                                                            .
            VOL&lE   xxx11                                       MARCH  15, 1956  - GRAND  RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                                    NUMBER 12

II                                                                                             for the load of sin and guilt of the godless king and his
                                                                                               nation.
IJ                                                                                       11       But, although Israel was also. sinful and- guilty, because
                                                                                               of the sovereign love and grace of God upon His chosen
      -.                             Christ  0~; Passover                                      communion in the Old Testament, He would pass them over
                                                                                               in His wrath.
                   "
                    .     .     .    for even Christ our  passover is sacrificed for                                      *.* *
                   us."                                                - 1   C o r .   5:7b       However, this passing over, this act of indescribable love
            What a contrast! Every detail of this last  pa&over,  des-                         of God, was to be typified by Israel itself. They had to slay
 tined to become the first Holy Supper, must have burned                                       their unspotted, unblemished lambs and strike the `blood on
 itself in the consciousness of the Saviour. The slaughtered                                   the two posts of the doors and the top lintel, so that their
 lamb, unblemished and of the first year, the bruised flesh, the                               outgoing,from  the typical land of horrors might be through
 wine poured forth in the cup of prayer and the cup of thanks-                                 the portals of blood, the biood of the innocent, unblemished,
 giving, it must have been agony and untold suffering for                                      unspotted lamb of God. And there they stood, ready for the
 Jesus. It told Him of His descend into the pit, of His utter                                  journey to the land of promise, eating this sacrificial lamb and
 forsakenness of God, of His becoming  then Castaway for                                       drinking the wine of gladness.
 the sake of His sheep!                                                                           This feast, whose inception was in the night of death and
            The  first element of the contrast is the Passover. What                           destruction of their hated enemies, was to be observed
 does it constitute and what is its meaning ?                                                  throughout their generations following, so that the remem-
                                                                                               brance of the great deliverance out of Egypt might live with
       The  passover  was a Jewish feast. It was exclusively                                   them in thanksgiving and gratitude forever.
 national in character. It reminded the nation that with a                                       However, this is not all. The feast of the Passover, also
 strong hand and an outstretched arm the Lord God had de-                                      looked ahead. It looked forward to a better redemption. The
 livered the nation from Egypt out of the house of cruel                                       passover  reminded them of the passing over the houses by
 bondage. Moses had bidden them, in the name of the Lord,                                      the angel that God sent to kill the firstborn in Egypt, but the
 to slay an unblemished lamb of the first year and to prepare                                  fulfilment  of this passover  promised a passing over when the
 it with bitter sauce and unleavened bread and to eat it in the                                issue would be eternal death and damnation.
 night in which they departed from the cruel bondage in which                                     Now then, that promised Lamb was typified and pre-
 they had suffered for many years, standing and with their                                     figured in every observance of the passover  feast among the
 loins girt about, ready for the journey to the promised land                                  Jews. Throughout all the years that Israel served to typify
 of Canaan.                                                                                    the people of God of all ages, the sweet story of the love of
            As such, the feast of the Passover, annually observed,                             God was told by the slaying of the sacrificial lambs of the
 looked back. It told the Jews that the Lord God of Abraham,                                   Passover.
 Isaac and Jacob-had remembered His covenant and delivered                                        And this story of God's love was fulfilled in the days of
them out of the hand of Pharaoh and his hosts.                                                 Jesus. When John the Baptist saw Him among the multitude,
            This deliverance had progressed on this wise. After plagu-                         he, cried out : Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the
 ing the Egyptians with nine terrible plagues, the Lord had                                    sin. of the world. This the sacrificial lambs had never been
 again hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the                                   able to do. No one really lost his burden of sin and guilt
 people go. Thereupon the Lord had announced terrible ven-                                     through the slaying of an animal. In order to get rid of
 geance upon him and his nation. The Lord would kill all the                                   that load another Lamb had to be slain, Jesus  the unblemished,
 firstborn in every house: It was to be the final punishment                                   firstbegotten Lamb of the living God.

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

         Yes, He came as the Gift of God, the only effectual             NO,  He is not sacrificed anymore in all manner of  cere-
     Sacrifice for all those given Him of the Father, with the          monies that were outward and external. We go into the
     express command, that He lose none of them, but that He            knowledge of God through the suffering, dying and living
     would save them to the. uttermost from hell and death, and         Christ of God, which knowledge is the eternal life with God
     lay the foundation for their eternal happiness and bliss in the    blessed forever !
     bosom of the Father.                                                                             * +  *
         And so He came. He journeyed among us for the period              Yes, we have the central meaning and fulfilment of the
     of time designated in the eternal counsel, and in the evening      Feast of the Passover. God be blessed, He has passed over
     of His life, just before the awful spectacle of the cross, we      and will eternally pass us over, where His wrath is burning
     find Him in the upper room, keeping the annual feast of the        in nethermost hell. We are saved by the blood of the Lamb.
.    passover  with His inner circle of followers.                      That shall be our song forever.
            He is the real Lamb of God. And this real Lamb of God          And here on -earth our feasting shall consist in the purg-
     beholds the sacrificial lamb before Him in the flesh of the        ing out of the old leaven, namely, the leaven of sin and evil.
     lamb on the table. And in the cup of wine on the same table,       For we must be in'harmony with the Lamb that is slain for
     He sees the fulfilment of the shedding of His heart's blood.       us. Paul said: that ye may be a new  lump,  as ye are un-
                                  * *  *                                leavened. The sourness of the old lump of sinful mankind
                                                                        must be alien to those that are sanctified by the wonderful,
            The earthly typical lamb of the Jewish  passover  could     loving sacrifice of Jesus the Lord. He left us an example.
     not save us from death and hell. We must have a better             We are to walk as He walked in loving obedience to the God
     sacrifice than that. God's justice demanded that a Sacrifice       of our salvation. The new lump is the life of holiness and
     be brought which could atone for sin. And that means two           truth. Listen again- to Paul in Hebrews : "Therefore let  us-
     things: first, the price must be paid for sin and iniquity, and    keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven
     that is eternal death and damnation and the curse of God.          of malice and wickedness ; but with the unleavened bread
     And, secondly, that price must be brought as a gesture of          of sincerity and truth  !"
     perfect love, the loving obedience of the child who would             And there is only one way where we may arrive at such
     adore the Father even in His just wrath and burning anger          a blessed estate as to live and to feast in the unleavened bread
     against sin and guilt and corruption.                              of sincerity and truth. And that way is to look strongly on
            That I tell you the truth is further evidenced by David.    the Lamb of God. Again I would be .instructed  by Paul, the
     Thinking, on the one hand, of his grievous sins and iniquity,      inspired apostle of the Lamb of God ; and I quote him from
     and on the other hand, on the innocent animals that are car-       Philippians 3 :lO, 11: "That I may know Him, and the power
     ried to the altar for sacrifice, he burst out in groaning and      of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being
      sighing, as he says : "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not      made conformable unto His death ; if by .any means I might
      desire ; mine ears hast Thou opened : burnt offering and sin      attain unto the resurrection of the dead !"
     offering hast Thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come:             Yes, that is the life. which is left for the followers of
     in the volume of the book it is written of Me !" And if you        Jesus, the Lamb of God. To see Him with the eye of  God-
     will see the explanation of this Davidic prophecy in Hebrews       given faith ; to love Him and follow Him wherever He may
      10510, you will note that David spoke this of the Christ of       lead you here on earth. And He takes care that all those
      God. He comes to the conclusion that, and I quote from            that are given Him of the Father shall follow, and love Him.
      the explanation in Hebrews : "By the which will we are sanc-      How ? He speaks His Word. No, that does not mean the
      tified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once      mere preaching of that Word by His servants. Oh no ! If no
     for all !"                                                         more were done by God and Christ, no flesh would be saved
            Now we also understand why Jesus desired with great         on this earth.  List.en carefully, here is a very fundamental
      desire to eat this last passover with His disciples. He wished    point! Jesus speaks His Word such as- no mere man can
      to show them and declare unto them the great riches of the        ever speak it. He speaks that Word, under, by and with
      love of God and its glory in His own death and resurrection.      the Word such as His servants proclaim it throughout the
      And in the great distance over His own cross and the grave,       world. And when He speaks His Word in your heart,  you
     He would see the eating and drinking in the. Home of His           will be charmed by it; it shall fascinate you and captivate.
      Father. There He would drink the new wine of heavenly             you unto life eternal. When He speaks that Word of His
      exaltation and glory. Of all these things the Lord spoke at       cross and resurrection in your heart, you are quickened unto
      the table, which was the last passover  and the first table of    a new birth, the birth from above. Through the preaching
      the Holy Supper of the Lord.                                      of His own `cross and resurrection. He gives you regenera-
            And so we see the beauty of Paul's gospel when he said :    tion; you beeome a new creature in the very depth of your
      "For even Christ our passover  is sacrificed for us !"            existence. And He continues to give you His Word in faith


                                            T H E   S.TANDARD   B E A R E R                                                                                            267

 and conversion, listening. to the sweet words of His calling                                                                                                    _-
voice. When He pictures before the eye of your heart His                               THESTANDARDBEARER
 wonderful sacrifice of the Cross, and how He is your Pass-             Sevkmmth.ly,  except monthly  du&g  Jzme,  July  mkd  August
 over, so that the wrath of God is stilled in His blood and               Published by the  REFORMED  FREE PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION
 suffering and eternal death, then you will listen, listen to           P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand -Rapids 7,  Mich.
 Him. God revealed in the flesh, in weakness, suffering, death,                            E&or  - REV. HERMAN HCYEKSEMA
 the shameful death of the cross, in the resurrection of Him            Commumcatio~ns  relative to contents should be addressed to Rev.
 that swallowed death in victory. You will listen for He is             H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
 your life, your glory, your praises and song of adoration              All matters relative to subscriptions  shomuld be addressed to Mr.
                                                                        G. Pipe, 1463  Ardmore  St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
 forever !                                                              Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
     And I saw and beheld a Lamb in the midst of the throne             address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
 standing as if slain in the midst of the beasts and the twenty-        RENEWALS  : Unless a definite request  fo'r discontinuance is re-
                                                                        ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes  the subscription
 four elders.                                                           to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
     What is left to us, the believers of that Lamb of God?                                 Subscription price:  $4.00 per year
                                                                        El&red as Second  Clms  matter  at  Grand   Rafiids, Michigan
     Ah, it is the singing-of a new song unto Jehovah. A song
 that shall reverberate the heavens unto bliss forever and
 ever ! Amen.                                                 G;V.
                                                                                                      C O N T E N T S

                                                                      MEDITATXBN  -
                          IN MEMORIAM                                     Christ Our Passover.. . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I. . . . .265
    On Wednesday evening, February  22nd, the Lord suddenly                      Rev. G. Vos
 removed from His militant church two of our faithful members,        EDITORIALS -
                     .MR. HESSEL DE JONG                                   The Apostates of 1953 and the Three Points.. . . . . . . . . . . . .268
 and-his sister-in-law                                                     Back In Our Own Church...............................270
                  MRS. NELLIE HONDEMA.                                           Rev. H. Hoeksema

    The Second Protestant Reformed Church, mourning this loss,        THE DAY  OF SHADOWS-
 nevertheless expresses her gratitude to God for the many
 evidences this brother and sister evinced of their faith in the           The Prophecy of  Zechariah..............................273
 service of Him Who is the God of their salvation.                               Rev. G. M. Ophoff

    Our prayer is that the bereaved families may continue to          FROM HOLY  WRIT-
 experience the all-sufficient grace of our Covenant God, Who              Exposition of I Corinthians l-4 (11). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
 has promised to be a husband to the widows and a father to                      Rev. G. Lubbers
 the orphans; and that this experience may serve to energize us
.a11 in a more zealous and consecrated service in the battle of       IN HIS  FEAR-
 faith.                                                                    The Sabbath in His Fear (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
                                   The Consistory                                Rev. J. A. Heys
                                   The Men's Society
                                   The Ladies' Society                CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
                                   The Mr. and Mrs.. Society               T,he Church  and t,he Sacraments. . . . . . . . .1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280
                                   The Y.  P.`s Society                          Rev. H.  Veldman
                                   The Sunday School

                                                                      THE VOICE  OF OUR  FATHERS-
                          IN MEMORIAM                                      The Exposition of the Canons of Dordrecht.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .282
    The Board of the Hope Protestant Reformed Christian                          Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
 School herewith expresses `its sincere sympathy to our fellow
 board member and secretary, Mr.. John  Kalsbeek, in the passing      DECENCY AND  ORDER-
 of his father                                                             Family Visitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284
                          MR. H. DE JONG                                          Rev.  `G.  VandenBerg

    Rom.  8:28, "And we know that all things work together for
 good to them that love God, to them that are the called accord-      ALL  AROUND  Us -
 ing to his purpose."                                                      Nova Scotia Pastor Understands the Truth.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .286
                            The Board                                            Rev. M.  Schipper                                            c

