VOLUME ,XXVII                          December 1, 1950 - Grand Rapids, Michigan                               NUMBER 5

                                                                     the wicked world, where everything seems to be against
       M-EDITATIO..N                                                 them, they will sing their song of deliverance.
                                                                        And they will give thanks. For they eat in plenty.
                                                                        And that is the-miracle of grace. '
    T h e Wonder                     Satisfaction                                            mw
                                                                        They will eat in plenty.
              "And ye shall ,eat in plenty, and be satisfied; and       The text is prophetic. It prophesies of the remnant
            praise the Name of the Lord your God, that hath          which will return from the Babylonian captivity. In
            dealt wondrously with you: and My people shall           that wicked land they mixed their food with bitter
            never be ashamed. And ye shal! know that I am in         tears. They hung their harps upon the willows, in the
            the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your          midst thereof. They smarted under  the taunting of
            God, and none else;  and My people shall never be
            ashamed."                                                the wicked who employed derision and mockery in
                                                -Joel  2:26-27..     order to aggravate the,plight of poor and miserable
                                                                     captives. But God sent light into the soul of the pro-
    We have heard much of fundamental truths. And                    phets and they saw deliverance for the remnant which
how important they are to the correct understanding                  the Lord would. call. And in the prospect of that de-
of the Holy Scriptures.                                              liverance, they saw the people of God, returned to their
    We thought of this when preaching on the text                    own land, and eating and drinking to the full.
`which is quoted above. Generalize this text, and make
it to apply to Judah and Israel, head for head, and you                 Yes, that was natural eating and drinking. And it
miss the mark. What will you do with the twice re-                   was blessedness to them also. And they would thank
`peated:  and My people shall never be ashamed? If                   and praise the Lord for all the dainties which He had
ever people were ashamed it-was when Nebuchadnezzar                  given them. An< so also we, on the day of Thanks-
dragged them away from their country, temple and                     giving, entered the house of God and we thanked Him,
city to the land that is situated between the rivers.                also for the wonderful blessings which are natural,
    If you would understand ,Jo&s prophecy, and in-                  earthly, temporal. r
.deed all of the Holy Scriptures, you must attend to                    I know that they are not the most important of
what I would call a fundamental truth. Attend to this :              God's blessings, but we will appreciate them, evaluate
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call                them rightly, and think God for them, in the name of
on the name of the  ILord shall be delivered: for in                 Jesus. We are not indifferent to them. And we may
mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as                 not  be  indifferent to them.  Note  this:  .". . . meats,
the Lord hath said, uncl in the rem.mnt whom the Lorcl               which God hath created to be received with thanksgiv-
shall  c a l l . "                                                   ing of them which believe and know the truth. For
    If we do not see that all the deliverance of the Lord            every creature of God is good, and nothing to be re-
is fulfilled in the remnant whom the Lord shall call                 fused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is
with His effectual call, all of the Word of  ,God is a               sanctified by the Word of God and prayer."
cloSed book. If we keep this trrth before our eyes, all                 And so we thanked ,God, and will thank Him again
`is clear. Then we also see how all things work to-                  and again, for the meat and all other food.and drink,
gether for good unto those that love God. Then the                   with clothing and shelter, and all the other temporal
truth that God's people shall never be ashamed is clear              blessings which He so liberally bestows upon us.
too.  Even  when  thehey  fjnd  ;thftrr+yes  in Babylon, in.            DQ I understand it? Do I understand why the Lord


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. deals so bountifully with us here in America, while            Jesus i$ the Bread of life, and that there is deliverance
 thous'ands  upon thousands are without? No.  ! But I            in f&t jesus.
 will thank Him nevertheless. ?`he Bibl@ tells me that I            Oh, whatglorious sermons are spoken to us in these
 should. .                                                       days.tind  in this country. It maMles the abundance ,Of
       But they are not the most importa!lt.                     Joel's prophecy for Israel. But how terrible if !-?e ~10
       And sometimes the Lord will come and break the            not take heed to those.&rmons  of plenty and satisfac-
`staff of bread, and then we will see famine in the land,        tion, and do not apply to ourselves the spiritual lesson
 and desolation, and great suffering.                            there is in every hearty' meal.
       But we will thank God anyhow. That is, if we re-             Attend to Joel again.: You &ail eat in plenty, and
 ceive His grace in our hearts.                                  be satisfied, and praise the Name of the Lord your God,.
       Attend to Habakkuk 8 :17 : "Although the fig tree         that hath dealt wondrously with  you! There is the
 shtill not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines;        spiritual application. Every meal tells you of the great-
 the `labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall        est Wonder of God. And that wonder of God is fur-
 yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold,        ther explained in the text. And if we lay hold of the
 and there shall be no herd in the stall : yet will I rejoice    truth of that wonder, we shall begin to understand
 in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."            Habakkuk. And we shall also sing our song of praise
       In other words : we will "give thanks in everything".     in the night of suffering and famine.
       How in the world must I understand this?. Leaping            Here is the wonder : God is in the midst of Israel.
 for joy in a famine? Giving thanks when there is
 desolation and suffering? Giving, thanks to God when               I hear a bright reader ask: But is not God always
 war breaks out, and the fields that normally show the           in the midst of Israel? And, for that matter, is He not
 peace of waving grain, changed into gory wastes of              always in the midst of every nation, tongue and tribe?
 slaughter?                                                      Is He not even in the midst of all the hosts of devils?
       Remember two things: the name of God, and the             Is He not in the midst of Satan himself? Di& not -Paul
 "remnant". The name of God is this: the God of my               teach the heathen: "though He be not far from every
 salvation. And: in the midst of the remnant there is            one of us"?
 deliverance always.                                                Oh, but there is all the difference in the world how
       "Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for          God is near, how He is in the midst of us. Here the
 great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee !"         meaning is that God would be in the midst of Israel in
       Beautiful thanksgiving!                                   His love and lovingkindness.
                                                                    According to the prophetic view of Joel, he had seen
                                                                 Israel forsaken by the Lord because of His wrath.
       In the midst of thee!                                     They had sinned, and He had banished them to Baby-
                                                                 lon. But when they had repented and cried to Him,
       There you are ! That is the explanation. A little         they had returned to Him with weeping and lamenta-
 while ago I told, you that we will properly appreciate          tion. And because of His eternal covenant of grace,
 and evaluate the natural blessings of God, and properly         He returned to them, moved the hearts of kings for
 give thanks for them. They are good and may not be              them, and they might return to the land of their fath-
 refused, but must be taken with thanks, with the Word           ers, rebuild the temple and city, plant vineyards and
 of God and with prayer.                                         olive yards, and eat in plenty and be satisfied,-for the
       But if the Lord decides that we shall suffer in           Lord would be in the midst of them in His love.
famine, we will nevertheless declare our Thanksgiving               And so they would praise the Name of the Lord.
 Days. We will give thanks in days of adversity as
well as in days of prosperity.                                      Praising God : proper thanksgiving !
       And why?                                                     Because of the wondrous dealing with Israel.
       Because great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst
of thee ! You see, dear reader, when Joel told the rem-             Yes, God would be in their midst.
nant that they would eat in plenty and be satisfied, you
must not.forget to mark the symbolism there is in such              And they would know it. And so we begin to under-
abundance. When your table groans under the load of              stand Joel, and also Habakkuk. When God is in your
meats and drinks, so that mother must carry back oh              midst, there is liberty and joy.
so much, then you have heard and seen one of .God's                 What does it mean? In this twentieth century?
sermons in nature. God does not talk to you ex&sive-                It means that He 6ame in our midst in Jesus. .That
 ly from His precious Word. -He talks to you every day first of all.
 from out of the book of nature,round  about you. Every             In Joel's day God dwelled in the midst of Israel,
 loaf of bread which you buy and  eat,  tel]s you that and they knew it, for the sacrifices were made. The


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          99

sheep and lambs and goats and bullocks were slaugh-          worshipper. He is in your midst aid there He tells.
tered amidst great singing and rejoicing.                    you that you shall live unto Him in all your life. From
   No, Israel did not understand fully how God ;w,ould       mopping  till night you shall serve Him and praise Him.
work salvation, but they did know that Jehovah and              .:Shall we do this, deas reader?
blood spelled deliverance.                                      He is so worthy of it. Without Him and His sal-
   But we live anno Domini 1950, and that makes a            vation there is no sense in a Thanksgiving Day. For
great difference. The bleeding lamb of the Old Testa-        that reason I cannot understand our National Thanks-
ment has been substituted by the bleeding &amb of            giving Day. As a nation we certainly do not worship,
God. And we see and `understand in a measure the             serve and praise Him. America, America, you are
mystery of Godliness. God is manifested in the flesh.        heaping up treasures of wrath with this God of our
 _ God Incar'nate dwells among us. Christ has come.          salvation. No, but t6e remnaht will serve Him. For
   And we know it.                                           they know that He is in their midst and that He is
   But how? First, through His precious Word. That           their God, ancl none else.
Word has told us the whole story, and soon now we               And so this remnant have their Thanksgiving Da'y.
will celebrate again the story of God's love in the send-       But did you note that this remnant have a Thanks-
ing of His  dear Son. Second, because the Spirit of                                  7
                                                             giving Day every day. They have heard and under-
Jesus Christ has been shed abroad in the remnant.            stood Paul when he said: in everything give thanks.
And through that Holy Spirit of Christ, God dwells in           Joel speaks to them every day. And every day Joel
the remnant. And where that Spirit of the Lord is            says of them: and ye shall praise the Name of the
there is liberty. And also knowledge.                        Lord your God!
   You see, when the Word and the Holy Spirit of                 Continuous thanksgiving ! How marvellous.
Christ is given unto you, you know that God is in the           It is the beginning of an heavenly occupation.
midst of us. We know that also about ourselves, but              In heaven there is always thanksgiving.
only in connection with all of Israel. For He has fash-
ioned, and is fashioning a Body for His Son, wh.o is
the Head. And, thirdly, in that connection, you know             Joel fell into  ,repetition: I have heard it twice:
individually also that God is in your midst, since that      "and My people shall never be ashamed."
Spirit witnesseth with our Spirit that we are the sons           The point of view is deliverance, mind you.
of God. Then you know that God has dealt wondrously              Well, this remnant, this Israel, shall never be
with you.                                                    ashamed with respect to this deliverance. And de-
   Is He not wondrous in all His works? Imagine, He          liverance at this late date is-a portion with God in His
has swallowed all your sin, guilt, dehth, condemnation,      new world that is coming. And we shall never be
damnation and all your eternal curse which you de-           ashamed.
serve to have carried yourself. But it is gone.                 .Ashamed  you would be if you came to the pearly
    Can you now see why Habakkuk will leap for joy           gates and if you would hear it said : It is not for you !
in the God of his salvation, even in the midst of great      What a shame that would be.
famine and desolation?
    Thanksgiving even in the desert!                             Ashamed we would be if the deliverance would not
   Yes, and the remnant will understand.                     be there at the end of the ages. No heaven, no liber-
                                                             ated and beautiful earth, no new Jerusalem, no eternity
                                                             of serving and praising God! What a shame that
    And Israel will also know that God is their God,         would be.
and none else.                                                   Ashamed we would be if it were there, but if it did
    That means first of all that they know how sal-          not come up to OUY expectation. If it were nice and
vation came exclusively by and through God. From             all that, but not as wondrous as Joel and all the pro-
alpha and omega He is the God of our salvation, ancl         phets made it, the men who had a pre-vision of the
none else. .It is not superfluous, that we emphasize         new Jerusalem. What a shame that would be.
that. Your and my understanding of that truth deter-             But fear not, ye Israel: My people shall never be
mines the climax or the bathos of your thanks.               ashamed. You will go there, as surely as you have His
    God has saved us ! From everlasting to everlasting       love in your heart now.  It is there: faith, even our
He is the ,God of our salvation.                             faith, is a substance of the things hoped for, the evi-
    Paul chants: and all these things are of God who         dence of things not seen. And it is more than just
hath reconciled us to Himself!                               nice: it is untold rapture. You and I and all the rem-
    And, secondly, it means that God is their God in         nant will say : the half has not been told !
the sense that He and He only is their Sovereign. To             Give thanks to  <God  for great is He : His  mere;\
have ,a God' is tantamount to saying that you are His        endeth never !                                  G. Vos.


