      .VOLuME       xxx                                    JANUARY 1,  1954.--  GRAD  RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                        NUMBER  7


 I                                                                                           How proper : Lord ! let us find grace . . Be Thou near . `. .
                   M  E  D.I-  T  A  T  IO  N                                      I\ Let us taste the goodness of being at Thy side !
                                                                                                                      * :k  -*  4
                       God's  lhesence  of Grace                                             For surely so must be understood "God's going with us"
                     "For  wherein   shall  it  become   known   h&e   that  I           of the text.
                   and  Thy  people  have  found  grace  in  Thy  sight?  Is  it          More, richer in comfort, is this than the virtue of God's
                   not  in  that  Thou  goest  with   us?  So  shall-we   be  sep-       omnipresence. 0, this attribute of God is not to be denied.
                   arated,   I  and   Thy  people,  from  all  the  people  that  are    Also in this year, which we now- enter, that glorious perfec-
                   upon  t-he   face  of  the   earth."               -  Ex. 33 :16      tion of our- God will continue to be factual. That retracted, .-
       Even so, Lord, as we stand at the beginning of another                            and there is no God!
 year let it be.                                                                             Yet, that Moses, the Typical mediator between Jehovah
       For above all else, that we. have found grace in His sight,                       and His heritage, Israel, meant something more than that             _
 is important. That such be known is paramount!                                          is plain. Evident this is, first of all, from the fact that it
       Known that must be to friend and foe  ; and that very                             really forms the content of a petition. Moses, the believer,
 clearly. Of that there may be no doubt!                                                 the church . . . covet God's presence continually. But the
       But then His presence must be `with us. That shall prove                          very fact of prayer for it, presupposes the possibility of lack-
 His grace toward us.                                                                    ing it. That is impossible in respect to any of God's perfect-
       And that presence brings fruit in -spiritual separation !                         ions. Objectively : God CANNOT GO AWAY. Subjective-
 Which in itself again is an indication of His favor.                                    ly there. is no doubt of this in the saint either. Therefore it
       Lord, let that reality be our lot. Then all is well - also                        never appears in what is true prayer. To pray thus would
 in. this year. For thus we will be a sanctified people -the                             be the same as asking: Please, remain God, which in itself
people of God ! Safe, alone !                                                            is too blasphemous to utter. Moreover, that  .the virtue of
                                                                                         omnipresence cannot be here meant, is plain from the insep-
                                      * *  * *                                           arable -relation between "presence" and "grace."  .To join
       Such a prayer is proper when again we are reminded of                             grace to His omnipresence is the same as to say that grace
 the fact that we face a' whole year of untrodden paths, and                             is common to all. And that is just-as heretical as to pray
 unknown experiences. The fact that history repeats itself in                            that God may remain God. Nay, it is a denial of His being
 a general way, does. not minimize the need of the boon ex-                              God according to His Own revelation!
 pressed in the text. For, glancing back on,the  passing years,                              The idea here, rather, is that God may attend, accompany,
 our one testimony must be : "their strength is labor and sor-                           travel in -fellowship in a relationship. of love.
 row." Upon that we need not elaborate whether we view the                                   That was the idea .as to Moses and Israel. True, it meant
 past years from the `aspect of, the individual or the church                            that literally God would travel with them from the place of
 as a whole.                                                                             their present encampment. But then in His favor, in a com-
      But, there is more! Of labor,  sorroi~7,  grief, `affliction,                      munion that is only rooted in a friendship relation of eternal
 malice and all kinds of evil, there is not a mere continuation,                         love. In, yea, by such attendance safety is assured  unto
 but we must expect an increase of these! There is ever  a                               Canaan. Any other presence of God would spell their doom.
 development also in respect to these things. In 1954 the end                            Of that, the bleaching bones in the wilderness of many bore
 of the ages shall be closer upon us than ever, and that as to                           m u t e   t e s t i m o n y   !
 be evidenced in those experiences of the believer and the                                   Spiritually such is ever' the same. That people of God,
. church, that cause grief.                                                              is -also on a journey as is typically taught in all the elements


  of Israel's experience. The'church  in that journey must also       very evident. Let  us  taste that grace in respect to Thy
  be safeguarded against destruction lurking everywhere. Her          guidance, thru our sanctification, thru conscious fellowship
  path lies thru the howling wilderness of this present dispensa-     with Thee! But let it also become manifest to the world of
  tion. Danger from within and from without abound. Over              enemies that we are Thine! That nought the foe may con-
  against none of them can that church stand in her own               nive to do, can prohibit "Thy people" from entering into
  strength. And she would surely soon loose her way, left to          THE rest. And let such become evident thru out this whole
  her own judgment. Only the favorable accompanying of God            year in every event and experience.
  is the causal safeguard of the church of Christ . . . also in           So Israel shall be saved,; the Church shall be delivered;
  1954. And that as manifest by giving direction thru Word            the saint shall triumph.
  and- Spirit and so continually delivering, until the flow of
  years ceases, the church enters into `the haven of rest.                                          *  *  *i;-  +

                                                                         And this will become evident thru the fruits of grace.
      Desirable fellowship ! For that presence proves all that        Glorious, coveted fruits !
  is worth knowing for the soul!                                          And those fruits for which we look, the results of His
      And known that proof must be. Now and here.                     accompanying grace are spiritual !
      The object of proof is "finding grace in Thy sight."                God's presence of grace does not yield prosperity accord-
      And that means that the work of God whereby He beauti-          ing to the earthly standards. We, the church, will also in
  fies His people shall become apparent . The church must be          this year again have to wend our way thru the midst of the
  revealed as the object of God's pleasure . And this is certainly    camp of the foe. Shall have to walk in ways wherein it
  very evidently not a common matter. Not in Moses' and               seems that the enemy has the upperhand. Where,, mayhaps,
  Israel's case. Sins had been committed. The Lord had been           we shall have to experience further decimation, further losses
_ displeased. He had threatened. punishment by refusal to             numerically. Our chastisement will again, from that point
  go along. Moses had interceded. The Lord had heard. They            of view, be there every morning. This year, undoubtedly
  had found grace! The sin had been forgiven and the cause            more than ever before, will prove  - painfully so - that this
  was safe. The failure to find that grace with God would have        life is but a continual death !
  been their doom. And spiritually for the church `it is ever             But in the midst of it all, we are spiritually safe and that
  the same. Look back and see the long list  .of sins ! How           thru the manifest result of God's prescence,  that is, isolation.
  crowded the last year has been with them! Assurance we              For "so shall we be separated." And also here the significance
  must have that we "found" grace in His sight ! Without that         is clear. Moses and Israel would not somehow be geograph-
  our case as individual and as church is finished! With it           ically separated from the world! In fact the opposite was
  all is well !                                                       ever true. True at this very moment. Enemies were lurking
      0, it is true, that will not in any way alter the fact of       behind the rocks on -every side. True it would continue to
  the events of the year. Grace does not remove the wilderness        be after being brought into the land of "promise" that was
  dangers; does not remove the temptations we will have to            at the very crossroads of the world. Hemmed in they were
  face ; does not silence the enemy : does not slay the power of -by all people. Nor does grace remove the church today to
  darkness in its nefarious work.                                     island or monastary. God always leaves His people in the
      But that relationship+ of eternal, divine favor paves the       midst of the "foes abounding." Their path is ever thru the
  highway for the saint upon which he may walk in full as-            "waters" and the "fire."
  surance that all is well.                                              No, their isolation is spiritual. Spiritually'their stand is
      That glorious grace becomes known thru God's attend-            in antithesis over against "all the others upon the face of the
  ance. Known by Moses and the people of God of the old               earth." -From the spiritual-ethical point of view the line
  dispensation thru faith. And they rejoiced in it!  D But also       divides into two : on the `one hand the people of God, His
. known by the enemy that surrounded. The foe always said :           graced ones and on the other "all other nations," movements,
  they shall not enter but we shall destroy them. But, and            groups.
  such is the import of the petition implied in the text, Lord !         And this is not relative, but absolute.
  manifest thru wonderful, miraculous protection that we are             `It is not a matter of chance . . . it is a certainty and in-
  the objects of Thy love ! Let the .enemy experience the im-         evitable.
  potence of his raging hatred! Let them behold, that, not-               That isolation is the. inevitable result of God's presence
  withstanding all  then- evil intent, Israel enters the land of      of grace. When God graces His people, there follows divi-
  rest !                                                              sion. Former ties are broken. The church separated becomes
      Known that becomes to us even more gloriously! His              a royal priesthood over. against all foes, open and avowed,
  presence is sealed to us in Immanuel! and is there,, could          but also the subtle and covered. Manifest, this antithesis, be-
 -there be any greater proof of the fact that we have found           comes in the walk of sanctification. When God works, dwells
  grace in His sight? `Lord, let that be known ! Let it become        with His Own, sanctification surely follows ! _


                                                  T H E   STANPARD   B E A R E R                                                                                                                           147

, And tha;  separation, viewed and desired by the enemy, be-
cause it hates the manifestation of "grace," is our hope and                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
salvation. That sanctity of life is the work of Immanuel!                            Sen&mntltly,   except  mo&ly   dlktg   J&  a>id   Aupust
       Glorious presence of God with us. Marvelous grace with                       Published  by  the  RFZORMED*FREE   PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION
its sure fruit.  Privilt%3gk unspeakable to be of that people.                   P.  0.  Box  881,  Madison  Square  Station,  Grand   Rapids   7,  Mkh.
For God's work it is. And that shall surely stand !                                                      Editor  -  REV. HERMAN  HOKKSEMA
       Lord ! Jehovah  of, Thy covenant ! If Thy presence go                     Communications   relative   to  contents-should   be  addressed   to  Rev.
not with us  - do not carry us up hence.  l&t attended in                        H.  Hoeksema,   1139   Franklin   St.,  S.  E.,  Grand  Rapids   7,  Mich.
grace by Thy presence, our Lord Jesus Christ, we boldly face                     All  matters  relative  $0  subscriptions   should   be  addressed   to  Mr.
                                                                                 G.  Pipe,   1463   Ardmotre   St.,  S.  E.,  Grand   I&apids   7,  Michigan.
also this. year . . . and the next . . . all our days; until there               Announceme&   and  Obitities   must   be  mailed   to  the  above
are no more and we shall sing: "Our feet shall stand within                      address-and   will  be  published   at  a  fee  of  $1.00   for  each   notice.
thy gates, 0, Jerusalem."                               - H .   H .   I<.        R E N E W A L S:   Unless  a  defiiite   request  for  discontinuance   is  re-
                                                                                 ceived,   it  is  assumed   tihat  the  subkriber   wishes   the  subscription
                                                                                 to  continue   without   the  forma.li.ty   of  a  renewal   order.
       The comfort of the believer against the miseries of this                                             Subscription  price   :  $4.00  per  year
short life is taken frbm the decree of their election, and the
eternal covenant of. redemption settled in the .purpose  and                       I+atarcd  as Secnml  Clam  yzattcr  at  Graved  Rapids, MicJ~ipwt
counsel  bf the blessed Trinity  .for their.  behoof, wherein it
was agreed before the worlcl-  was, that the wolord  to be incal.::
nate, should be the Savior of the elect: for here the asserting
of the eternity of God is with relation to His own chosen
people ; for "Thou hast been our dwell&g  place in all genera-                                                              CO$T.ENTS
tions,.`.' and "TI~ozt  art God fyowz  everlasting to everlasting"
is in substance thus  nluch : Thou art from everlasting to ever-             MEDITATTIO~X  -
                                                                                     God's  Presence  of-Grace..........................:......145
lasting the same unchangeable God in purpose and affection                                 Rev.  H.  H.  Kuiper
toward  us Thy people, and so Thou art oatr God from ever-                   E D I T O R I A L S   ,-
lasting, in regard to Thy eternal purpose  of love, electing us,                     Bulletin  No.  1..  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .-.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .148
and in regard to Thy appointing redemption for us by* the                                    Rev.  H.  Hoeksema
Redeemer.                      DAVID   DICKSON   on Psalm  90:1,   2                 Answer  to  Rev.   Petter..   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .~.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .148
                                                                                             Rev.  E.  Emanud
                                                                                     Lynden            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...150
      0 Lord, Thou art,.our home, to Whom we fly,                                            Rev.  H.  C.  Hoehsema
        And so hast always been, from age to age ;                           T H E   D A Y   ONF   SHADOWS-
      Before the hills did intercept the. eye,                                       The  Proephecy   of  Isaiah..................................152
        Or that the frame was up.of earthiy stage, '                                         Rev.  G.  M.  Ophomff
      One God Thou wert, and art, and still shall be ;                       FROM   HOLY  WRIT-
        The line of time, it cloth not measure Thee.                                 Exposition   of I Peter. 122-25.  . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . 1%
                      `.                                                                     Rev.  G.  Lubbers
      Both death and life obey Thy holy lore,                    -           IN  HIS  FEAR-
        And visit in their turns as  they are sent;                                 Afraid  of  the  Gospkl..........................".........:157   -
      A thousand years with Thee they are no more                                            Rev.  J.  A.  Heys
        Than yesterday, which, ereit is, is spent:                           CONTENDING FOR THE  FAITH  -
Or as a watch by night that course must keep,                                       The  Church   and  the  Sacraments..;.......................159
        And goes and comes, unwares to them that sleep.                                      Rev.   H.  Veldman
      Thou carryest man away `as with a tide :                               DECENCY  .~ND   ORDER-
                                                                                     Special  Admission   Into  the  Minist~ry   .  .  .  .  .  .:  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .161
        Then down swim all his thoughts that lnountecl  high                                 Rev.   G.  Vanden   Be,rrg
      Much like a-mocking dream, tliat will not bide,                        ALL  AROUND  Us-
       -But flies before the sight of waking eye ;                                   Science  and   the  Bibsle..  .  _.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .163
      Or as the grass, that cannot term obtain,                                              Rev.  M.  Schipper
        To see the summer come about again.                                  C O N T R I B U T I O N S   -
      At morning, fair it musters on the gro&l;                                     Pertinent   Quotiions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
                                                                                      Rev.  G.  Lubbers
        At even it is cut clown and laid along ;                                    Herder  of  Huurling.....................................165
      And though  its spared were, and favour found,                                         Mr.  J.  R.  Vander  Wal
 j      The weather would perform the mower's wrong:                                A  Testimony  frolm   the  Reao'rds..   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  :  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .166
                                                                                             Mr.  J.  H.  Kortericg
      Thus hast Thou hanged our life on brittle pins                                Reformation   in  Redlands..  .  .  .  .  :.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .165
        To let us know it will not bear `our sins.                                           Mr.  H.  De  Jong
                                         -  FRAKCIS  BACON


