     VOLUME   XXX11                             FEBRUARY   15, 1956  -  GRAND   RAPIDS.  MICHIGAN                          NUMBER 10

                                                                              Yes, it is the most important question for a man.
                M E D I T A T I O N                                           "The people that dwell therein," that is, in the heavenly
                                                                          Jerusalem, the inhabitants of the new world, are often men-
                                                                          tioned in Holy Scripture. In Isaiah and Jeremiah they are
                                  Forgiven                                called the remnant, those whom the Lord reserves for. Him-.
                                                                          self. See Jer. 50  20  ; and Isaiah 1  :9. In the first text we
                "And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the         read : "In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, .the
                people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their in-
                iquity." Isa. 33 24.                                      iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be
                                                                          none  ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found :
     This time I would like to take you with me to the                    for I will pardon them  Z&OVPZ  I reserve." Note, that we
 heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the great King.                          have the same truth here as in my text, and the inhabitants
     I will write a little of things heavenly, glorious, perfect,         are those whom God reserves for Himself. In the original
 eternal.                                                                 you find the word for "remaining," the remnant, therefore.
     I will write of the happiness of those whom God has                  The same word we find in the second text mentioned above :
 reserved for Himself.                                                   "Except the Lord of hosts had  .left unto us a very small
     They are the inhabitants of my text.                                . remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should
     You do not doubt that this portion of Holy Writ indeed               have been like unto Gomorrah." Isa. 1 :9.
 writes about the blessed estate, do you ? Read verse 20 and                  Yes, there are people who are reserved by God for Him-
 21: "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes             self. They are His peculiar people, His heritage.
 shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall              In Isa.  49:lG we read of this remnant that they are  en-
 not be taken down ; not one of the, stakes thereof shall ever            graven in the palms of God's hands. And they are there from
 be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken..           all eternity.
 But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad                 Jer., 31 :3 goes further and tells us that God loved them
 rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars,                with an everlasting love: "The Lord hath appeared of old
neither shall gallant ships pass thereby."                                unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
     Yes, indeed, it is a description of the heavenly city, the           love: therefore with loving kindness have I -drawn  thee."
 state of heavenly perfection that shall be realized when all                 They are the inhabitant of the New Jerusalem of my
 the weary is past.          _                                            text.
     Well then, the inhabitant of that city shall not say, I am               Before this earth was created, they,. were chosen unto
 sick !                                                                   eternal life. Their number cannot be decreased or increased.
     And why not?                                                         They are written in the book of life from before the founda-
     Because he shall have received forgiveness of all his                tion of the world. And so their blessed future estate.is  sure.
 iniquities.                                                              They cannot fall away, nor blotted out of `that,.book  of life.
                                  *  *  *  *                              God Himself holds them throughout all history.in His hand,
                                                                          and no one is able to pluck them out of the hand of God.
  Who is that inhabitant?                                                     And so the Bible pictures them as a very happy people.
     What a question !                                                    He suffered no man to do them wrong, in fact, the good and
     There is no more important question under the sun. The               the evil, men and devils, and all things in heaven and on
 answer to that question determines whether you spend                     earth and in hell, must help them to arrive in the beautiful
 eternity with God in His glorious heaven, or whether you                 city of God of which my text speaks.
 shall spend it in hell amid horrible torment.                               They are the inhabitant of my text.


    2i8                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

            And they are iniquitous. They are sinners all.                      Or: they are sought and looked for, but they are no.
            They are not any better than those unhappy beings that        more. They are gone.
    shall go to another place: hell.                                            Imagine: your sins have disappeared!
            Every page of the  .Bible  tells us that the ultimate in-           God of everlasting miracles ! How has this come about?
    habitant of heaven is sinful and therefore, guilty.                         The answer is Jesus!
            But my text says : the people that dwell therein (Jeru-             Forgiveness, pardon; disappearance of sin, is Jesus Christ,
    salem, the golden) shall be forgiven-their iniquity.                  Jehovah Salvation !
            Iniquity is an ugly thing.                                          Oh, I never grow tired of the Gospel, nor to tell you of it..
            The word means in the original: "To bend" or: "to                   In eternity, where we were chosen, God gave us to God.
    curve" and therefore, to make crooked, to distort. Ethically          And God was made the Covenant Head of the people of God.
    it means to act perversely, and  -to be perverse.                     He did that in His everlasting decree.
            That is terrible.                                                   And so, in the fulness of time,  ,God appeared in Bethle-
            When you are perverse you pervert yourselves and all          h      e    m    .
    you come in contact with.                                                   And God took our sins upon Himself in His only be-
            God placed this remnant, this elect people, on the earth      gotten Son, Jesus Christ.
    in order to do rightly, to be upright, to act wisely and there-             And God stood, hung, before the face of God.
    fore, to praise Jehovah with respect to all things, our soul                And God burned and burned and burned on that God,
    and body included.                                                    manifested in the flesh.
            But the elect fell in Adam their first covenant. head. And          And' He burned until all the sins of God's elect people
    after this fall, all the elect approved of his terrible action.       were gone.
    They all likewise perverted the earth and heaven, their heart,              Golgotha is hell, damnation, everlasting forsakeness.
    their mind, their will, their soul and their body. They also                And so, seek where you may, investigate eternally, but
    perverted their neighbor with whom they come in contact.              you never will find the sins of the elect.
    They also perverted the things which God gave them, animate                 God threw those sins in the oceans of everlasting forget-
   j and inanimate. When they received a wife and children,               fulness.
    they perverted them ; when they received money and pos-                     He threw them behind His back.
    sessions, they perverted them.                                         Listen to Isaiah's confession: "Behold, for peace I had
            But why go on ?                                               great bitterness : .but Thou hast in love to my soul delivered
            Everything and everybody which came in contact with           it from the pit of corruption : for `Thou has cast all my. sins
    these elect people of God was perverted by them.                      behind Thy back."
            And now we read in my text that their iniquity is  for-             The  sins of God's people are gone, gone forever!
g i v e n .                                                                     That is the Gospel which we preach in the name of God.
            Astounding truth !                                                  And that is the Gospel also of this text.
            Yes, we grow used to it. And so we see it no more.
            Think of this: iniquity bears in itself the punishment of                                 *  + 8  *
    sin: eternal damnation. This is so true, that when God shall
    mete out punishment to the reprobate, they themselves shall                 And so, when these elect arrive in the new heaven and
    admit that they are worthy of the crime committed. No one             the new earth, they shall never say anymore : I am sick !
    shall go to hell, but he or she shall justify God!                         You may include all misery in this term.
            Moreover, the Bible teaches on every page that God                  It includes. the misery of the body. as well as of the soul.
    must punish the perverse. His own Being demands that.                       It includes the whole of the misery of this earthy, sinful,
            Perverseness is the outraging of God's majesty and glory.     dark and corrupt dispensation.
    Well, eternal damnation is the reaction of that outraged
    majesty and glory.                                                          Let us go to John, and consider his version: "And God
             But then the question is in order: how can God forgive       shall wipe away all tears from their eyes  ; and there shall
         iniquity ?                                                       be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
            And as Jeremiah puts it: "and I will remember their sin       there be anymore pain: for the former things are passed,
    no more," or: "the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and        away."
         there shall be none ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall            All misery shall be divorced from that happy throng.
    not' be found."                                                             Misery of the body. It is the result of sin.
    .        How can this people then inhabit the city of God ?                 Misery because of the elements: the curse is lifted.
                                  *  * * *                                      Misery because of the enemy: they are forever van-
                                                                          quished by Jesus.
             Here is the answer of the text : God forgives.                     Misery, and here is the worst of all: misery because we
             And Jeremiah: He pardons them.                               sinned: they are now perfect before God and His throne.


                                                  `T H E   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                                                                                219

   And instead of misery (because the negative implies the
positive) they shall be happy and blest.                                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
    Isaiah has seen and listened to their joy: listen to him:                          Semi-monthly, except monthly  du?$ng   Juw, July and August
"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to                                  Published by the R.momm  FRFS:  PUBLISHING A-~?N
Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they                             P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Repids 7.1 Mich.
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall                                                 Editor  -  REV.  HERMAN  Homsmu
flee away." Isaiah 35 :lO.                                                             Communications relative to amtents should be addressed to Rev.
                                                                           G. V.       H. H&ema,  1139 Franklin St., S. E.; Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
                                                                                       All matte&  relative to subscn-iptions  should be addnzssed to Mr.
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   The board of the Adam St. Protestant: Reformed Christian                            RENEWALS   :  Unless a definite request for discontinuanc,e  is re-
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Mrs. D.  Slomp, in the loss  of her husband                                            to continue without the' formality of a renewal order.
                            tiR. G. SLOMP                                                                    Subscription price : $4.00 per year
   Ps.  52:9: "I will praise thee forever, because thou hast done                       Entired   a.r Second  CIms  matter at  Gad   Ram,   ~Michigm
it:  and I will wait  upon thy name; for it is good  befork  thy
saints."  :
                                     The Board                                                                          C O N T E N T S
                                             A. Heemstra, Secretary                 MEDITATION  -
                                             G.  Stadt,  President                        Forgiven .   .   .   . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
                                                                                                 Rev. G. Vos

                         HE LEADETH ME                                              EDITORIALS  -
                                                                                          The Apositatks  of 1953 a& ithe Three Points.. . . . . . . . . . . . .220
          I cannot always see the way that leads                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema
               To heights above ;
               I sometimes quite forget that He leads                               O U R  D O C T R I N E -
                   on with hands. of love.                                                The Triple  I&owledge  (Part III  -  of Thankfulness) . . .  .222
               But yet the path must lead to my Father's land                                    Rev. H. Hoeksema
          And when I. reach life's summit I shall                                   THE  DAY  OF  SHADOWS-
                   know and understand.                                                   The Prophecy of  Zechariah............:.................225
                                                                                                 Rev. G. M.  Ophc$
          I cannot always trace the onward course
               My ship must take ; -                                                FROM   HQLY   WRIT-
               But looking backwards. I behold afar                                       Exposition of I Corinthians l-4 (9). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
               Its stormy wake                                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers
          Illumined with God's light of love.                                       IN HIS  FEAR-
          And so I onward go,                                                             The Sabbath in His Fear (4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
               In perfect trust that He who ho@                                                  Rev. J.  A. Heys
                   the helm must know.                                              CONTENDING   FOR  THE  FAITH  -
               I cannot. always see the plan on which                                     The purch  and the Sacraments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
                                                                                                 Rev. H.  Ve~ldman
          ,He builds my life ;
               For oft the sound of. hammers, blow ori                              THE   VOICE  0~  OUR   FATHERS-
                   blow the noise of strife,                                              The Exposition of the Canons of Dordrecht.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .234
          Confuses me till I quite forget           '                                            Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
          He knows and oversees;                                                    DECENCX  AND   ORDER-
          And that in all details with His good                                           Family Visitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
                   plan my life agrees.                                                          Rev. G.  VandenBerg
          I do not always know and understand                                       ALL AROUND Us-
                                                                                          A Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...238
          The Master's rule.                                                              Women Pastors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;. . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
          I do not always do the tasks He gives                                          ,United  Presbyterians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
                   in life's hard schodl.                                                 The Movies & to School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
          But I learn with His help to solve                                        CONTRIBUTIONS  -
                   *them one by one,                                                      "Cresiton  Will Solve Her Own Problems" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240
          And when I cannot understand, to say,                                                 -Rev. G.  Lubbers
                   "Thy will be done."                                r

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

                                                                   and of His promise certainly refers not to "every one of you"
               E D I  T  0 R I A  1 S                              `but to the elect only.
                                                                       2. If, however, the generality of the promise is supposed
  The Apostates of 1953 and the Three  Poitits                     to be  found'in  the "whosoever" Bellflower is entirely mis-
                                                                   taken. For it is strictly limited to the believers: "whoso-
   As a proof that the statement "God promises every one of        ever believeth on him shall not perish,, but have everlasting
 you that, if you believe,` you shall be saved" is correct and     life." The promise  here  is again the same as in Rom.  IO:9
 Scriptural, Bellflower also refers to Rom..  ld:9. There we       and everywhere is Holy Writ : the promise of, salvation, the
 read : "That if thou shalt confess with thy'mouth the Lord        promise of eternal life. But this promise is not general and
 Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God h&h raised      conditional but particular and unconditional. It is for the
 him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."                          believers and, therefore, for the elect.
    Is this, indeed, a proof?                                          It is, indeed, striking that the apostates appeal to the same
    Not .at all.                                                   pa&ages'-  of  the confession for their false doctrine as the
    Notice :                                                       .Christian  Reformed Synod of 1924 quoted in support of the
         1. That both, the statement supported by the apostates    First Point. They are the following.
 and the text in Rom. 10:9, speak of the promise of God, the           Canons II, 5: "Morever, the promise of  .the gospel is,
 promise of salvation : "you shall be saved" and "thou shalt be    that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified, shall not perish,
-saved."                                                           :but have everlasting life. This promise, together with the
    2. That, however, in the statement which the text is sup-      de&and  to repent  and bklieve, ought to be declared and pub-
posed to support,, the promise is, on God's part, left entirely lished to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and
unlimited : "God promises every one of you." As far as God         without distinction, to whom God out of his good pleasure
 is concerned, He is willing to  .save all that are in a given     sends the gospel."
 audience. This leaves only one possibility. It is this: that          Canons IV,  8: "As many as are called by the gospel are
the limiting clause : "If you believe," is a condition which       unfeigned  called. For God hath most earnestly and truly
man, which "`every one of you" must fulflll if, the promise        declared in his Word, what will be acceptable to him, namely,
 of God is to be realized. The apostates teach a general-con-      that all who are called should accept the invitation (should
ditional promise. This is the same as the implication of the       come unto him). He, moreover, seriously promises eternal
"First Point" of 1924.                                             life, and rest, to as many as shall `come to him, and believe on
   3. But the text in  Ram. 10  :9 is radically different, in      ,him."
fact, it is exactly the opposite. It does not present God as           One cannot help but wonder  what Bellflower wants with
promising anything to all men or to "every one of you.jf but       these passages.               .
it limits God's promise to the believer: "if thou shalt confess        Seeing, however, that they quote these`canons  in support
with thy mouth, and believe in thine heart." This makes the        of the false doctrine that the1 promise of God is general and
promise particular. God surely fulfills His promise and that,      conditional, it is evident that they read and interpret these
too, only to the elect, for faith is a gift of God. Hence, Rom.    references in that light.
10  :9 does not teach a general-condifional  but a particular-         In other words, according  .to them, when Canons II, 5
.,unconditional  promise.                                          speaks of the promise of the gospel to whosoever believeth
    Bellflower (Doezema) also,  refCrs  to the well-known          they interpret this as meaning that the promise is general
text of John 3  :16: "For God so loved the world, that  he         and conditional. When the same canon tells us that the
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him        promise of God must be declared to all nations and p&sons
should not perish, but have everlasting life."                     promiscuously, they give this the meaning that the promise
    It is not quite clear whether Bellflower finds the gen-        itself is meant for all and every one without distinction.
erality of the promise in the term "world" or in "whoso-           And when in Canons IV, 8 we are taught that God seriously
ever." The trouble is that it is a general habit or custom of      promises eternal life to as many as come to Him and believe,
heretics simply to quote or refer to texts without explana-        :they again give these) words the same general meaning.
tion and without  regs_rding  the context. Nevertheless, I             But is this really the meaning of the Canons ?        _
maintain that this  text surely does  not support the statement        If this were true, the Canons surely would contradict
,of the apostates : "God promises every one of you that, if        themselves. For in Canons `I, 6 we read:
you believe, you shall be saved." for :                                "That some receive the gift of faith from God and others
    1. If the generality of the promise is to be found in the      do not receive it, proceeds from God's eternal decree, `For
word "world'J the text would mean that God loved all men,          known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the
which is quite contrary to the whole of Scripture. God loved       ,world,' Acts 15 :18. `Who worketh all things after the coun-
Jacob and He hated- Esau. And the Saviour prays not for            sel of his  will:' Eph. 1  :ll. According to which decree, he
the world. Hence,
   -_                   "the world" as the object of God's love    graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however obstinate,