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          100                                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
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                                                                                                                                      .~          ~EDITORIALS
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                                 Box 124, Sta. C., Grand Rapids, Mich.                                                                         Theological Opinions
                                          EDITOR : - Rev. H. Hoeksema.
           Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
     REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                    T h e              Co$ssions?
     Michigan.
           Communications relative to subscription should be addressed
     to Mr. J. BOUWMAN, 1350 Giddings S.E., Grand Rapids  7,                                                                        Dr. Schilder published his first instalment of his
     Mich. Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the                                                                    criticism on our Declaration of Principles in the Refor-
     above address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for  each                                                             nmtie, Vol. XXVI, p. 44.
     notice.                                                                                                                        Once more, I am very glad that he writes. If the
     Renewals:-Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
    ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes his subscription                                                            Declaration of Principles even has no other fruit than
    to continue without the formality of a renewal .order.                                                                       that it provokes an open and above-board discussion
     Entered as Second Class Mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                     of the truth and of the points of difference between
                                                                                                                                the Reformed Churches (Art. 31) and our Protestant
                                                                                                                                 Reformed Churches, I think it is w,ell worthwhile that
                                                                                                                                the proposed declaration was decided upon by our last
                                                                                                                                 synod. This does not mean that I am of the opinion
                                                                                                                                that the declaration, after it has been thoroughly dis-
                                                                                                                                cussed and criticized, should not be adopted by synod.
                                                                                                                                 On the contrary, I think it should be. But in the mean-
                                                                                                                                time the discussion concerning those important points
                                                                                                                                of doctrine is itself very important.
                                                  C O N T E N T S                                                                   Of course, I am still sorry that this discussion was
     MEDITATION-                                                                                                                not from the start led in the proper channels, that is,
                  The Wonder Of Satisfaction __.______._.________...........  _ ________________ 97
                         Rev. Gerrit Vos                                                                                        as a fraternal discussion between the deputies for cor-
                                                                                                                                respondence of the Liberated Churches and ours. But
    EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                 the blame for this must be laid at the door of the
                  Theological Opinions or `The Confessions ? ____.. _ _.______  _ .___ 100                                      deputies of the Netherlands churches.
                      Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                    First they wait-
                                                                                                                                ed for more than a year before our deputies ever h.eard
    THE TRIPLE  KNOWLEDGE-                                                                                                      from them. Then they consulted the Revs. de Jong
                 An Exposition of The Heidelberg Catechism ._______________  102                                                and Kok and met with them about the official business
                         Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                       of the church, disregarding the official deputies that
                 Een Brief Uit  Chatham   ._._...._......_.__.........~.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...104    were appointed by  OLW  churches, and behind their
                         D. Scheele,  Ontario, Canada                                                                           backs.       Besides, they met without keeping minutes
                                                                                                                                and without publishing a report of what was discussed
    OUR  DOCTRINE-
                 The Creation Of The Spirit World ____._.______.______________________  108                                     and agreed upon. The sad result was the now notor-
                      Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                           ious letter of Prof. Holwerda addressed to the Cana-
                                                                                                                                dian immigrants, a letter which, as far as its contents I
                 The Declaration Of Principles _.____ __._ _____________ _ ____.__ _ ._._._. _ ____ 111
                      Rev. G. M.' Ophoff                                                                                        are concerned, was almost entirely untrue, irrespective
                                                                                                                                of the question who is to blame for that thorough mis-
    IN HIS  FEBR-                                                                                                               representation, Prof Holwerda, or th.e Revs. de Jong
                 Church Membership In His Fear ____._______.______  _ ____..__.___________ 114                                  and Kok, or both. The truth of this, I say once more,
                      Rev. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                       I have never been able to discover, although for my
                 Among The Immigrants .___..._.___..______...~.~.....  __ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...116        own peace of mind I am very much in need, of it.
                      Rev. W. Hofman, Rev. A.  Cammenga                                                                             Nevertheless, I am glad that now, at least, the De-
   FROM HOLY  WRIT-                                                                                                             claration of Principles provokes a belated discussion.
                 Exposition Of Hebrews lo:1925 . . . . . _____ ____.._ _______ _....__ . . . . . . ...118                       And once more, I wish to state that I hope that the
                      Rev. Geo. C. Lubbers                                                                                      discussion remains brotherly and above all, clear and
                 Contribution .______  ____________ _ _______ _________--_---_- ..--. __ _-.--..-----. _-.-_._  ---.. 120       succinct and to the point.
                      Geo. Ten Elshof, Grand Rapids, Mich.                                                                          Dr. Schilder in his first instalment.  discusses the
                                                                                                                                following iquotation  from our Declaration of Principles :
                                                                                                                                "Seeing then that this is the clear teaching of our con:


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                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                  101

         Iession, we repudiate the teaching that the promise of              clition, but as a means and instrument. It speaks as
         the covenant is conditional and for all that are bap-               follows :
         tized."                                                                f'We reject the errors of those who teach that God
             The main thrust of the article by D1;. Sclii'i'cler  is         ch&e  the act of faith as a condition of salvation."
         that he tries to show that this statement is completely             Canons, `I, B, 3.
         lacking in clarity and in succinct formulation, and                    And again : "We  reject the  esrors of those who
         for that reason .cannot serve as a binding formula of               teach that faith, the obedience of faith, holiness, godli-
         `doctrine.                                                          ness, ancl perseverance are conditions and causes with-
             Proof for this statement is, as 1 expect, still forth-          out which the unchangeable election to glory does not
         coming. It is at least not in the article itself.                   OCCUL'." Canons I B, 5.
             But in the end of his article Prof. Schilder appeals                Ancl again : "We reject the errors of those who
         to the preface of the statenvertaling of the Dutch Bible,           teach that ther.e  is in this life no fruit and no conscious-
            .:  _
         which was rendered by Dutch theologians appointed                   ness of the unchangeable election to glory, nor any
         by the Synod of Dordrecht. In that preface they speak               certainty, except that which depends on a changeable
         repeatedly of conditions. And Dr. Schilcler asks whe-               and uncertain condition." Canons 1, B, 7.
         ther it is at all conceivable that these Dutch theologians              And again: "The synod rejects the errors of those
         were so naive that they, right after they condemnecl                who teach that the perseverance of the true believers
         the Remonstrants, would write the following sentences :             is not a fruit of election, or a gift of ,God, gained by
                                                                             the death of Christ, but a condition of the new cove-
             "By this (that is, by the word `berith' or `covenant')          nant, which (as they cleclare) man before his decisive
         is properly understood the covenant itself, which Gocl              election and justification must fulfill through his own
         made with men, to give unto them under certain con-                 free will." Canons, V, B, 1.
         ditions  eterinal life. . . . The old covenant is that                  Dr. Schilder seems to be surprised or thinks it is
         which God made with the first man before the fall,                  inconceivable that so soon after the adoption of the
         in which eternal life is ~*om%d  uncler condition of                Canons and the rejection of the Remonstrants these
         a completely perfect obedience ancl keeping of the law              deviating expressions (cleviating in my opinion) are
         . . . . and is therefore called the covenant of the law,            found in the preface of the Staten Bijbel. But there is
         which God again proposed to the Israelites, in order                nothing surprising in this at all.
         that they might learn therefrom that they must seek                   History,. on the contrary, teaches very clearly that
         their salvation in another covenant, which is called the            repeatedly men corrupt the Reformed faith exactly
         new covenant and consists in this, that God ordainecl               right after a momltain peak of faith and truth is at-
         His Son to be Mediator ancl promises eternal lif,e under            tained. Besicles,  clo not forget that all the delegates to
         condition that we believe in him ; and is called the                the Synod of Dordrecht were by no means equally Re-
         covenant of grace. . . . These two covenants are in-                formed. There were .even.  downright Arminians at the
         deed one and the same as far as their essence is con-               Synocl. Think of a man like Martinius. However this
         cerned, seeing that in both the remission of sins, salva-           may be, one certainly cannot appeal to the opinions
         tion and eternal life is promised under conclition  of              of private theologians over against such a document
         believing in the Mediator, but are being clistinguishecl            as the canons of Dorclrecht. If, therefore, Dr. Schilder
         in respect to the aclministration of both, which is much            wants to argue, he must place himself foursquare on
         clearer in the New."                                                the basis of the Three Forms of Unity.
            `I am rather surprised that Dr. Schilder appeals to                  To.it alone the Declaration of Principles appeals.
         this preface of the Statenvertaling in support of the                   And nothing else can possibly be mixed into our
         contention that faith is a condition unto eternal life              cliscussion.
         in the covenant of grace. For after all, this preface                                                                              ii, ii.
         is nothing but the expression of. the private opinion
         of a few  .theologians,--I  think  thcl:e were six- ap-                                               -    -    -
         pointed by the Synod of Dordrecht. It therefore has
         no authority whatsoever. To many of the statements                                             NOTICE TO OUR CHURCHES
         in the preface, as quoted by Dr. Schilcler, I strenuously
         object as unReformed  and contrary to the confessions.                Our last Synod decided: "that Brother H. H. Kuiper be per-
         But if Dr. Schilder wants to criticize the Declaration!             mitted to exhort in our churches and after a period of six
         of Principles, he must certainly appeal to the confes-              nlonths shall  bc  cligiblc  to receive a call."
         sions, and to them alone. For on the Three Forms of                   The six months have elapsed; so after December 8, 1950,
         Unity it is based, ancl on it only. We are not dealing              Ikother H. H. Kuiper  will be eligible to receive a call.
         with the opinion of private theologians, but with the                                                                D. Jonker,
         confession. .It uniformly                                                        .`.
                                    S]X!<JliS of fqi,th,  llot aS 2~ wll-                 _.     .-       !              Stated Clerk of Synod.

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

                                                                    to the anathemas of the Council of Trent, which con-
   THE TRIPLE  KN6WLEDGE                                            cluded its sessions Dec. 4, 1563. Schaff, "Creeds of
                                                                    Christendom", I, p. 563, writes:  "`xh.e  same view of
                                                                    the  Rdmish doctrine of transubstantiation and the
An Exposition Of The Heidelberg sacrifice of the mass was generally entertained by the
                       Catechism                                    reformers, and is set forth as strongly in the articles
                                                                    of Smalcald and other symbolical books, both Lutheran
                           PART TWO                                 ancl Reformed. It must be allowed to remain as a
              O f   M a n 's   R e d e m p t i o n                  solemn protest against iclolatry. But the wisdom of
                                                                    inserting controversial matter into a catechism for
                   ,LORD'S DAY XXX.                                 the instruction of the youth has been justly doubted.
               Qu. 80. What difference is there between the         The eightieth question disturbs the peaceful harmony
          Lord's Supper and the popish mass ?                       of the book, it rewards evil for evil, it countenances
               A.  The Lord's Supper testifies to  US,  that we     intolerance, which is unprotestant and unevangelical.
        have a full pardon of all sin by the only sacrifice
          of Jesus Christ, which he himself has once  accom-        It provoked much unnecessary hostility, and led even,
          pilshed on the cross; and, that we by the Holy Ghost      under the Romish rule of the Elector Charles Philip
          are ingrafted into Christ, who, according to his          in 1719, to the prohibition of the Catechism; but the
          human nature is now not on earth, but in heaven,          loud remonstrance of England, Prussia, Holland, and
          at the right hand of God his Father, and will there       other protestant states forced the elector to withdraw
          be worshipped by us:-but the mass, teaches, that
          the living and the dead have not the pardon of sins       the tyrannical decree within a year under certain con-
          through the sufferings of Christ, unless Christ is        dition, to save appearances." With this judgment of
          also daily offered for them by the priests; and           Dr. Schaff we cannot agree. There certainly is more
          further, that Christ is bodily under the form of bread    controversial material in the Heidelberg Catechism
          and wine, and therefore is to be worshipped in them;      than that which is contained in the eightieth question,
          so that the mass, at bottom, is nothing else than a       although it .is not always so definitely and clearly ex-
          denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus
          Christ, and an accursed idolatry.                         pressed. And why a book that is used for the instruc-
              Qu. 81. For whom is the Lord's Supper instituted?     tion of the youth should not contain controversial mat-
              A. For those who are truly sorrowful for their        ter is difficult to understand. At any rate, the eightieth
          sins, and yet trust that they. are forgiven them for      question with its severe judgment about the mass as
          the sake of Christ; and that their remaining infirmi-     an accursed idolatry is now included in the Heidelberg
          ties are covered by his passion and death; and who
          also earnestly desire to have their faith more and        Catechism, and we have to explain it.
          more strengthened, and their lives mpre holy; but            In his own exposition of the Catechism Ursinus has
          hypocrites, and such as turn not to God with sincere      some interesting remarks on the term mass. Writes
          hearts, eat and drink judgment to themselves.             he: "Before we proceed, however, to point out the dif-
              Qu. 82. Are they also to be admitted to this sup-     ferences between the Lord's Supper and the popish
          per, who, by confession and life, declare t.hemselres
          unbelieving and ungodly?                                  mass, it is proper that we should say a few words in
              A. No; for by this, the covenant of God would be      reference to the term, ~112~~s. And first, there are some
          profaned, and his wrath kindled against the whole         who derive the word  ?~LCCSS from the Hebrew  masas,
          congregation; therefore it is the duty of the Chris-      which signifies a tribute, or voluntary offering. The
          tian church, according to the appointment of Christ       word has this meaning in Deut. 16 :lO, where it is said,
          and his apostles, to exclude such persons, by the         `Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy
          keys of the kingdom of heaven, till they show amend-
          ment of life.                                             ,God with a tribute of a free-will offering of thine
                              1.               .                    hand.' This offering was so called, being as it were, a
                , An Accursed Idolatry.                             yearly tribute, which was given most willingly and
                                                                    cheerfully. It is also understood by some to .signify
   The eightieth question, with the well-known sen-                 a sufficiency, meaning that so much should be given as
tence that the mass "is nothing else than a denial of               might be sufficient, which, perhaps, is the more correct
the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and               interpretation since God in Deut.  15:8, commanded
an accursed idolatry", did not appear in the first and              the Israelites to open their hands wide unto the poor,
original edition of the Heidelberg Catechism. It did                and to lend that which was sufficient for their need.
appear in part in the second edition, and, in the form              This the Chaldee paraphrast interprets  missah;  from
in which it appears now, in the third edition of the                which it is supposed that it is called mass, or missa,
Catechism.      Some claim that the question and answer             as if it were a tribute, and a free-will offering, which
were inserted under the influence and at the advice of              should everywhere be offered to  .God in the church
Calvin, but this is at least doubtful. It was inserted for the living and the dead. But this is not probable.
by order of the Elector Frederick 111 as a counter-blast            It is true, indeed, that the church has borrowed some

                                                                                                                   .


