 .   V O L U M E   =v                               APRIL 1, 1959 - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                                              NUMBER 13


                                                                           Christ was saved by water. +I have reference to the salvation

           M E D I T A T I O N                                             which was wrought by Moses when he led Israel through
                                                                           the Red Sea. And again the enemy is drowned.

                                                                              And the whole New Testament Church is saved by the

           S A V E D   B Y   T H E   R E S U R R E C T I O N               water of baptism.

                                                                              However, when I say that you are saved by baptism I
             "The like figure whereunto even baptism cloth also now
              save US (not tlze putting away of the filth of the flesh,    have no reference to the natural bath of the natural water.

              but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by              All that a water bath can do for you is to cleanse you
              the resurrection of Jesus Christ."          I PETER 3221
                                                                           from the filth of the flesh. There is no spiritual worth to

     After Jesus was raised from the dead, He went by the                  that outward bath at all. And I am persuaded that Paul had

 Spirit to hell, and having. arrived in hell, He preached to a             this in mind when he said: "Circumcision is nothing, and

 special audience there.                                                   uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the command-                            -

                                                                           ments of God,"        I Cor. 7:19.   A n d   a l s o :   " F o r   i n   J e s u s
     A special, a peculiar audience Christ preached to. And
                                                                           Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircum-
 He did not preach to them the Gospel of deliverance, but
                                                                           cision;.  but faith which worketh by love," Gal. 5 :6. Baptism
 He heralded to them His wondrous victory over death, the
                                                                           as such availeth nothing either. What could a few drops of
 grave, and hell. He told them that after all Noah had the
                                                                           water on your forehead do to you ?
1 victory: he was saved with his eight souls.
                                                                               So also Peter in our verse also. Baptism saves you! Oh
    At no other time in the history of God's dhurch on earth               yes. But not the outward baptism of water. Water, natural
did their cause seem as hopeless as in the days of Noah.                   water is very good for the cleansing of the filth of the flesh,
 Imagine : the cause of Jesus Christ in the world had dwindled             but that is all.
 down to the occupants of one home: Noah's.
                                                                              Shall we then not baptize our children? Oh yes. But
    -But he was saved, and he was saved by the waters of the               only if we understand that the rite of baptism is a sign and
 flood.                                                                    a seal of something else.

     That was the preaching of Jesus on this occasion.                        And that something else Peter will teach us.

     And His audience in hell were the spirits of those men,

 women and children who were disobedient to the 120 years of                                              I<    * * *
 preaching by Noah.

     Noah was saved by the waters of the flood.                               What is that "something else"?

                                                                              Here it is: "the answer of a good conscience toward
                             *    * * *                                    God" !

     That salvation was a figure.                                             It sounds strange, but the Holland translation of the word

                                                                           "answer" is the very opposite, namely, "question." In .the
     There is a better salvation. And by a better flood.
                                                                           Holland Bible you read : rra question of a good conscience
     I have in mind the flood of the blood of Jesus.                       toward God."

   And a figure, a like figure we have with us today. It is                    And, in passing, let me tell you that all the translators
 the figure of baptism.     And Peter tells us that we are saved           have had difficulty with this word. In the Revised version
 again by water, namely, the water of baptism..                            we read : "interrogation," and they add in a side-note: "in-

     In passing I may say that once more the Church of Jesus               quiry, " "appeal."    In the German we read: "der Bund eines

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


  guten  Gewissens mit .Gott."    And "Bund"  means "band, tie,        And this all came about because you were baptized in the

  covenant." In the French we read: "L'engagement,"  which         flood of the blood of Christ.

  means to induce, to persuade, to be bound (this is somewhat          It came about because you were .baptized  into the .death
  like the German "Bund").                                         of Christ, and rose with Him to a new life, the life of God's

     Baptism saves us. But not the outward sign by water.          Covenant.

  That is the sign and seal.                                           Noah and his eight souls began to rise when the 120 years

     What then ?                                                   were spent. He came closer and closer to heaven. And be-

                                                                   hind him, under him was the water of the Deluge.
     The Greek language in which Peter's letter is written has

a word which primarily means : a draving, an intensive                 That Deluge was two things : 1) it was the death of the

  desire, an earnest seeking, to long for something.               world ; and 2) it was the death of Jesus Christ.

      So the Greek seems to favor the Holland translation. And         Christ's death liberated Noah and his eight souls from

  yet, we should not discard the other translations. The ques-     their enemies, and saved them with a figurative salvation.

  tion and the answer are one work, one great work of God              Christ's death, and the flood of His blood saves the whole
  in those that are saved.                                         Church of God from all their sins and guilt and damnation

     Let us see.                                                   and eternal death,

     Baptism is the bath of regeneration. It signifies that we         Christ's death was the death eternal of the church, suf-

  are risen from the dead. And as soon as we become con-           fered by Him in their stead.

  scious of this new life from God, we hear His inquiry, en-           And they arose with Him when He was raised from the
. gagement, interrogation: "What do you think of Me? What          dead.
  do you think of My Christ, My Bible, My cause in the world?
                                                                       Note that Peter says : Baptism now saves us by the resur-
  What do you think of yourself, of your sins and guilt, your
                                                                   rection of Jesus Christ.
  future ?"    There are a thousand questions which assail the

  converted child of God.                                              And the means is baptism as to its spiritual essence.

     And the good conscience answers God.                              You may put it this way: Regeneration now saves us by

                                                                   the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
     The conscience is literally what the. word says: knowl-

  edge with. The conscience shares knowledge with Someone,                                     ;k * 9 *

  and that Someone is God.

     The good conscience gives the right answer, since it is           The answer (or the question) of a good conscience.

  operated upon by the pure Word of God as applied by the              0, beloved,reader,  listen to Christ's question and answer.'

  Holy Spirit of Christ.                                               You may find it (among other places) in Matthew 27 :46 :

     Through ,baptism  a "Bund"  is operating between God          "`Eli, Eli, lama  sabachthani ?" Shudder, tremble when you
  and His child. God engages His child every day and night,        read these words.

  anda  never leaves him to himself anymore, to answer the             If anyone had a good conscience, it was Jesus of Nazareth.

  thousands of questions that assail him.                          If ever there was a "Bundes-Drang,"  it was in that pure

                                                                   Heart of our Saviour when God interrogated Him. Oh yes,
     And the answer of that good conscience is forthcoming.
                                                                   God had an "engagement" with Him.
     That answer is a thousandfold.
                                                                       Standing on the bottomless bottom of hell, Jesus called,
     Here is one : "As the hart panteth after the water brooks,    cried and roared to His Father: 0 why hast Thou forsaken
  so panteth my soul after Thee, 0 God! My soul thirsteth for      Me, My God, My God!
  God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear be-            Listen to His cry already in the Old Testament where
  fore God?'                                                       prophets suffered Christ's suffering before: "Awake, why

     Here is another: "0 wretched man that I am! who shall         sleep&t  Thou, 0 Lord ? cast Me not off forever ! Wherefore

  deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God through     hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest My affliction and My

  Jesus Christ our Lord !"                                         oppression ?'

     And you yourself can supply a thousand more "answers"             0, how Jesus gave the answers to God's continuous

  of your good conscience.                                         (eternal) interrogation ! In the days of His flesh He had of-

                                                                   fered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and
     And it is all a fruit of God's "Bund"  with you, of His
                                                                   tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death! Heb.
  "engagement" with you. It is the answer to God's constant
                                                                   5 :7a.
  "interrogation."

                                                                       And here is .the everlasting Gospel :' He was heard in
                              * * * *                              that He feared ! Heb. 5 :7b.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                   291



   God heard Jesus : He had always heard Him, even though

it was very dark on Good Friday. God had placed His Hand                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

before the Sun: Jesus might not have any light while He                          Semi-monthly, except monthly during  June, July and August
drank the cup of the wrath of God to the very bottom.                             Published by the REFOFLWED  FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIMION
                                                                                 P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

   Oh yes, He heard.                                                                                      Editor - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEM~

   For Jesus rose from the dead.                                                 Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                                Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
   The resurrection is God's answer to all questions, .even as                                                           Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

Jesus' death was the answer to God's interrogation.                              All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                                                  James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
   And the flood of life and glory and joy is the fruit of all                                                      Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
this "engagement."                                                               Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
                                                                                 address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.

   Jesus gave the perfect answer to God's perfect question.                      RENEWAL: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
                                                                                 ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
                           *    * * *                                            to continue without the formality of a renewal order.

                                                                                                            Subsckption price: $5.66 per year

   And you give the answer to God's question out of a good                        Entered as Second Class matter at Grand Rapids, Michigan

conscience, and why?

   It is because Jesus dwells in you,                                                                                        C O N T E N T S

   Jesus works a most wonderful work in you.                           MEDITATION-
                                                                                     Saved By The Resurrection . . . . . . . . . ..~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
   Here it is: I will let the fathers speak.                                                   Rev. G. Vos

   "It is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and
                                                                       EDITORLULS  -
at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and              8        Evolution, Long Periods or Days __. _. . . ._, _......  . ..292
ineffable ; not inferior in efficacy to creation, or the resurrec-                   About The Three Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

tion f~owz  the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the Author                                  Rev. H. Hoeksema

of this work declares, so that all in whose heart God works
                                                                       OUR DOCTRINE -
in this marvellous manner, are certainly, infallibly, and ef-
                                                                                     The Book of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
fectually regenerated, and do actually believe."                                               Rev. H. Hoeksema

   That is the meaning of "Easter."
                                                                       A CLOUD 
                                                               G.V.                        OF WITNESSES-
                                                                                     Isaac, The Pilgrim ____....__._____...............................,..,.................  298

                                                                                               Rev. B. Woudenberg


                                                                       FROM HOLY WRIT-
                         IN MEMORIAM                                                 Exposition of Matthew 24 and 25 ( X V )   .   .   ..__............   3 0 0

                                                                                               Rev. G. Lubbers
   Our Society extends its sincere sympathy to one of.its members,

Mrs. Henry Kuiper, in the death of her son-in-law
                                                                       FEATURE ARTICLE-
                      MR. ABBIE DE GROOT                                             The Deception of Ai. ..I ._ ___.  . . . . . ,302

   May our heavenly Father comfort the bereaved with the as-                                   Rev. G. Van Baren

surance that He doeth all things well.

                                                                       C
                                   The Martha Ladies' Aid- Society      ONTENDING FOR THE FAITH-
                                                                                     The Church and the Sacraments . . . . .._. _..___._._.._  ..304
                                   of tbe Doon  Prot. Ref. Church                               Rev. H. Veldman

                                   Rev. G. Van Baren,  President

                                   Mrs. Edwin Van Ginkel, Secretary    THE VOICE OF OUR  FATHERS-.
                                                                                     The         Canons             of Dordrecht . . . . . . . . 366

                                                                                                Rev. H: C. Hoeksema



                         IN MEMORIAM                                   DECENCY AND &DER--
                                                                                     Classical Jurisdiction                            ..__  ___ .__ .._ ____.._.._  __. __. ._ . . . . . . . . .._. __....____....  308
   The Protestant Reformed Men's Chorus of Grand Rapids, Mich.,                              Rev. G. Vanden Berg
herewith expresses its sympathy to four of its members, Mr. H.

Brands Sr., Mr. Hi Brands Jr., Mr. Art Dotter  and Mr. Bertus          ALL AROIJNJI  Us -
Dotter  in the loss of their mother-in-law and grandmother,                          Reply to Objectors of Article on Literary Cavalcade............316

                      MRS. GRACE DOCTER                                                        Rev. M. Schipper

   May our covenant God comfort and sustain them in their sorrow.      NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES.......................................................,.......,~~~
                                  Mr. C. Jonker, President                                      Mr. J. M. Faber

                                  Mr. D. Knoper, Vice Secy-Treas.

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


                                                                       is the case, the creation narrative stands not only opposed to

   II -          EDlTOR,IALS                                           the theory of evolution, but also to that of long periods in-
                                                                       stead of days. For why should God create one species first,

                                                                       let it exist for millions of years on the earth, say this were

                Evolution, Long Periods, or Days                       even possible or conceivable, and then create the next kind ?

                                                                          But now let us study the text, informing us what God
           On the fifth and. sixth days God created fish, fowl and     created on the fifth and sixth days, a little more in detail.
   the land animals. Of this we read in Gen. 1 :20-25  : "And
                                                                          First of all, the creature formed on those days is described
   God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving
                                                                      as the moving creature that hath life. This distinguishes it
   creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the
                                                                      from the plant. The fowl is created to fly in the open firma-
   earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created
                                                                      ment of ,heaven,  vs. 20. The text speaks of every living
  great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which
                                                                      creature that moveth and every winged fowl, vs. 21. It speaks
  the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and
                                                                      of every living creature after his kind and of every beast
  every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was
                                                                      of the earth after his kind, vs. 24. Again, in vs. 28, we read
  good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multi-
                                                                      that man ,is given dominion "over every living thing that
  ply;and  fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in
                                                                      moveth upon the earth." And also in vs. 30 we read : "And
  the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth
                                                                      to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and
  day. And God said, let the earth bring forth the living crea-
                                                                      to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there
  ture after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of
                                                                      is life."
  the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the

  beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind,         Notice, in the second place, that God blessed them. This

  and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after         means, of course, that God spoke His Word to them, the

  his kind: and God saw that it was good.`.'                          Word of His favor, and that Word-of God is always power-

                                                                      ful and efficacious.
      Also this passage of the creation narrative is quite op-                                It is true that this is said only of the
  posed -to the theory of evolution as well as to that `of long       fish and fowl, but it is safe to assume that it includes also the
                                                                      land animals.
  periods instead of days. The former cannot possibly be                                  The contents of this Word of blessing is,
  brought into harmony with the latter. We must choose be-            evidently, expressed in the words : "be fruitful, and multiply."
                                                                      Through the Word of God, they are able, therefore, to multi-
  tween the two, we cannot believe both. If we maintain that
                                                                      ply and reproduce their own kind by an act of their own will
  the theory of evolution is correct or that the creation days
                                                                      or incentive.
  were long periods of millions or even billions of years (which

  is only a camouflaged form of the theory of evolution), we              The animal, therefore, is described in the text as a living

  must not pretend that we believe the creation narrative as          and moving creature that is able to reproduce its own kind

  recorded in Gen. 1, and the narrative of the creation of-the        through the Word of blessing which God spoke to it. The

  animals on the fifth and sixth days.                                plant, too, is living, but it does not move, it is rooted in the

      The theory of evolution has it that God did not create all      earth. The plant, too, reproduces its own kind, but not by

  creatures separately by the word of His power but that all          a conscious act of its own incentive. But the animal is free

  the different creatures, living or otherwise, organic or inor-      from the earth. It determines from within its own move-

  ganic, have a common origin, developed from some original           ments, in the water, in the air, on the land ; swimming, flying,

  cell. This, of course, is no science in the true sense of the       creeping, running. The plant has no consciousness. It does

  word, but mere philosophy. Besides, it does not mean any-           not know itself nor the world outside of itself. But the'

  thing, for if we deny that God is, and that He is the               animal has a certain soul-life ("the soul of the animal is in

  Creator of the universe, we will never find or understand the       his blood") though in various degrees in different animals.

  origin of all things. It seems, however, that the philosophy        Hence, the animal has senses, the sense of sight, of hearing,

  of evolution is based on two facts : the similarity of the crea-    smelling, tasting, feeling. Through those senses it is not only

  tures ; and the gradually ascending scale from the lower to         conscious of the outside world but also of self. It has a

  the higher creatures.                                               certain measure of perception and understanding, of will and

      Now, Scripture also teaches the same facts, `without, how-      desires, of memory and imagination.

  ever, drawing the conclusion that the lower creatures are the          This is not to be understood as if the soul of the animal

  evolutionary source of the higher. Notice the ascending scale       is at all like the soul of man. &fan's soul is spiritual, the

  of the living creatures : plants, fish, fowl, the land animals      animal's is not., We must speak of the creation of. man in
  and, finally, as the crown of them all: man. But notice also        our next editorial, but even now we may note that man,

  that the creation narrative emphasizes throughout that. every       and that, too, the individual man was created by a special
  one of these creatures is created after his kind: the different     act of God: He formed him by His own hands from the dust

  creatures are formed separately so that the species are closed.     of the ground. Thus man became a living soul in distinction
They did not evolve from one another: And seeing that this            from the animal.