 14s                                         ` T H E   S'rANDARD   B E A R E R

                                                                          6. They confess that they themselves were schismatic as
              E  D  I  i-  0  R  I  A  L,  S                         long as they were  in the communion of the Protestant Re-
                                                                     formed Churches, for all of them were  eldeis in the First
                                                                     Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Mich.
                          Bulletin No. 1                                  7. They consider all our `churches schismatic.
                                                                          Nevertheless, they call themselves the First Protestant
        The undersigned  solelnnly  swear before God and men:        Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Mich.  !
        "THAT CROSS DEFENDANT HERMAN  ;HOEK-                              May the Lord open the eyes of -many that are still de-
 sEm4   WAS  FORMERLY   A  REGULARLY  ORDAIN- ceived for such hypocrisy!                                                    - H .   H .
 ED MINISTER IN THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED
,I CHURCH AND WAS OCCUPYING. A PULPIT IN                                  The  followi~~~g  editorial was  wr-itten by special  request
 THE CHURCH  KNOWN  AS THE EAST STREET                               front.  the editor.
 HOLLAND CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN                                (Re:  - Reformed Guardian  : Vol.  1, Nov. 27, 1953, No. 9)
 THE CITY OF  GRAND  RAPIDS> MICHIGAN.                                                                                         - H .   H .
   "THAT THE SAID HERMAN HOEKSEMA WHILE                                   I.11 examining the latest issue of the Reformed Guardian,
 OCCUPYING THE PULPIT IN THE SAID EAST                               in which the Rev. Petter writes, I felt constrained to make a
 S T R E E T   H O L L A N D   C H R I S T I A N   REFO,RMED         few observations. These were originally intended for my own
 CHURCH,  B.S HIS  ACTS~AND  CONDUCT AND BY                          use, and the remarks that follow are not  to be understood
 HIS REFUSAL TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DULY                                 as serving to expose the Rev. Petter and the position he
 INSTITUTED  AUTHOF+l?IES  OF SAID CHURCH                            embraces. For, the Rev.. Petter, in simple and clear-cut
 A N D   I T S   D E C R E E S   A N D   PRON:OUNCEMENTS,            language, exposes himself and reveals to all his readers what
 C A U S E D   A   S C H I S M   I N   SAID CHURCH  AN-D   A         his position always was  - is now and what  it  shall  continue
 SPLITTING OF THE MEMBERSHIP WHICH AT-                               to he as long as he embraces his present position. Neverthe-
 TENDED SAID CHURCH WHILE HE WAS ITS                                 less, I feel these observations should be set forth simply be-
 PASTOR."                                                            cause of the  poss&lity  that those of our own people who
                                  HUBERT DE WOLF                     read the Reformed Guardian overlooked the tremendous
                                  F R E D E R I C K   S Y T S M A    significance and implications of the contents of this most
                                  HENRY KNOTT                        recent issue {Vol. 1, Nov. 27, 1953, No. 9). For, in this
                              W I L L I A M   S T U U R S M A        issue, we clearly see the inevitable results of embracing wrong
                                  `LAMBERT MULDER                    doctrine.. We clearly see that once wi-ong doctrine is em-
                                  ANDREW DYKSTRA                     braced and there is an attempt to defend it, the whole ques-
                                  HEXRY BASTIANSE                    tion resolves itself into `one of ethics - of faithful and true
                                  `SIDNEY DE YOUNG                   l*epresentation   of facts. Hence, that our people may become
                                  ADOLF VERMEER                      keenly aware of this, the following observations are set forth
                                  GERRIT SIKKEMA                     for their consideration.
                                  JOHN  BOUWMAN.                        In the first place, notice3 if you will, the title of this issue:
                                  ANDREW VOSS  _                     "Was the Split Necessary?" Observe, too, that the author
                                        By  HEBERT   DE  WOLF        readily admits there are many among those who have cast
        Thk above is from a cross bill filed in Superior Court in    their lots with him who are confronted with this very ques-
 Grand Rapids, Mich.                                                 tion: "Was the Split Necessary?' But, what he fails to  see
        The implications of this sworn statement are plain:          is that to ask this question is to immediately imply there is
        1. They attempt to repudiate all responsibility for our      still sonie doubt as to whether. the  right step was taken.
 action as churches in 1924.                                         The Rev. Petter continues and `indicates this doubt has
        2. They condemn my action in 1924 as schismatic.             expressed itself in a number of ways, namely, under the
        3. They likewise condemn the action of my consistory,        query  .of : "Is there really any doctrinal difference  ?"  -
 that was "deposed" in 1924 and of which FREDERICK                   "Could these things not have been discussed in a brotherly
 SYTSMA, whose signature now appears under the above                 way  ?" -- "Is it anything more than a matter of  person-
 oath, as schismatic. And they uphold their "deposition."            alitjes  ?"
  4. They regard the Synod of Kalamazoo 1924,  Classis                    Now. it is most significant to note that while this ques-
 East of tlie Christian Reformed Churches, and the "ninety-          tion: "Was the Split Necessary ?" (in its various forms) has
 two" as the duly instituted authorities of the Eastern Ave.         been, and is still being asked by the adherents of conditional
 Christian Reformed- Church in 1924.                                 theology, not once, has it been heard from those who have
   5. They consider that I and my "deposed"  consi&ory               declared themselves in opposition to this view, and who
 should have submitted -to the decrees Andy pronouncements           understand its implications. From these folks, never once,
 of those authorities, i.e., to THE THREE  POfINTS.                  have we heard the above and related questions and remarks


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       149

  s&h as : "What is the difference?"  - "We fail to see the            from "Sermon  1" was before the Consistory for two years
  difference  ?" -- "What are we quarreling about?". - "We             clearly indicates that the Consistory was workirig with the
  are all fundamentally agreed and this whole controversy is           problem. It clearly indicates there was nothing  r&h and
  merely a question of  personaliti&."                                 hasty in the conduct of the Consistory, as is evident in Rev.
      It is true, as Rev. Petter has written ; these questions are     Petter's own remarks : "- this scrap of sermon was before
 being asked by "a great portion of our people"; that  is, the         the Consistory for two yea?-s." (Italics mine E.E.) Neverthe-
  adherents of conditional theology. But, as was indicated, this       less., at the same time, Rev. Petter leaves his readers with
  is quite an admission. For,  evein at this late date, "our           the impression that  "`- this scrap of sermon" was treated
  people" (as Rev. Petter denotes his followers) are still con-        lightly: He does this when he refers to it as "being  con-
  fronted with the question of whether or not they did the             sideredj'  - "being dropped" - "being taken up again" -
  right thing in pledging their suIjport (formally or otherwise)       "being rescued from the archives of silence" and "finally
  to the movement represented by the Rev. Petter. But, in              forced to  Classis  East." This is a deliberate and gross mis-
  addition, this also indicates confusion and uncertainty in the       representation on the part of the Rev. Petter. For,  Reb.
  minds of the opposition, which will becomk all the more              Petter knows, just as we all know" - this scrap of sermon"
  manifest in due time.                                                was always being considered, it was never dropped, it was
                                                                       never  silent as far as the Consistory was concerned, and as
      Now, I say, this is quite an admission on the part of the        far as many in the congregation were concerned, and it was
  Rev. Petter  - especially when we consider the fact that not         certainly never "forced to  Classis E&t." Hence, what Rev.
  once have such doubts been expressed among those who                 Petter does, as revealed in these remarks, is a most shameful
  constitute the opponents for the  Rev.. Petter. For, though thing for, in substance, he pokes fun and ylzocks at all the.
  the congregations may be small, some without Pastors, and            labours  and efforts exerted by the Consistory over this two
  worshipping in the best temporary quarters available, those          year period to gain the erripg brother and eliminate the
  who have been giyen grace to declare themselves for the              problem. Is this an example of r'tvadh  and justice?" Shame
  historic Protestant Reformed  ~representation  of the Scrip-         0.n the Rev. Petter and the  "trzrtlz and justice" he represents.
  tures, have done so because they are thoroughly convinced
  in their hearts that this position most faithfully and con-              In the third place, note Observation No. 3. Rev. Petter
  sistently sets forth the Word of God. In contrast to the op-         is quick to cite the findings of the "pre-advisory study com-
position (confronted with questionings arid doubts), reflecred         mittee," into whose hands protests were placed for considera-
  in these congregations is delight in the administration of the       tion, by' Classis  East. Note, however, the manner in which
  Word of God, comfort, confidence, and a joy and peace that           he presents these findings and advice  - as though they were
  has long since been lacking  in days past. There is a genuine        readily acceptable and adopted by  Classis.  Here, too, we
  peace that prevails in our midst. `There is no crying of Peace       have another instance where the entire picture and story is
  - Peace when there is no Peace. For, how can there be not faithfully set forth. In other words, where is the other
  Peace when the minds of the people are  .continually  con-           half of the account ? Why doesn't <Rev. Petter say something
  fronted with doubts and questionings as to whether they did          regarding the retraction of Rev. Lubbers ? Why doesn't he
  the  rigkt  thing, and whether the split was necessary  ? We say,    make mention of the  fact* that the Report ceased  to be a
  the  spyit  was not only necessary, but inevitable. Necessary and Majority  Report?  Why doesn't he tell  his readers, as Rev.
inevitable because,  althoughr,+here  was much time and  op-           Lubbers does in the Standard Bearer (Oct. 1,  1953), that;
  PO&unity  given to the p&rties  concerned for discussion with        Rev. Lubbers repudiated .the Majority Report  - that he is
  a view to reconciliation, it became Quite apparent that recon-       ashamed of that Report, and that, by his own admission, he
  ciliation was virtually impossible. Necessary and inevitable         believes "the. majority report erred." Furthermore, in all
  because peace and harmony .within  the church must never             fairness, why doesn't Rev. Petter tell us that it was not a
  be sought by way of compromise and hence, the sacrificing of         question of the Committee needing more time, as he  ,inti-
  the very basic and fundamental truths for which the Protes-          mates on Pg. 13 of his article (Vol. 1, No. 9). The brethern
  tant Reformed Churches have been raised to preserve,  propo-         09 that Committee had all the time they required;  they
  gate, and to which they must bear faithful and effective wit-        never'  ca,me to Classis   veq~esting   snore  ti,l,tte. This Committee
  riess.  We simply deceive ourselves if we say this division of       simply brought to a head all the discussions of the past two
  our churches was not necessary.                                      years. Even after the Rev. Lubbers repudiated his former
     In the second,place,  note Observation No. 2. Rev. Petter         stand and thel-e was no further attempt, on the part of any
  makes mention of an excerpt from "Sermon 1," and of this,            of the *members  of that Committee to defend  the  Majm+ity
 he writes : "- this scrap of sermon was before the Consistory         Repel-t,  Rev. Petter would have liked further discussion.
 for two years, went through-the process of being considered,          What he was really looking for, however, was mzoye  delays
  being dropped, being taken up again. and after being rescued         and  fhally coppl,pro&se.  This was impossible in light of the
 from the archives of silence was finally forced to  Classis           events that had taken place. The die was cast. There was
  East."                                                               nothing to do but separate. There was no agreement hence,
     Now, the fact that Rev. Petter is aware that the excerpt          we could not walk together. If some of these facts were


  1ZO                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

seriously considered and mentioned, Rev. Petter would not              worship with the schismatic group on the Lord's day. They
  have any difficulty in understanding why the apology of the          did not i k.now yet what the. future would bring, or whether
  Rev. De Wolf, which he considered to be "remarkably in               perhaps, their church home was being ruthlessly torn away
  accord with the findings of the majority report," could not          from them, so that they would have to move back to places
  possibly be accepted. In addition,  he would not leave his           where there were Protestant Reformed Churches. But  they
  readers with the mistaken notion that the `!Majority Report"         were convinced that as long as the schismatic decision of
  speaks in any terms of finality and hence, mis-informed.             Lynden's consistory stood in  the way, they could not worship
  For, the fact of the matter is, the Majority Report just             together.
  ceased to be  when it was openly repudiated and retracted                Let it be added, `for the sake of completeness, that all
  on the floor of Classis, and without anyone to speak in its          these families received a visit later from the Rev. J. Hower-
  defertse.  Hence,  Rev. Petter should not continue to speak of       zyl and one of the elders, G.  Buma  and D. Scheele, which
  the Majority Report in such a way as to leave the impression         invariably began with the rather naiye  question, "We were
  with people that it sustained the error embraced by the ac-          wondering why you were not in church Sunday 7"
  ctised. Yet, this is not strange for, when one endeavours
  to defend the error, it is natural that only that which appears          Under these circumstances, having no pastor to turn to,
  to be in his favour is emphasized - and emphasized at the            nor having Ia consistory member `to aid and support them,                            -
  expense and  total disregard for all the true facts involved.        these brethren and sisters wrote to the undersigned fey ad-
         Again, we ask, Is this an exa~@e  of "truth and justice?"     vice and help, and' asked  hini to come to their assistance.
                                                                       Having received permission and advice from his own con-
  Shahe on the Rev. Petter.                                            sistory, as well as advice from the consistories of Edgerton
                  (To be Continued next time, D.V.)                    and Hull, the undersigned made arrangementsto go to Lyn-
                                                  I?  E M A N U E L    den the week of December  ,6. In  the meantime the mem-
                                                                       bers concerned presented the following protest and state-
                                                                       ment of position to the schismatic consistory, which we here
                              `LYNDEN                                  quote in full:
         Of interest to our Protestant Reformed people will be
  the fact that also in Lynden, Washington there were those                                                               Lynden,  Washington
  who refused to be deceived and intimidated by the Rev. De                                                               Dec.  4,  1953
  Wolf faction in the congregation there. The undersigned              To  the  "Consistory  of  the  Lynden  Pmt.  Ref.  Church,"
                                                                       c/o  D.  Scheele,  clerk.
  was recently  -called  to Lynden to help and advise the few          Dear   Brethren  :
  faithful families, and so we can furnish a first-hand report.          On  Sunday,   November   22,  the  consistory   announced   in  the  morn-
         For a long time some of us had wondered what was              ing  service   its  support  of  the  schismatic   group  of  the  Rev.  H.  de
  going to happen in Lynden. That, as in the rest of our de-           Wolf.,  And  in  the  afternoo,n   service   we  already  had   a  recorded
  nomination, there was not unity even in that small congre-           sermon   by  de  Wolf.  By  this  action  the  undersigned   families   and
                                                                       members  are  offended.   And  we  want  you  to  understand  clearly
  gation had been evident to those who were acquainted there           that  .we  are  in  all  good  conscience  before  God   and  His  church
  or who had occasion to visit as ministers. But since that            so  seriously   aggrieved,   that  unless  and   until  you  take  back  that
  n$orious September session of  Classis  West nothing had             stand   we  cannot  recognize  you  as  Protestant  Reformed  anymore,
  been heard from the far northwest.                                   and,  though  we  be  few  in  number,   will   have  to  stand   alone  and
                                                                       to  maintain   that  we  are  the  faithful  remnant  of  the  Protestant
         Then, quite suddenly, action came. The consistory,            Reformed  congregation   of  Lynden.  In  stich  a  case  the  fault  of
  whom we had surmised was pro-De Wolf, made an an-                    tearing   the  church   apart   will  rest  only  with   you,  since  by  your
  nouncement on Sunday, November 22, that they supported               action  you  depart   from  our  Protestant  Reformed  churches   both  in
  the schismatic group of De Wolf. What their grounds were             doctrine   and  in  church   order   in  such  a  seiiqus  way  that  we  cannot
                                                                       for  conscience's  sake.go  along  with  you  for  a  moment.
  in detail was never quite clear, since they were merely orally         In  ordkr  that  you  may  thoroughly   understand   our  position,   we
  announced, and since in at least one service they did not            state   it  in  detail   below:
  even announce them fully. That they knew quite well                    I.  We  request  that  the  Consistory  withdraw   its  decision   in
  what they were doing, an? did it intentionally, became very          favor   o,f  the   schismatic   group  of  Rev.  de  Wolf;  that  it  reject  the
  evident in the afternoon service of that same Sunday, when,          decisions   of  Classis   West  in  re  the  suspension   of  de  Wolf  and
  in lieu of a reading service, they had a recorded service, very      the  deposition   of  the  elders; and   that  it  refuse  from  now  on  to
  audaciously presenting. as the guest minister by recording           recognize  any  ministers  or  consistori&   who  have  publicly  and
  none other than the supposed leader of the schism, the Rev.          openly  follo,wed   the  schismatic`group   of  de  Wolf,
  H. De Wolf himself.                                                    II.  If  this  request  is  denied,  we,   the  undersigned,   declare   that
                                            _-                         the  Consistory  :
         This was, of course, an act of schism. And the five             1.  Is  guilty  of  schism.
  faithful families  ancl one or  two individuals who intended           2.  That  by  this  action  they  have  separated   themselves  from  the               -
  to remain Protestant Reformed, instinctively recognized it           conmmnion   of  the  Protestant  Refo,rmed   Churches.i
  as such,  and for conscience' sake immediately refused to              3.  That  fhe  undersigned   are  the  faithful  congregation   and