                                 M. Veenstra, President  -
                                 D. Lotterman, Vice-Secreary


  268                                     _  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                     natural light  aright even in things natural and civil. The
             E-DITORIALS                                             synod claims that the unregenerate can, by his natural light,
                                                                     really  do. good by "common grace." We claim. that, according
                                                                     to the Canons, he is incapable of doing any good at all, be-
    The  Apostates of 1953 and the Three Points                      cause he renders his natural light wholly polluted in various
      Before we return to our subject proper as expressed in         ways, and that he holds it under in unrighteousness.
  the heading of this editorial, we wish to offer one more illus-             To me, this language of the Canons means that, although
  tration to prove that we did not misinterpret the "Three           he knows the difference between good and evil in things nat-
  Points" as Prof. Martin Monsma claims.                             ural and civil, though he knows, therefore, what he ought to
                                                                     do, yet he surely does not do it, but corrupts himself and all-
      This time we refer to the third point and one of the           life.
 ~proofs  from the Confessions. This third point reads as fol-                When the unregenerate or natural man wholly corrupts
  lows :                                                             and pollutes his natural light, even in things natural and civil,
      "Relative to the third point, which is concerned with the      he certainly cannoti  be said, at the same time, to do civil or
  question of civil righteousness as performed by the unregen-       natural -good.
  erate, synod declares that according to Scripture and the Con-              I will not discuss this further at present. All I wish to
  fessions the unregenerate, though inca,pable  of doing saving      emphasize- is that Prof. Monsma certainly does us an in-
  good, can do civil good. This is-evident from the quotations       justice when he claims that we misinterpret the three points.
  of Scripture and from the Canons of Dordrecht, III, IV, 4,         I challenge him to prove his claim.
  and from the Netherland Confession Art. 36 which teach that
  God, without renewing the heart, so influences man that he is
  able to perform civil good."                                                But now we return to our subject.
      We wish to check up on only one of the proofs from the                  We must still discuss the second fundamental principle on
  Confessions and ask Prof. Monsma whether the synod of              which the apostates of 1953 stand and, on the basis of which,
, 1924 or we, misinterpret this so-called proof.                     they may just as well adopt the "Three Points" and return
      I refer to Canons III, IV, 4. The synod quotes this            to the Christian Reformed Church.
  article as follows.:                                                        It is the principle expressed in the statement that "our
      "There remain, however, in man since the fall the glim-        act of conversion is a prerequisite to enter into the kingdom
  merings of natural light, `whereby he retains some knowledge       of God."
  of God, of natural things, and of the difference between                    Bellflower (Doezema) not only takes full responsibility for
  good and evil, and discovers some regard for virtue, good          the statement but also, at once, commits an act of schism, as
  order in society, and for maintaining an orderly external          did the whole of  Classis  West. For, in the report of  Classis
  deportment."                                                       West, Sept. 9, 1953, we read that Bellflower (Doezemd)
      It is not my purpose, in this connection, to give our en-      judges as follows :- "1. That the suspension and deposition
 tire interpretation of the third point. This may be found in        of officebearers by the minority group of the consistory of
  my "History of the Protestant Reformed Churches."                  Fuller Ave. congregation cannot be recognized as, legal. A
     All I wish to do now is to prove that synod misquoted           minority is not the consistory and cannot suspend from office,
  the article from the Canons, and one receives the impression       nor can it deprive of a vote. 2. That the majority group is the
  that it did so deliberately. It misquoted the article because      legal `First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids,
  it quoted it only in part and left out the part that is so es-     Mich.`, until the privilege of appeal is considered and Synod
  sential that synod could never have maintained its conten-         has expressed that the majority group cannot! be recognized
  tion that the unregenerate man can do good at all. This            as such, i. e., as a Protestant Reformed Church."
  last part which the synod failed to quote reads as follows:            This statement of Bellflower is full of errors, chiefly
      "But so far is this light of nature from being sufficient      based on the errors : 1. That a minority group of a consistory
 `to bring him to a saving knowledge of God, and to true con-        can never  suspend'or  depose a majority group.. 2. That it
  version, that he is incapable of using it aright even in things    was the minority of the consistory of the First Protestant  ~
  natural and civil. Nay further, this light, such as it is, man     Reformed Church of Grand Rapids that did so suspend and
  in various ways wholly polluted, and holds it in unrighteous-      depose the majority.
  ness, by doing which he becomes inexcusable before God."               As to the latter state-ment, Bellflower forgets that on June
     NOW, who interprets this part of the Canons erroneously,        15, 1953, the consistory adopted, by majority vote, a resolu-
  the synod or we.                                                   tion to adopt the advice of the classis and to act accordingly.
     We claim that synod, by misquoting the Canons attempted         This advice meant that De' Wolf and his erring elders
  to prove that the unregenerate man do good, though what he         should apologize or be suspended and deposed from their
  does is no saving good. We teach that the natural man can-         office.-This was simply executed on June 22, 23. It stands to
  not even do any civil good, for he is incapable of using the       reason that, by the decision of June 15, the guilty parties


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  269

   were already deprived of their right to vote in their own         before we are translated from the power of darkness into
   case. They refused to apologize and, therefore, they were         the Kingdom of God's dear Son.' "
   to be suspended or deposed, according to the decision of the          And Bellflower attempts to explain this statement as
   consistory on June 15.                                            follows :
      But let that be.                                                   "This second statement with contextual reference among
                                                                     other things may refer to the requisites of salvation and may
      What I wish to emphasize is that Bellflower in the above       give prominence to the idea that these must be in the con-
   statement committed an act of schism.                             sciousness of one as fulfilled in Christ before such an one
      For, in the first place, the act of suspension and deposi-     can and may lay hold of  .the claim of the riches of Christ
   tion by the consistory of the First Church was according          and His Kingdom. Such a statement also may refer to the
   to the advice of Classis  East, and the same classis later ap-    progressive entering the kingdom as we are called to a godly
   proved this act. And, secondly, Bellflower recognizes the         walk, and to run the race set before us, to turn from self to
   "majority group" as the legal First Protestant Reformed           Christ . . . This statement may also with contextual reference
   .Church of Grand Rapids, and wants to have the suspended          give prominence to the truth that this prerequisite is fulfilled
   minister and deposed elders function in their office until        according to the will of God in Christ Jesus through His
   synod decides on the appeal.                                      Spirit."
      By this act: 1. Bellflower (and  Classis  West that fol-           What a corruption is revealed here!
   lowed its example) separated themselves from the consistory           For, in  the, first place, notice the twice repeated "con-
   of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids           textual reference."
   and from Classis  East, and assumed an authority which they
   did not possess. 2. Bellflower and,  Classis  West corrupted          This means, of course, that Bellflower held correspond-
  _ the "Formula of Subscription" which plainly states the very      ence with the condemned author of this statement, that they
   opposite as follows :                                             either asked him for a copy of the sermon in which that
                                                                     statement occurred or that he sent them a copy of his own
      "And further, if at any time the consistory,  classis or       free will. This is the only meaning of `rcontextual  reference."
   synod, upon sufficient grounds of suspicion and to preserve           It means also that the condemned author, condemned by
I the uniformity and purity of doctrine, may deem it proper
   to require of us a further explanation of our sentiments re-      the consistory of the First Church of Grand Rapids as well
   specting any particular article of the Confession of Faith,       as by Classis  East, could have furnished Bellflower with any
   the Catechism, or the explanation of the National Synod, we       version of the sermon he preached. -They  certainly did not
   do hereby promise to be always willing and ready to comply        hear the sermon and could not judge of the statement and
   with such requisition under the penalty above mentioned,          its "contextual reference" as the consistory of the First
   reserving `for ourselves, however, the right of an appeal,        Church and I, personally, heard it. Yet, Bellflower expressed
   whenever we shall believe ourselves aggrieved by the sen-         judgment on the statement in its "contextual reference"
   tence of the consistory, the classis or the synod, and until a    though they did not know anything about it!
   decision is made upon such an appeal, we will acquiesce in            And thirdly, it certainly means that Bellflower  (Doeze-
   the determination and judgment already passed."                   ma) were consulting with the condemned minister behind
      It is evident that Bellflower corrupts this last part of       the back of the consistory of the First Church. For they'
   the Formula of Subscription as if it read: "and until a de-       never consulted us at all. They were guilty of backbiting.
   cision is made upon such an appeal, we shall continue to              What a corruption !                       c
   function in our office."                                                                                                      H. H.
      It is as clear as the sun in the heavens, therefore, that
   this whole action of Bellflower (and of  Classis  West) is                                   . .
   schismatic. In Sept. 1953 they separated themselves from                                 IN MEMORIAM
   the Protestant Reformed Churches.
                                                                        The Martha Ladies' Aid Society of the Hull Protestant Re-
      Bellflower also sustains this second basic principle we        formed Church herewith expresses its sincere sympathy to one
   are now discussing, although it somewhat camouflages it by        of its members, Mrs. Peter Hoekstra in the loss of her brother,
   trying to give it its own interpretation.                                           MR. WALTER DE BOER
      It claims that it is misrepresentation "on the part of            Our prayer is that our gracious heavenly Father may comfort
   Classis  East and the minority of  thecconsistory"  to explain    her by the assurance that He does all things well and that
   as they do, namely "that the second statement `teaches that
                               .-                                    His grace is sufficient for those who trust in Him.
   our act of conversion is a prerequisite to enter the kingdom                                        Rev. John A. Heys, President
   of God, which means that we convert, humble ourselves                                               Mrs. Nellie Brummel, Secretary.

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

              BACK IN OUR OWN CHURCH                               result of a controversy which arose in East Street Christian
                                                                   &formed  Church of Grand Rapids, discussion in said
    Following is the decree of the Supreme Court of the            opinion, which had resulted in the suspension of Reverend
 State of Michigan which is so clear that it needs no  com-        Hoeksema as minister of that church.
ment.
                     STATE OF MICHIGAN                                Following the above incorporation, other Protestant Re;
                         SUPREME COURT                             formed Churches were organized in other cities, becoming
                                                                   12 in number by 1951.
 THE FIRST PROTESTANT REFORMED
 CHURCH of G-rand Rapids, Michigan,                                   Under the articles, the constitution and the Church Or-
                                                                   ders of the plaintiff church, the Consistory, 2 boards of
a   M i c h i g a n   c o r p b r a t o n ,                        Classis   and a church Synod came into existence. By 1951
   Plaintiff and Appellee,                                         the church had ,a large membership and had acquired sub-
        V.                                                         stantial holdings of real estate, including a church and par-
 HUBERT De WOLF, et al.,                                           sonages. Two of its 3 ministers were Hoeksema, and Hubert
   Defendants and Appellants,                                      De Wolf the appellant herein. The church was governed by
 HERMAN HOEKSEMA, et al.,                                          the rules and usages declared and authorized  by the Classis
   Cross-Defendants and Appellees.                                 of said churches, the articles, and the Church Order. Con-
                                                                   trol and possession of the property of the church was thereby
 BEFORE THE ENTIRE BENCH.                                          placed in the Consistory representing the membership of
Boyles, J.                                                         the church.
    This case comes here through an appeal by the defendant           In 1951 and 1952 protests were filed with the Consistory
Hubert DeWolf and several other individuals who are in             complaining that statements made in sermons by the Rev-
accord with his claims, seeking to set aside a decree of the       erend De Wolf were heretical. In October, 1952, the Consis-
superior court of Grand Rapids which holds that the legal          tory condemned these statements as being heretical and re-
and only'board of directors of the plaintiff F&t Protestant        quested Reverend De Wolf to apologize. However, Rev-
Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, a Michigan ecclesiastical         erend De Wolf advised that he would not conform, where-
corporation, is the Consistory of said church of which one         upon he was first released from duties, but shortly thereafter
Herman Hoeksema is president  and one Gerrit Stadt is              returned to office. The controversy continued, further pro-
clerk. Hereinafter, for brevity and clarity, the plaintiff may,    tests were filed in 1953, and at meetings of the  Classis  in
on occasion, be  referred to as the Hoeksema church, and           April and May, 1953, the protests were considered, the Con-
the defendants-appellants as the DeWolf church.                    sistory took action to suspend Reverend De Wolf and to
  The fundamental question involved is whether the plaintiff       depose others of the elders of the church if they refused to
Hoeksema church or the defendant DeWolf church owns                apologize for the alleged heretical statements. They .con-
the church building and other property, and therefore has          tinued to refuse to apologize. Other meetings of the Classis
the right to its possession and control. The decree enjoins        and Con&tory  were` held. Claims are made by the defend-
the defendants from claiming to be the legal Consistory, of        ants-appellants that some of these meetings were illegal; not
the church, and from interfering with the plaintiff'% posses-      properly called or not properly representative, and a claim
sion and control over the church property unless they be           is made that on one occasion the action was not taken by a
recognized as  mgmbers in good standing of the plaintiff           majority vote. Claim is further made that some delegates
church by the legal Consistory  of. said church, under the         were ineligible to vote. At a meeting held June 23, 1953,
ecclesiastical rules adopted for such purpose. The decree          these matters, including the action to depose Reverend De
also requires the defendants to account to and turn over to        Wolf and certain  otheys, were considered, followed by a
the said legal Consistory all  money   and other property which    meeting June 25th, presided over by Reverend Hoeksema.
they now hold for or in the name of said First Protestant          Reverend De Wolf and several elders who supported him
Reformed Church of Grand Rapids.                                   were suspended from office or deposed. Two of the de-
    In 1926 the plaintiff church was incorporated as an            posed elders who supported Reverend De Wolf notified the
ecclesiastical corporation under the provisions of PA 1921,        Consistory of the refusai  to recognize what they claimed to
No.  84.e The name was changed to its present form by              be illegal suspensions and depositions. The Consistory was
amendment of articles in 1927, at which time the Reverend          notified by the suspended members that they claimed to be,,
Hoeksema  was president. The plaintiff church was incor-           the legal Consistory of the church, entitled tq possession and
porated by Reverend Hoeksema and others following our              control of the church and other properties.
decision in Holwerda v. Hoeksema, 232 Mich. 648, to which             Then Reverend De Wolf and his supporters took pos-
reference will be made later herein ; and apparently was the       session of the church, changed the locks on the doors, and
                                                                   excluded the opposing (Hoeksema) faction from its use.
*.See CL  1948;par.   450.175  (Stat Ann par. 21.179).             The Consistory supporting  the Hoeksema faction and that


