           VOLUME   XXIX                        -    MARCH   15,  1953  -  GRAND   RAPIDS.   MICHIGAN                                 NUMBER   12
~.

      .2 --`
           -,,-l-oo~,o~,-`
                               ,-,,-~,-,-,,~~,-~-,-,-~-!,-~,-~,-,.:.                    It is so that ill the world may see how adorable
                   M  E  D  1.T  A  $  1  0  N' s.."i-  W e   a r e !
      I
      `i.:.,-,lr~-~-,,-,-,-,,-`-,-,,-~-,-,-~-,,-~-`~,,-`-,-`~,~                         Hour of the greatest of Divine mysteries !
                                                                                        At about the sixth hour!
           The Agonizing Cry in Utter Darkness                                 ..
                                                                                        --
                      "NOW from the sixth hour  there  was darkness                                          a  `*  *  i
                    orer all the land  unto the ninth hour. And `about
                    the ninth hour lJesus cried with a loud voice, saying
                    Eli, Eli, lama  sabachtani ? thhat is to say, My..God,             At about. the sixth hour !        I               `2
                    My. God why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
                                        s               -Matt.  &:&5,  46               Did I speak of mysteries?              .
           "And about the sixth hour !"                                              Well, what would you? I  .hear  of desolation for
           IGod is a  <God  of wondrous  order.!  and  pr@sion.' Him who is in the bosom of God !.
      He inhabits eternity, but <His hand and. counsel `rules - .Did ,God forsake `God? IGod, whd is sweetest UN-
      time and the hours. knd the Holy  (Ghost is  .rath&  I,ON, Personified?
      specific about time: He has measured disl%gce  in the-                             Isn't the union of two` natures in the Person of `the
      garden of `Gethsemane;  here He is measuring the time                          ISon of -IGod,  even in, this terrible  hour?
of the  A.FTERN,O!ON.`.S  SACRIFICE !                      ,, ..~                        Do we see the obedient Servant' of God forsaken?
           -1 am goillg to change one word in a beautiful song,
      a song which you have suflg' very c&en :                                         Why is obedience so rewarded? Even at this so
           "-The offering on the al-tar burned gives greu$ de- ' sup&me  moment of His obedience? Is God  -able to
      light to Thee !"                                                               forsake virtue personified in His beloved *Son?
                                                                                         Moreover, why this quebting cry? For what reason
           Yes, it gave great delight to (God, this sorry,, spec-                    does:Jesus  ask this question of the Godhead, and why
      tacle of the AF!I'ERNOiON'.S  SACRIFICE.                                       does He give it all this terrible publicity? The whole
           It -is well that we'emphasize the time elenient  : God                    universe has heard, and this question has been repeat-
      is, our Mentor, Teacher,.                                                      ed on a  million tongues. Does He not know? The
           This awful afternoon, at about the sixth hour is. answer, we may as well anticipate. here, the answer
 the fulness  df time.  St is the  mor&nt  when time is                              is : for  .My redemption's  iake ! I, the Triune  ,God,
      full, the time, that. God has reserved  from ail eterni-                       desire to glorify -Myself in Thy horrible suffering!'
      %es. It is the time when ,God has shown His- sweet-                            Does the Son not know- that which was determined
      est and  .most glorious manifesto:  &he groaning and                           jp -t&e secret counsels ere the world was?
 cryfng Godhead. on the cross.  YOU may live to ever-                                    `The Christ of-,God saw, experienced ihe awful' mys-
      lasting, but ydu will never see anything sweeter, more                         teries of salvation. He knew that obedience was to
      glorious than this spectacle: God g6ing to nethermost                          be rewarded  &ith punishment. He knew, better than
      hell so that  you  r&y.sing,  sing,   sing  on  and on to all any other, tha.t He had come to die. It was the- yery
      eternity.                                                                      reason for His coming into the world; Many times He
           Oh my God ! Why fqrsaken  by Thee Whom I love' had @Id .His discjples  that He would be taken, mal-
      with all the love of -My pure heart,?                                          treated, crucified, and, finally, that He would die.


266                                                `.  THE.STAMD.ARD  B                                                                           E          A    R     E          R

Well, He that came to die and knew it, cryti?g &t for"                                                                                  This : `God made Hiti taste the vengeance of right-
a reason?                                                                                                                      eousness; holiness and outraged truth. God made Him
A w f u l   m y s t e r i e s !                                                                                                taste that which devils and reprobate men will taste
                                                                                                                               untd  a& eternity. No, God was not far away from
                                                                                                                               Jesus, He was very near to Him in this woeful hour,
                             *     *      *         *     -
                                           I...                                  I                         I                   but He-was ilear'-to Him in His wrath.
 I  -                                                                                         ::           .:
                                         ,:.' P                     "J     .t
         We have read many atte&pted  ex$ai&idnd. of:-this                                                                                                             -  -~
                                                                                                                                             \
cry of  ,Jesus. I say:  ,att,emptef explanations.,  ..And,                                                                                             _'                A  lk  *  ii
                                                                                                                                     ,:
the trouble lies_in that word : expla;natioti.? We, .rnor;y
  .  .-                                                                                                                      ,.,  :-                                         *.
tals, do little ex$a&$k'tif anything. I am told that                                                                                    In" His wrath !
an attempt to explain that %wo times two makes four                                                                                     0  .God,  we `must be so careful with our speech.
is not as easy as it seems. AndIif that be_ t]rti& what' Words, are so dangesous! What &hall I say?                                                                                           :
shall we say -of one of the most exalted mysteries of
                                                                                                           -  .-                        This I-must say at this juncture: ,God did not hate
-God, such as we cotitemplate  at this terrible `%btir?                                                                       Him  ,at this hour. When  ,God pours out His wrath
         No, I am afraid that we shall not be able to ex-                                                                       upon devils and reprobate lien in hell, it is the out-
plain things here.                                                                                                             pouring of His hatred.                                         I
         However, although we cannot explain, fathom,                                                                                   But, let me- say it a thousand times : God never.
comprehend, this awful phenomenon of the crying                                                                                 hated Jesus. That is also impossible. For He was
Saviour, we are able..to say something about if. And                                                                            the faithful and loving and obedient Servant, in th.is
we are able to do this only because God has given us                                                                            hour and in all the time of His sojourning.
-His Word.        That Word sheds light upon our path.                                                                                  And when Jesus must.hang there between heaven
Yes, and also upon the dying Christ.                                                                             .I             Andy earth in the thickness of darkness which spoke
         And listening to that Word, we may  ,safely say                                                                        of wraih and wrath and wratl! of His God, He real-
that God was not forsaken of ;God. That. is eternal-                                                                            izes that this wrath is not cleseyved by Him. He knows
ly impossible. .That militates against all  that `the                                                                           that He is not the recipient of all these bruising
Word tells us about God. That Word taught us that strokes because of His own sin. Hence, the cry.
the very idea of the Godhead is Union, Oneness, the                                                                                     The cry is really the answer to ,God's  demand 2 Love
Covenarit  ! IGod cannot be forsaken of God. The .$`ath- Me ! Love Me, even when I make Thee experience
er cannot forsake the Son. Such a terrible idea an;                                                                             My hell !- Love Me ! Thou standest in the room of
nihilates the Godhead.                     -                                                                                    1'Iy beloved people, and they did not love Me. Now
         Neither cannot it be that we see heie a negative                                                                       love Me in their stead, and do it in Thy very hell in
separation of ,God. God cannot f&sake His. creature,                                                                            this' My darkness.                                       -
and Jesus is also a creature. At the very moment                                                                                        And Jesus gives the answer : tiy God ! 1My God !
that Jesus cried with a loud voice: My God, My God,                                                                             .Oh,  liote  that possessive pronoun. It is more  thah
why hast Thou forsaken Me ? at that moment -the law                                                                             mere  poss&sion.  In it throbs the  iove of Jesus for
of <God was splicable to Him which saith: in Him we                                                                             His Father, even +Xile that Father makes Hi,m taste
move and have our being. ,G.odJ was very qear to Je-                                                                            $ hell such as devils shall never taste.
sus w&en He uttered this cry. For Jesus was also a                                                                                      May I be so bold  `as to add to  Jesus' cry?  %od
creature, a very man.                                          J                                                                forgive me if I am wrong. But I understand Jesus
         If I may speak in a- seeming paradox, I- would say :                                                                   to say: My God, My God, Thou  knowe&t that  ,I love
the very presence of God -causes this feeling of for-                                                                           Thee so. _ Therefore, Why forsakest Thou Me now in
sakeness of our Saviour. And this awful presence, this dreadful ho&? ._
nearness of God is &mbolized by the thre.e ho.ur dark-                                                                                  Well,  l&od might say  thtough  ZDavid:  Teryible
`n&s. God was very, very near to Jesus. It was  ah things, I will answer thee in righteousness!
awful nearness to Jesus.                                                                                                                .Apd through Isaiah : In these (that is, in sin. and
         No, I cannot explain here, but this I know: Jesus                                                                      wrath) is eternity, that Israel might be saved. -
tasted at this hour the bitterness of an awful cup:
 God .withdrew  the taste of His favor and exper.iencc                                                                          .          Awful mysteries of the Cross !
of His blessed communion and fellowship ! `. Remem-
ber that Jesus- ldnged  for God's communion- with all                                                                                                                    *A**            '
the yearniliglof  His phre soul and body. -It was Hi6
very life to feel the nearness of His  Zoviiig Father,                                                                                  . Why, 0 My  ,God ?  Why?
         But.%+&  did He experience?                                :.                 .,            :                 I,                  Shall the Divine answer: come?


    Well, .Jesus seems to be without an answer. Time
was when the heavens were rent and a VOICE came                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
 down from heaven, saying: This is My belovea Son?                                                          Semi-monthly,  a&pi  monthly during July and August
     But at this hour there seems to be no answer.                                               Published `by  rhe  REFORMED   FREE  PUBLISHING   ASSOCIATION
     And yet there is. I would have-you note the great, `-                                                        Box 124, Station C, Grand Rapids  6,. Michigan
                                                                                                                              Editor  -  REV:   HERMAN   H~EKSEMA
 the Divine TIMEKEEPER AT THE  CRlOSS. At a-'                                               Communications relative to  contenti should. be addressed to Rev.. H.
 bout the ninth hour Jesus- cried this pitiful cry. It                                      Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin  SC.,: S.E. Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
 was the last drop in the bitter cup of an eternity of                                      All matters relative  to s,ubscriptions  should be addressed to Mr. J.
 death. The answer of God is heralded in the depart-                                        Bouwman, 1350 Giddings Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids 6, Michigan.
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 ure of the mob from the hill called~lGolgoth+  ~ There                                     and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
 thejr go, beaiing their breasts. As so many whipped                                        RENEWALS:                  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is  &ceived,
                                                                                            it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue
 dogs. It is a prophetic spectacle of the judgment day.                                     without the formality of a renewal order.
 0 yes, Jesus did receive His answer.  Only' a f&v                                                                             Subscripti&.  price: $4.011  per. year
 moments, .and with trembling voice He will say: It is                                            E:tered as Second Class matter at Grand Rapids, Michigan
 finished  !.  ~
     ,Oh yes, the answer came. Objectively, for the light
 returned. Subjectively : it is finished !                                                                                                           .- ..'
     The answer came. Pdncler that answer of God.                           -
     Here is your answer :,
     For God's sake: justice must be satisfied. And My
 eternal love must find a way. Thou in all Thy misery
 art that way !                                                                                            --                           CONTIZNTS~
     For Christ's sake: Thou must merit, Thy `choice
 reward ; Thou must reveal the Father in all His 10%                             MEDITATION-                           .
                                                                                                  The Agonizing Cry in rittter D&ness
                                                                                                                                                                          i                                                          - 265
                                                                                                                                                                                      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 liness so that heaven and .earth, united, may sing. of                                                     Rev. G. Vos
 it forever.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   :.
                                                                                 E~TOR"LS-
     For your sake: your damnable guilt must be borne                                             The Promise and Conditions According to  S&ipture  ;. . . . . . . . . -268
 and, borne atiay ; you must be made happy for ever-                                                             Rev. H.  .Hoeksema
 more.                                                                           OUR   DOCTRINE-
                                                                                                  The. Triple &o$edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.. . . . 270
     I am going, Lord; I am going. I am going to sing                                                   Rev;H.  H o e k s e m a -
 .of Thee unto all eternity ! Amen and Amen.
                         I                                                       THE  DAY-OF   SHADOX&
                                                                                                  Mahanaim  :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                   . . . . 273
     ;                                                  G. Vos.
                    -                                                                             Absalom Slain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I..................... 274
                                                                                                                 Rev. G. M. Ophoff
                                                                                                                                        .a             :                                                                  .
                                                                                 IN  HIS  FEAR-                                   `.
                                                                                                  I  Will  Sing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                            277
                                                                                                            Rev. J. A. Heys
                         -:::-                                                   F R O M   HOLY   &UT-
                                                   .                                              Exp&ition of I Peter 1: IO-12 . . . , . . . . . . . . . . ..I . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . 279
                                                                                                       R e v .   G .   L u b b e r s

                                                                                 THE  VorcS   OF  OUR   FATHERS-                                                                       :                   -.  -'  _  ._
                                                                                       _          The Canons of  ,Dordrecht .>:- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
             S T A T E D   C L E R K   O F   CLAiSSIS  EAST                                                      Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                                                               :      -.
   The Classical Committee of  Classis  East of thk Protestant                    CONTENDING   FOR   THE-  FAITH-   -
                                                                                                                                                      :.
 Reformed Churches announces that on its meeting  held March 3                                    Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
                                                                                                 pi
 it was decided to appoint an acting  Clerti,  Pro-Tern, in the                                                  R e v .   H .   Veldmat;
 place of the  lace  StatedlGlerk  of  Classis  East, Brother  fi.  Jon-         DECENCY   AND  ORDER-
 ker. The Rev. G. Lubbers was appointed in this capacity. All                                     Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`I 
                                                                                                                                                                          ..~. .`- 
                                                                                                                                                                                . . .  --
                                                                                                                                                                                      .1. . . . . . .           '
                                                                                                                                                                                                     ..-. . . . . . . . . . 283
 material  for the next meeting of  Classis  East, to be:.held on                                      R e v .   G .   %?den  B e r g -                              __  -  :*-i.:.  _  s  ,...
* Wednesday, April 8, 1953,` in  th& Hope Protestant Reformed                     Air.                   AROUND                  Us-                                                                                 L
Church, should be sent to Rev..  G. Lubbers, 1304  Maude   Ave;,                                       Whar  doei"`"Brotherhood"  m&2                                                                                                  287
 N.E.,.  ,Grand Rapids- 5,  Mich.  I@!.  &he  ,delegates   ,from  the --                        As-to  th$,.f$irch of  die  Churcb--..::::::::::::.::L:.:::::::::: 287
 various  Consistorles  regard this  %?mbuncement  as.  .the` bfI%ial                       . - Ttie  Uri~rea~able~  Scripture  `::  -:z.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
 anno&e&ent  of the coming  meetii:g  of  Classis  East? . .                      '                     .,-. . ..Rev.  M. Schipper                             :
                                                                                                                        ,:                           Il-2..                                               .;
                                                                                                                                                                    _.
                              Geo. ,C.-Lubbers,  Acting Clerk, Pr&em.             el,Lo-c;Lar;k.cue,,~~-~,-"-~,--"-,,-,~-,,~,,-,,-,,-`,-,,


