       VOLTJME   XXX1                             NOV&IBER  1 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                     N.UMFSR  3

  I                                                                      For the  stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to
                MlEDITATl.0N.                                      i make it, and too much.
                                                                             You have noted that this last part is a direct quotation.

                      Too Much for God!                                      What shall we more say?
                "SO. the people were restrained from bringing."              The effect upon us is overwhelming. "
                                                      Exodus 36 :6b *        Imagine : the people of God were restrained from giving
       Jehovah had spoken unto Moses, saying; Speak unto the             for the work of the sanctuary!
 children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every                If I might translate the facts and circumstances in` mo-
 man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My            dern  language,  we would see the spectacle of an anno'ince-
 `offering.                                                              ment in the Sunday bulletin : People of God ! At the last
       And then followed a catalog of all the precious thing<            counting it was revealed that you gave too  much~ for the
 which the  Ldrd desired. .                                              service of the work. And so we will have to restrain you
       And the purpose which Jehovah had with all these offer-           from giving any mo;e. It would not do for your consistory
 ings is stated at the end of the catalog: "And let them make.           to open a Bank  tihere we might store this great surplus.
 Me a sanctuary ; that I may dwell -among them."                         And so, until further notice, please, do not give anymore.
       Relative that sanctuary it is well that you read Hebrews             And do not say at this `juncture that we may not trans-
 8 and 9. There you read that Moses was shown a pattern of               late the facts alluded to in our *modern   .language  ; that the
 heavenly things, and according to that pattern he had to build          facts of Exodus and the facts of our church life are two
 a sanctuary where the Lord might `dwell among His people.               entities and not one `and the same revelation of "Jehovah,
 This last clause also tells us what the "heavenly things" are.          fdr then you reveal utter ignorance of the fact  that the
 They are the things of God's eternal love and friendship for            service of the work of the sanctuary under Israel, and the.
' Israel of the ages, for His perfect and gloriouS church.               service of the work `to-day in our churches is one and the
       So the sanctuary was the visible manifestation of `the            same thing, only more so.
 invisible covenant lo`ve of God. And M&es had to build it.                 More so, because the  fulfilment  of the tabernacle has
       But he had no means for this gigantic task.                       conic,  and that is Jesus.
       And therefore we read, as I have transcribed above, that              Now, Jesus and the tabernacle tell the same wonderful
 God gave commandment to Moses to have it proclaimed                     story: God  stretches the canopy of His everlasting Home
 throughout the camp of the Israelites that God wished His               above  ou; heads. The difference is that with Moses it was
 people to bring unto Him gold, silver, precious stones, brass,          just a pattern of heavenly things, but with us it is the ful-
 purple, blue, fine linen, cunning  work, badgers' skins., rains'        filment of these heavenly things. The heavenly things are
 skins, etc.                                                             the love of God and His everlasting mercy in Jesus Christ.
       And what was the result?                                          Well, He came, suffered, died and rose again, and went to
       This : they brought so much that the workmen &me  to              heaven to prepare a place for us in the heavenly tabernacle.
 Moses and .said : The people bring much more than enough                   And what we have on earth instead of Moses' tabernacle
 for the-service bf the work, which the Lord commanded to                is the preaching of the Gospel, which includes Mission en-
 make.                                                                   deavour, as well as the study of `theology,  the service of
       And i)!Ioses  gave comman$ment  and they caused it to be          prayer and adoration, the rites of baptism and the Lord's
 proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man                 Holy Supper, and Jhe service of the love of God toward the
 nor woman make any more work for the offering of  the                   poor.
 sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.                    For that you must have buildings, etc.

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

       And all that service of the work cost? money.                     The father of all such will worship is Cain, who indeed
       And even as in the Old Testament, so also now,  God            brought a sacrifice, but it was not in any honor. He refused
 causes it be proclaimed throughout the camp, thht we must            to bring the-stuff for the service of the work of God. What
 offer for the service. of the work. Every church has its             is the work of God ? The bringing in of the first begotten
 budget.                                                              into the world, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And therefore,
       Notice : God wants to reveal His everlasting loye for yoq      at that early age of Cain, it was the bringing of a bleeding
 my brother! God wants to  show how He takes you under                lamb.' He refused to do that. But he would bring  bf the
 the shadow of His roof in the heavenly Home, my sister !            fruit of the- land, and thus do as though nothing had hap-
       And He says: Now, my children, you may help Me in             pened. He would be the priest' of creation and bring the
 this revelation!  yet? may  hill)  Md in bringing money for         creation to God: his own works : the f&t of the field.
 this manifestation of My covenant!                                      And Cain has had many followers : all manifesting the
  ' Astounding !                                                     pride of life'! But  not. the humility of Jesus Christi nor His
       God could have done it otherwise. There are thousands         -heavenly  joy in God, the God of our salvation..
 of v\jays  to bring the sbns and daughters to glory.                    What then ? How is it possible  to bring the stuff for the
       But God said to Israel:; Bring Me the stuff for the mak-      service of the work ?
 ing of the sanctuary. And in the New Testament: Bring me                Listen to what God said to MOSES: . . . . that they bring
 the stuff necessary for the preaching of My Christ! Both            Me an offering:  bf every  mati that giveth it  willingly with
are the service of the work of God,                                  his  heart  ye shall take  MY offering.
       Again : Astounding !                                              Later, much later we listen to David: "But who am I,
       I may help to i-eveal the love of God !           _ '         and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so
                                                                     `-&&JZ~ after this sort? for all things come of Thee, and of
  Yes, Jesus must be preached!                                       Thine own have `we given Thee . . : . 0 Lord God of Abraham,
       He must be preached for yourself, for your. neighbour,        Isaac and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the iqagina- -
 and for your generations following.                                 tion of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare
       And we are allowed to do -all that through the paying of      their  hmvt  unto Thee."
the budget. Each may give according as the Lord has blessgd              And still later we listen to Paul: "For if there be first a
him or her. Even the children may bring their  nickles  and          willing  mirid, it is accepted according to that a man hath,
 dimes to the catechism classes, Sunday Schools, and Yomig           not according to what he hath not."
 People's societies.                                                     Oh yes, the willing heart and the willing mind!
       What unspeakable blessing there is .in the paying of the          And their origin is God, for we work out our own salva-
budget !                                                             tion, also in givirig to the service of the work, for it is God
       Conversely, how terrible a condemnation when we say that  worket in  us  to  -will  a.nd  to do  of His goodpleasure.
with our refusal to pay our share of the cast of the sanctuary :         It is not of him that willeth, not of him that runneth but
As far a8 I am concerned, let God be silent anent His ever-          of God that sheweth mercy.
lasting love in Jesus.                                                   It is wrong to give grudgingly, or `of necessity. It were
       Or that you say:  Alright! give me ten cents' worth!          better you had not given at  all. Forsooth, such sin is the
When you could give dollars !                                        lesser sin.
                                                                         Grudgingly : are you there again ? Shall there ever be an.
       AU this brings me to the final thought: the possibility to    end of giving to the causes of God  ? Church, theological
do according to the commandment to bring for the service             school, emeritus fund, Mission endeavour, needy churches,
of ,the work.                                                        needy  stude$s, Christian school, and what have you? I am
 Let us confess it from the heart: no one is willing to              getting so weary of giving to God ! Then you give grudg-
bring the stuff for the service of the sanctuary.                    ingly. (I should have included the Holland Home, Pine Rest
       Oh yes, we will bring the stuff necessary for the sanctu-     and the Christian .Psychopathic Hospital and Children's Re-
ary of ltznn! Many such sanctuaries- are built throughout the        treat, Bethesda, etc. for that belongs very really to the service
ages. Among all the heathens you find costly temples and             of the work.  Ai also the poor fund every Sabbath.) You
beautiful ceremonies, and some not so beautiful, but' ugly           give grudgingly wheli you would much rather keep all that
and horrible. To mention one: the fiery mouth of  Moloch,            money at home, warmly in your pocket.
through which went the little babes for a sacrifice and atone-        Qf necessity: when you give because you cannot very
ment. But man has always  -been willing to offer for a               well refuse to give: your name and position in the church
sanctuary for man. Cathedrals were built by man and for              and the community would suffer. There is an unholy con-
man. Paul would say of them: Which things have indeed a              straint in your giving when you give out of necessity. And
shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting         also such giving is doomed.
of the body ; (but) not in atiy honour to the satisfying of the        But of a willing heart and mind, for God loveth the
flesh.                                                               cheerful giver.


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                             51

     The cheerful heart'is the gift of God.
     Thank Him if you discover such a cheerful hearth within                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
y     o    u      .                                                                Semi-modthly, except wzonthly- &wing  July Mzd Alcgust
     Money given to God is placed on everlasting interest.                       Published by the REFORMED  F&E PVBLISHING  ASGOCIATIQN
Even a glass of water given to the thirsty iti the name of a                   P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  .Mich.
disciplk 611 have its reward.                                                                     Editor - REV. HERMAN HOERSEMA
     Money given to God acquires a fruit that is unspeakable.                  Communications relative to codtents  should be addressed to Rev.
     And you do not have to wait until you are in heaven                       H. Hoeksema, ,1139  Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
where our budgets are kept in God's bookkeeping.                               All m&em  rehtive.  to ,subsoriptions  should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                               G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
     You have it here and now whenever you place your en-                      Announcements and Obituaries  musit   be mailed to the above
velop in the basket, the hallowed basket.                                      addres and will ,be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
     Listen to your heart when next you drop the dollars in                    RENEWALS : Unless a definite request. for discontinuance is re-"
                                                                               ceived,  `it is assumed that the subscriber wishes. the subscription
that basket !                                                                  to continue without the form&y of a renewal order.
     Do you then hear heaven's song oi salvation ?                                                  Subscriptian  price: $4.00 pk year
     If we all gave in such spirit, there would soon be too                     &ttered  as Seco& Chs 
much, too much for God!                                                                                               madter at Gramd Rapids, Michigan.
                                                                  G.V.
                             u&=----h                                I
     0 LORD, THOU JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH                                                                     C O N T E N T S
           0 Lord, Thou Judge of-all the earth,
                To whom all vengeance doth belong,                        MEDITATION  -
                                                                                  "Too Much fir God!". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
           Arise and show Thy glory forth,                                              Rev. G. Vos
           Requite the proud, condemn the wrong.                          E D I T O R I A L S   -
           How long, 0 Lord, in boastful pride                                    "A Protest ,and  Its Reply". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
                                                                                        Rev. H. Hoeksema
                Shall wicked men -triumphatit  stand ?
           How long shall they afflict Thy saints,                        OUR DOCTRINE -
                A&d devastate Thy chosen land ?                                   The Triple Knowledge (Part III - Of Thankfulness). . . . .54
                                                                                        Rev. H. Hoeksema
           The widow and the fatherless                                   THE DAY OF  SHADOWS-
                They slay, and helpless strangers smite :                         Exposition  #of Isa&h. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                 . ..57
           The faithful God they do not fear,                                           Rev. G. M. Ophoff
                They say the Lord will not requite.                       FROM  HOLY  WRIT-
                                                                                  Exposition o,f II Philippians 2:21-26..  . . . .                                            . ..59
           Be wise, ye fools and brutish men ;                                          Rev. G. Lubbers
                Shall not He see who formed the eye ?
           Shall not He hear who formed the ear,                          IN  HIS'F~~R  -                                                                                      . ..61
                And judge, who reigneth, God Most High ?                          "Shameful and Revealing". . .~ . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                        Rev. J. A. Heys                                           -
           The Lord will judge in righteousness,             -            C
                From.Him all truth and knowledge flow ;                    ONTENDING  FOR  TEE FAITH  -
                                                                                  The- Church and tihe  Sacramen+s..  . . . . . . . .                                          . ..63`
           The foolish thoughts of wicked men,                                          Rev. H. Veldman
                How vain they are the Lord doth know.                     THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS'-
           That man is blest whom Thou, 0 Lord,                                   The Canons of Dordrecht  (Art. 13). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
                                                                                        Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                With chastening hand dost teach Thy will,
           For in the day when sinners fall                               DECENCY AND ORDER-
                                                                                  "The Ministry od the Woard".  . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . ",. . . . . . .67
                That man in peace abideth still.                                  "A Parenthesis". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
                                                                                        Rev. `G. Vanden  Berg
           The .Lord will not cast off His own,
                Nor His inheritance forsake ;                             ALL AROUND  Us  -
           Just judgment shall at length prevail,                                 "Reformed or Arminian". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
                                                                                  Kuiper Criticizes De Jong's Book.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7O
                And upright  hearts shall courage take.                                 Rev. M. Schipper
           Who will arise for my defense                                  CONTXIBUTI~NS   -
           ' Against the wicked in the land?                                      "A QuoYati'o'n"  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*......... 72
           Against iniquity  arid wrong                                                 Geoerge   TenEls'hof
                What man for me will valiant stand  ?Psalm 94 :1-S


