                   VOLUME   .xX1x                        -A+usT   I,  1953  - G R A N D   RAPIDS,   M I C H I G A N                            NUMBER   1       9

                                                                         -
           $4 ,n,-`,-o-,,H,-c,-,,-,,-,,-,-`,-,,-,,~,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-~,~,.~                             And both earth and heaven, as well as brute creation,
 I                                                                                                     will partake of this exaltation of God's people.
      i
                       -M       b;.fi        1     T,A.T           1          6.N          '-1
           I                                                                                              -Of this exaltatibn ~vire find the symbol in what hap-
      .~,l-ll-(l-O-il-t-,-~,-,,-~,-~,-,,-,,-,,-,,-~,-,,-~,-,,-,,-,,-,,*~.
                                                             .                                         pened. on the third day of creation week. On that
                          Asca&ti Into the .Hil1 of ,God                                               day, ihe third, the Lord called the dry land out of the
                                                                                                       chaotic state of the earth which is described  as without
                              "Tlk  eartcis the  Lord%  and the fulness thereof;                       form iund &id. The `whole earth was one great pool
                           the world, and they that diirell  therein.? etc.                            of mud, one .&reat morass. And`when the L&d called,
                                                                         P sc a l m   2 4              the dry land appeared majestically above the churning
                 We do not know~at what occasion  this song was com- waters of the great ocean. IGod  exnlted  the earth..
           posed. That is, we do  ,.knoti in general,  but. not in                                     And be established her upon the floods; He founded
 .~ particular. It  may fit  .several  .occasions.  It may very the earth upon the seas: henceforth the earth is
           well point to the -ascension of the ark of the covenant                                     exa!ted.
           into the hill -of Zion at tlie time David fetched it from, dnd as  sdch, the dividing of  the waters and the
           the house of ,Oibed-edom.  And again: it may refer us                                       dry land is a symbol, a picture, of the exaltation of
`I. to-one. of the -occasions wlzeil David.,retu&ed  from the I:~? church and with her, the world, unto the dizzying
           battle with the selfsame ark after s&cessfully  slaying                                     heights- of the new and eternal commonwealth that is
           the enemies of the Lord. We do not know `tit what par-                                      called The New Jerusalem.
           ticulgr oticasion this psalm was composed, but we do
           know that it refers tb (God's  ascent bf the hill Zion in                                                          *  k  k  k
           the ark  b;f His strerigth. Therefore Psalm  68 is of
           like conthnts. See especially verse 1s of that Psalni.                                        Pro.of  for this is II Car. 4 :6.
                The first and second verses .h&ve troubled commen-                                        In that place we find another symbol of another
           tators  tie end.                                                                            spiritual counterpart. There we read that the calling
                                     What seems to be the connection :be-
           tween thefi and the rest of the psalm? What has the of `light out of darkness which happened on the first
           creation of the world to do with ascent into the hii1                                       day of creation week; is the ,earthly  counterpart of the
           oftheLord?                  .-                                                              spiritual boon which we of&n call: the effectual call-
                                                                                                       ing. Now read the-verse as such: `For ,God, who com-
           Well, it sekms to me that the  connecti,on   is `Very .manded the light to-shine out of darkness, bath shined
      .lucid.                                      -,                              : i
                                                                                      : _j
                                                                                   r  1           !    in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
                   You have the parallel her-e &ch is found th&gh-                                     the glory of God in the-face of Jesus Christ."
           out in the Bible, between the earthly. symbol and -the                                          And in the psalm. which we have for the object
           s$iritual            reality;-                                         .  F..               of a& study at this time we find the exaltation of the
                3  .' You  ,will all agree that. t&e:; Gqspel; . . the -~Kingdom                       world through Jesus .Christ, first as it happened in
           of God, the realization,,of  l?%`&ernal covenant is just                                    creation, which i.s the syrirbol; and second, as it hap-
           `this, that He -exalts the things .&hat are low, even in pened centrally when Jesus ascended to heaven. De-
           ,deepest  hell, unto the. heights .of the new heavens and                                   litzsch,,  is wrong on.two  .counts. He understands noth-
           the new &arth.  -Man, elect man, the church, is caught                                      ing of the symbolism of t.he first world ; and he mili-
           in the everl&,ing arms and carried to the hill-of the                                       t-ates against the p.atristic  effort; to see in this psalm
           Lord, that is, -the heavenly city o-f the New Jerusalem.                                    the ascension -009 our Lord to heaven, We have a pro-


 .434                                     THE  s-T.A.NDa;i-b   B-`&ARER
                                                                   . .

  found respect for Delitzsch's acumen as  ?  Htibrew                                   There is someone who is seen ascending the hill of
scholar but we are- convinced of the  meagreti&s,  the                          Gdd. And when he comes within hearing of the walls
 futility ,of his theology.. .                                                :`df the city, we hear a cry of the accompanying host:
      I After seeing the dry land majestically appear out `Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates: and be ye lifted up ye
  of the churning waters, as the earthly will of-Jehovah,                       everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in !
 whose if is by right of creation: we hear a question:                                  From within comes the question: Who is this King'
  "Who shall ascend into the'hill -of the Lord : and., who                      of-glory? And the ans&r : The Lord-mighty  in battle !
  shall stand in His Holy place?" And in that que'stion,                               The-question is repeated and so is the answer, with
 we first oft all proceed from the symbol to the type.                          a variation. The King is identified with the Lord of
         Of that type we read very often, -             .,     .,  I L,.`.  -..  1 Sabaoth, the L&d of hosts.
         Essential in the type is, again, exaltation, .the'el-                          .A11 this  ha,ppened when David led God's people
 evation of the earthly to the heavenly.. Essential, as                         in .O!d -Testament times around the ark of the covenant
 is proven when we study the altar : a mound of earth upward on the slopes. of  Mount Zion.  The doors of
or stone, firstling of the hill of the :Lord, Who raises                        the walls of the city were opened and the ark was de-
 .the earthy to t.he heavenly through Jesus Christ the posited in the rightful place : in the midst of the people
 L o r d .                                                                      of God.
 .       The earth, .thi`s present world, -is in dgrknesi,  eih-                 -.
 ical darkness : man has sinned and. is henceforth in ter-                      .'                    -  ItI a  *  4-
 rible.  obscuiity, spiritually  without  nitcl  void.  And
                                               form 
 darkness is upon the face of the deep.                                                But that was a type.
       Now listen again to the question: Who shall as-                                  All this was fulfilled centrally w,hen Jesus arose
 tend into-the hill of -the Lord? or w,ho shall stand in                        in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea and later ascend-
 His Holy place?                                                                ed- from .Mount Olivet, penetrating the heavens and
       That question is answered somehow, because from                          arriving in heavenly Jerusalem, going through the
 the very dawn of history I see sinful men s!and round heavens and appearing bef,ore the throne of God. He
J about altars, mounds of earth, elevations of and-in the                       is King Jacob, King David, King Solomon, the fulfill-
world. I hear Abel's cry and Nosh's lament; <but lam- ment of all types.
 ent and cry notwithsttinding  : they worship and adore                                 He answers the description of those that shall
 about the altar of God, the IGod of -their salvation.                          calmly be able to ascend and stand, right before the
       The altar, later $he tabernacle, still later  the temple face of the Holy God !
 are types. They are types of a reality that is blind-                                 .Xlean hands, pure heart, rich soul and true tongue.
 ing and dazzling in its glory and brilliancy.                                  It is the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
       The .altar, the tabernacle and the temple have this                              Do you know any other?
in  corn&on:  they typify unto us the fact that  some-                                  Clean, pure, rich and true. are the sine qun non
 how God is dwelling with His people, drawing them  up-                        of communion with God. And only in Jesus they are
ward and onward, from out of the abyss of- hell unto                           found.
 the hill of God, the heavenly beauty of His House in                                   The rest- of mankind are unclean, impure, vain and
 eternal bliss.                                                           d e c e i t f u l .
                                                                                       3 hear you repeat .a question that `came to us
                            f?***                                              through the ages: Who then can be saved?
       Now let us listen to the answer: clean hands, pure                               To answer that question is easy if you understand
heart, rich soul and true tongue. All those who answer the types.                                :
 that description shall receive the blessing of the Lord                               Come with me and we will retrace our steps. I
 and righteousness from the ,God of his salv&ion. They have spoken to>you of altars, tabernacles and temples.
 are the men and women that seek ihe face of Jehovah-                          I have spoken of the ark of the covenant and you must
 God. Their name is attached in a summarizing- sense look strongly at it. So did the cherubim: they were
at the end of the description: Jacob is -the name of very desirous to look into the things of reconciliation.
 that generation. Somehow, in  some way,  Jacob will                           They did not fully under&and. until they were com-
 dwell in thk house of ,God, he will ascend the hill of                        missioned to go to the earth along with the Son and
 Jehovah, partake of the exaltation of all  tihings' and witness the Nativity. Then they fully. understood.
 finally sit in spllendor and-ma.jesty  in the thrones iound                   Later, they saw again and werd very still. I refer to
 about the #God of his salvation.                                              Gblgotha.  Yes; they  w'ere still around Golgotha.  jrt
       Now continue your psalm for here comes Jacob!                           was their turn to be still. This hour was for t&e hor-
 King Jacob  I                                                                 rible laughter of satyrs, of devils, of hell.


                                                               __.,.:
                                             _  r  ~  fi:  .gT   h;.g;;D   A  a  g;gee.;   R   E  R                                                                                                   435

           But -we were to speak of the altar.                           -
          ~Essential  to the altar is the .blood that is spilled:bn                                    THE STANDARD BEARER
       it, the sacrifice, Ibleeding,  crushed, slaughtered. Es-
      . sential to the ark of the covenant is its mercy-seat oiz                             Semi-monthly, except monthly during  ]rdy and August
       which is spilled with solemn regularity the blood of                           Published by the  REFORMED   FREE  PUBLISHING   ASSOCIATION
                                                                                                  Box 124, Station-C, Grand Rapids 6, Michigan
       the innocents.                                                                                     Editor  -  Rsv.  HERMAN   HOEKSEMA
           Yes, i have pointed -out to you that we have seen                       Communications relative to contents should be addressed to Rev. H.
       many of the sons of Adam, round about those altars                          Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S.E. Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
                                                                                   All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr. J.
       of the ages, crying and wailing, but.also singing and                       Bowman, 1350 Giddings Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids 6, Michigan.
       rejoicing. Psalm 68.                                                        Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above address
                                                                                   and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
         They have cried and they have waiied ; they have                          RE&WALS:            Unless a definite request for discontinuance is received,
       &ng and they have rejoiced because of the blood.                            it  is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue
           And that blood is Jesus: it is fulfili&d. in the death                  without the formality of a renewal order.
       if Innocentius, and that is our blessed Lord, the royal                                              Subscription price: $4.00 per year
       Jacob, David, Solomon. Jehovah Salvation!                                      Entered  as Second Class matter at Grand Rapids,  Michigm
           And that blood is precious. It is so valuable and
       rich that it has bought untold millions of the genera-
       tion that seek the face of `God. It has bought that gen-
       eration not  because  they seek  aGod's face,  butt  that              .
       they might seek it.                                                    IHI-II-I,-II`I-IIHI-~~-`~~"-~~-,~-~~-~-,-~~-`~-,~-,,-,-`,-
           That blood has covered your and my uncleanliness,
       impurities, vanities and lies.                                                                                  C O N T E N T S
 -         And through the power  `of that blood (the Spirit                  MEDITATION-
       of graCe) he makes you principally clean, pure, rich                           A s c e n d i n g   U n t o   t h e   H i l l   o f   G o d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
       and true. .Silice then you lift your heads on high and                             !`*  G.  "OS
       look toward the mountains: the #exaltation of the kos-                 ED1ToR1ALS-
       mos ; centrally, the throne of David.                                          The Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           436
                                                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema
           Yes, God spake and the earth appeared -out of the OF  BooKs-
      whirlpools of  .mud.                                                            H e t   O n a a n t a s t b a r e ,   Rev.  1.  Orerduin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
           And : Hallelujah ! ,God spake again, now through                           Het Werk Van  Chris&,  Dr. G. C.  Berkhouwer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
       His Son, and-the exalted eartk and heaven appear with                          H e r   Geloof  D e r   Vaderen,  R e v .   P .   Vim-r . . . . . . ............ 439
                                                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema
       its heart : New Jerusalem, `Jesus our Lord and all His                 OUR   DOCTRINE-
       brethren.                                                                      The Triple Knowledge                       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
           ,God has gone up with a shout -(.Psalm  47 :5) i Thou                             Rev. H. Hoeksema
       hast. ascended on high (Psalm 68 :18). Yes, in order                   THE  DAY   OF  SHADOWS-
      .  to- give gifts unto  the rebellious  ,even.                                  & i d 's   R e t u r n       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                 . . . . . . . . . . . . ,443
           You will kindly remember, beloved, that I drew.                                   Rev. G. M. Ophoff
       a parallel between. the appearance of the dry ground                   FROM   HOLY  WRIT-                                                         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
       and .Jesus' as&&on. (God made the earth: He estab-                             Exposition of I Peter 1: 13 . . . .
                                                                                             Rev. G. Lubbers
       -1ished her upon the waters. -God made New Jerusa-                     IN HIS  FEAR-
       lem : He established her forever !                                             Vacationing in His Fear . . . . . . . .                                                    . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
           Well, now~listen  to Psalm 68 :22b : "The Lord said :                             Rev. J. A. Heys
       I will bring My people again from the -depths of the THE  VOICE  OF  OUR  FATHERS-
       s e a ! "                                                                      The Canons of Dordrecht . . . . . .                                                        . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
           Is it not Divinely beautiful?                                                     Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
        Yes,  .we will follow Jesus, ascending the slopes of                  CONTENDING   FOR   THE  FAITH-
                                                                                                                                                         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
       Mount Zion.                                                                    The Church and the Sacraments
                                                                                             R e v .   H .   Veldman
          ILooking.  strongly at Golgotha we sing: The glor- DECENCY   AND  ORDER-
       ious gates & righteousness, throw open unto me ; and                           The Lawful Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..**.........\.......... 453
       I will enter them with praise, 0 living God to Thee!                                  Rev. G.  Vanden Berg                                   ;
         " ,O God of eternally miraculous wonders! I never. ALL  AROUND  Us-
wrote with` fonder adoration : For Jesus' sake !                                      Eating and Drinking Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                            455
         Amen and amen!                                                                      Rev. M. Schippec
                                                        -4. vos