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  271

part of the church congregation supporting Hoeksema then           the church, the sole and exclusive authority `to settle ques-
found another place  in which to conduct church services,          tions as to who adhere to the confession of faith, and to
and have since continued to hold services there. They made         decide what the confession of faith of the church is or shall
no attempt to forcibly re-enter the church.                        be. We have further-held that the Synod was a proper body
   The controversy having reached this acute stage as the          to hear, try and determine whether the action of the de-
result of differing claims as to the authority of the  Hoek-       fendant Reverend De Wolf and his followers was heretical
sema Consistory, the legality of its meetings and of the ac-       and in conflict with the confession of the church ; and that
tion taken by it, the Reverend DeWolf  faction continued' to       the decision of the Synod, the Classis  and the Consistory in
hold posession of the property. This was contrary to the           the matter is final and binding upon the court. In  Borg-
action taken by the Consistory, which had been supported           man v. Bultema, supra,  we settled the question that where
by other members under the Church Orders; and also con-            the defendant minister refuses to retract statements thus
trary to action taken by the  Classis  and Synod which had         decided to have been heretical, he subjects himself to being
supported the suspension and deposition of the De Wolf             deposed by the Classis  under the Church Order, subject to
faction. Thereupon the plaintif?  church filed the instant bill    being legally and properly removed.. We do not agree with
of complaint claiming that the  Hoeks'ema  church had -the         the defendants that there was any substantial infirmity in the
only legal Consistory, and as the legal representative of the      steps taken to reach that conclusion, in the instant case.
church had authority for its acts. The defendants Reverend            "Where property is dedicated to the use of a religious
De Wolf and the deposed elders answered and sought af-             denomination it cannot thereafter be diverted to the use
firmative relief, claiming to be the legal representatives of      of those who depart from that faith, but must remain for
the church. Issue was joined and several hundred pages of          the use and benefit of those  who, still -adhere to the faith,
testimony taken by the court, stating the respective claims        though they be a minority. r
of each faction as to their construction of the articles, con-
stitution and Church, Orders; and their respective views as           "The synod, being the proper body to hear, try, and
to the legality of the various meetings and action taken by        determine whether a certain book of defendant minister of
the Hoeksema Consistory. The record shows that the arti-           the local church at Muskegon is in conflict with the con-
cles and constitution, and the Church Orders of said First         fession of faith of the church, its decision in the matter is
Protestant Reformed Church, and the affiliated Protestant          final and binding upon the courts."  Borgman  v. Bultema
Reformed Churches, are substantially the same as those of          (syllabi),  sztpra.  I
the Christian Reformed Churches which preceded the present            "The decision of the court below that the  classis had
church organization and out of which it grew. They have            jurisdiction to act, did act, and that defendants are bound
been under consideration by this Court in Borgman  v. Bult-        by its decision excluding them from the denomination without
ema, 213 Mich 685, and. Holwerda v. Hoeksema, sz@v~a.              right of stay of proceedings pending appeal to the supreme
   The trial judge hearing the case, and relying upon those        governing body of the church, held, justified by the record.`;
decisions, concluded that the plaintiff First Protestant Re-       Holwerda v. Hoeksema (syllabus); satpra.
formed Church, under its articles and constitution, and the            "Civil courts will not enter into a consideration of church
Church Order, was dedicated to the discipline, rules and           doctrine or church discipline nor will they inquire into the.
usages of the Protestant Christian Reformed Churches of            regularity of the proceedings of church tribunals having
the United States as authoritzed and declared. from time to
time by the  Classis  of said churches. The court concluded        cognizance of such matters, since to do so would be in-
that the Church Order became the constitution of the church,       consistent with complete and untrammeled religious liberty."
to which every member subscribed, and that the court was           ,Van Vliet v. Vander Naald (syllabus), 290  Mich. 365.
bound to recognize it as controlling the issues.                      "Judicial interference in the purely ecclesiastical affairs of
   We are in accord. We decline to hold, with the defend-          religious organizations is improper.
ants, that the Hoeksema Consistory had departed from the               "In church disputes, courts are concerned with property
doctrines and practices of the Protestant Reformed Churches.       rights only, and those rights may be protected by court order
We have consistently held that the court may not substitute        if occasion requires." Berry v. Bruce (syllabi), 317  Mich.
its opinion in lieu of that of the authorized tribunals of the     490.
church in ecclesiastical matters. The Consistory is the gov-          "Civil courts do not interfere in matters of church polity
erning body of the church, in conjunction with the  Classis
and the Synod. The powers and the functions of the  Con-           that are purely ecclesiastical, but when. property rights are
sistory, the  Classis  and the Synod are  .fully  set forth and    involved they are to be tested in the civil courts by  they,
explained in  Borgman  v. Bultema and Holwerda v.  Hoek-           civil laws." Holt v. Trone (syllabus), 341  Mich. 169.
sema,  mpra..  They need not be repeated here. In said de-             It is obvious that  the. real dispute in this case between
cisions we have settled the question that the articles and the     the Hoeksema church group and the De Wolf church group
Church Orders are the supreme law and the constitution of          has for its objective the ownership of the church property

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

and the right to its possession and control. While courts do       appellee, except some scant testimony as to the probable
not interfere in matters of church doctrine, church discipline,    rental' value of the church property. There is no proof of
,or the regularity of the proceedings of church tribunals,         the amount paid by plaintiff for the use of other property,
and refuse to interfere with the right of religious groups to      the amounts collected by the De Wolf church, or like issues
 worship freely as they choose, the question of the property       which might properly have been made a matter of proof for
rights of the members is a matter within the jurisdiction of       an accounting, at the hearing of this case in the trial court.
 the courts and may be determined by the court.                    We find nothing here to justify a finding that the plaintiff
        "While members of a church possess the right to with-      should be decreed any specific sum of money as damages to
 draw from it, with or without reason, yet they cannot take        be paid by the defendants-appellants for rental during the
with them, for their own purposes, or transfer to any other        period they have occupied the church, or otherwise. There-
 religious body, the property dedicated to and conveyed for        fore, noj such modification will be made here in the decree ;
the worship of God under the discipline of the religious as-       but an order will be entered here remanding the case to the
 sociation--to which said church (a voluntary association) .be-    trial court for the taking of further testimony, if necessary,
longs; nor can they prevent the use of such property by            as to an accounting, with authority to modify the decree as
those who choose to remain in the church, and who represent        entered in that respect; and for enforcement thereof. See
the regular church org,anization."  Fuchs v. Mesel (syllabus),     Komaryski v. Popovich, 232  Mich. 88, at p. 100, and  Hol-
                                                                   werda v. Hoeksema, satpra, at p. 656.
 102 Mich 357.                                                           The decree as entered is otherwise affirmed, with costs
    "In' matters of church polity purely ecclesiastical, civil     to appellee.
courts do not interfere, but when property rights are in-               We publish this decree in order that all our people may
volved they are to be tested in the civil courts by the civil      read it. It was made by ,the court unanimously.
laws." Calvary Baptist Church of Port Huron v. Shay (syl-
labus), 292  Mich 517.                                                  .But we also publish it for the sake of those that are still
                                                                   in illegal possession of our church property, that they may
    "The judicial determination of property rights as be-          see the light, and surrender what belongs to us without
tween 2 church groups claiming church property does not            further litigation.                   '                    H. H.
constitute an unlawful interference with ecclesiastical affairs
of a church.                                                                                 THE TREE
    "While membership in a church organization may be                           Some people touch a tree and find
withdrawn with or without reason, such right of withdrawal                      - But wood to feed a fire  ;
does not carry with it the right to take the church property                    Yet, carpenters can feel a floor
away from the regular church organization nor prevent its                          Or sense a soaring spire . . .
use for purposes of worship by those who chose to remain
 in the church." United Armenian Brethren Evangelical                           The sculptor looks upon its trunk
Church v.  Kazanjian  (syllabi), 322  Mich 651.                                    And carvings fill the air,
    The instant case closely parallels the Borgman  and Hol-                    While others come and see the hearts
werda Cases, sz@pra,  and is controlled by the decisions there-                    Which lovers whittled there . . .
in. Although we hear this chancery case de novo we do not                       The farmer reaches for its fruit,
reach a different result than that which was announced by                          The traveler seeks its shade ;
the trial court. We find that the defendants are not en-                        The boy can see a raft of logs
titled to ownership possession or control of the church prop-                      On streams of flowing jade . . .
erty, and that the Consistory of the plaintiff church, as con-                  The outdoorsman will think of crafts
stituted with Reverend Hoeksema as president, and Gerrit                           To blunt an ocean's rage ;            .
 Stadt as clerk; is legally entitled to the possession and con-                 The pharmacist will see its roots,
trol of the physical properties of the corporation. The decree                     The publisher, a page . . .
which grants plaintiff the relief prayed for, and restrains the
defendants from interfering with the plaintiff corporation                      The bird finds one beloved .branch  ;
in its use of its property, is affirmed to that extent.                            But mothers see the beds  -.
                                                                                Wherein at nightfall, they will tuck
    Consideration must be given to the plaintiff-appellee's                        Their precious curlyheads . . .
claim that the  decree-  should be modified to the extent of
"granting the plaintiff-appellee damages in the nature of rent     a            The artist grasps the golden flame
for the period, of time during which the defendants. have                          That leaves of autumn toss,
excluded the plaintiff corporation. from the use of its prop-                   And some, whose souls are deep as Time,
 erty. In that connection, the decree is silent.  .However,  we                    Can see a Savior's cross.
find nothing in the record to support such a claim by the                                                         -Frank H. Keith


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAtiER                                                        273

                                                                        condition during  his vision his normal wakefulness was a
        THE DAY OF SHADOWS                                         II sleep. Favoring this. interpretation is the prophet's testimony,
                                                                        namely that the angel waked him as - mark you, as - a
                                                                        man that is awakened out of his sleep.
             The Prophecy of Zechariah                                     2. And he said atnto me, wha"t dost thoab see? - Ques-
   Vision V. The Candlestick with the two  Olive Trees.                 tion calculated `to cause the prophet to focus his attention on
                           Chapter IV                                   the vision. And I said,, I ha.ve looked, and, b,ehold, a candle-
                                                                        stick all 
   Byi the Spirit of Jehovah of Hosts (I-7).                                          of gold - The candlestick in the tabernacle (Exod.
                                                                        25  :31; I Chron.  4:20)  was  qf gold, but the structure of
   1. And the angel tha.t talked with me returned, and waked            the candlestick in the vision differed somewhat from its
,me, as a ma% that is wa.ken'ed ortt of his sleep.                      prototype.  With a. bowl  ,L@on   the top  of  it-A  reservoir for
                                                                        the oil consumed by the lamps. It was not found on. the
   2. And hi said unto me, What dqst thou see? And I said,              top of the candlestick  in the tabernacle. The lamps of that
I have looked, and, behold, a. candlestick .a,11 of gold, with a        article were daily supplied by the priests. And  its seven
bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps tlaereoq seven             la?@s thereon - As appears from the succeeding statement,
and seven pipes to the la.mps, which a.ye upon the top thereof.         this must not be taken to mean that the lamps were above
   3.  And  tzoo olive trees by it, one upon the  rig1Lt of  the        the bowl nor that they were immediately fastened to the
bowl, and the other ujon the left thereof.                              bowl so as to form with it one piece. Sezlen and seven pipes
                                                                        for tlae lamps-  This is the Hebrew. literally. It does not
   4. So I a.nmuered and spake to the angel that talked with            mean fourteen pipes to the seven lamps, that is to each two>
me,  sa.ying, what are these my Lord?                                   but seven pipes to each one of the seven lamps, in all forty-
   5. And answered the angel that talked with me qd said                nine. For this there is an exact parallel in I Chron.  20:6.
unto me, Rnowest thou. not what these be? And I said, No,               Here it is stated that in Gath there was a man of great
say Lord.                                                               stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six
                                                                        and six, meaning,. dbviously, six on each of the four mem-
   6. Then he a.nswered and spake unto vae, saying, This is             bers mentioned. It is clear that to each seven of the forty-
the word of the Lord unto Zembbabel saying, Not by might,               nine pipes a lamp was  aflixed  and that the pipes were  the
nor by power, but by m-y Sp&it, saith the Lord of hosts.                medium' of connection between lamps and bowl. Whi& are
   7.  Who  art  thou>  0  grea,t  yM.ozhntaiph?  before  Zejubbabcl    atpon the top thereof - The. pronoun "which" looks to the
thou sha.lt become a plaiit: a.nd he shall bring forth the hea,d-       lamps  atid the adverb "thereof," to the candlestick. The
stone  with  showtings,  Gmce,  gmcs unto it.                           meaning is, therefore, that the lamps were above the candle-
                                                                        stick yet on a level with the b;owl or rather slightly beneath
    1.  Came  again - The interpreting angel seems to have              it. This would &llow  the oil to flow from the bowl through
withdrawn temporarily. But it could not have been for long,             the pipes into the lamps.
seeing that all the visions came in one night. Perhaps  "he
came and waked me" must be taken to mean "he waked me                       3.' And two  olivs  trees by  it.-Another feature that
again," to see a new vision. Taken in either sense, the state-          was lacking to the tabernacle. One was upon the left and
ment shows that during the vision the prophet was in a state            the other upon the right side of the olive bowl. Verse 2
of wakefulness. He was not in a sleep as when thk Lord                  states that they were beside the candlestick which is just- as
spoke to His servants in dreams. Still his condition was not            true. According to the same verse, one branch from each of
that of normal wakefulness. It is best described as a state of          these trees supplied the oil for the lamps. The entire descrip-
wakefulness in which the prophet was so utterly absorbed by             tion leaves the impression that the candlestick in the vision
the heavenly things of his vision that it was as if he had              was a rather huge structure as compared with the candle-
been removed from the scenes, of his daily environment and              stick in the tabernacle.
translated to other spheres bodily. Waked  me -  One way                    4.  Not  abnderstanding   the  z&ion,  the prophet asks the
of understanding this is that, ai exhausted by what he had              interpreting angel for an explanation. These - He inquires
seen and also because it was night, the prophet had dropped             after the meaning of the contept of the entire vision, candle-
off to a natural sleep after the previous vision had come and           stick and trees.
gone. But the meaning may also be that after the first vision               5. And a.nswered  the angel . . . Knowest th0.u not ,what
the prophet returned to a state of normal wakefulness and               these be?  - God's signs as  such are mute. Their speech
that in this state he had remained until aroused by the angel           is known only to Him. If, therefore, they  are to speak also
and thereby made to pass into a state. of wakefulness that              to His servants, it is necessary that He impose upon them
characterized him during the vision. Underlying this inter-             by special revelation the word that sets forth the truth that
pretation is the idea that in comparison with the prophet's             is symbolized. The question of the angel must not, therefore,


