     VOLUME   XXIX                               APRIL   15,  1953  - GRAND         RAPIDS,     MICHIGAN                    NUMBER      14


Q ,H,H,rPo-~m,i(l-~,-,-,,-,-~,-`
                                       ,-,,-`
                                             ,-,,-,-,-,-~,-~,-~.:.              emy, the arch-enemy of Israel: Babylon, wicked, foul,
!            M  E  D  1[  T  A  a  I[  0  N'                          .I.  ,proud  Babylon.
1.~~,-e-~-~-l,-l-ar,-,,-,,-~-,,-,-`-,-,,~,--,-,-,-,,~.                              And the heritage' of Jehovah was led to a strange
                                                                             l a n d .
                   Jehovah's Faithfulness ; c                                       The daughter of Zion finds herself in Babylon, be-
                                                                                tween the two rivers'.
               ."But  Zion saith, The Lord hath forsaken .me, atid                  And there come the haters of (God with unholy glee
              my Lord hath forgotten me. Can  ,a  w.oman   for-                 in their hearts : they `are lgoing to have a .good  time      -
              get her sucking c.hild,  that she should not have com-            with these aliens and their strange customs: Come,
              passion on the son of her womb ? Yes, they may                                                                   ._
                                                                                sing us one of the. songs df Zion !
              forget, yet, will I  tiot forget thee. Behold,  E  have
              graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls                     But no, we cannot sing  the  Lord?. song. in a
              are continual& before Me."             - I s a .   49:14-16       strange land ! Let my  tonglIe  clleave  t6 the roof. of
                                                                                my mouth, ere I sing in this God-forsaken land of tGe
     Zion was  w.rapped  in darkness in the prophetic?  SOnS  of,  the  devil                                                  .
                                                                                                 .                          .-_  -
vision of Isaiah.  X                                                                And with tears in their hearts, they look toward
     And small wonder  it was. Shi had more than d& 'Judah aad Jerusalem, so far away!
served to be wrapp&d in this mantle of `&rkness.                                  _ Bflt they see no deliverance.
     IScan the context, atid shudder.                .                             .  Hoti  could they expect deliverance, after such
     The measure of iniquity was  lindre  than.  full. The  great  apostacy7                                  *
nation that was.na.med  f6r Jehovah had p?ovbked Him                                Upon their  &wn unfaithfulness they can  `-expect   _
to His Face, in that they whored  afte? other gods, af-                         nothing but the just rewayd'of their deeds:
ter the gods of the nations that surrounded thep.                                   Oh, it. was sad in Babylon!
     And doing that, they had tuined their backs upon,;
the Fountain of Israel. These -two  things always go
together.                                                                                                   *  ,*  A  a~
     And then the prophets hai come with their heav- `.
enly injunction-: Where .are the fruit< of My yieeyard,                             But wonder of  tipnders,  in that. night of agony
saith -the Lord' of Hosts ? These .prophets had spdken,                         resounds the  prbphecy  of God:  X3mfort. ye, corn-
wept, pleaded, but all in -vain.                                                fol"t ye My people, saith your God!
     Worse than that, this perverse nation had mocked                               Notwitihstanding their grievous sins, they hear the
their prophets, derided their testimony,  persecubed  golden speech  of,  ,G'od': "Sing, 0  heavens';.and  be  joy-
th@ persons and had killed some of them. We have ful,  ,O earth; snd break forth into singing,- 0 moun-
heard the bitter weeping of Jeremiah and Micha.                                 tai&,: for the Lord hath comforted- l&s people, and
     Oli yes, this Israel had forsaken their God, the                           will have mercy upon His -afflicted."
#God who .alone was able to deliver . . . .                                         It  is the shaft of brilliant light of prophecy that
     And what followed? .  -I                                                   shines in the .darkness in Mesaijotamia.
     Well, what would  you  extieet?  You  canndt have                              #Lift up your heads, `0 Zion, and rejoice ye daugh-
success when yoti ,tizn your `back to the Lord. You                             ters of Jerusaleni : your *G6d `corn&h, and His arm .shall
must needs be plagued all the day long.'                                        && f,or Him. He is going to lead you like a flock ; He
     He called, and His servants came: the hated en- -`,&all gather the- latibs in His arti, arid carry them in


                                                                         I.:    "-:.r..`.. i  :
                                                                 ._                                  `.
      314  .-                                                 T23'E;:   ,s~;$ANI+RD   B E A R E R
                                                 . . . . . .                                 :..           -z    _
      ;:..-                                                    :-,".-
      dis bosom, and shall gently lead:-`thosk  that are- with Lynch him ! Destroy this dastardly wicked boy from
      young !                                       i  (`.                                                       off the face of the world! Then, if this cuiirit can es-
                    So, wipk aivay those tez%% ;' &no&                                                           cape the avenging mob, and sneak to the hovel  of
                                                                          YOU?  bead with
      the glad oil of rejoicing:  jr&r Shepherd  cometh to his mother, she will meet  him with outstretched arms,
                                                                                                           1.
      lead you back to  J&us&m!                                                                                  and fold him to her breast, and say: My son, oh, my
                    But no, Zion still w&ps. 43hi t&is  a deaf ear  t:,  sqn.!
      the miraculous speech ?f Go$ the un&pectecl\ the baf-                                                                  -          -    '  '
                                                                                                                       1011 yes, mothers do have pity on their son !-
      fling speech of. u~s$&kable  love. GpG's mercy on us?                                                                                                               '
      Oh  110,  how,  &n-txi  bk  1:              -.;;;;  ,.I  .`?.  `.  .I$:  i  .,~,                :  '             It is the sweetest picture in this sorry earth.
                                                                                                                       And God  bids His people to look upon that  pic-
               B&ides,  look ai the obj:e&ve facts: we are in Bab- ;ture                                                           .
     ylon, far fromthe holy land, far from the city of God                                                              *
      and our glorious House;where  our fathers served Him!
                    How, 0 prophet, can  you speak of comfort, of                                                                               rlr  *  * .a
      mercy when the -facts testify of `our forsakeness. ,011
      no, but God has f&gotten all about- us, and He has
      forsaken us! Those are the sober facts-.-~                                                                      But yet, it is possible that a mother be found who
                                                                                                                 would cast off her son, and utterly forsake him in his
                    And they continue to weep in Babylon.                                                        misery. It is not likely, it is not probable, but it is
                     . .                                                                                         possible. -
                                      *  *  *-*                                                                        And so God says: If they woulcl forget, yet will I
                                                                                                                 not forget thee!
                                                                                                                        Oh, dear reader, write those words on the posts
        .' Hoti uttierly  foolish of Zion to act this way!                                                       of your doors; let them be for frontlets between your
                    They have forgotten one ,thing : <God  changeth nev-                                         eyes;  teach them to your doubting  heart; inculcate
               1
      er . IGod is faithful from everlasting to everlasting,                                                     them to the generations following: those words are
      and with Him is no change, nor variableness, nor turn-                                                     sweeter than honey and the honey comb.              I spoke
      ing..  _                                                                                                   .earlier of. the miracle of the love of. ,Gocl.
                    J&er+ah testified of just  that.                     He came to the                                 You see, the love of `God `and the faithfulness of
      weeping children of Zion and said: The Lord Jehovah                                                        that God are unchangeable.
      hath appeared to r&e of .old, and I have listkned to His                                                         But why?
      speech. This is what He said unto me : I have-loved                                                              And then is this the answer: God's love is not silb-
      thee with an leverlasting  lptie : therefore with loving- _ ject to change because of reasons outsicle of Him.
      kindness. have I drawn thee !                                                                                    Ponder that statement.
                    But it was foolish to continue to weep in the face                                                 He takes. reasons within Himself to lovie US. His
      of such comfort.                      I                                   :                                goodpleasure, which is as old as God is, is the fountain
                    First, because it made their night still da&er.                                              of His iove toward us. And so  it is not subject to
                    Second, because they rbbbecl themsilves  of the on- Change,  even as oilr love and mercy.
      ly comfort in such straights.                                                                                    Today I lie on my knees before the object -of my
                    Third, because it was contrary to reality, the real- love, .and say : Thou art-my life, my joy, my all ! But
      ity of the love of God.                                                                                    tomorrow something happens, _ anything happens :
                    No, for Zion.there was no, cause to lament; no, not there are a thousand possibilities; and I arise to de-
      in the face of such wondrous prophecy.                                                                     test the erstwhile object of all my adoration,
                    And. therefore the Lord enjoins the people of .His                                                 But not so God.
      elective love to look about them : they have but.to  look                                                        No,. not `even the sin of Zion can change the love
     and they will see shadows, symbols of His own-fond                                                          o f   &God.
      l o v e .                                                                                                        `And how Zion had sinned. She knows it; she is
                    What generation' is without it; m&her and babe? full of r@tidrse,  and cannot hope that God will ever
      You find them in the lowest hogel and in the most folget.
      glorious palaces.                                                                                                But in the face of all that sin, the `Lord saith: tell
                    Did you `ever see a mother that would turn from                                              her that her iniquity is pardoned-!
      her darling babe?                                                                                                 (We live anrio Domini 1953, and I may ,add `sow :
                    Is ther,e a mother that would not- haGe inertly on                                           God will bear all our, shame and sin, our curse and
      h e r   s o n ?                                                                                            hell  ; till all is gone ! till heaven is  earhed on His
                    Ah, if  the  wholIe  world would say of. that  son: -cyoss !)

-                                                                                                                                                                                I


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            IGod has an image of His beloved Zion `in th-e Ij'alms                                                                                     Editor  - REV. HERMAN-H EKSEMA
                                                                                                                                 Communications relative to: contents should  be.  iddressed  to Rev. H.
  of His hands.                                                        . .                                                       Hoeksema,.  1139  Franklin St., S.E.  -Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
       _ So have we.                                                                                                             All  m&rs  relative  to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.  J:
            :Oh those pictures, those images of those we love!                                                                   Bouwman,  1350 Giddings Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids 6, Michigan.
                                                                                                                                 Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above address
            But here is the difference:  God has your photo-                                                                     and will be published at a fee of  $1.00   fo'r each notice.
  graph before you yourself appeared in history.                                                                                 RENEWALS:           Unless a definite  rec&st' for discontinuance is received,
            Before the world was made, He had your image in                                                                      it is  asiumed  that the subscriber wishes the subscription. to continue
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            And you may rest assured that the image' whikh                                                                           Entered   a  Second   Class   matter   ct  Grand   Rapids,   Michigan
  God has with Him from all eternity is beautiful. Y.ou
  are so beautiful in that image that ,God delights to
  look at you.                                                                                                                                                                                                          -.
            No, not as  you  appear  -now in history, for then                                                                                                               -=
. your image is so ugly that  you  yourself turn away
  from it, and cry: 0 my !God, who shall deliver me out
  of the body of this death !`?                                                                                            ,-o-o-11-(1-(1-,,-,,-,,-~,-~,-~,-~,-~,-,-,,-~,-~,-,,-,,-,,~-
            As we appear in history we are very ugly indeed.                                                                                                      C O N - T E N T S
            Be patient !
            IGod is at work.                          He -labors throughout all the MEDITATION-
                                                                                                                                     Jehovah's Faithfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          313
  ages to make you in history as.you are in His palms.                                                                                      Rev. G.  Vos
  Looking at the image of you in His heart, He fashions                                                                    EDITORIALS-
- and fashions  again. We call it sanctification.                                                                                    Our Visit  t0 Europe                  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
            And He will- continue to fashion you, in body and                                                                               Rev. H. Hoeksema
  soul, until you shall be just as lovely as He imagined                                                                   OUR   DOCTRINE-
  you in His own heart before the earth sank on her                                                                                  The Triple Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                  320
                                                                                                                                            Rev. H. Hoeksema
  foundation.                                                                                                              O
            Be still, my heart!                                                                                                 F   BOOKS---
                                                                                                                                     Why&s Bible Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                321
            (God thinkteth  on thee!                                                                                                 Dogmatic Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .' 321
                                                                                                                                            Rev. H. Hoeksema
            And that's enough !
            Amen.                                                                                                          THE  DAY  OF  SHADOWS-'
                                                                                                                                     Absalom Slain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     3 i l
                                                                                              CT. vos.                                      Rev. G. M.  Ophoff

                                                                                                                           FROM  HOLY  WRIT-
                                                                                                                                     Exposition of I Corinthians 15:20  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
                                                                                                                                         Rev. G. Lubbers
                                 ---  pJ                                                                                   IN  HIS  FEAR-
                                                                                                                                     My Brother's Keeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           326
                                                                                                                                            Rev. J. A. Heys

                                               I N   M E M O R I A M                                                       THE  VOICE  OF  OUR   FATHERS-
         T h e   Con&tory   o f   the  F i r s t   P r o t e s t a n t   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h   o f                         The Canons of Dordrecht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                 328
                                                                                                                                            Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
      G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   Mich,   h e r e b y   e x p r e s s e s   i t s   h e a r t f e l t   s y m p a t h y
  w i t h   o u r   b r o t h e r   Conqistory member, Elder F. Sytsma, in the                                             CONTENDING  .FOR  THE  FAITH-
  loss of his brother                                                                                                                Why Doctrines' Have A History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
                                                                                                                                            Rev. H.  Veldman
                                             M A R T I N   SY!j!SMA
w h o   p a s s e d   a w a y   F e b .   1 0 .           M a y   o d r   G o d   a b u n d a n t l y   cornfont           DECENCY  AND  ORDER-
  t h e   b e r e a v e d   b y   H i s   W o r d   a n d   S p i r i t   a n d   s & & t h e n   t h e m   i n                      Good Order And Our Churches .,....l................... 333
                                                                                                                                            Rev. G.  Vanden  Berg
  t h e   h o p e   o f   t h e   saint&
                                                                   T,he  Consistory,                                       ALL   AROUND   Us-
                                                                       Rev. C. Hanko, Pres.                                          The Antithesis And Common Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
 i                                                                                                                                          Rev. M.  Schipper
                                                                       G. H.  `Stadt, Clerk
      G&d   R a p i d s ,   M i c h i g a n                                                                                (-0-(1-11-1,-(,-~,-~,,-~-,,-"-,,-~,-,,-~,-~,-,,-~,-~,-~,-`,~


                                                     TifE  "$T.ANDAAR  BjQP;REii.