        436                                   THE  IiTANDARq-  BEARER  -.
                                 ~------
        r:~m--lroH-lro.l~-~-~-`~-~-~~-,~.~-~-~~~,,~,,-~,-,**. c&pose2 to this movemtint and were satisfied to have
1                -EDITORIALS--                                  1 our children instructed in the existing  Chris,tian
        i. ..)-t-O-tl-I.H-,,-,,-~-`-,,-~,-,,-,,-`,-,,-,,-,-~-,-,,-,,,~. Schools. It `became evident then that a Jarge number
                                                                     did not care for Pr.otestant  Reformed truth. Even to-
                                The Split                            day, a large number still do not send their children to
                                                                     our own school, as will be evident from the fact that
                                                                     only  about*. three hundred children attend our school
           After almost thirty years of Protestant Reformed          and these come from all the four Protestant Reformed
        Ch!lrch life, the falling away from the Protestant Re-       churches in ,Grand Rapids. The oppositi&  was accen-
      Pol:med truth. which, already for sotie tinie, cor&@ed         t&te,d when such a thoroughly Pro.testant  Reformed
        our churches, has oficially become a reality and the         clocument  ai the: Declaration of Priizciples was beiilg
        split in  0u.r churches has begun.          v     _          proposed, discussed, and finally adopted. Then,  in-.
           It became a.reality in the mother chur&;--the First       deed, it became clearly evident .that many &cl inot want
        Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids which             the Protestant Reformed : truth. They wantecl some-
        together with our  Hope Church and  tl-re Protesting         thing else, although it was not immediately clear, even
        Christian Reformed Church in Kalamazoo formed the            to themselves, and, perhaps, still iS not clear, exact-
       beginning of all our churches.                                ly what they wanted. It seems that they were no
           MO doubt, if all signs do not' fail, thk split-in the     longer satisfied with Protestant Reformed preaching.
       First Church is only the beginning, and it will .-have        Some spoke of biblical preaching in distinction from
        its repercussions in some of the -other churches.            doctrinal. They emphasized the activity .of faith, what
           Already the Rev. A. Petter took sides with thdse          ever that meant to their. own .mind.       They liked to
       that apostatised and`severed, with them, his connec:          hear the "demand" of faith  ancl  repent&e, and the
       tion with` the Protestant Ref,ormed  Churches. ~.             "responsibility of man." In connection with all this
           The same may now be said of the Rev. A. ,C.&-             they felt the needs of "conditions" and of "condition-
        menga. He also preached for those-that severed them-         al preaching." They emphasized the Bible over a-
        selves from the Protestant Reformed Church&s, and            gainst the Ctinfe,ssions, although most of them `were
        refused to recognize the legal consist,ory  of the First. not even acquainted with the Confessions. A  gl-oup
        Protestant Church of (Grand Rapids that called him           of ladies even attended the Rleformed  Bible Institute
        as missionary for our churches. The- Mission Co& ' and, according to reports, were verjr much edified.
        mittee has, for the time being relieved him of His               But although, in the First Church, this spirit of
       labors as missionary.                                         opposition to pure Prqtestant Reformed truth gradual-
           For.the time being, to avoid a church fight for the       ly gained ground, the immediate occasion of the split
       buildings, the First `Church meets in the rather large was, as I s'aid, two sermons preachecl  by the Rev. De
      and convenient auditorium of the Christian High                Wolf, the first on Apr.il 15, 1951, the seconcl on Sep-
        School. This does not mean that First Church repud-' tember 21, 1952.
       iates its right to the property. But if at all p.ossible          The,se sermons were b2d.
       it would like to settle this matter outside'of the world-         It has often been alleged that the Ren. De Wolf
       ly court.                                                     stands condiemned on two "unhappy statements" which
           But. let me now relate from the beginning how this        are, Ibesides, supposecl to be taken otit of their connec-
       split in the First Protestant Reformed Church came            tion with the  -rest of the sermons. But this is not
       about.                                                        true as I hope to make  plaili. Although it. is true
           The immedi&e  occasion was two sermons preached           that the consistory of the First Church finally con-
       by the Rev. R. De Wolf.                                       centrated its attention on -especially two statements
           This does not mean, of course; that these sernions        of these sermons which were censured, it certainly is
       were the only ,or even the deepest Cause of the sep-          not true- that, for the -rest, the sermons were Protes-
       aration. IOn .the contrary, for some time previous to         tant Reformed.
       this, things were not right in the First Church. We              The first sermon emphasizecl  a general-condition
      must not  .forget that, `from the beginning in 1924,           promise. Litelrally, the Rev. De Wolf saicl to his au-
       there were always those that .did not go along witli us -dience  : "G-od promises every one of you that, if you
       for the sake of principle. This w5qs unavoidable in a - b'elieve, you shall .be saved."
       large. churcll. like ours. But the first.manifestation  of
                                               -                        Do not overlook the  elate  bf this sermon: April
       opposition to the Pr,otestalit  Reformed truth #@ame in       15, 19'51.        -     -
       connection with-the effort to establish our own'protes-          This was right`after Classis &st had acloptecl the
       tant Reformed School. Many, far too many, were                Declaration of Principles with its strong emphasis on


                                            THE  STAti-fiARD   -B-EAR-ER                                            437

  the truth that the promise of God is unconditional,-that       refer to  the preaching of the gospel, such as Can-
  it is for the elect only, and that faith is not a condition    ons II, 5, and III, IV, 8 and 9. In this way, Synod
  b           u        t              a-means.                   reached the conclusion that the preaching of the gos-
       ' The  sermol;l, therefore, was preached, no doubt,       pel is grace to all that hear, for it is a well-meaning
  with intentional opposition to that  D&aration. At             offer of grace and salvation, well-meant on the part
  least, it is hard to believe, that the preaching of such a     of God, to all that externally hear thae preaching of
  sermon on that particular date was incidental.                 the gospel.
         Let us analyze that -sermon,                                This we used to call "het puntje van het eerste
         AA i said, the whole sermon was bad. How could          punt."
  it be different? When a man emphatically preaches                And again and again we asked the question: what
  that the promise'.of  `God-is general, meant for every-        grace do the reprobate receive in the preaching of
body, on condition of faith, the rest of the sermon              the gospel ?
  cannot be Protestant Reformed. Besides, according                 #Over against this teaching of the First Point we
  to the protests'against the sermon that were filed with        maintained that the preaching of the gospel is grace
  the  consi,story,  the  .Rev. De Wolf made other state-        only for the elect.
  ments that no Prot&ant Reformed man could possibly                 And ever since 1924 it has been the stand of the
  get it `into his head  to make. According to one of            Protestant Reformed Churches: the promise of the
  these protests (by  %he late Rev. Jonker), he said :           gospel is ndt general, even though its proclamation is
  "You have nothing to ,do with election and reproba-            general, but it is for the elect alone.
  tion ; your responsibility i.4 to believe. If you will be-         But the sermon of the Rev. De Wolf which he
  lieve, you  shall be saved." T)r, according to another         preached on April 15, 1951, was even worse than the
  protest, he declared in the same sermon: "Election             declaration of the First Point.
  and reprobation have nothing to do with the gospel."              The First Point spoke of a well-meaning offer of
  The consistory did not treat this part of the protests.        salvation to all.
  Besides, the Rev. De Wolf denies that he made them.                But the Rev. De Wolf preached that GocZ promises
  Nevertheless, there  &an hardly  be any doubt that,            salvation to every one in the audienice, if he will be-
somehow, he spoke in a  depraca$ory manner of elec-              lieve.     "
  tion and reprobation. But he surely offended the tru-              Note that this st.atement is thoroughly Arminian
  ly Protestant Reformed people by making the.follow-            and cannot be interpreted in a sound Reformed sense.
  ing statements, wh.ich he does not deny to have made;              1. It is God that promises. The Rev. De Wolf did
  "Sotie of you carry Protestant Reformed on the' lapel          not say : "I preach to every one of you that, if you
  of your coat. You -are proud of being Prc@stant Re- believe, you shall be saved." This might pass, even
  form&d. Don't think you go to heaven because you are           though it would not be the whole truth. But in a
  Protestant Reformed." I cannot imagine a man that              sermon in which such a statement would occur it
  knows and loves the Protestant Reformed truth can              would be possible. to explain, in. the rest of the ser-
  make such statements from the pulpit a.nd insult .his          mon, that ~faith is not a condition which man must
  own people publicly.                                           fulfill but a gift of #God, and a means unto salvation.
         But let us_concentrate a moment on the statement        But the Rev. De Wolf said nothing of the kind. He
  that was condemned by the Consistory.                          said : "God promises salvation to ,every one of you."
         `<God  promis& every one of you that, if you be-            2. [God promises. The Synod of 1924 declared that
  lieve, you shall be saved."                                    the preaching of the gospel is a well-meaning offer.
         What are the implications of this statement?            But this is much worse.  (God  pr@m&es. Now, the
         Let us compare it with the stand we took as Prot-       promise of God is always an oath. Moreover, it stands
  estant Reformed Churches in 1924 over against the              to reason and it is plainly taught in the Scriptures,
  well-known "Three Points."                                     that ,God promises salvation only in His grace. The
         In 1924, we will remember, it was the theory of         statement, therefore, is tantamount to saying that
  common grace that was the bone of contention. The              God is gracious unto every one in the audience, and
  Synod of Kala.mazoo adopted the "Three Points." The            that he swears this with an oath. This is pure Armin-
  first of these Three Points declared that there is a           ia&sm; It is commofi grace in the preaching of the
  grace of God to all men. For this, however, the Synod          gdspel  emphasized.
  could find no confessiona! grounds. In order, then, to             3. *God promises  to every one of  you.  Who are
  offer a semblance of proof from the confessions for            they? To whom did the Rev De Wolf speak? To the
  t&e theory of general grace,  the Synod appealed to            Church? To the elect? To the spiritual seed? To the
  certain passages from the ,Canons of Dqrdrecht that            children  of the promise? No, but "to every one of


        4 3 8                                   TH'E:,  sTAl$DARD   B E A R E R
         -                           -~__--                                                                   -
           i'
        you."- To  ~every individual within the reach of his
        voice. To  eiect and' reprdbate God promises. To be-                              O f   B O O K S
        lievers and  unb&liev&s   God promises To  sti:angers         HET  ONABNTASTBARE  (The Untouchable) by the Rev. J.
        as well as to members of the First Protestant Church            Overduin.    Published by J. H. Kok N.V., Kampen, the Neth-
        ,God promises. To carnal as well as to spiritual seed          erlands. Price f. 7.25.
        God promises salvation. Not the gospel is preached                This is, in my opinion, a beautiful book, beautifully
       to all, tit God promises salvation to all!                     written, on a very important and beautiful subject.
           4. But you say, perhaps, that this pres&ation  does        The author is, undoubtedly, not -unknown to some of
        not clo justice to the .statement  made by the Rey. De        our people here in this country for he is the same
        Wolf. For there was a  limit'in~%ltiuse,~  a  `tionditiohal- th&t wrqte "Een Theater  In-  Dachau."  .During his
        clause attached to this  general"$iomL%  of God: "if horrible stay there, he no doubt experienced somewhat
        you believe." Is it not true, then, tihat the Rev. -De        the realities of what he writes in his present book, al-
        Wolf plainly indicated that the pr,omise of- G,od is only     though the fir& print of it was published before the
        for the believers?-                                           war. By the title, the author refers to the untouch-
              This,`however, cannot possibly be the me,apling` of     abl&ess and imperishableness  of all the treasures of
        this sta$emen$.                                               the. Christian hope. All the earthly things, all the
;             I say again, if the Rev. De-Wolf had said: "I preach    things of this world, and the fashion  of this world
        to every one of you that, if you believe, you shall be        passes away but hope. and its expected and longed
        saved," he might have preached- the truth, though he          for treasures are sure and abide forever. About this
        would not have preached the whole truth, and though hope and its various aspects and relationships the
        even then no Arminian would have had-any objection.           author writes. He writes about the relation between
        More true, and, ill fact, in harmony with the Confes-         hdpe `and faith and love, about its ground and sole
        sion in  ,Canons II, 5, it would have been if he  -had        possibility in Christ, about its significance for the
        said : "I preach to every one of you `that believeth sal-     present life of the Christian, about hope and sin with-
        vation." For in, that case salvation and the promise          in, us and the sinful world about us, etc., etc. And
        of  ,God  would have been  limited to  lbelieqers i.e. the    he writes about it in a spiritual and practical manner.
        elect.                                          *                 If you can still read Dutch, buy this book and
                 But he said nothing of the kind.  He  made  the      read it. You will enjoy it as I did.
        promise of -Gdd.  as general as possible : tb every one
        of you. Noti, if `God in His grace promises salvation         HET WERK VAN CHRISTUS, by Dr.  G.  C. Berkhouwer. (The
                                                                        Work Of  Chris:)      Published by J. H. Kok N.V., Kampen,
     ~~ to all without distinction and, if jret- every one is. hot      the Netherlands. `. Price f. 9.76.
        ,saved, the  `cause   rnllst lie in  man: He does not ful-        Dr. Berkhouwer is no unknown author among us.
        fill the condition. Or pqsitively- speaking : the general     His "Dogmatische  Studi&n" are not only known in
        pr,omise of God to all without distinction is dependent       this country but they are  being translated. In the
        for its realization on man, on his willingpess  to be-        present volume he treats of the .work  of Christ: He
        lieve.                                                        foll&vs the order. of the Apostolicum: "And in Jesus
              It is exactly this that the Rev. De Wolf preached in    Christ, his only begotten Son, who was conoeived  by
        his  seFmon of April 15, 1951.                                the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered
              And -that  he*meant to preach it is  eSident  from      under Pontius Pilate, was `crucified, `dead, and buried,
        the fact that he refuses to retract this statement open-      he descended into hell. The thir,d day he arose again
        ly from the pulpit, in spite of the fa.ct that his atten-     from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth
        tion was called to that bad sermon, that the consis-          at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from
        tory condemned that statement, that the classis con;          thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead."
      demned  it as `heretical, and that he  racier causes. In other words, the author treats of the w&k of Christ
       schism in the churches than to retract it.                     in his states of humiliation and -exaltation.
                                                             H.H.         Dr.  Bepkhouwer is a student., He is especially
                                                                      interested in the study of the development of dogmat-
                             A:::-                                    ical studies in the nineteenth century alid in recent
                                                                      yea&. All through the book he offers a comparative
                                                                      critical study; in the light of this development, of the
                                - N O T I C E -                       work of Christ. This, in my opinion, is the chief merit
                                                                      df the work.
              -Their will -be no issue of  tzhe  St&ndar.d Bearer         I agree, of course, with the author, when he repud-
        August `15,                                                   iates the idea that the incarnation of the Son of God