 5           2                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                         clearly that it needs no proof that they are, they camlot  be
                  E D I T  0 R I  A.&S                                   condemned by any ecclesiastical gathering. As long as inter-
 i                                                                       pretations are required in order to maka  clear to others that
                                                                         the statements are literally heretical, according to the former
                    --A Protest and its Reply                            Consistory of Kalamazoo (Rev.  Knott), such statements
                                                                         must be considered proper, orthodox,  an:d, in a  ?Xeformed
      The last part of the reply of the former Consistory of             church, Reformed. And as examples of statements that are
 Kalamazoo to `brother Meninga is perhaps the most  interest-            per se, or literally, heretical, the former Consistory of Kala-
 Ing, and also the most important, because there the Rev.                mazoo offers two "God is evil," and "Christ is not the Son
 Knott -(who undoubtedly is the author of this reply, although           of God."
 his consistory signed it) enters into the contents of the
 statements by theaRev.  De Wolf and the criticism and judg-                  What a superficial. - I would almost say, nonsensical,
                                                                         -
* ment of the Classis. Again I will answer it in order, quoting               argumentation this is.
 the  variotis  parts  first, and then giving my answer. The                  I would like to. ask .the Rev. Knott (and his former con-
 former Consistory of Kalamazoo writes as follows :                      sistory).  whether he never made a study of the history of
      "2. That the  stat&ents  made by the Rev. De Wolf are              doctrine; If he did, I would like to challenge him  to point
 not literally or, per se, heretical.                                    out any controversy in the church of Christ in the p&t that
      "a. Per se, or literally, heretical statements must contain        concerned statements- that were per se, or literally, heretical,
 within themselves and directly, without further interpretation,         and that needed no explanation that they were such to the
 the. condemned heretical tenets. Required interpretations of            people of  God- in.. general. Knott quotes as such  a. literal
 questionable statements, and various contentions as to what.            statement : "God is  evil."  But I like to ask him when or
 meaning its choice of words may have, are proof that such               where in the church of Christ there was ever any contro-
 stateniknts  are not fie.r se heretical. Statements such as `God        versy about  such a statement. He could just as well have
 is evil,' or `Christ is not the Son of God,' are literally heretical    said, "Light is darkness. Black is white."  No,  indeed;, the
 statements. Such statements need no interpretation, they are            church of Christ never had any controversy about state-
 clear in themselves, leaving nu doubt what they mean. Surely,           ments like those.
 the statements of Rev. De Wolf cannot be put in this class.                  But for the rest, controversies in the church of Christ
      "1) The committee of pre:advice, reporting to the classis          always concerned stat`ements that, apparently, were not liter-
 on this matter, May 19, 1953, was divided as to the inter-              ally.heretical,  but that were distorted by heretics in a differ-
 pretation of the statements.                                            ent sense from which the church inferpreted them.
      "2)  ,Even  Rev. Hoeksema himself interprets the state-                 This is true even with that second example given by the
 ments . States Hoeksema : `But he (Rev. D.e Wolf) preached              Rev. Kpott and his former consistory : "Christ is not the Son
 that God promises to every one head for head and soul for               of God." Does not the Rev. Knott know that this was liter-
 soul, salvation if they believe. What does this mea_n?  This :          ally neter denied ? Arius did not`deny that Christ is the Son
 a. God on His part is willing to save everyone, It is His               of  Gocl. And if Knott makes no further explanation of this
 promise  .to all. The  pro'll?ise is as general as possible. b.         statement, he may very well be a heretic.
 But whethef the promise is, to be realized depends on an act                 And thus it was with every controversy in the church of
 of man. God is willing, if man is willing.' Hence, Rev.                 Christ. Let me but refer  you  -to the  Arminian controversy,
 Hoeksema interprets Rev. De Wolf's statements., thereby                 that was Settled by the Reformed Churches in 161%`19 by
 denying that they are per se heretical.                                 the Synod of Dordrecht. If the Rev. Knott imagines that in
      "3) Rev. Hoeksema and others have written and printed,             those days the controversy concerned statements that were
 thousands of words to make clear to the public, according to            thought literally heretical, without any explanation, he is
 their convictions, what is the proper and. only interpretation          sadly mistaken. Also the Arminians believed in election, the
 or meaning of Rev. De Wolf's statements.                                depravity of mankind, the total helplessness of man to be
  "a)  Classis ignored Rev. De Wolf's interpretation and                 saved except by the grace of God. They too believed that
 isolated the statements from the context in which they ap-              faith is a gift of God and that regeneration is wrought by
 peared.             -                                                   the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner. Yet our fathers
      "b)  Classis  said they were per se heretical, but really          condemned them.. And they. were right. And if the Rev:
 accepted the interpretation of the protestants, and proceeded           Knott and his former consistory want to discover that  our:
 to judge on the basis of that interpret&ion."                           fathers certainly did not refrain-from arguing about the state-
      Thus far the first- paragraph of the reply to the protest          ments by the Arminians and explaining them. let him con-
 of brother Meninga as far as the contents of the statements             sult the Canons of Dordrecht and especially the Rejection of
 are concerned.                                                          Errors,, and he will discover that also in that controversy it
      The main contention of this entire paragraph is that if            certainly was a matter of st&ements that needed interpreta-
 certa..li  sfatements are not per se, or literally, heretical, so       tion and explanation in the light of Scripture and the existing


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B `E A R E R                                                 5 3
                                                                                                     -

 Confessions, before the Synod could decide that they were                but was rather loosely attached to it, as  % sort of  semi-
 per se heretical.                                                        Reformed appendix.                            b
         Thus it is always the case with the controversies in the            "2.  The sermon  .struck an  Arminian  note, because:
 church of Christ in the world.                                              "a. It exclusively emphasized in the body of the sermon
 _       And therefore, I claim that the stand of  the Rev. Knott         conversion .as the work of man.
 and his former consistory is absolutely- unreasonable, and                  I`,. It presented conversion as the sole prerequisite which
 cannot be maintained in the light of history.                            man must fulfill in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
         Only to. one other item in this part of the reply of the            "c. Because it spoke in a deprecating way of election:
 former consistory to brother Meninga I will refer. I refer               `You can say that, if you are elect, you are in the kingdom,'
 to the statement that "Classis ignored Rev. De Wolf's inter-             etc. No truly Reformed man will ever strike such a note.
 .pretation   and isolated the statements from the context in               .- "3. The sermon was., for the above mentioned reasons,
 which they appeared."                                                    an example of modernistic preaching, since in the, body of
         Neither of the members of this stacetnent  is correct. Clas-     the sermon it had -nothing but a lesson in humility, an ad-
 sis did not ignore the interpretation by the Rev. De Wolf,               monition to shed our pride."
  although  it did not agree with that interpretation. But .I
  have refereence  especially to the- second member of this par-             Hence, it is not true that the  Classis  isolated  the state-
  ticular sentence. It certainly is not true that the  Classis            ments and was ignorant of the context, or at least ignored it.
  simply isolated the statements  frdm-  the context  in which               Nor is the very  last sentence of this paragraph of the
  they appeared. This context was well-known to them from                 reply true. For indeed the  Classis   s&d that the statements
  the protests. And from one, of them I quote as follows:                 were heretical, but they did not simply accept the interpreta-
         "The sermon of.April 15, 1951. On this date the Rev.             tion of the protestants and proceed to judge on the basis of
_ De Wolf preached a  sermqn  which I did not hear  person-               that interpretation. But the  Classis  discussed for days on
  nally, but in which, accordiyg to the protests received by the          end on the whole matter very thoroughly, as every one that
  Consistory, he spoke as follows:                                        was present will know and testify.
         " `God promises every one of you that, if you believe,              Further, the reply by the former Consistory of Kalamazoo
  you shall'be  saved.'       .                                           to brother Meninga enters into the contents of the state-
         " `You have nothi.ng  to do with election and reprobation;       ments.  .And I quote:
  your responsibility is to believe.. If you will believe, you               "b. The statements :            .
  shall` be saved.'                                                          "1) The first statement :
         "This according to one of the protests. According to an-            "a) The meaning of the word `promise' as that of `certifi-
  other, he said: `Election and reprobation have nothing to do            cation,' as Rev. De Wolf explained his meaning, is a perfectly
  with  the. gospel.' The Rev. De Wolf denied having made                 legitimate usage, and it was an injustice to bind Rev. De
 `these statements. And since there is i discrepancy between              Wolf to the meaning which the protestants maintained as the
  the two statements, and since there is no record of this sey-           only possible meaning,  namely,*that  it  nec&sarily  implies the
  mon, the Consistory rules this out.                                     loving purpose to bless with salvation.
       " `Some of you carry Protestant Reformed on the- lapel                !' (Rev. Hoeksema himself has used the word in a different
  of your co@. You are proud of being Protestant Reformed..               sense in the past. We. read in his pamphlet `The Curse-Re-
  Don't think you go to heaven because you are Protestant                 ward of the Wicked Well-doer,' on p. 20,  the following: `Jehu
  Reformed.'                                                              also has his reward. For the Lord anointed him king and
         "These last statements the Rev. De Wolf never denied,            promised  hill1 that his' children would sit on the throne of
  although the Consistory did not consider them in the case.              Israel even unto the fourth generation.`>"
  They wanted to concertrate  on the first statemerit only."                 My criticism is as follows :
         However, the  Classis  knew this context. And although              1. Now the former Consistory of Kalamazoo isolrites one
  they too concentrated on the two statements, this does not              word, "promise," from the rest of the sentence . In this way
  mean that they simply isolated them from the context. -In               they attempt to justify the word "certification," as the proper
  fact, the context makes the statements worse than,they.  ap-            meaning of the word promise in the statement of De Wolf.
  pear by themselves.                                                     And they add that also I used fhat word in that same mean-
         And as far as the second sermon is concerned, which -1           ing with respect to Jehu, whom God promised that his chil-
      heard personally,  in my first protest to  the Consistory, which    dren would sit on the throne of Israel even unto the. fourth
      also was in the possession of the Classis,  I stated as follows:    generation. But remember, in the case of Jehu the word
         "My protest concerns three elements :                            promise certainly can be-used in the sense of certification,
         "1. The sermon contained no preaching of  the gospel,            because the promise was not the expression of the love
      except perhaps in the very last few sentences, which, how-          of God to Jehu, but, as I explained in the pamphlet, simply
      ever, had no organic connection with the body of the sermon,                              (Co&wed   011.  page   60)


54                                                   T H E   ST.ANDARD.   B E A R E R

                                                                      to his error, and he  acknowledges  it, he is not a liar. One
              O U R   D O C T R I N E                                 can even make an error in such an exact science as mathe-
                                                                      matics. And also in that case the result is an untruth. But
                                                                      this is not what.is meant by a lie. It is a mere mental, logical,
                 THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                 not a moral offense. The lie is an ethical evil. To lie mean:
                                                                      very definitely that-in your mind you have a clear representa-
       AN  EXPOSITION OF THE HEIDELBERG  CATDXISM                     tion of reality, so that you know what is the truth, while at
                  PART  III  -  OF  THANKFULNESS                      the same time.  you produced by your  own invention and
                                                                      imagination that which was contrary to the truth, and that
                            LORD'S DAY 43                             now deliberately, for some reason or other, you hate and
                               Chapter 1                              reject that which you know is the truth, and just as deliber-
                                                                      ately cling to that  misr,epresentation  which you know to
        The Principle of the Ninth  Command~~ent  (cont.)             be in- conflict with the truth, and in your speech represent it
      And with that power of imagination, though by itself it is      as the truth. That is why we say that the lie is a willful mis-
a perfectly good power, given to us by God, I can nevertheless        representation-of the truth.                              _
niake  representations in my own mind which are not in har-              Let us note that the Heidelberg Catechism calls lying the
mony with reality; with the reality of. God, of the-world, of         very works of the devil. We may ask: why does the Cate-
Christ, of myself,  an& of the neighbor. And as soon as in            chism do this ? In a sense, of course, all sin may be called the
our mind we make cel;tain  representations of that which is           work of the devil. Yet, in connection with the sins against
not reality, or of that which is directly contrary to reality         the other commandments  `;he Catechism does not emphasize
and in conflict with it, and if I embrace those representations       this as it does in connection with the sin against the ninth
of my mind, cling to them, desire them and will them, and             commandment. The .answer  to this question is that accord-
knowing that these representations are not reality but in             ing to Scripture, -and according to his very name, the devil
conflict with it, and if then nevertheless I speak as if they.        is a slanderer and liar. Thus then Lord says in. John S :44 :
were reality I am become a liar. The lie, therefore, is the           "Ye are-of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
perversion of a perfectly good power, the power of intellect          ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode
and will, the power which God gave to a rational, moral               not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he
creature, which by an act of his own. will he subverted and           speaketh  B lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and
corrupted.                                                            the father of it." Lying, therefore, is emphatically the sin of
      Against this sin the ninth commandment is directed. The         the devil. And the, principle of his sin is, according to Scrip-
Catechism explains its positive as well as its negative aspect.       ture, pride, self-exaltation. We know` very little about the
The commandment directly forbids that we bear false witness           sin and the fall of Satan and his evil angels. But in the light
against any man. And, as the Catechism explains, this im-             of some passages of Holy Writ, it may safely-be said that the
plies that we do not corrupt *or falsify or distort his words,        principle of his sin was  .pride. Thus we read in I Timothy
that we be no backbiters or slanderers, that we do not judge          3  :6 : "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall
or join in condemning any man rashly or unheard. so that we           into the  cond&nation  of the devil." Moreover, this is also
avoid all sorts of lies and deceit as the-proper works of the         plain from the very words by which he tempted our first
devil, unless ive would bring down `upon us the heavy wrath           parents in paradise to fall away from God. For in Gen. 3 :4,
of God. And positively, the Catechism explains that the ninth         5 `we read : "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall
commandment demands that in judgment and in all other                not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat
dealings I love the trilth, speak it uprightly and confess it,       thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be a
and defend and promote as mtich as I am able the honor and           gpds (or : as God), knowing good and evil." That was the
good character of the neighbor.                                      lie that already lived in the mind and heart of the devil
      The principle of the ninth commandment, therefore, is          -himself. And that  lie he now attempted to instill into the
that God calls us to speak the truth in love, for His Name's         hearts of Adam and Eve. Hence, all sin is principally lying.
sake, and to His glory, as well as  for the love and well-.          And lying is principally motivated by pride and self-exalta-
being of the neighbor.                                               tion, first over against God, and then also over against the
      .The opposite of this is the lie, or lying.                    neighbor.
      A lie  iS a willful misrepresentation of the truth. I em-       By listening to and embracing that  fjrst lie of the devil
phasize that it is willful. Not every misrepresentation of the       in paradise, we created a world of lies. If we read carefully
truth can be called a~lie. We must remember that there are           what the Scriptures record about that first sin of Adam and
logical as well as moral misrepresentations of reality. The          Eve in paradise, we will discover that throughout it was
former are mistakes, or errors; the latter are lies. One can         based upon the principle of the lik. A lie was the first ques-
make a mistake in reasoning, so that the conclusion at which:        tion which t&e devil put' to Eve : "Yea, hath God said, Ye
he arrives is not the truth. And wheri his attention is called       shall not eat of evkrg tree of the garden  ?" The idea of