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     -274                                          T H E   S 'T A N D A R - D   B E A R E R

     be -taken as an espression of surprise elicited by the                       of the world with His judgments that in the end of time
     prophet's ignorance.                                                         will  he climaxed by the world  .catastrophe by which the
         6.  Tlais-  The candlestick. It is separately dealt with.                world  and all that is out of the world will pass away per-
     -Last to be  explaned  are the branches and the olive trees                  manently. And there shall be new heavens and a new earth
      (verses 13, 14).  Is  thea  woyd of  Jehova.la   --`God's signs are         upon which righteousness shall dwell. However, should the
     always words.  To  Zerztbba.bel  -The word bore upon Je-                     Lord limit Himself to this working there would be no church
     hovah's house. And seeing that Zerubbabel in obedience to                    on hand to inherit that earth. For the church.is  not gathered
     Jehovah had taken upon himself to build-this house, the word                 by such workings of the might.and  the power of God. This
     is especially to him'. What is this word, the speech of God                  was a  lesson that Elijah still had  to.learn when he fled for
     uttered by the `candlestick, definitely  the oil and the burning             his life at hearing that the wicked queen,had  vowed that she
     lamps ? It is this :. Not by might,. nor by power., baGt by-alay             would make his life as the life of one of .the Baa1  priests whom
     Spirit, saitlz  the Lord of Hosts- The' statement is indefinite.             he had ordered slain. The people  oi Israel were placing
     This is owing to the fact that "not by might . . . but by my                 God's gifts on Baal's altars. So the prophet. called down
     Spirit,, is a combinatioti  of three phrases without subject or              up& the land a terrible drought. It  rained  not upon the
     predicate. But this is not a difficulty. For  it's the church                earth for a space of three years and six months. But with
     thaf these burning lamps signify. (Rev. 1  :20) -the church                  the exception of the seven thousand that the prophet knew
     for what she is in Christ Jesus, namely a new creation. The                  nothing about, the nation continued apostate. It did not seek
     light of  those lamps symbolize her heavenly life, the                       after God as the prophet must. have expected that it would.
     radiance of her life through all the  good`.works that were                  In his despondency he requested for himself that he might
     ordained for her  that she should walk in them. It sym-                      die. And then he was taught his lesson. In obedience to the
     bolizes, does the light of-these lamps, the spiritual beauty                 command of the Lord he took his stand upon the mount be-
     05 the church in contrast to all that is of sin and death.  It               fore the Lord. And the Lord passed by and there was a
     is plain that what is true of the two temples- of the Old                    great ahd strong wind and then an earthquake and finally a
     Dispensation (Solomon's temple and that of Zerubbabel) is                    fire. But the Lord was in none of these, meaning that it is
     true of the seven lamps of Zechariah's vision. In their                      not by such revelations of His might, not by His judgments,
     totality these seven lamps symbolize the church not in the                   that he gathers His people and builds His church.
     process of being built through the ages but as  .built  and             ~       But then by what? "By my Spirit, saith the Lord of
     crowned with life in glory.                                                  Hosts," by His Spirit  - the Spirit  -of Christ-breathing in
         The oil in the vision symbolizes the Spirit. The Hebrew                  men's hearts-the men of His goodwill-the life of Christ
     equivalents for power and might are chayil and koaclt..  Both                and kindling in their hearts. the light of life, so that, if
     words are used for power and might of man of whatever                        formerly dead in their sins, they now live, and if formerly
     character, and of power and might of God.                                    children of the devil, they are  tiow children of God, and
         Not by power, nor by  might.  The church is  not built                   by His Spirit cry Abba, Father. So does the Christ of God
     by man's military might. The great ones of the earth found                   by His Spirit build His church. He establishes  His. king-
     and extend their  kingdoms  by such power-by the power                       dom in the hearts of His people and puts His law in their
     of the sword; brute force, violence, oppressions and the                     mind, so  ,that here obedience spells perfect liberty. Then,
     threats thereof. Here rebellion is not cured but crushed: Here `certainly, if there be grace in the heart, the effects also of
     obedience is not from love but from fear, at, bottom, hatred.                the judgments of God, the afflictions of life, the sufferings
         The church is not built by man, whatever his power.                      of this present time, are salutary. For then there is contrition
     And through his inventions he has acquired command over                      of heart in tribulation but also rejoicing and this in the
     an amazing amount of power. He can literally move moun-                      knowledge that tribulations work -patience, and patience ex-
     tains. But with all his power-physical power, power of                       perience, and experience hope.
     will and of mind, power that comes from knowledge and                           "Not by might . . . but by My Spirit." This then  was
     learning-he  capnot  deliver a single soul from the clutch of                the  war< of the signs of the oil and the seven lamps. -And
     sin and heath. Which is but saying that the church is not                    this was the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel and the cbvenant
     a thing ,of his creation.                                                    people. With this word in' their hearts, they will pray,  `as
         The church was not founded and she is not being built                    they must, for the coming of God's kingdom in the hearts
     and her heavenly life' sustained by the power and might of                   of men and in their own hearts as fervently as they pray for
     God by which He destroys the enemies of His people. The                      the coming of God in judgment over the nations, as He has
     ten plagues of Egypt were a mighty revelation of Jehovah's                   promised, arid as fervently for the latter as for the former.
     power. But by such -working of God's power no sinner was                     But it is not difficult to sek that this word was a source of
     ever converted. That is not its purpose, but its purpose is the              manifold comfort for Zerubbabel. We must consider his
     destruction of the wicked that God's people may be delivered                 position. He was governor of the covenant people. In obe-
     from'their clutch. God is all along overtaking the nations                   dience to the Lord he had taken it upon himself to build the


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                                       TH.E  STA'IX~RD  B E A R E R                                                           275
                                                                                                                              -
Lord's (typical) temple. For that he needed the support             in the kings of Persia. To this world-power Zerubbabel and
and the cooperation of the covenant people. But might they          his weak and despised little flock - Zion -was in bondage.
not neglect God's house as in their sinful apathy they had          The statement, "Who art thou, 0 great mountain" is more
done in the past? And would Zerubbabel then not stand               of an exclamation than a question. It means : Who dost thou
helpless seeing that he had no army to sustain him in com-          imagine thyself to be, 0 great mountain, 0 world-power, that
manding them to persevere in the work until it was finished 7       thou thou dost exalt thyself against Zion, my people, Zerub-
Was there, therefore, not a danger that the temple might            `babel! The boasting of the world-power is foolishness. It is
never be completed ? Zerubbabel need have no concern. He            too ridiculous for words. In the language of Ps. 2, "He that
must remember that the Lord is the- builder of His own              sitteth in -the heavens shall laugh." Yes, God laughs. The
temple and not he. And He does not operate with violence in         reason is stated in the succeeding sentence (of our prophecy).
building His temple. For He wants a. willing people. And,           Before  Zemtbbabel thou shalt  b,ecome a  plain- Before the
therefore, "Not by might . . . but by My Spirit." This is           governor of the covenant people, that is before Christ of
the Lord's method of working as builder of His house. And           whom he was a type, the world-power shall be overthrown
He can always put this method into use for He is Lord also          over and over through the ages to come and finally be made
of men's hearts. And therefore His house shall be built..           to pass away forever, and this by the terrible revelations of
For the covenant people shall be willing. "By My Spirit,"           God's might and power in all manner of dreadful plagues!
is a promise.                                                       including war and bloodshed. The final passing away of the
   But more must be said. The promise "By My Spirit" had            world will be effected by a world catastrophe. And the
significance for the covenant people in still another respect.      purpose of it all is the preservation of the church and her
Building the temple was costly, as was also the maintenance         final deliverance that with Christ she may appear in Glory  -
of its service., Precious metals and bullocks and rams and          the church that through the ages of this dispensation of time
lambs for the burnt offerings and moreover, wheat, salt, wine       He, the glorified Christ, is building not by power, nor by
and oil according to the appointment of the priests. And the        might but by His Spirit and His Word. This, of course, is
covenant people were but a small and impoverished com-              not a new promise that was never before proclaimed. It
munity. They were without resources to speak of. But the            had been proclaimed over and over only `not in this form
Lord will provide also in every material need but not by            and by these types and symbols. In substance it has already
might, nor by power but by His Spirit. Many centuries               been published. right after the fall. For essentially there is
previous he had delivered His people Israel out of Egyptian         but one promise.
bondage by His outstretched arm. What a terrible revelation            But there is more to the promise as here being proclaimed
of his power and might that had been. The Egyptians were            to Zerubbabel. And he shall bl-ing forth the head stone there-
terrified. They literally thrust the people of Israel out of        of  with .&outings, Grace,  grace  ,unto  yore-According to
their land after -having laden them down with jewels of             some commentators the head stone of which the text here.
silver and jewels of gold and raiment in their frantic effort       makes mention is not the head, that is the chief stone of
to get them to leave. For the Lord had given His people             the corner, but the gable stone, that is the top stone com-
favor in their sight. So had He seen to it that His people          pleting and crowning  ~the building. The expression "head.
left Egypt as bountifully supplied by the enemy with all the- stone" occurs -also in Ps. 118  :22, "The stone which' the
materials that were needed for the construction of the taber-       builders refused is become the head stone of the corner, "In
nacle. But that was not by His Spirit but by the soul-terrify-      both these places the same Hebrew word is used, namely ro.&
ing revelations of His power and might in the ten plagues.          and meaning head, chief, principal. And the verse from the
But in supplying the post-exilic covenant people with the           Psalms states that this head stone is the head of the corner,
materials for the service in His house, the Lord uses a-            that is the chief corner stone. This proves that the view
different method of working. Not by might but by His Spirit.        according to which it is the top stone is incorrect. Nowhere
In the words of Isaiah, Surely the isles shall wait for             do the Scriptures speak also of the top stone of the temple.
Jehovah, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring Zion's sons      The  view- is a sheer invention. According to I Peter 2 :6, 7,
from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the           this stone is Christ.
name of the Lord her God, and to the Holy One of Israel,               "And he. shall bring forth the head stone," mark you,
because He has glorified His people (Isa. 9:9).                     (`he shall bring." The tense is future. It is the translation
   7. Wlzo  art  thou,  0  great  Yutozt.ntain-  the lofty moun-    found in our English Bible. But  ,this is in accordance with
tains that surrounded Judea, and in comparison with which           the  Vau cons., seeing that the verb in the original text is
Mt. Zion that the Scriptures associate with the church, was         a simple past, "hath brought forth." So, if the vau cons. be
but a little hill, symbolized the mighty heathen world-power        disregarded, which in this case is permissible, the text here
the final appearance of which will be the anti-Christian world-     in translation would have to read, "He has brought forth the
state, the Babylon of the Book of Revelations. At the time          head stone." Another question is whether the pronoun "he"
of our prophet, this world-power had taken flesh and blood                              (Corttiwed   ox  page 288)

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

I!                                                                     Admonitions and "conditions' are not homogenous ; God's
              F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T                           manner of working faith in us, and "pre-requisite condi-
                                                                    tions" are as far apart as the poles, except in the mind of
                                                                    those who would "speak wisdom in mystery" to the  ~I+z-
              Exposition of I Corinthians 1-4                       perfect!  However, that is wholly excluded by the Mystery
                                . .                                 of God, and, therefore, finds not part in biblical, confessional
                                11.
                                                                    pedagogy.
      The passage to which we would call your attention, dear          This is a very fine point in this entire section of I
 reader, is recorded in I  ,Corinthians 2 :6-9, and reads as        Corinthians, which we are now considering. Let no one be
 follows : "Howbeit roe speak &sdisdom- a.mong them that are        fooled by all the talk about  pedagogical approach,  when
 ijlerfect: yet  not  the  wisdom of this  world, nor of  the       such talk wishes to justify faith as a pre-requisite condition
 princes of this  wo?ld, that come to nought: but we speak          for entering into the kingdom. Surely, surely, there is a
 the.  wisdom  of God in  Mystery, even the hidden wisdom,          pedagogical approach in Scripture. But it is pedagogical ap-
 which God  foreordai,ned  before the world to  our  zql~~~;        proach, which  finds a positive point of contact in the spiritual
 Which none of the princes of `this world knew  : for had           man. This approach says: Since ye are spiritual man, "My
 they known it, they would  not  have crucified the Lord of         people," walk as such saints, and it does not say to "every
 glory, but as it is  written, Eye hath not  seen, nor ear          one," if you will do this, ye shall be saved. Every preacher
 hea.rd, neither hath entered into the heart of  man, the           in his right sense will feel too that that faith as a  means
 things which God  l&h  prepa.red for them that love  Hiutz."       is not the same as faith as a "condition." Those who try to
        We should not make the fatal mistake in studying this       maintain faith as a "pre-requisite act" will therefore try the
 passage to study it in the abstract, that is, apart from the       slight of hand (Eph.  4:14,  15) the jugglers-act, of trying
 concrete situation in the congregation at Corinth, and apart       to defend faith as a *xeans  under the false pretense that this
 from Paul's pedagogical skill in marshalling the evidence          covers faith as a "pre-requisite."
 forward, so that the Word of God becomes profitable for               Let none be fooled by this trickery. It is rather convenient
 instruction, correction, reproof, for the entire pedagogy in       and cheap to hold up the work of the undersigned in the
 the righteousness of the "spiritual man," for the perfection       "Majority Report" before the secular courts, but the same
 of those who have "the mind of Christ." (voun Christou)            preachers dare not defend faith as a pre-requisite for "man"
        For the purpose of Paul here is not that of a System of     but with  t?zeir backs against the wall they start defending
 Doctrine, but is rather deducing from the deep purpose             faith as a means overagainst faith as  a  fruit!  I wonder
 and plan of God certain directives for the conduct of those        whether those who write  .such  nonsense believe their own
 who are principally and fundamentally "spiritual man" and          writings, or whether this is a little face-saving. Undersigned
 who are, therefore, no longer "natural" that is, psychical         does not need to save hi-s face, since by grace he saved `his
 man ! This pedagogy of Paul, therefore, is finding a positive      face loosing his life in confession, when he erred. I can,
 spiritual  point of contact in these who have the mind of          therefore, only have profound pity for such floundering
 Christ; they can for that reason put spiritual things with         leadership. For what have I that I have not received! The
 spiritual. And when this is properly done, to wit, putting         lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places.
 spiritual things with spiritual, the contesting parties in the         Does any one imagine that a tendency to be "doctrinal"
 congregation will have been brought to their spiritual senses,     in the preaching and thus, probably, neglecting at times the
 and cease in this horrible business of playing out apostle         pedagogical in Scripture and in the preaching, is remedied
against apostle, and brother against brother. Then shall they       by stubborn maintainance of indefensible Arminian formulas
 all seek the same thing in Christ their Head, walking in           and pedagogical approaches ! But is it not an old trick of the
 Christ, in the unity of the threefold offices of Christ, as we     Devil to come as a child of light? At any rate: from the
 have tried to point out rather explicitly in a former article      paw we can detect the lion! We are not ignorant of his
 in this series.                                                    wiles !
        Such is the eminently practical and pedagogical, purpose        Hence, we shall follow the instruction of Paul here in
 .of Paul.                                                          kis wonderful, architectural pedagogical approach in this
        Let those, who would substitute another pedagogical ap-     passage.~
 proach, take note of this pedagogy of Paul, which is the               When we give a little attention to the concept wisdom
 architectural pedagogy which every-preacher of the Word of         as Paul here uses it and  defines  it, it will soon become
 God shall have to emulate. And then they will needs have           evident what a powerful sword of the Spirit the Word is,
 to cease attempting to distill a theology of "faith as pre-        in the hand, of Paul, to show once and for all, that the
 requisite condition" out of the fact that God works grace          conduct of "schism" in God's church is not that of the
 through admonitions in those who are called into the fellow-       wisdom of heaven, but that it belongs to the wisdom which
 ship of Christ Jesus !                                             is from below, which is earthly, psychical (sensual) depzort-