                                          _-


                                                       FHE   s,.A&&.+b   fiEARbfi                                                          439
                                                                        ,.                                                     --
                                                                        `>
            would have occurred apart without the entranti&?..of
            sin into the world. Christ came, indeed, fo;~sin. Hhw-.
            ever, this does.not  alter the fact that, according to the             1  $  U'R. D 0 CT R IN E  i
            counsel of [God, sin served the purpose to make-room
            for the "Firstborn. of every creature" to come into
            the world.                                                                        -f&,..+RIPLE KNOW/LEDGE
                    As to the question whether, through the blood of                  AN  EXPOSITION  O
            the cross,  m$n was reconciled to  ,G,od  or God was                                                   F THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM
                                                                                                                   ,.'
            also, reconciled to man, the fact remains that Scrip-                                 PART   III!  - OF THANKFULNESS
          .ture never speaks of  the. latter but only of the for-
            mer. In this connection,. the idea of reconciliation                                            ~."Iio~D's   DAY 36
            and that, too, in connection with -the covenant idea,                                                         0
           -might have been more clearly defined.                                                                         3.
                    One more remark. In a- treatise on the work +f                                    With Fear and Reverence
                 Christ, one would expect proper emphasis on the                    This profanity can and  ".does assume different
            truth of election. This,  .in  ii-i+ opinion,, is a lack in forms. A very common atid simple manifestation of
            the book..                                                             profanity, to which we probably do not always call
                    I'I heartily recommend the book to all that are in-            attentiqn, is the .thoughtless .use of the name of God.
            terested in a comparative:critical study df the work                  By thoughtless use I .mean any use of the name of the
            of Christ.                                                            Lord that is not accompanied by and is not the .true
                                                                                  expression of a corresponding fear and reverence in
            HET  GEiiOOF  .DER  VADEREN (The Faith of the Fathers),
                  by the Rev. P. Visser. Published by J.  Hi  Kqk  N.V.,  Kam-    the heart. We, for instance, often show .this lack of
                  pen, the Netherlands. Price  f: 4.95. --                        fear  Snd reverence in our prayers, especially in pray-
                   This is a nice book on  oi.KConfessions. We are                ers which tie offer in public. This is tru'e not only of
            always interested- in, any ptibli&ion  on our Three                   th'e vain repetitions of which, the Lord speaks in Mat-
            F'.orms of Unity. And this book is very worthy pro-                   thew 6;`: verse 7, but is especially the case with the
            duct in many respects. In  one respect it is unique.                  repeated and useless mention of the name of ,God. in
            It combines all the- three parts of our confession into               gur prayers. The same is  Cue often of our conver-
            one and, in connection with the various  doctrin&`. sations, of our Bible discussions in our societies, and
            briefly discussed ((God, revelation, Scripture, creation,             even of our preaching and hearing the. Word oi `God.
           the fall, Christ, etc.); it places -them.sid@  by side. The All such use of the name of Jehovah that finds no ,sp-
            book `tias"de&gned  for catechetical  instruction as .well            responding profound fear and reverence in our he&ts
            as for the `Ijiirgose of aaquainting outsiders with our               is really profanity, reflecting upon  t@  `p#+ty in
            corif essions.                                                        our sinful. nature. When we shall bekperfest,  we shall
                  .' We agree with the author, of course, that faith              never again thus lift up the name,:of .G.od into vanity.
            is not -a condition but a means unto salvation. We                    In heaven .we shall never be.,gble ,to use the name of
            hardly  agre& with him on his  d,efinition  of the cov-                God coldly, as an object. of discussion and , debate.
            enant, and particularly not with his theory of the                    There our whol$ being; `with all our heart- and mind
            covenant of works; which is not conf,essional.                        and soul, pith $1, our intellect and will, shall sponta-
                   We heartily recommend the book.                                neously Tg?p.ond,tb the name of the Lord in fear and
                                                                     -U.H.        r e v e r e n c e .   i.  :..
                                                                                       Proftiiiit$  it is, too, when men, refuse to use the
        .,  3                 -y--m                                               name ,of the Lord at all. In decent society in the world
                                                                                  swearing and cursing. is often avoided, and is even
                              RE'SOLUTION   O F   S Y M P A T H Y                 e'ondemned. Public swearing is contraband, for dif-
_.li              The Martha Society of the Doon  Protestant Reformed Church      f&ent reasons. It is not good manners. It  `is not
           hereby express their sympathy to Mrs. Sy  Stellinga in the
        lo& of her-husband, and to Mrs. Ed Van Egdom and Mrs. H.                  consider'ed  to be  r&n&d.  to use the name of God  ,in
         Xtellinga in the  .loss of their father                                  vain. Does that niean that in suck society the third
                                   MR. SY  S'IUZLLIIWG~                           commandment is kept, "Thou shalt not take the name
                  May the God of  _ grace. who performs all things according
           to His own good pleasure but ilso in unchanging love to His            of the Lord thy God  in. vain?" Certainly not: for
           people comfort and sustain them in their sorrow.                       God has not revealed His name in order to be passed
                                           The Martha Society                     by in silence. To do so nevertheless is just as much
                                             -Rev. H. C. Hoeksema, Pres.          profanity as is cursing and swearing.- The name of
                                              Mrs. S. Aardema, Sec'y
         peon, Iowa                                                               the Lord is simply forgotten, is intentionally avoided,


440                                  THE  $3TANDARC  B E A R E R

is not mentioned at all. This is an insult, piovbking        h&red  and envy. arid malice,  of!  `mockery and  con-
the `Lord our God. .It is heaping contempt $0, the           te&pt,  and even of drunken revelry and dissipation.
name of the Most High. For. d!, not forget : th'e name       The name of ,God is used by the corrupt sinner as he
of Jehovah is everywhere. It  is  6 all the works of would use no other name, and is dragged in the mud
His hands. And it  is,. or should be, on the lips of         by him as no other name is ever humiliated, not even
every Christian who loves that name  and glorifies           of his bitterest enemy. I do not have to elaborate
it as it is revealed in Christ Jesus our  .Lord. Even upon this well-known and most terrible sin, which in
when a man's name is intentionally avoided where             some circles in the world,-notably our army and
it ought to be mentioned, it is an insult to him. It         navy+% `so general and prevalent that it is well-nigh
means that he is ignored and slighted. And this is           impos&ble for the child of God to move about in them.
exactly what decent society, that avoids swearing and        And why does the sinner. so defile the name of IGod
cursing, but at the same time  never-  mentions the          and take it in vain in the bitterness of his sinful soul?
name of the Most High, does in regard to the name            There is only one answer: the carnal mind is enmity
of Jehovah. He is simply not mentioned.- IContemp-           against God !
tuously they pass by the glorious name of IGod. This            The Catechism reininds us that there is no greater
also is profanity, and certainly a violation of the third    sin, or more provoking to God, than the profaning of
commandment.                                                 His holy name, and tihat His wrath is kindled against
   Finally, there is that direct and. mo.st  terrible form those who do not endeavor, as much as in `them lies,
of profanity  thst is called cursing and swearing.           to- prevent and  fiorbid  .such cursing and swearing.
Even this may be done directly and openly, or indi-          Nor, it seems to us, is it difficult to understand how
rectly `and covertly. You can say, "My God," and so          especially  t,his sin must be God-provoking. (Only let
use the name of God in vain ; or you can express one         us think of ourselves. If there is any self-respect in
of the attributes of God, and say, "My goodness," or         a person, and they take his name to profane it, to
"Good gracious !" When you use the-latter terms as           make it a plaything- and an object of mockery, wil!
exlcamations of surprise or indignation or amaze- he not deeply resent that his name is thus trampled
ment, you refer to divine tiiitues, and therefore it is      upon? And what is our name in relation to another
the same as  if you  had said, "My  (God!"  Such  ex-        man's name, compared to God's name in relation to
pressions are camouflaged and indirect profanity, and        us? Little specks of dust in the balance, drops of .the
are meant to be such. The same may be said of other          bucket we are, in relation to  %he infinitely glorious
expressions that  are commonly used arid certainly [God. And when that sinner presumes  to. make an
should be avoided byhim that professes to be a Chris-        attnck  upon the holiness of God's name, the Lord as-
tian. Many people seem to imagine that they ,do not          sures  us  in His  thir.d  commandment:  `!I will not hold
use profane language when, &stead of using the name hiti guiltless who taketh.my name in vain."
of God, they use expressions as "By heaven," or- simi-        The Catechism also warns us that by connivance
lar expressions. But the Lord teaches us that heaven         or silence we may not leave the impression upon those
is the throne of ,God, and that to swear by heaven is        that use God's name in vain that we either take. this
the same thing as swearing by God Himself. The               sin lightly or even agree with them, and thus .become
same is t+ue of the thoughtless-use of the word "hell".      partakers of these horrible sins. In regard to this,
People become .disgusted,  and express their disgust we may remark, in the first place, that it is of course
by exclaiming, "0 hell," and imagine that by using           our calling openly, and, if necessary, pu;blicly, to con-
such  expressioris  they do not violate the third com-       demn the sin of profanity, of cursing and swearing,
mandment. Nevertheless,  they are mistaken. Hell wherever it is committed in our presence and within
is the place of God's wrath ; and when  you use the          our hearing. We must let our light shine before men,
term hell in a vain and thoughtless sense, you mean to       that our Father in heaven may be glorified. Secondly,
mock at the pl&ce where God's wrath burns eternally.         however, we must not forget that there comes a time
The regenerated and s,anctified  believer certainly does     when we 1la.d better cease either privately or publicly
not use such terms, but is called to use a language of       to condemn those that use the name of God in vain
his own, in which he glorifies the God of his shlva-         repeatedly.      When we are obliged to live in close
tion. But finally, there is that most abominable ex-         contact with men or women that swear and curse and
pression of the sinner's profanity that is known as          generally use profane language, and we have given
cursing  and. swearing, and that consists in making a        testimony against this horrible sin repeatedly, and
veritable plaything of the holy name of God, a vehicle       our testimony is not heeded, it is better not to cast
for the expression of all kinds of corrupt emotions, of      our pearls before swine any longer. Ursinus, in his
sinful wrath and anger, of bitternebs and rebellion, of      "Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism'?, is of the


                                         ,.$,    ._  `;.:i-:.-a   _
                                                               .^  5  ._
                                                                 :             !     I     :     .--.-     .:     -z.


                                                                       `,


                                       I 'H E   S T A N D A R D - B E A R E R                                                                     441
                               __--                                                                                           -_-- -
 opinion that it is possible to m&e an untimely. @d                          the God of otir salvation in Jesus Christ in our homes,
 unseasonable confession of the truth : "By .vhich .&!&                      in c&&h, akwell as in our schools, lower and higher,
`stir up and excite the enemies of religion .;either'~$                      and &@$ thus we- fulfill the promise we made when we
 contemn or revile the truth, or, to bitterness and cru; pres&tecl   our children for baptism, "Whether you
 elty against the godly; without. advancing the glory promise -and intend to see these children, when come
 of God .and the salvation of anyone, and without any to the years of discretion, instructed and brought Up
 necessity `demanding -a confe&ion of the truth at the. in the aforesaid doctrine, or help or cause them to be
 time and under the .circumstances  under which it was- instructed therein? to the utmost of your power?"
made. Such an untimely confession Christ prohibits And-of course, it implies that all our walk and conver-
when he says,. `iGive not that which is holy unto the                        sation are a clear testimony to the fact that we know
dags, neither cast ye- ybur pearls before. swine.' " And                     and love the name of -Jehovah our Icovenant God in
 in the same paragraph the author concludes: "Hence, Chfist Jesus, and thus "glorify him in all our words
 if anyone should. make a moCk of keligion,  or deride and works." It implies that whenever we use the
the ,dbctrine of the gospel aftei it has been sufficiently' name of our God, we shall do so in the consciousness
 declared and explained to him, and should ask a pea- that we stand in His holy presence and be filled with
 son of our hope, we should not return an answer .to                         a sense of His glory, and that so being filled with the
him, but leave him to himself. So Christ himself af- consciousness of His divine holiness, we shall at all
ter he had' sufficieptly  conf,essed  and. confirmed his                     times in our speech and in our prayer, in our confes-
 doctrine, made  no reply30 the High Priest and Pilate                       sion and in- our walk, ascribe glory and honor to the
with reference to the false witnesses, and -gave a rea-                      adorable name of the most High with thanksgiving.
son bf his silence,  `If I tell you, ye will not believe.' "
With this we agree, although, of course, this should *_ .- -In conclusion, let `us ask the question: do we and
never be a -pretext to excuse or co& up, spiritual cow- can, we keep this third commandment in all its impli-
ardice. Beside.s,  in all our walk and conversation we cations perfectly?                                                And the answer, according to
should glorify the name of God, of the God of our                            Scripture, as well as according to the testimony of our
 salvation in Christ, so that our- entire life is a testi-                   own `consciousness is: by no .means. The Christian,
mony against' the ungodly and profane.                                       the believer in Christ Jesus, has but a small beginning
                                                                             of the new obedience ; and his old nattire  is still pro-
    Of course, the third commandment does-.not  only fane. And according to that old nature, we still fre-
prohibit the vain use of the natie Jehovah, but of any quently violate also this third commandment of the
name o.f God and of Jesus-Xhrist,  and, in general, all Isw. We hate it, and we are heartily sorry for it.
profane use of and reference to-holy things, such as,                        But we do that which we hate, nevertheless. And
for instance, the Bible or any quottitions  from Scrip- therefore, in the first place, it is a good thing that we
ture, or the doctrines contained in and based upon                           realize by! faith that we are not under the law, but
Holy Writ. Moreover, the third commandment does xnder grace, and that we may take the threat that is
not only have a negative and prohibitive implication,                        connected with this third commandment, "The Lord
but rather presupposes a positive meaning. To this                           will not ~hold him guiltless that taketh his name in
the Heidelberg lcatechism refers when it teaches us                          vain," tw the cross of Jesus .Christ our Lord. In Him
that the third commandment admonishes us -"that we we know that we have the forgiveness of sins and
use the holy name of `God no otherwise thafi with fear                       everlasting righteousness. But in Him we are not
and reverence; so that he may be rightly confessed only redeemed from the guilt of sin by the blood of
and worshipped by us, and be glorified in all our the cross, .but we are also in principle delivered from
words and  wqrks." This positive meaning of the the-power and dominion. of corruption, so that we can
third comniandment covers a wide field, and implies truly confess from the heart: "0 how love I thy law,
that in all our walk and conversation tie confess the it is my meditation all the day." By the power of
name of `the God of ollr salvation in Christ Jesus, and ~God's ma?vellous grace in Christ Jesus we have been
glorify our Father which is in heaven. It means that delivered from that horrible corruption that makes us
we develop and maintain and defend the truth of the iwear and curse and trample under foot the name of
Word of God over ~against  all heresy; that we do so                         God, to drag it in the mire of sin. We stand on Mt.
privately and individually in the .midst of the world,- Zion, redeemed by the blood of Christ and delivered
atid even over against the ,`apostatizing church ; apd                       from the bondage of sin in principle, and instead of
also that we maintain the truth over against all false                       lifting up a presumptuous and rebelliops  fist in the
doctrine in. the preaching of the Word, as well as in face-of the Holy (One of Israel, we prostrate ourselves
our official confessions. It implies, moreover, that we before him with reverence and holy fear, with the
instruct our children in the knowledge of Jehovah as prayer which our Lord taught us upon our lips: "Hal-