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


   Finally, we may note that each creature is formed from          matter, to adopt doctrines that have never been officially
its own sphere in which it lives and moves. The waters bring       adopted in or by any Reformed Church on such  admittedly
forth the fish, undoubtedly by the brooding of the Spirit and      weak groztpzds?  You understand, I use the language of Dr.
by the powerful Word of God calling them into existence.           Klooster when I speak of "weak grounds." For me they are
For do not forget that we read in vs. 20: "And God said,           no grounds at all.    .

Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature             Again, do you condemn or consider it proper, on such a
that hath life."     God spake and it was so and that, too, im-    "weak" basis, to cast out ministers that were and to this
mediately. Perhaps, the fowls were created both from the           very day are still considered Reformed and whose writings
waters and from the earth. For although we read in Gen.            are read and used in all the Reformed Churches as well as
1:20  that they were created from the waters only, yet in          in others? If in your opinion this is proper, I have nothing
Gen. 2 :19 we read: "And out of the ground the Lord God            to say except that I radically differ with you. But if you
formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air."       condemn this action of 1924, you must also consider it proper
At any rate, the beasts of the field were created by calling       that, even at this late date, before we appear in judgment to-
them from the ground. They belonged entirely to the sphere         gether, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church should
of the earth, were earthy, and out of that sphere they were        adopt an apology for what they have done to us in 1924.
created.                                                  H.H.
                                                                      This is my conviction.

                                                                      But let now, first of all, quote the Second Point:

                                                                      "Relative to the second point, which is concerned with the
                    About The Three Points
                                                                   restraint of sin in the life of the individual man and the

   We will not attempt to explain all the passages of Scrip-       community, the Synod declares that there is such a restraint

ture which the Synod of 1924 or rather the committee of            of sin according to Scripture and the Confessions. This is

Synod adduced in support of the First Point. Synod itself or       evident from the citations from Scripture and from the

its committee gave no exegesis but only quoted the texts.          Netherland Confession, Art. 13 and 36, which teach

Besides, we are not discussing the "Three Points" in all           that God by the general operations of His Spirit, without

their implications but giving an answer to Dr. Klooster's          renewing the heart of man, restrains the unimpeded breaking

article on the subject in Torch and Trzw@et. We `will, there-      out of sin, by which human life in society remains possible ;

fore, proceed to consider what Klooster has to say on the          while it is also evident from the quotations of Reformed

Second Point.                                                      writers of the most flourishing period of Reformed theology,

   First of all, he considers the appeal to Scripture in sup-      that from ancient times our Reformed fathers were of the
port of the Second Point weak, Writes he:                          same opinion."

   "I regret to state that I believe the Synodical  decision          The passages from Scripture to which Synod refers are

with its appeal to the Scripture passages mentioned in the         mentioned in the quotation from the article by Dr. Klooster.

Committee report is unfortunately weak at this point again.        We will, therefore, not mention them here again.

Not that I think the decision incorrect or that there are no
                                                                      The quotations from the Confessions are the following:
valid Scriptural data. On the contrary, the Committee did

not in my estimation adduce the strongest Scriptural evidence         "In whom we do entirely trust; being persuaded that he

which was available. The passages are simply listed, and yet       so restrains the devil and all our enemies, that without his

the difference between Hoeksema and the Committee con-             will and permission they cannot hurt us."  Netherland Conf.

cerned precisely the proper understanding of each passage          Art. 13.

quoted. Gen. 6:3 is quoted for example, but such venerable            And from Art. 36 of the same Confession: "Willing that
exegetes as G. Vos and G. C. Aalders  interpret the passage        the. world should be governed by certain laws and policies ;
in such a way that it has no real bearing upon the second          to the end that the dissoluteness of men might be restrained."
point of 1924. Although the passages quoted - Ps. 81:12,  13 ;

Acts 7 :42 ; Rom. 1:24,  25, 28 ; II Thess. 2 16, 7 - do have         That is all. Is this proof? If so, for what?

bearing on the question of the restraint of sin, they are             Remember that also the Second Point means to teach and
not clear proof for the decision taken. It seems to. me that       support the theory of "common grace."
an analysis of the restraint of sin resulting from the con-           It does not merely teach that the sinner is restrained
fusion of tongues at Babel would have been more significant.       and controlled by God in his outward actions, so that he
Further Scriptural analysis of this sort wpuld  substantially      cannot always carry out his evil intentions. If this were the
have strengthened the Biblical support for the second point."      teaching of the Second Point it would propose nothing new or

   At the present moment, I wish to ask Dr. Klooster just          strange. Every Reformed Christian, in fact any Bible believ-

one question. It is this: Do you consider it proper for the        ing man, believes this. We all heartily believe and confess

Christian Reformed Church, or for any church, for that             that God by what is called His providence controls all the

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


      deeds of the wicked, both devils and men, so `that they

      certainly can never do anything at all against His will and                       O U R D O C T R I N E  `Iil
      so that He even realizes His counsel through them. He does

      this often directly by His power, frustrating the plans of the
      ungodly in a way which is even beyond our comprehension:                           THE BOOK OF REVELATION

      Their very thoughts and desires are under His control. They
                                                                                                     P A R T   T W O
      cannot so much as move a finger withoat  His power. Not

      only so, but He also controls and restrains the wicked and                                     CHAPTER VI
      frustrates their plans mediately and indirectly. The ungodly

      are limited by and dependent on time and place and circum-                                     Art Interlude

      stances in their entire life, as well as by their powers and
                                                                                                  Revelation 10 :8-l  1
      talents and means. And all these are absolutely in the power

      and under the control of God. This outward restraint of the                  So also in this case John received the revelation of
      actions of the ungodly no one denies.                                the Word of God. And to the mouth of the believer

             But this is `not the teaching of the Second Point. This       the Word of God is sweet, never to the unbeliever. To him

      could not possibly be called "common grace."                         that word is nauseating from the beginning. His taste is

                                                                           corrupt. The Word does not even appeal to him, and there-
             But it teaches:
                                                                           fore he does not even swallow the book, but spews it out.
             1. That there is an operation of "common grace" by the        But in the case of the believer it is quite different. He has
      Holy Spirit upon and in the heart of the ungodly.                    been changed by the grace of God. He has received a new
             2. That this operation of the Holy Spirit does not re-        taste, the taste of faith. And to that taste of faith the Word

      generate him but restrains within him the process of cor-            of God appeals, always appeals, so that he takes it and
      ruption.                                                             eats it whenever that Word is given him. But does this mean

             3. As a result the remnant of his original righteousness      that this same Word has no bitter after-effects when it

      or "natural light" is constantly being preserved within him ;        reaches the spiritual digestive organs ? By no means ; the

      and this also bears fruit in his actual life in many good works.     process of assimilation and digestion is often a painful one,

                                                                           not because that Word is deceiving and different from what
             Such is the meaning of the Second Point.
                                                                           it is promised to be, but because the power of sin is still in
                                                                   H.H.
                                                                           our hearts and minds. Now the Word has a battle against

                                                                           the influence of the flesh and the lusts thereof. And this

                                                                           battle of the Word, however sweet it was when taken and
                                     Attention                             swallowed by faith, is. a painful one. It causes bitterness

        Standing and Special Spnodical Committees                          and struggle till the medicine of the Word of God has done

,                                                                          its work and transformed us. And this is especially the case
             Pursuant to Article VII of the Synodical Rules, said
                                                                           with the word of this prophecy, of the prophecy as we have it
      committees are herewith reminded that :
                                                                           in the book of Revelation. Surely, the book speaks of
             "1. The reports of all committees, special and standing,
                                                                           redemption and of salvation, of heavenly glory and a new
       shall be included `in the Agenda, (deadline of April 15) so
                                                                           creation, of highest joy and eternal life. But the book speaks
      that all churches may be duly informed.
                                                                           of this only after it has pictured the battle of faithful wit-
             "2. Standing committees may make supplemental reports         nessing, of self-denial and suffering.          It holds before our
       of matters arising after the deadline for the Agenda. Such          eyes the glory of the future, but only at the end of a dark
       reports, however, shall be distributed in mimeographed form         and terrible road to travel. It is the road of battle for the
       to all members of Synod at the opening session, and the             kingdom of God. It is the road of persecution and mockery
       committee concerned shall be responsible for this."                 on the part of the world. It is the road alongside of which
                                      G. VANDEN BERG, Stated Cleik         you may read the notice, "He that shall save his life shall

                                                                           lose it, but he that shall lose his life for my sake shall save

                                                                           it."     And that is hard. That is not according-to the flesh.

                                Announcement                               That causes inward pain and battle. And therefore the bitter-

                                                                           ness of the book when it begins to work its work of trans-
             Attention, all deacons, present and former. Deacons' Con-
                                                                           formation.     May that also be the result on our part. May
       ference to be held April 17 Bt Hope Prot. Ref. Church.
                                                                           the study of this little book in the future have this effect,
             Topic: "(Is  it he duty  of the deacons to leak for `the      that it is indeed sweet to our taste because it is the Word of
     , poor?"  Speaker: The Rev. H. Hanko.                                 God, sweeter than honey to the taste of faith, so that we do

                                J a y   B o m e r s                        not rebel but swallow it, eat it, and hide it in our inmost

                                Sec. Diaconate Hope Prot. Ref. Church      heart. But may it also have this result, that when it begins


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   295


its work of transformation, the truth of the book may at                we must eat, that we must thoroughly appropriate, the con-

first seem painful as it mortifies the old man, and more and            tents of the little book, so that they may determine our entire

more.leave  nothing but one desire, that the kingdom of God             life.

may come. That should be the effect of our assimilating this                     Concerning the text we are discussing at present there

little book of prophecy.                                                needs to be no misunderstanding whatsoever. John is called

                                                                        in the vision to do something. A-reed, a measuring rod, is

                            CHAPTER VII                                 given him ; and the commission is given him that with this

                                                                        reed he must proceed to the holy city, Jerusalem, and measure
                 The Measuring of the Ternfile
                                                                        the temple. It may be said from the outset that although he
                       Revelation 11 :l, 2                              is called to measure the temple only, distinction is made be-

           1.    And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and     tween three different areas. In the first place, the text makes
           the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of     mention of the temple as such, the sanctuary proper, the

           God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.           building of the temple with its holy and most holy places and

           2. But the court which is without the temple leave           the altar and the people that congregate there for worship.
           out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles:    In the second place, mention' is made of the outer court, the

           and-the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and      open space that surrounds the temple building proper in
           two months.                                                  distinction from the temple as such. And in the third place,

   The eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation is one of             the text speaks of a still wider area, namely, the holy city,

the most important chapters of the entire book. It is not an            which shall be surrendered together with the outer court to

easy chapter to be understood in its full significance. And             the Gentiles, to be trodden under foot forty and two months.

yet it is of the utmost importance that we do understand the            Three areas, therefore, are spoken of. The widest is the

meaning of it as clearly as possible. If we understand this             holy city itself. Within that is the narrower space of the

chapter not only as such but also in its relation to the sequel         outer court. And again, within that outer court is the still

of the entire book, we will have less difficulty to grasp the           more limited space of the temple proper. And with regard to

significance of the rest of the book. But misunderstanding              these three John is commissioned to measure the temple and

of the chapter we must now discuss leads us in the wrong                the altar and those that worship therein, while he must not

direction with regard to practically all that follows. We have          measure the outer court, nor, of course, the holy city. And he

in this portion a general picture of the church as she exists           is told that only the temple will remain undefiled, but that

in the present dispensation, a general description of the line          the outer court and the holy city will be surrendered, or

of development that must be expected in the future, a general           rather, is surrendered by this measuring to the power and

outline of the great battle the church will be called upon to           the mercy of the Gentiles. This rather general picture of

fight throughout this dispensation, but especially toward the           the text must, in the first place, be clearly understood ; and

end. And at the same time we. have in this chapter a brief              from it we must draw our conclusion with regard to the ex-

indication of how the church in special times will receive              p l a n a t i o n .

special grace and strength and how she shall finally be de-                      So far; then, there is no difficulty, and there can be no

livered even before the time of the end. All the great truths           difference of opinion. But a different story it becomes when

which the Lord Jesus Christ has already predicted in His                we ask the further question: how must we conceive of this

discourses of His second coming, -the development and                   part of the book ? Must we take it all in the literal sense of

struggle, the great tribulation of the church, but also the             the word, so that the temple means ,the holy and most holy

shortening of the days for the sake of the elect, - are pictured        place as it once stood in Jerusalem, the outer court refers

to us here in a very general outline. And therefore we may              literally to the space surrounding the temple, and the holy

rightly say that here we have a general description of what             city `is literally the capital of the holy land as it once stood

will be presented to us in detail in the rest of the book. It           in all its glory but was made a miserable heap of ruins in

is not as such a revelation of the seventh trumpet; yet it is           the year 70 A.D. ? It is then that interpreters begin to differ.