                                            T H E   STA-NDARD   B.EARER                                                               277
                    .-_

ica.Z!  All such wisdom of this "world" should not be followed       times placed in the category of Kuyperian "common grace."
by those who are "perfect." For them another  form. and              However, in Scripture the term "wisdom" is used of the
standard of conduct is fitting. Theirs is not a life and  con-       things that pertain to the "mystery of godliness" that is
duct for which a merely ea.rthly wisdom should be the rule ;         great ; it is the Mystery of God revealed in the flesh, justified
a wisdom dealing merely  .with earthly relationships, the            in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations,
present human existence, in home, school, church and state.          believed on in the world, taken up in glory. I Tim. 3  :16.
The present position of ministers, elders apart from their           It is the personified wisdom (chokmah) of Provers 8, the
relationship to heaven, the ages to come, the abiding  in-           some total of all of God's plan and purpose in Christ Jesus,
heritance of the office of all believers now and in the-eternal      the secret counsel and will of God concerning the redemption
state the glory to be revealed in us. Then our wisdom is             of the elect, and the glorification of all things in heaven, and
such that we act as if this earthly is the limit of our vision,      the justification of His own righteousness in hell.
.aspirations  and activity- not looking for the better  in-              Such is the wisdom which Paul refers to here in this
heritance layed up for us in heaven!                                 Scripture passage.
    Nor should the wisdom of the world as it is merely                  He mentions the following particulars concerning this
psyc%cal,  be ours. This deals with the purely psychological,        "wisdom" here in his polemic against the spirit of partisan-
the natural in man. It refers to talents, honors, art and            ship, the appealing to natural rhetorical skill, instead of the
culture, in this present earthly world. Yes, here we may             simple testimony of the Word of the Cross, in which the
fight who is the greatest, who has the greatest talents for          Wisdom of God in Mystery is unfolded.
preaching, and here we may have all know1edg.e and speak`                1. It can only be spoken amongst the "perfect"  ; the
the tongues of men and of angels, and yet not see the                imperfect do not understand it. They do not have the mind
Spiritual things of IGod prepared for those loving Him, the          of Christ.
called according to his purpose. With this wisdom we may                2. It is a wisdom which never arises in the heart of man,
`have a very high Intelligence Quotient, be brilliant students       but only in the mind and counsel of IGod.
in philosophy and all the liberal arts (not that a study of             3. It was indeed a hidden wisdom, which God has fore-
philosophic history is something to be despised as such, and         ordained to our glory.
not useful) and yet not be able to put the very rudiments of            Well may we contemplate this "wisdom" and thus walk
spiritual things with spiritual, as they are joined by God in        as the "perfect."
His Wisdom in Mystery !                                                                                                              G.L.
   For all such wisdom which is merely of this earth, and
is only psychical in nature, not understanding the very rudi-
ments of heaven's wisdom and plan, shows its root and origin                                   IN MEMORIAM
in the father of the lie, the Devil, as he attempts to be a god,       The societies of  the.  First Protestant Reformed Church of
a ruler  of. this world. And all earthly wisdom, psychical           Holland express their sympathy to Rev. and  Mrs. James  Mc-
engaging in deadly combat, in partisan strife, reveals its           Collam and family in the death of Mrs.  McCo,llam's. mother,
origin in hell ! That is not only true of the positive adhering                            MRS. N. C. STILES
to men from the spirit of partisanship, but it is equally true
where this is put in reverse- not wanting to acknowledge               "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:
those whom  `God has gifted with heaven's wisdom. See I              Yea saith the Spirit, that. they may rest from their labors; and
Corinthians 12, "that there be not schism in the body."              their works do follow them." Rev.  14.:13.
   As much as we love our soul's salvation we are  ad-                                                     The Ladies Aid Society
monished to free this  tisdom  from  below,  reject it as not                                        The Men's Society
fitting to us the"`perfect."
   Paul speaks another wisdom. It is other in nature, scope
and origin. It is a wisdom which is heavenly, all of heaven's                                  IN MEMORIAM
glory will reveal what this "wisdom of God" is. And it is
a wisdom, which is  spiritual,  that is, it is revealed by the         The Men's and Ladies' Societies of the  Creston Protestant
Holy Spirit. And, finally,  it. is a wisdom which is Divine,         Reformed Church wish to express their sincere sympathy to their
the expression of God's plan and purpose in all things in            fellow members, Mr. and Mrs. Joe King and family in the recent
Christ Jesus, our Lord.                                              death of their father and grandfather,
   In Holy Writ the term "wisdom" receives it own con-                               MR. SIMON VANDER VEEN.                  q
tent. The  terms "wisdom"  (sophia)  in classic Greek is used           May our Heavenly Father comfort the bereaved and may we
of skill, and especially of fine arts, philosophy, music, poetry,    at all times put our trust in Him;
painting, etc. In short, all that would fall under the natural                                        Mr. P.  Vanden  Engel, President
light of man, the glimmerings of natural light, what is some-                                         Mrs. Jeanette Kunz, Secretary

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

                                                                       But' the Word of God?
                I N   H'IS  F E A R                                    Indeed, we frequent the house of God and speak ill of
                                                                    those we meet on the street who. go out for carnal pleasure
                                                                    on the `day ; but our frequenting is habit and custom, very
                 The Sabbath in  His Fear                           often, and nothing more. Our lack of interest in a little
                               (6)                                  preparation to enjoy and understand the Word reveals that!
                                                                       Another thing that reveals that though we frequent that
       "That I, especially on the Sabbath, frequent the church      church of God, we still do not live in His fear on that day
of `God to hear His Word, to use the sacraments, publicly           is that men are inattentive to the preaching and utterly
to call upon the Lord and contribute to the relief of the           silent in the singing .of God's praises.  .There  is nothing so
`poor as becomes a Christian."                                      out of place, so pathetic a sight as to have those in the
   `Thus the Heidelberg Catechism explains the Sabbath in           audience who are silent while God's praises are being sung.
His fear.                                                           Those who cannot join in and have not the joy in their
In the February 15 issue of the  Stamhrd Bearer we                  hearts to sing God's praises are to be pitied. When we just
began to set forth some positive activity and exercises where-      do not feel like joining in to sing God's praises, there is
with to fill the day in His fear. We will continue now,from         something wrong. Our Sabbath has certainly begun wrong.
where we left off.                                                  Our coming to church has been, most likely, simply routine,
       We, at that time,' suggested preparation before the          custom, habit and little more. 0, one may occassionally have
services of divine worship: that we read the chapter wherein        a good reason for silence. A very inflamed throat, shortness
the text is found and concentrate on the text published so          of breath due to an illness or heart condition and others can
as to have it in all its parts in mind when we gather to            be listed. But the silence that is not due to these things and
listen to an exposition of the text. In this way, there can be      continues Sabbath after Sabbath reveals a wrong approach
no doubt, we will benefit far more greatly from the Word            to the whole Sabbath. Not infrequently it reveals exactly
which we hear and understand more clearly; more richly and          that no advance preparation for worship in God's house was
more deeply the truth of the Word of God.                           carried out at all. We just went there! And we just came
       Man is by nature, however, too lazy to take the time         back home! We went to church. But we did not keep the
for these.                                                          Sabbath in His fear.
       He is too carnal to make use of the moments and hours           We wrote above- that there is nothing so pathetic as to
of the Sabbath for such things !                                    see those who cannot have the joy of singing God's praises
       He lacks sufficient interest in the truth and the gospel     in services of divine worship. We will alter that a bit. There
of  .salvation  to get up early enough,on  the only day in the      is one thing more pathetic and that is to see thosq  who de-
week when he does not need, either figuratively or literally,       light in physical rest and sleep above hearing the glad tidings
to "punch a clock" to signify that he has appeared at work          of salvation that are being proclaimed. When the Heidelberg
on time! ,                                                          Catechism explains that what God demands of us in the
       The same holds true.for his afternoon service or evening     Fourth Comamndment is that. we "diligently frequent the
service. No, we have to have our cup of coffee after the            church of God" it means a whole lot more than simply to
morning service, our cup of tea or what have you ? The              be present when the services of divine worship begin. For
noontide  meal must not be overlooked or rushed ; a stretch         the words are added: "to hear His Word, to use the sacra-
on the davenport or bed-for a nap is deemed essential. Time         ments, publicly to call upon the Lord."
must be given to keeping up with the events of the day and             Here, again, you have one of those things that is good
listening to  then news cast. We just must know what the            and according to God's law .on Monday and is also good and
weather report is and that in detail. But as much as five           according to God's law on the Sabbath. There is nothing
minutes to get the particular passage of the Word of God            sinful in sleep as such. "He giveth His beloved sleep," the
which will be treated before our minds . . . . ! Well, that just    Psalmist declares in Psalm 127:2. God give us that sleep to
does not interest us. Let us be honest with ourselves and           enjoy also on the Sabbath.
with our God!                                                          But not in His house!
       We will take steps to obtain maps of scenic wonders             Not while He has the glad tidings of salvation proclaimed !
as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park and the like to be               Not while He has prepared the day and occasion for us
sure that we .do not miss some little beauty spot while we          to "hear what the Spirit hath to say unto the churches."
are there. We will want to know what to look for when                  0, there are times when one must fight sleep, due. to no
there is so much territory to cover. When we attend a con-          failure on his part to prepare for the Sabbath on Saturday.
cert or the like we will leave our seats to obtain a printed        There are mothers whose watchful care of the sick child
program so that we may enjoy the program as fully as we             leaves them exhausted after the night's vigil- and who, still
can.                                                                desiring to go up to God's house on the Sabbath, (for which


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              279

  desire they are to be commended and not to be condemned)           new hairdo or a new car. We much prefer the old practice
may yield to a few nods of sleep though they struggled               of coming to church with the Bible and a song book ; that
  ever so hard to stay-awake. But how often is it not to be          before we even leave home' the idea and purpose of our
 observed that young and old "get all set" for a good sleep ?        going up to God's house. is before our minds and before
  It might make an interesting book for a minister some day          the minds of our children.
  to write all that is to be seen from off the pulpit. Ministers        Let us then use these Bibles when we get there !
  have odd ways of pulpit manners, to be sure. Facial ex-               Even when they are all furnished and within arm's length
  pressions are often comical and other peculiarities are com-       or at least within reach, not seldom is it to see those who let
 mon rather than a rarety. But let it also be understood that        it gather dust while the Word is read in church. A little hint,
  what is seen from off the pulpit is not always inspiring           however, that is important. The Law or the Creed is not
either  ; and many who -give the excuse that the warm room           read in order to give you time to look up the passage to be
  temperature, brings on their sleep because they are accustomed     read. That also ought to be done before the service begins
  to the outdoor air often forget that it can be seen that they      and either a  ,book mark of some kind used to mark it or
  squirm and twist in their seats to find a place of more com-       else some other way devised so that the passage can be
  fort before they settle down for that sleep which declares         found quickly and quietly. These Bibles should be used  ;
  what they understand by the "rest that remaineth for the           and if .they are not furnished and to be found in the book
  children of God."                                                  rack, they should be brought along ! It is a sad state of
      What is worse they forget thatl God sees it also.              affairs in the spiritual life of that family that never forgets
   ~. Besides the physical closing of their eyes in sleep, they      to take its "peppermints" along but can easily forget to take
  also close their eyes figuratively to the fact that the Sabbath    along-a Bible. Before such a family leaves home it knows           .
must be kept in HIS fear. Forget the man on the pulpit.              that it will. want something sweet to chew on but does not
  Forget the one who writes these lines. Be sure, however,           know for what purpose services of divne worship are insti-
  not to forget the God of the Sabbath Whom in fear we must          tuted. How easily we teach our children -what to expect in
  serve !                                                            God's house.- Expect peppermints. They are essential. Leave
      To continue, apart from these defects in Sabbath worship,      your Bibles home, the reading out of them is merely in-
  there is also the positive approach to the matter that must be     cidental. Rather would. we insist that ALL, young and old,
  considered. These defects we list under that second category       follow the reading of God's Word that we may derive bene-
  of which we spoke last time : those whereby we choke `the          fit from the reading as such and that through itl we may be
  word that has been preached by the activity we perform on          prepared for the particular message out of it that God has
  the Sabbath. What, however, do we who do not sleep, do             prepared for us. After all, God's Word is the best means to
  while the Word is proclaimed ? The blank look of "day-             introduce to us God's Word in the preaching.
  dreaming" on the faces of those not asleep; the individual            Then, leave your Bible open after you have followed the
  who notices absolutely everything about him or her; hears          reading of the text (or questions and answers of the Lord's
  every noise and is distracted by it, has to turn around to         Day in the Heidelberg Catechism) and refer to it when parts
  see what caused it; the sudden interest in the length of the       of it are referred to or the context is referred to in the
  fingernails so that they have to be clipped off with their tell    preaching. Never have any fear that the minister will con-
  tale sound, to mention only a few, are things that indicate        sider you to be a critic who is trying to' check up as to
  that we `are present only in body.                                 whether he speaks the truth. 0, if he is not faithful in his
      After such a Sabbath, we can- say we had an enjoyable          work and does not prepare fully and tries to uphold a pet
   day ?                                                             theory of his own, he will resent it that you look repeatedly
      Positively there are things that we can do besides even        at the text and context of which he speaks. But if he
   the listening to the proclamation of God's Word. We can           prepares faithfully and conscientiously, he will delight in
   follow the preaching as well as the reading of God's Word         showing you mysteries and beauties of God's Word he has
   in our own Bibles. It- used to be a beautiful sight to see        been given to see in the week gone by and will be happy
   children walking to church with a Bible in their hands.           to see you follow him and to see you enjoy the truth with
   Nothing could be more appropriate today. Our modern               him. It is his joy to see you enjoy the truth.
   methods of convenience however, have tacked a book rack                                                                   J.A.H.
   on the back of the seats so that we `can always find a Bible
   there for our use ; but far more beautiful and proper is the                 Something for Thee! Yet if for me
   picture of God's people taking  a Bible along to church. We                      It is ,a useless, cripple hand,
   lose so easily the idea that we go there to hear God's Word.                 Let perfect patience mark my way:
   Our -children also grow up in an age when the beauty of                       Since they who silently obey
- going up to God's house is all but gone. "Going to church"                        Are doing as Thy wisdom planned,
   soon gets to be an opportunity to show off a new dress, a                            Something for Thee!

