             VOLuiKE   xXx1x1                    OCTOBER  1,  ~~~~--.GRAND   RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                NUMBEE  1
11                                                                      first Paradise.  It is the song-  .Adam and Eve sang in the
             AWDI'TATlON.                                           11 original state of righteousness. They stood in the midst `of
I'                                                                  4 the glorious woiks?`bf God, and they had to, sing.
                                                                                                 /..
                                                                            But attend to this%the  meter, the rythm, the music, the
                         The New                  Sorig' .              melody, the contents of the old song  -of Paradise the first
        c
              "And they sung a new song, saying,  T,hou  art worthy     was earthy. and temporal. It never rose above the earth, and
              to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for.     earthy things. That's  all. our first parents knew about. It
              Thou wast slain; and hast  iedeemedi  us to God by        was a nice song  ;  it.*was'even  a beautiful song. It was the
              Thy  .blood out  o'f  !very  kindred, -and tongue, and    song of the earthly priests who sang about the wonderful
              people, and nation." `Revelation- 5 9.                    works of God.
                                                                            But it is out-dated. It is past. The-voice of the earthly
      "I cannot sing ,the old songs : they are too dear to me !"        priests was  dhoked  in death. An ugly cloud  outlt of hell
      <That's the dolorous plaint of the world.                         obscured the view  :in,Adam, and a cloud of the wrath of
      `We've heard it sung and played often:                            God descended  uppn the face  ,of the earth objectively.
      That is entirely different with the Church of our Lord                Oh no, we cannot, and we will not sing the old songs.
JesusChrist.  They say: We  zvill not sing the old songs  :                                             -. +:*  *  *
they are too old for me!                                                    What then ?
      The world cannot sing, and they will not sing the old
songs: they are too dear. And I can understand that. Their                  The Lord has given us a new song.
life goes downward. The past was sweeter than the present :                 And of that new song my text'speaks.
it gets worse from generation to generation.. They travel                   Let us listen-to its strains.
to a batlzos :` a depth, the depth of hell. And the end is an               John, the Apostle, saw heaven opened. And in the midst
everlasting dirge in the lake of fire:                                  of heaven there was a great white throne, and One sat on
      The reason is also plain. The subject of their songs is           the throne. Do you notice how I capitalize that One. I
the world, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof.             mean God, and John meant God. But the word "One"
They began their journey in corruption  ;  *and the further             which you find in italics in your- Bible is not in the text.
they travel on that path, the worse it gets. Holy Scripture             It is put there by the translators.' John is very indefinite.
says: from death to death.                                              when he speaks of that ,ONE!  And that is right. It is God,
      But God's people tread a different pathway, the pathway           and He is limitless, Infinite. But God sat on that  .throne
of life. Of it Holy Scripture saith: "But the path of the               in all His beauty.
just is as the `shining light, that shineth more and more unto              And further, he saw in the midst of the throne a Lamb
the perfect day." And of the dolorous way of the wicked                 standing as if slain. And that-is Jesus. So Jesus is in the
the Scripture says : "The way of the wicked is as darkness :            heart of God, for when God is on the throne, and the Lamb
they know not at what they stumble." But we know: they                  in the midst of it, He, that is, Christ, is in the midst, that
stumble over Christ, the ,Rock of offense.                              is, the heart of God.
      Moreover, when the Christians speak of the old songs,                 Now, in the hand of God was a book, written within
they have in mind a different song than the old songs of the            and on the backside, and'sealed with seven seals.
world: The old songs of which the Church speaks, and which                  That is the counsel-of.God  with respect to the things that    _
songs they will not sing, are the beautiful old songs `of the           must shortly dome to pass.
                                                                                                                        ,