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             55

  this question was, of course, to instill into the mind of Eve      lust of the flesh had already taken hold of her heart. And
  the lie, that if there were no harm in eating of every tree of O that it was a tree that was desirable because it could make
  the garden, it certainly could not be wrong to eat of this         one wise was a lie, because the Word of God had plainly in-
  particular tree. And although Eve answered very emphatic-          formed her that in the way of eating. of the tree she would
  ally that she and Adam might eat of every tree of the garden       die : and death is darkness and the folly of corruption.
  except that which stood in the.midst  of the garden, of which,        Thus man became a sinner. And the sinner is a liar. And
  accordng to her, God has said, "Ye shall not eat of it, neither    a liar is one that is filled with pride and exalts himself against
  shall ye touch it, lest ye die," the very emphasis of her words    the living God.
  already reveals that principally she has surrendered to the           And as he is a liar, he necessarily is also a liar against
  lie of the devil. For the Lord had indeed said that they           the neighbor. `As he does not love God, he cannot love the
  might not eat of the tree of knowiedge of good and evil, but       neighbor. And as he does not honor and love the name of
  He never had said that they might not touch it. Secondly,          God, so it is impossible for him to honor and love the neigh-
  having prepared in the mind and heart of Eve a way for his         bor's name. Principally he is a liar over against the neigh-
  lie, he at once approaches her with the principal lie, that        bor as well as over against God.
  God really does not seek the good of His creature, and that
 therefore, if only they depart from Him and from His ways,             .Now,  we repeatedly asserted that the. principle of the
                                                                     ninth  comandment,  the positive principle, is `that we speak
they will attain to the highest good, and be like God. That,
  as we said, is the principle of the lie of the devil. And that     the truth in love. In emphasizing this positive principle we
                                                                     have particularly in mind the word of Scripture in Ephesians
  principle is pride. He contradicts God, and slanders Him,          4 :15 : "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him
  and at' the same time exalts himself above Him by making           in all things, which is the head, even Christ." And in con-
  himself equal with God. Notice that here the devil instills        nection with this verse we cite also verse 25 : "Wherefore
  into the mind of the woman and kindles in her imagination          putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor :
  what is a complete misrepresentation of reality. Reality was
  the Word of God. That Word of God was : "Ye shall not eat          for we are members one of another." And once more, we
  of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Reality was        refer to verse 29 of the same chapter: "Let no corrupt com-
  too that in the obedience to God's commandment lay the good        munication proceed out of your mouth, but that `which is
  of His rational, moral creature : only in that way could he        good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
  live. Reality was that death and untold misery would be            the hearers." This admonition is repeated several .times  in
  found in violating the Word of God. Such was reality. And          Holy Writ, as it is' not necessary for us  to point out at the
  the devil presents to the woman an entirely different world,       present time.
  a world in which the Word of God is-the lie and in which              Now in connection with Ephesians 4:15 there is a slight
  not in obedience to the Word of God, but exactly `in dis-          -exegetical question, which, however, in connection with our
  obedience and disregard of the commandment of the Lord,            use of the passage is of rather fundamental importance. The
  lay the life and salvation of the creature. Those two re-          question, namely, is whether the phrase "in love" belongs to
  presentations of reality, the one true and the other false, the    the preceding, "speaking the truth," or to the words that
  one by the Word of God and the other by the lie of the devil,      follow. If the latter interpretation is followed, the text then
  Eve had before her mind., She certainly was able to dis-           should read : "But that, speaking the truth, in love we may
  tinguish them. The first sin was not a matter of mere con-
  fusion. She certainly knew that she would die in the way of        grow up into him in all things." We prefer, however, to
  the lie of the devil, and that she could live only by the Word     choose the former interpretation, so that "in love" belongs.to
  of God that proceeded out of His mouth. But all sin, and           "speaking the truth." This is the most natural interpretation
  also the first sin, was a matter of, the will and of the heart.    of the words, and certainly produces a very good sense.
  The temptation of the devil was calculated `to take Eve's             By, the truth here is undoubtedly meant the fundamental
  heart away from the love of "the truth, with which she was         truth of the gospel, which. the Ephesians had been taught, and
  created, and to have her choose the lie as desirable and           which all believers embrace. It is the truth concerning the
  preferable to the truth. And in this persuasion the devil          revelation of God as the God of our salvation in Christ Jesus
  evidently succeeded, for we read in Gen. 3 :6: "And when           our Lord, and all that is implied in this gospel. Concerning
  the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it         this truth we may not be silent. It must be spoken. It must
  was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make         not only be preached by the church, but it must also be con-
  one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave     fessed by the members, before one another as well as before
  also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." The tree,
  of course, was not good for food whatsoever: for man shall         the whole world.
  not live by bread alone, but by the Word that proceedeth              This must be- done in love. Love is the principle of the
  out of the mouth of God. That it was pleasant and attractive       whole law, and therefore,also of the ninth commandment.
  to the eyes of Eve was not reality, but only true because the      And this. love is always the ,love of God, a love which God


56                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   :BEARER

principally has to Himself, and in-Christ Jesus our Lord also      .wdmen  are not as the Egyptian women ; for they are lively,
to us : which He works in our hearts so that we know that D and are delivered ere the midwives come unto them." Now
He. loves us, and which also becomes a power within us             this was, of course, a lie, quite `contrary to the, truth ; and
whereby we realize' our part of the covenant of God, so that       they were well aware of it. And the lie as  such  must be
we love Him with all our heart and mind and soul and               codemned.  Perhaps it could be said that these Hebrew mid-
strength. In that principle of love we also have the bond of       wives lacked sufficient faith. They might have simply dis-
fellowship with one another, so that we love the brethren.         obeyed the king without any refuge to the telling of an un-
And it is by the power of that principle of the love of God,       truth. They might have had sufficient faith openly to refuse
by which also we love the brethren, that we must speak the         to obey the command of the king. Nevertheless, the motive
truth.               ._                                            of this lie was the fear of God and the love of God's people,
      It stands to reason that only when we speak the truth ini    and the purpose was to save the people of Israel alive. And
love, the truth, that is, of the gospel of Jesus Christ  our       it isevident that in this case God looked at the motive in
Lord, the truth that God reconciled us unto Himself, not im-       the deepest heart of the midwives. For we read: "Therefore
putting our trespasses unto us. the truth that God realized        God dealt well with the midwives : and the people multiplied,
by His Spirit and Word His sure promises unto us, so that          and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the
we become new men in Christ Jesus our Lord, translated from        midwives feared God, that he made them houses." Exodus
darkness into light, that we also love and speak the truth         1 :15-21.
in all things. From the principle of that fundamental truth               Another illustration of the same nature is that of Rahab
follows that we obey the admonition which the apostle ad-          the harlot. This too is well-known. It was reported `to the
dresses to the church in Ephesus : "Wherefore putting away         king of Jericho that the two spies sent by Joshua to -search
lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are         out the land of Canaan had entered the house of Rahab. And
members one of another." In the light of that truth and            the king demanded that these two spies sho.uld-  be delivered
motivated by its principle,  ,we can never lie against one         up  unto him. But Rahab hid the- men on the roof of her
another.. For then  we' love the neighbor's name as  well as       house. And when the messengers of the king came to her
our own, and we will seek the honor and good reputation of         to inquire about them, she said: "There came men unto me,
thae  name with all that is within LE.                             but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about
  * This then is the principle of the ninth commandment.           the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the
Always we must speak the truth to and concerning one               men went out : whither the men went I wot not : pursue after
another in love.                                                   them quickly ; for ye shall overtake them." Now  this_ too
                                                                   was a lie ; and as such it is undoubtedly to be condemned.
      It is well that we emphasize this phrase "in love." It is    Again,  .it may indeed be said that Rahab's faith  was-  not;
indeed very well possible that one speaks the truth con-           strong enough openly to defy the king and to commit the
cerning his neighbor, or even to his neighbor, from ad             rest unto the Lord. Nevertheless, it is not the lack of faith,
entirely different motive than that of love. It' is pos-           or the weakness of the faith of Rahab, but her faith, by
sible indeed to be entirely truthful, as far as the contents       which she circumvented the king's commandment, and saved
of our speech is concerned, to our brother, but with hatred        the people of God that had sought refuge in her house,.which
and pride and vainglory in our hearts, for the purpose of          the Bible commends. For in Hebrews 11 we read: "By
hurting  -him and leading him to destruction. Such speech,         faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed
hower true it may be as far as the contents of it is concerned;    not, when she had. received the spies with peace."
is of the devil. And so it is possible also to speak the truth
concerning the neighbor not  m love, but in hatred,  Andy  to             We insist that lies like those of Shiprah and  Push, the
besmear his good reputation, and so make his position in the       midwives of Egypt, and of Rahab the harlot are spiritually,
church, as well as in the world, impossible. In comparison         ethically far to be preferred, also in the light of Holy Writ,
with such speaking of the truth lying, although as such it         above a speaking of the truth *that is not motivated by the
must always be condemned and can never be justified, is            love of God and of the brethren; but rather by devilish hatred.
nevertheless ethically preferable in certain cases. `Of this              And therefore, the positive principle of the ninth com-
we have several instances in Scripture. One of such cases
is that of the Hebrew midwives in Egypt, Shiphrah and              mandment is that we always speak the truth, without com-
Puah. The king commanded them, when they functioned as             promising, without corruption, but then from the motive of
midwives in the birth of the Hebrew children, that' they           the' love of God  -and of the brethren, so that the word of
should keep only the daughters alive, but kill the infant          the apostel Paul in Ephesians  4 39 is realized : "Let no car-
sons. The midwives disobeyed the command  of. the king             rupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that
because they feared God. And when the king called them  to         which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
account -for their disobedience of his word, they explained        grace unt.o the hearers."
this disobedience by a lie, and said : "Because the Hebrew          ._                                                      H.H.


                                                  T H E   STAtiDARD   B E A R E R                                                                54
                                 .>                                                                                                       -  ..__.._~   _
II                                                                      purpose of prophecy. "Of which salvation," wrote the apostle
             THE DAY OF SHADOWS                                      II "the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
                                                                        prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: search-
                                                                        ing what, or'what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which
                  The Prophecy of Isaiah                                was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
                                                                        sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto
Proph~cics  of the  mlzmtion  of' the  chi-ch,  begin&g  wh   the       who~m  it  zvas  reaea,led that  not  u:nto   tlzcvM.selves,V   brct unto us
hrnixg  of Judah's  ca#tivity  and con&ding  with  the  cuea.tion       they did minister  the things, which  are now  reported  z&o
of  the new  Izearuens  amd the  n.eze,  ea,rtlz.i Isa.  XI-LXVI.       .yo,u . . .  .)I I Pet. 1 :lO-12a.  Also their glad messages from,
      Today the view that is held in broader circles is, that these     the hope that God's believing people have as an anchor of
chapters owe their origin to a prophet (or prophets) that               the soul, both sure and steadfast, Heb. 6:19. =
.flourished  in or at the end of or even after the period (of the           That Isaiah was enabled to hail by name the deliverer,
Babylonian captivity) of which these chapters treat - thus              Cyrus, is said to involve another phenomenon without paral-
flourished some 225 years or more after the passing of Isaiah.          lel in the history of Holy Scripture. It is true that the
      But till the end of the last century it was a universally         Cyrus-prophecy is found only in Isaiah. But it is not true
accepted tradition among Jews and Christians that the chap-             that Isaiah's ability to hail this figure by name is without
ters in question  zverc prophetically written by Isaiah. This           parallel in the history of Scripture. Christ was also hailed  '
opinion, still retained by many, we are glad to say, is the             by name by Isaiah not alone but by all prophecy. If we
only tenable one as can easily-be seen in the-light of the fol-         only stand firmly in the faith that the  fkst  author of  -the
lowing considerations.                                                  prophetic discourse was the Lord, we wll not stumble over
      The chapters XL-LXVI form one book with the chapters              the Cyrus-prophecy but will perceive its purpose and neces-
I-XXXIX, where at 1  :l the superscription occurs, "The                 sity. It must have been by this very prophecy, brought to
vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw concerning               the attention of Cyrus by`Danie1,  that the Lord. moved him
Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,  Ahaz,               to set His people free.
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah."                                              There is also the argument that some chapters in our
      As no passages occur in the prophetic discourse that with         book are distinctly said to be by Isaiah while others are not
unquestionable clarity forbid our applying the superscription           so entitled, and that "this difference affords us sufficient:
also to the chapters XL-LXVI, we find ourselves obliged to              ground for understanding, that the whole book is not neces-
allow  t&t  the superscription does indeed apply also to these          sarily by Isaiah, nor intentionally handed down by its compi-
chapters.                                                               lers as the book of this prophet."
      The opinion that the superscription of 1  :l does not apply           But let us get before us the facts. Of the 66 chapters
to the entire discourse, shuts us up to'the impossible view -           of our book only the first two have superscriptions. Both
impossible because of the power and significance of the                 name the prophet, Isaiah. In both he is presented to view
prophecies involved-either that the real author failed to               as having seen the "word of God." All, including the mo-
supply these his prophecies with a superscription revaling              derns, are agreed that the "word'? that the prophet saw in-
his name and the time or age in which he flourished, or, if             cludes more than the content of the chapter headed by the
he did,  .that this superscription was either purposely omitted         superscription. How then can it be said that some chapters
or accidently lost in transmission .                                    of our book are distinctly said to be by Isaiah while others .
      Also to be considered is the argumentation of those who           are not so entitled, meaning that the superscription covers
reject the traditional view and ~ whose opinion it is that our 3 the content only of the one chapter that it heads. The state-
chapters must be assigned to a nameless author of the period            ment is untrue .and the conclusion drawn from it worthless.
of the Babylonian exile.                                                    Both with the moderns and those who hold the'traditional
      It is said that the opinion that Isaiah  "was carried for-        view, the questions are these: first, how many of the first 35
ward by the Spirit, out of his own age to the standpoint of             chapters of our book are to be included in the "Word of the
one -hundred and fifty years later ; that he was inspired to            Lord" that the prophet saw. Second, must Isa. XL-LXVI
utter the. warning and comfort required by a generation so              also be included in this "Word." The Moderns exclude
very different from his own; involves a phenomenon without              several of the first 35 chapters and all of Isa. XL-LXVI.
parallel in the history of Holy Scripture."                             Their contention is that these chapters owe their origin not
      But this is not true. The experience of Isaiah was com-           to Isaiah but to an unknown prophet (or prophets) who
mon to all the prophets. How otherwise should they have                 flourished at the close of or even after the .Babylonian  cap-
spoken the Word of God ? All uttered glad predictions, good             tivity, as has already been explained. Those who hold the
tiding, the Gospel of Christ, the reach of which extended to            traditional view. include these chapters. As was .said, their
the end of time, thus tidings, words of comfort, instruction            position is, that the superscriptions cover the entire discourse
and warning required by the church of all the ages to come              from beginning to end, with the exception of some parts of
including the church of their own age. This-was the very                the historical section. The moderns *have yet to prove. this