                                                                               gate especially a certain clause in the Basis of the
                                                                               Ecumenical Synod. The clause referred to reads as
       I E.D IJI' 0 R I A E S                                                  follows :'
                                                                                 It  has to. be emphasized that only a wholehearted and con-
                           Our  visit  ts  Lope  _                '            sistent return to this Scriptural truth of which the gospel of
                                                                               Jesus Christ is the ,core and apex, can ,bring salvation to man-
                                                                               kind and effectuate the so sorely needed renewal of the world.
              Our last Synod-decided to send delegates in the cap-                 I may add here that the entire Basis for the Re-
      acity of visitors to the Ref,ormed -Ecumenical Synod                     formed Ecumenical Synod reads as follows:
      that meets this year. in Edinburgh, Scotland. The
      meetings are scheduled for August 4 to 13. At the                          The foundation for the Ecumenical Synod of Reformed
      same time our Synod instructed the delegates also to                     Churches shall be the Holy Scriptures  of_ the Old  *and New
      get in contact with the committees of correspondence                     Testament as interpreted by the confessions of the Reformed
      .with f,oreign churches in the Nethe,rlands. They have faith, namely, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Heidelberg
                                                                               Catechism, the Gallican Confession; the Belgic Confession, the
      to contact the committees of the Reform,ed  Churches,                    First Scotch Confession, the Second Scotch Confession, the
      ,of the Reformed ~Churches `(Art. 31), and of the (Chris-                Westminster Confession, the Canons of Dordt, the Thirty-
      tian Reformed Churches .in the. Netherlands.                             nine Articles.- It should be understood, that these Scriptures,
              At the last meeting of  Classis West, however, it                in their entirety,  .as well  as in every part thereof, are the in-
      was decided to protest against this decision, and to                     fallible and ever abiding Word of  t.he living Triune God, ab-
                                                                               solutely authoritative in all matters of creed and conduct, and
      instruct Synod to cancel the whole matter.                               that the Confessions of the Reformed faith are accepted be-.
              The  Stn?nckrd Bearrer  advises Synod not to heed                cause they present the divine, revealed truth, the forsaking of
      t h i s   p r o t e s t .                                                which has caused the deplorable decline of modern life. It
              Let me briefly review `the history of .this matter.              has to be emphasized that only a wholehearted and consistent
                                                                               return to this Scriptural truth of which the' gospel of Jesus
         In 1950 our Synod received the following invita- Christ is the core and the apex,  can bring salvation to man-
      tion from the Reformed Ecumenical Synod:                                 kind and effectuate the so sorely needed renewal of the world.
        ,On behalf of The Reformed Ecumenical Synod, in session at               Because of the diversity in the forms of government of the
      Amsterdam from  9-19  August 1949, the officers of this Synod            Reformed Churches, uniformity of church polity cannot be
      have the honor to invite The Protestant Reformed Church to               stressed as a fundamental  ~requisite, except in so far as the  _
      participate in the next Reformed  Ecumenical  Synod, which,              prin.ciples of this polity are contained in the Reformed Con-
      the Lord wi.lling,  is to meet in August 1953 in Edinburgh. Re-          fessions, as for example the headship  of Christ and the marks
                                                                               of the true church: the pure preaching of the gospel, the
      ceiving church will be The .Free  Church of Scotland.                    Scriptural administration of the  sa.craments and the faith-
        The officers include a copy of the basis for proposed Reformed
      6cumenical  Synod, as it has been set up  iby the Reformed Ec-           ful exercise of discipline.
      umenical Synod of Amsterdam; and express their confidence                    In 1951 our ,Conimitte of Correspondence addres-
      that the Protestant Reformed  IChurch  will- agree with this             sed the following letter to Dr. P. G. Kunst:
      basis, and may be willing to participate in the Reformed Ec-
      umenical Synod of Edinburgh upon it. She is requested to                 Dear Dr. .unst:
      appoint three delegates to this Synod, who are expected to                 Last year our Prot. Reformed  IChurches  received a  commun-
      agree personally with the Reformed Confession of `faith and              i,cation  from you which was an invitation  t.o  participate  in
      with We basis mentioned above.                                           the next Reformed Ecumenical Synod  whioh,  D.V., is to  mee$
        The officers kindly request a favourable reply at the earli-           in August, 1953 in Edinburgh.
      est possible date, and if suitable, likewise the names of the              In behalf of our Committee of Correspondence with For-
.     .appointed  delegates, at the address of the second  clerk,  Dr.         eign Churches I have the honor to reply to said communication;
      .P. G. Kunst, Victorieplein,  31a Amsterdam-Z.                           -Our Synod of 1950 did not make a definite decision with re-
      Committing the Protestant Reformed Church to the guidance                spect to this matter. However, it was  decide.d  to ask for a
      of the Holy Spirit, ana  praying for the Lord's particular bless-        little more light and information about the Reformed Ecumen-
      ing,                                                                     ical Synod. We do not know just exactly what participation
                                    The officers of the Reformed Ecumenical    in such a meeting would imply, and what commitments we
                                   Synod of  Amst.erdam,                       would make if we should decide in favor of .participr.tion.    And
                                       (w.s.) G. Ch.  Aalders,  Chairman       whereas tour  Synod meets annually it was felt that a final de-
                                              P. G. Kunst, Second Clerk        cision with respect to the invitation could wait a year.
                                                                                 I will now quote from the minutes  of. the "Acts of Synod
         ,, At the Synod of 1950 it was decided to table the                   1950" the following decisions:
      matter of participation in the Ecumenical Synod un-                        Art. 91 "A substitute motion is -made to table the matter.
      til Synod of 1951, and that in the-meantime the Com-                     of participation in the Ecumenical Synod until the Synod of
     mitte of Correspondence with Foreign Churches be                          1951, and that in the  meamime  the Committee of Correspon-
      charged to investigate the matter ~lllore thoroughly                     dence with Foreign.  ,Churches  be charged to investigate the
                                                                               matter more`thoroughly and to report at the next Synod."
      and to report at the next Synod.                                           Art. 92 "An amendment is made to  a.dd to'the  mot.ion  these
         . The Committe of Correspondence was to investi-                      words: especially the objectionable clause in the basis.  .(This
                                                                                                                                  ~-


                                           T H E   `STAN-DARD- `- B E A R E R '                                                       317

objectionable clause refers to the following  senten,ce  from the     raised. already in our  synodical gathering), or if the organiza-
Basis of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod: `It has to be empha-          tion at our request shou1.d withdraw said statement.
sized, that only a wholehearted and consistent return to this              The following grounds were offered for the pro-
Scriptural truth of which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the
core and  (the apex, can bring salvation to mankind and effec-        posal of the Committee of Correspondence :
tuate the so sorely needed renewal of the  wor.ld.`)                    1. We have  ,an invitation to attend. Unless. there be prin-
  "This amendment carries.                                            cipal and weighty reasons why we- should not even attend as
  "The  substitute motion, together with the amendment, car-          visitors, and report to Synod of 1954, D.V., we  #should   aocept
ries."                                                                the invitation.
  I think from the above quoted articles it becomes  quite              2. We should be willing to fulfill our calling to witness of
plain what our Synod had in mind. We would greatly apprec-            the truth wherever the Lord calls.
iate hearing from you at `your earliest convenience  so that            3. We do not bind ourselves to anything by attending the
our next Synod, which meets the first part of June,  -may  be' sessions of the Ecumenical `Synod as official visitors from our
able to make a final decision with `respebt  to the invitation.       churches.
  With Christian greetings in the name of the Committee of              4. It will be a healthful experience to rub elbow*s  with others
lCorrespondence  with Foreign Churches,                               of the Reformed persuasion.
                            (w.s.) John D. De Jong, Clerk.              5. Alrea,dy  :
                                                                        `a. `We agreed to do preliminary work for the International
    To this we received the following reply, which I Reformed Mission Council.
will translate for the convenience of our readers:                     b. We agreed to cooperate with other Reformed churches in
Dear Rev. De Jong :                                                   the revision of the Church  Order.
                                                                      c. We seek correspondence with the Reformed Churches of
  Hereby I wish to thank you kindly for your communication ' the Netherlands.
of Maroh  9 in the name of the Protestant Reformed Churches,
regarding the Reformed Ecumenical Synod, which the Lord wil-               Then, in the Acts of Synod, 1952, Art. 152, we
ling, will be held in August  $1953  in Edinburgh.                    read :
  In answer to your letter I inform you that the condition               A motion is made and supported to adopt the advice of  ,the
for participation in this Synod is the acceptance of the bas-         Committee `of Correspondence to  .attend the next meeting of
is. The decisions which will be taken by this Synod will be           the Reformed  ,Ecumenical  Synod upon the grounds advanced
binding for the participating churches when and in so far as          by the `committee. This motion is carried.
these adopt them.
  IIn regard to what you remark about the Acts of Synod of                 And in Art. 153 of the same Acts the following is
your churches held in 1950, I would remark the following. In          added  :
our opinion it is certainly not the idea that the gospel will            A motion is made and supported that those who attend shall
bring  salva.tion  to mankind in general: in the gospel lies the      present to the Reformed Ecumenical Synod:
way to salvation, and therein alone (Acts  4:12)   .but `this does       1. Our thanks, for their invitation.
not mean, that all will accept this gospel, only those who  ar,e         2. lOur appreciation for their concern for the Reformed truth.
chosen by  IGod and regenerated by the Holy Spirit..                     3. Questions concerning their basis and the implications of
  I would appreciate further information from you after the           the idea of their Ecumenical Synod.
Synod of your churches has met.                                          4. Kindly request from them an answer for our next Synod.
                        With' kindly regards,                            This motion is carried.
                              (w.s.) Dr.  P:G. Kunst                        Now to complete this bit of history, wle must re-
    IOur Synod of 1951 once more considered this mat-                 member that we also had an invitation to participate
ter. Regarding this we read in the Acts of the Synod                  in the International Reformed Mission Council, that
of -1951, Art. 180:                                                   was also to meet at Edinburgh, simultaneously with
  Motion made and supported that we send delegates to the             the Reformed_Ecumenical  Synod. Befor.e this we had
1953 Reformed Ecumenical Synod.                                       had an invitati.on  to cooperate with the preparation.of
  A substitute motion is made that we refer this matter back such a council, and that invitation we had accepted.
to the Committee of Correspondence in order that they may             ,And now we received an invitation to participate in
give us a well-motivated advice on this matter at the next syn-
od. This substitute motion carries.                                   the council itself. The Committee of Correspondence
                                                                      also advised to act favorably on this invitation,. and
   At our last Synod, 1952, the Committee of:Corres-                  that too, on the following grounds :
pondence advised Synod as follows:                                       1. We are invited to attend, and such attendance involves
Esteemed and Worthy Brethren:                                         no obligation to join the proposed  I.R.MC.
  In re the question whether as churches we should accept the            2. We already decided at our Synod of 1951 to cooperate in
invit,afion  to attend Ecumenical Synod of the Reformed Church-       .doing preliminary work for the proposed  I.R.M..C.
es to be held in August 1953 at Edinburgh, your committee for            3. One of the purposes of the proposed I.R.MX. is the study
correspondence comes with the following advice:                       and dissemination of the Reformed mission principles. Your
  1. That we attend this Ecumenical Synod as visitors.                committee feels, not only that it  .is our God-assigned calling
  2. To become members of the organization provided we `are           to witness and participate. in the discussion about those prin-
allowed to make exception to the statement in the basis for ciples, but that we cannot but benefit by participating in such
the Reformed Ecumenical Synod (to which objection has been            d i s c u s s i o n s .   '                                :


318                                         T H E   - S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                 -y------                                                                                         - -
  4.  The proposed  I.R.M.,C.  may assist  c+r churches in `find-                       because our questions can  ,zis well be  an,swered  by letter we
ing a mission field of our own.                                                         are also of the  .o@inion   trhat the $3000.00 or more involved is
       The Synod of 1952 decic$ed to adopt the advice of hardly warranted, though we would not necessarily conside? it
                                                                                        a. useless expenditure `in every way.
the Committee of Correspondence with the' grounds
given. See Acts of Synod, Art. 155.                            .w                           `On the basis of the foregoing the Committee ad-
       Moreover, Synod also dlecidecl:                    "                             vised that Oskaloosa's protest be sent on to Synod as
                                                                                        requested, together with the an&er of Classis as ad-
  That the visitors to be chosen to attend the Reformed.  Ec-
mnenical  Synod shall also  see& contact and confer with the                            vised above. Moreover, the Committee advised that
representatives of the Gereformeerde Kerken in  the Nether-                               We as  IClassis  join Oskaloosa in asking Synod to  recall  its
lands (both  Synodical  and Ant.  31), and  the  Ch$stelijke   Ge-                      decision to send delegates as visitors to the Ecumenical Synod,
reformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands.              ,.               ...  ,.            and that we ask Synod to appoint a committee to study the
       All this Classis West proposes to Synod that it ,shall                           entire matter of ecumenicity in  the light of Scripture and the
& rescind'ed,  &hat no delegates be sent as &itors to                                   Confessions, and that Synod send a letter to the  Ecum&cal
the Ecumenical Reformed Synod, nor that a delegate                                      Synod convening in Edinburgh expressing the four things
                                                                                        with which the Synod of 1952 chtirged  the delegate visitors.
be sent to the International Reformed Mission ~C.ouri&l,
nor that the three delegates appointed to be visitors                                      Virtually the same stand was taken by the com-
to the Ecuinenical Synod- shall yisit the. Netherlands                                  mittee and also by Classis West itirregard to the pr,o-
to seek contact with the Reformed Churches there.                                       tests  .of  Sioux  #Center  and Redlands. From the  ad-
       There were before Classis West three protests on +ce of the committee appointed in re the' pyoteet  of
this matter, namely, the protest of Sioux Centey, the @ioux  Ctenter  we quote the following:
protest of Redlands; and the protest of Oskaloosa.                                        That cancellation of the projected visit  an,d study of the
       This matter, as also all the other matters presented                             entire matter of  ecumeni,city  before we go on as Synod any
to  Classis West, was given into the hands of a corn- further is indeed "the better way" in view of the fact
mittee.                                                                                 that our delegates would only  .be visitors and as such
                                                                                        (have no invitation to attend nor to  ta,ke part in any of the
       In regard to the protest of Oska@osa, the following                              deliberations of that body niet in  Edinb&gh,   and in view of
advice was given. by the committee and adopted by                                       the fact that there is good reason to investigate the entire
Classis  W,est':  (quote! in part).                                                     hatter  of ecumenicity before we proceed.
  1. Our Committee feels that it is true what Oskaloosa  im-                                And from the committee's advice in re the protest
`plies   that  there ought to be weighty reasons for a thing, es-                       of Redlands we quote the following:
pecially a matter of this nature as the Ecumenic$ I$eformed
Synod, the more so since the invitation  .was  not at all to at-                          11 That though !h: "unrest" in ou; churches complicates any
tend as visitors but  .as full-fledged participants.                                    work our  churches  may do, especially toward the outside, we
  2. Also in regard to grounds 2 and 3  (w,hat  is meant is the                         do not admit that this is a sufficient ground to cancel the pro-
grounds proposed by the Committee of  Corregpondence  in fa-                            jected visit.
vor  ~of participating as visitors in the  Ecumenical.,Synod,  for                        2.  "Iyhat  since our  ,delegates  would go only in the  capacity
which  s&e above,  H.H.), it. should be borne in  min,d that we                         of visitors and the question regarding the advisibilty of affil-
were not asked to visit but  ,t,o participate, hence though we                          iation must be determined before we can go as participants,
ought indeed always to be ready to witness where God calls                              we  ,do feel that  %his visit, ehtailing so much expense, can as
us it is still a question whether God calls us to participate in                        well. be cancelled.
such a Synod, and  beside.s  it is questionable to say the least                            Moreover, in this connection the committee also  ad-
whethei  in the capacity of visitors we would be  ac,corded  any
opportunity to witness.                                                                 vistd the following :
  3. In regard to ground 4 (again w,hat is meant is the grounds                           4..That in regard to the attendance of the International
proposed  ,by the Committee of Correspondence, see  above;H.H.),                        #Council  of Missions (tha.t  should be: the InternationalReformed
it is true that rubbing elbows is a healthful experience though                         Mission  Council, H.H.) by one of the delegates, we express that
we can hardly call this a  jnstifiable,reason  for a trip of three                      this-,al.so   be cancelled  iF the other is cancelled. Grounds: The
men to  ,Scotland, and that in the capacity of visitors.                                Ecumenical Synod was the  matte'r of  &hief interest, and this
  4. In regard to ground 5-We feel  that the things mentioned                           s e c o n d a r y .
here also fail to furnish a  well-motiv?ted  and well  grounded
basis for sending these me? as visitors to the.Ecumenical-Syn-                              Although the reports that- I have do not mention
od.                                                       1.::                  "`T,    this, I am nevertheless quite certain that ,Classis West
       Another ground which the colfimittee -also adopts                                also cancell&l  the visit of the thaee delegates to the
from the .proteq& of, `Oskaloosa is that cqncerning  the                                Netherlands to seek contact with the Reformed chur-
expense irivollved, .It is as follows:                                                  ches therel.
  -As  to' the  ,objetitiBn>-of  the expense involved, our .Committee                       This whole advice was adopted by  ,Clz&sis West
Ibelieves-that-  since-  our-,mdn  -would be going as visitors and                      and sent on to Synod.
not as `participants,  &hat  ithas not yet been determined whether                        IThe very fact that one of the grounds concerns the spend-
we ought to take part in the Reformed Ecumenical Synod, and                             ing of three thousand dollars implies this.