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                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        103

              words from the Hebrew; as Satan, sabaoth, hallelujah;        "according to his human nature is now not on earth,
              etc.; but these and similar words were introduced into       but in heaven, at the right hand of God his Father, and
              the Gr.eek  Testament when it was first written in the       will there be worshippecl by us ;" while the mass, on
              Greek language ; nor have we any Heb?ew &&ls in              &6 otl& hancl, teaches "that Christ is bodily under
              our'church which the Greek church had not before.            the form of bread and wine, and therefore is to be
              Furthermore, if we examine the writings of the Greek         worshipped in them."
              Fathers it will be seen, that the word missa is nevel           It is on the basis of this two-fold Roman Catholic
              used by them ; from which we are inclined to believe         teaching concerning the mass that the Heidelberg
              that the word missa was not derived from the Hebrew.         Catechism pronounces the severe, but nevertheless per-
                  "Therefore the term missa, which is doubtless a          fectly true juclgment, that "the mass, at bottom, is
              Latin word, seems to be taken from the Fathers, who          nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and
              used remissa for rsmissio. Turtullian says: `We `have        sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry."
              spoken of remission (remissa) of sins.' Cyprian says :          We can therefore distinguish between the eucharisl
              `He who was to grant remission of sins, did nqt dis-         and the mass. Both presuppose that the bread and
              dain to be  bapt.ized.' Again: `He who blasphemes            wine at the Lord's table are transubstantiated into
              against the Holy Ghost, obtains no remission of sins.' the body and blood of Christ. But while the eucharist,
              Hsnce, as the Latin Fathers used the term remissa for        or the communion proper, consists.only in the eating
              remissio,  so they also seem to h&e used  missa  for         of the wafer and the drinking, by the priest, of th\l:
              m&&o,  which is derived from  nvittwdo.        But  here     wine, the mass proper really consists in the sacrif?`cti
              again there is a great diversity of sentiment.       FOl     of Christ, also by the priest, under the form of bread
              `some will have it that missu is to be understood in the     and. wine.
              sense of missio, `from an ancient custom of ecclesi-            The question now is: does the Roman Catholic
              astical rites, which was introduced into the Latin           church really teach, in the first place, that Christ must
              churches from the Greek, that when the sermon and            be worshipped as He is present in the bread and wine ;
              the lecture were over, the deacon before the consecra-       ancl secondly, that there is a continual sacrifice  oi
            tion of the mysteries sent away or  commancled  the            Christ, offered by the priest, through the substantiated
              catechumens, the demoniacs, and such as were excom-          signs on the altar?
              municated, to depart, saying, with a loud voice `If there       Of the first point, namely, that Christ under the
              be any catechumen still remaining in the church, let         symbols of bread and wine is to be worshipped and
              him depart ;' so that missa seems to be used in the          adored, the decrees of the Council of Trent leave no
              sense of missio `(sending away), because it was the          doubt. In the Thirteenth Session it declared in Chap-
              last part of divine service. Others suppose that it is       ter V of those Canons: "Wherefore, there is no room
              called  missa in the sense of  dismzssa, or  dismissio,      left for doubt, that all the faithful of Christ may, ac-
              from the manner in which the ecclesiastical assemblies,      cording to the custom ever received in the Catholic
              or congregations were dismissed; because, when th,e          Church, render in veneration the worship of latria,
              prayers and &her services were ended, the deacon             which is due to the true God, to this most holy sacra-
              exclaimed, `Ite, missa est;' that is, Go, you may depart.    ment. For not therefore is it th.e less to be adored on
              Others, again, understand it thus: `Go, now is the col-      this account that it was instituted by Christ, the.Lord,
              lection of alms ;' which they say were called missu,         in ordei to be received; for we believe that same God
              from being sent, or thrown in for the benefit of the         to be present therein, of whom the eternal Father,
              poor. In short, it was that which was transacted in          when introducing him into the world, says: And let all
              the church after the departure of the catechumens 01         the angels of God adoye him. Whom the magi, falling
              the collection of alms."                                     down, acloyed;  who, in fine, as the Scripture testifies,
                  Thus far Uisinus on the term mass.                       was adored by the apostles in Galilee.
                  Th,e Catechism calls attention to a two-fold d~ffcr-        "The holy synod declares moreover, that very pious-
               ennce between the Lord's Supper and the mass. The           ly and religiously was this custom introduced into the
              first difference is that the Lord's Supper testifies to      church, that this sublime and venerable sacrament -be,
              us "that we have a full pardon of all sin by the only        with. special veneration and solemnity, celebrated, every
              sacrifce of Jesus Christ, which `he himself has once         year, on a certain day, and that a festival; and that it
              accomplished on the cross ; and, that we by the Holy         be borne  rever.ently  and with honor in' processions
              Ghost are ingrafted into Christ;" while, on the other        through the streets and public places. For it is most
              hand, the mass teaches "that the living and dead have        just that there be certain appointed holy days whereon
              not the pardon of sins through the sufferings of             all Christians may, with a special And unusual demon-
              Christ, unless Christ is' also daily offered for them        stration, testify that their minds are grateful and
              by the priests." And the second point of difference          thankful to their common Lord and Redeemer fnr s-:
              is indicated in.the Catechism by the words that Christ       ineffable and truly divine a benefit, whereby the vic-

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

 tory and triumph of his death are represented. And
so indeed did it behoove victorious truth to celebrate a                 Een Brief Uit  Chatham
. triumph over falsehood and heresy, that this hei. ad-
versaries, at the sight of so much splendor, and ii tik Gea&% R&di?teur !
midst of so great joy of the universal church.  ma!
either pine away  wealrclled  and  broken   ;  W,  tol;cher!        Mag ik ook eens een  pl?atsje in "The  Stanhard
with shame and confounded, at length repent."                   Bearer" ? Ik zou graag iets schrijven over de dingtin
    In a series of radio questions and answers by Con-          die op `t oogenblik onder ons in discussie zijn.
way, published in 1903, we read on page 447: "Why                  Als emigrant, vroeger behoorende tot de Gerefor-
do Catholics place one knee upon the floor before enter-        meercle Kerken (art. 31) in Nederlancl, heb  ik-en
ing the pew? Catholics genuflect on entering and                meerderen met mij- in het nieuwe land onzer  in-
leaving the church as a mark of love and adoration to           woning gezocht naar een kerkelijk onderdak. En na
Christ, the Son of God, who is really present upon the          langdurig en intensief contact met de Prot. Ger. Ker-
Catholic altar."                                                ken en vele van haar ambtsdragers zijn we tot de over-
    And again,  01; page 448 : "After the candles are           tuiging gekomen dat het onze roeping was ons bij haar
lighted upon the altar, the priest takes the host conse-        Ban te sluiten, omdat we zagen clat ze de ware kefk
crated at'the mass out of the tabernacle, and places            was; en het dus zeer beslist zonde zou zijn geweest
it in a stand of gold or silver, called the monstrance,         om ons vanwege bestaande  meeningsverschillen \-An
or ostensoriurri, which remains upon the altar, or upon         haar afkeerig te houden, of ook, zooals den laatsten
an elevated throne, where it may be seen by all the             tijcl gebeurcl is: Vrije Geref. Kerken te organiseeren,
people. The priest then puts incense into the thurible          of iets dergelijks. Die overtuiging ben ik nog toege-
and waves it three times in the direction of the blessed        daan.
sacrament as a symbol of the people's prayer. Then                 Nu is er echter in het recente  verleclen iets gebeurd
placing over his shoulders a long silk scarf, called the        dat nogal beroering schijnt te veroorzaken. Om kort
humerale veil, the priest takes up the monstrance, and          te gaan, ik bedoel de opstelling en publiceering door
with it makes the sign of the cross over the people; and        onze laatste synode van cle `-Korte.Verklarigg  van_ Be-
thus the eucharistic Christ blesses the people."                ginselen  cler  Prot.  Ger. Kerken". Persoonlijk stem
    It certainly is evident from all this that it is the        ik met den inhoucl daarvan in. Oak cle kerkrechtelijke
bread called the eucharistic Christ that is worshippecl         bezwaren clie ik aanvankelijk had zijn door de bealit-
as God and is the object of prayer by the audience.             woording  dGOr  Ds.  H;  Hoeksema  van Ds. J.  Blankes-
The same eucharistic Christ is supposed to bless the            poor's  vragen   weggenomen.  Van de  noodzakelijkhe;d
people. Now all this the Catechism rightly calls idol-          van, en de behoefte aan dit stuk ben ik echter nog niet
atry. It stands to reason that the Catholics deny this          overtuigd. Immers,  de S&rift en de Drie Formulieren
accusation. And it is also true that as soon as one ac-         van Eenigheid  zijn genoegzaam  om de in dit stuk ge-
cepts the Roman Catholic theory of transubstantiation,          noemcle werkelijke en "vermeende" dwalingen te weer-
this accusation of  iclolatry must fall. After all, the         leggen.  Daar is geen aparte  "verklal;ing",  clie maar
doctrine of transubstantiation is the sole basis upon           onrust veroorzaakt, voor noodig.
whicli the mass rests. According to Catholics, they do            In verbancl hiermee  wil ik probeeren een  misver-
not worship bread and wine, but they worship what is            stand, wat klaarblijkelijk mee aanleicling is geweest
called "the real presence". And therefore they hurl             tot het totstanclkomen van dit stuk, op te helderen.
their anathemas at all that maintain "that in the holy          In zijn repliek aan Ds. J. Blankespoor, in de Stanclard
sacrament of the eucharist, Christ, the only begotten           Bearer van 1 Oct., Schrijft Ds. H. Hoeksema naar aan-
Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship, even          leicling van de in den laatsten tijd bij het Zendings-
external of latria; and is, consequently, neither to be         Cornit ingekomen  aanvragen om organisatie als ker-
venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to b?           ken binnen het verband der Prot. Ger. Kerken, 0-a.:
solemnly borne about in procession, according t:; the           "no wonder then they lived under the impression that
laudable and universal rite and custom of the church ;          they could simply, without further instruction, be or-
or is not to be proposed publicly to, the people to be          ganized into Prot. Ref. Churches." Die impressie-ik
adored, and that the adorers thereof `are idolaters." spreek over Chatham, want dat bedoelt Ds. Hoeksema
Canons and.Decrees  of the Council of Trent, Canon VI.          hier-hebben we nooit gehad. Ook hebben we in per-
Nevertheless, from the protestant viewpoint, which de-          soonlijke.gesprekken  en discussies  ons altijd bereid ge-
nies transubstantiation, there is on the altar nothing          toond in de Prot. .Ger. leer onderwezen te willen wor-
but bread and wine. And therefore the Roman Catholics           den. Bovendien  hadden we bij den tijd dat  we onze
do not worship Christ and God in Christ, but render             aanvrage indienden al heel wat instructie  ontvangel,.
homage to mere material signs. And this is idolatry             Dat mag hier we1 ter eere van de I'rot. Ger. predikan-
pure and simple.                                    H. H.       ten en ouderlingen gezegd worden.         .


                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          105

   Verder schrijft hij : "But at the same time they         naar Zijn welbehagen. En ik ontken elken vorm van
wanted to adhere to their own peculiar view of tllo         algemeene  genade.  Is dat Prot. Gereformeerd?  Het
covenant. They even sent a request to the Mission           is 66k Vrijgemaakt! Geen enkele "Vrijgemaakte" .zal
Committee to be organized on their own basis.": , Dit :s    bedoelfn  te zeggen dat God de vervulling van de belofie
slechts ten deele juist. Ik Iran begrijpen dat di~%drolr    $&bin&  `aan de voorwaarde van. het geloof als  een
gewekt is. Daar ik geen copie van die betreffende aa.n-     a&e, van den mensch uitgaande. Dan zouden ze indcr-
vrage bij de hand heb zal ik probeeren de betreffenile      daad Arminiaansch zijn.  Als zij  echter de term:
passage vrij te  citeer.en.  Ze luidde ongeveer aldus:      "voorwaarde of conditie" in den mond nemen, doen zij
"Aangezien ons uit gesprekken  met verschillende vaa        dat "rather freely". Ze hebben niet den strijd gehad
Uwe predikanten gebleken  is dat er tusschen U en ens       tegen het Remonstrantisme, zooals de P. R. C. die ge-
verschil van meening bestaat ten opzichte van Verbond       kend hebben. En ik geloof dat we dat in het oog moc-
en Doop, wenschen we niet gebond.en te worden  aan de       ten houden bij de beoordeeling van hun leer.
persoonlijke meening van sommigen in Uwe kerken."              En ik wil eindigen met een ernstige oproep tot eens-
Hier wordt niet gezegd dat we de "vrijgemaakte" ke-         gezindheid en verdraagzaamheid. Zoo juist heb 
schouwing wilden vasthouden ; hoewel ik toestem dat         gelezen Filipp. 2. Zoud.en  we dat niet wat meer moetpn
dat er misschien uit gelezen zou kunnen worden. Maar        betrachten ? Ik denk vaak dat de Satan lacht om onzc
de bedoeling was : "indien er onder ons zijn die in hun     twisten. We leven in den Apocalyptischen tijd.  Wit
hart een van de Prot. Geref. leer over Verbond en Do )p     niet geestelijk blind is ziet de contouren van den Anti-
afwijkende meening huldigen, terwijl ze daar geen           christ  zich al duidelijker afteekenen. Het gaat  sncl
propaganda voor maken of ageeren tegen de leer der          naar het einde. Er zal we1 niemalid onder ons zijn die
kerk; iets wat op grond van het feit van het plaatsen       dat niet gelooft. Zull.en .we dan niet met te meer ijver
van hun handteekening onder de aanvrage tot organi-         bezield zijn om samen,  schouder aan schouder, te,strij-
seering  als P. R. C., wat tech inhoudt de  erkenning       den den goeden strijd des geloofs, met degenen die van
dat zij de tiare kerk is, reeds onmogelijk is,-moeten       Christus zijn? Laat  alle vooroordeel varen-over cn
die of kunnen die, om die reden,  ooit voorwerp van         weer-en  breek alle  "heilige huisjes" af. En laat 01:s
kerkelijke tucht  worden? Dat was al! En: op dat            bidden, bidden om den vrede van Jeruzalem. Dan zal
request zijn we ook niet georganiseerd. De Zendings-        het ons (als kerk)  we1 gaan. En Gods Naam  zal
commissie wees dat af. We zijn-in  Chatham ; van            worden  verheerlijkt. 10, ik weet we1 dat ik lang niet
andere plaatsen w.eet  ik niets-georganiseerd "op basis     volledig geweest ben. Dan  kan  ik niet. En dat was
van de Bchrift en de Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid,        ook  .mijn bedoeling  ni.et. Als deze brief  maar een
zooals die door de P. R. C. worden  geinterpreteerd in      beetje kon meewerken om de verstoorde verhoudingen
het licht van de verwerping der Drie Punten van Kala-       te herstellen en het vertrouwen over heel de linie is te
mazoo". Maar houdt dat nu in dat men niet meer              irernieuwen,  zou ik al heel dankbaar zijn. De eenige
vriendschappelijk en  broederlijk mag  discussie&en         bedoeling van dit schrijven is: te dignen de Kerk van
over Verbond en Doop, of welk stuk van d.e Geref. leer      Jezus Christus die ik liefheb, met al de liefde van mijn
001~ maar ? Immers neen !                                   hart.
   En wat nu het punt (of punten) van verschil be-                                       D .   S c h e e l e
treft: is dat nu werkelijk we1 zoo groot als het vaak                                    Box 42,
wordt voorgesteld? Ik geloof van niet. Ik ben nog                                        Appin, Ontario, Canada.
steeds van meening dat er tusschen de P. R. C. en de
Geref. Kerken (art. 31) een groote  "spraakyerwar-                                 -::--
ring" heerscht'. Voor een  goed  deel zit m.i. de zaak
vast op een verschil in terminologie: een verschillende        Here follows the translation :of this letter :     '
inhoud toekennen  aan dezelfde woorden. Ik gevoel me        Esteemed Editor:  '
niet in staat een dogmatische  beschouwing te gevcn
over Verbond en Doop, enz., tegenover het lezend pub-          May I also have a little  .space in the Standard
liek van the Standard Bearer. Maar ik geloof : dat          Bearer? I would like very much to write something
Gods Verbondsbelofte die alleen aan de uitverkorenen        regarding the things which are;discussed  among us..
geschonken wordt, in wezen onvoorwaardelijk is, en             As an emigrant, formerly belonging to the  Re-
Zijn genade particulier en onwederstandelijk; dat God       form.ed Churches, maintaining. Art. 31, I, and macy
in souverein welbehagen verkiest en verwerpt; dat de        more with me have looked for an ecclesiastical roof
mensch-hoewel van nature gansch  onbekwaam tot              over my head in this new land` of our sojaurhing.
&nig goed en geneigd tot alle kwaad, dus totaal ver-        And after a lengthy and intensive contact wS+h the
dorven-de ernstige  roeping heeft  zich te  bekeeren.       Prot. Ref. Churches and their office bearers we i%ne
Dat het God is-en niet wij-die ons daartoe  be-             to the conviction that it was our calling'+0 .jbili those
kwaamt, werkende in ,ons het willen en het werken           churches, since we saw that they were theatrue' chul;cl2