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

 position untenable. All they come with, in making, the at-           grgue  this way is, that they refuse to adopt the only tenable,
 tempt, is doubtful reasonings and passages in the chapters           let US say? permissible position that the "Word of the Lord"
  involved that can have a meaning that differs from the one          that Isaiah saw, 1  :l, includes also Isa. XL-LXVI, and that
 that they give to them.                                              therefore also these chapters owe their origin to him. If it
       A few more examples.                                           is true, and it .is true, as we purpose to show in the sequel,
       It is well known that in the New Testament, portion of         that this position is the only permissible one, then of course
 the disputed chapters are quoted by Isaiah's name. This, too,        the disputed chapters are prediction throughout, also those
 pleads for the Isaian authorship of these chapters. But the          passages where the grammar is of the past. Then it  is said
Moderns deny this on the ground that none of these citations          also in these disputed chapters that Assyria was to  clis-
 is by Christ Himself but by Paul and Matthew and the writer          appear and Babylon to take her place, etc.                G.M.O.
 of the Acts, as if this could make any difference.
       Also to be considered, they say, is the purpose of which                      BECAUSE IT'S AUTUMN
 the Evangelists borrow the texts. The purpose was not to                  From my window, by the morning light,
 answer the question, Did Isaiah write chapters XL-LXVI of                 Seeing the last star fade from night,
 the book called by his name. Nothing in-the texts "requires us            I thank my God for His gift of sight
 to suppose that Isaiah% name is mentioned with them for                       Because it's autumn.
 `any other purpose (end) than' that of reference, viz., to
 point out they lie in the part of the prophecy usually known              Watching the sunrise slowly appear,
 by his name." That is, it is not necessary to suppose that                I glory in the colors of the heavenly sphere
 their purpose was also to teach the Isaian authorship of our              That slowly fade and flee as in fear
 book. Hence,' their quoting the texts by Isaiah's name in no                  Because-it's autumn.
  wise pleads for the Isaian authorship of our book, of its                The air of the morning, so brisk and clear
  disputed chapters.                                                       Carries all sound, for one may hear
       This is a rather clever reasoning. But we want nothing              The call of each bird that brings his cheer;
 of. it.  .Seeing that the Evangelists and Paul were infallibly                Because it's autumn.
  led in their writings by the Holy Spirit, how can it be sup-             The_ trees, resplendent in their glory now,
 posed that they could be capable of quoting the tests by                  Took all the life from each leaf-crowned bough
  Isaiah's name, if it were true that. the chapters in which they          And gave colors instead (I know not how),
  lie owe their origin to another unknown prophet?                             Because it's autumn.
       But we have yet to consider what the Moderns regard as
  their unanswerable argument. As put into words by G. A.                  Most of the leaves, fallen upon the ground
  Smith  .(in "The Expositor's Bible) it runs like this, "It is            Swirl and rustle in an attempt to sound
  nowhere said -as we should expect it to be said, -if the                 The glory of God, His wisdom profound-
 prophecy had' been uttered by  Isaiah_  that Assyria, the                     Because it's autumn.
  dominant world-power of Isaiah's day, was to disappear and               Along the curbs, on the way to town
  Babylon to take her place; that then the Babylonians should              The leaves scamper along: red, yellow and brown-;
  lead the Jews into an exile which they had escaped at the                Thus Nature is dressed in her beautiful gown,
' hands of Assyria  ; and that after nearly seventy years of                    Because it's autumn.
  suffering God would raise  up  Cyrus as a deliverer. There               The trees, nearly naked, lift their arms to the sky
  is none of this prediction, which we might fairly have ex-               And, whispering weird stories, murmur and sigh
  pected had the prophecy been Isaiah's  ; because, however far            That these are signs of a rest, that winter is nigh
  Isaiah carries us. into the future, he never fails to start from              Because it's autumn.
  the circumstances of his own day . . . In the statements,                Over the hazy October breeze                  . .
  which ourchapters  make concerning the Exile and the con-                Comes the pungent smell of burning leaves,
  ditions of Israel under it, there is no prediction, not the              Its way between houses and bushes, it weaves;
  slightest trace of the grammer of the future. in which Jere-                  Because it's autumn.
  miah's prophecies are constantly uttered. But there is a direct
  appeal to the conscience of a people already long under the              The fires die out; the embers still glowing
  discipline of God  ; their circumstance of  .exile  is taken for      ' Shine out in the darkness. The full moon is showing
  granted  ; there is a most vivid and delicate appreciation of            The earth in her slumber, the rivers still flowing
  their present fears and doubts, and to these the deliverer                    Because it's- autumn.'
  Cyrus is not only named, but introduced as an actual and                 `Tis the end of the season but I know He'll restore
  notorious personage already upon the midway of his  irresist-            All the beauty of it again from shore to shore
  able career." -End of quote.                                             To tell all His people, that they may adore
       We should consider that the only reason that the Moderns                 Him in His beautiful autumn!                     H. J.K.


                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEIARE-R                                                       59

                                                                               knows who are His, and that everyone who names the name
           FROM HOLY WRIT                                                 II of Christ must depart from iniquity, while at the same time
                                                                               we fret and fume, while we labor, as if it all depended on
                                                                               our vehemence and giving vent to our strong feelings of im-
            Expositio;  Of II Timothy  2:21-26                                 patience.
    There is a veritable treasury, a wealth of good advice in                      These are the lusts, characteristic of a young preacher,
the Pastoral letters of Paul. Did God ever prepare a better                    from.which we  must flee!
"earthen vessel" to give such advice  ? Has ever a man so                          The only way in which a man can flee from these youth-
labored as did this Apostle to the Gentiles? And could any-                    ful lusts is to persue  "righteousness, faith, love, peace with
one give such good counsel to a young precaher, who must                       all who call upon the Lord lout of a pure heart !" When this
stand in the office of Christ as a "servant of the Lord ?"                     is done. by a preacher, or any other brother or sister in God's
    God's people, in general, surely must be prepared and                      church, he will be fit for the master use. He will have a .good
thoroughly equipped unto every good -work of love, faith,                      and just cause to champion. He will be preaching and teach-
righteousness and patience. Their calling is that they may let                 ing-as one walking in' sanctification, in cleanliness of heart,
their light shine before men in order that our Father in                       and will .thus  be beautifully useful unto the Lord of lords
heaven may be glorified. But a minister of the Gospel surely                   and the King of kings. He will ,be concerned about essenti-
must be prepared unto the Ministry. And then a great share                     als and not about trivials : he will walk as before the very
of this preparation is, no doubt, what we might called Pmc-,                   face of God. With his whole being he will seek righteousness,
tica,  Theology. He must not simply know what to preach                        as the blessed who hunger and thirst after the righteousness
and. how to make a sermon, but he must know in what                            of the Kingdom of heaven. Wreck and ruin will not be in hi9         '
spiritual attitude of mind and heart he must labor, and very                   wake. He will not be as those who have no fear of God before
really be a  servant  of the Lord, fit for the Master's  (Des-                 their eyes, and who know not the way of peace, and who will
potess) use. For any servant, who does not really live and                     surely one day stands speechless before the Despotees of  _
act the part of a servant of Christ acts the part of a "lord,"                 heaven and earth 1 Always the issue  is.: -is it a question of
a despot, and such a one the great "Despot" will have slain                    faith,  is it a matter of that faith by which we are justified
before the eyes of all. Mrherefore,  let not a "servant" act the               without works of law which we perform, and is it a question
-part of a Lord. He must be minister, doer of little things,                   of that faith from which all good works spring forth as from
rather than be a  Dominus!  He must rule well without                          a fountain  ? And thus it will surely also always be a question
exercising dominion over God's heritage !                                      of love, which is the fulfilment of the law of God; And not
    Hence, the admonition of Paul in II *Timothy 2  21,                        least will it be a  persuing of "peace" as this is rooted in
!`K%erefore,   ,if  a.nyone  cleunse  hi79Aself  from,'  these he shall        righteousness, faith and love ! When we -thus persue  peace
lie a vessel  unto honor,  sa~nctified,   beautijully  ,useful,   ,in a fit    it is not a peace at any price, but it is a peace which is ours
state of being  ready   JOY all good work."                                    in the Great Price of Christ's blood; it is the peace that is
    The reader will notice that this is a rather free rendering                persued  in the rock-bottom assurance that the foundation of
of the text. But it brings out the fine and delicate coloring                  God, manifested as standing immoveable in the Blood, calls
of the Apostle's admonition to Timothy and to all ministers !                  for a departing from all unrighteousness also in the preacher.
    What a servant of the Lord he is, who is (euchreeston toi                  It was this sense of the narrow path which a preacher must
despotee) beautifully-useful unto the Ruler and Owner of                       "persue"  that caused Paul to say, "lest I be accounted a
the Church !                                                                   castaway !" What a dreadful reality to have been a "herald"
    This has special implications for a young minister, and                    of the new day to others, and then be accounted a reprobated
it has something also to say to those who are older, since no                  one (adokimos) by the Despotees, the Lord of  .lords, who
man becomes so old that he has "lost all of the boy" in him.                   will judge both the living and the dead in His glorious ap-
Paul warns Timothy against "youthful lusts." What Paul                         pearance ! And, yet, how glorious to be beautifully-useful un-
has here in mind is quite likely the "youthful lusts" of waging                to the Despotees.
wars, of not being wholly mindful, that except the Lord build                     Such a minister, a servant of the Lord, must in every
the city, vainly do the builders build, and except the Lord                    sense be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.
keep the watch, vainly do the watchmen keep the watch! It                         A Minister must not be the pathetic spectacle of being. an
is sometimes said, that wisdom comes with the years ! I once                   alleged man "beautifully-useful" in Christ's church, and, yet,
met an old minister of more than four-score years of age, and                  full of "lusts Waring `in his members" (James 4 :l-5) so that
in the course of my conversation with him he must have                         he gives  birth  to warfare and strifes in his  frock.  Then all
detected the "youthful lusts? of impatience in me, and said in                 real usefulness of a minister is gone. He has fallen into the
a very kindly way: "Patience is the word, young man,                           snares of the Devil. He cannot thus save himself and those
patience is the word." There is a strange contradiction in                     who hear him.
us often. We are very certain that the sure foundation of                         Many a minister has actually fallen into this snare of the
God stands having the twofold seal, namely, that the Lord                      Devil with those who hear him. As big as he is alive he

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

rushed into foolish -and unedifying questions of debate. And           sake of the bewildered, self-opposing members in the church
ere such, a minister knows it he is not walking in the mild-           we will not contend with them. Our conduct and speech will
ness, gentleness and the affableness required in a servant of          not be in the "atmosphere" of combatants at war with one
the Lord, but he lays the whip-lash of a sharp tongue on the           another. "Now a servant of the Lord must not contenck" He
flock of God. The very place where peace in Christ must be             must not be dragged into the "contention" of such  souls.
nurtured becomes the womb and birth-place of fightings ! He            They are often bewildered with many contentious questions,
is not beautifully-useful for the Lord of lords and the King           which are of such a nature that they have nothing to do with
of kings. It is not sufficient to him to be as his Master, meek,       eclification in Christ Jesus, with sound words of doctrine.
gentle, apt to teach. He has lost spiritual contact with. his          All words about law and geneologies are to no profit; and all
Master, and is a prey of Satan-having been taken- captive              insistence on works of law are to no profit. The only word
alive (zoogreoo) !                                                     that edifies `is the sure foundation  .of God, which stands!
       The temptation is especially great when a minister has to       This foundation has this seal-: the Lord knows who are His
deal with people in the church who oppose the teaching which           own (elective grace) and_ let everyone that nameth.the  name
is unto godliness. When a minister begins to feel pity for             of Christ depart from iniquity (sanctification as fruit of
himself rather than for these members in the church who do             election). The only edifying words are those of God's love
not repent unto  the. thorough knowledge of the truth, `then a         and what we are to do by virtue of this sovereign' love of
minister stands before a very real and dangerous pitfall in            God. All other words are simply foolish and vain questions,
his ministry  ; if he does not very strongly live in the  con-         which because they do not satisfy and edify are questions
siousness that he is .a sewant, a slave of the Lord, who can           from which strife is borne.
only .do the work assigned to him. He has no choice but to                A minister must, therefore, always teach. And he must
`be a good servant, he must remember. Her must be able to              be in the spiritual-psychological frame of mind to teach.' He
psycho-analyse the spiritual condition of such people, who             must always sow, looking to God for .the increase. He must!
seem to'oppose-him,  the servant. In great pity and gentleness         do this in the face of all hardships and evils that attend this
of spirit he must be able to bear in mind the fact that these          world. This will require incessant prayer. But he is a servant
individuals do not resist him, the preacher, but that they are         of the Lord. And his calling is to pray even as did Jesus,
ophosing   tkewuelves   . They are great victims of their own          Who prayed whole nights, How abundantly the epistles of
sin. They are in need of help. No,-not first of all in need of         Paul testify of his life of prayer in his labors and sufferings-
the help of man, but in need of'the efficacious grace of God.          abundant. He does so' knowing that the Lord knows who are
They are in need of real and genuine  rep'entnnce.                     His own. Paul does not know these. So he `preaches and
       But when this plight of the members is not seen in its          teaches if peradventure  ,God give repentance to the acknowl-
true nature and perspective then a minister no longer teaches          edgement of the truth.
them, and bears with the evil he experiences from them.                   And then, if our life must be poured out as a  drink-
Then he no longer is willing to .die that they might live. He          offering before the Lord, we will still say that the lines have
begins to complain about the evil done him. He is then a               fallen unto  us  in pleasant places. A servant of  the. Lord
very poor servant of the Lord, not at all beautifully-useful           looks for the reward of grace in the ages to come, when his
for the Lord of His church! He.is not a servant who shows              joy shall be mingled with the church, even with those who
the form of Christ in. Him. He does not treat these members            once resisted themselves, in -that day when the great  Despot-
as he would wanted to be treated in like circumstances. He             ees, Lord, the righteous Judge shall judge the living and the
does not fulfill the Golden Rule to them. `Since he is not             d e a d !                                                  G.L.
really sober and in his right senses toward them he cannot                                       ---a-
be instrumental in bringing them to their right senses.                               A  PROTESST  AND ITS REPLY
       However, when a minister (and elders) sees the real                              ' (Contihikcd fmm ba:ge 53)
plight of those who oppose thmselves  he will be very gentle           an'expression of His hatred against that wicked king, so that
toward them ; he will take a lot of abuse. He will not say as          he received the curse-reward of the wicked well-doer.
modern psychiatrists allege that such people are not respon-              2. But this certainly cannot be the meaning of the word
sible; the responsibility of such stands. But he `will bear            pvot?Lise in the statement of the Rev. De Wolf, for the simple
with them and in the good sense pray: Father, forgive them             reason that according to that statement God promised every
for they are not really spiritually sober  ; Father, bring them to)    one in the audience that he shall be saved ; and the promise
their senses, grant them Thy grace that they may return to             of salvation, although it includes. certification, assurance, on
a sound mind spiritually, to their sober senses. Liberate them         the part of God, is always an expression of His love to His
from all the beclouding influences and all the bewilderment of         people. Hence, the former Consistory of Kalamazoo blunders
sin. Grant them to have true wariness against all spiritual            when it takes the word $1,0urLi.x  out of the connection with
dangers and bewilderment, for they are taken captive by the            the entire statement. To promise salvation is to certify salva-
snares of the Devil.                                                   tion from the motive of the love of God  ; never anything else.
       But if this we do, as Ministers, then for the very life's                                                                  H.H.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D 'B E A R E R `                                              61
  .tI/--r                                                          Declaration - which was drawn up to safeguard our churches
                    IN  H I S   F E A R '   .,. against the arminian  conditional theology of the Liberated -
                                                                   defeated.  That-  was the thing which we had in mind &hen
                                                                   we wrote that  Classis  West cienied the Rev. H. Hoeksema
                    Shamedu~  And  Bevealilig                      advisory vote.
                                                                       Let  LIS  explain the matter further, and let the reader
    Our attention was called by more than one defender of          judge whether we said too much about Classis  West.,
conditional theology and of the Schism of `53 to a statement           Rev. De Jonge had read his protest against the Declara-
in our September 15 contribution to this department. Since         tion. And in it he had given several quotations from the
these parties were of the opinion that we had done Classis         late Dr. Schilder's articles in the Reformatie wherein he con-
West (she was  Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed            demned our Declaration on doctrinal grounds -and wherein
Churches yet at that time) a great injustice by accusing her       he found fault with the Rev. H. Hoeksema's doctrinal posi-
of something of which they thought -she was entirely in-           tion. For to a `great extent Dr. Schilder did make it the
nocent, we promised to make a correction and explanatiolf          personal matter of a debate between himself and the Rev.
at  this  time.~                                                   H. Hoeksema on their doctrinal views. At any rate the Rev.
    Our statement  w&% `error, not because the thing of            H. Hoeksema's name and doctrinal position were mentioned
which we accused Class&  West. did not take place, but be-         in those quotations  w-hich  Rev. De Jonge read. The Rev.
cause we failed to express it fully and to explain our state-      Hoeksema was assured that the first thing the next'morning
ment, so that we thereby left a wrong impression.                  he would be given the floor to answer these accusations. And  -
    Let the readers judge whether our accusation was.  un-         the  Classis  knew that he intended to  prepa% himself that ,
juit and whether our statement, though as it stands it is in       night to give answer the next morning.'
error, does not still put  Classis  West in a  ?ptore favorable       And now that we are forced to drag out into the open
light than what the facts warrant. Our explanation of what         what we would like to forget and to hide from those who
we had in mind will show a greater corruption and  mis-            did not know it, we must explain that before he could open
behaviour  than would .have  been revealed had our statement       his mouth the next morning to defend himself and the Decla-
not been challenged.                                               ration, one who before the classical sessions ever began had
  The statement in question was that  Classis  West-denied         written &s intention to oppose the Declaration managed to
the Rev. Hd&ema  advisory vote at one of its sessions. Noti        shut the Rev. Hoeksema's  niouth  by a motion, so that this
the minutes  o?  Classis  West of September  5, 1951 read,         part of the propaganda to seek the defeat of the Declaration
"Art. 7. Advisory vote is again given to Revs.. H. Hoeksema.       was never answered at that session of Classis.
and ,G. M. Op$of?.".  And so it can be seen .that at that Sep-         The matter was talked over that night and surely thought
tember session and at the March session of that year, they         pver that night by others than the Rev. H. Hoeksema. For
were given advisory vote.           `.                             before he could have the opportunity to defend. himself as
    And yet we continue to maintain our former statement,' assured  lYy the Classis, a  motioti  was quickly introduced to
how&er,   yvith this qualification:  Classis  West in word and     declare that parf of Rev. De Jonge's protest out of order.
by motioq did' give the Rev. H. Hoeksema advisory vote at          When that motion passed, Classis  `West denied the Rev. H.
the March 1951 session, as the minutes show; and yet' they         Hoeksema advisory vote on that important matter.
iook it away from him .in deed and. by vote later in the ses-      . Clever maneuvering' !
sion upon a very vital and important matter. In the minute             But who dares to say that in 1951 already it. was not a
book it may all look quite innocent, and yet the facts are such    doctrinal issue  ?       .
that what actually took place, and is not so evident from the         And why might the delegates not hear the defense of that
bare minutes, shows illore  glaringly and more to the shame        doctrinal part of the Declaration even if what was read to
of the constituency of  that  Classis  than odr statement, that    seek its defeat was irrelevant?
then already in 1951 these men had little use for the Rev.             Why did they not stop Rev. De Jonge when he began t@
H. Hoeksema and did not  wanf his advice on doctrinal              read such irrelevant, "out of order" material ? And now that
matters given to the delegates of the Classis.  Though he was      it was read and made its impression on the delegates, .why
the professor in Dogmatics in our Seminary at that time as         must that impression be left ? Common decency would have
well as still today.                                               demanded that they give the Rev.  :H. Hoeksema the right to.
    You see, the whole matter has to do with the Declaration       defend himself, and interest in the Protestant Reformed
of Principles which `was being discussed at that classical ses-    truth over against the ,arminian  conditional theology of the
sion ; and the author of the motion which shut Rev. Hoekse-        late Dr. Schilder and of the Liberated would have allowed
ma's mouth had already in January of that year published his       such a `defense. One may make. a censurable remark on the
intention to "oppose" th<Declaratio&.  Here was one of the         floor of Classis  in a way that is definitely out of order. One
many ways in which those who wanted to open'the doors of           may blurt out a foul accusation while another speaker is busy
our churches to the Liberated worked to seek to have `the          talking. Does anyone deny that though it was spoken out:


          62                                           T;HE~  S T A N D A R D   B-EARER

          of order and though it lies in the nature of the case that it is     churches, and has attempted to split the congregations and
          irrelevant to the case being discussed, the president is not         organize new congregations over which he could have con-
          in duty bound to rebuke that individual ?                            trol . .  .". You swore that  before  God, Rev. De Wolf, now
.         .' :. .Nbr is that. all.                                             go and tell it  to  Him, if  you  dare. Try to convince Him of
                After this shameful treatment the Sept. session of that        it, if you can. Try to convince Him that he went there in a
          same  Classis  had to deliberate for twenty to thirty minutes        "conspiracy to get control of the various properties." Why
          as to whether they will give advisory vote to men who are            did he not go for the property of Pella and Oskaloosa?
          given it automatically at the sessions of the Synod by the rules         One of those who accused us. of doing Classis  West in-
          of, Synod, because they are professors in our Theological            justice told us that we did not need to correct this "error"
          School. And the matter being treated was, once again, the            for his sake, but that it would look better for the undersigned
          Declaration  !-                                                      in the day of judgment, if he did. Will he now exercise his
     -          -Were there not a cloud in the sky. Were our churches          own brother-in-law love over Rev. De Wolf (as we sug-
          going through a normal period of ecclesiastical life, such a         gested to him, in a personal letter) .and urge him to confess
          thing would not have happened. And if it had, one would              publicly his most grievous error in that cross `bill ? Let him
          not be- so upset by such shameful treatment. But when our            ask Rev. De Wolf whether he wants to appear before The
          .churches are going through the stress and testing of adopting       Judge of heaven and earth with that cross bill in his hands.
          a matter, which was so widely debated and discussed as the           Let him ask himself whether he wants to appear there with
          Declaration, why should the advice of the professors in the          the Scriptures and our Church Order, which is based upon
          Theological School not be eagerly sought and advisory vote           the Scripture, in one hand and the decisions of Classis  West,
          be given without discussion ? How all this evil work in 1951         September 1953 in the other hand.  -No one yet has produced,
          points to September, 1953 !                                          in answer to our challenge, one authority on Reformed
                And. how all this evil work also puts the lie to Rev. De       Church Polity who will dare to maintain that Reformed
          Wolf's wicked and unchristian cross bill to which he swore           Church Polity allows and prescribes such actions as was
          before God. When such things occur in your denomination,             perpetrated in September, 1953 by those who now falsely
          you hardly call the vi&~ of such evil work a domineering             call themselves the Classis West of the Protestant Reformed
     character, do' you ? Especially when one so evilly treated lets           Churches.
          the matter drop without himself writing one word about it!              Let him write Rev. Kok and ask him whether it will not
          And he is not the source of our information about these things       look better for him to read carefully past Standard Bearer
          either. There were others there who were not personally, nor         editions with the view to doing the Rev. Hoeksema and the
          even by blood or marriage ties involved in this shameful             Rev. Ophoff justice, rather than to see how much he can
          work, who were made sick at heart because they witnessed             confuse .men with deliberate omissions of their writings and
          this shameful treatment. And some still stumble over it that         coupling together of things that these men would never
          after such shameful treatment the Rev. H. Hoeksema walked            couple together in their writings. Let him ask Rev.  Kok
          out of the meeting ! But Rev. De Wolf, before God confess            whether it will not look better for him before The Judge of
          your evil cross bill to be the lie. He did not stay there to         heaven and earth to confess now that he has done them a
          try to domineer any one of those two meetings of  Classis            gross injustice and deceived many of God's children by his
          West in 1951. His attitude even after this shameful treat-           evil practices. Let him read and reread and tell Rev. Kok to
          ment was anything but that of trying to "rule or ruin" as            read and reread the two fine articles, in the October 15 issue
          your oath before GOD states. How can you have peace with             wherein the evil way in which Rev. Kok quotes is exposed!
          God after  you  swore before Him to all this corruption and          Let them note carefully how Rev. Kok deliberately leaves out!
          plain slander?  '                                                    those sentences in the midst of a paragraph because it would
          ' 2 -Or&es  your evil cross bill point back to @zilzis  case when    overthrow his whole argument for which he quotes part'of
          you swore in it before God ?, "That cross defendant Herman           this paragraph. `It  is- hard for us to believe that Rev. Kok
          ,Hoeksema  is unable to control the actions of  Classis  West        would stoop to such low things. But there it is time and
          and that substantially all of the congregations of  Classis  West    again ! What we say and write to him has no positive effect.
          are not in harmony-with him and that he has lost control over        Let those who attacked the undersigned write Rev. Kok and
          Classis  West." But where, then, does your charge of a do-           urge him to reconsider this whole case In His Fear.
          mineering character that will "rule or ruin" fit in ? And you                                                                J.A.H.
          continue in your oath before God, "That for the purpose of
          carrying out the conspiracy to get control of the various                                 Announcement
          properties of the various church congregations and. to dic-             The Eastern League of Men's Societies will hold their
          tate the policies of these churches, the said -Herman  Hoekse-       Membership meeting November  -11, at  8 o'clock in the
          ma` has recently made visits to the locations where the              Hope Protestant Reformed Church. Rev. M.  Schipper will
          churches of  Classis  West are located and there has attempted       speak. Topic : "Earmarks of the True and False Church."
          to create and in some instances has created schisms in said                                                         2 The Board.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R .                           _                            63

 II                                                                  VIEWS CONCERNING THE CHURCH AND THE SACRAMENTS
         . Contending .For The Faith II                                         DURING THE SECOND PERIOD  300-750 A.D.

                                                                                                    T H E   CIIURCH

            The Church and the Sacraments                            ~Extevnnl   gl~owth   charactevisfiic  of  the  Church  duping  this
                                                                     period.
          EARLY VIEWS  ON  THE SACRAMENT OF THE
                                                                         Ha'ving concluded our discussion of the history of  ths
                          LORD'S  SUPPER                             doctrine of tAe Church and the Sacraments during the first
                                                                     three centuries of the Church of God in the New Dispensa-
                           (Continued)                               tion, we now proceed to discuss the history of this doctrine
                                                                     as it. was developed in the second period of the Church,
       We were discussing in our previous  -article  the idea of     during the years; 300-750.
 the sacrament as. entertained by the early Church Fathers               This period, to which we now will call attention, is a .
 during the first three centuries of the Church of God in the        period of tremendous significance for the Church of God. It
 NeTv Dispensation, and we were about to quote from Cyprian          follows upon what is known in Church History as "The
 ~0 show that-this Church Father used the term "sacrament,"          Heroic Age," einbracing  the first three centuries of the New
 with respect to prayer and the Trinity. This quotation now          Dispensation and characterized by several terrible and bloody
 follows from his explanation of the Lord's Pray&: "And in           persecutions of the Church of God and Cause of Christ in
 discharging the duties of prayer, we find that the three chil-      the midst of the world. Many of us are more or less familiar
 dren with Daniel, being strong in faith and victorious in           with this bloody period of the Church of God. Desperately
 captivity, observed the third, sixth, and ninth hours, as it        the devil  attellipted  to destroy the Church of Christ in the,
 were, for.a sacrament of the Trinity, which in the last times       midst of the world, and we are reminded of this trying period
 had to be manifested. For both the first hour in its progress       in a passage such as Rev. 12 :12-17,  -and we quote : "There-
                                                                     fore rejoice, ye heavens; and ye that dwell in them. Woe to
 to the third shows forth the consummated  nunlber  of the           the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!  for the devil is
 Trinity, and  also'the  fourth  proceding  to the sixth declares    come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth
 another Trinity ; and when from the seventh to the ninth. is        that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw
 completed, the perfect Trinity is numbered every three hours,       that he `was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman
 which spaces of -hours the worshippers of God in times past         .which  brought forth the man child. And to the woman were
 having  spir&ally  decided on, made use of for determined           given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into -the
and lawful times for prayer.              And subsequently was       willerness,  into her place, where she is nou'rished  for a time,             '
 manifested, that these things were of old Sacraments, in            and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And
 that anciently righteous men prayed in this manner. For             the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the
 upon the disciples at the third hour the Holy Spirit descknded      woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the
 who fulfilled the &-ace  of the Lord's promise. Moreover, at        flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened  ,'
 the sixth hour, Peter, going up unto the house-top, was in-         her !nouth,  and swallowed LIP the flood which the dragon cast
                                                                     out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the
 structed`as well by the sign as by the word of God admo-            woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her  seed,
 nishing him to receive all of the grace of salvation, whereas       which keep the commandments of God, and have the testi-
 he was previously doubtful of the. receiving of the Gentiles        mony of Jesus Christ."-end of quote. The Roman Empire
 to baptism. And from the sixth hour to the ninth, the Lord,         put  faith countless and relentless efforts to obliterate the
 being  cruciffed, washed away our sins by His blood  ; and          Name of Christ and His Church from under heaven.  A11d
 that He might redeem  and quicken  us,  He then accomplished        the Church of the living God was compelled to hold fast that                  -
 His victory by His passion. But for  us;  beloved brethren,         which it has in order that no man might take its crown. --
 besides the hours of prayer observed of old, both the times         see Rev. 3  :ll. These  persectitions, however,  canie to an end'
 and the sacraments have now increased in number. For we             in the years, 311 and 313. The wicked world had spent and
 must also pray in the morning, that the Lord's resurrection         exhausted itself in its wicked but utterly foolish and vain at-
 may be celebrated by morning prayer."- end of quote. It             tempt to destroy the Cause of the living God. Besides, the
 appears from this quotation  that the early Church Father,          beginning of this  age is highlighted by the. reign of Con-
 Cyprian, used the words: sacrament and mystery, not only            stantine the Great to- whom we will call' attention presently
 with respect to Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but to the           s o m e w h a t -   i n   d e t a i l .
 Triniy, the Lord's Prayer, religion, etc. And this  abplies             This period of the Church, we have already observed, is
 to the other Church Fathers also.                                   a  peridd  of tremendous significance for the Church of the