                                    tfH%   ,$jiAA&$Aj,  BEARER                                                  319

   Once more I say that the Standard. Bearer advises        selves to anything by attending the sessions of the
Synod not to adoit this advice of Classis West. And         Reformed Ecumenical Synod.
for this the Standard  Beazer  has the  f,ollowing             5. It is argued that since we do not intend to
grounds :                                                   participate as ,official delegates to the Ecumenical Sy-
   1. The talk about the expense involved is worse          nod, it is no use to attend, for we will have no op-
than ridiculous.      The committee and  `Classis West portunity to speak and to participate in the delibera-
themselves evidlently felt this,. because they express      tions. This I deny. In the first place, I am positive
themselves very cautiously` by saying: "We are also         that we will have the opportunity to present our ob-
of .the opinion that the $3000.00 ,or mo,re involved is     jections against the Basis of the Reformed Ecumenical
hardly warranted." Strictly speaking, therefore, they Synod and to argue our objections. But in the second
say that it is warranted. Have we become so small,          place, although I cannot guarantee this, I am quite
and I mean mentally and spiritually small, that we are positive that the delegates to that Ecumenical Synod
of the opinion that $3000 is too much to seek contact       that appear as visitors will be given an advisory vote.
with other Bef,ormed groups, while we spend as much I am rather sure that this has been done before. And
and mor'e for the suppo.rt of a single one of our nleedy    besides, I am perfectly positive that the brethren con-
churches? This ground, I am sure, the Synod will            vened at that Synod are courteous. And I would con-
never adopt as its own.                                     sider it a matter of courtesy- to give to the visitors
   2. If Synod should adopt this advice of  Classis         advisory vote.
West, it would mean that we forever slam the door in           6. IClassis West would make our churches a laugh-
the face ,of ,any contacts with other Reformed groups.      ing stock to all the Reformed churches. Consider that
This does not only refer to future participation in the     already a good deal of preliminary work has been done
Ecumenical Synod, but also to participation in the to prepare for this visit of the delegates of our chur-
International Reformed Mission Council, if at  lieast       ches to Scotland and to the Netherlands. I had cor-
it should meet,-which, by the way, is still a question,     respondence with the calling church of Scotland. They
-as well as to contact with the Reformed Churches           expect us, are preparing to receive us, and already
in the Netherlands, Synodicals, `Liberated, and' Chris-     placed  LIS  officially on the agenda of the Reformed
tian Ref,ormed.  `Remember that we have an invitation       Ecumenical Synod. Moseover, the Rev. Vos, who ex-
to attend. It is only a matter of courtesy to follow up     pects to go in my stead as my alternate, has tried to
.thjs invitation as far as possible, unless. we can pro-    contact the various committees of the d.ifferent Re-
,duce grounds upon which it is impossible for us to         formed churches in the Netherlands. And I happen
attend.      Hence, we should be courteous enough to ac-    to know that,he  received a very courteous and friend-
cept the invitation. We should not forget that it is        ly letter from Dr. Aalders. That brother, immediately
only a comparatively, short time ago that we were           upon receiving the letter of the Rev. Vos, ,contacted
still considered un-Reformed on th,e basis of the fact the other members of the- committee of correspondence
that the IChristian Reformed Churches in 1924 had           of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, arrang-
cast us -out. This invitation to attend the Reformed led a  ve#ry definite meeting for September 11 at 10
Ecumenical Synod, as also the invitation which we re-       o'clock in Baarn, and informed the Rev. Vos to that
ceived to cooperate with other Reformed chu.rches in        effect. Moreover, the same brother upon my request
the revision of the IChurch  order, shows plainly that      sent material which I desired to have relating to their
by this time we are considered Reformed. And we             decision in regard to the unconditional promise. Also
should not insult the other churches by refusing to         this material he was very prompt to send. Within
accept their invitation tq,,attend  the Ecumenical Re-      ten days from the date of the letter sent by the Rfev. "
formed Synod.              ,`I _                            Vos we received a package by airmail on which was
   3.  Classis West argues that we can just as well         33 guilders postage. All this shows to my mind that
send a 1ette.r. Now, in the first place, a letter is a very ,the Reformed  IChurches  of the Netherlands are  cer-
poor substitute for personal presence. -. If we really tainly .willing to seek contact with us. We asked for
are interested to find out whether or not it is possible    it. We decided to send delegates at our Synod of 1952.
for us to participate  in the Reformed Ecumenical We let the brethren across the -ocean know that we
Synod,: we certainly should present our objections in       were coming. And shall we now, in 1953, simply re-
person, and.argue them, and report our findings to..the     verse all this without any valid ground or reason, and
Synod  .of 1954.                                            let them know that we are not coming? I would say
   4. That we decided to attend as  vkitors  is cer-        again: we would make ourselves a laughing-stock to
tainly not a ground against the decision- of 1952, but all the Reformed churches.
:in-iavor of it. Forthis means that we do'not bind our-      Besides, do not forget that other preparations have


       3.20                                          p_R.E'  ST'ANDAj$f:  BEARER

      been mad: Reservations have:been  made on the boat blood of Zacharias son of  BaraChias, whom ye slew
      to the Netherlands. S&haps  by the time the Synod                    between the temple and the altar." Not upon the
      meets the tickets have been issued and paid for. Ar-                 righteous, ,but upon the generations of the wicked God
      rangements have been made for passports and vac- visits the sins of their fathers.
0                                                                                                           As Ursinus also writes
      cinations, and shall the Synod now make fools of the -in his commentary on the Heidelberg  ICatechism:
      delegates they themselves appointed.? :                              "Hence, ,God threatens that he will punish the sins of
             I have more confidence in our Synod than to fear the fathers in their children, meaning those who per-
     that they will commit such a blunders                                 severe in the sins of their fathers, whom it is just
               .                                    .,
                                              _           ._...    H.H.    and proper should be made partakers of their pun-
                            -:--:L                        .i-              ishment."
                                                                              This holy jealousy ,of God, according to which He
      .~I,HIHlll,iO-L,~,-~,-,,-,,-,-,,-,,-,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,-,,-~-,.~         visits the iniquity of the  f.athers upon the children
      1  OUR'l)OCTRI.NE   f
      7                                                                    even unto the third and fourth generation, is plain-
      .:~-11,~`-`,~,~,,~,,~,,~,,~~,~,,~~,~,,~~,~,,~,,~~,~"~,~~,~~~         ly  reve,aled  ,as far as the heathen are concerned in
      .                                                                    Rom. 1:18ff. In this passage we are told, first of all
                    ~HETRIPLEKNOWLEDGE                                     that the wrath of IGod, which is but one aspect of His
                                                                           holy jealousy, is revealed fr,om heaven against all un-
           AN  EXPCASITION   OF  THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM               godliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
                     PART  III  -  OF  THANKFULNESS                        truth in unrighteousness. ,God's  wrath is the reaction
                                                                           of His holiness, operative and manifest in punitive
                           LORD'S  DAY  35                                 justice. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him.
                                                                           The .only attitude He can possibly assume over against
                    4. God is a Jealous  `God (cont.)                      all darkness is thfat He reacts upon it in wrath and ter-
            Nor is this. the .meaning of the motivation in the             rible anger. He is a consuming fire.  .'  %od's wrath,
      second commandment. `Surely God visits the sins of                   therefore, is constant and unchangeablle as His very
      the fathers upon the children in the third generation.               Being. In man's life wrath may reveal itself in flash-
      But do not forget that the clause -is added, "of those               es of anger. It is spasmodic ,and changeable. Man's
      that hate me." Fact is, of course, that the genera-                  wrath subsides frequently in proportion to the fierce-
     tions of those that hate #God are the reprobate, to whom              ness with which it burns. Not so with the wrath of
      ,God does not reveal His saving mercy. In those gen- the' M.ost High. In Him it is constant. It burns as
      erations the children commit the same sins as their  fa-             long as unrighteousness and sin *exist. This wrath of
     thers. If these commit the folly of making graven /God, according to verse 18, is revealed from heaven.
     `-images and bowing before them to .worship them, if `The apostle does not refer to any special revelation by
     `they commit the rebellion of refusing to hear the -Word              which God declared `to man that He was filled with
      of IGod and to heed His.revelation concerning Him&lY; `wrath over His unrighteousness. But he is thinking
      their sin will continue in the line of generations; &id              of something that takes place in the world in this
      their children will commit the same folly. If  inthese               present time, through which it `is plainly evident that
      generations there should occur an exception, as  is'men-             the wrath of God burns over all ungodliness of men.
      tioned in Ezekiel 18 :14, an elect among thk~feprobate,              And the fact to which the apostle refers is that ac-
     .`as a brand plucked out of the fire, God -will surely                cording to the punitive judgments of  ;God sin pro-
      not visit  th,e sins of his father  ,dpon him, but will              duces sin in the generations of the.ungodly.    Unright-
      show him the everlasting mercy of His `covenant. But                 eousness gives birth to deeper folly and degradation.
      this is usually an exception. As a general rule the                  Darkness' bears deeper" corruption, and finally death.
      sins .of the fathers continue in the line of generations.            .In the history  of, the sinful race, and in the moral
      They develop organically, and increase more and more,                and spiritual condition of th;e then existing world it
      mltil final' destruction is the end. This is the meaning `was. very.`plainly evident: that the wrath of God has
      `of the dreadful curse the Lord Himself  .pronounces                 been operative .from heaven upon all ungodliness and
      upon the generation of Israel of His day`: "Where-                   unrighteousness of men.       Sinful man deliberately
      fore, behold, I s'end unto you prophets, and `wise men,              holds the truth in unrighteousness. Sin, unrighteous-
      and scribes : and some of them ye. shall' kill and cru- .ness, is not a matter of ignorance, no more than know-
      .cify ; and some of, them ye shall scourge in your syn-              1,edge  is virtue. For God manifests the truth concern-
     agogues, and persecute them from city .to city : That                 ing Himself round about -in the works of His hands :
      upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon                  `"Because that' which may: be known .of (God is mani-a
                                     .
      `the earth,`from the -blood of rrgh'teod$  AbeI'mito%he              fest .i.n them ; for .God hath showed' it un*to them. For


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAREk                                                321
                                    -    -                    J"                                                                -
the `invisible things of him from the creation- of the .~~,--,-,,-,,-`,-`,-`,-~,-`,-`,~~l-l,-,-,--,-,-,--,,:.
world are clearly seen, being understood by-the things
that are made, even his eternal power and' godhead ;                      1 THE DAY OF SHADOWS 1
so that they are without excuse."                           - H . H .     6,-(U,-l-l-l-l-`-`-,-,,~~,-,,-,,-,-,-~-`-`-~-,-~~.
                                                                                             Absalom                   Skn
                  .`OF  BOOKS                                                              II Samuel 18  :19-23  '
WHYTES  [BIBLE  CNHARACTERS,  by Alexander Whyte,  2
  volumes. -Reprint by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand                     So had the Lord destroyed the opposition and de-
  Rapids, Michigan. Price $12.50.                                         livered His servant. The danger of his perishing by
  We become more and more indebted to the Zondervan Pub-                  the sword of his enemies had thus been removed. How-,
lishing House for publishing worthwhile Christian literature,             ever, there is yet another aspect of the salvation that
and especially for reprinting iome  works of Reformed authors             was sent him that must not be overlooked. In the
of the not too distant past.
  Whyte's   Bible  Characters  is  -one  of these works.  *In it Dr.      words of Ahimaaz, the priest (18 :19), the Lord had
Whyte discusses many characters mentioned in Holy Writ in a               judged him from the hcinds of his enemies. This is a
very interesting and often original manner. The style is clear            side to the gracious working of God in behalf of His
and the work is easily accessible to the understanding .of the            servant that must be seen.
general reader. I would recommend it also for study to our                   As was explained, looking at his past gross sins,
societies which often make the characters of the Bible a spec-
ial subject of their discussion.                                          the enemies concluded that David was the vilest' of
  Two remarks.      1. Dr. Whyte treats the persons mentioned             men, an accursed one, whose portion was with the
in the Bible .as separate characters rather than as organs .and           damned. And as was shown with the Scriptures, all
instruments of revelation. This should-be borne in mind, espec-           his confessions of sin and tears of contrition could
ially when the work is used as  .an aid for Bible study in our            not make them to change their minds about him. All
societies. 2. I always have a great sympathy for Jonah, and
is, perhaps, that reason why I do not .like Whyte's description           it proved to them was that he was a consummate hypo-
of him and his comparison of him to the elder son in the                  crite. For they wanted him wicked.
parable.                                                                     But his enemies could not stop here. If he was
DOGMATLC  THEOLOGY, by William G. T.  Shed.di  Reprint                    that kind of man, he must still be walking in all man-
  by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich. 3 ~01s.              ner of wickedness in secret; behind the closed doors
  Price for the set $14.85.                                               of his palace. That this was the view they took of
TFhis  is another worthwhile reprint. And although I do not               him is again  plain from his Psalms. "I was a re-
.agree with. all of the contents of this work of Dogmatics, I             l;roaeh," he was accustomed to complain, "among all
nevertheless recommend it to the serious and critical study of            mine enemies, but especially among mine friends, and
our ministers and students.  Infact, Dr. Shedd writes such a              a fear to my asquaintance ; they that did see rnae tiith-
lucid  an,d pleasant style, that I could recommend the work to            out fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out
a wider circle of readers than that of theologians.                       of mind : I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard
  As to the contents, the following: Dr. Shedd begins with
an introduction, in -which he treats the. prolegomena: method,            the slander of many: fear was on every side: while
division, definition, and treatise on revelation and the Holy             they too counsel together against me, they devised -to
Scriptures. Then follow the different  aoci of. dogmatics, five           take my life" (Ps. 31  :ll-13). "False witnesses did
instead of six, the doctrine of the Church not being given a              rise LIP ; they laid to my charge things that I knew not
separate place, and "means of grace" being treated under Sot-             . . . in mine" adversity they rejoiced,. and gathered
teriology. The third volume is a supplement, in which Dr.
Shedd discusses different elements or phases of the various               themselves together: yea the abjects  gathered them-
loci previously discussed' together with several quotations from          selves together against me, and I knew it not; they
theologians of the past.                                                  did tear me and ceased not : with hypocritical mockers
  It is, of course, impossible, in  Ia brief review such as this,         in the feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth"
to evaluate properly a dogmatic work of this scope. In gen-               (Ps. 35:11, 15, 16). "Mine enemies speak evil of me,
eral, I may say  that Dr. Shedd is a  Calvinistic  theologian of          tihen shall he die and his name perish? And if he (the
the strong  infra  type. As such he reveals himself through-
&t the `work.     W.hen  I say that the work must be studied              enemy) come to see me (came to see David in his dis-
crit.ically,  I have reference, especially, to t.he rather strong em-.    tress), he speaketh vanity (his expressions of  SW-
phasis the author lays on "common grace." In fact, we find                pathy were.mockery) : his heart gather&h  iniquity to
here,  principjally,  the errors of the "Three Points."' It is, to        itself (the enemy perverted his words into evil) ; when
my mind, also a weakness of the work that it gives no, separate           he goeth out of (my) house, he telleth it. All that
place to the doctrine  -of the church, and treats the means of
grace under Soteriology.                                                  hate me whisper together against me: against me do
  Hence, I say: heartily recommended for critical study.                  they devise hurt" (Ps.  41:5-V.
                                                            - H . H .     ^ `But in answer to his cry the Lord took the side of