  442                                             I'HE  `ST+DAR-D-  BEARER
                                          .-v                   :.
  lowed be thy name." And in that attitude, cci&ious                      t&z, glory of God and-the  well-being of our neighbor.
  too that we have but a small beginning of thiq new                      Yet we will find it to be instructive to examine the
  obedience and that sin, also the sin -that is forbidden                 question as to how and when and whether at all the
  iti this third commandment, `still dwells in our flesh,                 Christian may uSe the oath. It may be doubted whe-
  we are eager to be instructed by God's holy law,. and ther this is properly understood, especially in the light
  ask: "Lord, `what wilt Thou have us do?"                                of the emphatic words of the Saviour in  Matthe.w
     The laiv as a code  of commandments enjoins; us:                     5 :33-37 : "Again, ye have* heard that it hath been said
  "Do this, and thou shalt live." This. is for us, apart                 by thesm of old time, Thou shalt .not forswear thyself,
  from Christ, an  impo.ssible  commandment. By that #but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I
 injunction we can never live. But what iS impossible                    say unto you, SEwear  not at all, neither by heaven, for
 with men is possible with  <God.  TChrist has fulfilled                 it is God's throne: Nor by the earth, for it is his foot-
 the law. Therefore we may not turn the injunction                       stool-: neither by Jerusalem ; for it is the' city of the
  of the law about, and instead of living in the boridage                great- King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
 of fear, the fear that we. must first fulfill the law be- beca.use  thou canst nOt make one hair white or black.
 fore we can ever live, we .now knot+ that God has es-                   But let your communication be, Yea, yea ; Nay, nay :
 tablished His'eternal covenant with us, and by faith                    for whatsoever is `more than these  corn@@@ of evil."
 we confess : `<We live: therefore we obey."                             And again, we read in James 5 :12 :  "But above all
                                                                         things, my brethren, swear not, neibther  by heaven,
                                 *  *  *  -2                             neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but
                                                                         let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay ; lest ye fall
                                Lord's Day 3'7                           into condemnation." It is especially in the light of
                                        `1.       `.'                    these Scriptural passages that we will try to answer
                                                                         the question-: why is it possible and proper for the
               The Place of the Oath Pn the Kingdom                      b-&ever, and for him only, to swear an oath, or even
                 Q; 101 May we then swear religiously .by the name       to demand an oath of anyone?
                 of God?           -
                 A. Yes: either when the  magi&r&es  demand it of            This, we must understand from the outset, is the
                 the subjects; or,when  necessity requires us thereby    question.
         ..      to confirm fidelity and  t&h to the glory of God,
                 and the safety of our neighbor: for such  -.an oath                                                                  H.H.
                 is  fbunded  on God's word, and therefore was justly
                 used by the saints, both in the  (Old and New  Tes-
                 Dame&.                                                                      --- D.'
                 Q. 102 May we also  ,s,wear  by saints or any other
                 creatures ?
                 A.  INO; for a lawful oath is calling upon God,  ,as
                 the only one  who`~knows  the heart, that he will                               IN MEMORIAM
                 bear witness to the truth, and punish me if I swear.
                falsely; which  honor,is due to no creature.               T.he undersigned societies of the  Doon  Protestant  `,Keformed
                                                                         Chuurch hereby express their heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved
    This Lord's Day is an appendix to Lord's Day 36.                     family in the recent death of
 It treats  ,of one particular aspect of the third cbm-                                      MR. SYBRON  STIEXLINIGA             :
 mandment,  the oath.                                                      May the God of all grace so comfort them, that they may ex-
    An oath, according to the Heidelberg Catechism,                      perience in their present sorrow the peace that passeth  al1
                                                                         understanding;
 is "calling- upon God; as `the only one who knows the                                                Men's Society
 heart, that he will bear witness to the truth, and pun-                                              Ladies' Society
                                                                                                      Young People's Society
 ish me if I swear falsely.`,'                                           Doon,  Iowa
    Now it may probably appear rather superflous in
 our. day to devote a s.eparate  chapter of our He&l-                                             *  4  7-t  *
 berg Catechism, and a special sermon, tp the positive
 question whether we may swear an oath at  -all. It                                              IN  MEMORIA&
 would seem that at the present time it may probably                       Het behaagde den Heere, door den dood tot  Zich te nemen
 be proper to discuss the subject of a rash-or unlawful                  een onzer  leden
 or improper oath ; but the question whether the oath                                           MRS. T. Z&DEMA
may be sworn at all would appear to be/rather void                       in den  ouderdom.  van 77 jaar. Zij was voor  jaren een getrouw
                                                                         .lid onzer Vereeniging. Haar  heengaan  was vrede.
 of practical significance and instruction. No one, it                     Door deze betuigt de  Hollandsche  Vrouwen Vereeniging van
 seems,. could possibly have any scruples to swear -an                   de- Eerste Prot.  ,Geref. Gemeente "Wees een  Zegen" haar  op-
                                                                         rechte deelneming met de treurende familie.
 .o&h when the magistrates demand it of us, or even                                                   Mrs. D. Jonker, Pres.
 when it ia necessary to confirm fidelity and truth to                                                Miss W. Woudenberg, Sec'y
                                                                         Grand Rapids, Michigan


                                          THE  $TANjaqiX@,   BEARER                                                   442
                                     -                                                        -     -                    -
                                                                  conc$ion.:that  Absalom would have continued to -plot
                                                                  in the attempt to overthrow the existing government.
       THE DAY OF @i?AI)OWS `-1
 t                                                                i But Absalom, t,hough the instiiator  and leader of
 6)--UHII-`
                    ~(-`
                         -~`
                             -(-`
                                  -~-,-,-,~,-`
                                                 -,-~,-,S         the  revolt, was not the sole culprit. All who had
                       D a v i d ' s   Retutn                     ,flocked to his banner shared in his guilt, particularly
                                                                  the caljtains of his rebel army and his counsellors. All
      In convincing the men of Judah,$bat he b&e. them            deserved to die, especially the leaders. This might
 no ill-will,. the king went much further than to chide           also have happened, if Joab could have gotten his
 them for being  the last to bring  him back. He  in-5 way. It may have been one of the king's reasons
 strutted  the  highpriests  Zadok and Abiathar to tell           for `discharging him as captain of the host. H'e m&y
 Amasa that, whereas he, too, was his bone and ~flesh,            have  feared that in the present situation Joab was
 he was making- him captain of the host in mJoab's,stead.         not. to be trusted with the power and influence that
      That must have been surprising news, seeing that            went with $hat position.          I
Amasa's  par& in  .the rebellion had  been that of cap-
 tain of Absalom's rebel troops. So, to persuade the                 For the king w&`o$  a different spirit. After the
                                                                        ._.
 men of Judah tihat he meant what he said, the king               manner of the dictators in the world Of ancieni and
 confirmed his word by on.oath.                                   modern times, he might have' ordered a purge of his
      How angry it must have made Joab when he heard              army and official family. .-But instead he forgave his
 about it. The Abs+$m i;ebeliion  had come and run-its            ill-deserving people and again took them to his bos-
 course. But he had remained loyal. That now when                 om as his enemies, even going so far as to raise one
 it was all over and the forces of iniquity that had ar-          of their number-next to  Absalom  the  chief rebel of
 rayed themselves. against the  -king had been van-               them all-to a position of highest honor in his army
 quished also through his generalship, he should vbe              That certainly was a thing unheard of in heathen
 thus humiliated and this to make `room for one like              lands. But as was already stated, David was not just
 Amasa! How the thoukht of it must, have galled him.              another orientai despot. As king he was the shepherd
      And yet, he really had this coming to him, fist by          of Israel and in thiS capacity he pre-indicated .Christ.
 his crime of the past. He had murdered Abner in'cold             He, too, like D&id came to `tiis own, and they that
 blood. For that foul  ,deed he should have been  ijut            were `His own-the Jews, His brethren according to
 to death. But. aside from publicly condemning him                the flesh-received Him not: they crucified Him. But
 and bewailing the fate of his victim,  the king had              as many as rec&ed Him-to them He gave the right
 taken no action. He had allowed Joab to go on living to become children of `God,.,even to them that believe
 not bnly but continued him in the position of- captairi          on His name (John. I: 11, i2).
 of the host.                                                        But.. let us. go back. to, David. In rebelling against
      But now Joab again offends. He slays Absalom                him, the people of Israel ,had committed a great sin,
in total disregard of the king's expressed  wish that             he being the anointed of the Lord, the vice-gerent of
 he ;be delivered-up to him alive, if he be captured. It          Jehovah, and in this station a.man according to God's
 is understandable that the king was bitter; and that             heart, despite his great sins of which he had repented.
 he wouldn't spare Jpab if by msacr:ificing  him to make          Hence Ythey had not rejected him., It was the Lord
 way for Amasa, he therebF;&could  kin over the tribe.\ i whom they had despised. Yet instead of destroying
 of Judah.  -                                              Y , .this people, as they reserved and also as their, law de-
      ,One may ask whether it. should have been. held             manded, he continued to own them as his. people and
 against Jo& that he had made an end of Absalom;- " forgave them all that they had done to him. That was
 -though it be that the king had ordered him'spared  ;            right. He could not do. otherwise. For the Lord had
 considering the enormity of Aibsalom's  offence-Tsra-            done likewise with respect to this same people through
 el's law called for the destruction of. suck offenders-          all the ages of the past. For despite all their sins and
 and considering.also that Joab could npt but conclude rebellions, they were His people in Christ, foreknown
 that the king had no intention of making him pay for             by Him in ,Christ and foreordained to be conformed
 his crime with, his .lif,e, should. h_e%e delivered up to        to Christ's image, and,.Fa!led,;  justified and .glorified
 him alive. Bit that would have,bsen:the  king's respon-          in- Christ in I+ `counsel ,&fore the foundation of the
 sibility.    It, did not giv:e,:Joab, ,$he right -to take the    world., ., This b,eing true, what could he do but show
 law in his own hands, ,-And that preci&ly was what               this  p-eo$e  mercy and forgive them.even as the Lorcl
 he had -done.  He ignored the  fa& that  .David was              had forgiven  them and him. For certainly the  Ab-
 king and judge iti Israel and ridt her But his disobey-          &m rebellion cannot, according to the text of the
irig the king's orders is  uhderstandable. It is a fair           ,Soriptuses,   be limited to the reprobated in Israel as


  444,                                      il`fijj   S,+j+/$NDAkTJj   j&&`Akkk
                              --_-                                                                                  _  ._
                                                                                                                     I' )
. if it did  not also involye many  W&O were  of God's                stances and experiences of David during his son's re-
  elect. According to the text the sinner  h&e was                    volt.    The 5th psalm ; which is much akin in tone
  Israel. So  w,hat might he do as  shephe.rd  of Israel; and sentiment t6 that which precedes, may well enough
 :but come to  his ill-deserving subjects with -overtures -have been. written on the same occasion ; and it is in-
- of peace and with the call that they bring him back tere_sting  to note how, amidst the plottings and counter
  as their king. And-this-he.did. For, as-was said, the               plottongs  of the time, he preserves the calm composure
  mind of Christ tias in him. Tjhis. he did, doubtless as             of confidence in .God. -"But as for me, I Will come into
  mindftil of the Lord's word to Moses,  `~`Jehdvah,  Je-             thy house in the multittide  of thy mercy ; and -in thy
  hovah, a .God merciful and gracious, slow to anger,                 fear will I worship  toward thy holy  temple.  Lead
  abundant in lovingkindness and truth ; keeping lo+-                 me,  ,O Lord, in thy righteousness  becauses of mine
  ingkindness  fo? thousands, forgiving. iniquity,  tralis-           enemies ; make thy way straight before my face  ;"
  gression and sin ; and- that will by no- means clear the            and again : ~"Let all those that put their trust in thee
  guilty, visiting the ini;quity of. thti fathers upon the            rejoice :  .let them ever shout  -for  joy,  because thou
  children, and- upon the children's children, upon the               defer&lest  them." "For thou, Lo&, wilt bless the right-
  third and fourth. g&e&ion  ' (Ex. 34 : 6,`7) ."                     eons  ; With favor. wilt thou compass his as with a
     "Visiting the, iniquity-of the fathers upon the chili-           shield." To. the Sam& trying hour `belongs the- 143rd
  ren . :. . " This, too. For all were not brael that                 Psalm, which, read  in the light  df the history,  be-
  were of Israel. It was of course to the true Israel-that            comes full  bf  in&u&ion and comfort for God's  be-
 the heart of this shepherd-king cdnt&ued  to god out                 lieving people. Retietiberini  the connection between
  during all this terrible crisis. For the guilt. of the              his sin and his calamities, he beseeches >God  not to en-
  great sin here committed rested also up& this Israel.               ter into~ judgment with hiti, because in His sight no
  And it was'this Israel that bi .God's grace repented                flesh living could be. justified ;- then, plaintively des-
  of  this sin  -and again brought him  back,~ though of              cribing the evil done to him-by his enemies, he falls
  course in the new- enthusiasm of  the moment they                   b&k on the memory of fdrmer times, and encouraged
  would be joined in.bringing  him b&k by many--of the                by the, tokens of God's mercy which he had then re-
  others. So it always goes.                                          cei.ved, he. says, "I`stretcli forth my hands unto thee:
     So, in. all his behayior  in this crisis David does _ tiy soti thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land." There-
                                                   _~
indeed typify Christ.           .'                       .,  -       after  he. .$lls for help, saying,  "near me speedily, 0
     As to Amaia, the king -was s'obn to: discov+ ihat _ Lord i my .ipirit  .faileth: hide -not %hy face from me,
  he could not rely Ppon him and that- theref0Y.e  he- still          lest. I be -like tintd-them-  that go down into the pit.
 :needid  Joab,  -.  -                                               -C&se-m& to  hkar  thy  lovifig&iridness   .in the  morn-
     The king's- gestures of. good*%ill 1 toward  his: tin- ' 'mg; for in the do I trust: cause me to know thy way
  worthy. people co& not help but make  a deep impres-                wherein I should walk ; for I lift up my soul unto
  sion. And so  it..did. -This is especially plain from  thee."
the  react+ of the  men of  -Judah. They sent unto                        After he had hkard of Ahithophel's treachery; he
  him; "Return thou'and all thy. seirvants." But- let us              wrote, most probably, the 41st, and the 55th and 69th
  quote the text here.                                   ~_           Psalms, which agree in the mourtiful  description which
   And to Amasa say ye; Art thou not my bone  -an,d                   he gives of his tease, and the plaintiff wail he utters
  my flesh.? Thus do to  tie  cod,  &nd more  aboj-if the             over the treachery of his former friend;.in the calm
  captain of the host thou shalt not b,e before- me all the           trustfulness with which he leaves his cause to God ;
  &ys instead of Joab.                                            ~a.nd in the prayer which-he offers for the punishment
     And he bowed the h,eart of all the men of &cl&h as               and -destruction of his enemies.
  one man. And  they sent unto the  king;  R$&rn thou                  _ These. "cursing- Psalms," `as they  `are scornfully
and all thy-servants.  So.:the-&ng  return&and came                   caiied, must not be held up as evidence of the revenge-
  to the Jordan.  13, 14,  1.5 a.                                     ful. spirit of David. They were `not uttered in a spir-
     But now let tis turn and 1001~ at the psalms which               it of revenge but under the -impulse of the Spirit of
  have been geneially regarded as `belonging to- the er.a .-Prophecy; as is evident from  Fhe disposition of David
  of Absalom's rebellion. Already we have. refer.i+d to               all through history.: Meekly he bore Shemei's curses,
 the morning and evening- hymns so expressi+e df Da-                  and refrained from punishment in the clay of victory.
  vid's confidence in IGod, which he-compose'd,  ai is <corn-  1 ., David being the anointed bf the Lord, the rebell-
  monly held, iri conn&tion with. his flight from Jeyiusa-            iofi against him was treason against `Jehovah.. Hence,
  lem, and,which  are numbered 4th and 3rd in our I%&- his  .prayeY  for their punishment was a prayer that
 -ter ; but there are others which inust-not be overlooked.           God would viridicate  the honor -of His `name.
  We find that -inany..psalms  are trac&d to- the circtim-                                                     -G. M.  ,Ophoff