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                221

 .and inclines them to believe, while he leaves the non-elect                A general conditional promise deprives the elect of the
 in his just judgment to their own wickedness and  ob-                  unspeakable consolation of the Canons speak in I, 6.
.  &racy,  And herein is especially displayed the profound,                  Nor do the Canons speak a different language in II, 5
 the merciful, and at the same time the righteous discrimina-           and IV, 8.
 tion between men, equally involved in ruin ; or that decree                 In II, 5 the promise of the gospel is not made general
 of election and reprobation, revealed in the Word of  ,God,            but it is limited to believers and, therefore, to the elect:
 which though men of perverse, impure, and unstable minds               "whosoever believeth in Christ crucified,  -shall  not perish,
 wrest to their own destruction, yet to holy and pious souls            but have everlasting life." That is the promise. It is par-
affords unspeakable consolation."                                       t i c u l a r :
     According to this canon, God certainly does not fulfill                 This particular promise must be "published and declared
 the promise of faith to all men. And if He does not fuffill            to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and without
 that promise you certainly can never say: "God promises                distinction." That is, in the preaching of the Word we may
 salvation to every one of you . . . if you believe" for faith          not present the promise as general and conditional. We may
 belongs to the promise itself. If God does not promise faith           tiot say: "God promises to every one of you that, if you be-
 to every one, He does not promise salvation to all.                    .lieve, you shall be saved." But we l,nust say that God prom-
     This is also evident from -`+nons I, 7:                            ises to all that believe eternal life. This is according to
                                                                        Scripture and the Reformed Confessions. If anyone is so
     "Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby,             stupid that he cannot see the difference between these two
 before the foundation of the world, he hath, out of  mere              statements,  he certainly should not be a minister of the Word
 grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own             in a Reformed Church. Him I would consider a dangerous
 will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen              man.
 through their own fault, from their primitive state of rec-                 Nor does Canon- IV, 8 speak a different language.
 titude, into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons
 to redemption in Christ, whom he from eternity appointed                    I suppose that Bellflower refers especially to the end of
 the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of              this canon : "He,' moreover, seriously promises eternal life,
 salvation.                                                             and rest, to as many as shall come to him, and believe  on
                                                                        him." After all that has been said in the preceding, it is not
    "This elect number, thbugh by nature neither better nor             necessary for me to explain that also this does nod speak of
 more deserving, than others, but with them involved .in one            a general but of a particular promise. The promise is ta
 common misery, God hath .decreed to give to Christ, to be              those that come to God and believe on Him, and this refers
 saved by him, and effectually~  to call and draw them to his           to the elect who receive the gift of faith from God.
 communion by his Word and Spirit, to bestow upon them                       Finally, Bellflower refers to the Heidelberg Catechism
 true faith, justification and sanctification ; and having pow-
 erfully preserved them in the fellowship of his Son, finally,          qu. 84. I suppose.that  especially the first part of the answer
 to glorify them for the demonstration of his mercy, and for            to this question is meant: "Thus, when according to the
 the praise of his glorious grace ; as it is written : `According       command of Christ, it is declared and public!y  testified to all
 as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the              and every believer, that whenever they receiire  the promise
 world, that we should be holy and without blame before him             of the gospel by a true faith,, all their sins are really-forgiven
 in love ; having predestinated us unto the adoption of chil-           them of God, for the sake of Christ's merits." Also this will
 dren by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleas-          be perfectly clear to all that have understood the preceding
 ure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, where-       part of this editorial. For whom is the promise of God ? For
 in he hath made us accepted in the beloved.' Eph. 1, -4, 5, 6.         the believer, for those that receive it by a true  faith. It is
 And elsewhere: `Whom he did predestinate them he also                  not general but particular.
 called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom                The apostates subscribe to the First Point of 1924.
 he justified them he also glorified.' Rom. 830."                                                                                  H. H.
     I cannot possibly understand how anyone can explain
 these passages from the Canons in the light of a general and
. conditional promise.                                                                     Notice for  Classis West
     It simply cannot be done. God's promise is for the elect                 Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
 upon whom He also. bestows the blessing of the `union with             meet, the Lord willing, in Edgerton, Wednesday, March 7,
  Christ, faith and all the  benefits  of salvatjon by His sovereign
 grace. Hence,  GocYs promise is not for "every one of you              1956. The consistories are reminded of the' rule that they
  . . . if  you believe" but it is for those that believe because       are expected to nominate an elder or elders who are able to
  God has given them the faith an{ by that gift of faith they           serve as  synodical  delegate.
  may know that they are elect.                                                                        Rev. H. Veldman,  Stat&d Clerk

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

                                                                       mercy!  and forgiveness, but only for time to pay all the `debt
           O U R   D O C T R I N E                                 II he owes to his lord. With the truly penitent it is quite dif-
                                                             -.        ferent. He is filled with sorrow after God, and he does not
                                                                       promise to pay, but pleads solely for grace and remission of
             THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                      sins.
       AN EXPOSITION OF THE  &IDELBERG  CATECHISM                          Now notice that this debtor lived- under the dispensation
              PAR;  III  -O F THANKFULNESS                             of the gospel and in the covenant of God in the outward
                        LORD'S  D                                      sense of the word. As we said before, the day of reckoning
                                     AY  51                            is not the final day if judgment, but the dispensation of the
                         Chapter Three                                 gospel. And in the outward preaching of the gospel God
                  A Serious Limiting Clause                            `comes to all that hear not only with the thunder of the law,
   It is plain, too, that in this parable this, servant was serving    ,but also with the announcement of grace to. His elect, to the .
the king with the king's goods. Of himself he had nothing.             believer that is sorry for his sins. This was announced to
Perhaps the king had set him over part of his possession. The          the unmerciful servant. He did not ask for forgiveness. He
same is true with men  iti relation to God. Of themselves              asked for time, and promised to pay all. Nevertheless, this
they have nothing. They receive their all from God: their              it is that was proclaimed to him. He is not given time, but
talents and powers and means and all  .their possessions.              he is forgiven his debt. This, then, is the relation.  Thei un-
And -with it all man is never anything else than a servant,            merciful servant represents a man in sin, without true re-
in duty bound to serve his God!in  love. Notice also that in           pentance, still self-righteous, promising to do better and to
the parable the day of reckoning is mentioned. The king calls          make good in the future for'his present debts. To that man,
his servants to give account of what they have done with his           outwardly in the kingdom of IGod and under the dispensation
goods. This first day of reckoning is not the final day of             of the gospel, fqrgivenegs  in the blood of Christ is proclaimed.
judgment, for then the servant could not have assumed the                  But now comes the test. If he really tasted the depth of
unmerciful attitude to his fellowservant any more. But it is           sin, of sorrow after God,. if he really experienced the riches
the day of the present dispensation, in which ,God calls men           of mercy and of remission of sin, that servant is inevitably
to account through the preaching of His Word, and in which             merciful and must show mercy to his brethren. If he is not
He roars with the thunder of the law, and preaches of right-           merciful, there is the proof that he never tasted the grace of
eousness and sin and judgment as well as of grace and mercy            God, and that, though outwardly it was proclaimed to him
and forgiveness to all that hear the gospel.                           that his sins are forgiven, yet the- Spirit never witnessed of
   Now we read that the king in the' parable finds the debtor          this unspeakable grace  is his -heart. And this became evi-.
as soon as he begins to reckon. That he had only begun in-             dent in his relation to his fellowservant. Mark you well, he
dicates that this particular debtor is the very first one. This        was merely a fellowservant, to whom he was supposed to be
means that in the kingdom of God wq are all debtors. And               merciful. And this  fellowservant  owed him a small debt, a
when God begins to reckon, not one of us goes free by na-              mere hundred pence, insignificant with the ten thousand
ture. Then to, in the parable the immensity of the sum                 talents which the unmerciful servant had owed his lord.
that is owed by this particular servant is emphasized: it is           Thus it is indeed in the kingdom of heaven. In comparison
a tremendous sum. We would say: millions of dollars. If                with the great debt which God has forgiven us, we can never
any significance may be attached to the number ten thous-              owe one another more than the forgiveness of a very insig-
and, it indicates that we have transgressed the whole law of           nificant debt. But the servant is unmerciful. He demands
God a thousand times, and every commandment of it. At                  his right. He wants immediate payment of the one hundred
any rate, it emphasizes the immensity of our guilt before              pence. He forgets all about his own debt, and haughtily at-
God, a guilt which we can  aever pay. This too is empha-               tempts to lord it over his fellow servant. He is cruel. He
sized in the parable when it states plainly that the debtor            grabs him by the throat. There is no semblance of mercy
had nothing to pay.. And this too is a true picture of the             in the man. He is unforgiving. The man begs for forgive-
sinner dead in sin and misery. How could he possibly have              ness. He falls at his feet and humbles himself. But the
anything to pay ? He owes all to God all the time, and can             unmerciful servant would not listen. He cast him into prison
never pay any back debt. He is dead in sin and misery, and             until he should have paid all his debt.
can only increase his debt daily. But now notice the spiritual            Thus, the unmerciful servant is a picture, not of one
attitude of this debtor, which shows plainly that he is a              that first tasted the grace of ,God and believed and then fell
reprobate unbeliever. He does ndt manifest any true con-               away, which is impossible, but of the reprobate unbeliever,
trition and sorrow over sin. On the contrary, he is merely that indeed heard the `proclamation of the mercy of God in
afraid of punishment. Fear that he will be sold, and all that          the preaching of the gospel, but that never tasted God's
he has, is the motive of his plea. It is evident that he is not        mercy for himself. And the final result is that when the
delivered from his self-righteousness. He does not ask for             last day of reckoning comes, he is held responsible for. his


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       223

debt, expected `to pay all that he owes. He is delivered to             must be a siricere  desire to be completely delivered from all
the tormentors, and since he has nothing to pay, this means             sin, to be sanctified and to walk  b`efore  God in true  obeA-
forever. He is cast into hell.                                          dience  and love. There must be confidence, not in self, but
                                                                        in the blood `and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone, as a
   This, then, is a beautiful illustration of the limiting clause       ground for our prayer. And there must be love of the
in the fifth petition, "as we forgive our debtors." Let us not          brethren and the sincere desire to forgive one another. Con-
fail to note the comparison: "Forgive us our debts,  as we              sidering all this, we must no doubt confess that also in re-
forgive our debtors." This means that we fashion our for-               gard to this  .petition we are still far from perfection. How
giveness of one another after the model of God's' forgiving             thoughtlessly, superficially, &sincerely,  we often express the
our trespasses, and that we are so conscious  that we have              words of this petition. And yet, it  iS only in the measure
actually done this that we  afe now able to pray. that God              that we truly and consciously send this petition to the throne
may forgive us in the same manner  as we have forgiven one,             of grace thit we can taste the joy of forgiveness;and  exclaim
another. This implies several ideas. It means that our                  with the psalmist: "0 the blessedness of the man whose
debtors desire forgiveness, are sorry for their sins committed          transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.' May the
against us, and confess their wrong doings. Only in the way             Lord teach us to pray in sincerity and truth: "Our Father
of repentance and confession can we obtain forgiveness from             in heaven, forgive us our debts, even as we forgive our
God. And only in that same way can we forgive bne another.              debtors."
It means more. Perhaps you are strongly inclined to agree
with our last remark, and, being rather of an unforgiving                                         LORD'S  DAY 52
spirit, you decide to wait until the brother that sinned against                                  Chapter One
you will come to humble h&self before you. But you; must
remember that God did not wait until you came to Him  ;                                      The Idea of Temptation
but He came to you- while you were enemies of God, dead in                           Q. 127. Which is the sixth petition?
trespasses and sins, and by His grace quickened you and led                          A. "And'lead us not into temptation, but  deliver us
you to repentance. Hence, you cannot afford to wait, but                             froin  evil  ;" that is, since we are so weak in'ourselves
must  seek`the`offending  brother, and seek. to bring him to                         that we cannot stand a moment; and, besides this,
                                                                                     since our mortal enemies, the devil, the world, and our
repentance. It also means that we forgive one an&her  abun-                          own flesh, cease not to assault us, do thou therefore
dantly. There is  neven an end to God's forgiveness. Never                           preserve and strengthen us by the power of thy Holy
does God say to us : "So often have I forgiven you, and al-                          Spirit,  thzit  we may not be overcome in this spiritual
ways you commit the same sins. I will forgive you no more."                          warfare, but constantly and strenuously may resist
There is never a last time with God. He forgiveth abun-                              our foes, till at last we obtain a complete victory.
dantly. His mercy is without limit. And so there can be no                           Q. 128. How dost thou conclude thy prayer?
last time with us. Always again we must forgive the brother                          A. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
that repents,. and that too, for Christ's sake. And the reason                       theg lory, for ever;" that is, all these we ask of thee,
                                                                                     because thou, being our King and almighty, art willing
for all this is not that our forgiving of one  another  is a                         and able to give us all gobd; and all this we pray for,
ground or condition for our prayer for forgiveness, for that                         that thereby not we, but thy holy name, may be
is Christ and His atoning blood absolutely alone. But in                             glorified for ever.
order to receive forgiveness of God, I must have receptivity                         Q. 129. What doth  th& word "Amen" signify?
for that blessed gift of grace. I must be truly sorry for my                         A. "Amen" signifies, it shall truly and certainly be:
                                                                                     for my prayer is more assuredly  he'ard  of God, than
sins. I must behold and long for the unspeakable mercy of                            I feel in my heart that I desire things of him..
God in Christ. All this is not  present as long as I am                    There are those who discover in the last petition  .of
assuming  an unforgiving attitude toward the brethren.                  the Lord's Prayer two separate entreaties : the first, "Lead
There is no more unmistakable sign that I have no true need             us not into temptation"; the, second, "But deliver us from
of forgiveness, and that therefore I am in no condition to              evil." In that case they find in the perfect prayer seven
receive it from the Lord, than that I shut up my heart against          petitions instead of six. In a way we would be strongly in-
the brethren and assume an attitude of unforgiving pride over           clined to agree with this view. In that case we would have
against him. If we love not the brother whom we have seen,              the number seven represented in the Lord's Prayer, which
how can we love God Whom we have not seen ? With what                   is the number of God's covenant, `of the fellowship between
measure ye mete, it stirely  shall be measured to you again.            God and His people, three being the number of the Triune
Hence, it is quite impossible to beseech the Lord for forgive-          God, while foztr is the number of the creature. This would.
ness, unless we can truly add: "AS we forgive our debtors."             `be corroborated by the fact that. the first three petitions all
    We will now be able to understand what spiritual dis-               relate to God, while the last four pertain to the people of
position  it requires to utter this petition in spirit and in truth.    God. But although this indeed expresses a beautiful idea,
There must be true sorrow over sin, over sin as such, be-               we must nevertheless agree with those that insist that in the
cause it offends God, over all sin, without. exception. There           perfect prayer there are. only six petitions. The question is,