        268                                       T H E   S-TAN-DARD  B `E A R E R                                                    c

                                                                               and ditio or dic(o, which probably means to point out,
_  1  E D I T O R I A L S                                                      to declare. `Thus the term "condition" would mean a
                                                                               pointing out together with. And- this hardly seems to
   . ..I-I--INI.H-II-I-~-,-,-~-~,~,,-,-~-
   5                                                        `
                                                            -~-~--,~..
                                                                        Y      throw any light upon our modern use of the term.
                                                     . .
                                       /.,. `.
          i-he Promise and' Conditions &cording                                    If we consult the dictionary we find that the very
                                                                               -first meaning of the word is rno,ciZe  or state of being.
                           to  Script-ilk                                      Further, it signifies : mental or physical strength, dis-
                                                                               position, character, essential property, attribute.
        Some time ago we wrote about the subject of con-                           W.e #see at'once, however, that all these different
   ditions in the light of our Confessions.                                    connotations have no bearing upon the term under
          Then we discovered that, although our confessions                    discussion at  &!esent.  In this sense we all use the
   are very elaborate and cover every phase of the truth,                      term, also in theological termmology.  - Who is not ac-
   there is no trace of "conditions?' in them. Our Re-                         quainted with the distinction we already learned in
   formed fathers, evidently, had no need of the term                          catechism between %tate" and "condition"? Christ
   conditions. In spite of that fact that the term was                         entered into the state, not in the condition of sin.
   well known, and that several Reformed writers were                          .State,~ in this ease refers to one's legal position, con-
  rather free in using it, they did' not give it a place in                    dition to one's actual mode of  :existence  or nature.
   the symbols of the  .Reformed   ,Churches, the Three                        But this has nothing to do with the term as it is dis-
   Forms of Unity.                                                             cussed so frequently among us. today. In this sense,.
                                                                               it is properly translated by the .Dutch term "toestandfz,
          It does, indeed, occur in the Canons of Dordrecht,                   while the term in discussion among us may be trans-
   but only in the negative part, in, which the doctrin&
   of the Arminians are- condemned.                 The Arminians              lated by the Dutch "voorwaarde."
   needed .the term, and made frequent use of it.                 :               Another definition we find in the dictionary is that
                                                                               condition is something which must exist as a con-
          It certainly may be said, therefore, that it is not                  comitant of something else. By. concomitant is meant
   a conftessionally  Reformed term.                                    . .    something which exists alongside of something else,
          Now, however, we wish to devote some attention                       with- or without. any causal connection. Wind is a
   to the subject of the promise and conditions in the                         concomitant of an electric storm. Reproach is a con-
   light of Holy Writ.                                                         comitant of confessing Christ in the world.
          Before we do this, however, it may not seem super-                     However,- also this is not the meaning of the term
  fluous-   to define the-term condition.                                      "condition" as we are discussing it at present and as
         `This is all the more imperative because; even as                     it is used in theplogical  parllance. Wind may or may
   the term is not confessionally Reformed, so it is nei-                      not be a concomitant of a thunderstorm, but it can
  ther a Scriptural term. In the whole of Holy Writ, one                       hardly be .said that, if we understand the term as it
   looks in vain. for the use' of the word "condition.?' is used in theology, the thunderstorm is a condition
   This does not mean that we may not use the term.                            for the wind: there may be wind without a thunder-
   Fact is that we use many terms in our system of                             storm.
   doctrine as well as'in our confessions that are not at                          The definition of Schilder we already discussed
   all employed in Holy Writ, such as holy .trinity,  pro+                     sometime ago.
   idence, attributes, sacraments, means: of grace, et&
   Nevertheless, the fact that the term is not found in                            He wants to discard the dictionary and its defini-
   Scripture at the same time makes Scriptural exegesis                        tions, and i,nvent one of his own, or, at least, rather
   of it also impossible. Hence, we have to go.elsewhere                       `consult theological works to arrive at a definition of
   to define the meaning of the word in order to discover                      t h e   t e r m .                ..'
   whether or not it may be, ought to be, or is at all ad;-                     ' `This  is-' rather dangerous and arbitrary. Words
   visable- to be given a place in the expression of our                       cert&l3l;"have  meaning. Not only so, but they also are
  , Reformed system of doctrine..                                      .y      currently,;used  in every day language. The latter is
   .      First of- all, .we may remark that the etymolo,q  of                 known. by .,the,.i  Latin term z.q& ,. Zo@en&.    Now, the
   the word "condition" cannot help  us Etymology is                           definitions of a word:offered in the dictionary give the
   the science that treats of the history, origin, and prim'-                  meaning of a word  aCcording to its original  signin-  1
   itive significance of words. It is often helpful,,to dc-                    cance, its denotation' and its c?rrent  use. The dan-
   t&mine the `&esent  meaning of words'. `a-.-But this can                    ger is that,`i?.Iw$;invent a definition-of our own, the
   hardly be said about .the term condition; The word                          people w-ill forget all about our definition, and. use the
   is- composed of two parts, ..con,.  with, -together with,                   term-  in its cur.rent meaning. And as' far as the use


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B,EARER                                             269

   of the term in  thedlogical  works is concerned, the         humble, meek and fit for eternal life.`!  ,On these things,
   danger is that we will arrive at an Arminian defini-         as requirements beforehand, election unto faith de-
   tion, and,, by using the term, fali into the Arminian        pends, according to them. *Again, I wish to emphasize
   error.  _                                                    that it isnot the question whether any Reformed man
       Besides, the definition which Schilder offers is believes in these Arminian conditions., The question is
   altogether too indefinite and ambiguous, as I have -merely how our fathers understood the term. And
   pointed out before. Cf; Standard Bearer, Vol. 28, p.         then it is plain that they, as well as ihe Arminians,
   390.                                                         tinderstood  the term in% the sense .of a prerequisite,
       However, for the  sake of  complet&ess,  we quote        something that is required of man beforehand. Canons
   it here once again: "A condition is, something which         I, B, 3.
   God has connected with something else, to make clear           According to  ,Canons I, B, 5 the Arminians teach.
   to  us,  that the one thing cannot come without the          "that faith, th;e obedieilce of faith, holiness, godliness
   other, and that we. cannot be sure .of. one thing, unless    and perseverance are not fruits of the unchangeable
   we are at the same tifne assured of the other."              election to glory, but are conditions, which being re-
       As we said; this defitiition  is- indefinite and am-     quired beforehand, were foreseen as met by those who
   biguous.      The question is: what is this. something will be fully elected, and are causes without which the
   which God has connected with something else? And             unchangeable election to `glory does not occur." #Our -
   what is the connection: means to an end,, cause and          fathers condemned the term election in this connec-
   effect? Besides, it. ignores the personal  eliment  that     tion. But the very fact that they condemned its use
   is always present in the teY'm "condition" as used in        her.e shows plainly that also to them the term as. such
   theological parlance. The term condition always im-          only could mehn a prerequisite which man must fulfill.
   plies that man must do something in order to receive         TAis, therefore, is the proper- definition of the term
   something from God;                                          in' `theological usage.
       Hence, the term condition,.-also as it is' used in          The Arminians also boldly teach &hat Christ nei-
   theology, always means "tha.t which is requisite in .or-     ther merited, salvation for anyone, nor faith, "but that
   der that something else should take effect." This im- he merited for `the %ather only the authority or the
   plies that a condition is prirequtiite,  i.e. "something     perfect will to deal again with man, and to prescribe
   previously required, or necessary to an end  .or effect      new conditions as he might desire, obedience to' which,
   proposed."                                                   however,  dependecf on the free will of man, so that
       This is the mean&g the term has as it occurs in          tE.erefore it might have come to pass that *either  none
D the Canons, in the rejection of the Arminian errors. oi' all should fulfill these conditions." ,Of this doctrine
       We are not concerned now with the. question              our fathers must, of course, have nothing. But they
   `whether or not the term is necessarily and per se Ar-       understood very well the proper meaning of the term
   minian. For the. present we merely wish to arrive at         conditions. By the term as-such they understood the
   a proper definition of  the'term.                            same concept as the Arminians.           IOtherwise they
      When the Armitiians "speak of "conditional elec-          would have fought strawmen  whep they condemned'
   tion" no Reformed man.will  ad6pt. this terminology.         the doctrine of the opponents of the Reformed truth.
   Nevertheless, it is evident that the fathers of Do;dt        "Pr,escribed   condit@ns" also to them meant  stipu-
   who condemned the terlm condition with application to        lations required of --man beforehand, i.e., prerequisites.
  election, understood the term as meaning a prerequis-         Canons `I, B, 5.
   ite, something -that is required of a man before he can         Finally, according to Canons V, B, 1, the Arminians
   attain unto salvation. &Canons I, B, 2.                      deny that the perseverance of believers is the fruit o?
      When they teach that `God chose out. of all possible      ele,ction,  and they maintain that it is "a condition of
   conditions .the act of faith as a condition unto salva-      the new covenant,,. which:tian .before. his decisive elec-
   tion, the fathers of Dordt certainly do hot agree' With      tion must fulfill through his free will."' Here, too, our
   them but condemn their doctrine. The fact remains,           fathers have no dispute with the Arminians about the
   however, that also according tb them the term con-           term cordition as suclii `though they oppose and con-
   dition signifies a prerequisite which man must fulfill.      demn. its use in this connection. Also to, them the
r  Canons I,. B, 3.                                             term refers to somethiqg which man must fulfill b.e-
    The Arminians also  understoocJ that faith  is a            forehand.  :
   gift- of God, and they even speak of an election unto         This is also the meaning  Dr.  Greenway  attaches
  faith. But according to them;."in the election. unto          ty the term. in  "Torch and  TruFp,et",  March 1953,
  ?aith this condition is befdkehand demanded, viz., that       when he writes : "What I am trying to  #say is that
  man should use the light of nature aright, be pious,          when  ,our Form for Baptism says: `Whereas in all


      270                                                                                                         T H E   STA%DARD` BEARER

      coienants there are contained two parts . . . ,' it cer-
      tainly describes the hearer of the promise as being in
      a position where he can claim the  fi?st part of the                                                                                                                  t0U.R  D O C T R I N E   ('
                                                                                                                                                                            P
      covenant for himself only if he'assumes  the obligations
      of the second part." Man can claim something. for                                                                                                                           : THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE.
      himself (salvation !) ' on. condition, prerequisite, tliat
      h e   f u l f i l l s   c e r t a i n   obligatiofis.  ,.                                                                                                                  AN  E
                                                 . -                                                                                                                                      XPOSITION  OF THE  IIEIDELBERG  CATECHISM
                This definition, then; we, must constantly bear in                                                                                                                          PART III  -  OF  THANKFULNESS
      mind when we  <iscuss   conditiqns -in the light of
      Bcripture.-H.H.                                                                                                                                                                             B LORD'S DAY 35
                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Image Worship (cont'~cl.)

                                                                                                                                                                                 The question must `still be considered whether the
                                               +----1+1                                                                                                          ,_         Roman  ,Catholic custom of placing images in the
-*                                                                                                                                                                          churches` and bowing before them is *to be justified..
                                                                                                                                                                            Then Catechism treats this subject  in Question and
                         EASTERN  MEN%  LEAGUE  MASS  MEETIN,G                                                                                                         !    Answer 98 : "But may not images be tolerated in the
            The Eastern Men's League Mass Meeting will be held Thurs-                                                                                                       churches, as books to the laity? No: for we must not
      day, evening, March 19 at 8 o'clock in the  Crestqn  Protestant                                                                                                       pretend to`-be wiser than God, who will have his people
Reformed Church. This is the last meeting of  this! nature for . taught, not by,dumb  images, but by the lively preach-
the. season.                              The board has-chosen the  subject   "Anabap$is$s,                                                                                 ing of+ His Word%"
      We ?". The speaker for the evening is the  $~v. H. Hoeksema
      of First Church. Let's all be out to here a wqrthwhile addpess.                                                                                                            The, Council of Trent, in its Twenty-fifth Session,
      Opportunity will be given for  questio&`&d  discussion after                                                                                                          composed a chapter on "The Invocation, Veneration,
      the  addr_ess.   Let>, be out and  m&e this a real Mass Meeting.                                                                                                      and Relics of Saints; -and on Sacred Images." From
                                                                                      The Board. of the Men's League                                                        this we quote t$e following: "The holy synod enjoins
                                                                                         ,'                          3.                                                     on all bishops, and others who sustain the office a&l
                                                                                                           _,.                                                              charge of teaching, that agreeably to the usage df the
                                                                                                                                                                            catholic and apostolic church, received from the pcimi-
                                                                                       Is.                                                                                  tive times of the IChristian religion, and agreeably to
                                                                                                                                                                            the consent of tl:e holy fathers, and to the decrees of
                                                                                                                                                                            sacred councils, they especially instruct the faithful
                            FINAL  BCCOUNT   OF  !THE  CONFERENCE                                                                                                           diligently, concerning the intercession and invo&ion '
      May 15,  194? balance' on hand at last  public   kc-.                                                                                                                 of saints ; the honor paid to relics ;, and the legitimate
      counting, see Concordia, May 15, 1947 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                             $,3f$.ii
      Interest received since the - above date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                       use of images:  tea&&g  -them,  that the saints, who
                 Total Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               $358$3        reign together, with Christ, offer up their own prayers
      Disbursements since that date:                                                                                                                                        to God for men ; that it is. good and useful suppliantly
      May 19, 1947  late phone and travel expense ac-
      count of .a c.onferee of the 1946 conference . . . . . . . . . . ..$ 5.97                                                                                             to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers,
      July 29, 1947 Stationery, Postage, Mimeogr. . . . . . . . . 1.08                                                                                                      aid, and help for obtaining benefits from ,God, through
      Aug. 25 and 26, 1947 preparations at Sioux Falls                                                                                                          :.  `1
      for  & conference which  was later cancelled: Tel.,                                                                                                                    H&  Son, Jesus `Christ  our  Lord, who is our alone
      Postage,   Mimeogr., Travel Expense of the Revs.  -                                                                                                                   Redeemer and Savior ; but that they. think impiously
      Kern and Vos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.36
       .        .Total Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ..i . . . . . . . . . . . $37.41                          37.41       who deny that the. saints, who enjoy eternal happiness
      Balance to date: February 27, 1953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..!................. $321:37                                                                         in heaven, are to be invdcated;  or who assert that they
      PS.-The treasurers of this Conference Fund decided to divide                                                                                                          do not pray for men ; or that the invocation of them
      the above bslance.prdportionately  between the Reformed Chur-                                                                                                         `to pray for each of us evgn in particular is idolatry;
      ches in- the U.S. and the Protestant Reformed Churches, taking
      as a  basis  the amounts collected  ftir, the last held  ConfkretiZ?e                                                                                                 or  t&at it is  kepugnant to  the, Word of God, and is
      in both denominations. The records show that the Prot. Ref.                                                                                                           opposed to the honor of the one mediato? of God. and
      Churches collected $620.99, ,and we=received  a check from the
      tre.asurer  of Eureka  CXassis for. $200.00,  so the proportion  $s                                                                                                   men, Chkt Jesus; or that it..is foolish to supplicate,
      3 to 1. Therefore we have forwarded a check for $241.03 to                                                                                                            vocally or mentally, those .who reign in heaven."
Fred  La(Grange, and a check to  Rev:  D. E.  .Bosma, Eureka, So.
      D.akota  for  the- amount. of $80.34.                                                                                                                                      Then, after a paragraph in which the ,Council of
            The account of the Conference is hereby closed.                                                                                                      (1         Trent  teaches -that  the bodies of the saints must be
            We have sent this accounting to the Standard Bearer,  Con-
      cordia,  Gemein'deblatt and the Witness for ptiblication.                                                                                                             venerated, and even their relics. must be adored
                                                                                    Respectfully, the treasurers of                                                         because many blessings are bestowed on men by God
                                                                                                -The                         ,Conference  .                                 through them,  the same chapter continues : "Moreover
                                                                                                em. E.-Korn  and Gerrit Vos                                                 that the images of Christ, of the virgin mother of God,
                                                                                                                                                                                                 -