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

                                                                      observation that objections were raised by heretics to any
            Contending For The Faith                               II form of Baptism.
                                                                      Great  Sig+&cmzce Attached to  Baptism.
                                                                         That great significance was attached to this sacrament
             The Church and the Sacraments                            was already apparent from the manner in which it was
                                                                      administered. The favorite times for baptism for adults were
    VIEWS DURING THE SECOND PERIOD  (300-750  A.D.)                   Easter and Pentecost, and in the  Easti also Epiphany (Epi-
                         B A P T I S M   ( 1 ) .                      phany was the festival celebrated on the sixth day of January,
                                                                      the' twelfth day after Christmas, in commemoration of the
        In our discussion of the early views of the Sacrament         appearance of Christ to the Magi or philosophers of the
 of Baptism as entertained by the Church during the first             East  who. came to adore Him with presents, or, as others
 three centuries of the New Dispensation, we have observed            maintain, to commemorate the appearance of the star to the
 that this sacrament was held in high esteem. It was not              Magi or the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The
 merely considered a rite, but as a sacrament it was deemed           Greek fathers used the word for the appearance of Christ
 efficacious. Although one might easily receive the impression        in the world, the sense in whi& the apostle, Paul, uses the
 from some expressions of the early Church Fathers that               word). In the fourth century, when the mass of the popula-
 they attributed efficacy to the external rite of Baptism as          tion of the Roman empire went over from heathenism to
 such (such as the power of regeneration, cleansing from sin,         Christianity, the baptisteries were thronged with proselytes
 sanctification), these, allegorical expressions may easily be        on those high festivals, and the baptism of such masses had
 interpreted without attributing to them the view that the            often a very imposing and solemn character. Children were
 water of Baptism as such is efficacious unto salvation. And          usually incorporated into the church by baptism soon after  '
 Origin, although also attaching great significance to this           their birth. Immersion continued to be the usual form of
 sacrament, makes a clear distinction between the symbol of           baptism, especially in the East; and the threefold immersion
 Baptism and the thing obsignated by the symbol.                      in the name of the Trinity was in effect. Yet Gregory the
        In regard to the question of the baptism of infants, we       Great permitted also the single immersion, which was custom-
 may remark that the general references that are sometimes            ary in Spain as a testimony against the Arian polytheism.
thought to be found in some of the early writings of the              From this we see, at the same time, that even in infant bap-
 Church .Fathers with respect" to infant-baptism are admittedly       tism immersion was custom. Yet, in the nature of the case,
 vague. Tertullian was strongly opposed to the baptism of             sprinkling, at least of sick or weak children, especially in
 infants. However, one may certainly conclude from his                northern climates, came early into use. .
 strong opposition to the baptism of infants that the practice            Continuing with the administration of this sacrament,
 must have been general in his day. Origin definitely states          we are informed that several preparatory and accompanying
 that infant baptism is a usage derived from the apostles. And        ceremonies, some of them as early as the second and third
 Cyprian maintains that baptism should be administered as             centuries, were connected with it. These ceremonies, al-
 early as possible  ; it should not even be delayed until the         though significant, certainly obscured the original simplicity
 eighth day as some in the African Church would have it               of the sacrament: These were exorcism or the expulsion of
 upon the basis of a comparison with the rite of circumcision         the devil  ; breathing upon the candidates as a sign of the
 in the Old Dispensation.                                             communication of the Holy Spirit, according to John 20 :22,
        Other questions also arose in connection with this sacra-     where we read of Jesus that'He breathed on His disciples and
 ment during this early period of the Church of God in the            said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit :" the touching
 New Dispensation. It was generally held that the Church              of the ears, with the exclamation : "Ephphatha  !, according to
 only could baptize, although Tertullian. maintained that in          Mark  7:34 (Jesus performs this symbolism upon the man
 case of emergency any layman could administer the sacra-             &ho was deaf and had an impediment in his speech), for
 ment. And, in close connection with this question, the               the opening of the spiritual understanding ; the sign of the
I question arose whether heretics should be re-baptized if they       cross made upon the forehead and breast, as the mark of the
 should return into the Catholic Church (not to be confused,          soldier of Christ; and, at least in Africa, the giving of salt,
 we understand, with the Roman Catholic Church: of today).            as the emblem of the Divine word, according to Mark 9 :50,
 Many held that` they should be re-baptized. The Roman                Matthew. 5 :13, and Co11  4:6. Proselytes generally took also
 Church, however (the church as established in the city of            a new name, according to Rev. 2 :17.
 Rome), considered any baptism valid  .as long as it was                  In the act .of baptism itself, the candidate, first with his
 properly administered. This is still the generally accepted          face toward the west, renounced Satan and all his pomp and
 view. We may conclude these introductory remarks, in-                service ; then, facing the east, he vowed fidelity to Christ
 troducing our discussion of Baptism as entertained by the            and confessed his faith in the Triune XGod, either by rehears-
 Church during the Second Period (300-750 A.D.,) with the             ing the Creed, or in answer to questions. Thereupon followed


                                                   T'HE  S T A N D A R D   B.EARER                                                        281

       the threefold or the single immersion in the name of  the           derstand, denies the Scriptural truth of original guilt and
       Triune God, with the calling of the &me of the candidate,           original pollution. They deny that every child is born into
       the deacons and deaconesses assisting. After the `second            this world with the sin and-corruption of Adam in his heart
       anointing with the consecrated oil (confirmation), the veil         and soul ; they deny that we are conceived dead in sins and
       was removed with which the heads of catechumens, in token
                                                                     A_    trespasses. It is therefore not difficult to understand why a
       of their spiritual minority, were covered during Divine wor-        pelagian, denying original guilt and original pollution, should
       ship, and the baptized person  &as clothed .in white garments,      be delighted with a quotation from a renowned church father
       representing the state of regeneration, purity and freedom.         which declares that children are not baptized because they
       In the Western church the baptized person' received at the          are stained with sin. Hence, the purpose of baptism is not
       same time a mixture of milk and honey, as a symbol of               to remove sin but simply, positively, to' impart holiness and
       childlike innocence and as a foretaste of Communion. It is          righteousness.
       evident from this description  of the administration of the                Augustine brought the operation of baptism into con-  '
       sacrament of baptism that this sacrament was held in tre-           nection with his more complete doctrine of original sin.
       mendously high esteem during the early centuries of the             Baptism delivers from the guilt of original sin, and takes away
       Church of God in the rJew Dispensation.                             the sinful character of the concupiscence of the flesh, while
          The sacrament of baptism was understood to remove                for the adult it at the same time effects the forgiveness of.
       both the original and actual sins (before,baptism).  The first      all actual transgressions before baptism. Like Ambrose and
       who developed a really dogmatic theory of Baptism was               other fathers, Augustine taught the necessity of baptism for
       Augustine, under the stress of his controversy with the             entrance into- the kingdom of heaven, on the ground, of John
       Donatists., The views of the ante-Nicene (after the Council         3 :5, and deduced therefrom, in logical consistency, the terrible
       of  Nicea)  concerning baptism and baptismal regeneration           doctrine of damnation of all unbaptized children (it is Philip
     were in this period more copiously expressed in rhetorical            Schaff  who calls this a "terrible" doctrine), though he as-
       style by Basil the Great and the two Gregories, who wrote           signed to them the mildest grade of perdition.
       treatises on this sacrament, and were more clearly and                     The council of Carthage, in 318, did the same-  (namely,
       logically developed by Augustine: The patristic (pertaining         to declare for the damnation of all unbaptized children), and
       to the fathers of the, early Christian church or; to their writ-    in its second canon rejected the notion of a happy  middle
       ings) and Roman Catholic view on regeneration, however,             state for unbaptized children (there were some who ad-
       differs considerably from the one which now prevails among          vacated  this view). It is remarkable, however, that this ad-
       the most Protestant denominations, especially those of the          dition to the second canon does not appear in all copies of
       more Ptiritanic  type, in that it signifies not so much a sub-      the Acts of the council and `was perhaps out of some horror
       jective change of heart, which is more properly called con-         omitted. This passage in question reads as follows: "Who-
      version, but a change in the objective condition and relation        ever says that there is in the kingdom of heaven or else-
       of the sinner, namely his translation from the kingdom of           where a certain middle state, where children who die with-
       Satan into the Kingdom of Christ.                                   out baptism live happy, while yet they cannot without baptism
          Gregory Nazianzen (one of the leading theologians  oi            enter the kingdom of heaven, that is, into eternal life, let him
      the Eastern Church, who was probably  born in 329 and who            be anathema." It is understandable that a  oassage of this
      probably died about  390), sees in baptism all blessings of          nature, because of its severe language which is so repulsive
      Christianity combined, especially the forgiveness of sins, the       to many, should be omitted from these acts of this council.
      new birth, and the restoration of the Divink image. To                     The Lord willing, we will begin our following article with
      children it is a seal of grace and a consecration to the             a quotation from Augustine in connection with his views on
      service of God. According to Gregory of Nyssa (another               this subject. As we may expect this learned Church Father
      leading Greek theologian of the fourth century and younger           also expressed himself on the subject of the sacrament of
      brother of Basil the Great and who died  after  394), the            Baptism.                                                    H.V.
      child by baptism is instated in the paradise from which
      Adam was thrust out. The  `Greek fathers had no clear knowl-.
      edge of original sin. According to a certain pelagian writ&                                    IN MEMORIAM
      Chrysostom must have taught : "We baptize children, though                 The consistory of the Hope  protestant   Reformed Church
      they are not stained with sin, in order that holiness, right-        herewith expresses its sympathy to our fellow  office:hearer, Mr.     '
      eousness,  sonship,  inhesitance;  and brotherhood may be            John Kalsbeek, in the. loss of his father,
      -imparted to them, through Christ." However, this passage is                              MR. HESSEL DE JONGE
      not found in the writings of Chrysostom, although  August&e,               May the  Gbd of  all grace comfort him in the assurance that
      while trying to explain it away,  .does not dispute the citation.    this is but a passing through to that better land, which is our
      We can easily understand why 2 pejagian,.  denying original          hope, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
                                                                            :                                   Rev. H. Hanko, President  i
      sin, should present such  3 quotation;  Pelagianism,  we  un-                                             John Lanning, Clerk





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

                                                                                   of Christ, facts which are the same for both the Arminians
            The Voice- of Our Fathers                                         II and those of Reformed persuasion. These facts are :
                                                                                       1)  .The gospel must be and is preached promiscuously
                    The Canons of Dordrecht                                        and without distinction to all nations and to all persons
                                  PART TWO                                         whom it reaches.
                                                                                      2.) When that gospel is preached, there is, on the part
                      EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS                                     of `many, an unbelieving reaction against it, and these many
                      SECOND  HEAD  OF DOCTRINE                                    who do not believe perish. This is simply a fact, which nei-
          0~  THE  DEATH OF CHRIST,  AND THE REDEMPTION                            ther the Reformed man nor the Arminian can deny. It has
                            OF  MEN  THEREBY                                       always been the case, also in Biblical times, and is the case
                 Article 7. But as many as truly believe, and are de-              still today.
                 livered and. saved from sin and destruction through                  3) When that gospel is promiscuously proclaimed, there
                 the death of Christ, are indebted for this benefit
                 solely to the grace of God, given them in Christ from             is, `on `the part of some, a believing reaction, and these who
              everksting,  and not to any merit of their own.                      believe are saved. This is also a simple fact for both the
         It is again a matter of regret that in this article the Engr              Arminian and the Reformed man.
  lish translation, while it adheres to the idea of the original                      The question is, however : what is the explanation of these
  Latin, does not adhere more strictly to the language of the                      facts ? The Arminian charges, of course, that the Reformed
  original, which is more forceful. Since the article is not                       man has no explanation for these facts, and that his Re-
  long, we will take space to quote the Latin and to present a                     formed position does not agree with the facts. And the
  more literal translation.                                                        Remonstrant maintains that these facts can be explained
   `The Latin reads as follows:                                                    only from this position: 1) That Christ died for all and for
            Quotqztot  adem  were  credunt, et  pm'  ~mortenr  Christi             every man, thus accomplishing the possibiZity of redemption
            a peccatis, et intektu libemdur ac sejvantztr,  ilEs hoc               for men in general. 2) That, however, the matter of the
            beneficiztm,  ex  sola  Del  gvatia,  qztaw~  neuttini   &bet,  ab,    believing or unbelieving reaction to this possibility of salva-
            aetemo  ipsis   i,n  Clwisto  ohta, obtingit.                          tion in Christ, and therefore the effectualness or inefficiency -,
         And a more literal translation would be:                                  of that death of Christ, is solely up to man. Furthermore,
            But as many as truly believe, and through the death                    the Arminian bends every effort in his opposition to the Re-.
            of Christ from their sins, and destruction are liberated               formed position in order to show by "hook or crook" that
            and rescued to those this benefit falls (obtingo-to fall               one must come to the theory of general atonement.
            to one's lot,,happen,  befall) out of grace that is of God                 It was in this connection that we noted in our discussion
            alone (literally : out of the only-of-God grace), which                of Article 6 that the Arminian forces the Reformed man to
            he owes to no one, which has been given them  in                       .attribute  the guilt of unbelief to man, by charging that the
            Christ from eternity.                                                  truth of limited atonement means that the sacrifice of Christ
         For a correct understanding of this article, it is  neces-                is defective and insufficient: His sacrifice `was not valuable
sary to understand its setting.                                                    enough to save those that do not believe. And therefore, so I
         And then we must note, in the first place, that this article              the Arminian continued, that poor sinner cannot be blamed
  falls not under the subject of "Divine Predestination, "but                      for his unbelief and is not responsible for his own perdition,
  under that of "The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of                        for he never had an opportunity to be saved: it was a priori
  Men Thereby." Hence, we deal here not directly with. the                         established that there was no blood to cover his sins, no
  decrees of God, but with certain historic facts, namely, the                     redemption for his guilt, no salvation for his soul. Rather,
  death of Christ, the preaching of Christ crucified together                      the Arminian said, we must maintain that Christ's sacrifice
  with the command of faith and repentance,, the disobedience                      covered all sinners. Then it can never be said that His sac-
  to that command on the part of many (Article G), and the                         rifice was defective or insufficient, and then only can it be
  obedience to that command of repentance and faith on the                         maintained that the unbeliever is himself to be blamed .for.
  part of those who' believe (Article 7). While it is true, there-                 his unbelief and consequent perdition. It was over against
  fore, that the article mentions the fact that the grace of God                   this argument, we have seen, that the fathers maintained:
  is "given them from eternity," the main point of the article                     1) That it is not necessary to teach a general atonement in
  is the fact that it is  mere  g?*ace that as many as truly be-                   order to  m&main the guilt of the lost unbeliever. 2) That
  lieve are delivered and saved from sin and destruction, and,                     while they insist on the truth of particular atonement, they
  more specifically still, that it is mere grace that they do be-                  nevertheless also insist that the guilt of unbelief and the
  lieve. In this connection,` we may note, in the second place, that               blame of unbelievers' perdition is in no wise to be ascribed
  this 7th article is. the counterpart of the 6th article : they are               to a defect in the sacrifice of Christ, but is wholly the  sin-
  complementary. These, articles together deal with certain                        ner's. 3) That this'guilt accrues to them when in the gen-
  facts concerning `the, redemption of men through the death                       eral  proclatiation  of the-gospel Christ crucified is evidently