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

  of course, purely formal, and not an important one. Yet we             It is evident at once that there is a close connection be-
must say a few words about it. It certainly must be ad-               tween the preceding petition, which is a prayer for the for-
  mitted that from a formal viewpoint everything is in favor          giveness of sins, and this last request of the Lord's Prayer,
  of the view that in these two clauses of the sixth petition         which is,in principle a petition for victory, and that too, for
  we have really but one request. They form one sentence,             final victory. The sixth petition looks forward to something
  connected by the conjunction "but." The whole sentence              else, to a better, a higher, a more blessed state, in which the
  runs-parallel to the fifth petition, which also consists of two     prayer for forgiveness shall never again be necessary. In
  clauses. And this also is in favor of the view that in this         the prayer for forgiveness we seek to lay hold on the glorl-
  last petition of the Lord's Prayer we have not two en-              ous gift of justification by faith through the blood of Jesus
  treaties, but only one prayer. Besides,. there is a very close      Christ our Lord. Justification is the act of God whereby He
  relation between preservation in and .from temptation and           forever declares us free from sin and clothes us with an
  deliverance  ,from evil. It may be expedient at this time to        eternal righteousness which is imputed to us on the ground
  look at that relation a little more closely. Some understand        of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. For this
  the connection between the two parts of this petition in such       unspeakable blessing of God we ask in the fifth petition.
  a way that the last part makes provision in case the first part     And this blessing is very important and essential: for it is
  of this prayer is not granted. The meaning then would be:           basic for all the other`blessings of grace. Without this basic
  "Lead us not into temptation, but if, we must be led into it,       blessing we can have nothing, and can receive nothing from
  then deliver us out of the evil." However, this introduces          God for the simple reason that. He loves the righteous and
  quite arbitrarily a thought into the text that is foreign to it.    hates the wicked. Common grace is an absurdity. We must
  Besides, it presupposes the possibility that the first part may     therefore be objectively justified before God in order to re-
  not be heard. It expresses an element of doubt or unbelief.         ceive any .of the blessings of His grace. But although justifi-
  And this is not to be accepted. In the first place, if the ele-     cation is first,. it cannot be last. Justification changes our
  ment 04 doubt is to be introduced into the first part of, this      legal status before God in judgment. But it leaves our sinful
  petition, so that it is not heard, the same motive must lie at      condition unchanged. It delivers us from the guilt of  sin,.
  the basis of the second part, and therefore. also that part of      but it leaves us still stained with the pollution of sin. By
  the petition will not be granted. But in the second place,          justification we obtain the right to be delivered from the
  this is quite contrary to  .Holy Writ. For it teaches : "With-      dominion and power of sin, even as the pardon of a governor
  out faith it is impossible to please God ; for he that cometh       gives a criminal the right to be set at liberty. But itself does
  to ,God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of       not liberate us from that power of sin and corruption.
  them that diligently seek him." Heb. 11:6. Rather must' we          Justification, therefore, or the forgiveness of sins, cannot
  conceivei  of the relation between the two parts of this sixth      possibly be the end of our salvation. For Christ did not
  petition to be such that in the first part we ask for the same      give Himself for us merely in order that we might be re-
  blessing of grace as in the second, the first clause expressing     deemed and justified, but that He might "purify unto himself
  the thing asked for negatively and in the midst of our              a people for his own  ,possession,  zealous of good works."
  present life, where the world, the devil, and our own flesh         Titus 2 :14. And in the first part of the eighth chapter of the
also tempt us to evil, while the last part expresses the same         epistle to the Romans the apostle indeed emphasizes that
  thought positively: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver       there is and can be no condemnation for them that are in
  us from evil." However, it must be clear that the last clause,      Christ Jesus. But he emphasizes throughout that they are
  though principally referring to the same. matter, also ex-          those that walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. "There
  presses more than the first. For preservation in and from           is therefore now no condemnation to them which are  in'
  temptation leaves us nevertheless still in this world, and          Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
  therefore it cannot be final. The Christian cannot rest con-        Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
  tent with a state in which he must be continually preserved         made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the
  against the temptation of the flesh, the world, and the devil.      law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
  He wants more. He longs for perfection, for the state in            sending  h& own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
  which preservation against temptation is no longer necessary.       sin, condemned sin in the flesh : That the righteousness of the
  He looks forward to the complete victory which will come            law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
  in the state of perfection, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.    after the Spirit." Rom. 8 :l-4. And again, in"kom. 6 :l-4 we
  In final analysis it is for that victory that he prays in the       read: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin,
  second part of this sixth petition, ". . . but deliver us from      that grace may abound ? God forbid. -How shall we, that are
  evil." With all the similarity between the two clauses, there-      dead sin, live any longer therein  ? Know ye not, that so
  fore, there is sufficient difference to want a separate discus-     many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
  sion of the two parts of this prayer. The one part asks for         into his death ?
  preservation, the other for perfect deliverance.                                                                               H . H .


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  225

II                                                                       the nations of the earth- but they shall form one people,
           THE. DAY OF SHADOWS                                      II family of redeemed. -And th0.u shalt know that Jehovah hath
                                                                         sent  PrLe ,unto tkee - A repetition of 9b with the same signi-
                                                                         ficance (see on verse 9j.
               The Prophecy of  %echariah                                       12.  And Jehovah shall take Judah as, His  portion-
      Jehovah urges the "daughter of Zion" to rejoice, verses            to Deut. 32  :9, "Jehovah's portion is his` people, Jacob the
 10-13.                                                                  lot of his inheritance." Jacob is Judah and Judah is the
      10.  Shout and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion, For behlod,            church. He took her as His portion, that is peculiar pos-
I come,  atzd I will dwell in  t?te midst of thee, saith                 session in His choosing her in Christ Jesus unto .life eternal
                                                             Jehovah,    `before the foundation of the world, and in the fulness of time
      11. And  ,ma,ny   nations shall be joined  unto Jehovah in.        in His redeeming her from all her sins by the death of His
 that day, And  beco,me a people to  ,me.  .4nd I' zvill dwell in        Son, reconciling her to Himself through the cross, restoring
 the midst of thee,  And thou shalt- know  tha.t Jehovah' of             her to the right to be forgiven of Him, to ,be saved of Him,
hosts  ha.th sent  me to thee.                                           and to be crowned by Him with life in glory. Truly, Judah
      12. And Jehovah shall  take  Jz4da.h as  His portion in the        is His peculiar possession.  In  &e holy  land-in the final
holy  lcmd, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.                              instance the new earth.-  And  shall  yet choose  Jerusalem-.
                                                                         see on 1:17.
      13. Be still all  flesls, before Jehovah.                                 13:  Be still  a,11 flesh  -According to the context, the
      10..  Da.ughter   of Zion- The post-exilic afflicted cov-          heathen nations.  Be still . . . before Jehovah-Let  them
enant people but in the, final instance the whole church of              consider that they are but flesh and be quiet, namely their
the elect.  S1aoztt   a.nd  rejoice- The covenant people of our          kings. Let them be instructed. Let them serve Jehovah with
prophet's day were far from rejoicing. They were dis-                    fear. For soon they will find themselves in His presence
consolate. Jehovah had vowed to overthrow the kingdoms of                with, Him as their judge.  Fov He has risen  ,up  from  His..
the nations preliminary to His coming and to secure the                  koly habitation - During the seventy years of the captivity
salvation of His afflicted people (Haggai 2  :22). But the               He was still, as it were, and suffered long with His afflicted
horsemen had walked to and fro through the earth and had                 people. But now He has risen up and in the way of judg-
found that there was no sign of the nations being shaken.                ments over the nations He comes and will dwell in the midst
All the earth sat still and was at rest (Zechariah  1:2).  It            of His people. "His holy habitation" is the heavens (Com-
seemed, therefore, that He was slack concerning His prom-                pare Amos 9  :6).
ise as some men count slackness. How long would He not
have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against                                            Chapter III
whom He had had indignation for those seventy years
 (1  :12) ? But let the afflicted covenant people rejoice.  For                 The forth Vision- The High Priest  Joshzta   a.ccused of'
belaold, I  co*ze and  zuill dwell  in  tlae  midst of thee-  The        sata.n and acquitted,  l-10.
construction is the same as in verse 9, "I am about to come."                   1. And he  sItewed   WCC Joshua  tlae high  priest   standing
The fulfilment of the promise is imminent. In the way of                 before the angel of the  Lo?-d, and  Satan  standing at  his
judgment over the nations with whom He was angry be-                     Tight  ha.nd to, oppose him.
cause of their ill-treatment of Zion, He will come to take
up His abode in His holy temple that is in process OP being                     2.  And  s&d  Jehovalz  ,unto  Satan,  Rebuke Jehovah thee,
built and so will He dwell in the midst of His people. What              0 Satan, even  reb,uke Jehovah thee  (Jehozrah)   zwho   ha.th
a blessedness that will be for them.                                     chosert  Jerztsalem.  Is  not  this  a  bramd   snatched out` of  the
      The fulfilment of this promise was the coming of Je-               fire?
hovah to Zerubbabel's temple ; secand,  His coming through                      3. And Joshua  wa.s clothed with filthy  garments  a,nd
the Son in the flesh in the fulness of time ; third, His coming          stood before the angel,
through the glorified Christ in His Spirit to His church when
the day of Pentecost was fully come. The final fulfilment                       4. And he answered and spake to those who stood be-
will be His dwelling in the midst of His glorified people on             fore him, saying, Take away the filthy  garments  from  zt#on.
the new earth.                                                           I&m. And  *he. said to  hipyt, See, I have  cueused  to pass
                                                                         from upon  thee thine iniquities, and  zwill clothe thee  z&h
      11. Many  natsions  shall be  join.ed to Jehovah  in  that  day    costly  rc&ent&
-The promise of the calling of the `Gentiles in this dis-
pensation of the Gospel by the glorified Christ. They shall                     5. And I  s&l, Let  them  pu.t a turbin  clean upon  hsis
be changed from friends of  satan  into friends of Jehovah.              Iaead. So they  put a  cleap$  turbin  shpon his head and clothed
`And their ,fellowship will be with Him through Christ. And              him with  garments.  And the  angel of the Lord was  sta,nding
 His warfare they shall war. They are many nations -all                  by*


