto death,
his condemnation becomes more terrible, for he has neg-                   And only then may you begin to emphasize those words
lected so great salvation, and God is  justied  when He                 that speak of universality: everyone, yes, but only everyone
judges.                                                                 that  thirtieth.  All, oh yesj all, but all who believe. Yes, it
                                                                        is for whosoever, but whosoever that is willing.
  Whosoever is willing let him come!
                                                                          Is it not plaiu  that 811 those words are carefully restricted
  And the result will be, if nothing more is said, that no              by a condition?
one will come to God, and heaven will be empty of men.
                            ct  It  *  0                                  Here is the water that must be drunk unto life eternal.


194                                              T H E   STAN.DA&Q   -BEARER

  But it is for the thirsty only.                               be the determining factor in this drinking of the water of
                                                                life.
   Here is Christ Jesus the Lord Who is the Fountain of
living waters.                                                     Yes, it seems as if God will have to wait patiently for
                                                                man to make up his mind and will to come -arid  to -take.
  But He is for those that are willing followers only:          The Lord will have to wait in bestowing His grace until
                          0     0     0     *                   mere man decides he  will receive it.
  What is thirst, even the thirst of my beautiful text?            Does the text say that it is for those that are willing?
  It is a need of something.                                       Yes, but we must  find out what the will of man wills,
  But the character of the figure used implies that an ex-      and secondly, how the Lord acts with regard to that will.
keme longing is meant. Thirst is really the greatest longing       The will of man is set on the earth, men, and sin. And
of physical man If no water is forthcoming, the lips grow       his will is definitely set against God and His law: Read
dry and ever drier, the mouth is parched, the throat is         Rom. 8:7.
burned, the roof of de mouth will crack, and when pro-
longed, all the juices of the body are dried up, including         And God does wonders with that will of man. If God
the blood, and death, a.horrible  death follows.                wants a certain man to listen to Him, and to take the water
  That is thirst.                                               of life freely, He regenerates that man and makes him
                                                                tractable. And then he becomes willing to listen;., Note
  There pants the hart for living streams of water.             Philipp. 2 where we read that it is God that works in us
  Very expressive figure in the Word of God,                    the to will and the to do according to His goodpleasure.
  Apply this picture if you will.                                  Wonderful operation of God!
                                                                                          0  0  0 a
  The child of God is regenerated.                                 And when that is done by God, He bids us "come" and
  And that means that the love of God is spread abroad          "take"!
in his heart through the Holy `Ghost that is given unto            Oh yes, God did not choose little machines. The Chris-
him. Rom. 5.                                                    I&LS that are called unto life eternal are moral and rational
  And that life of the love of God is Gods own covenant         creatures. God works it in us, but then He begins to play
life which He lives in blessed harmony in the Triune God-       upon the strings of our heart and will and mind.
head,,                                                             He bids us come. He calls us to take.
  Christian is a child of God.                                     And that is your part, my brother. That is your privilege,
  When, however, through some cause or other that life          my sister.
ceases to flow smoothly from God, through Christ and His           That is your Christian life on earth.
Spirit into the soul and heart and mind of the child of
God, then he grows thirsty, hungry, weary, heavy laden.           You must come and you must take.
  And then he sings psalm 42: 0 God I thirst for Thee,            And blessed be God, they come and they take. Such is
for Thee my heart is yearning! When shall I come Thy            the history of the church from de time that Adam and Eve
gracious Face to see?                                           appeared before the face of God out of the concealment
                                                                of sin.
There is no more poignant longing anywhere than in the
heart of the child of God.                                        And God supplies the spiritual power to come and to
                                                                take. It is all of God, through God, and to God. He has
  And when God tarries, he dries up in agony and cries          all the glory.
with David: My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty                                0  II  0  0
land where no water is! Attend to the ndive  child of God.         Come and drink, take the water of life!
Nayve in the innocence of the childhood that is born of the
Spirit. See: Psalm 44.                                            What is.it?
 t I thirst for Thee!                                             And. again we hear figurative language. Water is a pic-
                          0  #  0  #                            ture, imagery for something else, something spiritual, some-
                                                                thing beautiful beyond compare.

  .The willing ones are invited to take the water of life         We shall have to determine the meaning thereof.
freely.                                                           The time and the space is lacking to quote all the texts
  On the surface of it, it still sounds as though man shall     that speak of water and water of life, but I bid you read:


                                             THE'S~~ANtiAR'D   'CEARER                                                                                                                                                                    is

John 7:37, 39; Isaiah 44:3; Zechariah 12: 10 and Matthew                                                                                                                                                                            -
5:6.                                                                                           TH'i  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   -
                                                                              Semi-monthly,   except   monthly  during   June,  July  and  August
     Taking the Word of God in its entirety, in the places                     Published by `he REFORMED  FREE &BLISIiING  ASSOCIATION
quoted and other places, we may sum up and say that                                                         E&or-Rm.   HERMAN   HOEKSE~V~
water, and water of life means the righteousness of God in                    Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,.
Jesus Christ the Lord such as it is imparted to us by His                     Mich.  Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
Holy Ghost, that is, the Holy Ghost as it was poured into                                                         neatly written- or typewritten.
the church on Pentecost.                                                      All church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
                                                                                                1123 Cooper, S.E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
     And still I would like to ask: what is it? What does it                   Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee included
                                                                              must be mailed 8 days prior-to issue date, to the addressbelow:
mean that the righteousness of God is given unto me?                           All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
                                                                                            Mr. James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
     My brother, it is the most wonderful thing in the whole                                                   Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
universe.                                                                        RENEWAL:  Unless a definite request for  discontinuantie  is
                                                                              received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
     It is this: if you have the righteousness of God in Christ,                tion to continue without de formality of a renewal order.
                                                                                                            Subscription price: $5.00 per year
you do not have to worry about the terrible question: How                           Second  Cluss postage paid at  Grand Rapids, Michigan
shall I be able to stand before the searching eyes of God in
the judgment day. Righteousness that will clothe us like
a garment is that Jesus is your Saviour and Redeemer. That                                                                      C O N T E N T S
                                                                        --
He  tYiped  away all your sins and that He gave you the                 MEDrrA~oN  -
positive side of His death in that it will seem as though                        Take the Water of Life _,......___..___..........................................  193
vou have done all that God asked of vou. Riehteousness                                       Rev. G. Vos
,                                            ,
means good conduct in thought and word and act. When                    EDITORULS-
you stand before the judgment seat it will seem as though                        Principles of Primitive Baptists... _.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
                                                                                 "Whereof - Lesquels" . . . . . . . . . ..__._. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . ..197
you in your own person have fulillled  the whole law of God.                                  Rev. H. Hoeksema
     Justied before God. That is your state if you have                 OUR  DOCTRINE-
drunk of the water of life.                                                      The Doctrine of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
                                                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema
     Then God smiles on you for ever and ever.                          A CLOUD OF WITNESSES-
                                                                                 Jephthah Made Judge . .._...................  I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ;`._... 201
     Justified!                                                                              Rev. B. Woudenberg
     It means that my whole life is such that when the only             FROM HOLY WRIT-
norm of goodness is laid alongside of me and my life, that                       Exposition of the Prophecy of Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
I answer to that norm in wondrous perfection.                                                Rev. G. Lubbers
                                                                        THE  LORD  GAVE  THE Worm . . .
     That water is The Lord our Righteousness.                                   Mission Work in Jamaica (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._._.__ 205
     Shall we then not come and drink? Oh yes, and we re-                                    Rev. C. Hanko
ceive it free, gratis, freely. That is the test of sweet humility       CONTENDING FOR  THE  Fm-
that is taught you by Jesus!                                                     The Church and the Sacraments... .,....................,.... ::.._. , . . . . 207
                                                                                             Rev. H. Veldman
     Oh, let us come then and drink! It spells eternal life!            THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS  -
                                                               G. V.             The Belgic Confession.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..209
                                                                                             Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                        THE  &UIi~  AT WORSHIP--
                                                                                 The Order of Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                    Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
     The South Holland-Oak Lawn Ladies' Auxiliary wishes to extend      ALLAROUNDUS-
                                                                                 A Correction ._. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
their sincere sympathy to two of their members, Mrs. H. Zandstra                 1963 Church Membership Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
and Mrs. A. Buiter, in the sudden death of their daughter and son                A Chrisimas Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .._.. 213
                                                                                 Church and State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._......  213
     MARY BETH ZANDSTRA and ALBERT WAYNE BUITER                                  Drama in Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
                                                                                             Rev. H. Hanko
     May our heavenly Father comfort them in their deep sorrow          cONTFlD3UTIONS -
and pain; having the assurance that He work&  all things for the                 A  Calvinist  and an Anninian Discuss  ________.____...__._................  215
well-being of His people.                                                                    Pastor Frank B. Beck
                                    Mrs. J. Heys, President             NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES . . . . . . . . .._.................................... . . ..216
                                    Mrs. D. Poortinga, Secretary                             Mr. J. M. Faber


1 9 6                                         `GHE-  :  $TAN;?.AR-D.   ,B%.-A-RE.&   -.
                                                                   -
                                                                   at least, nevertheless, does not agree with the strong em-
                E C) I T 0 R I A L S                               phasis on the doctrine of election. The article reads as
                                                                   follows  :
                                                                        "We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are
              Principles of Primitive Baptists                     ordinances of the church of Jesus Christ, and that washing
                                                                   of the saints' feet is an example to be kept, and that tie
    Recently I received a few copies of the Banner-Herald,         believers, born of the Holy Spirit, are the only fit subjects of
  a paper that is published by Primitive Baptists. It is evi-      these ordinances. And that the only water baptism taught
  dent that they believe quite strongly in the doctrine of         and recognized in the Bible is immersion or dipping."
  eternal and unconditional election. In the very first article         On this article I must needs make a few remarks. We
  of the copy I read this is already emphasized. I will quote      may disregard now, for the time being, the question why
  only a few lines to make this plain:                             the Primitive Baptists speak of ordinances instead of sac-
    "We believe that eternal salvation proceeds from God's         raments, why they, instead of saying that these sacraments
  decree of election and is brought to pass by that which          are instituted in the church by Christ, simply speak of
  He has predestinated. Before the creation of the world,          "ordinances, of the church of Jesus Christ," and why they
  God (who has perfect foreknowledge) saw the result of            claim the footwashing to stand on a par with the other
  Adam's sin, the sinful condition of all mankind, Psalm           "ordinances." It would be nice if they would themselves
  14:2, 3. Before the creation of the world God. chose to          answer these questions.
  Himself some out of Adam's race to be saved, Eph.  1:4.               But I wish to refer especially to the statement that
  Those whom He chose for salvation, He predestinated to           "true believers, born of the Holy Spirit, are the only fit
  this end (Rom.  8:28-30).  Before the foundation of the          subjects of these ordinances."
  world, He entered their names in the Lamb's book of Life              By this they deny, of course, although they do not say
  (Rev.  17:s). We further believe that ONLY those whom            so in so many words, the doctrine of infant baptism.
  God chose will be saved (Rev.  20:15); and that ALL of           Moreover, I am afraid that they create a sickly condition
  those whom God chose will be saved (John  6:37). See             in the church, such as exists also in many of the free Re-
  also II Thess. 2:13; II Tim. 1:9.                                formed Churches. For many in those churches, I know,
    "There are many today who state they believe in election;      do not dare to come to the Lord's Supper because, even
  but view election as only a possibility of salvation for all     though they made confession of faith, they feel that they
  . . . But the Bible plainly declares that Gods election is       are not true believers and are not born of the Holy Spirit.
  particular, eternal, and unconditional."                              I do not lmow,  of course, whether or not such a condition
    There is more in this article, but let this be sufficient.     exists in the Primitive Baptist Churches. But certain it is
    Of course, all this is thoroughly infra-lapsarian. Repro-      that they withhold both the sacraments, Baptism and the
  bation is not even mentioned. Nevertheless, that the Primi-      Lords Supper, from their members until they are sure
                                                                   that they are born again believers.
  tive Baptists hold fast the doctrine of election is very
  evident.                                                              Now, as far as infant baptism is concerned, I said before
                                                                   in this article that their denial of this truth does not agree
    What the author of the above quoted article really does        with their strong emphasis on the doctrine of election. Why
  is that he explains the declaration of principles which is       may not infants be baptized? They would answer: because
  found on page 2 of the same publication. They are the            we do not know that they are elect, or we do not know
  following:                                                       that they are believers, born again by the Holy Spirit. But
    `We believe in the only true and living God, and that          how will they ever know this? The only possible answer is:
  there are three persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and         by their own testimony. But may not this testimony be
  Holy Ghost, and that these three agree in one, are co-equal,     false? Of course, it often is, as is evident from the fact that
  co-eternal and co-existent.                                      many fall away after they first confessed that they were
    `We believe in the total depravity of the entire human         elect and born again by the Holy Spirit.
  family,  and that man is unable to recover himself from his           Hence, instead of trying to base the truth of baptism on
  lost and ruined estate.                                          the subjective testimony of men, we must base it on the
    `We believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, the only        Word of God as it is expressed in our beautiful Baptism
  Saviour and Redeemer, and that salvation is by His grace         Form, in the following words:
  and that alone.                                                       "And. although our young children do not understand
    "We believe in particular, eternal and unconditional           these things, we may not therefore exclude them from bap-
  election, the effectual calling of the elect, and the final      tism, for as they are without their knowledge, partakers of
  preservation of the saints."                                     the condemnation in Adam, so are they again received unto
    So `far so good. But now comes an article which, though        grace in Christ; as God speaketh unto Abraham, the father
  one may expect it in a Baptist Confession of Faith, in part,     of all the faithful, and therefore unto us and o,ur children


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER                                                   197