                                       `FItTiE     -d'l'ANcARD          B-E.ARI?R                                 271

  and ,of the other saints, are to be had yand retained        sulted in any good to those that had them. The history
 particularly in -temples,' and that due honor and             of Israel plainly reveals that images were always the
  veneration' are to be given them ; not that any divinity,    cause of corruption and idolatry.
  or virtue, iS believed to' b.e iri t-hem, on account of         To this "we  Ray add  thit it is always  `quite im-
  which they are to be worshipped ; ,or that anythcng is       possible not only to make an image of ,God, but even
  to be asked of them ; or that trust is to be reposed in      to make an image of Christ incarnate. The Catechism
  images, as was of old-done .by the IGentiles,  who p'aced    contrasts the use of images in the churches with the
  their hope in idols; but- because the honor tihich is        lively pr,eaching  of the Word. And that is undoubtedly
  shown them is referred to the prototypes which those         correct. Suppose .you have images of all the phas&
  images represent; in such wise that by the images            of the historical Jesus; as He sojourned on earth in
  which we kiss, and before which we uncover the head,         the years 1 to 33 A. D. Would all those images to-
- and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ, and'we ven-        gether be a true repr.esentation  of the Christ of the
  erate the saints, whose similitude they bear : as, by the    Scriptures? They would not  ; and they never could be.
  decrees of councils, and esp'ecially  of the sedond synod    You may gake an image of the Babe of Bethlehem
  of Nicea, has been defined against the opponents of          lying in the -manger  ; but. that  jmage could never
  i m a g e s . "                                              represent the Son of God incarnate. You can make
      These images, according to the same decrees of           images of' all phases of the suffering of ,Christ on the
  the Council of Trent, are placed in the churches for         V&  Dolorosa in its different stages,-images that are
  the instruction of the people: "And th< bishop shall         usually set up in the Roman Catholic <Churches ; but
  carefully teach this,-that, by means of the history          can .an image of the cross possibly represent the Word
  of the mysteries of our redemption, portrayed by             bf the Cross, the logos tou staurou, that (God was in
  paintings or other representations, the people is in-        abhrist  reconciling the world $0 Himself, not imputing
  structed, -and confirmed in the habit of remembering         their trespasses unto them? That is forever impos-
  and continually revolving  in mind  the articles of          sible. Such an image cannot possibly serve as a book
f a i t h . " Images, therefore, according tp -the Rdmish      for the laity, but can only serve to cover up the gospel
  Church,, are placed in the churches as books of the .of Jesus Chriit our Lord. `God was not only in Christ
  l a i t y .                                                  reconciling the world unto Himself when the Son of
      This the Heidelberg Catechism condemns..            -    <God  in the human nature died on the accursed tree,
      Ursinus, in? his -exposition of the  Heidelb,erg         but-He also put the Word of the Cross in the apostles.
  Catechism, offers eight reasons why images-should not        And the ap'ostles  proclaimed that Word of the Cross.
  be tolerated in the churches. They  are'as follows:          `If it had not been for that revelation of God Himself,
  1) It is contrary to the express command of `God that        we could never have understood the cross. And that,
  images should. be made and `set up .in churches. 2)          cross, arrested in one  of, its moments  .by. a dumb
I Images placed in churches have been the occasion and         image, -is deprived of .a11 its glory and power. And
  means of horrible idolatry in the  Eomish  Church.           what to say tif an image of the Christ in His resur-
  3)  ,God expressly  cpmmanded  -that, idols  -,sh&ld be      rection, and in His ascension, and in His -exaltation
  removed, as well as every corruption of. the `true doc-      at the right hand of #God? It is evident that a dumb
 trine and worship of ,God, -and `in this way declared         image in wood or stone can only serve to deprivit the
  His displeasure against idolatry. 4)  Our confession         exalted (Christ of His glory and power. Hence, we
  of the sincere worship, and our. hatred to idolatry,         must not have `images in the churches, not even as '
  cannot be expressed only in words, but must reveal           books of the laity. For they can never repr:esent  the
  itself in outward actions. H:ence, we ought to remove        glorious gospel of God revealed in Jesus Cl&ist our
  all images -from our churches.  -5) The Scriptures           Lord. But we must have the. lively preach&g' of the
  speak in commendation of certain pious kings, such           Word of God, which brings unto us the complete
  as Asa, Hezekiah, .Josiah, who' destroyed the images         Christ of the Scriptures, the Son of God in the flesh,
  atid idols which had been~ set up. 6) We must. avoid         cpnceived by the Holy Ghost and -born of' the Virgin
  all offence, and prevent all superstition and idolatry,      Mary, Who suffered and died for our sins, arid in
  so that  the church and ignorant souls may be pre-           Whom God reconciled us unto Himself, Who rose for
  served from danger and sin, which formerly fell upon         our justification in the glory of immortality, and Who
  our forefathers for their idolatry. 7) The enemies of        is exalted at the right hand of God, there to make in-
  the church may not be given occasion  by this sp.ectacle     tercession for all His people. Hence; the Heidelberg
  which looks so very much like idolatry to -be driven         Catechism is certainly correct when it states in the
  farther from a profession of the truth and to cast           answer to Question- 98 : "We must not pretend to be
  ,reproach upon it.      And, - 8) images have never re-      wiser than #God, wh0 will have his people taught, not
                     I
                                                                                                        . . -


            .._
           272                                    _     fHE-     ,)?,TANDA%c          BE.ATtl?R

           by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his             yjtnesses :of the ISon; even within the economy of the
           Word."                                                         Trinity, and glorifies the Son. John  16:13.. And
                                                                          therefore, there is an eternally perfect knowledge in
                                    3.  GGod's Revelation  c       .`+    God of Himself. He albne knows Himself with infinite
                   It is evident that while the second commandment        perfe%tion.  The eternal  (God is comprehended only
           negatively forbids the worship of images, by implica-          by His own divine, infinite mind. And this knowledge
           tion it positively demands that we can and must know           stands before His divine consciousness eternally, un-
           Gad only from His own revelation. When we make                 changeably, in inf!inite perfection. W,e know in part.
     . an image, we say who and what God is ; we make a                   And even of that knowledge in part we are not always
      God after the imagination of `our own heart. Thjs                   conscious. We speak of that which lies below the
           we cannot say and may not do, but, on the contrary,            threshhold.of our consciousness at any given monient.
           we must-let #God say who and what He is, and worship           But in.lGpd  there is no unconsciousness, nor a subcon-
           Him according- to His own Word.  "This is also  em-            sciogsness. He is ,a perfect light also in this respect,
           .phasized by the Heidelberg Catechism in this Thirty-          and. there is no darkness in <God  at. all. There is in
           fifth Lord's Day.. ,-In Question and Answer .96 it in-         Him no difference between the scope of His Being,-
           structs us that we shall not x&present  God, nor wor-          if we may use this anthropomorphism,-and. tli? scope
           ship-Him in any other way' than He has commanded               of His knowledge, nor between His knowledge and His
           us in His Word. And again, in Question and Answer              divine consciousness.     The whole of  IGod's infinite
           98 we are taught once tiore that. ~God  will have His          Being, with all His unfathomable perfection and per-
                                                                          fect knowledge, is constantly reflected in His divine
           people instructed in the knowledge of Him not by
           dymb images, but by the lively preaching of His Wor&           consciousness. The Lord our God knows Himself and
                   We can know  IGod only  from His own revelatlqn        fathoms His divine Essence eternally, and corisciously
           to us.                                                         contemplates His own glorious perfections without
                   What iS this wonder. of revelation? For a won&r        interruption..
           it certainly is, that the infinite and incomprehensible           N'ow,  even as- God knows Himself, and that too
           C%d makes Himself known. to the finite creature in             b-ith an infifiiteiy perfect and eternally self-conscious
           such a way that he can have fellowship with Him in             knowledge, so also He alone it is that is able to impart
           an eternal bond of covenant friendship.                        His knowledge to the creature, that is, to reveal Him-
                   Revelation presuppdses,in the first place, that God    self. Not indeed as if there w&e a creature. that is
           knows Himself. All IGod's revelation in all Scripture          capable  of_ receiving that knowledge of God: God
           plainly teaches us that IGod only knows Himself witli Himself must create that recipient of revelation. And
           a perfect and eternal knowledge. He is not a blind,            this He did, and still does. For He originally created
           impersonal power, but a personal, cons&sly ,know-              man in His own image and likeness, and thus made
           ing and willing Being, Who as the Triune `God knows            Him capable of receiving the knowledge of God. And ,,
           Himself in an infinitely perfect sense. Eternally the          after n?,an fell into the darkness of the lie, He recreates
           Father  g&erated the `Son. For as the Father has               him in Christ Jesus, restores the image of God in him,
-          life in Himself, so haih He given to bhe Son to have           and raises him to a higher level of knowledge than he
           life in Himself. John 5  :26. This eternal Son is the          ever knew befor:e. Nor, again, as if `such a creature
           "brightness of  his_ glory, the express image of hjs
      .                                                                   could ever be formed capable of receiving aGod's own
           person." Heb. 1:3.' The .Son reflects in infinite per-         infinite and eternal knowledge of Himself : for such
           fection, within the  Be'ing of God, all the glory and `a creature would have to be infinit,e as 4?od is infinite.
           virtues, *aI1 the delights and perfections of the- Father      Revelation must needs consist in this, that God speaks
           eternallj;.         For in the beginning was .the Word. And    concerning Himself and imparts Hisc knowledge in a
           the Word was with. .God. And the Word was. God. .form the creature can receive, in a creaturely measure.
     John  1.:1. It is in this Word, the eternal Son;  that               And behind and beyond the plane of revelation there
           God- know,s  `l%mself  and speaks to Himself concernin'g       must always remain infinite depths of .divine glories
           Himself in the Spirit. For the Holy Spirit proceeds            and perfections which we can never' .fathom. In
           from the Father and from the Son. He proceeds froin            revelation (God comes down to us; He does not lift us
"          the Father $0 the Son, in order as the `Spirit of the          up to His infinite  majes.ty.  He  .gi:ves His Word -a
           Son to return to the Father. That Spirit is the divifle        finite form ; He does not commuhicate  to dur hearing
           bond of knowledge and fellowship within the divine             an infinite capacity.     Yet, while on the  plane- of
           family. For the Spirit searches all things,. even tlie         revelation He reaches out for us and speaks to us in
           depths of `God, and knows all that is in IGod. I ,Cor.         language adapted to our capacity, He at. the same
           2 : 10. iAnd, He nev,er  speaks of Himself, but eternally      time: and through-  that  sa'me medium of revelation

                          .


                                      THE,       STAN-D'AR.D                -'BEARER       .,                       .273
                                                                       0
  deeply impresses upon our minds and hearts that He           .~~,~m~l,~~lQ~~~l~l~~~l~l~l~-,.l---~~~.:.
 is always greater than His revelation ; that- while` He
 is revealed, He is still-hid ; and while He is known, He       ]  -WE  DAY  OF  slows  1
  is still the incomprehensible One. If it were not so,        g-UH)QtWII-I--I~`m~,-,-`-`-,-,--~-~-`,-~,-,~.
 we would still worship an image and an idol. This
  does not necessarily imply that revelation gives us no                               Ma hanaim
  adaquate knowledge of God, even in the sense that
 through  reielation  (God reflects all His  fulness; in                            (II- Samuel 17 :27)
  Christ dwells all the fulness of ,God bodily. Cal. 2:9.             .The people of the region where David and his fol-
 That we know in part must not be so interpreted  that         lowers were now encamped were friendly. Knowing
 we knoti only a part of God. But it does mean tE.at           that he and his people must be in a condition of ex-
 beydnd and above the divine,reveiation  of Himself in treme want for the necessities of life, they came to
 finite form there is,-and we are ever conscious of the him- in Mahanaim with an abundance of provisions.
 reality of  it,-ari infinite` ,Essence.    Even when in       The sacred writer names three of these benefactors.
 glory we shall see face tq face, we shall still forever       With obvious delight he describes in detail their gen:
 be conscious that the face we behold is but tlie pre-         erosity toward  aavid. .
 sence of Him Who must remain invisibie in `His infi-                 krw? it came to pass`when David was come to Ma:
 nite majesty. .                                               h&a;im, that Shobi the son of Nahash, of Rabbah of
     We are accustomed to  di&ngtiish  behem  TWO              the children of Ammon, ar@ Machir th,e son of Ammiel
 forms of revelation, a general revelation in.nature  and      of  Lodabar, and  Barzillni the  G&?iadite-  of  Regelim,
 a special revelation in Scripture. Also our Confession        brought beds and `basins  arul earthen  cznessels, and
                                                               _  .:  .-
 speaks of this in Article 2 of the  Netherland   Co;-- w-heat`und bariey and fiour and roasted, and beans and
 fession  : "We know him by two means: first,. by .the" lentils  ,and roast&  anid honey and  bu_tter and sheep
 creation,  preseriation and gbvernment of the uni-            mm? cheese of kine, for David and the people that were
 verse; which is before our eyes as a mast elegant book,       with him' t@ eat; for they said, The: people (is goi)
 wherein  all creatures, great and small, are as so many       @mgry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness. 27-29.
 characters leading us to  contetipi$e the invisible .                 [The other versions render the text here: "And
 things of. God; namely, his power and divinity, a$ the        brdught . ; . ti.heat and barley, and flour, and parched
~ apostle Paul saith, Rom. 1:20. All -which things are corn, land beans, and lentiles, and. parched {roasted)
 sufficient to convince men, and leave them without            pxke." But the wor.ds f`corn" and "pulse" .do not ap-
 excuse.. Secondly, he makes himself more clearly and          pear in the Hebrew text. Nevertheless; their inser-
 fully knoivn"to us by his holy and divilie word, that is      tion may- be warranted. If so, .the thought `that the
 to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this         Hebrew phrase was meant `to convey is this: "And
 life, to his glory and odr salvation." A good deal has ,br,ought  . . . wheat and (barley,  ,and flour, and rpasted
 been written about these two forms of> revelation., the       wheat and barley (grain), and beans, and lentiles,
 one general and -the other special. And the last word         and roasted beans and lentiles (pulse) ." The mean-
 has not been said, about- this subject.. HoyFver, we          ing then is that only a part `of these foodstuffs were
 would'go astray if we would consider these two forms          brought roasted and thus ready for immeditite  eating,
 of revelation as if they were two  wholly different           and the rest as a store of provision. ,Thti sense of the
 revelations, not only distinct, but sepayated- from each      Hebrew  phnase iS not clear.].
 other,.so  that the one is adapted to "natural light" and            Doubtless the people had taken with them on the
 the other to faith. In that case the one is a revelation flight as many victuals as each coul,d. carry. But the
 of God to tian in geneTa1, the other to His pebple'in         store must have been eirhausted or nearly so by the
 ,Ch&ist. The one, according to this view, provides man        time that they had reached thephins of the wilderness.
 with the  nece,ssary   mateyial  f6r the structure of a Though Mah&ai.m  could not have been at too great a .
 "natural theology"; the other .is the source of Chris- ,djstance `from the Jordan-it lay within the territory
 tian knowledge. But this is plainly erroneous. It of  IGad-hdw famished they  mdst have been when
 speaks about `general revelation, natural theology, and       finally they entered that place: and how weary after
 natural religion as if the original condition of the first    having been continuously under way since the moment
 paradise still ,existed.  IAnd it completely fails to take    they had left the holy city, particularly the women and
 into account the importan+change  that was brought the -children. How  welcome  these  proyisidns  then.
 about in this "general revel&ion" through the fall, of        And what  a% abundance of everything. Surely, the
 maq and the curse of God;                                     Lord had nbt forsaken his ill-deserving servant.
                                                   .H.H.              The basins being qf rn+al. could be used for cook-