                                                          T H E   STANDA,RD   B E A R E R                                   `.                                      151

members   of  the  Prot.   Ref.  Church  of  Lynden,  Washington,  and                   the  de  Wolf  group  are  the  faithful   remnant  bf  Classis   West.
will  function  as  such.                                                  .  -            3.  That  we  the  undersigned   must  fo,r  conscience'   sake  recognize
                                                                                         thos'e   churches   and  stand   with  them,   and  shall  have  to  ask  the
  III.  Grounds  :8                                                                      Synod  to  take   the  same   stand  with  us.
  1.  By  this  stand  you  have  principally   .adopted  the-heresy   con-
demned  not  only  by  the  First  Prot.   Ref.  Church  of  Grand  Rapids,                 This  is  the  position   which  we  maintain   over  against  your  an-
but  also  by  Classis   East  of  the  Piot.   Ref.  Churches.   These  here-           nounced   decision   favoring  the  de  Wolf  group.  It  is  the  only
sies  are:                                                                               possible   position   we  can  take.  And  we  hereby  submit   it  to  the
  a..  That  God  promises   to  all  men,  head  for  head  and  soul  for              consistory   for  consideration.  Since   there  has  been  plenty   of  time
soul,   that  if  they  believe   they  shall  be  saved.                                for  you  to  b,e  acquainted   with   this  whole  affair,   we  request  that
  b.  That  our  act  of  conversion  is  a  prerequisite  to  enter  into               you  answer   this  on  or  before  December   9,  1953.   And  in  case  we
the  kingdom   of  heaven.                                                               have  no  answer   by  that  time,  we  shall  consider   that  you  maintain
  2.  You  have  takeli  sides  with  those:                                             your  schismatic   stand  in  favor  of  de  Wolf,   and  shall  act  ac-
  a.  That  were  legally   suspended  and  deposed  as  officebearers  by               cordingly.
the  Consistory  of  the  First  Protestant  Reformed   Church  of                                                                   Respectfully,
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,   with   the  advice  of  the  Fourth   Church  bf
the  above-named   city,  and  on  the  basis  of  the  previous   advice  of               `To this protest not  *one word of answer was ever re-
classis.                                                                                 ceived. This was taken  by all  conc&ned  to mean that the
  b.  That,   after   they  were  suspended  and   deposed,  illegally                   consistory maintained its stand, and would not even  .so
presumed   to  function  as  officebearers,  thereby   lost  all  right  of              much as talk about it or try to answer the grounds offered fdr
appeal,   al!d  placed  themselves  outside   of  the  communion   of  the
Prot.   Ref.  Churches.                                                                  repudiating their stand.           And so, after December 9, the
  c.  That,   at  the  October  session   of  Classis  East,  after   having             families  involved took action.
had   full  oppo,rtunity   to  defend  themselves,   `were  officially   .de-                On Friday, Dec. 11, the undersigned delivered a pub-
clared   by  that  Classis,   the  only  classis   having   jurisdiction   in  the       licly advertised lecture concerning the split. Opportunity ,
case,  to  be  schismatic  and  to  be  outside   of  the   communion   of
our  churches.                                                                           for question after the lecture had also been advertised. But
  3.  You  have  tak'en   sides  against  those  who  were  rightfully   rec-            although there was an attendance of about 60 souls, about
ognized  to  be  Protestant  Reformed  by  Classis   East  of  our                       half qf them not from our churches, only one family .of "the
churches.                                                                                other side" put in an appearance. And undoubtedly the
  a.  C'lassis   East,  the  only  body  that  could   treat   the  de  Wolf             three questions asked after the lecture, and easily answered,
case  other  than  the  consistory   of  First  Church,   did   so,  ahd  con-           were presented by  &is one representative of the De Wolf
denmed  both  the  doctrine   and  the  disorderly   actions   of  the.  de
Wolf   group.                                                                            group.                                                       _ 8..
  1~.  Even  should  you  disagi-ee   with  that  decisioti,  the  ordefly  way              On Sunday, Dec. 13, we held our own s&vices,  2s  .the
would   have  been  to  submit  to  the  decision   and   in  the  meantime              continuation of the Lynden Protest&t Reformed Church,
bring  a  protest  oi-  appeal  against   it  in  the  orderly   way  of  con-           in the Legion Hall. In tde emergency a congregational meet-
sistory,   classis,   synod.  Instead  you  have  refused  to  recognize   the           ing was held after the morning service, and the elected
discipline  and  decisions   of  sister  consistories   and   a  sister  classis.   j    officebearers were installed in the afternoon.
  4.  The  actibn  of  Classis   West  in  its  September   session   in  regard
to  the  discipline  of  de  Wolf  and  his  elders  lnust  be  condemned:                   And so a small, but' faithful congregation of Protestant
  a.  Because  it  is  illegal,  seeing   that  it  was  not  even  on  the  agenda      Reformed people remains and continues in Lynden also.
of  the  classis,   which  it  should  have  been  by  classical   decision.             They were indeed small, being reduced in numbers  ap:
 \I~.  Because  it  is  contrary   to  ali  Church   Order:                              proximately to the size of the congregation when it was first
  1)  Art.  36:  ."The   Classis   -has  the  same  jurisdiction   over  the
consistory   as  the  Particular   Synod  has  over  the  Classis   and  the             organized  a few years ago, But they are convinced of the
General   Synod  over  fhe  Particular."                                                 truth, and they are determined, by God's grace, to go on.
  2)  Art.  84:  "No  Church  shall  in  any  way  lord  it  over  other                 Encouraged they were by the news that after my departure
Churches,   no  Minister   over  o,ther   Ministers,   no  Elder  or  Deacon             the Rev. G. M.  Ophoff  would come for a few weeks' stay
over  other  Elders  or  Deacons."                                                       in their midst.
  c.  Because  the  action  is  schismatic,   seeing   that  they  support
doctrines   that  according   to  the  decisions   by  the  Consistory  of                   The undersigned is convinced, furthermore, that with
the  First  Church  of  Grand  Rapids,   and  according  to  the  decisicm               the blessing of our God and by means of some  con$stent
of  Classis  East,  are  contrary   to,  Scripture,   and  the  Confessions,             Protesta&  Reformed labors by one or more of our ministers
and   besides,  are  directly   contrary   to  the  Declaration   of  Principles,        the congregation will also grow in numbers.                           Last May
which  has  been  legally   adopted  as  the  expression   of  our  Con-
fessions  by  the  Synod  of  our  churches.   Besides,  by  their  actior               and again during my most recent visit, I saw many indica-
Classis   West  supports   schismatics.                                                  tions that there is  still  in&h interest in the Protestant Re-
  d.  The  action  of  Classis   West  was  premature,  because   at  the                formed truth in the  Lyndcn  area. Attendance both at lec-
time  of  the  September   classis,   Classis  East  had  no,t   even  made              tures and at services was one indication.
a  final  decision.                                                                       `. We commend the little flock at Lynden to your prayers
  IV.  Hence,  we  declare:                                                              and to your assistance. And especially would we urge that
  1.  That  what   calls  itself   Classis  West  has  broken  with   the                if at all possible they be provided not only with financial
fell&ship   of  the  Protestant  Reformed  Churches.                                     help but with pulpit supply from our ministers and candi-
  2.  That  only  those  churches   which   reject-  the  stand  of  Classis
West,   and   refuse  to  follow   the  schismatic   and   disorderly   path  of         dates.                                                  &. C. Hoeksema

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

                                                                          and fortifications in their warfare with the heathen. But as
         TtiE  DAY  OF  SHADOWS,'                                   1 willingly forgetful of the Maker they put their confidence in
                                                                          their own ingenuity `to save themselves in time of war (v. 9b,
                                                                          11) . And in defiance of the call to repentance they continue
                 The Prophecy of Isaiah                                   to hold feasts and to make merry as having as their slogan.
                            (Continued)                                   "Let us eat and drink'for tomorrow we die." It -is their ans-
                                                                          wer to the announcement of still other judgments to come
  c. Prophecy regarding Jerusalem called in the text "val-                (v. 12, 13.).  This is their iniquity from which they shall never
ley of vision." Chap. Xx11:1-7.                                           be purged. They are men reprobated. The Lord has re-
    The prophet asks the meaning of the inhabitants as-                   vealed it in the prophets ear. Hence' there is nothing in-
cending in a  bodi the roofs of their houses.             Although        credible about the ability of the prophet to make such an
this is not expressly stated, it  is to witness the advance              announcement  (v. 14).
of a hostile army against the city. But the universal  ga-
ity and the noise of revelry that prevails in the `streets                  d. Prophecy against Shebna the steward of the house.               :
show that the enemy is being  jiewed with proud disdain.                         Chap. XXII  :15-17.
For, as the sequel reveals, the inhabitants, as forgetful of                 Shebna is more than a manager of the king's domestic or
God put their confidence in their` defenses jver. 1. 2aj.                 private concerns. He is close to the king. From statements
To beat down their pride the prophet lets them see what                   occurring in the sequel it seems that he is  yested  with the
lies ahead. Their men will be slain as fugitives from whom                authority of a prime  minister over the inhabitants of Jeru-
the will to face the enemy in courageous combat has de-                   salem. But he iS proud, insolent, tyrannical, unbelieving and
parted. All the rulers will take to flight but only to be                 wicked, `Yhe shame of the house of the Lord." He oppresses
captured and bound  tcigether by the adversary.              It will     the inhabitants and is not a father to them. As lifted up by
similarly deal with all  such that abide in the city (vers.              pride he causes a sepulchre to be hewn out for himself in a
2a, 3). In contrast to the gaity that everywhere prevails the             rock on high. doubtless on the heights of Mt. Zion near the
prophet is sad and weeps bitterly as he contemplates the                  sepulchres of Judah's kings whose equal he imagines himself
ruin of the daughter of his people (Jerusalem). And he                   to  be: He is just inspecting his new sepulchre when the.
wishes to be left alone with his grief (v: 4). For the day will          prophet as sent by the Lord comes to him and asks, "What
be one of destruction brought on by -the Lord Hi&elf                     ha@ thou here ?" and, "Who hast thou here ?" The questions
through the agency of distant nations, as. whose represent- mean : what gives thee the right to lay out for thyself a
atives only Elam and Iiir are named. Their choicest valleys              sepulchre in this selected place ?" a&d, "who do you think to
will be filled with the horses and chariots of the enemy (vv.            bury here ?" (WI 5,  16). `The Lord will violently throw
                                                                         him as a ball into a wide land and there he shall die. But first
    The prophecy will be progressively fulfilled through the .he, shall be cast down from his statidn  (w. 7-19). The
agency of the possessors of the world-power  - Assyria,                  Lord will replace him by Eiiakim the son of Hilkiah, who
Babylon, Rome, the antichrist of the Gospel period.                      will show himself a father to Jerusalem and Judah, and the
    But the Lord in the past has already been "uncovering                key of authority of David's house shall be given into his hand
the covering" of Judah, that is  intermitten!ly  exposing His             ( vv. 20-22).  He will be for a throne of glory to his father's
people to`the wrath of invading armies of, the heathen. With             house. As a nail bears the vessels of the house that are hung
a view to possible reoccurances of such  catastrophies  defences         thereon, so shall  he be the stay of the  descendents  of his
had been built. Already Solomon had erected an armory                    house and of their golry (w. 23, 24). It is evident that it is
of cedars, which he called "the house of the forest of Leba-             Christ of whom the prophet here speaks.. He is the true  Elia-
non" (1 Kings vii.: 2 ; x  :17, 2                                        kim.
                                      j.  Jerusalem had been forti-
fied by David and  Hezekiah.  In our prophecy the inhabitants                But in that day the nail shall be removed and all that
of Jerusalem are next presented as seriously considering these           which was hung thereon shall be cut off (v.25). This looks
mea&-es  of defence. First they inspect Solomon's armory of              to the vanishing away of Eliakim as a type of Christ. But
ceders (v. 8). They next examine the walls of the city and               according to others the reference is to Christ's suffering. We
find that there are many breaches in them. So they break                 know of this Eliakim nothing beyond what is stated in this
down a specified number of houses in order to provide them-              present message and in XXXVI, XXXVII.
selves with  lllaterials  for repairing the walls (v. 9a, 10 j . They        9.  Prophecy  regarding  Tyre.  Chap. 23.
build a "reservoir between the two walls" and draw into it                   a. The fall of Tyre. Chapter XXIII :l-14.
the water of pools that exist  ,outside  Jerusalem. "But they                In ancient  times Phoenicia was a narrow strip of land
have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had they                 extending along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea from
respect unto him that fashioned it long ago." The reference              the city of Laodicea  to the borders of Egypt and forming a
is to the pools. As natural wells fed by springs they are                part of the country of Canaan. Tyra was the commercial cen-
God's handiwork. Jerusalem is the city of God. He is its                 ter of Phoenicia and the mart of the civilized world. "It was
Maker and builder. They make use of the city, of its pools               the &rsery of arts and science and the city of of perhaps the


                                             T H E   S T A N D A . R D   B E A R E R .                                            153

 most industrious and active. people ever known." It stood            their idols, - and to render cont,emptible by casting down in
 at the head of the Phoenician cities and had numkrotis- and          the~mir? the honorable of the earth (w. 8, 9 j.
 extensive colonies including Carthage the rival of Rome. The            The mind of the prophet is directed once more to Tar-
 city was built on an island a mile long that ran parallel with       shish. He calls to the city, a colony of Tyre, to pass through
 the shore but was separated from it by a strait of the:Mediter-      its land as a rivei-,  seeing that there is no more girdle. The
 ranean a mile wide It had two large harbors and the'whole            reference is here to Tyre. The proud city is lording it over
 island was surroundeci  by a strong wall 150 feet in height.         her colonies. But Tyre shall be destroyed. With this
 Its name "tyre, " "rock" was thus appropriate. Through the restraint-girdle-removed also Tarshish will again be in a
centuries and  .in fulfillment of prophecy the city was  intei-       position to dispose of the produce of her Soil as she chooses
 mittently  beseiged  and spoiled until the very site of it became    and thus no longer be compelled to tratisact  only with Tyre
 unknown  or undiscoverable by any of its ruins. And, as the          (v.. 10).  n
 reasons of this judgment the prophets assign the pride &sd               But through what agency will, the Lord accomplish His
 wickedness of the Tyrians, their joy over the calamities of          purpose again&  Tyre ? The answer is contained in the fol-
 the Israelites and their cruelty in selling them into slavery.       lowing verse. He will extend His hand over the sea, that
 The' dity was not finally destroyed, till the conquest of Syria      is the nations, and stir up the kingdoms. And He will give
 by the Turks in 1516. The modern Tyra is not this celebrated
 city but an insignificant place on the mainland.                     command concerning Tyre  (Yanaan"  in the Hebrew text
                                                                      and "merchant city" in the versions) to destroy her strong-
     The  .prophet  calls to the mariners that sail in the ships      holds. (v. 11).
 of Tarshish to break forth in lamentation as the tidings have            As has already been explained, Tyre will not be destroyed
 come from Chittim - the islands and maritime countries of            hastily within the compass of a few years and by a single
 the Mediterranean Sea - that Tyre has been destroyed (v.             conqueror, but gradually through the ages. During all this
 1). The attention of the proph'et  is now concentrated directly      time Tyre will be an oppressed city that has ceased to -rejoice.
 on the doomed City (isle in the text), at- the time the mart         So the prophet" foretells, "Thou shalt  tiq more rejoice, 0
of the world, copiously replenished  all the while with  .the         thou  oppiessed  virgin of Zidon" (v.  12a). Tyre is compre-
 rich harvest of Sibor - the river Nile - by trading vessels          hended in Zidon the other famous city  df Phoenicia. They
 of Zidon. The prophet enjoins Tyre's  inhabitants to be mute         are partners and will thus be overtaken by a common ruin.
 with astonishment (w. 2, 3). The seer next addresses Zidon,
 the other famous city of Phoenicia sityate on its coast about            In view of `what the future holds in store for Tyre (and
 24 miles to the north of Tyre. There is a voice from the             Zidon) the prophet .calls to its inhabitants to flee to Chittim
 sea, more exactly from the `fortress of the sea, by which is         in general Europe. But there also they shall find no  .rest
 to be understood  the insular city of Tyre  as viewed from           because perhaps they are hated by those whom they formerly
_ the mainland. "I travail not," says the voice, "nor bring           oppressed (v.  12b).
 forth children, neither do I ndurish up young men, nor bring             The Prophet names the Chaldeans  xs representative of
 up virgins.? It. is Tyre personified bewailing the fact that         the nations and kingdoms through the instrumentality of
 she is as if she has never born children, meaning that she           which the Lord will realize His Word. The text states that
 is desfitute of inhabitants, in a word, destroyed. All there is      "this people was not," meaning that it did not appear as a
 now to be seen is the bare rock of the Islam?  on which the          world-power  imtil it founded Assyria for the beasts of the
 city was built. The Zidonians are`commanded  of the prophet          wilderness, that is, until it supplanted Assyria as a world-
 to be ashamed because  of. the fall of Tyre. (v. 4). Egypt           power through the destruction of Nineveh its captial city (v.
 especially shall be sorely pained when the report of Tyre's          13a). "They (the Chaldeans) set up the  tow&-s  thereof  ;
 -fall comes to it (v. 5). It will conclude that all that now         They raised up (destroyed) the palaces thereof ; and brought
 remains for the inhabitants of Tyre is to flee howling to dis-       it (Tyre) to ruin" (v. 13b). And so the prophet concludes
 tant  `Tarshiih.  (v. 6). The prophet now  con_trasts what the       this section of his discourse with again calling upon the ships
 city is  with what it was. He asks, "Is this your joyous             of  `J'arshish  to howl seeing that their "strength (the city of
  (city)," this heap of ruins ! Consider the age of the city.         Tyre) is laid waste" (v. 14).
 "Its antiquity is of ancient days." Its founding was being               So here we have the prophet foretelling the initial  des-
 carried back 2,300 years. Men had come to think, of it truction of  -Tyre by the possessor of the world-power (the
 as the city eternal. But it shall pass away. And its inhabitants Childeans)  that was not to appear until a hunderd years after
 shall be carried away to a distant country there to sojourn          the prophet's  death. This was possible because the  great
 as captives (v. 7).                                                  prophet speaking here was Christ and not Isaiah. This the
     From whom does this decree regarding Tyre proceed?               rationalistic interpreters deny. Accordingly they insist that
 - Tyre, the crowngiving city, whose merchants because of the prophecy  has reference to the conquest of Tyre by the
 their  opulance  are princes and the honorable of the earth ? -.Assyrians.  Isaiah knew about it therefore-because it was an
 "The Lord of hosts has purposed it to polute the pride of all        event that took place  during.  his own lifetime. Now it is
 glory," - particularly the ancient temples of Phoenicia and          doubtless true that the king of Assyria did beseige Tyre even


