        VOLilME   x x x 1 1                     DECEIVIEER  15,  19.55-   GRAXD RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                            NUMBER 6

 II                                                                           It shall be an event which will make ~the halls of ever-
               MEDITATI0.N                                           /I lasting delight reverberate with music and dancing unto all
                                                                          eternity.
                                                                              Whom shall we first tell of this wondrous story 7 That
                               The Shepherds                              is, apart from the mother, foster-father, and an obscure aunt'
                "And it  xame  to pass, as the angels were  gone away     ,in the hill country of Juda.
                from them-into heaven, the shepherds said one to              The angelic' host stands ready: they are very willing to
                another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and           be the heralds of such wondrous joy which shall be to all
                see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord      the people of God.  *~
                hath made  known unto us:  4nd they came with
                haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe                And from everlasting; God has His answer ready.
                lying in a manger; And when they had seen it, they            After My Son is born, you host of angels shall go to the
                made known abroad the saying which was told them          fields of Ephrata. A$ it will be in the death of night. -And
              concerning this child. And all they that heard it           you will  find a group of obscure and lowly shepherds keep-.
                wo.n$ered  at those things which were told them by        ing the watch over their  qocks. And it is decreed by Us
                the shepherds. And the shepherds returned, glorify-
                ing and praising God for all the things that they         that you shall tell them in word and song of My eternal love
               `had  heard and seen, as it was told them."                for the elect: people of the good-will of God.
                                                     Luke  2:l.C15, 20        And it came to pass. . . .
       A few shepherds. . . ,                                                 There are the' shepherds, having the watch over their
       We do not know their names. , . .                                  flocks.
       But: "it came to pass" !                                               Jt is night.
       -Yes, the hour of God's everlasting counsel struck, and                 We do not know what they said, what they thought at
 the Christ Child was bdrn.                                               this hour :of all hours. It will not do to speculate too much.
       How strange are the ways of God.                                   W e   d o   no!  know:  1
       We have meditated on the strange. happenings of Christ-                But suddenly there shone a light round about them which
 mas  ; we have heard the strange things enumerated  ; we have            caused them to become sore afraid. And not only because
 read over and over again the resumC  of the strange happen-              they were sinners such as you and I. Oh, no. But it was so
 ings by eminent authors. . . .       '                                   strange, so unearthly, so blinding, so wondrously beautiful.
       And still . . . every succeeding Christmas we are struck           Oh yes, even the beautiful can strike fear in your heart. At-
 again and again by the wonderful ways of God.                            tend that this beauty was the beauty of God.
       Some orie must. be told about the glorious event of the                And then they saw the comely' face of the angel ; and
  Incarnation. But who ?                                                  they heard the soft, sweet voice of the angel, talking to them :
        Shall it be to the princ&  of Judah? Shall we tell it to the      "Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
  Sanhedrin, that august assembly of all that is studious and             which shall be to all people. Foi- unto you is born this day
pious in Israel ?                                                         in the city of `David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord."
        Shall we prepare pomp and circumstance ?            .                 Then the angel is lifted up among his fellows that hovered
        What momentous preparations  shall we make for the                over the strange scene. And they heard the singing of a song
  event of all events ?                                                   that  wasp inspired by God Himself: "Glory to God in the
        The event is great enough.                                        highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward man  !"
        God shall be manifested in the flesh ! God shall come                 Oh yes, the angel had also said, and it is important:
  very nigh unto man. He is going to dwell  in man in unity               `I. . . . and this shall be a sign unto you ; ye shall find the
  of the Person of the Eternal Son.                                       Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

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

       And then the angels went away from them, back to                      Can you not see them running through the streets ? '
heaven where they belonged.                                        .'        They are in a hurry. Faith works that way. When you
                          . * * * *                                      are really hungry an"d thirsty for righteousness you hurry
                                                                         to the well of living Water.
       These simple shepherds belonged to the few who tiere                  Faith leads these simple men.
waiting for the re'demption  of Israel. They are of a kind with              And what did they find ?
Simeon and Anna, Mary and Joseph, Zacherias and Eliza-                       To tell the truth : it is very disappointing : a stable, with
beth.                                                                    its attending scene of poverty, bad smell, and company of
       That is plain from their behaviour, after the angels `re-         beasts.
turned to heaven.                                                            What else ? A quiet mother ; a common little infant ; and
       Oh yes, `they were believers. You will see them and rec-          squalid circumstances. There was no "layette" for the new
ognize them when you go to heaven. They will stand out aS                arrival.    Not even  a clothes basket, covered with nicely
the exalted company of men unto whom the Lord first                      colored cloth. HE lay in a manger, wrapped in swaddling
preached the Christmas Evangel.                                          clothes. Amazing circumstances.
       That they were believers is so plain that it almost seems             Was that now the great and glorious event which had
like an insult to your intelligence when I try to prove it.              taken place ? For that, angels must come from heaven with
Every word and every action of these men proclaim to the                 Divine and glorious Light?
whole world that they believed God.                                          All they see is in one word I POVERTY !
       Let z&s now go ! And let us go and see the thing which                Is that the Saviour of the world ? Is that Jesus : Jehovah-
the Lord hath made known unto us. And they go now: in                    Salvation ? A little baby ? What is more helpless than a
the dead of night. They hasten to go.                                    little babe ?
       Yes, they identify themselves with the Gospel which the               Is that the mighty  Chrjst,  the Office Bearer? Who is
Lord had preached through his host of angels. And once                   going to go to work, and what a work! We broke the Law
more listen to the angel: Unto _von is born ! Apd this shall             of God. A Christ is He who will fulfil the law for us, for
be a sign ynto you.                                                      millions.        _
       Brother, if such language was spoken unto me, I would                 Is that God Almighty? A Babe in swaddling clothes  ?
sing 04 it to my dying `day. Wouldn't you?                                   God in a foul smelling manger?
       But what am I saying  7 It  eva.s  said `unto me. And  to,            See it, brother; ponder it, sister. And marvel for the
you.                                                                     rest of your iife and for eteinity.
       And we are gloriously glad on Christmas day.                          Such are the mysteries of the Kingdom.
.      And what is the content of their faith ?                              The world nev_er saw it.
     Not much in words, but an eternity of truth and glad-                                           * +  8  *
ness.
       This it is : A Saviour is born ; a Christ is given ; the Lord         But,' evidently, the shepherds do not share our confusion.
has come!                                                                    And why not? They came to see a SIGN !              .
       It is enough. For this Saviour is their Jesus : He will die           There is the answer.
for them. And this Christ is their Substitute : He will do the               What they see is exactly adapted to faith. Faith can see
work for them, ordained and authorized by the Father. And                and interpret the sign of the marvellous grace of God.
He is their Lord : He will buy them, has already bought them                 Let US see.
in the Counsel, and being His property, He will lead them to
their everlasting Home.                                                      There was no room for l&m in the inn of the world. No,
                                                                         there is no room for Jesus in the camp of the arch enemy,
       It all shows that they know the plight they and Israel            the devil. Later, much later, they will even Jake that manger-
were in. They know -that this Gospel meant that salvation                bed away from Him, and nail Him on the accursed tree.
had come for those whose home was death.                                     Swadding clothes, a manger, a stable. Yes, that is the
       Isaiah prophesied of these humble shepherds: The peo-             poverty of Him who became poor to make us rich. It fits.
ple that sat in darkness shall see a great Light. Literally it
has been fulfilled.                                                          They see the Hero of God unto whom no place must be
                                                                         given, but who would fight and wrestle with evil and the
       Christ's day will end in a three hour darkness, but the           curse and .the world and the devil, until He would emerge
shepherd's night was illumined as the day, but then as the               the Victor over all, and would prepare a place, a wondrous
Day of God's good pleasure.                                              place for the redeemed earth and people.
       And so, great joy was first of all to these humble shep-              And what a place! That place will be a new heaven and
herds.                                                                   a new earth.
       How I envy them!                                                      How much of all this they saw I do not know. But that
       The believing shepherds of Bethlehem.                             they saw it in principle, I am sure.


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                    1           2    3

   For they return gloriously glad because of what they
saw and had heard.                                                                     TIyIE  STANDARQ   B E A R E R
   They first he&-d,  and then they saw.                                Se&ino&ly,  except  monthly   during  Jwe,   J&y  ati A  flgust
   And what they saw filled them with a joy which they                    Published by t!he REFOUED  FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
could not keep.                                                         P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
   They left the stable singing.                                                           Editor-  REV. HERMAN  HOEKSKMA
   Blessed shepherds.                                                   Communications r&tive  to contents should be addressed to Rev.
                                                                        H.  Hoekiema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
                            *  *  * *                                   All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                        G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E.,  Grland Rapids 7, Michigan.
                                                                        Announcements and  .Obituaries   musn:  be  mailed  to the above
   Blessed shepherds.                                                   address and will  ibe published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
   They made known abroad.                                              RENEWALS:  Unless a definite  reques&  for discontinuance, is re-
   A simple lesson is gleaned from that statement : faith will          ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
                                                                        to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
not keep still. Neither will it keep the glories for itself. Faith
is very unselfish. It loves to give.                                                        Subscription price : $4.00 per year
   And give they do.                                                     E?z.tered as Second  Clu.w  matter  at  Grawi   RL&&  Michigan
   Although it is night, they go frdm house to house, care-
fully choosing their audience. They know them who were
waiting with them for the redemption of Israel.                                                       C O N T E N T S
   Evidently they did not knock on unwelcome doors. They              MEDITATION -
found their audience. What am I saying? God also prepared                   T h e   Shepherds..........................................l~l
them an audience!                                                                Rev. G. Vos
   If. there is one thing in this whole wondrous history it is        EDITORIALS  -
this : everything is prepared beforehand : the truth of the In-             The Apostates of 1953 and the Three Points.. . . . . . . . . . . . .124
carnation, the angelic host, their word and song, the shep-                      Rev. H. Hoeksema
herds, the stable, the manger, the swaddling clothes, Mary            OUR DOIXRINE-
and Joseph, and the audience of preaching shepherds, as well                The Triple Knowledge  (P& III-Of Thankfulness) . . .  .lZG
as their final song of praise.                                                    Rev. H. Hoeksema
    For that is the testimony: "praising God !"                       THE DAY OF  SHADOWS-
    Beloved reader, do praise Him!                                          The  Pro,phet  Zechariah . .._............................. 128
    He is so worthy of it. Amen.                                                  Rev. G. M. Ophoff
                                                          G. Vos                                                                                                             0
                                                                      FROM HOLY WRIT -
                                                                            Expositions of I Corinthians l-4.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
                                                                                 Rev. G. Lubbers

                                                                      IN HIS FEAR-
                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                      Ohristmas in His Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..-.......... 133
   On December  18, 1955, our dear parents,                                       Rev. J. A. Heys

                MR. and MRS. WILLIAM LEMS                             CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
                                                                            The Church and the Sacraments.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
will celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary.                                    Rev. H.  Veldman
 We give thanks to God that he has spared'them for one an-            TRE  VOICE  OF OUR  FATHERS-
other and us. Our prayer is  that.God  may continue to bless  and.          The Canons of Dordreoht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
keep them in all things.                                                          Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                                         Mr.  and,Mrs. Henry Boer
                                    Jane                              DECENCY AND  ORDER-
                                         Karren                             A Question on Approbation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Doon,  Iowa.                                                                      Rev. G.  Vanden Berg
                                                                      ALL AROUND Us-
                                                                            God's Ways. . .  .". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
                           IN MEMORIAM                                      "The Chuach's  S&urban  Captivity". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
                                                                                 Rev. M.  Schipper
   The Sunday School of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church
herewith expresses its sincere sympathy to Mr. Gerrit Moelker         CONTRIBUTIONS   -
and family in the passing of a dear Father and Grandfather.                 Missionary Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,143
                                                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers
   May the God of all grace sustain and comfort the family                  Joy in  Pella............................................144
in this time of sorrow.                                                           Cecil  Vander  Molen
                              Mr. Jacob Kuiper,' Superintendent
                              Miss Sybil Engelsma,  Secrktary


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  1 2 4                                        T H E   STANDARD  B E A R E R

I-.                                                                   delivered a protest to synod, in which he, too, stated plainly
              E D I T O R I A L S                                     that he would openly refute the three points, synod never
                                                                      took any further action.
                                                                         Besides, synod expressed, indeed, that several expres-
       The Apostates of 1953 and the Three Points                     sions in the writings of Danhof and Hoeksema cannot very
                                                                      well be harmonized with the three points, but that, never-
        By the apostates of 1953 I refer? of course, to those that    theless, they were Reformed as far the truth of the Confes-
 departed from us and from the Protestant Reformed truth.             sions is concerned. They, -according to synod, were funda-
        And by the Three- Points I mean the three doctrinal           mentally Reformed !         '
tenets adopted by the synod of the Christian Reformed Church             But in spite of the fact that the case was closed, the
 in 1924 relative to the matter of so-called common grace.            classes East and West reopened the case, demanded of Dan-
        Most of you will -remember that it was because we re-         hof and Hoeksema, and also of the Rev. Ophoff, that they
.fused to subscribe to those three doctrinal tenets that both         either subscribe to the three points or, at least, promise to
 Classis East and Classis West of Grand Rapids, Mich.,  cast          make no propaganda against them. And when they refused
 us out of their fellowship and we were compelled to organ-           they and their consistories were deposed from office.
 ize a new church denomination, first under the name of                  I ,write  these facts, not simply to rehearse the old his-
 Protesting Christian Reformed Churches and later, since              tory, but to emphasize that the reason for the existence of
 1926, under the name of Protestant Reformed Churches.                the Protestant Reformed Churches must always be found,
        .It was not the synod of 1924 that cast us out but both       negatively, in the denial and refutation of`the three points of
 the classes aboved mentioned.                                        1924 and, positively, in the proper emphasis of these churches
        Remember that at the synod of 1924 there were several         on the doctrine of sovereign grace and unconditional elec-
 protests demanding that our stand in' regard to the denial of        tion. And, too, I want to show that those that have now
 "common grace" be condemned and, at the same time asking             departed from us deny this stand of the Protestant Reformed
 for disciplinary action in case we would not retract our doc-        Churches and, principally, ,subscribe  to the doctrine of the
 trinal conclusions.                                                  three points of 1924.
        Synod did neither the one nor the other.                         What I intend to write'concerns chiefly the "First Point"
        As far as the denand for disciplinary action was con-         adopted by the synod of 1924, although the second and third
 cerned, synod took no action at all. True, the committee for         points are ,intimately  connected with it.
 pre-advice that was appointed for the case by synod, indeed,            Let me, first of all, quote this first of three points :
 advised synod to decide on some disciplinary measures. They             "Relative to the first point which concerns the favorable
 came to synod with the following advice.                             attitude of God towards humanity in general and not only
        `,`l. Seriously to admonish the brethren with a view to       towards the elect, synod declares it to be established accord-
 their. deviations and. to ask of them the promise that in the        ing to Scripture and the Confession that, apart from the
 future they will adhere to what synod expressed in the three         saving grace of God shown only to those that are elect unto
 points mentioned above  ;                                            eternal life, there is also a certain favor or grace of God
        "2. To urge the brethren, H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema           which He shows to His creatures in general. This is evi-
 in all seriousness to refrain from all attempts to propagate         dent from the Scriptural passages quoted and from the
 their deviating views regarding the three points in the              Canons of Dordrecht II, 5 and III, IV, 8 and 9, which deal
 church ;                                                             with the general offer of the gospel, while it also appears
        "3. To point out the brethren that in case, either now or     from the citations made from Reformed writers of the most
 in the future, it should become evident that they will not           flourishing period of Reformed Theology that our Reformed
 adhere to the decisions of synod, this body shall be obliged,        writers from the past favored this view."
 though very loath to do so, to make the case with their re-             Now we must note at once that, although the synod
 spective consistories.                                               meant to maintain what before this time was often vaguely
        "4. Should the brethren refuse to live up to these pro-       called "common grace" and what was especially expounded
 posed conditions synod would then have to appoint  ~a com-           in the three volumes on the subject by Dr. A. Kuyper in
 mittee. Your committee would, in that case, offer the sug-           the Netherlands, yet it lasped into the Arminian conception
 gestion that this committee consist of the officers of synod."       of common grace when they adopted the First Point.
  (from the Typewritten report of the committee  nd hoc).               In the first part of this point it attempted to express the
        This advice was rejected when synod adopted a substitute      idea of "common grace" in the Kuyperian  sense when it de-
 motion in which the entire advice was omitted. In spite of
            . .                                                       clared that "apart from the saving grace of God shown only
 the fact that in a long speech 1. explained my stand to synod,       to those that are elect unto eternal life, there is also a certain
 and strongly emphasized that I would never submit to the             favor or grace of God which He shows to His creatures in
 decisions of synod if they should ever adopt the three points;       general."' Now, we must remember that we also deny and
 in spite, too, of the fact the Rev. Danhof with my knowledge,        always did deny this theory of common grace. It is certainly