 322.                     _.               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                - - - -
His  <reviled, persecuted and slandered servant. The          tinto the Lord: and all the  kindreds  of the nations
defeat of Absalom shamed his enemies and silenced             shall worship before thee.
them. It put them in the wrong. and David in the                 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the gov-
right. It declared'as  well as words could that he was        ernor among the nations.
righteous in <Christ, and thus holy and blameless be-            All they that be fat upon the earth ihall worship:
fore <God in love, that his penitence was genuine, that       all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him :
God delighted in him accordingly, would iaise him up          and none shall keep his soul alive.             . _
f?oni the dust of death unto which He had brought                A seed shall serve him ; it shall be accounted to the
him, wo.uld  reBtore him to his throne,' so that it would     Lord for a generation.
again be given him to behold the beauties of the Lord             They shall come, and shall declare his righteous-
,in His holy temple as king ih Zion.                          ness  .unto a people that ihall be born, that he hath
    So had the Z&d judged His &&ant indeed, openly            done-this. -. _.              0
pronounced  .him just in the audience of angels, men,
and devils, and judged him, mark you well,from the
hard of his enemies.' This has. r.efePence  to their de-
struction by which gracious, working the Lord mani-               The tidings of the defeat of thk adversary had now
fested that he was just and his enemies guilty and            to be*reported  to David. Ahimaaz the son of the high
condemned before Him, in His court, and .accordting           priest Zadok .insisted that Joab authorize hiin `to do
to His unerring judgment and Verdi&.                          the reporting. We remember this warrior-priest. In
    As'has  already been shown with the Scriptures,           cooperation with the two highpriest and Jonathan the
these events and experienoes in the 1X@ of David, king        son of Abiathar be had kept even at the risk of his
in. Zion, were predictive as shadows of things to come.       life the fleeing king informed as to the progress of the
In their, totality they may. be likened to a glass            revolution in Jerusalem.      For he  -was a good man.
through which we see, darkly, the realities of, the -Gas-     It seems. that with heart and soul he was devoted to
pel. We see Christ suffering and dying for the sins           David and the cause of ,God that he jr&presented. But
of His pkople outside the gate of the holy city, over- he was ha,& and impulsive and inclined to be unreal-
coming by the travail of His soul all their f,qes-sin,        istic `in his thinking. Nor as we. shall see was his
satan, hell, death and the-- grave-and consecrating courage always equal to his zeal. . The last time we
thereby a new and living way to, the sanctuary atid           met him on the pages of Holy Writ he was with David
the Father, raised from the dead qnd exalted. at the          in the plains of-the wilderness, whither he had hasten-
Father's right hand in the highest heavens, and His           ed to tell the king how Ahithophel  had advised, and to
reviled and persecut*ed  people, set in heavenly pl&ces       urge him to cross the Jordan  wit& his people that
with  him, at His second. coming raised up by Him             same night. Instead of returning to.Jerusalem,  he had
from  t&e dead  vnto life everlasting, and by the  de-        followed the king across the river to Mahanaim.
s&&ion of the adversary and final passing away of             Thence he had gone with David's people to the battle,
&his world op&!y justified in the ears of angels, ,devils     stayed with them when they recrossed the Jordan in
al:d  m e n .   I  ,I
          .        :.j                                        pursuit of  Absaloti's fleeing forces, as  $11  tfi6  .wh&
    That David himself :as enlightened by the Spirit          keeping close, to Joab, it inust be.
of prophecy had understanding of this is plain from              Here we find him imploring Joab for permission
the final  tie&i& of his Psalm (22 :25-31). Having to report to the king. He loved .David and wanted so
&ed to the Lord to `save him from the dogs that had           badly to be t& one to gladden his- heart with the good
encompassed him, and from the assembly of the wick-           news that the Lord in His mercy had delivered him out
ed by which he was enclosed  (per.  16),  and  having of the hand of his enemies. The .king.would  be over-
Tioieed  his firm conviction that the Lord would heark-       joyed. He would be certain to respond to sue& tidings
ea  unt,o his cry and send deliverance  .(ver.  24), he       with  _a song of praise instantly. So Ahimaaz must
concluded his prayer with a prophecy. to which he             have'  imagilied. What  .he seemed to be overlooking
prefixed a short hymn of praise:                              is that the opposition destroyed included also Absa-
                                                              lam, David's own flesh, the one son that he could not
    My praise sh$ be `of thee in the gpe,at con&ega-          stop loving and pitying, despite all that had happened,
tion: I will pay my vows before them that f'ear him.          and that therefore,  because'of  his anguish of  soul  at
 The meek shall eat and be satisfied:, they shall             hearing the full truth, h& might not be able to hear
praise the Lord that seek him: your heal% shall live          the Gospel that day. For the Gospel it was, but a
f o r e v e r .                                      ,.       Gospel as terrible as it was glorious particularly for
    All the ends of the ,world  shall remember and i&n        David. But perhaps Ahimaaz had no son of his own,


at least no wayward son of whom he had to believe what thou' hnst seen,  knd  v:ostrated himself the
that he had perished in his sins. It may be, tod, that Oushite  b$efore  Joab.and ran. `21.
he wanted the news broken gen$ly, and that he thought            180 then, what Joab required of the Cushite is that
that a task so delicate- couldn't be intrusted to others.     he tell the king what he had seen. What had he seen?
   Be this as it -may, he was determined that Joab            Doubtless  A-bs$om's  dreadful end-his hanging on
commission him to report to David.                            that great terebinth into which, in his mad flight, he
 And Ahimaaz the son of Zado.k said (to Joab), J had driven the mule upon which he -was riding, and
will run by cdl means, art1 .I will bear the king tidings,    between the lob-hanging branches of which his bead
how that the  Lor.d- hath done him justice from the had become s&idly wedged. Doubtless it was this that
hands of his enemies. 19.                                     Joab warited reported to the king, it being the' unmis-
   This then was to be the form of the words of the takable sign that this worthless son, whom the king
message as -Ahimaaz- was intending Ito communicate had ordered spared, was cursed of ,God indeed-"cur-
it. The report as thus formulated was aGospel indeed.         sed is every  otie that  hang&h on a tree-and that
But it had one fault.  it was too indefinite. It said         there was nothing left for Joab to do but make an lend
nothing about Absalom, about the fact of his having           of him right there and then. IGod had delivered the
been slain and of the dreadful way in which .he had           accused one into his hand. Cotil,d it then have been
come to his end. And this was Gospel, too. It was an right for him to release -4bsalom from that tree and
ebement  in the `Gospel that'had to be told, no matter        deliver. him up to David alive? It must have been
how much pain the hearing of it might cause David.            this to which Joab had reference iti commanding the
So iGod willed, His. gracious purpose being to sanctify       Cushite, "T,ell the king what thou hast seen." If so,
him also. through this suffering.                        .    the Cushite may have belonged to Joab's armourbear-
                                                              lers by whom Absalom was smitten until their could
   But;it seems as if Ahimaaz.wanted to spare him             be no more doubt that he was dead.  Of Absalom's
this grief, or at least cushion-it by the glad tidings of     end.the,priest`.had  not been an eye-witness. He knew
victory.    A great thing had happened. The Lord that Absalom was dead. But judging from his report
had openly taken the king's side against the enemies.         to the king, he was ignorant of the way in which the
Let him think on that and praise God and refrain              king's son had `met his death. In Jo&b's eyes it must
from anxiously inquiring after what became of that `especially have disqualified him as reporter. For the
worthless, reprobated son of his. But was this not task of bearing tidings to the king he wanted an `eye-
expecting too much from him?                                  witness: He wanted the Cushite, this servant of his.
   Joab,for some reason or other, or perhaps for a               But Joab found that he still had Ahimaaz on. his
combination of seasons,  was much opposed to `author- hands. The priest would not be put off. And he would
izing Ahimaaz `to report `to `the king. One of his rea-       keep at Joab until he. consented.
sone may have been that he imagined that' the effect             Yet again Ahimaaz the son of Z#ado,k, ami he snCcc
upon the king of the tidings that his command regard-         to Jonb, Be what may,, I will r%n by all means, even I
itig Absalom had been disobeyed would be maddening,           also, after th+e Cushite. 22a.
and that, being rather fond' of Ahimaaz, he didn't want          But .Joab was unrelenting. He even pleaded with
him exposed to the king's wr&+: It may be; too, that the priest.
he doubted whether the priest would have the heart               And s&d Jonb, !l'o whit purpose wilt thou run my'
and the courage to +ell the king that Absalom was son? For to thee there is no tidings jir&ing.
dead. Yet, according to Joab's way of thinking, that             `So reads this. -last statement in the Hebrew.
was the one thing that the king had need of hearing.          The commentators find it. particularly perplexing.
But, as we shall see presently, he may have had still What does it mean? There are the following render-
another reason-the principal one-why  he was op- ings: 1) `Seeing that thou hast no tidings  *ready"
posed to commissioning the priest.         _                  (Eng. King James Version). 2) Seeing-that thou wilt
   And said  to him  Joab, Not a man of  tidings  -art        have no reward for thy tidings" (Eng.  `A.V.) 3) See-
thou this c&y. ..Thou shalt bear tidings another day;         ing that thou hast no tidings sufficing, that is, which
but today not shalt thou bear tidings. ..For the ki+g's       commends itself `as appropriate" (Bib. Corn.). The
son is dead. 20.             I                     .I         statement has been translated in still other ways.
   Without another woqd.  to the priest, Joab t_urnkd            The context brings out clearly enough what Joab
to a servant of his standing by, the Cushite, the E&o- here meant to be telling the priest Principally this:
pian, whom he had on hand for just such a dreadful that, seeing he w&s ignorant' of the details of the way
task as this one happened-to be and mandated him. in which Absalom  had come  $0 his end; he had  tie
   And Joab said to the Cus&ite, Go and tell the king- message ; ancl, b)esides, thai' lie lacked courage and also


 324                                           iHE  S T A N D A R D   BEARER
                                    -.
 perhaps that he shouldn't want to expose himself to
 the king's wrath. Not that,, Joab had a distaste for
 the priest. He rather  liked.,him.,.   I!&  @e&him "my                   1,.  FROM  H.OLY  W R I T   '1
 s0l.J".    The expression is always' ode df endearment.
 It was just that he didn't think him qualified.
        But Ahimaaz was adamant.                     -                               Exposition  of I Corinthians 15:zo
        Be what may,, I will run; was his retort. 23a.
        "Be what may;" that is, let it be that the king's                      The significant passage in I Corinthians  15:20
 s6n is dead. T.hink ye that I am daunted by the dread-                   reads as follows':  "Bki nod Christ  is risen -out  of
 fulness of such a tiding? Flearlessly  I will report.                    th#e !death, the firstfruits of them thkt sle,ep.
        Joab lost patience with the priest. He was through                     This passage is more than a matter of fact state-
 arguing with him.                                                        ment; it is rather a shout of joyful `exultation over-
  And said Joab, Run !  23b.                                              against all, who doubt or deny the hope of the r,esur-
        "Run,"- that is, be gone, get thee &way ! Mark you,               rection  of the dead in the last day. Such there were
 a bellow of just one word. Nevertheless, it was all                      in. the congregation of Corinth. ,Says Paul in verse 12
 that the priest had need of hearing to set him in in-                    "Now if Christ be preached, that He was raised from
 st,ant  *motion.         Perhaps without as much- as saying              out of `the dead, ho+ say some among you that there
 adieu ! he bolted out of Joab's presence and ran-mark                    is no resurrection from the dead?"
 you, ran-by the way of the plain, overtook the Cuah-                          How come that these men denied the resurrection
 ite and passed him.. Why should he be making such                        of the  dead.?
 haste! He wanted to be the first to bring tidings to                          Is this due to the preaching of_ Paul? `Or is this
 the kirig. The ,Cushite seemed not to object. He al-                     possibly due .to a discrepancy between the preaching
 lowed the priest to everrun him and keep his lead.                       of Paul in distinction f,rom the other Apostles?                _
 Though a Cushite by birth, the man was a true Jew,                            Not at all !
 judging from the form of the words of his tiding, also                   -    Whether it were Paul -or the other Apostles, both
 devoted to David and the cause of God, as well as                        preached that [Christ died according- to the Scriptures
Ahimaaz, but not like him, the overconfident type, but,                   and that H,e rose again from the dead the third day
 judging froin his deportment5  a man thoughtful and                      according to the Scriptures.
 self-possessed and lendowed with more courage. Doubt-                         All denial of the resurrection is simply unbelief;
 less, the task assigned to him by his master .w$ghed                     it is an emptying out of the content of the gospel,
 heavily on his soul. #So, if Ahimaaz insisted on being                   making faith empty and the  pr,eaching  contentless;
 the first to confront the king with the tiding of Absa- then the preacher is a liar who preaches the resurrec-
 lam's death, it was well with him.                                       tion, and we al'e yet in our sins! `Of all men the be-
     Anld ran Ahimaax by the way.of the plain and pass- lievers are the most miserable, if Christ be not raised.
 ed the Cushite.  23~.                                                    Then we could better live according to the dictum and
                                                  .-G. M. Ophoff          philosophy of the world: let us eat, drink and be mer-
                                   ISI                                    ry, for tomorrow we- die!
                                                                               But, thanks be to ,God, such is not the case!
                              IN MEMORIAM                                      "For Christ arose from the dead and became the
   Very unexpectedly on March 29, 1953, it pleased the  Lor,d
 to take unto Himself our beloved Mother, Grandmother and                 firstfruits of them. that sleep."
 Sister,                                                                       Certain it is that the resur,rection- of all the saints
               MRS. GERTRUDE  VANDEN  BERG                                is sure, since Christ has arisen from the dead. It is
 ct the age of 69 years.                                                  a  bllessed  fact.
   Though the suddenness of  her.heparture  was a  grealt  shock,              Let us try to Lmherstand its implication as taught
 we know that our loss is her gain.                                       us in this'text.               :  -,
                                          Chil,dren  and Grandchildren
               . .                        Brothers and Sisters                 Christ is the "firstfruit of those fallen' asleep".
 Grand Rapids, Michigan                                                   What is the meaning of the term: Those that sleep?
                                                                               The term itself is quite a prevalent one in Holy
                                                                          Writ. Jesus says to His disciples in John 11 :ll, "Our
              Hallleiujah ! Praise Jehoveh                                friend Lazarus is fnllen asleep ; but I go that I may
                      .For His mighty acts of fame ;                      awake him out-of sleep". In Matthew 27 :52b, "and
              Excell,ent His might and greatness ;                        many of the bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep
                      Fitting praises then proclaim.                      were raised :. . " Paul employs the term in that his-


