   VOLUME   XXX1                             JANUARY   1,  1955-GRAND   RAPIDS,   MICHIGAN                              NIJIIBER   7


                                                                      temple of  .God, proclaiming to all that he is God and that
          M E  .D I T A T I  ??-%---I there is no other God beside Him. That is ugly, my brother.
                                                                                                     I
                       A  N&w Creature                                    When you take the word "new" upon your lips,  .you
            "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new           ought to be very careful, for it partakes of the miraculous.
            creature : old things are passed away; behold, all            There really should never have-been any mention of
            things are become new."                  II Cor.  5:17    "new" in. this sorry earth.
   Yet a little while (I write this, of course, in December)              At first,, things were beautiful, but they were not .new.
and a Word of God will be fulfilled again, as it has countless        That is, if you have accepted the style'of the Bible. "New"
times. I have reference to the Wqrd  of God in Genesis 1 :14,         in the Bible means the new heaven and the new earth. It
"And Sod said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the            means the  new Mecliator,  Jesus  Chi-ist. He is new and
heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be              what He brings us is new. It means the life of  God's  COV-
for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."                 enant. It means the concept of the knowledge of God, and
   That Word of God went into effect every time the year              then > knowledge which shines away and abbve the know-
ended and another year rolled around.                                 ledge of God such as Adam knew.
   And so it will be in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred             No, there should never have been any mention of "new"
and fifty four.                                                       since we fell to the devil `and made common cause with him.
   At the time you read this it will have taken place already.        If God would deal with us according to our deserts, we would
   We are entertained(  ?) sometimes with cartoons that are           be old and become older unto all eternity. And I have
supposed to be funny. Then we see a very, very old man                reference to the oldness of hell and damnation. There things
who is supposed to be the .old year, and a very little baby           will be older and become increasingly older.
which is supposed to be the new year.                                     But of the life of God's Covenant it is said that their life
   That is nonsense, of course.                                       is renewed as the eagle's.
   There is  nbthing`new  in the new year. Things  80 on as               No, we have not deserved to be made anew.
usual. And if we accept the style of the Word of God, things              But such is the' miraculous of the love of God.
are older, that is, uglier, more wicked in 1955 than they
were in 1954. Confer Rev. 21 :l-5, in connection with the
text I wrote above these lines. The old things of II Cor.                 Therefore, if any man be in Christ!
5  :17, are the samg. things alluded to in Rev. 21, and called            I tremble when I write that line. Suppose I were not in.
there  $o~~~z~ET  things. They are the things of tears, death.        Christ! Then I would be old and could look forward to old
sorrow, crying and pain.                                              age that would never stop. I would consume away as the
   But in our world of today the things do not become new :           moth. And of my unrest there would be no end.-                      _-
they become older, deader, more painful, pregnant with                    But God remembered His Covenant.
sorrow and sighing.         '                                             In that Covenant He chose me. He  forekniw  me in  the
   Also attend to this: the old things of 1954 will return            foreknowledge of His l&e, and predestinated me to be like
with faster tempd  in 1955, for we are approaching the end.           unto the image of His Son. He  includkd me. There is music
The tempo is stepped up by Almighty God. From one                     in that `inclusion." There  is a -hymn, and I know that the
fourth,  to one third to a total degradation, dissolution, death.     poet meant it different than I do when I would sing his
   Thitigs,  the old things, develop faster. and faster, and the      song:  Wheti the Lord said: "Whosoever  !" He included
end will be so ugly and-horrible, that man shall sit in the           me!

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

        When God  sa'id:  "Whosoever  !" He had in mind the             enmity against God. There dwelled the monster that is the
 believers, the unspeakably happy people who have faith                 natural man. There in the depth of my heart I hated  Gocl
 conferred on them. For the most rabid methodist must ad-               and everything that smelled of Gocl. There I hated all good-
 mit that faith is a matter of the gift of God. And God gives           ness and virtue. There was very old. I  recpgnize  all the
 faith only to those that are the foreknown from before the             evil of all the ages and of all the. fathers and mothers that
 foundation of the world: You can do nothing to that. You               were before me.
 receive faith and become new, or you do not receive faith                  Then God came through Jesus Christ.
 and you  stay old and get to be older unto all eternity, in                And He killed that old sinner in me principally. Note
! the old age of damnation.                                             that last word. In  pGnci/de  I died. And I can prove it.
        Therefore, if any man be in Christ!                             And you can prove it to yourself. There in the depth of my
        Do you not tremble when reading those words ?                   heart I hate sin today. And there I love all that is Divine
    You should. For only God's people are in Christ. They               and good.
 were given to Him, and according to the Father He was                      I can prove that old things are passed away, for I long'
 responsible for them and for them only. And He took that               for God and love the brethren.
 responsibility upon Him when coming in the world  (and                     I can prove it, for I hate my own sin the most of all. I
 before that) and quit  Himselfi  of that responsibility, and           hate my life that is still sinful.
 you, all know that. He came and-suffered and died on the                   In principle I died unto sin? but sin did not die unto me.
 accursed tree. The Old Age of Christ ! The horrors ,of Jesus           There are the movements of sin left in me, so that I produce
 Chri&  `His terrible hell and damnation because of all the             some very  bigly  things, things that make me shudder and
 ugliness, filth and crookedness of the elect which were upon           weep unto God; 0 God, be merciful to me, the sinner! But
 i3im and which were visited upon His poor head. And He                 it all proves that I died principally. It is my victory over
 bore and suffered and died so that all this ugliness might be          sin that I hate it. It  is my victory  over sin and the devil
 swallowed up in victory. And He did more than that, for He             that I love God and the angels.
 earned, merited for the elect the newness of the life of God's             And God deals with me in Christ. And Christ paid for
 Covenant.                                                              my sins. And Christ has promised me that He shall thor-
    And if we are not included in the number of God's elect,            oughly cleanse me, a fact that is very necessary  fbr I am
 we die in our sins. And grow older, and older, and uglier as           very sinful. But I believe His promise.
 the ages roll by, the endless ages of an eternity in hell.                 Old things are -passed away.
        Should we not tremble ? ,,
    I think of a song that comes to me from  ,,the past:                    Behold !
 ,, Juicht, vromen ! om uw lot !" Ask someone to translate it            _ It must be rather  eviderit,  because the Holy Ghost says
 for you.                                                               at this juncture: just open your eyes ! Behold! It is right
                                                                        before you.. You can&  escape seeing it !
                                                                            Behold! all things are become new!
    How wonderful it is to be in Christ!                                    Nineteen hundred fifty-four was new. But nineteen hun-
    Then' every morning when you awake you are newer                    dred fifty-five will be newer.
 than the day before. Things, the new things of Jesus Christ                Everything. in  the  wh,ole universe is new with respect
 are continually. added unto you. At the moment of your                 to. me.
 regeneration He made you a new creature. And the very                     All things are my friends and they all unify to help me
 next day you became newer. At the inception of the new                 on my path to heaven and heaven's God.
 life you became the possessor of the new life in Christ. But              The devil and the host of hell cannot harm me, for Gocl
 the next day things were added. No matter what happened                said, He suffered no man to do them wrong.
 on that second day, it worked together for your good. Atid                Proof ?
 that goes on from day to day and from year to year. Your                  The seemingly darkest hour of the world's history was
 days are renewed, and your years are growing more glorious             when the Chief Elect Jesus Christ hung in darkness on Cal-
 as you progress to heaven. Is there not a hymn that sings :            vary's cross. And the devils exulted.
 One step nearer Home today then I have been before ? Oh                   But it was .really the most beautiful hour mankind ever
yes, that's trui. Today' I am nearer the sight of the  ' new.           sa.ti. The whole church triumphant will look upon that Cal-
heaven and the new earth, the perfection of all  thiqgs.                vary unto all etergity  :. the little Lamb standing as if slain
    All things were old in  tiy former estate,' and as I am             in the midst of the throne.
yet by nature. Old for they are, and were ugly.                            There at Calvary the foundation of the new heavens
    But the old things are passed away.                                 and the new earth was laid. And that foundation is the
    What does that mean ?                                               precious blood bf my Jesus.
    That means this: in my deepest heart there dwelled the                 I do not have to fear man, devil or anything- on the way


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   `_                                                                                              147

to heaven, for Jesus said to my new heart: All things work
together for your good, my child!                                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
    And .who am I to doubt His word ?                                              Semi-monthly,  excejt   <monthly   &wing  July  and  Augwt
    Yes, I may have to groan in 1955. I may have to suffer                        Published by ib REFomm  FREE  PUBLISHING A~SOCL~TION
very much. But it all will be for my eternal welfare. Where               P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
did I read : "avert all evil or turn it to our profit" ?                                          Editor  -  Rxv.  HERMAN  HOEKSEMA
    -And  so we enter 1955.                                               Communications r&t.ive  to contents shoujd  be addressedto  Rev.
    Do not fear, my brother.                                              H. Hoeksema, 1139  Frankllin  St., S.  E.,`Grand  Rapids 7,  Mich.
    All things  are. become new, And, according to `God, they             Ail  maw relative to  subsoriptions  should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                          G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E.,  Giiand  Rapids 7, Michigan.
will become newer. You will  io to the new Jerusalem, a                   Announcements and  O:bitu&ie.s   I&&   `be  ma&d  td the  above
new country, with a new song.                                             address  amd till  $e published at a fee  of'$l.OQ for each notice.
     Sing a new song to Jehovah for, the wonders He has                   RENEWALS:   Unl&ss  a  d&n&e request for discontinuance is re-
                                                                          ceived, it i's ,assumed  that the sibscriber  wishes the subscription
wrought !                                                                 to continue without the formality of a renewal order;
    Treasure that new heart and that new spirit within you!                                         Subscriptian price: $4.00  ~.year
    And worship God through Jesus, the new Mediator.G. V.                   Entered as Second. Clam matter at  (2%anKR@Gds,  Michigan


                      B o u n d   V o l u m e s
    Have party who wishes to purchase complete bound set                                                     C O N T E N T S
of the Standard Bearer. Anyone wishing to sell same please            MEDITATION  -
contact Henry Veldhouse.                                                          "A New Creature". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
                                                                                        Rev. G. Vos

                         IN.MEMORIAM                                  EDITORIALS  -
    The Men's  Society  of the South Holland Protestant Church                    "Independentism"              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
hereby expresses its sincere sympathy to two of its members,                      Hand-Sihaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
John-Haak, Jr. and Barney Haak, in the loss of their sister-in-law                The Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..15 0
                         CARRIE  HAAK                                                   Rev. H. Hoeksema

age 42.  May the God of all  gra,ce sustain and comfort them in
their sorrow.                                                         THE  DAY   OF' SHAWWS-
                                     Wm. Tepstra,  Presideht
                                     G. A. Van  Baren, Secretary                  Exposition of I&h..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
                                                                                        Rev.  G. M. Ophoff

                         IN MEMORIAM                                  IN HIS  Fm-
   The Men's Society of South Holland Protestant Church here-                     "The Gate is Open". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !. . . . . . . . . . . . .159
by expresses its sincere sympathy to two of its members, Michael                                                                                 ,
Van  Baren and John Van  Baren, in the sudden death of Father                           Rev. J. A. Heys
and Brother
                     F R A N K   V A N   BAREN                        CONTENDING  FOR  THE  FAITH -
age 58. May the God of  grace' who performs all things accord-                    The Church and the Sacraments..........................161
ing to his own good pleasure but also in unchanging love to his                         Rev. H.  Veldman
people comfort and sustain them in their sorrow.
                                     Wm. Tepstra,  Prksident          OUR I~X*IEUIATE  Mrss~or;  FIELD.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I63
                                     G. A. Van  Baren, Secretary
                                                                             I          Rev. C.  Hank0

                        IN' MEMORIAM                                  DECENCY   AND   ORDER-
   The Ladies Society of the Protestant Reformed Church of                        "Comforting the Sick". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
South Holland, Illinois hereby wishes to express sympathy to
our fellow members, Mrs. Frank Van  Baren, his wife, .and  Mr's.                        Rev.  ,G.  Van&n  Berg
Michael  van  Baren and to our President Mr. John Van  Baren
in  the, loss of                                                      ALL AROUND Us-                                                   -
                     F R A N K   V A N   BAREN                                    `What Really Happened In Our Churches". . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
   &fay the Lord comfort the bereaved  with the assurance in                            Rev. M.  Schipper   -
their hearts that the Lord has taken him to His eternal Home.
                           Mr. P. A. Poortinga, Vice-President
                           Mrs. J. Van  Baren, Secretary

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

                                                                           "I mean now just with reference to its government.
              E D I T O R I A L S
              ."     _~...           : . .                                Yes, well, I would say, I will illustrate it by saying that
                                                                       the congregational form of government reminds of the form
                                                                       of the confederacy of our thirteen original colonies. The
                              Independentism                           presbyterian form of government reminds of the way our
       It is rather  strikiTg.that the attorney for the opposition     present federal republic is constituted.
`in`Superio$!  Court `attempted to show that the church govern-            "Well, .isn't this true that in the congregational form of
me& of the Protestant Reformed Churches, under the                     government the real authority rests in the congregation it-
Church Order, was more or less congregational and  inde-               self; its real governing body is the congregation ?.
pendtmistic  (as `the court `records will, undoubtedly, show)  ;          "Yes, sir.
En 1924, he knew very well that the Christian Reformed                    "And in the presbyterian form of government it is rep-
Church, under the.' same Church Order, adhered to the                  resentative  ? .
Presbyterian form of church government.                                   "Yes, sir.
       In proof of-:this;  .I `quote from the court records of our        "In these various bodies that you have named.
c a s e   in..19253z   .-Q.-:  ,+\.k:p-.                                  `Yes, sir."
   -Dr. Beets was in the witness chair :                                  Thus far the quotation.
       "So I assume that your connection with this church and             When the records are published in full, as they, un-
the work you have performed as a writer of these books, and            doubtedly, will, they will reveal that -there is considerable
your connection with synod as stated clerk has given you               difference between the attorney's conception of Reformed
occasion to become well informed on your church order and              Church government in 1925 and in 1954.
your church government  ?                                                 Both attorneys wanted to prove from the Articles of
       "I trust so, yes, sir.                                          Association that we did not stand on the- basis of the pres-
       I'Well,  do you know, Rev. Beets, what the. -duty. of the       byterian form of church government. From  one- of them I
synod is, or what is synod ?                                           quote as follows:
    "Synod is the broadest judicatory of our denomination.                "May I make one .observation.?  They have been talking
 "And what is next?                                                    here in this case about Presbyterian form: That has been
    "Below it?                                                         Mr.  Tubbs' questions  -to..various  witnesses. That also has
" Y e s .                                                              been announced here in various ways about Presbyterian
    "It is the  classis.                                               form.    Now it is very important to show what that
    "And then below that is what?             _                        Presbyterian form is, and -how this one differs from it, and
  "Consistory.                                                        khat is very, very clearly shown  in. those articles. I think
    "As I -understand it, each church has its own consistory? that is pery important.",
    "Yes.                                                                 The other attorney continued to question me on the
    "Each local body?                                                  question of the advisory or judicatory power of classis and
    "Yes.                                                              synod, and tried to make me admit that, in our church
    "Each congregation, so to speak, and this I assume is             government, the later bodies have no authority whatsoever,
the Presbyterian form of government and so conceded to be,            just `because I insisted that no  classis has direct authority
is that correct?                                                      over the consist&y to suspend or depose them from  oflice.
    `Yes, except Presbyterians speak of session where we              This became so evident that once, in cross examination, we
speak of consistory.                                                  had the following dialogue:
    "Just, simply different names but representing substanti-             "Mr. Linsey,` you will never make me admit that we
ally the same bodies ?                                                have the congregational form of government. You might just
    "Yes, sir.                                        : -             as well quit.
    "In other words, it is a representative form of govern-               "Who is asking you to ?
ment in your church as distinguished from the congregational              "You do."
plan ; is that right ?:                                                   This Mr. Linsey did not' deny. He simply continued
    "Yes, sir, we have the Presbyterian form of church                with another question.
government.                                                               In court, also. my` history of the Protestant Reformed
    "There is a difference between that and the congrega-             Churches was quoted rather extensively to prove that we al-
tional form of government?                                            ways denied that  classis or synod have any authority or
    "Indeed, yes, sir.                                                jurisdiction whatsoever, and that, therefore, we really ad-
    "Just briefly what is the difference'                             here to the congregational form of government. But, of
    "Well, I can best illustrate the difference between the           course, the quotations were, as usual, partial and therefore
denomination of the presbyterian faith and order and  the             false. What we maintained and still maintain is that synod
congregational-one  -                                                 and classis certainly do not have the same jurisdiction over