  106,                                 T~:E.~.S?J2"ANDARD   B E A R E R

  and therefore it would have been deliberately sinful to      But the intent was: "if there are among us those who
  hold ourselves averse from them because of existing          hold in their heart to an opinion which deviates from
. differences of opinion, or, even as has  recently,.hap-      the Prot. Ref. doctrine relative the Covenant and Bsp-
  pened,  to organize Free Reformed Churches or .S6me-         tism, but  `who will not make propaganda for, ncr
  thing like that. And I still am of the same conviction.      agitate against the doctrine of the church; which ?3ttcr
      However, something happened in the recent past           action is really impossible, based on the fact that they
  which seems to cause quite S commotion. In short, I          placed their signature under the request unto the
  have in mind `the drawing up and the publishing by           organization as P. R. C., which implies that it is tl:e
  our last synod of the "Brief Declaration of Principles       true church-must such persons or can such  persol;,
  of the Prot. Ref. Churches". Personally I am agreed          for that reason, ever become objects of ecclesiastical
  with its contents. Also the church-political objections      censure? That was all there was to it! And : on the
  which I had at first are taken away by the Rev. Ii.          basis of  that  request we were not organized. The
  Hoeksema's answer to the Rev. J. Blankespoor's ,ques-        Mission Committee refused to organize us on that
  tions.     However, I am not convinced as yet of the         basis. We are organized (in  Chatham; I know noth-
  necessity and need of this document. The Scriptures          ing regarding other places) "on the basis of the Scrip-
  and the Three Forms .of Unity are sufficient to; refute      tures and The Three Forms of Unity, as they are inter-
  the real and "fancied" errors which are mentioned in         preted by the P. R. C. in the light of the rejection of
  this document, are they not? For that purpose there          the Three Points of Kalamazoo." But cloes this mean
  is no need of a separate "declaration", which causes         now that we cannot henceforth discuss together in a
  unrest.               _.                                     friendly ancl brotherly way anent the Covenant and
     In this connecti0n.I  will try to clear up a misunder-    Baptism, or about no matter what part of the Re-
  standing, which, at least in part, has clearly been the      formed doctrine? Of course not !
  occasion unto the realization of this Declaration. in           And concerning the point (or points) of clifferencc  :
  his answer to the Rev. J. ,Blankespoor,  in the Standard     is that really as big as it is often present&l? I do ;!nt
  Bearer of Oct. 1, the Rev. H. Hoeksema writes among          believe it. I am still of the opinion that there is a
  other things, with reference to the recent requests fcr      great "confusion of tongues" between the P. R. C. and
  organization within the pale of the Prot. Ref. Churches,     the Ref. Churches  (maint.aining art. 31).  Ancl for a
  which requests were addressed to the Mission Com-            good deal this is caused by a clifference  in terminology,
  mittee, "no wonder then they lived under the impres-         according to my opinion : a different concept is given
  sion that they could simply, without fhrther instruc-        to the same words. I do not feel myself capable to
  tion, be organized into Prot. Ref. Churches." That           give a dogmatic view relative the Covenant and B;tp-
  impression- I speak with rkference  to Chatham,  for         tism, etc., unto the readers of the Standard Bearer.
  that is what the Rev. Hoeksema refers to here--l,xi;is       But  .I believe: that God's promise of the Covenant,
  never left with us. We also revealed ourselves willing       which is given solely to the elect, is essentially UllCCli-
  in personal conversations and discussions to be in-          ditional and His grace is particular and irresistible;
  structed in the Prot. Ref. doctrine. Moreover, at the        that God in His sovereign good pleasure elects  ar?d
 time that we presented our request (for organizatiox)         reprobates  ; that man-although by nature entirely
  we had already received quite a bit of instruction.          unable unto good of any kind and inclinecl to all evil,
  That may be mentioned here to the honor of the Prot.         and therefore totally depraved-has the earnest callixig
 Ref. ministers and elders.                                    to convert himself. That it is God-and not we-who
     He writes further: "But at the same time  they            enables us unto this, working in us to will and to :`:o
 wanted to .adhere  to their own peculiar view of the          according to His good pleasure. And I deny  evcly
 covenant.     They  ev.en. sent a request to the  Missi*m     form of common grace. Is that Prot. Ref.? It is  a!so
 Committee to be organized on their owp basis." This           :Liberated!  Not a single "Liberated,' intends to  cay
 is only partly true. I can understand how this  ini-          that God connects the fulfilment  of the promise to the
 pression  was left. Inasmuch as I have no copy of the         condition of faith as an action which proceeds frum
 request referred to-with me at present, I will try to         man.    That would be, indeed, Arminian. However,
 cite freely the passage in question. It ran about as when they speak of the term: `%oo?-wua?$e  or condi-
 follows: "Inasmuch as it has appeared to us from con-         tion", then they do so rather freely.  Thejr have  not
 versations with several of your ministers that there is       had their battle against Remonstrantism, even as the
 difference of opinion relative the Covenant and Bap-          P. R. C. have had. And I believe that we must  re-
 tism betwen you and us, we do not wish to be bound            member that when we judge their doctrine.
 to the personal opinion of some (persons) in your                I will finish with an earnest call unto unity and
 churches." It is not held here that we wished to adhere       forbearance. Just now I read Philipp. 2. Should  we-
 to the "Liberated" view; although I agree that one            not practice that a little more? I think that Satan
 could perhaps read this sentiment in the quotation.           often laughs regarding our quarrels. We live in the,


                                                               ,.:..       ;     r_




                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            107

Apocalyptical time. I-le who is not spiritually blind is       comlict  by Mr. A. J.  1Jtsma. That brother does not
able to recognize the contours of Anti-Christ clearer          argue from the Confessions at,all, but merely presents
and clearer.  ,We are rushing toward  the end. I am            his own philosophy of the coveiant and of conditions,.
sure that there is no one among us who would dis-              while  the Declaration of Principles, from beginning
believe this. Shall we then not be the more zealous            `to, end; is based on our Three Forms of Unity. In the
to fight together, standing shoulder to shoulder, fight-       meantime he makes propagatida  for the old Heynsian
ing the good battle of faith, together with them that          view of the covenant, which we reject: the covenant
are of Christ? Throw away all prejudice-from both              is the promise, the promise is for all, the promise is
sides-and quit "riding hobbies". And let us pray,              conditional, faith is a condition. All this we have re-
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And then it will be           jected as churches when we rej.ected  the First Point
well with us (as. cliurch). And the name of God shall          of 1924. The brother simply does not belong to a Pro-
be praised and glorified. Oh, I know that I have not           testant Reformed church. Why does  he not join the
been exhaustive ancl complete, by any means. I can-             Christiap Reformed Church in  Chatham instead .of
not do that. Neither was that my purpose. If this              trying to'make  propaganda for a view we have reject-
letter could only work together a very little bit toward       ed long ago? He certainly cannot honestly answer the
the repairing of the ruptured relations, and to renew          second question of our Baptism Form in a Protestant
our trust in one another along the whole line, then I          Reformed Church. But also the sad fact that this
would be very grateful.         The only purpose of this       old heresy is openly defended in Concordia  (and I am
missive is :' to servti the church of Jesus Christ, which      glad to say, ably contradicted by the Rev. P. De Boer)
church I love with all the love of my heart.                    all the more convinces me of the necessity of the De-
                                D. Scheele                      claration of Principles.
                                Box 42,                  :i              The third item to which I want to call attention ir,
                                Appin, Ontario, Canada.         this connection is the letter of brother Van Spronsen
                                                                in the same Conco&in as above. He wants us to `adopt
                        -j:-                                   the wholly untenable position that, in a certain place,
                                                               there is but one true Church, and that by excluding
P. S. I wish to thank brother Scheele for this beautiful        anyone from that church you consign him to hell.
contribution.      You wrote after my heart, brother,           Hence, he argues, we must bind nd one by such a De-
especially in that you plainly evince that you under-           claration of Principles as we propose. Now, it is not
stand and wholeheartedly embrace the Protestant Re-             true that we believe in the Kuyperian conception of
formed truth.                                                   the pluriformity of the church, as the brother sup-
   Yet, I cannot agree with you that it i& not necessary        poses. B.ut neither do we accept the absolute distinc-
to adopt the Declaration of Principl.es. Recent happen-         tion between true and false church which he wants us
ings in our churches have convinced me more than ever           to adopt. That would be impossible even from a geo-
that such a declaration is very necessary if we want graphical viewpoint. But we do confess that as Pro-
to ,maintain  the purity of                                     testant Reformed Churches we `are the purest mani-
                                our REformed truth in  our
churches.  _                                                    festation of the body of Christ. Nor do we exclude
                                                                anyone from the kingdom of heaven when he does not
   For proof, I refer you to what has happened in                agree with the truth as we confess it. But binding
Hamilton.        The brethren there want to throw the           in our churches, and in the Liberated Churches, is the
church doors wide open. They refuse to abide by their            second question of the Baptism Form, whether you
own decision, which was confirmed by the decision of             believe in the doctr+e as taught here in this Christian
Classis East, that members of another church. that               Church. That certainly implies our view of the cove-
desire to join our congregation there promise : 1) to be         nant and baptism. And if one cannot answer this
instructed in our truth, and 2) that they clo not agitate        question he must never join us. Nor, if he and others
against the truth "as taught here in this Christian              establish a church of their own do we consign them
church." Although I am sure that, 6efore they organ-             to hell.
ized, they wc1.e instructecl  in our Protestant Reformecl
truth, and they were well aware that we would nevel                      For. all these reasons I am convinced that the De-
have organized them on any other basis, yet they now             claration of Principles should be adopted by our
claim that, at the time of organization, they never              Synod.
promised anything at all. You see brother, no church                     We cannot afford to let our beautiful Protestant
of Christ can stand on the basis of such dishonesty.             Reformed truth be corrupted by outside influences.
To prevent a repetition of thi.s sa,d affair the Declara-                To my mind that has nothing to do with correspond-
tion of Principles is certainly necessary.                       ence between the Liberated Churches and ours.
    Xecondly, I refer you to the contribution in Co%-                                                              H. H.


108 .                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                            the swiftness of the eagle, and the rationality of a
      I      OUR DOCTRINE                                   man-these same attributes are implied in the wings
                                                            which they c,arry and the sword wherewith they guard
                                                            the i%-itian& bf paradise. The cherubims, there-i-`ore,
The Creation Of The Spirit World refer us to a high class of angels who, more than any
                                                            other creature, reveal the power, the majesty, the glory
                          (2)                               of the living Gocl, and who therefore, have also been
                    ._                                      appointed by the Lord to guard the garden of Eden,
    We were busy in our preceding article with a dis-       and to guard His holiness in the tabernacle and the
cussion of the Cherubims. We called attention to the        temple-hence, the Lord dwelleth between the cheru-
fact that the Lord had placed them at the entrance to       bims. `That the ,Lord dwelleth between the cherubims
the garden of Eden, and also that they gaze upon the        emphasizes therefore the power and glory and majesty
mercyseat, between whom the Lord established His            of the living God, the Lord Gbd of hosts.
dwelling.
   To continue now with the : Scriptural references         Seyaphi,ms.
to these heavenly beings, when IGod descends to the             This particular class of angels is mentioned only
earth, He is described as descending, riding upon the       in Isaiah 6 :2, 6: "Above it stood the seraphims: each
cherubims according to 2 Sam. 22: 11, Ps. 18:11, Ps.        one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face,
104:3, Is. 66  :15, Heb.  1:7. We quote 2 Sam.  2:11,       and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain
Is. 66 :15, and Heb. 1:7 : "And He rod& upon a cherub,      he did fly. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me,
and did fly: and He was seen upon the wings of the          having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with
wind. . . For, behold, the Lord will come with fire,        the tongs from off the altar."
and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His           In. distinction from the cherubims the seraphims
anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.        are continually round about the throne of God, sing
And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels           His praises, wait upon the word and (or) commands
spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." In Ezekiel     of the  .`Lord.    While the cherubims are -the mighty
1 and 10 and in Rev. 4 they are represented as living       angels of God, according to Bavinck, the Seraphims
creatures in various forms. That the spirits of Ezekiel     may be called the nobles among these spiritual beings.
1 are cherubims is evident from chapter 10 of this          They, too, are represented in human form. This is
prophecy, where we read, e.g., in the verses 1 and 3:       evident from Isaih 6. We read of them that each had
:`Then I loqked, alid, behold, in the firmament that was    sis wings and that each had a face, and feet. And in
above the head of: the cherubims there appeared ovel        verse 6 we are tolcl that one of the seraphims had a
them as it were a.sapphire  stone, as the appearance of     live coal in his hand. For this reason some would
the likeness of a throne. Now the cherubims stood on        identify the cherubims and the seraphims.
the right side of the house, when the man went in; and          The word, "seraphim," means literally : burning,
the cloud filled the inner court." In Ezek. 1 and 10        bright, dazzling.
                                                                                 We read in Isaiah 6 :5-7 : "Then said
they are represented as four living creatures, having       I, Woe is me ! for I am undone  ; because I am a
the likeness of man, each with four wings and with          man of unclean lips, and I  clwell in the midst of
four faces, namely, of a man, a lion, an ox ; and an        a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the
eagle. And in Revelation 4 we read of them as the           King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the  sera-
four beasts, each with a face and each with six wings,      phims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which
and they surround the throne of God nd sing: Holy,          he had taken with the tongs .from  off the altar: And
Holy, Holy, day and night.                                  he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this  hat11
   From these passages we would briefly conclude the        touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away,
following. That they appear in different forms im-          and thy sin is purged." This can suggest that the
plies these forms do not constitute an essential part       seraphims are angels appointed by God to be peculiarly
of their existence-otherwise they would always ap-          busy in the work of reconciliation. How and to what
pear in the same form. Hence, these forms or ap-            extent these spiritual beings are busy in this work of
pearances are symbolical  repr.esentations  which are       reconciliation we are unable at this time to say.
mentioned to emphasize their extraordinary power and
majesty. Also, they are pictured as "living creatures" GabTie and Michael.                 .-.
to emphasize the truth that in them the might and the          We read of these angels in Holy Writ. Gabriel is
power of the living God is better revealed than in weak     mentioned in the following passages. We read in Dan.
man. They are living creaturei, creatures full of life      8 :16, and 9 :21: "And I heard a man's voice between
and vitality. Moreover, they are represented as pos-        the  banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make
sqsjng  tfie power of the ox, the  maje&y of the lion,
      -.     -                `..     .                     this  maq  t?`unc+stand  t&.  v!siop  (  : .  yea,  while  1