     1 5 4                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

      for five years;  but- according  to Meander, as quoted by' shall be used for the support of the Gospel ministry in Tyre.
~     Josephus,  he was unable to take the city.                            In the  wokds of the text, "And her merchandise and her hire,"
              b. Tyre's recovery and impenitence. Chap.`XXIII :15-17.       - this must be made to apply to the Tyre according to the
                                                                            election,  -  "shall  be holiness to the Lord  ; it shall not be
              The Chaldean or Babylonian world-power, when it shall         treasured up: for her merchandise shall be for them that
      once have made its appearance, will make an end of Tyre as            dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently,,  and. for durable
      the mart of the world. As a result she shall be forgotten of          clpthing"  (v. 18).
      the nations during all the seventy  years of her subjugation to               Underlying this prediction is the prophecy that God shall
      Babjrlonia  (v. 15a). But at the end  `of this period, when           gather-His church also `from among the inhabitants of Tyre.
      Babylon as a world-power shall have been made to pass away,           Already when Christ was upon earth, converts from the bor-
      Tyre, as freed from the Babylonian yoke, will employ all her          ders of Tyre and Sidon came to see and to hear him ; arid he
      wiles to induce the nations to renew with her. the  trade-            on His part honored th&se borders with His presence (Mark
      contacts that were broken off. In the imagery of the text,            3 :8 ; Luke 6 :17 ; Matt. 15 :21 j . Paul ,found there disciples
      "after tk;e end of seventy years  shall Tyre sing as a harlot,"       of -the Lord (Acts 21:3).  `In. 355 the churches of Syria held
      (v. b) that is carry on like a,disregarded  prostitute that has       a synod fhere. But the. recovered glory of Tyre has  com-              -
      grown old in the service of sin yet cannot forget her gain            pletely departed. Today the city - the modern Sur - is a`
      and therefore goes about  -the city to attract men by her music       village of fisheri7len's  huts that numbers about 3,000 inhabit-
      and unchaste songs. The Lord by the prophet commands                  ants. Thus has come to pass all the Lord has spoken.
      `Tyre, "Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast
      been forgotten. Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that                                         -A                     - G .   M .   0 .
      thou  mayest  be remembered  (v. 16). Tyra must make an               Excerpt from Dr. Herman Bavinck's Gereformeerde  Dog-
      effort to entice the nations to renew with her their commer-          matiek.
      cial intercourse. So God has determined. And the effort shall                 Speaking of the  diff&nce  between the Christian way
      prove successful because He shall visit the city. By  His             of applied salvation which is Theological in nature, and
      providence the trade between Tyre and the nations will be             the way of all non-Christian theories and practices, which
      renewed. The ancient wealth and grandeur will be recovered.           are anthropological in nature, Bavinck writes the. follow-
      The text reads here, "And it shall come to pass after the etid        ing succinct statement concerning the Covenant of God,
      of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre" (v. 7a j . Thus       as the realized salvation in the hearts of  God!s elect  peep-
      her fornjcation  with the nations will.be  resumed and- contin-       le :
      ued, "And she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit forni-                 "The teaching of Scripture is wholly different. Al-
      cation with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the        ready  iti the Old Testament it is God who makes enmity
      earth" (v.  17bj: Such is God's will. For Tyre must fill her          between man and serpent out of grace, and brings man to
      measure of iniquity in order  that she may finally be blotted         His side, Gen. 3 :15, who elects Abraham and Israel, which
      from the face of the- earth. The city was taken by the Turks          is born out of him  as His possession, Gen. 12  :1 ; Exodus
      in 1516. "Since that time it has sunk into utter decay and            15  :13;  19:4;  20~2;  Deut. 7  :6ff,.  \iho raises up the Cov-
      is now a bare rock, `a place to spread nets upon,' as the             enant with this people and gives them His laws, Gen. 15 :
      prophet Ezekiel foretold that it should be." Also this pro-           1 ; 17  :2: Exodus  `2  :24. 25; Deut. 4:5-13, who  gives the
      phecy was progressively fulfilled.                                    blood  Lipon the altar for reconciliation, Lev. 17  :11, and
              A word must be said about this imagery. Commerce and          spares no effort upon His vineyard, Isaiah 5, Jer. 2:21. But
      trade, though not as such sinful, is a totally depraved thing         by `virtue of that election and on the basis of that Coven-
      as carried on by the world that lies in darkness, the natural         ant the people are also obliged, in the fear of the curse
      man. For the world is always wholly consecrated to self and           of the law, to walk before God's face in uprightness, and
      God is not in all its thoughts. The activating principle here         to. keep His commandments. Deut.  27:6; Gen.  17:l: Ex-
      is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of       odus 20: Deut. 10: 15, 16 etc.                   -.     -
      life, and the means employed deceit  a&l violence.  Verily  also              The- Covenant relation was not dependent upon keep-
      this business of buying and selling as conducted by the world         fng the law as a preceding condition (voorafgiande  voor-
      is sheer idolatry; it is spiritual fornication  pure and simple.      waarde) . It was no Covenant of works, but was anchor-
      Reprobated Tyre, as the commercial center of the world, was           ed solely in God's electing love.        However, it neverthe-
      therefore indeed the chief of harlots. This, to  Ge sure, is a.       less must receive its proof and seal in a walk according to
      hard doctrine that the prophet did not try mollify by some            the Lord's law. For only through such a faith, which has
      such theory as that of common grace.                                  a love and delight to walk in the way of the Covenant,
              b. The calling of the Tyrians according to the election in    could the Covenant be received  frpm Israel's `side with
      the Gospel period (v. 18  j .                                         a perfect heart. If the Covenant is no idea but reality, it
              Tyre shall be destroyed but` God has His people in the        has implicit in it the obligation and  inclinatipn  (desirej  "
      doomed city to be called in the Gospel period. And they shall         to live according to the Command of God's Covenant."
      consecrate the gain of their commerce unto the Lord, and it                                Vol. III, Page 486, Heilsorde, H. Bavinck


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                                                 T H E   STA~~DARD  BEARER                                                             155

                                                                               The  first ground is that God has done.  .for us on the
            FROM  H`OLY  WRIT  -`-' Cr&, establishing for us the new and everlasting  Cove-
                                                                           nadt of  grace and mercy. 1;STe  noticed the following chain
                                                                           of graces: (1) Th t
                                                                                                a according to God's eternal foreknow-
                Exposition.  bf I Peter  1:22-25                           ledge Christ  must come into the world to be the Mediator
                         :                                                 and. Savior of His people, given unto' Him by the Father.
                                    I
                              .                                            He was indeed! (men) foreknown from before the foun-
      It was with more than usual pains that  we prepared                  dations of the world, and as the foreknown one of God He
  ourselves to write some expository thoughts on this last                 is manifested in these last  times.  (Verses 2, 20)  ` (2) That
  section of this chapter, the verses 22-25, The reason for                Christ died for us, that he redeemed us kompletely  through
  this careful study and preparation is due to two reasons.                His precious blood. This work is finished, it is wholly com-
  The first is, that in this passage various concepts call for             plete. Nothing more need be added to it. We are the
  a rather careful analysis and study. It is of the utmost im-             possession of Christ. He claimed us from the power of
  portance to know the meaning of a term before we can say                 darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of the Father.
  anything positive and constructive about it. Secondly, this              Verses  18, 19. (3) And that by virtue of this death Christ
  passage required study because it is of importance to un-                has merited, according to the eternal good. pleasure of
  derstand the relationship of the various clauses to the prin-            God, together with the other gifts `of salvation, also the
  ciple clause in the sentence. And, thirdly, this study is                gift of faith, so that our  faith and hope might be  in  God.
  necessary because of the doctrinal consequences that depend              Faith was merited on the Cross for us, and this  m&ted
  upon sound exegesis of the text in question.                             gift is freely bestowed  upon'us  by Holy Spirit. It is not
     We shall not be ible to finish our exposition of this sec-            simply God's intent that Christ should die, without a def-
  tion in this one article. Probably this will require as many             inite foreknown number given Him by the Father to die
  as three articles. We shall see.               -                         for, but it is most emphatically God's intent to realize faith
     The text itself  reads in full as  fol!ows:  "Seeing  tlzat ye        and hope in the hearts of sovereignly and freely loved
  have  petrified   yozt?'  so,&  In obeying  the  tmrth through the       Church in Christ, Faith is not simply made possible for us
  Spil-it   t&d  ,u.nfeigned  love of  the  byethen,  (see that ye)        in the Cross. Faith  Fs there merited for us in order that
  love one another with  a  pwe  laea,rt   fervently; Being  born          by the power of Christ crucified, dead and buried, faith
  again,  ?zot of  comLptib1e  seed,  b&t of  incol-vuptible,  by'  the    may be made a reality in our life together with all the bless-
  Word of God, which  liveth and  abidetlz  forever. For a.11              ings of `salvation. (4j  And we are reminded of this work
  flesh is  a.s grass,  a.FLd all the glory of *Ban a.s the flower of      of God for us and even with the intent to be realized in us,
 grass. The grass  witheretlz,,  a.nd the  flower  tliereof  falletlrz     that the faith and hope that is in us may be stirred up, and
  a-way:  But the Word of the Lord  enduretlz  forever. And                we walk in  .daily conversion. Thus we indeed have the
this is  the Word  wJ&lz by the  gospl is  p'eaclzed   unto  you."         loins of our mind girded up. The power of the Cross is
     We  have the text before us now.                                      the incentive for, faith to work out our salvation with fear
                                                                           and trembling.
     First of all we wish  -to say just a word about the se-
  quence of thought here in this entire section, the verses 14                The matter is therefore profoundly theological, and yet
 25. As we have observed in our formei-  essays on this sec-               at the same time eminently practical in our life of faith
 tion of Holy Writ, Peter is here speaking of the pilgrim and hope in God.
 walk of the elect strangers, the Church in the world. And                    Such was the first ground of motivation for a godly
 he particularly calls attention to the truth, unto which he               walk.
 also admonishes, that such a pilgrim walk of hope is a walk                  But now we must study the second reason given by Pet-
 in sanctification of the Spirit; we are to be  holy in all our            er for a godly walk of conversion. This second reason is
 conversation, even as God is Holy! But such a walk of                     given in the verses  .quoted above in this article, the verses
 holiness concretely means for us, that we shall not live ac-              22-25.
 cording to the flesh, but according to the Spirit: we shall                  We notice in passing the following elements.
 die unto sin and live unto God. In a word:  we~shall  COX-                   In the first place let it be observed, that Peter  iS still
 stantly  walk  in conversion, having true and godly sorrow                speaking here of the life of conversion, not being `conformed
 that we have sinned and have a sinful nature, and find true               to the former lusts in our ignorance, but to be holy as
 joy in Gocl through Jesus Christ, and with love and delight               God is holy.      However, there  is a progression here in
 to serve Him.                                                             thought expressed. The matter of conversion is brought
     Such is the general thrust of this passage.                           down to earth. It is labeled! We may know by the same,
     For this Peter gives two grounds of motivation. And                   and that, too, very concretely, whether we have the "proper
 both of these facts related by Peter  ai-e the incentive unto             marks" of the grace of God in our life or not; whether we
 a concrete walk in conversion. And we repeat: there are                   have the rP+r-ed  qualities (called "conditions" by Urzinus,
 no other incentives unto conversion worthy of the name!                   et  alii,) and spiritual aspirations in our life, the season of


156                                         T    H    E      STANDAR'D   BEARER

rich or richer grace ! Conversion is here "pin-pointed" as         the Spirit in us, so that we do not do what we would. And
being: fervent love for each other as brethren in the Lord.        always in this battle we need the admonitions and exhorta-
It is the very essence of the Second Table of the law, which       tions : let your love be fef*vent! For "whom  God calls, ac-
is like unto the First Table. This is  the essence of walk-        cording to His purpose, to the communion of His Son, and
ing in God's Covenant, that is, in our "part" of the  Co+          regenerates by the Holy Spirit, `He delivers also from the
enant.                                                             do?&ion  and  slazrel,y  of sin-in  tlzis  Life; though  not  alto-
       Secondly, Peter also indicates the spiritual-psychologi-    gethr  from the 270611 of sin, and from  the injiuwzities  of the
cal incentive. And this incentive is what God has pel+oswLed       flesll,, so long as they continue in this world. Hence spring
in US by `the power of Christ's ressurection  life through the     daily sins .of infirmity, and hence spots adhere to the best
Holy Spirit in  yegenerafion.    God has not simply redeenied      works of the saints . . .  " Canons of Dort, Art. V, Para-
us on the Cross, but; He has brought the power of the Cross        graph 1 and 2.
into our life by making Christ the Life-Giving Spirit. And                In view of this infirmity of the flesh in the regenerated
by this Spirit we are to  be--changed from glory unto glory        children of God the admonition is sounded: love one an-
as by the Spirit of the Lord.                                      other fervently  ~YO~W  the heart!  ~(ik kardias)          For' it is
       Let us attempt to see this from the varibus  elements in    with the heart` that we love. At bottom we do not love
the text.                                                          out of our soul, mind and strength. But we love out of the
       First of all we must underscore the fact, that the main     heat-t. It is in the heart that God has shed His love abroad.
thought is that we ought  to love one another. Our text is         Out of a good heart proceed  good things. As our hearts
an exhortation with fundamental motivation  ; it is a pre-         are so are we.. In the good heart sin's dominion is broken,
cept of the Gospel. That we must not, overlook. There              and Christ lives by His Spirit. Hence, this is an appeal
is a possible danger of overlooking this in the text, and to our sanctified heart, to the mercies `in Christ Jesus, our
treat it as merely a Word of instruction in regard to the          Lord, in  us. It is in no sense of the word an appeal to
Dogmatic construction of mediate or immediate regenera-            a natural man to become what he is not. On the contrary
tion. We would warn against imagining that this Dog-               it is an admonition to the  living  church to live out more
matic distinction is not of great importance. However, let         ahd more what she is in Christ Jesus, her Lord.
us beware of letting Dogmatics rule over Exegesis. Scrip-                                  (To Be Continued).
ture is not Dogmatics. And so in our text we are deal-                                                                      G. Lubbers
ing with a precept, exhortation of the Gospel, which -we                                      `--
may not identify with  commnd  of the Law.            For these
are as different from one another as law is from grace.                   Since under the present circumstances many of the Con-
       Precept of the Gospel this passage is together with the     sistories of our. Churches, do not know the names of our
proper grounds and incentives !                                    Clerk and Treasurer, we are herewith &wing  these names
                                                                   below with the addresses.
   We are to walk in the new Commandment of love.
Love is the spiritual bond of perfection. It is not mere                  Clerk : Peter Schipper, 236 sE?st 1 lth St.,
sentiment. It is not merely an opinion of each other in                      Holland Michigan.
the abstract. Love is a matter of the deepest attitude of                 Treasurer : `James Elzinga, 571 West 19th St.
the heart and includes the moral  judgmenti concerning                       H o l l a n d ,   .Michigan.
each other. Love is the opposite of hatred, of malice, en-                                  The Consistory
vy, bitterness and guile and evil-speaking. Love suffers                              1st Prot. Reformed Church, Holland,  Mich.
long and is useful in God's church. It believes all things,                                                  Clerk : Peter Schipper
hopes all things within the ordinances- of the Word of God.
Love asks: what does  the Word of God say.  land only                                      IN MEMORIAM
where there is a striving to walk according to the Word
is love present. Love covers a multitude of sins. Herein                  Our Ladies' Society herewith -expresses its sympathy to
shall all men know that you are My disciples if ye have            our  fellowmemberj  Mrs. John- VanOverloop  in the death of
love one for anbther ! It is the sure test. God is not             her
mocked !                                                                                        FATHER
   Now this love which we have for each other is to be             John  Molenliamp,  who died Saturday, December 26, 1953,
fn*e~~zt. It must be pure fire of God's Holy Spirit in our         aged 57 years.                               i.
hearts. Then it will be "stretched out", that is, it will be              May the God of all comfort give solace and comfort to
the  pemwering   .&ens&y   of love. It will be then the pure       the bereaved family.
love as it is not contaminated with the sinful lusts of the                        The Hudsonville Ladies' Society :
flesh.  Th?! purity of the pure of heart it will be. Such                                          Rev. Gerrit Vos, President
love of God in our hearts is strong and constant., Always                                          hIrs.  B&t  Maring.   Skcretary.
again the supply is- present. But our flesh wars against