closely connected with that trumpet. And in the rest of- the            And it is the choice at this point that will determine our

book we must expect to find many an individual picture taken            entire view of the chapter, and, in fact, largely of the entire

from the same period that is already described in the chapter           book in its sequel. There are many interpreters who main-

we are now considering. In the future we shall understand               tain that we must take -this all in the literal sense of the

the relation of this chapter to the rest of the book better             word. Many maintain that at this period the church is al-

than we are able to grasp the connection at this point. But             ready in heaven and has nothing to do with the tribulation

this brief warning we have to sound so that the more we may             of this present time any more. At the call from heaven to

ourselves pay attention to what the Spirit saith unto the               John to "come up hither" the church has followed the apostle

churches, set ourselves to make prayerful study also of this            and therefore has nothing to do.any more with-matters mun-

part of the book of comfort, set ourselves to give heed to              dane, but rejoices in her salvation. And because this is the

the warnings issued in the preceding chapter, namely, that              case, the possibility that by temple in this case the church


     2 9 6                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


      might be indicated is ruled out from the beginning. No, the        restoration of .either  or both. Paul repeatedly speaks of the

      text, pictures to us merely the condition of the latter days.      New Testament church as the temple of God, the spiritual

      Jerusalem is again to be built. The temple is to be restored.      temple of the new dispensation. In I Cor. 3 :16 he asks the

      The, Jews shall again worship in that temple in connection         question, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God ?'

      with the altar of incense and of burnt offering. And the           thus referring to the church of Christ at Corinth. And in

      old Jewish glory shall for a time shine forth once more.           II Cor. 6:16, with a literal reference to a passage from the

      Only, they shall not be unmolested. On the contrary, the           Old Testament, he writes : "For ye are the temple of the liv-

      Antichrist shall come and shall claim a large part of this         ing God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk

      territory. He shall capture the holy city and shall lay siege      in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my

      to the temple. He shall take possession of the outer court,        people.!' Again, in his epistle to the Ephesians, which is

      and he shall defile- this part of the possession of the holy       based on the very idea that the church as the body of Christ

      people. Only the sanctuary proper shall not be delivered in        is the temple of God, he says, 2 :20-22  : "And are built upon

      their power. From that sanctuary proper the `witnesses shall       the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ

      appear and testify of the name of their great King till the        himself being the chief cornerstone ; In whom all the building

      enemy shall overpower them. In a- word, what we have in            fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the

      our text must be taken in the most literal sense of the word.      Lord: In whom ye also are builded  together for an habita-

      Jerusalem is the holy city ; the outer court is the court of       tion of God through the Spirit." The same is true with re-

      the temple ; the temple is the Old Testament sanctuary re-         gard to the New Testament presentation of Jerusalem. The

      stored ; and the people that worship there are Jews ; and the      holy city in the literal sense of the word is never mentioned.

      nations shall literally trample under foot the holy city and       But Paul refers to Jerusalem that is above, which is the

      the court.                                                         mother of us all. Gal. 4:25, 26. And in the epistle to the

         We cannot possibly agree with this interpretation. And          Hebrews we find that the author speaks of the believers of

      our reasons are the following. In the first place, the idea        the New- Testament day when he says : "`But ye are come

      that the church at this period and before the great tribulation    unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the

      is already in heaven rests upon the very slender and far-          heavenly Jerusalem," Heb. 12 :22. It is therefore beyond all

      fetched and mistaken evidence that John in the vision is           dispute that the New Testament speaks of a temple and of a

      "called thither" in chapter four, verse one. This cannot stand     Jerusalem different from that city and that building with

      for a moment, as we have seen before. For John remained            which we become acquainted in the Old Testament. And if,

      on the earth. And if he represents the church, the church          therefore, we are inclined to take these terms in the sym-

      necessarily remains on earth with him. In the second place,        bolical sense and refuse to take them literally, we do so

      we must remember that the book of Revelation is given for          with the entire New Testament backing us. This might not

      the church in her comfort. The Lord told the church that           be permissible if the case were thus, that either this portion

      she must expect tribulation such as never was before. And          or other portions in the book of Revelation indicated that

      knowing her need of comfort, He gave her this book that            John speaks of the literal temple and the literal city when-

      she might stand in the time of troubie. But if this portion        ever he mentions them. But also this is not the case. On the

      merely pertains to the Jews as such, as a nation, and if the       contrary, even in this very book the temple and Jerusalem

      church is already in heaven, it stands to reason that the          are symbolic of something far different. In chapter three,

      church has nothing to do with the rest of the book whatso-         verse 12 we read the promise to the church of Thyatira : "He

      ever. It can derive neither instruction nor comfort from it.       that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of

      In the third place-and this is a far weightier reason-I            my God, and he shall go out thence no more ; and I will

      find in the entire New Testament, outside then of this par-        write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the

      ticular portion, no mention made of the temple and of              city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh  down out

      Jerusalem in the literal sense of the word. I find  abundant       of heaven."    Needless to say that neither a literal pillar nor

      warnings to assure the people of the New Testament dis-            a literal temple nor a literal city are meant. And in Rev.

     pensation that the temple in Jerusalem has served its purpose       21 :2, 10, 22 we read : "And I John saw the holy city, new

      and that they must not turn again to sacrifice and ceremony.       Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared

     But nowhere do I iind any indication that we must expect            as a bride adorned for her husband. And he carried me away

     once more a literal holy city and a literal temple. Hence, if       in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed  me

     this passage speaks of such a temple, it is the only passage        that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven

     in the New Testament that speaks of such things. Still              from God. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God

-    more, if this part speaks of a literal temple, I must come to       Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." In the face

     the conclusion that the rest of the New Testament is positively     of all these indications in the New Testament, we dare not

     ,misleading.  For in the first place, we must remember that         assume that without any special mention John would speak

     Christ Himself speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem and           of a literal temple and a literal city in the words of our text.

     of the temple, but never with a word does He speak of the           But in the light of Scripture we maintain that there is but


                                          .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      297


one possible explanation, namely, that here we have the same        sure, He dwells in the city, but not in the entire city. He
symbolic language as elsewhere, and that therefore we must          does not fill the city. That shall be no more the case in the

take this passage in the figurative sense of the; word. True,       state of perfection. When the holy city shall have been com-
many will speak of passages in the Old Testament that seem          pleted, there shall be no special dwellingplace of God in the
to prophesy a restoration of the old temple and altar and all       city for the simple reason that He shall dwell in the entire
its ceremonies. And especially are men fond of pointing to          city, that is, in the heart of every citizen. You do not have

the last chapters of the book of Ezekiel in order to maintain       any more to enter the city and ask, "Where is the house of
this point. Of course, we cannot now discuss these portions         God ?' For the city itself is God's dwellingplace, and the
in detail. But, in the first place, I remind you of the simple      temple and the city have become identical. That is the ideal.

rule that in the interpretation of Scripture the Old Testament      That ,state must be reached. And all history must serve to
must be explained in the light of the New. And in the               bring that city of God to completion.       .

second place, if the objection is raised that one dare not CK-

plain the detailed description of the temple in Ezekiel in the         But that city has not yet reached its state of perfection

symbolical sense, then I would refer you to the detailed            in this dispensation. And therefore we must place ourselves,

description of Jerusalem in the last chapters of the book of        in the second place, before the question: how does that city

Revelation, and ask whether you ever hesitate to understand         exist here upon earth ? How does it reveal itself ? And then

this all in the figurative sense of the word. And therefore,        there is a difference between the  old and the new dispensa-

once more, I maintain that the text does not speak of a             tion. In the old dispensation that city existed typically in

literal temple and city, but oft that temple and of that Jeru-      Jerusalem, the capital of the land of Canaan. It was the type

salem in the figurative sense. of the word that is repeatedly       of the eternal habitation, of. the eternal holy city. For that

mentioned in the .New Testament.                                    reason it is called more than once "the city of God." Psalm

                                                                    46:4, 48 :l ; Isaiah ,60:14-.  It is called "the city of the great

 In order to understand the words of our text we must               king,,' Psalm 48 :1 ; Matt. 4 :5, "the city of truth," Zech.  8 :3,

first of all remember that throughout the history of the world      "the city of righteousness," Isaiah 1:26, "the faithful city,"

a holy city and temple are in the making-not a city in              Isaiah 1 21,. 26, "the holy city," Nehemiah 11 : 1, Isaiah 48 :2,

the literal sense of the word, but a city of which our city is      "the throne of the Lord," Jeremiah 3 :17.  It is very plain

but a vague symbol or type, a city of God. With us a city is        that these appellations are not given to the city because of

constituted of a group of dwellingplaces, sometimes sur-            any inherent truth and holiness and faithfulness. For then

rounded, by a wall or by forts to keep out the enemy. It is         indeed these names are but poorly chosen. Spiritually, our

simply a habitation or a dwellingplace for .men in social com-      chapter informs us, the city is also called Sodom and Egypt.

munion. So the city of God, which is in the process of              And in the prophets of the Old Testament we read time and

completion throughout the history of the world, is the              again that they denounce the city in the name of the Lord

dwellingplace of God Most High. And instead of the dwelling-        because of its unrighteousness and unholiness, its shedding

places of wood and stone, in this city the people of God con-       of blood and its adultery, its idolatry and abominations. It

stitute the habitations, and in them God dwells in Christ Jesus.    is in that city where also our Lord is crucified. But it is

Needless to say that this city is the church of Christ, in which    called holy, the faithful, the righteous city, the throne of the

God lives and abides in Christ Jesus our Lord. But now we           Lord, and the city of God, for no other reason than that it

must consider three stages in the process of completion' of         was a type of the heavenly Jerusalem and that the Lord

this spiritual temple or of this holy city of our God. In the       dwelt there. But we must remember that Jerusalem was but

first place, we must have before us the stage of perfection,        a very imperfect type. It is rather a type of the spiritual

when that city shall have been perfected and completed. It          city of God in the present dispensation than of that city in

is pictured to us in the last chapter of this book of Revelation    its state of final perfection. For in Jerusalem there was a

in highly symbolic language as coming down out of heaven            temple. God did not dwell in all the city. His presence did

from our God. .We shall discuss this in detail when we              not fill the city, but He dwelt in a particular house. If you

reach that passage, the Lord willing. But here we must note         entered Jerusalem as a stranger, you would not immediately

one peculiarity which is mentioned with special emphasis in         be aware of the presence of God, but you would naturally

that connection, namely, that in that city there is no temple,      ask, "Where does the Lord dwell in this city?" And the

for the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple thereof. Now           answer would naturally be : "In the temple, on Mt. Moriah."

the question is : what does that mean ? Why is there no             But even here we must once more distinguish. If we imagine

temple in this city? And the answer is also very evident: in        that we approach the temple at the time when the Lord was

the state of perfection the city and the temple are one, they       on earth-the form of the temple which John undoubtedly

are completely identified. As long as there is a temple in a        had in mind, the .temple  of Herod, since John never knew

city, it shows that God does not yet dwell in the entire city       any other-then we must not imagine that the Lord dwelt

but merely in that particular house which is called the temple.     in all that was called the temple.

There He lives in separation from the rest of the city. To be                                                                    H.H.


298                                              T H E  STANDARD BEARER

                                                                            will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy

11 A CLOUD OF WITNES-SES 11 father;" Gen. 26:3. So it was that Isaac was halted upon
                                                                            his way and came to settle in Gerar of the Philistines.

                                                                                Gerar was within the boundaries of Canaan ; but still it
                          Isaac, The Pilgrim                                would have been better for Isaac that he had remained by the

                                                                            well Lahairoi.    Gerar was a city ; dwelling there he was in
                 "And there was a famine in the land, beside the first
                                                                            the midst of the enemy. The neighbors that surrounded him
              famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac
              went unto Abimeleck,  king of the Philistines  unto Gerar.    in Gerar were unprincipled people for they did not fear God.

                 "And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not          Isaac soon realized this and it made him afraid. When the

              down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell         men of the city asked him concerning Rebekah, he did not
              thee of:                                                      have the courage to say that she was his wife-lest his own
                 "sojourn in @s  land, and I will be with thee, and
                                                                            life should be endangered.    But again the Lord was with
              will bless thee;"                           GEN. 26: l-3a
                                                                            Isaac, and before Rebekah could be defiled, He brought it

       We must be careful in evaluating the life of Isaac not to            to the attention of Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, that

underestimate the extent of his faith. When we think upon                   Isaac's attitude toward Rebekah was not that of a brother

the life of Isaac there is always one great fact that comes to              but that of a husband. After reprimanding Isaac, Abimelech

the fore in our minds, that is, that he preferred Esau over                 commanded that no one was to lay hands on either Isaac or

Jacob, that he tried to' give the blessing of the birthright to             his wife. It was the hand of the Lord that overshadowed

Esau, that he thereby refused to follow the clearly revealed                Isaac and kept him from evil.

will of God. That that was a sin, a very -great  sin, cannot                   These actions of Isaac, of course, are not such as would
be denied. Nonetheless, let us not forget that Isaac was a                  cqmmend  him to us'as an example to be followed. They rather
child of God ; he partook of the grace of God. Thus his life                manifest the gracious intervention of God which prevented
also revealed positive fruits that manifested the excellency                him from. becoming as involved in the results of his weak-
of the power of God that worked within him.                                 ness as he might have. But neither should our condemnation

       We read in Hebrews 12 :6, "For whom the Lord loveth he               of Isaac be overly harsh at this point. It is to be remembered

chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."                     that these sinful reactions were essentially no different than

Isaac was a son of God and thus it was that the Lord chas-                  those of his father Abraham, who lived in closest communion

tened and tried him also. The Lord sent to him, as He had                   with God, under similar circumstances. This does not excuse

to his father Abraham, a famine. It was the land of Canaan                  him, but it does remind us that the trial of these circum-

in which he dwelt, the land of promise,. the land which was                 stances was very severe. Nor should we forget that under

to be a blessing unto him and unto his seed forever. But that               great economic trials we often yield as readily to deceptive

land became dry and unproductive before his sight. It with-                 words and actions. It is,-however,  not here but  in that which

ered and failed to bring forth the vegetation necessary for                 followed that the strength of Isaac shines forth.

sustaining the life of his household. It became a test of Isaac's              The person difficult to understand in this account is
faith to continue to look upon. the land as that in which the               Abimelech. He was king of the wicked Philistines and was
blessings of God would be given to him and his children.                    observed by Isaac to .hate  him. Yet he allowed Isaac to dwell .-