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   The promised blessedness of the previous visions raises          people.. It is not difficult to discern that these filthy gar-
questions. The nations are to be judged, the exiles restored,       ments symbolized the iniquities of the people including this
temple and city rebuilt, and the church expanded to the             priest. How sinful they still were even as saints of God.
four corners of the earth. And Jehovah shall come to dwell          How weak in faith. How lacking in zeal. How despondent.
in the midst of the covenant people not to consume them             How prone to -secure their own interest while neglecting
by His anger .but to be unto them a perpetual fountain of           God's house. How they were daily in need of being called
all good. But how can all this amazing blessedness be their         to repentance. Satan  - Literally "adversary" and written
portion, seeing that He is righteous and holy God, whose            in the Hebrew text with the definite article - the adversary.
eyes are too pure to behold sin and seeing that it is a sinful      Hence, it must not be referred, as is done by some, to a
people whom He is thus to befriend ? This blessedness can           human adversary. Indicated is the chief of the evil spirits,
be theirs only because their iniquities have been made to pass      Satan. In the New Testament Scriptures he is called  "dia-
from them. This is the glad tiding of the vision with which         bolus" from a word meaning to accuse, slander, defame  - a
we are now to deal.                                                 name as befitting as the Hebrew Satan, the everlasting op-
   I.  And he showed  me - The subjectof the verb is either         poser of God and man, accusing God to man and man to God
Jehovah, who is the author of all the prophetic revelations         and "our brethren" before God day and night" (Rev. 12 :
or the interpreting angel who acts as the divine agent in ex-       10).  Startding   a.t his right hand  - At the right hand of
plaining the visions. Joshua. - called also Jeshua (Ezra 2 :        Joshua the high priest. It betokens  ,for one thing Satan's
2;  3:2), the son of Jehozadak (Hag. 1. 1; I Chron.  6:15),         unspeakable impudence. For the place at the right hand is
the grandson of Seraiah  (2 Kings 25  :18). He was the `ec-         the position of honor. Here in the vision the adversary sta-
clesiastical head, while Zerubbabel was the civil ruler (Hag.       tioned himself - at the priest's right hand.
1  :6).  Standing before the angel of Jehovah  - This angel is          To  oppose  him  - To oppose the high priest. From the
the same divine person that in the New Testament Scrip-             succeeding verse it is plain that he was trying to show cause
tures is presented to us as the incarnate Word, the Christ          why Jehovah should destroy the covenant people. He ac-
of God (see on  1:2).  The priest was, therefore; standing          cused them, therefore, He dwelt upon their sins. It must
before the face of Jehovah. For what purpose is not stated.         be presumed that he argued also this point, namely that
The expression "standing before" is used of a person stand-         Jehovah must make an end of them, that, if He doesn't, he
ing before a judge either as the accused or the accuser (Num.       is not the good God that He claims to be but an evil deity.
27:2)  ; I Kings 3  :16; Deut. 19  :17)  ; of a servant standing    How can a righteous and holy God be blessing such a people,
before his master to minister to his wants (Deut.  1:38)   ;        as' Jehovah is doing, and not, instead, be destroyng them ?
and of the priests standing before Jehovah to minister to           That doubtless was indeed a conundrum to the adversary. It
Him and to bless in His name (Deut. 10%). And this in-              may even have been a conundrum to this people and to their
cluded their daily offering up sacrifices, first for themselves,    ,priest  as well. For it was the dispensation of shadows.
for they were but sinful men, and then for the people (Heb.            2. And said Jehovah  wnto  Sa,tan, Jehovah rebuke thee, 0
7  :S). On the great day of atonement, that occurred an-            Satan-Doubtless  here, too, the speaker is the Angel of
nually, the high priest offered up  sacrifies  for all the sins     Jehovah, the second person in the trinity, our Lord Jesus
that the covenant people had committed during the by-               Christ, calling Himself Jehovah and properly so, seeing that
gone year. For that entire accumulation he made atonement.          He is the Son of God. The clause may then be paraphrased
This task fell to Joshua of our vision. For he was high             as follows : Then said I, the angel of Jehovah, who am Jeho-
priest. In the vision he stands before Jehovah in his offi-         vah. His announcement to Satan is a request that Jehovah
cial capacity. And therefore it must be presumed that he            rebuke him. And that He must and shall in order that His
was atoning the people's sins and blessing them in the name         people with the Gospel of His rebuke.in  their hearts, as put
of Jehovah. It would imply that he was confessing the sins          there by Him, may be reassured. Certainly, Jehovah will
of the covenant people including his own and imploring              rebuke the adversary. For here again he slanders both the
Jehovah's forgiveness. Symbolically he was clothed with             covenant people and their God. In saying that the covenant
their iniquities on which account he typifies Christ as no          people are sinful and putting the period here he slanders
other priest before him. For what is especially significant is      this people. And in saying that Jehovah is blessing such a
that in the vision he ministers before the face of Jehovah as       people without saying anymore He slanders Jehovah. For
clad in filthy garments. This was a thing unheard of in act-        both as half truths are glittering lies. For to say that God
ual life. What high priest or common priest would dare to           befriends sinners is to make Him out for an evil deity in-
have come or be permitted to have come into the presence of         deed. We must have the full. truth here: Nothing else will
Jehovah to minister `before His face as clad in filthy gar-         do. In themselves the covenant people are sinful men and
ments ? In causing it to happen in the vision the Lord was          will ever so remain. But in Christ. they are as guiltless as
creating for Himself the occasion that was needed to shed           they would be, had they never committed any sin. And that
new light on the promise, opening for Himself new ave-              is how God loves them. He loves them in Christ.
nues of approach to His Gospel all for the benefit of His              How the adversary then slanders in the. attempt to get


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  227

God to destroy His people. "Jehovah shall rebuke thee              pass  from  @on  thee thine  iniquities  - This then is what
Satan." That this is repeated by the angel betokens the            the taking away of those filthy garments signified, namely
ardour of His love. The adversary is accusing God's people.        Jehovah's causing all the iniquities of His covenant people,
He slanders God. Thisi cannot be allowed to go unrebuked.          the church of the elect  - iniquities with the symboi of which
He laid down His life for that people, did the' angel, that        (the filthy garments) that high priest was clad  - to pass
they might be to the praise of Jehovah's grace.                    from them, so that before Christ and His Father they are as
    Wlzo bath chosen Jerarsalem  - the opening statement of        guiltless as they would be had they never committed any
the rebuke. So the slander of the adversary is now being           sin - guiltless in Christ typified by that priest. And how
answered. The verb is in the past  - hath chosen. In the           did Jehovah do that ? By smiting Christ for their iniquities
first instance the reference is to the earthly Jerusalem. In       and thereby causing their iniquities, their filthy garments,
His sovereign mercy the. Lord had chosen her as the place          with which the' Father had clothed Him, to pass away from
of His habitation. And therefore she was precious in His           upon Him, so that He was no longer with their iniquities.
sight. For is this not a brand snatched out of the jire? - This    Gone they were as completely blotted out by His death.
Jerusalem, the remnant of Judah inhabiting the city. Did           And I  will  clothe thee with costly  raivlzent . . .  Atzd I said,
not the Lord pluck her out of the clutch of the world-power?       Let them put a  clean  turbin upon his head  (verse 5)  - The
Had He not turned Judah's captivity  ? Were not God's              instructions were carried out by the servants. This, too,
people back in God's country ? Jerusalem then was that             has meaning. Christ being now free from the iniquities of
brand plucked out of the fire. What wonderful evidence that        His people, God raised Him up and clothed him' with  .a
He had chosen the city and that she was precious in His            heavenly salvation, Him and His redeemed people with Him.
sight. No He cannot destroy her. On the contrary, He will          Of the resurrected and' glorified Christ that high priest
surely  fulfil all His promises to Zerubabel regarding her.        clad in those beautiful garments was the type. He was thus
Jerusalem and temple shall be rebuilt, so that erlong, Jeho-       the type of every saint, redeemed from all his sins by Christ's
vah, will again be dwelling in the midst of His people.            blood, and in whose face Christ's glory shines.
   Indeed,. but what is He going to do about Jerusalem's             What then did God do about the sins of His people ? He
sins ? Jerusalem is in herself guilty, depraved, lost undone,      blotted them out, so that they are no more. So was Zion
- Jerusalem, God's chosen people. But He chose them.               redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteous-
Everlastingly was He beholding them in Christ in- His in-          ness (Isa. 137).  What has Satan now to say ? He has been
finite love of them and willing them as His own. For, as He        fully rebuked.
beheld them in Christ they were blameless, spotlessly clean                                                                 G.  M: 0.
and glorious. He has chosen His people. Verily He has.
They. are precious in His sight. Truly they are. For are
they not a brand plucked out of the fires of hell with Christ,
out of the fires of His consuming anger, and made to sit            0 GIVE THE LORD WHOLE-HEARTED PRAISE
in heavenly places in Christ? For they were precious in His
sight. But once more, What did. He do about, their sins  7                     0 give the Lord whole-hearted praise,
Let us attend to the rest of the Lord's rebuke of Satan. Then                    To Him thanksgiving I will bring ;
we shall know.                                                                rWith  all His people I will raise
                                                                                 My voice and of His glory sing.
   3. And Joshua. was clothed with filthy  garments   -  As
was stated, symbolize, did those filthy garments, all the sin
and guilt that was this priest's and his people's by nature.                   His saints delight to search and trace
As clothed in those filthy garments, this priest stands be-                      His mighty works and wondrous ways;
fore us in the vision as a type of Christ. For did not He,                     Majestic glory, boundless grace,
the incarnate Son of God, come into the world as clad with                       And righteousness His work displays.
ail the guilt of our sins ? Truly, though Himself without
sin, He was made sin for  us. And stood before the  angel  -                   The wondrous works that God has wrought
The angel of Jehovah (see on verse 2).                                           His people ever keep in mind,
                                                                               His works with grace and mercy fraught,
   4. And  he answered and  spake to those who stood be-
fore him -The angel answered the high priest. The Gos-                           Revealing that the Lord is kind.
pel that is now proclaimed was meant for his ears and put
into His heart and the hearts of the covenant people. Those                    God's promise shall forever stand,
that stood before the angel may be regarded as His servants.                     He cares for those who trust His word
Saying,  Take away the filthy garments  from' upon  hint  -  A                 Upon His saints His mighty hand
symbolical action the meaning of which is known from the                         The wealth of nations has conferred.
succeeding sentence.  Afad he  said  to him, I have caused to                                                        Psalm  1113-4

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

I                                                                           In the first place that Paul here asserts and testifies that
             FROM HOLY WRIT                                         II the *banner of his preaching wholly agreed with the exalted
                                                                         aim and rich content of the Gospel of Christ!           .
                                                                            That is quite a wonderful testimony to be able to make,
               Exposition of I Corinthians 1-4                           is-it not, dear reader ? And, when true, it is also effective as
                                                                         a weapon against all glorying in man, a preacher, rather than
                                 9.                                      in the Word of the Cross. It stops party-strife because of
        It is very important, for the proper understanding of the        the person  or talents of a preacher  ?lead  in/ its tracks. Such
first four Chapters of I Corinthians, to bear in mind that               is it's indirect and negative purpose. We will notice more
 Paul is here waging a very consistent battle against the sin            of the positive purpose of Paul later in this essay.
of schism and party-strife' in the church ; he will not rest till           Surely the more-  positive aim of Paul is that th6 faith of
this evil is wholly exposed for what it is. It must be eradi-            the believers should stand wholly in the power of God,. as
cated with root and branch!                                              this is wrought in the hearts of the,saints,  by the Holy Spirit
     Why must it be- eradicated ?                                        through the preaching of the Word of the Cross, and as it is
                                                                         strengthened by the use of the Sacraments. Thus Paul ex-
        Because it is contrary to the accomplished work of Christ        presses it in, where we read "that your faith should not
on the Cross, where he has by His own blood become our                   stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." See
peace, having made the redeemed one in body by true faith,               also Question and Answer 65 of the Heidelberg Catechism
so that by; the one Spirit we are made more and more flesh               "Since then we are made partakers of Christ and of all his
of His flesh and bone of His ,bones>  and that we should thus            benefits by faith only, whence  doth this fa.ith proceed ? `From
forever  be. ruled by Christ our Head, even as our body is               the Holy Ghost, who works faith in our hearts by-the preach-
ruled by one soul. (See also Question 76, Heidelberg Cate-               ing of the  Gospel,  and confirms it by the use of the sacra-
c h i s m . )                                                            ments."
     This `law of the unity of the body also has its implica-               In these verses Paul turns his heart inside-out!
tions for Paul himself as he preaches the Word of the Cross.                It is the pure heart of a great preacher, separated unto
 He must not only purely preach the Word, but his manner                 the Gospel from his mother's womb, and in whom Christ,
of preaching and his conduct must be wholly consonant with               the Son of God has been revealed in grace and glory!
this accomplished work of Christ on the Cross.                              Here is a preacher who says : `I, yet not I, but the grace
     `In the last day the books of the conscience will be opened.        of God that is with me.
-Then  shall every  lgan's  work be tried. Paul's work will                 All he coitld possibly preach and did preach was: Jesus
 then be tried also. The day will reveal it. Yet, Paul                   Christ  and Him crucified!
even now walks as in that day. And although he will not be                  What does it imply that he preached Jesus Christ and
tried by those who criticize him, for God is his judge, who              Him crucified ?
tries a servant to find him faithful, (I Cor. 4 :l-5) yet Paul              Certainly, this does not mean that Paul's preaching here
is willing to cite the "record" of his own labors and .conduct           in' Corinth was limited to,the death of Christ in the narrow
at Corinth, since that can serve in showing "fidelity and truth          sense of,`the term, as if he only preached "christology" and
to the glory of God, and the safety (edification) o,f the neigh-         not all of its implications as this truth affects also the ques-
bor" ! Such is then not a glorying in "self," but even as Paul' tions of the fall of man, his creation, the plan and purpose
Says  in I Corinthians 15 :lOb . . . "I labored more abundantly          of God in all things, the glory of His Name ; nor that he did
than they all, yet not I, but  the grace of God which was                not instruct the congregation concerning the meaning of the
with me" !                                                               church (see I Cor. 12) as a body with its many members, or
     Thus Paul cites the record' in the verses which we wish             the doctrine  Qf  thei last things. (See Cor. 15)
to consider in this essay.                                                  On the contrary this means that Paul's preaching was
     The verses  1-5 of I Corinthians 2 read as follows:  `And           the accomplished work of Christ on the Cross as the anointed
I, brethren, when I came to you., came not with  exiellency              of God; Prophet, Priest  and King, who has come to reveal
of speech  OY of  wisdo~~~,  declaring unto  you the  tesfiimony of      unto us fully the secret counsel of God concerning our re-
 God.  F&`I  determ.ined   to  know nothing  a#laong   YOU,  same        demption, and to pay our debt on the Cross, making satis-
Je.ms  Christ:,  a.nd   hivtz crucified. And I' was with  you in         faction to the divine justice, and also to protect and keep us
weakness, and  fern,, and  ,in  vvtuch  t,jpembl.ing.  And  my speech    by His power  against every foe and bring us to final) glory.
a?ad my  prea.ching was not with  enticirig- words of man's wis-         And that this Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, is the one
 dom, but in  demonstrqtion.  of the Spirit and of power:  tha,t         who is come to "save His people `from all of their  sitis."
your faith should not sta.nd  in the wisdom of men, but in the           Such, indeed, was preached by Paul at Corinth. He
power of God."                                                           preached the full counsel of God concerning our redemption,
     We would have you, clear reader,  notice the following              as this is set forth in the Son of God, Jesus Christ; in His
s&h. us :.                                                               being set forth a propitiation for all of our sins, and in His