I  --  `,                                                                                                            .'
                                                 THE  STAND ARD  BEARER                                                              149

   the consistory as the consistory has over the congregation,           many complaints lodged and protests written, and who left
   and that they can never depose local officebearers. Synod             Synod with the  testnnony  of the largest assembly of our
   and  classis has authority over all matters that are plainly          churches that he is fundamentally Reformed."
   denoted as such in the Church Order, and that does not in-               This shows very plainly that the consistory at the time,
   clude the deposition of officebearers except in some very             nor I (who wrote the entire document together with an-
   special cases.                                                        other member of the consistory, and which was adopted by
      That, in our history of the Protestant Reformed Churches,          the whole consistory), had no notion to deny the authority
   we do not deny all jurisdiction to the broader gatherings, is         of classis  and synod.
   very evident from the "History" itself.                                                                                           H.H.
      When the classis (Grand Rapids East j demanded of the
   consistory that they place their pastor before the question
   whether he fully- agreed with the Three Points adopted by                                       Hand-Shaking
   the synod of 1924, they refused, not on the ground that                  From brother Joe King I received the following com-
   classis  had no authority per se to make such a demand but            munication :
   on the ground that synod had already decided finally on the              "Dear Editor,
   matter, that this very question whether to place the pastor              "At our Qfhcebearers  Conference we discussed the topic
   of Eastern Ave. before such a demand was before synod as              "The shaking of hands with the minister after the sermon."
 a motion,  .but that this broadest gathering had rejected it;           We had a very interesting discussion, though there -were
   and that they even had not further moved to make such                 questions to which we did not get a satisfactory and decisive
   a demand after a protest had been delivered on the floor of           answer. And, therefore, it was decided to ask you as editor
   the synod in which it was plainly stated that he did not              of the Standard Bearer to write an article on this topic with
   agree with the Three Points.                                          these three divisions ; Its source : Its meaning ; and Its value."
      In other words, the consistory of Eastern Ave. at the time            Well, that is  .quite an assignment!
   recognized that the jurisdiction .of the synod was above that            I wish I had been present at that conference. Perhaps,
   of the  classis  and that, therefore,  classis went beyond its        I could have gained a little more light on the subject. But
   proper jurisdiction.                                                  I was given to understand that it was a conference exclusive
      But this was, of course, not the end.                              of the ministers. If the ministers were present, so I was given
      The classis once more decided to place the consistory of           to understand, they usually do most of the talking. This I
   Eastern Ave. virtually before the same demand.                        can very well understand. But now this request comes, I
      And again, the consistory did not refuse on the ground             wish I had attended and heard the discussion.
   that  classis had no jurisdiction whatsoever, but on the ground          This is true, especially since I am afraid that I most
   that this mater was not and could not possibly be legally             probably can offer nothing new on the subject.
   before  classis~  and that  classis?  in order to pursue the legal
   way in this matter, would have to send, in the `proper way,              I will, therefore, be very brief. And if you want more
   a new overture to synod and appeal to that body. It proved,           the brethren better come again and throw a little more light
   in a long document, that the whole matter, including the              on the discussion they had in their conference.
   question of discipline, was before synod, that this body had             As to point one, I have nothing.
   even considered the question with which  classis Grand                   This does not mean that I did not investigate. I con-
   Rapids East now approached the consistory of Eastern Ave.             sulted different sources, even the Acts of the early synods by
   but had never acted upon it.                                          Vanderveen and Reitsma. But I failed to find any material
      Hence, again, the consistory claimed, not that the classis         on the origin of the custom of handshaking with the minister
   never had any jurisdiction, but that the jurisdiction of the          after the sermon. There is nothing in the Church Order
   synod was above that of the classis.                                  about it. I thought, perhaps, that I could find something on
      And now I quote literally to refute the contention of the          it in connection with Art. 81, in connection with  "censura
   opposition that we always claimed that synod and  classis             morum." But in this, too I was disappointed. I found
  have no authority:                                                     nothing in -Bouman  or Rutgers.
      "Consistory does. not question that Synod possesses the               But I will try again, and if I find something, I will let
ultimate  azrthority  (Italics mine) to interpret our Confes-            you know.
  sional standards. But neither does the Consistory want                    As to the second point, it stands to reason that here
   Classis  to assume a position which indicate a denial of the          again I have to rely on my own interpretation of the custom.
  fact, -that Synod also `possesses ultimate  a*uthovity  (Italics       If I could find nothing on the origin of the custom, it is not
  mine) in matters pertaining to case of discipline. And Con-            likely that I should find anything on its meaning. The dif-
  sistory maintains that Classis  has no aattlzqvity  (Italics mine)     ficulty is, of course, that there is no article on it in  then
  to reopen a case against the pastor, Reverend H.  Hoek-                Church Order.
   sema; against whom so many attacks were launched and- so                 But-I can say something about it.


1 5 0                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA-RER

    That the elders  ,(for it strictly belongs to them, not to                                 THE OPINION
the deacons, although in our churches the later also shake                   Following is the  f`opinion" in the case of the property
hands after the sermon) shake hands with the ministers after
the sermon, does not mean that in-every  respect they agree           of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids,
                                                                      Mich., issued by Superior Court, the Hon. Judge Thaddeus-
with the sermon. They may differ in regard to some state-             B . Taylor presiding.
ments, as long as they are not in conflict with Reformed                     We give it without comment.
truth. They may differ on the interpretation of the text on
which the minister preached as long as that interpretation is                         S T A T E   O F   M I C H I G A N
`not in conflict with the Word of God in general.
    But the meaning of this custom is, undoubtedly, that the          IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF GRAND RAPIDS,
consistory puts its stamp of approval upon the contents of                                     IN CHANCERY.
-the sermon :                                                         THE FIRST PROTESTANT REFORMED
    a. From the viewpoint of its being the preaching of the           CHURCH, of Grand Rapids,
Word of God.
    b. From the viewpoint of its being sound Reformed truth           Michigan, a Michigan corporation, Plaintiff.,
according to the Reformed Standards.                                  vs.                                                   No. 13935
    c. From the viewpoint of its being inoffensive in the             HUBERT DE WOLF et al,
right sense of the word. The truth, of course, is always an
offense to the ungodly. But sometimes' a minister uses the
pulpit to spit out his personal gall. In that case, the  con-                                     OPINION
sistory  .should rebuke him, and if it is rather serious the                 Prior to December of 1924, there arose in East Christian
minister should apologize from the pulpit.                            Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, a controversy.
    As to its value, that should be rather evident from the           At that time the Rev. Herman Hoeksema was a Minister of
foregoing.                                                            the Word in that church.
    It is a support for the minister to-know that his preach-                In December of' 1924 by decision of  Classis  Grand Rapids
ing has the backing of the consistory officially. The minister        East, Rev. Hoeksema was suspended as Minister. The action
needs this, for he is a sinful and weak man and prone to err.         of  Classis  found its way to the civil courts which is the
No one knows better than the minister himself how serious             reported case of Holwerda  vs. Hoeksema,  232  Mich. 645.
and difficult it is to preach the Word of God from sabbath            Following decision in that case Rev. Hoeksema, together
to sabbath. Especially when wrong doctrines prevail in the            with others of that church, on September 13, 1926 executed
congregation and the minister is called to oppose them, it is         Articles of Association under Section 5, Chapter 3, Part 4 of
a strong support for him to know that the consistory  sup-            Act No. 84 of the Public Acts of 1921, thereby the First
ports his preaching.                                                  Protesting Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids,
   By the same token, it is a safeguard for the congregation.         Michigan became an entity.
If the minister is weak in doctrine and inclined to err from                 On September 6, 1927, by amendment it became legally
the Reformed truth, it is good for the congregation to know           designated as First Protestant Christian Reformed Church
that they have a good consistory that watches over the                of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Such of the  ,Artciles  that are
preaching of the Word and that reveal their watchfulness by           pertinent hereto are as follows : -
shaking hands or not shaking hands 1 with the minister after
every. sermon.                                                        FOURTH  - The members of said church or society shall wor-
                                                                      ship and  lab,or  together according to the discipline, rules and
   But I would suggest that this shaking of hands is done             usages of the Protesting Christian Reformed Churches in the
by the  c&sist~vy  officially and that, therefore, they wait until    United States of America as from time to time authorized and
they meet after the sermon in the cbnsistory room. It is not          declared by the  Classis  of said churches.
always possible for every individual member of then consistory        FIFTH  - This corporation shall proceed under section five,
on. the spur of the moment to makeup  his mind as to whether          Chapter 1, Part 1 of the above named act.
the .minister  preached sound doctrine or not. Besides, if one        SIXTH  - The said church shall be governed by and according
or more .of the elders refuse to shake hands with the minist,er       to the Eighty-six Articles of the, Church Order of  Dordrecht.
in the auditorium this is public and the congregation. watches.       SEVENTH  - All matters and questions regarding the use, con-
For these reasons it is, to my mind better to wait with shak-         trol and right to possession of the real property of said church,
ing of hands till the consistory has retired in the consistory        shall, at all times, be determined only by' a majority vote of
room, and then, in some way (perhaps, by appointing one               the members of the congregation of said church.
elder for the purpose) make the approval of the sermon                       `Following the incorporation of this church other churches
official by the whole consistory.                                     in other localities and cities were organized as a Protestant
                                                         _ H.H.       Reformed Church. These churches grew in number and by




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                                             T H E   STANLXARD   B E A R E R                                                      151

 1930 they were sufficient in number to organize a  Classis.            The Consistory of First Church met June 1, 1953 and
I Later on the Synod came into existance  and thereafter Clas-       received a Committee from Classis  East carrying the .above
 sis and` Synod met and received delegates acco&ng to the            action. It was moved and carried that the Consistory accept
 Church Order. The several churches were organized through-          Classis  document, sustaining the protests - Re - Rev. De
 out the nation and the Boards of  Classis were known as             Wolf's sermons. It was moved to adopt advice of  Classis
:  Classis  East and  Classis  West. By 1951 there were twelve       and act accoi-ding thereto. This motion was carried. It does
 Protestant Reformed Churches associated together and who            not appear that any formal  action was taken at this meeting
 were sending delegates to the ecclesiastical assembly known         other than stated. The Consistory again met on June 15,
 as  Classis` East.                                                  1953, with apparently no formal action.
     Since the First Protestant` Reformed Church of Grand               On June 22, 1933, the Consistory met with all members
 Rapids was the first Protestant Reformed Church organized,          present. It also appears that three members of  the.  Classis
 it has since the beginning been frequently referred to as the       Committee met with them, and it is apparent that Rev.
 M o t h e r   C h u r c h .                                         Hoeksema and kev. De Wolf were present at this  meeiing.
    A theological school was  organized  where those who             At this meeting Rev,. De Wolf and the elders supporting him
 wished to enter upon the niinistry  bf the church received in-      were asked to apologize. If any apology was made it must be
 structions according to the dbctrines  of the church, and this      concluded from  the minutes of this meeting that the apology
 school was located and classes were conducted at the Mother         was not acceptable.
Church in Grand Rapids. By 1951, First Church had a large               Article 7 of the minutes are to the effect that the Chair-
 roll of members. The church had-acquired substantial hold-          man asked Rev. De Wolf to apologize as advised by Classis
 ings of real estate in the nature  `6f a church and several         and as adopted. by the Consistory. On this motion there
 parsonages. Three Ministers of the Word served the con-             appeared to be eleven for and eleven against. The Chairman
 gregation  - Rev. Hoeksema, Rev. Hanko and Rev. De                  ruled that the motion was carried, ruling that the eleven
W o l f .                                                            votes against were under censure and being under censure
    In April 1951 and  Septeniber  1952, protests. were filed        they were. deprived from functioning in their office.
 with the Consistory of First church in relation to statements          Article 8 is to the effect that the Chairman asked those
 made in the serlllons  of Rev. De Wolf. At a meeting of the         members of the Consistory to apologize as advised by  Classis
 Consistory held on October 22, 1952, the statements of Rev.         who were supporting Rev. De Wolf. The minutes record
 De Wolf were condemned by the Consistory, and at the same           twelve for and eleven against, and the Chairman again rules
 meeting the Consistory requested Rev. De Wolf to apologize,         that those voting against the motion were ineligible to vote
 and the form of the apology was indicated at the meeting.           because they were under censure. Whether those under
.This motion was sub&ted to a vote at the  lileeting   tof the       censure were ineligible to vote is referred to later on in this
`Cons&tory of October 27, 1952 and adopted. Rev. De Wolf             Opinion. The other members of the Consistory presidkd
 stated that he would not conform. Following his statement,          over by Rev. Hoeksema and Rev. Hanko met `on the follow-
 a motion was made to ask the Consistory of the Fourth Prot-         ing evening, June 23, and at this meeting neither  Rev:..De
 estant Reformed Church to meet with  the Consistor) of              Wolf nor the eleven  iiders  under censure  `were   pres&,  in
 First Church, and that in the meantime Rev. De  .Wolf be            fact they were not notified of* this meeting it being the claim
 released from the duties of his office. On October 29, 1952,        of the elders  not under censure. that they being the only
 at a meeting of the Consistory, Rev. De Wolf was declared           members of the Consistory.eligible  to fiinction in their office,         ,
- to be in office again. On November 17, 1952, the Consistory        that it was unnecessary to notify the other members of the           -
 again asked Rev. De Wolf to apologize. The controversy              Consistory or Rev. De Wolf, and at this meeting Rev. Hoek-
 evidently continued and appaiently  in March of 1953, -pro-         sema apparently presided. This meetings was attended by
 tests were filed with Classis  East by Rev. Hoeksema and Rev.       three representatives of the Classis  Committee. At this meet-
`Ophoff  for at the meeting of April 13, 1953, of the  Con-          ing according to Article 5 of the minutes, the Consistory ex-
 sistory of First Church, it is `observed that a letter  was re-     pressed that Rkv. Hubert De Wolf is worthy of suspension _
 ceived from  Classis  East requesting the  Consistor?  of  First    from his office as Minister of the Word, and that the basis
 Church to forward the contents of the action of the  Con-           thereof were the two alleged heretical statements of April 15,
 sistory of March 30, 1953  - In Re-Decision on Rev. De              1951 and September 14, 1952 and his refusal to apologize.as
.Wolf's  Sermons.                                                    advised by  Classis.  At this meeting the Consistory ex-
    At a meeting of Classis  in April of 1953, the protests were     pressed that the following elders are declared worthy of
 cbnsidered.   Classis  East. meeting May 28, 1953 to advise         deposition from their  ofice and the minutes named the
 First `Church- Consistory, (a> To-demand Rev. De Wolf to            eleven elders deposed. Following this action, the Consistory
 apologize ; (b) That the Consistory apologize for supporting        of First  Church'then   .meeting  by Article 7, moved that the
,Rev. De Wolf.         o                                             Consistory of Fourth Church be called in for consultation.
    1. If Rev. De Wolf refuses to suspend.                           Article 9 is to the effect that five members of the Consistory
    2. If any of the elders refuse, to depose.                       of Fourth Church are present and approved the action. of