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-                                                                                                                 109
was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom            great Defencler in the Scripture passages which speak
I have seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused      of him in the Mew Testament. Michael contends with
to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the even-        the devil about the body of Moses, although he could
ing oblation." And in Luke 1:19 and, 26 we.,read :            not sile!lce the father of the lie, and in Rev. 12:7 we
"And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gibriel,         see him and his angels fighting against the dragon and
that; stand  jn the  presenc:e  of God; and am sent to        his angels.
speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent             Principalities, pozvew, therones, and dominions.
from God unto the city of Galilee, named Nazareth."              In addition to the Scriptural passages already
Michael, too, is mentioned several times in I-Ioly Writ.      namecl, Holy Writ also speaks of certain classes of
We read in Daniel 10 :13, 21, 12:l: "But the princ.e  of      angels, which occupy places of authority in the angelic
the. kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty            world. "Far above all principality, and power, and
days: .but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came        might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
to help me ; and I remained there with the kings of           not only in this world, but also in that which is to
Persia . . . But I will shew thee that which is hotecl        come."-Eph. 1:21; "To the intent that now unto the
in the scripture of truth: and there is none that hold-       principalities  and powers in heavenly places might
eth with me in these things, but Michael your pr:`nca.        be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God."
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the. great           -Eph:  3:lO; "For by Him were all things created,
prince which standeth for the children of thy people:         that are in, heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was       invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or
since there was a nation even to that same time: and          principalities, or powers : all things were created by.
at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one         Him, and for Him."-Col. 1:16; "And ye are complete
that shall be found written il! the book." In .l Thess.       in Him, Which  iS the head of all principality and
4 :16 we read : "For the Lord Himself shall descend           power."-Co]. 1 :lO; "Who is gone into heaven, and is
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-         on the right hand of God ; angels and authorities and
angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in             powers being macle subject unto Him."-1'Pet. 3 :22.
Christ shall rise first." And in Jude 9 and Revelation           That Scripture should speak of certain classes of
12 17 we read : "Yet Michael the archangel, when con-         angels which occupy places of authority in the angelic
tending with the devil he disputed about the body of          world need not surprise us. God Himself is character-
Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusa-          ized by beauty and order. He is the God of order.
tion, but said, The. Lord rebuke thee . . . And there         Also His creature is characterized by Order ancl beauty.
was war in heaven: Michael  ancl his angels fought            The angelic worlcl is therefore char+terized by order
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his             and rank: The very fact that the W&d of Gocl speaks
angels."                                                      of principalities and powers and mights and dominions
     Some have declared in the past that ,Gabriel and         among these heavenly spirits surely points us to this
Michael are untreated beings, the former to be identi-        conclusion. This also explains why the devil is called
fied with the Holy Spirit, while the latter is the Son        in Scripture the prince of the powers of the air. Even
of God. This, however, is surely impossible, as an            as an earthly army is characterized by privates and
honest reading of these various passages from the             officers of every pank, so also the angels are divded
Holy Scriptures will indicate.                                int;6 various ranks, the one group of heavenly spirits
     Gabriel appears in Holy Writ to be the angel en-         being subject to another.
dowed with the special task to interpret and proclaim                             TheG Nature.
Divine revelation and glad tidings. He is the angel
who is sent to Mary, Zacharias, the empty tomb, etc.          If&d, the angels are weatecl Beings.
From the fact that he is called the "archangel" in               This is taught by our Confessions, as in Article 12
Jude 9, and also from the expression used in Revela-          of our Confession of Faith, and we quote: "We believe
tion 125, it would appear that Michael occupies an            that the Father, by the Word, that is, by His Son, hath
important place among the angels. He is probably              created of nothing the heaven, thk earth, and all crea-
the valiant angel who fights the battles of the Lord          tures, as it seemed good unto Him, giving unto ever\
against the enemies of Israel and also against the evil       creature its being, shape, form, and several offices to
powers in the spirit-world. Hence, whereas Gabriel,           serve its Creator. That He cloth also still uphold and
in the prophecy of Daniel, is the Divinely designated         govern them by His eternal providence and infinite
angel to interpret and explain  tile vision to that daunt-    power, for the service of mankind, to the end  that
less prophet Michael, on the other hand, in the same          Tnan m'ay serve his God. He also created the angels
prophecy, is the angel appointed to come to the defence       good, to be His messengers and to serve His elect:
gf Daniel and help him,. Ancj he 31~~ appears as the          some of whom are fallen from that excellency in which


110                                  T H E   S.TANDARD   B E A R E R

God created them, into everlasting perdition; and t!le      together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?'
others have, by the grace of ,God, remained steadfast           From this passage many have drawn the conclusion
And continued in their primitive state. The devils aild     that the angels were created on the first day of crea-
evil spirits are so depraved, that they are enemies of      tion. Others have inferred from it the more general
God and every good thing, to the utmost of their powel*,    theory that they were created before the creation of,
as murderers, watching to ruin the Church and ever:;        man. Still others maintain that the passage warrants
member thereof, and by their wicked strategems to           the conclusion that the angels were created even before
destroy all ; and are, therefore, by their own wicked-      the first day, long before "the beginning" of Genesis
ness, adjudged to eternal damnation daily expecting         1 :l.
their horrible torments. Therefore we reject and ab-            Let us look a little more closely at the passage it-
hor the error of the Sadducees,  who deny the existence     self.
of spirits and angels : and also that' of the Manichees,        Verses 4-6 speak in highly poetic and figurative
who assert that the devils have their origin of them-       language, comparing the created world to a building,
selves, and that they are wicked of their own nature,       with its foundations, corner stone, measures, line, of
without having been corruptecl."                            the work of creation. Although it. is true that the
   This, we know, is also the teaching of the Scrip-        language leaves the impression that the reference is
ture. "By the word of the Lord were the  heaven4            especially to the beginning of God's creative work,
made; and all the i~ost of them by the breath of His        yet there is no reason at all in the text to clraw the
mouth."-Ps. 33 : 6 ; "Who maketh His angels spirits ;' conclusion that only the first day of creation-week is
His ministers a flaming fire:"-Ps.  104:4; "And to          meant. In fact, in my opinion this is excluded by what
make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,     follows. The interpretation is not impossible that the
which from the beginning of the wol;ld  bath been hid       reference is to the entire work of the creation of the
in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the      earth, and it is presented as a laying of foundations,
intent that now unto the principalities and powers in       the corner stone, etc., with a view to the relation be-
heavenly places might be known by the church the            tween the work of creation and the subsequent work
manifold wisdom of God."-Eph. 3 :9-10 ; "For by Him         of God in the history and development of the world.
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that           Verse  7' speaks of the morning stars and of the
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be        sons of God. There is no doubt that by "sons of God"
thrones, or dominions or. principalities or powers : all    reference is had to the angels. This is evident from
things were created by Him, and for Him :"--Col.  1:16 :    Job 116, 2 :1 : "Now there was a day when the sons of
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His SOR,         .God came to present themselves before the Lord, and
Whom He bath' appointed heir of all things, by Whom         Satan came also among them." And again: "Again
also He made the worlds ; And of the angels-He  saith,      there was a day when the sons of God came to present
Who maketh His angels spirits, ancl His ministers a         themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among
flame of fire."-Hebrews  1:2, 7.                            them to present himself before the Lord." That in
   Concerning the time of their creation we  canno?         these verses the expression "sons of God" refers to the
3e certain. Some have thought that because of Job           angels may be regarded as without doubt. But then
38 :7 they must have existed before the creation of the     it may be accepted as the only possible interpretation
world. We read in this passage: "When the morning           of the same expression in 38 :7. However, there is no
stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted        reason at all to interpret that the "morning stars"
ior joy?" ,In connection with this text I wish to quote     is but another and figurative expression for the same
m answer of the Rev. Hoeksema which he gave to the          "sons of God". In fact, in the book of Job the stars
!den's Society of one of our churches at that time.         are the heavenly luminaries. I take it, therefore, that
rhis society asked him whether Job 38:4-7 proves the        in the literal sense of the word the stars are meant in
contention that the angels were created on the first        the first of verse 7.
day of creation with the heavens or on the sixth day            The stars, however, are created on the fourth day.*
with the first man, Adam. And now I quote this ans-         This .excludes  the interpretation that verses 4-6 refer
were of Rev. Hoeksema:                                      only to the first day or to the very first beginning
   "The passage of Scripture mentioned in the ques-         of creation-week.        For this reason I rather under-
tion here follows in full:                                  stand the verses 4-6 as referring to creation in general
   `Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of           as a laying of foundations for all the rest of the work
the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who         of God in the earth.
hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or            But if this is the correct interpretation, there is
who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are          no proof in these verses for the theory that the angels
the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the           were created on the first day of creation-week. In
:orner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang           fact, there is no indication at all as to the time when


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             111

the angels were created in this passage. Nor is there
anywhere in Scripture.                                                The Declaration Of Principles
    The conjecture (for it is no more) that they were
&bated on the sixth day is deduced from th! $act that                   (REV. PETTER ON CHURCH FACTIONS)
in the week of creation the creatures are formed in                    The"`Concordia" for Nov. 9 contains Rev. Petter's
the way of an ascending scale. The lower creatures
are formed first, then the higher, finally man.                    third instalment of a contemplated series of articles on
                                                          If we
consider that the angels belong to the higher creatures,           "The Brief Declaration". Having read also this article,
it is not impossible that they were created on the sixth           it occurred to me that Rev. Petter's choice of title "The
                                                                   Brief Declaration" is a mistake. Rev. Petter is not
day. However, more than a conjecture this is not.
The fact is, that we cannot determine with certainty               treating the "Declaration". His present article is on
when the angels were created."-thus far the quota-                 the idea of "Separation of the church into factions."
tion of Rev. Hoeksema.                                                 His introductory remarks having been made, Rev.
    IOne thing is certain: the angels were not created             Petter goes on to explain what it means that God's
before the first day of creation-week and they were                people in this worlcl must seek and strive for unity in
not called  into existence after the sixth day. That               orcler that they may become ev.er more one. It means,
they were not createcl before the first day lies in the            says he, that "they must learn to be subject to one an-
nature of the case. They certainly belong to the worlcl            other in the truth and learn to crucify their flesh for
of created things, and everything was created within               the sake of one another and *the body." I can whole-
the space of six days. For the same reason they were heartedly subscribe this statement. Striving for unity
not formed after the sixth day. Fact is, everything                is to be subject to one another in the truth, cd in the
was finished within this space of six days. This is                troth or&. But let us understand what this means.
also evident from the fourth commandment which                     It means, certainly, to seek in love the true church-the
reads : "Remember the Sabbath clay, to keep it holy ;              church of the elect-solely by holding forth to men the
six days shalt thou ,labor and do all thy work ; but the           truth, the true Gospel of the Scripture and opposing
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it              this gospel to the errors of the heresy. `Certainly, striv-
thou shalt do no manner of work; thou, nor thy son,                ing for unity does not consist in shelving the truth be-
nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-                   cause it happens to be offensive to the group with
servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within           which we desire to unite. All such striving for unity
thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and                is out of the flesh and its wages is death.
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and restecl  the              Elsewhere in this number of the "Concordia" Rev.
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath                J. D. de Jong also deplores the fact of our now having
day, and hallowed it." The fourth commandment,                     such  a thing as this "Declaration of Principles". He
therefore, declares explicitly that all things were cre"-          writes: "I said that I consicler  this action very strange
afed in six days, ancl this also included the worlcl of            to say the least. Why couldn't the Committee first go to
angels.                                                            the Netherlands, talk to the brethren there and report
 * If we, therefore, proceed from the idea that the                back to our Synod? What was the hurry? Our chur-
heavens and the earth were created in six clays, it is             ches were not clamoring for anything like this, neither
surely possible that the rational creatures in heaven              were the missionaries. Why so hasty, what was the
(the angels) as well as the rational creatures upon the            need of these declarations, and that just at this time?
earth (man) were formed th.e same day, namely the                  It has been expressed by some men in Holland church
sixth. However, certainty with respect to the time of              papers that in view of the fact that we talked about
the creation of the angels we do not have, inasmuch                correspondence, ancl had advancecl quite a ways, why
`as the Scriptures clo not specifically inform us on this          not consult the brethren across the ocean before we
point.                                     1% Veldman.             make the final decisions? But the latter is not pro-
                                                                   vided for at all in the adopted propositions. This much,
                           -:-                                     so is has been written, the brethren in Holland could
                                                                   rightfully expect. Personally we agree whole-heartedly
                        CLASSIS   EAST                             with such criticism." Thus Rev. De Jong.
will meet in  r&xlar session Wednesday at  9 o'clock A.M.,             But.let us consider that the "Declaration" sets forth
January 3,  1!)51,  at Fuller Ave.                                 what we, Protestant Reformed, believe to be the true
  All matters for Synod must be brought to this  Classis,  such    doctrine of the Scripturfjs and our Confessions relative
as: subsidy requests, and the reports of the Con&tories on the     to the promise of God, namely that it is an unconclition-
Brief Declaration, of Principles.                                  al and unfailing oath assuring salvation to the elect-
                                            D. Jonker,             the contrite of heart-ancl to the elect only. It is the
                                               Stated Clerk.       yery  cloctrine  on account of the defence  of which we