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              125
                                                                                            ,  i --

true, of course, that men in this world, elect and reprbbate             It is evident that the synod. of 1924 corrupted this pas-
have all things in common. There is a general providence             sage from the Canons into meaning that God in  His- grace
of' G6d by which He sends upon all men the same things, I has the gospel preached to all men without distinction, and
rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, prosperity and          that  He-p&&es  to every one of them  eteinal life if they
-adversity, sickness and health, peace and war. These things         believe or on condition of faith. The sovereign promise of
-God sends upon all men, regardless whether they are godly           God, which is unconditional and particular, that is, only for
or ungodly, elect or reprobate. But it is by no means true           the elect, which is the teaching <of the Canons through@, is
that God sends these upon all men promiscuously by His               here corrupted into a general promise that is, however, con-
gram. The very contrary is true. Scripture plainly teaches           ditional.
that even when God sends prosperity to the wicked He sets                The other articles of the Canons referred to by synod
them on slippery places by which He casts them headlong              are III, IV,  8, 9:
into eternal destruction. Things are, indeed common but                  "As many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly
-grace  never is.                                                    called. For God hath most .earnestly  and truly declared in
    But this is not the element in the First Point with which        His Word what will be acceptable to Him, namely, that they
we are now concerned, especially as we wish to compare it            who are called should come unto Him. He, moreover, seri-
with the views of those that have recently departed from the         .ously promises eternal life and rest to as many as shall cdme
Protestant Reformed truth.                                           to Him and believe on Him."
    I said a moment ago that the synod lapsed into the                   "It is not the fault of the gospel, nor of Christ offered
Arminian conception of common grace. The reason for `this            therein, nor of God who calls men by the gospel, and confers
is, no doubt, that it attempted to prove "common grace"              upon them various gifts that those who are called by the
from the confessions. Now, the confessions never even men-           ministry of the Word refuse to come. The fault lies in them-
tion the kind of common grace to which we made reference             selves some of whom, when they are called, regardless of`
above. They did not even know it. They always speak only             their danger, reject the word of life: others, though they
of saving grace. And thus it happened that when the com-             receive it, suffer it not to make a lasting  impression on their
mittee of pre-advice and synod following them attempted to           heart; therefore, their joy, arising from a temporary faith,
prove dommon grace from the confessions, they made saving            soon vanishes, and they fall away ; while others choke the
grace general and became Arminian.                                   seed of the Word by perplexing cares, and the pleasures of
    It is in this respect that those that apostatized frdm the       the world, and produce no fruit. This otir Saviour teaches
Protestant Reformed truth in 1953 subscribe to the teaching          in the parable of the sower. Matt. 13."
of the First Point.
    How does the First Point teach the Arminian theory of                Also from these articles of the Canons, which simply
common grace  7                                                      teach that ihe outward calling comes to all that hear the
    It does so by maintaining that it is evident from the gen-       Word, that in that outward calling God does not lie but
eral offer of the gospel that there is a certain favor or grace      confronts  them with the truth and with the promise of eternal
of :God upon' His creatures in general. In other words, it           life to all that believe, the synod elicits the error that God
teaches that, in the preaching of the gospel, God is gra-            is gracious to all that hear the Word and the promise is for
ciously inclined to all t&at hear the gospel. In the preaching       all on condition of faith.
He bestows grace upon all the hearers. You can also put it               Those that fecently  departed from us certainly subscribe
this way: in the preaching of the gospel God shows His               to this first point, as we hope to show.
grace to all, to everyone of the hearers, by promising, on His                                                                   H.H.
part, to every one of the hearers, et&nal life . . . on condition
that they believe.
    Such is the teaching of the first point.              i
    That this, indeed, is the meaning is evident from those                                  IN MEMORIAM
parts of the confessions which the synod quoted, or to which
it referred, as well as' from the Scriptural passages to which          The  Consistory  of the  Edgerton  Protestant Reformed Church
reference is made in this connection.                                hereby expresses its heartfelt sympathy with our  br'other,   con-
    The quotations from the confessions are the following:           sistory member,. elder Gerrit Gunnink, in the death of his son,
    Canons II, 5 : "Moreover the promise of the gospel is                                   ART'HUR GUNNINK
that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified, shall not perish          May our covenant  God abundantly comfort him and his family,
but have everlasting life. This promise, together with the           so that they may know, that all things work together for good
command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and              to them that love God and to them that are the called according
published to all nations promiscuou$ly  and. without distinc-        to His purpose.
tion to whom God out of His good pleasure sends the                                                    Rev. Herman Veldman, President
gospel."                                                                                               R. Brunsting, Clerk

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1       2        6                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                    the wages of those that are in his employ if he is an employer,
             6UR  D O C T R I N E                                   by forcing his employer to raise his wages by strikes and
                                                             II     boycotts and violence, by speculation and gambling, or other
                                                                    illegal methods, he does not walk in sanctification of- life in
               THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                     _           respect to his daily bread. And although he may probably-
                                                                    succeed in obtaining his share of earthly goods, he certainly
      AN  ESPOSITION  OF THE HEIDELBERG  CATECFIISM                 does not receive -it in the favor of God, and he cannot pray :
                APART  III  - OF THANKFULNESS                       "Give us this day our daily bread." Or again, if  .one has
                                                                    abundance, and knows that his brother is poor, and fails to
                         LORD'S DAY 50.                             provide for him, or if he piles up his savings for a possible
                         Chapter Three                              rainy day while he refuses to provide from his portion for
                                                                    the needs of the kingdom of God in the world, he is a hypo-
             The Implications of the Fourth Petition                crite when he kneels down to pray, "Give us this day our
     Whether the whe,els of industry shall be idle or busily        daily bread." For this petition certainly implies that the
spinning, whether there shall be labor for our hands  OP            believe? would receive his daily bread only frdm the hand
whether we will be without embloyment, whether we shall             of his Father which is in heaven, and therefore in the way
be able to work and provide for, ourselves and those that. are      which is pleasing to Him, and in His favor.
dependent on us.  - all these things depend not ultimately             In the third place, this petition certainly presupposes that
or really on us or on the wisdom and ingenuity of man, but          spiiitual disposition that is expressed by the Scriptural term
on the Word of our God in Christ Jesus our Savior. And              contentment.    The apostle Paul writes to. the church at
therefore, according to Scripture, it is literally true that our    Philippi : "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, there-
heavenly Father feeds us and clothes us and gives us shelter.       with to be content.' Phil. 4 :ll. Contentment is that spirit-
This is the beauty of passages of Scripture like Matthew            ual virture which is the very opposite of covetousness. Thus
6:25-30: "Therefore I say unto you, Take. no thought for            the apostle writes in I Tim. 6:6-10: "But godliness with
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; rior' yet     contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing intd
for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more           this world, and it `is certain we can carry nothing out. And
than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls              having food and raiment let us therewith, be content. But
of the. air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather     they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and
into barns; yet your heavenly Father, feedeth them. Are ye          into many foolish and hurtful  lusts? which drown men in
not much better than they? Which of you by taki~ng thought          destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
can add one cubit unto his stature  ? And why take ye               root of all evil: wliich while some coveted after, they have
thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of thk field, how          erred  from.the  faith, and pierced themselves through with
they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin : And yet I         many sorrows." In the spirit of contentment, which is op-
say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not            posed to covetousness, we can be  stronk and bold in the
arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothes the         Lord. For thus the epistle to the Hebrews has it, in chapter
grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into       13 ~5, 6 : "Let your conversation be without covetousness ;
the oven, shall he not much.more clothe you; 0 ye qf little         and be content with such things as ye have ; for he hath said,
faith ?" In the fourth petition, therefore, the believer is         I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may
taught to acknowledge the absolute sovereignty of God over          boldly~  say, The. Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what
all things, and his own dependence on no one but his Father         man shall do unto tie." Cdntentment is that spiritual virtue
in heaven. It is in that faith that he prays: "Give us this         accor'ding to which our inner state of heart and mind is
day our daily bread."                                               always in harmony with the will of God concerning me as
     This prayer also implies that with respect to the things       realized in my earthly way. In that state we are satisfied with
of this present time, with respect to our daily bread, we live      our lot, knowing that it is from God and that He will cause
in sanctification of life before the Lord our God in Christ         all things to work together for our good. There is. an expres-
Jesus our Savior. For the prayer implies that we do not             sion of contentment in the fourth petition. In it we do not
strive anxiously or greedily to secure our bread in a way that      ask for great things. By. it we express before our Father in
is contrary to the will of God. If, on the one hand, one            heaven that we shall be satisfied with the barest necessities,
would idle his time away, neglect his calling, be lazy, and         content to live on the level of the most simple earthly life.
refuse fo labor for his daily brea$, and then send this petition    We declare here: "Our Father which art in heaven, if it
to the throne of our Father in heaven, he would neglect his         please Thee to give me no more than is strictly necessary
calling, tempt God ; and his prayer would certainly not be          for me to continue my journey this day, I will be satisfi?d
heard. But also, on the other hand, if one accumulates riches       and receive from  Thy~ hand whatever it  pleaseth  Thee to
in a way that is contrary to the will of our Father in heaven,      give me with thanksgiving." This also implies child-like
by false dealing or usury if he is a business man, by cutting       confidence. I live by the day. I am not anxious for  -the


                                           T H E   STArjDARD   B E A R E R                                                         127

morrow. If I have nothiag left tonight, and I know not how          shall be  cut off : but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall
I shall obtain breakfast tomorrow, I shall not worry, but lay       inherit the earth." vss.  7-g. And in vs. 16: "`A little that
me down to sleep confident- that my heavenly Father lives           a righteous  man  bath is better than the riches of many
totiorow  as well as today, and that He will' care for me.          wicked." And again: "For such as be blessed bf him shall
Give us this day our daily bread, and we shall not be               inherit the earth ; and they that be cursed of him shall be
anxious about the morrow.                                           cut off." vs. 22. And once more, in vss. 35, ff. : "I have seen
   If therefore we have understood the real implications            the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a
of this fourth petition, we will be  ready~too  to acknowledge      green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and. lo, he was not:
that this prayer, though it places us on the level of a very        yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the
simple earthly life, and exactly because of this would have         perfect man, and behold the upright : for the end of that man
us live on a very high spiritual level, it is not necessary any     is peace. But. the transgressors shall  be destroyed together :
more to make special metition  of the fact that the natural         the end of the wick&d  shall be cut off. But- the salvation of
man, the unbeliever, the- world, cannot possibly take this          the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time
petition on &eir lips. The world is quite directly opposed to       of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them:
all -that this prayer teaches us with respect to the attitude we    he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, be-
are supposed to assume toward earthly things. The unbe-             cause they trust in him." The  same: note is struck through-
liever does not want just bread. He is not satisfied with his       out in the book-of Proverbs. The wicked may prosper, and
                                                                    have abundance in this world, so that his house is a palace
portion of bread. Above all, he wants more than bread fos           and full of riches; buf the Lord never bestows these goods
this day. He wants the world. He wants the whole world.             on him in His grace. For: "The froward is abomination to
He wants nothing but the world. He wants abundance. This
is true not only of the rich, but. also' of the poor. All the       the Lord ; but his secret is with the righteous. The curse
strife and unrest in the world testifies to the fact that the       of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth
spirit of the world is opposed to the spirit of the fourth          the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners:
petition. The world strives aftbr what in our day is rather         but he giveth grace unto the lowly." Prov. 2 ~32-34. And thus
                                                                    it is throughout Scripture. And therefore the church may in-
profanely styled "the more abundant life." And how could
it be different ? The natural man understands not the things        deed sing :
of the kingdom of God. He does not acknowledge himself                       "Although  the wicked prospered seem,
to be in the service of God with all things, to be a mere                     At last  they vanish like a. dream
stew&-d with respect to earthly things. He serves the world.                  And.  #e&h in a day;
He seeks the world. His slogan is : "Let us eat and drink,                    Jehovah's foes  &all  so0.n  appea:Y
for tomorrow we die." He has no hope beyond this world,
and he does not know the transcendent joy expressed in the                    Like fields once  fair,.rzow  brownrand  sear;
confession, "Thy lovingkindness is better than life." Small                   Like  smoke  they fade away."
wonder, then, that he serves Mammon! And in that service                Or, as the versification of Psalm 92 has it:
one surely cannot pray: "Give us this day our daily bread."
And let us not overlook the `fact that the wicked too eats his               "When as the grass the wicked grow,
bread, and that he usually eats in abundance. God often gives                 When sinners flourish here below,
him more o'f it than He gives His own children. But He gives                  Then is  the~endless   vltin  nigh,
it to him in His wrath. By the abundance of worldly goods                     Rut  Thou; 0 Lord, art throned on  high;
He. sets the wicked on. slippery places, on which He casts                    Thy  fdes shall fall before Thy might,
them down into destruction. Asaph beheld how the ungodly                      The wicked shall be put to flight."
prosper in! the world, atid how they increase in riches.~  But
when he went  into the sanctuary of God; and understood                 But with the child of God, who has been called out of
their end, he realized that all this abundance and wealth           darkness into light, and lives by faith in the Lord Jesus, his
and prosperity were but slippery ppces, `on which God set           `crucified, risen, and exalted Redeemer, all this is principally
them in His wrath and cast them down into destruction.              different. For, in the first place, he has been called back into
They "are brought into desolation as in a moment! They              the service of the living God; and so the things of this world
are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one              are for him not an end in themselves, but a means' to an
awaketh ; so, 0 Lord, wh& thou awakest, thou shalt despise          end, the capital entrusted to him, that with it he may serve
their image." Ps.  73:12, 18-20. The same note is heard             his God. He does not live to  .eat and to drink and to be .
throughout Psalm 37. There we read: "Rest in the Lord,              merry, but he eats and drinks to live, and that too, to live
and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him         in the service of God.
who prospereth in his way, because of the man who'bringeth                                                                       H.H.
wicked. devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake                                                                          ._  --:
wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers


128                                                  T H E   ST-ANDAR;D  l$EARER
                   -
II                                                                                 3. Therefore-Because of God's anger with the fathers.
             THE DAY OF SHADOWS                                                Unto  thtm-  the contemporaries of the prophet.  Return
                                                                               unto  me- a call to  repentence  addressed to all, soul for
                                                                               soul. The sevtrity of Jehovah regarding the fathers should
                     The Prophet Zechariah                                     serve as' a warning to the children. They should forsake
                                                                               their abominations and seek after God in true contrition of
                  A call to repentance, Chapter 1 :l-6                         heart, Jest they be overtaken by worse calamities. And I will
       1.  Iut the eighth month,  in  the  second  year  of  Darizts,          re&rn judo you - Conversion is the fruit of the regenerating
came  the word  of  Jehovah  unto  Zechariah,  the son of  Be-                 and sanctifying grace of God. The latter is always first.
yechiah,   the son of  Iddo the prophet,  sa.ying,                             When by His mercy God's backsliding people return unto
                                                                               I&m, He returns unto them in again causing them to enjoy
       2.  Angry  (was)  Jehovah  at your fathers  with anger.                 His favor and fellowship, saitk  the Lord  of  hosts-  Thrice
       3.    Therefore  sa.y  thou unto  tl'zewz,   thus saith Jehovah of      repeated within the compass of this verse and thereby heavily
Hosts, Ret.Ltrn ye unto me, saith Jehovah of Hosts, And I will                 emphasizing the fact and truth that the exhorter. here is not
return  mfo  you, saith  Jehovah of  Hosts.                                    a mere man but Jehovah, Himself, speaking through the
                                                                               prophet as His organ.
       4. Be not as your fathers, to  whom the former  prophets                    4.  Be not as  ybatr  fatlaers-  As it is natural for the
cried,  sa.ying,  Thus  saith  Jehovah of hosts, Turn, I beseech               children to imitate their parents, the prophet repeats his. in-
yo,u,  jrow  your evil ways  qd  from  -yoatr evil doings; But                 junction in a negative form, warning the people against fol-
not did tlaey hear, nor did  they  pa.y  any  attentiori  to  me,              lowing the example of their forebears, who were utterly
saith Jehovah.                                                                 indifferent to the remonstrances of the prophets of God that
       5.  Yo,ur fathers., where  a.ye they? And  tke  profhets,               labored among them. The form,er prophets - the predeces-
could they  lizle forever?                                                     sors of Zechariah. Perhaps he does not have in mind Daniel,
                                                                               who wrought at the court of the Persians and not in the
       6.  Surely,  my words  a,nd  my statutes,  Whick I  CO'W                midst of God's people, and whose prophecies deal not so
manded  my  serzmnts  the  prophets,.   -Did they not overtake                 mucl$ with their obligations toward God as with the endur-
you+   @hers, so that they  tu,med and said, Like as  jehovak
of                                                                             ance of the church in the face of the onslaughts of the gates
       Hosts  pztrptised  to do  ztnto  ZIS,  Accord&&g   to  our ways  and    of hell, with the coming of Christ's kingdom  amid and
according to  oai.jf doings, So  bath. He dealt  z&h us.                       through the rise and fall of the mighty kingdoms of the
       Zechariah was preeminently a prdphet of comfort. This                   world.  Tlaus   saith Jehovah of hosts, Turn, I beseech  you-
is so, seeing that the promises of God occupy so large a                       So had He pleaded with the former generations. All the day
place in his prophecies. But as the promises are only unto                     He had spread out His hands toward them (Isa. 42  :2).
the true believers, our prophet copiously intersperses his in-                 Turn,  I  beseecla  YOM,,  from  your  evil  wa.ys  &d doings  -  To
struction with a call to repentance. So in this first section                  be supplied is the thought, "And I will turn unto you," and
in which the necessity of repentance is stressed and Which                     also, "But if you harden your hearts and persist in scorning
is plainly. an introduction to the entire collection of dis-                   my calls to repentance, nameless miseries shall be your por-
courses.                                                                       tion." So had the Lord, through His prophets as His organs,
       I.  Eightla month-  It answered to the latter part of                   exhorted, mandated, threatened and warned the former gkn-
October and to the first part of November. Second year of                      erations. B,cct tkey did not hear - They had paid not the least
Darius - See on Haggai 1 :l. Zechariah began his prophetic                     bit of attention to the Lord but had persisted in hardening
activity `about two months after Haggai delivered his first                    t h e i r   h e a r t s .
reported address. -The day of the month is not indicated,                          5. Your fathers, where are they? And  yoaw  prophets,
doubtless because of the character of this particular address.                 could they lsive forever? ---What these questions mean and
It is generally introductive. There is, therefore, no need of                  how they are to be answered is clear from the succeeding
conjecturing that the note of the day of the month was there                   verse.
originally, but that it dropped out in transcription. Zecharia.h.,                 6.  Shely   YPLY  wordi-All the words of the Lord that
the son of Bereclaiala, the  soti of  Iddo  - See introduction.                He had spoken to the former generations through His proph-
TIze  pvopket  -Denotes Zechariah, and  tiot  Iddo.                            ets as His organs. It is clear from the succeeding clauses that
                                                                               the reference is particularly to the prophecies of the judg-
                         Call to Repentance, 2-6                               ments of God that overtook the fathers on account of their
       2.    An,gry was Jehovah with your fathers with anger  -                impenitence, through all the ages of the past,  - pestilence,
This reminder of God's wrath is the ground of the exhorta-                     drought, famine, war, servitude and finally dispersion and
tion of the succeeding verse. The wi-ath of Jehovah had been                   exile. All in substance  has- already been foretold by Moses,
revealed in the capture and spoilation of Jerusalem, the                       Deut. 28, 32. See also Deut. 28:63-68; 30:1-10. Isaiah and
destruction of the temple, and the exile in Babylon.                           others had predicted the dispersion of Israel of the ten tribes,


                                            T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R                                                      129.
                                                                                                                -

the overthrown of Jerusalem, and the Babylonian exile. An!,,        least when they come to pass, if they ever do, we will long
my statutes- The fixed decrees of God whereby he blesses:.7.. have beenj'in  our grave.' Through death we will escape his
the penitent for Christ's sake, and brings the wicked .to' words'& did our fathers through death escape the words of
nought. I$%cla  I colH.?,raanded  - The prophets were expressly     the former short-lived prophets. So, why should we allow
commanded of God to speak His words to the people. Their            ourselves to be frightened into taking our repentance seri-
discourses .are replete with such expressions as, "Speak unto       ously ? Let  us  eat, drink, and be merry. F o r   tofnorrow
the children of Israel," and, "Say unto my people." They            we die.
spake as raised up and sustained by these mandates of the              It is not improbable that the questions originated with
Lord as bound upon their hearts by His Spirit.  My servants         these sceptics, and that the prophet took them out of the
the prophets-the former prophets. They were God's organs            sceptics' mouths as purposing to expose the carnal reasoning          '
prepared and raised up by Him to speak His word to men              implicit in them as questions of the sceptics. They were car-
as standing before His face.  Did they-  these words and            nal men.. According to the sound of Zechariah's exhortation
statutes - not overtake your fathers? - True, the proph&ts          some of them might have been walking either secretly or
could not live forever. They went the way of all flesh. But         openly in gross sin. They had to be told that if they did not
certainly, their words, predictions, did not die with them,         turn from their evil ways, they would surely perish when the
but. they abided in the mind and counsel of Jehovah whose           Lord came in judgment. They had to be told. to repent espe-
words they were. And as His living words that He con-               cially so since it is not unlikely that they, too, were taking
tinued to speak they had pursued the fathers all the days' of       part in the work of building the temple and imagining that,
their existance on this earth, filling their lives with nameless    on that account, they were pleasing in God's sight. Certainly,
woes and scattering them, finally, among the nations and            it must have been true also `of this post-exilic community,
driving them into exile. And they returned -The  deceased           of the church of that day there in Palestine, ~that "all is not
fathers, the Israel according to the election of grace.  AS         Israel that is of Israel."
pursued by the dreadful words of God, they repented of                 But the true believers in the community would also have
their sins and returned to the Lord in true contrition of           continuous need of a call to repentance, seeing that like all
heart.  And  sa.id, Like  as  the Lord of hosts thought to  do-     God's people, they were but sinful men with only a small
unto us, according to our ways and according to o'bbr doings        .beginning  of the true obedience. All had to know that out-
so  htlz He dealt with  us- So spake the penitent. There            ward conformity to God's will is not enough, that building
is this in their utterance : 1) His words came to pass. 2) We       His temple is a good- work only if it proceed from a living
deserved His strokes. 3) His judgments are righteous-and            faith; that what God demands is truth in the inward parts.
just, being, as they are, according to all our works.                   Observa.tion  o'n the expsession,  "Turn, I beseech you . . ."
   This is what these fathers had said. And their testimony         So, as,was stated, the Lord had pleaded with the former gen-
was preserved. And therefore, though long dead, they still          eration, with the fathers of whom it is said that they would
spake, bearing witness to the fact that through the ages of         not listen. All the day He spread out His hands toward
the past all God's words had come to pass. Let the con-             them (Isa. 42  :2). Indicated in the first instance is the
temporaries of Zechariah, therefore, not walk in the footsteps      eagerness of God's moral will. Being holy God, He delights
of their apostate forbears. Doing so, they shall surely come        in well-doing, and hates iniquity. And to repent is to do well.
to grief. But if. they repent and turn unto the Lord, it shall      And that He besought His people- the former generations
go well with them. And also this according to His Word of           - rendered, before His tribunal and in the judgment, utterly
promise. For had He not, according to His promise, spoken           inexcusable all such among them that, according to His
by the former prophets, turned their activity ?                     sovereign good pleasure, had persistently scorned His calls
   But the people had already repented about a month be-            to repentance and had died in their unbelief. Certainly, God's,
fore. As stirred up by the words of Haggai, they had re-            spread-out hands cannot be taken to mean, in the light of
sumed operations. And, there is no historical ground- for the       Scripture, that He was determined and eager in His love
view that the work had again been abandoned. It may be              to save also this reprobated Israel, had it only been willing,
assumed that they were .still zealous as builders of God's          and that, therefore, He was helpless in the face of the unbe-
house. Yet there was need that they nevertheless be admon-          lief of this people. He desires and wills to save only the
ished to forsake their evil ways and turn to the Lord.              penitent Israel, the people foreknown of Him in Christ. To
    First, Zechariah's two questions -`"where are the fa-           this people only He spreads out His hands in love. This
thers" etc. -leave the impression that there were sceptics          people $Ie gathers and takes to His bosom as cleansed from
.among them, unbelieving Jews, carnal men, who were rea-            ,a11 their iniquities in Christ's blood.
soning as follows, "The former prophets have gone the way               Observatiovt  on  the exhortation,  "Turn ye unto me, and
of all flesh and their prophecies died with them. For the           I will turn unto you. Harden your hearts, and nameless
fathers died without ever having been overtaken by their            miseries shall be thy. portion." There are no real conditions
predicted calamities. Zechariah will not live forever either. concealed in this exhortation. It is a  mandate;*to--repent,   _._
And also his threats and warnings' will die with him. At            addressed to all, soul for soul. Implicit in it  is the promise            -A.
                                                                                                                     ,
                    -  /

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

 to the penitent that they shall be saved and a declaration to                    17. Cry yet saying, Thus  saith Jehovah of hosts:
 the impenitent that, unless they repent, they shall be de-                           My cities shall yet  ove$ow  with good,
 stroyed. This is what Zechariah wants his hearers to know.                         : And Jehovah shall yet  colmjort Zion,
 This is what he tells them right  ,at the beginning of his                           And shall yet choose  Jmualeuut.
 series of discourses. For, as was stated, he comes to them                      7. This verse gives the date of the vision. If was from
 with gl&-ious  promises, and he does not want the wicked,                    three to four months after Zechariah's  first revelation and
 who do not repent, to imagine- that these promises are also                  two months after Haggai's last, namely on the four and
 theirs. His purpose is to comfort and encourage by his Gos- twentieth day of the eleventh month, Sebat, answering'to our
 pel the penitent,, God's elect. The impenitent have no need                  February, in the second year of Darius, 519. 
 of comfort. They despise God's Gospel: It is therefore vain                                                                                The word of
 to tell such men that the promise is also theirs and thereby                 Jehovah-So  the visions could be called, seeing that they
                                                                              were explained and amplified by an accompanying oral reve-
 to tell them that Christ died also for them.                                 lation. The remainder of the verse is the same as verse 1
         The First Vision - The Reporting Horsemen, 7-17                      (See there).
        7. Upon  the  fouy and twentieth  da.y of the eleventh                   8. I saw that  nigILt  - Not in a dream but in a vision
month,  which  ,is the month  Sebeat,  ,in the second  .year of               4 :1) . The prophet.. was not asleep but in a- state of wake-
  Da&us  ca,me  the zaord of  the Lord unto  Zecha&h,  the  son               fulness that was characterized by profound abstraction of
  of  Beveclzia.lz,  the son of  Iddo, saying,                                mind and spirit in which there were reflected in his soul
        8. I  saw  tka.t night,  a.nd  behold! a  ma.n riding  zzpon a        images of heavenly things by which his attention was wholly
 Ted  lzoue,   a.nd  lze  zwas standing  among  the  myrtle trees,  that      engaged. The vision was one of the means by which the
 wel'e  ,ivL a deep place  : and  belaGad   him horses, red,  reddish,        Lord communicated His word to His prophets. Tht night
 b+ozm  and  zuhite.                                                          -As the Jewish day began at sunset, this was probably the
                                                                              night that preceded the twenty-fourth day. The vision cam.
        9.     And I said,  @%a~~  (am) these, my Lord? And  he  saida        to the prophet by night, when he was most susceptible to
  to  `me, the angel who was speaking with me, I  *will  shew you             divine revelations. For the night is still, worldly cares are
 what these (be).                                                             suspended, and outward impressions are few. The prophet
         10.  And  avuwered the  man  z&o was standing among                  received the rest of his visions in this same night.
  the myrtle  tl-ees,  a,nd  mid, These  a.ye they  whom  Jehovah                                                                     G. M. 0.
 has sent to  walk to and  f~0  thsoztglz the earth.                v