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 152                                                          T H E   STAND&?D   BEARER

 deposition and suspension. They further advised that they                         to determine as to who should be retained as members  of the
 were not prepared to say whether the meeting was legal                            faculty of  the theological school. Section 3 of the Constitution
 in view of `the fact that the deposed members were not                            of the theological school of the Protestant Reformed Churches
 present, or had not been notifieb.  of the meeting.                               p r o v i d e s   :
        On June 25th, a meeting of this Consistor; presided over                         "The supervision and administration of the instituiton be-
 by Rev. Hoeksema, met with nine elders and two deacons                                  longs to Synod itself.  HoweGer, Synod shall appoint a
 and Rev. Hanko. At this meeting two of the deposed elders                               committee  co'nsisting of no less than eight  memb,er's.to do
 supporting  Rev. De' Wolf. entered  and- delivered the fol-                             the work of Synod in  the interim between theological-
 lowing notice :                                                                         meetings."
                                                                                       Aiticle 6 provides that  Synod elects the professors.
          "We cannot possibly recognize your schismatic action and                     Thereafter the group adhering to Rev. De Wolf refused
          your illegal suspension and deposition of office-bearers and             the theological schobl  the use of First Church as a place of
          therefore cannot concede you the right to hold meeting in
          our midst. We therefore, notify you that we  will occupy                 holding theological instructions.
 e        the buildings until the proper depositions of the buildings                  On October 6, 1953,  Classis  East convened in Fourth
          are made.                                                                Church. Delegates were present from all twelve churches
           ( s i g n e d )                                                         of  the fed&-&ion, which included contesting delegates,  claim-
                                           Consistory of First Protestant          ipg  to,represent First Church. At this meeting the follow:
                                           R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h . "  _    ing action was taken:                   -
At this point therefore, each faction was claiming to be the                       Art. 301 - A.motion  is made that Classis  express :
legal Consistory of the Church and entitled to possession and                          A. That the Rev.  H'. De Wolf  .and elder  Sikkema  can-                .
control of its temporal prop&tiesh                                                 not be seated as delegates of Classis  East: Grounds :
        The group adhering  to Rev. De wolf occupied the church                        1. It appears from the Report of the Committee delegated
and proceeded to change the locks upon-the doors and this                          to the Consistory of the First Church that these brethren
action must be assumed to have been taken to prevent the                           are under -censure  and censured office-bearers cannot func-
entrance by the opposing faction. the plaintiffs in this case.                     tion in their office,
Thereafter the Consistory adhering to the Rev. Hoeksema                               2,. It appears from the same document that these brethren
and Rev. Hanko and a part of the church congregation ad-                           together with several elders, did not submit to the censure
hering to their determination, found another  plate within                         of the Consistory, but on the contrary rebelled against their
which to conduct services at which location they have con-                         Consistory.
tinued to so do until the present time. No attempt was made                           3. These brethren, -therefore, and all who follow them in
by them to enter the church  kfter the communication re-                           &his  sinful way have by the same token  becomd schismatic
ceived  at- the meeting of June 25th, and it is apparent had, and severed themselves from the  -commu&n  of  the- Prot-
they attempted to do so it  would have required a forcible                         estant Reformed Churches.
entry,                                                                                B. That  Classis  further express that  ori the basis of the
      The notice above referred to is  .Exhibit  9, and in part                    facts expressed under A, the brethren Rev. C. Hanko and
states  -                                                                          elder Gerrit Bylsma are the rightful delegates of the First
                                                                                   Church of Grand Rapids,  Mich.
          "We  must' therefore insist that you  clo not repeat your.               Art. 309 - Motion of Art. 301 is voted on and carries.                 .
          trespass. We cannot tolerate that you or your organization
          or committees make ungranted use of the real properties                     At this meeting of the Classis  Committee which had been
          legally in our possession.                                               appointed at the meeting of May  23rd, filed a written. re-
                              (Sigried)                                            port, Exhibit 22, Article 296,  Classis  meeting of October 6.
                                              Cons&tory   F&t  Protestant          1953. In this report the Committee declared that the elders
                                              R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h        under censure were ineligible to function as officers and
                                             S     .         DeYoung,-Clerk."      therefore ineligible to vote at the meeting of June 22nd of
      That thereafter a communication was sent over the                            the Consistory. This report found that the suspension and
signatu.re of S.  DeYoung,  as Clerk of the Consistory, to                         deposition at the meeting of the Consistory on June 23rd was
the theological school committee, Rev. George- C. Lubbers,                         legal and proper, and the report  .further  referred to the
Secretary, which stated -                                                          deposed brethren "have made themselves guilty of gross in;
                                                                                   subordination and have caused schism in the church in their
         "In re  your request for our' reaction to the use of our                  refusal to submit to the  decisiqns  of the Consistory and in
         building for theological school purpose, the Consistory
         decided that whereas two of the faculty of our  schpol are                their maintenance of the  heretical statements." Also  & this
         considered by `us to be schismatic,  tie cannot grant the                 meeting of  Oct.ober  6th, Rev. De Wolf delivered a protest
         use of the said buildings so long as the. said faculty mem-               to  Classis  East, protesting its action `in recognizing Rev.
         bers are retained."                                                       Hoeksema and Rev. .Hanko  and the others &as the Consistory
      This action was illegal as it was not for either faction                     of First Church.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                                       153

   Following this action on the part of Classis, the plaintiffs time Buthorized'and declared by the Classis  of said Church.
filed the Bill of Complaint in this.cause  as the legal represent-    This Article definitely  and, without question subjects this
atives of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand               church to discipline according to the rules laid down by the
Rapids. The defendants, being Rev. De Wolf and the de-                Classis  of said church. It specifically further commits this
posed elders, have answered the Bill of Complaint and in              church and its congregation to a government by and accord-
their Cross  Bill. of Complaint asking for affirmative  relief.-      ing to the Eighty-six Articles of the Church Order of
against plaintiffs, they also alleging and claiming to be the         Dordrecht. The Church Order thereby became  the.  Consti-
legal representatives of the First Protestant Reformed                t&on of the church to which every member of the congre-
Church of Grand Rapids. It is  .therefore,  apparent that so          gation subjected. It is the Court's determination therefore,
far  a& this proceeding is concerned, the status of both con-         that Article 7, although it is claimed. by both the plaintiffs
testants is for temporal supremacy in controlling the church          and defendants to create an autonomous church insofar- as
property, and all of this has grown out of the alleged heret-         it conflicts with the other Articles of Association does not
ical statements of the  deferidant, Rev.  DeWolf,`in  his ser-        have that effect. The congregation under its Constitution
mons of April 1951 and  Sept&ber  1952.                               may only consider such matters as is submitted to it by its
   In the  tfial of this cause much testimony has been de-            Consistory, gnd this mean the legal Consistory of the church.
voted to `interpretation of the Church Order and to support           However, so far as the record of this case is concerned, it
the contention of. the several advocates, -dbcuments  and pages       does not appear that  the- congregation representing either-
thereof have been submitted in great "detail and at great             faction have attempted  to.make  any disposition of the church
length.  .In their several interpretations the contestants are        proierty. First Church having adopted this Constitution,
in many cases agreed. First Church of Grand Rapids as                 the Court is bound to recognize the fact that in such an
have all the Protestant Reformed Churches affiliated have             order the local congregation is  its&f a member of  a.  much.
adopted a Church Order. The adopted fdrm has been pub-                larger and more `important religious *organization, and is
lished and is found in Exhibit 3. In the preface of Exhibit           under its government and control, and is bound by its orders
3, it is stated that "this Church' Oi-der was adopted in the          and judgments as promulgated by the judicatory assemblies
beginning at the time of our existence as separate churches."         thereof. This is the intei-pretation  of the Christian Reformed
This,, Church Order therefore, is the adopted constitution Churches? and is the interpretation of our Supreme Court.
and by-laws of the First Chiu-ch  of Grand Rapids.                    This church government is not congregational in form. It is
   under this Church Order, the office-bearers of the' immaterial whether the plaintiffs or defendants represent
church are the elders and deacons elected by the congrega-            either a majority or a minority of the members of the' con-
tion, called the Consistory, together with Ministers of the           gregation of First  Chui-ch. The defendants claim that on
Word. In  First Church there were three Ministers, acting             their  pai-t there has been, no departure from the doctrine
in rotation. Under this Church Order the next governing               ancl the practices of the Protestant Reformed Churches and
body is the  Classis, made up of delegates from each local            point out that it is the plaintiffs. who are  schislliatic and
church within'a.certain  area, and next above is Synod, con-          have departed. The vice in such reasoning is that the judi-
sisting of delegates sent from Classis.  In this Church Order         catory of the denominations under the authority of the Con-
there are two Classes known as  Classis  East and  Classis            stitution of the-church to which both plaintiffs and defend-
West, and one general Synod, to  which  Classis  East and             ants are bound, have found otherwise and if it is found that
Classis  West send delegates.                                         the  jtidicatory  has acted within its constituted authority, This
   It appears  there were twelve churches  in the union of            Coti<t  may not substitute its opinion in lieu of the authorized
Classis  East  on October 5. 1953. It appears that since the          tribunals of `the church.
action of  Classis East on October 6, 1953, that three of the               It is the claim of the defendants that Article 7 of the
churches,. together with a delegation from the Consistory,            Articles of Association. consider First Church as a con-
represented by the defendants, now claim that they consti-            gregational form of church government. The reply of the
tute the legal  Classis  East.' The other eight  churches'claim       Court' is that whatever the incorporators hope to establish
that they are Classis  East.                                          .by the insertion of  Ai-title 7  is of no moment. What they
   The constitution and Church Order, therefore, adopted              did accomplish was .the incorporation of a religious society
by First Church and the affiliated Protestant -Reformed               dedicated to the discipline, rules and usages of the Protestant
Churches is identical with the Church Order of the Chris-             Reformed Churches of America in the United States as from
tian Reformed Churches, with minor  changes,  which was
under consideratidn in the cases of BORGMAN   .vs. BUL-               time to time authorized and declared by the Classis  of such
TEMA,  an,d HOLWERDA vs.  HOEKSEMA.                                   church, and also therein adopting a Constitution, namely:
   Under  .the Articles of Association, First, Church was by          the Eighty-six Articles of the Church Order of Dordrecht.
specific declaration in Article 4, dedicated to the' discipline,      To interpret otherwise it would be necessary to strike from
rules and usages  bf the -Protestant: Christian Reformed              the Articles that part which  declaies that the church shall
Churches  in the United States of  Am&-ica  as from time to           abide by tht rules  a&l orders of  Classis,  whereby  they~  def-

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                                 -
       -154                                              T - H E   STAND,AKD   B-EARER.
         --__  --_
        initey recognize the  existance  of a higher ecclesiastical as-       of this  .word  in the other Articles of the Church  -Order'clo-
       sembly:                                                                not warrant such construction as used.. It has a different
            -So  farm  as the. control of property is concerned, -the rule    effect than to counsel. When it is stated as in Article 76
        is where there is a- division of a congregation having a ~"but no one shall be excommunicated except with the ad-
      judicatory of-general revisory power with the right to appeal           vice of Classis" I interpret this to mean that the decision is
     thereto, the civil courts will give the property to those `primarily with the minor assembly to take any action that
       persons. who are recognized by the higher ecclesiastical court         is called for or desirable and that except "with the advice.
        as being the congregation though they constitute a minority.          of  Classis" means that  -it is required  .that the approval or
        Is this a-church wherein the property is owned by a religious         concurrence of  Classis  shall accompany the affirmative action
        congregation which by its organization is strictly independent        of the minor assembly before it becomes effective. That is:
        `of all other ecclesiastical associations and so far .as church       while the minor assembly may make a determination, it does
        government.is  concerned owes no filiality or obligation to any       not become effective until they have the advice of  Classis,
      higher authority and which has not declared that there shall            namely, the affirmation or approval of  Classis. -
        be minor- and major ecclesiastical assemblies, or is- First               Defendants claim that by virtue of Article 31  .of the
        Church one where the religious congregation or association            Church Order they are not bound by a decision of  Classis
        holding-the property but a subordinate member of a general            and therefore,, they are not bound by the -decision of Classis
        church organization -in which there are superior ecclesiastical       of October  6,. 1953,' whereby the  plaintiffs~  and the Con-
        tribunals with a general and ultimate power of control which          sistory named were. determined to be the legal  Classis  of
        may be more or less complete in certain judicatory assem-             First Church. It is their contention that the provisions of
        blies having jurisdiction over the whole membership of the            Article  31-i  irwhichefhe  individual believes is in conflict with
        general congregation, and this means of the congregation of           the Word-of God, or -with the article of the`church  Order."
       all of`the federated-churches. A church of the first class is          leaves it with `the. individual to determine whether they will
        no doubt congregational and .a church of the second class is          accommodate themselves to the determination of the  Classis.
        no doubt .Presbyterian  so far, as the present *government is             The court is cognizant of the interpretation given by the
.     . concerned. The form of government of First Church and                 Protestant Reformed Churches .in relation to Article 31 and
        all  bf the affiliated churches of the Protestant Reformed            the Christian Refortned Church as has been testified to. Rev.
        denominations is Presbyterian. When by Article- 6 of the              Kok' very clearly gave his interpretation which the court
        Articles of `Association the incorporators provided for a `accepts as the interpretation of the defendants, and specific-
        government according to the articles of the Church Order              ally testified -as follows :
        of Dordrecht they thereby incorporated and made those                     "The fundamental difference in church polity between  -*
        articles a part of the Articles of Association, and by so doing       the Christian Reformed Church and the Protestant Reformed
        define the limits and powers of the corporation as the same           Churches is that in the Christian Reformed Church, in the
     : may be granted or limited by the Articles of the Church                singular, is one institution with a  Classis  -and Synod as hits
        Order oft Dordrecht. Certainly it cannot be denied that they          highest bodies. The Protestant `Reformed Churches, in the
       must have recognized that there would  come- into being                plural, is a group of autonomous sovereign Consistories over
      _ higher ecclesiastical assemblies over and above the  Consis-          Classis  and Synod. That is the fundamental difference. Article
        tory. Appellate bodies to which appeals from the action of            31 emphasizes that we are bound by the vote of Classis,  un-
        the consistory could be made.. When' this church adopted              less Y and that is up to each individual church because this
        these Articles as their Order; they proclaimed a Constitution         is the Church Order not of one institution but of twenty-four
        whereby they established the structure of the church govern-          individual Protestant Reformed Churches, The Chr. -Ref.
        ment and  .they provided for assemblies. to carry on that             Church maintains that the institution of the local church ex-
        government and also wherein rules and regulations were also           tends beyond its local boundaries in  Classis  and in Synod
     incorporated to regulate the officers  and-  assemblies of               so -they  have- one institution. The Church Order' in the
        government. This is not a Church Order in which the con-              Christian Reformed Church is called the Church Order of
        gregation~  has the absolute right to select its own minister.        the Protestant Reformed Churches, in the plural. When we
        This power is controlled by Articles 5 to 10 of the Church
                                                   \                          promise  to. abide by the discipline of the Protestant Reformed        .
     O r d e r .                                                              Churches-that means we promise to abide by the other in-
               In 1946 Synod changed the word "consent" in Article 76         terpretation which  *we have given to Article 31 of the
        and 77 to be "advice." It is presently the interpretation             Church Order. The difference is in the plural as against the
        placed upon this change that the use of the word "advice" singular."
        means to. offer counsel which may or may snot influence the             This interpretation immediately clashes with the Articles
        conduct of the one to whom it is offered and that-given               of Association of the plaintiffs. At the time of the  in-
        this interpretation a .Consistory or an individual may accept         corporation.there was~no  other Protestant Reformed Church
        or decline to accept the advice- of  Classis.  The use of the         or Churches, and the Articles of Association of this plaintiff
        word "advice" when considered-and construed with the use              adopt-the articles of their own specific Church Order. This