(Gen.  1757)) saying; `I will establish my covenant between         its verynature-visible. Besides, the article concludes this
me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations,         particular sentence by saying: "by means whereof God
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and thy         worketh in us by the power of the Holy Ghost." Can this
seed after thee.' This also the Apostle Peter tesiifieth with       possibly mean that God works by the invisible and inward
these words (Acts 2:39), `For the promise is unto you and           thing the power of the Holy Ghost in our hearts? Evidently,
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many        this would make no sense whatsoever.
as the Lord our God shall call.' m                                     3. The meaning, therefore, is that by the means of the
  I also wrote a pamphlet on the Baptism of Infants, which          visible signs and. seals God works the invisible reality in
I will be glad to send to any of the members of the Primi-          our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost.
tive Baptist Churches,  md which I would like to see them              4. The question is, however, how can Faber draw the
discuss in the "Banner-Herald."                                     conclusion. from what I wrote in this connection, that I
  In my opinion the denial of infant baptism is a very seri-        "ascribe, in this particular instance, less importance to the
ous error, and is a cause of the destruction of the church.         sacraments than the Confession intends"?
                                                          H.H.
                                                                       In answer to this question, I refer to the last paragraph
                "Whereof - Lesquels"                                of my article on the sacraments on page 153. There I
  From Roger J. Faber, Professor at Calvin, I received a            summarize briefly what the Heidelberg Catechism and the
letter which, although it does not indicate whether or not          Belgic Confession teach concerning the sacraments, and I
it is meant for publication in the Standard Bearer, I pub-          find the following elements:
lish here because it implies a criticism of one of my articles.        "1. Sacraments are instituted to strengthen the faith of
The letter here follows:                                            the believer, and therefore they presuppose faith.
                                                                       "2. They are visible signs and seals of an inward and
  "Dear Reverend Hoeksema:                                          invisible thing; and God hath joined them to the Word,
  "This is to call your attention to a small, though significant    that is, to the preaching of the gospel, `the better to present
error which appeared in your recent article on the sacra-           to our senses both that which he signifies to us by his
ments in the Standard Bearer,  Jan. 1, 1964, page 153. In           Word, and that which he works inwardly in our hearts,
quoting from Article 33 of the Belgic Confession, the phrase        thereby assuring and confirming in us the salvation which
by means whereof God worketh in us by the power of the              he imparts to us.'
Holy Ghost,' you apparently take the word `whereof as                  "`3. They are ordained and instituted by God. . .
referring to the inward and invisible thing which the sacra-           `4. That which the sacraments signify and seal unto us
ment represent. However, it is evident from the original            is the promise of the gospel, namely, that he grants us freely
French that `whereof (lesquels) refers to the signs and             the remission of sin and life eternal, etc. . . ."
seals themselves. Thus it seems that you were misled by
the ambiguity of the English translation to ascribe, in this           So far it can hardly be said that I ascribe less importance
particular instance, less importance to the sacraments than         to the sacraments than the Confession intends. But I think
the Confession intends. (God works, according to the Con-           that Faber has in mind especially the last part of this
fession, not merely by that which the sacraments signify            paragraph where I write: "The new element which is evii
and seal; He works by means of the sacraments themselves,"          dently expressed in the article of the Nether-land Confession,
  Reply:                                                            in distinction from the Heidelberg Catechism, is that the
  1. Thanks for your remarks and,criticism,  Prof. Faber,           sacraments not only signify and seal the objective promise
  2. I was not misled by an ambiguous translation. In               of God, but also `an invisible thing, by means of which
fact, the translation, to my mind, is quite correct and I           God worketh in us by the power of the Holy Ghost'."
cannot see any ambiguity in it. The French reads: `inoven-             As I said before, the words `by means whereof" ought
nunt  ZesqueW (plural), i.e., `by means of which." Our              to be connected, not-with "an inward and invisible thing,"
English translation has it: "by means whereof." The Dutch           but with "visible signs and seals."
version reads more clearly: "door het middel derwelke";                And as far as the rest of the sentence is concerned, it
derweAe  in the plural. It is true that our English might           seems to me that the preposition "of" is left out by mistake,
leave the impression that the phrase "by means whereof"             so that the sentence ought to read as follows: "The sacra-
refers to "an inward and invisible thing" rather than to            ments not only signify and are seals of the objective prom-
"`visible signs and seals." In this respect the French `les-        ises of God, but also of `an invisible thing"' etc.
quels" and also the Dutch "derwelke" is more clear than                But I still cannot see how I attach less importance to the,
our English version. However, it is self-evident that the           sacraments than the Confession intends. That God works
phrase `by means whereof" refers to "visible signs and              by means of the sacraments, always in connection with the
seals" and not to "an inward and invisible thing." How              Word, we all believe, and I would be the last to deny this,
                                                                             .
could the invisible "thing" be a sign and seal? A sign is in        . . .         ~                                          -H.H.


 198                                       TH'E'ST'ANDARD   `BEARER

 If                                                           rl      is. also: a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby as by
          0  4.l  IR- D  `0  % T R I  N E  11 an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted
                                                                     into the church; the promises of forgiveness of sin and of
                                                                      our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are
                                                                     visibly signed and sealed; faith is confirmed, and grace in-
            THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                             . creased by virtue of prayer unto God."
                           CHAPTER VII                                  The same confession, in Article 28, speaks especially of
                                                                     the Lord's Supper as follows: "The supper of the Lord is
               THE IDEA OF THE SACRAMENT'S                           not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have
       However, we must understand, and it is also emphasized        among themselves one to another; but rather it is a sacra-
 in this article, that this is true only for the believer, not       ment of our redemption by Christ's death: in so much that
 for the unbeliever: "And thus all who bring a pure faith,           to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same,
 like a vessel, to the sacred table of Christ, receive truly         the bread which we break is a  .partaking  of the body of
 that of which it is a sign; for the body and blood of Jesus         Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of
 Christ give food and drink to the soul no less than bread           the blood of Christ."
 and wine nourish the body."                                           According to this confession also faith is presupposed in
       Also the Scotch Confession of Faith, which was composed       the administration and the use of sacraments. Without
 in 1560, Article 21, emphasizes that the sacraments are in-         faith no one can really or essentially receive the sacrament
 stituted for the confirmation and strengthening of the faith        properly. Thus, in- Article 29 of the same confession it is
 of believers, to seal unto them the assurance of the promise        said: "The wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith,
 of God and the most blessed communion which the elect               although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth
 have with the Head, Christ Jesus. They are not mere or              (as Augustine said) the sacrament of the body and blood
 bare signs, but they are so efficacious that by baptism we          of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but
 are ingrafted in Jesus Christ, to be made partakers of His          rather, to their condemnation do eat and drink the sign or
 righteousness and of the forgiveness of sins; and by the            sacrament of so great a thing."
 Lord's Supper Christ is so joined with us that He becomes             The Irish Articles of Religion, 1615, Paragraphs 85-100,
 our very nourishment and food for  otur souls. All this,            speak of the sacraments in the following words: "The sac-
 however, is effected through the sacraments by the power            raments ordained by Christ be not only badges or tokens
 of the Holy Spirit, "Who by a true faith carries us above           of Christian men's profession, but rather sure witnesses
 all things that are visible, carnal, and earthly, and makes         and effectual or powerful signs of grace and God's good
 us to feed upon the body and blood of Christ Jesus, which           will toward us, by which He doth work invisibly in us, and
 once was broken and shed for us, which now is in heaven,            not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith
 and appears in the presence of His Father for us." However,         in Him." In this confession also the truth is emphasized
 the article teaches that the sacraments are effectual not           that the sacraments are not only unto salvation for the
 only at the moment when they are administered, or when              believer, but also unto judgment and condemnation for
 the believers partake of them, but that "they shall bring           the unbeliever. They must not be carried about, but should
 forth fruit afterwards, as a lively seed sown in good ground.       be properly used and "in such only as worthily receive the
 For the Holy Spirit, who never can be separated from the            same they have a wholesome effect and operation; but-they
 right institution of the Lord Jesus, will not frustrate the         that receive them unworthily, thereby draw judgment upon
 faithful of the fruit of that mystical action." And once more,      themselves." According to the same confession, baptism is
 it is emphasized in the article that "all this comes of true        "`the sacrament of our admission into the church, sealing
faith, which apprehends Christ Jesus, who only makes the             unto us our new birth (and consequently our justification,
 sacrament effectual unto us."                                       adoption, and sanctification) by the communion which we
       Also the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England,       have with Christ Jesus." And as to the Lord's Supper, it is
adopted in 1563, speaks of the sacraments in general as              `not only a sign of the mutual love which Christians ought
follows, Article 25: `Sacraments ordained of Christ be not           to bear one towards another, but much more a sacrament
only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but             of our preservation in the church, sealing unto us our spir-
rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of        itual nourishment and continual growth in Christ." The
grace, and God's good will toward us, by the which He doth           same confession describes the Lord's Supper as follows: "In
work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also            the outward part of the holy communion, the body and
strengthen and confirm our faith in Him."                            blood of Christ is in a most lively manner represented;
       In Article 27 of the same confession it speaks of the         being no otherwise present with the visible elements than
sacrament of-baptism as follows: "Baptism is not only a sign         things signified and sealed are present with the signs and
,of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian            seals - that is to say, symbolically and relatively. But in
men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it         the inward and spiritual part the same body and blood is


                                          T.HE   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                      199

really and substantially presented unto all those who have        a.relation-to  Him crucified, as that truly, yet sacramentally
grace to receive the Son of God, even to all those that           only, they are sometimes called by the names of the things
believe in His name. And unto such as in this manner do           which they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ;
worthily  .and with faith repair unto de Lord's table, the        albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly,
body and blood of Christ is not only signified and offered,       and only, bread and wine, as they were before." Also in
but also truly exhibited and communicated." Here, too,            this confession it is emphasized that the sacraments are
the sacrament is presented as including the sign and the          efficacious only to the believer, and that the wicked can
thing signified. Again, that faith is required and presup-        receive them only to their condemnation. In the sacrament
posed in the partaking of de Lord's Supper is evident from        of the Lord's Supper faith receives and feeds. upon Christ
the following words: "The body of Christ is given, taken,         crucified and all the benefits of His death. But, on the other
and eaten in the Lord's Supper only after a heavenly and          hand, "although ignorant and wicked men receive the out-
spiritual manner; and the means whereby the body of Christ        ward elements in this sacrament, yet they receive not the
is thus received and eaten is faith." And the same confes-        thing  signified thereby; but by their unworthy coming
sion emphasizes that those that are wicked and have not           thereunto are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord,
the faith, although they carnally and visibly eat and drink       to their own damnation. Wherefore all ignorant and un-
the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, "yet in no         godly persons, as they are m&t to enjoy communion with
wise are they made partakers of Christ; but rather to their       Him, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table, and cannot,
condemnation do eat and drink the sign or sacrament of            without great sin against Christ, while they remain such,
so great a thing."                                                partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto."
  Finally, we quote from the Westminster Confession of              In the light of all that we have said thus far, the follow-
Faith, 1647: `Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the          ing definition may be offered of the sacraments: Sacraments
covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to repre-       are holy, visible signs and seals, instituted by God, through
sent Christ and His benefits, and to con&m our interest in        Christ, administered by the church, received by the be-
Him: as also to put a visible  diiference  between those that     lievers and their seed, whereby God in Christ obsignates
belong unto the church and the rest of the world; and             visibly the invisible grace of His covenant and seals it unto
solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ,          the believers, and whereby He gives unto His church en-
according to His Word." Also the Westminster Confession           signs and banners of His covenant, to separate them and
of Faith includes the sign and the thing  signiiied in the        distinguish them from the world.
sacrament as such: "There is in every sacrament a spiritual         Let us study this definition a little more closely.
relation or sacramental union, between the sign and the             First of all, then, sacraments are signs. Signs in general
thing signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and       serve the purpose to represent something visibly that is in
the effects of the one are attributed to the other." But the      itself invisible. There are many signs, even outside of the
whole of the sacrament is not effectual in itself, nor does       sacramental signs, in the life of men in general. It is evident
its efhcacy  depend on the intention of him that administers      that they need to express the spiritual and invisible by a
the sacrament, but "upon the work of the Spirit, and upon         visible and material token. Thus, for instance, secret police
the Word of institution, which contains, together with the        wear a badge of their invisible authority and power. Mem-
precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benest          bers of secret societies and unions wear a button to denote
to worthy receivers." As to the sacrament of baptism, it          their membership and their unity with the fraternity to
is not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized        which they belong. A ship raises the flag as a sign of its
into the visible church, "but also to be unto him a sign          nationality. The same is true of signs in the Word of God.
and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into         In a way, we may say that the Word itself is really a sign:
Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his         for language serves the purpose to express in visible and
giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in new-         audible form that which eye hath not seen, and ear hath
ness of life." Of.the sacrament of the Lords. Supper it states    not heard, and which hath never been conceived in the
that it should be observed in the church unto the end of          heart of man. Also in creation there are many visible signs
the world, "for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice        of the invisible and heavenly things. In fact, in a very
of Himself in His death, the sealing all benefits thereof         general sense all things are signs and symbols of things
unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth       heavenly. For when the Creator of the universe called
in Him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which      into existence the present world, He had respect unto the
they owe unto Him; and to be a bond and pledge of their           world to come. Mere earthly things did not constitute the
communion with Him, and with each other, as members of            ultimate realization of God's eternal good pleasure. He pro-
His mystical body." And as to. the relation between the           vided some better thing for His people, the glory of the
sign and the thing signified in the Lord's Supper, it states      heavenly kingdom. And when He made things earthly, He
the following: "The outward. elements in this sacrament,          had the heavenly things in mind, and made the former the
duly set apart to the uses. ordained by Christ, have such         image of the latter. Thus it happens that all things are