                                      ._
          .                                                                        --


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                                                                                                                                       4





                                                     THE  STANDARD  BEARER                                                                                          445

                                                             *          -     :  -,  :
                                                                                   1:.     -T-i         $h?ch-`~i&'  O.&s in living hope, that we thus rejoice.
   .~~,H,H~-,,H,~`
                     ,-`
                       ,-`
                            ,-,,-`
                                ,-`
                                      ,-,,-,;-,-,-~,-~,-`
                                                       ,-,,~,;~,~~,.~                                   Fact ,is, that the very angels, who always behold the
   f.-  F,R(-jM  H,@L:y-.  wR-i$`
                                                                                   .  1                 face of our Father, are desirous to look into this sal-
   .~.l-llls-c-,,-ar,,-`-,,-`,~,~~~,~,,-,,-,,-,,-`,-,,-,,-~~,,-,  Q                                     vation.
                                                                                                           Such were our observations in former articles ; and
                  Exposition of I Peter  1:13                                                       .such is the trend, of the Apostles setting forth of the
                                                                                                        grand truth of the Gospel in these verses.
       The passage of Scripture which we will consider                                                      However, the Apostle has more to say sbput this
   in this essay reads as follows,: "Wherefoke gird&g up                                                living  hope  of  ours. The Holy Spirit leading the h-
   the ldins of your mind, being sober, and set your hope                                               postle in all truth keeps the Apostle's  fe& on the
   perfectly. on the grac#e that .is to be brought unto you                                             ground ; this letter is addressed to the churches in this
   at the  revel&ion of Jesus Christ."                                                                  world ! IOn,e.might  ask at this juncture : why did the
       Once more  -we take  UP our Pen to write a few                                                   Apostle not write "finis" when he came to verse 12 of
  thoughts of an expository nature on the first Epistle                                                 this  c&+,pter?   All  is  ~0  "spontaneo~ls"  in  the,  life  of
   of Peter. In -the past we have written some seven, or                                                the saints in these .churches.  They are blessed with
   eigh$ articles on the foregoing verses,  the verses -1-12                                            all spiritual blessings in Christ!          They are full of
   of Chagter 1. You may be assured, deay reader, that                                                  joy unqpeakable ! And they are a holy nation, a royal
  it  was` a great  joy-  of heart  for. me to write those                                              priesthood, an elect n.ation,  a peculiar tressure unto
   thoughts. While I penned them I might drink deeply                                                   the Lorcl -in all the earth, are they not?: This -is the
   from the great mercies of. God in Christ  J'etius  r&                                                ufideniable assertion of the writer of I Peter! Then
  joicing in hope. I-trust that this was mutual. with why did Peter not write "finis" at the end of Chapter
   those who read them. -That. makes  the work a spir- -I:12 ; why did the Holy Ghost move him to write all
   itual joy. writing then  .is  .no -drudgery but  a good                                              the remainder of this letter to the churches?
   activity of the  eritire. so&laying hold by  fajth on the                                                F,or Peter has more to  .write.  And we hasten to
   riches. in ,Chlrist, .our Lord !                                                                     add that this "more" written by Peter is not something
       The chief points that called for attention in the different  from the foregoing!
   foregoing verses were  the following:                                     -                     _        What does he write.% the. reintiinder  of this l&t-
      ~1. We toqk not& of the fact, that Peter addresses- %er? He tirit& many ,exhortcitions of the Gospel.
 the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Asia, Capadocia, and .                                                    These exhortatidns,.incident&ly;  should not Ibe con-
  Bithynia according to their new -"Status  &uo" in                                                     fused with, nor be presented`caritiattiredly-as  the com-
   Christ Jesus. Fact is that Peters  takes position in the                                             mand- of the law requiring meritorious works for sal-
  midst `of the Churches and with these- Churches cldms                                                 vation. He, tiho does this, does not rightly divide the
   all `in faith that -is ours in Christ.' ,G6d has blessed                                             word and is a workman that will  surely be put to
 US with all spiritual` blessings' in Christ Jesus -our                                                 shame ; he neither saves himself ,nor those who hear
   &ora! The Church- has been. born anew unto a -liv--  $im!                                                       The word of  ,God must be very  caiefully and
 ing hope  through  the  resurre&i& of.  Jesus. Christ -accurately interpreted. Hence, let it be observed that
from the dead.                                                                                          we have to do here with exhortations of the Gospel
       2. We might .read and observe how we are kept                                                    to God's people redeemed in Christ Jesus!
' by the mighty  `God in an evil world against all the                                                      These exhortations are  necessiry. They are the
   pqwers of hell and death-unto the inheritance that  &dmotiitions  and the  riurture of  the  .Lord,  who
   is ready $0 be revealed ,in the last day. Yes, if need                                               h&s brought us forth from the  land- of Egypt, from
 be,  we  must  su?Fer a little while, but this is -not  de-                                            sin's house of bondage. The great presupposition of
  - feat, but it is- the greater exhibition of the faith that all these "exhortation& of the Gospel is that we are
   #God works and displays in our hearts.                                                               the .people of God. (God says: I am the Lord, thy ,God!
       3. And while we stiffer. we are very .&ppy. (Our                                                 Wherefore, tialk before my face in Christ Jesus and
   .he&rts are filled with joy unspeakable  an,d full of be  J'e perfect. It  is not always thus seen, but it is
 _  glory.  We have never seen  ~Jesus, and yet. we love                                                surely true nevertheless, that the law of the Ten Com-
  Him.                                 -~                          -                               mandments, is really the royal law of liberty in Christ.
       4. And this is not something  strange to thus. love It is the law, which is written by the Holy Spirit in our
   Jesus, e$en `though we have not. seen Him; rather it                                                 hearts. It is the law .in which we walk with willing
   is the expected thing: For prophets and bards of, old                                                feet in thankfulness.
   thus searched out the~time and the.manner  of the time                                                   Yet we still need this law  ; we still are in dire
   of the sufferings to -come upon Jesus -and of the gldry                                              need of these exhortations. We are not yet in heaven,
  to  f,ollow. It is in view of this final glory  qf Christ,                                            where no one needs to say I% his neighbor: know the


      448                                    'liim   ST.ANDAA.-D-   BEARER
                                                          -
      Lbrd. We are not yet in glory where the earth shall to- faith. However, the point is whether that is the
      be filled with the knowledge of #God, even as the -waters      sense here in this text; whether Peter has that rev-
       cover the bottom of the sea.                                  elation through the Gospel in mind, or whether He h,as
             We are still in this world where the full-fledged       in mind the revelation of Christ which will make all
       spontaneity leaves much to be wished for ;--yes, where        preaching of the Gospel forever unnecessary, when
       the new man in Christ must constantly receive new             we shall see (Christ face to face; knowing Him even as
       strength and impulses of the Holy Spirit so as to be          tye are known! And we are of the conviction that
kept in the power of God by faith ! Such we are  in                  Peter has the latter' in mind when he speaks of the
      this world as struggling saints.                               revelation of Jesus Christ.
             This is the-naked reality kept in mind by the Apos-         (1) Because the entire bontkxt'points  in the direc-
      tle in this lettfer.                                           tion which necessitates our taking "r'evelation of .Je-
             The exhortation here is that we should hope pey-        sus Christ" to refer to the unveiling of the living and
      fectly for the grace to be brought unto us in the- re-         exalted Christ in all His glory' in, the saints, in %he
      velation of .Jesus Christ. The text speaks of the great        new heaven an earth, +i the saved. Kosmos, where
       requisite also for our hope to be- a truly living- hope.      [God shall  manifestly~b5'"ill in all!
       The requisite f,or our living hope to be' a hoping per-           (2) Notice the following points. In the first place
       fectly is: that we have the loins of dtir mind -gift up,      Peter spoke in verse'3 and 4 of the inheritance, which
       and be sober! It' should not escape .our notice, -that to     is kept in store for us in heaven. Then, too, remembeF
       speak of the requisite iS not the same as to speak of         that this -inheritance is the salvation which is readj
     the pre-requisite.  R,equisite  iS that quality and  attri-     to be uncovered for us in the last `timi i " @e' d?i not
      bute which belongs to the very nature #of a tjhing. Thus see Christ now, and we love Hini now in .hope of see-
      hour Heid. Catechism, Question 117 "What are the re-           ing Him presently in all His gjory. (Verse `8) And
       quisites of that prayer, which is acceptable to `God,         the prophets looked for ,Chri& suffering, but only in
       and -which he will -hear?" And the question' is not           view of the glory that will follow afterwards. Afid
      -what must there be in me b,ef&e I pray, but the point         this glory too is the glory of the final day of Christ iti
       is very clearly this: what must ble the disposition of        His coming. Finally, the very ang& are desirous to
      my heart and &d in my `praying to Iad. And the                 lodk into this mystery; in glad strains they sing of
       requisites in my. praying are threefold: 1. That we           this final glory in Bethlehem-Ephratha, and they speak
      pray from the heart to the .one true `God. 2. That we          of it to the Galilea Fishermen, of which Peter was
       rightly and thoroughly know our need. 3.. T&at we             one, at the occasion of Christ's ascension on high !
      be fully persuaded that God will hear our prayer, al-             -In the light also of the various expressions and the
     -- though we are most unworthy. .Threefold  requisites          general tenor of the entire epistle of Peter there can
       in the praying, in the actual exercise of the true iaith ,be. no doubt that Peter has the final revelation of the
       as the chief part of gratitude!                               Son of  God in mind. Does he -not literally speak of
             Let this truth sink deep into our hearts!               the fact that "the end of ail things is at hand"? Chap-
.            But  `let us then fully see this reality also in our ter 4:7.
       text  when it speaks of the requisite of the  hoping             Such then is the revelation of Jesus Christ.         .'
       perfectly for the grace to be brought to us in the rev-          In this revelation a certain grace  is  b'kought to
     elation of Jesus Christ.                                        us. We shall pot simply be spectators in, that day, but
          -And, again, we would warn, that we must not con-          we shall very really then be made partakers of that
       fuse the "exho&ations" .of the ,Gospel  in this texe with     glory. It will be the glory of the .God of all grace in
       the "requisite" of hoping perfectly. In the exh&ation         the saints. Then shall the-glory of God be fully share'd
       the requisite of perfectly hoping is held  befo?e our         by all. the saints in Christ. We shall be perfectly con-
       eyes.                                                         formed unto the image of God's Son, that He may be
             Let us attempt to see the implication of gur text.      the First-born of all the children of  ,God.  A. new
             In the first place let us notice the object of  ou,r    bocly shall then be ours, a new tongue, and we shall
      .- perfectly hoping. The text says:  the grace  -that  -iS     never grow weary because of corruption of the body.
       being brought unto you -in the revelatidn of Jesus, Our best works shall then no longer be defiled with
       Christ. There are thoee who would interpret this to. sin; And we shall never more fade  &%y. Eternal
       mean: the grace that is brought to us in the `Gjospel         youth shall Abe ours in the strength of the midday.
       in which Christ  .is revealed, preached to us. Now
       certainly no one will wish to deny that this certainly           This grace is borne to us.
       is  the truth of Scripture. It certainly is true  that                            (to be continued)
       Christ is revealed to us in the Gospel  out of faith un-                                               -4. Lubbers
          i'


                                         T H E   STANlDARD-.   B E A R E R                                                    447
                                                        -;: .c.:
                                                           _I
                                                       i -y` :.-~
.~,,H,H,n,rro-,,r,,-~~-,,-~,-,,-~~-~-,~-,~-,~-~~~.~~.l~~~~i~*            cut .&i&el&loose  from the strain of his daily work.
!                                                                        For the one who works by the sweat of his brow and
I        I N   H I S   F&AR
i                                                                   1
.~.III-,I~I-~,~l-t-,,~~-,,~,,~~,~,,~`,~,,~~~~~~~~~~~~~l.~l~~ comes home physically exhausted each night it looks
                                                                         good to wile the time away in quiet reflection  and
              Vacationing  In His Fear                                   thought at some remote place in the woods or at the
                                                                         lake. For the man who works with his mind, who is
                                                                         daily in the midst of a rushing, maddening business
     Vacation. time is her.e again !                                     world, constantly on edge and alert to every business
     And in these hectic days of -hu,stle and bustle, of                 opportunity that  Light come his way, such a "let-
hurrying and worrying, of nervous bension and ner-                       down" would do him more harm than good. He finds
vous "breakdowns" the .question becomes not whether                      joy in strenuous physical activity. He would indulge
we  may take a vacation but rather whether for health's                  in an early morning swim; wou!d hike up the steep-
sake we ought not  tak& a vacation to enjoy a little                     ly ascending mountain trail. He would, perhaps, don
relief from the st?ain of today's mad rush.'                             his wader.s and plod some cool, swift flowing stream
     Vacationing can be sinful. Often it is. With the to match his wits with the delicious yet danger-wise
ungodly it is always sinful, for an ungodly man can.                     trout:who  lies in~the deep pool behind yonder log. For
only do ungodly deeds whether at work or at play.                        one it is ,a time to catch up on the gardening and things
And the child of God's vacationing can also be sinful,                   about the home for which there just was no time be-
for he still  h&s the motions of sin in his flesh, and                   fore. Still another would travel far and wide and
often vacation time for him becomes a greater oppor-                     experience `%hat Solomon says that " the eye is never
tunity for him to satisfy the craving of his flesh for' tired of  seeihg".                    He finds joy in seeing the beauty
the things of the world.                                                 spots of his or of another country.
     But it need not be that way. ,And the increased                        But in all .these there are temptation& All these
                                                                                        .-
zeal, the freshness for work which a proper vacation                     the child of `God may receive with thanksgiving. But
works speaks itself for the possibility of a &cation                     all these he may also turn into opportunities to satis-
being in the fear of  ,God)s  n&me and being  @i&t' to                   fy the lusts of his flesh. . He may forget the God Who
take. AnId the apostle says to Timothy, "Ev$ crea-                       gives him these. He may forget that  ,God demands
ture' of God is good and nothing to be refuie$!. if it                   that  we serve Him also with  anld in these. And his
be received  witk `thanksgiving.?' If we forget God"and                  vacationing is not in His fear. There are things you
His laws for a week or two, if our-idea of a vacation                    want.  to leave behind when you go on vacation. To
is to get away from all those who would restrain us                      take some things along would mean that you have no
from evil ways, to get away from all church-life and                     vacation. But do not leave ,God behind ! Do not seek
serve our flesh, -then vacationipg is of the devil. And `a" vacation from living in His fear ! The danger is
such do not and  .cannot receive it from God with                        veiy real, for we live in a world $hat is pleasure mad,
`thanksgiving.  T,he lake, the beach;, the mountains,                    that is a lover of pleasure more or rather than God.
the car or train you travel with arle not evil in them-                  We live in a world which has -pressed the creation of
selves. We may receive theni from #God with thanks-                      IGod into the service of sin in so many ways, in so
gibing. But what  we, and what the world makes of                        many subtle, clever  wtiys, that this danger is very
them is something `else. And John -warns us not to                       real. The devil who came very cleverly in the begin-
love the world nor the things that are in the world,                     ning to Adam and Eve has not forgotten how success-
for they all shall perish. The {child of God may spend                   ful h_e was. He has jearned  much since that time and
a quiet time at `the. lake, majr exercise himself in the                 has imparted the instruction of the lie to his followers.
water, may view the majesty of  `God in the moun-. Not for nought does the Apostle John warn us not to
tains and glorious scenery Hle has made and receive                      love the world and the things in the world.
it with thanksgiving. .He may close his eyes at nigh&                       He who travels on his vacation soon comes in con-
and say, `$0 Lord, how great Thou art! I thank Thee                      tact with the unbelief of the world even expressed in
that Thou ,didst give me to'be reminded of Thy power,                    inanimate things. Atheism you can hardly call it.
Thy wisdom and Thy majesty in the works of Thy                           There is not true atheism. All men know that there is
hands which Thou hast caused me to see." Then he                         a god `even though they will not confess Jehovah as
has lived near His God in his vacationing. He has                        The God, the Only God. This becomes manifest and
been vacationing in His fear.                                            reflects itself in the names they give to the things
     `There are, no doubt,. as many variations in vaca-                  .Jehovah has made. Many of our readers have either
tioning as there are individuals who- take vacations.                    .seen or surely heard of "!L'he  Garden of the Gods" in
Each has his own idea  of how he would relax and
                                -                                        Colorado. Wyoming and Utah supply us with many