       The reaction of Isaac to that trial was quite natural. As            in his land for a time ; he forbade his people to molest Isaac

his father had done before him, he decided to remove  himself               or his family ; he was eager to make a covenant or truce with

to Egypt, a land which with its natural irrigation was spared               Isaac.

from all but the most severe of famines. His discernment                        This is not the first time that the name Abimelech ap-

dulled by the pressing need of the moment; he allowed him-                  pears in Scripture: In Gen. 20 and 21 Abimelech is men--

self to forget the spiritual commitment of faith that bound                 tioned in conjunction with Abraham under very much the

him to the land .of Canaan. He lived by faith in the promise                same circumstances. Then too Abraham had gone to dwell

of God which was to be realized in Canaan not in Egypt. But                 in the land of the Philistines ; there he had trouble with the

the hardship was great, and Isaac gathered his family `around               inhabitants over water; and a covenant was made between

him and made his way toward Egypt.                                          Abimelech and Abraham. But that was nearly'one hundred

       But before this sin could be perpetrated God interfered.             years before. From this we would conclude that the Abime-

He stopped Isaac on the way, before he had left the bound-                  lech  which dealt with Isaac was not the same person which

aries of Canaan, and warned him not to go into Egypt. He                    had dealt with his father. The name Abimelech was the

repeated to him the covenant promise which had been given                   royal title of the kings of the Philistines just as Pharaoh was

to. his. father before him laying stress upon the fact that it              the title of the kings of Egypt. The Abimelech that ruled

was to be fulfilled- in the land of Canaan. "Sojourn in this.               over the Philistines in the time of Isaac was probably the

land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee ; for unto`              son of the one that Abraham knew. This accounts for the

thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I             attitude which Abimelech maintained toward Isaac. From


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE.R                                                               299


 his father Abimelech had learned. about the divine power            force. -We would rather see him demonstrate his might. But

 which overshadowed the family of Abraham causing them               is it not because we do not fully appreciate the virtue of true

 to prosper and protecting them from evil. He knew of the            meekness? Christ said, "But I say unto you, that ye resist

 inheritance that the Lord maintained in the land of Canaan          not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,

 for the seed of Abraham. Therefore he both f,eared  Isaac           turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at

 and hated him. He hated Isaac because he saw in him a               the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also,

 contender-for the possession of the land. But he recognized         And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him

 the greatness of Isaac's God, and he was afraid to misuse           twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would

 Isaac lest the anger of Isaac's God should come upon him.           borrow of thee turn not thou away," Matt. 5 :39-42. This

     When Isaac came with his possessions into the land of           Isaac had learned to .do. He had learned what it was to live
the Philistines Abimelech did not dare to forbid him the right       as a stranger and a pilgrim upon the earth. Had it. been a
 to tarry in the land. Rather he saw it to be to his advantage to    matter of principle he would have undoubtedly stood fast.
 obligate as powerful a man as Isaac to himself. For much the        Had the Lord commanded him to fight he would have done
 same reason he took care. to warn his people not to molest          so. But it was merely a matter of earthly water. He was to
 Isaac, his wife, or his family. Abimelech was very. much            wait patiently for the Lord to give him the land and not try
 afraid of the retribution which might be brought upon him           to take it in his.own strength. Thus he iived  in a way often
 if he mistreated Isaac in any way.                                  far more difficult. He `meekly bore the affliction which came
                                                                     to him trusting only in the faithfulness of his God.
     When Isaac .first entered the land, he had been merely
                                                                        This determination of Isaac to live by faith in God and
 passing through on the way to Egypt. But when God forbade
                                                                     not by the strength of his own arm Isaac affirmed in the
 him to leave the land of Canaan, he settled down in Gerar ;
                                                                     oath which he made to Abimelech. Even though Isaac had
 and still Abimelech did not object. But when Isaac. began to
                                                                     left his land Abimelech still feared the power which upheld
 sow grain, difficulty arose. It was not the fact that'he sowed
                                                                     him and made him to prosper. Abimelech went to him claim-
 the grain that bothered; it was the fact that his efforts
                                                                     ing to have done to him nothing but good and to have sent
 brought forth a harvest of a hundredfold. Ordinarily that
                                                                     him away in peace. This Isaac recognized to be entirely false
 land brought forth a harvest of thirty to sixtyfold. But now
                                                                     and told, Abimelech that he had sent him away in hatred.
 a famine was upon the land and -it was -practically barren.
                                                                     Nonetheless, he was willing to affirm, as his father had done
 Yet the fields of Isaac brought forth inconceivable bounty.
                                                                     before him, that he would not be the cause of hurt to the
The Lord was blessing the labors of Isaac. He was showing
                                                                     `Philistines.. This was not an affirmation of friendship but
 to Isaac. that He could and would uphold him in the land
                                                                     only a testimony to Abimelech that he sought the promised
 even in the midst of a famine. For the Philistines, however,
                                                                     land not by the strength of his own hand. He trusted in the
 the prosperity of Isaac was an occasion for dissatisfaction. It
                                                                     Lord. to give him that land in the way and at the time that
 moved them to envy to see the fields of a stranger far sur-
                                                                     He saw to be proper. .
 passing their own in productivity. Where there is envy,

 hatred does not take long to follow. Abimelech saw in the               This meeting took place immediately after. Isaac had

 growing wealth and strength of Isaac a challenge to his own         moved to a new dwelling place at Beersheba. When coming

 supremacy. He commanded Isaac to remove himself from                there the Lord had appeared to him reaffirming- the covenant

 Gerar.                                                              promise given to his father, Abraham. There he built an

                                                                     altar to the Lord, and there he digged a well. It was after
    Isaac was not one to strive unnecessarily, and he willingly
                                                                     the meeting with Abimelech that we read, "And it came to
 left the city and pitched his tent in a valley not far removed
                                                                     pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him
 from Gerar. Still the Lord was with him, and although the
                                                                     concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto
 land was dry, when he digged a well'it brought forth water.
                                                                     him, We have found water." It `was as a testimony from
 This was but a new occasion for the Philistines to envy him.
                                                                     God that the way in which he walked was pleasing in His
 Soon they came to use the water of his well and to claim it                                                                                                   -
                                                                     sight.
 for their own. Peaceably Isaac refused to maintain a continued                                                                         B       .    W    .

 fight over anything as material as water. He quietly went on

 to dig another well in another place but the envious Philis-
 tines followed to claim also that well for their own. `So he                                       Notice

 was finally forced to leave the land of the Philistines, and he       N E X T   E A S T E R N   L A D I E S '   L E A G U E   M E E T I N G
 came to Rehoboth, so named because there the Lord gave

him room to dwell.                                                                  ~Speahm:  REV. G. VANDEN BERG
                                                                               Topic : How .to Teach Our Childrex  to Pray
    Perhaps we do not appreciate the meekness of Isaac by
 which he refused to fight for that which was rightfully his.                                Place: First Church

We would rather see him stand up for his rights. We would                Time : Thursday evening, April 16, at 8 :00 o'clock

 rather see him challenge the Philistines to take his wells by                                      Mrs. Jacob Kuiper, Ass't Sec'y


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II                                                                           LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son ; this day have
                   F-ROM HOLY WRIT                                           I begotten thee"! When the "King shall sit" in that very
                                                                             sitting we see what God "hath begotten" when He raised His

                                                                             Son out of the dead and set Him at His own right hand. For
                        Exposition of Matthew 24 and 25                      do we not read in Acts 13 :32,  33 : "and we declare unto you

                                       x v .                                 glad tidings, now that the promise which was made unto

                                                                             the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children,
                                (Matthew 25 :31-46)                          in that he hath raised up Jesus again: as it is also written in

                                                                             the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
                                        b.
                                                                             thee."     To be sure, here we are told that this "begetting of
             In contemplating with. believing hearts the "Final Judg-        the. Son" refers to the "coming into the flesh of the Son of
         ment Scene"       as here portrayed in Matthew 25 :31-46 it         God, born from the virgin Mary, and- finally set down on
         should be borne in mind that the history of the world is the        God's right hand."
         history of the chu~clz!                                                 It will be the C&stocentric  day!
             There are those who fail to keep this in mind, ex-                  It will be the day of the Divine Theodicy, in Christ His
         positors of the Bible, and then raise the question: who is          S o n !
         Jesus really speaking of as being judged in that day ? Is he
                                                                                 In no sense of, the word will it be a. day of judgment
         speaking of the judgment simply of the wicked? Or will
                                                                             according to m~,oral&ic principles. Even the judgment of
         both be judged in that day? We believe that the latter is
                                                                             G.od's people will be their relationship to this Son and the
         true. It should be kept in mind that even as there is a resur-
                                                                             "kingdom prepared for them from the- foundation of the
         rection unto life and a resurrection unto damnation, thus also
                                                                             world," Matthew 25 :34. And the wicked will be judged in
         there is a judgment unto condemnation and a judgment unto
                                                                             how they treated Christ! For what was not done to the
         acquittal !
                                                                             "least of these of mine, was nof done to Me"!
             We believe that for a proper understanding of the judg-
                                                                                 Thus we understand just a bit of the nature.of that day!
         ment we must bear in mind that this the judgment of the
                                                                                 It is the final stone in the Consummation (Volending) of
         world in which the Son of Man, suffered, died, and arose
                                                                             the history of the world which all concenzt;@es  in the history
         again and ascended unto the right hand of His Father. What
                                                                             of the Church, which is one with Christ! It is the day when
         we confess in the Apostolicurn (Twelve Articles of Faith)
                                                                             the "birthpangs" in history as it gives birth to "this day
         concerning the Triune God ; God, the Father and our crea-
                                                                             have I begotten thee," will be finished. Then shall the sorrows
         tion, God, the Son, and our redemption, and God, the Holy
                                                                             of history be remembered no more for "joy that the Man-
         Ghost and our sanctification must be kept in full relevancy.
                                                                             child is born" ! It is the last chapter of the Protevangel!
         For, strictly speaking, in these Articles we have the historical
                                                                             Gen. 3 :15.
         order of the Trinity revealed in the economy of salvation,
         and particularly of God, in Christ, as He shall come again             The Seed of the woman shall fully triumph over the seed
         to judge the liz+zg  and the dead in that Great Day ! And, it       of the Serpent.

      should be clearly understood, "living" and "dead" are not                 But if this be the "day" of God's First-born Son, the

         those who have not yet died physical death and those who            First-born of every creature as he is the First-born out of the

         have, but it refers to those "who are in Christ" and those          dead, (Col. 1:16,18)  then surely the judgment is also most

         who are rtot "in Christ."                                           singular. Let us notice the text, rrThe?t  shall be g.atkered  be-

            We should keep in mind that in that day when the "Son            fore l%im all nations, and he shall separate them one from
         of Man shall sit in His glory and when all the nations shall        another, as a shepherd divided (his) sheep from the goats."

         come before Him," it is a very Clzristocentvic  day. It is             In this world the "sheep" and the "goats" were together!

         wholly a day .in which the glory' of the Son of Man will be         Their lives were rather intertwined. The church did not en-

         revealed. It is a day in which God will rejoice! For it is          joy a "harbor of seclusiveness" but was in the center of his-

         the day in which will be openly manifested that it was God's        tovy! Where the church is there is history, recorded.history  !

         good-pleasure that "all the fulness of the Godhead should           It cannot be the history of the world, and, therefore, the

         dwell in Him."      And God will have all those "in derision"       history of the church. Quite conversely, it is the history of

         who would not have this Son to reign in Zion! In that day           the church. Surely the "field," which is "the  world" in the

         it will be openly manifested "that God hath made this. Jesus,       Parable of the "tares" in Matthew 13 :24-30 ; 36-43; is not a

         whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ," Acts 2 :36  ;        field of tares with wheat sown in it, but it is a field.of wheat

         Col. 1 :19. Graphically it will then be heard : "He that sitteth    with "tares" sown in it. From` the viewpoint of the Son of

         in the heaven shall laugh : the LORD shall have them in deri-       Man the history of the "field" is not the history of the

         sion. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex           "tares" but it is the history of the "field of wheat" ! And

         (trouble) them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my           thus also the flock of the shepherd is not a flock of sheep and

         King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree : the     goats, but it is a flock of sheep with goats .in it. The separa-


                                             T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      301


  tion here is not at all on the basis of an equality in Status          1. That the "sheep" are called the "Blessed of the Father,"

  a 260 !                                                            as .the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This brings to mind
      What does this mean?                                           the beautiful passage of Ephesians 1 :3-7, where we read,

      That when judgment is made it is not to "find out" which       "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 are "sheep" and which are "goats," but it is to +t the goats        who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly

 frown  aT9aong the sheep ! "The blessed of the Father must' re-     places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us before the

~ ceive  the inheritance prepared for them from the foundation       foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without

 of the world"!                                                      blame before him in love ; having predestinated us unto the

      And through much tribulation the "sheep" are to receive        adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, according

 this "inheritance"! It is through the long and hard way of          to the good-pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory

 temptation. And -the "righteous" (verse 46) look for their          of `his grace, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved,

 reward. For righteous they were in an evil world. It was            in whom we have the redemption through his blood, the for-

 ever the "goats" in the midst of the "flock" which made life        giveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

 so miserable for the "flock." Especially is this the case when          2. That whatever they receive is purely theirs "by -in-

 the "goats" claim to be the "blessed of the Father," when           heritance" ! Since these sheep are sons, in the First-born Son

 they insult the "sheep' and claim to be the "flock" !               among many brethren, therefore they are also heirs, heirs of

      It is very unbearable when those who are not of the First-     God and joint-heirs with Christ. Rom. 8 :17-l&  Gal. 3 :29.

 born Son among many brethren, claim that they are these                 3. That this "inheritance" was prepared up to the present

 brethren !                                                          moment for them. God never swerved from that purpose. He

      But let it be a great comfort to the "righteous" that pres-    gave these "sheep" to Christ, and these sheep are known by

 ently the Son of man shall sit on the Throne of His glory.          name to Him, and in the judgment they will be the full reci-

 His verdict will be final. It will be no mere "Kangaroo             pients of this great benefit of the grace of election!

 Court" !                                                              And the rrgr,oundJ'  of the jsidgwient  must not be confused

      And judgment will begin at the house of God!                   with the "ground" of ozw salvation'!