                                              T H E   S T A N - D A R D   B E A R E R                                           157

                                                                   chasm that still separates them from Christ and this sal-
                IN.HIS                     F'EAR             -/I vation, they will be received of God on thk other side of
                                                                   the chasm and  tie crowned with salvation and its glory.
                                                                       In such a theory Christ is preached, so it is claimed.
                Afraid of the Gospel                               Salvation in Him is preached, so it is said. And loud
                                 (9)                               voices of murmuring were raised when, last time, we de-
    Conditional Theology.                                          clared' that conditional preaching and Christless sermons go
    Christless preaching.                                          hand in hand. And yet, so it is ! For in that vital point
    These, we wrote last time, go hand in hand.                    between man and the salvation in Christ, Christ is not to
    A$, then, we do not mean that in sermons which are             be found.  * Instead you find a condition man must fulfill.
based on conditional theology the name of Christ is not            Our. act of faith, or  of, conversion,  becoties  the determin-
mentioned. The use of the name of Christ does not save a           ing factor that brings the salvation into us.         -
sermon from being Christless.           Even the Modernist will        It reminds one of the old arminian  figure of throwing out
lnention the name of Christ repeatedly in' his "sermons".          the life line to a sailor fighting against a watery grave.
And yet The Christ is not in his "sermons" at all! The             What is wrong with the illustration is that the "strug-
Christ of the modernist is the imagination of man's mind,          gling sailor" has life and the desii-e to live, while the natur-
not the atoning Christ of God's Counsel.                           al  nyan is  dead  and can neither struggle nor desire to be
    The same is true of many religions which call them-            saved. But how remarkably well Rev. De Wolf's first state-
selves the Christian religion.                                     ment fits in with this arminian scheme of things. The man
    In sermons based on conditional theology, even though          who  is not  yet  slz.ved  and has not faith, is told by Rev. De
much time is spent and many words are employed to ex-              Wolf in this first statement that if he believes he will be
tol and to present the glorious salvation which is -in Christ,     saved.    If he will put  out his hand in faith across this
there is still that  .Christless  element  that condemns it as     chasm, where Christ does not stand, he can reach out and
being false. doctrine. Listen  to all the arminian philosophy      take the salvation God offers.
that pours as a flood out of your radio !  Arminianism  as            Now he must not say that he never preached anything
a rule, rather  than as an exception, speaks loudly and at         like that! His first statement teaches just exactly that!
length of the salvation that is  iti Christ. Yet its  Christ-      As we showed last time, you cannot add to this statement
less element nullifies it all. Do not forget that even the Pel-    that phrase to which those. addicted to conditional theol-
agians, against whose  heresy the Canons of Dordt were             ogy always resort, when it is made  plain that their condi-
composed. speak of men who "through the grace  of- the             tional theology is arminian, namely, that we fulfill these con-
Holy Spirit" believe in Christ. And yet they teach  sal-           ditions by God's grace. : You cannot say, "God promises ev- '
vation by works rather than by -grace.                             ery one of you that if' you by His grace believe you will be
   What makes conditional theology Christless theology             saved." You will have to say,"`God  promises all His elect
is that after all the wonderful things that it says abdut that He will give them grace to believe and so save them."
Christ and the salvation that is in Him, it still leaves the       That is quite differ&t. That  .statement  brings Christ into
`sinner disconnected from that Christ and His salvation.           the very inmost part of the soul of those chosen  in Him and
What is more, conditional theology teaches that man -makes         brings it into their souls by the work of God without any
the connection by fulfilling the condition stipulated by God.      help from m&t.
   We refer you again to those two statements of Rev. De            And it is surely a striking thing that Rev. De Wolf
Wolf which are plain examples of conditional theology and          made this statement, that God promises everyone that if
its Christlessness. "God promises everyone of you that if          they believe thejr will be saved, in a sermon on the parable
you believe, you will be saved." That is his first statement       of the Rich man and Lazarus, and also that he made it at
which he deliberately made-it was  nb slip of the tongue-          the point he did in the "sermon." See the "Reformed Guard-
and which he still today refuses to  conjemn as being her-         ian" of August 29 wherein he reconstructs this, se'rmon  CO
etical in its literal form.                                        try to show that the context  &ill  reveal that he had no
   Now note, first of all, that, according to this statement,      heresy in mind. It is striking because the parable speaks
that which brings the salvation in Christ into man is not          of those who do not believe and are not saved, namely the
God in sovereign election or through the insfrumentality  of       brothers of the rich man who is in hell. There is a gulf
His gift of faith, but man's act of believing. God promises        between him and Lazarus  whd is in Abraham's bosom. The
that salvation conditionally.     He has prepared the salva-       rich man is desirous to see that his brothers bridge that
tion in Christ, so the theory in this statement runs. It is        gulf and do not land in the torment which he suffers. He
all ready and is a present reality. But many men do not            pleads with Abraham to have Lazarus sent to his brothers
have it yet.    It is still outside of them. However, God          to warn them of the awful torment that is in store for them.
meets these men part of the way and assures them that if           Abraham says, in the parable, that they  have-  Moses and
they will perform the act of faith and so cross over  the          the prophets : "Let them hear  them." The rich man- says'

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

  that they need more than that. If one would return from             to those who are OUTSIDE of Christ that,  if they believe,
  the dead to tell them as an eyewitness of these awful               they will be brought into such a living relation  with Christ
  things, they would repent. Abraham tells them that it is and be saved. That is heresy!
  not so. that if they would not listen to Moses and the pro-            Please note, in the second place, that, in this first state-
  phets, they would not listen to Lazarus eithkr, even though         ment of Rev. De Waif,  f&h is not promised to the elect, but
  he came back from the dead.  _ It is an important thing to          evqone is promised that if. he will only believe, then God         '
  remember that Jesus caused Abraham to say that in this              will save him. Man's act of faith precedes salvation, rather
  parable. Rev. De Wolf's statement ignores that fact, but            than to be a part of it. Jesus taught in the parable that
  it is the truth of the text nevertheless. If one does riot          the Scriptures are sufficient as God's means of grace to work
  heed the preaching that he receives through the .living men         faith in His elect. Rev. De Wolf dares to u&e that same para-
  that God sends to him, he will not hear any messenger that          ble to try to teach us that God promises even the unbeliev-
  God might  .send from out of the dead.                              ing brothers of this rich man that if they will only meet God's
         We might pause a moment to ask why this is. The an-          condition and believe, they too can still escape the torments
  swer of Christless conditional theology would surely not be of hell. Reprobates have a promise of salvation ! ! ! ! What
  the words of Jesus to the ungodly Jews that refused to              an insult to God that first statement is in its literal form!
  listen  to  Hin?,. "Ye believe pot because  ye. are not of my          Indeed, he adds that we can believe only because God
  sheep." John 10  26. Conditional theology  would'not sug-           gives us that faith in His grace and that He bestows it sov-
  gest that, because it is afraid of the Gospel. It is afraid of      ereignly upon His elect. -That seems to fix it all up, and
  election.     Electioli  brings certain individuals into Christ, .many  are deceived by such procedure.. But if he is honest
  makes  thei% one with Him and does not leave a gulf, a              before God and to those for whom he preaches,. he will add
  chasm, a separation between Christ and His people which             (1) that since God must give us this faith before we will
  they must fill up with certain  works  which  are the condi-        believe, hk was wrong in stating that we must believe befw.!
  tion to their obtaining of the blessedness that is in Him. God will save us and that God does not, therefore, promise
  Conditional theology, as its defenders dare to tell us, is built    on the  cdndition  of faith but promises faith to the elect.
  around the pedagogical approach that if you tell people that        And he should have added (2) that since God promises
  the Church is one with Christ in sovereign election and that        faith to the elect, his statement that God promises  ever_vovte
  Christ has united us unto Himself by the bpnd of faith, you         salvation on the condition of faith is wrong and must never
  will make men careless and profane. You  must come to               be defended. Let him still do  that. Now he is trying to
  him with the pedagogical approach that his a.ctizJity  of faith     walk in two directions at one time. He will find that he can-
  is necessary to span the gulf between himself and the Christ        not. No man can.
. Who is full of blessedness. That is the underlying, funda-                                                               J. A. Heys
  mental philosophy of conditional `theology.
         The point here in the' parable is, however, that God, iy
  the Spirit of Christ and on the basis of  sovereigri  election
  and the cross of Jesus Christ after engfkfting  them in Christ ,
  by the bond of faith, will use the preaching of the Scrip-
  tures to bring His elect to repentance and the activity of
  faith. And the reprobate, who are in no way connected to
  Christ, either by sovereign election or by the bond of faith,
  will not believe no matter who testifies td them. Rev. De
  Wolf should have preached Christ to his `audience in this                     Special Session of  Classis West
  text and shown his hearers that One did return from the
  dead the third day, and though the evidence of this is in-              The consistoriei  of Doon, Edgerton, Hull, and Redlands.
  disputable and that though the "brothers" of this rich man          Protestant Reformed Churches have decided jointly to call
  were convinced of that fact and could not deny it, they             a special session of Classis  West. D.V., Wednesday, January
  paid the soldiers to silence this testimony of Him.                 20, 1954, at  Doon.
         Of course the "brothers" of the rich  man did not be-           All those consistories which repudiate the..  schi&matic
  lieve in Christ, even after He came back from the dead. If          stand adopted by the September session of  Classis  West, and
  you bring that, risen Christ next to them and leave as much         therefore with us constitute the faithful remnants. of our
  as one millionth of an inch betwken Him and them where              Classis are invited  and urged to send delegates.
  He does not stand, they cannot reach out even that small
  distance to take hold of Him by faith. That is still too               Address all requests for lodging or other correspondence
  big a chasm for a dead man to span. Christ must be IN               to James Blankespoor,  Doon, Iowa.
                                                                us
  by His Spirit, -and  we must be `IT\` Him by sovereign elec-                     By- order of the above-mentioned consistories,
  tion and by the  bond of faith.  And God does not promise                            JAMES  BLANKESPO'OR,  Clerk  p?,o  tena


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                159

                                                                         ?;ertullirin  wrote a separate treatise on the .sacrament  of
           Contending   For  The  Faith                               Baptism. Although he rejects the notion of a merely mag-
                                                                      ical and mechanical blotting out of sins by baptism, and
                                                                      makes the' efficacy of baptism  depeti-dent  on repentance,
            The Church and the Sacraments                             yet he takes occasion,. from the cosmical  and physical sig-
                                                                      nificance of water, t6 adduce numerous analogies, Water
   EARLY  `VJEWS  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS   OF  BAPTISM  (Cont'd)         is in his view the element in which Christians alone feel
      Continuing  witk our discussion of the early views of           at home, as the small fishes which follow the great fish.
   the sacrament of Baptism, and calling attention to the sig-        Hkretics,   on. the contrary, are the amphibious generation
   nificance of this sacrament during that early period of the        of vipers and snakes that cannot live in wholesome water.
   Church in the New Dispensation, we noted that one might            Water is of great .importa&  for the whole universe. The
   easily receive the impression from  spme expressions of            Spirit of God moved upon the  race of the waters-so up-
the early Church Fathers that they attributed efficacy to             on the waters of baptism. As the Church is compared
   the external rite of Baptism,  stich as the power of regen- `with the ark, so the water of baptism is contrasted with
   eration, cleansing from sin, sanctification. And we conclud-       the deluge, and the dove of Noah is a type of the dove-
 ed our previous article with a quotation from Justin Mar-            the Spirit. As pbwer is inherent in all water, it is in-
   tyr, a famous apologete or defender of the Christian faith         different what. kind of water is used. The water of the
  `during that early period of the Church of God. The fol-            Tiber possesses the same power as the water of the Jordan ;
   lowing  quotatibn  from the writings of Justin  Mxrtyr  may        still water produces the  same@ effects as running water.
   also serve to confirm this early view of the Sacrament of          He also compares the baptismal water with the pool of
   Baptism : "By reason, therefore, of this laver  of repentande      Bethesda  ; as the latter was troubled by an angel, so
  "and knowledge of God ("laver" means a font or basin                there  is. a special angel of baptism, who prepares the
   of water) which has been ordained on account of the trans:         way for- the Holy Spirit.
  `gression of God's people, as Isaiah cries, we have be-                Cypriari  spoke of the high importance of baptismal water
   lieved, and testify that that very baptism which he an             from his own experience. He does not indeed maintain that
   nounced is alone able to purify those who have repented;           water purifies as such, but his comparisons give  ?he im-
   and this is the water of life."                                    pression  of a  Fagic  efficacy  of water. The devil was cast
      Clement of Alexandria expresses himself as follows :            out of Pharaoh, when he and all his hosts were drowned in
   "The same also takes place in our case, whose exemplar             the Red Sea (the sea is a symbol of baptism, according to'
   Christ became.    Being baptized, we are  ~illuminated   ;  II-    I Cor. 10)  ; for the power of the devil  onli reaches to the
   luminated,  we become sons'; being made sons, we are made          margin of the water. As scorpions and snakes are strong
   perfect; being made perfect, we are made immortal . . . .          on dry land, but lose their strength, and must vomit their
   This work is variously called grace, and illumination,  and        poison when thrown into water, so the unclean spirits.
 perfection, and washing: washing, by which we cleanse a-             In short, whenever water is mentioned in the sacred Scrip-
   way- our sins; grace,  by which the penalties accruing to          tures, the Punic.  (the language of the Carthaginians,:a&in-to
   transgressions are `remitted ; and illumination,- by which that    Phodtiician   and the Hebrew-H.V.)  symbol&n-& `at  6&e
   holy light of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see        applied to it; it  is, therefore, not at all surprising that the
  God clearly . . . . Further release from evils is the begin-        rock in the wilderness, as well as the Samaritan woman at
   ning  df -salvation. We then alone, who first have touched         Jacob's well, and many others, are regarded as types of
   the  confines  of life, are already perfect; and we already        baptism.              --
live who are separated from death. Salvation, according-                 We quote the- following from the writings of Cyprian :
   ly, is the following of Christ: "For that which is in Him          "These were my frequent thoughts (Cyprian is writing of
   is life. Verily, verily I say `unto  you, He that heareth          his calling- out of darkness into the light-H.V.). For as
   My words, and believeth on  Him that sent Me; hath  eter-          I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my
   nal life, and cometh  not into, condemnation, but hath passed      previous life, from which I did not `believe "that I could by
   from death to life." . . . . As, then, those who have `shaken      possibility be delivered, so I was disposed to acquiesce in
   off sleep forthwith become all awake- within; or rather, as        my clinging. vices, and because I despaired of better things,
   those who try to remove a film that is over the eyes, do not       I used to indulge my sins as if they were actually parts
   supply to them from without the light `which they do not           of me, and indigenous to me. But after that, by the help
   possess, but removing the obstacle from the eyes, leave the        of the  water  of the new birth (the underscoring is of the
   pupil free ; thus also we who are baptized, having wiped `undersigned), the stain of former years had been washed
   off the sins  whi'ch obscure the light of the Divine Spirit,       away, and a light from above serene and pure had been in-
   have the eye of the spirit. free, unimpeded, and full  df          fused into my reconciled heart;-after that by the  ag&cy
   light, by which alone we contemplate the Divine, the Holy          of the Spirit breathed from heaven a second birth had re-
   Spirit, flowing  doyn to us from above."                           stored me to a new man ; . . . Moreover it is silly to say that