                                                ^
                                           TH'E  S T A N D A R D   B~~AREB                                                 325

      toric sermon in Antioch of  Pisidia, as recorded in era1 in Scripture, and also the question of the implica-
      Acts  13:36,  whene, speaking of the dsath of  Davi&, tion of the fact, that Christ .is. the firstfruits of the
      he says, "For David, after he had in his own -genera-          de&.
                                                                      .
      tion served the council of  *God,  fell  asbep, and was              lConcerning the term "firstfruits" .in general, we
      laid unto his fathers . ., . " .And, again, Paul uses this can say, that it refers to the first ripe fruits of the
      te.rm in I  `Thes.   4:13, 14. Here we read: "But we land, whether in its natural state ,or whether prepared
      would riot have you ignorant, brethren, concerning by the hands of man, and that it was holy to the-Lord.
      them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as' the        It was representative and a pledge of the full harvest.
      nest, who have no hope. For `we beli,eve  -that Jesus          The element that it was first in the order of time was
      died and rose again, even so them that  are fallen not on the foreground. ,Rather that it was the chief
     .aslebp in Jesus will [God bring with him."                     fruit is implied in the idea of firstfruits. The Hebrew
        In all of these passages the term  "fallep asleep" term "reeshith" (beginning) also L is very expressive.
      refers to the departed saints, who have trusted in God,        It is the term for firstfruits. In IGenesis J: 1 we read :
      served the counsel of {God in their generation, have           "In the beginning God created heav.en  and earth, The
      run the race and kept the faith. The term does not             beginning is the "head", the  source of things. `The
      seem to refer in lscripture  to those, who die outside of      beginning is  determitiitive. In the "beginning" God
     Christ. Furthermope,  the term seems to imply, that,            created heaven and earth. Here we have the perspec-
      those who have fallen asleep, have entered into the            tives of all of his&y laid open before ou.r eyes. `God
      Lord's rest. They no longer are in the battle-fray.            made all things in view of the heavenly. Thfe "begin-
      They rest from +heir labors in the Lord. These labors ning" is chief. In like manner we read in (Genesis
      were not in vain. They have entered.  into their long          1O:lO of the "beginning" of Nimrod's kingdom. This
      looked-for reward. Then, too, the term "fallen asleep" kingdom was in its beginning, "Babel, and Erech, and
      does not refer to the state of unconsciousness b,etween        Accad, and ,Calneh  in `the land of Shinar". That was
      the death and resurrection of the saints, but it refers        its beginning, its moving principle and its fundament-
      to their no longer participating in the present l?fe in        al pattern. Then we have the term used in the well-
     .God's IChurch  ,on earth. Just as a sleeping man is ob-        known passage of Proverbs  8:22. Here we read,
      livious to his surroundings, so also the ,dead.              - "Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way,
                                                                     (reeshith dareko) before His works of old." Here
         So much for the term "fallen asleep" in general.            beginning is evidently more than first in order of time.
         But what is the meaning of the term in our text             Wisdom  here spoken of in Proverbs 8 is, no doubt,
      in the phrase "fi?stfruits pf those fallen asleep"?        ' the same as the aogos in the Prologue of John's Gos-
         We  belfeve  th'at also in this phrase those fallen pel. It is the personal Wisdom. Him (God possessed
      asleep are none else and none more than the believers          in the beginning of His way. And this way is. God's
      in Christ, who died in the Lord. In the first  place,          way throughout history, from Alpha to Omega.: And
     `because .thus it is literally stated by Paul in the con-       with a view to the Logos to come into the flesh all
      text. In v&se 18 Paul writes, speaking of the awful            things in (God's Counsel stands, and history is execut-
      consequences of the denial of the resurrection-truth,          led.~ The "beginning" is here the equivalent of the
      "then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have          truth, that,. when God layed down the foundations of
     perished." Thus the context. Let it be remembered.              the. earth, the all-important fact (God has in mind is
     !Secondly, because in the phrase, under consideration,          the, manifestation of His Son in the flesh, in His
     th,e oriiinal Greek employs the definite article. `(toon        death and resurrection.
     kekoimeemnoon) . The function of the Article is to
.                                                                          Thus it is also in the use of the term "firstfruits"
      point out a class of men or things from other things.          in our text.
      Here it designates the. class of men, who are in the'                For notice that "Christ" is the firstfruits.' This
      Lord, and who are asleep in Him.                               means that t-he Son of `God. is the Anointed Servant
         The viewpoint here in I Corinthians 15 is that of the       of God, appointed and qualified by God to be Hi&Chief
     blessed  resur.rection  throughout. It would, indeed, be        Prophet, only High-Priest and Eternal King. Of Him
      strange, if the concern of Paul were not with the bless-       God says in Psalm 2, "Thou art my Son, this day have
      ed &es, who have fallen asleep in Christ,. but with the        I begotten Thee, ask of Me and I will give theheathen -
      dead in general!                                               for Thine inheritance." %or Christ is the firstfruits
         Christ is indeed tbe..firstfruits  of those who. have       of them that have fallen asleep according to the ap-
     died in Him.                                                    pointment of `God from eternity.
         This brings us- to another element in the text;                   It is exactly in the resurrection of Christ that we
         It is the question of the idea of firstfruits in gen-       see the idea of the firstfruits of the full harvest. He


I

                                                                                   .  .
                                                 T.&E     $,TAH;f>Ak-,        B%ARGR.
       386                  _

      `is the firstfruits.of  them that have fallen asl,eep. This
       does not merely imply that Christ is the first man to          i-
       come forth out of the grave. When He arises from               I          I .N   H-IS  ~FEAR
                                                                      i
       the dead there is not simply so many dead minus one.
      <Christ is not simply one dead &an next to other dead
       &en. For He is Christ. He is the  iast Adam. He                                      MY Brither's Keeper
       represents all, who have fallen asBeep in Him. And,
       hence, when He rises all are made alive in-Him. Just                That  ICain !
       as i-n Adam all died, so all, who fall isleep in the Lord,            He surely was a heartl,ess,  cruel and proud man!
     shall also rise in Him. In this sense He is the  first-                 He had slain his brother in cold blooded murder.
       fruits. He is the pledge  and guarantee of the full            Nevier had he seen a human death before. Never had
      harvest.    His resurrection is  principally the  resur-        he heard even of such an awful crime. Now his own.
      rection  of $be'entir:e  church.            ,a~                 hands have  -performed  it. And calmly, without any
          That such is the case is evident, first of all, from smiting of his conscience he buries his brother under
      the reasoning of Paul in the foregoing verses. There            the sand. Without a qualm of emotion he walks away
       Paul reasons from the effect to the cause. Stiys he:           from the scene of his crime. Having performed  th'e
       if there be no resurrection, then is not Christ risen.         first murder in the history of this world, he is not
      If there is no water then there is also no Fountain.            even troubled enough by it to go and tell his parents
      But now the Fountain is ,open, the -watezr  is certain.         of the awful thing he has done.
      For ,God hath opened a-Fountain in Israel ; the waters                 What ii more, he is. not afraid to. answer the Al-
      of the Fesurrection of all the saints is certain.               mighty; Who is the source and fount of 311 life, in a
                                                                      proud ind haughty way. When asked, "Where is Abel
          Besides, it must not be `forgotten, that Christ is in thy brother?" he dares to counte? with the question,
      His own peculiar order of dignity in His resurrection.          "Am I my brother's keeper?" Surely he is not a man
      He is the Son of -God in the flesh. He is very man, it who`"is living "in His fear". Indeed, Cain, you are
      is true. But He is also God blessed forever, Amen.              your brother's keeper! And we can understand and
      He is the resurrectioll  and the life. And as the Father        explain his fearless, haughty answler  when we -con-
      hath iife in Himself so hath Be giden to the Son in             sider that he first  delib&ately lied to the Almighty
      the flesh to have life, resurrection life in Himself;           and said that he did not know where his brother was.
        y&d, therefore, the resurrection of those,  - who                   Plainly, he  is a child of the devil, the father of
      fell asleep in Him is certain. For if the Spirit of Him         lies, and,is under his diabolical influence. Hence the
      that raised up Jesus dwelleth in you, he that raised            lie has a hold on him. And the lie warps man's min.d.
      up [Christ Jesus from the dead, shall give life also to         It gives him the wrong picture  enti$ely.  It distorts
      your mortal bodies through His Spirit. that dwelleth
                                 . .                                  everything. He may still see things, but he do& not
      in you.                                                         see them as  they'really  are. This is so because the
          And, therefore, we can joyfully say bveragainst lie always ignores ,God. It .lea;es Him and `His glory
      all the enemies of the Cross and' the Resurrection:             out of the picture. Then nothing that we see has any
      But now Christ is risen from thi3 dead, the firstfruits         meaning. One might better try to `take the sun out
      of them that sleep. And, again, we say with Job:                of the universe and still expect to find life than to
      "But as for me I know that my Redeem& liveth, And               rule, `God out of. His own creation and still expect to
      at last he will stand up upon the  earth; Ahd after             see the beauty, the glory and reason for all that which
      my skin hath thus been destroyed, yet from my flesh             does exist. Forget the God who made your brother
      shall I see (God."                                              alid neighbor,.and  you cannot see yourself as his k,eep-
          Bo then, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, un-           er. For whom will you  keec him? Forget, or worse
      moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,             still, deliberately rule Him out and you cannot see
      in as much as ye know that your labors are not vain             anything that He has made  in its right light. It sim-
      in the Lord !                                                   ply is impossible to ignore Him and still see things
                                                                      right and to understand rightly the rel5tionships  in
                                                  -  - G . Lubbers    which He created `things. Ignore. Him, and that in
                                                                      -itself reveals that you do not. see Him in the right
                       -         -                                    light.- But that wisest of all men, who was guided by
                                        l3.l'                         the infinite wisdom of the Spirit who infallibly guided
                                                                      him, wrote, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
                                                                      wisdom ; and the knowledge of The Holy One is un-


             .                               THE  S T A N D A R D   ~B-EARER                                                    327

       derstanding." There. is no fear of God before ICain's        pe would have them do unto you." Thit takes care of
       eyes. That is why he can ask such a proud and-~dia.          everything, of every relationship between man and
       bolical question, "Am I tiy brother's keeper?"               man. T,hat covers every Qossession  and faculty which
           Do not repeat Cain's question!                           .God has given to man. And that is not negative. In
           Do not live it!                                          it Jesus tells `us what we must do. What you enjoy,
           The fear of the Loid is a rather important element       seek to help your neighbour enjoy also. Striye to make
       in our lives. It will have a profound effect on all our      him happy, to keep him free from care and anxiety.
practical life. In His fear we will be our brother's                By all means do not practice those things which would
       keeper. In @is fear we will want to b'e our brother's        worry him and cause him to have a troubled mind.
       k e e p e r .                                                DO unto him what you would to have him do unto you,
           So let Us dismiss `Cain.                                 and then the negative siclie  tiill take care of itself.
           You and  It  are  our brother's keepers.  .Ancl if we       That this neighbour does not Took upon you. with
       are  -honest with ourselves, we will confess that' al-       friendly eyes; that he doei nqt lift one finger to be
       though  our. Heavenly Father has kept us from  in-. your keeper does not change the calling you have in
       flitting the death blow upon our brother, our hearts         the least. This same Jesus Who told us to do unto
       are by nature capable of all that lack of fear of the        others what wle would have them do unto us does not
       Lord which moves us to cruelty to the brother. We            to  tiny degree or in any way put a limitation upon
       may not dare to touch him physically because he is           those "others": In fact in another connection He ex-
       stronger than we are. The  s'igbt of blood and the           actly  @ates,  " . . do good to them that hate you . . "
       sound of moaning may so unnerve us that we cannot            You are still h$ keeper. You are yet to do to him
       do sucli a deed. But the will to do so, the bitter           what you would like to have him do unto you.
      .hatred, the fit of anger that preceeds  .such a deed is         To coqtinue  with that which the Scriptures. say in
       so very strong in all of us. And presently, in the           regard to this seeking of the wellbeing of the brother
       next installment, we hope to make plain how frequent-        we can also turn to those words of the Apostle Paul
      . ly we- do shrug our shoulders and borrowing a page          in his-epistle to the Philippians, "Look not every man
      from Cain's notebook, tie also say; "Am I my brother's        on his own things, but every man also ,on th:e things
       k e e p e r   ?"                                             of others." Way, this is not advice to-be "nosey" and
           Indeed we are, as well-as Cain was.      .               to  interxere with the affairs of others. But it does
           We  may say, without the fear of `contradiction,         teach us that we must not be so selfish and narrow-
       that we are our brother's keeper both in-the realm of        minded in our  owli business that we go  t.hru with
       the natural. and of the spiritual. The Scriptures ad-        our plans, our developments and ambitidns when we
       monish US ta be his keeper in both spheres. And that know that we are going to injure the brother's busi-
       does not refer merely to the brother according to the ness. It means that the believer will never crowd his
       flesh. We are the keeper of our every neighbor. The          neighbour, and surely not his brother .in Christ, so
       father and. mother in the home keep their eyes open `that he is forced out of business and so that you may
       for the physical wellbeing of their children. Afid in        monopolize the tradle in that aTea. You did do that?
      the baptismal vow they `have also  promisled  to. keep        You, who could better afford it, cut your prices be-
       an eye open for the -spiritual instruction of their seed.    low that which he could afford, you took advantage of
       They have promised  t'd be their children's keeper.          his unexpected financial hardships and ?oreclosed  upon
       The same thing is demanded of the brother unto the           him without pity and- mercy, you looked the other way
       the brother. Let us see once what the Scriptures             when he reached out for a @ping. hand and began
.r     have to say about this matter.                               to count how much you  w&Id be benefited by his
           At the very outset we al;e reminded 6f the second        downfall? You DID? Then go sit beside your brother
       table of the Law wherein ;God expresses to us the pro- Cain. And  n#ever  -let men hear you  -say one word
       per relationship between a man and his neighbour.            about Cain's heartless, cruel, unbrotherly deeds. Lis-
       The form is entirely negative here, and therefore it ten! The Apostle prefaced these words with the fol-
      does not express literally the work and the calling of        lowing, "If there be any consolation in Christ, if any
       the brother's keeper. %Ve are, however, indebted to          comfort of love, if. any fellowship of  the- `Spirit, if
       Jesus for His interpretation of that. Law and also           any <bowels of mercy, fulfill ye my joy, that `ye may be
       to the  @xplanation  we find in our Heidelberg  CCate-       likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord,
       chism.                                                       of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or
           Among- other things Jesus, gave us tliat funda- vainglory ; but in lowliness of mind let each (esteem
       mental -principle. which is the interpretation of the        the other better than them&$ves." It speaks for itself,
       whole second table' of the iLaw, ".Do unto &hers what        does it not?