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

 were expelled from the fellowship of the Christian Re-       Let us not commit that folly. Let' us by adopting that
formed churches and subsequently brought into being           "Declaration" make it possible for our committee to
. as a communion of Protestant Reformed churches. -. It       speak . . in their discussions with the Liberated not
 is the very doctrine that, as moved by conviction, we        merely- for themselves but for our churches as well.
have been preaching from our pulpits through all the          Why not? Would the adoption of the "Declaration"
years of our existence as churches. Shall we now go           render impossible discussion? Of course it tiould  not.
 up and dowli the earth with a question-mark behind           What our committee would discuss with the brethren
 our doctrine, asking men to help US decide whether it        across the sea is precisely the content of the "Declara-
is the true gospel, and then, if the verdict turns out in     tion". Why then postpone its adoption? Why delay
favor of it, jointly make it our own officially? That is      officially owning it as churches? Are we in doubt
what Rev. De Jong advises. But following that advice          whether the Gospel it sets forth is the true Gospel of
we. deny our doctrine and our calling to proclaim it          the Scriptur.es? But how can we new of a sudden be
because it. is offensive to the group with which we de-       doubting the veracity of a Gospel that, as moved by
sire to unite. ILet us hold forth our doctrine-the only- conviction, we have been preaching from our pulpits
pure gospel-also to the Liberated across the sea. If          during all the years of our existence? Are we then
.they want to discuss it with us, it is well. We welcome      a people always learning and never coming to the
discussion but only with ourselves as jointly and offic-      knowledge of the truth? If not, why should we refuse
ially having voiced our conviction that it is the only        as churches to adopt betimes that "Declaratiod'?  Let
`true gospel. That is our calling as missionary church.       the Liberated doubt our Gospel, if they must; and, if
In a word, we must adopt that "Declaration" without           they can, let them justify their doubts with the Scrip-
delay, unless, of course, it can be made plain that it is     tures and the Confession. But let us as churches in
not of God. But that no one in our midst thus far has         our discussions with them by all means officially be
even attempted. What do we gain by mergers, if men            occupying the position that, according to our firm be-
refuse to unite with us on the basis of our doctrine?         lief, our ,Gospel is of God and be prepared to justify
We will be no more united-truly united-than we                that belief with the Scriptures and the Confessions.
were before the merger. United with men who refuse            Then we do a good work ; but not, certainly, if we first
for whatever reason to occupy with us our doctrinal           deny our Gospel because it is distasteful to men, and
position we will be like the staves of a cask held to-        on the ground of that denial dispute about it with men.
gether by iron-clad hoops. To say that such mergers               Now back to Rev. Petter's article. He next poses
reveal to some greater degree the unity of the church         this qtiestion : "What is the meaning of churches separ-
of the elect, established through Christ's cross, is sheer    ating?"
folly. It is not true. There is nothing to be gained by          I cannot  agr.ee  with Rev. Petter's answer. He
such mergers; but certainly there is everything to lose. , writes : "Especially the .Liberated  in their study of the
What we lose sooner or later is our doctrine.                 church have come ever more to the conclusion that such
   Why should we not want to adopt that "Declaration" separation is a great sin, so great in fact, that the one
on our next synod? All we do in it is to quote our Con-       group must of necessity consider and call the other a
fessions. Is it wrong to quote our Confessions? Are           false church."
Confessions multiplied merely by quoting them? How               Remark.  That would be a strange conclusion of
will we ever discuss with the Liberated if quoting to         the Liberated-the conclusion, for example, that the
them our Confessions is wrong?                                Protestants of the 16th century committed a great sin
    There is another consideration that enters in here.       in forsaking the Roman Catholic hierarchy; that the
Synod has instructed our Committee of Correspondence          Secession of 1836 in the Netherlands was a great sin
to go to the Netherlands and discuss with the Liberated       chargeable also to the Seceders (Afgescheidenen) ; that
our doctrinal differences. But to what purpose if, by         finally, our break with the Christian Reformed church-
our refusal to adopt  bet'imes "The Declaration" this         es in ,1924  was a great sin on our part too. Certainly,
committee of ours cannot confront the Liberated with          no such conclusions wer.e arrived at by the Liberated.
the official stand of our churches respecting the mat-        What they concluded, surely, is this: that all such sep-
ters in dispute and accordingly would have to be re-          arations are a great sin only on the part of the group
garded simply as an emissary voicing its own private          that corrupts the truth and expells from its communion
views as a party to the debate? It would have to be           faithful ministers of the Gospel for censuring its cor-
said that all the Liberated were occ.upied  with in its       ruptions and refusing to subscribe them. Rev. Petter
discussions with our committee is not the official doc-       should have stated the matter correctly. What he ac-
trine of our churches but simply the private concep-          tually told his readers is in effect this : that it is a great
tions of three indiyiduals. Is it necessary to send men to    sin to forsake the false church.
the Netherlands to discuss what would  have to be pro-           The next question that Rev. Petter puts, reads:
nounced their own private views with the Liberated?           "What  .is the nature of the degree of sinfulness or


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     113

error that does at least warrant and necessitate a            "We reject the errors of those who teach that faith, the
separation? 1 agree with Rev. Petter's statement that obedience of faith, holiness,  godline'ss, and perseverance
we do not split into separate churches because one            are conclitions  and causes without which the unchange-
believes in individual communipn cups, others. in a           ab,le eltict~on  to glory does not occur."
communal cup.                                                   &ev.- Petter finally raises and answers the question
   But what then does at last warrant and necessitate         whether such a sinfulness or error is pr.esent  in the
a separation? Rev. Petter believes that herein our Re-        Liberated, namely an error that demands continued
formed fathers hav.e shown us the way and set us an           separation between them and the Protestant Reformed.
example. He says th?t they did not press for a separa-        His answer reads: "I do not believe that the phase of
tion in the church nor risk such a saparation except on       the covenant truth in which we and the Liberated can-
issues of doctrine that were clear-cut and that involved      not readily find each other is so momentous and de-
the very heart of the Gospel. I can't subscribe this          cisiv,e as to  Tequire (continued-O) separation." To
statement of Rev. Petter because I do not know what           this I reply that I do hope that Rev. Petter has good
he means by the "heart" of the Gospel. He doesn't             reasons'for  believing as he does. But here again Rev.
.bxplain. But I do know what the Reformed fathers             Petter fails to present the real issue,-the issue that
meant by the heart of the Gospel, and also what they          the leaders among the Liberated have forced upon us.
meant by the heart of heresy. They told us in their           What the Liberated want and prupose is verily this:
Creeds, definitely in the Canons of Dort. The positive        that the two  groups-Liberated  and Protestant  Re-
expositions of doctrine in these Canons constituted for       formed-unite on the basis of the agreement that each
the Fathers the heart of the Gospel. And the rejection        group refrain from officially declaring, confessing and
of errors in these Canons constituted for them the            proclaiming, jointly as `churches, its own conceptions
heart of heresy. And let us take notice that the errors       relative to the covenant and the promise. That is what
rejected include also the following:                          they mean by their motto: nothing binding. But how
   "We reject the errors of those who teach that. . . .       may we agree to any such thing? It means that we
there is in this life no fruit and no consciousness of        agree as churches, ai a communion of churches, to
the unchangeable election to glory, nor any certainty,        shelve, put under a bushel, what we believe to be the
except that which depends on a changeable and uncer-          Gospel of God, the very',Gospel  that is being preached
tain condition." Certainly the unexpressed implication        from Sabbath to Sabbath from our pulpits, the very
of this statement is not that there are, according to         Gospel that we bind on every married man and wqman
the way' of thinking of the fathers, changeable and           presenting their infant child for baptism. We may
uncertain conditions, and besides  unchangeable  and          not, agree to such a thing may we? Unless that "De-
certain conditions, and that it is against the former         claration" can be shown to be heretical, if it must be
only that our fathers in this article were enveighing.        admitted that it sets forth the true gospel of God as
To so contend is to play hocus pocus with the' plain          laid down. in the Scriptures and the confessions' it
statements of our Canons. The error that the Canons           must be adopted. To refuse to adopt that "Declara-
here reject is that the fruit of election in th.e believer    tion" is officially to reject it-reject what we  irnow
and his awareness that he is an elect is contingent on        and believe to be the gospel of God,, all for the sake of
faith, repentance, obedience and perseverance as a            church merger.
condition. For in that case, it means to say, this fruit                                                          G. M. Ophoff.
and this awareness were as changeable as faith is
changeable, were it a con&i&on. For, such is the reason-
ing, if faith were a condition, a man's belieping or not
believing would be contingent on his own free will                            WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
 (free in the arminian sense) and thus as uncertain and
changeable as man's free will is uncertain and change-          On November 24, 1050, our beloved  parents,
able. But a man's believing depends solely on God's                           Mr. and Mrs. John P. Miedema
eternal and sovereign election. Hence, his faith is in-       commemorated their 40th wedding anniversary.
destructible and abiding, unchangeable and certain and          We thank our heavenly Father with them, for having kept and
                                                              sustained them together through the years, and pray that the
thus also his fruit-bearing and the awareness of his          Lord may grant them His peace in their remaining years.'
sonship. I would like to see anyone, dealing honestly                                 Their grateful children:
with this article, get another meaning out of it. It is                                        Mr. and Mrs. Neal Mohr
plain what, according to the Fathers, constitutes the                                          Mr. and Mrs Albert Miedema
heart of the ,Gospel and also the heart of heresy. That                                        Mr and Mrs. Gerrit Sytsma
                                                                                               Mr. and  Mrs.  Robert J. Miedema
the expression "changeable and uncertain condition"                                            Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Gritter
has reference to faith, obedience and perseverance con-                                        Pvt. Harold Miedema
                                                                                               Kenneth Miedema
ceived of as conditions, is evident from Canons 1, B, V :     Grand Rapids,  Mich.               10 grandchildren.


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                                                                                                                          ,  .,'
114                                        THE  ST'ANDARti  `%EAREiX                                                      .' ;,,:-:
                                                                                                                            :,
                                                                                                                            `; 
                                                             merely try to gather a church. ; He actually gathers her.
            IN  HIS  F'EAR  ./. That is a very rich and beautiful truth. It means that
                                                             the believe& may rest quietly in the calm assurance of
                                                             faith, wh.en he looks about him and in himself. When
   Church Membership In His Fear                             he beholds one church after another succumbing to the
                                                             manifold lies of human philosophy, when he sees it
                                  5.                         becoming manifest in the very congregation of which
                   Gathering Together.                       he is a member that all is not Israel that is called
 We have begun to call attention to the practical            IBrael, when he sees the faithful becoming few in
import of the truth that the Son of God gathers His          number, when he sees the truth assailed and denied
church by His Word and Spirit from the. beginning            and compromised, when he sees what appear to be the
to the end of the world out of the whole human race.         overwhelming assaults of the powers of darkness tear-
And last time we mentionecl  specifically the practical      ing the church asunder, when he beholds how weakly
significance of the truth that this gathering takes place    the new life of the members of the body of Christ
in the line of continued generations. It still remains,      really comes to manifestation in the midst of the
therefore, to call attention to the importance for church    church, when he sees the very communion of churches
membership in the fear of the Lord of the truth that         in which he has been all his lifetime a member, and
the church is a gathering out of the whole human race,       which holds the love of his heart and is the object of
and that this gathering is manifested in gatherings.         his loyalty, from which he only with. difficulty can
This we shall do in the present article.                     separate  himself, falling into the way of error,-in a
                        >> :`.:  :>  :$                      word, when his whole experience tells him that the
                                                             cause of the church is a hopeless and lost cause, a
An  ,4&d  Gathekg.                                           miserable failure, then he may know with the know-
    The result of the fact that the Son of God gathers       ledge of faith that the cause of the Son of God cannot
to Himself a church is that the church is gathered, that     fail, but that even through these very things the Son
it is a  gathwing.  That  stancls to reason. That is a       of God goes right on gathering, defending, and pre-
truism, you say. But let us try to understand the im-        serving His church. In that quiet `assurance he can
portaiice  of  .this "truism".                               act also according to faith. It is only with that confi-
    On the one hand, of course, it is true that the end      dence that the faithful church has ever been able to
result of this gathering` process is the complete and        maintain the truth. It was only with that confidence
perfect body of Christ as it shall be realized in the day    that mighty nien of God in the past have had the cour-
of the Lord, and as it shall consist of all His people,      age to "break with the church," to oppose a mighty
all the elect, of all ages, from every nation and tribe      and powerful institute that had become corrupt. It
and tongue, and as they shall be presented without           was in that confidence that a Luth.er and a Calvin had
spot or wrinkle in the assmbly of the. elect in life         the courage to maintain the truth of Scripture and to
eternal. Andwhen we confess an holy catholic church,         go a separate way in the Reformation of the 16th cen-
it is that church which is the subject of our confession     tury. It was in that calm assurance that men have
of faith. Then  the church shall not exist at all any        been willing to lie down at the stake, calling upon the
niore as a mixture. The carnal seed shall no longer be       name of thk Lord Jesus. It was in that confidence
in her. The battle of the church  .will be over. The         that faithful leaders and whole congregations could
sinful flesh of the believers will be done away. The         be willing to lose their place in "the church", to be
church also as to its membership will be absolutely          deposed and cast out, and to suffer the loss of their
pure, holy. That is in itself a very practical truth,        all as churches. Yes, it was in  that confidence that
also with respect to our church membership here be-          the Protestant Reformed Churches had the courage
low. Only we must remember that the power of that            to maintain themselves 25 years ago as a tiny and
truth lies in the fact that it is strictly and only the      feeble baby, teetering on the brink of death. And
Son of God Who gathers His church unto Himself.              yes, it is only in that confidence that the Son of God
Take that fact away, lay the gathering of the church         gathers His church by His Spirit and Word that we
to the charge of man, to the charge of human preach-         can and must go on defending the faith, small and
ers, to the charge of the members of that church in any      despised and without outward might in the world
way, compromise that truth by gi&ng men a share in           though we continue to be.
that gathering process, and its certainty is lost; and          And this implies further that all our efforts as
when the certainty is lost, the powerful comfort of          churches, as members of the church, as ministry must
that truth is lost. He, the mighty Son of God, and He        stand in the service of that gathering work of the Son
alone, gathers to Himself a church chbsen to everlast-       of God. More must be said also in  &is connection
ing life. And remember: He does it. He does not              when we come to the subject of the church as insti-