     Does not the apostle Peter write: "`For the time is come            It is a fine and clear point of distinction.

 that judgment must begin at the house of God ; and if it                There is a vast difference between the "ground of judg-

 begin at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the        ment" and the "ground `of salvation" ! These two must never

 Gospel of God ? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where       be separated in-the case of the righteous, to be sure ! But

 shall the ungodly and sinner appear?' (I Peter 4:17, 18.)           not to distinguish these properly, either leads to the mael-

      If we bear in mind that "church history is world history"      strom of Antinomianism or to that of proud Pharisaism,

 then we can understand that judgment begins  at the house           self-righteousness. These two are but the antipoles of the

of God. It begins in the center of the church on earth where         same error : not properly distinguishing the "ground of salva-

 the Word of God is preached, where the Sacraments are               tion" and the "ground of judgq?ent"  !

 administered in Christ's Name, and where Christian Disci-               It seems that Christ makes the ,"ground"  of judgment in

 pline is exercised in Christ's name..It begins there where what     both cases the "works"of either the righteous or of the

 is "bound on earth is bound in heaven" ! And in ever widen-         wicked, does it not? We believe it does ! The Lord willing

 ing circles it moves out into the world. Thus we see it in          we shall have more to say about that in the next article in

 the revealing passage in Romans 2. Do we not read in the            The Standard Bearer.

 verses 6-9 the following: "Who will render to every man                 We must listen carefully to the text on this point.

 according to his deeds . : . tribulation and anguish, upon every        We must neither be stranded on the rock of "Antinomian-

 soul of man that ,doeth  evil, of the Jew first and also of the     ism"  nor upon the sand-bar of moralism and self-righteous-

 Gentile"? And will not "as many as have sinned without              ness, parading as Christian sanctification.

 law also perish without law"? And again, will not those                 D.V., then, the next time.

"as have sinned in the law also be judged by the law"? Verse                                                                       G      .    L    .

 12. Does this not imply that there are those, on the periphery

 of the circle of the world and the nations, who stand in a
                                                                                               IN MEMORIAM
 different proximity to "the law" than those who "sin in the           The Protestant Reformed Men's Chorus .of the Protestant Reformed
 law" ?                                                              Churches df Grand Rapids, Mich., hereby wish to express its sincere
      It is, therefore, indeed a judgment which begins at the        sympathy to one of their members, Mr: Phil Letterman,  in the loss
                                                                     of his father-in-law,
 house of God! Yet, it will be such a judgment that "all the
                                                                                               J A C O B   P I P E R
 nations shall be gathered together" before the throne !
                                                                       May the God of all<grace,  comfort and sustain the bereaved m
      And to the "sheep" it will be said in that day: "Come          their sorrow.
 ye blessed of my Father, inherit -the  kingdom prepared for                                  In the name of the Chorus,
 you from the foundation of the world," We notice here the                                                      C. Jonlcer,  President
 following elements :                                                                                          Art Dotter, Secretary

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


                  THE` DECEPTION OF AI                                     We can not, however, question the fact that God is truth
                                                                       and there is in Him no lie.whatsoever.  If the "deception" of
       A wonderful victory was accomplished at Jericho. Under          Ai is brought up in order to question the veracity of God,
God's guidance, the walls of the city had fallen down. The             then there would be no point in continuing the discussion
people of that city> together with all their possessions, had          further. Such a person would plainly be denying the in-
been destroyed. Israel had seen the power of .God  whereby             spiration of the Word of God; hence arguments from Scrip-
He would defend His people and give unto them the promised             ture would be of no avail, and mere human arguments would
land of Canaan.                                                        easily be discredited. Scripture plainly teaches that God is

       In the light of such a victory the capture of the next city,    truth.    "This then is the message which we have heard of

Ai, appeared certain. After all, God was on their side. Be-            him and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is

sides, the city was comparatively insignificant and very small         no darkness at all" (I John 1:5).

(it numbered about 12,000 inhabitants). The spies, sent out                We must say then that what God commanded Joshua to

to view the city, had so reported to Joshua: "Let not all the          do at Ai was certainly right; it was in perfect harmony with

people go up ; but let about two or three thousand men go up           His Holy Being. Upon that basis alone can we continue.

and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither;            This does not mean that the question is removed. Although

for they are but few." Accordingly, about three thousand men           the question may not be the veracity of God, we may still

had been sent out to capture the city. But Israel's army was           have the question as to how the "deception" `of Ai is to be

defeated, thirty-six of them being smitten. And "the hearts            harmonized with that veracity. That there is such harmony

of the people melted, and became as water," for apparently             we can never doubt.

the promise- of God had failed.                                            The answer to the question `concerning the "deception"

       Then it was, after Joshua comes to God in earnest prayer,       of Ai depends first of all whether or not war is right. There

that God revealed that Israel had sinned. The cause of the             is no war in the new heavens and new earth for ". . . . they

sin, Achan, was found out and punished according to the law            shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into

of God.                                                                pruning-hooks :    nation shall not lift up a sword against

       Once more Israel is to go up against Ai. Now, however,          nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Micah 4 :3).

God gives to Joshua the positive assurance of victory. The                -That there is war on this earth is a self-evident fact. The

city and its inhabitants must be destroyed, but the spoils were        history of the world is a history of wars and rumors of wars.

to be given to Israel. What is more, God gives to Joshua the           And wars are caused by, or are the result of, sin. "From

exact plan of attack. Of 30,000 men, 5,000 were sent to. lie.          whence come wars and fightings among you ? come they not

in ambush on the west side of Ai between this city and, the            hence, even of your lusts that war in your members ?' James

-neighboring. city of Bethel. The following day Joshua and             4:l.

the remaining men were to approach Ai and then feint flight,               Principally that warfare is the war. of the devil and his

as previously the 3,000 of Israel were forced to flee. Then,           seed against the woman and her seed. Of this God had spoken

upon the signal of Joshua, the men in ambush were to set               immediately after the fall (Gen. 3 :15). Throughout the his-

on fire the exposed city of Ai. Afterward the two forces of            tory of the world that warfare is revealed. `And the dragon

the Israelites were to meet, thus trapping and destroying the          was wroth with the woman, and went to make war- with

army of Ai (together with the men of Bethel) which was                 the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of

located between their two forces.                                      God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ"' (Rev. 12 :17).

   The plan, as set forth by God Himself, is completely suc-           It is a warfare, therefore, in which the .wicked  try to crush

cessful. From here Israel, with.Joshua as its leader, enters           Christ first .of all, and following from that, they try to crush

further into the land of Canaan and defeats and destroys the           His church.

wicked nations of the land.        -                                      There is most surely a righteous warfare. Christ Him-

   It is particularly with the second attack of the children of        self fights: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold `a white
Israel against Ai that we are concerned. Two incidents of              horse ; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and

that attack stand out clearly. First of all, there were men            True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war."

placed in ambush to the west of the city ; and. secondly, Israel       Rev. 19 :11. Michael and the angels fight the devil and his
pretends flight from the army of Ai. These two things are              angels. Rev. 12 :7, Jude 9. And the church is always called
the occasion for this article. The title, "The deception of            to fight the warfare of faith against the devil, the world, and
Ai," implies a charge.       Ai was deceived, God commanded            its own flesh.

this deception, hence God then is guilty of deceiving. Pos-               So the tribes of Israel were to enter into the promised

sibly the charge could be stated: God is guilty of command-            land of Canaan and bring war upon its inhabitants. Moses,

ing that which is inconsistent with His perfect being. Decep-          shortly before his death, repeated to Israel the promise of

tion, after all, is that which misleads, deludes, or even cheats.      God: "The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and

How is it ever possible that God could command His people              he will. destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt

to act under anything as corrupt as that implied in deception?         possess them : and Joshua, he shall go over. before thee, as the

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


   Lord hath said." Deut. 31:3.  The battles of Israel too were        the city with fire.from  heaven?

   principally battles of faith. They overcame only through the          There is no question about what God could have done.

   power of the Lord. For though they fought physical battles,         The reason that God commanded Joshua to proceed in this

   it was always God that gave them the victory. That fact             particular way was undoubtedly for the sake of Israel itself.

   is evident throughout' their long history. Israel lived .in the     In the first place we must bear in mind the former attempt

   time of type and shadow. Their battles, though also battles         of ,Israel  to capture Ai. Then, evidently without consulting      .

   of faith, were typical of the spiritual battle of the church. in    God, only 3,000 men had been sent against Ai. Israel had

   the midst of the world.                                             followed the advice of the spies: "Make not all the people to

        Proceeding from the fact that warfare'is proper for the        labor thither." One receives the impression that they .thought

   child of God, as it is conducted according to the command           .it too much to fight as a nation. After all, they had just

   of God, we can also see the strategy which Israel employs at        captured Jericho, that large city. God had given them the

   Ai at the command of God was also proper. Warfare, if               victory. Surely now with a few men God will also give them

   conducted properly, involves the wise deployment of forces          the victory over Ai. This seems not to be a confession of

   in order to attain the prescribed goal. That is true in the         faith that God can give victory whether there be many or

   spiritual warfare as well as a physical warfare. This is often      few, but it appears rather to be spiritual laziness. Why

   called the stratagem, or strategy'of warfare. Both opponents        should all the people enter the fight when they could get

   are very well aware that the other one intends to use its           by with few?

   forces to the best advantage. Properly speaking therefore,             God teaches Israel otherwise. Certainly it is not of man

   one could not call this deception in its generally understood       but of God that the victory comes. Yet it is exactly because

   sense. The enemy is not deceived concerning the intention,          the church has the victory of God through Christ that the

   but is unaware of the way that intention is to be carried out.      church must and does fight. And in that fight the church

   That naturally must be the case. No general is going to in-         uses all of the means that God gives unto them. There is no

  form the enemy concerning his plan of attack, nor could the          room for laziness in the warfare of faith. The church must

  fact that he keeps his plans secret make him guilty of decep-        know that there is always a fight in the midst of the world,

t i o n .                                                              and the church is always in the "thick of the fight." That

        Such was also true concerning the command of God to            fight continues even until the end -of time. So God teaches        '
   Israel. If Israel were commanded to approach the -city as           Israel, and us, that the battle is one in which the whole

   friends and allies, and then (after they had thus gained en-        church is involved-it can not be delegated to a few as was

   trance into the city) smite it with the edge of the sword, they     their intention.

   would have been guilty of the lie, of deception. But such              Secondly,. we must also remember (God certainly knew)

was not the case. Ai knew the intention of Israel, but they            that "the hearts of the people melted, and became as water."

   did not know how God would command Israel to carry out              Surely such gives evidence of a lack of trust in the promise

   that intention.    God Who is the Righteous God does not            of God. Nevertheless, it .would appear that Israel had much

   deceive in this evil sense of the word, but in righteousness He     reason to fear; not merely of Ai, but of all the surrounding

   does defeat the wicked and gives His people the land.               nations.    If God had departed from them, would not these

       There is yet one question which arises in connection with       nations come upon them and destroy them as wolves among

   this same incident. Why did God work in this way ? Was              the sheep? No, we may not try to excuse this lack of trust.

   it not generally true that God taught His people that it was        But God also remembers the frailty of His people, and He

   not their might but rather the power of His arm that de-            leads them as a father does his children. Because of their'

   feated the enemy ? It was God, not Israel, Who caused the           fear, as well as to teach them that the whole church must

   walls of Jericho to fall down. God showed that with the             fight, He commands them to send forth so large a number

   band `of 300 with Gideon He gave the victory over an in-            against the small city of Ai. In this way He is not teaching

   numerable host of the Midianites. Why is it that now God.           them that now they must rely on the arm of flesh, on the

   does not work in the same way? Could not God have dealt             numbers of men, in the fight with the wicked. Rather, and

   with Ai as He did with Jericho? The fact was that the total         it is very plain throughout the account, God teaches His

   number of inhabitants of Ai numbered only about 12,000.             people that it is He Who directs the battle from beginning

   It has been estimated that there were then probably only            unto the end ; and it is He Who gives His people the victory

   3,000 fighting men- possibly less. Yet at the command of            even as He assures His people that the victory is theirs be-

   God at least 30,000 Israelites were sent against Ai - a force       fore they ever enter into the battle.

   10 times the size of that located in this little city. Besides,         Can we not then declare with the Psalmist: "Truly God

   they were deployed in such a way as to take that city by            is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart . . . .

   surprise.    The preparations are ~of such a nature that one        1My  flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my

   would almost -begin to think that Ai had many more men              heart, and my portion forever . . . I have put my trust in the

   than Israel. One wonders why Israel could not have met              Lord God, that I may declare all thy works."

   this army head-on. Or else, why does not God simply destroy                                                                 G.V.B.