         11.  And they answered the angel of Jehovah  who  zwas
 standi,ng  among  the myrtle trees  a,vbd said,  We have  titilked                                                                            _
  to  a.nd  fro through the  ea~rth, and, behold, the whole earth                                         IN MEMORIAM
 is.sitting still and is undisturbed.                                            The Mary Martha Society of the Fourth Protestant Reformed
         12. Then  a.nswered  the  avcgel of Jehovah  aid  .sa:id,  0         Church wishes to extend its, sincere sympathy to one of our
 Jehozmh  of hosts!  l<ozv  long wilt thou. not have  co~v~passiov~~          members, Mrs. Arthur Gunnink and family, in the recent be-
  upon  Jerumlem  and  the  cities  of  Juda,l'z,  ag&st  zuko~~  thou,       reavement, the loss of husband and father,
 least  beert  axgry  these- seventy years?                                                            MR. ARTHUR GUNNINK

         13.  And  anszwered  the angel  who was  speakipzg  w&h me,             Psalm  27  :14- "Wait on the Lord : be  ,of good courage, and
 wol-ds (that were) good,  aped words (that  weye)  comforting.               he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord."
         14. And  .said  to  ?tie  the  angel  who  was speaking  zuitla                                         Mrs. Gerrit Pipe, President
  me,  Cv-y, saying:                                                                                             Mrs. F. Ondersma, Secretary
                                                                                                 .m
                Thus  saitlz   Jehozjalz of hosts,
               I  am jealous  fog*  Jemcsalem and for Zion  z&h a  jeal-
               o&y   (tht is)  guea.t,                                                                    IN MEMORIAM
         15. And I  bum with a great  a.nger  against  the  nations              The consistory of the Fourth Protestant Reformed Church
               at aease.                                                      hereby wishes  tot express its sympathy to Mrs. Arthur Gunnink
                For I  wm angry  fo-v a little,  but they  helped  for-
                                                        .~                    and family in  10,s~  of their husband and father.
                am-d the a.# lit tion.
                                                                                                 M R .   A R T H U R   G U N N I N K   ,
         16.  Therefore thus  saith  .Jehov&,
               I have  retlurned to  Jemsalem   ivb mercies.                     Psalm 682.0: "He that is our God is the God of salvation
                My hoznse slaall be b&t in her, sa,itk Jehozlah  of hosts.    and unto God the Lord belongeth the issues from death."
 .-~          ^A@  a,  measuhng  line  slaall be  styetcl?ed  over  Jem-                                          Rev. H.  Veldman,  President
               salevva: -Y                                                                                   `-' John,  Veltman,  Secretary


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               131
 -                                                                                                                              - - -

                                                                       strong language. and must be pointed to the ultimate and the
Ij  F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T   /( rock-bottomness  of their faith, so that they may see the
                                                                       abject  `folly' of .their contentious doings.
                                                                           Is this not consummate skill and sagacity on the part of
             Exposition of I  Cqrinthians  1-4                         Paul in handling the Word, the Sword of the Spirit?
      How strongly Paul feels about this schism and party-                 Then, too, Paul asks  .the equally preposterous question:
strife in the congregation of Corinth, and with what right-            Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
eous and holy concern it fills his apostolic heart may be                  Baptism as a rite is a picture of the tmamition  once and
gathered from what he writes in the verses 13b through                 for $1 out -of the dominion, both legally and spiritually, of
verse 17 of this. first Chapter of this Epistle.                       the bondage of sin and death into the liberality, joy and                   :
      We refer, of course, to the following from the pen of Paul       peace in Christ Jesus, our Lord. It portrays the fact that
as recorded in the verses  13b-17,   `$$`a.s  Pa,ul  cmcified   for    we have been crucified with Christ and that now we have
you?  OY we?-e  ye  baptized in the name of Pa&? I thank God           be.en  raised with him unto newness of life, having been
that I baptized  none  of you, but  Crispus and  Gaius, lest any       called into the fellowship of God's Son. Thus a fundamental
sho`uld  say  t1aa.t I had baptized  i,n  g&ne  own  navtte. And  I    Separation is indicated in baptism ,of the separation also be:
baptized also the house of  Stephanzts: besides I know  not            tween the church and the world, the children of God and the
whether I  ba.ptized  any other. For  Cl&t  sent  me  not  to          children- of the Devil. That is the only "schism" having the
baptize,  b& to preach  the gospel, not  with wisdom of words,         sanction of Christ, for it is rooted in and is a manifestation
lest  the  Csoss  of  Christ should be made; of none effect."          of' the emnity which God has "established" between the' Seed
      Paul asks two very peculiar and arresting questions in           of the woman and the seed of the Serpent.           .
this portion of Scripture under consideration.                            In the light of the foregoing paragraph it ought to be
      These two questions are really questions which touch             quite evident that Paul's preposterous question, "were ye
the rock-bed of the truth of the Gospel and of the reality of          baptized into the name of Paul," is a very jolting one!
the Mystery of godliness that is great. It touches the ques-              It is a two-edged question.
tion of the reality of God in the flesh. In it Paul confronts              On the one hand it shows the evil of man's puny party-
the congregation of Corinth in their conduct with the quint-           strife, of the refined deviltry of making schisms where God
essence of the reality in Christ Jesus in his death, and the           does not inake one ; a schism which is not caused because of
accruing benefits for the church of this suffering, as this is         the separation due to the offense of the Cross, and the Gospel
portrayed in baptism !                                                 of salvation. Such was this schism in' Corinth. A mere up-
      Paul asks first of all: Paul was not crucified for you,          roar over non-essentials; a travesty on the real separation of
was he ? The rendering in the King James Version hardly                the Cross !      -:
does justice to the Greek. The construction is such that the.             However, on the other hand it reminds these Corinthians
question really presupposes a negative answer. When the                that "baptism" makes separation ; it is a sign and seal of the
Corinthians read this letter and come to this question they            righteousness by faith, and is the portion of those believing.
should spontaneously say with all their hearts: God forbid!            They must not be afraid of the real separation because of
      That is what Paul desires them to say !                          Christ and the truth as it is in Jesus. Then it is a question
      For Paul is only interested that the truth of the Gospel,        not of defending a person, a preacher, the "earthen vessel,"
that the Word of the Cross be maintained in the- lives of              but it is a question `of "the excellency of the power which
these. Corinthians and in that of the entire Church of the             is of God" (II Cor. 3:7-g)  Yea, then the Scriptures say "In
living God in the midst of the world.                                  this the children of `God are manifest and `the children of the
      What a preposterous and sacrilegious proposition. Paul           Devil  ; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
having been crucified in behalf of the church of God! Paul             neither he that loveth not his brother." (I John 3 :lO)
a mere man presented even for a moment as having"accom-                   Has this difference been brought about in Paul's name ?
plished on the Cross what only the Son of God, Immanuel,                God forbid!
could possibly do and has done! Perish the thought. No                    There is a strange depravity and an overwhelming pro-
wonder that Paul asks this question in such a way that the             pensity (mental. disposition) in the flesh of the church to-
answer which is expected is a strong and emphatic "no" !               ward the honoring of men. It must be that since man likes
      Paul does not mean to state that such for a moment was           to have an undue honor bestowed upon himseif he also is
the teaching of these Corinthians. Fact is, that the question          inclined to go head-long into the evil of heaping undue praise
presupposes very strongly that these Corinthians believed in           upon leaders in the church of Christ. :
no one else except Jesus Christ and Him, the crucified one.               Paul had a keen understanding of this propensity. Did
However, their conduct was such in their doting contention             he not need; to have a "thorn in his flesh" himself "lest I
about Paul and their forgetting about the essential facts and          should be exalted above measure through the abundance of
content of the gospel, that one would think that Paul had' revelations." Did Paul not daily live by the truth -of the                     ~_     .-_
been crucified in behalf of the church! These partisans need           pedagogical word of God to him given him upon his three-

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

fold petition, that the thorne be removed : "My grace is suf-          Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more
ficient to thee;-for my strength is made perfect in weakness."         disciples than John (though Jesus h&self baptized not, but
(II Corinthians 12 :9) 0,' Paul is aware of this evil of giving        his disciples) . . ."?
praise to man, which is not his due. -He knew himself (Rom.               This is the example followed by Paul.
7) and, therefore, understood the evil also in the- church.               How would not the flesh in the early Christians have
Paul does not write a mere abstract philosophical "opinion" in         capitalized ( ?). on the fact that they had personally been
I Corinthians 13 :l-3 "Though I speak with the tongues of              baptized by Jesus. But such none could say., Yes, they
men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as                were baptized by him with the gift of `the Holy Spirit;
sounding  brass,  or a  tinkling cymbal.  And though I have            they received the sign of the greater baptism in the water
the gift of prophecy, and understand all inysteries,  and all          by baptism at the hands of the apostles and discilpes..
knowledge ; and though ~1 have all faith, so that I could re-             Now all are baptized by Christ who believe.
move mountains, and have not charity, I a?% nothing. And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though                 This baptism of the people of God by Christ is sig-
I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it                  nified and sealed in the water baptism.
                                                          profiteth
me nothing" (I italicize) r                                               It makes no difference whether Paul performs this
       This is a burning question of the new obedience in Paul         rite or his colaborers under God.
as he forgets that which lies behind and reaches out unto that            The Cross and the Word of Cross manifest its  effec-   i.'
which is before him-to the prize of the upward calling in              tiveness and glorious content. And that is all that counts.!!.:
Christ Jesus.                                                          Then. the Lord will be glorified.                                  .
       It is with this in mind, namely, this profound sense of            With this in mind Paul also preaches.
the evil propensity of the flesh in which there dwells no good            Paul knows the great distinction between wisdom  of
at all, that Paul abstained almost entirely from baptizing in          words and words of wi.sdomt.  The former is the portion of
the congregation at Corinth. The great and central and ill-            those who would boast in man, in the talents of a preacher,
controlling task of Paul is to "evangelize," to preach the             while the latter is' the "wisdom of the God, in the Cross."
glad-tidings of Good things, and he is to do this in such a            And this "Wisdom" can be related as facts, the accom-
way that "if any one do any boasting in the church, he shall           plished fact-of  Salvation in the Cross. It is the Wisdom and
boast in the Lord." (I Cor.  1:31, Jer.  17:19).      '                the power of God.
       0, it is true Paul did baptize a few in Corinth. He men-           Such was. Paul's example. Well may we follow in his
tions them by name. He baptized Crispus,  ruler of then syn-           footsteps in the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments.
agogue in Corinth before his. conversion (Acts 18 :S), Gaius              And well may we heed what Paul has to .teach us in the
and the household of Stephanus, the first-fruits in Achaia. (I         verses 18-25 of this Chapter, which we hope to begin to
Cor.  16:15) For the rest Paul does not even remember                  study in the next issue, D. V.
any whom he baptized. It really doesn't matter.                                                                                         G. L.
  But, strange as it may seem, the flesh in the church often
talks more about the minister, who baptized them, than about
the Lord, Jehovah who saved them, and incorporated them
into His Son. Who has not heard people speak in great de-                                        Announcement
tail about the minister under whom they made confession of
faith, by `whom their children were baptized ? But who has                Classis East of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
not often too observed that as soon as the question is asked           meet on January 4, 1956 at 9 a.m. in the Hope Prot. Ref.
about the sharing in this great gift of Christ as this is sig-         C h u r c h .
nified and sealed in baptism, that there is silence in every                                                  M. Schipper, Stated. Clerk
language !
       And with this in mind Paul evidently left the act of
administering baptism to Timothy and other co-workers.                                            IN MEMORIAM
He would simply step aside for the moment. He did not                     The Men's Society of the  Hype   Protestant  Reformed Church
desire to stand in the lime-light. Paul was no actor who               wishes to express its sincere sympathy to one of its fellow mem-
must stand forth at an advantage. He recedes to the shad-              bers, Mr. Gerrit Moelker, and his family in the recent death of
ows in order that the Sacrament as an institution may                  their father and grandfather,
stand forth, and that all the light of the glorious gospel
may fall upon the Cross of Christ as the                                                    MR. JOHN  MOELKER                    .
                                             central fact of the
`gospel.                                                                  May the bereaved find comfort in the knowledge that God is
       In so doing he emulated the example of his and our              our refuge and our strength a very present help in trouble. Ps. 46  :1
Lord,`~ Jesus Christ. Do we not read in the Gospel of John                                                   Rev. H. Hanko, President
the following:. "When therefore the Lord knew how the                                                        J. Dykstra, Secretary..