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

   -although the second birth is spiritual by which we are born      stowed. . . Above water-baptism stands the fire baptism of
   in Christ through the laver  of regeneration one may be born martyrdom. This washes away sins, and the priestly interces-
   spiritually among the heretics where they say that the Spir-      sions of the martyrs are heard by God." It is evident from
   it is not. For water alone is not able to cleanse away sins       this quotation that Origin, although speaking of Baptism as.
   and to ,sanctify-a man unless. he have also the Holy Spirit       a symbol and therefore distinguishing between the symbol
    . . . . But .what  a thing it is to assert `and contend that they and the things obsignated, also saw far more in it than a mere
. who are not born in the Church can be the sons of God!             symbol. And, indeed, the sacrament of Baptism is surely
  For the blessed  apostIe sets forth and proves that baptism        more than a mere symbol. It is definitely a means of grace.
  c is that wherein the old man' dies; and the new-man is born,         However, .although these expressions of the Church Fa-
   saying, "He saved  us  by the washing of regeneration."           thers seem to indicate that they attributed efficacy to the
   But if regeneration is in the  .washing,  that is, in baptism,    external rite of Holy Baptism, it is also true that they
   how can heresy, which is not the spouse of Christ, gener-         freely made use of allegorical expressions, and these expres-
   ate sons to God by Christ?. . .  .But, further, one is not        sions can also be interpreted without attributing to them
   born by the imposition of hands, when he receives the Holy- the view that the water of Baptism as such is efficacious
   Ghost, but in baptism, that so, being already born, he may        unto salvation. And one thing is sure: the Church Fathers
   receive the Holy Spirit, even as it happened in the first man     certainly attributed tremendous significance to the sacra-
   Adam. For first God formed him, and then breathed in-             ment of Holy Baptism.
  to his nostrils, the breath of life. For the Spirit cannot be                                                           H. Veldman
 received, unless he who receives first have an existence.
   But as the birth of Christians is in baptism, while the gen-                              --
   eration and sanctification of baptism are with the spouse of
  - Christ alone, who is able spiritually to conceive and to bear
   sons to God, where and of whom and to whom is he born.                          Jehovah is  my light?
   who is not a son of the Church, so as that he should have                       And my salvation near;
   God  as his Father, before he has had the Church for his                        Who shall my soul afright,
   Mother  ?"                                                                      Or cause my heart to fear 2
          However, these allegorical expressions of the Church                     While God my strength, my life sustains,
   Fathers may easily be interpreted without attributing to                        Secure from fear my  soul  remains.
   them the view that the water of Baptism as such is effica-                      When. evildoers came
   cious unto Sal&ion.      Speaking of Baptism as they do, the                    To make my life their prey,
   possibility remains that they may refer to the sacrament as                     They stumbled in their shame
   far as its symbolic significance is concerned.                                  And fell in sore dismay ;
          We will finally call `attention to one more Church Fa-                   Though hosts make war on every side.
   ther : Origin. This famous Church Father, one of the most                       Still fearless I in God confide.
   brilliant leaders during the early centuries. of the Church                     My one request  has -been,
   of God in the New Dispensation, although also attaching                         And still this prayer 1 raise,
   great significance to the sacrament of Holy Baptism, makes                      That I may dwell within
   a clear distinction between the symbol of Baptism and the                       God's house through all my clays
 thing obsignated by the symbol, although also considering                         Jehovah's beauty to admire,
   this sacrament as actually conferring purification upon the                     And in His temple to inquire.
   recipient of it. Quoting from Reinhold  Seeberg,  we read
          -
   the following : "The washing by water, being a-symbol of                        When troubles round me swell,
   the cleansing of a soul washed from every defilement                            When fears and dangers throng,
    (which comes) from evil, is no less and precisely to him                       Securely I will dwell
    who surrenders' himself to the power of the names of the                       In His pavilion strong:
    adorable Trinity, the beginning and fountain of Divine gifts.                  Within the covert of His tent
   `Baptism is not a "symbol" in the modern sense, but as                          He hides me till the storm is spent.
    Christ's miracles of healing were symbols of the healing ac-                   Uplifted on a rock
   tivity of the Word. Yet, as these  ~miracles  nevertheless                      Above my foes around,
   brought real healing' to the. individual in whose behalf they-                  Amid the battle shock
    were performed, so baptism is for the recipient nothing  _                     My song shall still resound ;
    less than the beginning and fountain of the Divine bless-                      Then joyful  ofierings  I will bring,
    ing;. It is a symbol of the purifying power of the Word.                       Jehovah's praise my heart shall sing.
    but for the individual it is actual purification. Through its
    administration sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit be-                                                           Psalter  71-:l-
                                                                                                                       c


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           161

                                                                  contaminated with Arminianism, the practice of ordaining
              DECEN CY and --ORDER                             II the unschooled revived with the result that many who
                                                                  were `unqualified were put into office.        Consequently the
                                                                  Synods of South Holland and Gelderland requested the
           Special Adniission into the Ministry                   Synod of Dordrecht in 1619 to make the rules for admit-
                                                                  tance of these men more rigid. This Synod complied with
    To every rule there is an exception!                          the following rule:                             0
    And to. the exception there is a rule !
    This is what we find in the eighth article of our Church          "School-teachers,    craftsmen and others who in the
Order. We have the rule governing the exception. The              schools have not  .pursued courses in languages, arts, and
exception is the admission of certain persons into the min-       theology, shall not be promoted to the ministry of the
istry in a way different from the usual course prescribed         Word, unless we have undoubted knowledge respecting
in  Art..4. The rule governing this is set forth in the art-      their exceptional gifts : piety, humility, modesty, superior
icle. Permit                                                      natural capacity, prudence, and eloquence.           As often as
                 us  to quote it in full.
    "Art. &-Persons who have not pursued the regular              such persons seek admittance to the office the Classis  in the
course of study in preparation for the ministry of the Word;      event the Synod approves shall examine them.             In case  _
and have, therefore, not been declared eligible according to      of successful issue they shall for a set length of time train
Article 4, shall not be' admitted to the ministry unless there    themselves in the making and in the delivering of sermons.
is assurance of their exceptional gifts, godliness, humility,     Thereupon  Classis  shall deal with them as can best re-
modesty, common sense and discretion, as also gifts of pub-       dound to the `edification of the churches."
lic address. When such persons present themselves for the             This did not rule out the possibility of untrained men
ministry, `the  classis  (if the (particular) synod approve)      entering upon the ministry but it did make such entrance
shall first examine them, and further deal with them as it        more difficult. Following the Synod of 1619 several the-
shall deem edifying, according to the general regulations of      ological schools came into existence providing many candi-
the churches."                                                    dates so that for more than two hundred years the pro-
    The historical origin and usage- of this article makes        vision of Article 8 became virtually a dead letter. It was
clear that the provision made therein was never intended as       at the time  ,of the Secession of 1836 that it again revived
a general practice in Reformed Churches. The Reformed             though only for a short time as the establishment of a
position has always been favorable toward a thoroughly            school at  Kampen became the solution to the problem.
trained and educated clergy which is the product of the           Once more this history repeated itself when following the
theological seminary.       This `position is substantiated by    Doleantie in  1836  there was a scarcity of trained minis-
Scripture as well as sound reason which we will make clear        ters.
presently. However, this does not preclude the possibility Two things became quite evident from all this. The
of one specially gifted being admitted into the ministry with-    first is that the Reformed position always was favorable
out. the usual course of study and preparation.                   toward the trained ministry. The second is that provis-
    This `practice began in Reformed Churches in the post-        ions allowing others to enter were honored only during
reformation period when there was a great dearth of min-          special and abnormal times.      Article  8 is, therefore, an
isters. Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that in the         emergency measure or exception to the rule, and should
Netherlands at least there were no seminaries and the few         be used only as circumstances warrant it although it may
that were educated in Geneva and Heidelberg were not suf-         also be admitted that sometimes God may raise up a man
ficient to fill the great demand of many churches. It be-         of exceptional ability to serve the churches even though the
came a matter of necessity to ordain some without academ-         times are normal.
ic training. Even, then the Reformers were- careful so that           When such an aspirant to the office presents himself he
the Convent of Wezel in  156s  and the Synod of Emden in
1571 ruled that unschooled persons, seeking admittance to         is to be treated according to the general regulations of the
the office should be required to engage for a season in ser-      churches.    To the knowledge of the undersigned there
monizing in private under the supervision of ordained min-        has never been an instance of this nature in the brief `his-
                                                                  tory of our churches and neither have our churches for-
isters.     In 1574 the Synod of Dordrecht added that only
such persons. should .be admitted who possessed the quali-        mulated any rules for procedure in the event such a case
fications of godliness, humility, modesty, intelligence, dis-     should arise.    In 1922, however, the Christian Reformed
cretion and gifts of public address.                              Churches drew up and adopted the following set of reg-
                                                                  ulations which we quote from Stuart and Hoeksema's
    The Synods from 1574 to 1619 were silent on this              "Rules of Order" :
matter. This is explained from the fact that this practice
more and more fell into disuse as the school at Leiden pro-           "The examination of candidates for the ministry under
vided trained men. However, when the influence, of .Ja-           this Article differs from the regular examinations only.
cobus  Harmsen  took root in Leiden and the school became         by the ommission of the Hebrew and the Greek.


 162                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              I

        "Rules for Admission to the Ministry according to             the apostle Paul exhorts Timothy  "to commit the things
 Art.  8:                                                             he  -had'  heard of him among` many `witnesses to faithful
   " (1) If anyone desires to be admitted to the Minis-               men who shall be able to teach others also." The. apostle
 try of the Word according to Article VIII, he must apply             here points to what he had himself done and what he re-
 to his Consistory and after that to his  Classis.  This  Classis,    quired of his disciple Timothy. The same thing applies
 in conjunction with the Delegates for Examination of three           today. Surely the many passages of Holy Writ that ex-
 adjacent Classes; first examines the written credentials of the      hort to "study" and "meditation" may be said to support
 Consistory `concerning the required qualifications as stated in      the view of theological training.
 Article VIII, and subsequently itself investigates in this re-           Secondly, the training itself is to be desired. No honest
 spect. If the preliminary judgment is favorable, he be giv-          practitioner in the professional fields (medicine, dentistry,
 en the right to speak a word of :edification  for a limited time     science) would care to indulge in such labor without ade-
 in the vacant churches of his  Classis.  He must also speak          quate training. Much less would he who seeks to "rightly
 a few times in non-vacant churches in the presence of the            divide the Word of truth" do so without being trained  _
 respective ministers of these churches.  Classis  shall reg-         by competent, spiritual and experienced teachers. Even
 ulate these appointments in conjunction with the  Consis-            as our young men need military tmini~~g  to fit them for the
 tories of those churches.  Classis  determines the length of         battle field, so our ministers need special training to go
 this period of probation.                                            forth as leaders of the church in the battle of faith and
        "(2) At the close of the period of probation the  Clas-       truth.
 sis, in conjunction with the said Delegates for Examina-                 Thirdly, we may conclude with a quotation  -from the
 tion, takes a final decision regarding the presence of excep-        writing of Thomas M. Nichols: "We contend for an  edu-
 tional gifts. If the decision is in the affirmative, then the        cated ministry. Illiteracy in the pulpit will not do. Cheap
 Classis  shall take peremptory examination in the following          books, free libraries, abundant school facilities, have com-
 branches: (a) Exegesis of the Old and New Testaments:                bined to lift the masses out of the dense ignorance of earlier
  (b) Bible History: (c) Dogmatics: (d) General and Amer-             times. To meet the demands of the modern congregation,
 ican Church History.                                                 therefore, the preacher, must be in touch with the significant
        "(3) In case of favorable issue, he is declared eligible      intellectual movements of the day: conversant with the
 to a call.                                                           progress of thought. The terminology of the last century
        "(4) The examination for ordination follows later  ac-        is already out of date. Moss-grown arguments, and bald-
cording to existing rules, except the classical languages."           headed illustrations, will not satisfy the present generation.
        These rules in themselves are commendable in that             We are dealing with men, and with women, too, whose ex-
 they prescribe a rigid course for the candidate who would            panded minds are stored with all the rich results of the
 aspire to the office of the ministry without the usual course        latest scientific research. We must meet them on the same
 of training. They would discourage rather than encourage footing."
 this practice.     However, in spite of the rules, there re-                                                      G.  Vanden Berg
 mains in this article an implication which is undesirable.
 The article leans toward leaving the impression that the
 Theological School is only for those of average or below
 average ability while those who are exceptional or above                                     --
 average have no need of the school as a medium to the min-
 istry. This implication. can be removed, it seems to us, by
 adding a provision to the article which would state that
 no candidate is to be admitted to the ministry under Art-                In doubt and temptation I rest, Lord, in Thee ;
 icle VIII unless he is able to advance very preponderant                 My hand is in `Thy hand, Thou carest  for me ;
 reasons for which he does not attend the Theological School              lMy soul with Thy counsel through life Thou wilt guide,
 and, seek admittance in the usual way. Then the matter                   And afterward make me in glory abide.
 wo~~lcl  indeed become an exceptional case or an @p?Aergeutcy            In glory Thou only my portion shalt be,
 measure as it was intended.                                              On earth for none other I long but for Thee;
        Only when Article 8 is kept within its proper confines            My flesh and heart falter, but God is my stay,
 can the position of the Reformed that a thoroughly trained               The strength of my spirit, my portion for aye.
 ministry is essential be held with force. And this it should
 be for the position is a correct one. For this we may briefly            All they that forsake Thee must perish and die,
 cite various reasons.                                                    But near to my Savior most blessed am I;
                                                                          I make Thee my refuge, my Lord and'my God;
        First, and above all it is Scriptural. In addition to             Thy grace and Thy glory I publish abroad.
 many examples in Scripture. of men who were trained for
their ministerial labor we may cite II Timothy 2  :2 where                                                            Psalter 202 : l-3