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR~ER                                                  2 8 3

  held before them, and they are confronted- with the com-               For the question is: whence is that faith and that salva-
  mand to repent and believe, but are not obedient to said tion ? Faith and salvation indeed belong together. They
  command. But now - and this is what leads to Article 7 - the        cannot be separated. They are, in fact, according to the  1
  Arminian thinks he has trapped his Reformed opponent in language of this article, one benefit:  ": . . are indebted for                   ..
  his own position. Again, he aims at forcing him to concede          this benefit. . ."
  that atonement must be general, and that the effect of that            And here we have the main point of this article. The
  atonement is dependent upon the will of the sinner. His             source of this benefit is only the grace of God. And again,
  argument is that if the blame of unbelief and perdition is to       the article emphasizes that this is the source. It tells us that
  be, ascribed to the sinner who does not believe, then it fol-       this benefit is  "ex  sola  Dei  gmtia,  osut of  the grace of God
  lows that the  cu*ed,it  for faith and salvation must also be       solely." Hence, the source of this benefit of salvation through
  ascribed to the sinner who does believe. In other words, the        faith is not the mind and will and heart of the sinner to
  Arminian claims that the same spiritual, ethical relationship       whom the gospel is proclaimed, but the grace of God. What
  obtains between the unbeliever, his unbelief, and his per-          does grace mean-? Grace means a free gift. God's grace is
  dition, on the one hand, and between the believer, his faith,       His favor, according to which He wills to make the object
  and his salvation, on the other hand.                               of that grace blessed with Himself. It is the divine power
     To this the fathers reply in Artcle  7: non seqwitw, it does     also whereby that will is carried out, whereby the object of           -
  not follow. Let us briefly analyze their reply.       _             His grace is actually blessed. That divine grace, as the atti-
     First of all, they maintain the relation between faith and       tude of God and as the power of God, is the source, then, of
  salvation : faith is indeed the way and. the means to salvation.    this benefit. It is the source not only of the salvation and
  It is, as they maintained, already in Article 5, those that be-     liberation from sin and destruction, but also of the faith and
  lieve in Christ crucified that are delivered and saved from         the act of believing. That grace is  free.  And it is the very
  sin and destruction through the death of Christ. -The fathers       opposite of works: "And if by grace, then is it no more of
  are always careful to maintain this, since the Arminians al-        works  :. otherwise grace is no more grace. `But if, it be of
  ways charge them with denying it. And especially here they          works, then is it no more `grace: otherwise work is no more
  are careful to abide by the facts. Remember, the fact facing        work." Rom. 11 :6. Hence, there is no merit in our salvation
  both the Arminian and the Reformed man in this phase of             `whatsoever. While the guilt. of unbelief is wholly the sin-
  the controversy is: some believe and are saved. The fathers         ner's, the credit of salvation through faith is not at all the
  are quite content to grant that plain fact. It surely is not        sinner's, but wholly Gods.
  thus,, that God chose some, that Christ' died for them, and            This truth the Canons emphasize by a three-fold quali-
  that now they are simply saved,  nolens-volens,   and that faith    fication of this grace': 1) It is literally, according to the
  nowhere enters into the picture. No,  "as many as believe,          original, a grace that is only of God. In no wise is that grace
  and are delivered and saved from sin and destruction," -            or the reception of that grace to be explained as having its
  they are the subject of discussion in this article. In fact,        reason in the sinner. 2) It is grace which God owes to no
  the fathers stress this fact by inserting the word "truly."         one. No one, unbeliever or believer, can ever say he has a
  Faith is by no-means a non-essential in the process of sal-         claim upon the grace of God. If grace were ever a matter of
  vation, and therefore it must indeed be a genuine faith also.       the worthiness of its objects, sinners, then there would be no
  It is by no means impossible that there is at the same time         grace for any sinner. .God's grace is absolutely undeserved,
  in that word "truly" a barb for the shadow and superficial          forfeited. But even apart from the matter of sin, no creature,
  Arminian conception of believing in Christ. At any rate,            - just because of the fact that he is a  creatttre,  - could
  the subject is those who truly believe, that is, those who          ever have any claim upon divine grace. It is free, sovereign,
come to Christ as poor, lost, damnworthy sinners in them-             independent. Otherwise grace is no more grace ! 3) And
  selves, who apprehend in Christ and His benefits the fulness        finally, the fathers allude in this article to something they
  of their emptiness, who embrace Him with the certain knowl-         did ,not mention in Article 6 : God's eternal decree. To seal
  edge and hearty confidence of faith. They are delivered and         ithe true character of that grace, and to rule out any possible
  rescued from sin and destruction. They are translated from          credit to the sinner, they emphasize that this grace was given
  the darkness to God's marvelous light. Christ has died for          us from eternity in Christ. When you and I were not there,
  them. He has paid their debt of guilt. And they are lib-            when we could not possibly have done anything .to merit or
  erated from sin not only  ; but also from its consequences,         to forfeit that grace, long before we were ever born, in the
  death and hell, they are rescued. And let no one charge the         mysterious depths of eternity, God's attitude of favor and
  Reformed faith' with denying that those who truly believe           His will to bless us in Christ were there, and were upon us
  are saved. Nor let the Reformed man be afraid to proclaim           who believe in time. In other words,  ~God's  grace was al-
  it. Let him emphasize even that faith must be genuine.              ways, eternally, upon us. It had no beginning; and therefore
      But then let him speak of faith, not works.                     it could never be due to us, who are creatures of time. Sobi
      And that means that he will speak of' grace, nor merit.         Deo  gloria!                                            H. C. H.


2 8 4                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                    of God," those engaged in it should be somewhat acquainted
           DECENCY and ORDER                                        with the families to be visited and must be well versed in
                                                                    the Scriptures in order that the Word may be effectually
                                                                    ministered according to the particular need and circum-
                    Family  Visitatiori                             stances. This knowledge should not be difficult to acquire
                                                                    if one is faithful in respect to the general task of "watching
                         (Continued)                                over the Lord's heritage."
                          E. Method                                    Thereupon one is equipped to call upon the people of
                                                                    God to inquire after their spiritual well-being, to comfort,
   Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of the work of         assist and instruct them in the truth of the Word and to
family visiting is the selection of the proper and most effec-. exhort and admonish. in love as the need may require. AS
-tive method. On the one hand, careful attention must' be           is stated on p. 71 of "Taking Heed To The Flock," "The
given that there is some-definite system and order followed         elders will not be able to decide before hand just what they
in this work with a view to attaining its spiritual objective.      shall say and do. A detailed plan of procedure would be of
Unless this is done the work, haphazardly done, will prove          value only if we could predict with reasonable accuracy how
to be fruitless. On the other hand, however, the same cau-          the'members of the congregation react under certain circum-
tion must be taken to avoid making this work a matter of            stances. Since the depths of the heart are known to God
formal routine. The `members of the family are then simply          alone and only some small part is revealed at any time, we
confronted with a list of. prepared questions ; answers are         .will have to rely upon  .the Holy Spirit for wisdom and
hastily heard and the visit is considered completed. Such           guidance in approaching the needs of the people."
formal legalism, however systematic it may be, affords little          With respect to the manner in which to conduct the actual
spiritual benefit. This method is no improvement over the           visit we wish to pass on to our readers the following "Notes"
complete lack of system. Both are extremely dangerous and           by the Rev. G. M. Ophoff which we feel contain some valu-
must be scrupulously avoided in selecting a proper method           able suggestions and directives which will be helpful in keep-
for the performance of this work. To find a method that is          ing family visiting in the right spiritual channels. This any
entirely free from both errors is not the simplest matter.          method selected must do or the very purpose of the work is
   Although it is important that there be some definite plan        defeated. We then quote:
and arrangement followed in performing this work, it is quite          "Each visit should be opened with prayer. It is the
impossible to  ,lay down a specific and inviolable rule govern-     proper way to begin a visit. Through prayer, the pastor
ing the method of procedure to be followed. The work itself         and the sheep visited enter the sanctuary of God consciously.
is spiritual and, therefore, the selection of a method will to a    IThat is where the pastor and his sheepl must be during the
great extent have to be determined by the spiritual condition       hour of visit. Then the visit is certain to bear good fruit.
and circumstances of each family  ,visited.  It may be very         Opening with prayer, the pastor avoids the pitfall of being
advisable that the visitors alter their method of approach          directed in his conversation, and this at the very outset, by
according to these circumstances. Because of this, whatever         the members visited into purely secular paths of thought;
method is selected will necessarily demand a certain amount         thus in paths that lead, the longer they are `persued, further
of precursory preparation on the part of those called to do         and further away from the things on which he and his sheep
this work. Without this preparation, the best method will           should concentrate. To get back to these things he must take
prove ineffective and the most persuasive labors will be fruit-     a tremendously big step which is very difficult. The opening
less. To this preparation belongs especially two things: _          prayer must, be brief and to the point. In this opening prayer,
    (1  j Since this work is spiritual, it can be fruitfully ac-    the pastor must limit himself to asking for what is needful
complished only in the strength and power of "the .wisdom           for the task of the hour with respect to himself and those
that is from above which is first pure, then peaceable,, gen-       visited. In  .the closing prayer, the pastor or elder remem-
tle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits,       bers the family, parents and children, before God's throne.
without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3  :17)          He invokes the blessing of Christ upon them but always,
Let those then who are called of God to look after the souls        of course, in connection with the circumstances, conditions,
of His sheep enter the `sanctuary of God before each visit          joys and sorrows, trials and temptations. peculiar to that
and on bended knees "ask this wisdom of God Who giveth              family group and to each of its members.
to all  ,liberally,  and upbraideth not; and it shall be given         There is the question whether the opening prayer should -
him." (James 1  5) This is the best possible preparation            be followed by a brief passage from the Scriptures. This is
for the task, fundamentally important and an excellent safe-        an absolute requirement for the task of the pastor is to
guard against all "tyranny, lording and misuse of Christ's          administer the Word of God to each family group. He is
authority."                                                         the preacher of the Word as a visitor of the individual fami-
    (2) Since this work is essentially "ministering the Word        lies as truly as he is the preacher of the Word on the meet-


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                2      8    5

   ings for public worship. The pastor and those visited should        the work that should be tended to by the consistory.  Tjte
   understand this. They should be given to understand that            only pztvfiose is to make sugge.s(ions!
   family visiting is precisely a meeting for private worship.             Family visiting should lay hold of the whole of life  2
   Because it is this, the Scriptures must be read and the verses      `civil, economic, family and church life, and personal- re-
   read should be used as a lead in counselling,  instructing, ad-     ligious life. If it is well with a man's soul, all is well. But
   monishing, exhorting, comforting, rebuking if need be, the          it is not advisable to begin family visiting with personal
   family and its members. This of course does not mean that           spiritual life ; to set out, for example, with questions such as
   the pastor is obligated to limit himself to the teachings and       these : `Are you assured that you are a child of ,God ? Are
   admonitions, etc., contained in the particular Scripture that       you a Christian ? Do you believe you are ? and if the -answer.
   was read. He may turn to other texts, to as many  .as he            be in the affirmative to continue with a question of this char-
   needs. But the point is that those visited must be able to          acter : Why do you believe you are a child of God ? These
   perceive that the Word is actually being administered to            are difficult questions and often prove confusing and they
   them ; that the pastor in instructing and admonishing very          should be reserved. The conversation should lead up to
   actually comes to them with the Word of God. The pastor             them. The thing to do is to put those visited at ease by nat-       -
   should know His Bible. He should be able to turn with               Ural, easy, spiritual conversation. The confidence of  -the
   ease to its cardinal sections or verses,. be able to explain        sheep must be first won. It must be made easy for them to
   them and administer the truth contained in them to those            speak about themselves and matters that concern them per-
.visited.                                                              sonally. The pastor must make it easy for the sheep to open
        It simply cannot be proper to begin family visiting with       their hearts to him. He must remove the distance that sep-
 asking questions; inquiring after the condition of spiritual          arates their hearts from him. He must truly draw nigh unto
   life, for then the pastor begins with the members while he          them and they to him in order that there may be actual
   should begin with the Word of God.               -                  spiritual contact between pastor and sheep. To be sure, much
      Family visiting, of course, consists in something more           depends on the pastor in the achievement of this purpose.
   than preaching the Word, as this is done on the meetings of           Matters upon which the pastor must dwell are the fol-
   public  tYorship. On these meetings the minister is the sole        lowing  : (1) Civil and social life  - The Scriptures require
   speaker. The congregation listens in silence. There can be          that in every department of life and every relation, the be-
   no opportunity for asking questions. But on the meeting             liever lives from the principle of regeneration in following
   for private worship, members too must speak and then their          his daily and earthly persuits of life: In all the contacts and
   speech reveals themselves to the pastor and the conditions          transactions he makes in doing sq. Here is a large field. Of
   and circumstances and trials peculiar to them so that the           course, the questions will vary according'to the kind of work
   Word of God may be administered accordingly. And this               in which the believer is engaged.
   is certainly the purpose of family visitation and the sole
   reason that the pastor asks questions is to encourage the               If he be a common laborer and employee, questions such
   sheep to reveal themselves in relation to Christ and all things     as the following are proper:  (a>  Just what is the character
   that concern them personally."                                      of your work? (b) Do you find it so physically taxing that
                                                                       it interferes with your persuit of the spiritual ? (c) Are you
        Thus far we note that the procedure concerns an effec-         rightly disposed to your employer? Are  you  constantly
   tive method of applying impressively to the individual the          aware that your real employer is the Lord and that you must
   truths of the Word of God. From this principle the practice         be faithful to your earthly employer for His sake  1 (d) Do
   of family visiting then broadens out so that directly or indi-      you know then that the true reward: of your toil you receive
   rectly the Word is applied to every phase of life. Then there       of Him, which is the reward of grace ? (e) Standing in this
   are so many matters for consideration that an hour's time is        faith, do you-  find joy and satisfaction in your work even
  `inadequate even in the smallest families so that careful  selec-    though when your human employer is hard and exacts the
  - tion must be made' according to circumstances. The most            unreasonable  ?
   necessary and urgent matters are not to be evaded but rather
   considered first. To make this work spiritually effective the           If the sheep is an employer of men, questions such as
  healing balm of the Word must be applied to the sorest               these are in order: (a) Can the people who work for  YOU
   wounds. Of course it is natural that this makes the work            know that you are a Christian ? (b) Are you considerate of
   itself the more difficult. Concerning these other matters, Rev.     your employees? (c) Your employees are your neighbors
   Ophof `continues :                                                  whom you are required in `God's law to love. Do  you  do
        "In stating the matters that should be investigated, the       that ?
   purpose is not to provide the family visitors with a body of            For a business man : (a) Can you conduct your business
   rules according to which the investigation always must be           honestly and with a good conscience before God in this evil
   conducted. This would be impossible. That is a  phase of                               (Con,tiwed  orb  page  2 8 8 )