                                              T H E   STANDA.RD   B E A R E R                                                                15.5     -.

  is Article 6. If this doctrine of government can be subscribed          of the. church, then it was not necessary to notify members
  to for what purpose does the Church Order create assem-                 who were not qualified to function as officers of the meeting
  blies and provide for appeals ? From the testimony in this              which was held June 23rd. It was for  Classis  to determine
  cause by the ministers of the Word, offered on behalf of                whether or not the action of the Consistory was according
  both plaintiffs and defendants, it would appear that thereon            to church law.
  they are agreed. This question of self-determination was                    In  BORGMAN vs. BULTEMA, 213  Mich. 684, the
  considered in the East Church.case wherein the Court, quot-             court stated -
  ing from the testimony of the Rev. Henry Beets, stated -                      "The civil courts will not enter into a consideration of
        "If a man could during his appeal do as he pleases, that                church doctrine or church discipline, nor will they inquire
       would be inviting anarchy and chaos."                                    into the regularity of the proceedings of the church judica-
                                                                                tories having cognizance of such matters. To assume such
  And further quoting from'the testimony of Rev. Idzerd Van                     jurisdiction would not only be an attempt by the civil
  Dellen,  stated -                                                             courts to  deal,  with matters of which they have no special
                                                                                knowledge, but it would be inconsistent with complete
        "There is nothing in our Church Order that when a decision            religious liberty untrammeled by State authority. On this
       is. made by  Classis  suspending a minister and finding that             principle the action of the church authorities in  the.deposi-
        the ecclesiastical relationship is broken upon the part of the          tion of pastors and the expulsion of members is final."
        Consistory, that the Consistory and minister can continue
        to function as such officers in a church pending an appeal            In the present case the only controversy which this Court
        to synod. The reason for this is that they promised in            can determine is i who has been declared by the- lawfully
        signing the formula of subscription to acquiesce in the           constituted assembly of the First Protestant Reformed
       decision of the  Classis  and other bodies, even pending their     Church to be the individuals adhering to the faith and doc-
        appeal."                                                          trines of the -Protestant Reformed Church of America? To
  The references in that case were to the identical Article 31            those `who have been so declared does the civil right `to oc-
  and the formula of subscription adopted by First Church.                cupy and control the temporal affairs of the corpor.ation  be-
     Defendants have called attention to DIX vs. PRUITT,                  long? Classis  East in the October 6th meeting declared Rev.
  194 N.C. 64; 138 S.E. 412, WOOD vs. HUMBER, 282                         Hoeksema and Rev. Hanko to be the legal presidents of the
  S.W. S34, ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH vs.                                  First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids and Mr.
  STEIN, 115 Nebr. 114, 211 N.W. 611.                                     Stadt as its stated Clerk. They then became entitled to the
     In the first two cases Baptist Churches were involved.               possession and control as the legal officers of the corporation
  Churches whose government was congregational. The St.                   of the physical property and assets. Whether the action of
  Paul Lutheran case was one in which there was a Synod. The              Classis  was right or `wrong is of no concern of this Court.
  church, had not affiliated itself with that Synod' and the              Classis  is a unit of government of this church, declared to
  Court in that case distinguished its rule by referring to an-           be so in their adopted constitution. It has authority. As a
  other of its clecisions wherein the church was a member of an           branch of the government of `the church provided by the
 association of congregations.                                            constitution it has authoriyt to act and its decisions are
     In speaking of the authority of  Classis, Rev. De Wolf               binding. There can be no government if it can be held that
 testified that if  Classis  found a statement to be heretical            the decisions of the duly created assembly are only .advisory
 and the minister is sustained by his Consist&y, all that                 rather than mandatory.                                   :
  Classis  can do is to declare that church outside of the federa-           The jurisdiction of the civil courts to whom appeals have
 tion of the Protestant Reformed Church. He further testi-                been made to review the decision of church judicatories have
 fied "Classis determined that the statements were heretical.             been discussed and stated in many cases. The courts are
  I do not agree that they were heretical, regardless of what             unanimous on the question of decisions relating to church
 they found."                                                             discipline, faith, custom or law when these questions, have
     In this case  Classis  did not attempt to declare First                                                                            _
                                                                          b e e n   d e c i d e d .
 Church as outside of the federation, but only determined                    For a restatement.,. I find none more clearly expressed
 which elders constituted the legal Consistory of the church.             than in the case of POUNDER vs. ASH, 63 N.W. 48, page
 The defendants further based their claim on recognition as               50, ,44 Nebr. 672, wherein the court stated-
 the First Protestant Reformed Church on the alleged illegal
 action of the plaintiff faction on June 22nd and June 23rd.                    "The church should be free from the interference of the
                                                                                court where there is nothing drawn into question but the
 It is their claim that the ruling. of the presiding officer at                jurisdiction of the church over one of its members or
 the meeting of the Consistory on June 22nd was illegal. At                     ministers or officers, and to try him, and, if need be,  ex-
 the meeting of June 22nd,  its is apparent that the members                    pell him for the violation of some church ordinance or law,
 present were equally divided, eleven to eleven. The president                  so long as such action does not infringe upon his rights as
 ruled that those. voting, who were under censure, were not                     a citizen, or the powers and jurisdiction of the state. In
                                                                                this country of ours it has  b,een almost, if not quite uni-
entitled to vote as being under censure they could not                          versally, and is now, thought to be the best policy, and con-
 function in office. If he was correct, and if this is the law                 sistent with good government to let the church and state be


                                                          :
                                      '


156                                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D "   B E A R E R

            :       completely severed,  0; as nearly  sd as may be and can be                       what constitutes an -offense against the Word of God and
                   with due observance of all proper laws.  `%  8  *  * It is said:                  the discipline  o:f  the*  church. Any other than those courts
*                  "In this class of cases we think the rule of action  which
          ,.  1                                                                                    must be competent judges of matters of faith, discipline,
                    should govern the civil courts, founded in a broad and                           and doctrine, and civil courts if they should be so unwise as
                    sound view of the relations of church and state under our                        to attempt to supervise their judgment on matters which
                    system of laws, and supported by a preponderating weight                .-,      come within their jurisdiction, would only involve them-
                   of  judicial'authority,  is that, whenever the question of  .dis-                 selves in a sea of uncertainty and doubt, which would do
                   cipline.or  of faith or ecclesiastical rule, custom, or law has                   anything but improve either religion or good morals."
                   been decided by-the highest of these church judicatories to
                   which the matter'has been carried, the legal tribunals must                     It is the- claim of the defendants that the plaintiffs with-
                    accept such decisions as final,  and as binding on them, in           drew from the church and abandoned the denomination. The
                   their  applicatibn, to the  c&e  before them. We concede at            plaintiffs inquired  .of the defendants if they would permit
     I           thC  0utse.t that the doctrine of the English courts'is other-           occupancy and the defendants replied as hereinabove stated
                   wise. In  .thi%`,couktry  the full and free right to entertain
                   any religious  belief,30  practice any religious principle, and        that  they would not recognize the plaintiffs. One may nob
                    to. teach any  r&ligious  doctrine which does not violate the         be convicted of desertion upon the ground that he must first
                   laws of morality and property, and which does not  infringe            use physical force to establish his claim. The plaintifis  were
                    personal rights, is conceded to all. The law knows no here-           not bound to attempt to incite a riot by attempting `to use
                    sy, and is committed to the support of no dogma, the esta-            physical violence in order to occupy the church property.
                    blishment of no sect. The right  to.. organize voluntary
                    religious associations to assist in the expression and dis-           They were quite in accord with the admonition of the last
                    semination of any religious  doctrin,e,  and to create tribunals      sentence of the Preface of the Church Order, I Cor. 14, 40 -
                    for the decision of controverted questions of faith within                        "`Let all things be done decently and in order."
                    the association, and for the ecclesiastical government of all                  The Consistory of plaintiffs church as constituted  withy
                   the individual `members, congregations, and officers within            Rev.  Hoeksema and Rev. Hanko as presidents, and Mr.
                    the general association, is unquestioned. All who unite them-
                    selves to such a body do so with the implied consent to               Gerrit Stadt as Clerk, are legally entitled to present posses-
                    this government, and are bound to submit to it. But it                sion, of the physical properties of the corporation.
                   would be a vain consent, and would lend to the total sub-                       The relief therefore, as prayed for by the plaintiffs, will
                    version of such religious bpdies, if any one aggrieved by one         be granted and the defendants and any who may claim
                    of their decisions could appeal to the secular courts and             through or-by them restrained from obstructing, or interfer-
                   have them reversed. It is of the essense of these religious
                    unions, and of their right to establish tribunals for the de-         ing with the plaintiff corporation in its use of its property,..
                    cisions of questions arising among themselves, that those             or from interfering with the government  or.  the ordinary
                    decisions should be binding in all cases of ecclesiastical            conduct of the af7airs  of said church. If defendants have col-
                   cognizance, subject only to such  alipeals  as the organism            lected or obtained money during the time that they have
                    itself provided for.  *  Q  ::: * But it is a very different thing    maintained physical possession of said church they will turn
                 . where a subject-matter of dispute strictly and purely  ec-
                    clesiastical in its character  - a matter over which the civil        over to the plaintiffs all money or other' assets collected
                   courts" exercise no jurisdiction, a mater which concerns               during the period from June 23, 1953.
                    theological controversy, church discipline, ecclesiastical                     It is not the intent or the purl&e of this Court to deter-
                   government, or the conformity of the  members of the                   mine who are the members of this church congregation, and
                    church' to the standard of  mor& required of them-be-
                    comes the subject of its action. It may be said here, also,           it is not to be considered, or interpreted as preventing any
                   that no jurisdiction has been  conferied  upon the tribunal            persqn who was a member  or communicant of said church on
                 :'  td try the particular case before it, or that, in its judgment,      June 23, 1953 from participating in the affairs of  this
                   it exceeds the powers conferred upon it, or that the laws of           church under the  aclministration  of those who have  been
                   the church do not authorize the particular `form of proceed-           declared by the  Classis  as the legal Consistory and presidents
                   ing adopted, and, in a sense often used in the courts, all
                   of those may be said to be questions of jurisdiction  .But             of said church.,           -
                   it is easy to see that, if the civil courts are to inquire into                           Respectfully submitted,
                   all these matters, the whole subject of the doctrinal theol-                                                    Thaddeus B. Taylor,
                   ogy, the usages and customs, the written laws and funda-                                  Judge of the Superior Court of Grand Rapids.
                   mental organization of every religious denomination may                Dated: December 23, 1954
                   and must be examined into with minuteness and care, for
                   they would become in almost every case the criteria by
                   which the validity of the  &clesiastical decree would be
                   determined in the civil court. This principle would deprive                                  Notice of  Classis West
                   these bodies of the right of construing their own church
                   jaws  * 4 1: and would, in effect transfer to the civil  co,urts,               Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
                   where property rights were concerned, the decisions of all             meet, the Lord willing, in Edgerton. Minnesota, March 2,
                 ecclesiastical questions."
                   i                                                                      1955.  The consistories are reminded that all material for
                   -        -        -        -         -        -        -        -      Classis  must be in the hands of the Stated Clerk one month
                   "The decisions of  &clesiastical courts, like every other              before the date of Classis.
                   judicial tribunal, are final, as they are the best judges of                                               Rev.' !H..  Veldman,  Stated Clerk


                                                 T H E   S'I'ANUARD   B E A K E R                                                157 .