                                                                                                 n
               0    -
                                                ,

2 7 4                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR&R
                         -----~                             _               _~
ing. Just as Tleedful  were the earthen vessels (Heb.                      t&n. The whole army he organized into three grand
vessels formed). ;And how thoughtful of the givers                         divisions under Joab, Abishai and Ittai the Gittite.
to have included also ,beds. As to the wheat' and the                             Atic1 Davicl mustered the people that were with him
barley and the beans and the lentils, having been                          and- set over them captains of thousands and captains
brought roasted, all was ready for immediate* eating.                      of hun,&ecls . Ancl  Da&l gave  the. people, a  thircl
   Hailing, -as he did, from Rabbah, the _ capital of                      uncler the hancl of Joab, and a third under~ the hancl
the Ammonites, Shobi was an Ammonite. If his fath- of Abishai'the son of Zeruiuh the brother.of  Joab, ancl
er was the diseased Ammonite king N)ahash,  and their                      a tI@d unclcr the hand of Ittai the Gittite. (1 and 2).
are no grounds for questioning this, then Shobi was                               In, those  ancient times thk king of the land went
the brother  ,of the  Hanun against whom David, as                         with his troops into b,attle and in the field he had the
sorely provoked by his insult, hacl waged fiercest war                     chief command of his army. David had always been
some ten years previous (X :1 sqq.) . He had succeed- true to that custom, and even now he was decided to
ed his father in the throne and was reigning, as had `go with his people. But they. would not h&e it so.
his father before him, in Rabbah. Taking  the city,                        It must have been thleir love of him that accounts for
David had dethroned him. Then lie had gone ahead                           it that.in dissuading him, they talked to him as if they
and put all the people of the 6ity under saws and-har-                     were his master frqm whom he was obliged to take
zows of iron and axes of iron. So did David to all the                     orders. They- said, "Not shalt thou. go." They. ex-
cities of Ammo& Having by these strokes complete-                          plained why they did not want him to go forth. The
ly subdued the Ammonites, he rendered them tributayy                       adver.sary  would not care if all of them fled or  ihalf
and included their country in his empire.                                  of them died in battle. He was not interested in slay-
   It may therefore awaken some surprise that among                        ing Israelites. The object that he had in view was tp
the friends administering to David's necessities in his -rid .the kingdom of David. Absalom's whole army to
calamity was alsd this Ammonite-Shobi the brother `a man would therefore be activated by the single pur-
Hanvh. What, may have happened is; that after the                          pose of capturing David. He was worth more to them
campaign was over, David appointed Shobi vicegerent                        than ten thousand of his own people. Should he then
over Ammon ; thus displacing  Hanun and binding                            go with them? That would be suicidal. Let him
&hobi -to his person by ties of gratitude. And these                       abide in Mahanaim, `the sight of his present encamp-
ties may have been `greatly strengthened by-still other                    ment. He could be of help to them from out of this
interests of a spiritual nature.                                           place. That would be well.
  As move,d  by pity, Ma&r,. the s&l.of Ammiel, had                               But they did not explain to him in just what way
received Mephibosheth  into his home, so that he -could                    he could be of help to them. Some conjecture that
not heli but love D.tivid for his past kindness to this                    what they, had in mind was that DavidOa,bide  in his
disabled s,on of Jonathan.                                                 place with a part of the army with a view to bringing
   Ba-r?illai is a most interesting character, who only                    in reinforcenients in the event the battle went against
&pIjears  on this and another occasion.                                    them. But the. whole army went forth under its three.
                                             G. M. Ophoff                  generals.  iA part of it  -did  not remain behind with
                                                                           David, as is evident from the way the text here reads.
         _-                                                                Let us take notice : "And David gave . . . a third . . .
                    --"
                          pJ~                                              under the h&d of *Joab, and a third under the hand
                                                                           of Abishai, and a third under the hand of Ittai . . . "
                                                                           thus three thirds, in a word, the whole of the army.
                                                                           He did keep with him his body guard of a thousand
                         Absalom  `Slain                              *    men. But what could a, body, of warriors that small
                                                                           have availed, should the battle go against them? But
                    .   ( I I   S&me1  18:1-18).  :    :         i         the  confidenoe must have been his  and his people's
   In Mahanaim, as was ~stated,  David was encamped                        that this would not happen, that. the  ar,ms to be
with hi,s followers in the midst of subjects who were `blessed were those of David. And in that confidence
friendly and who deeply sympathized with him in his                        he sent forth his people to do battle w'ith >he adver-
plight. Besides supplying him and his people with                          sary.
bountifuj provisions, they also enlisted in his service                           So $ is doubtful whether the people had any such
in such numbers that his followers, able to bear arms,                     idea in their mind.s as that, if need *be, he could assist
.could now be counted by the  thousan,di.  Mustering                       them by bringing in re-&forcements,  provided he re-
all. his war?iors, he divided them into bodies of thou- mained in the camp. What they may have meant is
sands and hundreds, and assigned to each unite a cap:                      simply that, if he wanted to be of real service to them,


                                               THB  STANiIAitD  BEARER                                                                  ii5
                                    -     -                                                        -    -    -    -
       he should stay where he w.as, and not insist on anpear-     must have happened. The combat had scarcely begun,
       ing with them in the battle. And they may-have-had a when the ranks of Absalom broke and-scattered. With
       -reason for so advising in addition to the one that they    David's people in hot pursuit, the entire mass of hu-
       mentioned.    David was already advanced in' years;         mails -fled in terror across the Jordan `and sought
       The battle-field was no place for one of his age. So        refuge in the dense forest of Ephraim.
       he hearkened to their intreaty  that he abide in the               [God had risen, and his enemies were scattered,
       camp. ~-                                                    driven away as smoke is driven away.  ;                                     :
          And the (king said to the people, Surely I will go        But this was not the end of  it._ Twenty thousand
     -' forth, also I, with you. B%t said the people, Not shalt of them perished in these forests. That the reference
       thou go forth: for if Cndeed we flee, not will they s,et    is to the adherents of Absalom follows from .the statk-
.      upon us (their)  h.eart; and if we die, the half of us,     ment that "the people ,of Israel were slain before the
       not will they set upon us (their) hearts: but now (thou     servants of David.`.' : Intheir mad effort to  escane
       art)`as ten thousands of us. And now it is well that        their pursuers a great many of them collided with
       thou .be to help us from out of the city. And said the the trees or tangled with the low-hanging branches
       king to them, l'hat which is good in your eyes I will       and were killed by the force of the impact. More of
       do. 3                                                       them came to their end in this way than were slain
           Having attended to the business of organizing the       by the sword.         Thus even- the trees of the forest
       army, and after yielding to their importunity, his fought for David. And why not, if  ~a11 things are
       thoughts reverted to  IAbsalom.  .They must not be          Christ's, and if Christ  is His people's?                       .
       allowed to slay him, should he fall into their hands.               So did the wicked perish at the presence of God.
       Thus. he spak.e in his heart. So he took his stand be-      Some hold that the forest of Ephraim of which the
       side1 the gate, and while the,army filed out in front of tetit here speaks was east of the Jordan, on the ground
       him, rank after rank, he gave his final command to          that nothing, is said. of a flight of Absalom and his
       the three generals-Joab, Abishai and Ittai-and the people across the Jordan, and that, accordingly, it was
       captains : "Deal gently for my sake with the young here, on the east side of this river and not on ,the west,
       man, even with Absalom." He could not hate Absalom. that the whole conflict, took place. But the Old
       He couid only love and pity him; ,despite'all that had      Testament Scriptures do not otherwise know of -a for-
       happened. In thus charging tlie leaders of the army         est of Ephraim east of the Jordan so that the name
       he purposely raised his voice to a shout in order that      can rightly be taken as the designation only of the
       all the people might hear. But he was only making           wooded mountain of Ephraim west of the Jordan, and
       matters worse for himself. What would he dare to            it .was here-that the main conflict must be considered
       do with Absalom but in-flict upon him the punishment to have occurred.
       of death, should he be delivered into his hands alive!              And went forth the people into the field against
          And stood the king by the side of the gate, and all Israel; and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. 6.
                                                                    ":
       the people went forth. by hundreds and thousands.                   And  akere slain there the people of Israel before
       And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai,          the servants of David, and was there a great slaughter
       saying, Show kindness for my sake to the young man,, in that day, twenty thousand. A.nd was there the
       euen to Absalom.. And all the people heard when the         battle scattered over the face of the whole 1an.d. Ancl
       ,k+ng.commanded all the captains concerning the mat- multiplied the forest to consume more people than the
       ter 'of Absalom. 4,5                                        sword devoured'in that `-`day. 7, 81                . .
         As to Absalom and his people encamped between                    `Making his. way on"his mule through this region
                                                                                                                                         .l
       Mahanaim and the Jordan, the text .makes it clear           of thick. forest, mountain gorges and caves was
       that-the entire force was in the grip of a paralyzing Absalom.              He was alone, it seems. He must have
       fear and that its will to fight was gone.                   counted himself fortunate still to be alive. And per-
                                                                   haps the prospect of his yet. being able to save him-
          First, though Absalom's army may have been thei self from the general carnage at no time seemed
       larger, even by far perhaps, yet he failed to set his       brighter, when he discovered that the direction in
       troops in motion against David. It was David's people which he was going led straight into the presence of
       who took the offensive.'                                    some of David's servants. He must have heard arm
          Second, -as both armies were encamped on the east seen them. without their having `seen him. In getting
       side of the Jordan, it was here that the con&t must         away from the spot with all the speed: of which his
       have begun. Yet, according to  the. text, the battle weary beast was still,capable,  he collided with a tere-
       occurred  -on the west of the Jordan in ,the wooded binth, , and. his head became solidly wedged betwee?.
       country of the tribe'of Ephraim. This tells u,s what        its low-hanging branches. His mule passed from un-
                                                                                              t                               s


 i?6                                     lV32  STANDARD   .B%ARER

 der him and there between heaven and earth the ac-                     And saicl Joab unto the man, the one that told him,
 cursed one hung, suspendbd  from a tre'e.                             And beholcl, thoiu sawest, and why didst thou not smite-
        One man-servant of David-who happened to be                    him there to the  ground? And  for  my sake I would  _
passing by `the place, saw him and reported to Joab,                   have given thee ten (shekels) of silver  amd a girdle.
 perhaps the only general in the vicinity. If the man                  And the man said .to Joab, Not if I should weigh upon
 expected to be thanked, he was due for `a disappoint-                 my hand  (that is, receive)  a thousand (shekels)  of
 ment. Joab was provoked with him. He couldn't                         silver, would I stretch forth my bawd unto the son of
                                                           uh-
 derstand why he had allowed Absalom to `go on living. `thje king. For in  our hearing the  Aging  commande.d
 "Behold!" he said to the man, "thou sawest, and why thee,' and Abishai .and `Ittai, saying, Have a cay,e, ioho-
 didst thou not smite him there to the ground?" To                     ev.er thou art,  re.gan&ng the  Ijoung man Absalom,
 make the man feel what a dreadful. mistake he had                     But if I should have c@ne o,gain+t my life a falsehood
 made, and also to cause him to' regret his timidity,                  (and theve is no matter hid from the king), then thou
 he told- him that he  wduld now be rewarding him                      wou6dPlst  s&t  thy&f against me.  12; 13.
 handsomely, had he only shown more courage.' He                         What the man meant was that, had he slain Absa-
 would be giving him ten shekels of silver, probably lom, he would have offended against his own soul, put
 worth about six dollars, and a girdle.                                his life in jeopardy. For when the king, from whom no
        But the man didn't relish thus being t,aken-  to task          matter could long remain hidden, would have learned
 by Joab. It almost sounded -as though he were- guilty by whose hand his son .had died, he would be wroth
 of a criminal neglect and had thus committed a cani-                  with the slayer. .But another reading has "His," that
 tal crime. One would think that Joab, to hear him,                    is, Absalom's life. But this does not change SmateriaI-
 was completely ignorant of the kin,g's command i re-                  ly. the thought that "the man" ,desired  to convey.
 garding Absalom.         The man's wrath kindled.  IIe                   Also the repitition of the kings command by "the
 gave Joab to understand that he wouldn't' stretch out man" does not quite agree with how the king is re-
 his hand to the king's son for a thousand shekels of                  ported to have spoken it in 18 15, "Show kindness for
 silver. .For in the hearing of ,all the people the king               my sake toward the. young man Absalom;`., Either in
 had commanded  .Joab-aiso  Joab-Abishai and  Ittai                    commanding the pe@e David did not hold himself
 that every one, whosoever' he be, have a care  r&                     to the same form-.&f the words, or "the man" over-
garding the young man Absalom. And this meant                          stated the truth to suit his purpose. The. latter is
 everyone without exception.                       _'                  doubtless the case, as it is not likely that David would
        But supposing he would have smitten Absalom, the               thus have threatened the people. Doubtless if the
 man went on to say. `As no matter could .long remain                  man had followed his. first impulse, -he would indeed
 hidden from the king, he would be certain to learn                    have made an end of Absalom right there and then.
 by whose hand his son had died. And what would                        What restrained `him, perhaps, .was in part his deep
 then happen?, Despite his present fury, Joab could be                 affection for David and in part his consideration for
 depended on to be the first to join the king in con-                  himself.    He was afraid `that; if he disregarded the
 demning'him for the deed.                                             king's command and smote Absalom, it might go hard
   The man was probably right. That's precisely                        with him. He may be taken as a fair representative
what Joab might have done in order to satisfy David                    in this respect of the rest of David's adherents. But
 that he was entirely blameless of his `son's death. ~                 Joab was of a -different mold. He was a hard man.
        There was a sting to the, man's words. That .the               Though loyal to David, he' kept his own counsel and
                                                                       ,did much as .he pleased. Hard, practical sense told
 man dared thus to lash J,oab -with his tongue, shows
 in-what low .esteem  Joab was being held by the people,.              him that if the rebellion was to be effectively squelched
 By common consent he was a great genaral, but they                    Absalom had to be gotten rid of. And this  fqr  -him
 had no respect for him as a man.                ._  `.  .:            settled the matter.
        And happened to stray Absalom  in+the  .presenqe                                                      LG. M. Ophoff  -
 of  David's servants riding (that  .is, Absalom  wqs
 Sding) on a mule. And came the mule under the                                       --~ q   j.<.
 thick branches of a great terebinth. Amd was. made
 fast his head in the terebinth. And he was given wp                                                                          :
 between heaven and-the earth; an8d the mule that was                      .Jesus, the spring of joys, divine,
 under -him passed on. 9.                                :  d.                Whence all our hopes and comforts flow ;
  And saw one man and told Joab; and he  saicl, ge-                        Jesus,. no :other  name but thine,         _
 hold, I saw Absalom hanging in a teseb@zth- .10.                             Can save us from eternal woe.
             *                      I                             /                                      .