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             133
                      --_

                                                                    Christian philosophy in the pre-Christmas days and tell your
                I N   H I S   F E A R                      1.: childrenthat if they do not behave, Santa Claus will not give
 I                                                         _.  II-s them -the; presents they want. But by so doing we destroy the
                                                                    whole idea of Christmas for our children and teach them anti-
                   Christmas  in  His Fear                          Christian philosophy.
      . It will be challenged, but we will say it anyway: There         The same is done with our lavish meals under which the
is* so very little celebration of Christmas left in the world       table groans ; and for -mother or older sister Christmas cele-
today.                                                              bration reaches no loftier spiritual ( ?) plane than tending a
       Indeed,, there is more Christmas celebration than there      hot stove, polishing the silver for the company that is ex-
ever was before. That is, there is inore celebration at Christ-     pected and behaving as though for the rest of the family what
mas time than there ever  ,was before. The newspapers are           Paul says is true that their "God is their belly," Philippians
full of it. Magazines point to it in their advertisements.          3  :19. That "belly" must be served, and therefore there can
Store windows, street decorations, rows upon rows of                be no appearing before His face in Divine services.
"Christmas" trees in what formerly were vacant  .lots are              And instead of gathering with our covenant seed in a
only a few of the many, many things that already indicate program wherein they in song and speech utter words that
that in a few days there will be much Christmas celebration:        tell of the true significance of the birth of the Saviour we
celebration at Christmas' time.                                     resort to that modern and most subtle of all tools of the
But celebration of Christmas itself will  ,be difficult to          devil, the TV set, to be entertained (corrupted would be a
find.                                                               better word) by those who have no part in Christ, have na
      And we put the, word Christmas in quotation marks             room for Him in the inn of their carnal and fleshly program.
above when we wrote of "Christmas" trees, because so men            Nor would He ever consent to take part in any of their evil
speak. Yet Scripture indicates no tree that has any sym-            programs that glorify the flesh: that portray the evil philoso-
bolism for Christmas and does not single out a pine, a fir, a       phy: "Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorow we die."
spruce tree for` the proper observance of the birth of the             Let us not be,self-righteous Pharisees and dare to say that
Saviour. It does not specify tin foil, candles, brightly colored    we are free from all this corruption!
ornaments and the like for the proper observance of so won-            If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that for
derful a thing as the coming of the Son of God in our flesh.        us also it simply would not seem like Christmas without all
      If any tree has symbolism for Christmas; if there is any      these unscriptural decorations and an especially sumptuous
tree that belongs to the idea of the birth of the Saviour ; it      meal. In fact should it please God to give us who live in the
is the tree of the cross with nails and blood and a crown of        northern climes an exceptionally mild day, the weather even
thorns for which He came into our flesh and for which He            would militate against our conception of &hat ought to be
tias born as one of us.                                             on Christmas. The world sings its silly songs: "I'm Dream-
      Christmas as celebrated today by the overwhelming ma- ing of a White Christmas." And in our flesh is that same un-
jority of men, women and children is positively antichris-          christian and unchristmas, or shall we say Christless idea,
tian. It has no .place for the Christ but centers around the        concerning what is necessary and what belongs to celebration
antichrist.                                                         of Christmas. A Christmas without turkey or chicken does
      Is the child's mind focused upon the fact that "unto you      not seem quite right. But a Christmas without Christ means
is born this day in the city of David a SW~O~W" (we italicize)      one with joy and merriment for the flesh!
when we take them to Santa Claus and perhaps keep him out              "A Merry Christmas to you" often means, and `always
of catechism on Saturday morning or afternoon, to see the           means when uttered by the world, a day with merriment be-
Santa Claus parade or to see him in the store in some distant       cause it is not "spoiled" by the things of Christ and His king-
city ? Is the child taught that for Christ's sake God "is the       dom.
rewarder of those that diligently seek Him"? (Hebrews                  Of course the world speaks of Him as the Prince of
11:6). Or do we teach him that Santa Clause will reward             Peace. Of course the world sings many carols about His
him if he obeys his father and mother, eats his oatmeal, goes       birth. But do not forget that the same godless Jews who cru-
to bed when told, washes the dishes without grumbling and           cified Him and gave money to the soldiers who watched His.
a host of other things ?                                            tomb and were witnesses of the fact that He was risen
      Do we let Santa Claus take the place of ~a sovereign and      from the dead also continued to sacrifice and pray in, the
righteous God ? Do we take Christ out of Christmas ? The            Temple and to declare and claim to look for the fulfillment
Scriptures teach us that Christ will come quickly and that          of all God's covenant promises. Today they still reject Him
His reward is with Him  ; and He will render to every man           and call Him an imposter and yet they sing and speak of a
according to his works, Revelation `Z@ :l?. And shall we by         Prince of Peace, of a Son of David who shall occupy his
this antichristian Santa-Claus-business teach them that San-        throne. For them there is no Christmas-except as a money
ta Claus is the rewarder of every boy and girl according            making project. And they will exploit it to the utmost as a
to his and her works ? It is so easy to fall into the anti-         money-making. adventure. They will even hire groups or  ~


134                                         T H E   STANDAKL)   B E A K E R

individuals to sing these carols - which, by the way,:is  not      His:face. It is celebration in the consciousness that He ac-
as pious and sweet as it looks either - though they believe        cimplished  all these things  that the Church of Christ might
none of the message in them.                                       ii+e before His face in everlasting glory. And it is celebration
       We say that this practice of playing or hiring others to    that responds to that glorious  tyuth:
sing and play Christmas carols to attract business to your             Birthdays of men are celebrated. Flags are raised and put
store is not so pious and sweet as it looks. How dare we           on display. Flowers may be heaped upon their graves. Busi-
make merchandize of the things spiritual ? How dare we use         ness establishments may be closed for the day. The m&moiy
spiritual things as an attraction for business adventures  ?       of these men is held in high esteem. And in their honor
That surely is not In His Fear! By doing so we take Christ         many things are said and done on that day. But the individ-
out of Christmas! For He drove the money changers and              ual for whom all this celebration is set forth knows nothing
sellers of cattle out of the Temple. And you may be sure that!     6f it and is not benefited in the least by it.
were He to come and visit .us in what we call Christmas cele-          On Christmas we celebrate the birth of one infinitely
bration He would strongly rebuke us for bringing the things        greater and more worthy of our praise and adoration. And
of the Temple, the spiritual things of the salvation He has        He lives and sees and knows what we do to celebrate the
come to bring to His peodle, into our stores for the sake of       day of His coming into our flesh. Celebration In His Fear,
making a few more dollars of filthy lucre. We may take Him         therefore, -is celebration as before His face and in love to
into our store, into our place of business. Indeed ! That we       Him.
ought to,do  but not in order to use Him and the things of-His         You need not purchase a "Christmas:' tree to honor and
salvation for a material, worldly advantage. Let us take Him       praise Him. He does not ask you to spend a tidy sum of
,along with us in our hearts to our place of business to teach     monejr for tinsel and a string of light bulbs of various colors.
us how to serve God therein and not to serve our flesh.- We        He demanded of Israel  that to celebrate the glorious deliv-
may take Him into our business as our Lord and Master              erance from the house of the bondage of sin and death they
Whom we will serve in every transaction. But we may not            eat the roast flesh of a lamb. But He does not demand you
take Him into our business as some handy servant and slave         and me to procure a turkey or chicken to observe the day of
whom we use together with His benefits for our material            His birth., In fact you cannot celebrate His birth by these
adirancemynt. Similarly, we may tell the world that we con-        things ! They have absolutely nothing to do with His birth.
duct no business on the Sabbath. But when we advertise             `In fact that abject poverty into which He came in the stable,
thus in order to win the approval and the business of felio.w-     in the lowly manger, outside the inn militates against all this
Christians, we make merchandize of spiritual things and -sin       gaudy and vulgar display of an  event  so sublime and heav-
therein.                                                           enly.
       When we celebrate Christmas In His `Fear then we go to          He does call us to unfurl the banner of the truth ; to meet
Him  and praise Him for the gift of all gifts that He has          with His people in His house of worship to hear what He
given us. We go to Him in prayer. We go to Him  ip His             has to say ; to. sing praises to Him.
house of worship. We acknowledge this great and glorious               He calls us to listen to Him and to make all our cele-
giff and do not hide it from ourselves and from our children       bration subservient to it and not to gifts, toys and meals.
by a host of worldly, material gifts that we give and receive          He calls us to believe- what .He says of Himself; to re-
from men. When we celebrate Christmas In His Fear, Christ          joice in it because of fait6  and with the angels to sing of the
and the loves of God in sending Him to be our Saviour oc-          glory of God.
cupies the central part of our celebration; and the greater            He calls us to bow in childlike reverence before Him in
part of our activity on that day revolves about Him. When          the adoration of love.
we celebrate Christmas in His fear we gather in all hu&lity            In His Fear keep Christ in Christmas.
and joy before His feet to be-taught by Him anew and more              Keep Him there all day:
richly the glorious truths of the birth of His Son.                                                                        J. A. H.
       And he who truly celebrates Christmas in His fear will
not be able to hold back his songs of praise to God. With the
holy angels he shall sing: Glory to God in the highest. He             "In Jesus Christ a preparatory history both divine and
will sing of the true peace that God has wrought in this Son       human comes to its close. In him culminate all the previous
for those who are the men of His good pleasure and will            revelations of God to Jews and Gentiles ; and in him are ful-
glorify Him for it. And as the shepherds returned glorifying
and praising God and telling all whom they met what they           filled the deepest desires and efforts of both G&tiles and
had seen and heard, the covenant parent will also want. to         Jews for redemption. He is the author of a new creation,
have the day filled with such praise and glory to God by his       the second Adam, the father of the regenerate, the head of
children and will take them along tb God's house of worship`       the church; "which is his body, the fulness  of him, that filleth
that they too may hear of all this wonder of God's grace.          all in all."
       Christmas celebration In His Fear is celebration before                      (Schaff's History of the Christian Church)


                                              THE  `S'TANDARD  B E A R E R                                                          135

                                                                        ground against Peier. Then again, the personal position of          ,
 11      Contending For The F;aiih- `~ -11 Peter.:.by nij,ltieans, yields the primacy to the Roman bishop,
 I'                                                               `I    with&&  `fhe &o fold evidence, first that Peter was actually
                                                                        in Rome, and then that he transferred his prerogatives to the
            The Church and the Sacraments                               bishop of that city. The former fact rests upon a universal
                                                                        tradition of the early church, which at that time no one
       VIEWS DURING THE SECOND PERIOD  (ZOO-750   A.D.)                 doubted, but is in part weakened and neutralized by the
                                                             6
                  THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                            absence of any clea; Scripture .evidence,.  and by the yluch
                                                                        more certain fact, given in the New Testament itself, that
                  THE PAPACY (by, Philip Schaff  ) .                    Paul labored in Rome, and that in no position of inferiority
                                                                        or subordination to any higher authority than that of Christ
                             (Continued)                                himself. The second assumption, of the transfer of the pri-
                                                                        macy to the Roman bishop, is susceptible of neither historical
       At last the Roman bishop, on the ground of his divine
 institution, and as successor of Peter, the prince of the              nor exegetical demonstration, and is merely an inference
                                                                        from the principle that the successor in office inherits all
 apostles, advanced his. claim to be primate of the entire
 church, and visible representative of Christ, who is the in-           the official prerogatives of his predecessor. But even grant-
 visible supreme head of the Christian world. This is the               ing both these intermediate links in the chain of the papal
 strict and exclusive sense of the title, Pope.                         theory, the double question yet remains open: first, whether
                                                                        the Roman bishop be the only successor of Peter, or share                '
       Properly speaking, this claim has never been fully real-         this honor with the bishops of Jerusalem and Antioch, in
 ized, and remains to this day an apple of discord-in the his-
 tory of the church. Greek Christendom has never acknowl-               which places also Peter confessedly resided  ; and secondly,
 edged it, and Latin, only under manifold protests, which at            whether the pritnacy  involved at th,e same time a supremacy                  k
 last conquered in the Reformation, and deprived the papacy             of jurisdiction over the whole church, or be only an honorary
 forever of the best part of its domain. The fundamental                primacy among patriarchs of equal authority and rank. The
 fallacy of the Roman system is, that it identifies papacy and          former was the Roman view; the latter was the Greek.`.
 church, and therefore, to be consistent, must unchurch not                An African bishop, Cyprian (died  258)) was the first `to
 only Protestantism, but also the entire Oriental church from           give to that passage of the sixteenth of Matthew, innocently
 its origin down. By the "una sancta catholica apostolica               as it were, .and with no suspicion of the future use and abuse
 ecclesia" of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed is to be              of his view, a papistic interpretation, and to bring out clearly
 understood the whole body of Catholic Christians, of which             the idea of a perpetual cathedva  Peki. The same Cyprian,
the ecclesia                                                            however, whether consistently or not, was at the same time
                 Rowmza,  like the churches of Alexandria, Anti-
 och, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, is only one of the most            equally animated with the consciousness of episcopal equal-
 prominent branches. The idea of the papacy, and its claims             ity and independence, afterward actually came out in bold           '
 to the universal dominion of the church, were distinctly put           opposition to Pope Stephen in a doctrinal controversy on
 forward, it is true, so early as the period before us, but             the validity of heretical baptism and persisted-in this protest
 could not make themselves good beyond the limits of the                to his death.
 West. Consequently the papacy, as a historical fact, or so                                Opinions of the Fathers.
 far as it has been acknowledged, is properly nothing more
 than the Latin patriarchate run to absolute monarchy.                     \Ve- now pursue the development of this idea in the
       By its advocates the papacy is based not merely upon             church fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries. In general
 church usage, like the metropolitan and patriarchal power,             they agree in attaching to Peter a certain primacy over the
 but upon divine right; upon the peculiar position which                other apostles, and in considering him the foundation of the
 Christ assigned to Peter in the well-known words: "Thou                church in virtue of his confession of the divinity of Christ;
 art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church." This              while they hold Christ to be, in the highest sense, the divine
 passage was at all times taken as' an immovable exegetical             ground and rock of the church. And herein lies a solution of
 rock for the papacy. The popes themselves appealed to it,              their apparent self-contradiction in referring the $etra  in
 times without number, as the great proof of the divine in-             Matthew  16:18,  now'to  the person of Peter, now to his con-
 stitution of a visible and infallible central authority in the         fession, noiv to Christ. Then, as the bishops in general were
 church. According to this view, the primacy is before the              regarded as successors of the apostles, the fathers saw in the
 apostolate, the head before the body, instead of the reverse.          Roman- bishops, on the ground of the ancient tradition of the
       But, in the first place, this preeminence of Peter did not       martyrdom of Peter in Rome, the successor of Peter and the
 in the least affect the independence of the other apostles.            heir of the primacy. But respecting the nature and prero-
 Paul especially, according to the clear testimony of his epis-         gatives of this primacy their views were very indefinite and
 tles and the book of Acts, stood entirely upon his own au-             various. It is remarkable that the references of the dock to
 thority, and even on one occasion, at Antioch?  took strong            Christ, -which  Augustine especially defended with great .ear-