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    229

   being raised from the dead for our justification!                    -        When our faith rests in this power of the Holy Spirit,
        Paul sums this all up by saying  i proclaiming unto `YOU             when all our confidence lies in what God does for and in us,
   the testivmony of God!                                                    then we have a rock-bottomness to our faith, which all the
        There is here first of all the fine.touch in the Greek verb          hosts of hell cannot assail successfully. We do not believe
   used by Paul in this phrase. Paul employs the compound                    then because a certain minister persuaded us, because we fell
   verb  ; kata,ggeloon. This does not simply mean : bring the               under the "spell" of a minister. Or, the logic of the minister
   message, as a messenger, but it means bring the message                   was then strong, his arguments were impelling - but they
   dozwrt  to any one, bring it hopBe to him. Paul was a preacher            were the arguments which "carefully" interpreted the mean-
   who was mighty in the Scriptures, according to the singular               ing of the Spirit, a reasonable service, and when we heard
   grace given him,  and.could  really bring the message of Christ           him we could not gainsay his arguments. They are the argu-
   in the Old Testament Scriptures to stand forth in the Christ,             ments that make a Felix terrified and say  "go thy way for
   who was crucified in the year 33 A.D. under Pontius Pilate.               this time ; and when I have a convenient season i: will call
        Secondly, there is the question of the reading on the text.          for thee." (Acts 24 :25) and an Agrippa cry out "but with
   The question is whether the reading "mystery" or "testi-                  little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian."
   mony" is the proper reading. It is our conviction that the                (Acts 26 :25) And the believers recognize in the minister a
   reading of the King James version is correct. There we read               man by whom "as it were God speaketh" saying: be ye rec-
   "testimony" of God. In the first place because it is a very               onciled to God, enter ever more into the enjoyment of the
   striking reading, bringing out .a very fine shade of emphasis.            reconciliation wherewith I have reconciled thee unto myself.
   "Testimony" indicates, that the message which Paul'brought                And the Publican hearing this with the hearing of faith says :
   concerning the "mystery" of the Cross, was the very author-               0, God, be propitious to me, the sinner ! And he goes home '
   itative Word of God Himself. It  was :  thus saith  the Lord.             justified and blessed, knowing that his faith rests not- in
   And this "thus saith the Lord" did not need to be brought                 the absolution of men, but in the power of God's word, the
   with human wisdom and enticing speech, but could. be                      comfort of the Holy Spirit, applying all the promises unto         -
   brought with authority, confronting every man's conscience                the hearts of the penitent sinners, who repent  o,ztt of faith,
   with the Word of God in the Cross, together with the com-                 according to God's law and unto  ,His glory!
   mand of repentance! And thus the reading "testimony of                       Such was indeed Paul's aim in preaching everywhere ;
   God" emphasizes a very important element in all proper                    and such was Paul's aim also- here at Corinth. He never de-
   preaching of the. Word, which is not done in the wisdom                   parts from this aim and content of the Gospel.
   of men, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of. power !              `The testimony of God must stand.
       And so Paul herewith insists that his preaching was                      We cannct  for various exegetical reasons agree with the
   wholly consonant with the divine nature of the "testimony"                theory that Paul in our text speaks of a certain rededication
   concerning the Christ of the Scriptures, His crucifixion and a to the Gospel preaching when he came to Corinth.
   His accomplished redemption.                                                 What we have to say on this question must needs wait
       The party  -leaders in the schismatic factions could not .till the next issue, D. V.
   point to Paul's preaching as an example of Hermeneutical                                                                           G. L.
   and Homi'etical `demonstration of rhetorical skill, nor of
   philosophical acuteness !
       However, it should not pass our notice, that Paul did not
   anticipate all of this party-strife and schism in the church of           0 GIVE THE -LORD WHOLE-HEARTED PRAISE
   Corinth when he came there from Athens on his second mis-
   sionary journey. On the contrary Paul knows that the Son                             His works are true and just indeed,
   of God gathers His church out of the whole human race, that                            His precepts are forever sure ;
   He defends and preserves her to himself by His Spirit and                            In truth and righteousness decreed
   Word - a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing-in True                           They shall for evermore endure.
   faith !
       Shall he be a minister, by whom the churches believe,                            From Him saints' redemption came ;
   then he must so preach the Word of the Cross, that, spirit-                            His covenant sure no change can know;
`-  ually-psychologically,  the believers, too, will say : we `heard                    Let all revere His holy Name
   the gospel story, we heard the Word of God and the  Holy                               In heaven above and earth below.
   S/Grit  worked in us both to will and to do of God's good
   pleasure ! We. know that what He has begun "He" will also                            In reverence and in godly fear
   finish even unto the day of our Lord Jesusi Christ. He will                            Man finds the gate to wisdom's ways;
   cause us to continue to eat and drink, to have spiritual life,                       The wise His holy Name revere ;
   and refreshment even to the end. He will "make me sin-                                 Through endless ages sound His praise.
   cerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him."                                                                   Psalm  1115-7


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230                                           T H E   STANDAKD   B E A K E R

                                                                     use it so little for the purpose of being `busy with the works
                I N   H I S   F E A R                                of Ris grace. Instead of using it as a special day, we
                                                                     treat it as some glorified extension of the other six, a sort of
                                                                     period added to the six to give us more leisure time and
                 The Sabbath In  His Fear                            more time for seeking the things here below. Often it is even
                                                                     presented -as some necessary arrangement for man's physical
                                 (4)                                 wellbeing, a day that man needs physically as a rest day
       The Sabbath was made for man.                                 so that his daily  labour,  his seeking of the things of this
       Yet we must remember that it was made for regenerated         life, his calling to provide for earthly food, shelter and a
and sanctified man.                                                  little nest-egg for a "rainy day" may be carried on the better.
       That is true of all God's works. All things exist for the     The Sabbath becomes necessary for the six week days that
sake of His people. They are the salt of the earth. Because          follow. The Sabbath was made for man to enable him to
of their presence upon this earth there is a pleasing savour         be busy on the six (no the Labor Unions have improved ( ?)
in it to the Holy God Who upholds it. Were it not for the            upon God's original idea, which He decreed almost six
presence of His Church, *which  is pleasing in His sight for         thousand years ago and now it is five days of no more than
Christ's sake, all reason for Him to continue to uphold it           ,eight hours each) days of the week for material things. The
would be gone. Were it not for the presence of His Church            six days are far more important than the seventh! So, much
in this present world He would bring it to its fiery end in          of our behaviour and reasoning declares. But Jesus said:
terrible and swift judgment.                                         "Seek ye first the-kingdom of God and its righteousness  ; and
       For the sake of His Church He brings up the sun in the        all these things shall be added unto you," Matthew  6:33.
East each morning and guides it to set in the West at the            The six days of the week, therefore, must serve the Sab-
prescribed moment' and place each night. For the sake of             bath and not the Sabbath serve the six days. The material
His Church aeed time and harvest come in their due order.            may not be put first in its significance. Our Fathers in the
Winter and Summer, Spring and Fall appear in the proper              Heidelberg Catechism- also grasped the truth of this teaching
relationship to each other. As these seasons change  ; as            of Christ and put it down in words thus : "That the ministry
month after month rolls by ; as the weeks come and go God            of the Gospel and the schools be maintained ; and that I . . .
also brings one day in seven that He has made for His                contribute to the relief of the poor as becomes a Christian."
Church. The six days of labour  He prepares and sends for            The work of the six days must serve the Sabbath. The min-
His Church, -but He also prepares and sends one special day          istry of the Gospel and the schools must be maintained. The
each week for the sake of His Church.                                poor must be cared for by those to whom God has given
       Others will live while these Sabbaths come and go. ,Others    more abundantly. The six days in this financial support
will make misuse of them, but it is a day made for the people        serve the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was not made for man
of God. As the ungodly experience the same warmth of the             that he might be prepared for financial gain and the ac-
sun, the same refreshing rain, breathe the same air, walk            cumulation of the material things during the six days of the
and live upon the same earth, they will also pass through            week.
the same Sabbath days, that the children of God do; yet all             Considering it a day made by God in His grace for
these things are made for the people. of God. The Sabbath            His Church to be able to contemplate His grace, to worship
was made for regenerated and sanctified man.                         and praise Him for that grace, to seek spiritual strength,
       Therefore the Sabbath is a gift of God's grace.               knowledge and comfort in the truth of that grace our con-
       Whatever God gives to His Church, whatever He pre-            duct  z&l be different upon that day. Besides. frequenting
pares for His Church, it is given and prepared in grace. "For        the house of God- and frequenting means attending both
unto you," Paul writes to the Church at  Philippi as being           services unless before God's face we can be convinced that
true of all the Church, "it is graced (such is the original) in      HE prevents us -we will be busy with spiritual exercises
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to        on that day, exercises that stand in direct and close connec-
suffer for His sake," Philippians 1  :29. Even that suffering        tion with the things presented in the Heidelberg Catechism,
is prepared and sent in the grace of God. Why, then, should          which we quoted last time, in its answer as to what God
we hesitate to say that the Sabbath, which He prepares and           requires of us in the Fourth Commandment.
sends that we may enjoy the work of salvation in a way and              We will quote, once again that complete answer: "First,
to a degree impossible on the other six days of the week, is         that the ministry of the Gospel and the schools be maintained ;
prepared and sent in His grace as a gift of that grace to His        and that I especially on the Sabbath that is, on the day of
people ?                                                             rest, diligently frequent the church of God, to hear His word,
   How little we usually appreciate' that fact,' the fact that       to use the sacraments, publicly to call upon the Lord, and
it is a  gift of God to us ! So much of our activity on that         contribute to the relief of the poor as becomes a Christian.
day manifests that. we do not appreciate the Sabbath as a            Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil
special manifestation of His grace to His Church ! For, we           works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by His Holy


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                231

Spirit in me : and thus begin in this life the eternal Sabbath."    Let us be sure when we raise the argument ( ?) that all these
    There is first of all, then, the preparation for the divipe     things take time, that it is not exactly for these things that
services of worship. In our circles, where it is a practice and     God has given us that time. The Sabbath was made for man.
rule that we treat all the doctrines of Scripture according toi
                    c,                                              And the Sabbath is time, a whole day of it. Let us always
the system of them arranged in the Heidelberg Catechism,            squarely face the issue: for what reason has God given us
we know in advance what will be treated in Sunday morn-             ,this time ? Let us be honest enough to admit that in our
ing's sermon. We have, therefore, a splendid opportunity            flesh is that' same spirit which is in the world and receives
to acquaint ourselves with the material and truths  tq be           such an awful indictment of Paul that men are lovers of
treated. A reading of the Lord's Day before we leave for            pleasure rather than lovers of God. And let us fight against
church will serve very nicely as an "introduction" to the ser-      that evil in our flesh and reveal by our Sabbaths that we
mon, as nicely as the minister's introduction in his sermon as      ire lovers of God rather than lovers of pleasure.
he brings to your attention the relationship between the truth         We do not want in any way to be Legalists. We shudder
to be treated that morning and the one considered last Sun-         even at the thought of being Conditionalists to make also our
day. It will help you to understand him when he introduces          Sabbath worship a condition unto salvation. Obligation and
the doctrine at the outset of his sermon. It will put you in        condition are not the same. We have an obligation to love
the right frame of mind for spiritual things. And in con-           and serve God ; but so does the devil ! And that obligation is
junction with that Lord's Day are the Scriptural references         no more a condition unto salvation for us than it is to the
upon which that doctrinal truth is based. These also ought          devil. The obligation simply underscores the fact that salva-
to be read.                                                         tion will have to be by promise and not by condition or else
    Our flesh, of course, would rather sleep long on Sunday         we will never obtain it. A serious examination of our Sab-
so that the very last minute we gulp down a breakfast  -            bath will clearly. show that most of our works on that day
often so that our Bible  readirig  at the table has to be dis-      say that we do not care to enter into the Rest that remaineth
pensed with - hurry to the car while still straightening our        for the people of God. We are much too busy with material
tie, race down the highway or streets, squeel our tires to a        worldy pleasures and even entertainments ! It is so very dif-
fast stop and run a weekly sprint with the minister to see          ficult for us to spend more than an hour or two in the things
if we can get in our seat before he .stands up for the beginning    spiritual and the rest we just have to have for our flesh!
of the service! It need hardly be stated that after such a          If~the obligation to serve God on that day is a condition to
victory and triumph over time and space, one is not in the          salvation and the entering into the eternal rest, we only begin
mood for anything else than either more sleep to relieve the        to fulfill the condition and then cease  ; and lose our salvation
body of that terrific nervous strain that had been put upon it,     right then and there! No, we will have to enter into that
 or else to gloat over such a phenomenal achievement. At any        rest that remaineth by promise, as Israel entered Canaan by
 rate, in serious vein, one is not prepared for hearing the         promise and not by fulfilling conditions in the wilderness.
 Word of God and has already made much misuse of the                The whole history there in the wilderness -also as ex-
 day. It has been treated as a-holiday rather than as a holy        plained by Paul in his epistle is by promise  ; and then by
 day !                                                              unconditional promise.
     The bulletin will, usually, also indicate what the text is         But what we have been stressing is that the regenerated,
 for the afternoon or evening service. Here, surely, the op-        sanctified child of God who in principle has already entered
portunity for getting acquainted with the text and the con-         into that rest will hallow the Sabbath out of gratitude to
 text is undeniably there ! At  the- dinner table, at the very      God. He will look forward to the day and the worship in
 least, the chapter should be read and the text pointed out         God's house on that day. We will be eager to "hear the word
 and reread after the reading of  the chapter that attention        of God" and "diligently to frequent the house of (God." Thit
 may especially be focused on it.                                   .will move him to take the time to prepare himself for the
     These things take time,. to be sure. They take time away       enjoyment of the truth to be considered that particular Sun-
 from us which we would rather use for other things Such as         day. The fear of the Lord is not a fear that makes one rush
 sleep, leisure and a host of material things for which we          to try to fulfill conditions that have already been fulfilled by
 would not take time during the week for a host of carnal           Christ. The fear of the Lord takes hold by faith of His
 reasons. That does not alter the fact that it belongs to the       finished work and in reverence and awe before  Him  ; in
 Sabbath in His fear. After all it is not a question as to          gratitude and humble appreciation for that salvation gathers
 whether you can satisfy the ideas and standards of a few men';     to worship Him ; in the delight/ of salvation meets to be in-
 it is not a  qtiestion  as to whether you can find some sect,      structed further in the mysteries of salvation to obtain a1
 society or denomination to sanction your Sabbath activity. It      greater joy  an4 richer experience of them.
 is a Holy God who still says in His Law : "Remember the                Next time, D.V., we like to write a few more things
 Sabbath day to keep it holy . . . . . the Lord blessed the         about our activity on that day.
 Sabbath day, and hallowed it." It is in His fear that we
 must decide what our, behaviour shall be on the Sabbath.                                                                     J.A.H.