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

  living God. Having successfully withstood the onslaught of            raising cabbage than he found in ruling -the empire, a con-
  the forces of hell  fl'om  without, the Church  waspow  com-          fession which we may readily believe to be' true (President
  pelled to battle for its life against the attacks of the forces       Lincoln had said once during the Civ,il War that he would
  of evil from within. And this latter type of. warfare is  ful!y       gladly exchange his position, with that df any common soldier
  as difficult for the Church df God as to resist the forces of         in the tented field). Emperor  SGalerius  became ill and suf-
  evil. from without. The period of rest and tranquility which          fered unspeakable torments, reminding us of what the Scrip-
  set in the years, 311-31.3, also gave the enemies of the              tures inform us concerning  Herod in Acts  l-3:21-23.  His
truth an opportunity to operate within the Church and to                body, we are informed; swelled by an intemperate course of
  iundermine  the very foundations of the Church of God. From           life to an unwieldy corpulence, was covered with ulcers and
  32.5 to 451 A.D. several ecumenical (world-wide) church               devoured by innumerable swarms of those insects which have
  councils were held, beginning with what is generally regarded         given their name to a niost lothsome disease. From his sick-
  as the most important of all Church council?, the Council of          bed, which became his deathbed, he issued in the year, 311,
  Nicaea, in the year, 325. It was during this period that the          an edict which granted to the Christians permission to hold
  Church of God experienced the Arian and Semi-Arian con-               their assemblies again. He asked for their prayers in behalf
  troversies . Arius denied the Godhead of the Christ. The              of the e&peror and the Empire. This edict of Galerius was
  Church, hqwever, repudiated this heresy, established the              not a,complete  victory for the Church of God. It was merely
  Scriptural truth of the Trinity, declaring that the  three            a half-hearted toleration. However, it was nevertheless an
  Persons, Father-Son-Holy Spirit, are coeternal and coequal.           involuntary and irresistible concession of the incurable im-
  Later, in 451, the Church declared itself on the union of the         potence and powerlessness of heathenism and of the in-
  two natures in the one Divine Person of the Son. We need              destructible power of Christianity. This must `be a  self-
  not at this  time.call attention to these several controversies in    evident fact. Humanly speaking, what chances of survival
  .detail,  although I am sure that we realize that it is exactly       did the Cause of Christ have when it was launched by the
  during these early centuries of the New Dispensation that             resurrected and glorified Christ in the midst `of the heathen
- the groundwork was laid for the development of the truth              world ? What chance of survival did the Church of God have
throughout the ages.                                                    over against the mighty heathen world-powers of that time?
        The external development of the Church in power and             Indeed, the odds were overwhelmingly and hopelessly against
  glory can never be divorced from the reign of one  of the             the Church of the living God. The powers of darkness had
  most famous of all emperors, Constantine the Great, and from          at their disposal all the power and might and glory of this
  the famous Edict of Milan in the year, 313. Two years prior           piesent  world whereas the Church of the living  God was the
  to this Edict of Milan Emperor Galerius had  &led a halt              picture' of utter helplessness. It is surely true that the wis-
  to the persecutions of the Christians. The years, 303-311,            dom of this world was made folly and the power of .this world.
  hah witnessed what is regarded as the severest and most               weakness by the alone living God. For some three centuries
  diabolical of all persecutions, the persecution under the em-         the powers  of hell had waged relentless persecutions against
  porers, Diocletian and Galerius. The tortures  -which were            the Church and the Cause of Christ. Heathendom had finally
  inflicted upon the Christians during this persecution were so         exhausted its strength and spent its fury. Scripture had once
  gruesome, we are informed, that it is not fit to describe them.       more been vindicated that the gates of hell will not overwhelm
Church buildings were ruthlessly destroyed. Bibles were                 the Church of God. The Church  of God is indestructible be-.
 -burned. These persecutions far surpassed, in the number of            cause it is  the work of God. The powers of darkness can
  Christians who were tortured and martyred in unbelievable             kill the body but not the soul. God's work continuesthrough-
  cruelty, anything the Christians had been compelled to suffer         out the ages. This Edict of 311 was followed, two years later,
  until this time. Indeed, these persecutions were a fanatic and        by an edict issued by. Constantine the Great, and called the
  desperate attempt by the forces of darkness and of hell  t&           Edict of Milan. However, we will call attention to this
  uproot the cause of Christ and Christianity and colepletely           Constantine the Great and his Edict of Milan in a, subse-
  wipe the Church of God from off the face of the earth. An             quent article.
  outstanding Christian who died a martyr's death during these                                                                    H.V.
  persecutions was  Cy&ian  to whom we have referred  ,re-                                         ---Sk+
  peatedly in past articles. Origin also died as the result of
  tortures inflicted upon him during this time. This last great              LORD, HEAR THE RIGHT, REGARD MY CRY
  imperial (under the decree and direction of the emperors)                         Lord, hear the right, regard my cry,
  persecution under Diocletian and Galerius, which was aimed                              My prayer from lips sincere ;
  at the complete uprooting of the new' religion, ended with                        Send Thy approval from on high,
                                                                        I
  the Edict of  TQler&ion  of 311 and the tragical ruin of the                            My righteousness make clear.
  persecutors. Diocletian had withdrawn himself from the                            Thou in the night my heart hast tried,
  throne in 305, and in 313 put an end to this embittered life,                     Nor found it turned from Thee aside.
  by suicide. In his retirement he found more  pleas&-e  in                                                                 Psalm  17:l


                                                         T    H    E         STANDAR'D'BEA.RER                                                65

 II:                                                                                Secondly, the sense and certainty of their election, ac-
               The Voice of Our Fathers                                      II cording to this article, results in the elect adoring the depth
                                                                                 of God's mercies. This stands in close connection with the
                                                                                 fruit of humility. For God's mercy is that divine virtue
                                                                                                                  ..-
 .  .    &     `.          .The Canons of Dordrecht                              according to which He eternally wills to bless His people as
                                                                                `they are in misery. That mercy we  behold in all its depth
                                     PART TWO                                    when we stand before the truth of sovereign predestination.
                                                                                 0, to be sure, that mercy we behold in all the blessings of
                             EXPOSITION OF  THE CANONS                           salvation, in the gift sf God's Son, in His cross, in His resur-
                              FIRST HEAD OF DOCTRINE                             rection, and in all the operations of the Spirit of Christ
                                                                                 whereby the blessings of Christ are applied to us, so that tie           .
                            OF  DIVINE PREDESTINATION                            taste it in our lives. But the one, question which we ponder
                                                                                 in all these manifestations of God's mercy remains :  z&y?
                     ."        Article 13 (continued)                            Why Christ  ?~ Why  the- cross  ? Why forgiveness ? Why
          Our fathers insist here that the sense and certainty of                sanctification ? Why preservation  ? Why glory ? Why for
 this. eternal and unchangeable election results in the very                     me, a poor, miserable, all unworthy, and sinful creature of
 opposite of carnal security and moral laxity. Positively, they' the dust ? That question-presses in upon.the mind and heart
 maintain that it bears fruit, first of all, in that the elect humble            of the child of God with ever &eater insistence according as
 themselves before God. This is indeed worthy of special                        the  cotisciousnes  of his own misery deepens. And there is
 notice. Frequently it is claimed that the Reformed doctrine                    but one answer to that &estion. That answer, the solution,
 df  electioli  is a proud .doctrine,.  that it makes the elect con-             is not to be found in you and  me.. Rightly considered, it is
 ceited, and causes them to assume a haughty and I-am-holier-                    not to be  .found  in Christ and His atoning work: for even
 than-thou attitude towards the reprobate and ungodly, as if                     then the question remains, "Why  Christ ?" The answer is :
 they-  ,have something to boast of themselves that God has                      dad and His eternal and unchangeable and sovereign pur-
 chosen them and not someone else. But we should understand                      pose of election. In other words; -if we may speak of the
 that this is not an objection than can be launched against                      "measure" of God's mercy, -the measure of His mercy is
 the doctrine of  sozlejreign  predestination at all. And when                   eternal and infinite. Before it the child of God can only
 this  char.ge  is brought, it can only be due to the grossest                   stand in awe and be. filled with adoration and inexpressible
 ignorance  of the truth, `or to the evil and malicious con-                     delight. According, therefore,- as the knowledge of our misery
 science of the adversary of this truth, who, in the realization                 deepens, our adoration of the depth of God's mercy, originat-
 that. his .own ,heretical  doctrine is chargeable with this Gery                ing in eternal election and through which alone we a?e saved,
 fault, throws a smokescreen by  levelling  this accusation                      also deepens.
 against the truth. This is a very common phenomenon in the                         In the third place, the fruit of the sense and certainly of      .
 battle  for  ,the truth, &at heretics seek .to  ca!umniate  the                 our election is that the children of God find in it daily more
 truth with the very faults which characterize their own false. reason for purifying themselves, cleansing themselves "from
 doctrine. Here too, the Reformed  tr-+h of election is not a                    all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit." It may safely be
proud doctrine, and does not foster pride in the elect; but                      said that there is no greater reason and incentive for a sancti-
 the Arminian heresy concerning election is a proud .doctrine                    fied life than in the truth of election as it is personally ap-
 essentially, and fosters pr:i&.  ,This lies in the ,er, nature of               propriated by God's children. For do not forget that God
 the case. The truth of a sovereign and free election exactly                    has chosen us for the very purpose that "we should be holy
 exclude2  &l' carnal boasting. It necessarily includes the                      and without blame before him in love." Eph. 1  :4. Such is
  profession of our own unworthiness and sin. ' It necessitates                  the divine purpose of election. And that purpose, of course,
 the confession that God's grace is  sozI&reign, and that God                    cannot be thwarted: God always fulfills His purpose. Nor
  diS not choose us on account of our own works in any sense                     is it an arbitrary matter that God has chosen  us unto holiness.
 of the word. This leads to true smallness before God. It                        For God is the -Holy One in Himself. And it is His eternal
 cuts a man down to size. And what is man's size ? "Behold,                      purpose that His people should be to the praise of the glory
 the nations `are as a drop of a bucket ("of a bucket," not,                     of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the be-
  "in a bucket"), and are counted as the small dust of the                       loved: Eph. 1:5, 6. If then His elect are to be to- the praise
  balance . . . All nations before himkare as nothing ; and they                 of the glory of His grace, then that grace must be and is of
 are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." Isa. 40  :15,                such a nature that it sanctifies, cleanse?, and makes holy its
  17. And true humilty  is the deep and heartfelt realization of                 elect objects. Contemplating that grace,, His elect people, in
 our "nothingness" in relation to the sovereign Lord. To this                    the sense and certainty of  that  election, and election' unto
 humility Arminian doctrine can never lead, because it main-                     holiness), take as their own purpose and striving sanctifica-
 tains that the creature, yea, the sinner, is after all something,               tion, that is, walking in a new and holy life. The holjr purpose
  not  nothring, in relation to God.                                             of the electing God beconies  the purpose and striving of the

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

        elect  people. Principally they can never say, "God's purpose          that election is "the fountain of every saving good ; from
        may be holiness, but we do not care to walk in newness of              which proceed faith, holiness, and the other gifts of salvation,
       .life." `Principally they always say: "How ought we also to             and finally eternal life itself, as its fruits and effects." If,
        walk holily  and to strive for sanctification of life before the       therefore, any individual elect has attained the "sense and
        face of the holy `God that has chosen us."                             certainty of this election," it can only mean that the grace of
        .~~i'In the fourth place, this article mentions as one of the          election has already been realized in him, so that he has
        frkits of the assurance of our election "ardently loving him           received faith, holiness, and the other gifts of salvation. And
        in turn, who has so greatly first loved them." Concerning              by grace contemplating these benefits,  - and then emphatic-
        this we may note, first of all, that "loving God in turn," as          ally only by grace, -he finds daily more material for grow-
        the  %Rnon.s   have it, is certainly not a love that is independent    ing in the infallible fruits of election.
       df God's love to us, so that even in smallest measure the elect            And in the third place, notice  how,  - to sum up the
       `ever  remdnerate  God for  Hi,s love by loving Him in turn.            matter,  - just how "far  .distantf' it is that by this doctrine
        No,  .this r&iprocating  love is never anything else. than the         and its meditation the elect should be rendered. sluggish in
        i-efiection  of and the response to H5s own love toward us as          the -observance of the divine commands, or carnally secure.
        it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit of Christ. Sec-          It is as far distant as east from west, as black from white.
        ondly, we must -remember that these ardent returns of love,               And finally, the fathers emphasize this truth yet more
       .while they first of all find expression in our direct love of and      strongly by claiming that this carnal security and sluggish-
       service of God Himself, necessarily include the manifestation           ness in observing the divine commands, instead of being
`.      of a true love of the brethren and of the neighbor. To love            found in the elect,  are as a rule found in the reprobate, and
        God and not the neighbor is impossible. And the idea here              that too, in a certain class of reprobate, namely, such who
        is that experiencing the love of God, exactly as a first love          rashly presume to be elect and who  idly and wantonly
        and as an ,unspea.kably.gl,ea.t  love, and contemplat%g:that  love     chatter about election, while they are unwilling to walk in
        of God, the elect are incited to respond by their love in Him.         the ways.of the elect. Such people can be found: people who
               :  %ch is the picture of the elect child of God who  has        the grace.of ,election;  pedple  who use a fatalistic falsification
        attained the personal assurance of election.                           know all about election, but who have never spiritually. tasted
       .:       Just a few observations must be made yet in this con-          of the truth of election in order to excuse an ungodly walk.
       nection.                                                                Concerning them the  Canons  stipulate two things : first of
        " `_ `First of all, we must by no means get the impression that        all, we are instructed that such people can always be marked
       `God's elect are perfect or near-perfect in this life. This is          by their walk, because they refuse to walk in the ways of
       not the case. And the elect themselves would be the first to            the elect, that is, in the way of sandtification.  And secondly,
        acknciwlkdge  it. Nor do the Canons leave this impression:             the fathers connect the sin and its visitation when they add:
       for they plainly speak of a certain  #Iogress  in humility, in          "by the just judgment of God." In other words, God visits
        adorafion,  in cleansing, and in love. And where perfection            their sin of rash presumption and wanton trifling and carnal
        is attained, p_rogress is no more possible.                            security upon their own heads, and they are hardened in the
                In the second place, we must remember that what the            very sins in which they walk, and go down to destruction.
        Canons here present is no mere moralistic religion. It is true             But to attribute such phenomena to the divine grace of
        that `the relation as it is here presented is one of "daily draw-      election is nothing short of blasphemy.
        ing more material" for humility, adoration, etc. It is true                                                                       H.C.H.
        that the fathers speak of the "meditation" or "contemplation"                                    -u&--
        of the doctrine of election. But, as is plain from the very
        lash: Sentence of this article, mere meditation and contempla-           THE GOD WHO  SiTS ENTHRONED ON HIGH
        tiori of the truth of election will never lead nor incite one to                    The God who sits enthroned on high
        C&istian virtue. And if thus matters are presented, you                             The foolish in their heart deny ;
        ha+ nothing but the very moralistic philosophy in which all                         Not one does good; corrupt in thought,
        Arminianism must itself  end. The rock-bottom basis of all                          Unrighteous works their hands have wrought.
        that the fathers here teach concerning the fact that the elect                       From heaven the Lord with searching eye
        for a fact draw from the sense and certainty of their election                      Looked down the sons of men to try,
        and'from the contemplation thereof daily more material for                          To see if any understood
        humbling themselves before God,  et cetera,  is nothing less                        And sought for God, the only good.
        than the truth which  the  Heidelbef-g   Cateclziw~   maintains
      ' when this objection is brought against the doctrine of free                          From righteotisness  they  511 depart,
             justification, namely, that a careless and profane Christian                    Corrupt are all, and vile in heart;
        is an impossibility. And why is it impossible ? Because it is                        Yia, every man has evil done ;
      - contrary to the very nattire  of God's grace of election. After                      Not one does good, not even one.
             all,. do not forget that the  Canofzs  have already taught u`s                                                         Psalm 14 :l-3