328                                   T H E   -STANDARD   BEARER

       The ApostBe-  wrote a similar thing to the Corin-
thians in his first epistle to this congregation. He
writes, "Let nd manlseek  his own, but every man an-               1  The Voice of  .Our Fathers 1
other's wealth." That word wealth, here. in I Cor.
10:24, is in italics which means that it does not ap-
pear in the original. We -will not enter here the dis-                         The Canok of Ikdrecht
cussion as to what element of the neighbou& wle are                                    CHAPTER II
to seek, the point is brought forth clearly here again
that we must be our brother's keeper.` '                                            THE  GREAT  SYNOD
       Before we run out df space iti thii; installment we            By the name "de groote synode" Reformed people
do wish yet to quote from the Heidelberg <Catechism                of Dutch ancestry .are wont to call the National Synod
to maintain this principle that we cc'y'e our brother's            of Dordrecht, 1618-19. And well may we continue
keeper.      In explanation of the sixth commandment to remember it as the "great synod". For  grezt it
our Fathers state that God here required of us that was in' every respect. In a way we may say that it
we show to our neighbour "patience, .peace,  meekness,             marks` the arrival at majority, the maturing, of the
mercy and all kindn+?' and that we "prevent his hurt               Reformation in the Netherlands. ,Great  was this syn-
as much as in us -lies: and that we do good even to                dd, to be sure, as far as its length was concerned.
our enemies." Again in answer to the question as to                For it gathe?ed in almost uninterrupted sessions from
&hat is required in the eighth commandment wle are                 November of the year 1618 until May of 1619. IGreat
told that IGod .demands that "I promote the advantage              it was, too, as far as its method was ctincerned.  For
of my neighbour in every instance I can or may ; and               it labored with long patience toward those indicated
deal.. with him as I desire to be dealt with by others :           on the five counts of Arminian heresy ; and when no
further also that I faithfully labor so that I may be              amount - of patience would quicken `even common de-
able to reliev,e  the needy." Indleed, let us not forget           cency in those recalcitrants, the synod, continued to
the nleedy brother. We are also his keeper. And the                labor thoroughly, m&hodica.lly,  and unhurriedly for '
ninth comm&dment we are told requ.ires of us that we               an additional four or five months, in order officially
"defend and promote as much as" we "are able, the                  to gainsay the Arminian errors, defend the pure gos-
honor and good character of" our "neighbour". That                 pel of Holy Writ, and maintain the very foundation
certainly makes it sufficiently clear for us to maintain           of Reformed truth. `Great it was also as its person-
that we as well as Cain, are our brother's keeper in               nel were concerned. For a roll-call of the member-
th'e sphere of the natural things.                                 ship of' the synod sounds like. a "Who's Who" of the
       The above we will not, perhaps, readily deny. Even          XCalvinistic movement at that time, with few  excep- .
the world speaks of a certain "brotherhood of all men" tions. But of course, most of all does that synod d'e-
and has its Red Cross, Red Feather, Community ,Chest               serve the name "great" because of its chief fruit, the
or what have you whereby men seek the wellbeing famous, but not w'ell enough known, Canons of Dord-
of  .their fellow men. In the Church of Jesus Christ               recht.
there  is- another way in which we are                                ,Once again, it is not dur intention to furnish a .de-
                                              our  brother'
                                                             s
keeper. And that calling of ours is very easily denied             tailed history of the Synod of Dordt. To do so does
today.      Nay, the Scriptural principle of it  is-  snot         not belong within the realm of this study. And be-
openly discredited, but in practice it is for convenience &ides, it would unduly lengthen our writings, and per-
sake and for fleshly pleasure ignored. Listen to what              haps trouble the reader with needless detail. It is,
the Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians in' regard                however, beneficial for our understanding of the Ca.n-
to. their brothers in Christ, "Take heed lest by any               ons briefly to notice some of the outstanding facts con-
means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block              cerning the Synod which produced these Canons, its
to them that are weak . . . . when. ye .-sin so against            personnel, its machinery and ,m&hqd of labor, and the
the brethren,. and wound their i$eak conscience, ye sin            thoroughness of its manner. And to these we de-
against Christ." You are your  broth&s   keep&   alsd vote our attention in the present chapter.
in the things you allow and $ractice. Y,ou can  tiury                 In the previous chapter we already took notice of
him under the sand, shrug your shoulders, and. walk the fact that the Arminians throughout their battle
calmly afid indifferently away. But you still~`a$ry&lr             had the protection and often the positive help of cer-
brother's keeper. More of this next time,. the: Lo+
                                               _. -'               tain forces in the government, the well&known Olden-
willing.                                                .L.  -.    barneveld at their head. This was possible because
                                          -J. A.  H&s              of the peculiar relationship between church, and state
                                                                   in the Netherlands.    For a long time it looked as


                                     -fjYJ.E  s$AN~jjA'&`D;  BGARER                                                     829
                                                                                               . .         .-  _  .^

though this governmental  protectioiz and  tiupEjiprt the cause of the Reformed truth. Polyander and Thy-
would spell defeat for the Reformed cause ili the Neth-            sius, Walaeus and Lubbertus were the other profes-
erlands. In the end, however, Prince Maurits chosr?                sors present at the Synod. Among the delegates to the
`the side of the ,Contra-remonstrants, and  -in a ligh'ii Synod we must not fail to mention Johannes Beger-
ning coup took the reins of government out of the             man, the fiery and capable president of the Synod, who
hands of the wily Oldenbareeveld, the latter paying will long b'e remembered  for the manner in which he
with his life after being condemned for treason. When              dismissed the Arminians from the floor of the Synod.
one reads the history of these years, the question can-, Nor must %ve overlook such names as Voetius, Trig-
not be repressed as to the part which political aims land, Hommius, and Damman, the last two being the
played not only in the actions of Oldenbarneveld, but able clerks, whose task was indeed tkemendous.  (Out-
also in those, of Maurits. And although it seems al-               standing about the membership of the Synod in gen-
most certain that at least part of the fire on the al-             eral is the fact that they stoo$ directly in the line of
tar was not of a religious, but of a political variety,       the  ,Calvinistic Reformation. When one takes the
we will not here pass judgment on the character and troublie  to study the educational background of these
motives of Mauri&                                             men, he discovers that many of them `had at least
   Certain it is that :God caused Maurits and Nillem               part of their theological training at those great cen-
Lodewijk to rescue the cause of the truth ,from  the          ters of Reformed theology,  ,Geneva  and Heidelberg.
fierce assaults of the enemies. For when- Maurits came At ,Geneva  niany of them had enjoyed the instruction
in control of affairs-, the tide of battle immediately             of Theodore Beza, Calvin's successor. And at  Heid-
turned in favor of the Contra-remonstrants. Done klberg, the birthplace of our Catechism, it stands to
now were the long and fruitless conferences which reason also that many a soundly trained minister of
the Arminians had always been so willing to hold un- the go.spel was instructed. Hardly can one escape the
der the watchful eye and protective wing of the gov-          impression that exactly with a view to the Arminian-
ernment.    No  rnobe  did-- the  iContra-remonstrants' controversy  IGod had  iaised up these mighty war-
pleas for a national synod,-and such a national syn-. riors for the truth.
od had not be& held,for  years, thqugh often request-                 *One of the most interesting features of the Synod
ed,-go  unheeded.  `When  ,once action came, it came is the presence of the foreign theologians. ,Of these
swiftly. The matter must be decided. And after al- there were 27, representing  the Reformed churches of
lowing time for the va&ous particular synods to con- [Great Britain, the Palatinate, Hessia, Switzerland,
vene and to appoint delegates, a national synod would              Wetteraw, Geneva, Bremen, and Emden. Delegates
be convened at the earliest possible date.                    from France were invited, but were unable to attend
   Thus it was that on November 13, 1618 the Nat- because of governments  interference. In addition, the
ional Synod of Dordrecht opened its `historical ses- : Synod also received the written opinions of the aged
sions. The hour of decision had styuc:k !     IX,            -.Dr.' David Paraeus, from the University of  Heidel-
   The personnel of the Synod we will not discuss in .berg, who. by reason of age and infirmity was unable
,detail, although, as we s+l, many a%shining light in         to attend, as well as the written opinion of Petrus Mol-
the firmament of Reformed church history signed his                inaeus, minister at Paris, concerning the Five Art-
name to the Canons when finally the sessions of Synod              icles of the Remonstrants. Here again one is imme-
were ended. The churches of the  Nitherlands  .were. diately struck by tihe fact that at this Synod the very
represented by  34  min&ers and 18  ,elders,  among           flower of the Rteformation  was represented. For many
whom were many men of renowp. Different the synod of these men were not only the giants in the church
was from our  preseizt  synodical  gatherings, in that        at that time, but were only a step or two removed in
ministers and elders were not equally represented. To history from the Reformers themselves.
                                                             _.
the regular delegates from the various provincial syn-- I-I the meantime, we must not imagine that  the
ods w&e added the theological professors.            Among Syiio-d was really a sort of Ecumenical Council of the
the latter the name of SGomarus stands out, of course.        Rgfo?rned churches at that time: On the one hand,
And although what he called the "higher view", that           it &nnbt be gainsaid that the delegates from foreign
is, the supralapsarian view of the decrees of `God, was       churches had mane than an advisory vote, at_ least in
not incorporated in the Canons, nevertheless the out-         the sense that we speak of an advisory vote today.
come at Dordrecht was a mighty a,nd sweet victory In. consulting the Act& as well as a detailed history
for that staunch defender of the `_faith who had first of the Synod such as that of Dr. Wagenaar; it becomes
opposed Arminius at Leiden, and who Ieven afterwards, `plain that the foreign iheologians  played a very active
both in the ministry and in his l&e?,`,position  in the       part in the Synod and wielded much influence. In the
University of Gronigen, nev& ceased  .to do  battlle in -f&t sttiges of. the. Syiitid $hey sDoke  $nd argued --a-


bout the attitude and treatment of the  Armiqians                 forF;gn  delegates adopted, they .adopted  nc& for their
right along with the national delegates. An4 .in fact,            own-.churches;   &It for the Dutch church. At  f.Dprd-
throughout the sessions of Synod it appears that t&eir            recht, therefore, we had no Ecumenical Synod.- .I:
influ,ence  was large, and that the national delegates .~                     Nevertheless, the presence of these delegates,& the
we& very loath, to `say the least, to act without the             Synod was of great  infiuence in the formulation of
= approval of the foreign delegates. Besides, when it             our Canons.- But what is more, the fact that they
came to the matter of treating the Arminian heresies,             aided in the composition of the Canons and the con-
all the foreign delegations handed in their opinions              demnation .of Arminianism, and finally affixed their
concerning the Five Articles along with the national- signatures to our Canons means that the latter: are un-
delegations. And these were treated on equal footing.             deniably Reformed. They are not merely the expres-
In fact, there are places in the Canons wh&re the par-            sion of one branch of the Reformed churches. They
ticular formulations adopted were so formulated large-            cannot be condemned as the work of a narrow sect.
ly through the influenck of the foreign delegates. Es-            They are the proper expression.of the Reformed truth,
pecially the English theologians seemed to have ,muoh             according to the testimony of the whole  .Reform,ecl
influence, due undoubtedly to the fact that there was             church at that time. If I am not. mistaken, this was
close political intercourse  between England and the the last time that such close intercourse between
Netherlands at the time. And when finally the Can- churches of Reformed persuasion took place. We may
ons th,emselv&  had to be formulated, all the .doctrinal          safely say, therefore, the..c&tempt  of many historians
opinions of the various delegations having been heard,            notwithstanding, that our Canons ,are the ultimate ex-
the foreign delegates were very active again. -For three pression of the R(eformed  doctrine of sovereign grace
of them, Carleton  .(the English bishop), Scultetus               and sovereign predestination.
(from the Palatinate) , and Diodati (from Geneva),                                                                               -H.  C. Hoeksema
took their places in the committee of nine which-was to
serve the Synod with Conce&Canons.            Besides, the                                        ---my
Canons as finally adopted were signed not only by the s
national but also.by  the foreign delegates, even though
the, ,Swiss the@ogians  had been exbressly  forbid'den to                                                I N   M E M O R I A M
do so.  '                                    I. ..::                    The Consistory of the Lynden,  W&hi&on  Protestant Ref-  _
                                                                  ormed Church wishes to express its sincere sympathy to bro-
       On the other hand, however, all &is doei not imply         ther Elder G.  Buma  and family in the death of his father.
that the 8gnod was an Ecumenical Council. .For first                    May  ,the Lord richly comfort and sustain them in their
of all, the various Reformed churches we?? $ot equally sorrow.                         (
representned. There were 57 delegates from the Qutch                                                                 The Corkstory
churches (if we include the five  prof?ssoEg) , while                                                                G. Postema, Vice President
from all the foreign churches togeth,er there were on-                                                               D. Scheele, Clerk
                                                                  Lynden, Washington
ly 27 delegates. The Synod, therefore,. was still pre-
dominantly Dutch as far as its personnel was con-
cerned, and therefore also as far as its voting-power
was concerned.       In the second place, although also
the foreign churches were vitally interested in main-                                                        N6TEC.E
taining the R,eformed  truth, we must not' forget that                  The Protestant Reformed School of Redlands  will be in need
as far as the concrete case was concerned which was ' of a teacher for the  lo$er grades one through four; Send
treated on the Synod, it was .strictly  a national mat-           application to :
ter. It was for this reason also that while the for-                                                     John Kimm
                                                                                                         .P. 0. Box 581
`eign delegates were more than willing to deliberate                    .,
upon and decide the doctrinal matter on the Synod's                                              :  _    Qdlands, California.
agenda, they limited their activities to this  matter                                                    -:::-
strictly. When-it came. to the matter of disciplining
the ministers who were guilty of the Arminian her-                                     Ye saints, your joy proclaim
esy, the `foreign delegates withdrew, and left the nati-                        . .    And glory in the Name
ona!  .telegates  to decide their own affairs.          hi the                                   O,f God above  ;
third place, the, Canons of Do!rdsecht,  although .&igned                              And when, the daylight dies, :
by the foreign delegates, were, of course, n&tier `rec-                                @re sleep ..shalj close you,r eyes,
ognized as  being an official standard of any.  othel                                  Let praise to God ,arise ;.
chuiches than those  of the -Netherlands.
 ._                                             Whit,' t.l$$?                               -      ~oral~l$slove;                  -..,-.-     -_
                                                                   z                                                       .'