                                                                      9: Thou whom I have seized from the ends of the earth,
          THE  DAY  O F   SHADOWS                                        And called thee from the remote parts thereof,
                                                                         And said unto thee, Thou  art  My servant;
                                                                         I have chosen thee-, and not cast thee away,
                    The Prophecy of Isaiah                           10: Fear thou not, for I am with thee,
    Before we proceed with our exposition we must take a                 Do not look about with alarm, for I am thy God.
closer look at &me  of the verses of the'section last dealt with,        I will strengthen thee : yea, I will help thee  ;
xl :21 - xli :7.                                                         Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
    xli  :2a. The versions translate here : who raised up the                 righteousness.
righteous man (Cyrus) from the east, called him to his                  B.ut  thort  Isvnel  `my servant  . . . We must not insert
foot . .  .?                                                         here, as do the versions, the auxiliary art to make the line
    But righteousness was `not an attribute of Cyrus.                read : But thou Israel art my- servant. The sentence is : But
Though the ,Lordfs anointed, there was no true fear of God           thou Israel my servant . . . fear thou not.
in his heart.                                                         In contrast to the "nations" that the Lord in  I!!& sover-
    Others translate: who raised I21:n~ up from the east, with       eign good pleasure cast away and gave before Cyrus that
righteousness called him to his foot . . .?                          they might be made dust and stubble by his sword and bow,
    The objection to this translation is that there is tie ante-     Jacob-Israel as nation is the Lord's servant. Such is his
cedent for the pronoun &I of the clause, "who raised him             status before the Lord in virtue of His having chosen him,
up . . .?'                                                           the  seeed of Abraham the Lord's friend (Hebrew, "My'
    There is also the rendering: who raised up from the east         lover," i. e., the one that loves me) -chosen him in Abra-
him whom right victory meets at his feet . . .? meaning, him         ham, in Christ, fixed upon h&n his mind in everlasting and
who meets with victory wherever he goes.                             fathomless love. Accordingly the Lord also reached out and
    But this is not so good either, considering that the line        seized him or rather them, His chosen ones,, from the ends
literally reads: who raised up from the east righteousness           of the earth and called them irresistibly to Himself from the
(not, righteous man) and called him (not, meets him) to              remotest parts thereof, speaking in his heart His Gospel, un-
his feet . . .?                                                      conclitional  promises, "Thou art my servant; I have chosen
     It is best that we keep ourselves to this rendering. It can     thee, and not cast thee away." And  th`erefore Jacob-Israel
have a good meaning. Through the agency of Cyrus, the                serves the. Lord, does His will, keeps His commandments,
Lord overtook the nations with His righteousness, righteous          takes `the Lord's  sicle and wars His warfare in Babylon.
judgments. Cyrus' achievement was righteous, not as his              What a glorious consolation.
act, but as a work of the Lord. As Cyrus' act it was sin.               This mercy the Lord showed Jacob-Israel. Why? Be-
For there is no ground in <the Scriptures for the -view that         cause He  IGilled.   This.was the supreme reason. For by na-
in his conquests he was activated by the love of. God.               ture Jacob-Israel is as ill-deserving as the "nations." This
    Then there are the lines that in the versions read: He           is proved by the fact of their captivity.
gave them (the nations) as dust to his (Cyrus') sword, and              In Abraham all the "nations" of `the earth are blessed
as driven stubble to his bow.                                        (Gen. xii  :3). But in our passage the "nations" appear as
    As the preposition tb does not appear in the original text,      appointed and given over to destruction. I t   s h o w s   how
we may also translate here : His (Cyrus') sword made them            necessary it is to work with election and reprobation in ex-
as dust and his bow as driven rubble.             I                  plaining these prophecies and all the Scriptures. -There are
     It will be seen that this agrees fully as well with the con-    to the "nations" an elect nucleus and a reprobated shell, so
text. xli :2 :                                                       to say. The former is the "nations" -blessed in Abraham, in
              Who raised up righteousness from the east,             Christ, and saved. The latter is-the "nations" rejected, cast
              Called him (Cyrus) to his foot,          --.           away and destroyed when the Lord has done with them.
              Gave the nations before him,                            And so "the seed of Abraham" of our passage cannot be
              And made him to trample over kings?                    limited to the elect among the natural descendents  of Abra-
              His (Cyrus') sword made them as  dust,                 ham. To so limit this seed is to make our passage teach
              And his bow as driven stubble,                         that the entire gentile humanity to a man is reprobated. But
       3 : He pursued them and passed safely:                        contrasted here is not the Jews and the gentile nations but
              By the way that he had not gone with his feet.         the chosen and spiritual seed of Abraham as comprehending
    But  Ismel-Jacob  is the  serzmnf of  Jelzoz~ah chosen -and      the total of the elect both Jews and gentiles on the one hand,
ca.lled in w&in victory, xli :8-13.                                  and the reprobated portion of humanity on the other-hand,
 8 : But thou Israel my servant,                                     though it be true that in the first instance the reference is to
      Jacob whom I have chosen,                                      Judah in the captivity of the exile and to the gentile nations
      The seed of Abraham my friend.                                 of the Babylonian empire.


i58.                                            THE  STANDARD   BEARER
 --.
        Now the nations are afraid. And they have reason to be.    they will not find them. For the earth will have been'&%
For the L.o.rd comes with His judgments and they take ref-         pletely cleansed of them.
uge to thkir idols. But Israel-Jacob must not be afraid. He            Such is the blessed prospect that is..held forth to God's
must not look about him with alarm-Jacob-Israel, the               believing -people fighting the good fight in Babylon. And it
servant of the Lord, the chosen of the Lord, called of Him,        shall come to pass without fail. For the Lord will not cease to.
from the ends of the earth. For the Lord is with him, is his       uphold the right hand of His people, to help and strengthen
Go& strengthens him, helps him, upholds him with the hand          them by saying to `them, "Fear not, I will  help thee." The
of His righteousness in all his warfare in Babylon.                Lord speaks and will continue to speak His word, Gospel,
        We must understand this well. When we .help k fellow       in the hearts of His people, and the fruit thereof is, will be
human, tie co-operate with him and he with us. For exam-           always, that they are strengthened and preserved to the end
ple, there is a task that is too much for him, and so we           as His warriors. We should take notice how consistently
assume responsibility for a part of it, allow- some of the         all the promises of our passage are unconditional. All is the
weight of its burden to rest on our shoulders. There. is no        Lord's work. All depends on Him alone.
such division' of labor between the Lord and His people,               It is plain that the reach also of this prophecy extends'ta
Jacob-Israel. In His love of them, He bears the whole bur-         the end of time. But. its initial fulfilment was the freeing of
den, assumes full responsibility. The whole warfare is His         the church in the captivity of the eiile through the fall of the
work, seeing that He works in them both to will and to do.         Babylon of the Euphrates valley. The Scriptures make it
Their willing and doing are His work in them. So God               plain that as captives of Babylon's kings the true people of
helps His people. And that He strengthens them does not            God, Lecause of their good confession, were sorely troubled
mean that He supplements their strength by the addition of         by the heathen in whose midst they dwelt: In the phraseol-
some of His own, but it means that all their strength is His.      ogy of our passage they snorted against God's people in their
And this help, strength and support is given them through          bitter hatred of them  ; they strove and contended with them :
Christ, who is the righteousness of His ill-deserving people.      they made war against them. But the Lord helped, strength-
Hence, the hand that supports them is the hand of right-           ened and upheld His people by His admonitions and prom-
eousness,                                                          ises as sanctified to their hearts so that their faith did not
11: Behold, shall be ashamed and confounded                        cease. Eventually Babylon went the way of all earthly king-
         All they that snorted against thee.                       doms. It fell and passed away. But the church abided. Cyrus,
         They shall be as gothing  ;                               the conqueror from the east, the spoiler of nations, dealt
         And shall perish the men of thy striving.                 kindly with God's people, the Jews. `Not alone that he gave
12 : Thou shalt seek them and ndt find them.                       them permission to return to their own place, but he showed
         The men of thy contention.                                them every consideration. It astounded and confounded the
         And shall be as nothing and less than nothing.            enemies, many of whom had perished in the overthrow.
        .The men'pf thy war.                                          Jacob-Israel, the  clauda of  the elect, is  i~m&wislaabl~ in-
13 : For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand,              deed. But in ke?*;Felf she is weal? mdjlowly. Hes strength is
         Saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.             the Lord Who gives her  t/se victory  bd richly blesses  he?4
        "The men of thy striving," and "of thy contention," and    z&h salvation. vss. 1420.
"of thy war" are men wicked. They are the enemies of the           14 : Do not fear thou worm Jacob, ye men of Israel ;
church in Babylon. Because God's people confess the name               I will help thee, saith the Lord,
of the Lord, keep His commandments and condemn the                     And thy redeemer, the, Holy One of Israel.
world by their witness, fight, in a  w&d,  the good fight of       15 : Behold, I will make  thee for a threshing instrument,
faith, these "men" in their anger snort at them, strive and                 sharp, new,                  -
contend with them, make war against them, the saints, per-             Having many teeth.
secute- and kill them. Hence, "men of thy strife," etc. These          Thou  .shalt thresh the mountains, and grind them small,
expressions, I take it, indicate both the good fight  .of the          And shalt make the `hills as chaff.
`saints- and the enmity of the wicked.                             16: Thou shalt spread them, and the wind will bear them
        However, because the Lord is with His people, is -their             away,
God, helps, strengthens and upholds them, they cannot per-             And the tempest shall scatter them.
ish in this warfare. They  .are killed, but Christ will raise          And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,
them up in the last day. Rightly considered therefore they             In the Holy One of Israel thou shalt exalt.
do not die. They are indestructible. This is what the wicked-         Jacob is called a worm. It is clear what the speech of
are also going to discover when at the end of time the church      thi's imagery is. Jacob, the men of Israel, always on account
appears with Christ in glory. Then the wicked are going to         of their good confession, are rejected, despised and afflicted
be ashamed and `confounded. And Christ shall .cast them inta       of men, trampled by the wicked, ground under. their heel.
the abyss. Let G6d's people then seek them where they may,                             (Co~&tmd  071   pap  162)


                                        /                                                                                  . .



                         ,'                                   ~TKE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          159
                               :
                                                                               -opportunity  presented itself when we had conferences with
                         IN'HIS.  F E A R .                                      the German .Reformed brethren,: and then the. Revs. Hoek-
                                                                                .sema and Ophoff "knocked that in the head."
                                                                                     Indeed, the' Declaration  `wculd  close' the gate to the
                                    The Gate Is Open                             Liberated. It would "knock in the head" such a- carnal am-
                                             (Continued)'               ,.       bitiori to grow merely in numbers at the expense of the
                In our closing remarks la& time we raised the interest-          truth. It would build the  denoniinati&al  walls too high for
            ing- and important  .question  as to what moral right those .the Liberated to enter -with their -heretical  view of the Cov-
          (~ who left us have to refuse the congregations of Chatham  and        enant promise.
             Hamilton, Ontario to join. them again as sister congregations           And to this you can also  add Rev.-' Petter's attempt in
            -in their  denomifiation.  They have no moral right to do so.        the Vol. 1, No.-9 copy of the Reformed Guardian to ridicule
                What is liloie, they ark not nble to refuse such a reunion.      our desire to Y-s~~z&  distinct.
            -Instead  they are obligated to contact them and seek the  I             These are all chapters in one book: And the. last chapter
            realization of such a reunion.                                       has not yet been written ! But unless the next chapter is that
                Why they are not able and why it is their solemn obliga-         these statements of Rev. De Wolf' are condemned as literally
             tion, we will show in a later issue of the Standard Bearer.         heretical,  ,it is not hard to predict with  Certainty what the
             It is  now time to look back-at the history through which           last chapter, shall reveal.
            we have gone with these things in mind.                                Denominational  .walls  are too high  ?
                We stand today far enough  away from many of.  these                 Dq people inside ever complain about that unless they
             events to be able to evaluate them properly now. And we             want people inside whop  at the .moment have no right to be
            ought to do that too.                                                inside  ?
                Many of our people  h&e been so busy looking simply.                 0; they are brethren and sisters in the Lord,  .these
                                                                               - Liberated. So what?  Paul considered Peter to be a brother
            at the De Wolf case and.qt  the Schi&atic  Classis  West case
            that they did not look beyond it to any great extent to see          in Christ, but he rebuked him to his face. The Christian
            how the events of the last five or six years form one continu-.      Reformed people are brothers and sisters in the Lord.~ Shall
            ous line.                                                            we lower the fence,  the denominational walls, enough to let
                                                                                 them in with their doctrine of ~"Common  Grace ?`!
                It must .be borne in mind that although the last chapter             Why must we with the Liberated who have the heresy of
            has not yet been written, it is all one story, ,one event. And       a promise to every baptized child ?              :
          -a relationship between the chapters and incidents in this one             Do `we love God >vhen. men, whom we are- ready to con-
.           event can be clearly seen  -by anyone who will set himself. cede are also His children, spread and defend heresies and..
     I honestly before them.                                                     iYe allowed them to come- into our detiomination  with these
                Every step of the way, it is now plain, the gate was             things to poison the minds of our own children  ?
            being opened in our churches for the Liberated to come                   Some talk so glibly of love, love, love. (Though they
            into these churches  with  their Arminian conception of the `write in hatred and malice to us.) But does opening the gate
            Covenant promises and of Baptism. That gate was being  Q' and lowering the walls so that bur own children and our own
           ,opened  not simply to let individuals with these heretical con-      people are endangered by these poisonous theories of men
            -ceptions  of God's promise enter into our congregations, but        manifest loves to God?         -
     -      to let groups of them organize under our name while they _               Let those who  .&ould doubt the veracity of our claims
            clung to their corrupt doctrine.                                     t&-n to the official documents such  as the Acts of Synod
              .~ Did Rev.  Kok himself not say repeatedly in his effort          1950.~ On page 52 you have part of the report of  the Mis-
            to have the Declaration defeated that we must not "build, sion Committee in regard to that which lead to the adoption
            our denominational walls" so high ?                                  df the Declaration of Principles.
               The blustering and carnal boast made in the undersigned's             The Mission Committee  had a problem which, because
            home by one df Rev: Kok's colleagues is simply an ov&one             of the very nature of that problem,. it could not and might
           (undertone  ?) of this desire to lower the walls, or as we  p&        not try to solve for itself. And so it properly  sought  the
          it: to open the gate. The unspiritual and purely carnal  .decision  of the Synod.
            boast was that they were not going to let the Rev. Hoekse-               The problem was this : what answer should the Mission
            ma "knock in the head" this wonderful opportunity for our            Committee give to those members of the Liberated churches
           churches to grow in number and be something in this world             who desire to join one of our churches but refuse to give up
            by having the Declaration  .adopted. This all was a climax           their Arminian view of the Covenant promises and of Bap-
          to the evil claim that when we  had(-   ?) a good opportunity          tism, and to those groups of Liberated which desired -to
            to -grow in number  by- contact with the Sovereign Grace             organize into Protestant Reformed congregations while still
            Union in England, the Rev.  Hoeksema "knocked it in  the             maintaining. their heretical view of the promise and of Bap-
            head.`, A little  later,.  so the evil claim continued, another      tism ?

                                                  I  -

                                                                                                   A
                                                                                                                           .