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

nestness, was acknowledged even by the greatest pope of                ,ing learned Hebrew from Jewish rabbis when he lived in
the middle ages, Gregory VII, in the famous inscription he             Antioch and Bethlehem. He proceeded to make a new. Latin
sent with a crown to the emperor Rudolph: "Petra. (i. e.,              translation of the Bible. He translated the Old Testament
Christ) dedit Petro (i. e., to the apostle), Petrus (the pope)         not from the Greek Septuagint but from the original Hebrew.
diadema  Rudolpho."                                                    This Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome is known .as
       It is worthy of notice, that the post-Nicene, as well as the    the Vulgate. It was Jerome's noblest achievement and to this
ante-Nicene fathers, with all their reverence for the Roman            very day it is the, official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church
see, regarded the heathenish title of Rome, rubs aeterna (the          - H . V .
eternal city-H. V.), as blasphemous, with reference to the                 Jerome the most learned commentator among the Latin
passage of the woman sitting `upon a scarlet-colored beast,            fathers, vacillates in his explanation of the petra;  now, like
full of names of blasphemy, Rev. 17  :3. The prevailing                Augustine, referring it to Christ, now to Peter and his con-
opinion seems to have been, that Rome and .the Roman em-               fession. In his commentary on Matthew 16, he combines
pire would fall before the advent of Antichrist and the second         the two interpretations thus : "As Christ gave light to the
coming of the Lord.                                                    apostles, so that they were called, -after him, the light of the
       1. The views of the Latin fathers.                              world, and as they received other designations from the Lord ;
       The Cyprianic idea was developed primarily in North             so Simon, because he believed on the rock, Christ, received
Africa, where it was first clearly pronounced.                         the name Peter, and in accordance with the figure of the
       OPTATUS, bishop of Milevi, the otherwise unknown rock, it is justly said to him : "I will build my church upon
author of an anti-Donatist work about A. D. 354, is, like              thee (super te)." He recognizes in the Roman bishop the
Cyprian, thoroughly possessed with the idea of the visible             successor of Peter, but advocates elsewhere the equal rights
unity of the church ; declares it without qualification the            of the bishops, and in fact derives even the episcopal office,
highest good, and sees its plastic expression and its surest           not from direct divine institution, but from the usage of the
safeguard in the immovable ca.thedma Petri, the prince of the          church and from the presidency in the presbyterium. He
apostles, the keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven,             can therefore be cited as a witness, at most, for the primacy
who, in spite of his denial of Christ, continued in that rela-         of honor, not for a supremacy of jurisdiction. Beyond this
tion to the other apostles, that the unity of the church might         even the strongest passage of his writings, in a letter to his'
appear in outward fact as an unchangeable thing, invulner-             friend, Pope Damasus (A.D.  376), does not go : "Away
able to human offence.  All these prerogatives have passed to          with the ambition of the Roman head; I speak with the suc-
the bishops of  Rome3 as the successors of this apostle (this          cessor of the. fisherman and disciple of the cross. Following
bishop expressed himself thus about the year, 384-H.V.).               no other head than Christ, I am joined in the communion
                                                                       of faith with thy holines, that is, with the chair of Peter.
  Ambrose of Milan (Ambrose was one of the three great                 On that rock  D know the church to be built." Subsequently
leaders of the western part of the Church in the latter part           this father, who himself. had an eye on the papal chair, fell
of the fourth and the first part of the fifth century. The other       out with the Roman clergy, and retired to the ascetic and
two were Jerome and Augustine. He became the bishop of                 literary solitude of Bethlehem, where he served the church
Milan-in the year, 374, was a strong supporter of the Nicene           by his pen far better than he would have done as the suc-
Creed, in opposition to the Arian heresy which denied the              cessor of Damasus.
Godhead of the Christ, wrote many books, is classed among                                                                        H.V.
the Doctors or great teachers of the Church, and also did
much to promote Christian hymnology. He died in tne'year,
397-H.V.) speaks indeed in very high .terms of the Roman
church, and concedes to its bishops a religious magistracy
like the political power of the emperors of pagan Rome ; yet               Rome teaches that "no one ought to flatter himself up
he calls the primacy of Peter only a "primacy of confession,           with faith alone, fancying that by faith alone he is made an
not of honor; of faith, not of rank," and places the apostle           heir, and will obtain the~inheritance  . . . ."
Paul on an equality -with Peter. Of any dependence of Am-                  Wherefore Rome, as do all Arminians, calls it "rash
brose, or of the bishops of Milan in general during the first          presumptuousness" for any man to be assured that he is in
six centuries, on the jurisdiction of Rome, no trace is to be          the number of the predestinate.
found.                                                                     Quote, ."No one, moreover, so long as he is in this mortal
   Jerome was another of the three great leaders of the                life, ought so far to presume as regards the. secret Mystery
western part of the Church during this period. He was born             of divine predestination, to determine for certain that he is
in the year; 340 and died in the year, 420. The- last years of         assuredly in the number of the predestinate . . . for except
his  `life were spent in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ.          by special revelation,  it can not be known whom-God hath
There he lived as a monk and in a cave next to the cave in             chosen to himself."
which Christ was supposed to have been born. He- was                                     Decree on Justification, Chapters XI, XII,
about the bnly western churchman who, knew Hebrew, .hav-                                 Council of Trent.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               137

                                                                    of sins  (that--is,  a redemption and forgiveness of sins for
11 The Voice of Our  l&hers.                                  .`I1 all men' and every man) except the believer," as Article 2
                                                                    of the Remonstrance has it. And therefore the fathers
                                                                    rightly maintained that the Arminians denied the only and
               The Canons of Dordrecht                              most perfect sacrifice of Christ, and over against the Ar-
                           l'ART  TWO                               minians they taught that the death of the Son of God is in-
                                                                    deed the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for
                 EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS                           sin. But then the Arminians came back with a sophistic ac-
                                                                    cusation that with their doctrine of limited atonement the
                 SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE                            fathers proclaimed a limited and stingy God, and with a show
  OF  THE  DEATH  OF CHRIST ,  AND  THE  REDEMPTION                 of piety they accused the fathers of denying the infinite value
                      OF  MEN  THEREBY                              and worth of Christ's sacrificial and`atoning death. And it
                                                                    was in answer thereto that the fathers affirmed that the
            Article 3. The death of. the Son of God is the only
            and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin;    death of the Son of God  "is of infinite worth and value,
            and is of infinite wprth and value, abundantly suf-     abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world."
            ficient to mpiate the sins of the whole world.          Such is the background of this third article of Chapter II.

    The subject of this brief article is the value of the death        That Christ's death is the only and- most perfect sacrifice
of Christ. It is to be noted that already here mention is           and satisfaction for sin implies that as an actual fact there is
made of "the death `of the Son of God," by which expression         not and never was any other sacrifice for sin, that this most
.we are pointed to the reason for the value of Christ's atoning     perfect sacrifice completely satisfies the justice of God with
sacrifice, a subject which is further treated in Article 4. And     respect to sin, and-that another sacrifice of any kind is there-
in regard to the value of the death of Christ, the article          fore both unnecessary and impossible. This means, on the
points: 1) To the fact that it is "the only and most perfect        one hand, that Christ did not suffer any more than was
sacrifice and satisfaction for sin." .The superlative "most         necessary for the salvation of the elect, as though any part
perfect" (which is a correct translation of the Latin perfectis-    of that infinitely valuable sacrifice of the death of the Son of
siwza., - a point which the Dutch misses with its volvvlaa~kte)     God could be "wasted." And it means that it was not pos-
is  not to be understood in such a way that among-many              sible that the profitableness and worth of what Christ merited
sacrifices for sin the death of the Son of God is the most          might have existed and might remain in all its parts com-
perfect, while others are less perfect. That idea is, impos-        plete, perfect, and intact, even if the merited redemption had
sible in the light of the fact that it is the "only," unique,       never in fact been applied to any person. Cf. II,, B, 1. For
sacrifice for sin. Rather does it mean "perfect in the highest      perfection excludes waste, to be sure ; and even the abund-
degree," so that there is no shortcoming, no flaw, in it,.          ance of the worth of Christ's sacrifice does not imply that
and so that it therefore could be the "only" sacrifice and          His sacrifice was in any wise superfluous. On the other
satisfaction. 2) The infinite worth and value of that only          hand, it implies that nothing ever need be added or can be
and most perfect sacrifice. This is further defined by the          added to the sacrifice of Christ : He suffered all that was
words  : "abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the          necessary to suffer to make satisfaction for sin, and His
whole world."                                                       death is the only expiatory sacrifice. In the old dispensation
   In regard to both these points it is well to remind our-         there were no sacrifices for sin except such as were typical,
selves once again that the fathers were combating the  Ar-          in  whichj the blood of animals pointed forward to the blood
minian  error of general atonement, set forth in Article 2 of       of the Lamb of God. And when Christ came, He sacrificed
the Remonstrance. In this article the Remonstrants taught:          Himself and thus fulfilled and put an end to all typical sacri-
1) That Christ, agreeably to the purpose of God, died for           fice. And in the new dispensation His sacrifice is perfect
"all men and every man." 2 ) That He obtained for them all          and therefore unique, because all the value and worth that is
redemption and the forgiveness of sins. 3) That no one              necessary for our redemption, and therefore for our deliver-
actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins except the.  .believer.    ance, is in that sacrifice alone. Nothing at all can ever be
And they quoted the well-known words of John 3 :16 and I            added to that sacrifice, or need ever be added to it. He did
John 2 :2 ostensibly in support of their teaching. Now it is        not merely "acquire for the Father the mere right to establish
quite evident already from the above three proposition them-        with man such a covenant as he might please, whether of
selves, but especially from the various and devious explana-        grace or of works," but He "confirmed the new covenant of
tions of their position, that the Arminians wanted to maintain      grace with his blood"; and when He confirmed it, it was
a general atonement, the efficacy or power of which depended        indeed confirmed. He did not simply merit for the Father
not on the atoning death of Christ but on the humanly               "the authority or the perfect will to deal again with man,
fulfilled condition of faith. For while it is true that no one      and to prescribe new conditions as he might desire"; but He
actually enjoys the forgiveness of sins except the believer,        merited salvation and the faith whereby this satisfaction unto
it is not true that "no one actually enjoys this forgiveness        salvation is effectually appropriated. Cf. II, B, 2, 3. In other

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

words, all the blessings of salvation are included;- as far as      man." In  fact! many of the opinions of the delegates to the
their value, their worth, their purchase, is concerned, in that     National Synod rather detailedly exegete such terms as
one and perfect sacrifice and satisfaction of the death of the      "world" and "all," as they appear in. various Scriptures, and
Son of God.                            I                            they point out that never do the Scriptures teach an atone-
       In this connection it is. interesting to note how our fa-    ment for every individual. Viewed in this light, of course,
thers very carefully- analysed the second point of the Remon-       the statement could stand without further comment. How-
strance and pointed out its fundamental defects. The various        ever, that would be only a very superficial explanation of
provincial- delegations and the professors of theology and the      this statement. The truth is that the fathers intended to say
different foreign delegations studied the Arminian position         something general about the death of Christ without teaching
and arrived at their conclusion independently, and all their        the' lie of general atonement. And the reason for this we
reports are preserved for us in the Acts of' the National           have pointed out in our opening remarks on this article: the
Synod of Dordrecht. A study of these reports, or opinions,          Arminians charged that the doctrine of limited atonement
some of which are very detailed and lengthy, reveals that the       was a denial of the infinite  .value and worth of Christ's
first fundamental flaw to which many of them called atten-          death, and over against this the Synod maintains that His
tion was the mechanical way in which the Arminians pre-             sacrifice was indeed of infinite value.
sented the work of Christ and made separation in that work.             That by this statement they do not intend to teach
The fathers frequently emphasize the organic `wholeness of          general atonement, and that it is not entirely accurate to say
that work, and point out that you cannot make separation            that Christ's death is "sufficient for the sins of all men, but
between redemption and deliverance, between the redemptive          efficient only for the believers," is plain from: 1) The fact
value of Christ's sacrifice and its power and effectual appli-      that in this chapter they combat the Arminian error of
cation, between the blessings which He merited by His death         general atonement. The fathers certainly do not cast out this
and the application and appropriation of those blessings. The       error from the front door and bring it back in through the
latter necessarily follows the former. And while distinctions       back door. 2) The fact that they very literally maintain the
can be made between various aspects of the work of Christ,          doctrine of limited atonement, especially in Article 8, and
that work is nevertheless one whole, the\ parts of which are        therefore could not possibly have meant to say that Christ
inseparable. On this basis, of course, if Christ's atonement        actually expiated the sins of the entire human race, head for
is general, so that He actually has obtained for all men and        head. 3) The fact that in many of the official opinions of
for every man redemption and the forgiveness of sins, then          the delegates this very subject is discussed in detail, and that
all are redeemed and have their sins forgiven, whether they         in the same opinions the truth of limited atonement is strictly
know it and believe it, or whether they have never heard of         maintained, both as to the intention of God in Christ and as
the work of Christ and never have the gospel preached unto          to its actuality. The only exceptions to this are the opinions
them. This the Arminians could not and would not .admit,            of the British theologians and of Martinus, one of the
since they would then be, forced to maintain the actual sal-        theologians from Bremen. These, to put it very mildly,
vation of all men. And the second fundamental element em-           might be called in question. Cff. "Acta der Nationale Synode
phasized in these opinions is that of the purpose and imfmt         van Dordrecht,~ 1618 en 1619," pp. 420, ff., and 694, ff.
both of God Triune and of Christ, Who came to do the                    A study of the above opinions of the delegates is also
Father's will, in that atoning death. It is here, of course,        very revealing as to the meaning of the statement under
that the connection between the first and second chapters           discussion. It means that the sacrifice `and satisfaction of
of the Canons comes to. the foreground. This is developed           Christ zvhevt considered by itself, that is, apart from God's
further in Article 8. But even here we. may note that it is         elective decree and apart from the intent and purpose of
only on the basis of the truth that it was the purpose and          Christ's death and apart from the fact that Christ re-
intent of God the Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ to            presented in His death only the elect, woztld ha?ve  been suf-
atone and ,to obtain redemption and the forgiveness of sins         ficient to expiate the sins of the entire human race, yea, of
for all the elect and for them alone, that this truth of the        several more worlds. There is nothing defective in that death
unique and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction of the           itself, nothing lacking in the value of the sacrifice, that limits
death of the Son of God can be maintained.                          its atoning efficiency to the elect alone ; the latter limitation is
  Now we come to the rather striking statement as to the            not due to a limited value of Christ's death, -for His death
infinite worth and value of Christ's death, namely, that it was     was abundantly sufficient, yea, infinite in value ; -but it is
"abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world."     due to the sovereign limitation of God's elective will, with
Taken at face value, of course, this statement is entirely          which will Christ was in perfect harmony when He gave
correct and Scriptural. For Scripture teaches literally that        Himself to the death of the cross. Such is the idea of this
Christ is the propitiation "for our sins ; and not for ours         statement.
only, but also for the sins of the whole world." I John  2 2.        In evaluating the statement we may remark: 1) That it
And a proper exegesis of this passage indeed reveals that           is actually a bit of speculation, and, in a way, a bit of philo-
"the whole. world" is not the same as "all men and, every                             (Cont.im4ed   on  p a g e   W)