  448                                T H E   S T A N D A R D .   B E A R E 'R

 titles which indicate that though the ungodly-`20 liot l&th  cc&iinitted  adultery with her already in his
receive the truth of the Scriptures in true faith, yet         h&t." Young women,- you are not enticing men to
 they  a.re &ware  of: its contents tind' of the reality of    this adultery in the heart ! are you? That is not re-
 that of- which it speaks. Utah supplies us with s&h creation nor vacationing in His fear! Take God with
 m&es as -"Devil's *Gate", "Hell's Backbone" and "Dev-         you on your vacation and receive all things from Him
 ii's Slide" (which, by the way, as a scenic attraction with thanksgiving ! And while we are on this subject,
 is very ,diiappointing-to  .one who has imagined it, to-be has t!he Unchangeable One- chatige;d  His. mind in re-
 as colorful .as it is pictured  to be) :- Wyoming comes       gard to that which we told Israel in Deut. 22 :5 ? "The
 up with such startling names as "Hell's Half Acre",           woman  shall not wear that  whilch  pertaineth  unto a
 "Devil's. Kitchen" and Devil's Tower". Washington,            man? neither shall a man put on a woman's garment
 along the beautiful Colutibia River Valley -and across        for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy
 from the Oregon side -of the valley- labels one section- (God." Remember that these are God's words. Have
 of these bluffs. "Horse Heaven Hills". All these to you the couI!age to receive them as such and to heed
 one degree or another are borrowed from the Scrip- them? If you coiltinue  in that which is an -abomina-
 tures, and the Scriptures are thereby made sport of tion tq the Lord, you will not have to answer to this
by  those  who love not its testimony. We  could add `department. And you do not need to argue the point
 to the list, but it is sufficient  to indicate what th& un- with the editor of this department. If you feel that
 godly do with God's #creation. Do `they, p.erhaps,  feel you can do these things !`In His Fear", if you can do
 or sense somewhat of the curse of God upon this earth         all you can to erase the distinction He has made be-
 in these' wierd, grotesque and unusual clay and rock tween man and woman, you will have to convince Him
 formations to which they give these awful titles? `The that' you are right and that He is wrong.
 child of God can marvel at these -things, and `in his            In His Fear, not the slavish fear o$ the servant,
 sanctified thqughts he always returns to the Scriptur-        but the child1ik.e  reverence `of His adopted children,
 al account of &he Flood; and that which he knew fl:om         you will  ,want to do your vacationing so that you
 cl$ldhood  onward and which he has always believed to         please Him in it,.;0 that you seek relief and relaxation
 .bave happened becomes even more of a reality to him.         for -the body and soul, so that you may serve Him
 He receives that scenery wi.th thanksgiving. . He _ re-       both in that vacationing and afterward.
 ceives in the fear of God and in his ~sotil he says, "How        Has your vacationing been thus? Is y`our vacation
 true are the Scriptures ! This is- not the Paradise God       yet ahead of you? Seek it in His Fear!
 created. `It is the world that suffers His wrath ! .How                                                   -J. A. Heys
 well to point these things out to your children who
 travel with you anld who, are old enough to be. puzzled
 at these names. How easy, on the other hand;to take
 them in a "matter of fact" w%y and even to  .be un-                               -:-:-
 touched by the sacrilege contained in these things.
    The beach',.the  lake and resort have their own pro-
 blems and are becoming more and m6r.e nudist colon-
 ies. Strange as it may be, it is true that what some                               IN  MEMORIAM
 would blush to  have  .happen  tb  .them in any other           On June 29, 1953, it pleased our Heavenly Father to take
 place, they consider the beachto give them license to         unto Himself our dearly beloved Mother and Grandmother:
 do ; and they can do it without a trace, of shatie `or
 blushing. The Fear of the Lord n&er gives licen& to                            MRS.  PETER  ZU1DE:M.A
 immorality.    Shall we -also read what the Heidelberg        at the age of  `77 years. Our loss is great and we miss her
 <Catechism says  about this?  knd. we  will  uriderscore      much but our  cornfortY  is that she is now present with the
 especially the part we have in mind. In answer to L o r d   i n   `g l o r y .
 the `question, "Doth God forbid in" this commandment                                     T.he bereaved children
 only adultery, and such like gross sins?" tiie c&echi.&m                                   Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Van &ten
 says, "Since both our body and soul are temples' of the                                    Mr. and Mrs. Henry  Zuidema
 Holy Ghost; He commands us to preserve them pure                                           Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Verburg
 and holy; therefore he forbids all unchaste  actidn.s,                                     Mi-. and Mrs. Peter  Zuidema
 gestures, words, thoughts, desires an,d zvhatever citn                                     Mr. and  M&s. Frank Zuidema
 entice men thereto."-This we can take in connectidn                                     Ten Grandchildren
 with Jesus' words in Matt. 5 :28, "But I say unto you,                                     Five `Great ,Grandchildren
 That whosoever look&h on -a woman to lust after her           Grand Rapids, Michigan


                                        IJHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           449
                                                                                          __I-
                                                               selves with any believer who becomes acquainted with
1 The Vdice of Our Fathers f them and studies them.
                                                                   Again, from the theological point of view, we may
                                                               say that the Canons deal with the subject of God as
             The Canons of Dordmcht                            the `God of our salvation. They are an answer to the
                                                               very crucial question, whether God is really `GOD  in
      PART I - HISTORICAIL BAKKGROUND                          regard to the salvation of the elect and the damna-
                                                               tion of the reprobate. And once more it is evident that
 Chapter 3-The Confessional Status of the Canons               the pronouncements of Dordt concern a matter of the
                         (Cont'd)                              highest import for  `the Calvinist, who takes as his
  As to the content of the canons in comparison with           motto in his entire confession : Soli Dee Gloria!
that of our other creeds, i,t must jbe noted, first of all,       And  closely allied  .with the foregoing is the fact
that the Canons  Jreat only a certain aspect of' the           that OUT Canons in last instance deal with the sub-
truth, while both the Belgic Confession.and  the Heidel- ject that is discussed in the First Head of Doctrine,
berg Catechism cover the entire field of Reformed doc-         namely, the subject of sovereign predestination, that
trine. In this respect the Canons could never stand            which has come to be known among Reformed people
alone as the doctrinal standard of a church, while it          as the Cor EiccZesiae, the heart of the church, and; for
`would be conceivable that a church could stand merely that very reason, the heart of the gospel. Take away
on the basis of the CaCecKsm  or the Netherlands Con-          that First Head of Doctrine, and the other four chap-
fession. Even though, to take the latter example, our          ters of the Canons become meaningless and untenable.
Netherlads Confession is rather sketchy on some -sub- Take away the truth of sovereign predestination, and
jects, and from a realistic and historical point of view       the body of the gospel becomes lifeless, just as that
could no longer serve alofie as the expression of. our         church must needs die which denies this cardinal
Reformed faith, yet all the fundamentals of the Re-            truth. Let that Cor Ecclesiae beat weakly, or fail to
formed truth are treated ; and the Confession, could           beat, and this weakness or failure will inevitably af-
therefore, theoretically considered, stand alone. This         fect not only your confession concerning God, but your
is not the case with the Canons -bedause  they single          confession concerning man, Christ, salvation, the
out's particular. phase of the Reformedtruth and elab-         church, and the last things as well. Conversely speak-
orate on it, saying nothing about the remainder of our         ing, tamper with any of the Scriptural truths just
doctrine except by implication.                                mentioned, and sooner or later you will begin to tam-
   Howevevey,  that aspect of the tr,uth  with which our per with the Scriptural truth of sovereign predestin-
`Canons  ieal is a  fundaiental  one. Indeed, it is so         ation. This implies, of course,-and this became very
important that  no individual or church which rejects          evident in the case of the Arminians,-that as soon
the truths expressed in the pronouncements o!f Dordt           as you deny the unconditional character of election,
can be called Reformed,  or Calvinisthe. For our Can-          you must needs maintain a conditional element
ons  .&ve expression to that which is uniquely Re- throughout the entire gospel of salvation. Or again,
formed.                                                        conversely, as soon as you anywhere introduce a con-
   What is their contents?                                     .ditZonal  element in the work of salvation, you must
   According as we view the Canons from various                logically end by "conditionalizing" the fountain and
aspects, we may describe &the content of this creed in         cause of that salvation, God's eternal counsel of elec-
valious ways. It  is. concerned with. the  well-kflown         tion. And in this light it is not difficult to understand,
Five Points of Calvinism, namely: 1) Unconditional             even apart from the historical occasion for the Canons,
Election ; 2) Total Depravity ; 3) Limited Atonement ;         that the Reformed churches devote an entire creed to
4) Irresistible Grace; 5)Perseverance of the Saints.           this one phase of the truth.
It is obvious, therefore, that from the very practical            This also sheds some light already on another im-
point of view of the question of the certainty of our          portant question, namely: what is the relation between
salvation, our Canons treat matters which are close -.the Canons and our other creeds? Why was it nec-
to the heart of every child of TGod. This does not mean        essary to formulate the Canons? Were our other creeds
that other elements of the truth, as, f,or exampie,  the       insufficient? Were they ambiguous, perhaps? Or did
tfuth of- God the Creator, are not important. They             they omit to define the truths maintained in the Can-
are. Nevertheless a creed which touches directly on            ons ? And what, then, is the specific position which the
the matter of our salvation deals with a subject which         Canons occupy among our creeds?
is very dear to our hearts. .And in this latter fact lies         -Before attempting to answer these questions, let
the reason why our Canons must needs endear them-              us, in the first place, briefly remind ourselves of the


-'       458                                    `fa-li-  s.~,&Nb-.A&$  B-j$ARE#
                                     - - - -                                                                d
        subject matter ,of the C&nons. The First Head of Doc-        It was understood and taken for granted among Re-
        trine bears the title, "Of Divine Predestination." The formed people generally that the election spoken of by
        Second Head speaks "Of the Death of .Christ, and the         the  Cat,echism  and  the  Nether&&  Confession  weye
        Redemption of. Men Thereby." The Third and Fourth sovereign and therefore unconditional. And it was
        Heads together treat "Of. the Corruption of Man,. mutually understood that the work of salvation was
        His. Conversion to God, and the Manner Thereof." Ahd aGod's  w&k from  zbeginning to end. Furthermore,  a-
        the Fifth Head of Doctrine bears the caption, "Of the mong Reformed people that truth of sovereign predes-
        Perseverance of the Saints." In the second place, we         tination pulsated throughout their entire confession
        must bear in mind that the controversy which w&s             and preaching. Nor is it true,. as the Arminians tried
        settled at Dordrecht concentrated around the truth to maintain, that the confessions ieft room for diver-
        of predestinatioti, and around the other truths only gent views on the matters in  ,question. It was  ob-
        as' related to the latter: COf this the Arminians them-      vious -then without the Canons, as it is obvious today
        selves were aware when they composed their  o.wn             with the C&nons,  that the Heidelberg Catechism, with
        Five Points at Gouda. And in fact, very early in its  -strong emphasis upon the twin truths of total
        the coritroversy  Arminius himself ,had concluded that       depravity and the absolute. necessity of the .Godhead
        the doctrine of predestination .was in need of recon-        of the Mediator, as well as its emphasis upon the di-
        struction. The aim, therefore,. of the Arminiank was         vine bestowal of the benefits of salvation and its un-
        to reconstrue the truth of election,. and, consequently,     swerving  m$inten&ce  of free justification, became
        to reeonstrue  all the related truths. And it was. this      completely devitalized and untenable the moment. the
        intention of the Arminians that our .fathers  opposed        heart-beat of sovereign election ceased to throb and
        at Dordrecht.                                                surge thru its arteries. And the same was true con-
           This does nit mean, h&ever, that the Heidelberg           cerning the Netherland Conf es&on. Conc&v.ed` `of in
        Catechism and the Netherlaw& Confession were am- their entirety, neither of the existent creeds could tol-
        biguous or even had failed to maintain the above-men-        &ate an Arminian~ construction. In fact, it was just
        tioned truths. Such was not the case. There is .not a this which played a large part in the birth of the
        single one of the truths presented in the Canons which       C a n o n s .   _
        is not directly, or-by -implication, maintained in both        However, when the  controverqy  arose, and when
        the  Catechism  and the  Confe&on. The  Catechisti the opponents of the Reformed truth craftily and de-
       makes mention of the cardinal truth of election in a          eeitfully maintained that they were in harmony with
        most beautiful &onnection in Q. and A. 54: "What be- the existent creeds,. as Arminius h&self maintained,
        lievest thou concerning the `holy  catholic church the .Catechism and the Conf essioiz be&me, inadequate
        of Christ?: That  the Son-of God from  the  begibning        as far as their literal -expressions are concerned ;. arid
        to the end :of the world, gathers, defends -and p&serves     it became necessary for the church to elaborate &d
        to himself by. His Spirit and word, out of ~the whole        to de&e. officially what was' the implied meaning of
        humSa race, -a church  ckosen to  everlasting life;  a-      our creeds. In the face of Arminianism, the lone ,ex-
        greeing in true -faith ;:and  that I am and for. ev&ihall    pression   .of the  Heidelberger  concerning a  church,
        remain, a living member thereof ." And the- Conf essio       "chosen to everlasting .life," was not sufficient. An'd
        Belgica elaborat&  more on this trLith in Article l&VI:      the Netherbad  Cbnfeskon does not express itself c&i-
        "We believe that all the posterity of Adam.being  thus redly on the sovereignty and unconditionality of God's
        fallen into perditibn and ruin, by the sin of ou? first      predestination, but ,rather views  the subject from the
        parents, God then'did manifest  himself  such as he is ;     sta-ndpoint of God's mercy and His justice.
        that is to `say, merciful and just: Merciful, since he                                           -H. C. Hoeksema
        delivers and preserves from this perdition all,-  khom
        he, in his eternal and unchangeable counsel, of mere
        goodness, hath elected in -Christ- Jesus~ our Lord, with-
       `out any respect to their works-: Just, in. leaving dthers                       n-n
        in; the falls and perdition wherein they .have involved-
        th&nselves."
           Now, as  ldng as there  was.  no-  contr&rsy about
        these matters in the Reformed churches, the existent           The house that is built partly on a rock, and, part-
        confessional standards.. were sufficient b&h as to +he `ly .dn the sand, will fall : and the sinner, who rests his
        central truth of election and as to -the reiated truths      hope of salvation, partly,' on Ghrist, and, partly on
        that are maintained in the Canons. There.simply was his own works, will be damned.'
        no need for $further confessional exposition of &em.                                                        -Tolpady