                                       THE  STAT;iDATzb-`BfiARER

                                                              law and word of God has been spoken by God Himself,
                                                              His glory shines forth in the spiritual works of His
                                                              hands. -Therefore the psalmist being awed and
                                                              humbled by the Spirit, cries out that the words of his
                                                              mouth and the meditation of his heart may be accep-
                   I'Will Sing . : . ;                 .      table to. that great- God Who is his strength and re-
     By the addition of -only one letter to the -word         deemler .
  "heave,' we get the entirely different "heaven". What           Can you pray that before you sing? Singing, sure-
  a tremendous difference in meaning there is between         ly has to do with the words of your mouth. Singing
  those two words! And by adding the three short              must come forth as the expression of that murmuring,
  words, "unto the Lord," to our theme of the last in-        that meditation of your heart. And when you have
  stallment in this department we get an entirely dif-        finished' your song, you are confident that both the
  ferent concept. also.                                       words and the motive wer.e  acceptable to God.? You
   To say, "I will sing",is to give expression to-an          rejoiced not in the praise of men but in that you
  activity which i,s very common among men. To add            praised God and led others in the contemplation of
  the three words above and say, "I will sing unto the        His wonderful praises ?
  Lord," does not merely express to whom it is that we            I will sing unto the Lord ! That is a lofty resolve!
  are directing our song, it also limits very severely the    It is the only proper resolve! It is the resolve of a
  contents and the manner of our singing.                     regenerated heart. The world sings' purely for enter-
    If we are talented and gifted with a pleasing voice,      tainmentl And it sings of all the evil and filth that
  it may safely be said that our singing is and has been      resides in its heart. It sings its atheism. It sings its
  chiefly unto men. If our training has been negligible,      rebellion against the living.,God. It sings its unbelief,
  our talent a bare minimum and the tonal quality of          its superstition, its godless philosophies, its adultery
  our singing very distasteful- to others, it is safe to      -and immorality, the latter both by words and rhythm!
  say even then that our singing has been and is chiefly         And .a regenerated child of ,God can revel in it ? ?
  unto man. Whether we sing merely for the entertain- It -becomes increasingly difficult to get away from it!
  ment of men, or whether we sing merely for our own          With  ,that miserable juke box in `every restaurant,
  personal enjoyment, we have missed the point, we have       with every radio and television dealer demonstrating
  missed the mark (which is literally the meaning of          his wares it is well nigh impossible to get away from
  one of Scripture's words for sin) and are as the man the songs of the world. But you do not bring them
, in the parable of the talents who went and hid his          home or let your children do so, do you? WHAT ? ?
  talent in the ground rather than to put it in use for       You let the unbeliever, the immoral world, the atheist,
  his master.                                                 the antichristian elements of the human race befoul
     Indeed, we may sing before men. If the Almighty your home? Still more you let them spill their garbage
  has given you talents above other men, He has given         and filth into your mind and  SOUI?  ;Go stand with
  them to you for these others.. He has given them to         the psalmist and pray that the words of your mouth.
  you that you may lead them in the enjoyment of what         and the meditation of your heart may -be acceptable to
  wonderful things the Almighty has made for His own IGod! If it is a narrow-minded view to. take such a
  glory. And .He has given them to you that thru and          stand against the world and its songs of unbelief and
  with you they may then praise~,God  for all that which      godless levity,- then let `it be narrow-minded. It IS
  He has done both in the realm of the natural, and in        Scriptural. And let us not. be broader-minded than
  the realm of the spiritual.                   "             (God!  Rtemember that His judgment is narrow, and
  Psalm 19 is beautiful in this respect. Even a ra-           His judgment is final and determinitive !
  ther superficial examination of the Psalm will show            It is, perhaps, a little too obvious to be mentioned,
  you that the psalmist speaks of IGod's praises in both      but it certainly is true that much of that which passes
  the realm of the natural and of the spiritual. Begin-       today for singing by the world is only by the greatest
  ning with the glory ,of `God displayed in the works of      stretch of imagination even to be classed as music.
  His hands, in the extent of creation as man from his -The. coarser a woman's voice is, the rougher and more
  position on the earth can see it, he then turns our         boldly she may sing her suggestive songs, the higher
  attention to the spiritual in [God's word and law.          her praise and honor among the ungodly. Indeed, we
  There is no spot in this wide creation where the sun,       said a moment ago that one can hardly get away `from
  moon. and stars are not visible.. Yea, therefore, the       such trash! You hear enough, even tho you seek to
  psalmist says, there is no spot where they  do`not speak    avoid it, to turn your stomach. And the sad thing is
  of the praise'of ,God. And upon this earth, where the that we all too soon become hardened even to it,


                                  --

 .Hence these- articles awaken us -out of ,our sleep and      there anything spiritual in it? Where does Scripture
 drifting in the world ac& with the world. And if the attach any spiritual significance to the Jel-icho road?
 psalmist said, as he did, let the .words  of my mouth What praise to God does the whole song utter? The
 and the meditation of my heart be acceptable, then           same may be~said  of,."Roll, .Jordan, Roll!" And what
 certainly he means also by his prayer that his ears          Arminianism is there not expressed in such an hymn
. may be open only to that tihich is to the praise of God.    (shall we call it an hymn?) as "There's a New -Name
.For the meditation of his heart will surely be influ-        Written Down in Glory.`.' The Scriptures declare that
 enced by -what he hears, Remember Eve! Her whole             our names  were-written down in the Lamb's book of
 hea& and life were put\ in reverse when she received         life from before the foundation of the world. The
 thru her ears and into her heart that which was not          Scriptures teach sovereign and eternal ELECTION
 praise to God but the lie upon which all this present        and -fiTmly deny that in time' new names  are written.
 unbelief, `atheism, philosophy, evil thinking and cor-       down. And yet many Reformed circles, which pro-
 r u p t i o n   r e s t s .                                  fess to believe in the Scriptures and the Reformed
  - And how many of the songs of Zion do you  alid            confessions, enjoy such a song that militates against
 your children know? The songs. of the world are              the- Word of God. You cannot sing that song  z&o
 ringing in your ears all day long. You hum and sing the Lord!  You  can sing it unto man, and man will
 them at work. qerhaps you sing them along with the love it  because it ascribes something to him that
 ungodly man at the bench next to you or at the ,next         rightfully belongs  ,only to God. And then you also
 counter. But do 0 you and your- children. .eveb sing the     have such superficial, sacrilegious expressions in what
 songs of Zion outside of Divine services? Have you           passes 4oday for hymns as the statement that we `till
 ever caught yourself humming or whistling the tune           "shake Jesus' hand" and say, "Hello" to Him, or that
 of an hymn only to check ,yourself  when you realized        in heave@ we want to `73ee my Saviour first." What
 that it would give you +way as a believer? IShame on will we want to see afterward? . . . We could continue
 .you ! But if this never was your experitince,  can you      and continue, but put yourself before the question, do
 and do you sing the songs of Zion at yoyr wo&? Do            I sing unto the Lord or unto men?
 you find such delight and joy in their truth, does yoqr                                                      -J. A. Heys
 heart so murmur with these spiritualitruths  that you
 enjoy singing them even before the unbeliever ?
    jAnother thing, are you tired of singing the saqe
 spiritual songs  -over and over again? Are you,  per-
h>aps, clamoring for a manual of praise with more than
 versjfication  of the Psalms? Is  if, perhaps, so wit]?.                               I N   M E M O R I A M   '
 you that you desire some new tunes? ,RoomO for that            The Protestant  Refoimed Men's Chorus of Grand Rapids
 there surely is not only because tunes themselves b-e-       hereby expresses the loss of our President and fellow member:
 come tiring after repeated us& but also because tunes                                MR. DICK JONKER
are not always appropriate for the setitiment  express-         Rejoice my soul be not cast down; bid all thy fears to cease,
 ed in words of the song. But let us be on our guard,           Since God will undertake for me and give H-is joy and peace
 lest it  be  the  swords  which tire us. Let us  ,be sure      He knows the present_&nd the past, He knows what is to be,
 that the truth. which is .expressed  iti the .song does        And  .I may safely trust in Him Who plans my life for me.
 llot become so wearisome to -Us that it is for that re'a-                                             Menzo tiimmel,  Sec'y.
 son that we clamor for a change. It ,is impossible
 that a child of God who desires to sing to the ILord                                 -:-:--
would become weary of the truth expressed in the
 Psalms. And if we are always avoiding the Psalms
 to sing hymns, which are not the versification  of t4e                                 &N MEMORIAM
 Scriptuyes but the versifications  of man's opinions of        The Protestant Reformed Men's Chorus of  GPa,nd Rapids,
 the word of God and of his spiritual (?) experiences,        hereby expresses the loss of our  Vtce-President  and fellow
we may well ask ourselves whether our singing is to           member :
the Lord or to men.                                                           M R .   LAMBERT   B O U W K A M P
    Many of' our moderll hymns are chosen and sung            When my heart is filled with sadness and I'm sinking in despair,
 exactly for their tune, harmony and rythm and for NO         Jesus gives me peace and gladness in the secret place of prayer.
                                                              In the  seer&  place of prayer there is joy beyond compare;
 other reason. Take such an unspiritual Negro spirit- Al!1 the burdens roll from my troubled soul, (In the secret place
ual as `(On the Jericho Road." Wh.o will deny that it           of prayer.
ha$ a lilting rythm and "catchy" tune? But where is                                                    Menzo Brummel,  ,Sec'y.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D .   - B E A R E R                                   279
                                         ._-
                                                                         then iYe notice, first of all, that both ministries are
       f  yFR@M  H O L Y   W R I T   1 wrought  .&rough the  selfsame Spirit. It was the
                                                                         Spirit. of Christ testifying in the Prophets in the-cold
                                                                         Testament : and it is the same `Spirit "sent dow.n from
                                                                         heaven" in the New Testament, ~ which causes the
                   E x p o s i t i o n   o f   I  Pet&   l:lO-12    9    `Apostles to proclaim the glad.tidings  of salvation in
                                                                         `Christ Jesus. In the former the Spirit prophesied of
                                  C o n c l u s i o n                    the good things to come, of the suffering that was to
          In this article` on this first section (verses 1-12)           come upon the Man of Sorrows, and the glory'to f'ol-
       of I Peter 1, we wish to call attention especially to             low for Him and all the saints ; in the latter the Holy
     -verse 12. This verse reads as follows: "Unto whom it               Spirit is sent from this same `6Man of Sorrows" as He
       was  revealecl,  that not unto  the~mselves,  but unto us         has entered into His glory. It is the same iSpirit in
       (you) they clicl minister the, things, wh&ch are now re- .both. He is the `primary Author of the ministering
      poded unto you by them that have preached the gos-                 of the Prophets in the Old- Testament as well as of the
       pel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent  .down from                 preaching .of the fulfilled Promise' in the New Testa-
       h.eav,en; which things the  angels.clesi*e  to  lo&  @ato."       ment dispensation.
         The purpose of this passage is not, just as all of                  Why is sameness of Authorship emphasized here
       Holy Writ is not, to satisfy mere human curiosity. , by Peter?
       The purpose is to edify in the faith, and to quicken,                 In the first place, because only when there is one
     in &he hope, the redeemed and regenerated saints. We                Author in both- the Old and the New Testaments. is
       must live in spiritual sobriety and see all things in the         the+ an immutable certainty, that, what we have in
       light of the- Word of .God that shines-more and more              `Christ is real and genuine: in the New Testament
       unto the perfect day.                                             Christ" simply finishes through H`is Spirit, what He
          With this purpose in mind the Aposile called at-               had begun and protiised in the *Old Testament, and
       tention to the activity ,of the prophets in the former            both are wrought by Christ through one and t.he self-
       verses. Always the atterition  of the prophets is direc-          same Spirit.
      *ted toward the final a,nd glorious manifestation of the               In the second ilace, because thus- alone we may
       Christ of `God, and to the manifestation ,of the sons of          have  ,the  assuranc'e  -that  the Prophets were not the
       God in the new heaven and new earthj w,here  right-               authors of cunningly devised fables, but  that they
       eousness shall. dtiell.                                           spoke and wrote what the Spirit moved them to &write.
          Concerning these prophets it  shoild be  liijticed,            And thus also we tiay have the assurance, that the
       that the object of their seeking out and searching IApostles were not the inventors of a new religion,
       out was always the suffering, which would come upon               speaking against M&es  and the customs in the wrong
     Christ and  -the glory to follow. And in connection                 sense of the term, but that they are si-mply preaching
       with this searching out they desire to know the- time             to us the glad-tidings, the fulfilment of those things;
       and the mnney of -the ,-time of this -suffering,- and the w.hich many prophets  deesired  to see and could not, and
       glory to follow. Thus' we saw in our former article.              those things, which many Prophets desired to hear
          But now the Apostle adds .another point in which               alid might not.
i      he .both shows us the intense iriterest which these                  But for this  verjr reason we should all the more
       prophets share in the final salvation of the church,              be as the "violent," who take the Kingdom of heaven
       and their being conscious of the fact that this salva-            by fokce. T.he wisdom of IGod in thus performing His
       tion would not be realized in their own day. Says                 work through the  selfsame Spirit ought to be justi-
       Pete? : "Unto whom it was  l;evealed, that  not unto               fied in us the children. In spiritual sobriety we should
       themselves, but unto us (you) they did minister the               liope perfectly for the grace, that is to be brought un-
       things which are now reported unto you "by them that              !b us, in the  day of Jesus Christ. Compare Matt.
       have preached the gospel . . :. "                                 11  :ll-13.  _             _
           Permit us's few remarks on these words of Peter.                  It is, therefore; exceedingly important that' we give
           First of all a few remarks about this earlier min-            good heed to this word of the Prophets and to the word
       istry of the prophets compared with the present.min-              of them;  who preach the gosp.el-  to us.
       istrzJ by the Apostles, Evangelists and Teachers.                     Bewaye,  says Jesus, huw ye hear.
        ' We should notice that Peter is here contrasting the                But there is inore.
       &n&try  in the Old Testament Qispensation  with the                   Peter also tells US, that the prophets knew, +en
       ministry in the ,New Testament Dispensation. And
             .                                                            they were searching out the time and the manner of