232                                         T H E   STANDAR-D   B E A R E R

I,                                                               R
Ii                                                                    of St. Peter. In his vindication of this council-for the op-
           Contending For The Faith                              II position was not satisfied with it-the. deacon Ennodius
                                                                      after bishop of Pavia (251 j, gave the first clear expression
                                                                      to the absolutism upon which `Leo had already acted: that
            The Church and the Sacraments                             the Roman bishop is above. every  hum&i  tribunal, and is
                                                                      responsible only to God  hi&self. Nevertheless, even in the
      VIEWS DURING THE SECOND PERIOD  (300-750  A:D.)                 middle age, popes were deposed and set up by emperors and
                                                                      general councils. This is one of the points of dispute between
                THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                            the absolute papal system and the constitutional episcopal
                THE PAPACY  (by Philip  Schaff) .                     system in the Roman church, which wag left unsettled even
                                                                      by the council of Trent.
                             (Continued)                                  Under HORMISDAS (514-523  j  the Monophysite  party
                                                                      ih- the Greek church was destroyed by the energetic zeal of
       POPE Felix II, or, according to another reckoning, III         the orthodox emperor Justin, and in  !519 the union of that
,(483-492),  continued the war of his predecessor against the         church with Rome was restored, after a schism of five-and-
Monophysitism  of the East, rejected the Henoticon of the             thirty year.?.
emperor Zeno, as an unwarrantable intrusion of a laymen in                Theodoric offered no hinderance  to the transactions and
matters of faith, and ventured even the excommunication of            embassies, and allowed his most distinguished subject to
the bishop Acacius of Constantinople. Acacius replied With            -assert his ecclesiastical supremacy over Constantinople. This
a counter anathema, with the support of the other Eastern             semibarbarous and heretical prince was tolerant in general,
patriarchs ; and the schism between the two churches lasted           and very liberal toward the Catholic church ; even rising to
over thirty  years,_to  the pontificate of Hormisdas.                 the principle, which has waited till the modern age for its
                                                                      recognition, that the power of the prince should be restricted
       GELASIUS I (492-496 j clearly announced the principle,
that the priestly power is above the kingly and the imperial,         to civil government, and should permit no trespass on the
                                                                      conscience of its subjects. "No one," says he, "shall be
and that from  thk decisions of the chair of Peter there is           forced td believe against his will." Yet, toward the close of
no appeal. Yet from this popa we have, on the other hand,             his reign, on mere political suspicion, he ordered the execu-
a remarkable testimony against what he pronounces the
"sacrilege" of withholding the cup from the laity, the co?%-          tion of the celebrated philosopher Boethius, with whom the
                                                                      old Roman literature far more worthily closes, than the
mmvio  sub ztnal  specie.                                             Roman empire with Augustulus ; and on the same ground
      ANASTASIUS II (496-498) indulged in a milder tone               he caused the death of the senator Symmachus and the in-
toward Constantinople, and incurred the suspicion of con-             carceration of Pope John I (523-526).
sent to its heresy.                                                      Almost the last, act of his reign was the nomination of
       His sudden death was followed by  x contested papal            the worthy FELIX III (IV) to the papal chair, after a
election, which led to bloody encounters. The Ostrogothic             protracted  struggle of contending parties. With the ap-
king Theodoric (the  Dietrich  of Bern in the  Niebelztngen-          pointment he issued the order that hereafter, as heretofore,
lied), the conqueror and master of Italy  (493-526),  and,            the pope should be elected by clergy and people, but should
like Odoacer, an Arian, was called into consultatiqn  in this         be confirmed by the temporal prince before assuming his
contest, and gave his voice for SYMMACHUS against                     office ; and with understanding the cler,T  and the city gave
Laurentius,  because  Symmachus had received the majority             their consent to the pomination.
of  votes,  and had been consecrated  fiist. But the party of
Laurentius, not satisfied with this, raised against Symmachus            Yet, in spite of this arrangement, in the election of
the reproach of gross iniquities, even of adultery and of             BONIFACE II (530-532 j and JOHN II (532-535) the
squandering the church estates. The bloody scenes were re-            same disgraceful quarreling -and,  briberies occurred ; a sort
newed, priests were murdered, cloisters were burned, and              of chronic disease in the history of .the papacy.
nuns were insulted. Theodoric, being .again called upon by               Soon after the death of Theodoric (526) the Gothic em-
the senate for a decision, summoned a council at Rome, to pire fell to pieces through internal distraction and imperial
which Syn&achus gave his consent; and a synod, convoked               weakness. Italy was  conqueied by Belisarius  (535),  and,
by a heretical king, must decide upon the pope ! In the course        with Africa, again incorporated with the East  Rotian em-
of thk controvsrsy  several councils were held in rapid suc-          pire, which renewed under Justinian its ancient splendor,
cession, the chronology of which is disputed. The most im-            and enjoyed a transient after-summer. And yet this power-
portant was the synodzts  fmharis, the fourth council under           ful, orthodox emperor was a slave to the intriguing, heretical
Symmachus, held in October, 501. It acquitted this pope               Theodora, whom he had raised from the theatre to' the
without investigation, on the presumption that it did not be-         throne ; and Belisarius likewise, his victorious general, was
hove the council to pass judgr!nent  respecting the successor         completely under the power of his wife  Antonin&.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 233

   With the conquest of Italy the popes fell inter. a perilous        fifth as ifi no way departing from the Chalcedonian dogma.
and unworthy dependence on the emperor at Constantinople,             But only by the military aid of Narses could he secure sub-
who reverenced, indeed, the Roman chair, but not less that            jection;  and the most refractory bishops, those of Aquileia
of Constantinople, and in reality sought to use both as tools         and Milan, he sent as prisoners to Constantinople.
of his own state-church despotism. AGAPETUS (535-536)                   In these two Justian-made popes we see how much the
offered fearless resistance to  the,arbitrary  course of Justinian    power of the Roman hierarchy was indebted to its remoteness
and successfully protested against the elevation of the Eu-           from the Byzantine despotism, and how much it was injured
tychian Anthimus to the partiarchal see of Constantinople.            by contact with it.
But, by the intrigues of the Monophysite empress, his sue-
cessor,  Pope SILVERIUS (a son of Hormisdas,  536-538),                  With the descent of the Arian Longobards into  Italy,
was deposed on the charge of treasonable correspondence               after 568, the popes became more independent of the Byzant-
with the Goths, and banished to the island of Pandataria,             ine court. They continued under tribute indeed to the  ex-
whither the worst heathen emperors used to send the  vi&ms            archs in Ravenna, as the representatives of the Greek em-
bf their tyranny, and  where  in 540 he died-whether a                perors (from 554), and were obliged to have their election
natural or a violent death, we do not know.                           confirmed and their inauguration superintended by them. But
                                                                      the feeble hold of these  officials   iti Italy, and the pressure
   VIGILIUS, a pliant creature of Theodora, ascended the              of the Arian barbarians upon them, greatly favored the popes,
papal chair under the military protection of Belisarius (53%          who, being the richest proprietors, enjoyed also great political
554). The empress had promised him this office and a sum              consideration in Italy, and applied their influence to the
of money, on condition that- he nullify the decrees of the            tiaintenance  of law and order amidst the reigning confusion.
council of Chalcedon, and pronounce Anthimus and his                      In other respects the administration of JOHN. II  (560-
friends orthodox. The ambitious and doubled-tongued fire-             573), BENEDICT I  (574-578),  and PELAGIUS II' (578-
late accepted  the condition, and -accomplished the deposition.       590 j, are among the darkest and the most sterile in the an-
and perhaps the death, of Silverius. In his pontificate oc-           .nals of the papacy.     .
curred the violent controversy of the three chapters and th,e
second general council of Constantinople (553). His ad-                  But with GREGORY I (590-604) a new period begins.
ministration -was an unprincipled vacillation between the             Next to Leo I he was the greatest of the ancient bishops
dignity and duties of his office and subservience to an alien         of Rome, and he marks transition of the patriarchal system
theological and political influence  ; between repeated con-          into the strict papacy of.the middle ages. For several reasons
demnation of the three chapters in behalf of a Eutychianizing         we prefer to place him at the head of the succeeding  period.
spirit,, and repeated retraction of that condemnation. In Con-        He came, it is true,. with more modest claims than Leo, who'
stantinople, where he resided several years at the instance of        surpassed him in boldness, energy, and consistency. He even
                                                                      solemnly protested, as `his predecessor Pelagius II had done,
the emperor, he suffered much personal persecution, but with-,
out the spirit of martyrdom, and without its glory. For               against the title of  z&versab  bishop, which the  Constantin-
example, at least according to Western accounts,. he was              opolitan patriarch, John Jejunator, adopted at a council in
                                                                      587; he declared it an  antichristkwz  assumption, in terms
violenty torn from the altar, upon which he was holding with          which quite remind us of the patriarchal equality, and seem
both hands so firmly that the posts of the canopy fell in above
him  ; he was dragged through the streets with a rope around          to form a step in recession from the ground of Leo. But
                                                                      when we take his operations in general into view, and re-
his neck, and cast into a common prison ; because he would
not submit to the will of Justinian and his council. Yet, he          member the rigid consistency of the papacy, which never
                                                                      forgets, we are almost justified in thinking, that this protest
yielded at last, through fear of deposition. He obtained per-         was directed not so much against the title itself, as ggainst
mission to return to Rome, but died in Sicily, of the stone,          the bearer of it, and proceeded more from jealousy of a rival
on his way thither (554).                                             at  Constantiniple,  than from sincere humility. From the
   PELAGIUS I (554-560 j  ,. by order of Justinian, whose             same motive the Roman bishops avoided the title of patriarch,
favor he had previously gained as papal legate at Constantin-         as placing them on a level with the Eastern patriarchs, and
ople, was made successor of Vigilius, but  fourid  only two           preferred the title of pope, from a sense of the specific dig-
bishops ready to consecrate him. His close connection with            nity of the chair of Peter. Gregory is said to have been
the East, and his approval of the fifth ecumenical council,           the first to use the humble-proud title: "servant of the
which was regarded as a partial concession to the Eutychian           servant of God." His successors, notwithstanding his protest,
Christology, and, so far, an impeachment of the authority             called themselves "the universal bishops" of Christendom.            ,
of the council of Chalcedon, alienated many Western bishops,          What he had condemned in his oriental colleagues as anti-
even in Italy. and induced a temporary suspension of their            Christian arrogance, the later popes considered but the ap-
connection with Rome. He' issued a letter to the whole                propriate expression of their official position in the church
Christian world, in which he declared his entire agreement            universal.
with the first four general. councils, and then vindicated the                                                                   H.V.


234                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 -
Ii----------------------------                                          possible' double track,  hub I suppose that under their view, if
           The Voice of Our Fathers                                 II a reprobate should ever appear before the Almighty with the
                                                                        condition of faith and repentance fulfilled, the Lord God
                                                                        would be compelled to admit to him : "Sorry, but I fooled you.
                   The Canons  of  Dordrecht                            I cannot fulfill My divine part of the contract. I offered
                                     PART TWO                           something which I did not really have for you. My beloved
                                                                        Son died only for the elect." You reply that such is both
                      EXPOSITION   OF THE CANONS                        unthinkable and blasphemous in regard to the Lord Jehovah ?
                      S                                                 I agree.
                        ECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE                             On the other hand,.if  the gos.pel is limited-and particular,
   OF  THE DEATH  OF CHRIST,  AND THE REDEMPTION                        for the elect alone, there is this question: why is that gospel
                                  OF MEN THEREBY                        proclaimed to reprobate as well as to elect? Why must the
                           Article 5 (continued)                        reprobate hear the preaching of the gospel ? Besides, there is
                                                                        the question: why must the  gospel be preached "together
       We have seen that the article under discussion does not          with the demand of faith and repentance ?" And : why, and
even teach that the prea,clzing of the gospel is general in the         upon what basis, does that demand of faith and repentance
sense that it comes to ,every individual of the human race,             come to elect and reprobate alike ?,
but rather recognizes the fact that also this proclamation of              These questions we must bear in mind as we turn to the
the gospel is limited and follows a well-defined course all             subject of the  contents  of the preaching, and particularly,
through history, and that tbo, according to the divine good             first of all, to the pro?tzise of the gospel that ought to be de-
pleasure. It follows already, therefore, that the gospel itself         clared and published promiscuously and without distinction.
is also certainly not general in the sense that it is for every            Take note of  th6 statement of the promise here: "The
individual of the human race, but rather is nt least limited            promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believeth in Christ
to those to \vhom  it is proclaimed.                                    crucified, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
       The question now is : does the article teach,  or does it          The very first fact that draws the attention in this -state-
deny, any further limitation of that gospel  ? Is the gospel,           ment; and in the entire fifth article, is that there is nothing
in so far as it is proclaimed to many nations and many in-              that even hints at a condition. There is no literal mention of
dividuals, general, that is, intended as to its contents, its           a "condition" to this promise in the statement of the promise
"good news," .for all to whom it is proclaimed ? Is it good             just quoted. And there is no such mention of a condition in
news for `them all  ? Or is it limited and particular  ? Is it          the remainder of the article. To be sure, mention is made of
intended for elect and reprobate alike, Or is it meant only             the "command to repent and believe." But this command is
for the  elecf ? Is it, according to this article, an offer or a        far from a condition. :A command has nothing in common
promise of God to all to whom it is proclaimed, conditioned             with a condition. One could never substitute the words "con-
by the demand of faith and repentance ? Or is it an uncon-              dition of faith and repentance" for "command to repent and
ditional promise to the elect aloue ?                                   believe," and retain the same meaning in the article. This
       There are other questions connected. Why, if that gospel         ,would  change the article radically. Characteristic of a com-
is general, is it proclaimed only to some reprobate, not to             mand, - and `this is above all true of a command of God -
all ? That gospel surely reaches all `the elect. But if it is           is that it is exactly  .unconditional  and absolute. It  wmst  be
general, why does it not reach all the reprobate ? In the               obeyed without any question., A command is a matter of
second place, what is the basis of such a general gospel ? If `authority ; a condition is a matter of bargaining, or of con-
God makes a general offer or a general, conditional promise,            tract. A command must be obeyed, whether or not there is
does He offer or promise something which He actually has                punishment connected with disobedience  ,thereto and reward
and which He can actually supply in case the condition should           connected with obedience to it. It must be obeyed, not out of
be fulfilled ? The Arminian is consistent enough to answer              aqy ulterior. motives, but  oqt of complete and unreserved
this question in the affirmative; for he teaches that Christ            respect for authority and justice. Furthermore, let us note
died for all and for every man. His. solution to this question,         that even the ~OWPZ of the statement of the promise in Article
though erroneous, is therefore reasonable and sinful. The               5 is not conditional. It has sometimes been claimed that the
-"double-track theologians" of the Reformed family, though              promise is conditional in form as it is here stated. But this
Arminian in their  coriception  of the gospel offer, are re-            is not true.. Even grammatically speaking this is not a con-
strained by- their Reformed sense from the sin of teaching              ditional promise whatsoever. The words, "whosoever  be-
general  ato?ement. But for that reason they can furnish no             lieveth in Christ crucified," are not a conditional clause in
answer to the foregoing question, and involve themselves in             grammar, but a general relative clause.
the greater foolishness of accusing God of pretense, of fraud-             Now the above is important. The idea that the gospel is
when He offers or promises salvation to all who hear the                a general offer or a general  promise is absolutely inseparable
,preaching.  Their entire position is absurd because of its im-         from the idea that the gospel is a condibional offer or prom-