2 0 0 '                                   T.HE  STAND.ARD.  B E A R E R

signs, and that the things of the kingdom of God; according       that they are instituted signs. They are instituted in the
to the Word of Christ, take place in parables. The sun and        church, to be administered by the church, and to serve as
the moon and the stars, shining and sparkling in the firma-       distinguishing marks for the church. Nevertheless, also the
ment, the rainbow that spans the heavens, the beasts of the       sacraments are first of all signs. There. is in the sacrament,
field and the flying birds, the cedars of Lebanon and the         first of all, the visible token, - water, bread and wine. And
noble vine, as well as the thorn and the thistle, the lamb        these visible tokens represent the invisible. grace of God's
and the serpent, the mystery of the numbers. and the mani-        covenant, the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, justi-
fold beauty of the colors, the earthly square and the heav-       fication, sanctification, the entrance into God's covenant, the
enly cube and the eternal circle, the sparkling diamond and       incorporation into the body of Christ, and nourishing grace,
the softly shining pearl, the sand that is by the seashore,       which is received out of Christ. And therefore, they also
the restless ocean, and the mighty mountains, the bare            serve as ensigns and banners, separating and distinguish-
desert and the fertile field, the seed that falls in the earth    ing the people of God in separation from the world, and
and dies to live again, the fierce tempest and the gentle         designating them as of the party of the living God.
zephyr, the roaring thunder and the flashing lightning, the         Secondly, the sacraments are also seals. This is plain
light of day and the darkness of the night, - all things are      from Romans 4:ll: "And he received the sign of circumci-
signs, and they speak a language of their own, pointing           sion, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had
upward and groaning in hope.                                      yet being uncircumcised: that he  might.be  the father of all
  But this is not all. There are also signs which the Lord        them that  believe, though they be not circumcised; that
God Himself has separated out of that creation and which          righteousness might be imputed to them also." A seal is a
He especially designated as signs, drawing the attention of       sign of the authority of its author, in this case, of God. It
His people. The tree of life in the first paradise was indeed     is a sign that cannot be violated or broken. It is a solemn
more than a sign in as far as Adam through the means of           pledge or oath. The signiilcance  of the seal is indicated in
that tree could receive the perpetuation of his earthly life.     Hebrews  6:16-U:  "For men verily swear by the greater:
-But it nevertheless was also a sign. As the tree stood in the    and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
midst of the iirst paradise, it was a token between God and       Wherefore God, willing more abundantly to show unto the
Adam of the life of the friendship of God, an image of            heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, con-
the eternal life in the new paradise that was to come. And        firmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in
the same is true of the tree of the knowledge of good and         which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a
evil. It also was a sign unto Adam, and also between God          strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
and Adam, of the antithesis, a sign that either in the way        upon the hope set before us."
of obedience or of disobedience he could attain to a certain        The question is often asked: what is sealed by the sacra-
knowledge of good and evil. For in the way of- obedience          ments? Does God assure by this seal everyone that receives
Adam would be established in that positive knowledge ac-          the outward sign of his salvation? In other words, is the
cording to which he hated evil and loved the good; while          sacrament a seal of God upon every person that receives
in the way of disobedience, he would- plunge himself into         the sacrament in the outward sense of the word? This
the darkness in which he hated the good and loved the evil.       questioa is asked especially in connection with the sacra-
  There are, of `course, many other signs in Scripture, cen-      ment of baptism. It is sometimes alleged that the sacrament
trally all connected with the covenant and its realization.       of baptism seals the internal grace of God to everyone that
Thus, the rainbow was a sign obsignating the invisible            is baptized. This, however, is impossible. There are many
faithfulness and grace of Gods eternal covenant as it is          that partake of the sacrament, or that receive the sacra-
universal and embraces all creation. Thus also the sand           ment of baptism, without believing or without having the
that is by the seashore and the innumerable multitude of          faith. Not all that receive the sacraments are saved. Others,
stars in the firmament are signs of the nmurnerable  seed         therefore, try to make the distinction between the objective
of Abraham. The flood is called a sign of baptism, as well        bequest, or the objective promise of God, and the subjective
as the passage through the Red Sea. And so there are many         reception of it. According to them, the case  ,would  be thus,
signs. All the miracles performed by the Saviour during           that God through the seal and sign of the sacrament on His
His earthly ministry, - the healing of the sick, the restora-     part assures unto everyone that receives the sacrament that
tion of sight  to' the blind, of hearing to the deaf, the         He will grant salvation out of free grace, on condition,
strengthening of the lame and halt, the changing of the           however, of faith and obedience. This means about the
water into wine, the cleansing of the lepers, and the raising     same thing as the well-meaning offer of salvation to all
of the dead, - were signs manifesting the power and author-       that hear the gospel. Just as the promise of salvation in the
ity of Christ to redeem and to renew all things in the eternal    well-meaning offer of the'gospel  is meant for all that hear
kingdom of heaven.                                                it, so objectively God promises grace and righteousness and
  Distinct from all these, however, are the signs of the          salvation and eternal life to all that outwardly receive the
sacraments. They are distinct especially in this respect,         sacrament.                                               H.H.


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                201

                                                                swer to. Jephthah was as much as an acknowledgment of
11 -A -CLC9UD~OF  WITNESSES 11 their sin in depriving him of his rightful place in his city.
                                                                They answered, "Therefore we turn again to thee now that
                                                                thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of
                 Jephthah Made Judge                            Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
        Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gileud, and         Jephthah could hardly believe that they. would make
     the people made him head and  ca.ptuin  over them:         such a complete acknowledgment of his right; -and again
     and Jephthuh uttered all his words before the LORD         he asked, "If ye bring me home again to fight against the
     at h/l izpeh.                             Judges 11: 11    children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me,
                                                                shall I -be your  .head?"
  Once again the state of Israel had fallen very low. This        But the elders of Gilead were adamant and were ready
time they were  afFlicted  by the Ammonites. It was the         to answer with an oath. "The LORD be witness between
result of their sin. They had cried unto God with a cry         us," they said, "if we do not so according to thy words."
of repentance; but He had  not; heard them.  .While  with         Thus it was that Jephthah returned to his home and was
their lips they confessed their iniquity, they continued to.    received into his rightful position. But before him lay an
live in it just the same. They served other gods and walked     immense task, the deliverance of Israel from Ammon. It
in the way of wickedness. This was evident from the             was even more difficult because as yet he had received no
shameful way. in which the men of Gilead treated Jephthah.      clear commission or instruction from the Lord.
Jephthah was a Godfearing man and the rightful heir of            Jephthah, however, was not a man who relished conflict.
his father as head over the city. But they of the city did      He was a man who preferred peace, and he would go far
not want him with his righteous ways ruling over them.          to obtain it. Although his expulsion from Gilead had been
With an air of piety they resurrected the fact that Jeph-       terribly unjust, just for his own personal advantage he had
thah's mother had been an immoral woman and put him             not resisted. While dwelling an exile in Tob, he had lived
out of the city. An exile, he fled to the land of Tob.          patiently and without bitterness. Thus, when he was finally-
  But the hand of the Lord continued to be stretched out        restored to his rightful position, his first effort was to obtain
over the people still; and when they discovered that He         a peaceful settlement with the Ammo&es  rather than going
would not be satisfied with mere external repentance, they      to battle. This was especially true because Ammon, like
began to search deeper in their souls. They examined the        Moab, was the descendant nation of Lot against whom
duplicity of their ways and began to make amends for            Moses had been advised not to fight. He sent a message to
them. They began to look for a man who could instruct           the king of Ammon exploring the possibility of a peaceful
them and lead them in the way of righteousness, and to          withdrawal of his forces from Israel. Of the king of Moab
their ears came reports of Jephthah. He alone of the chil-      he asked the question, "What hast thou to do with me, that~
dren of Israel was having success in challenging the oppres-    thou art come against me to fight in my land?"
sion of Ammon. From his stronghold in Tob, with his small         The answer which came back was not encouraging, al-
group of exiles behind him, he was making forays against        though it was as subtle as it was false. The king of Ammon
the oppressor and was being blessed of God. This, the very      said, `Because Israel took away my land, when they came
man whom once they had rejected, was the one they needed        up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto
to help them in their trouble. From them went forth a           Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably."
messenger to Jephthah saying, "Come, and be our captain,        This was clever, because it had the appearance of a certain
that we may fight with the children of Ammon."                  amount of truth. The land between Arnon and Jabbok
  Jephthah was skeptical. The men of Israel as he had           which was captured by Israel had once belonged to  Am-
known them were not to be trusted in a request like this.       mon, while God had forbidden Israel to fight against the
They might well have heard of his small success against         children of Esau and Lot, which included Ammon. Thus
the Ammonites and so desire his aid in delivering them          the king of Ammon hoped to beat Jephthah at his own
from oppression. But if it was only so that they might re-      game and to capitalize upon his peaceful intentions.
turn unhindered to the ways of sin, what purpose would it         But quickly Jephthah returned to him an answer setting
serve? And yet he dared not turn them down flat. These          the matter straight. (One thing should be understood in
were the children of Israel, the people of God whom he          reading this answer. Jephthah groups the children of Lot
loved, asking for his aid. Could he refuse them if their        including Moab and Ammon together and refers "to them
request was sincere? He returned to them a searching in-        usually as just Moab.) Thus he answered, "Thus saith
quiry, setting them squarely before their sin. "Did not ye      Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the
hate me," he asked, "and expel me out of my father's house?     land of the children of Ammon. But when Israel came up
and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?"       from Egypt, and walked through de wilderness unto the
  But this time the people of Israel were sincere; as were      Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; then Israel sent messengers
the elders of Gilead who brought the message. Their an-         unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass
                                                                    ,


202                                        T H E   STANDARD   *B%ARI?'~~

through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken           who dwelt in that land. They had sent a messenger- to
thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of             Sihon king of the Amorites requesting permission to pass
Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in                peaceably through his land. Not only had he refused them
Kadesh. Then they went along through the wilderness, and           permission, but he had marshalled his army against the
compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and              children of Israel and came out to fight with them. As a
came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on          matter of self-defense, Israel was forced to fight back, with
the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border            the result that they had defeated the armies of de Amorites
of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel              completely and taken possession of their land. This had
sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king          been very evidently a victory given to the children of Israel
of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray         by Jehovah their God.
thee, through thy land into my place. But Sihon trusted not           The conclusion of the whole matter was, therefore, that
Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his       Israel had a perfect right to the land between de Arnon
people together, and pitched in Jahaz,  and fought against         and the Jabbok now claimed by the king of Amman.  Am-
Israel. And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and             mon claimed the land was theirs by bequest of their god
all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them:       Chemosh; but he had not been able as much as to keep
so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabi-      the land for them from the hand of the Amorites. It was
tants of that country. And they possessed all the coasts           only the God of Israel that had been able to destroy the
of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from             power of the Amorites, thereby proving Himself to be the
the wilderness even unto Jordan. So now the LORD God               true God over all nations; and He had given the land to
of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his           Israel.
people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Wilt not thou           The sin of the king of Ammon was that he refused to
possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to pos-             recognize the authority of Jehovah,  Israelis God. In this
sess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out               he repeated the sin of Balak king of Moab, three hmdred
from before us, them will we possess. And now art thou             years before him. Balak had been given ample evidence
any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab?       of-the supreme authority of Jehovah, especially by Balaam
did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against    the prophet, whom he had hired; but he had refused to
them, While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and             believe it. The result was that he had wrestled with Israel
in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along        to his own destruction. Now the king of Ammon was doing
by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore.        the same.
did ye not recover them within that time? Wherefore I                 It soon became evident to Jephthah that the king of
have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to           Ammon had no intentions of listening to reason. It was
war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge  th% day               then that for the first time Jephthah received his commis-
between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon."         sion to serve as judge over Israel directly from God. The
  In this reply Jephthah showed himself to be thoroughly           Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he passed throughout
familiar with the history of the children of Israel. He un-        the coasts of Israel, gathering an army to represent the
derstood it well and was quite capable of justifying Israel's      cause of Israel over against the oppression of Ammon.
possession of the disputed territory. There are several                                                                          B.W.
points which we should note in this reply.
  In the first place, it was not true, as the king of Ammon
intimated, that Israel had ignored the command of God
not to fight against the descendants of Lot. The fact of the
matter was that Israel had made a special point not to
trespass without permission. So careful had they been in                               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
this that it had required an extensive detour of many miles
.around  the borders of Edom and Moab, including Ammon.                The Young People's Society of South Holland, Illinois, wishes
  In the second place, when Israel came to the land be-            to express its most sincere sympathy to Barbara and Henry  Zandsba,
                                                                   in the sudden death of their sister,
tween the Arnon and the Jabbok, it had not been occupied
by the  Ammo&es,  as the king of Ammon now claimed,                                            MARY BETH
but by the Amorites. It'may have been in years prior to
that that the territory belonged to the Ammonites; but by          and their nephew
the time Israel came, the Amorites had then taken it from                               ALBERT WAYNE BUITER
them. They were .the inhabitants of that land when Israel
came.                                                                  `May the Lord sustain and strengthen them in this time of severe
  In the third place, when Israel had come to that territory,      loss.                              Rev. John A. Heys, President
it had not been their desire to fight even with the Amorites                                               Irene Bruinsma, Secretary