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


                                                                          memory thereof remain even unto the end of the world., and

    ' Contending For The Faith                                      1 its salutary virtue be applied to the remission of those sins
                                                                          .which  we daily commit, - declaring himself constituted a

                                                                          phest forever, according to the oyder  of Melchisedech,  he
             The Church and the Sacraments                                offered up to God the Father his own body and blood under

                                                                          the species of bread and wine ; and, under the symbols of
   VIEWS DURING THE THIRD  PERIOD (750-1517 A.D.)
                                                                          those same things, he delivered (his own body and blood)
                  T H E   S E V E N   S A C R A M E N T S .               to be received- by his apostles, whom he then constituted

          THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF                                  priests of the New Testament; and by those words, he com-
                                                                          manded them and their successors in the priesthood to offer
                TRANStiBSTANTIATION.
                                                                          (them) ; even as the Catholic Church has always understood
                              (Continued)                                 and taught. For, having celebrated the ancient Passover,

        "It is another objection to this doctrine (the Roman Cath-        which the multitude of the children of Israel immolated in
 olic doctrine of Transubstantiation - H.V.                               memory of their going. out of Egypt, he instituted the new
                                                   j that it logically
 leads, and in fact has led, to the greatest practical evils. It          Passover (to wit), himself to be immolated, under visible
 has led to superstitious, in the place of rational.and Scriptural        signs, by the Church through (the ministry of) priests, in
 reverence for the sacrament ; to the idolatrous worship of the           memory of his own passage from this world unto the Father,
 consecrated wafer; to attributing to it magical, or super-               when by the effusion of his own blood he redeemed us, and
 natural virtue contrary to Scripture ; to perverting a simple            delivwed  US f"Jom, the pow@? of darkness, a.nd translated us
sacrament into a propitiatory sacrifice, and to investing the             into his kingdom And this is indeed that clean oblation,
 ministers of Christ with the character of sacrificing priests,           which can not be defiled by any unworthiness, or malice of

 empowered to offer, for money, a propitiatory oblation secur-            those that offer (it) ; which the Lord foretold by Malachias
 ing forgiveness even, for the sins of the departed. It has               was to be offered in evkry  place, clean to F;ts  name, w&h

 been made a mine of wealth to the priesthood and the Church.             war to be great amon.gst  the Gentiles, and which the Apostle
 It was principally the popular belief in this great error, that          Paul,, writing to the Corinthians, has not obscurely indicated,
 secured the transfer of the greater part of the land and wealth          when he says, that they who are defiled by the participation
 of Europe into the hands of the clergy and gave them almost              `of the table of devils, can not be partakers of the table of the
 unlimited power over the people." - end of quote of Hodge                Lord; by the ta.ble,  meaning in both places the altar. This, in
 on Rome's proof for its doctrine of Transubstantiation.                  fine, is that oblation which was prefigured by various types
                                                                          of sacrifices, during the period of nature, and of the law;
 The Roman Ca,tholic  docthne  of the Lord's                              inasmuch as it comprises all the good things signified by
 Supper as a sacrijice.
                                                                          those sacrifices, as being the consummation and perfection
        Also this doctrine is set forth by Rome in the twenty-            of them all. -    .
 second session of its Council of Trent, Sept. 17, 1562. First
                                                                                                      CHAPTER II
 of all, we will quote this doctrine as positively set forth by             That the Sacrifice of the Mass is Propitiatory, both for
this Council. This doctrine is set forth positively in chapters                                  the Liying  and the Dead.
 I to VIII as follows:
                                                                              And forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice which is. cele-

                              CHAPTER I                                   brated in the mass, that same Christ is. contained and im-
 On the Inshhtion of -the most holy Sa,crifice  of the Mass.              molated in an unbloody manner. who once offered himself

        Forasmuch as, under the former Testament, according to            in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross; the holy Synod

 the testimony of the Apostle Paul, there was no pevfection,              teaches, that this sacrifice is truly propitiatory, and that by

 because  of the wmkness  of the Levitical priesthood; there              means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find

 was need, God, the Father of mercies, so ordaining, that                 grace im  seasonable aid, if we draw nigh unto God, contrite

 an.otlzer  priest should vise,  according to the order of Melclzi-       and penitent,- with a sincere heart and upright faith, with

 sedeclz,  our Lord Jesus Christ, who might consummate, and               fear and reverence. For the Lord, appeased by the oblation

 lead to what is perfect, a`s many as were to be sanctified. He,          thereof, and granting the grace and gift of penitence, for-

 therefore, our God and Lord, though he was about to offer                gives even heinous crimes and sins. For the victim is one

 himself once on the altar of the cross unto God the Father,              and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of

 by vmeans  of his death, there to operate an eternal redevzp-            priests, who then offered himself on the cross, the manner

 tion; nevertheless,, because that his priesthood was not to be           alone of offering being different. The fruits'indeed of which

 extinguished by his death, in the Last Supper, on the night              oblation, of that bloody one to wit,  are received most plenti-

 in which he was betrayed, - that he might leave, to his own              fully through this unbloody one ; so far is this (latter) from

 beloved Spouse the- Church, a visible sacrifice, such as the             derogating in any way from that (former oblation). Where-

 nature of man requires, whereby that bloody sacrifice, once to           fore, not only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and

 .be accomplished on the cross, might be represented, and the             other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for


                                                   T H E   .STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                           305
I

      those who are departed in Christ, and who are not as yet            spiritually thereat; partly also because they are celebrated by

      fully purified, is it rightly offered, agreeably to a tradition     a public minister of the Church, not for himself only, but for

      of the apostles.                                                    all the faithful, who belong to the body of Christ.

                                 CHAPTER III                                                        CHAPTER VII
                    On Ma.sses  in Honor of the Saints.                     On the Water that is to be &fixed  with the Wine to be

         And although the`Church  has been accustomed at times to                              Offered in the Chalice.

     celebrate certain masses in honor and memory of the saints;             The holy Synod notices, in the next place, that it has been

     not therefore, however, doth she teach that sacrifice is offered     enjoined by the Church on priests, to mix water with the

     unto them, but unto God alone, who crowned them ; whence             wine that is to be offered in the chalice ; as well `because it

     neither is the priest wont to say, "I offer sacrifice to thee,      is believed that Christ the Lord did this, as also because from

     Peter or Paul"; but giving thanks to God for their victories,       /zis side there caw&e out blood and water;  the memory of

     he implores their patronage that they may vouchsafe to in-          which mystery is renewed by this commixture; and, whereas

     tercede for us in heaven, whose memory we celebrate upon            in the apocalypse of blessed John the peoples are called

     earth.                                                              waters, the union of that faithful people with Christ their

                                 C                                       head is thereby represented.
                                      HAPTER IV
                          On tl+f Cainon of the MaJs.                                              CHAPTER VIII
         And whereas it beseemeth that holy things be admin-                On Not Celebrating the Mass Everywhere  in the Vulgar
     istered in a holy manner, and of all holy things this sacrifice                Tongue; the Mysteries of the Mass to be
     is the most holy ; to the end that it might be worthily and                             Explai;ur.ed  to the People.
     reverently offered and received, the Catholic Church in-                Although the mass contains great instruction for the faith-
     stituted, many years .ago,  the sacred Canon, so pure from          ful people, nevertheless, it has not seemed expedient to the
     every error, that nothing is contained therein which does not       Fathers that it should be everywhere celebrated in the vulgar
     in the highest degree savor of a certain holiness and piety,        tongue. Wherefore, the ancient usage of each Church, and
     and raise up unto God the minds of those that offer. For it         the rite approved of by the holy Roman Church, the mother
     is composed out of the very words of the Lord, the traditions       and mistress of all churches, being in each place retained ;
     of the Apostles, and the pious institutions also of holy            and, that the sheep of Christ may not suffer hunger, nor the
     Pontiffs.                                                           little ones ask for brea.d, and there be none to break it unto
                                                                         them, the holy Synod charges pastors, and all who have the
                                 CHAPTER V                               care of souls, that they frequently, during the celebration of
       On the Solfmn Ceremonies of the Sowifice  of the Mad-s.
                                                                         mass, expound either by themselves, or others, some portion
         And, whereas such is the nature of man, that, without
                                                                         of those things which are read at Mass, and that, amongst
     external helps, he can not easily be raised to the meditation       the rest, they explain some mystery of this most holy sacrifice,
     of divine things ; therefore has holy Mother Church instituted      especially on the Lord's days and festivals.
     certain rites, to wit, that certain things be pronounced in the

     mass in a low, and others in a louder, tone. She has likewise                                  CHAPTER IX .
                                                                               Prelivrtinary  Reww-k  on the Following C&ons.
     employed ceremonies, such as mystic benedictions, lights, in-
                                                                             And because that many errors are at this time dissemin-
     cense, vestments, and many other things of this kind, derived
                                                                         ated and many things are taught and maintained by divers
     from an apostolical discipline and tradition, whereby both
                                                                         persons, in opposition to this ancient faith, which is based on
     the majesty of so great a sacrifice might be recommended,
                                                                         the sacred Gospel, the traditions of the Apostles, and the doc-
     and the minds of the faithful be excited, by those visible
                                                                         trine of the Apostles, and the doctrine of the holy Fathers;
     signs of religion and piety, to the contemplation of those
                                                                         the sacred and holy Synod, after many and grave .delibera-
     most sublime things which are hidden in this sacrifice.
                                                                         tions maturely had touching these matters, has resolved, with

                                CHAPTER VI                               the unanimous consent of all the Fathers, to condemn, and
        On Mass Wherein The Psiest Alone Cdwmmnicates.                   to eliminate from holy Church by means of the canons sub-

        The sacred and holy Synod would fain indeed that, at             joined, whatsoever is opposed to this most pure faith and
     each mass, the faithful who are present should communicate,         sacred doctrine. (We will continue with these Canons in our
     not only in spiritual desire, but also by the sacramental           next article.)                                                   H.V.

     participation of the Eucharist, that thereby a more abundant

     fruit might be derived to them from this most holy sacrifice:                                IN MEMORIAM
                                                                            The Priscilla Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church ex-
     but not therefore, if this be not always done, does it condemn,     presses herewith its sympathy to its secretary, Miss Ruth Bylsma, in
     as private and unlawful, but approves of and therefore com-         the sudden death of her father,

     mends, those masses in which the priest alone communicates                               MR. SYDNEY BYLSMA

     sacramentally ; since those masses also ought to be considered         May our Covenant God comfort and sustain her in her sorrow.
     as truly common ; partly because the people communicate                                                Mrs. B. Woudenberg, President
                                                                                                              Mrs. Chas. Pastoor, Vice Secretary





                                                                                                                                                    I

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


        II                                                                       Nor are these things merely a matter of some objective
                   The Voice of O.ur Fathers                                  doctrine for the child of God. This is the' living, practical
                                                                              truth of the gospel. This truth ought to be, and principally

                                                                              it is, very real in the experience of every child of God. And
                         The Canons of Dordrechi                              the child of God who is not as aware of the reality of this

                   PA~ZT Two - EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS                       truth as he ought to be, who- imagines that there is in some

                           F                                                  small degree some strength to stand in himself, is in for
                                IFTH H EAD  O F  D OCTRINE
                                                                              some bitter spiritual experiences somewhere along the path
                     OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS                   .
                                                                              of his life. He will probably be made to experience the hope-
                                 Article 8 (continued)                        lessness of utter despair and darkness in order that he may

               Thus far we have called attention to the negative aspects      be made to realize that the=  is no strength at all in himself.

        of this article, namely, the truth that the perseverance of the       Yes, but you say: `<We must pray that God preserve and

        saints is as far as the saints themselves are concerned ab-           strengthen us. We must depend by faith upon God's preserv-

        solutely impossible and that this perseverance is not in con-         ing power. We must consciously trust in Christ's interces-

        sequence of the saints' own merits and powers. And we have            sion for us. We must willingly have our hand in His." And

        found that this must be taken in the.  most stringent sense. of       indeed we must. But I ask you: what happens when you do

        the word. It means that there is not even the very faintest           not do that? What is there then to interrupt you in your

        sigh for forgiveness, not even the slightest twinge of sorrow         mad plunge toward destruction ? What will become of you

        over sin, not the least breath of a prayer for deliverance            when you do not believe and trust and when you do not

      . from sin at any stage in the life of the saints that precedes         willingly place your hand in Christ's ? And those moments

        the work of God in them. It means that if it were left to the         come! Make no mistake about that. Must we then return

        saints themselves, they would not only fall but would totally         to the way of trust and faith and dependence and prayer

        fall from faith and from the state of grace, they would com-          of ourselves ? Is our trust and faith and prayer the condi-

        pletely fall out of their union with Christ, would sink back          tion - and I am speaking of saints -of God's interrupting

        into the spiritual death from which they were once rescued.           our course of unbelief, of distrust, of self-confidence, of failure

        And we must understand that this is true really not only of           to watch and to pray 7 In other words, do you - and I speak

        those occasions when the saints fall very deeply and probably         especially of those times of our deep falls and backslidings  -

        continue in a certain sin'for a time. It is in a most real sense      do you and must you pray in the consciousness that your

        true of every sin that we commit. All our sins constitute un-         prayer precedes any action on the part of God, yea, that God

        faithfulness to -the  spiritual marriage relation between the         is impotent to take any action to rescue YOLI  before you cry

        saints and the God of their salvation in Christ. All our              to Him ? Then the situation is utterly hopeless not only ob-

        sins are principally so many instances of spiritual adultery,         jectively, but an unutterably hopeless feeling of blank despair

        also those sins of which we immediately repent and for which          must needs creep over the soul of the child of God. Nay, but

        we immediately seek forgiveness. All our sins are back-               the very prayer for forgiveness, the very cry of `sorrow, the

        slidings. Now suppose that either in regard to those deep             very plea for rescue is, in the first place, itself the fruit of

        falls and continued sins or in regard to any of our sins God          God's preserving power and strength interrupting your head-

        .would  let us go completely, would not at all interfere with         long plunge into destruction. And, in the second place, it is

        the activities of "these remains of indwelling sin," would put        not' the conscious fulfilling of and acknowledgement of a con-

        us spiritually "on our own," what would happen ? Only and             dition that we as saints must fulfill, but the ackrzowledging

        always one thing: we would continue along the course of that          of our own helplessness and of God's almighty power to

        sin steadily and plunge into everlasting destruction. Even            keep us and to rescue us -an acknowledgement that must

        granting the presence of the new life in our hearts, conced-          spontaneously rise from the heart of the saint that is touched

        ing that there is in us a small beginning of the new obedience,       by His preserving grace ! Hence, let us make no mistake

        the power of those remains of indwelling sin is far too great         about this: both as far as the objective relationship between

        for the small beginning of the new obedience. The little              God and His saints is concerned and as far as their sub-

        principle of the new life would never have the strength and           jective consciousness is concerned, the saints initiate nothing
__      the stamina to stem the rushing attack of the power of sin.           at all in the process of perseverance. God's is and must be

        If there were any attempt and inclination of that principle of        the first move always. That move must originate with and

        the new life to break our fall, to interfere with our sin, to         be initiated by God Himself only. And any activity of

        turn the soul to sorrow, to cry out for forgiveness, it would         perseverance on the part of the saints- and there is such

        be utterly stifled. We are so weak in ourselves, even `as             activity - is not in consequence of their own merits and

        saints, that we cannot stand a moment! We cannot even                 powers.

        realize our sin, cannot even be sorry for it, cannot even pray           But it is in consequence of God's free $pbercy,  thus the

        for forgiveness, cannot even seek the strength to fight against       article teaches us.

        and overcome it. We cannot stand for a moment!                            God's mercy is His love revealed to His people in their


                                             T H E   STAND<ARD   B E A R E R                                                        307


misery.    It is that virtue of the Most High according to            origin in Him. It has its reason in His good pleasure. It.

which He wills to deliver them from the misery of their sin           has its revelation in His only begotten Son. It has its realiza-

and imperfection and death and to make them partakers of              tion through His Holy Spirit.

the highest blessedness with Himself. It is therefore peculi-             Thus the article, finally, maintains that the falling away

arly a manifestation of His mercy that God prevents His               of the saints is with respect to God utterly impossible, and

people from totally falling from faith and from the state             it does so on solid grounds.     Notice that the article finds the

of grace, and that He does not allow them to continue in              reason for this impossibility entirely in God.

their backslidings  and to perish. His people are still in their          In the first place, God's counsel cannot be changed. This

misery.    True, they have been redeemed and principally              is the root of the matter. The truth of eternal and unchange-

delivered, and they are in principle partakers of all the bless-      able predestination necessarily implies the perseverance of

ings of salvation and life eternal. But their deliverance from        the saints. Because His counsel is unchangeable, God's prom-

their misery is not complete. It has not been finished. They          ise cannot fail. According to His counsel God promises His