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   235

 ise. The one idea cannot be maintained without the other.              true faith, in us, therefore that preaching must always be ad-
 If, therefore,  Ca,nons  II, 5 intended to teach that the  gospel      dressed tci faith, must single out the believers,  and must pro-
 is a general offer or promise, one would expect to find the            <claim  that the promise of everlasting life is for all those, and
 twin teaching that the gospel is  conditiona,l.   But this is not      for those only, who believe  in Christ crucified. And all of
 the case, for the article does not with a single word teach a          the above is quite in harmony with the main subject of this
 conditional gospel.. Hence, we may conclude from this fact             Second Head of Doctrine, namely: the death of Christ, and
 alone that the . fathers do not intend to teach a  gerieral,           the redemption of men thereby.
 well-meant offer of salvation or a general promise of sal-                      Is then the  promise  of the gospel general or particular?
 v a t i o n .                                                          Emphatically the latter : it is for the believers alone. And the
     But what of the content of the promise as it is here stated ?      very preaching of that  tiromise  must serve to realize that
                                                                        particular promise, for it must in the promiscuous `proclama-
     Notice, in the first place,  .that you have a limited descrip-     tion of the promise plainly assert that life everlasting is for
 tion of the promise of the gospel here. It was certainly not           those who believe in Christ `crucified. But is this the only
 the place in this Head of Doctrine and -this paragraph to              aspect in which the promise is particular? .Must  we, and do
 make a complete definition of the idea of the promise ; nor            we, end witln faith? Can nothing more be. said as to the rela-
 was this the intention of the fathers. But in accord with              .tionship which exists between faith and life eternal ? Do the
 their purpose to answer the Arminian objection that Re-                Canons  intend to say nothing  more about faith and the prom-
 formed people  had no room left for gospel-preaching, the              ise ? Of course not ! In fact, the moment we begin to analyze
 fathers wanted to say something about the preaching and its            even this fifth article, .we go deeper. Who is Christ cruci-
 content. And so, when they speak of the promise in this                fied ? Whence is Christ crucified? For. whom did Christ cru-
 article, they speak of the prow&e  as p+eached.  This is not a         cified atone ? Who are they that believe in Him ? How is it
 different promise  from   the  promise of God, but the same            possible for them to believe  ? Why do they believe, while
 promise from one of its many aspects. In close connection              others do not believe ? Whence is that faith ? But we need not
 with this fact; we may note: 1) That it is for this reason             argue only from the language of this article. Surely, this
 that the promise is not presented in this article in all its con-      canon must be taken in its eontext. And that context is very
 tents, but only as "everlasting life." The promise is here             clear as to the origin of faith, both as to its merit and as to
 viewed, therefore, from the point of vie'w of the goal, the end,       its actual application, as we shall  see in our discussion of
 salvation in its final realization. It is true that the promise        Articles 7 and 8. And sound gospel.preaching,  -. the preach-
 of God also includes the means to reach that end ; but this is         ing of the promise, - will surely not ignore these questions
 here left out of view. 2) That -for this same reason this              and neglect to emphasize that the promise of God includes
 promise is here presented as standing in close connection              all the means that are necessary to reach that goal of eternal
 with "Christ crucified." It is  `IChrist crucified" Who is the         life.
 content of all true gospel preaching, Who is to the Jews a                      Why, then, .must there be a promiscuous proclamation of
 stumblingblock, and to the Greeks foolishness, but to them             the command to repent and believe ? From a positive view-
that are called, both Jews and Greeks, the wisdom of God                point, the answer is simple: the elect must be brought to a
 and thi: power of God. Without Him there is no everlasting             true and living faith through the preaching. And since men,
 life, but only condemnation. And therefore `the promise of             preachers, do not and cannot know who are the elect individ-
  God in Christ crucified is everlasting life. 3) Finally, it is        uals, their preaching must be promiscuous. At the san-ie time',
 from the same point of view that the article speaks of faith:          the Lord has a negative purpose with the reprobate in that
  ". . . whosoever believeth in Christ crucified shall  have ever- same preaching. Not to believe and not to repent is sin', and
 lasting life." What is the force of this clause ? Simply this :        that too, sin of the blackest kind when it is committed in
 as an element in the preaching it serves  to identify the elect        flagrant disobedience to the preaching of the gospel. By this
 for theqselves  and to separate them out of the-mixed multi-           preaching, therefore, the sin  of;  natural man is sharply reveal-
 tude of elect and reprobate that hear the preaching. "Thbse            ed and aggravated. And God is justified when He judges
 who believe" is equivalent to "those who shall have everlast-          the ungodly !
 ing life." The fact of the matter is that  not only does this                   One more question : must the promise be general in order
 article as such say nothing about faith as a condition of ever-        to serve as a basis for such a general command to repent and
 lasting life, but, taken by itself, the article says nothing at all    believe  ? Must the reprobate have a "chance" to have life
 about the relation between faith and everlasting life. It does         ,eternal  in order to despise it in unbelief and impenitence ?
 not say whether faith is a condition, a ground, or a means.            Not at all: they need only be acquainted with it, they need
  It merely says soemthing about those who do belikve:  they            only know the Christ of the cross, they need only know that
  shall have everlasting life. And all this is quite in harmony         there is in Him life everlasting, in order, stumbling and re-
 with what Scripture and the Confessions say about the                  jecting Him in their natural foolishness and darkness and
 preaching as a means of grace. Because the preaching of the            perversity, to react against Him and His precious promise,
  Word must serve as a means whereby the Holy Spirit works                                       ~Contimrd  au  page 240)


236                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.PER

                                                                    viction that Christ Himself commands this of the church.
              DECENCY and. ORDER                                    O%ly then can it be performed with a strong incentive and a
                                                                    firm confidence that those engaged in it truly wield the sword
                                                                    of Christ.
                      Family Visitation  '                              Does Scripture then provide such a basis  ? One may
                                                                    search hard and long to find a text that speaks directly, and
                          (Continued)                               specifically of the'*work of family visitation. `To our knowl-
       "The authority of the Holy Scripture, for' which it ought    edge such a text cannot be found. This, however, does not
to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony         warrant the conclusion that Scripture does not endorse this
of any man or church, but wholly upon God, the author               work. Often you meet people who refuse to be convinced of
thereof; and, therefore, it is to be received, because it is the    the Scripturalness of certain things unless they are given a
Word of God."                                                       text or texts that plainly  deiignate  that particular thing.
                                  Westminster Confession.           Take, for example, the practice of infant baptism. How fre-
                                                                    quent do you not hear  the argument raised that since there
                                                                    is no direct or specific command in the Bible to baptize in-
                     B. The Scriptural Basis                        fants, this practice is to be entirely condemned. Of course
                                                                    such reasoning is absurd and superficial.  ,It manifests no
       It is both proper and necessary for those who are called     small ignorance of Holy Writ, refuses to acknowledge the
to engage in the work of family visitation, as well as for          fundamental rule that, "Scripture Interprets Scripture," and
those who are the objects of this labor, to consider seriously      denies the essential and organic unity of the whole Word of
whether or not this. practice has the sanction of Holy Writ.        God. No amount of argumentation, even though it is based
Is it perhaps a man-made custom which can quite properly            directly on Scripture, will convince such persons to alter their
be relegated to the adiaphorous traditions of the church ? Is       views. And, of course, following this kind of reasoning they
it no more than an ingeniously devised. means whereby a few         would also be compelled to judge the Reformed practice of
in the church have for several. centuries retained dominant         .family  visiting an unscriptural one for there is no text in the
supervision over the masses ? Do purely practical considera-        Word of God that directly sustains or commands it.
tions move the church to institute and maintain such a prac-
tice ?                                                                  A- solid and reasonable inferential basis for this work,
                                                                    however, may be found in many parts of God's Word. There
    If the answer to all of the above is to be given affirma-       can be no  dtiubt  about this. The term "elder"  (episkopos)  ,
tively, it would certainly be a spiritually wholesome gesture       as we wrote before, denotes "an overseer" and that necessi-
to rid ourselves of this practice immediately. Its retention is     tates not only a general supervision of the preaching of the
then no longer desired. Certainly no blessing of God can be         Word but also a personal and periodic interrogation of the
expected upon it and we will look in vain for any profitable        family and social life of the members of the church. Elders
fruits to ensue from it. The serious minded elder who seeks         are appointed to exercise careful supervision over the faith
to perform the functions of his office according to the Word        !and conduct of those under their care. The manner in which
of God has little or no incentive to engage in a labor that has     this is done, as long as it is a legitimate one, is quite irrele-
its basis solely in antiquity and borders dangerously on the        vant but there should be some instituted practice through,
serious sin of arrogating to the office-bearers of the church       which this phase of the elder's work can be accomplished.
spiritual powers which they do not rightly possess.                    Thus' it is also with the term "pastors" or "shepherds.`?
    But is this the true nature' of the case ?                      Christ is The Chief Shepherd of the flock. (I Peter  5  :4)
    Can a.proper  basis for the work of family visitation per-      He is the Good Shepherd Who lays down His life for the
haps be found in the Word of God ? If so, there can be no           sheep. (John-lo) In the church He appoints some "pastors
question as to the validity of. this practice nor can there be      and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
any doubt concerning its future retention for the authority         of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
of Holy Scripture is above all other and must be obeyed sim-        (Eph.  4:12) This labor of the  .under-shepherds  requires:
ply because it is the. Word of God. In considering this ques-       (a) feeding the flock by leading them into the green pastures
tion, therefore, it is important that we do not take the nega-      of the Word, (b) leading or guiding the flock, directing them
tive approach. If, after siudying  the Word of God, we find         ,in the way of the truth and warning, admonishing and re-
that there is  no!hing that directly condemns  the  pracfice of     buking them concerning every sinful departure from that
family visiting and may, therefore, conclude that within its        way, and,` (c) protecting them from the wolves that seek
confines this labor may be tolerated, such a basis can hardly       their destruction. This all is implied in such passages of
be termed adequate. The work of family visiting has too im-         Holy Writ as the following, to which others might easily be
portant a place in the life of the church to be sustained by        added :
negative proof. We &an be satisfied only with the firm con-            Acts 20 :28 : "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and


                                                                                                                                            ,-Jc-
                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R .                                               237       xph5..
to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost  bath  made               to deny the sufficiency of the preaching of the Word nor
you overseers, to  ,feed  the church of God, which he hath            desire t& degrade its importance in any way. However, the
purchased with his own blood."                                        mere -fact that the Word is preached in public assembly and
   Hebrews 13 :17 "Obey them that have the rule over you,             that this preaching has its effect upon the members of the
and submit yourselves  ; for  `they watch for your souls, as          church does not at all exclude the necessity of that Word
they that must give account, that they may do it with joy,            being administered to. the members individually and in their
and not with grief  ; for that is unprofitable for you."              respective families. Such an informal ministry is of great
  I Peter 5 :2, 3 "Feed the flock of God which is among you,          value to those who minister as well as to those who are
taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly  ;     ministered unto.
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; neither as being                   This special ministry of the Word is designed to develop
lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock."         and enrich the spiritual life of the individual. Essentially, of
   Now this labor plainly requires some official work com-            course, all of the children of God are the same and have need
parable to that of family visitation. To accomplish this it is        of the same spiritual nourishment which they receive to-
indispensable that there-be an intimate relation between the          gether each Lord's Day. ,Nevertheless,  there is also a wide
elders and the members of the church so that the former is            variation in each individual's circumstances, environment,
thoroughly acquainted and constantly aware of the needs of            .personal  weaknesses, needs, temptations and shortcomings.
the latter. Only then can they be ministered unto effectively.        No two are in this respect alike and unto `all these different
And family visitation as a spiritual institution is a proper          needs the Word of God must be adapted and ministered.
means through which this knowledge can be obtained. Not
only this but even more so, while they, the elders, are en-                    The same is true of the family. No two families are the
gaged in this work itself, they are able to fulfill their calling     same. And the individual does not exist solely for himself
to look after the welfare of the, sheep of Christ's flock and         but is a part of the broader unit, the family. The individual
being vested with His authority they do instruct, admonish            then must be regarded in the light of his position and calling
and comfort them as is fitting. If this is not the case, the          in the family and the light of God's Word must be made to
visit has failed to attain its Scriptural objective. Let no           reflect upon his circumstances so that not only he is spirit-
elder then shun this duty or ever feel that Christ would not          ually enriched but so that the whole family may be spiritually
have him perform this labor but rather let him do it with             uplifted and the sins of the individuals which disrupt and
firm confidence. Let them "Preach the word, be instant in             degenerate the home-life may be successfully combatted.
season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-                  Furthermore, the family in its individual members must
suffering and doctrine. (II Tim. 4  :2) And let no sheep              be brought to the consciousness of its calling in relation to
refuse submission to this Divinely authorized rule of Christ's        the church and, in general, to society and the world. Family
church for to do so is to injure their own .soul and to make          visitation must purpose to brin,w each one in the church to
impossible, while in such a state, the conscious joy and expe-        the daily consciousness of "knowing it to be his duty, readily
rience of the Lord's blessing.                                        and cheerfully to emply his gifts; for the advantage and saI-
        C. The Spiritual Nature of Family Visiting                    vation  of other members." (Lord's Day 21,  Heid.  Cat.)
   In the treatment of this sub-division of our subject we            And, in the world, the far reaching implications, which touch
shall be brief, not because the nature of family visiting is          every sphere of life, of the calling of God's people to walk
less important but because, firstly, this should be evident al-       as children of light, opposing the darkness, may well be em-
ready from what is written in the foregoing so that we can            phasized again and again.
avoid mere repetition and, secondly, we will have opportu-                Family visitation, therefore, aims to bring the individual
nity to write more about this in connection with our last             the Word of God so that it can direct him in his personal
sub-division.                                                         daily conflict with the powers of sin, aid him in realizing his
   It is necessary, however, that we clearly understand the           calling in the midst of the family, the church, and the world.
spiritual purpose of this work lest we be too easily dissuaded        When this is thoughtfully considered, no objection to this
by the common objections that are often raised against it.            practice can stand and the real child of God will not repel
Family visitation is  a spiritual work throughout. In his             from family visitation, regarding it as an annual abhorrence,
"Poimenics;" the Rev. G. M. Ophof emphasizes, and cor-                and seeking the meagerest excuse to be absent from the occa-
rectly so, that family visiting is ministering the Word of  IGod.     sion but will rather meet it with eager spiritual anticipa-
In the words of Scripture, it aims at the "perfecting-of the          tion and regret only that it is not performed more frequently.
saints . . . the edification of the body of Christ." (Eph. 4 :12).    He will understand that `this labor is designed for his spirit-
   It might then be objected that this practice is quite un-          ual welfare, and, knowing himself, will realize the necessity'
necessary since the ministry of the Word in the services of           of his being constantly stimulated to walk in a new and holy
public worship is sufficient to realize this objective.  Thi.s,       life.
however,  is,a very erroneous conclusion. No one would care                                                                   G.V.d.B.