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               163

:  11%                                                                hand of the Lord hath wrought. this ? In whose hand is
                 ALL  ARQUND,US                                       the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all  man-
                                                                      kitid.'
                                                                          Dr. Arthur Compton, of the University of Chicago, once
  `Science  Afzd  The Bible                                           said: `The world is beautiful to the scientist who is opening
          In the November issue of The Witness we came across         new vistas continually. The molecules made from atoms,
   an interesting article on Science and the Bible in which           the atoms made from electrons and protons, shows a uni-
   the author attempts to show th&t the Scriptures are not be-        verse within a universe. And a God who can control a
   hind but ahead of the times. Here follows the article in           universe like that is mighty beyond imagination.'
   full, and we pass it on to you without comment.                        This is the God of the Bible, the Creator, the God who
          "The Bi.ble was thousands of years ahead of the science     balanced the atmosphere with approximately 78 per cetit ni-
   of the times in which it was written. Look at this state-          trogen and 21 per cent oxygen, with a trace `of carbon di-
   ment in Job  24:7-and  remember, it was written nearly             oxide, argon, neon, helium, krypton, xenon, hydrogen and
   two thousand years before  ,Christ  .was born: `He. . .  hang-     ozone. It is proportioned exactly to fit the needs of the
   eth the earth upon nothing.' Think of the ridiculous myths         human race and all living creatures  upoh the earth. A
   and legends that have been current in many lands. Some             change in one direction or another would make life as we
   believed that the earth was upheld by a huge tortoise, or a        know it impossible.
   giant, or an elephant. There have been all sorts  of. ideas.           The God of Science is the God who created the honey-
   But the Bible gives the only scientific reply to the question      bee with its 6,000 sense plates in its two antennae, its five
   as to what upholds the earth. God hung it upon nothing.            eyes with  thkir thousands of six-sided,, fixed-focus lenses,
          We are told that according to one of the latest measure-    color blind to red but able to see ultraviolet rays invisible
   ments by the U.S. Bureau of Standards, the earth weighs            to us ; with wings that vibrate 11,140 times a minute, mak-
   a little more than six sextillion tons-whatever that is !          mg bees complete masters of the air so they can fly for-
   With the earth turning on its axis so fast that at the equator     ward, backward, up, down, from side to side, or .poise mo-
                                                                                                                \
   it attains a surface speed of more than a thousand miles an        tionless, like a helicopter.
   hour, no bearing conceivable to the human mind could up-            He is the God who created water which, like all other
   hold such a weight at such speed. The earth must be made to        fluids, becomes heavier when it becomes colder. This, how-
   float upon nothing, as God indicated in His word thousands         ever, is true of water only until it reaches four degrees a-
   of years before science had proved it.                             bove freezing, when it becomes lighter and rises to the sur-
          For thousands  of years people believed that the world      face as ice. If it should sink to the bottom, rivers and
   was flat and that the  sun  went around it.        But all this    lakes. would become solid. Even the seas in many parts
   time the Bible. was speaking of `the circle of  !the earth.'       pf the world would become frozen from the top to bottom;
   Isaiah 40 :22                                                      and all animal and vegetable life would cease. ,
          Notice also the scientific fact mentioned in Job  X3:24,        He is the God of whom we read in Psalm 135  :7: `He
   25. Speaking of God Job says: `For he Iooketh to the ends          causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he
   tif the earth, and seeth under the whole.' heaven ; to make        maketh  lightnings for the rain  ; he .bringeth  the wind out
   the weight for the winds; and He weigheth the  waters  by          of his treasuries.'
   measure.                                                               He causes the sun's rays to vaporize water in which con-
          Now the scientists have proved that it is the weight ii     dition it occupies a space 1,600 times greater than it does
   the air or atmosphere, or changes in that weight, that             in its liquid state and therefore is much lighter than  air,
   causes all our weather. Air pressure at sea level is nearly        floating readily and ascending into the higher regions, where
   fifteen pounds to every square inch of surface, an average         it is carried all over the earth.
   of fourteen tons upon every person. About one ton of air
   rests upon  every  square foot of surface.      Remember the           `All the rivers run into the sea yet the sea is not  full  ;
   fact. that air has weight was recorded in the Holy Scrip-          unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they
   tures at least 2,500 years before Torricelli invented the bar-     return again.' Ecclesiastes  i  :7.
   ometer to measure that weight.                                         God knew all this that the wise men did not know many
          The wonders that science is bringing to our attention       centuries ago. Science has caught up with the Bible in ex-
   impress upon our minds the wonderful God of the universe.          plaining the circulation of water over the earth, into the
   The more wonderful nature is the more wonderful, the God           sea? out of the sea by evaporation, onto the land in the form
   who created everything in nature. -We read in Job 12 :7-10         of snow and rain, back by way of rivers into the ocean
   `But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee ; and the       ngain.
   fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: or, speak to the           Has anyone ever seen a river `running uphill ? `Unto
   earth and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall     the place from where the rivers come, thither they shall
   declare unto thee. Who  knoweth  not in all these that the         return again,' says the Bible. And it is true. The waters

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

  do go back to the hills and mountains. They go by way of           have no learning to speak of will no doubt smile at the stu-
  the sky and the clouds.                                            pendous hgures  mentioned in the article, and conclude that
         The God who can carry this mighty earth on a trip of        they are figments of a deluded mind.  We would not join
  525,000,OOO  miles in 365 days, 5 hours, 45 minutes, 46 sec-       with them in their folly, but rather humble ourselves be-
  onds, on so exact a timing that it does not vary more than a       fore the God of creation, and looking in His Book of rev-
  thousandth of a second in a century-He is the God of the           elation declare with the Psalmist: "The heavens declare
  B i b l e .                                                        the glory of God and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.
         In Job  38:4, 5 God asks this question: `Where wast         Day unto day uttereth speech, and night ,unto night sheweth
  thou when I laid the foundations of the earth  ? declare, if       knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their
  thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures there-         voice is not heard."
  of, if thou knowest ?         '                                                                                                        M.  Schipper
         God made. the earth just right for the people living up-                                     -de==-
  on it. If the sun were  193,000,OOO miles from the earth,
  the intense cold would kill everybody ; if it were only 15,            Pertinent Quotations from the "Dogmatics"
  000,000 miles distant, the terrible heat would kill everybody.                             of Rev. H. Hoeksema
  But, since it is approximately  93,000,OOO miles away ev-
  erything is just right.     The range of temperature within             Since it is so persistenly insisted that the Rev. H. Hoek-
  whiCh  life, as tie know it, is possible is very narrow, so God    sema in former years taught a conditional promise, and that
  in his creative  wisdQm set the sun and the earth the right        now our esteemed professor has shifted in his teaching from
  distance apart.                                                    that former position, the time has come to let the record
         Think of the deadly actinic rays from the sun. Why do speak.
  they not kill everyone on the earth  ? Because there is a               We do not quote from such works where Rev. H. Hoek-
  protective blanket around the earth, a layer of ozone and          sema uses the terms of Calvin to show that Calvin with his
  other gases many thousands of feet thick.        Tanning and       terminology did not teach a general conditional promise, but
  sunburn are only mild forms of what would happen if this           that he taught a particular conditional promise. In so doing
  `layer were not present. Professor Rudolph Loudenburg of           Rev. H. Hoek?ema did not advocate as the warp and woof
  Princeton University says that this` layer is from `fifteen to     of his theology a conditional promise, but it was only to
  twenty miles above the earth and may be nearly 100,000             show that the promise of  thk Gospel is particular. For he
  feet in thickness.                                                 was not breaking a lance for conditional theology, but was
         We have mentioned only few of the scientific  suggds-       defending the particularness of the Promise over `against
tions in the Bible, but in all these things we see the wis-          those who insisted that there is a general offer of salvation
  dom and protective power of God..                                  to all who hear the gosp.el with the intent to save.
         `Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his           That was the point in Prof. Hoeksema's polemic.
  greatness is unschearable. One generation shall praise thy              And now the record as this appears from his "Stu-
  works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.' Psalm        dent Dictaten."
  145 :3, 4.                                                              I turn once more to the Fourth Locus of Dogmatics,
         Only an all-wise Creator could know all the require-        namely Soteriology.             And the subject is "Faith".
  ments of human life, and He made everything fit them.                   I quote:
  Since God's b,ook of nature and his book of divine revelation          "Faith   is  that  work  of  God   in  the  regenerated   and  called  sinner
  came from the same hand, they must agree. One helps to             whereby  these  receive   Christ,  as  He  has  revealed   Himself  in  His
  explain the other, and, we should be interested in both. We        Word,  and  appropriates   Him  and  all  His  blessings,  relying  on
  should worship the all-wise heavenly Father who is the             Him  for  time  and  eternity.   (Quoted   are  Phil.  129;   Eph.  2  S-10
  author of both. Let us study God's two books. Let us ac-           and   John  6:44).
  cept the revelations of both where they go beyond human                "It  is  posible  to  distinguish   between  the  essense  and  the
                                                                     working,  between  the  potentia   and  the  act  of  faith.  Of  course,
  knowledge. They are the utterances of our Creator, who,            in  principle   everything   is  given  in  the  life  of  regeneration   to  the
  as we would expect, knows far more than we know. So let            elect  child  bf  God,   also  faith.  In  the  various   steps  of  the  order
  LIS  read the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God." So far          o,f  salvation   there  is  no  repeated  additional   something   added   to
  the article.                                                       this  principle   of  regeneration.         On  the  contrary,   this  life  is
                                                                     brought  to  conscious   operation  and  full  developement   (voltooiing)
     As we said at the beginning of this article, we did not         by  the  Holy   Spirit  through  the  means  of  the  Word  of  God.  Thus
  plan to make any comment; but we have space left to say            understood   we  speak  of  the  potent&   of  faith.  byhere  regeneration
  this,, that we are not particularly a student of science. Yet      is  present  there  is  also  the  potentia   f i d e i ;   where   this  fidei   is  a
  there is something fascinating, astounding, in scientific data,    reality,  there  is  also  the  essence  of  faith  consisting   in  a  living
  even that described in this article, that makes one stand in       tie  to  Christ.   Of  this  essense  of  faith  as  the  living  tie  (levens-
  awe before the great universe God has made and declare :           verband)   to  Christ,  the  folowing   may  still  be  remarked:
                                                                       1.  That  it  also  exists  in  the  reborn  infant  children.   The   con-
  Yea, what hath God wrought! `Some of our readers, who              scious  act  of  faith  is,  of  course,  not  present  in  their  case.  "For-


                                                          -  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      165
                                                                                              _
       faith  is  out  of  hearing,   and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  Christ."  ROnI.      "Quotable Quotes," but they are the warp and woof of
       10:17.  Still   it  remains   true  that  such  a  child  lives  out  of  Christ,    Rev. Hoeksema's Theology, as we shall point out further
       be  it  then  in  a  mystical  manner. Such   a  child   receives  that  life        in the next issue of  the, Standard Bearer, D.V.
       out  of  Christ:  "dia  pisteoos"   (Through   faith).  It  is  possible   to
       distinguish   between   the  mystical  operation   of  faith  in  a  child,                                                              G. Lubbers
       as  this  oc.curs   in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  hidden  from  us,  and
       the  conscious   act  of  this  same  faith  as  this  is  the  fruit  of  the
       calling   of  those  who  hear  the*`Word   of  the  preaching.
         2.  That  this  essense   of  faith  cannot  be  lost.  (onverliesbaar   is)
       The tie that binds us to Christ can never'again be severed, be-
       cause  it  is  God,   Who  preserves   this  faith  in  us  through  Christ.                         HERDER  OF HUURLING?
       (Quoted   are:  John  6:37,   39;  10:27-30;  I  Peter  15)
         3.  That  it  should   be  remembered  that  the  operation   or  act  of                 Spreken is zilver en zwijgen is goud, is een oud spreek-
       faith  is  very  divergent.   Sometimes   this:`operation   is  weak,   some-        woord  `t welk altijd lang niet genoeg in beoefening wordt.
       times   it  is  strong,  and  again  it  may  seem  as  if  this  act  of  faith     gebracht.  In vele gevallen  om veel moeite te voorkomen js
       is  indeed  absent.  Wherefore   .the  distinction   is  made  between   the
       being   and  the  well-being   of  faith.  With   this  distinction   we             zwijgen clan ook maar het verstandigst, men zegt dan, er is
       certinly  must  reckon  in  the  preaching  and  instruction   of  the               geen praten tegen, we zullen maar  zwijgen.
       Congregationof   God.   W.e  should  strive   not  to  depress  the  small                  Doch `wanneer  het spreken zoo druk wordt betracht, en
       and  weak,  and that the sick be healed we should labor to bring                     de waarheid in zoo verminkten  vorm, ja zelfs in leugen wordt
       about.  For  this  reason   it  is  all  the  more  necessary   that  we             voorgesteld, is zwijgen zonde, en is spreken  om der waarheid
       never  insist in the preaching that the weak,and  imperfect, which
       is always sinful, is the nornlal manifestation of faith, -but  that                  wil noodzakelijk.  Zoo is het hier in Redlands met het kerke-
       we build and heal. Otherwise both. congregation and pastor will                      lijke leven gegaan, en gaat het nog zoo. De verhalen die niet
       become sick and weak."                                                               alleen  in doch ook buiten Redlands worden  opgedischt, zijn
           Notice the following. in this quotation from Rev. H.                             zoo uiteenloopend, en waarheid en leugen zoo vermengd, dat
       Hoeksema's Dogmatics dictaten  in the years 1926-30, ,when                           bet ware beeld van de kerkelijke gebeurtenissen geheel ont- -
       Rev. B. Kok and others `were students in our Seminary:                               breekt.
           1. That in the' "definition" given by Rev. Hoeksema                                     Nu is het niet  mijn plan om een volledig beeld van al
       of "faith," he does not first of all underscore that it is                           de kerkelijke gebeurtenissen weer te geven, in de eerste
       an..act of the believer, but that it is a "work of God." It                          plaats zou ik daarvoor de helft van de S. Bearer nodig heb-
       is solely a gift of God to us. There is here. nothing said                           ben, `t welk de geachte Redacteur me niet zou  willen   toe-
       about faith being a "condition" in this entire section of                            staan, en in de tweede plaats zijn er  dingen  en  daden gebeurd
     the "notes" on faith.                                                                  die voor een oningewijde die de geschiedenis niet heeft
                                                                                            mee  gemaakt,   haast  -ongelooflijk  zijn.
           2. That even where Rev. H. Hoeksema distinguishes
       faith as potentia fidei  and  actus fidei he does not make the                              We zullen ons dan bepalen bij het eerste begin, `t welk
     - latter in any way conditional, but simply teaches that this                          meer  dan twee jaren geleden  al is begonnen, en ons bepalen
       actus is brought about by- the Holy Spirit through the                               bij sommige  hoofdzaken der gebeurtenissen die in die jaren
       preaching of the Gospel. Faith remains even then, accord-                            hebben  plaats gehacl. In het Schoolbestuur wilde het niet
       ing to Rev. Hoeksema. in its  essetice  the living tie to                            vlotten, men was niet eensgeestes, `t welk belemmerend
       Christ.                                                                              werkte voor de gang van  zaken.  Sommige Bestuursleden
          .3. That Rev. H. Hoeksema remains true to his "point                              vroegen af en toe al eens raad bij leden der gemeente,  doch
                                                                                            gaf geen voldoende oplossing in de situatie, waarom het be-
       of departure" as outlined briefly in the "Introduction" to                           stuur  ten einde raad een verzoek richtte tot drie leden der
       Soteriology, and thus has no  R.emonstrant  conceptions                              gemeente   om de troebelen te onderzoeken en om dan hen
       creeping into the doctrine of  .Applied  Salvation-                                  van  advies  te, dienen. De drie  leden namen de benoeming
           Just one more remark. From my, own personal notes                                nan en vormden een advisory committee met Ds. Vermeer
       taken as a student, now almost a quarter century ago, I                              als president, de notulen werden nauwkeurig nagezien, met
       glean the following :                                                                de board werd vergaderd, en de zaak werd grondig onder-
           "What is the distinction between Potentia and  Activa?                           zocht. Daarna werd door de Pres. een we1 gedocumenteerd
       Is there a distinction between the working and the act                               advies opgesteld, `t welk eenigszins werd gewijzigd om  daar-
       of faith? The  z~~orhiny  of faith is never absent and gone                          na te  worden   onderteekend  door de drie adviseurs. Weer
       because this lies outside of the plain of consciousness. (om-                        werd met de board vergaderd en met kracht van redenen
       dat  dit zonder  bewustzijn  geschiedt.) The act is conscious, werd het advies door de Pres. verdedigd, en men  leefde in
       and willing faith and is connected with the knowledge of                             de hoop dat het nu we1 tot een bevredigende oplossing zou
       the Word of God."                                                                    komen.  Doch helaas dat heeft niet zoo  mogen  zijn. Zonder
           Sapienti  sat !                                               ._                 de twee adviseurs daarvan kennis te  geven  werd hij  on-
           Thus taught  .Rev. H. Hoeksema a quarter of century                              trouw  aan zijn eigen met  ltracht en  klem verdedigcl  advies
       ago.       These are not just some plausible and convenient' en schaarde zich aan de zijde van macht,  en pleegde niet al-