.are still in a position, as far as they are concerned, to be-        people, that is, swears with an oath, to give them eternal

come the slaves of sin `once more, to renounce their Savior           life and glory in Christ Jesus through faith. That promise is

and their very salvation. And therefore God's mercy is re-            the Word of the unchangeable Jehovah Himself. It is em-

vealed not only in their first and principal deliverance out          p,hatically  His promise. It is not an offer. It is not even

of the power of darkness, but it is continually. revealed. His        to be compared to a human promise: It is absolutely uncon-

mercy does not reach its goal until His saints have been              ditional, dependent for its fulfillment on God alone, Whose

finally and perfectly delivered, are free from all sin and death,     counsel is unchangeable. And because His promise can never

and are received into the everlasting kingdom of righteous-           fail, His calling cannot be recalled. One called-is always

ness of our Lord Jesus Christ. The saints must be continually         called. Once a child of God is always a child of God. Once            .

rescued and preserved. And that God repeatedly rescues His            drawn out of darkness into God's marvellous light is to re-

people out of sin and temptation and keeps them from totally          main a child of light forever and never to sink back into

falling and brings them back out of their deep falls is a re-         the oblivion of the darkness.

peated and continued manifestation of divine mercy.                      In the second place, this essential and root ground of

   But the article emphasizes that this mercy is free, gra-           perseverance is revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. There

tuitous. This stands directly in contrast with the Arminian           is, first of all, the merit of Christ. He has obtained for us

idea that our perseverance is in consequence of our own               eternal righteousness.    That righteousness was obtained

merits and powers. Negatively, therefore, that God's mercy            through the payment of the debt of our guilt. And that right-

is free means that it is absolutely undeserved and unmerited,         eousness is our right to eternal life. That can never be

in the first place. There is nothing that the saints must do in       rendered ineffectual. The most heinous sin -into  which the

order to obtain the right to that mercy. They do not and              saint falls after his initial conversion cannot make the merit

cannot and need not hay for it and earn it. But, in the               of Christ ineffectual. Why not? Because also that sin was

second place, the gratuitous character of God's mercy means           atoned for by the blood of Christ long before it was ever com-

that it is also freely bestowed. Otherwise it is not free in          mitted. Secondly, therefore, Christ's intercession can not be

the full sense of the word. A store of mercy for which we             made ineffectual. We may fail to watch and to pray. But

do not have to pay, which we need not earn, but which is              Christ makes continual intercession for us on the basis of His

ours merely for the asking and accepting is not free. And it          own perfect work. And His prayer, founded upon the perfect

is certainly not free when one considers that the one who             righteousness of the cross, is : "Father, I will that those

must ask and accept in such a case is just exactly unable to          whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am."

do so. `No, it must also be freely bestowed upon us and               That prayer is surely heard. And in response to that prayer

wrought in us without our aid. This is exactly the beauty             God commits all His elect to the custody of Christ, to be

and the comfort of Gods-free mercy. It is just exactly at the         kept by Him until the final day. That keeping cannot be

moment when His people show by their sins that they do not            frustrated. No one can pluck the saints out of the hand of

at all deserve to be called His people and that they do not           Christ, to Whom has been given all power in heaven and on

deserve to be kept unto the incorruptible inheritance, in the         earth.

first. place, that God demonstrates His mercy toward them.               And finally, the reason for our sure perseverance is to be

And in the second place, it is exactly at the time when His           found in the-realization of God's unchangeable counsel and

saints on their part abandon that mercy, fail to trust in it,         unfailing promise and irrevocable call by the Holy Spirit as

seek the ways of sin and lust, that God bestows His mercy,            the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit seals us. He marks the

keeps them from totally and finally falling away, and brings          people of God as His own property and as genuine by. the

them back from their sin. It stands to reason, therefore, that        power of His grace. That seal, that divine mark of owner-

not only is this mercy free in the sense of being gratuitous,         ship and genuineness cannot be obliterated, blotted out so

but it is also free in the sense that it is sovereign. It proceeds    that we lose our adoption and our sonship.  Nor can it be

in the fullest sense of the word from God alone. It has its
                                                                                          (Continued on page 309)

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


                                                                              deeds, and, in the second place, because such motivation is

                                                                              lacking of all virtue, and, therefore, an evaluation of it is

                                                                              better left unsaid. We are concerned only with the actions

                                                                              of the church in relation to the principles of good ecclesiastical

                           Classical Jurisdiction                             order and when these conflict we aim to point it out as a

                                                                              warning to all, lest by being carried along the wrong course,
            The question of the nature and extent of the jurisdiction         they bring themselves and their generations to ruin.
     of a Classis  over a Consistory is of fundamental importance!
                                                                                 We may ask what then were the specific evils. of 1924
            The exercise of this jurisdiction, either properly or im-         and again of 1953?  History seems to have a way of covering
     properly, has an important effect upon the ecclesiastical life           up these things and time induces us mortals to forget the un-
     of the churches and certainly has affected the history of our            pleasant past or at least refrain from telling it to our chil-
     Protestant Reformed Churches from the very time of their                 dren. This must never be and so we will recapitulate a little
     origin until, the present day.                                           bit of the story even though it is most unpleasant to write

            With the principle of this matter, as expressed in the            about injustices, perversions and committed sins. It is much

     question from "The Ch~clz  Order Commzenta-vy"  that ap-                 more enjoyable to relate the story of the truth. However, the

     peared in the last issue of The Standard Bearer, we are                  latter can scarcely be done without the former since it has

     agreed. We single out the following statements from that                 pleased God to unfold and develop his Truth through the

     quotation as being especially pertinent :                                struggle of sin and grace. In relating this story, there is one

                                                                              thing to be remembered. It is not our purpose to present a
            "1vo  major .assembly  , . . . has the right to depose a minor
                                                                              history, and, therefore, our details will be kept to a bare
     assembly.
                                                                              minimum. Anyone interested in a factual account of the
            "Without the concurring advice of these delegates (Syn-           history can obtain a copy of the book,. The History Of The
     odical) no*Classis  *may  decide that a certain minister should          Protestant Refomzed  Churches  In America by the Rev. H.
     be deposed.                                                              Hoeksema, and therein read the entire story prior to the

            "The Clamis  has a full right to #appoint  a committee to         events of 1953. Our rubric is devoted to church polity and,

     help the Consistory in the execution of its task (i.e. to depose         in the present connection, we are concerned primarily with

     office bea.rel;s),                                                       the matter of rightful Classical jurisdiction.

            "lf any Consistory member thus deposed refuses to ac-                We begin then with 1924 !             .'

     knowledge kis  d@osition,  . . . . he `makes himself liable to
                                                                                  On December 12, 1924 Classis  Grand Rapids East met
     discipline as a.n  *individual ytzevhber.
                                                                              in special session and adopted the following as advised by its
            "`If one or Inore  deposed cousistory  members . . . .Classis     committee of pre-advice :
     should declare these members to be schismatic spoup, outside
                                                                                 With respect to the Rev. H. Hoeksema, then pastor of
     the denomination . . . ."
                                                                              the Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Classis
            Now everyone that has knowledge of the events that                declared :
     transpired in the Christian Reformed Church in 1924 also                    `1. Tha.t  the Reverend H. Hoeksema, ,in  his answer to
     knows how grievously these principles of Church Order were               the question placed before him by ,the classis,  had evaded
     trampled under foot. This was not done in ignorance but by               the issue;
     a Classis, imbued with a spirit of hierarchy, that wilfully
                                                                                 "2. That in the afternoo?t session of `the classis  on Decem-
     sacrificed all right in order to achieve its determined end. Out
                                                                              ber 11 he had refused  to answely  the classical questions 
     of this evil sprang up the Protestant Reformed Churches that                                                                          z&h
                                                                              a;yI. unequivocal `Yes' or `No';
     today. not only give witness of the truth of the Reformed

     Confessions overagainst the false theory of common grace                    "3. That he had definitely declared that he would not.

     and its many implications, but also represent the truth in               submit  ki%s&f to t/te synodical  de&ions in re the `Three

     the church political sense of the word. Neither is it then               Points';

     strange-that those who in 1953 departed from the truth main-                `f4. That he had yefused  to promise not openly to. teach,
     tained in the Protestant Reformed Churches and likewise                  in preachirtg  or in writing, anytILing  repugnant to the `Three
     desecrated these fundamental principles of Church Order,                 Points';
     today seek affiliation with and re-admittance into these                   "5. That, therefore, he was $uilty  of insubordimtion to the
     churches which share with them a common error. If it is                  proper  ecclesiastical authorities;
     possible to speak of any virtue among those addicted to
                                                                                 "6. That, therefore, he was, by his own' act, suspended
     heresy, it would .in this case be that some of them begin to
                                                                              from his office a,s minister of the Word' of God, for the time
s    reveal a measure of consistency. We will refrain from judg-
     ing what motivates this course because, in the first place,              being;

     God is Judge Who rewards every man according to his                          "7. That for the time being and until final det&nzination


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  309


 in the case zelere exude  by the Synod, he should be denied all      violated. There were several documents on the table of the
 the rights, .and  privileges connected zen'th the office of a vv&    classis.  Most of these were there illegally since they were

 ister  in the Christian  Reforvvled  Church."                        protests against a body that had never received copies of
     Thus was Rev. Hoeksema  suspended from the oflice  of            them. Nevertheless the classis proceeded to treat them in
 the ministry of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church            spite of strong objections by that body which was the con-
                                                                      sistory of the Eastern Avenue Church. Through a commit-
 by the CIa.ssis!  We will further evaluate this action pres-
                                                                      tee of pre-advice the classis was advised among other things
 ently.
                                                                      to : (1) dev%and of the consistory of Eastern  AvevLtbe that they
     With respect to the consistory of the Eastern Avenue
                                                                      ask their pastor z&ether  or not he would abide by tha three
 Christian Reformed Church, Classis  declared :
                                                                      points of doctrine as adopted by the Synod of Ka.lavnazoo,
     "`1. That the con&tory  of the Eastern Avenue Christian          1924; (2) ask of the consistory to have their answer  ready by
 Re@pmed  Church 1za.d  refused to ca+y  out the decision of          the follozefirtg               at wine  o'clock; (3) in case the answer
                                                                                       wzorniwg  
 the classis  with respect to the censzwe  of the three vxevtzbers
                                                                      of the consistory would prove sa.tisfactory  to cla.ssis, to ap-
 that lzad  accused the pastor of public sins;                        po,int  <ad  covxvGttee  to treat the entire case in covLjunction with
     `2. Tht the co&story had refused to maintain the
                                                                      the consistory. This advice was then adopted and the con-
 decrees of the synod of 1924;                                        sistory responded the next morning with a well grounded

     "3. That it hd r&sed to subvGt  to the decisions of t!ze         answer in which they pointed out the main error, that a minor

 cla.ssis with  respect to the questions the classis  demanded of     assembly, like a classis, cannot violate the decisions of a

 the consistory to ask its pastor --;                                 major assembly, like the synod. This is just what the classis
     "4. That, therefore, the consistory z.vai guilty of insu.b-      was doing. They assumed jurisdiction over the synod. They
 ordination to                                                        were going beyond the decis,ion  of the Synod in attempting to
                   the proper ecclesia,stical  authorities;
     "5. That, therefore, by this act the consistory, for the         bind upon the consistory and the pastor what the Synod never
 time being severed $s connection zvitlz  tlke Christian Re-          intended and had even refused to do. All this was clearly
                                                                      shown from the recorded decisions of the Synod of 1924.
 formed Church; .                                                     Nevertheless, classis insisted on proceeding in this evil way.
     "6. That, for the tivxe  being and  u.ntil  fixal  determiwa-
                                                                      It was clearly a case of classical hierarchy carried through to
 tion in the case zwds made  by the syvLod,  the cons&tory  be
                                                                      the very end of its sessions.
 denied all rights and privileges connected with the ecclesi-
                                                                          We must remark here yet that it is. sometimes alleged
           connection of a consistory with the Clzristian  Re-
 astical                                                              that our own Classis  East in 1953 did the same thing and
 fwmed C h u r c h . "                                                is guilty of the same offence  in connection with that recent
     Thus was a minor assembly (consistory) deposed from
                                                                      history of schism in our churches. This, however, is an un-
 its office by a major assembly (classis). Also this must be
                                                                      proven and thoroughly false allegation that is. made either
 further explained in order that we may see that not only was
                                                                      in ignorance of the facts or by those who wilfully distort
 the general principle of Classical jurisdiction flagrantly viol-
                                                                      facts. This we will show in later writings in connection with
 ated, but many more church political evils were perpetrated
                                                                      the matter of classical jurisdiction and the history of 1953
 in this proceeding.
                                                                      but it must be known that there is no parallel between the
     So numerous were these evils that it is somewhat difficult       actions of Classis  East 1953 and those of Classis  East Grand
 to know which of them to mention first. We might begin by            Rapids 1924.
 pointing to the fact that this session of the Classis  was             There is, however, much more in connection with the pro-
 itself really illegal. It had been convened by the Classical         ceedings of the last mentioned Classis.  This must wait until
 Committee upon the request of the dissenting members of              the next time. Let it suffice to conclude the present article by
 the Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church in spite of             saying that whenever a Classis  assumes authority and pre-
 the fact that the Consistory of said church had informed             rogatives which, under the Church Order, it does not possess,
 the committee that the internal condition of the congregation        it can only do evil. The case of 1924 is a most glaring ex- .
 did not demand a special session of the Classis. But the con-        ample indeed !                                               G.V.D.B.
 sistory was completely ignored and the request of a relatively

 small group of dissatisfied members was granted. The classis                               THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
 was called into special session. Obviously such a meeting,
illegally called, could produce nothing constructively good.                                  (Continued from page 307)
 This also proved to be the case.                                     frustrated. No one can successfully claim that we are not

     Next, we may-note that this special session of Classis           God's peculiar possession - not the devil, not we ourselves.

 began in' November, 1924. In this first session there were           His grace is efficacious, and it effectually changes us from

 many irregularities which we will refrain from mentioning            children of darkness to sons of the living God.

 here in order that we may come to the main evil which                    We are safely kept! Glory to His sovereign and free

 shows clearly how the principle of classical jurisdiction was        mercy alone !                                                  H.C.H.