                                           T H E   STANDA.RD   BEAR.ER                                                        203

                                                                      But,$otice now! The sacred writer informs us something
I/&ROM   i-lo~y  WRIT  11 very divinely wonderful and sovereign about God's bring-
?I                                                            \[    ing forth of the Seed in Isaac. The Seed will not be brought
                                                                    forth by the' will of the flesh, nor by the desire of. blood;
        Exposition of  thle Prophecy of Malachi                     it will all be by the wonder of sovereign love and grace.
                                                                    God will beget himself children in His sovereign love. No
        The i'ovemign  Love of the LORD for Jacob-Isad              one can .even come to Christ except the Father which sent
                    Malachi 1: 1-5 - continued                      him draw him. John  6:44. That is the meaning of God's
      It is particularly the sovereign work of the LORD con-        bringing forth of.the Church, the  ,&ad of God, to whom
cerning Jacob and his brother Esau which exhibits the true          Malachi must bring this burden.
point of departure in this prophecy, the solid and unchange-
able basis of God's covenant dealings of the Lord with                Let us go back now some nineteen centuries before the
Israel! Thus we have indicated in our last essay.                   birth of Christ, to the days of Isaac and Rebecca, when they
                                                                    live yet with Abraham in Sarah's tent. Here Isaac brought
      All God's reprovings of His people are based upon this        Rebecca, and he loved her. Truly, Isaac looked forward in
covenant relationship in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Every-             hope to a multitude as the stars of the heavens in number,
where we hear the glad gospel story of the blessed God:             as the fulfillment of the promise of God Almighty. Nothing
herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved            is impossible, too hard for Him. Had this not been exem-
us and sent His, Son a propitiation for our sins. The start-        plified in Isaac's very conception and birth some forty years
ing-point is the love of God manifested on the Cross!               earlier? But what are the hard facts? Were they not that
      However, it is only when we see the matchless, sovereign      even as Abrahti and Sarah had been childless, so were
love of God; only when we see that it is not of him that            Isaac and Rebecca `for twenty years? Rebecca proved to be
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth           barren. Isaac cannot raise up seed by her! Then he turns
mercy, that we truly will give heed to the Word of the              to the LORD. And the LORD is entreated; Rebecca con-.
LORD in childlike faith. Only thus is the mouth of unbe-            ceives! But, wait! All does not  seem to  be well.
lief stopped, both in the days of Malachi and in every age,
ours included. When we then ask our impertinent and sinful            That all was not well Rebecca, the expectant mother, per-
and brutal questions concerning the manifestations of the           ceived. There were twins in her womb, twin brothers.
love of God, saying, as did Israel, Wherein hast thou loved         Rebecca perceives a violent struggle between these brothers
us?" (vs. 2) the LORD of hosts replies with his Who                 within her womb. And believing this to be a portent of
art thou, 0 man?" Am I not the Potter and ye the clay?              things to come, she cries to the Lord in the fear and anguish
Or to put it as does the LORD in Malachi 1:2, 3, `Was not           of her heart, saying, "If it be so, why am I thus?" It was
Esau Jacob's brother, said the LORD: `yet I loved Jacob;            then that the LORD, Who declareth the end from the be-
and Esau have I hated, and laid his mountains and his               ginning, said to her these memorable words:
heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness . . ."                  "TWO nations are in thy womb, and two manner of peo-
      We believe, that, although the standpoint of the prophet        ple shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one
here is that of Israel after the Babylonian captivity, never-         people shall be stronger than the other people; and the
theless, shall we understand the full implication and thrust        elder shall serve the younger."                  Gen.  2523
of this saying to stop the mouth of unbelieving and doubt-
ing Israel, we must see this word of the LORD concerning              We do well to think a bit into. the implications of this
Jacob and Esau as it was revealed to Rebecca "before the            word, so that we may see its importance as the basis and
children were born, or had done good or evil." Rom. 9:ll.           starting-point of the Lord's burden to Israel in- the days
                                                                    of Malachi  some  fourteen centuries later. We will need
      In Genesis 25:19-23  we read this tremendously far-reach-     to interpret Scripture in the light of Scripture. The LORD
ing word of the LORD to Isaac's wife, Rebecca. It ought             evidently does not forget any of His words spoken before,
to be noticed that this passage is introduced by the sacred         and He reminds us of His Words spoken at His cross-roads
writer; "These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's              iii history.
son . .  ." We are told in the context that Abraham gave
gifts to the sons which he had by Keturah  and to Ishmael,            What strikes us is that the import of these two sons'
and "sent them away from Isaac his son while he yet lived,          wrestling in Rebecca's womb. is designated as being a
eastward, toward the east country." Gen. 25:6. The writer           wrestling between "two nations" and not merely between
takes pains to show the generations of Isaac, of whom it            two  individzcals!  Yes, they are individuals too. Thus Paul
was said, "In Isaac shall thy Seed be called." Gen. 21:12.          understands the matter in Rom.  9:ll. However, both Jacob
And this Seed is to come forth from the loins of Isaac by           and Esau in their individual persons are representative of
means of Rebecca.                                                   two nations. Not all individual men become nations. Few


264  -                                    T j@ `_ S-T.-A.&D-A  .R.& I-B..EA R E R.- .-

did in fact. But Israel and Edom are two nation&  and they            `There  .is `a key to the understanding of the greatness of
both came from one womb as twin brothers. From a natural            Jacob-Israel. It is given us in the love of God for. Jacob. in
point of view they could not have been closer, Two distinct         the Messiah, the Christ of God, to come. We see this in the
nations; both would span many centuries in history!                 fact that Israel only is greater in power during the period
                                                                    in Israel's existence from David through King Jehoshaphat,
  Secondly, let us notice that they are  `Ywo manner of             a mere period of 110 years out of some 12 centuries. And
people" which are separated from Rebecca's bowels. The              we ask: why? The facts are clearly stated in the sacred
one will be the people of God, a holy nation, a royal priest-       record of Scripture. We read of the repeated attacks upon
hood, a peculiar treasure to the LORD, delivered from the           Israel by Edom and the surrounding nations in the time of
bondage of Egypt, because God would call His Son out of             the Judges. Edom is confederate with the nations, the
Egypt. Compare Ex. 6:5; Hos.  11:l; Num. 23:21,22;  Matt.           enemies of Israel; they said, "Let us take to ourselves the
2:15. And the other nation will be like the nations of the          houses of God in possession." And David prays, "So perse-
world, a people upon whom the LORD hath indignation                 cute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy
forever. The fonner is the object of God's love, because in         storm." Psalm 83~12,  15. What is the greatness of Israel?
them is the Christ in Whom is all God's good pleasure, and          It is that they are the theocracy of God. The LORD of
the other is without Christ, estranged from  the, life of God,      hosts battles for them. That is the key to Israel's greatness;
without hope in the world.                                          the everlasting arms of. the LORD are underneath them!
  And all through history there will be battle between the            Only a little while do we see this greatness in Israel.
nation from Esau (Edom) and the nation from Jacob-Israel.           David fought the. battles of de LORD, also against Edom,
And Jacob-Israel will be the stronger, for Israel shall do          and lay all the enemies prostrate. Wherefore we read in
valiantly. Esau shall serve Israel. Thus was the word of the        I Kings 11: 15, 16, "`For it came to pass, when David was
LORD to  Rebecca.before the children were born, or had              in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to
done good or evil,.                                                 bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;
  In the days of Malachi Israel had returned from the               for six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, UntiI
seventy years of captivity in Babylon, under Cyrus, king of         he had cut off every male in Edom." At this point did
Persia. Many centuries of the history, both of Jacob-Israel         Jacob rule over Edom typically during de time of David.
and Esau-Edom, are a matter of the sacred record. We have           But it lasted for only one century, that is, through the reigns
the record on the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures;            of David, Solomon, Rehoboam,  Asa, Abijah and Jehoshaphat.
it is the record of the fulfilment of the prophecy of the           During the reign of the last named king all the smaller king-
LORD to Rebecca.                                                    doms about Israel ceased to be tributary, including Edom.
                                                                    Wherefore we read the account that there came an end to
  That Jacob would be stronger than Esau and would rule             that condition of Edom in which she was' subordinate to
over him hardly seems to square with the recorded facts.            Israel. What we read in I Kings 22:47,  namely, "There was
This appears from the significant account of the "generations       there no king in Edom, a deputy was king," no longer was a
of Esau, who is Edom" in Genesis 36. Here we read of the            glorious fact for Israel. Thus ended the servitude of Edom
nation of Edom in the land of Seir, and of the children and         to Israel which was spoken of in the blessing of Isaac to
Kings and Dukes which proceeded from the three wives of             Esau, "And it shall come to pass when thou shalt have
Esau;   Adah,  Aholibamah and Bashemath. What strikes us            dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck".
is that Edom is a great nation and a mighty one, when               Gen.  27:4Ob.  And, incidentally, none delighted in the
Jacob-Israel is in bondage in Egypt, a veritable ghetto, be         razing of the city of Jerusalem as did Edom, who cried and
it then in the land of Goshen. All that Israel has is the record    shouted with delight, "Rase it, rase it, even to the founda-
of the genealogies in their tribes. Then, while Israel wanders      tions thereof'. `Psalm 137:7.
in the desert, Edom is established as a mighty warlike
nation in Seir. And when there is no king yet in Israel, and          From the foregoing, appears that the unlikeness of the
every one does what is good in- his own eyes during the             two nations must not be sought in a comparison of two
nearly four hundred years of the period of the Judges,              nations according to the standard of the flesh, but it must
Edom is a nation with Kings and Dukes. For we read in               be seen in the spiritual unlikeness which is initiated by the
I Chron. 1:43 "Now these are the kings that reigned in the          promise of the Seed to Isaac, which will come ford as a
land of Edom before any king reigned over the children              STAR from Jacob, to whom will be the gathering of the
of Israel." The Chronicler would have us notice this fact           people. Jacob will do valiantly in the latter time. Says
of the greatness of Edom during that time, compared with            Balaam in that well-known word of prophecy, "And Edom
the relative meanness and weakness of Israel, as far as             shall be a possession, Seir also' shall be a possession for his
display of worldly power is concerned. And, we believe,             enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly."
this had special meaning to which we will call attention
presently.                                                                                (to be continued)                  G. L.


                                               `
                                                    TH;E' s+~.&,jj-&.R-@..  B-.EARER                      X- _  _                        205

                                                                                    Blehnont, Bluefields, has seventy-seven children.      .
; THE L.0R.D: %;AVE: -J-M:E WOR.D,...                                               Hope.Hill,  White Horse, has eighty-seven children.
I/                                                                                Buff Bay, where Rev. H. Moore is pastor, gave  no
                                                     (Psalm 68:ll)                        total of children.
                                                                                    Johnston Town, Lucea, has seventeen children.
                                                                                    Bum Savanna, -Blackness, where Rev. G. Wiggan is
              Mission Work in Jamaica (5)                                                 pastor, has forty children.
      The question naturally arises, now that contact has been                 To the ministers of these churches and to some of the
established between our Protestant Reformed Churches and                     elders the  Stctiurd  Bearer is being sent. To  sach of the
the people in Jamaica, what can be done for them in the                      ministers .a copy of the Church Order and of the 1963 Acts
future?                                                                      of Synod has been given. Most of these churches receive the
      Obviously, this question has many implications, both as                Sunday School Guide and have also received our catechism
far as we are concerned. and as far as they are concerned.                   books. The younger children have the "Bible Stories," Book
Our churches are small. We already have a home missionary ~1, and the older children have the "Old Testament for
in the field, and,-we-  would- not -want any other mission                   Juniors" with the accompanying work books. From the
endeavor to interfere with his work. We also have a number                   reports received we can conclude that this material is also
of radio stations broadcasting the Reformed Witness Hour.                    being used. Even some of the older people are industriously
This witness we must continue as long as the rising                          applying themselves to the work books along with the
                                                                      Op-
position does not prevent us and as long as the rising cost                  children. Besides, many used Psalters have been sent to
does not make it prohibitive. Radio work is expensive, and                   the island, and many more can be used there. If any of our
we must stay within our limitations. On the other hand,                      churches have a supply of used Psalters on hand which are
-these churches are outside of our own country, separated                    still in fairly good condition, the people of Jamaica will
from us by a body of water. They are a different race and                    appreciate receiving them. It may be well to add that you
have a different religious background.  M.oreover,  they have                can send these Psalters in small packages by parcel post?
no trained ministry. Do not these barriers prevent us from                   as long as the total weight does not exceed eleven pounds.
working among them?                                                          The postage on the books is reasonable, and therefore the
      In answer to that, I would state that we can well carry.               contents should be speciiied  on the package.
on our present mission program at home and still come to                       During the recent visit of Mr. Meulenberg and Rev.
the aid of these people whom God has brought to our                          Hanko to our churches, telling them about the work in
attention. We can do the one and not neglect the other.                      Jamaica, an offering of about four hundred dollars was
I believe that we can continue to heed this Macedonian call                  received for these churches. We are sorry that we could
without a great outlay of money. Moreover, the fact that                     not visit all of our churches, but we still hope to contact
they are somewhat far removed from us should not and                         those we did not reach. The money that was collected was
need not prevent us from doing what we can for them                          designated for the construction and improvement of the
within our limited means. And the fact that they have not                    tabernacles of the various congregations. Therefore this gift
been inculcated with all kinds of error may well prove to                    will be equally divided between the two groups, so that
be an advantage instead of a disadvantage, as long as they                   Rev. Frame and Rev. Elliott may share this with their
are eager to be instructed by us.                                            various churches according to the need of each congregation.
      Let me point out briefly what has been done during the                 The mission committee is indeed grateful for this splendid
past half year and also what could be done in the future.                    offering, as also the Jamaican churches will be.
      Rev. J. E. Frame sent us a list of the churches that are                 Those who went to the island last summer were also
associated with him, including a list of the children between                mandated to inquire whether there were any young men
the ages of five and fifteen in each congregation. I will                    who would desire to study at our seminary if the way were
include them here for your information:                                      opened to them. Before we arrived the word had already
          First Hill, Lucea, has fifty children.                             reached them that this inquiry would be made. As a result,
          Whithom, Westmoreland, has fifty children.                         there were five men who requested admittance into our
          Fort Williams, Westmoreland, has thirty children.                  seminary.
          Friendship, Westmoreland, has thirty-five children.                  Rev. J. E. Frame was one of them. He is a man in his
          Mount Salem, Montego Bay, has not reported the                     early forties and has a wife and two children. His son is
            number of children.                                              nineteen years of age and works out. His daughter  is.
      Rev. Elliott also sent a list of the churches that are                 seventeen and is at home. In case he should be accepted as
associated with him, as follows:                                             a special student in our seminary, his wife and daughter
         Islington, St. Mary, has fifty-five children.                       would accompany him; and since they are both able to
          Red Berry, Manchester, has fifteen children.                       work, the expense would not be exorbitant.. Rev. Frame is