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         .`y>    238                                          `T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
         .'
 ,"
                                                                                     would just as soon have their women take over also in the
                                   ALL AROUND U's  *                            i!II ministry.
                                                                                        Aside now from -the question of whether this is right or
                                                                                     wrong, it seems to me that it would be a bit humiliating for
                 4  Correction.                                                      me to have my wife serve our church in the role, say of as-
                        In the January 1st issue of the Standard Bearer under-       sistant pastor. But then, everyone does not `have the same
                 signed gave a brief treatment of "The Evils of Calvinism,"          opinion, does he ?
                 a little pamphlet written by the Rev. Mr. Frank B. Beck.
                        Rev. Beck, who is a regular reader of the Standard           i7nitaria.n  Pf-esbyterians.
                 Bearer and who tells us that he enjoys it thoroughly, also              Such is the title of. a brief article appearing in The Guard-
                 read  ' our article reflecting on his pamphlet in condensed         ian News Commentator, a section of the Presbyterian Guard-
                 form in our rubric.                                                 ian of January 16, 1956.
                        He also asked me if it would be permissible to inform           Writes the editor of this article, "Shortly before Christ-
                 our readers that his little pamphlet has been reprinted in a        mas Adlai Stevenson; who has been a member of a Unitarian
                 .more attractive format, a copy of which he also sent me.           church, was received into membership of the Lake Forest
                 These little pamphlets are obtainable at 10 cents each, or 12       Presbyterian Church. Some Unitarians criticized him for
                 for $1.00 by writing to the Rev. Frank B. Beck, P. 0. Box           having deserted his former faith. Some Presbyterans criti-
                 184, Millerton, New York.                                           cized him for insincerity.
                        Moreover, he also called my attention to an error I un-          "But four local ministers soon took the play away from
                 wittingly made in my article, which I now gladly correct. I         him. Two Presbyterian and two Unitarian ministers joined
                 spoke of him as "an independent evangelist." Pastor Beck            together and issued a statement in which they said that it
                 now informs me that he is "no longer an independent evan-           was  .perfectly  all right for Stevenson to be a member- of a
                 gelist" but "a  .pastor of this church (North East Baptist          Presbyterian Church and still be loyal to his Unitarian herit-
                 Church  - M. S.) for over 6 years." We trust that brother           age.
                 Beck will take note of this correction, and we invite him to            "In the minds of the National Council of Churches, the
                 correspond with us again.                                           Unitarian body is not acceptable, because it refuses to
                                                                                     acknowledge Jesus Christ as God and Saviour. But apparent-
                                                                                     ly some Presbyterian ministers in Illinois find no problem
                                                                                     involved. Presbyterian in membership. Unitarian in faith.
                 W       o    m    e    n         Pa.stom.                           Why not ?"
                        A friend handed us a clipping taken from one of the re-         My interest in this article is not in what Stevenson did,
                 cent issues of the Grand Rapids Press that was entitled             nor to conjecture his motive for doing so. We may leave
                 "Approves Women In Role Of Pastors." The brief article              that to the politicians to null over. We are interested par-
                 reads as follows:                                                   ticularly in the last statement of the writer of ,this article and
                        "Milwaukee - The Milwaukee presbytery has voted to           the peculiar title he placed over it. "Presbyterian in member-
                 open the ministry to women by concurring in a proposed              ship. Unitarian in faith. Why not ?' and "Unitarian Presby-
                 change in the constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the        terians."
                 United States.                                                         The reader will understand, of course, that the reason for.
                        "Clergy and lay delegates from 40 churches in the Mil-       the editor's last statement as well as the peculiar title of his
                 waukee region voted, 38 to 18, in a secret ballot to approve        article is the fact that the Presbyterians referred to have long
                 the constitutional change which would permit the church to          ago thrown over-board the doctrine of the deity of Christ.
                 ordain women to the ministry."                                      Therefore they are essentially no different than the Unitar-
                        When one reads a report like this, he cannot help asking     ians who, like their historical progenitors  (Arms, Servetus,
                 the question : Is there no longer a man in Israel ?-and, Is this    Laelius and Faustus Socinius) denied the deity of Christ not
                 not the destination of Women's Suffrage in the church  ?            only but also the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Presbyterians,
                        We have before pointed out that Women's Suffrage in          who once in .the hoary past embraced both of these funda-
                 the church, if it consistently follows through, must end up         mental Scriptural doctrines, are joined with those who have
                 with women also filling our pulpits.                                always denied them. That is significant, indeed. It is not
                        I know of a minister,  ,who is  -now retired, whose wife     difficult to understand -how easy it is for churches which
                 would nod her head in approval and shake her head in dis-           care nothing for their denominational and doctrinal distinc-
                 approval of the things her husband would, say while he was          tiveness to be so enthused with the idea of ecumenicity. .
                 preaching. Thus the minister would know whether he was              Disturbing is the thought that there are so many people who
                 saying the right thing or not. Maybe the above mentioned            are pleased with this spiritual indifference. More disturbing
                 church has a lot of ministers like that who are weak on their       still is thd fact that this indifference is fast creeping in upon
                 two legs or who have been dictated to so much that they             the Reformed churches which stand closer to us.


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                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                             239

The Movies Go to School.                                                    place to fashion a shroud around itself. There it lies still as
                                                                             in a grave. How somber is this moment: You remember
   The February `56 issue of Reader's Digest presents an                    ,how active the caterpillar was and mourn for it. But sud-
interesting and informative article under the above named                    denly it stirs; its day of resurrection has come. It thrusts
subject. My purpose in referring to it is only to call attention            numbly from the grave, then unfolds as a thing of perfect
to what should be obvious to all of us that `we are living in a              loveliness  - with wings ! To see it all happening is to know,
rapidly developing and changing world. When I think back                     unforgettably that this humblest of creatures has been com-
just a few years ago; say thirty-five or forty years, how we                 manded throughout by God."
used to attend a small, decrepit school building, where all                         The article goes on to say that T. V. may one day replace
the students of eight grades were stowed away in one room                    the movie as the more effective medium of education.' In
with a pot-belly stove and one teacher for all grades and                    fact, in some instances it has proved already its superior
with teaching methods which today would be scoffed at, one                   effectiveness.
begins to imagine he is in a new world when he reads an                             As we see it, there can be no objection to these media of
article like the one referred to in Reader's Digest.                        education being put to use in our Christian Schools provided
   The impact of modern electronics upon education stag-                     they are scrupulously censured by capable Reformed critics,
gers the imagination. And we are told that "Schools have                     and applied by teachers thoroughly trained in the art of
only dipped their toes into the electronic age." More and                    teaching the sciences `from our Protestant Reformed per-
wonderful things are in the oiling.                                          spective.
   The article is not interested in the so-called Hollywood                                                                                                  M.S.
movies, though I suppose that these are also used rather
promiscuously ; but the educational movie which, with the
assistance of proficient  technicans, is able to inculcate the              I                                    CONTRIBUTIONS
facts of science, etc., into the minds of pupils more efficiently                                a                                                              II
and profoundly than teachers well-trained for the job can
do it. And we are told that "more than 90 percent of our                            "Creston Will Solve Her Own Problems"
high schools today are using movies to teach everything from
algebra to zoology  ;" i.e., a to z. We are also told that "in                       The undersigned is very happy with the "Apology" of
most school libraries about half the films come from a single                Rev. M. Schipper in the February 1 issue of  The Standard
source  -  Encyclopaedia  -Britannica Films."                             Bewer   .for the use of the term "playing church," and he
    Here are a couple of illustrations of the films Britannica               accepts it also, and wishes to assure his colleague that the
produced  :                                                                  frank apoio,~  warmed the cockles'of his heart.
                                                                                     -_.  _                                            .     -    . . . .
    "Here's how Britannica filmed the way the human ear                              `l`his does not mean, however, that 1 am wholly in agree-
                                                                             ment with all that the Rev. Schipper writes  after  he made
works. ,The ear of a man who had willed his body to                          the apology.
science was kept alive while a camera was placed where the                           I could have appreciated it, if the Rev. M. Schipper,had
brain had been. It took a close-up of the tiny hammer, anvil                  also apologized for writing about a matter on which, evi-
and stirrup bones, and of that miracle the anatomists call the
cochlea, responding as in life - stirring slumbrously to gentle               dently, he had not been called upon in any way from the
sounds, quaking frantically to loud sounds. Now school chil-                  Consistory of Creston to give his advice or "convictions."
dren can see an exciting event that some of even our greatest                        What my colleague writes in the last paragraph are words
medical men have never observed.                                              of gold : Cwston  zm*U solve help own problems!
                                                                                     Would it not display poor taste on my part, Rev. Schip-
    "Here's the story of another kind of movie. The Monarch                   per, should I, probably solicited by some individual,  yet
Bzttterfly, an outstanding ten-minute film that tells the story               having no request from the Consistory of Second Church re-
--.of the butterfly from parent to egg to caterpillar to parent               flect upon the life and constituency of Second Church ?                                 -..
again. It took- William A. Anderson 1200 hours spread out                            Me thinks, it would.
over 18 months to make the picture. One of his problems:                              I believe that I should give myself and Rev. Schipper the
the female Monarch squirts out an egg so fast there is no                     sound -advice to hold ourselves to that sentence, above
time to focus a camera, so Anderson had to point his lens at                  quoted, which is as golden apples on a silver bowl, lest we
a logical leaf and hope for the best. In all, it required 14                  both become guilty of making the rubric "All About Us" the
field trips, each involving a six-hour wait, to get the shot.                 occasion of  .meddling  with matters not lying within the scope
    "But it was worth all the trouble. You see a caterpillar                  of the jurisdiction of co-editors of a Theological Journal, and
busy with its own affairs suddenly halt and lift as if to hear                lest we both fall into the sin of being busy-bodies.
 some great, inaudible summons to depart from its life. It                            Hence, I will not reflect on what Rev. Schipper calls
 obeys busily, even  franctically.  It works a white glue from                   "things objectively and factually." That would (not : "will")
 its mouth, wriggles and thrusts desperately from its hanging                 have to wait until the Lord Himself places this matter be-


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,240                                    de--           T H `E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 fore us in the proper channels,  (not by a "voice from                                        THE REFINER'S FIRE
 heaven") and places the duty upon our shoulders to judge
 of this matter. Then we shall do it in good conscience and in                    He sat by a furnace of sevenfold heat,
 H i s   N a m e !                                                                  .As He watched by the precious ore,
        For the rest I -believe that all concerned- ;iYill -agree. that-          And closer He bent with a searching gaze
 Creston and Rev. Schipper and the undersigned should enjoy                          As he heated it more-and more.          _
 living- quietly in the land, keeping peace with all men, where
 possible.                                                                        He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
        The latter, indeed, is a boon from-the .Lord.' -                             And He wanted the finest' gold
            -                                                         G.L.         To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
                                                                                     Set with gems of price untold.

        After the Rev. Schipper has replied to the above, if he                    So' He laid our gold in the burning fire,
 desires to answer, the discussion will be closed.
                                                                      Ed9            Tho' we fain would say Him "Nay";
                                                                                  And watched the dross that we had not seen,
                        -.                                                           As it melted and.passed away.

                                                                                  And the. gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
 Sure,Fooied                                                                         But our eyes were dim with tears,            -
  In some ways the animals of the wild are superior to                            We saw but-  the fire - not the Master's hand-
 man. Mountain goats and big-horn sheep and various of the                           And questioned with anxious fears.
 deer family are amazingly sure-footed. It is nothing unusual                                                                              . .
 for these animals to pick out their paths on the narr.ow  ledges.                Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow
 of a rock cliff. They need but little space for their hoofs,                        As it mirrored a Form above,
and the sheer drop of the cliff troubles them not at all. But                     That bent o'er the fire, tho' unseen by us,
x.sometinles even the narrow ledge-comes to an end. Then the                         With a look of ineffable love.
 impossible is performed. Reaching up, and pawing the rock
 with his front hoofs, the animal will search for the tiniest                     Can we think it pleases His loving heart
 hold. Finding it, he `will lock his hoof in the socket of rock                      To cause us a moment's pain ?
 and with one' bound bring his hind hoofs where his front                         Ah, no ! but He sees through the present cross
 had been, and with a second great leap, stand on the security                       The bliss of eternal gain.
 of a wider ledge.
 There are times in life when  -our feet would slip. We                           So he waited there with a watchful eye,
.know how true Psalm  73.9 .can be,:  "As for me, my feet                            With a love that is strong and sure,
 were almost gone ; my steps had well nigh slipped." Trouble,                     And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat
testing, loss, temptation., and even day-by-day ordinary living                      Than was needed to make it pure.
 can cause spiritual stumbling.. We need a strength that will                                                                          - Selected
 make our steps secure in every situation. It is the Lord who
 can give us such sure-footedness:               2
 _ .
                 "He  make&  vxy feet like hinds feet; and
                  setteth  wG upon  my  high  jlaces.J'                                    THEVOICE  OF OUR FATHERS                        .
                                                      Psalm IS :33                              (Contimed fq-om Page 235)
        David, the Psalmist, had -often watched wild goats make               to aggravate their sin, and to go down in the way of their
their way along. dangerous ledges. It spoke to him of the                     own sin to destruction, according to the purpose of God.
.way the Lord upheld him when he was nigh to despair. Such                       The conclusion of the matter therefore is this, that the
 strength came to David because he made the Lord his day-                     Canons here teach a particular promise, for the elect alone,.
 by-day portion. We must all confess : "my feet' were almost                  `that must be proclaimed and set forth promiscuously and
 gone. "' But if we make the Lord's presence real by daily                    without distinction to all to whom God directs that preach-
 obeying His Word, we shall be able to say,                                   ing. And to maintain such a general proclamation of a sov-
                                                                              ereignly particular promise is Reformed  ; anything else is
                 "He  waker%  my feet  like  hind's  feet; and                Arminian.
                  setteth me  @on  my high  places."                                                                                   - H.C.H.
                   :