280                                           T H E   STANDA.RD   B E A R E R

                                         /
the suffering of Christ, that they were not ministering             Then, too, it should not be overlooked, that Peter
these things  to, themselves. How did they know this?            says of these angels, that they are "very desirous" to
 Peter says: it was revealed to them. ,God uncovered             look into this salvation of the saints. The term in
 it to them in their searching. The more they searched           the original  ,Greek for very desirous is  "epithumou-
 out by the ,operation  of the Spirit, the more the Spirit       sin." The "epi" is prefaced to show intensification.
 pointed out to them the time and the manner of the' The verb thumein `indicates the great warmth, the
 time of the sufferings to come upon Christ and the              deep feeling of the heart and soul. The deepest yearn- .-
 glory to follow. This too adds to the glory of this             ings and emotion is indicated. It is feeling full of pow-
hope in Christ. The prophets did not think of these              er. This verb united with "epi" indicates great and
things as a matter, which would not  b,e theirs too,             strong desire, which nothing can satisfy except the
 even though these things would not be realized in their         fulfilment of this desire.
 day. It is true they all died ; they died, however, in             -What is the desire of angels?
the faith that they would-see Christ stand upon the                 They desire to look.into our salvation, the hope of
 earth in the latt,er day, when Zion would be glorious           Israel and the desire of nations. Says Peter: "which
 in the beauty of holiness. And they, too, rejoiced with         things angels desire to look: into." The term employed
 joy unspeakable and full of glory-! Shall we, then,             in  .the  `Greek and translated into "to look into" is
who see so much more of this glorious hope, then not             worthy of special  notice  and is very expressive. It
 lift  np the loins of our mind, and reach out in hope           is a word-picture. It literally means: to stoop to a
for a salvation which is not simply something which" thing in order to look at it; then it suggests: to look
must await future fulfilment, but which is "ready to             at a -thing with the head bowed forwards, to look into
be. revealed (uncovered) in the last day"? _ Forsooth,           a thing with `the body bent, to stoop to look carefully
the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than               into, to inspect `curiously. (Thayer) . That is the pic-
 John the Baptist, and he is the greatest of  all the            ture here employed of the angels. Peter pictures the
 Prophets.                          w                            posture of the angels as indicative, of their intense
       As the babes to whom it is revealed, iet us lift up       desire to watch all of ~God's great and mighty #deeds
 our heads in the midst of the manifold trials, and              in history.
 rejoice in the glory to come ! . In the great "cloud of            Just as Peter intensely studies the linen clothes at
 witnesses", who encourage us to run the race with               the open "grave on the resurrection morn, stooping
 patience, the least are not. the prophets themselves.           down to look. in, so the angels all through history
 For, letit be remembered, that even though they could           watch in rapt attention God's great and mighty deeds
not minister to themselves the New Testament Cove-               in the salvation of the Church, as searched- ,out by
 nant of Christ's `blood, as yet, they did nevertheless          Prophets ' and preached by Apostles, Evangelists and
 minister to themselves this great salvation in hope!            Teachers.         _
 They saw Christ's day from afar- and rejoiced!                     The question as to the scope of the interest of an-
~      But this is not the only consideration, that is for-      gels in this salvation is here not indicated by Peter.
warded by Peter:- not only the attitude of Prophets              We must not read. more into this term than necessary.
 ought to spur us on. There is also the attitude of the          Peter underscores the fact, that angels. have an in-
very angels of God, `who do always behold the face               tense desire to look into the work of salvation, but he
 of God.                                                         does not tell-us here just what their inOerest  is. The
       Writes Peter : "which things angels desire to look        latter we may learn from other passages of Holy Writ,
into."                                                           such as Hebrews 1 :I4 and Ephesians 3 :lO, 11. _.
       It is to be observed, that in the original Greek text        There is evidently a good spiritual and pedagogical
we do not read the angels, but that Peter simply                 reason for this single ,emphasis. It is, no doubt, to en-
writes' "angels". The absence of the article indicates,          courage us to match if not to excel the,._angels  in our
to our mind, that Peter does not wish to emphasize               desire of hope. We must perfectly hope for the grace,
the angels as class, but that he wishes to underscore,           which shall be brought ,unto us-in the revelation of
that the class of beings calied  "angels" are intensely          Jesus  .Christ. If they, who are ministering spirits,
 interested in the entire history of-`salvation,  as well        have so great a.delight  and interest in this work, what
 as in this salvation itself. These angels are created           should not be our delight, who are the heirs of so great
-spirits of God,  moral. rational beings.           They were    a salvation? !
 created in the beginning, when `God created heaven                 Wherefore let us, indeed, gird up the loins of our
and earth. And always the angels play an important               mind,~ and hope perfectly f,or that which .prophets  in-.
. part in the history.of  salvation of the Church through-       quired into, and- angels desire to see realized.
out the ages; both in the Old; and New Testaments.                                                    -G. C. `Lubbers


                                                  f~iil
                                                              sTANDARD,
                                                                                        B~AiteR                               291

                                                                          thouih Arminius-did his utmost to quiet the fears of
     .s -clnli,l2o-~,-ar,,-~,-,-,,-,-,,-~,-,,-,,-`
                                                    ,-,,-~,-,,-,,-,.:.    the people and to pour oi! one the troubled waters of
I                   The `Voice of Our Fathers 1 public opinion. Arminius was careful in expressing
     1
     .~.,-.-.rr.-o-,,-,,-,-~,-,,-,,-~,~,,-,,-,,-,,-~,-,,-~,-,,-,-,,.~.    hiri%lf, was an able, though not profound scholar, And
                                                                          seems also to have been. a popular man in the pulpit.
                        The Canons of Dordrecht                           BM many of his people were quite capable of recog-
                                                                          nizing heresy when they heard  .it, especially when it
                               CHAPTER I                                  concerned the truth of predestination. And so it was
             --z         SWIFT DECLINE  (cont'd.)                         inevitable, on the one hand, that when Arminius ar-
           It was not long after Arminius' ordination at                  rived at the ninth tiliapter of the letter to the Romans
     `Amsterdam in 1588 that his erroaeoys  views began to                in his expositions of that book, he was unable entirely
     come to light. The  ,occasion  of this was  Coornhert's              to hide his- erroneous views ; and it was equally inevi-
     agitation against the doctrine of election. Arminius, `table, on the other hand, that -the waters of the eccle-
     whose views were not at this time in question as yet                 siastical sea in Amsterdam would be'come more tur-
     and who was accepted as being truly Reformed, was                    bulent and stormy the moment the wind of a false
     asked to refute the views of Coornhert and to defend                 doctrine of predestination should disturb them. Never-
     the teachings of his former teacher, Beza. And ac- theless, Arminius, though he himself must haGe r,eal-
     cording to his own a dmi  s  s i o n to his friend                   ized that there was a conflict between his views and
     Wtenbogaert, when he began to make a study of the the accepted view-of the Ref,ormed Churches, stedfast-
     subject and to prepare  f,or. this defense of the                    ly maintained that, he was in full harmony with the
     Rseformed  view of predestination, he more and more                  Catechism and the 37 Articles. This, however, did
     felt himself inclined toward the view of his `opponent.              n8t firevent the able and brilliant Plancius, his fellow
-. IIe began to feel that the truth ~of predestinatibn  must              minister in the congregation of Amsterdam, from un-
     be entirely reconstructed. The divine good pleasure tiringly opposing him and attacking his heretical
     must not be the basis upon which it rests, but man's                 view&
     fr.ee will. Tho`se who believe are the elect, those who                 It was while the trouble in Amsterdam' was still
     are worthy of the divine preference. At the same                     unsettled that something 1 happened Which was of in-
     time he wanted to tiaintain that our salvation r,ests                #estimable benefit to t h  ,e heretical cause of the
     upon `Christ alone, and that purely through the grace                Aiminians, but which ultimately resulted in bringing
     of the Holy Spirit do we become partakers of faith                   the whole controversy into the open and forcing a
     unto the forgiveness of sins and renewal of life.                    show-down. The very man whose views were being
          It stands to reason that the youthful minister of               challenged as anti-Reformed was appointed professor.
     Amsterdam could not very well prevent his erroneous                  of Theology at the University  -of Leiden. How any
     views from breaking `out in the pulpit. They had be-                 right-thinking authorities could ever conceive of ap-
     come a matter of conviction with him. At the time                    pointing a man with. such a dark `cloud of-suspicion
     Arminius -in his `preaching was busy with an exposi- hanging over his head is hard  _to imagine. But ap-
     tion of the Epistle to the Romans. Already in con- -pointed he was. Naturally, the appointment was chal-
nection with chapter one he had rather crassly stated                     lenged in-as far as-that was possible. !At Amsterdam
     that the Reformed people, in their  condetination of ,objections-  were raised.. And from Leiden the strong
     the meritorious character of good works, had also                    objections of Franciscus SGomarus, that champion of         -
     thrown the good works themselves overboard. But                      supralapsarianism, thundered forth.       Gomarus was
     coming from a man who strongly emphasized sancti- . also professor at Leiden, .and his influence .at that
     fication of life, this could be understood. However, he time was still strong. However, two. factors were
     is alleged to have expressed Pelagian views on the                   influential in paving the way to the chair of theology
     natural man in a sermon. on Remans 7 :14, "For we                    fdr Arminius. In the first place, the university. was
     know that the law is spiritual ; but I am carnal, sold               ribt under ecclesiastical, but state control. And in the
      under sin." And, still further, when he preached on                 second place, the crafty -Arminius succeeded to quiet
     the words  of verse 18, "For to will is present with me,             temporarily the fears of the staunch and outspoken
     but how to perform that which is good I find not," he IGomarus  concerning his orthodoxy. And So the
     applied this not to. the regenerated, but to the natural             heretic from Amsterdam was ,elevated to the chair of
     man; be it thtit he had come under the influence of                  theology at Leiden. This was in 1602.
     the Holy Spirit.                                                         The consequences of this event were far-reaching.
            As might be expected, the phblic proclatiation of             The position at Leiden was an ideal one from which
      such views could not lopg remain m&allenged,  evep                  to further the  &use of  Arminiafiism.  As we said,


 282                                   T$.jJ  cJ~~J~A,N~ARD--~~AR~B

 the school was controlled by the state. The appoint-          and entered the service of the churches, it was as
 ment of professors and also the disciplining of pro-          though so many copies of. Arminius, both `as to doc-
 fessors was the `prerogative of- the state solely. CThis trine `and as to tactics, were spread abroad in the
 afforded  Arminius a protected position from  vVfiich         churches. Also in the church there is nothing so dam-
 to promulgate,his  corrupt views. For 3s things turned        aging as a fifth column. This, together with the fact
 out, the government until shortly before the convo-           that the government lent protection to the Arminians,
 cation.of the Synod of Dordt was in the hands bf men          accounts for the swift  .decline and disintegration of
 who were consistently pro-Arminian. And the new               the R,eformed  `Churches in the Netherlands.
_ professor was quick to tske advantage of his position.           That their spiritual leader died did not no&eably
 Besides, he was an adept practitioner of deceit and           affect the  Arminian movement. Its own momentum
 underhanded tactics, like many a heretic. The peace           carried it forward. And besides, a very able leader
 between Gomarus and Arminius ,was of short dura-              appeared on the scene in the person of the influential
 tion. Arminius soon began to develop his views, and- court preacher,  Wtenbogaert.  Under his leadership
 to instill them &specially privately in sessions with his     the forces of IArminianism were consolidated, and a
 students at his home  ; for he  feared the wrath of           well-organized party was formed in the churches. For
 Gomarus,  and was very cautious in"his class-room in-         at his instigation the Arminians came together in the
 structibn at the first. Gradually  (Arminius became           year 1610 in the city of (Gouda, to draw up the docu-
 more bold, and ere long he mo?e opknly made the ros-          ment  w.hich was to be known ever after as the
 trum of his class-room the  sounding-bo$rd   fpr his Remonstrance.  In it the Arminians, with  character*-
 .her$ical views. Gomarus became his strong and de-            istic craftiness, alleged that they did not at all purpose
-. termined  opponent. Nor could the controversy. tlzat        to change the confessions, but that they merely sought
 split the schobl be kept secret. Soon the whole country       revision. They had no ,objections.  to the creeds, but
 was ,in turmoil. Many a conference `was held in order         they had indeed certain remarks or obs&vations to
 to effect a re.conciliation an'd to settle the dispute iri    make. However, these so-called observations were of
 a peaceable way. And  &en-in.   the  pear  16?9,.  &hen       such a serious nature that they  ..assailed  the very
 Arminius was confined to his home because of illnesg,         heart ~of the gospel maintained in the Reformed con-
 these efforts did not cease.. But the breach between          iessions.
 the professorial disputants was never healed. And. in
 October of the  yeai* 1609  the schismatic professor              But we shall let the Remonstrants speak for them-
 Jacobus Arminius died,                                        selves by quoting their Five Points.
        The die was cast!                                                                                -H. C. Hoeksema
        Whether  Ayminins, as his friend:s claim, was geau-
 inely of a meek and quiet spirit is open to question.                                                   1
 That he was a `brilliant scholar, that he was a well-                              -:-:---
 educated man, that he was of ..pleasing personality,
reifined in manners and appearance, and  that too in.
 contrast to ,Gomarus, w&o was of a stern:nature,  some-
 times crude, and not always able to control his temper,
 -these things can hardly be doubted. And all this                                I'N MEMORIAM
 made him a popular teacher, able to exert a deep and            The Con&tory  of the Doon  Protestant Reformed Church .ex-
 lasting: influence on the hearts and minds of -many a         presses heartfelt sympathhy with Rev. and Mrs. Hoeksema in
 prospective minister.       Honest before the church he. the loss of their father:
 served, either as minister or professor, he cannot be                                MR. D. JONKER
 called.     Hiti methods were insidious; secretly, not          May the God of grace Who preforms all things according to
 openly, did he work. Against his own better knowl-            His own good pleasure,  but  also in unchanging love to His
 edge, he constantly tried to leave .the impression th&        people `comfort and sustain  theti in their sorrow.
 he was in harmony with  the Reformed Standards,                                           The following Societies join us in
meanwhile making good use of the added opportunity                                         this expression of  sympa.thy:
 to introduce his poisonous doctrine. And of course,                                          Men's Society
                                                                                              Matha  Society
 he led many astray. For there is no more. advan%                                             Young People's  #Society
 geous position from which to inculcate heresy in the                                         The Consistory
churches. than a  th.eological  school. Not only upon                                           ,$ake  Vanden  Top, Vice-Pres.
 the relatively few students could he eqert a tremen-                                           James Blankespdor, Clerk
 dous influence. But when these students graduated Doon,  I o w a                                  `_           _-  c