206                                      .THE.   STAlfD,+RD   B E A R E R
                     .   .
very eager to be instructed in our churches, and, therefore       the United States as far as the northern part of Texas and
he approached the people at the conference that was held          into Tennessee. But again the price is prohibitive, since this
by the churches last August, `suggesting to them that he
  .  -.:,. .  .,;                                                 would cost us $180.00 per Sunday.
would like to spend about a year in the States. Although            Nevertheless, there does seem to be a solution to our
it was evident that they were not eager to have him leave         present  difiiculty. I think I am not talking out of school
them for a whole year, and some even asked whether a              when I tell you that the radio committee of First Church
shorter absence could not. serve just as well, they did give      has received an offer from one of the members of the church
their consent as one man because they realized how much           to supply Jamaica with a transistor recorder. Both Rev.
this meant to Rev. Frame.                                         Frame and Rev. Elliott could make good use of such a
  Jonathan Elliott also urged us to present his name. He          transistor recorder in their vacant churches. Imagine what
is a young man and single, but realizes that his biggest          that will mean to them to hear our radio messages and our
drawback is his lack of education. He expresses a strong          sermons on a transistor recorder right in their own taber-
desire to learn for the ministry, and would even like to have     nacles! I would like to see their faces' when they receive this
a complete training, even though he realizes that this            recorder and are able to listen to it. I sincerely hope that
would involve years of preparation.                               in time there may be two transistor recorders operating on
  Egbert. Mullins has applied. He is thirty-seven years of        the island every Sunday. For a minimum of expense our
age-  and has a wife and three small children. He is so           tapes can be sent to the island and then returned to us again.
eager to come to the seminary that he expressed his willing-      The churches there will appreciate this service so much
ness to leave his family in Jamaica while he attends school       that I a.m sure they also will share the expenses involved.
here.                                                               Although I am somewhat reluctant to mention this, it is
  William Brown was strongly recommended by the group             nevertheless a fact that what the people in Jamaica sorely
at Friendship Hill. He is a young man of twenty-one years         need is the presence of one of our own men on the island
of age, whom we did not meet personally, but who has              for a year or more to help them to understand our doctrine
expressed his desire to prepare for. the ministry.                and to aid them in their various problems. With so many
  And Elder Philip Wright, a man of middle age, who has           vacant churches at home we cannot even begin to think of
served as elder in the church of Belmont for some time,           sending one of our present ministers to Jamaica. And yet
also made his application. He seems to be very sincere            there might be another solution to the problem. More than
and also quite capable, as well as being very eager to            once it has been suggested that a man with special gifts,
receive an education in our Seminary.                             who has served as elder in our churches, could be of great
  Whether any of these men can or will be accepted is a           help to these people in instructing them in the fundamentals
matter that most likely will come up at  ow next Synod.           of our doctrine and practices. It is conceivable that the Lord
If the expense is not too great, we could certainly exert a       might call a man and that he might be ordained by our
great influence upon the people of Jamaica by training one        churches for that special work. It is worth considering. If
of their men right in our own school. It should be under-         such a person would devote his  time and efforts toward
stood that this person would have to enter as a special           training the ministers and elders and Sunday School teachers,
student for special training, even though there.would  be no      they, in turn, could pass this instruction on to others.
reason why he could not sit in on the regular classes in the        And there is always the channel of clothing. During the
Seminary.                                                         past few years Rev. Frame's churches have received much .
  The channel of radio broadcasting has also been explored.       of the clothing that was sent. The churches of Rev.. Elliott
As was mentioned in a previous article, the Jamaica Broad-        have as yet received no clothing from us. They also are
casting Station at Kingston offered us a suitable time on         greatly in need of summer clothing, such as shoes, hats,
Sunday morning, but their price was too high for the              shirts, trousers, and dresses, both for children and for adults.
benefits that might be derived from the broadcast, since          If the children are properly clothed, they can attend school
their listening audience is limited mainly to the island. Just    at an early age to obtain the education that they need so
recently .the Mission Committee has requested time and            sorely to study their Sunday School papers and catechism
rates from the new Trans-world radio station that is to start     lessons.
operations on March 1 from Bounaire, an island of the West          Finally, the question is asked whether the churches in
Indies just south of Jamaica. This is the same Trans-world        Jamaica have any long range plans for future contact with
Radio that is airing our program in England every Sunday.         us. To this it may be answered that both Rev. Frame and
This new station will have a standard broadcast transmitter       Rev..Elliott  are now engaged in reorganizing their churches
of 525,000 watts on a frequency of 800 kc. We have been           on a proper Reformed basis. When this is accomplished,
offered time on Standard Wave from  6:30 to 7 a.m. on             they hope to obtain government recognition as ministers of
Sunday, with a rebroadcast on a 50,000 watt signal at 2 p.m.      the Word with the. right to perform marriages and issue
This broadcast would reach south into the whole northern          baptism  certiiicates. Moreover, at some future date Rev.
section of South America and north beyond Jamaica into
__.                                                                                   (Continued   on  page  215)


                                            T H E   S.TA:N;tiARti  `B E A R E R                                                  _  207

                                                                      ceived, which, in virtue of its union with His divine nature,
 ]I11        Contedi&g  For The Faith                                 is imbued with a supernatural; life-giving power. To this
                                                                      power` he refers the glorious  future  resurrection of the
                                                                      believer. The German, it appears, was not able to shake
               The Church and the Sacraments                          free completely, to separate himself entirely, from the
                                                                      Romish conception of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper,
               THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                            which conception insists on seeking the grace of God in the
                                                                      things, the bread and wine of the sacrament.
   VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS (LORD'S SUPPER)                               The split in the ranks of Protestantism, occasioned by de
                      THE LUTHERAN VIEW                               difference of views concerning the true nature and sig-
                                                                      nificance of the Lord's Supper, is undoubtedly a sad sequel
         In conclusion, as far as our presentation of the Lutheran    to the movement of the Reformation, the Church's  liberation
view of the Lord's Supper is concerned, we would make a               from the hierarchical bondage of Rome. At the time of the
z&al observation, namely that it is not clear exactly what the        Reformation, all protestants were generally agreed on all the
-Lutherans mean when they speak of the benefits which are             great and fundamental doctrines of the gospel. Luther re-
derived from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. On the               jected the doctrine of the mass, transubstantiation, and the
one hand, Luther commonly represents its special benefit              withdrawal of the cup from the laity, the strongholds of the
to be the forgiveness of sins, which is received only when            papal tyranny, as well as justification by works. The schism
faith is exercised. This effect, then, is not due to what is in       occurred because of the divergent views on the Lord's
the sacrament received by the mouth, but to the Word as               Supper. And even on this point a schism might have been
received by faith. In this respect, there is no difference            avoided had it not been for the stand taken by the German
between Lutheranism and Calvinism. And is this not exactly            reformer. The desire on the part of the reformers to avoid
what we would expect of the German reformer? Had he not               division and the spirit of concession which was manifested
experienced the living power of the Word of God, when the             by the reformers would have prevented a separation, but
truth of the Scriptures that the just shall live by faith ex-         Luther insisted on the adoption of the very words in which
ploded in his heart and soul by the irresistible power of             he stated his doctrine on the subject. The Reformed were
God's grace and Spirit? Had he not been burdened down                 willing to adopt a mode of stating the doctrine which both
by a load of sin and guilt which caused him tremendous                parties could receive without a violation of conscience. One
unrest and distress, caused him to pass up a very lucrative           attempt after another which was designed to effect a corn-.
career as a lawyer, to invite upon his head the wrath of his          promise failed; and the Lutheran and Reformed separated
father and the utter consternation of his family and friends          into two ecclesiastical denominations, and so they remain
when he decided, exclusively upon his own, to enter the               at the present time. In the Evangelical Church of Prussia,
convent at Erfurt, there to devote his life to God in a very          under pressure of the government, the two parties have
special sense of the word, in order that he might rid himself         been brought into one Church which comprehends the
of that burden of sin and guilt? And isn't it true that he            greater part of the people. But beyond the limits of Prussia
found and experienced peace of heart and mind and soul                the two Churches remain distinct, though no longer in a
when the Lord caused that word of Scripture, "The just                state of mutual alienation,
shall live by faith," to reecho in his heart and mind, and              What must we say of the split in the ranks of protestant-
that therefore he received the peace that transcends all              ism? The Lord willing, we expect to call attention to the
understanding only through the Divine and infallible Scrip-           attempts that were made to reconcile the Lutheran and the
tures? Wouldn't we therefore expect of this German re-                Reformed elements of protestantism, to show how the re-
former that he would maintain the benefit of the Lord's               formers desired and sought to prevent the split. But, in the
Supper to be exactly the forgiveness of his sins, and also            meantime, what must we say of  this split? Of course, all
that this benefit is received by the child of God only by             splits and schisms are to be deplored. Concerning this, there
faith and as received through the Divine Scriptures? Un-              cannot possibly be any doubt. Every schism is due to a
flinchingly he had appeared at the Diet of Worms,  in April           misinterpretation and distortion of the Word of God. It is
of 1521; there he had been confronted by great dignitaries            true, to be sure, that everything is very imperfect in the
of church and state; at that memorable gathering he had               Church of God in the midst of the world; and perfect uni-
demanded that he be tried exclusively upon the Scriptures             formity ,of thought cannot be expected here below. Besides,
&d proven wrong from them; and he had refused to permit               we ourselves see in a glass darkly. This does not mean that
anything or anyone, including the church of Rome, to stand            what we see may possibly be wrong, that views we hold
between that Word of God and his blessed consciousness                today may prove to be wrong some years from now; but it
of forgiveness and justification. On the other hand, however,         does surely mean that what we see, even though it be the
Luther appears to attribute to the Lord's Supper a peculiar           truth, we see,very  ,da&ly,  even as in a glass. Some years ago,
effect due to the real, natural body of Christ therein re-            before the split in our churches in 1953, the opinion was

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

expressed that the future could conceivably  .reveal our           what we shall know in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ!
churches to be in error with respect to truths which we            Of course, we could not possibly -have that wonderful
maintained as in harmony with the Word of God. Do we               knowledge now. What we know now is quite adequate as
not see in a glass darkly? Is not all our knowledge in this        far as our present earthly needs are concerned. Our present
present earthly house of our tabernacle very imperfect and         capacity for knowledge is very limited. What we know now
incomplete? Can our knowledge of the Word be expected              is all we can know as `seeing in a glass darkly." But this
to be perfect as long as we live upon this earth? And must         does not alter the fact that what we know now can hardly
it therefore not be conceded that what we now consider to          be compared with what that  knowledge  shall be. In  the-
be according to the Word of God may later be proved to be          day of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall see the mercy and
in disagreement with the Scriptures? And does this not lead        love and righteousness of our God upon the background of
us to another conclusion, namely that we .must always re-          all our sins and trespasses. In that day we shall behold the
spect the opinions of others, that they may be proven to be        faithfulness of our God upon the background of the struggle
right when we are proven wrong? What shall we answer               of all the ages, from its very inception. Indeed, how incorn:
to this?                                                           plete is our present  kriowledge  of the love and  ..mercy of
  In the first place, it must certainly be granted that we         our God! Besides, to this  .must also be added that the
now see in a glass darkly. It may certainly be conceded that       knowledge we now have of the blessed future is'described
our knowledge of the truths of the Word of God is very             to us in earthly terms. Then a salvation shall be given us
imperfect and incomplete. Concerning this there cannot             which no eye could possibly see, no ear could possibly hear.
possibly  be. any doubt. Let us take, as an example, de            Indeed, in that day we shall say with the queen of Sheba
matter of our  sins, and our consciousness of them? Who            that the half was never told us.
among us could even begin to render a full and complete              But, does this mean that what we now believe to be in
account of all his iniquities and transgressions? We cannot        harmony with the Scriptures may later be revealed to us
even give a complete account of the sins we commit in our          as having been contrary to the Word of God? On the one
consciousness. I refer to the things we know to be evil            hand, if this were true, how could we ever be sure that
while we are in the process of committing them. Have we            what we believe is the truth? How could we ever have any
ever considered, at the close of day, to make a complete           certainty? Things may really be erroneous which we now
inventory of the things we have done? Have we ever con-            consider to be according to the Scripture? This, however, is
sidered to write a complete record of all the thoughts of          not all. What must we believe concerning the promise of our
our mind, the words we have spoken, the deeds we have              Lord Jesus Christ, that He will be present in His Church
committed? What an impossible, hopeless task that would            even until the end of the world, and that His Spirit will
be! This, however, is not all! It is stated that only an eighth    lead us into all the truth? Did He not promise us: `And,
part of an iceberg appears above the surface of the water.         lo, I am with you even until the end of the world"? Did
May we use this as an example or symbol of our spiritual           the Holy Spirit, then, lead His church into error, into be-
life? There is also that part of our life which we call our        lieving to be true what is not true? This, however, cannot be.
subconscious. In God there is no subconscious. But the             0, we may see in a glass darkly, and our knowledge of the
same cannot be said of us. That subconsciousness we cannot         truth of the Word of  .God  may be very incomplete. That
reach. It lies completely beyond us. Imagine all the sins and      we concede without a moment's hesitation. But must we
trespasses that are committed in that part of our existence!       also admit that the things we now know to be according to
Of course, we are also responsible, held accountable for all       the Scriptures may later prove to have been errors? That is
this evil. Indeed, how true it is that we have a very imperfect    impossible. We may see in a glass darkly, but what we see
knowledge of all our sins and trespasses! The day is coming,       is nevertheless the truth of the Word of God. The guidance
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, when also all these sins         of the Holy Spirit is surely infallible. Concerning that, there
will be fully revealed to us. In that day we shall appear          is no doubt.
before the judgment seat of Christ; and this means that we           Indeed, all splits and schisms are to be deplored. How-
shall be completely uncovered, "turned inside out," before         ever, as far as the Reformers were concerned, Luther in-
that Judge of all the earth. And this will occur, we under-        sisted on his interpretation of Christ: "This is My Body,"
stand, in order that we may see and understand fully, even         as the only  true interpretation, and the other reformers
forever, the wondrous power of the blood of the, Lamb of           could never agree. The schism was, therefore, inevitable.
Calvary, and the grace of the God of our salvation.                And, from this point of view, it was good. The development
  However, our imperfect and incomplete knowledge which            of the truth may never be bound. We certainly believe that
characterizes us in this earthly house of our tabernacle, also     Luther's interpretation of Matt.  26:26 is untenable. And to
applies to what we know about all the truths of the Word           go along with him and be compelled to accept his interpre-
of God. How imperfect and incomplete is our knowledge              tation as the only correct view would have been and is
of the love and mercy and faithfulness of our God! How             impossible.
little we know .about all these things in comparison with                                                                   H. V.