       160.                                         T H E   S'I'ANJJARD   B E A R E R

           We will quote from the Acts of Synod of 1950.                           The Mission Committee came `to the Synod with this
           You have first of all a letter sent to the Mission  Corn-            request jfound.on  page 54) :
       mittee by one of these Liberated members. It is presented.                  "This same question as'& what is "bindend" in the Prot.
       by  the Mission Committee as "quite ty$cal of repeated re-               Ref. Churches is raised by those who seek organization: Now
       quests that we .have received from various groups in Canada.",           it is true, that our missionaries (how innocent we were at
           We will translate freely and quote only the last  para-              that time and free from distrust! And how evil and sjlly  _
       graph, for that contains the purpose of the letter. We  rejd             the  accusafioti  that we composed the Declaration to get rid
       this :                                                                   of some of our  own men. More of this later.) labor among
           "It is therefore because of what I wrote above, that I               them and instruct them in the specific cloctrines  God has in-
       come to you and ask you fdr advice, information and per-                tl'usted to us as Prot. Ref. Churches, but we would appreciate
       haps. also `if possible for help in our position. Gladly, and ,. having something uniforill  and definite to present to these
      .als.o as one of the  ,most important points, would I receive            grbups,  particularly when they request organization. There-
       clarification as to whether you would insist that those afore- fore, your committee requests Synod to draw up' a form that
       mentioned Liberated Reformed people, who are received as                may be used by those families requesting- organization into
       confessing members of a  `Prot. Ref. Church, hold to your               a Prot. Ref: Congregation. We believe that this would serve
       view of the Covenant and of Baptism, or whether they need               to remove all misunderstanding and aid toward unity."
       expect'no  binding by you in regard to these things."                       Now the undersigned is willing to reveal before all who
           Here is part of the `letter sent to this family by the Mis-         read these lines that this request of the Mission Committee
       sion Committee through  its- corresponding secretary : (it              for such a f&-m  is due to`his motion in one of our Mission
      appears on page 53)                                                      Committee meetings to ask Synod to express itself in  re-
           `I. . ; .we greatly appreciate the confidence shown in our gard to these matters. And it all came about exactly because
       churches in the fact that you express the desire to affiliate           of letters like the one referred to above, and because we re-
     yourself with  o& of `our churches: We are convinced that  ceived  a letter from the group at  Chathal; asking for
       the Prot. Ref. Churches are the historical continuation of              organization while t`hey held on ti their views and conceded
       the Reformed Churches here in America. We also realize, that discussion of these  matters'might be carried on after
       that the Prot. Ref. Churches are not identical to the Liberated         organization. The Committee refused such a request. Some
       Churches in the Netherlands. There are differences of                   months later we received another request leaving off all  men-
      `historical background, and also of dogmatical emphasis, etc.            tion of these doctrinal differences. And we organized them.
           "S&condly, in answer to your question, what is binding                  The document they sent later to- our Classis  to seek the
       i-n our Churches, the Mission Committee answers that  al-               defeat of the Declaration reveals that they never `intended
       though  we db  not feel  tknt it  lies within  ozal* jltpisdiction  to ~ to give up their  htiretical  view of the promise. The letter
_      give answer' to this question, we do not hesitate to express,           of Prof.-  Holw&-da likewise reveals that they were. advised
       that the Word of God and the Three Forms of Unity, as not to  let it go but instead to disseminate this "wealth" of
       interpreted by us overagainst the theory of `Cqmmon  Grace,             dogmatical truth in our churches  2s a fifth column. How
       and also the- theory'of `General Grace', as expressed in the            wide they wanted the gate to be!
       `Three Points of 1924"  are binding in our Churches."              d        At that time neither the undersigned, nor any of the
           That letter was composed by Rev. Kok, the correspond-               Mission Committee had anyone of our ministers in mind, as
       irig Secretary. And the italics are ours.                               was so frequently claimed in order that the Declaration be
           It is plain then that those who rejected the Declaration            condemned.  Wi: had  only these requests in mind, and the
       on the excuse that  it was not necessary chose to tell these            desire to keep  our churches pure in doctrine.
       people that we are not going to demand anything more of                     We did not at that time know that Rev. De Wolf would'
       them when they join- than that which, this letter already tells         make plain that the Liberated heresy that the promise is for
       them. We are not going to tell them what interpretation of all those who hear the Gospel on  the condition of faith  tias
     the Word of- God and of the Three Forms of Unity in re                    already inside our denominational walls. We did not know
      the Promise and Baptism they must maintain as members of                 then that he would show us that we did need the Declaration
      one of our churches. They can come with their own  con-                  `for our own people.
      ception,  if they think that it is the right one, if only they               We did not know at that time that more than half of our
      will condemn "Common Grace', and "General Grace."                        ministers would defend that heresy irtside our walls rather
         None of the opponents of the Declaration told the  Mis-               than to work with LIS to cast it put. We did not realize that
      sion Committee that it was in its jurisdiction to decide for             their opposition to the Declaration would proceed that far.
      all our churches what is binding concerning those matters.                   But now we can understand Rev. Kok's repeated phrase
      No, this same Rev. Kok said time and again, "We must not                 that we must not make our denomination walls so high. The
      make those denominational walls so high" that we keep out                corruption was inside in-the hearts of these men. And there-
      brothers and sisters in Christ.                                     fore  +he Liberated belonged inside with Rev.  ISok. Rev. De
        . But let us go on.                                                                        (Cmtimfcd   on  Page  1 6 4 )   _


                        --
                                                    T H E -   S'I'ANDARD   B E A R E R .                                             161
     ~-

                                                                        ever there was a temple," says the same writer, "whether in'
              Contending For The Faith                               II the city or on the hill or the mountain top, no matter how
                                                                        rough, or difficult of access, he ran to it." He prostrated
                                                                        himself devoutly before the altars and the images, not allow-
              The Church and the Sacraments                             ing the most violent storm to prevent him. Several times in
        VIEWS  DURING.`THE  SECOND PERIOD  (300-750 A.D.)               a day, surrounded by priests and dancing women, he sacri-
                                                                        ficed a hundred bulls, himseif  furnishing the wood and kin-
                              THE  CHURCH                               dling the flames: He  usecl the knife himself, and as harus-
     Jidhds ntteutzp t to destroy C~~&ia~nity  .                        pex` (a soothsayer or diviner of ancient Rome who inter-
                                                                        preted the will of the gods from inspection of the entrails of
      We concluded our preceding article with the remark                sacrificed animals - H. V.) searched with his own hand the
     that we would call attention to Julian's attempt to destroy        secrets of the future in the reeking entrails.
     Christianity.                                                          But his zeal found no echo, and only made him ridiculous
        Viewing his plan from its positive aspect, we may re-           in the eyes of cultivated heathens themselves. He complained
     mark, in the first place, that he re-instated, in its ancient      repeatedly of the indifference of his party, and accuses one
     splendour, the worship of the gods at the  p-ublic  expense.       of his priests of a secret league with Christian bishops. The
     He called forth hosts of priests from concealment, conferred       spectators at his sacrifices came not from devotion, but from
     upon them all their former privileges, and showed them             curiosity, and grieved the devout emperor by their rounds
     every honour. He enjoyed upon the soldiers and civil offi-         of applause, as if he were simply a theatrical actor of religion.
     cers attendance at the forsaken temples and altars, forgot no      Often there were no spectators at all; When he endeavored
     god or goddess, although he himself was especially devoted         to restore the oracle of Apollo  Daphneus  in the. famous
     td the worship of Apollo, or the sun, and, notwithstanding         cypress' grove at Antioch, and arranged for a magnificent
     his parsimony, (stinginess) in other respects, caused the          procession; with libation,  danc.es, and incense,  .he found in
rarest birds and whole herds of bulls and lambs to be sacri-            the temple one solitary old-priest, and this priest ominously
     ficed until the continuance of the species became a subject        offered in sacrifice- a goose.
     of concern. He removed the cross and the monogram of                   At the same time, however, Julian sought to renovate
     Christ from the coins and standards and replaced the former        and transform heathenism by incorporating with it the morals
     pagan symbols. He surrounded the statues and portraits of          of -Christianity: vainly thinking thus to bring it back'to its
     the emperors with the signs of idolatry, that every one might      original purity. In this he himself unwittingly and`unwilling-
     be compelled to bow before the gods, who would pay the             -1y bore witness to the poverty of the heathen religion, and
     emperors due respect. If you love the emperor, if you love         paid the highest tribute to the Christian; and the Christians
     your father, he declared, you like to see his portraits; so the    for this reason not inaptly called him an "ape of Christianity."
     friend of the gods loves to look upon their image by which             In the first place, he proposed to improve the .irreclaim-
     he is pervaded with reverence for the invisible gods who           able priesthood after the model of the Christian clergy. The
     are looking down upon  him.                                        priests, as true mediators between the gods and men, should
*       Julian led the way himself with a concrete example. He          be constantly in the temples, should occupy themselves with
     displayed on every'occasion utmost zeal for the heathen re-        holy things, should study no immoral or skeptical books of
     ligion, and performed with the most scrupulous devotion            the school of Epicurus  and Pyrrho;  but the works of Homer,
     the offices of a pontifex maximus, which had beenealtogether       Pythagoras, Plato, Chrysiuups, and Zeno; they should visit
     neglected, although not. formerly abolished, under his two         no taverns nor theatres, should pursue no dishonorable trade,
     predecessors.                                                      should give alms, practice hospitality, live in strict chastity
        Continuing with Julian's attempt to destroy Christianity,       and temperance, wear simple clothing, but in their official
     as described by Philip Schaff  in his History of the Christian     functions always appear in the costliest garments and most
     Church, we quote the following lengthy description as set          imposing dignity. He' borrowed almost every feature of the
     forth by this emment  church historian.                            then prevalent idea of the Christian priesthood, and applied
                                                                        it to the polytheistic religion. Then, he borrowed from the
                      JULIAN BY PHILIP  SCHAFF                          constitution and worship of the church a hierarchical system
        "Every morning and evening he sacrificed to the rising          of orders, and a sort of penitential discipline, with excom-
     and setting sun, or the supreme light-god ; every night, to        munication, absolution, and restoration, besides a fixed ritual
     the moon and the stars; every day, to some other divinity.         embracing didactic and musical elements. Mitred priests in
     Says Libanius,. his heathen admirer : "He received the ris-        purple were to edify the people regularly with sermons  ithat        .
' ing sun with blood, and attended him again with blood at              is, with allegorical expositions and practical applications of
     his setting." As he could not go abroad so,often as he would,      tasteless and immoral. mythological stories. Every temple was
     he turned his palace into a temple and erected altars in his       to have a well arranged choir, and the congregation its
     garden, which was kept purer than most chapels.  "Wher-            responses. And finally, Julian established in different pro-
                                  s                                              -_

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

 . vinces  monasteries' nunneries, and hospitals for the sick, for     glorious privilege of man, the worship of the immortal gods,
  orphans, and for foreigners without distinction of religion,         and instead of them worshipped dead men and dead men's
  appropriated to them considerable sums from the public               bones." He &ce even suffered himself to be' insulted by a
  treasury, and at the same time,  though  fruitlessly, invited        blind bishop, Maris of Chalcedon,  who, when reminded by
  voluntary contributions. He made  ttie noteworthy conces-            him, that the Galilean God could not restore his eyesiglit,
  sion, that the.%eathens  did not help even their own brethren        answered  : "I thank my God for my blindness, which spares
  in faith  ; while the Jews never begged, and "the godless            me fhe .painful  sight of such an impious apostate as thou."
  Galileans," as he malignantly styled the Christians, supplied        He afterwards, however, caused the bishop to be severely
  not only their own, but even the heathen poor, and thus aided        punished. So in  Antioch;  also,. he `bore with philosophic
  the worst of causes by a good practice.                              equanimity the ridicule of the Christian populace, but avenged
         But of course' all these attempts to regenerate  heath&ism    himself on the inhabitants of the city by  .unsparing  satire
  by -foreign elements were utterly futile. They were like             in the Misopogon. His whole bearing towards the Christians
  galvanizing a decajing corpse, or grafting fresh scions on a         was instinct with bitter hatred and accompanied with sarcastic
  dead trunk, sowing good seed on a rock, or pouring new               mockery. This betrays itself even in the contemptuous term,
  wine into old bottles, bursting the bottles and wasting the          Galilenns,  which he constantly applies to them after the
  wine.                                                                fashion of the Jews, and which he probably also commanded
         II. The negative side of Julian's plan was the sup-           to be given them by others. He considered them a sect of
  pression and final extinction of Christianity -(the positive side    fanatics contemptible to men and hateful to the gods, and
  of his plan was the restoration and reformation of heathen-          as atheists in open war with all that was sacred ahd divine
  ism - H.V.)                                                          in the world. He sometimes had representatives of ,different
         In this he proceeded with extraordinary sagacity. He          parties dispute in his presence, and then exclaimed: "NO
  abstained from bloody persecution, because he would not              wild beasts are so fierce and irreconcilable as the Galilean
  forego the credit of philosophical toleration, nor give the          sectarians." When he found that toleration was rather profit-
  church the glory of a new martyrdom. A history of three              able than hurtful to the church, and tended to sdften the
  centuries also had proved that violent measures were fruit-          vehemence of doctrinal controversies, he proceeded, for
  less. According to Libanius it was a principle with him, that        example, to banish Athanasius, who was particularly offen-
  fire and sword cannot change a man's faith, and that persecu-        sive to him, from Alexandria, and even from Egypt, calling
  tion only begets hypocrites and martyrs. Finally, he doubt-          this greatest man of his age an insignificant manikin, and
  less perceived that the Christians were too numerous to be           reviling him with vulgar language, because through his in-
  assailed by a-general persecution without danger of a bloody         fluence many prominent heathens, especially heathen women,
  civil war. Hence, he oppressed the church "gently," under            passed over to Christianity. His toleration, therefore, was
  show of equity and universal toleration. He presecuted  not          neither that of genuine humanity, nor that of religious  in-
Q:O much the Christians as Christianity,- by endeavoring to            differentism, but a hypocritical mask for a fanatical love of
`Ylraw off its confessors. He thought to gain the result of            heathenism and a bitter hatred of Christianity."
  persecution without incurring the personal reproach and the
  ptiblic danger of persecution itself. His disappointments,                The Lord willing, we will continue with  this quotation,
  however,  iticreased  his bitterness, and had he returned            from Schaff's History of the Christian Church in our  foi:
  victorious from the Persian war, he would probably have              lowing article.
  resorted to open violence. In fact, Gregory Nazianzen and                                                                     H.V.
  Sozomen, and some heathen writers also tell of local persecu-
  tions in the provinces, particularly at Anthusa and Alexan:                             THE DAYS OF SHADOW
  di-ia,   with which the emperor is, at least indirectly, to be
  charged.. His officikls acted in those cases, not under public                          (Contimed   f;om  /hgse   1 5 8 )
  orders indeed, but according to the secret wish of Julian,           (See Ps. xxii:6 and also the description of-the sufferings of
  who ignored their illegal proceedings as long as he could,           Christ, Isa. liii.) Accordingly, Jacob is a people of suffering
  and then discovered. his real views by lenient censure and           and sorrow for Christ's sake.
  substantial  acquital  of the off ending magistrates.                     But Jacob, the men of Israel,  must not be afraid. For
     He  first, therefore, employed agaiqst the Christians of          the Lord will help him, the worm. There can. be no doubt
  all parties' and sects the policy of toleration, in hope of their    about- that. For He is Jehovah, the I am, Jacob's redeemer,
  destroying each other by internal controversies. He  per-            who bought him with a price, the Holy One of Israel3 whose
  mited the orthodox bishops and all other clergy, who had' aloneness is absolute.
  been banished under Constantius, to return to their dioceses,             And that help is to consist in His making him a thresh-
 and left Arians; Appollinarians, Novatians, Macedonians, ing instrument to the adversary. What may be the truth and
  Donatists, ahd so on, to themselves. He affected compassion          fact signified by this imagery ?  Tp my mind it is this. He
 for the "poor? blind, deluded Galileans, who forsook the most
                                                           _.                              (Contiimed   oft.  page- 166)