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      67

                                                                       t'erpreted as referring to the functions  bf the ministerial
             .DECEN CY -and ORDER                                      office; is not intended as an exhaustive list of these duties.
                                                                       Neithei- is it  a cursory list. Dr. Bouman says:  ,,De  opsom-
                                                                       ming  der werkzaamhedeh  in Article 16 is dan ook niet limi-
             The Ministry Of  The Word                                 tatief, alsof het werk des  dienaa`rs  hiertoe  bepeikt  zou zijn,
                                                                       maar praescriptief, bij wijze van voorschrift en voorbeeld."
    "The office of the ministry is to continue in prayer and           `(The summation of the duties in Article 16 is then  noti
in the ministry of the Word, to dispensk the sacraments, to            limatative, as if the work of the minister shall be limited
watch over his brethren, the elders and deacons, as well as            thereto, but prescriptive, by manner of prescription and
the congregation, and finally, with the elders, to exercise            illustration.) The article  simply designates the essential duties
church discipline and to see to it that everything is done             of the minister  from which other labors are logically de-
decently and in good order." -Article 16                               duced.
  -"It is generally agreed that the word "office" in this article              The Thirtieth Article of the Confession does the same
defers  to the functions of `the ministry rather than to the idea      thing when it speaks of  the spiritual policy by which the
of the office as such. Dr. H. Bouwman writes.: ,,Het woord             church of Christ is to be governed. Essential to that policy
ambt komt hier niet voor in de beteekenis, waarin het thans            is it "that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the
gebruikt wordt.  Naar de hedendaagsche opvatting beteekent             Word of God, and to administer the sacraments." (Confes-
ambt : de maatschappelijke  betrekking, die iemand bekleedt,           sion, Art. 30) No one could possibly conclude from this  '
de  openbare   werkkring,  waa_rin  iemand geplaatst is  tenge-        that this is all that ministers are required to do.
volge van eene benoeming  door het openbare  gezag van de                      The Call-Letter used in our churches is more explicit in.
overheid, zoals het  ambt van  burgemeester,   rechter, enz. of        this respect. It states, "The  labours  that we expect of you
ook eene bediening in de kerk .van Christus, wa&toe iemand             i should it please God to send you to us - are : Preaching
van Christus' wege geroepen is. Naar de oude opvatting van             twice on the Lord's Day, attending to catechetical instruction,
het woord beteekent  ambt de  di,enst of de bediening, die             to family visiting and calling on the sick, and furthermore of
iematid heeft te  vervilllen,  het werk, dat hij heeft  te,  ver-      all things that pertain to the work of a faithful and diligent
richten,  de taak of de plicht,  die op hem rust, . . . (pg..485,      servant of the Lord, all these agreeably to the Word of God,
Vol. I) "                                                              as interpreted by our Forms of Unity and the Church Order
   With this  Monsma  and Van  Dellen  substantially agree.            of Dordrecht, as amended by the rules of our churches." Al-
They write : "It should be noted that Article 16 speaks of the         though several duties are mentioned here which are not in-
duty, work or task of the Minister, and not of the office of           cluded in the church order, also this is not intended as a
the ministry as such. The word office as used in our Church            complete list. This is evident from the statement, "and of all
Order sometimes refers to the tifficial,  authoratitive position       things that  -pertain` to the work of a faithful and diligent!
of the office-bearers in the Church of Christ, and sometimes           servant of the Lord;" which is rather general and may in-
to the duties of the office and not to the office itself." (pg. 74)    clude a number of labors which it is even quite impossible  ici
   Nevertheless, we shall not confine our writing to the               attempt to enumerate as they arise in the course of the
functions of the office alone. We consider it proper and               ministry out of local circumstances.
necessary -to write somewhat in detail of the office as well                   Finally, we should .notice that the duties of the minister-
as its functions in this connection. We do so because the              of -the gospel are set forth rather fully in the Form of Ordina-
subject matter itself is very important and may be emphasized          tion. The- Form is too lengthy to quote here so we will take
especially in  oiu- day when the truth concerning the ministry         only a partial excerp from it.
of the Word is no longer regarded and the  church,~fallen  into                ". . . the office -of pastors and ministers of God's word
a state of degradation, gives clear and abundant. evidences of         is :
modernism. Such decadence becomes prominent even in                      - "First, that-they faithfully explain to their flock the Word
nominal Reformed circles where the- ministry is no longer              of the Lord, revealed by the writings of the prophets and the
-governed by the sound principles of the Word of God.                  apostles.. . . .
Profitable it will be,. therefore, to recapitulate some of these               "Secondly, it is the office of the Ministers, publicly to call
principles which govern not only the functions of the office           upon the name of the Lord in behalf of the whole congrega-
but the offiice itself in order that "this holy ordinance of God       tion . . . . which is the same as %ontinue in prayers', Art. 16
may not be violated or slighted and that everyone may esteem           D . K . O . )   >l
the ministers of God's Word, and the elders of the Church,                     "Thirdly, their office is to administer the Sacraments . . . .
very~highly  for their work's sake, and be at peace with them                  "Finally, it is the duty of the Ministers of the Word, to .
without murmuring, strife. or contention, as much as pos-              keep the .chLirch of God in good discipline, and to govern it
sible." (Belgic Confession, Art. 31)                                   in such a manner as the Lord hath ordained . . . ."
   Before writing of these things in  barticular  we  ,should                  From these reierences  it should be evident that among all
also notice that Article 16 of the church order, even if  in-          the various duties connected with the ministerial office, the


68             e                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

foremost or the heart-beat of them all ;S the preaching of the        Timothy is called to, "Meditate upon these things; give thy-
Word of God. This, in the words of T. M. Nichols, makes               self wholly to them  ; that thy profiting may appear to all.
the minister's calling the "noblest 5nd most exalted office to        Take heed unto thyself and  &to the `doctrine, continue in
which man can aspire."                 0  _                           them . . ." The same epistle speaks of the elders who "labor
       In Volume  12, pg. 436 of the, Standard Bearer, Rev.           especially in the word'and doctrine." Characteristic of those
Hoeksema             wrote:                                           who rule in the church, according to Hebrews 13 ~7, is that
       "But the preacher must be minister of the' Word of God."       "they have spoken unto you the Word of God." The preacher,
   -"That makes his calling incomparable, unique,  super-             is one sent to proclaim the gospel of peace and to bring glad
human! He must deny himself, men, the world, the wisdom               tidings of good things. (Romans  10:15)  In I Corinthians
of men, all that is of the world, its conventions, its customs,       9:16  the apostle says, "for  nece%ity is laid upon me, yea,
its self-will, its lie, its deceitfulness; also, its wisdom, gdod-    woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." To'thk Galatians
ness, nobility,  righteausness,  philanthropy, charity, glory,        he writes that. God had separated  hiti from his mother's
ambition, success, power ; its aims and aspirations ; he must         womb and called him by His grace to reveal His Sdn in him,
listen only to the word of God, that impossible Word, which           that he might preach him among  tlie heathen.
no man will hear nor even can will to hear, which is heard,               To these may be added numerous passages. But always it
not at all in the world, but only in the sphere of grace and          is evident that the preaching stands upon the foreground. It
by grace, and which ye men pretend to .hear when they do              is first. Other labors, significant though they are, must be
no? hear it; and having listened to that Word of God, only            considered only in the light of the primary duty - the exalted
listened,  without contradiction, and having filled his soul with     calling to preach the living Word of the living God!
that Word, and only after he is quite sure that his soul is                                 (To be continued)                 G.v.d.B.
filled with nothing but that Word, he must speak ! . ., . ."
       "And all that is mere Man, within him and without, will                              A Parenthesis
oppose him both in hearing and in speaking !"
       "His path is beset with temptations to `corrupt the Word           The other day I came across a few quotations which are
of God', to mix that Word with the word of men, in orde:              of such interest and timeliness that I thought it `worth while
that he may please mere Man  !"                                       to interrupt my current series of writings on the Church
       "Who is sufficient unto these things  ?'                       Order and insert this- parenthetical article. Although  Ifve
       "And  who, that serves in the  ministry  of the  Word  of      frequently been tempted to discuss various pertinent articles
God, does not realize that he is a man of unclean lips ?"             of the Church Order, chosen at random, I have refrained
       f'He. that never feared and trembled at this ministry has      from doing so but just this once I take the liberty to jump
never fully realized the `awful glory' of that calling !"             ahead and discuss with you the comments of Monsma and
   Such is indeed the pivot of the minister's task !                  VanDell& on Article 79 of the D.K.O. These remarks are
       And to this may be added another quotation from A. W.          pertinent to the case of H. De Wolf and the First Church
Pink :                                                                as the reader will soon enough observe.
       "The preacher's task is both the most honourable  &id the          We begin to quote from Page 327 of "The Church Order
same time the most responsible one. He professes to be a              Commentary." Here  the question is raised, "May a  Classis
most solemn of any calling, the most privileged. and at the           Depose Elders and Deacons  ?" This question as such has
servant `of the Lord Jesus Christ,' a messenger sent forth by         nothing to do with the history recently made in our churches
the Most High. To migrepresent His Master, to preach any              as no  Classis  ever attempted deposition of anyone. It has
other gospel than His, to falsify the message which God has           .been.presented  as though CIassis  East initiated discipline but
&ommitted  to his trust, is the sin of sins which. brings clown       this is entirely untrue as has been repeatedly shown in the
upon him the anathema of heaven (Gal. 1  :18) and will be past. But notice what Monsma and Van Dellen  have to say
.visited  with the sorest punishment awaiting any  creatuie.          in reply to the above question. We quote :
Scripture is plain that the heaviest measure of Divine wrath              "Some have contended that a  Classis  may depose Con-
is reserved for unfaithful preachers. (Matt. 23 :14, Jude 131."       sistories. The present authors feel that no major assembly,
       Such is the seriousness of the matter.                         according to Reformed Church polity and the Church Order,
       The implications of this central task. of the `minister we     has the right to depose a minor ~assembly. The deposition of
will consider later. Here we are only to emphasize its im-            a Consistory, for example, by a Classis  or Synod would seem
portant place in thk role of pastoral duty. It can he abundantly      to be a violation of the integrity and of the rights of the
shown.from Scripture that preaching the .Word  is .indeed the         particular Church concerned, whereas the Church Order  m '
foremost of the minister's duties. In his letter to the Corin-        more than one article seeks to safeguard this integrity and
thians Paul writes : "Now then we are ambassadors for (Iin            these rights. (Cf. Art. `30, 84). Moreover, Reformed Church
behalf of). Christ." Titus, he exhorts, to "holcl fast the faith-     govermnent  does not tolkrate group-disciplining. Discipline,
ful word as he hath been taught, that he miy be able by soimd         according to our Reformed conception, is always individual
doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."              and never communal." (pg. 327)


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                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   69
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    It is to be' noticed here that although Monsma and Van                rights, he makes himself liable to discipline a.s an individual
Dellen  beldng to the Christian Reformed Church, this is not              m e m b e r .
the accepted view of that church. Monsma and Van Dellen                      `fIf onk or more deposed Consistory members, together
express here the view of Dr. Van Lonkhuyzen which is a                    with certain adherents belonging to the church concerned, re-
condemnation of the actions of the Christian Reformed                     fuse to honor thk acts of, depositibn and the election of new
Church in 1924.' This polity  we also maintained and defended             office-bearers, and when these poreover begin to hold sep-
overagainst  the hierarchy of the Synod of `24.                           arate meetings for worship,Clas.sis  slioztld declare these ~mew
    Now the defenders of this polity write further on page                bevs  to  be a  schimatic   group,  o,&side  of the Christian  Re-
323 as follows. Please note that all italics in the following             fol,?lJi,.ed   deno&nation  and  having forfeited all rights -and
excerp are mine and brief comment by the undersigned ap-                  pkdeges."   (pp. 328)
pear in parenthesis. We quote:                                               -Thus far the quotation.
    "If the case of an Elder or Deacon is brought to Cl&is                   Isn't it obvious that this is exactly what Classis  East did
by way of appeal on the part of individual members of the                 in its sessions in October 1953 with the exception that the
Church,  or  on  the part of one  or more  consistory   ytzemltlT;evs,    words "Christian Reformed denomination" in the above quo-
the appellants feeling and claiming that the Consistory as a              tation in this case become "Protestant Reformed Denomina-
whole is negligent or in error, then what is the correct pro-             tion?" Isn't'it also self-evident that the same Classis  had no
cedure? (Such was exactly the case  befoie   Classis  East in             other alternative than. to rule as it did with respect to the
May, 1953.) Then  Classis  deliberates and  draws its con-                cases of  Kok, Blankespoor and Knott, who continued to
clusions. If the decision is to the  effect  that  the Elder(s) or        recognize and support the  schismatics in spite of  Classis'
Deacon(s)  slzo~~~l~  be suspended  OY  deposid,   the Consistory- decisions ? Ovr readers can readily understand in the light
concerned is informed regarding this decision and proceeds of factual history that those who have left LIS have trampled
to  esecute  the judgment rendered. Again,  Classis   hai a  fuZl under foot all order and decency, all Reformed Church rule,
I-ight,  to appoint a  co.G~mittee  to  help the  Consistoi-y  in the     and wantonly have chosen to walk in the. way of Independen-
executidn  of  its task.  <My italics here express that the sup-          tism, pure and simple. Our church political differences are
position of Monsma atip Van Dellen  is the reality of Classis             not so much a difference of interpreting Reformed Church
East's decisions.) If&onsistory feels'that it cannot in good              -polity but it becomes more and more evident that our dif-
conscience accept the  .&dvice, it may appeal to Synod. If .ferepce is that of the Reformed and the Congregationalistid
Synod sustains the  Classis  the Consistory should give imme-             conceptions.
diate execution to the judgment of  Classis.  That is to say,
the  Consistory should suspend or depose the office-bearer in                And, finally, we should add that throughout this history
question. Failure to, do so would bear dire consequences.                 thk  Classis  never denied the opposition the right of exis-
For in such a case `those Consistory members and individual               tence. If their consciences  (  7 7) forbade them to be Prot-
members of the Church concerned who desire to adhere to                   estant Reformed. and to submit to the doctrines atid polity
the decisions of Classis  and Synod should meet and de&&                  of the Protestant Reformed Churches, the way is open for
the deflecting or rqcalcitrant  Consistory members to be outr             them to either affiliate with others with whom they have
of office, a.nd new Elders and Deacons should be elected in               much in common or  .to establish themselves as separate
their place forthwith. An  extraordinapy  congregational meet-            churches but they must then do so honestly and not attempt
ing of this kind should be called under the guidance of clas- to rob the Protestant Reformed Churches of name and pos-
sical delegates, or of a neighboring Consistory, preferably               sessions. In this they sin against the holy commandment of
the former, to give assurance that all things will be done in.            God Who judges righteously without respect of persons.
good order."                                                                 But then, on the other hand, can it ever be expected that
    Thus far the quotation.                                               those-addicted to heresies deal honestly  ?
    Now it ought to be noticed that where Mbnsma.and  Van                                                                         G . v . d . B .
Dellen  speak of making an appeal to Synod, this did not                                             -T
occur-in the case of De Wolf because the latter refused to                     0 LORD, OUR LORD, IN ALL THE EARTH
walk in the way of submission .and appeal. De Wolf and his
supporters claim to  6e the Consistory of the First  C'hurch.                              0 Lqrd, our Lord, in all the earth
Even if it would be granted that this is the case, zvhich                                   How excellent Thy Name!
                                                                 it.by           s
no  9jtean.s  is, their conduct is contrary to all order because                            Thy glory Thou hast spread afar
they attempt to lord it over the  Classis  and refused the                                  In all .the starry frame.
orderly way of appeal.                                                                      From lips of children, Thou, 0 Lord,
    Concerning this  M6nsma and Van  Dellen  also write as                                  Hast mighty strength ordained,
follows :                                                                                   That adversaries should be stilled
    "If any Consistory  r&mber  thus deposed refuses to                                     And vengeful foes restrained.
acknowledge his deposition and seeks to exercise his former                                                                      Psalm  S:l, 2