                                           _-  'T H E   :$T'AND.ARD   ..B-EAR&R                                                         331
                                                                                  son that we simply would not know what to believe. If
       .~rrr,ln,-,,rr,l-,,-,,-,,-~,-,,-,!-,,-,,-~,-~,-~,-`,-~,-,,-`,~:-,*:.
       1  IContendingr   For  The  `-.Fkith  -$ it be true that things which appear contradictory are
                                                                                  really not contradictory, then it follows inexorably
                                                                                  that things which do not appear contradictory may
            ..  .ihy  Jj                                                          really be contradictory to each other. -If this be true,
                             octrines  Have A History                          :,. we understand, no knowledge of the truth is possible.
                                  (continued)                                     This, qf course, must not be confused with rational-
                                           i                                      ism. Rationalism is the rule of the human mind over
           In our previous article we called &ttention to the                     the Word of  ,God. The Word of God,  th,en,, does not
       fact that doctrines hav'e a history because the Scrip-                     determine whether anything is the truth--or not; the
       ture. is no  bobk of formultated  .doctrines. We also                      mind is the final authority. Man, then, will believe
       a&d and attempted to answei. the question: What                            only what he understands, and he will reject what-
       is  Scripture? It is the historic-organic revelation of                    ever, appears contrary to his understanding. W e   d o
       t&-God-:of our salvation in Christ ,Jesus.  This .-rev-                    well; `bfl.,course,  to bear in mind that a truth is not
       elation itself is progressiye.           And it is simply a fact necessai?ly  in conflict with the human understanding
       that the  iChu&h of  IGod. -does not- see everything' simply because the human mind is not able to com-
       at once. The wonderful truths of God's Word crys-                          prehend it. The truth that the-Lord is God alone is
       tallize gradually in the. believing consciousness of the                   surely beyond all human understanding ; this surely
       Church. There is a great difference -between the knoml-                    dotes not imply that it is also in conflict with it. We
       edge of the Church today and at the time immediate-                        repeat: if it be true that the Scriptures may appear
       ly following upon the:time of the apostles.                                to be in, conflict w$h ou,r human understanding, n0
                                                                                  knowledge of the truth is possible. The-Word of  CGod,
     - Because of the mind of the Chumh.                                          therefore, csnnot teach that God loves and hates the
           Another reason why doctrines have a history is                         same person at the same time, that Christ died only
       the mind of the Church. `It is a fast and definite rule                    for +e.. klect btit also for all men, that God is the sole
       that Scripture must be int,erpVeted  iirith' Scripture and                 cati& .bf our salvation but that action must proceed
       that the Word of God is never in conflict -with.  itself.                  from us first, that we are dead in sitis and trespasses
       Scpipture cannot be  iii  conflict with itself. This is                    and nevertheless are able to please the Lord without
       due to the fact that the Authbr of the Scriptures is the                   regeneration of the heart.      To this assertion that  e
       living God. Although it is true that approximately these discrepancies exist we imtiediately reply that
       thirty five seconddry authors were used by the {Lord                       they are impossible because they contradict them-             .
       to write the Word of God, it is equally true that the                      selves.    And my mind, created. by the living.  .God,
       Bible has but one primary Author, tlie Holy Spirit of                      stipulates that the revelation of that living  G6d of
       God. ,God `is never in conflict with Himself, and His                      Himself must be devoid of conflict and ContFadiction.
       Word is characterized by the. same oneness and unity.                          This is another reason why doctrines have a his-
       The Scriptures, therefore, may liever  be interpretled                     tory. It is simply an undeniable truth that the mind
       as in conflict with then&elves:                                            of the Church of ,God seeks a logical and systematic
           To this we may add ,that the l&id of the Chuliclz                      conception of the truth. Of course, we must take ,God
       is so constituted `.that  it is in need of a logical and                   at His Word' alid never impose ou? theological-. think-
       systematic cdnception  of the truth as it it revealed in                   ing upon any passage of the Holy Scriptures. `But, at
     the Divine Scriptures. Sin, although it did corrupt the same time we seek to know the truths of the Scrip-
_      the  ,human mind spiritually, did not  d&troy it  nat-                     tures and come to a systematic knowledge of the same.
       urally and logically, Man' became cbrrupt,  and. spii-                     It is strikingly trtie that it is always he iyho. refuses
      .itually perverted, but he did not. b,kcome irrational and                  to take God at His Word tiho complains that others
       illogical. Two plus twd are  f&r after the entrance                        inipose their  th&ological  thinking  tipon the Word of
       of .sin into the ,wdrld as well. as bef.qre tlie occurence                 `God. The history of the Church is replete with such
       of this .event. Reading, therefore, `the Scriptures, the                   historical examples. This is also true of our owh his-
       mind of the Church is so constituted that, when the tory as Protestant Reformed Churches. Who complain
     truths of Holy Writ are' formulated in the believing that there are those  who impose their theological think-
       consciousness of the Church, the mind seeks an under-                      ing upon the Word of `God?. Is tihis not true of those
       standing of the.S&iptures in such a way that those                         who refuse to'give wholehearted elidorsement to such
       Scriptures are ifi comple&  harmony with thtemselves.                      truths as sovereign election and reprobatioti,  utter de-
       Without -this we cannot possibly have .any knowledge                       pravity, and  irr'e&st+ble  grace? Does  this not apply
       of God and of the `truth, and this for the simple rea-                     to those who insist that, although we must maintain

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

.       on the one h%nd that God has elecbed  and reprobated read it for our spiritual benefit and edification because
        from  before'the foundation of the world, we must the Lord can and does sanctify His truth unto our
        also proclaim `a general offer -of grace on the part of      hearts and minds. This perspicuity'of the Scriptu?es
        God and that the Lord is< gracious to all men in the         is part of the priceless heritage of the Reformation.
        preaching of the gospel? The passages involved are Besides, it is simply a fact that it is exactly this prin-
        always those passages. which seemingly speak of a            ciple of the perspicuity of ~Holy Writ which has safe-
        general love or mercy of the Lord, and the complaint         guarded the truth throughout the ages. For, although
        is made that we do not take the Lord at His Word.            men of brilliant minds have repeatedly attempted to
                                                                     undermine the Word of God and deprive the Church
        The Eloly Spirit dwells in the Chvcrch.           .I         of its one and only f,oundation,  it is always the Church
               This, we should understand, .iS extremely impor-- which has risen to the defence  of the truths of Holy
     tant. -Indeed, we believe in the  penspicuity of Holy Writ.
      W r i t . The perspicuity of the Scriptures refers to the         This' the Church has been able to do because of
I transparency,  jzlearness of Holy Writ. This was one               the Spirit of Christ Jesus Who dwells within her. The
        of the leading issues of the Reformation. The Word <Church h,as the promise of the Holy Spirit, the promise
        of God has been trtinslated  into almost all the lang- that the Holy Spirit, will dwell in her and lead her in-
        uages of the;world, and the Bible has been prepared t6 all &tit& He enlightens the niind and .causes the
        for study and neading for'pe6ples of all lands and na- (Church to reflect upon and appropriate the truth un-
        tions, whether they be ,of high or low degree, clergy or     to themdelves. He causes the people of God to see the
        laity. We all can read the Bible. This does not nec- glorious truths of the Scriptures and give expression
        essarily mean that we understand and comprehend the to them in a language which is both clear and beauti-
        Scriptures.  `On the other hand, however, the Word           ful.  An`d it is indeed true that all the life of the
        of God is transparent, clear as crystal, points us to - Church is affected by that promise of. the Holy Spir-
                                                                     it. When societies within the Church of  IGod come
     our  `
          sin and guilt,  our  Saviour  in Jesus Christ, our together to discuss the W,ord of `God, they are indeed
        Lord, and our eternal and heavenly hope in a lang-           led. by &he formulation of the truth by the Fhurch in
        uage which a child can understand. `However, this            the past, and tl-$s the Church owes to the ISpirit Who
        does not mean that the Bible is simply easy to read                                       L1
                                                                     dweells within it... We must, therefore, be very care-
        and understand. Anyone acquainted with the Holy ful before we speak, in a derogatory manner, of the
        Scriptures knows differently. Any student of the             confessions and creeds as the products of men. ;One
        Word of God knows that the Bible is profound>  that,         sometimes hears (can it be true that this language is
        in its profundity, it is bottomless and fathomless, that     also  hearcl at times in our own churches?) that the
        it deals with the truths which d,efy all human under-        confessions are the products ,of men and that we must,
        standing. and comprehension. The Scriptures speak the&ore, when evaluating anything to be true or
        of truths which are higher than the heavens, wider false, turn our attention to the Word of God.  IOf
       -than the oceans, deeper than the deepest sea, higher         course, the Word of' God is the sole standard of the
     and wider and deeper than the universe, inasmuch truth, and our conflessions  may never serve any other
        as the Bible reveals the infinite God to us, in cornpar-     purpose than to enrich our knowledge of the Word
        ison with Whom the  wholIe universe is less than a           of  ,God. But, it is well to bear in mind that it is in-
        drop of water on the bucket and a particle of dust'on        cqrrect  to say that our confessions are the products
      the balances, yea, less  than nothing and vanity  `(s_ee       of mere men. They are the products of  the Church
       Isaiah 40 :15, 1'7) .     Nevertheless, the Reformation ,of `God as led by the Spirit of God and Jesus Christ,
       maintained the perspicuity of the Scriptures. It is           our Lord. They .were indeed written by men, but by
       simply a fact that Luther translated the Bible into           men as  ecclesiasticaljy  assembled, representing the
       the  ,German language and this in spite of `the -fact Church to whom the Lord Jesus had given the pro-
       that Rome attempted to discount this translation. by mise that He would lead her into all the truth, even
        decr#eeing  that the Vulgate (the Latin translation of unto the #end of .the world.
       I@ Bible) is the sole standard of belief. -And ever
        since the Bible has been  transllated into almost all                                               -H. Veldman
        the languages of the world, so that it has `been pre-
        pared for study and reading for the peoples of all
       lands and nations, whether they be of high or low de-                Praise ye the Lord; ~11 creatures, sing
        gree. To be sure, we may not be able to undterstand                 The praises of your God and King ;
        and comprehend the Word of Go+. But, on the other                   Let all that breathe, His praise proclaim
        hand, it is tr.ansparent,  elIear as crystal, and. we can           And glofify  His'holy Name.


                                        ijii.zE     ST,AN'
                                                                bAR*        B~AREB
                                                                                                                      3s


                                                                     (Let us begin our survey then by going back to 1950
         DECENCY irid ORDER I' when the Declaration of Principles was brought into
                                                                  being. Was this a product of disorder brought into
                                                                  being by illegal means, i.e., means that are contrary
                                                                  to the principles of  Rmeformed  Church Order? If it
        Good Order and Our Churches                               was, our present situtation may be caused.by  this dis-
                            -.                                    order and then we must correct this by withdrawing
   In ,our last installment we introduced the first art- the Declaration and proceed further ,in the legal way.
icle of our Church Order. At that time we wrote on                If it is. was not, howlever, OLW present situation stems
the subject of -Good  lOrder  in rgeneral and pointed out         from a refusal to abide by this order and this must be
that the Word--of God repeatedly calls us to live order-          corrected first of all in the local churches through the
ly lives. Such a life is one that is in all things in har-        proper functioning of the "offices, supervisions, and
mony with the revealed will and word of the -God of               discipline." (Art. 1).
a l l   o r d e r .                                                  To the undersigned there is no question concerning
   This orderly arrangement of all things in the o- the orderliness of the proceedings of the 1950 Synod.
riginal creation has been grievously disrupted by sin.            I would have our readers consider a few simple, well-
This also then has its ef?ect upon the church in the              known facts :
world so that she does not appear. in the world as a.                Fact is that "the missionary work of the churches
body united in orderly fashion and living in accord               is regulated by the general `Synod in a mission order".
with the IIoly Word but rather she,appears  as a house            (Art. 51, D.K:O.)  This means that it is the Synod's
hopelessly divided and torn by disorder and schism.               business to regulate according to its wisdom the mis-
For this reason it is necessary that-there be "loffices,          sionary work of the churches. No one can fail to ack-
assemblies, supervision of doctrine, sacraments and nowledge this.
ceremonies,-and christian discipline" in the church for              Fact II is th,at "all proposals of importance to be
through the proper functioning of these institutions
order in the church will be maintained and peace and              treated by the Synod must-appear on the agendum so
unity will prevail.                                               that Consistories and Classes may have opportunity
                                                                  f,or previous deliberation- with the -exception of those
   We made the observation then too that there are matters that are brought by various standing Synodic-
"evidences in our own churches of sagging porches,                al Committees." (Arts. 4, 6 Rules of  (Order  of the
tottering dormers, and broken panes which mar the Synod)-. This, of course, is nothing new but obvious-
b'eauty of our ecclesiastical structure". The peace ly m,any are either ignorant of the rules that govern
and unity we once  enj,oyed  no. longer prevails. In-             ecclesiastical proceedure or do not wish to regard
stead there is' disunity and some already speak of the            them.
inevitable split.  `This condition results from a dis-
order in the functioning of one or more of thle insti-               Faot III is that in 1950  th;e standing  Synodical
tutions mentioned above which are designed to main-               Mission Committee "requested the Synod to draw up
tain good order. This disorder has temporarily dis-               a form that may be used by those families, requesting
rupted all progress and development and unless it is ,organization into a Protestant Reformed Congrega-
properly rectified the future existence of our denom-             tion".    (pg. 63, -Acts 1950) The Mission Committee
ination is in jeopardy. As a communion of churches was confrontted  with a problem concerning what was
we cannot live in disorder any more than a school of              binding in our churches and according to their written
fish can live outside of the water.                               testimony thaey expressed that the answer to this prob-
   In the present, article we wish to reflect somewhat            lem did not lie within their jurisdiction. We all know
upon the situation because we feel that when order                this. It was a matter that was properly within the
and decency are once again restored in our churches               jurisdiction  .of the Synod. Hence, the matter was
the dogmatic problems that confront us will either be. plaoed  before that body for deliberation and decision.
absolved or the differences w.hich do exist will become            Fact IV  is'that the Synod of 1950 replied to this
obvious even to the least discerning laity which I am             request and presented the Declaration to the Mission
confident is at present not the ease. Our lecclesiastical         committee as a working hypothesis in thje organization
fog is the result of disorder and until the fog is lift-          of our churches. Objections were raised that `-this is
ed it will .be difficult if not impossible to disoern cleari      not what the Mission Committee requested" but this
ly. Clarity prevails only' when "all things are done objection has to do with the content rather than with
decently and in good order."-(-I' Cor. 14  :40).  ,Con-           the legal proceedure' and so is not for us to consider
fusion is the product of disorder!                               :here.  The sole point we wish to make clear-is that