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                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           115

             tute. . But even now we must emphasize that we may             new heavens and the new earth, we should understand
             be busy-as members of His church only in this faith,           at once that also on earth the church becomos manifest
      /.     that the Son of God gathers His church. We do not              as a gathering. This is plain from all Scripture. Al-
             gather it. We must never, as the  gathering!  of the           Teady!.  in -the old dispensation the church is frequently
             church on earth, labor out of the conceited and sinful         pictured as gathering together. Israel is referred .to
             idea of somehow adding our bit to that gathering work          as the congregation, or the congregation of Jehovah ;
             of Christ, either by our own membership or by OLX              and they assembled for the purpose of the worship of
             activities as members of His church. It is not our             Jehovah at the tabernacle and later at the temple. Be-
      .~
             efforts toward growth, not OUT efforts toward unity,           sides, other gatherings of the people of Israel are men-
             not ou~efforts even for the manifestation of the unity         tioned, as, for instance, during the time of Samuel,
             of the body of Christ that make the body of Christ             and in the time of Elijah. Thus also the Psalmist
             that great wonderwork, that make it catholic `and one,         speaks of the amiableness of the tabernacles of the
             that cause the glory of the one Christ to shine in the         Lord. And he faints for the courts of the.Lord.  Ps. 84.
             one body of many members. No : the Son of ,Gocl, only,         In the New Testament this same fact is very evident.
             strictly, and alone gathers His church. It is that faith       We have only to' think of the numerous congregations
             that must control us as members of His church.                 which were established and  also instituted by the
                In the second place, we must remember that the              apostle Paul on his missionary journeys. Or we may
             gathering of the church is a gathering unto spi~itunl          remind ourselves that the Holy Spirit was poured out
             separation. The church is gathered out of the whole            in the church as it was assembled in those days in
             human race, a race that lies in the corruption of sin          Jerusalem. Or we may point `to the many epistles
             and death. And the church is called unto holiness.             which were addressed to specific congregations and
             And it is holy in principle. And its members are holy          which were read in the assemblies of the churches.
             in principle. And also on earth the gathering of the           And we must remember that these were the gatherings
             church becomes spiritually manifest. That the church           of the church on earth at those times. So true is this
             is a gathering is not merely manifest, of course, in this,     that the epistles are even addressed to "the church of
             that it gathers lo.cally and physically in a certain build-    God at . .  ." There can be no doubt about it that the
             ing at st.ated  times to hear the preaching of the Word.       church is actually and concretely `manifest in gather-
             That belongs to the mani-lest&ion of the chud~, as wc          ings of specilic congrcgatiolis  at certain places and at
             shall see, and is an important element also. But wp            statecl times.
             must understand that even then, when the members                  And that means that the believer will not think
             of the church come together  in a public gathering,            lightly of his membership in the church in the world.
             they manifest themselves as a spiritual gathering.             He knows that it is the will of the Lord that His body
             Otherwise you might also draw the false conclusiori            shall become manifest in the world as the gathering of
             that everyone who gath,ers with the church belongs to          believers with their children and that it is therefore
             the body of Christ, and that being a member of tlte            his obligation before Gocl to belong to that gathering.
             church is just a matter of "going to church". But the          He is aware also that the Spirit of Christ was poured
             holiness of the church must be manifest in the holiness        out % th,e chuwh as well as that Christ's Word is ad-
             of her members. And the holiness of her  membr:rn              dsessed  to the chuwh. And the believer will not separ-
             must be manifest in all their life in the midst of the         ate himself from the gatherings of the church for any
             world. It must be seen that the church and the mem-            earthly  OS carilal considerations.
             bers of the church are actually gathered out of the               This follows, of course, from the v&y nature of the
             whole human race, and that they therefore are in the           life of the believer and from the very manner of his
             world, but not of the world. In all that you do and in         salvation. By being called the believer becomes mem-
             every sphere and relationship of life it must be evident       ber of the body of Christ. He is not saved as' an indi-
             that you have been gathered by the Son of God.                 vidual. He lives the life of regeneration as a member
                In the third place, it follows from this truth of the       of the body. And just as in the natural sense no mem-
             gathering of the church that the church gathers to-            ber of my body has any power in separation from my
             gether. We must not make the fatal mistake of separ-           body, so the believer has no life in himself, apart from
             ating the truth that the church gathers together from          Christ, and in separation from the body of Christ,
             the truth hat the Son of ,God gathers His church by            the church. It is the urge of his regenerated heart
             His Word and Spirit. Then the whole cdnfession  that           to join the fellowship of believers. He belongs with
             there is an holy catholic church becomes after all some-       them. His life is a life in common with them. He
             thing hazy, something abstract, which has no effect            cannot live alone. Membership in the church in the
             at least on our life here b.elbw and in this present time.     world is indispensable for his spiritual life.
             While it is true that the end result of Christ's gather-                           (to be continued)
             ing His church is the complete, glorified church in the                                               H. C. Hoeksema.


116                                  T H E   STANDAR)D  B E A R E R

   . Among  The Immigrants,                                  Word of God and holds to the faith of the Fathers in
                                                             doctrine and &fe. They also begin to realize that in a
                                                             large- ahd ungddly land, such as our own or Canada,          '
    For the past year we have spent a, great deal of         this is even more pressing and critical than in  +he
time among the Holland immigrants in Canada. More confines of a small Netherlands.
particularly our contacts have been with those of the            It has indeed been refreshing to find them willing
Gereformeerde Kerken (Art. 31), who are more pbpu-           and able to discuss the Truth and Reformed Faith.
larly known as the "Liberated". Our work has taken           One of the saddest signs of the last years here in
us from the St. Lawrence River in Eastern Ontario            America, is the deadly lethargy and sorry ignorance
through all the Canadian Provinces to the West Coast.        among that which `is called' Reformed, even of the
We have met people from every walk and position ;            simplest essentials. There is little knowledge and even
farmers, laborers, professional people, married and          less desire to learn or discuss. Yet, amongst  th&se
single, young and old. These have also constituted a         immigrants we have always been welcome and have
cross-section of their brethren in the Netherlands since     had no difficulty at all in spending hours at a time in
there were representatives from almost all the Prov-         profitable and intelligent discussion. That there are
inces in the Old Country.                                    differences in our position, no one can deny. But it is
    Nor have these contacts been mere casual meetings.       indeed refreshing to be able to meet as fellow-Christians
We have worshipped with them, eaten at their tables          and brethren even though we may warmly speak of our
and been the guests in their homes. And naturally,           convictions. It is encouraging that we can testify of
we have spent hours and hours talking with them ;            one another that we love the Truth and bow before the
debating and discussing the Reformed truth which is          Word of Gocl. This latter; we h&e experienced time
dear .to us all. Just recently we have returned after        and again amongst: them. Even though it seems at
eight weeks of traveling some 12,000 miles to visit          times that they must re-state their position and forsake
various groups in more distant places. Now we would          the contentions of some of their "leaders", they  tire
like to give a few general impressions which remain          willing to be Zecl by the Scriptures. And that they are
with us from these contacts. What is our judgment            fundainentally Reformed and that there should be room
of them? How do they feel overagainst our Churches           for them in our fellowship, we are convinced.
and her teaching ? And what conclusions can we draw?             In a movement as broad as the "Vrijmaking", it
   It is a pleasure to note, first of all, that our Dutch    stands to reason that there are also some who do not
brethren are industrious and ambitious ; hence, consti-      understand the Reformed truth and are antagonistic
tutionally well-fit for their task of pioneering in a        overagainst us. We have also met these amongst the
new home-land. And they are recognized as such both          immigrants. However, we believe their number to be
by their new Canadian neighbors as well as the Cana-         comparatively small. Furthermore, when we relatecl
dian government itself. Already they are acquitting          the views held by some of these less well-informed indi-
themselves well and give honor to the Dutch traditions       viduals to the better Liberated elements, these latter
and name which we all bear. Having been practically          also. expressed with us that such are certainly not true
crowded out of their old Fatherland they have begun          representatives of their Churches and have never
again from the bottom up; as strangers in a strange          unclerstood the Reformed position. Moreover, when
land. When one considers this a bit one gets an idea         our position was made clear to them `(i.e. to those who
of what conditions are like in the Netherlands and           hold erroneous views) they themselves often expressed
what it has meant for the immigrant. They have left          that they were not interested and no longer cared for
homes, dear ones, relatives, friends, church, school;        our fellowship. But certainly they are not representa-
societies, and made a host of other sacrifices, to start     tive of the Liberated immigrants or the Liberated posi-
over "from scratch". Yet, almost without exception,          tion.    And even among them there is, perhaps, the
though their present abode be but a hovel and their          possibility of laboring to teach them the validity of the
work and wages almost intolerable, they are hopeful          Reformed position as we maintain it.
and courageous and have no desire to return from               But to return to our general impressions. As stated
whence they came.                                            above, these immigrants are concerned about their
   But we are more interested, perhaps, in their spirit-     church affiliation. The question arises, why have they
ual make-up and reactions. Here, too, we have found          sought our fellowship ? What is there that has attract-
them well-informed and well-read. They are acqua'int-        ed them to us?
ed not only with the Scriptures but also the Reformed          In many instances, their own ministers, consistories
faith and confessions and are properly zealous to main-      and leaders, already in the Netherlands, had advised
tain this faith in their new world. In fact, generally       them to seek us. And until recently many have accept-
it can be said, that their primary concern is to estab-      ed this as a matter of course. We write until recently,
lish affiliation with the Church that proclaims the pure     for as `is well known the situation has changed some-


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        117

what of late. That the work of the Rev. Hettinga in          from the purity of the Word and Confessions. This
organizing the Free Reformed Churches, for example,          was certainly clear from the poverty stricken preach-
has had detrimental effects for closer contact iSsimply      ing in those Churches. Nor did they have need of such
a matter of fact. The ill-advised misuse which he            a-declaration to reveal that we as Churches did hew
made of the Declaration of Principles and other ele-         to the Confessions and pure Word of God. This, too,
ments, is certainly regrettable. But that these el.ements    was plainly evident and discernible from the preaching
were there for him to so use is also regrettable. How-       of that Word. Hence, through the preaching of the
ever, apart from this we .have experienced very little       Word and the patient labor of discussing that Word,
effective adverse interference, with our efforts among       they became convinced that we were the true Church,
these immigrants, from the Netherlands. That they            and that their calling was t.o seek our fellowship. This
would not be immediately loosed from all influences          we believe, is a mighty testimony both of them and us
of their former home but would continue to read the          and an important factor that must certainly condition
papers and respect the opinions of their former pastors      our attitude towards these immigrants.
and teachers is certainly to be expected. We believe            There were some, for .example, who were extremely
that the favorable reports and suggestions concerning        skeptical of us. From what they had read of our litera-
our Churches to these immigrants usually outweigh            ture or heard by report, they recognized many "Syno-
those that were advesse.                                     dale klanken", as they expressed it; or they felt that
   But even these suggestions to seek us have not been       we proceeded too much from the doctrine of election
motivating reasons. Many of them came to Canada              and had no room for the responsibility of man. Yet,
before we had even begun to labor there. Many more           after hearing  our  preaching, they recognized what they
were in communities where it was impossible for LX           wanted. And even though all their questions may not
to contact them ; clue to our limited means and forces.      have been "immediately answered they expressed  their
Only in the past year have we made any concerted             willingness to receive that preaching and their desire
effort in Canada while the immigration is already in         to be instructed by us, in seeking membership with us.
its fourth or fifth year.                                    In fact, we have personally heard the testimony more
   Besides this, from a physical point of view, there        than once, both of those who were unduly influenced
is little to attract them to our Churches. Comparative-      by correspondence with the Netherlands and from
ly we cannot offer them the help and physical advan-         those that were definitely opposed to us, that from the
tages that the Christian Reformed denomination can,          very beginning of their contact with us they were at-
for example. We are small and with limited means             tracted by the preaching. We believe this motivation
and men. Then, too, almost from the very beginning           and attraction to our preaching is a definite testimonial
of our contact, we, too, have been divided in our judg-      to the Reformed character of these immigrants.
ment and feeling overagainst them. Many times they              It is evident, therefore, that we would conclude
have been derided by us in no uncertain terms and we         that we believe they belong in our fellowship and we
have charged them with maintaining various deroga-           should be willing to receive them. We belong to-
tory heresies. Certainly also our attitude overagainst       gether. On the  on.e hand, we certainly have something
them has often failed to leave the impression of evi-        for them. Our own Churches have been established
dence of a genuine concern and brotherly approach to         for a number of years and we are acutely acquainted
them. Hence, we believe, that. our own attitude has          with the peculiar problems that face the child of God
often done as much harm as any interference on their         in this new world. We believe that through our own
part.                                                        history and experience God has called us to `maintain
   Yet, in spite of all the elements that have beclouded     His Truth overagainst all the erroneous strivings here.
the situation, they were still attracted to our Churches.    By His Providence we have seen the need of emphasiz-
And the reason is, as we have also expressed before,         ing His Sovereign Grace, His Absolute Predestinatioa,
that they find in our midst the pure preaching of the        the true Responsibility of Man and the practical appli-
Word which they want ancl seek. Nor is that a hasty          cation of all these to the conditions in this new world.
or utilitarian judgment on their part. Many of them And to do so overagainst all the vain philosophies and
were at first members- of the Christian Reformed             streams of error as they reveal themselves here. This
Church in Canada. Almost without exception, all have         these immigrants should appreciate and acknowledge
attended that Church and are acquainted with its by taking their places with us in fighting the fight of
preaching. And there they  co&l  not  be  satistied.         faith according as (God draws the battlelines here in
Hence, when our ministers began to labor in Canada           America. And we believe that is their desire. They
these immigrants recognized in our preaching that            must also understand that they have not simply chang-
which they sought. They had no need, for example,            ed their residence but have$entered  a new world with
for a declaration of principles to reveal to them that       its own peculiar problems and philosophies and history.
the other Reformed Churches in Canada had departed           They should, therefore, be willing to acknowledge that