                                                 ,TH.E-  $aiAMD.ARD:   B.E.ARER-                                                        209

                                                                              Let me cite, as an example of the notions about the devils
         The  Voice, of  `~OUF-Fath&s                                       which were held even by so eminent a man as Luther, a
                                                                            few paragraphs. from Philip Schaif's description of Luther
,                                                                           and the' `devil:
                   The Belgic Confession                                      "He had many a personal encounter with the Devil, whose
                                                                            existence was as certain to him as his own.  .More..than.once
                             ARTICLE  XII                                   he threw the inkstand at him-not literally, but spiritually.
                                                                            His severest blow at the archfiend was the translation of the
                              ( c o n t i n u e d )                         New Testament. His own doubts, carnal temptations, evil
                                                                            thoughts, as well as the dangers threatening him and his
The Creation  of  the Angels                                                work from his enemies, projected themselves into apparitions
     This article of our Confession also speaks of the creation             of,.the  prince of darkness. He heard  his noises at night, in a
of the angels. In fact, more than half of the article is de-                chest, in a bag of nuts, and on the staircase `as if a hundred
voted to this subject. And because it is some time ago that                 barrels were rolled from top to bottom.' Once he saw him in
we began- our discussion of Article XII, I will quote that                  the shape of a big black dog lying in his bed; he threw the
part of the article again, for the reader% convenience:                     creature out of the window; but it did not bark, and dis-
                                                                            appeared. Sometimes he resorted to jokes. The Devil, he
        "He also created the angels good, to be his messengers and          said, will bear anything better than to be despised and
        to serve his elect; some of whom are fallen from that excel-
        lency, in which God created them, into everlasting perdition;       laughed at.
        and the others have, by the grace of God, remained steadfast          "Luther was brought up in all the mediaeval superstitions
        and continued intheir  primitive state. The devils and evil         concerning demons, ghosts, witches, and sorcerers. His
        spirits are so depraved, that they are enemies of God and every     imagination clothed ideas in concrete, massive forms. The
        good thing, to the utmost of their power, as murderers, watch-
        ing to ruin the Church and every member thereof, and by their       Devil was to him the personal embodiment of all evil and
        wicked stratagems to destroy all; and are, therefore, by their      mischief in the world. Hence he figures very largely in his
        own wickedness, adjudged to eternal damnation, daily expect-        theology and religious experience. He is the direct antipode
        ing their horrible torments. Therefore we reject and abhor          of God, and the archfiend of Christ and of men. As God is
        the error of the Sadducees,  who deny the existence of spirits      pure love, so the Devil is pure selfishness, hatred, and envy.
        and angels: and also  that of the Manichees, who assert that the
        devils have their origin of themselves, and that they are wicked    He is endowed with high intellectual gifts, as bad men often
        of their own nature, without having been corrupted."                surpass good men in prudence and understanding. He was
                                                                            originally an archangel, but moved by pride and envy
     It will be noted that of this excerpt of Article XII con-              against the Son of God, whose incarnation and saving work
cerning the angels, the larger portion is devoted to the evil               he foresaw, he rose in rebellion against it. He commands an
angels, or devils.                                                          organized army of fallen angels and bad men in constant
     Now it undoubtedly strikes us of the twentieth century                 conflict with God and the good angels. He is the god of this
as being rather strange that in an article on the work of                   world, and knows how to rule it. He has power over nature,
creation so much attention is given to the creation and fall                and can make thunder and lightning, hail and earthquake,
of the angels, especially in the light of the fact that Scrip-              fleas and bed-bugs. He is the ape of God. He can imitate
ture itself speaks not at all of the angels in the creation-                Christ, and is most dangerous in the garb of an angel of
narrative of Genesis 1 and 2, and tells us very little about                light. He is most busy where the Word of God is preached.
these mysterious creatures of God in the rest of its pages.                 He is proud and haughty, although he can appear most
We would certainly be inclined to say,-and that too, with                   humble. He is a liar and a murderer from the beginning.
no small degree of justification-that there is an imbalance,                He understands a thousand arts. He hates men because
a lack of proportion, in this article of our Confession.                    they are creatures of God. He is everywhere around them,
Nevertheless, there is more to be said on this score.                       and tries to hurt and seduce them. He kindles strife and
     In the first place; we must again be reminded that our                 enmity. He is the author of all heresies, and persecutions.
Confession is the child of its age. That age was the time                   He invented popery, as a counterpart of the true kingdom
of the Reformation, when men, and also the church, was                      of God. He  inilicts  trials, sickness, and death upon indi-
emerging from the period of the Middle Ages. There were,                    viduals; He tempts them to break the Ten Commandments,
in those years, all kinds of false notions and superstitions                to doubt God's word, and to blaspheme. He leads into
about the world of spirits, including angels and devils. And                infidelity and despair. He hates matrimony, mirth, and
it was necessary that, over against the many superstitions                  music. He can not bear singing, least of all `spiritual songs.'
and heretical notions about angels and devils, the church                   He holds the human will captive, and rides it as his donkey.
expressed its faith sanely, and, in harmony with Scripture.                 He can quote Scripture, but only as much of it as suits his
This was necessary both for the believers and their in-                     purpose. A Christian should know that the Devil is nearer
struction and with a view to the opponents of the truth.                    him than his coat or shirt, yea, than his own skin. Luther


210                                               TH.E.  .STANDARD   ~BEARER

reports that  he,often  disputed with the Devil in the night,      cerned, the tendency is toward the rationalistic error of the
about the state of his soul, so earnestly that: he himself         Sadducees. They denied the existence of spirits and angels,
perspired profusely, and trembled. Once the Devil. told him        .as the-article mentions; and this means, of course, that they
that he was a great sinner. `I knew that long ago,' replied        also denied the existence of devils. Theoretically, to be sure>
Luther, "tell me something new. Christ has taken my sins           we would not agree with the Sadducees. Moreover, we can
upon  .himself, and forgiven them long ago. Now grind your         talk about and preach about the devil, who goeth about as
teeth.' At other -times he returned the charge and tauntingly      a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and about
asked him, `Holy Satan, pray for me,' or, `Physician, cure         the temptations of the devil, And, indeed, we would be
thyself.' The Devil assumes visible forms, and appears as a        rather free to talk about the devilishness of someone else's
dog or a hog or a goat, or as a flame or star, or as a man         speech and deeds. But how real are the devil's temptations,
with horns. He is noisy and boisterous. He is at the bottom        and how concretely real is the battle against the devil and
of all witchcraft and ghost-trickery. He steals little children    his host in our everyday lives? Perhaps, therefore, we can
and substitutes others in their place, who are mere lumps          be instructed by this article of our Confession when it
of flesh and torment the parents, but die young. Luther was        speaks of devils as `Watching to ruin the Church and every
disposed to trace many mediaeval miracles of the Roman             member thereof, and by their wicked stratagems to destroy
Catholic Church to the agency of Satan. He believed in             all." Perhaps it would be better, in a sense, if we would
daemones incubos et sucoubos.                                      learn to `throw a few inkstands" at the devil.
                                                                     In the third place, while it may be true that the existence
  "But, after all, the Devil has no real power over believers.     and activities of both angels and devils is rather mysterious,
He hates prayer, and flees from the cross and from the             yet it is surprising, when one stops to consider, just how
Word of God as from a flaming fire. If you cannot expel            much the Scriptures inform us about these creatures and
him by texts of Holy Scripture, the best way is to jeer and        their activities. How frequently and at how many crucial
flout him. A pious nun once scared him away by simply              junctures in the history of Gods people, both in the old
saying: `Ul&tiana  sum.' Christ has slain him, and will cast       and in the new dispensation, they have had a part. While
him out at last into the fire of hell. Hence, Luther sings in      there may be many things which we do not know and
his battle hymn,-                                                  which Scripture does not tell us about them,-things which
                  " `And let the Prince of ill                     are usually more a matter of curiosity than of necessity,-
                    Look grim as e'er he will,                     nevertheless, there is much that the Scriptures tell us. And
                    He harms us not a whit:                        always both angels and devils appear in Scripture as playing
                    For why? His doom is writ,                     a very real part in the history of salvation and in the life
                    One little word shall slay him.' "             of both the church as a whole and the individual child of
(Cf. P.  Schaff,  "History of the Christian Church," VII,          God. Nor, certainly, is there any reason to believe that the
pp. 334, ff. )                                                     part of either angels or devils is signiilcantly  less real and
                                                                   important today than it was in the ages of the past.
  This rather lengthy quotation illustrates what we said             In the light of the above, we may very profitably study the
about the times in which our Confession was written. And,          truth set forth in this part of our Confession, take note of
of course, Luther was not an exception, but rather a repre-        the creation of the angels, of the fall of some of them, and
sentative of his times. On the one hand, it was such               of the purpose and activities of both the good and the evil
erroneous and superstitious ideas about the devil and his          angels. And, of course, by all means this study must be
host that necessitated an expression in our Confession con-        made on the basis of Scripture. For unless we do so, we
cerning this subject. And, on the other hand, how sane and         run the risk of wild speculation in uselessly trying to satisfy
cahn is the language of Article XII when we compare it             our curiosity as to things which we cannot and need not
with the strange mixture of truth and fiction which we             k n o w .
find even in Luther's conception. In this light one would                                                                       H. C. H.
not accuse the Belgic Confession of imbalance and lack of
proportion.
                                                                                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  In the second place, this subject of the devils, and also
the angels, is probably not so out of place in our times as           The Ladies' Aid Society of the  Edgerton  Protestant Reformed
                                                                   Church `hereby extends their sympathy to Rev. and Mrs. Woudenberg
we might be inclined to think. Perhaps we may say that if          in the loss of her father,
a man like Luther erred in the direction of being too                                     MR. JOHN  KERKSTRA
imaginative and superstitious in his conception of the devil
and his activities, today's Christians err in the opposite            May our Covenant God comfort and sustain the bereaved family.
                                                                   Job 19:25.  "For I .know  that my Redeemer liveth and that He shall
direction, namely, that of being altogether too unrealistic        stand at the latter day upon the earth."
and of considering the devils and their activities as being                                          The Ladies' Aid Society
rather fictional. As far as practical Christian life is con-                                         Mrs. Dick Bleyenburg, Secretary