                                                 THE           STANDA~~.D-BEARER                                                288
                                       _-.                                                                                        ,
                                                                           it is well to bear in mind that everyone is "doctrinal"
 .~,11`1~,1-1,1),1-1,-~,~,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,~~,-~,-~,-~;-,*~.
 1 -- CMendin~  For The Faith 1 in a certain sense of the word. The slogan: no creed
 *~~)-II-I-LIIII-I,-,,-,,-~,-l,-`,-~,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-~,-,,-~,-,,.~. but `Christ, is surely an absurdity. All men ,entertain
                                                                           their own individual conceptions of the truth of Holy
                            Introduction                                   vrit. This lies in- the nature of the case. Equipped         .
                                                                           as we are with the faculty of reason we must be doc-
 Suggested by the title: Cpntending' for the Faith.                        trinal.    This, of  couk'se, must not be confused with
                                                                           Rationalism. The believer bows before the Word of
     In  <this particular department `of  OUT Standard                     the..living  `God and permits himself to be led by the
 Bearer it is our task to call the attention of -our read-                 Scriptures. Rationalism exalts the human-mind above
 ers .to the history of dogma; or doctrine. The Li:rd                      the Word of God. According to the former the truth
 tiillirig,  we will trace the historical development of                   of God's Word speaks and dictates to us; according
 doctrine in the history of the Church. And although                       to the latter the human mind dictates and determines
 it is true that the history of the Churdh did not begin                   what is truth.        `-
 upon the day' of Pentecost, the history of doctrine is
 ma.inly confined to the history of the ~Chureh after the                      However, we Will understand this term in its nar-
 decease of the apostles. .The decease of- the apostles                    rower sense as denoting only-those do&rinses  that have
 marked the end of. infallible' and direct revelation ;                    been accepted by the Church of God. Hence, in this
having received fhe Bible from the Lord through in-                        series of articles we  regarcl  doctrines as definitely
 fallible revelation the Church was now called upon to                     formulated truths, reflected in the believing conscious-
 defend that truth over against all the subtle and in-                     ness of the Church, from the Word of God as their
 cessant attacks of the en@my.                                             source, and officially  approvkd and  ad,opted  by  the.
     The title : Contending for the Faith, indicates -what Churdh in general or by a certain group of churches.
 is meant by "doctrine" in this series of .articles. This                  This leads us to an' important observation. We must
 title immediately suggests two thoughts. ,On the one                      be iareful, when discussirig the historical d&elopment
 hand, we expect to trace -a_nd discuss the historical de-                 of d,oetrine,  that we do not \make the mistake of view-,
 velopment of those doctrines which are Ref,ormed  and                     ini these doctrines as merely the products of men. It is
 according to our Confessions and the Scriptures. It true that they were discussed and formulated by men.
' lies in the very nature of the case.that  to contend fey                 T.his, of course, `none can dispute. Men of like  pas-
 the faith certainly implies that we contend -for the                      sioiis as we are and characterized by all the infirmities
 truth (incidently, the word "faith" must be under-                        and imperfections of sin drew np these doctrines of
 stood in this expression as the object bf one's faith, or                 the Church. Howeber,  there have always been those
 b,elieving)  . `And the second thought implied iti this                   who ridicule these formulated  trilths and speak of
 title (and this. is certainly emphasized in `Phil. 1:27 :                 them in a derogatory manner as the products of men.
 `(Only let your conversation be ai ,it becometh the gos-                  Wk d'o well to bear in mind that they have been formu-
 pel of Christ: that whether I come and see  you, or                       lated by the Church, and that these.men  who eomposed
 else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you                      these doctrinal declarations were therefore led by the
 stand fast  in one spirit, with one  mind striving to-                    Spirit of G,od according to the promise ,of Christ that
 gether fbr the. faith of the gospel.") ; is that zue stand                He would be with His own even unto the end of the
 fast in one spirit and strive togethw for the faith of                    T+orld and lead them into all truth. Hence, doctrines
 the gospel. To strive for the faith is an action which                    ace `&finitely f'ormulated truths as reflected,.. in the
 must occur coll&tively. We must be of one mind and                        believing  cbnsciousness of the Church. This means
 stand fast in one spirit. The implicatiQn  is- that these that through the operation of  t.he Holy Spirit the
 doctrines do not. repreqent various lines of individual-                  tl:uths of the Holy Scribtures  assume definite form and.
 istic thinking, but that they are the embodiment of the                   shape in the believing consciousness of the Church of
 truth in the Holy Scriptures as reflected in the con- ,,God, that the Word of God is therefore the source of
 sciousness of the  ,Church. You cannot separate the                       these  dbctrines, and that they are' officially approved
 history of doctrine from the Church of the living God.                    +l adopted by the  Church.
 This, too, lies in the very nature of the case.                    '         Moreover, viewed as such an official declaration by
                                                                           the Church of God, a doctrine may be viewed either
 These' doctrines` are doctrrines of the Church.                           generally or particularly from the viewpoint of the -'
     It is possible, of course, to understand the word                     church in general or from the aspect of a particular
 "doctrine" in an- elastic and flexible sense: Viewed                      gyoup  .o? churclies. It is possible, fxor example, that
 in a wider sense, it can also refer to- the uiews and                     a doctrine may be the expression of the faith of the
 teachings of -individuals and even  ?f heretics. In fact,                 Church in general, as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.


             2      8     4                      T,HE  STANDARY  B E A R E R

             On the other hand, it is also possible that a doctrine       pertinently with resppct to the truths of the Word of
.            be the expression of a certain particular group of ,God. We  .do well,  theresore,  to maintain  a, constant
             churches, as, for example, the doctrine of absolute.pre-     vigilance and be ever on the alert in order that we may
           destination, of infant baptism, the  Church,.as  includ- hold fast that which we have. IAnd it is also well to
             ing Jew and Gentile, the Kingship of Christ as ~no$          bear in .mind that the attacks upon the truths. of the
             merely limited to the Jews according to the conception       Word become more subtle as the ~Church of ,God is
           - of the premillenialists, etc. It is  suyely not difficult    led into all the trti.th of Holy W.rit.
             to understand that a doctrine such as Absolute and              In these articles, the Lord willing, we purpose to
             Sovereign Predestination should not have been formu-         discuss the inist,ory of thdse doctrines that are peculiar
.            lated until the Church had advanced a considerable to the Reformed Churches and embodied in their Con-
             distance into the New Dispensation; We do not write          fessions. When we speak of Reformed truth wi? refer
             this to leave the impression that this doctrine was not
             already under attack during the time. of the apostles.       ti> that truth that is expressed in and `by our Ref.ormed
             Sc,ripture  certainly  inform-s us differently. Passages     Cogfessions  : the Heidelberg Catechism, the Nether-
             such as Romans 6 and 9 surely suggest that this con-         lands Confession or thirty seven .Articles,' and the Can-
            ception  .of the truth already then met with violent          ons of Dordreeht. We do not, of course, purpose to
             opposition. But, it is the doctrine bf the Holy Trinity      treat these C,onfessions. That belongs t,o another rub-
           which was  fcormulated during the first four hundred           ric. We do expect, however, to trace the historical
             years ,of the Church's existence in the New Dispensa-        development of these doctrines. We need not stress,
             tion. The truth of the Deity of the ,Christ and of the       I am sure, that " rich field lies before us. iOh the one
            Holy Spirit were expressed by the ecumenical chvrch           hand, `our R,ef,ormed Confessions are replete with fun-
             councils of Nicea and Constantinople in-the years 325        damental truths ,or doctrines. Besides, the end of the
             and 381 respectively.  M is simply a fact that the           ages is surely upon us. We n@ed "not doubt that we
             truth of the Holy Scriptures was not  under+o.od  by live in the concluding years of .t&e New Dispensation.
             t&e ear!y Church Fathers as it. is understood today.         All things point to-this fact. The  p?eaching of the
             Their conception of the Scriptures, particularly with        gospel  Do all `creatures,  the  @eat  apostacy  of the
             respect to the Person of the Christ, was characterized       Church, the wopld-wide  character -of wars and their
             by  Bimplicity.  It could hardly be expected that the        increagingly  rapid succession tell us but too plainly
             knowledge of the full significance of the Christ shou-ld     that we are rapidly approaching the end- of the ages.
             dawn upon the Church of ,God immediately after His           In fad, a startling characteristic of our present time
             appearance in ,our flesh and blodd. Besides, there is        is the fact that even the world is speaking of the pos-
             no truth `more fundamental than that which concerns          sibility fof the end `of the collapse lof civilization so that
             the P'erson of the Saviour. That Jesus -is the Christ,       t,he end of the wor1.d is no longer conceived of as im-
             the Son of the living God, -is the' Rock updn which          possible even by the world. Even the world is becom-
             Christ builds His Church. And inasmuch as the con-           ingincreasingly alarmed .because of its own inventions
            celjtion  df the early Church Fathers with a view to          and discoveries and stands aghast because of their
             this cardinal truth was characterize, by simplicity, we      potential destructiveness. They say that a third war
             can easily understand that the devil, brilliant strate-      must,. if at all possible, be averted ibecause  it could
             gist that he is, should launch his attacks upon this         well result in the destruction of  civilizatioti. What
             .fundamental doctrine of the Word of God. An& it             does this imply for the Church of the living God? The
             -was not until the year, 381, that the doctrines of I&       end-`of  the world, we believe,.will  `also mark the great-
             I%oly" Trinity was established.    This doctrine may. be     est knowledge of the truth in the consciousness of the
                                                                          Church. The end of Me world will certainly occur
             viewed as a general doctrine inasmuch as it is the ex-       when the wicked  world shall have filled its measure of
            pression  of the -faith of the Church, of God today &         iniquity, and this certainly &&plies that they will al-
             general. All churches (Christian and so-called fun-          so have reached th.e pinnacle of their attacks upon t!he
             damentalist) subscribe to it: There are  other doc-          Church and the  truth of the Holy Scriptures. And
             trines, however, .that are peculiar to a certain group       this means that the historical development of the truth
-  ,of churches. Neither need this surprise us. When                      in the consciousness of the Church shall then have
     `~      the. devil's attack upon th'e P&son of the Savidtir  had     reached its `apex. One can hardly doubt that the end
            - failed, he, who is unrelenting in his attacks upon the      of the. ages is upon us and that we live in the dying
             Scriptures, contiqued  them upon various truths of the       years of  .the New Dispensation and the history of
             Word of God. And, we may safely' say that, as the            the world. This -is all the more reason why, in our
             .years roll by, the Church of God: will be confronted by     study of the history <of dogma, a rich field lies before
             the task of expressing itself more particularly and          us. And we need not repeat the observation that` the

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                                                                                                                      I

                                               T H E '  STANl3AR.D.  B E A R E R                                                   285

 truth of Holy Writ and its historical developmerit iti                   this ni&thdd, it will not suffice as an exclusive method.
 the consciousness of the Church is of vital importance.                  It should not be disoarded entirely but in discussing
 The struggle for the truth becomes increa&gly bit-                       church polity our emphasis should not be upon history
 ter. May the struggle of then past constantly serve us                   but::%ve  must divulge into the principles of truth upon
 and enable us to hold fast that which we have.                           which the articles of church order are built. It is more
                                                -H. Veldman               important to see the truth expressed in any given rule
                                                                          for Christian conduct than it is to know the historical
                                                                          need of-that rule.
                        --: -::                                               Without rejecting eith& of the two aforementioned
                                                                          methods entirely, we shall adopt the exegetical metho,d.
                                                                          Permit us to explain what is meant by this: We have
.~,,r,,Hlr,,-ecllr~,-,,-,,-~,-~~-~,-,,-,,-,,-`
                                                 ,-,,-,,-,,-~,~,,-,*:.    written before that "the Church Ordier is taken from
 I                                                                        and founded upon the principles of the Word of IGod"
 IF         DECENCY and  ORDER  1
 .:.r-,,rsr,,-,,-,,-,,-~,-,,-,,-~,-,-,,-~,-,,-~-,~-,,-~,-~,-~,-,,-~.      but th.e Word of God is not a ready made Church Or-
                                                                          der. Yet, these two are so intimately related that it
                     INTRODUCTION   (Con't)                               woul- indeed be fatal to separate them. The Word of
            d                                                             God` is the blood stream of the organism of- Church
                               Method                                     Order, Tsake the f,ormer away and the- latter is dead.
       In proceeding t,o discuss the content of our Church                It is just this fatal weakness that charac&izes the
 Order,  thi selection  o$ a  prop&  methold  becomes a                   l&galistic, interpretive and, ,historical  methods. _ In, or-
matter of great importance. Several methods, good                         der. then to put life into our Church Order we must
 and bad, effective and deficient,. are possible. There                   cdnstantly elicit from Holy Writ the principles upon
is, for example,  tlxe legalistic  method  according to                   which the rules of our spiritual government are found-
which the Church Order is regarded and treated as                         ed. This is exegesis. In `our discussion we must not
 a book `of common laws in the- civil sense. It is no                     say : "Thus saith the Church ,Order" . . . but we must
m-ore than a legalistic document which superimposes                       repeatedly declare in  e<ery article,  "`Thus saith the
&s&f upon the body of believers. It f'orces a ceremon-                    Lord. . . thus saith Christ, the H&ad and `sole ruler of
 ial  obediehee   and the rulers of  the church are then                  the--church" . . . and that can be done only from His
looked upon as those who hold office in the executive                     own Word. With the following we, may well agree:
branch of  avy government. Against this method it                         "Alles moet met schriftuurplaatsen  worden  gestaafd.
may be said that it views the Church  `Order in an                        Alles is daar rechtstreeks aan Gods Woord ontleend.
altogether `erroneous light.                                              .De Kerkenorde dient om regelen te geven om goede
       Then there is  aim  the  inte$wetivle method.  Fol- orde in de gemeente van Christus te onderhouden, en
lowing this method we would simply accompany the                          het is voldoende zoo slechts aangewezen wordt, dat
'
 citation .of the articles ,of the Church Order with a                    deze regeien in beginsel rus>en  op Gods Woord."
brief explanation in which would be set forth what is                        This does not mean that we infringe upon the fields
considered to be the true meaning of each article. Lit-                   of Doctrine or Exegesis. However, the importance of
tle is to be gained by following .such a course as the                    relating these will become evident if we rem-ember that
practical result of it would be that there is added an-                   in the church pure doctrine and sound exegesis are
other opinion with which one may or may not agree                         alway& first in  ,importance,  and  th'at no church will
as he sees fit. Believers, striving to live according .ever remain pure with respect to these if she is not
to the rule of Christ delivered to His church, are in                     governed according to th,e ,Word  of God. Impur,ity  in
need of more than another commentary.                                     church  governmen&  -  fostiers impurity in doctrine.
       To this niay still be added the historical method.                 Heresy, which is false exegesis, r.esults in government
Following this course could proie instructive as well                     according to the rules of men rather than by those
as interesting. It would then be our task to study each                   gi"ven by ,God. It follows from this that any attempt
article in the light of historical cirCumstances  which to, deal with Church Polity apart  frdm a sound  ex-
necessitated its coming into being and tl& to follow                      egesis of Scripture must result in disorder and spirit-`-
the alterations wh?ch the, church has made in var-                        ual chaos.    We must,  therefore,  proceed by that
ious articles due to changing circumstances. ,Of cou.rse,                 method alone a which places Scripture first and the
some articles lend themselves" better to such a study                     Ordeu' of -the Church second so that the latter may
than others btit there is a reason behind each article                    derive all of its significance from the former. The
and that reason ought to be historically examined.                        pracitical fruit `of this method will then be that we
Although,  ther.efqre, much might be said in favor'of                     a?e. taug-ht  to live, not q&ording to .a set bf rules, but