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     7 0 .                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   - -   -

                                                                             IiY,ztifiey  Criticizes De  -Tong's Book
     II '           AiL  A.ROUND US                                    II        The Banner of October 15th presents a book review by
                                                                             the Rev. Herman Kuiper on the recent volume produced by
                                                                             the Rev. A. C. De Jong, entitled: The Well-Meant Gospel
     Reformed  or  Am&zian  ?                                                Offer-The Views of H. Hoeksema and K. Schilder. We
                                                                             have not as yet had time to peruse the book and, therefore,'
             "G,ereformeerd  of  Arminiaans   ?" i. e., Reformed or  Ar-     are not in a position to tell whether Kuiper's review is to
     ininian? that is the question which the Rev. Idzerd Van Del-            the point or not. We do have, however, a few things to say
     len placed at the head of his department in De Wachter of               about what Kuiper writes; and the manner in which he crit:
     October 19th. It is a question to which the Reverend, in our            icizes the writing of De Jong.
     opinion, could have given a definite answer but did not. True,             Dr.`Kuiper begins by saying that the book is "an earnest
     his article left the impression that .he knew where-he stood            defense of the position taken by the Christian Reformed
     as to being Reformed or Arminian, but he closes his article             Synod of 1924 when it declared that God manifests a favor-
     with almost the same question with which he began, and                  able attitude towards mankind in general in that he in the
     therefore left the matter hanging in the air as far as his              gospel makes .a well-meant offer of salvation to both the
     readers were concerned.                                                 elect and the reprobate."
             Rev. Van  Dellen  in his own characteristic manner tells          ' Further, he states that "the major position of this book
                                                                             is devoted to setting forth and refuting the views of H.
     of a meeting he attended in the Civic Auditorium in Hol-                Hoeksema, who denies that God -ever shows favor to the
     "land, Michigan, which was sponsored by the Youth for                   non-elect and that God offers salvation to men who ulti-
     Christ organization in that city. Tliie purpose of the meeting;         mately perish. The  .author succeeds admirably in showing
     in which some 2000 people were gathered, was to show a                  that Hoeksema's extreme supralapsarianism and his ardent
     film portraying Billy Graham and the London Crusade. The ldesire  for a logical system, which leaves no room for appar-
     Reverend does not reflect on the picture he saw, but on the `Ient contradictions,  *betray him into adopting conclusions
     atmosphere he was in while he attended the meeting. More                which run counter to the clear teaching of Scripture and the
     particularly he calls attention to the literature the sponsoring . tenets of Reformed theology. Cogent indeed are the proofs
     organization passed out, and still more  harticularly  to the J offered to indicate that Hoeksema, in his efforts to bolster
     chairman of the meeting of whom he wrote, and I translate` his position, time and again resorts to exegesis which vio-
i    freely : "He spoke much and particularly for the needs of the           lently contorts various Scripture passages. In this connec-
     Youth for Christ movement. It appeared that he with a                   tion it is especially worthy of note how our author `proves
     friend, who was introduced by him, had purchased for. this              from Scripture the untenable character of Hoeksema's claim
     movement a vacated Episcopal Church. The benches were                   that God's covenant promise is addressed exclusively to the
     taken out of the church, and -now they needed chairs, be-               elect children of believing parents."
     sides a piano and utensils for the kitchen. He asked his                _ Kuiper also notes that De  J&g  has found  a. "marked
     audience to pray and give for this undertaking. Also he en-             harmony between K. Schilder and H. Hoeksema in that both
     joined them respecting the collection `which was to be taken            deny on speculative, extra-biblical grounds that God is favor-
     to. defray expenses, and he asked them to fill envelopes                ably inclined towards reprobate sinners." And he also notes
     which were to be handed out at the close of the meeting in              that-De Jong believes that Hoeksema is "more consistent in
     behalf of the Billy Graham campaign. He laid considerable               maintaining this position without any reservations."  Schil-
     stress on making a definite choice for Christ. Those who                der evidently contradicts himself when "he also stoutly
     were thereto prepared should raise their hands. At the end              maintains that the covenant promise is a conditional promise
     of the meeting they were expected to come into a room be-               of salvation for all the children of believers." According to
     hind the auditorium, where he with others would talk with               Kuiper, De Jong agrees with Schilder on this last point, but
     them. In his talk he used Arminian phraseology. He said                 he argues against him and Hoeksema on'the matter of a de-
     with emphasis that it depended on their will, and argued that           nial of God's favorable attitude towards the reprobate.
     they must bend their will. Can we as Reformed people go                  Then Kuiper takes De Jong to task for not always ad-
     along with the Youth for Christ movement and the Billy Gra-             hering to- what he calls "the excellent rule" which both he.
     ham Campaign, which are both so Arminianistically colored ?"            and De Jong claim was the example of Calvin, namely, to
             Come, come, Reverend, we don't ask  such  questions             "accept in faith the teachings of  Scrihture  `even though these
     when we are Reformed people, do we ? Rather, we say                     teachings involve apparent contradictions." He even regards
     boldly what ,is wrong with these movements, showing forth               the views of De Jong in some instances as departing. "from
     their corruption, and positively declaring that Israel's safety         the traditional Reformed teaching as set forth by such emi-
     lies in her dwelling alone. Surely, it is not a question to be          nent scholars as Calvin, Bavinck, and  Warheld."  Writes
     left hanging in the air whether the Reformed may go along               Kuiper, "Of course, we agree wholeheartedly with the author
     with the Arminian. It is decided.                                       when he combats the idea that the two parts of predestination


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              71
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are co-ordinate. God does not find the same pleasure in the          predestination, try to make the relation between the decree of
destruction of the reprobate that he finds in the salvation of       reprobation and the sincerity of God's offer of salvation to
the elect. And neither does God blind and harden the re-             the non-elect intellectually perspicuous. He could have an-
probate with the same kind of direct action that he employs          swered conclusively Hoeksema's and Schilder's denial of a
in enabling the elect to, believe savingly. Of course, God is        favorable attitude of God by giving a proper exegesis of
not the author of sin and neither does he force anybody to           such texts as Isaiah 55 :l-6; Ezekiel-18:23;  33 :ll ; Matthew
sin against his will. The sinner who disbelieves and dis-            1128  ; 23 :37; and 2 Peter 3 :9 as well as of I Timothy 2 :4.
obeys acts as a free agent. He is fully responsible for his          Instead of doing this, he has presented various considerations
wrongdoing and- is to be accounted guilty and deserving-of           which seem to alleviate the sharp contradiction between the
punishment. And in man's final condemnation God surely               teaching of Scripture on God's decree of reprobation and on
takes his sininto- account. Nevertheless it is the commonly          the well-meant gospel offer.
accepted Reformed teaching that both preterition and election           "Calvin followed a different'method.  Instead of trying to          .
find their last cause in God's sovereign good pleasure. The          reconcile these truths, Calvin declared that it is impossible
foreseen faith and obedience of the elect were not the ground        for man to explain how these truths find their. unity in the
of their election. And neither was the foreseen sin of fallen        mind of God. According to Calvin our eyes are blinded by
humanity the ultimate ground why God decided to pass some            intense light, when we seek to understand the will of God so
men by with his saving grace. It has seemed good to God,             that we cannot with certainty say how God wishes all men to
whose ways are past tracing out, to permit sin with an effi-         be saved and yet has devoted-all the reprobate to everlasting
cacious permission: His providential rule covers in a way            perdition and wishes them to perish. Since the days of&&in
that we cannot understand the evil as well as the good . . . .       no theologian has improved upon this statement. The keenest
So it does seem hazardous to claim that a sinner does not            mind must bow humbly before the absolute authority of God's
reject God's offer of salvation because he was reprobated, but       Word and accept without gainsaying the paradoxes inherent
that he is a reprobate because he does not want to believe."         in the teaching of Scripture."
     This last &riper claims De Jong teaches in his book. He            It would be unfair of me to criticize the book of the Rev.
quotes instances in the book where De Jong makes state:              De Jong without first having read it. Hence it would also be
ments like these : "The rejection of the covenant promise by         unfair for me to agree with the criticism Dr. Kuipers  offers
some covenant members is fully, completely caused by their           on it, though I have a suspicion that Kuiper gives a correct
wicked unbelief." "Those who persistently reject do so be-           criticism when he says that De Jong departs from the "tradi-
cause they want to reject and not because they were passed           tional Reformed teaching as set forth by such eminent schol-
by and left by God in their sinful misery. The decree of             ars as Calvin, etc." He would not `dare to cite the quotations
preterition is not the cause of unbelief and impiety." "It is        he did were they not literally found in the book, unless he       -
a serious inaccuracy to say that God offers salvation to sin-        quotes like another preacher I know who has been severely
ners who are already elect and reprobate since God in gospel         criticized for his unethical quotings in Concordia. It is dif-
preaching confronts sinners who are en route to their eternal        ficult to believe that  &riper would do this. But be that as
destinies." "No one disbelieves because he is a reprobate.           it may, I refrain from commenting on De Jong's departure
He is a reprobate because he. does not want to believe."             from the traditional and only make a remark or two about
Kuiper says these statements "can hardly be squared with his         Kuiper's criticism.
teaching that God  .sovereignly  and unfailingly effectuates his        In the first place, we notice that Kuiper does not like
world plan in the course of history." And again, Kuiper says         De Jong's method of-treating Hoeksema's -doctrine re the
in connection with the statement, `that a sinner does not re-        preaching of the gospel and its intention. He apparently does
ject God's offer of salvation because he was reprobated, buti        not like to have Hoeksema's presentation investigated.
that he. is a reprobate because he does not want to believe,' Rather he would simply ignore it by quoting a few texts of
"This seems to make God's decree dependent on man's re-              Scripture, and then, instead of exegeting the passages him-
sponse in contradiction of the Bible teaching on God's ab-           self, he scolds De Jong for not exegeting them, which texts
solute sovereignty."                                                 he claims if properly exegeted should suffice to throw over-
     Iiuiper  then inserts in his article two paragraphs which       board all that Hoekesma has written to sustain his views.
will be interesting to our readers and which I will qoute in         But Kuiper is a Doctor, and when one-gets a title he probably
full.                                                                doesn't need to do any exegeting for the reading public. He
         "On set purpose -we refrain from L discussing. De Jong's    needs only to quote a few texts and all is plain, because the
teaching on mediate regeneration and on the character of the
covenant promise as being both conditional .and unconditi-           Doctor said so. This doesn't sink in with me, Doctor.
.onal. We only wish to add that the author has made his                 In the second.place, there is another thought Kuiper ex-
task overly difficult  by,fdllowin g the example of some Euro-       presses in criticism of De Jong's book that I do not like.
pean theologians who, in- seeking to meet the objections of          He has the privilege, of course, of lying down by Calvin
Barth. and Brunner to the traditional Reformed view of               and other eminent Reformed theologians and resting  im-

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

.  plicitly on what they said. But I deny him the right to say                I LOVE THE LORD; HIS STRENGTH IS MINE
 that either De Jong or any other theologian ought to do the
 same. Especially is this true with respect to the matter                             I Love the Lord, His strength is mine ;.
 Kuiper is talking about. He claims ,that there are irreconcil;                         He is my God, I trust His grace ;
 able paradoxes. apparent contradictions in Scripture which                           My fortress high, my shield divine,
 Calvin and others believed we should leave alone or rather                             My Savior and my hiding place.
 accept without investigating. One of these paradoxes is that
 God reprobates sovereignly on the one hand,  .while  at the                          My prayer `to God shall still be raised
 same time he offers sincerely salvation to the reprobate in                            When troubles thick around me close ;
 the preaching of the' gospel on the other. Kuiper  accep$                            The Lord, most worthy to be praised,
 both, though in his own mind they are plain contradictions.                            Will rescue me from all my foes.
 But when one is a Doctor perhaps his mind is broader and
 bigger to enable him to carry contradictions in it. I am not                         When floods of evil raging near,
 ,a doctor, and perhaps my mind is too small to comprehend                              Down nigh to death my soul was brought,
 contradictions. At any rate, I would rather be accused of
 being too logical, than too foolish for words.                                       I cried to God in all my fear;
          .                                                         M.S,               ~-He- heard and great deliverance wrought.
 R                                                                      n
                  CONTRIBUTIONS                                                       He came : the earth's foundations quake,
                                                                                        The hills are shaken from their place.
 Esteemed Editor :                                                                    Thick smoke .and fire devouring break
       Since, quotations seem to be in vogue and since the fol-                         In anger dread before His face.                       -.
 lowing quote is so applicable to our present church struggle                         Descending through the bending skies,
 and the "shenanigans" (which? without consulting my                                    With gloom and darkness under, Him,
 Roget's, is the most charitable word I can think of at the                           Forth through the,storm Jehovah flies              '
moment), allow me to quote a portion of something written                               As on the wings of cherubim.
 many years ago and which may be found in the back of our
 Psalters in the "Conclusion" at the end of our Canons:                          Thick darkness hides Him from the view,
       "Wherefore, this Synod of Dort, in the name of the Lord,                         And swelling `clouds His presence veil,
 conjures as many as piously call upon the name of  our-                              Until His glorious light breaks through
 Savior Jesus Christ, to judge of the faith  -of the Reformed                           In lightning flash and glistening hail.
 Churches, not ,from  the calumnies, which, on every side, are
 heaped upon it; nor -from the private expressions of a few                           Jehovah's thunders fill the heaven,
 among ancient and modern teachers, often dishonestly quoted,                          -The dreadful voice of God Most High;
 or corrupted, and wrested to a meaning quite foreign to their                        With shafts of light the clouds are riven,
 intention ; but from the public confessions of the Churches                            His foes, dismayed, in terror fly.
 themselves, and-from the declaration of the orthodox doctrine,                       The raging torrents overflow,
 confirmed by the unanimous consent of all and each of the
 members of the whole Synod. Moreover, the Synod warns                                  And sweep the world's foundations bare,
 calumniators themselves, to consider `the terrible judgment of                       Because Thy blasts of anger blow,
 God which awaits them, for bearing false witness against the                           b Lord of earth and sea and air.
 confessions of so many Churches, for distressing the con-                            He took me from the whelming waves
 sciences of the weak ; and for laboring to render suspected
 the society of the truly faithful."                                                    Of bitter hate. and sore distress ;
       And, that, in my humble opinion is as up to date as' you                       The Lord, my stay and Helper, saves,
 could want it. And it grieves us when we read the indisput-                            Though mighty foes around me press.
 able testimony that exactly those things have been done, And,
 those who are guilty of such things must not think it strange                        From direful straits He set me free,          '
 that they are not welcome at my home either officially or                              He saved the man of His delight;
 otherwise.                                                  r                        For good the Lord rewarded me,
                           .   F r a t e r n a l l y                             .      -Because I kept His ways aright.
                                                _  G e o r g e   TenElshof                                                           Psalin 18