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 139

I/                                                                    public and the sin is of a gross nature, the name of the
         . -DECENCY and ORDER                                     II guilty one should be removed from the nomination at once
                                                                      even tho.ugh  he' repents. Before such a person could serve in
                                                                      the office, a sufficient period of time must elapse, as we wrote
              A Question on Approbation                     `.        in the November 15th issue of the Standard Bearer, so that
      Before we proceed to discuss the various elements of            it may be shown beyond question that the confession of sin
                                                                      is sincere.
Article 23 of our church order as we wrote that we would
do in our last article, we wish to comment on a question.               (2) In the case where the election has already taken
received from one of our readers, which concerns Article 22           place, we deal with what might in a way be called an ex-
and deals with the matter of the approbation of elders                ceptional case. It is rather unusual that a man who has been
mentioned in that Article. The question as we received it is:         chosen to the  office  of elder perpetrate gross sins -between
      "When an elder, being approbated, becomes guilty of a           the time of his election and installation. Abstractly, of course,
sin before he is installed, and he is labored with, does his          this is quite possible. It is even possible that ,one has lived
nomination/election become null and void, by an act of the            in a certain sin for a time but that it did not become known
Consistory, as long as he remains unconverted of his sin  ?"          to anyone in the congregation until after the election. In
      "When an office bearer, elected, is on approbation, before      either case, where the charges are definitely proven to be
installation, and falls into sin, and a brother brings charges        true, the election itself must be voided. Essentially the
against him to the Consistory, and the charges are true, and          same action i's taken by the consistory in the immediate de-
proven, is he taken off the nomination, or his election de-           position of elders, guilty of gross sin who are serving in the
clared null and void, when the Consistory is convinced the            off&. In the hypothetic case we are considering, the elder
charges are true ?"                                                   has not yet been installed but he has been chosen by the
                                                                      congregation. It may be very advisable for a consistory that
      "An elected office-bearer, of whom a bad report is true,        is confronted with such a case to seek the advice of a neigh-
and proven to be true by witnesses ; is he taken off nomina-          boring consistory as it does in the case of the deposition of
tion or is his election voided-apart from whether or not              an elder. It would be the safer and most fair procedure
he is sorry for his breach?"                                          but, at any rate, if the charges are true, installation cannot
      "John Jones is elected and is being approbated. A brother       take place as those guilty of gross sin may not be put into
brings in a bad report to the Consistory. The report is proven        office in the church.
to be true. Is John Jones' election voided  iwwzediately   by             (3) In instances where gross sin has been committed,
the Consistory ? Or do they labor' with him to confess his sin        the fact of the brother's penitence or impenitence does not
in order that he may serve'in that ofhce  ?"                          effect the disposition of the case by the Consistory at all.
      In the above question we have four different formulations       The only way in which that matter would affect the con-
of the same question. There are really two cases presented            sistory's action is that in the case of impenitence, she would
here which are essentially the same but differ only in one            have to labor further with the brother as a common-member
detail. The. first is the case of a brother who is placed on          and apply the necessary steps of discipline. In either' case
nomination by the consistory and against which objections             the person guilty of public sin is immediately declared inelig-
are lodged prior to the election. The other, is the case of           ible for the office. The office may not -be desecrated. The
an elected office bearer against whom objections are raised           welfare of the church and the g&y of God's Name are more
between the time of his election and installation. In both            important than the pleasure of any individual.             L
cases the supposition is that the charges brought to the con-             (4)    In this connection, we may also cite a possible situa-
sistory against the brother are proven true. The questioner           tion which implies a warning for Consistories confronted with
wants to know what the proper action on the part of the               matters of this sort. It is possible that a certain member may
Consistory would be in such instances and, further, whether           not like the person who has been elected to office and, al-
the penitence or impenitence of the accused brother make              though he brought no charges against the person at the time
any difference as far as the proceedure  of the Consistory            the nomination was submitted for approbation, he afterwards,
in treating the matter is concerned.                                  out of jealousy, spite or ill-will, digs up various accusations
      In our reply to these questions we make the following           which he procures a witness to sustain. Outwardly it would
comments :                                                            appear as though his case against the brother is very strong.
      (1) We assume that the sin or sins referred to are of a         The Consistory must proceed carefully in investigating such
public, gross nature. This makes an essential difference in           matters. It is well to inquire why the charges were not
the case where the accused is penitent. If the offense is of a        brought in before and if there is no legitimate reason, and
minor or personal nature, a matter between two individuals,           jealousies are evident, the whole matter can be dismissed
and the accused is shown to be wrong and confesses his sin,           and the Consistory can proceed with the installation of the
the matter is closed and in that case it would not effect the         elected brother.
brother's serving in the office. If, however, the matter is               (5 j With the following comments of Monsma and Van


 140                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.?ER
 -                                     -

 Dellen we fully agree: "Moreover, certain valid objections           this was obtained the installation could properly take place.
 against one of the elected brethren may arise afterthe  election.        According to the system used by our churches, however,
 To use an extreme illustration: An elected brother might 0 there is really a double approbation. Firstly, the nomination
 drink himself drunk after an election and thus make himself          of names is submitted for approval to the congregation. At
 undesirable for the time being at least, although his conduct        least for a two week period opportunity is given to every
 on this score was above reproach previously.                         member to express disapproval with the nominations. Of
        If objections are entered against any elected brother, but    course, such disapproval must be well founded. Secondly,
 the Consistory finds that the objections are not valid and           the election itself implies approbation and then especially, if
 insufficient then the party concerned is installed as usual. . we consider with this that according to the Form of Instal-
 But if the complaining member gives notice of appeal to              lation of office-bearers, the names of those chosen by the
 Classis,-then  the installation should wait until after the Clas-    congregation are again announced to the church for final
 sis has considered the matter: However, if the Consistory is         approval. Without this approval the installation itself cannot
 fully persuaded that the objector is merely motivated by             take place. All of this indicates how thorough the election
 jealousy or ill-will, then the Consistory has the right to           of office-bearers in Reformed Churches really is. It shows
 proceed with the installation in spite of the appeal to Classis.     that one who .is chosen is really called and selected by the
 But it stands to reason that a Consistory will await the             church. Reformed people do not sanction the practice of
 verdict of its Classis unless the circumstances are very extra-      individuals appointing others to office. However, if this
 ordinary. And when a Consistory is minded to install a               hractice  is to remain what it ought to be, the church must
 brother in spite of an appeal to Classis, it should first con-       be evermore conscious of.uher duties of approbation and may
 sult a neighboring Consistory or its Church visitors as a mat-       never neglect them.
 ter of good order and Christian consideration toward the                 When one has serious objections to the placing of a
 aggrieved party. If a consistory has awaited' the verdict of         certain name or names on nomination, it is in the interest of
 its  Classis, and if the  Classis advises to install, then the       all concerned that he voices them before the consistory at
 Consistory should install without delay, even though the             the earliest opportunity. If he is in error with respect to his
 protesting brother should appeal to Synod. No one duly               objections, the consistory .may be able to make him see it
 elected should be barred from- office for months by a series         so that before his own mind the objections are removed. If
 of protests. That would `be unjust `toward- the elected              his objections are valid, it is in the interest of the whole
 brother, and toward the Church."                                     church that the consistory be informed so that they may
                             * *  *  +                                act accordingly for the spiritual welfare of the flock. One
                                                                      who is really concerned with the.true  interests and spiritual
        A few words may be said yet regarding approbation in          welfare of the church will not hesitate or fear to perform
 general." This is a very important part of the lawful calling        this necessary duty. Only let it always be remembered that
 of ministers of the Word, according to Article 4, as well as         this work too is a spiritual work of love and must never be
of the calling of elders and deacons, according to Articles 22        performed under the motive of a head-strong determination
 and  .24. It, together with the election proper under the            to get my way or else . . :. but rather out of the desire to
 method used in our churches, denotes the very essential part         seek the well-being of the church and cause of Christ to
 which the congregation takes in the calling. Too often are           which one's awn wishes are always to be submissive.
 the instances and too many are the members who do not                    Let all things be done decently and in good order !
 regard this seriously. Instead of voicing dissent with the                                                                 G.V.D.B.
 nominations made in the proper way and at the proper
 place, they rather choose to openly criticize the Consistory's
 labors and go about gossipping and. slandering the name of                         THE VOICE OF  O'UR  FATHERS
 the brother who has been put on the nomination, lowering                                   (Cove  timed  from page 138)
 him in the esteem of others. Nominations are not made and            sophizing about the value of Christ's death. 2) That the
 announced to the congregation for that purpose. They are             thought is not a Scriptural presentation, -even `though it
 made and announced solely so that the congregation may               does not ,militate against. the Scriptures, and may therefore
 have opportunity to seriously and faithfully perform their           stand. 3) That also in the light of the Canons themselves the
 Godgiven  duties in the selecting of office-bearers in the           infinite value and abundant expiatory worth of the death of
 church. Approbation is not simply a privilege which may              Christ may be viewed more correctly from the point of view
 of may not be used. It is a duty ; the duty of every member          of : a) the fact that it was an) atonement for sin against the
 of the church.                                                       infinite majesty of God (cf. Art. 1) : b) the fact that it was
      Approbation means, to approve. According to the first           the "only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and in-
 system of electin,m elders that is mentioned in the 22nd Article     finite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit," Who
 of our Church Order, there was but one approbation. The              atoned ; and, c> the fact that His death was attended with
 Consistory would then elect the number of elders needed and          a sense of the infinite wrath and curse of God due to us for
 submit their names for approval to .the congregation. When           sin. (cf. Art. 4).                                         H.C.H.
                                                                            *


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           s                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R '                                            1 4 1

                                                                  "The Church's  Subwban   Caphvity"
           A.LL  -AROUN.D   U S   ~,[I Rev;.`Peter  Y. De Jong, writing under the heading "Fa-
                                                                  thers and Brethren  !" in the same issue of torch and trumpet
                                                                  mentioned above and reflecting on an article in the Christian
"God's Ways . .  .`I                                              Century with the above title, makes some interesting corn-
    On this subject Dr. Edwin H. Palmer, pastor of the            ments.upon which we wish to centre your attention briefly.
Christian Reformed Church at Spring Lake, Michigan, writes        We usually enjoy his articles- which are pithy and practical, -
in the November issue of torch and trumpet.                       and this one not the least. He writes as follows :
    His brief article is obviously an autobiography though            "In the SEPTEMBER 29, 1955 issue of  The Christian
he heads his article with the words, "A chapter in the spirit-    Cent,ury a challenging article appeared under the title of
ual biography of a young pastor." He tells us about his early     `The Church's Suburban Captivity.' In it the writer at-
background, and how he was led to the Christian Reformed          tempted to point up what he considered one of the greatest
Churches. The purpose of his article was evidently two-fold.      perils of American ecclesiastical life. Since World War II
In the first place, he wanted his reader4  to reflect with him    the .trek from the larger cities with their overcrowded streets
on how wonderfully the Lord led him through the-way of            and outmoded houses to the suburbs with grassy plots and
conversion from a careless, worldly, individual into a pro-       gardens has been growing apace. Millions have been spent
found love for spiritual values of a Calvinistic calibre as he    in erecting church buildings in outlying areas.
believes they are most clearly set forth in the Chr. Ref.             "All this, the author notes, has left the churches in the
Churches. And, secondly, to remind his readers of the im-         city in the back-wash. The flight to the suburbs has almost
portant link between Westminster Seminary of the Ortho-           taken on the appearance of panic. In these days of rising
dox Presbyterian Churches and Calvin Seminary of the              prosperity people don't want to be caught in the old
Christian Reformed.                                               neighborhoods. And the net result has often been that others
   I'm sure the article itself, though brief enough  `to be       less prosperous have moved in, whom the churches in their
quoted in its entirety here, will be of little interest to our    weakened condition and their fear of getting the `wrong
readers so I will not quote it. However, it affords me a nice     people' into the Lord's house have failed to reach. The whole
opportunity to write a word or two about three other young        temper of our spiritual life has been affected. Clergy and                .
pastors who perhaps could, but would not, write of almost         leadership are largely recruited from people with the suburb-
a similiar experience. I refer, of course, to the Revs. E.        mentality, which the writer considers a `threat to the church's
Emanuel, R. C. Harbach and J. A. McCollam,  who are by            witness to Christ's lordship.' The concept of success has
this time quite well known to our people.                         been introduced into the church with its emphasis on `pushing
  . All have been informed of their background. Reared in         competition,' `distributive rewards,' and `individualistc  think-    .
.backgrounds wholly foreign to our own, in churches of            ing.' In spite of its hyperactivity, the church with the suburb-
Arminianistic  hue, the Lord led them through various off-        mentality has been too successful in insulating itself from
colored schools as far as the Reformed doctrine was con-          t h e   m a s s e s .
cerned even into the ministry of churches just as off-color.
And then, by an act of sovereign mercy He led them pro-               "This points up a problem which we also have with us,
videntially to us, where today they -each serve in the  .min-     be it in a somewhat different form. As Reformed Christians
istry of our Prot. Ref. Churches where the Lord has called        we confess vigorously that the Lord Jesus Christ and not man
them.                                                             (whether preacher or parishoner) gathers the church in the
   When I read Dr. Palmer's article I could not help re-          unity of the true faith. In principle we react strongly against
flecting on these brethren whom it pleased God not only to        any attempt to make the church `class-conscious.' Tradi-
bring into contact with our peculiar truth but also gave          tionally we even insist that people should attend that church
grace to them to abide in that truth, while others who were       of our faith which is located nearest their homes.
born and reared in it fell away.                                      "Much of this profession, I fear, has been with tongue
   Recalling how our people asked me often when first these       in cheek. Practice has often given the lie to our principle.'
brethren came to us : What are -we going to do with them?         At  timesi  indeed, it'is advantageous and even necessary for
I replied that I believed the Lord would provide a place          people to retain membership in a church farther removed'
for them, not knowing, of course, or even dreaming of the         from them. The language used at worship, the mobility of..
way this was finally to be accomplished.                          people who live in rented apartments or rented farms, strong
   Considering all this, I say with Dr. Palmer: God's ways~       family ties in a church which stresses the covenant idea, and
are surely wonderful! Much more wonderful they are for            dwindling membership in certain congregations may justify
the three brethren mentioned than even the experience of Dr.      some of this.
Palmer. For they surely are -united to a church. where "the           "But a problem has arisen which needs to be pointed up.
sovereignty of God, predestination, the covenant, are purely      During the past two decades there seems to be a growing
taught. To Him be all the praise!                                 awareness of `class' within the Christian Reformed Churches.