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


                                                                        not secondhand, and am told that the teacher involved told

              ALL AWQU                                                  the class of the student involved not only to read the entire
                                                                        issue of the magazine,     but that the class would be held

                                                                        responsible to give account to its contents. Nor, .according
 Reply to Objectors of Article on Literary Cavalcade.                   to the student, was there.any  warning given concerning that

       In the March 15th issue of The Standard  Beare?*  two            article.

 Contributions appeared which were directed against the                     Again, the Staff says "no assignment was given at any

 undersigned and reflected on the article we wrote, which               time to have the students read The Green Pa&fires."  The

 appeared in the March 1st issue under the heading "Literary            student involved says that the class the student was in did

 Cavalcade - The Green Pastures."          We trust that the fol-       receive the assignment to be responsible for the entire con-

 lowing reply will satisfactorily answer both of them.                  tents of that issue of L. C.

       Both of my opponents. charge me with serious faults. The             It is, of course, quite possible that the teacher cautioned

 one accuses me of degrading the quality of Tize Standard               one of his classes concerning the reading of the article in

 Bema?-er,  of misrepresenting motives, of transgressing journal-       question, and that to the remaining two classes, in one of which

 istic ethics; the other, of maligning a good name, of trans-           the student involved resided, he did not give this warning.

 gressings the rule of brotherly love. enjoined by Scripture.           And if this is so, it follows that Jyhat  the teacher did right in

 Both of the Contributions are so nearly alike that we should           one class does not make right what he did in the other two.

 have no difficulty in answering both in one reply. Since my            But when the Staff says that no assignment was given at

 article was directed against Grand Rapids Christian High               any time to have the students read the article in question,

 School? I will reply to the objections raised by the English           and the student says that the class in which the student

 Staff of that institution and trust that Miss A. Lubbers will          resided did receive the assignment to be responsible for the

 be satisfied to take this as my answer to her also.                    entire contents of the magazine, we have a flat contradiction

       In the first place, the English Staff tells us that the maga-    in testimony.

 zine Litera.ry Cavalca.de  has been used for many years with               Regardless, however, of who is right, what we said above

 profit, and the Staff has faith in its high-caliber offerings.         we still maintain. The material found in the article The

 At the same time the Staff admits that the. magazine does              Green Pastures has no place in our Christian institutions

have objectionable material in it, and the Staff even ad-               of learning ; and where this objectionable material never-

 mits that the article "The Green Pastures" is objectionable.           theless creeps in, there should be a strong antithetical note

 Other magazines, such as, TiTFte,  Newsweek, and Reader's              sounded by the teaching staff that will set straight the cov-

 Digest, so we are told by the Staff, are also used, and these          enant child who is being taught. That is the whole point of

 too have objectionable material in them. And so the conclusion         my criticism. If this is not done, our Christian Schools

 must be according to the Staff, that through a magazine con-           are no better than the public schools which know nothing

 tains objectionable material it may and should be used anyway.         of the antithesis.

       Now I will admit that almost all secular magazines con-              In the third place, my opponents found it also objection-

 tain objectionable material. I will also admit that Litem6y            able that I wrote about this matter in The Sta*tidard  Bearer.

 Cavalcade may be 99 g/10%  of the time quite usable. for               The assertion is made by the Staff that "in deference to

 literary purposes. But does that mean that a teacher should            the spirit of brotherly love enjoined upon us by Scripture

 give this objectionable material as an assignment for reading,         and out of concern for the good name of our Christian

 and that., too, without warning the students concerning that           Schools, those taking exception to any report or rumor con-

 material ? I say not ! I believe it lies exactly in the calling        cerning the educational program of our school should con-

 of a Christian School andchristian  School teacher to choose           sult us directly. It is at this level, rather than in our church

 other literature which does not contain objectionable ma-              papers, that remedial action can best be taken if and when-

 terial of which there is plenty. And- if a magazine must be            ever it is needed."    Also Miss A. Lubbers reminds us of

 used that contains objectionable material, it is the duty of           Matthew 18. Writes she, `2 am convinced that a writer may

 the teacher to give sound warning against the reading of that          never rush into print unless he has first consulted the party

 material. It is just because I was told that this was not done         in question and in this case I am sure Rev. Schipper  never

 that moved me to write as critically as I did.                         did. If he did he should tell us. I do not believe that such

       This leads me to' say, in the second place, that the Staff       journalistic ethics may be left unchallenged nor should they

 and the informing student do not agree in their testimony.             be tolerated. Matthew 18 always applies, it seems to me,

 The Staff claims that I have been misinformed, and that this           whether we are dealing with one personal or a communal

 is not surprising because I received my information second-            organization."

 hand. The Staff maintains that "the teacher involved delib-                I will grant my worthy opponents that I could have done

 erately avoided this selection `The Green Pastures' and even           as they suggested. In fact, when I first heard of this matter

 cautioned at least one of his classes`concerning its use."             I was of a mind to do exactly that, but on second thought I

       Now I have checked, again with the student involved,             did not feel that this was necessary. Though the matter under

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


discussion is perhaps not generally known, it is nevertheless            Finally, there is one statement in my article to which my

not a secret. We received the impression from their writings         opponents most seriously object, and which I now feel, after

that they wished it had remained a secret. We are quite sure         my attention has been called to it, it were better that it had

too that if we had written in generalities and had not men-          not been written. The statement reads: "And the teacher

tioned the school by name there never would have been any            who most likely believes that due to the. common grace of

rebuttal in The  Stmdayd  Bcxwe?,.  The Staff probably feels         God we have here a work of art which our covenant children

like some of those people must feel whose names appear in            should appreciate."     I am sorry for that statement, and

the long list Ff traffic violators the local newspaper publishes     sincerely apologize for making it. I trust that all those who

about every two weeks. Ordinarily they may abide by all              were offended, and especially the teacher, will forgive.

the rules, but on an off day they become careless and violate           The statement was made on the basis of the fact that the

one of them, are apprehended and fined. I imagine they don't         doctrine of common grace encourages the appreciation of

like the publicity, but there is not much they can do about          worldly art. And my general observations have been and

it. Nor does the reporter go to the -judge to ask if there are       still are that there are teachers and board members in the

any special names he wishes suppressed.                              Christian Schools, which are predominantly controlled by

   May I remind my `opponents of two things: -1.  T h e              members of the Christian Reformed Church, who have fallen

purpose of the department of The Stand,ayd  Bearer for which         into the extreme against which even the Synod of the Chris-

I write. 2. How I sought to realize this purpose in the              tian Reformed Church which adopted the Three Points of

article they have criticized.                                        Common Grace warned. We observed this first hand when

   The name of this department used to be "Periscope." In            we served for two years on the board of one of these` schools.

1953 this was changed to "All Around Us." This the edi-              Those we have in mind appeared to have and even showed

torial staff did in order to bring the name of this department       by their actions that they have no sense whatever of the

in line with the English names of the other departments. But         antithesis. Athens and Jerusalem are alike to them. For two

the idea of the Greek title "Periscope," which means : view--        long years we tangled with board members and teachers who

irzg ayou.nd, the staff wished to retain. Since that time we         boldly sought to introduce into the school program, cur-

have filled this rubric and have always tried to realize that        ricularly and extra-curricularly, if I may use these terms,

purpose. We all know that the periscope is not only an in-           things which we believe clearly militated against sound Re-

strument to view the surrounding landscape or seascape to            formed principles: And all this, we were told in no uncertain

ascertain its beauty, but also it is used to detect dangers and      terms, on the basis of the theory of common grace. I said

threatening evils, with the purpose then to sound a warning          they were "two long years," and so they actually seemed be-

against these evils and ,dangers.  This time, that .is, March 1,     cause of our continual debate which proved at last to be use-

the periscope sights fell on the Literary Department of G. R.        less. For as soon as those who opposed us became a majority,

C. H. S., and particularly the magazine used there which             they got their way ; or, as was the case especially with one

contained the corrupt article under discussion. That it was          teacher with whom I had more than one meeting to discuss
                 .
my sole purpose to point up the danger and corruption is             our differences, the teacher told me that I could keep my

evident from what  I wrote: "What I read moved me to pen             opinion and the teacher would keep his.

these comments that others of our readers, especially' those            It was with this experience and with these observations

Protestant Reformed, may be stirred up to inquire of their           in mind that I wrote that objectionable statement: I realize

children just what materials are being used by the schools to        now that on the basis of these general observations I had

which they commit their children for Christian. education."          no right to judge the teacher involved whom I do not even

   It is our conviction that our Christian institutions of learn-    know. It may be that the teacher involved does not fit the

ing should not do things that make it necessary for the finger       judgment I .made  at all, and if it is true that he also con-

of criticism to point at them, i.e., things they cannot defend.      demned the article under discussion as the Staff says he did,

And I have seen no defense of the article in L. C. to which I        he is to be commended rather than condemned. I hope that

referred. Nor do I feel that it is necessary for me to consult       this answer with this public apology will remove the offence

with every one I write about before "I rush into print" as           and settle this dispute.                                          M.S.

one of my opponents thinks I should do. Nor should my

opponents conclude that I hate G. R. C. H. S. and am seek-

ing its destruction. That I send my children there is proof                                  IN MEMORIAM

to the contrary. My conception of love is negatively, that              In the sudden passing away of one of our faithful members, we,

it never rejoices in corruption; and positively, that it seeks       the Men's Society of the First Prot. Ref. Church of Grand Rapids,
to correct and encourage perfection. It is also the response         Mich., wish to express our sincere sympathy to the family of
of true love that where corruption has been pointed out, it                               -MR. SYDNEY BYLSMA

will not seek to defend it, but forsake it and strive by the            "For if we believe that Jesus died"and  rose again, even so them
                                                                     which also sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." I Thess.  4:14.
grace of God to walk in amendment of life. This I will seek
                                                                                                         Mr. M. Swart,  President
to prove to you in what now follows.
                                                                                                          Mr. S. Beiboer, Secretary

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


                                                                      8. -Their  Ladies' Aid Society enjoyed an essay by Mrs.

       NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES                                         McCollam, March 3, on "Character Building in the Home."
                                                                                                    .. .
                 `All the saints salztte  thee . . ." PHIL. ft :21       Oaklawn  welcomed serviceman Robert Haak back to their

                                                                      congregational life, having been separated from this form of

                                                 March 20, 1959       the communion of saints for the past two years. Rev. Vanden

                                                                      Berg calls the attention of his people to a sig$icant fact of

       All of the main streets in the South Holland-Oak Lawn          current church history as it is developing in the Passaic

area led,  to our Oak Lawn church Tuesday evening, March              Classis  of the Reformed Church in America. He offers a

17. Rev. H. Hoeksema lectured that evening on, "The                   brochure written by the consistory of the Sixth Ref. Church

Virgin Birth, and the Natures of Christ" to a capacity crowd,         of Paterson, N.J., regarding, the licensure of a certain can-

including the delegates to Classis  West, overflowing into an         didate for the ministry who holds to, heretical doctrines. Oak

adjoining room. The speaker developed the truth that our              Lawn was host to South-Holland's Men's Society, March 2,

Mediator was in one Person both very God and real right-              and the Rev. H. C. Hoeksema gave a talk on "Science and

eous man ; that, the human and Divine natures were united             Scripture on the:.Age of the World.?'

in the Person of the Son of God, who, by the power of His

Godhead sustained the human nature in order to bear the                  South Holland granted a transfer of the membership of

burden of the wrath of God that He might obtain for us                Eileen Van Baren  to First Church, Grand Rapids. Further,

righteousness and life.                                               the second Tuesday .evening  catechism class assignment for

                                                                      March 17 was a report on the lecture mentioned in our first

       Rev. Vanden  Berg has received and is considering the          paragraph. And, new ushering arrangements have been com-

call extended to him by- the congregation of Redlands.                pleted ; several young men will take turns ushering, the first

                                                                      two being Henry and Adrian Lenting.
       Adams St. School rendered their Easter program March

19 at First Church. The theme, "From Death To Life" was                  Mr. and Mrs. Society of Southwest discussed the mean-

carried out by narration, poems and music. By following               ing of the word, "gamesters" found in the Communion Form

the life of Israel from Egypt to ,Canaan  the audience travelled      in one of their meetings ; and, the Ladies' Society discussed

with God's Church  to its Eternal Rest.                               the meaning of "presumptuous sins" of Psalm 19:13 in the

                                                                      same week in February.
Two pair&  of longevous celebrants: Mr. and Mrs. A.

Bleyenberg from Edgerton  - their 61st wedding anniver-                  Southeast Mr. and Mrs. Society is very busy building up

sary, Feb. 18 ; and Mr. and Mrs. E. Bylsma from First                 their "Organ Fund" with rummage sales and the sale of

Church - their 62nd wedding anni,versary,  March 4.                   sacred records. Further, membership -papers were received

                                                                      -from the Cascade Chr: Ref. Church of Mrs. James Veldman,
       The March' Beacon Lights' Hymnsing  was held at the            nee Gracia Schreur.
Southwest, Church despite the "worst blizzard of the year"

which raged over the countryside. The weather surely kept                Hope received a baptized member from the Netherlands'

many of the out-of-towners away, but those attending en-              Reformed Church of Rock Valley, Iowa.

joyed singmg  the Easter music from Psalter and song sheets.

                                                                         Do yozt  agree with.E.  E. Opdyke that,

       Holland's Men's Society met_  in joint meeting at First                         Gossip is the most deadly germ.
Church, March 15. The after recess program consisted of a                              It has neither legs nor wings.
paper on "Christian Giving" by J. H. Kortering. He very                                It is composed entirely of tales
ably developed the theme that Christian giving is the outward                          And most of them have .stings.
manifestation of an irmer reality: Love toward God, as
                                                                      The author evidently experienced in his life the stark
prefigured in the O.T. sacrifices and offerings, and in the
                                                                      truth of Proverbs 18:8,  "The words of a talebearer are as
N.T. Church under the injunction, "give as the Lord has
                                                                      wounds, and they go. down into the-  innermost parts of the
prospered us."     A warm discussion followed? including the
                                                                      belly."
"pros" and "cons"      of the modern budget envelope method

of giving.
                                                                          Correction : The piano Oak Lawn is purchasing is for

       Kalamazoo's bulletin announces that' a baby was born to        society use and not for church services, as reported last time.
Rev. and Mrs. Mulder March 2nd -their third boy.                      The congregational singing has been accompanied by an
                                                                      Electronic Wurlitzer organ for the past six years.

       Holland's Pastor, Rev. McCollam exchanged pulpits

with Rev. Lanting, March 1, and with Rev. Mulder, March                          . . . . see you inchurch.                    J . M . F .