                   334                              -F&$J  .$rfjyp,NDAR]D.   ~z.~EAR~R

                   Synod acted orderly and lawfully according to its own         thing is agreed upon by a majority vote the only valid
                   judgment in this matter. One may question and per-            objection is that the decision conflicts. with  .God's
                   haps disagree with that judgment but as we see it the         W,ord.   ,Order,  then, demands that we  ,dwell on this
                   matter of ,order,  jurisdiction and right is beyond doubt.    one cogent  .point.  To avoid this and to attempt to
                   Synod did nothing thus far out of order.           ~          overthrow the work of Synod by an avalanche of sun-
                      Now there is one more thing. Synod also sent the           dry arguments and personal opinions is to produce
                   Declaration to the various- Consistories for. approval        confusion which is the product of disorder. This is
                   bef,ore final adoption. This proceedure  may be ques- the situation as we see it today.
                   tionable. .However, it certainly was not the intention            It is true that some attempts are madIe to show that
                   of this  ,doing of Synod to seek the approval of the          the expressi,ons  and concents of unconditional promise,
                   church on. their legal proceeckke.     Synod did not do       unconditional faith, etc. in the Declaration are  un-
                   this because she doubted whether she acted within. her        stiriptural. This is rightly following the order of Art.
                   right.  -Of course not ! Synod simply  reqaested the          31 but even then it will not do to insist upon certain
                   approval, of the churches upon the content-of the Dec-        ambiguous so-called Reformed conditions nor will it
                   laration so that any anti-confessional matter might suffice to cite the fact that certain Reformed writers
              be elided before its final adoption. Even this Synod               of the past have written of conditions but in unambig-
                   did not have to do and would have been in good order          uous language the  conoept of  Ref,ormed  conditions,
                   had she- adopted the Declaration in 1950 for the or-          conditional promise,. conditional faith, conditional re-
              ganization of churches. But now. the repeated attempt pentance, etc. must be expounded from the Scriptures
                   is made to evade treating the content (which the chur-        so that the churches may be wholly convinced that the
                   ches were requested to do) and wrangle over the qnes-         phraseology of the Declaration is anti-Scriptural and
       -      tion of legality. This is disorder! This is equivalent anti-confessional- To simply fill the air with .vague,
              to stripping Synod of its proper functions under the               confusing sounds which becloud the truth is to con-
              `Church Order. This is denying the standing  com-                  tribute to the confusiqn  and disorder of our time. If
              mittees of Synod the right to make their requests and              we insist upon conditions in the ordo salutis w,e are
              allowing Synod to treat them.                                      further obligated by the moral as -well as the written
              L       From still another point of view we cannot agrek           order of our churches to make oLlr position unmistak-
              with the order that is followed in the &urches regard-             ably clear  ,overagainst the plain expressions of. the
              ing the matter of thee Declaration. This is the view- Declaration of .Pri.nciples and the Canons.
              .point of Art. 31 of our Church Order in which it is                N,o attempt is made here to deny one the right to
              stated that "whatever may be agreed upon by a ma-                  protest or to maintain their convictions. We merely
              jority vote shall be considered settled and binding,
-..                                                                              insist that this..be done according to good order which
              unless it be proved to conflict with the Word of God or            is also compliance with the- rules. When one binds
              yjth the Articles of our Church Order, as long as they himself to the Confessions which -clearly ban `condi-
              are not changed. .by-. a general Synod.           (underscore      tions', putting them in the Arminian's mouth only, he
              mine-G.V.B.) This is a sound principle for it es-                  is certainly .duty bound. to justify his objections to a
              tablishes I the Word of God as the sole criterion for              declaration which harmoniously with the Confessions
              good order and as we stated `previously "we are in                 also speaks anti-conditionally. That, as we see it, is
              good order only when we are in harmony with that                   d(ecency  and order.
              Word". Now, if the -Synod's action, taken by major-                   Concluding, we may yet remark that order is also
              ity vote, is -contrary to the Word (,or to the Confes-             systematic arrangement. Only when the>Truth is sys-
              sions which is the same thing for we agree as we state tematically set f,orth and eacl-i part is properly focused
            in the Formula of Subscription that  ,our Confessions upon the center of truth-THE  SOVEREIGNTY OF
              `are Scriptural) it is most certainly an action of dis- GOD-de we maintain an orderly arrangement of
              order. :But, are objections raised to this? We bear truth:- Introducing conditions throws the ordo salutis
              various objections. Some assert that there is `no need -by sovereign grace ,out of this focus and in our vision
              for the Declaration ; others state `that it isn'lt what the ,mars the beautiful -order according to which "of HIM
            ' Mission Committee wanted  ; again we hear that  .it was and  tlirough  HIM and to HIM are all things ; to
              adopted too hurriedly; or it disturbs the peace of our .WHOM$e glory forever'!;  `(Ram.  -11:36) And this,
              churches ; or Dr. Schilder has cogent reasons not to too, is disorder!                     ..     .:
              adopt it; or. it closes the door to others; and many                                                               G. Vanden Berg
              inore"and for these reasons refuse to  rebeive  it as
              binding. . . The good order prescribed'in Art. 31 above,                           .:                      ..:"
              -howeveri  allows none of these objections for when a                                      .:  :  .' -             1`


                                            T H E         STANbARD  -BliAj3ER.                                                  335
                               ___---_
                                                                            tian, whose calling it is to nreserve  a piece of rotten
.2 ,-~,rr,,-c,n,-c,r~,-`
                        ,-,,-,,-,,-~,-~,-,-~,~,,-~,-`
                                                      ,-,;-~,-,.-,.:.
1..  .ALE  A R O U N D ,   U S                                              meat. Neither can we agree that the `Christian must
1                                                                     I-
.:.1-11-1,-1*-1,-1,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-~-,,-~,-,,-,,-,,-,,-~,~~.          claim the whole world for Chris< his King." We are
                                                                            convinced that Christ isn't. too much interested in how
                                                                            much of this world we can salvage for. Him. We be-
The Antithesis nncl Common G&es                                             lieve that Christ teaches LIS to look for another world.
      Under this title the Rev. Adam Persenaire wrote                          But what about that Common Grace business? The
a Guest Editorial for the Banner of March 20; 1953.                         Reverend of course seeks to prove that common grace
It appears -that the Reverend is alarmed by what complements the antithesis. He asks: "And what
others in his churches are saying and writing relative                      about `certain types- of cooperation between Christians
to the -Antithesis and Common Grace. He writes:                             and non-Christians? If we hold to the absolute anti-
"Now all this, if it is not the result of loose thinking,                   thesis, must we then deny common grace, and is then
but of a conviction on the part of those who hold such                      all cooperation between Christians and nonChristians
views, is very dangerous reasoning, and could easily impossible?" His answer is:  `IOn the contrary
lead to utter frustration, as far as the application of the very -idea of the antithesis calls for the pos-
our Calvinistic principles is concerned." He is afraid 0 iting of common grace, . and makes a certain `a-
of Anabaptism and Barthianism. And he claims that                           mount of cooperation between Christians and  non-
"much that is being written and said recently in our                        Christians possible." Persenaire's view of the ac-
circles about the relationship of the Christian to this tual situation in the world. is this: The unregenerate
world and the ,movements  and organizations that are                        man is as Paul says, "dead in trespasses and .sin" and
found therein leaves the impression that the Calvinist-                     therefore, "incapable of doing. any good, and .inclined
ic doctrine of the antithesis and the doctrine of com- to all evil." The "good" referred to here is spiritual
mon grace are not complementary, but r.ather,  para-                        good, the good which the Heidelberg Catechism exl
doxical  or. apparently contradictory."                                     plains is "done out of faith, in accordance with God's
        Persenaire insists that the- antithesis and common law, and to his glory." This good the unregenerate
grace are complementary truths. The one calls for                           cannot perform. But in spite of the unregenerate con-
the other. One camlot speak of the antithesis, in the                       dition of his heart, the non-Christian often does things
Reformed sense, unless he also posits the existence of                      that can be called "good" in a sense. He does natural
common grace, and one camlot maintain the concept                           civil and moral good. Moreover; he does not break
of common grace unless he also holds'that there is an                       out into all sin, as might be expected if he were lef#t
absolute antithesis, between the regenerate and th.e                        entirely to the imagination of the thoughts of his evil
unregenerate, between the kingdom of Christ and that heart. This, the Reverend says, we account for' on
of the world. He therefore triles to prove two propo- the basis of the doctrine of God's common grace.. This`
sitions : The Antithesis is Absolute, and, " ,Common                        grace does not change the unregenerate heart; but it
Grace is also Necessary;            -                                       checks the sinner, and enables him to do what we-call
        We can agree with Reverend Persenaire- when he natural good and civil righteousness. From this it
tells                                                                       follows that the nonChristian  can also desire to do
          us that the R,eformed  conception of the antithe-
sis is opposed to the Roman Catholic, Anabaptistic those things which are outwardly in conformity with
and Barthian conception.                 We also agree when he IGod's law, and wh&h are, to that extent, for the com-
maintains that the very idea of the antithesis. presup- mon welfare of humanity..
poses that the Christian must be in the midst of the                           The Reverend warns, however, that common grace
world, in order that there he may live his distinctive has reference only to,the unregenerate. It is not com-
life as a Christian out of the principle of regeneration.                   mon `in the sense that it forms a common basis upon
 The (Christian must be a savory salt, a shining light, .which both the Christian and the nonChristian can
a witnessing witness, a willing servant. of Christ, a                       stand. The non-Christian never lives by special grace,
pure temple of the Holy Spirit. All neutrality is ex- and the Christian never lives by common grace. The
 cluded.' ,A11 his relationships in this world are deter- latter must always live out of the principle of regen-
mined by  -his primary relationship to. -Christ.  And* eration. Hence, there is never a situation wherein-a
this relationship to .Christ  does not cover a part of his                  Christian, ,can step out of the realm of special grace
life, as the Anabaptists teach, but, according to OLW and enter into that of common .grace,  and thus form
Reformed conception,, th,e whole of. life:. -:. `.                          a  ,common,  neutral ground of action with  th'e  non-
        But we disagree when he says that the Christian Christian. The non-Christian lives- out of the prin-
     "to prevent total corruption of the whole of life must                 ciple of sin; checked and corrected by the influence of
be-a salt." It is revolting to think of myself, a Chris-                    God's common grace upon'him. It is this latter check-


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    336
                  .-     -.    _.
                                          _          T H E -   STANDXPD  BEAJU%  --
                                               ._-i.p                -1                                                                             - -.----- ~_
                                                                                                                        4
                                                                                      >,  -~_-___~
    ing and correcting influence of God% common crrtic"e: %even been born  or -filled  their cup of iniquity.  `This
    that allows for a  certain amount  ~of  cooperati&  be-                                 I could never. believe.~
    tween Christians and  non-,Christians.  But this co-                                           . I  ani  also interest&d  ill that  "good" that sinners
    operation &-u& always be on an."as if'! basis. It can- do, according  td his common  grace theory. If he
    never be a full- cooperation. The tkmpoY;ary  .ajms may `would be  consi&,ent, must he  not do  as Kuyper' did,
   be the same, -but the underlying principles .from  which                                 deny the- totaljdepravity of man? `Surely he would'nt
    these aimsare pursued will always .differ.:  "To put it. say that  commbn  grace works dnly on the  fingkrs;
    succinctly," he `says; "Chris$ians;  may cooperate with the.-ears and f6et of the unregenerate. He must stiy
    non4hristians in the  pursuit of certain  .aims*  which- that it fworks -on his heart also. If he siys this, must :
    are in harmony with the law of (God ; but only when                                     he -not also say with Kuyper that man died only -in
    such c'o6peration  does- npt endanger their-relationship                                pri&iple  *hen he ate of  t&e forbidden.  Gee?  S&rely
    to Christ, and thereby'wo.uld.make  their Christiai wit- he. is not &s dead as Paul makes him,. -is he?
    ness in, word and deed, virtually. inipossible: Ifi other                                      It grieves me `when I r:ead an editorial like this.
    words, a Christian can cooperate as long asin this co-                                  Why doesn't Rev: Persenaire simply leave off the whole  -
    operation he .may remain different."                 .-    `,                      "philosophy of common grace,  ahd' tell- his readers'
        Persenaire believes that "sonic :day,, when l&d swill                               that as `Christ&s they are `not, according t6 the Word `-
    withdraw more and more of this grace from the world,                                    of' God, tp be .unequally yoked with unbelievers, and
    the antichrist will be revealed, whd will vi&ally make                                  iq the midst of the world they are to live antithetically
    it impossible for `the people of God to. dwell on the                                   in every  -department  of life, to let their light  shiee,
    earth." _. "gut as long as -:God"s common grace is Still                                live. out 6f the_ principle of yegeneration,  and be a sa- '
    operative in this world;- thepe is an opportunity for                                   vory salt td God? Then, I believe, his people will no
    collective Christian action'and for .Ghristian activities                               more be  gdilty  6f "loose thinking" and  "dan,gerous
    oti this earth. Moreover, then- there can also be a  cer-                               reasoning", but they will  .know the truth, and  th&
   tain amount ,of &oop&ative  a&ion bktween Christians truth will make  them'free.
    a n d   ri&Christians."                                                                                                                     -k.  Schipper
        What shall we say ab!ut all tih&? It seems tb n&                                                                     .-::::
   that Persenaire does not telllhis readers anything they                                                             .- . . .
   have not heard or read. many times before. I- fail to                                                                                                       ,-
    see how those who -do not believe in the doctrine. of                                                      $0 all ye peoples, bless our God,
    common grace,. or who misunderstaxxd the .doctritie  as                                                      Aloud proclaim His  praise,
   set forth in the Christian Reformed Churches, .or who                                                       Who safely holds our soul in life,
   misuse the doctrine, are going to be cprrected  by this                                                      -And. steadfast inakes our ways.
    editopial.                                                                                                 Thoti, Lord, ha& proved and tested us
                                                                                                                 As silver tried by fire; *
        Wh& he writes about the good that-  the unregen-                                                       Thy -hand has--made  bur burden great
   erate may perform, -he leaves the impressiop that if                                                          Atid thwarted our .desire.
   ,GocJ would onlji give him a little more common g?ace
   he might be able, to -.gain. the full approval. ,of ,God. Hle                                               Through `pai< a&l &oubl& The; hast led,
   writes : "The good that the unrege&rate  may perform,                                                         And hugEled all Our pride,;
    dule to the influence of God's common grace, is nqt gpod                                                   But, in the .etid, to liberty
    enough  for the  Christian, nor sufficient in the sight                                                      And. wealth Thy liand did guide.
    of #God to obtain, hiS. full approval. `,It is not saving                                      _. Here in Thy house  -1 give to  Thee                 g          .~
                                                                                            __                                                                        .-
   g;ood."                                     ;'                                                               Th,e  life th$;Thou didst bless,
      When Persenaire,  fojlowing  Dr. A. Kuyper,  wfites                                                    _ And `pay ,-the solemn vows I made
   ab&t the tihecliing  influ&ce of commpn grace on the                                                      -..JjVhen I was in distress.
    depravity of na'&al man, axid he tells us &at if.com-
   m_on grace' were not present, we would not be able .to                                                      Conic, ye that fear the Lord, and hear
   dw&ll on the e&h, he mdst mean too that this common                                                           What He has' done for `me ; ..
   grace began  &mediately  after the  fali of  m&n. And                                                       My cry for help is  turnle,d to praise,
   if this is the case, it follows that. if common grace had                                                   For He  has `set me  free.
                                                                                                               If in my heart. I sin regard,
   not come,  the world would, have .reached. its end .at the                                                My prayer He will not  :hear  ;
   beginning. How  cbuld that ever be?  it  -means that
   hell, would have been r&lized before all the lost .h&                                                      .But truly God -has heard my voice,
                                                                                                              My prayer  `hati reached His ear.