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

in our experience and history we have been taught and          sesurrection,  we shall then not have flesh .and blood,
led by the Grace of God to face this situation he,r.e ari.d    although we shall have our own body! We shall then
to maintain the purity of the Reformed faith  over-            have ous own body saised from the dead; but this body
against the evils that arise here. In other words, they        will then not be "flesh and blood". The latter cannot
should not expect to find OS be able to transplant their       enter into the Kingdom of God. (I Cor. 15 :50). From
Church to this country, but must join themselves to the this it is evident that "flesh" and "body" are not identi-
True Church as God has established and conditioned it          cal when speaking of the redeemed saints.
heye.  We also believe that that is their desire. And             Body and flesh ase not the same !
that Church here bears the name: Protestant Re-                   This fact is vesy evident also from what we read
formed !                                                       in Philippians 3 :21, where we read : "Who shall fashion
   On the other hand, we also believe that they have           anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be con-
a contribution to make to our Churches. With their             formed to the body of His glory, according to the wosk-
knowiedge and zeal to live an active life of faith in all      ing whereby He is able to subject all things unto Him-
departments am1 spheres they can serve as a refresh-           self ." Now surely here we could not possibly substi-
ing  ancl healthy influence among us. For example,             tute the tesms "fesh" fos the terms "body" and reacl:
apart now from all other considerations, we must ad-           Who shall fashion anew the flesh of ous humiliation,
mit that our contact with these brethren has set us all        that it be conformed according to the  flesh of  His
to thinking ancl discussing which is always hopeful and        glory ! Jesus' body as to the flesh was busied; but
instructive. And personally, we greatly appreciate the         after three days He asose in the body that is heavenly.
spirit of these Liberated immigrants. and can reflect          It is a body that is not'at all flesh. It is the glosious
with joy upon the many hours of brotherly spiritual            body fitting in with the new heaven and the new earth,
communion we have had with them.                               where "flesh and blood" cannot enter, not even the
   Next time, D. V., we hope to continue with a few            flesh and blood of Jesus!
more observations and suggestions as to the manner                Well may we take notice of this fact to our comfort
in which we believe we should seek closer contact with         and to the glory of God for such matchless wisdom !
3ne another.                                                      In Hebrews 10 :20 we read of Jesus passing through
                                        TV. Hofman             the veil of His flesh and we with Him. It is full of
                                        A. Cammenga.           rich comfort. It is comforting to know that the Son
                                                               of God came in ous flesh. Yes, He also came a body;
                                                               a body was psepased for Him from God. To that we
                                                               would too presently call attention. But now we would
            FRCM  WOLY WRIT                                    concentrate on the implications of Jesus' coming in ous
                                                               "flesh". Let us attend to it.
                                                                  The term "flesh' `in distinction from "body" evi-
                                                               dently inclicates  very stsongly the commonness of na-
  Exposition of IIebrews 10:19-25                              ture between Jesus and #all the human race out of which
                                                               He according to eternal election gathers unto Himself
                           VI.                                 a Church by His Wosd and Spirit. He is like unto us
   In our previous article we were discussing the ques-        in all things, sin excepted. This is repeatedly empha-
tion, whether the term "flesh" in the phrase "through          sized by this term in various parts of the book of Heb-
the veil, that is, His fbsh" could be read as though the       sews as well as in other pasts of Scripture.
text said "His body".                                             Thus we read in Hebrews 2:10-18 as follows: "For
   We then remarked that, in our opinion, the two              it became Him, fos Whom'ase all things, and through
;erms are not identical in meaning ; that they are not         Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory,
.used interchangeably without a distinctive meaning in         to make the authos of theis salvation pesfect through
:ach. It is, therefore, our conviction that for the pro-       sufferings. Fos both He that sanctifieth (Christ) and
per understanding of the term "flesh" in our text it           they that are sanctified (we as the elect believers) are
can aid LLS a great deal to inquire into the respective all of one (Adam). For which cause He is not ashamed
usage and meaning of the terms "flesh" and "body" in           to call them brethsen saying, I will declase Thy name
Holy Writ, that is, as these terms are used to designate       unto my bsethsen, In the midst of the congregation
the flesh of Jesus in distinction from His body.               will I sing Thy praise. And again: I will put my trust
   It was noted in the concluding paragraph of ous             in Him. And again: Behold I and the children whom
previous writing, that these two terms are not identi-         God hath given me. Since then the childTen are shar-
cal. That they are not identical in scope and meaning          ers of flesh and blood, He (Jesus) also. in like manner
should be evident merely from the consideration, that          Himself partook of the same, that through death He


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              119

that is, `the devil . . . Wherefore it behooved Him in        We can only worship here at Thy footstool in silent
all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He         adoration as well as in audible praise. 0, Mystery of
might become a merciful and faithful High PTiest  in          (;odliness  that is great; Thy depths we cannot fathom. 
the things pertaining to God, to make propi&on fol            Cou!d  ilie  I;athom  `~hcc   'Y'hou  shouldest not be true.
the :.i::s of the people. For in that I& Himself bath         Here  in the Fathomless clepths  of wisdom in the Cross
suffered being tempted, He is able to succx them that         do we find rest and solace, In the midst of the tempta-
are tempted."                                                 tions and starms  of life we here rest assured in the
    In the above quotation what is between brackets           Secret Place of Thy Throne anti abide under the shadow
is of us; also the underscoring is of the undersIgned.        of Thee the Almighty!
    In this quotation itself our chief interest is to show        What a comfort that it is through the ` veil of Jesus'
that the term "flesh" underscores the singular fact           flesh" that w:! may boldly draw near unto the Holiest,
that it is exactly in the Son's becoming "flesh,' that He     the Throne of Grace.  Incleed,   behoU! then that the
is made like unto us in all things. The person of the         veil in the temple is rent in twain from top to bottom
Son comes to be united with our human nature, that is,        at the very moment that Jesus said: It is finished.
in our flesh. The millions of human individuals all           At that moment tGoc1 said to the better than Abraham:
have their own individual boclies ; each body is stamped      It is enough. Now 1 know that thou indeed fearest.Me
with individuality ! But all have the tie of flesh ancl       my Son; Thou hast believed in Me before all the hosts
blood in common. All are out of one blood, Adam, be           of hell ancl before the Cherubim? and Seraphims. It
it then in the way of the commingling of many bloods,         is enough, thy obedience is perfected in the "flesh".
either within one nation or by the commingling of the         Abraham brought a sacrifice in faith; God saw the
bloods of nations. In any case the term "flesh" indi-         heart and accepted it; but here is the sacrifice ,4bra-
cates the notion of the commonness of a human nature.         ham might only behold, he might see this moment from
It is, no doubt, for this reason that we read of the          afar and be glad in the full assurance of faith. 0
whole human race as "all flesh".                              blessccl  pleerozJho?*ins.    Faith is carriecl through to the
    For this very reason Jesus  clicl not assume the          very end in Abraham. It could rise rio higher, the
nature of angels, nor is He a newly created being, but        assurance could not be stronger in the father of believ-
He is made 1ik.e unto us in all things; He is born from       .ers than it was at that moment on Mount Moriah. But
a woman and made under the law, in order that He              in the days of Jesus' flesh at Gethsemane as well as on
might give unto us the adoption of sons, that we might        Calvary's brow all Abraham's faith could not span the
pass through His meritorious .labors  unto the Fathez         length and breadth, nor could it sound the depths of
in the full assurance of faith:                               the love which  energizecl  the faith of Jesus in His
    This fact, of Jesus being in the flesh, is also under-    mediatorial sufferings !        Here is faith perfected in
scored in Hebrews 5:7, where we read, "W/z.0 in. fhc          obedience in the Son in our flesh!
clays of His' flesh, having offered up prayers ancl sup-          Let us draw near in faith.
plications with strong crying and tears unto Him that             Here stands a minister of the Gospel. He preaches
was able to save Him from cleath, ancl, having been           the ministry of reconciliation. He does not make n~uclz
heard for His godly fear, though H.e was a Son, ye'; pulpit ado. He simply preaches the Gospel of our sal-
learned obedience from the things which He suffered;          v$tion in Jesus. He  preaches Jesus the Great High
and having been made perfect, He became unto all that         Priest in the temple of God. Not sacrifice delights the
obey Him the author of eternal salvation."                    Lord. Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not. That
    It should.be  noticed that Jesus was the author of        dicl not befit Gocl. Herein the greatness of God is not
eternal salva'tion in our flesh, in the days of His flesh     manifested. It is still man bringing something to God.
He thus cried to God in Gethsemane ! He could only            Nay, but when God comes and reconciles us unto Him-
save us by thus bringing about our salvation, that is,        self in the Son in our flesh, that is ,God-glorifying. All
by being the way for us to God the Father in His flesh.       God's virtues are thus made great. This Jesus sees.
Here in the flesh He was so much like us, even though         Hence he says: Beholcl, I come to do Thy will o God.
He is the Son, that He learns, learns, learns obedience       Behold, in the volume of the book it is written of me.
from that which He suffers. And when He has learned           Now is God glorified in the Son, and God shall straight-
th,e full implication of obedience, even in the depths of     way glorify Him!
the agony of he!l, then He can say: It is finished. He            For Jesus stands here in our flesh, but He stands
is then perfected. Ancl we can through the rent veil          here too, in His own bocly. He has an eye to see. The
of His flesh draw nigh unto God in the full assurance         Son of God, the person of the Son sees through human
of. faith.                                                    eyes, the eyes of a man under the curse of the aw. He
    0, wondrous God ! Thou who hast so willed to be           hears the law of God through the ears of a man, and
and who art thus indeed in Thy unsearchable being,            that man is the Son of God in our flesh, like unto ~7s 
that it behooved Thee thus to bring many sons to glory !      all things,


          S%.     f,    .,,.





,-        Yes, God has prepared for Him the body. It is the        ful and to us ~ri almost unusually delightful privilege
      body of flesh and blood in the "days of his flesh". But      oft  bringing our trtith, not to those by whom we are
      now it is no more a body sf flesh. It is, the body glori-    constantly rejected, but rather to those who are ready
      ous, the body of the Lord of Glory, the Last Adam,           and who have been prepared and placecl  exactly at that
      whose image we bear by faith.                                place and in those circumstances to listen to us with
          The preacher still preaches. For it is through the       an attentive ear. It is almost unbelievable! We do
      preaching that  God saves those  who believe.  (cre-         well to marvel and be astonished. For that too has
      dentes)  . This must not be made the Arminian: if ye         been the work of the Lord and we do well to regard
      believe. And so the preacher preaches, teaches, ad-          it reverently rather than to spew out our disgust when
      monishes and says: let us draw near in the full assur-       we find that the Lord's field is in need of a bit of
      ance of faith, let us not let this great salvation slip      cultivation in order to remove what appear to be weeds
      through our fingers. We have it, let us hold what we         growing between the rows of sturdy corn. It is not
      have that no one take our crown.                             for nothing that the figure of the husbandman is used
          Ah, no, do not say: we do not need these admon-          in Scripture. Does the tenant-farmer turn to the land-
      itions. Let us not be wiser than ,God and separate           lord and say, "I cannot work your  fielcl for I find
      what God had put together. Even the Lord' Jesus in           weeds there yea, even thorns and thistles. My back is
      the High Priestly prayer says: Keep them in Thy              sore, my hands are blistered from the years of hoeing
      Word; the Son of God gathers, defends and preserves          and weeding in that other field to which you assigned
      His Church by His Spirit through the preaching. Be-          me !" ?
      ing kept by this preaching let us draw near and abide            That briefly, is the past and the present.  And,
      under His wings!                                             since some are of the opinion that now we need de-
                                          Geo. C. Lubbers.         clarations, what of the future? May we expect to
                                                                   have declaration upon declaration, here a little, there
                                                                   a little? Suppose, to use a plain illustration that some
                                Contribution  ~                    years hence the Lord would be pleased to call us to
                                                                   labor among cannibals in the dark and uncivilized
                                                                   portions of the world.. And if our missionaries escaped
      Esteemed Editor :                                            the stew-pot, are we to suppose that soon they wouid
        For twenty-five years we as churches have labored          come running home shouting, "We need a declaration!
      among those who cast us out. And for twenty-five             We need a declaration! Those people eat strangers
      years we have felt somewhat as the prophet when he           and our confession doesn't take care of a situation
      said, "All day long have I have stretched forth my           like that !" Now you may call the above sarcastic or
      hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people". And         ironical but, can't we see that the multiplicity of situa-
      for twenty-five years we have labored among those            tions and circumstances can never be covered by a mass
      who differ from us and have done so without so-called        production declaration factory?
      indispensable declarations of principles.                       Has it not rather been a sign of weakness in the
         Not only have we bestowed labor upon them but             church when she finds it necessary to acid to the con-
      n-e have, as it were, plucked out from among them that       fessions? Has it not been exactly so before? Are
      small kernel which confessed that God is Sovereign,          not the three points of `24 called an interpretation
      gracious only to His own and is angry with the wickecl       of the confessions? Has not all the legislation con-
      every clay, And, mind you, we have done so, and let          cerning worldly amusements, union membership, cen-
      us not forget that it has been a great and wondrous          sored books, etc. etc. been a miserable failure? For,
      work, using as our instrument only the Word df God           the adherance  to sound doctrine and the observance
      and the confessions.                                         of proper deportment must spring forth from a sancti-
         I ask in `all earnestness and sobriety surely if we       fied heart which humbly bows before the Word and is
      neecl a declaration we have needed one for years which       subservient to it. It cannot be accomplished by a super-
      would according to form and content refute the error         imposition of declarations or regulations unless one
      of common grace and related deviations. Are we going         is satisfied with only a formal or external adherence
      to say that those whose direct task it was to proclaim       to such regulations.
      the truth to those who erred have stumbled and crip-            And, in closing, for the classic example of d&Clara-
      pled along unaided by a crutch of declarations? Such         tions look at the church of Rome. Count, if you can,
      a declaration would surely be the truth, would it not?       her papal bulls and edicts and behold also a vast multi-
      And being the truth no one should have questions 01          tude who now bow before their declarations rather
      doubts as to its propriety or necessity.                     thgn before  the  Word!
         And now we fing ourselves placed before the beau@-                                           Gedrge  Ten Elshof.
                                                                                    .