                                                     T H E   STAND#:R.D.   B E A R E R                                           211

                                                                      singing, "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow." Under-
      THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP `. signed can remember that in his childhood days this w`%
                                                                      not then practice in the church. This song was then used
   "0  Worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness."            only as a concluding doxology; but then an innovation was
                                                                      introduced, and another doxology was put in its place and
                   The Order of Worship                               this one was moved to the beginning of the order of worship.
                                                                      How appropriate this is! The church begins by acknowl-
  We do not have in our churches a denominationally                   edging that the Triune God is the author of every blessing.
accepted Order of Worship. Each church is at liberty to               There is no source of blessing apart from Him. Let Him,
arrange the elements of worship in an order that is most              therefore, be praised; and let all creation join with the
conducive to the edification of the particular church.                church of Jesus Christ to tell that praise. Let heaven and
However, although there may be some slight variations                 earth join in sweet acco.rd to tell the wondrous praise of
here and there, we believe that all of our churches follow            the Lord. Gn this note all true worship of God begins and
an order similar to that found on the weekly bulletin of              ends: for the object of worship is not man but GOD!
the First Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That order                Ascribe to Him the glory, honor, and praise that is due.
of worship is the following:                                          And this is what the church commences to do with her
   Organ prelude                                                      introductory song of praise. After the singing this aim is
  *Doxology - "Praise God,. , ."                                      not to be forgotten, but is to follow through and underline
  *Votum  and Benediction                                             each step as the worship progresses. That is worshipping
  "Congregational Singing                                             the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
   Scripture Reading
   Reading of the Law (or Creed)                                        This attitude of worship is then immediately and con-
  *Congregational Singing                                             sciously reflected in the uotum. We have found that many
   Prayer                                                             worshippers are not aware of de meaning of this term.
   Offertory                                                          Perhaps this is because it is a Latin term. At any rate, it
  "Congregational Singing                                             refers to the promise, vow, confession, or  ackuowledgement
   Sermon                                                             that is made by the church before the benediction is
   Prayer                                                             spoken. In the  votum God is again acknowledged as the
  "Congregational Singing                                             all-sufficient one, and confession is made of the complete
  "Doxology - Psalter No. 196                                         inability of the church to worship acceptably. She stands
  *Benediction                                                        constantly in need of divine help, for without the blessings
   Postlude                                                           of which she sang in her opening song, all of her worship
        '
           - denotes Congregation Standing                            will only be a.pretence  and lacking in all verity. The church
                                                                      in the confession of her  uofurn is consciously stricken with
  There are many elements in this order of worship that               the veracity of Jesus' words recorded in John 15:5, `Without
are worthy of more careful and elaborate attention than               me ye can do nothing." How imperative it is that this be
we are able to give to them now. Several separate articles            felt: for in our worship we do not approach God to enrich
could be written about such matters as the congregational             Him, to bring something to Him Who is eternally the
singing, the offertory, the prayers and sermon, etc. But our          iniinitely perfect One; but rather we, empty and nothing
purpose for the present is to only briefly comment on each            in ourselves, come to Him to be iilled out of the store of
of these elements in order then to proceed to discuss some            His goodness.
of our liturgical forms. Perhaps when we have finished this
we can return to the order of worship and discuss the                   "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven
essential elements of it in detail. For the present, then, this       and earth." Such are the words of this vow. They are
must  wait; but we do want to emphasize that each step                taken from Psalm  124:s and that, too, in a context that
we take in our worship is a significant one; and only in the          reverberates with the thoughts we have attempted to ex-
measure that we consciously realize this can we appreciate            press. It is the Psalm from which we sing:
the real beauty of the service of God. Although it is true                 "Now Israel may say that in troth
that there are parts of the service in which the minister                   If that the Lord had not our right maintained,
leads, others in which he addresses the congregation, still                 If that the Lord had not with us remained,
others in which he acts, it must not be forgotten that it is                When cruel men against us rose to strive,
the church that is congregated and that actively participates               We surely had been swallowed up alive.
in the entire service. The church is at worship!
  We then think there is something particularly lovely                     "Blest be the Lord Who made us not their prey;
about the entire congregation beginning the service by                      As from the snare a bird escapeth free,


212                                       T H E -   STANDABD   R E A R E R

       Their net is rent and so escaped are we;                      The pronouncement of the benediction is not an uncertain
       Our only help is in Jehovah's Name,                         wish. It is even more than a prayer, a request or desire.
       Who made the earth and all the heavenly frame."             Christ Himself unquestionably bestows these blessings upon
                                                                   His $ople as they gather for worship in the House of God.
: To' this confession the church may well respond, `Amen           There is a-hidden, spiritual power here that commences the
,and Amen!"                                                        flow of all spiritual blessings, which God sovereignly be-
                                                                   stows through the means of grace which He has instituted
  Upon this follows the speaking of the benediction by the         m His &n.rrch. In tbis consciousness'the church can sing:
*minister of the Word. The choice of benediction is optional,
although generally the one borrowed from the New Testa-                     "Witbin  Thy temple's sacred courts
ment Epistles is used; which is: "Grace, mercy and peace                     With loving and adoring thought
be unto you from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ,                      We contemplate Thy grace, 0 God,
our Lord, through the operation of the Holy Spirit." Bearing                 And all Thy deeds with mercy fraught."
in .mind that the real significance of this benediction is to                                        (Psalter No. 132)
be found in the fact that Christ Jesus Himself, through the
bffice of the ministry of the Word, pronounces and bestows           Following. the benediction the congregation breaks forth
these blessings upon His saints, we will hasten our steps          in singing. Singing is an important part of worship, for it
`unto the house of God, lest we arrive late at the service and     is in this element of the service that the congregation par-
fail to come under its pronouncement. Though essentially           ticularly expresses itself in an active way. This does not
`the same in meaning, the benediction from Revelation  1:4,        mean that the congregation is not active in other parts of
5 is not infrequently used for variation. It reads: "Grace         the worship; but we only point out that in the singing this
.be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which              activity is expressed. From both the viewpoint of form and
was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which        content this subject of music may be profitably considered.
are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, Who is the           And then we not only realize that there are more facets to
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the      this aspect of our worship than we can consider at present,
prince of the kings of the earth."                                 but that also many of these facets are highly controversial.
                                                                   Consider, for example, the place of musical instruments,
  Of significance is it that both these benedictions com-          choirs, song-leaders, special song services, etc., in our wor-
mence with the word "Grace". Concerning it so much can             ship. Later perhaps we can devote some space to this
be written, but let it sufhce to note that grace is the impli-     phase of worship but as one author expressed his thoughts
cation of all spiritual blessings. "My grace is sufficient for     on the subject when he wrote:
thee". There is a multifarious dispensation of grace to God's        `Zooking  at these questions, it is evident that this subject
people answering every need, and they who possess grace            is among the most controversial in the churches today. One
lack nothing. It is the grace of God that brings salvation.        hardly knows where to begin, knowing full  -well that a
Yet there is added to the benediction `<mercy and peace".          word mis-said or misunderstood will stir up a hornet's nest
Although these two are also implicit in grace, their separate      of antagonism. It becomes even harder, when one's musical
mention is not without purpose. Mercy views the goodness           knowledge is rather limited and mediocre. However, if
of God from that aspect of His faithful and compassionate          these articles stimulate our leaders in the fields of both
desire to deliver His people from their present afflictions.       liturgies  and music to a thorough discussion of the matters
It is that spiritual gift that enables His suffering saints to     at hand, they will be eminently worth-while. Also here
be assured of His presence in the midst of their tribulations.     our aim must be to develop Reformed worship to its highest
Only then can they bear up under the burden and await              possible level, looking not  first of all to what other denomi-
patiently the day of deliverance. From Sabbath to Sabbath          nations do, but striving rather to offer up worship to God
they need mercy as they struggle along and battle their way        in sincerity and truth, as the expression of the principles
through the desert of sin. And peace is the grace of God           we hold dear."
from the viewpoint of the experience of the child of God
in the midst of hostility and oppression. This peace is not          Let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord; serve the Lord
the peace that the world speaks. of and strives so vainly          with gladness; come before His presence with singing; enter
to realize; but it is the peace of reconciliation through the      His courts with praise (Psahn 100). For then will our wor-
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, resulting in our perfect justi-    ship be. "in the" beauty of holiness".                 G.v.d.B.
fication, so that the enmity of our mind is subdued and
there is a beautiful harmony between our hearts and God.                      In God I put my trust,
It surpasses our understanding. It cannot be described
but must be experienced; and that experience the saints                          I neither doubt nor fear,
receive as Christ, through the office of the ministry, -speaks                 For man can never harm
to them: "My peace I give unto you!"                                             With God my helper near.


                                                  T H E .   STAND~A-R-p   .BE.Al++R.                                                           213

                                                                              denomination includes  43,847,938 members. They consti-
                          A+.eO.. u ___, N D.. u..  S...:`/ tute 23.6% of the population and are the fastest growing
                                                                              .denomination  in the country. (It must be remembered,
                                                                              however, that Catholics count all as members, including
A CORRECTION                                                                  baptized children; while most Protestant churches count
                                                                              only those who are full members.)
  In a recent article in this column I commented on the
vote being presently taken in various presbyteries of the                       - The largest Protestant denomination is now the South-
Southern Presbyterian Church to decide whether women                          em Baptist Convention, numbering  10,191,303  members.
should or should not be ordained as officebearers in the                      They have recently passed the Methodist Church, which
Churches. In this article I spoke of the presbyteries as if                   was formerly the largest and which numbers  .10,153,003
they were "congregations".                                                    members.
  In connection with this I received a letter from G. Aiken                     - There are 5.5 million people affiliated with Jewish con-
Taylor, editor of the Presbyterian Journal, from which I                      gregations and 3 million affiliated with Eastern Orthodox
quote the relevant parts.                                                     Churches.
           This is by no means a complaint, but a word of explanation,          All this means that the American people are very religious
         called to mind by your column in The Standud  Bearer for De-         on the -whole  - at least externally. Increases in church
         cember 1, 1963. Referring to "Women Officebearers" you
         several times mention that the congregutions  of the Presbyterian    membership mean nothing when sin continues to increase
         Church US are voting on the question of ordination for women.        and when false doctrine continues to run rampant through
         It is not our congregations that are voting but our presbyteries     the ecclesiastical world.
         ( classes ) .
           Corrected, your item would have mentioned that twenty-
         seven presbyteries (classes) have voted on the matter. One of        A CHRISTMAS PRAYER
         the largest presbyteries, that of Atlanta (in which there are          Although Christmas is pretty much destroyed in this
         over a `hundred congregations) voted against the amendment
         by a vote of 84 to 63.                                               country, there always are retained overtones of some spir-
                                                                              itual meaning to this Christian holiday. The trouble is that
  Our sincerest apologies to the editor and to the Southern                   these spiritual overtones are often worse than the crass
Presbyterian Church for this obvious error.                                   commercialization of the day: for they speak of a false
  By the way, the last count on this vote of the presbyteries                 Christ without His divinity, His sovereignty, His work of
is 25 voting for the change; 15 voting against it. Half the                   atonement.
presbyteries have now voted. 41 favorable votes are needed                      An illustration of this appeared as an advertisement by
to approve the change, and bring the amendment before                         a national concern in a weekly news magazine. We quote
the next General Assembly. The General Assembly need                          "a Christmas Prayer" in full.
not necessarily approve of the amendment even though a                               Let us pray that strength and courage abundant be given to
majority of the presbyteries do; although only rarely does                         all who work for a world of reason and understanding; that
this broadest gathering go contrary to the majority wishes                         the good that lies in every man's heart may day by day be
of the denomination.                                                               magnified; that men will come to see more clearly not that
                                                                                   which divides them, but that which unites them; that each
                                                                                   hour may bring us closer to a final victory, not of nation over
1963 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS                                                  nation, but of man over his own evils and weaknesses; that the
                                                                                   true spirit of this Christmas season -its joy, its beauty, its
  The statistics of church membership in this country are                          hope, and above  all its abiding faith-may live among us;
in, as compiled in the Yearbook of American Churches. The                          that the blessings of peace be ours . . . the peace to build and
following items are of interest:                                                   grow, to live in harmony and sympathy with others, and to
                                                                                   plan for the future with confidence.
  - Membership in all the churches increased  1.6%,  almost
equal with the rate of population increase.                                   CHURCH AND STATE
  - There are now  117,946,002  Americans who claim some
church afhliation.                                                              The controversy raging in this country over the question
                          This is 63.4% of the entire population and
.2% less than 1960 which1 set an all time record since sta-                   of the relation between church and state goes on. This
tistics have been compiled.                                                   controversy is particularly unsettling in the application of
                                                                              the Supreme Court's recent decision to ban Bible reading
  -Protestant Churches gained .77% in membership. This                        and prayers in the public schools. But there are other areas
means there are a total of 64,929,941  Protestants in 222 de-                 also where this problem touches. Below are some instances
nominations. Protestants gained 494,975 new members last                      of this continuing argument, some of which are news items
year.                                                                         appearing in the Presbyterian Journal.
  -The Roman Catholic Church scored the biggest gains
of any denomination. They gained 2.3% so that now their                         - A local school board in North Brookfield,  Massachusetts
                                                          _