                                           THE     S?ANDAR$                   BIZARER
  .%6                            -    -    -
  according to the Living Word of God. ' And that, we             respect to some a&cles there exists at present the
  said is our~goal.                                               possibility of doubtful or even twofold interpretation.
                                                                  A clear and unlambiguous  text would rectify this mat-
                    -    Our Church  &-der                        ter and (2)  iAt present  t,here are matters not men-
         By our Church ,Order is meant the officially adop-       tioned in. the Church Order, or merely touched upon
  ted  IChurch  0  r d  $  r of the  Prot&+t Reformed             in passing, like e. g., Missions and Evangelization. A
  Churches. This, of course,, does not mean -that we              revised Church  #Order might well  tske these things
  have composed and adopted a Church Order all bur                into consideration.        A committee at that time was
  ow-n in separation .from other historically Reformed            appointed to make preliminary study of this matter.
  Churches. (On the cGntrar;y,  the origin of our Church          This committee has corresponded with the Netherlands
  Order dates back to the middle of the sixteenth, cen-           relative to this proposed revision  .but whether any defi-
  tury or a period of more than three centuries. before           nite steps forward toward the obtaining of such a re-
  the denomination of our churches came into existence.           vised Church Order have been taken we are not pre-
- Interesting it is to not that the Church Order, like so         @red ta say. If they have we do not know of them.
  many of the best products of .the Church, came into             W,hlat may still  &v,elop from this action remains to
  being ,during a period of great strife. It was not born be seen. The Church Order as we- have it in its pre-
  over-night but was the product  of arduous toil. Wiih- -sent form, though it has its, flaws as do all products
  out fear and With ullwaveri!zg~faith the leAdersof  the         of men, -is still a priceless heritage and an invaluable
  church labored to produce  thl"s monumental work.               guide for good order and decency in the church. We
Through  persecuted they feared not the wrath- of the             b,elieve  that `we should not  be hasty to change this
  king. It was in the year 1568 that the work began               document that hl?s weathered the test o.f time so ably
  and  the original draft w1;1s then  revise,d  by five `@oh-     these many years.          It is questionable  wheith&  the
  secutive Synods.        It was not until the bell-known         Reformed Churches of our present generation are
  Synod of 1618-19, .held in Dordrecint,  Netherlands that        capable of.producing  another work its equal.
  it was finally approved and adopted.- Indirectly, John                 ,One of the merits of our present Church Order is
  Calvin is to .be credited for the content ,of our Church        its brevity. It is divided  int.0 five sections and con-
  Order. Although he was not, one of. its authors, for            tains a total of eighty-six articles most of which are
  he died four years before the work on this document             rather brief. Lengthy rules tend to confuse. They
  .began,  the principles f,ound iri` the Church Order -are ,are gen'grally sb involved that their meaning becomes
  based upon his "Ordinances" which were adopted by               ambiguous.       When rules are concisely  .~and clearly
  the church in Geneva as early as 1537.                          stated there can be no question as to the way we ought
         It is indeed remtirkablk  that the Church Order has      to go. That we may h'ave grace .to walk in that way
  undergone  SO very little change since its first adoption.      as churches and as individuals is our concluding
  The -Reformed Churches of the Netherlands revised               prayer.
  certain articles in 1905  *and in 1914 the Christian                                                                G. V'anden Berg
  Reformed Churches in auf own land did the same. ,Our
  Protestant  Rpefo?med  Churches `in the beginning of
  their existence adopted the last mentioned redaction
  of the Church Order: In 1920 the Ch,ristian Reformed
  #Churches  fadopted  an English translation which was                            `-  _
  also adopted by ourSynod of 1944. In 1946 our Synod
  changed the word "church" .to "churches" in ArJticle                                      IN  MEMO,RIAM
  86 and the word "consent" v,%s made. "`advise" in'                It pleased our heavenly Father to take from our family circle
  Articles 76, land 77. The reason for these changes is           suddenly, on February 19, 1953, at the age  of 61 -years; our
  that the singular "church" and the word  "conse&' dear husband, `father, and grandfather,
  reveal a hierarchical church polity. Furthermore, it                                 MR.  DIlCK   JIONKER
. . is.cevident th,at our a!option is a better translation, of      In our sprrow`we know and experience that our God causes
  the Holland which has "advies" and "kerken'r  in the            all things to work together for good unto them that love Him,  -
  aforementioned articles.  -                                     who are the called according to His purpose.-Rom.  8:28.
         In 1950, in response to  correspon&ence  received                                       Mrs. D. Jonker                         .'
  from the Reformed Churches of the  Netheglands,                                               ' Rev. and Mrs. H. C. Hoeksema
  our Synod made a decision expressing "that- we                                                 Mr. and Mrs. C.  Joqker
  see a need for a general revision of our `Church Order.".                                      M r .   an.d  M r s .   C .   kestra
                                                                    '                             James Jonker
  .This decision' was based upon tlie fact that : (1) -Width                  :              .' :: S i x   g r a n d c h i l d r e n


                               -.                THE                                                                      .-
                                                           S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             287

                                                                             - courage he displayed in this-  "prbtest", mostly  be-
  .> ,-,,-,,-,,-04  (,-I-  ~,ron,-ai,,n.`
                                        ,M,-`
                                             ~-,~-~~-,~-~~-~~-~~-l.~~*:*

   i         ALE AROUND US                                                   1 cause it is well-kndwn that many of- those who sub-
                                                                              -~ scribe to his paper will agree with the principles ex-
 7 .: .,~O~,,~,,~,,~,,~ ~,~,,~,,~`,~,,~,-~,~,,-~,~,,~~~~~~~~,~~~~~~~l1~:*       pressed. by the National Conference of Christians and
                                                                                Jews, and. who heartily support the idea of "Brother-
   WHAT DOES  "BRO~HERHOOIS"  MEAN  ?                                           hood Week" as sponsored by this organization. Many
        ~Such was the title of a brief editorial appearing                      of- his readers whoti we know ,are addicted. to this
   in the Church HelTald, a Christian weekly serving the                        "fuziy thinking which takes Christian concepts and
   Reformed Church in America, in the issue of February                         makes them meaningless." So that many, no doubt,
   20,  1 9 5 3 .                                                               members in his. denomination, both clergy and lay-
        IQ this a+,icle the editor criticizes the principles                    men, will be not a little  irked by this editorial. In
   of the National Conference .of Christians .and Jew; the light of this, we -take our hat off to the editor
   which  sp6nsored "Biotherhood Week" in the month                             who at  lea&t attempts to  direct  his  readeps  in  :the
  [of February. From the editorial we' learn that this                          right direction.
   organization "ieaffirms  the principles in the Preamble                          This does not. mean, however, that no questions
   of the Deciaration  of Independence'? and "i's founded                       remain aft& reading this editorial. I am wondering
   on the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of -whether the editor should not be criticized for writ&g
   ,God." ~The editor, it appears,.is  in favor of "reaffirm-                   in_ a "fuzzy" manner' about some of these "Christian
   ing the principles .in the Preamble of the Declaration                       concepts" he writes about. For example, `what does he
   of Independence", but he would protest against the                           m&n when he writes: `"The Bible tells us, however,
I "theology  eescribed  in  .the  plirase `the Fatherhood of                    ihit, man fell  fr,om his high estate,  LOIST THE
   aGod and the brotherhood .of man' ". He declares that @ORAL  &UALITIE,S  ,OF THE IMAGE OF GOD,
   it "is not only unscriptural, it contradicts Scripture." etc."' ? (I underscore--MS.) Doe3 he mean that man
Here follows his protest:                                                       lost the` image of God entirely? or, does man retain
        `Zod is indeed spoken of as the Father of the race,                     remnants" of' this image? Again' to  whom does he
   because He cteated  man in His own' image. - The Bible" refer when he speaks of "evangelical- Christians"?
   tells us, however, that man fell from .his -high estate,                     Alld again, What is really the editor's conception of
   lost the moral qualities of the image of God, is .no                         true "brotherhood"? -1s it one in  whjch the basis
   longer the child of God but rather~  in rebellion against' h&s back to the` eternal counsel of  [God and His
   Him, and therefore  under His condemnation- We are                           sovereign election of His people in Christ, which is
   `by nature the children of wrath, even as- the rest'. realized through the redemptive work of Christ and                                  --
   Jesus  tol,d the wicked Jews who persisted in their                          the application of it through the Holy Spirit? Or does
   opposition to Him, `Ye are of your father, the devil,                        the editor. mean. to teach that our actual  sonship,
   and the lusts of your father it is your will to dp.'                         though merited on the basis of Chri$t's atoning work
        "It is time for edangelical Christians to speak out                     and &comblished through .the new birth, is neverthe-
   for Jesus ,Christ,  and' to. insist that `a brotherhood                      less, contingent' upon bur reception of Christ and the
   that leaves Him out is no brqtherhood at all.' We                            Holy Spirit? The tenor of the editorial seems to in-
   can become children of God,. and thus bro;thers one to                       dicate the latt>r, and with this we seriously disagree.
   another through Christ, and through Him alone.* ,The
   Bible knows no -other family relationship than this                          As  To  THE  BIRTH  OF THE  CHURCH
   family of redemption founded on Jesus Christ. ' `As                           `. In the rresbyt+an ,Guardian of J~anuary 15, 1953,
   many as received him, to them gave he the right to                           page 14, 15, the Rev. J. Marcellus' Kik continues an
   become children of God, even to them thalt believe on                        article  begbn in  a. previous issue on the question:
  his name  ;  who  were born, not of blood,. nor of the Should the Church Train Her Ministry? Because we
   will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of Go&' did liot~ have this previous issue-in our possession we
   The only brotherhood the Bible knows of is the bro-                          do not wish to pass judgmeht on the. main issue in-
   therhbod of believers in Christ, based on His atoning                        volved.
   death at Calvary, and the new birth through  ,the pow&                           W& simply call attention to a rem?& the Rev. Kik
   of the Holy Spirit. He who will not have Christ. for makes in column one of the article above referred to.
   for his Saviour cannot have ,God for his Father, the                         The remark appears in the following paragraph:
   Bible says.        It is time that `Christians  speal! out                    "But  may not and  carinot the Church take over
   against fuzzy thinkiilg which takes Christian' concepts the teaching of the Qriginal languages so that minis-
  -and make$ them meanihgless."                                                 ters can -rightly .divide  the Word and distribute it to
        We believe the editor -is to be complimented for the others ? John taught the Church several Hebrew ex-
                                                                0.


-- _~____  ..----               ._
  2    8    8                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B-E-ARER
                             ---.-I--L.-L                       "
                                            .-
  pressions. AT THE. BIRTH OF THE -,CHURCH  the                      party- of American tourists in Egypt were shown by
  Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to speak with other+>.an  Egyptian guide the spot where the bones of the
  tongues so. that the listeners exclaimed-: -`Behold, are )&even lean cows of Genesis 41:19-21 were buried! The
  not all  th,ese  `which speak  Galileans? and- how hear$`tourists were duly impressed, none of them realizing
  we every man in  our  `,own tongue, wherein we  were:? that these seven cows existed  only in a -dream of
  born?? ,Since the Holy Spirit. AT THE BIRTH OF .: Pharaoh. Such ignorance of-the contents of the Bible
  THE CHURCH taught-the disciples foreign languages..:.  is nothing unusual today. Even among church mem-
  to `declare the wonderfuL,  works- of God, may not the- bers ignorance of the simple historical contents of the
  Church -teach the languages, of-- the Bible so that her!. Bible is abysmal. Many a church. member cannot tell
  ministry may correctly -interpret and declare the- whether David lived before or after `John the Baptist.
 `written Word?". (I underscore the large ty$eiM.S.).  _ Many a church member cannot, find a particular* book
       `The, Rev. Mr. Kik it appears is  admdicted  to the           of the Bible without consulting `the table of contents
  view of the Premillenialist ,and Baptist `who maintain - or index. As for the teachings of the Bible, people's
  that the Church of. Christ was born ,on the day of                 ignorance is even more abysmal." `So far the quote.
                                                  .-
  Pentecost.                                                                Much -of what .the editor says I believe our mown
       To us who, have been trained to see that the Chu& people can take to heart.                       It happens,  sometimes,
  of Christ is one in both the Old and -New Dispensa-                whether  -we preach in our own Church or elsewhere,
  tions, the phrase "as to the birth of the Church" that when we announce to the Congregation the place
  appears a bit heretical. We believe the saints of the              of our Scripture lesson and pause for a moment or
  Old Testament were as much as we members of the                    two to give our people time to looate  the place where
  Church, which is Christ's body, -and therefore .the                we will read;' that we hear people still paging when
  IChurch  could not have had her birth at -Pentecost but            we are nearly finished with the passage. We have
  as our Heidelberg Catechism expresses it in Quesfiqn               even actually seen some of our people look in the index
  54 "The Son of God from the beginning to the end-of                to find exactly where the particular book of Scripture
  the world, gathers, defends and preserves to himself `is to be found of which we .desire  to read a portion.
  gby,his Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race,              This is pathetic, indeed ! . These-  same people often
  a `Church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true             tian describe the contents of a silly novel, and -relate
  faith ; ,etc."                                                     in detail an article they-read in the Reader's Digest,
                                                                     but `when it comes to Scripture they appear to know
  THE  UI&REAKABLE   SCRIPTURE                                       nothing. What a pity!
       "And the Scripture cannot be broken",  J&n                           These are the same people who are never present
  10:35b. That is the text which the Rev. J. G. Vos                  in the society meetings where the Word of God  .is
  took for the basis of an article he wrote in the. Blue discussed  ,and studied. They are the same.people  who
  &nn&  Faith  and  `Life  magazine, Vol. 8, No.  1; of              tire quickly of healthy controversy, and are so easily
  which he is the editor. The .title of his article is the           irked with faithful preachers whose -desire it is to have
  same as- that we .placed at the -head of this section of           their people well informed with the Word of God to
  our department.                                                    combat the current errors in doctrine that seek to
       The Rev. Vos develops this subject from various `creep into the Church. May God give us more who
  points of view, under five sub-titles, one of which--is:
                                                        .: _         will -zealously search the Scriptures !
  The Scripture Cannot be Broken by- Careless Neglect                                                                M. Schipper
  of Its Message.     My remarks have to do especially
 with this part of his article  wh@h reads as follows:
       "Today the attitude of most people toward the
  Bible is not an attitude of downright opposition; but                                      IN MEMORIAM
  of careless neglect. iA few scientists and critics are               The Eunice Society of First Church, Grand Rapids, Mi.chigan,
  opposing the Bible actively, while millions of ordinary her&by remembers  oix sister;  Mrs. D.  Jonker and  family~  who
  folks are living out their lives  .without  paying any were  sudden1.g  bereaved of husband and father,
  attention to the Bible at all.                                                               D. JON'KER
       "This easy indifference is all around us. People                We commit her and her children  to our faithful Father Who
  do not read the Bible; they have only the -vaguest ,comfosts by His $Vor:d and Spirit and strengthens in the hope
  ideas as to what is in it. It may be that they have a              eternal. ";Elor  `.thy Maker is thine huwband".-Isaiah  54:5a.
  Bible in their homes, but they neither read it nor pay                                                 Mrs. J. Oomkes,  Pres.
  any attention to its teachings. It is related that a-                                                  Mrs. G. Bol, Sec'y.


       1                                                              _-