                                                                       _

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

            OUR  IMMEDIATE  MISSION  FIELD                                    for light and darkness never have anything in common, but
                                                                              always stand antithetically opposed to each other. It is only
             "T,he+  Protestant Reformed Churdhes believe  that,  in
          obedience to the command of Christ, the King of the                 on the firm foundation of the truth.of the Scriptures that the
          Church, to preach the blessed Gospel to all creatures, bap-         church finds her true unity and harmony, solidly knit to-
          tizing, and teaching them to observe all things which Christ        gether in the peace and fellowship of the Spirit of our Lord'
          has commanded, it is the explicit duty and the sacred priv-         Jesus Christ.
          ilege of said church to carry out this calling according to             Reviewing the missionary activities bf our churches dur-
          the measure of our  Godgiven  ability.                              ing the recent years, we  find that our program gradually had
             "me believe that  <his missionary activity includes, the
          qork  of church extension, and church reformation, as  well         been expanded. Although no forei=  .mission work had been
          as the task of carrying the Gospel to the unchurched and            taken up, offerings for this pu,rpose  were being received in
          heathen. However, we are convinced that `our present duty           our churches, `and the mission committee was studying the
          lies in the field of church extension  atid church reformation."    possibilities of  also entering  this field. In fact,  the. Theo-
   This quotation is taken from the preamble of the Constitu-                 logical School was instructed to introduce the necessary
tion of .the Mission Committee, as found oti page 46 of our                   branches for those who in the future might desire to.prepare
Church Order.                                                                 for the ministry of the Word in foreign fields. Today a
    This preamble expresses the conviction that it is "the                    course on Missions is being offered to the students.
explicit duty and sacred privilege" of our Protestant Re-                         All our efforts were put forth toward home mission
formed Churches to preach the blessed Gospel to all crea-                     endeavor,  .particularly  among those who did have some
tures.                                                                        church affiliation, and more particularly among those of
    It also adds that we believe that this missionary activity                Reformed persuasion. It is impossible to estimate how much
"includes the work of church extension and church reforma-                    literature was distributed, both in the Netherlands and in our
tion," as well as preaching the Gospel to the  unchurchecl                    own land. The radio was also employed to propagate the
and the heathen.             '                                                truth  we confess, .in various parts of the United States ancl
    These are ilnportant  tenets for the church to maintain.                  also in Canada.
   `But the point I wish to  stress  in this article is, that at                  The records show that about three years ago, in the
then  time this constitution was adopted our churches were                    fall of 1951, we began  tb speak of reaching out to the un-
"convinced that our present duty lies in the field of ch`urch                 churched. At a meeting of the mission  committeti  with the
erte&on and clawsh  ~eformntion.." The rest of the constitu-                  calling church,  (jhat is,  :he First Church of Grand Rapids,
tion is based upon that cbnviction.                                           Mich.), the  followitig  resolution was drawn up, "It is the
  And `that, to my mind, applies to our position today as                     sentiment of this gathering that our policy of labor is to
much as it ever did.                                                          bring the truth as we believe it to all to whom we find op-
   We often have been criticized in times past for our con-                   portunity, either to the churched o,r the unchurched." This
viction that our missionary efforts should be limited to                      action was approved by the synod of 1952.                            <`;I
church extension and church reformation. We have been                            -During the winter of 1952 to 9953, we took on various
taken to task for sending our missionaries among organized                    radio stations, both on the East and the West Coast, and in
churches to oppose the error of these churches. We were                       Canada. Contacts were made in various localities, and the
accused of disrupting the church of Jesus Christ, rather than                 possibility presented itself of opening a number of fields at
building & up ; of creating disharmony, rather than seeking                   the same time. In fact, the -synod of 1953 adopted the pro-
peace and unity. Arid repeatedly the accusation was lodged                    posal presented by the mission committee to "endeavor to
against us that we did not "believe" in mission work, for                     organize a definite home-missionary program along the fol-
the simple reason that we had not reached out to. the un-                     lowing lines  I
churched and heathen.                                                             "a. To have one man serve as missionary-at-large, whose
   Now it follows from `the very nature of the case, that                     duties shall be:
since we are convinced before God that we represent the                           "( 1) To locate  and labor  ;n definite areas where other
purest manifestation of the church of Jesus Christ, we also                   missionaries may be called to labo;.
strongly desire to draw all true and sincere believers into                       "(2) To labor together with the missionary called to the
that fellowship. More- than that, since we greatly cherish                    given field in the early stages of the field's adoption.
the truth of God's sovereign grace as we have been privileged                     "b. To choose a definite area or areas to serve as specific,
to believe it. we also consider it our explicit duty and sacred               fields of labor for the missionary about to be called at this
privilege to proclaim this truth. to others outside of our                    time, where said  niissionary and his family shall  -be &tab-
churches, according to the measure of our God given ability.                  lished for an indefinite time  ; however with a designated
And finally, the truth never disrupts the unity or destroys                   minimum of time." To carry out this plan, the mission
the church, for the truth is of God. The error always does                    committee was instructed .to make arrangements for calling
that, for error is from the Prince of darkness,  the father of                three more missionaries, besides the one that was already
the lie. Nor can true peace be obtained through_ compromise,                  serving the churches.


 164                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 a -

  The mission program seemed about to expand far be-                through the recent schism in our churches. There are un-
 yond anything attempted in the past.                               doubtedly many who have been misinformed, or who were
        Then came the schism in our' churches, and many de-         swept along with the leaders of their churches, and who now
 parted from us to walk with us no more. We formulated              find themselves outside of `the `churches which have always
 our plans, but the Lord had determined that they should            been dear to them. At the same time, they find themselves
 never materialize.                                                 removed from the truth of God's sovereign grace as they  -
        As a result., our mission endeavor was temporarily          have always confessed it. At first they were told that the
 brought to a stand still, except for the radio broadcasts          whole issue centered around "personalities." Then they were
 originating from the First Church of Grand Rapids,  Mich.          informed that it was a inatter of "emphasis ;" that while we
-These were continued and even extended to include parts            still stress the sovereignty of God, they wish to stress man's
`of Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. We have a station            responsibility. This new emphasis sounds very much like,
 in Sioux Falls, and also in Aberdeen, South Dakota.                and is nothing less than ' Arminianism in the cloak of Re-
        And that places us before the question as to our present    formed truth. Now they have reached a point there they
-field of labor.                                                    are ready to brand us (that of which they were formerly a
        Evidently, also in this matter we must seek the guidance    part) as nothing more than a sect. For proof I need only
 of the Lord, to go where  He, sends us. Very often in the          refer you to a recent issue of Concordia.
 past a field was opened up to us where we least expected it.          Our immediate calling is to enlighten those who have
 In fact, it came as a very pleasant. surprise to all of us when    been led astray, sheep which have been scattered and now
three ministers from the Reformed Episcopal Church re-              begin to wander about. Some of them we can reach through
 sponded to our radio broadcasts, sought contact with us, and       the Standard Bearer.       In some communities our own
`finally became students at our Seminary.                           churches can be  a. witness to them. This might even be a
        There were times when we were reminded of the ex-           possible field for a future home missionary.
perience of the apostle Paul when he went out on his second            In any case, the fields are white for the harvest. There
missionary journey. He had travelled from one end of Asia           is much work to be done. The truth must still be propagated,
 Minor to the other, but repeatedly was prevented by the            with even more zeal and determination than before.
Holy Spirit from preaching the Word, even in places that               And that as the Lord directs and opens the way.
seemed. to him a likely field. Thus hedged in the apostle              The Lord of the. harvest assures  us that our labors are
finally came to Troas, some what! perturbed, no doubt, if           never vain in Him.                                        C.H.
not despondent, constantly wondering why the Holy Spirit
was hindering him from preaching the Word. The answer                                      IN HIS FEAR
came through  the,vision.of  the Macedonian man, calling him                           (Collfinued from *age 160)
to' preach the Word in Europe, since there were also there          Wolf et al. But  not witlz US! How else will you harmonize
those who were ordained unto eternal life.                          this statement of Rev.  Iiok about not making the walls higher
    Or, to use another figure, Ezekiel's -prophecy speaks of        with the defense of the statements of Rev. De Wolf. Those
sheep which have wandered away through the mountains                who can feel at home with Rev. De Wolf's statements and
and upon every high hill, and have been scattered upon all          will not call them literally heretical will also feel at home
the face- of the earth. (Ezekiel 34 :ll-16). These are sheep        with the Liberated preaching and say that it is not heretical.
of Christ's pasture. The Chief Shepherd has His own rightful           And the truth is so unyielding!
claim to them. He also knows them by name. And He alone                If you want some interesting reading, get our your Acts
gathers them. Therefore He it is who calls and sends forth          of Synod, 1951. We are already far enough away from 1951
His,servants  to gather His own unto Himself. That is true          to see the folly of the whole `schismatic movement, Read
mission work.                                                       all the protests against the Declaration that appear in that
    That must always be our directive. For .we can go only          record of the Synod of 1951. Read especially those that
as the Lord sends us.                                               contend that the Declaration is unnecessary and illegal be-
    But then there are some fields that immediately come to         cause no local congregation has wrestled with this problem
our minds as areas which have been investigated in times            and felt the need to bring it to Synod.
past, but never thoroughly worked. A few years ago some                Rev. De Wolf, unwittingly you have done the true Prot-
preliminary investigations were made in the middle West,            estant Reformed Churches a great deal of good. You opened
more particularly in South Dakota. Moreover, some con-              our eyes before the matter had gone too' far.
tacts were made along the East Coast. And we have had                  Indeed, the truth is so unyielding !
an' extensive series of broadcasts by the Rev. Vos over a              Read those protests now in the light of the history we
station in London, Ontario, Canada. These possible fields           have made.
should not be forgotten nor neglected.                                 They look pretty sick! But there they are' printed for
    But our immediate field is much closer. to home. And            future generations to read and from which to profit.
that is among those who have been drawn away from us                                                                        J.A.H.


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  165

                                                                       that point to the necessity and practice of visiting them. Job
               DECENCY and ORDER                                       was visited in his afflictions by his friends and acquaintances.
                                                                /I     Frequently in His ministry Christ, upon- request, went to
                                                                       the homes of the sick. His own words, recorded in Matthew
                     Comforting the Sick                 -             25 :35, 36 indicate that .He would have His disciples do like-
     Among the many labors of the pastor is the important              wise, for He said : "I was an hungered and ye gave me meat ;
  duty of visiting the sick as prescribed in the call letter. Like-    I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger and
  wise this function is not one that belongs exclusively to the        ye took me in ; naked and ye clothed me ; I was sick. and ye
  office of the minister, as is sometimes thought, but is rather       visited me ; I was in prison and ye came to me." And when
  implied in the office of the elder in general, who is called to      He is asked, "But when  clid we this  ?", He replies, "Inas-
  "serve all christians with advice and consolation." (Form of         much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
  Installation) It might even be said that in a certain sense          brethren, ye have done it  .unto me." To visit the fatherless
  this work is also part of the office of the deacons who are          and widows in their affliction is part of the essence of true
 called "to administer relief to the poor and indigent not only        religion. .Those that are physically led in ways of suffering
  with external gifts, but also with comfortable words from            have need to-be visited as well as those that are spiritually ill.
  Scripture." (Form of Installation) Not infrequently the               This necessity springs from the very nature of sickness
  poor are poor and `in need of the assistance of the deacons          which is the potential of death. This does not mean that all
  because of sickness and other afflictions. Let them then be          sickness is fatal nor even that we immediately think of death
  visited and comforted not only in .their poverty but also in         the moment we become ill but it does express .that sickness is
  their sickness and such visitation does not have to be limited       the evidence of the working power of death in.our bodies. It
 to a call by the dominee.                                             belongs to the breaking down. of this earthy tabernacle. It
      Sick visiting is more than a traditional custom. It is a         reminds us that our life is but a vapor and that our-breath is
  spiritual practice sanctioned by Holy Writ and necessitated          in our nostrils: Today we appear strong and vigorous and
  by the very nature of physical illness and its possible effects      in good health and tomorrow ,we lay helpless upon our bed,.
  upon the soul and spiritual attitude of those afflicted.             clenched by the power of disease which breaks down our
      In James 5 :14 we read : "Is any sick among you  ? Let           frame. We are like the flower of the field which today is
  him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over        and tomorrow it is withered and- gone. All the sickness, pain
  him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." This           and suffering of our present life -points unto death. And
  passage has more than one interpretation. Some claim that            death, let us not forget, is the manifest token of the holy
  it speaks of those that are physically or mentally ill. Others       wrath of God against sin for `<the wages of.sin is death.`"
  hold that the apostle refers here to those that are spiritually      `I This reality is frequently the.occasion  of serious .misun-
  sick. We favor the latter interpretation and that for more           derstanding on the part of the people of God when sickness
  than one reason. Without discussing the passage in detail            and death come their way. It is not uncommon to  find. a
  we may point out the following:                                      child of God in sickness interpreting this experience as a
      (1) The word here for "sick" is often used in Scripture          visitation of God's wrath upon him personally for some sin
  with reference to suffering spiritual afflictions,.                  or sins committed. Losing the conscious joy of their salva-
      (2) In the  preceeding  verse James speaks of bodily af-         tion. in Christ, they become deeply disturbed over all their
  fliction and, consequently, there is no need for this to be          sins and fail to find redemption from them. They judge that
  repeated.                                                            their illness is the token of God's wrath upon them for their
      (3) In the following verse he spekas of those for whom           sin. Pretty soon the conclusion is drawn that they. have
  the elders pray thus : "And the prayer of faith shall save the       even committed the unpardonable sin for which God visits
  sick, and the Lord shall raise him up ; and if he have corn-         them in their suffering. Their physical affliction becomes the
  mitted  sins, they shall be forgiven him." This does not apply
to physical illness but certainly indicates that the affliction of     occasion of deep spiritual torment. They have need of the
  verse 14 is spiritual, necessitating resurrection and forgive-       Word of God directing them to the way of life, comforting
  ness.                                                                and reassuring them of the truth that "whatever evils God
      (4) Finally, the fact that those thus afflicted (in dis-         sends upon His children in this valley of tears, He turns to
  tinction from vs. 13) are not able to pray for themselves but        their advantage for He is able-to do it, being .Almighty  God,
  are instructed to call the elders would support this view.           and willing,  .being  a faithful Father." (Heidelberg Catechism
     It is evident then that those who are spiritually afflicted       qu. 26) They need to be instructed to be "patient in adver-
  have need of the .visitation  of the minister and elders. The        sity  ; thankful in prosperity ; and that in all things which may
 conclusion, however, is. unwarranted that only those need             hereafter befall them, they place their firm trust in their
 -be visited and that those who are in physical affliction do not      faithful God and Father,  ,that nothing shall separate them
have to be visited. There are other passages of Holy Writ              from His love ; since all creatures are so in His hand, that