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

                                                                   done. The Synod, at the same time as it drew up the three
              ALL AROUND  US:  :                                   universalizing points, asserted that it still adhered unchang-
                                                                   ingly to the particularistic Reformed standards of the Church.
                                                                   Thus, the Synod put itself in the impossible position of de-
Nova Scotia Pastor Understands the Truth.                          claring itself for and a!gaimt the same thing at the same time.
: ! We promised with this issue to give our readers excerpts       Thus Satan gained a tremendous advantage against the
from the writings of the Rev. Malcolm R. MacKay  of Nova           Christian Reformed Church. His real aim was to get the
Scotia in which he reflects on the doctrine of common grace        Synod to adopt the Arminianizing three points,  - and it
as `set forth by the Christian Reformed Church in 1924, as         succeeded. But in order to prevent the real significance of
well as his agreement with the writings of the Rev. Herman         what had taken place from being generally recognized, Satan
Hoeksema in The Triple Breach in which the latter criti-           spared no pains to get the Synod to declare that it still ad-
cizes The Three Points of Common Grace and sets forth              hered unchangingly to the particularistic doctrines of its
the truth.                                                         historic Reformed  creedal  standards. Hence, the Arminian-
       There will be no need for me to quote again the brief       minded ministers who engineered the three points, and their
quotation Rev. Hoeksema made in the January 1st issue of           supporters,  .have been able technically to keep on  callin;:
the S. B. which quotation was from the same paper I am             themselves Reformed by the simple expedient of saying that
quoting from, namely, The Contender. Our readers may               the Church still adheres to its original Reformed standards.
refer to that issue of the S. B. for Hoeksema's quotation.         However, as the old saying is, `The truth will out!'
       Rev.  MacKay   ,writes  concerning The Three Points of         "It soon became indisputably evident that the real powor
Kalamazoo as follows : "The declaration of the Synod of            in the Church was not its historic Reformed standards, but
the Christian Reformed Church is in the form of three doc-         the Synod's declaration. Instead of the declaration being
trinal points which were allegedly drawn up, not! to modify,       regarded as an `explanation' or `amplification' of the Re-
change or add to the Church's Reformed confessional stand-         formed standards, as was claimed by the Synod, it took on
ards, but merely to `explain' or `amplify' them. However,          the character of a `judge, and those who did not accept or
it is difficult to see how this can be maintained. The three       meekly submit to the Synod's declaration were expelled from
points are not vague, but emphatic, `in what they declare.         the Christian Reformed Church. Thus, Arminianism gained
They do not explain the Church's standards but bring in            the upper hand, in practice as well as in theory. Ho'wever,
another teaching which contradicts them. The historic Re-          God gave discernment to some who saw the real issue and
formed doctrinal standards, whether of the Scottish or of the      took their stand for the truth and against the insidious,
Dutch church, teach that the love and mercy of God is par-         double-faced position into which the Synod had manoeuvred
ticular and manifested to the elect only. However, the Kal-        itself. Under the leadership of the Rev. Herman Hoeksema
amazoo declaration may be summed up by saying that it              and Rev. George Ophoff, these people having been expelled
would universalize the love and mercy of  ,God, declaring          from the Christian Reformed Church, established the Prot-
that it is manifested to the non-elect (in this life) as well      estant Reformed Church `which sought to carry on the Re-
as to the elect. This is not an explanation of the Reformed        formed witness which, in reality, had been abandoned by
standards but a contradiction of them. It is a thoroughly          the Synod of Kalamazoo."
anti-Biblical and Arminian conception of the love and mercy           Rev. MacKay  then proceeds to discuss the pamphlet `A
of God. This paves the way for the denial of the truths of         Triple Breach,, written by Rev. H. .Hoeksema. Here is
God's `sovereign election and reprobation which cannot be          what he has to say about it in general:
maintained if the love of God is universalized and made in-            "The Rev. Herman Hoeksema has written an  87-page
discriminate. If, according to the Arminian doctrine, God's        booklet which states and analyzes the three points of the
love allows for no distinction among men but is `waiting,          Synod's declaration. The full title of this work is : `A Triple
waiting, waiting' for all men to make up their (corrupt)           Breach in the Foundation of the Reformed Truth.' Below
minds to choose Him, then there is no place for the doctrines      the title, on the cover, it is stated that this is `A Critical
of election and reprobation. So then the Synod's declaration       Treatise on the Three Points, adopted by the Synod of the
has laid the foundation for the denial of the heart of the         Christian Reformed Churches in 1924.' Certainly  A Triple
Biblical and Reformed faith, - the sovereignty of God and          Breach is a thorough discussion of the subject written from
unconditional election. However, when men begin td attack          the heart as well as with the mind. The present writer
the great doctrines of the Bible, Satan uses every means at        considers that this treatise throws a full, steady and greatly
his disposal to prevent the issues from being fought on an         needed light upon the present state of the Reformed faith
open battlefield where all can see what is really taking place.    in regard to the heavy and constant pressure exerted against
Instead, Satan always tries to blur or confuse the issues at       it by the universalism' and equalism of Arminianism and
stake. He throws a smoke screen over the battlefield. And          modernism. It has had the over-all effect of coordinating
in the case of the Kalamazoo declaration, this is what was         and integrating (in our thinking) a number of seemingly


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                                            T H E   S T A N `D A R D   B E A R E R                                             287

  contradictory facts and very unsatisfactory attitudes that have       Then, comparing the doctrine of The Three Points with
  long been evident among many Reformed ministers, and               the teaching of Christ in the parable of the wheat and the
  explaining why these things are so. For example, A Triple          tares, he concludes with the following
  Breach  explains  why. many men who profess to hold the               "In verses. 28 and 29 Christ teaches us that it is for the
  Reformed faith are not only at peace with Arminianism but          sake  of  the wheat  (elect) that the tares (non-elect) are
  also are praising out-and-out Arminians as `tine, earnest          permitted to grow undisturbed . . . . . Notice, the tares are
  Christians' and co-operating with them in various ways. It         permitted to grow  undisturbed  . . . . . The Arminianizing
  esplains why these Reformed men are quite satisfactory to          three points take this state of being undisturbed as God's
  the Arminians and accepted by them as really one with              blessing upon the wicked, or His `common grace' or `favour'
  them.  A Triple  Breach  also explains the unwillingness or        to them . . . . . It is a great mistake to think that the
  reluctance of Reformed ministers to take up the struggle           undisturbed, or prosperous, or successful state of non-elect
against Arminianism and its ever-increasing' encroachments           people in this world means that God's favour is upon them.
  upon the people and property of the Reformed faith. A  Triple      This is the mistake that the `common grace' or `favourable
Breach shows that the so-called `Reformed' men who take              attitude' theologians are making.
  such an attitude have actually departed from the Reformed             "The three points teach not only God's favour  to. the
  position, and accepted the doctrines of Arminianism as they        non-elect, but also an inner restraint, and ethical and moral
  are expressed in the three points. This is the case with not       improvement wrought upon their hearts by the Holy Spirit.
  only many ministers in the Christian Reformed Church but           We have shown that the parable proves that there is no
  also with ministers in many other Presbyterian and  Re- ; favour of God upon the non-elect (tares) . . : . The fact that
  formed denominations. A  Triple  Brea.ch also shows that these     there is  (1) no restraint (as alleged in Point II of Kalama-
  Reformed men are professing to adhere to one position while        zoo) is proved by verse 30 where the householder says to
  actually holding to the opposite. In this connection Rev.          his servants, `Let both `(wheat and tares) grow together un-
  Hoeksema uses the illustration of the ancient two-faced god        til the harvest.' . . . . . The fact that there is (2) no im-
  of the Remans  who was called Janus."                              provement (as  allzged  in Point III of Kalamazoo) is also
     Then after stating briefly The Three Points, the Reverend       proved by the same 30th verse and also by verses 38 and
  continues speaking particularly about them as follows :            39 . . . . . But the Kalamazoo declaration not only speaks
     "It ought to be evident to those who know and love the          of a gracious improvement wrought by God upon the hearts
  Word of God that the doctrines taught in the above three           of the non-elect, but also good works done by them, in
  points try to bridge the great gulf which is fixed by the          particular, `civic righteousness.' Where is the `good' that is
  predestinating counsel of God between the elect and the            supposed to be found in the tares, or done by them, called
  non-elect. These are not the doctrines of eternal and un-          here `the children of the wicked one'? We cannot find one
  changing mercy upon the elect, and eternal and unchanging          bit of good of any description in the tares of the parable.
  wrath upon, the non-elect. God had one great purpose, and          Yet the Kalamazoo declaration speaks not only of good, but
  only one, in the creation of mankind, namely, to manifest          also of a very considerable amount of good done in this life
  forth His eternal glory. God uses both the, elect and the non-     by the non-elect. Thus, it can easily be seen from this
  elect to accomplish this single purpose,  - the elect manifest-    clear-as-crystal and outstanding parable of Christ, how far
  ing His mercy and the non-elect His justice. And it is here        off base the three points are. The only way the common
  and now in this present world that God puts into effect, or        grace or favourable attitude theologians can support their
  works out, His eternal decrees of predestination and  reproba-     theory is by a great deal-of  philosophical speculation spun
  tion whereby the elect are effectually called unto life eternal    out of their own minds."
  and the non-elect are effectually hardened'and turned over to         I am sorry that I have to stop here with our quotations
  death eternal. This work of God is constantly going on in          because the Rev.  MacKay  has much more to say. So, the
  this life, -always, in every generation, the elect are being       Lord willing, we will devote just one more issue to this mat-
  prepared by the grace of God for heaven just as the wheat          ter. I am sure that our Protestant Reformed people will see
  is being ripened for the garner. And, at the same time as          that the Rev.  MacKay  speaks our language, and that he
  the wheat is growing and ripening, the tares are growing and       clearly understands the truth.
  ripening also for the time when they will be burned. This is,                                                               M.S.
  according to the parable of Jesus in Matt. 13 :24-30, and its
  interpretation in verses 36-43 . .`.
     "Christ's parable of the wheat and tares is a perfect re-
  buttal to the false doctrines taught in the three points. In                     Into my closet fleeing, as the dove
  fact, this parable, whose meaning Christ makes perfectly clear                       Doth homeward flee,
  in Matt. 13 :36-43, shows up these Arminian doctrines as                         I haste away to ponder o'er thy love
positively foolish."                                                                   Alone with Thee !


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                                                    .       --'

288                                                 THE      ST.ANDARD                         ,BEARER-                        ,;'      `~.     -'

                            I N   MEMORIAM-                                                                 THE DAY OF SHADOWS
 .The  Ho,pe  -Protestant Reformed Men's Society hereby expresses                                            (Co4nued fyom  jagse.2U)
its sincere sympathy to `one of its fellow members, Mr.  John                     denotes Jehovah or Zerubbabel. --In view of the context and
Kalsbeek and family in the recent death  o,f their father and
grandfather,                                                                      because the verb is  h  bring  fo?th as  in 3  ~8, I think it best
  .r                  M R .   HE&L-DE  J O N G                                    to translate here: For  He,`. Jehovah, will bring forth the
           ,                                                                      head stone. What we have here then is a reiteration of <he
and also their aunt                                                               promise set forth .in 2 :8, "For behold, 1. Jehovah, will bring
                       MRS. NELLIE HONDEMA                                        forth Branch. It is  the. same `promise with this difference
   May the bereaved- find comfort in the words of Ps.  34:22,                     that -here Christ is presented to view under the -figure of a
"Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants; and none of them                     branch, while -in 4 :7, He is the chief corner stone. Jehovah
that take refuge in him shall be condemned."                                      brings Him forth. For the explanation of this thought see
                                          Rev. H. Hanko, President                on 3 :8.                               ~'
                                          Mr. J. Dykstra, Secretary                   Jehovah shall bring forth the Christ amidst shouts cry-
                                                                       t          ing, "Grace, grace unto Him," that is grace be unto the
                                                                                  headstone and the house of God that is built upon this stone.
                        CHILDLIKE TRUST                                           God Who brought him forth graced Him by His Spirit. And
           "Now I lay me" - say it, darling ;                                     so He was full of grace and truth.  Indee He received the
                 "Lay me,,' lisped the tiny lips                                  Spirit without measure. And therefore also the angels
           Of my daughter, kneeling, bending,                                     graced Him, And His people graced Him, And as the Spirit
                `O'er her folded finger tips.                                     filled head stone He removed all the iniquities of His people
                                                                                  on the great day of atonement at Golgotha, swallowing up
           "Down to sleep" A `(to sleep," she murmured,                           unto victory all their enemies. And therefore, "the great
                And the curly head drooped low;                                   mountain" shall surely be made a plain before Zerubbabel.
           "I ,pray the Lord," I gently added,                                                                                                        G.M.O.
                 "You can say it all, I know.,,
                                                                                                                  Announcement
           "Pray the Lord" 1 the words came faintly,.
                 Fainter still _ "My soul to keep,'                                        CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE MINISTRY.
           Then the tired head fairly nodded,                                         All young men desiring to study for the Ministry of the
                 And the child was fast. asleep.                                  Word kindly appear at the next meeting of the Theological
                                                                                  School Committee which will be held D.V., on Thursday
           But the dewy eyes half opened                                          evening, May  lOth, at  7:30 P. M.  in the Hudsonville Prot.
                 When I clasped her to my breast,                                 Ref. Church, Hudsonville, Michigan.
           And the dear voice softly whispered,                                       The qualifications requisite to enrollment in our Seminary
                 "Jkamma,  God knows all the rest."                               are the following:
         Oh the trusting, sweet confiding                                             1. You must be a graduate from High School and have
                 Of the child-heart ! Would .that I                               a knowledge of the following College subjects : Latin, Greek,
           Thus might trust my Heavenly. Father,                                  Philosophy, Psychology, History General and Church His-
                 He who hears my feeblest: cry.                                   tory.
                                                                                      2.  ,You must have a certificate from your local  Con-
                                                                                  sistory signifying that you are upright in walk and pure in
                        DECENCY  ANti ORDER                                       doctrine.
                        (Contiiwcd   frost  pa.gc 285)                                3. You must have a certificate of health signed by a
world? (b) Do you feel the peculiar temptations to which                          reputable physician.
you,-in your position,  are exposed? (c) Does the Lord give
you grace to resist these temptations ?                                               All correspondence relative to the above announcement
       If a farmer  : (a) Do you live in the consciousness that                   should be sent to the undersigned.
the earth and its fulness is God's ? (b) Do you cultivate your                                                    Secretary of The Theol. School Comm.
farm  nlerely  for crops ?  (-cc> Do you murmur and rebel                                                         Rev. M.  Schipper,
when God in His Providence destroys your crop ?'                                                                  1636,Martindale  Ave., S. W.,
                            (to be continued)                               .-                                    Grand Rapids 9, Michigan.
                 -