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                                                                   c





                                                       T H E . '  STAN.D.AR-D  B E A R E R                                         451
                                             -
      .~CHl-`lll,-lldlll,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,-,,~~,-,,-~,-,~~,~.~,.:.     coric$i$,ns as entertained in the post-apostolic period
                                                                        5-r
      1. Contenditig For The Fait-h .:f arid d@ng.$hhe, first few centuries of the New Dispen-
      i                                                                        satiori;  iYe dC, well to bear in mind that these views
      *~l-lU,-11o11-0-,,-,,-,,-~,-,,-~-,,-,,-,-~,-,,-,-,,-,,-,,-,,.~. were characterized by simplicity and indefiniteness.
                The Church and the Sacraments                                  Sharp distinctions were not made, as e.g., between
                                                                               the Church visible and invisible, organism and insti-
                                                                                                                     -
                                                                               tute, etc.
             EARLY VIEWS OF  THE  CHURCH (Cont'd)                                  The Church of God was generally represented by
                                                                               the Apostolic Fathers and the Apologetes (immediately
I          We had concluded our preceding article by calling
     attention to Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and noted                       upon the age of the apostles) as a communion of saints,
      that he, too, declared that there could be no salvation                  the people af God whom the Lord had chosen for a
      for anyone except in the Church.                                         possession. They were the people who believed in the
           We wiil have an opportunity to refer to him again                   Lord Jesus aChrist.  We can understand the simplic-
      in connection-with the rise to power of the bishops and                  ity of this conception of the Church as entertained
      the  episcopalian  form of church government which                       during the early days of its New Testament existence.
      was in effect until the Reformation. -We are now. dis-                   There was only one Church of ,God and of Christ Je-
      cussing the views of tEe ,early Church Fathers with                      sus in the  midst of the world. The distinction be-
      respect to the Church and Salvation.. We qtiote the                      tween Jews, tieathens, and Christians was very pro-
      following from Cyprian : "Now also his words are                         nounced and clearly marked 2nd defined. The present
      evident, and his poisons are plain. He promises peace,                   day phe*nomenon  of churches and denominations, all
      in order that peace may not possibly be attained ; he                    confessing the same Lord Jesus Christ and advocating
      promises salvation that he. who has sinned may not                       their ,condeption  of Christ and of the Scriptures to be
      &me  to salvation; he pr~omises  a Church, when he so                    the purest, was wholly lacking in the days of and im-
      co&rives that he who belives may utterly perish apart                    mediately following upon the apostles.
      from the Church.. . . For as -our dnanimity  and con-                        Very emphatically the early Church Fathers main-
     cord ought by no means to be divided, and because we                      tain the catholicity, oneness; and universality of the
      cannot forsake the Church and go outside her to come                     Church. The catholicity of the Church, we under-
      to you, we b,e& and entreat you with what exhortations                   stand, denotes its universal character. The Church
      we can, rather to return to the Church; -your Mother,                    was constituted of the saints, the-elect; they have one
      and to our brotherhood. I bid ybu, ,dearest brethren,                    `God, one Christ, one :Spirit of grace, one calling. Be-
      ever heartily- farewell . . . . Whoever he may be, and                   cause~it was the communion of saints all salvation was
     whatever&e &ay be, `he who is not in the Church of                        limited to it and there was no salvation possible out-
      Christ  is not a `Christian; Although he may boast                       side .of it.
     himself,  and  antidunce his philosophy or eloquence                          However, a great change soon developed in this
     with lofty worc&, yet he who has not maintained broth- bonception of the unity of the Church of God. Many
      erly love or ecclesiastical unity- has. iost even what he                sects' and heresies arose in the second century. And
     pre$iously  had been.                                                     these many sects and heresies necessarily demanded a
                                                                               revision in the concept of the Church. The question
      The Unity of the Church.                    .                            concerning the identity of the true Church asserted
           We may certainly observe that the catholicity of                    itself, and an answer to this question was imperative.
     the Church was rather strongly emphasized during this                         It is especially Cyprian to -whom we are indebted
     early period of the Church of God as it revealed itself                   for his emphasis upon the unity of the Church. He
     in the day of its New Testament infancy.. It was                          compares the Church to the sun with its many rays,
     strongly maintained that -the Chuu*ch is on& and not                      to a tree with its many branches, to a source from
     many, although there  .are many congregations. We which there flow many brooks. He emphasizes, there-
     understand, of course, that when we now call atenti,on                    fore, the thought that, although there are many con-
     to the unity of the Church, we do not refer to the unity                  gregations, the Church is one. Quoting this Church
     or oneness of the Church as constituting one of its                       Father, we hear him say the following: "Does he who
     attributes. ,Confessing that the Church of God is one                     strives against and resists the Church trust that he is
     we thereby express the truth that the ~Church of all                      in the  -Church, when moreover the blessed apostle
     ages and out of ail lands, peoples, and tongues is one.                   Paul teaches the same thing and &ts `forth the sac-
     This oneness of the Body of Christ is-a .oneness of the                   rament of- unity, saying, "There is one body and one
     ,body, a oneness of-the head, a oneness of the spirit and spirit and one hope of your calling, one Lord, one
     of  fath. However, when discussing the views and faith, one baptism,. one  `God?" And -this unity we


                               .5

452                                  T H E   STA.hDAR;7,   B E A R E R

ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us       be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the
that are bishops who preside in the Church, that we           parting asunder of opposing wills? He who does not
may also prove the episcopate itself to be one and un-        hold this unity does not hold God's law, does not hold
-divided. Let no one deceive the broitherhood  by a false- the faith of the Father and. the Son, does not hold
hood: let no one corrupt the truth of the faith bjr per-      life and salvation. This sacrament of unity, this bond
fidious prevarication. The episcopate is one, each part of concord inseparajbly  *cohering,  is set forth where in
of which is  .held by each one for  tee whole.  - The the Go.spel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at
Church also is one, which is spread abroad far and            all divided, nor cut, but is received as an entire gar-
wide into a multitude by an increase of fruitfulness.         ment, and is possessed as an uninjured and undivided
As there are many rays of the sun, abut one light; and        robe by those who cast lots concerning Christ's gar-
many branches of `a tree, but one strength based in its       ment, who should rather put on Christ."
tenacious root; and since from one spring flow many              We do not purpose at this time to call attention to
streams, although the multiplicity seems diffused in          the sentiments expressed by this renowned Church
the liberality of an overflowing abundance, yet the           Father relative the episcopate, the rule by the bishops.
unity is still preserved in the -source. Separate a ray       These thoughts are indeed of great interest. However,
of the sun from `its body of light, its unity does not        we will have opportunity to call attention of our r&ad-
allow a division of light; break a branch from a tree,        ers to these sentiments in subsequent articles. It is
-when broken, it will not be able to bud ; cut off the        now of interest to note  w,hat Cyprian teaches  us  in
stream from its fountain,-that which is cut off dries         connection with the unity of the Church.. There may
up. Thus also the Church, shone over with the light be, many rays, he writes, many branches, and many
of the Lord, sheds forth her rays over the whole world,       streams, but there is only one sun, one tree, one source
yet it is one light which is everywhere diffused, nor.        from which all these streams flow forth. Moreover,
is the unity of the body separated. Her fruitf.ul abun- the catholicity (world wide) of the church is also
dance spreads her branches over the whole  world.             maintained in the words : "Thus also the ,Church, shone
She broadly expands her rivers, liberally flowing, yet        over with the light of the Lord, sheds forth her rays
her head is one, her source one ; and she is one moth-        over the whole world." However, the author adds that
er,' plentiful in the ,results  of fruitfulness; from. her    it is one light which is everywhere diffused and that
womb wee are born, by her milk we are nourished ;             the unity of the body is not separated. In fact; al-
by her spirit we are animated."                               though the multiplicity seems diffused in  tihe liberal-
   Continuing with this quotation from Cyprian, we            ity of an overffowing.abundance,  yet the unity is still
read as follows: "The spouse of Christ cannot be adul-        preserved in the  tiource.  And he also declares em-
terated;  she is unc&rupted and pure. She knows one           phatically that whoever is separated from the Church
home ; she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity is- separated from the promises of the Church? from
of one couch. She keeps us for  IGod. She appoints            God the Father, and from salvation. Hence, the unity
the sons' whom she has born for the kingdom. Who-             and oneness of the Church of God must be maintained..
ever is separated from the Church and is joined to an         There may be several congregations, but there is and
adulteress, is separated from  the* promises of the           can be only one Church. This unity  of. the Church
,Church ; nor can he who forsakes the Church of `Christ       was therefore strongly emphasized ,by the leaders of
at.tain to the rewards of Christ.  ,He is  -a stranger;       the Church in the days of its New Testament infancy.
he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have                                                     -H. Veldman
God for his Father who has not the Church for his
mother. If any one could escape who was outside `the                            -:----1:
ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be
outside of the Cnurch. The Lord warns, saying, `He                                         . .
who is not with me is against me, and he who gathers
not with me scattereth.' He who breaks with the                  The b&t clock in t&e world will be spoiled, if you
peace and the concord oft  ,Christ, does so in  oppose'-' are perpetually moving the hand backwards and for-
tion to Christ;. he who gathereth elsewhere than in           wards, and altering itj in order: to make it keep time
the Church scatters the Church of Christ, and the             with a variety of other clocks: it will hardly ever go
[Lord  says, `I and the-Father are one;' and again it is      regularly and well. -So a minister, who shapes and
written of the Father and of the Son and of the Hdly          accommodates his sentiments and discourses to bhe
Spirit, `And these three are one.' And does any one           tastes and humors and opinions ,of other people, will
believe t$at this unity which thus comes from the div-        never be happy, respectable, or useful.
ine strength and cohere in celestial sacraments, can                                                        -Toplady


                                               T H E   STAND'ARD.   B E A R E R                                                      459

                                                                         :
.~.,-~,~`,-,,-`,-,-`,-`,-,,-~,-,,-,-,,-,,-~,-,,~~,-,-,-,,--,,-,,~~~:.         ftinction  of $he church' in calling -her- shepherd and
           DECENCY and ORDER 1 and -this is contrary -to the thirtieth article of our
                                                                              Confession which states : "We believe, that the min-
                                                                              isters of God's Word . . . ought to be chosen to their
                                                                              .respective  ofices by a lawful election -by the church."
                    The Lawful Calling                                           In our Protestant Reformed Churches the elec-
                                                                              tion of a minister of the Word shall be  condticted  ifi
    The fourth article of our church order defines the                        the folldwing maimer:
lawful calling of candidates to the office of the min-                           "I. The consistory shall make a noltiination con-
istry of the word. In this respect it is to be disting-                       sisting usually of a -trib of eligible ministers or can-
uished from the next article which speaks of the cal- didates.                                 r
ling of ministers who are already in the office:  ,Later                         2. The nomination shall  be  submitted to the  ap-
articles in our church order speak of the calling and                         probtition of the congregation ancl unto that end pub-
ordination of elders  and deacons.                                            licly announced to her on two successive Stindays.
    The order to be persued  by the church in calling one                        3. From the nomination the male members assem-
to the ministry as prescribed by our church order is bled on a congregational. meeting which has been an-
not above criticism. We cite the article here in its                          notimed  on two -sti&essi+e  Sundays shall elect by see-
entirety :                                                                    ret ballot . . . -. " Decision of  classis,  June 1934 and
    "The lawful calling of those who have not been Bynod, 1944)
previously in office, consists :                                                 Although this Is definitely an improvement, it, too,
    First, in the ELECTION by the consistory and                              is  liot above criticism. It is conceivable that a cer-
the deacons, after preceding prayers, with due obser-                         tain congregation may desire. to call a certain candi-
vance of the regulations established by the consistory                        date but that the consistory for variou~s  reasons -re-
for this purpose, and of the ecclesiastical ordinance,                        fuses to place that name on the nomination. Such
that only those can for the first time be called to the                       a situation may result in unrest in the church or in
ministry of the Word who have been declared eligible                          the congregation receiving a shepherd who is pot of
Iby the churches, according to the rule in this matter;                       their choice. - To' avoid this we believe that- some pro-
and furthermore with the advice of classis or of the                          vision similamr  to that' foL!nd  in Art. 22 should .be in-
counselor appointed fos this purpose by the classis ;                         corporated here according to vhich "`an opportunity
    Secondly, in the EXAMINATION both of doctrine                             is given to the members of  the congregation to  di-
and life which shall be conducted by the  classis,  to Tect the attention of the consistory to @table candi-
which the call must be submitted for approval, and                            dates.". With this .addi,tion the trio would come clos-
which shall take place in the presence of three del-                          &r to- being the .ch@ce  o$. the congregation. Concern-
egates of synod from the nearest classes ;                                    ing this suggested `-method the Rev. Ophof writes :
    Thirdly, in the APPRlOBATION by the members ."This--  method I consider- the:.best for the fo!lowing
of the calling `church, when, the name of the minister                        reason : It allows the consistory to properly contr&l  the
having been announced for two successive Sundays,                             election and at the same -time to place- on thee nomina-
no lawful objection arises; which approbation, how- tion the names of. such persons as the flock prefers.
ever, is not required Jn case the election takes place                        With this method the consistory can function (in re-
with the co-operation of the congregation by choosing                         spect .to the calling to the office) as .Scripture  would
out of a nomination previously made.                                          have --it, and .the congregation's 6hoice is, as .near as
    Finally, in the public ORDINATION in the pres- this is possible, honored. Finally, this method re-
ence of the congregation, which shall take place with                         duces the danger of a clash between consistory and
apropriate stipulations and interrogations, admoni-                           congregation to a minimum."
tions and prayers and imposition of hands by the of-                             However, it must also be said that the methdd pre-.
ficiating minister (snd by other ministers who are                            scribed- here in our church order is n'ot altogether.
present) agreeably to the form for  that purpose." erroneous. `Certainly it is not the intention of this
-Art. 4.                                                                      article tq deprive the church~of he? Divinely appointed
    According to this method the candidate is chosen                          rights nor does it mean to minimize the important
by the elders and deacons and then present&d to. the                          function of the  thurch  in  calling a minister of the
congregation for approbation.               The article also -. al-           gospel. `On the .contrary, when we look .at this arti-
lows the possibility of the congregation co-operating                         cle in' its historical setting, we concltide that the very
in this election but does not require this. Our crit-                         opposite was intended by its framers; In forme,r  days
icism then is that the method prescribed belittles the                        the calling of a minister was an extremely ..difficult