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

without His will they cannot so much as move." (Heidelberg         bind yourself to that and that alone, but so as not to leave
Catechism qu. 28).                                                 the subject to chance, and so as to bring the patient accorcl-
       Furthermore, it is not an uncommon experience that in-      ing to what seems-to you his requirements, through an in-
tense suffering and prolonged illness create discouragement        structive series  o,f definite lessons to his heart and con-
and incite rebellion in the hearts .of- the people of God so       science."
afflicted. This is only the natural tendency of the human             And, the pastor must bring the Word of God. Out of
nature. All incentive becomes lost. The soul becomes down-         the Word he points them to the realities of life and death.
cast within us. We fail to see the wisdom of God's ways            From the Word he directs the afflicted ones to Christ, Who
and to understand why this had to befall us when so many           took our suffering upon Himself, Who bore our griefs,. Who
others all about us apparently enjoy health and strength. It       destroyed the power of death forever and Who even now
is hard to bear the burden of our afflictions with patience        uses death as His instrument to bring us, His people, into
and the grace of resignation to God's ways with us is not          the glory of everlasting life. In Him is our only hope in the
always evidenced in us as it should be. Again our need is          midst of all the miseries of this life. He is our abiding con-
the Word of God to lift us up, encourage, comfort and lead * solation wherewith His people are comforted in the valley of
us that we may walk humbly with our God. -                         tears and  .sorrows. And blessed are the feet of them that
       In this the minister (and the elders) have a wonderful      bring these tidings of peace even unto those that lie in the
but difficult calling. It is not easy to place yourself in the     midst of suffering !          :t .*  $
position of those that are afflicted and to see all things from
the viewpoint of the sufferer so that they can be dealt with          Other labors of the pastor are also worthy of mention.
as a co-sufferer with understanding. Yet this must be done         He is, called to engage in family visitation, he officiates at
if they are to be led to the true and only comfort in life and     marriages and funerals, etc. These duties we will not, how-
death. It is often difficult to know when one in sickness has      ever, discuss in this connection but reserve them for the
need of a pastorai visit. There are some who think that the        present and take them up, D. V., in connection with other
dominee must come for every little ailment, however minor          articles of the church order.                         G.v.d.B.
it may be while others need to be on their death-bed before
the elder `or minister is informed. It is proper that those
who feel the need of a pastoral visit request him to call but
frequently this is not done and the minister must use wisdom                         THE DAYS OF SHADOW'
and discretion lest, on the one hand he intrudes where he is                          (C.o&m-d  from page 162)
not needed or, on the other hand, he neglects those who do         raises Jacob, the men of Israel, from his spiritual death,
need his instruction from the Word and prayer. It is               grafts him into Christ by a faith that is living and indestruc-
also difficult to know how frequently the sick ought to be         tible, and supplies him with grace to embrace and live by
visited. No hard and fast rule can be made for each case and       His counsel, promises, word of prophecy. And that word
circumstance must be judged in its own light and the highest       is to the-effect that the adversary shall be destroyed at the
welfare of the patient sought. Various practical problems          appearing of Christ and that Jacob, the worm, shall inherit
confront the- pastor in .the performance of this labor.            the earth. And that word Jacob holds, lives by and pro-
       Requisite to the performance of this work are all the       claims to the wicked and thereby he triumphs over all his
spiritual qualifications of the minister of the  .Word. He is      enemies because the Lord brings it to pass, so that by iden-
not a doctor of medicine nor should he pretend to be. H-is         tifyjng Jacob with that Word of His and thus with Christ,
concern is to help the suffering ones bear their afflictions in    the Lord indeed makes him to the adversary a threshing in-
the right frame of mind and atttitude toward God and to            strument having many teeth. And as it is all the Lord's
help them to see that as the beloved of the Lord, all things,      work, it is in Him that Jacob rejoices and glories --glories
afflictions and sufferings included, do indeed work together       in the Holy One of Israel.
for good to them that love God and are called according to            That Jacob the Lord's servant is still the chosen nation
His purpose. He must call on them to minister unto them            and not the personal servant of the Lord is plain from the
that redemptive knowledge.                                         expression, "Jacob the men of Israel."
       To do this He -must love the sheep. He must have a             It is also plain what is to be understood by the "moun-
deep, sincere concern for them. He must prepare himself in         tains and the Hills" of vs. 15 that are to be made like chaff
visiting them so that his call may be beneficial toward them.      to be carried away by the wind and scattered by the tempest
F. R. Wayne said:                                                  when Jacob by his threshing instrument shall have grinded
       "Whenever it is possible, give special study to the case    them small. The reference is to the Adversaries of Jacob.
of each patient. Think of the sufferer in your own chamber         They exalt themselves against the Lord and His people, and
before you visit him in his. Settle in your mind beforehand        are therefore compared to hills and mountains.
what subject to suggest to him in conversation ; not so as to                                                             G.M.O.


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                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            167
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II                                                                             struggle? What is  its real significance for us and  jior our
            A L L   A R O U N D   U S                                    I future generations ? This question must be answered in the
                                                                               light of Scripture but also in connection with our history of
                                                                               the past, the history for example of our churches in /Canada,
"What Really Happened In Ow Chwches."                                          the history we made with the Declaration of Princibles  and-
         Such was the subject of an essay delivered by the Rev.                last but not least with the discussion on the subject of con-
J. Blankespoor at a ministers' conference held recently in                     ditions.                                                     I
-Oskaloosa,  Iowa, and published in Concordia of Dec. 2, `54.                        "The question becomes a still more important or+e in the
        Rev. J. Howerzyl, who has been filling  the editorial space            light of a few pertinent observations. We were a small de-
iii this paper of late, introduces this essay with `<a word of                 nomination, we needed each other, but why then  ia  csplit?
explanation." He tells us that "a few weeks ago a ministers'                   Few men exerted as much influence on a group of 4eople  as
conference was held in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Present were most                      did the Rev. H. Hoeksema with his powerful  peqsonality.
 of our ministers, except those -hindered by distance and                      There was a time when all practically sat at his feet iin re all
 pressing work. At this meeting several fine papers were                       the things he wrote and spoke. The Standard  Beqrer  was
 read, dealing with the situation in our churches and our                      virtually the last word on any given matter. For mapy years
 course for the future. Since this fits' in very well with that                the machinery of our churches seemed to run very smoothly,
                                                                                                                                            .
 which we have been writing in Concordia, and since the sub-                   with only a few interruptions, at least externally. Thmk, for
 jects treated were of vital interest not only to the ministers                example, of the time when Rev. Hoeksema was sick. How
 but to all our people, it was decided to ask Concordia for its                almost the entire denomination was deeply  affectid by it
 Editorial space to print these papers. Herewith we present                    with a feeling of' depression  and discouragement. Besides all
 the essay by Rev. J. Blankespoor."                                            this the hisfory of 1924 was still rather fresh in  the minds
         Why this conference was held and why this particular                   of many. And now in so short a time another  split in our
 subject for the conference was chosen, we can only guess.                      small ranks ? Surely there must have b&en  a very good rea-
 One informant told me that a bulletin published in one of                      son on the part of the majority of our people to be ieady  for
 their churches signified that the conference was very urgent.                  such a step. True, we did not foster nor actually bring about
 Perhaps there are ministers and not a few laymen who went                      a split. They became schismatic. But even then wh? did our
 along with the schismatics who are not a little alarmed with                   people and we with them so maintain the princiFl:s which
 the present situation in these churches, and they are still                    we defended that we chose a split instead %pf,  remalnlpg  one ?
 more alarmed about their future, and therefore demanded                        In view of all these things one must come to the cqnclusion
 such a conference. At any rate, the conference was held, and                   that there must have been in the minds of our lea/ders  and
 if Rev. BlankeSpoor's  essay is a sample of all the "fine:' pa-                people  not only a very necessary reason for  takinb such a
 pers that were delivered there, we can also know the mind of                   stand, but also a God-given duty to defend our  pkinciples,
 the conference both as to their present situation as well as to                regardless of consequences.
 their course of action for the future. They are perfectly jus-                      "The answer to the question, What really  hapbened  in
 tified in their own mind as to their past conduct. They are                    our churches ? must be found only in the Scriptures.  Wer
 perfectly satisfied as to the present -situation.  The alarmists               surely might not in any sense be  *directed by &hat a small
 among them must be stilled: And as for the future, they are                    element of radicals said or thought, on either side. /One  can
 as free as a bird escaped from its cage, all their former de-                  always find some malcontents in the church, with their own
 nominational straight-jackets have been removed. So with                       opinions of things. Therefore we must also be ve<y careful
 their doctrine and ecumenical aspirations they are really                      lest we characterize the "other side" in the light $f what a
 going to go places.                                                            few radical individuals may say or think. But.. it 1s a good
         The essay of Rev. Blankespoor is too long to quote in its              practice to take into consideration, always, what  the com-
      entirety in one issue of this department. So, the Lord will-              mon people think. Since they also have the anointihg  of the
 ing, I hope to use two or three issues of the Standard Bearer                  Spirit they, too, can help us interpret history and the Scrip-
      if necessary to quote and disprove his paper. The introduc-               tures. Remember that it was an old, gray-haired  pdy that
      tion to his paper is rather long, at least long enough to fill            first showed  Dr. A. Kuyper Sr. the error of his  w;y in the
      all my space for this time, allowing for a little comment of              Hervormde Kerk. And remember above all that the multi-
      my own. He makes, some remarks in it that should not go                   tudes gladly heard Jesus. No, they didn't know the jdetaiis  of
      unchallenged. Here follows his introduction :                             the law as did the doctors of theology among  thC scribes.
         "This question, (What really happened in our churches ?                Nevertheless they were a good criterion in those d4ys. And
 - M. S.) no doubt is a good one. Even though we all have,                      they still are, and also-were and are such for us. Oyr history
      undoubtedly, asked ourselves this question many, many                     surely teaches us that the common people. were yonvincecl
      times, it is always good to reminisce on a matter as impor-               that something was wrong in our churches, and the/ majority
      tant as this one. And self-examination is always proper.                  of them maintained their principles and convictio,$  even to
         "Just what is the deepest meaning of our recent church                 the extent that it cost us a split in our churches.- ,qhat then
                                                                                                                                      II
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 168                                          - T H E   S;EA:%JDARD   BEARE-R

 really happened  and why did we follow this course?' For            all this. Why? I say the `reason is to cover up and to de-
 this time, so far Blankespoor.                                      ceive.
        I wish to remark, first of all, that the entire essay and        In the third place, Rev. Blankespoor makes some more
therefore also this introduction is typic& Blankespoorian.           pious speech about how small we were denominationally,
 Very piously atid impressively and, because he is dead wrong,       and how much we needed each other. He has much to say
 therefore very dticeptively,  he talks about proper self-exami-     about Rev. Hoeksema and the Standard Bearer. And all the
 n&ion,  about solving the questibti  `of what happened in oui       while, for as many as nine years before the split I dare say,
 cl;urches "in the light of-Scripture." Of course, self-exami-       they were trying to get rid of Hoeksema and the Standard
nation is always proper. Of course, all. our questions, also         Bearer. All that pious talk about Hoeksema and his being
 the one concerning what happened in our churches, should            ill, bah! The biggest surprise of their life tias that the Lord
 be solved in t&e light of Scripture and the Confessions. All        restored him. One of their men told me right to .my face how
 very  pibusly  said. But does Rev. Blankespoor do this ? 0,         he wished that Hoeksema had died. If only he was out of
 no ! As far as that self-examination is concerned, does Rev.        the way, they  could go places. The hate Hoeksema campaign;
 Blankespoor.also  suggest that he might be wrong ? Does he          and I may' add also Ophoff, has been going on for a long
 mention one sin his self-examination produced  ? He does            time, not only in the east, but also iri the west. I can prove
 `not. There was not examination of self, but of the other           this too.  .And the Standard Bearer? It  tiakes me sick to
 whom  he- calls "schismatic." Does Rev. Blankespoor refer to        read what he  says about that when  we know that openly
 any Scripture in his entire article to prove that he is walking     these men were advising their people' not to subscribe to it
 in its light ? He does .not. He prates about `the Standards of      and read it. With Rev. H. C. Hoeksema. I say -All  Ho-
 the church, but-  never once referred to them as the grounds        kum ! Hum-bug. The truth is that all but three of their
 for their schismatic action. I claim this is all pious talk, the    ministers have refused to subscribe to the Standard Bearer,
 purpose of which is to deceive the "common people," con-            and one even had the audacity to tell our Business Manager
 cerning whom he has much to say in this introduction, to            that he wouldn't have "that filthy sheet in his house." And,
 which I call attention again presently.                             mind you, this all while they still read the Standard Bearer
        In the secotid place, I refer the reader to paragraph two    and &se .it as the best commentary on thei?  .shelves. And why
 of the introduction where Blankespoor makes two very                do they hate Hoeksema, Ophoff, and the Standard Bearer so
 noticeable omissions `as he recalls the history in the light of     much ? Is it because the latter are so heretical and unre-
 which the question concerning what happened in our                  formed? Not a Reformed man with a Reformed hair on his
 churches must be answered. He omitted to tell us how much           head would ever believe this. Even the Chri.stian  Reformed
 he and his colleagues fell in love with the Liberated and           and, the Liberated do not believe this. The reason is that
 their doctrine. That is also history. Secondly, he omitted to       these men have defended the truth in the Standard Bearer,
 say in connection with the discussion on conditions anything        the truth that has undressed them, these schismatics, and
 about the two statements of the Rev. De Wolf, which also            they have been shown up for what they are. That's the only
 happened in our churches and were the immediate cause of            reason. Hoeksema; Ophoff, and the Standard Bearer stood
 the so-called split. Why did he do this ? Why fail to men-          in their way of becoming big, of realizing their "ecumenical"
 tion these  important facts T I am sure that Blankespoor has        d e s i r e .
 now proved tihat we have always said was a fact, that way              In the fourth place, Rev. Blankespoor talks about "the  -
 back in our history even before the Canadian debacle there          majority of our "people" who were ready for the split. I
 was ill-feeling among some of their ministers and even some         am not going to dispute about numbers. This makes very
 of their laymen. But, when our asgociations  with the Liber-        little difference to me. A  majo_rity  in respect to matters of
 ated began to jell, and voices of objection to those associa-       dqctrine  is not always correct, and generally wrong. That's
 tions began to arise, that ill-feeling also  began  to express      history. It may even be true that a majority of our people
 itself most vehemently. Then it was that they came out of           were ready to step out with the schismatics. That is nothing
 their corner, who had previously worked in the dark. I can          new either. And I may add that it  was the  secret hope of
 produce witnesses that will sustain this judgment.  Blanke-         the schismatic leaders that they would take along with them
 spoor should not have neglectgd  to include this in his history.    the entire denomination. The Lord, however, spoiled their
 He should have admitted or denied that they- were in love           plans. He preserved His remnant. This He always  do&.
 with the Liberated and their doctrine. This he says nothing         No question about that. But if it is true that the majority
 about for specific reasons. Also he should have told `his           were ready to go along with the schismatics, how is that to
 audience how he defended and still does the heretical state-        be explained  ? In this case it is fast becoming evident that
 ments of De -Wolf, how  ."Classis  We&  made itself guilty          many of them have been mis-led, they have been told the lie.
,.-of schism when it defended Rev.  DDE  Wolf and his elders.           Our space has run out, however, and we shall have to
-That's history in the light of which the question of what hap-      continue our remarks in the next issue.
 pened in our churches must be answered. Blankespoor omits                                                                   M. S.