214                                       T H E ' S T A N D A R D   ~'-I$EA'RER

has voted 5 to 2 to continue Bible reading and prayers in            - Another field in which this controversy has touched is
its school. The Attorney General of Massachusetts has asked        .the field of medicine. We reported some time ago in these
the State Supreme Judicial Court`to force this school board        `columns that a judge ordered that a woman who refused
to "stop its defiance of the U. S. Supreme Court decision."        blood transfusions on the ground of religious conviction
The final outcome is still pending.                                `should nevertheless have them because they were needed
                                                                   to save her life. She was a Jehovah's Witness and had re-
  - In Providence, Rhode Island each new teacher that              ligious scruples against receiving blood from a donor.
comes into the public school system is given a pamphlet            But the transfusion was given by court order. A Unitarian
outlining the teacher's responsibilities and containing a brief    minister has recently protested this decision of the judge
"philosophy of education.`: This pamphlet states in one part,      in a sermon he preached in his church. He said that the
"In substance, the goal of education is an educated person,        entire decision was a threat to religious liberty. His argu-
one who is aware of his duties to God and his kinship with         ment was that the claim of a person to have superior intel-
his fellow man." This document is being attacked as outside        ligence and wiser judgment gives him the right to impose
of its constitutional rights in the light of the Supreme           his will upon others contrary to their convictions. The result
Court's decision.                                                  of this is that no man is left with any right to private deci-
                                                                   sion, that a doctor becomes a sort of dictator over his
  - In Arlington, Virginia a school system has discontinued        patient, to do what he pleases without the consent of the
its "Hi-Y" programs because the purpose of these programs          patient, that this can lead to making the country a state
as stated in their oath is `to create, maintain and extend         of slaves rather than free citizens. They are kept by law
high ideals of Christian character throughout the home,            from having done to them what they wish. This minister
school and community". This too was obviously contrary             concluded his sermon with the remarks: "I would not want
to the decisions of the highest judicial tribunal of this          to be kept alive artificially. I want the right to decide not
country.                                                           to run unnecessary medical bills, but to take out all the
                                                                   needles and to go home and die in peace and dignity."
  - In Idaho school devotions continued by permission of
the state.' But a group of Protestant ministers (including a       DRAivrA  IN CHURCH
Presbyterian, a Lutheran, an Episcopalian, a Methodist and
a Disciple) have filed suit in a U. S. District Court to stop        A certain Rev. William Bell Glenesk, minister of the
the practice on the ground that these devotions constitute         Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights
harmful religious indoctrination.                                  thinks that the greatest enemy of worship of God is habit.
                                                                   and routine. He proposed to change all this so that people
  - The Attorney General of West Virginia has ruled that           would enjoy coming to Church and enjoy worshipping.
any pupil who uses the moment of silence at the opening              In order to accomplish this the minister has begun to
of the school day for meditation has stayed within the re-         incorporate in the services everything from jazz bands to
quirements of the law. But if a pupil uses this moment of          barefoot modem dancing. Sometimes he hires metropolitan
silence for prayer, he is violating the law. Some have asked       opera singers; sometimes he imports ballet companies; once
how it is possible for the teacher to tell what the pupils are     he himself danced his own ballet version of the vision of
thinking silently without asking. And if they ask, can the         Jacob at Bethel. And, if he decides to have some speaking
pupil plead the Fifth Amendment?                                   once in a while, then he brings men like Paul Tillich and
                                                                   an agnostic Krishna Menon from India to his pulpit. He is
  - The "aid to education" bill was finally passed by Con-         not at all particular about who preaches and what they
gress. The dispute over this bill hinged on the question of        have to say.
whether federal aid should be given to private and church-         In defense of this s&nge  conduct in the church he main-
operated schools. The Roman Catholics especially argued            tains that every type of creative art is divinely inspired;
loudly and at length for their share of aid funds, But many        that therefore God is .present  whenever art is introduced
thought that this `too would violate the principle of the          into the service.
separation between church and state as maintained in this            Reportedly, although some of the older members of the
country.  The  i?nal bill that passed was a compromise. It         church have left in disgust, he is drawing huge crowds of-
provided funds for education in both  .public and private          other people who otherwise have never been in Church.
colleges and universities to be used in the building of class-       And, of course, in this day that is the criterion of success.
rooms, laboratories and libraries. But the funds could only        That entertainment takes the place of preaching, philosophy
be used for science facilities. The argument is that science       the place of Scripture and godless art the place of liturgy
instruction does not include religious instruction. (This          and worship-that makes no difference. The church has
means, of course, that the money can be used only to teach         to grow - at all costs.
atheism and evolutionism. )                                                                                            H. Hanko


                                                  T.HE  ,STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                           215

                                                                                _       `:RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                                                        The Men's Society of the South Holland Prot. Ref. Church ex-
                                                                     tends its sincere sympathy to its President, Rev. J. A. Heys,  in the
                                                                     10s~  of both his Father and Mother,
     A Calvinist cd An Arminian Discuss                                                MR. AND MRS. JOHN HEYS;  SR.
                         1 Timothy  2:4                                 May the God of all Grace comfort the hearts of the bereaved.
                                                                                                         Bert Wories, Vice President
  ARMINIAN: "What do you make of 1 Timothy 2:4, that                                                     R. Van  Baren,  Secretary
God will have &Z men to be saved?"                                                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  CALVINIST: "That, in keeping with the context, or with                The Men's Society of the South Holland Prot. Ref.  Church
                                                                     wishes to express its heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Albert  Buiter,  in
what the apostle has been talking about already, it means            the sudden loss of his Soq
all  Classes  of men (w.  l-2), but applying specifically to                                ALBERT WAYNE BUITER
all the elect of those classes, for the following reason:               May our Covenant God sustain and comfort the bereaved.
                                                                                                         Rev. J. A. Heys, President
  "In 1 John 5:14 we are promised that if we ask an@ing                                                  R.  .Varr   Baren,  Secretary
according to God's will vve shall have it!                                               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  "Noti if it is God's will, as you infer, to save all men,             The Men's Society of the South Holland Prot. Ref. Church
elect and non-elect, let us at once ask God to do so - and           extends its sincere sympathy to Mr. Hemy Zandstra in the sudden
it shall most certainly be done! for that would be `accord-          loss of his daughter, MARY BETH ZANDSTRA
ing to His will.'                                                       May our God of all Grace comfort the bereaved and sustain
  "However, we know that this will not be accomplished,              them in the hour of need.
for the Saviour has taught us that many will be lost (St.                                                Rev. J. A. Heys, President
                                                                                                         R. Van  Baren,  Secretary
Matt. 7: 13-14).                                                                            WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  "Therefore your Arminian interpretation of this verse can-            The Lord willing, on February 6, 1964, our beloved parents,
not be correct. Even though you hear 9 out of 10 big name                             MR. AND MRS. BEN BLEYENBERG
radio preachers and nationally known evangelists so using            will commemorate their 46th wedding anniversary.
1 Timothy 2:4, and ma11y  lesser known pastors following                We thank our heavenly Father for His lovingkindness in SPX-
                                                                     ing them these many years for each other and for  US.  It  is  OUT
in their error!                                                      sincere prayer that the Lord may continue to bless them the re-
  `But if I pray that God will save  aZZ of His elect I am           mainder of their earthly pilgrimage and that they may experience
                                                                     that there is no peace apart from Him.
sure He will do that (Rom. 8:28-30), for this is `according                                        Their grateful children:
to His will.'                                                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Tunis Jansma
  "Hence the `all men' of 1 Timothy 2:4 refers to all types                                            Mr. and Mrs. John Haverhals, Jr.
                                                                                                       Rev. and Mrs. Peter Rynders, Jr.
of men who make up God's elect. It is these God wills to                                               Mr. and Mrs. John Hoksbergen
saue."                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Bleyenberg
                                                                                                          and 14 grandchildren
           Pastor Frank B. Beck                                                             WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
           Clarendon Street Baptist Church, Boston, Mass.               On February 14, the Lord willing, our beloved Father and
                                                                     Mother,         MR. AND MRS. JOHN  FLIKKEMA,  SR.
                                                                     will commemorate their 35th year of marriage.
                   THE LORD GAVE THE WORD. . .                          We, their grateful children, give thanks to-our God for sparing
                                                                     them these years for us and for each other. Our earnest prayer is
                       (Contiwecl   from  page   206)                that they mav continue to elcperience  God's lovingkindness in their
                                                                     remaining pilgrimage.
Frame and Rev. Elliott hope to seek closer contact with each                                             Mr. and Mrs. John Flikkema, Jr.
other. They have hopes that sometime in the future they                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Flikkema
                                                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Lubbers
can also organize their churches into Classes. The one group                                             Helen Flikkema
would be Classis  East and the other Classis  West. And then                                             7 grandchildren
the next step would be to organize a Synod of the churches           Grand Rapids, Michigan
of Jamaica. Although this may take considerable time, they                                WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                                                                        On January 27, our dear parents,
have in mind to request us to send delegates to their Synod,                         MR. AND MRS. JOHN BLANKESPOOR
and they would then also appreciate an invitation to attend          commemorated their 55th Wedding Anniversary. We are thankful
our annual Synod. Possibly, if the Lord tarries, they might          to our Covenant God, Who through them has showered upon us
                                                                     Christian love and .devotion,  and given us a home where we may
some day seek to become sister churches of our denomi-               know the fear of God.
nation. But they also realize that this is a long range                 Our prayer is that the Lord may richly bless them with His
program. For the present they are busily occupied in be-             grace in the way that lies ahead, and that in all their experiences
                                                                     Ehysnay  enjoy that blessed peace which is found in the blood of
coming acquainted with our doctrines and practices. And                n .
they know, as we do, that the present and the future are in                                        Their grateful children:
                                                                                                       Mr. and Mrs.  Hemy Blankespoor
the hands of our God, Who alone can and does provide:for                                               Mr. and Mrs. James Blankespoor
His Church.                                 I.                                                          5 Grandchildren
                                                                                                       6 Great-Grandchildren
                                                         C. Hanko    Box 83, Doon,  Iowa


2 1 6                                -T*TE~~S-T~A~-KRD-  ---B E -SK -fi-~q--ff+-  - ._  ..-. .  ~-  _ .  _  ,_  .~                   .
                                                                                                 -.

                                                                     Prof. H.  C.  Hoeksema~and  Rev. G. Lubbers, who were
    NEWS IFROM OliR CHURCHES                                      attending  Classis  as guests, were given advisory vote.
                                                                     Rev. M. Schipper was re-elected as Delegate Ad Examina
             "All tlze saints salutg thee . . . ." PHIL. 4:21     to serve for three years.
                                                                     Rev. G. Vos was appointed to thank the ladies of South-
                                                 Jan. 20,1964     east Church for their excellent catering services.
-_ Rev. B. Woudenberg has declined the call which he had             Classis  decided to meet next time on April 1, 1964 at our
from the Southwest Church in Grand Rapids, Mich.                  Hudsonville Church.
  Rev. G. Laming, of Holland, Mich., declined the call he            The questions of Article 41 of the Church Order were
was considering from Redlands,  Calif.                            asked and answered satisfactorily.
  Our Missionary, Rev. 6. Lubbers, also declined the call            After a few closing remarks by the chairman,  Classis  de-
which had come to him from our Lynden, Wash., Church.             cided to adjourn, and the Rev. G. Lubbers was asked to
Report of Chssis East, Jan. 8, 1964, at SoutheastChurch.          give thanks to God.
  Rev. M. Schipper led in opening devotions. All the                                                   Rev. M. Schipper, Stated Clerk.
churches were represented by two delegates. When the                 The Publication Committee of Prot. Ref. Literature has
credentials were accepted, Rev. Schipper declared the             gratefully received its first contribution for its work. The
Classis  properly constituted. The Rev. H. Veldman then           congregation  .of Isabel; S.  Dak. sent in a generous offering
took the chair and presided, while Rev. Scbipper recorded         taken in one of their recent Sunday services. According to
the minutes. After the minutes of the October  Classis  were      the "Committee's" Constitution their operations shall be fi-
read and approved, the chair appointed the brethren M.            nanced `by regular and associate members voluntarily  un-
Klop and L. Looyenga to serve on the finance committee            derwriting such publication projects as are decided upon by
for this session of Classis.                                      majority vote of the committee, and by contributions from
  Reports were read and accepted from the Stated Clerk            individuals and organizations". So one can see that the Com-
and the Classical Committee.                                      mittee welcomes such contributions of which Isabel's was
  The chairman appointed the brethren Rev. R. Harbach             first.
and Elder J. Boone to serve on the Classical Appointment             Our Radio Program schedule for this month is as follows:
Committee, with Prof. H. C. Hoeksema as advisor. Classis          Feb. 2  - "The Governmental Theory of the Death of
adopted the following schedule: SOUTHWEST  - Jan.  19'-           Christ"; Feb.  9. and 16 share the title, "Atoned for the
C. Hanko, Feb. 2-G. Vos, Feb. 9-C.  Hauko, Feb. 16  -             Elect"; Feb. 23 - "Christ, Our Intercessor". The Feb. 9th
G. Laming, Feb.- 23 - H. Veldman, Mar. 1 - C.. Hanko,             sermon will be the eleven hundredth of the Reformed Wit-
Mar. 15  -.G. Vos, Mar. 22-G.  Laming, Apr. 5  - G. Vos.          ness Hour. Mail your requests for copies to Box 1230, Grand
LkNDEN  - Jan. 19 -H. Veldman, Jan. 26 -H. Veldman,               Rapids 1,  Mich.
Mar. 8,15,22  - R. Harbach. ISABEL & FORBES - Mar. 8,                The Officebearer's Conference was held in Southeast
1522 - M. Schipper.                                               Church Jan. 7, with the Rev. R. C. Harbach, of Kalamazoo,
  The churches of Holland and Kalamazoo presented re-             as speaker. The subject assigned to him was the meaning
quests for subsidy. The chairman appointed the brethren           of the 15th question asked in Church Visitation, which
J. Kalsbeek and G. Pipe to advise on these requests. Classis      reads, "Is the congregation busy in the extension of God's
decided to advise Synod to grant the request of Holland in        Kingdom, especially in the promotion of Missions, to the
the amount  of  $4,200.00,  and that of Kalamazoo in the          best of its ability?" Under the theme, "Promotion of Mis-
amount of $4,600.00.  The committee appointed on a previ-         sions" the speaker delineated the church's duty to itself and
ous classical meeting to study and advise on an overture          to others. For its mission of evangelizing those who have
of Southwest Church relative to the agenda of classical           departed from the Church, Rev. -Harbach recommended the
meetings reported, which report was adopted without               Theocratic method, emphasizing the message, "That they
change.                                                           may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ Thy
  Classis  voted for delegates to the 1964 Synod, and the         Son." The after-recess questions raised by the officebearers
following were chosen:                                            present revealed their concern with their calling to do this
           Ministers                          Elders              "to -the best of their abiligy".
Primi:          Secundi:        Primi:             Secundi:          The Redlands  Hope Prot. Ref. Church has elected a new
C. Ha&o         R. Harbach      G. Pipe            S. Newhof      clerk and treasurer: Clerk - William Feenstra, 831 Sylvan
M. Schipper G. Lanting          H. Meulen-         P. Cnossen     Blvd., Redlands,  Calif. Phone: 793-3597. Treasurer  - Har-
H. Veldman G. Vos                  berg            D. Dykstra     vey Sawyer, 407 E.  Colton  Ave., Redlands,  Calif.  Phone:
H. Hoeksema                     H. Zwak            D. Kooienga    793-5325.
                                J. H. Korter-                        . . . see you in church.
                                   ing                                                                                         J.M.F.