     454                                    fjJ$jE  $TiNf-,ARo-  -j?$~A~$~~~

     kask for the church. There were no candidates who              t&e, anoipting pf Christ .and in the office of believers
     had received a thorough training and then had been tiust perform her ,God given duties. Where this is
     declared eligible for  call to the churches. But the           understtiod  and there is-mutual regard for each other,
     churches had to choose from various aspirants in gen-          &he consistory-can -function together in their own do=
     eral, some of which were worthy and others not. The            main without following any one hard apd fast method
     danger was very real, therefore, that the congrkgation         ind. the results will be gratifying to both and glorify-
     would be  swayed by some -eloquent and unworthy                ing to the King of the church.
     stranger.  To safeguard against this the article prey             !Calli& a minister is a serious matter and must be
     scrib,es that the election shall be by the consistory and      done "after preceding prayers." This is generally in-
     the deacons who would be more able to investigate the          terpreted to mean  th&  ni, election or calling of a
     background and qualifications of the aspirant than the- minister shall take place uli_less the'gathering be open-
     entire congregation and thus the latter would,be  more         ed with prayer.      .And because all -congregational
     assured of receiving a shepherd worthy of the office.          meetings  aFe conducted thus the pr&tical thrust of
     Thus Dr. H. Bouwman in his Gereformeerd  Kerkgecht             these words is to a great extent lost. ,Originally,  how-.
     judges : "Although Article 4 of the Church Order ever; the intention was that the -congregation should
     does not mean to limit the congregation in any of its          come together, for a special prayer service prior -to
     rights, the formulation of this  article'does  not give        the time when the actual work of calling a minister
     full expression to the prerogatives of the congrega-           was. to `.take place. - This I@ustom has now fallen i&o
     tion." (Vol. I, p. 385)                                        ,disuse but we would raise the question as to whether
            In view of this the present practice of our churches    it -ought to be resurrected? Certainly the matter of
     is certainly proper although it ddes not adhere strictly       choosing  a shepherd for the  flock is  suffiiziently im-
     to the letter of this artkle. IOur candidates are well         portant tci the cbngregation  tb warrant this, isn't it?
     prepared and upon the successful completion of the #Often congregational meetings are held solely for this
     peremptoir examination they are declared eligible for          purpose and the matter itself is-transacted in a .shoyt
     a call and recommended td the churches. The consis-            time  and the meeting adjourns. Would. it not. be a
     tory has no right to impose its own selection from             richer experience if them.congregation would be called
     these candidates upon the congregation but the latter together in worship to pray aiid to hear the tiord of
     should be given the liberty to choose from as broad-a ;God   aftef which the voting members of the flock
     selection of eligible and worthy men as possible. *That        would assemble to choose a shepherd as it seemed good
     this is in harmony with the teaching of Scripture~can          to them and the Holy .Spirit ?
     not be gainsaid. In II Corinthians  8:19 we read of               (Our- present practice dqes %ot exclude preceding
     Titus "who was also chosen of the churches to travel           pra&rs.` T.he  congregatiOn  prtiys. The families  of
     with us with this grace which is administered by us. the church pray. The individual members of the flock.
     to the glory of the same Lord." In Acts 6  :3 the              ascend to the throne of grace.. And in the case of
     apostles instruct the church "to look ye out among             th&e who have not previously served .in the ministry
     you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost         mu&h prayerful labor is performed by the churches
     and wisdom whom we may. appoint over this- busi-               even before they .are declared candidates. However,
     ness." This is a significant passage because it clearly when the church is. confronted with the specific task
     defines the function of both the consistory  atid the          the guidance of `Christ and His Spirit is of paramount
     congregation in the matter of  calling office  betirers.       iniportance. This guidance is s-ought in prayer. This
     The latter is to choose. The coiigregation  elects. .The ,prayer -ought then not to be reduced`. to a formality
     apostles set forth the qualifications of the men to be but mu& have a predominate place in the mind-`and
     <chosen and .also make final approbation of those selec- heart of the church when she gathers to call S minis-
     ted. `Today it is the task of the ruling body. of the          ter of the Word.
.    church to control and govern the election of all office                                                G; Vanden Berg
     bearers. This duty must not be withdrawn from their
     jurisdiction for it is their calling to have oversight                             -::::
     over the cdngregation  which includes taking the nec-
     essary action to prevent unworthy men from intrud-
     ing upon the holy offices. Likewise it is the .ri@$ and,       : .-Among the great variety of preachers, some give
     privilege of the church to choose men for the offices          the ,~pure gosp,el wine, unadulterated .zind undashed..
     and this may never be taken away from her. She has `Others give  wine and water. Some give mere  cpld
     attained the age of spiritual maturity and may not,            water, without a dr.op o$ wine amoqg it.
     therefore, be regarded as -a spiritual minor. She has
                                                       c                                       :.                 -Toplady


                                           T H E      STANDARD:.B.EARER                                                455
                                                             -        .     ...1-     _~


                                                                  cipline. _ The modern Ecumenical Movement has dis-
f          A  L  L  A  R  (-$U,  N  D  mu  S  .-i  :::I-          carci@d,the use of discipline and has attempted to make
                                                                  one bodjf`of-  all the churches. The result is a failure.
                                                             .The preaching of the Word is corrupted, the sacra-
                                                                  ments are profaned, and the body thus formed, what-
Eating  anId  Drinking Christ.                                    ever it may be, is certainly not the body of Christ.
     __ In the Blue Banner Faith apcl, Lif,e magazine of          The exercise of discipline in the spirit of love Will
July-September issue, we came across the following                glorify God, promote the well-being of the  church
review of Hoeksema's latest book on the Heidelberg                and the salvation of its members.
Catechism written by  &darn Loughridge. We liked                     `(In a thought-provoking chapter on the preaching
most of what the reviewel* says of this book and pass             of the Go.spel the author effectively argues that the
`on to our readers the entire article in the hope that it `Gospel is not a conditional offer to be received or re-
will encourage especially our own people to read the              jected ,by man at will, but an unconditional promise
book.                                                             of salvation to the heirs of the promise, the elect of
       "This is the seventh volume in a series of Exposi- rG;d.
tions of the -Heidelberg -Catechism. The book is divi-               "The book is a faithful .interpretation  of the Heid-
ded into four. sections, and covers in detail the ans-            elberg Catechism: The language is simple, the argu-
wer; to questions'75-85  in the Catechism. In Section             ment lucid, the tone sincere and earnest, the appeal
1 the author deals with the institution of the Lord's             heart-searching and altogether full of spiritual com-
Supper. He shows the significance and- the meaning fort for the believer. Here and there in the book the
of the various symbols ; what is represented by the               very intensity of the author leads him to use language
bread and wine, the breaking of the bread and the                 that is strong almost to the point of extravagance.
pouring  otit of wine, the eating and -drinking, and              In his evident desire to magnify the Grace of God in
how by partaking  in fellowship and -communion we                 our salvation, the doctrine of man's depravity, with
feast upon  SChrist through faith. He  show.s clearly             which we are in entire agreement, is over-emphasized
that the Lord's Supper is more .than  a commemoration             on pages 47 and 48 to the extent of denying the exis-
of His death ; it is a means .of grace.                           tence of any good whatever in the unbeliever. Surely
       "In  iSection 2 the errors and false teaching con-         also at the top of page 136 it is not correct to say that
cerning the Supper are exposed., The author reviews               to,,debar those who hold false doctrines from the
the positions held by the Romanists, by Luther, by Lord's Supper is essentially the same as to excom-
Zwingli and by Calvin. He gives an accurate survey                municate them from the Church of Christ. A man
of the whole teaching on the subject f,rom a histori- may be suspended from fellowship wifihout being ex-
cal and from a doctrinal angle,. and the arguments                communicated from the Church.
are well. substantiated by references to. the Canons                 "The book will be- read with- pleasure and profit
and Decrees of the Council of .Trent  on the one hand             by all who love the Lord and His ordinances."
and to the -Reformed Confessions on .tli&' other. He                 We wish to note here in the fir.st place that it is
concludes convincingly that the spiritual food at the             refreshing to read of some outside our circle w-ho
tqble of the Lord can only be received in a true spiri:           apparently agree with Hoeksema's conception that the
tual disposition of heart and mind.                               Gospel is, `an unconditional promise of salvation to
     ~"Section 3 deals in a most heart-searching manner the heirs of the promise, the elect of `God'; while some
with the question of- those who would worthily par-               df otir own people appear ready to discard this view.
take of the  S&rament..   .Three distinguishing  marks              . And secondly, we find it difficult to understand
of a worthy communicant are listed and expounded.                 how the reviewer can  &y he is in agreement  witih
There  .must be sorrow for sin, trust in the  Saviour             Hoeksema's doctrine of man's depravity, while at the
for forgiveness of sins, and a desire for `a stronger             same time he thinks it too much to say that there is
faith and for holiness in life and walk. The believer no good in the ur&eli&er.  This is an inconsistency
is to examine himself in the X&t of ,God's Word oh we. find also in the writings of several Clhristian Re-
these three  poi&s: The subject of self-examination formed brethren. It must be, according to them, that
is dealt with faithfully and in great detail.                     mari is not by nature totally depraved after all.
       "The concluding section brings refreshingly before
us the much neglected.matter  of discipline. In every' The `A&sol&e Antithesis.
true church -there should be three things : the preach-
ing  of the Word, the proper administration of the                   This is the caption over. the article written by the
-Sacraments, and the right exercise of Christian Dis-             Rev. L. Verduin in the June issue of the Reformed


                                                                         --L_            ~..~-      .-~~
~-45~~--~--~                                      THE           STA-~~ARWBEARER
                                         --- __--.-- -                                                                           -         - - -
       Journal. A popular subject, indeed,. for  coiment                      the Reformed faith is that the antithesis as it mani-
       among some of the. clergy in the ,Christian  Reformed                  fests" itself empirically in this dispensation is never
       Chlirches in recent weeks.                                              absolute. . . In the regenerate %here are traces of the
            Verduin's article is too  long to quote in full. We ear!ier modality of  unregeneracy   ;  a+ in  t.he  uiire-
       can only give the reader  a. snatch here and there,                    generate there are similarly traces of the earlier mqclc
       while we try to restate his main thoughts. in t<his sub!               of rectitu$e. It iS this situation that makes it neces,
ject.  `Her-e  f o l l o w s   t h e   q u o t a t i o n s :                  sary for Reformed people to  be extremely cautious
            "In R&formed circles men speak of ati antithesis                  with the expression `absolute' aptithesis."
       between the Kingdom of Christ and $h+t'of Satan, be-                     The Rev.  .Verduin then proceeds to develop his
       tween the children of God and- men of, the world, -bei                 thoughts under the following three m.ain .titles : "Ab-
       tween the-regenerate and men in:the raw: And, this                     solute! Unregeneracy  ?' " ; " `Absolut$ -Regeneracy," ;
       antithesis is sometinieti said to be `absolute'.                       and `%o What ?".
            The'history of ,Christ's Church is littered with the                  Under the first he takes you into the `laboratory'
  wreckage caused by .an extremism,  an absolutism to let you see the unregenerate- under the microscope.
       touching the antithesis. -It is -bbpm of -a `relentless                And what do you see; according to Verduin?  "Un-
       Ibgic' rather  tl-$n  .of  tin, agonizing attempt to  be               regeneracy, by and large, sin; depravity, fallenness."
       faithful to the Wb?d of God: To tone do%% the anti-                    But-oops! just  .a minute, down there in the  `corner
       thesis so that`presently all `ohe Faith's great opposites              of the plate you will see:an area that is not so deprav-
       pale into a common grey is to do the cause of Christ                   ed. -Hence, the unregenerate .is not absolutely unre-
       great. harm ;: but- one can a.lso paint- in such contrasty             generate.
       colors  .as. to fall into equally serious. fault.  .`.                   And what' happens when you go into the same
   We seek  I% serve a good. cause as we set down in                          `laboratory' and -take a -look at t&e regenerate? Do
       this article some of the axioms- that. have hitherto                   you see -`absolute'. regeneracy? Of course not ! To be
       been a,part of the R,ef&med  traditipn and faith-apent                 sure, you see something radically different than in the
       the matte? of the antithesis.                                          unyegenerate.  Yoti see a "heavy concentration of re-
            Fir& of  41, it should be  @ateId that  ide@ZbgicaZZ~             generacy", but up in- the  right,hand  eorney  of the
       consicZerecl `the antithesis is necessarily absolute. By               plate you also see traces of carnality which is but an-
       definition regeneracy is the exact` opposite.. of unre- other  ?a+? for unregeneracy.
generacy.`                 Life atid- death differ, absolutely not. gradu-      -  60  what?  The conclusion- is plain and simple.
       ally . . . . . -                                                       There is ~no such thing as an. "Absolute" antithesis,
           It is indeed the glory of. the -Reformed  faith that               except as you think and speak of it ideologically. To
       it has insisted upon an antithesis, an& .upon ati anti-                speak of an "absolute" antithesis is to be guilty of
       thesis that is absolute-when considered ideologically.
  ,                                                                           "relentless logic".                 Absolutism "breeds the notion
       . . . . To cease from using these terms (i.e., `sheep' and             ZhBt- there are men and organizations that  deBerve
       `goats', `saved' and `lost', the `elect Andy -reprobate'-.             only  betiediction," this' :is  Pharisee'ism.
       M. 5. ) as opposites is not-only to cease from speaking-                   If  Verduin's conclusion  .of "absolute" antithesis
       in  $.the  R.efo$med  idiom-it is to scuttle.  histo&  -and            is `the result of relentless -logic, I'm. wondering what
  -Biblical  Clhristianity."  Vekduin continues  :-               .           our conclhsidn mu&s `be bf Verduin's coticlusion? Is
            "But" (I underscore,  -M.S.) "now come footnotes,                 hi,% based ofi a souncl exegesis of the- Word of God ?
       modifying  foothotes,   in  .which  cqmpleme.ntary  truths             or is it'th.e fanciful im$gination  of a rationalistic bent
       are set forth, .-: . ..And. it is the need, for such footnotes         in the mind of Verduin? I'm inclined to conclude the
  that marks themirid of -the .trp!y Reformed thinker.                                                      .
                                                                              l a t t e r .
       When he is discoursing on f;he sovereignty of God, for                                                                    - M .   Schipper
       instance, he will feel .-the nee$ of a footno.te +n which
       $?Le  eompbe~entary~   trzith. of  t&e  rt3pqn&d.d~ty  of  .m&_                                           ---::::
       and  th!e  adualn~ss of option  .are  ,recognCzed.`l  -`(I  un-~                                          .-
       dersco&M.. S. ) .                   _              ,-
           "It happens that it is part. of the Refortied  heri-                   RepentBnce  and faith; new obedience and  perse-
       take to  feel  t&e need of a modifying footnote when                   verarice;   al"e not  conc@tions of interest' in the coven-
       we speak of the antithesis. This  will account.  for, tihe ant -of grace (for- then it  tiould be a covenant of
       fact that the expression `absblute' antithesis is quite                works) ; but consequence4 and tokens, of covenant in-
       Y'a?e  iti  our'-tradition;"                                           terebt.                       .
         f`A second but  equaiy well  enunc%ted axiom- of                                                              I\ . .         -Toplady