I

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

       t
            leen verraad tegen zijn twee adviseurs, maar ook verraad                 machthebbers  zedelijk  zijn vermodrd is buiten twijfel.
            tegen een rechtvaardige zaak. Macht kreeg in de Board de                                                                   J. R. Vanderwal.
            overhand boven recht.
                   Toen  is de ellende begonnen met  zijn verreikende  ge-                                      -                 -
            volgen. De meerderheid in de Board voelde zich toen sterk,
            en men beging de dwaasheid om hun bezwaren op de                                 A TESTIMONY FROM THE RECdRDS
            kerkeraad te brengen svaar ze met open armen  werden ont-
. .
            vangen, en natuurlijk gehoor kregen,  doch die de  eensgezind-                                           Continued
r           heid in de Board niet  bevorderde.  In de loop van `t jaar                     An error crept into the printing of my article entitled
            trad de Pres. van de. schoolbouw af en twee boardleden gin-              above in the Standard Bearer dated Dec. 1, 1953. The year
            gen met hem heen.                                                        in which the undersigned registered his disagreement with              :
              Men meende nu dat de storm was gestild,  doch  aan de                  with Consistory's stand taken on Dec. 20, 1950, against
            lucht van de kerkelijke  hemel zaten meer donderwolken aan               Synod adopting. the Declaration of Principles should be
            de kimme, de afgetreden Pres. van de Schoolboard was oak                 Feb. 22, 1951 in place of Feb. 22, 1953.
            Superintendent van de Zondagsschool. Men meende daar                           Since it is necessary to call attention to this error, I will
            moest ook wat aan gedaan worden,  maar hoe ?                             add that the former Holland Consistory never retracted their
                De Zondagsschool  bloelde.   Zoolang  schrijver dezes (6             stand taken on Dee . 20, 1950, against the adoption of the
            jarenj kerkeraadslid was,  viras er dienaangaande nog nooit              Declaration of Principles.
            eenige klacht  ingekomen.                                                      It came  LIP  for action the last time on April 30, 1953,
                Het.reglement  van de Zondagsschool luidde, dat alleen in            when the undersigned made the following motion. Following
            het benoemen, van nieuwe teachers de Zondagsschoolstaf een               up-our May 22nd 1952 decision, I move that we rescind
            lijst  aan de kerkeraad moest inlkveren van  natnen waar de              Consistory's Dec. 20, 1950 decision with reference to the
            kerkeraad het recht van had ze goed of af te keuren, meer                adoption of the Declaration of Principles, and express that
            zeggenschap had de kerkeraad over de Zondagsschool niet als              Consistory agrees with the Declaration of <Principles, as
            alls  goed  liep,  en het liep  goed.  Toen  is er  achter de  scher-    amended and adopted in 1951, including the two premises
            men gewerkt ; de Zondagsschoolstaf  moest'na-  het  `a.s. Kerst-         which Consistory (rejected) in said Dec. 20th 1950 action,
            feest nieuwe teachers hebben, een lijst met meisjes en jonge-            namely  :, 1. The promise of the gospel is not conditional.
            lingen  werd tijdig de kerkeraad aangeboden,  doch later bleek           3 We repudiate that the promise of the covenant is con-
                                                                                     I.
            dat er van die lijst helemaal geen nota was genomen,  want ditional. The former Elder Bouwman supported this motion.
            toen het Kerstfeest (`t welk een waar succes`was) was afge-              This placed the motion legally on the floor for discussion.
            lopen, stond er een nieuwe Zondagsschoolstaf klaar,  en kon              The former Rev. Kok immediately objected, and refused to
            de. Superintendent die zes of zeven  jaren met  succes  zijn             accede to this motion, refused to agree with the Declaration
            vaak  moeilijk  werk had gedaan,  heen  gaan. Het  doe1 was              of Principles as amended and adopted officially by said Synod
            bereikt,  maar  hoe ? Macht had  oak hier weer boven recht               of 1951.  Re wanted to make amendments giving his own
            getriomfeerd. In de prediking moesten nu we1 de daden die                interpretation, rather than accept the official document as
            er in het verleden hadden plaats gehad, worden  aangetoond               amended and adopted by said Synod. This resulted in long
            en natuurlijk verdedigd, dit geschiedde vaak door een men-               arguments against the Declaration, and counter arguments,
            gelmoes van haat en liefde op te disschen!  voor velen meer              with the result that Consistory tabled that motion and  .did
            tot ergernis dan -tot -stichting.                                        not act upon it. This motion was still not acted upon on the
              In de loop van dat jaar ontvingen drie respectabele   leden            evening of Oct. 9, 1953, when the former Consistory became
            der  gemeente  anonieme brieven,  welks inhoud anders niet               schismatic and lost their office and fellowship in the Prot--
            dan valsche liefde en bedekte  haat bevatte.                             estant Reformed Church.
                De dader heeft nog nooit bekend, doch indien hij een kind                  In the action above you see the former Rev. Kok refusing
            van God `is zal er vroeg of laat we1 belijdenis van gedaan               to accede and objecting to the motion, that the Holland
            worden, daarvan ben ik  zeker,   doch zoo nietj geraffineerde            Consistory officially  went on  record.as  expressing agreement
            deugnieten zijn moeilijk tot bekentenis te brengen. Dat                  with the Declaration of Principles, as amended and adopted
            de geheele gemeente, de een meer of minder in- een zeke-                 by the Synod of 1951. He refused to agree to the Declara-
            re spanning  verkeerde,  behoeft nauwklijks  ,gezegd,  en bij            tion of Principles as amended, and succeeded in keeping the
            velen,  misschien we1 bij allen kwijnde het geestelijke leven.           Consistory from so publicly expressing themselves, by table-
            Zulke ingrijpende gebeurtenissen blij ven  je niet in de  kleeren ing the motion.
            zitten.  -                                                                     Approximately one week later on May 7, 1953, the
               De tijden  der middeleeuwen zijn voorbij, zoodat er geen              Consistory officially adopted the answer that was sent to
            schavot  opgericht  was in de churchyard der zoogenaamde                 Classis  East on my protest. This answer is now filed in the
            Eerste Prot. Ref. Church,  doch dat er sommigen door de                  archives of  Classis  East. Quo  mg
                                                                                                                          t'       from a mimeographed
                                                     . .
                                     .


                                              T H E   STiND'ARD   BEARER                                                              167

 copy that was. distributed publicly you read the following              Excerpt of a sermon on Mark  16:20 by Joseph Irons,
 beginning top-of page 7. Quote: "nevertheless, now that our             preached at the Welsh Chapel,  Jewin  Crescent,  Alders-
 Synods of 1950-51 have adopted  these Declarations, as                  gate Street on October 27,  1541.
 revised, and whereas to my (singular) knowledge they are                    First of all, it  lnust be preaching, that honours all the
 not in conflict with the Word of God, we [plural) will main-            Persons -and perfections of Diety. It must not rob the
 tain them as the official dt&laration  of our Chyrches, (plural)        Father of His sovereignty  ; it must not rob the Son of
 as long as they are not changed by a General Synod." End of             His responsibility; it must not rob the Holy Ghost of
 quote. Words in brackets above are my own.                              His efficient ministry.    It must not rob either or all. of
     The above was composed and read in the same Consistory              the Persons  of the Trinity, nor the Divine essence of the
 room, by the same Rev. Kok, by the same Members of Con-                 Godhead, of absolute sovereignty  ; but if it be apostolic
 sistory, that only a week  earlier  had witnessed that same             pre&hing,  it must be just according to the statement I
 Rev.  Kok, object to and refuse to accede to adopting that              have so often made in your hearing, that  "Clirist  Jesus
 same Declaration of Principles, when it was on the floor                is of God -made unto us  wis`dom and righteousness and
 of Consistory, by a legal motion made and supported legally             sanctification and  redemp&on, that. according as it is writ-
 to so express itself. But that is not all, that same confession         ten, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord"-honor
 was also part of the answer written on that piece of paper,             the Lord, exalt the Lord. Then wherever the preaching
 the former Rev. Kok kept in his pocket, when my protest first           of the everlasting Gospel comes up to the apostolic stan-
 appeared on the agenda of the Jan. 7. 1953 Meeting of  Classis          dard, the F&her's ancient settlements of love must form
 East. He kept this confession in his vest pocket as long as             the base, upon which it. rests; the Son's eternal respon-
 he was sure my pro&t would not be treated by Classis.  He               sibility, undertaking His Church's cause. as her covenant
 kept this confession in his vest pocket on that evening just            Head, must be the sum and substance of it; and the Spir-
 referred to on April 30, 1953 Consistory Meeting when a                 it's ministry, in His invincible power and perpetual op-
 legal  mot!ion was on the floor to express publicly that the            eration,. personally communicated and felt, must always
 Holland Consistory agreed  with the Declaration of Principles,          accompany the statement of a precious Christ and His fin-
 as adopted by Synod, choking out this confession by loudly              ished work.
 objecting to its adoption. But he took this confession out                 `What!' say you, `is this to be every thing? I thought
 of his vest pocket, inserted it in Consistbry's answer to my            this was but a very small part of the Gospel. What! no-
 protest, when the waters began to run deep .at Classis  East            thing about duties, nothing about exhort&ions, nothing a-
 &I May 1953, as the hour of Classical judgment on my                    bout broken hearts or how we are to make- them so ? no-
 protest -was approaching.                                               thing about the contingencies that depend upon if we will
     It should be clear  evec to a little child, that anyone so          believe, and if we repent, and, <if we will pray, and if we will
 dishonest with his dwn Consistory, certainly was worthy of              seek, and ,if we will be faithful ?' Oh ! my hearers, I had
 being suspended from office. For he used the Consistory as              so much of them something like five-and-thirty  jrears ago,
 a public spectacle. Over the good names of these Brethren               so much df these awful things in  the first stages of my ex-
 he published that vest pocket confession. Every member of               perience, it became  sudh a stench in my  nbstrils,  that I
 that Consistory could know, that the former Rev. Kok was                heaved them to thk dunghill, and have had nothing more
 not telling the truth when he incorporated that confession,             to do with them. It is no part of the Gospel. `What  !'
 in that official answer to Classis  dated April 30, 1953, adopted       say  YOU, `repenting and believing and praying no part of
 by Consistory on May 7, 1953, with one dissenting vote. For             the Gospel  ?' No, not contingently. They  aye,  indeed, as
 onljr one week previously, April 30, 1953, the inotion  was on          effects and fruits, as things that follow as a necessary part
 the floor of Consistory, to do exactly what he now publicly             of the Holy Spirit's work  ; for it is He that gives  repen-.
                                                                         tance,  and renders it acceptable, and calls it into exercise,
 inferred he was doing, and to that motion he loudy objected.            -and it is He that gives faith, and He that breathes pray-
 He objected to Consistory expressing that they agreed with              er. But let me remark, that if any or all of these things
 the Declaration of Principles and adopt it as their ow;, even           are preached as conditions, as contingencies, all the  Per-
 to the extent that the motion was not acted upon, the motion            Eons  of Diety are robbed-all the Persons of Diety are  in-
 was tabled, and remained tabled' till. the day they lost their          Eulted. If my love to God is made a condition, a criter-
office.                                                                  ion, a contingency, I shall never have any, never exercise
    I repeat any man so dishonest to resort to sudh swindling            any. and God will be disappointed and cannot save me  ;
 tactics, ancl muddle up everything into such a state of, con-           but if my love to God is an emanation, a spark of the
                                                                         flame of His own, which He first sheds abroad in my
 fusion. that  PO honest man, could keep up with it, knew what heart, then it is sure and safe in His hands. So also if
 was going on, certainly should not -be in the Ministry, and             any thing depends upon my obedience to the law, if any
 was worthy of being suspended from office.                              thing depends upon any merit to be found in me, or even
                                             - J .   H .   Kortering.    tiny effort to get the salvation that is already procured


and safe in Christ  ,TesusLif   any thing  .depends upon me
                       -                    -      _       _               IBut they have finally  `YSplit" from us, and have organized
in a meritorious sense, then I am finally and entirely  .lost,          themselves into a small  cobgregatibn,  claiming  10. be  the
and the Father cannot have the object of His love, the                  Protestant Reformed Church of Redlands." Which they are,
Saviour cannot  "see of the travail of His soul and be sat-             and Vermeer  kiibws it. If this is not so, what  b&bmes  of
isfied,"  nor  the Holy Ghost have the pupil He began to                his Reformation idea.
teach.     But we cannot, we will  -not rob the  -Perso& of                Then:.as  with a sigh Of relief, he exclaims with joy to be
Diety  ; by preaching apostolically, we will preach that the            free to preach ufifettered  and unhindered the- whole counsel
love is all with the Father, _ the blood 911 flowing  fro& the, of Gsd. Of-Course, he has  done that always, but now also
Son, and  .the power  a?d  &ficjency  entirely of the Hdly              with all these bther -glorious things, as ResGonsibility,  Con-
Ghost. All the power and  act&,  .a11 the enjoyment in                  ditions, Pre-requisites, admonitions, exhorfations, -warnings,
doctrine,  ii attainments, in growth,  ifi  use&ess  and                and call  ,to repentance.  What a great comfort for God's
Christian character, in fellowship with the followers of the            people td- hear their responsibility proclaimed. to hear what
Lamb-all flow down from the Lord, are poured  iorth                     they  @ust do, what are the conditions in the plan of salvation,
from the bosom of eternal love, glide down with the waves               what is required before' we can enter into the kingdom of
of atoning blood, and  a're borne  upon the gale of  invin-             God.          c
cible  grace. So that we  honour.  all the Persons and per-
fections of Diety in every doctrine we state.-                  -          How  much  more edifying, and uplifting, and encouraging,
                                                                        ii that 1Gord of God, namely, that- all is finished once and
                                                                        forever on  the cross. That God is  al&  ,man- nothing. That
                                                                        out of Him, through Him, ahd unto Him  .afe  alL things.
                                                                        That salvation is unconditional. That faith is a unconditional
                                                                        gift of Grace. That before we were born, yea, before the
          " R E F O R M A T I O N   -IN  REDLANDS"
                                                                 .~.    foundatio$ of the world, we were -engraved in the palms of
    This  is what  -I&v.  Vermeer calls  the- split  iv  -Redlands,     God's,hands.  That all our works are as filthy rags. And that
                                                                        all is because of God's eternal good pleasure. Call this "pet
California congl'egation.  Does. Vermeer mean to tell us, that          theological notions of men  !"
they, namely, Vermeer and his followers have separated
themselves from the Protestant Reformed Churches, `who                     Yes, I think others could give more facts of what has been
are become so heretical, that they can no  longet go with               going on in  Redlands  before this so-called Reformation. It
them ?                                                                  looks to me &ore like 5 Deform&ion. But Vermeer may call
    Is that how a Reformation usually works? -Then  not two             it that, if he realiies  that he and his gToup.are  so reformed(  ?)
groups have formed, but one, the other simply continues. If             that they. severed thenlselves .from the Protestant Reformed
Vermeer calls this a Reformation, `then Vermeer and his                 Churches.
group is, tiot the Protestant Reformed Church of -Redlands,                 His conclusion is really interesting. They m&t especially
California' any  more buf the other who has remained faithful           become active ..in mission work, in all the world, preaching
to the Protestant Reformed\ truth.                                      the Gospel.  And the GOSPEL is "good tidings" of what?
    How can he still maintain to be the Protestant Reformed             `Of these great things of which they are so glad to be able
Church ? He -calls this Reformation "a return to Scriptures             to preach]? Ko, not in the first place, what God in Christ has
as the only rule of faith and walk." Later he contradicts this:         done for a lost sinner, but what that sinner must do, what is
statement by stating that the truth is  .preachecl  as it &gays         first required of him, etc. and not with  ",a chip on our
lzas been. Further, he states,  "In  Redlands there. has been           shoulders" namely distinct Reformed doctrine.
no departure from our confessions, though our  cc&istory                    Finally he writes. "Also we should seek contact with
refused to vote for the "Declaration of Principles." you see            any. and all Reformed groups, who stand with us on the
that was one of those "pet theological notions. of men."                Three- Forms of Unity as basis." Regardless of how they
    Also Vermeer writ&,  "We recognize solely the W.ord of              explain them. "Contend for the faith." What faith  ? As a
God, as that Word is interpreted, and brought- to  us thru              Condition  ? "More toleration." With what ? Arminianism ?
the generations of the past, in the "Three Forms of Unity."             "We  must reorganize our Theological School." (we,  mean-
Of course, not as we understand. the "Three Forms of Unity," .ing Vermeer. etc.) "Our- professors must be well-rounded
but as others, away with  ali  distinctiveness. Let's be open-          and versed in all the Scriptures, as well as in our Reformed
minded, let's be tolerant, let's open the doors for all so-called       Doctrine.  \7Te   have such men in our churches." What he
Reformed groups; regardless of their Arminian conceptions.              means with well-rounded he does not say, but we shudder,
    "Never a protest brought?' What about the criticisms,               for -the  future generations.
why  rc!fusing  of handshaking, why all this opposition, be-
cause the preaching was too distinctively Protestant Re-
                                                                .,        But God takes care of His church, and not Vermeer and
formed ?                                                                not others like him.                             - H .   D e   Jong