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 And though the subject is a delicate one and lays all who-         Jong -in the Christian Reformed Chufch  in particular is not,
 mention it open to sneering or scathing denunciation, ,it de-      as I see it, a particular problem of the Protestant*.Reformed
 mands discussion not only but strong resistance;' :It -can         Churches. At least I am not aware of any class distinctions
 hardly be denied that many of our people moving into a new         in our churches. I do not know of any "common man's
 area chose their church-home without thought to principle.         churches," "rich churches," "snboty churches," "sound or
 Instead of asking where they are most needed, they select          liberal chufches," etc. This is due, no doubt, to the fact that
_ their church-homes on the basis of where they feel they `will     we are small, and now through the process of reformation
 fit in best.' Thus in our larger centers we find certain con-      have became even smaller.
 gregations  mlade up  /almost exclusively  ,of day-laborers ;         However, if this can become a problem for a'church as
 other of farmers ; others of business men ; others of profes-      small as the Christian Reformed, and I have no reason to
 sional people The parlance of the people betrays the rise of       doubt that it can and is, there is no reason to hesitate to
 this trend unmistakeably. We hear them talking about `rich         declare that in time it can be come a problem also for us.
 churches, `snooty" churches,  `commoh  man's' churches,            And we can agree with most of what Dr. De Jong acclaims
 and `rather liberal' churches. Although many of these re-          as the proper solution, namely, that "every congregation
 marks are unjustified and most of them are unkind, they            ought as. much as possible represent a cross-section of our
 sound an alarm which we do well to heed.                           Reformed believers." Dr. De Jong does, however, in his
                           * * *  *                                 solution pose another problem when he suggests that con-
                                                                    gregations Should comprise among such as "rich and poor,"
       "In the Christian Reformed Church we have always taken       "educated and uneducated," etc.,  .also  black and white  and
 a. measure of justifiable pride in the reality and vigor of our    red and yellow." Surely this latter distinction brings with it
 denominational unity. We are one i'n our common faith in           several practical problims that are of no small significance.
 Christ. We ai-e one .in the preaching heard in our pulpits         Space will not allow us to present thein now, so we will pass
 from coast tb coast. We are one in seeking to realize com-         them up for the time being.
 mon goals in education, philanthrophy and missions . But if
 this unity is not to be underminded or destroyed, every' con-         There is, however, something .in this article of D1;. De
 gregation ought as much as possible represent a cross-sec-         Jong that is applicable to us. I -refer to the following : "Tradi-
 tion of our Reformed believers. What more impressive sight         tionally we even insist that people should attend that church
 can there be than a congregation assembled around the Word         of our faith which is located nearest their homes." I~ani
 &d.sacramerits  comprising rich and poor, educated and un-         not sure that we have this "tradition." But I wonder if it
 educated, farmers,. business men and day-laborers, teachers        would not be good that we did, and that we would put it
 and doctors and lawyers, yes even black and white and red          irito practice. What I say here has particular significance-
 ahd yellow! The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the             for those who live in a city like Grand Rapids where we
 gieat l&,eler  of meu. In the sight of God the souls of all his    have four churches and another on the perifery. I know of
 saints are precious. The church of the Saviour must do more        several cases where people will by-pass a church within a
 in our days of social climbing and growing class-conscious-        few blocks from their home to go several  miles across town
 ness, stimulated by rising nationalisms throughout the world       to worship iti another  of our churches. There may be several
 and increased luxury at home, than preach the principles of        reasons why people do this, as also Dr. De Jong .suggests.
 spiritual unity in Christ. We need desperately consistent          And maybe these people can well defend their action. But
 personal practice.                                                 the fact of the matter is that some of these smaller churches
                                                                    which could  be helped with the addition of ten or twenty
       "This requires a large measure of self-denial. -All of us    families are asking themselves j and others the question:
 like a church where we can feel bekfectly at ease with our         Should we noL dissolve and ask our people to go to these
 little clique of friends and associates. But by seeking the        churches vlhich, because of their size, seem to draw these
 gratification of these man-centered desires, we fail to grow       families that by-pass the smaller churches?
 spiritually ourselves and weaken our witness in a hopelessly           It seems to me that when a church has only seven or eight
 divided .and warring world.                                        -families and it could] have twenty seven or eight if so many
       "As ministers and elders we must warn incessantly            did. riot by pass them, it is only playing church when the
 against this growing evil. The sin lies at the door of every       smaller church continues. And this expression "playing
 human heart. Here we must experience the relevance of the          church" I apply both to the small church that continues and
 Word which teaches. us, `Owe no man anything but to love           to those who by-pass it. It becomes a bit ridiculous when a
 one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the         church of only seven or eight families has to struggle for
 law.' In choosing a church-home that love will seek not.itself     years to meet its Classical and  Synodical  assessments besides
 but the welfare of others and the unity of Christ's body which     its regular running expense so that its members are taxed
 is so essential in our sin-wracked world."                         with budgets that are ridiculously abnormal while members
       The problem which the writer iti The Christian Century       who should be there to help this struggling congregation
 envisioned in the church in general and the Rev. P. Y. De          by-pass it to go to a larger church where the only incon-


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                143

 venience is the element of travel and now and then the                bar," but then they get into difficulty with Question 1, in
 problem of sending their children to catechism, etc.  .-It            the answer oi.which we read "and  Ytzake me sincerely willing
 seems to me that nobody would be hurt and all concerked               and &&dy, h'enceforth,  to live unto him." One rather doubts
 would be helped if a rule were imposed that all our families          whether they would be willing to say: I. hate God ! But to
 would go to the church nearest their homes. And they should           this~  the omission "by nature" leads one.
 be so advised by their consistories when family visitation is             By thus denying, virtually at least, the necessity and
 conducted.                                                   M.S.     possibility of `the good works of faith a good part of the
                                                                       marrow and bone of the Catechism is denied, and one of the
                  CONTRIBUTIONS                                        "three things" wh&h we must know to live and die in `the
                                                                  II enjoyment of the comfort of belonging to Jesus is neglected!
                                                                           When asked: does not  .th& Heidelberg Catechism speak
                     M i s s i o n a r y   N o t e s                   of our putting off of the "old Man" and the "putting on of
     It is interesting and sometimes saddening `to note that in        the "new Man," then the answer is : Christ is the new man !
 those church circles where the teaching of the Heidelberg             You answer : well .and good ! However, does this "new man'"
 Catechism is clung to, although they are not of the Reformed          which is Christ not in anyway  make  $1~ "new man"?  The
 churches as they descend from Netherlands, that. controver-           answer one gets then cannot seriously cause one to doubt
 sies arise over the question of the relationship of salvation         that this is denied by them ; and it is very clear that it is
 by grace alone and the good works of thankfulness. These              harmf&ly neglected by them.
 controversies often arise because there is rio sincere willing-           I looked in a Catechism Book of a certain Rev. Hofer
 ness to maintain both, but that each runs off the beaten path         and found, that, according to Question 208, he cannot be
 of the Heidelberg Catechism, aiming to maintain either works          held responsible for this neglect of maintaining that we too
 at the expense of grace, or grace, in the imaginary fear of           share in this "new man," which is really princsply  Christ
 works, which follow from grace.                                       as the life-giving Spirit. I read there in German `Was meint
     One could allow a measure of justification for these bat-         die Schrift mit dem neuen Menschen? Antwort : Den Herrn
 tles were it not that the Heidelberg Catechism is so very             Jesum Christum  zdnd  was  wiv in  i?zws  gewovden   sind." (I
 e,uplicit  and clead on this point in both the questions 62, 64       italicize) (What  ddes Scripture understand with  the New
and S6. In the latter question we read, "Since then we are
                                 rwst                                  Man ? The Lord Jesus Christ, and wht we have become in
 delivered from our misery, merely of grace through Christ,            H&z. j This latter part seems to point in the proper direc-
 without any merit of ours, why           we still do good works?"     tion.
     The question of the necessity of good works in this con-              The ~~,otivc  back of this rather strange reasoning, that
 fessionally defined setzse isa very actual one in the congre-         Christ alone is the "new Man," without our also becoming
 gation of the Reformed Hoffnungs Gemeinde at Loveland,                "living members," who bear fruit in patience, is the fear of
 Colorado.                                                             legalistic pietism, which looks for the ground of salvation
     However, not all the brethren, whom I have met in my              within themselves, in their "pious" experience. And this
 labors as Home Missionary, maintain the need of these                 fear is understandable. If the performance of good- works
 "good works" in the sense that the Heidelberg Catechism               were to be the "ground" of salvatiofz, then let all works for-
 speaks of it.                                                         ever be cast out of the window! However, they are not the
     I have met brethren who are very afraid to say : Since we         "ground" of salvation, but they are the "evidence" of faith
 are redeemed by grace, without works of merit, we must now            and the "new man," of "what we have become in Christ !"
 perform good works of gratitude!                                          Not distinguishing properly (richtig unterscheiden) be-
     How do they reason'?                                              tween the "ground" of salvation and the "evidence" of sal-
     It is theologically linked up with their conception of            vation in good works of thankfulness, they fall into the error
 "image of God," "the new man," "Faith," and other ques-               of the  ArnYinomist  (die Gegencesetzlichen) which allow  tinly
 tions.                                                                for the activity in faith which says: my sins are forgiven,
     According to the popular expression of these laymen               and do not allow for the sanctifying activity of a living faith,
 brethreri,  the christian  is dead. All our life is in Christ. But    which reveals itself in the keeping of the law of love "thou
 that life in Christ doesn't seem to be imparted to the be-            shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
 liever, so that although he was darkness he now, according                Only Question 21 then has a place in the life of faith; the
 to the new `Man,  is alive in the Lord, a living member of His        Questions 63, 64 and also Questions 86, 87, 91 and 114 are
 body !                                                                to ill practical extent not applicable to life. Thus the founda-
     Then quoting Question 5 of the Heidelberg Catechism               tion iaid so very carefully in Question S6 is not maintained,
 and in reciting 1 that beautiful answer they omit the "by nat-        and a crippled life of sanctification` is the result.
 ure" in the part that reads as follows: "For I am by nature               The "small beginning" (Geringe Anfang) is so distorted
 prone to hate  ,God  And my neighbor." The consequence.               that it results in our life in nothing. (Nichts).
 would be ,that they have to say : "I hata God and my neigh-               Faith' o&y says : our sins are forgiven !


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   144                   ___                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A 'R E R

          --Now the congregation in Loveland understands that faith :Noah and how God has saved him and his family so that ,
   says, indeed, that our sins are forgiven, or rather: God says           eight souls were saved from perishing in `the Flood; and
   that to them in their faith in the Son of God. And in this              eight souls were saved from the evil world by the Flood.. If
   same faith God makes them  sincerely  till&g, henceforth, to            we look at it from a human viewpoint; then `it looks to be so
   live unto Him!                                                          foolish. But we are called by our God to go forward; and,,
          Faith to our people in Loveland is to be ingrafted into          if God is for us, who can be against us? We had- hoped-and
   (einverleibt in `Christo) and thus receive all of His benefits,         prayed that the Lord might open the eyes of those that
   also the benefit of a putting off of  thg old man and the               ieft us as He showed us the error of our way.' Undersigned
   putting on of the new man.                                              was also guilty for a time as well as the rest of the  cdn-
          They understand that `when speaking of the New Man               sistory. But the Lord has given me grace to confess my.
   and of "faith" it must not be forgotten "what we have be-               error. His name be praised. I hope that He may use me
   come in Him" (See above, answer of Rev. Hofer)                          as an example for others in confessing that. I had erred in
          The congregation fully agrees, in principle, with what           supporting those who became schismatic in order to defend
   Ursinus writes in his Exposition of the Heidelberg Cate-                the heresy of conditional theology.
   chism, Question 91: There Ursinus writes :                                        I would like to call the brothers and sisters-who still love
           "II. God  works   aYe to  be  done: 1. That we may there-       the Protestant Reformed truth to get down on their knees
   by testify of our faith, and be assured of its existence in us          and return with us. In this we would greatly rejoice, for
   by the fruits, which we produce in our lives." Being filled             therein God would be glorified.
   with the fruits of righteousness, which are by `Jesus Christ,                     Our meetings have been held so far in the homes of
   unto the praise and the glory.of  God." "Faith without works            Mr. and Mrs. A.  `A. Van Weelden and of  Mr: and Mrs.
   is dead (M&t. 7:17; Phil. 1:ll; James 2:17)."                           Cecil Vander Molen. The other side is still using the build-
                                                                  G. L.    ings. According to our incorporation papers the church
                                                                           belongs `to those who remain true to the Protestant Re-
                                                                           formed truth.
                                Joy in Pella                                         Now, brothers and sisters, pray for us. We need your.
                                                                           prayers. We are by far the smallest congregation of our
          The Lord has done great things for us. In Him we re-             denomination. And our strength is not in ,numbers  but in
joice.        It was on October 27, 1955, in the evening, that our         God. Pray for us that He may keep us faithful to the truth.
   Classical Committee of Classis West was in our midst at                                                                Cecil Vander Molen
   our request to reconstitute our consistory as the. Consistory                                                            Your reporter  -
   of the Pella Protestant Reformed Church. At that meet-                                                                           Pella, Iowa
   ing our Classical Committee not only was present but also
   our missionary, the Rev. Geo. C. Lubbers, a member of the
   mission committee, members of our South Holland, Illinois               "A Word From Calvin"
   and Hull, Iowa churches and a brother and sister from Love-
I land, Colorado to rejoice with us that the Lord still kept                         "The reprobate wish to be thought excusable in sinning,
   some here in Pella that love our Protestant Reformed truth.             because they cannot avoid a necessity of sinning ; especially
          This meeting was held in the home of Mr. and Mrs.                since this necessity is laid upon them by the ordination of
   Cecil Vander Molen. The sermon was delivered by the                     God. But we deny this to be a just excuse; because the
   Rev. H. Veldman, President of the Classical Committee,                  ordination of God, by which they complain that they are
   who preached on the text of Hebrews  6:17, 18. This sermon              destined to destruction is guided by equity, unknown indeed
   was very appropriate in light of our recent struggle to main- .to us, but indubitably certain. Whence we conclude that
   tain that glorious truth of God's promise and *covenant.                they sustain no misery that is not inflicted upon them by the
   God's promise is not conditinal but an oath which He swore              most righteous judgment of "God. In the next place, we
   by `Himself. That glorious truth which is the truth the                 maintain `that they act preposterously, who in seeking for
   Protestant Reformed Churches have always believed and                   the origin of their condemnation, direct their views to the
   maintained thrilled our souls again that night; and we under- ,.secret recesses of the Divine counsel, and overlook the cor-
   stood with deeper meaning why a purification in our                     ruption ot nature, which is its real source. The testimony
   churches was necessary. We saw the reason why we must be                God gives to his creation prevents their imputing iti to him.
   a little flock again. We must maintain that truth even thou&            For though, by the eternal.. providence of God, man was
it means a smaller congregation and denomination.  D                       created to that misery to which he is subject, yet the ground
          After the sermon the Rev. J. A. Heys, Secretary of the           of It he has derived from himself, not from God; since he is
   Classical Committee, took charge of the meeting and office              thus ruined solely in consequence of his having degenerated
   bearers were chosen and installed. The congregation is a                from the pure creation of God to vicious and impure de-
   little flock: eight souls. We could not help but think of               pravity.