                                                                                                                                     1



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

     Seven seals point to the character, the identity of those        From then on Jesus sits at the pinnacle of the whole
things. They are the things of the Kingdom, of the Church         Universe and doeth all things.
of God.                                                               And the chief work He performs is the redemption of
    And John was very desirious to see the contents. So, when     His people.
upon the challenge of the angel, no one is found either in           Redemption is purchasing with a price, and thus to loose
heaven, the earth, or in hell who is worthy to break the          from the prison of death.
seals and open the book of God's love for His people,
John weeps much.                                                      From now on we are not our own anymore: we belong
                                                                  to our Saviour Jesus Christ in life and in death, for time
    But he is comforted by an elder who points to the Lamb,       and eternity. with body and soul and spirit.
but he gives Him the name of Lion. He has prevailed to
open the book, and He has the almighty power to cause the            And not so that we did and do not belong to God. Oh
things of God's kingdom to come to pass.                          no, but so that we did belong to God from everlasting, who
                                                                  gave us to Jesus, so that on the basis of perfect righteous-
    The Lamb of God is worthy to  open the book and to            ness He might do all to set us free, to redeem us, to pur-
break the seals.                                                  chase us, to loose us from the prison of death  and. dam-
    And when that Lamb takes the book from the hand of            nation.
God, all of heaven breaks forth in the singing of a new song.        Furthermore, He has the power to make us unto God
    Ah, yes, that new,song  !                                     kings and priests.
                          *  *  *  *                                 Well, that is heaven. To be God's king means  thai you
                                                                  may rule over a new world of righteousness and beauty.
    They sung a new song!                                         And to be a priest is that you may dedicate yourself and the
    Oh, everything is new, since that' little book is taken,      new world to God. It means that you may love God with
opened, and the things come to pass.                              all your mind and heart and strength.
    I hear of a new people, a new Jerusalem, a new land              Who would not sing ?
that is fairer than day, a new Prophet, Priest and King, a
new heaven and a new earth where righteousness shall dwell.                                    *  *  *  *
Everything is new. And so, the song must be new too.
    Wherein does this worthiness of the Lamb of God con-              Oh yes, they sing !
sist ?                                                               The text tells us that they sung a new song.;
    "For Thou wast slain !"                                          Christ Jesus is the first one to sing this song princi-
    To be slain is worse than to be merely killed. When you       pally. For He did all the work of this redemption. And
are slain your life-blood is drained, Hence, in the sequence      as .a reward He received a name that is above every name
we read of His blood which was the price of redemption.           in this world and in the world to come. His reward is with
When you are slain you are entirely gone. It is the absolute-     Him henceforth and unto all eternity.
ness of death, and in this case: eternal death. Jesus died the    I say principally, for we hear this new song also in
eternal death for the chosen of God ,Almighty.                    Adam and Eve after they have been called by God from out
    This being slain refers to all the horrors through which      of the arms of the devil.
this Lamb of God passed. He stood in the everlasting storm           And later we hear Moses singing by the shores of the
of  .God's wrath that otherwise would have burned us in           Red Sea. It shall be referred to later as the song of Moses.
nethermost hell. And that made Him worthy.                           But really, principally, all the singing of this new song is
    Look at Him there in that everlasting storm of hellish        done by Jesus who dwelled in His people from the begin-
torment: He sings His song of loving obedience to the             ning of the new work of redemption.
Father : "Father, it is my meat and drink to do Thy will !"          Christ is singing in all the psalms of David.
In the midst of all His untold and indescribable suffering He
said continually : "I love Thee, o My God and Father !"              All-the Hallelujah's are inspired by Him.
    That made Him worthy to open the book and to break               And in the fulness of time He began to sing that song
the seven seals of the Covenant.                                  when He was raised from the dead in the garden of Joseph.
                                                                  Oh, how happy the Christ must have- been when He came
    And to open and to break means that He has the power          to human consciousness in His raised body, when, His Spirit
to discern the hidden counsel of God, and, secondly, the -which He commended into His Father's care returned to
power to make the things He reads therein to come to pass.        earth and was united with His glorious body of the. resur-
    Jesus is at the helm of God's ship: Hallelujah                rection.


     I                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                   .3

              And He kept on singing from that moment on, on tha
          earth during the forty days, and in heaven among the souls                              T:HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
          made perfect before His Father's throne.                              Semi-monthly, except  mo&hly  &ring   June,  July  aild August
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          will pay My vows before them that fear Him." Psalm 22 :25.                                  Editor - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
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              And He fulfilled that promise when He ascended to                 H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
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          text. John .heard  a great multitude singing a new song.              to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
              And here on earth we also sing, although our voice often                                  Stibscription  price: $4.00 per year
          breaks. We are yet so sinful.                                         Entered  as  Seco&   @X.S matter  `at Grand Rapids, Michigan
              The great multitude, and they are out of all kindreds,
          tongues, peoples and nations, That  mea&  that THE world
          is saved. The world is saved  .in the elect from out of all                                             CQNTE`
                                                                                                                                      NTS
          p e o p l e s ,   e t c .                                          MEDITATION -
              In another place we read that they only can sing this           T h e   N e w   S o n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l
          new song who .have come out of the great tribulation. They                        Re< G. Vos
          are  those  who carry the precious seed in their bosom, and
          that seed is Christ by His Word and Spirit. And that makes         EDITORIALS -
          them new creatures. But they are alsi, for that very reason                Election and Reprobation. . . .                      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          killed all the day.                                                         Unbiblicai Divorce and Remarriage.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . .5
              No, we cannot sing the old songs. Not because "they are                    Rev. H. Hoeksema
          too dear to me," but because they are gone forever. They
          disappeared with the fall of man.                                  OUR  DOCIXINE-
I             But we will sing the new song, `the song of redemption.                 The Book  af  Revelation.......;...........................7
                                                                                            Rev.  H. Hoeksema
              For Jesus' sake, and, in the last instance, fey God's sake!
I -:                                                                         FROM HOLY  WRIT-
                                                                 G. Vos.             Exposition of I Corinthians l-4 (20). . . . . . . . . . . .-. . . . . . . . . .13
                                                                                            Rev. G. Lubbers
                                                 .                                                                                                                         '
                                                                             IN HIS  FEAR -
              "No one has faith, who is not thankful for  it;  for all               Praying in His Fear (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`. . . . . . . .15
I         those who have tasted of the grace of God show themselves                         Rev. J. A: Heys
I         thankful to God for it, and desire it more and more, as is         CONTENJJING FOR THE FAITH -
I written, "The love of God is shed abroad in -our hearts by                         The Church and the Sacraments...........................17
I                                                                                    _  R e v .   H .   Veldman
          the Holy Ghost which is `givea unto us,' Remans.  5 :5."
                                       Ursinus,  Heid.  Catechism, page 620 THE VOICE 0~ OUR FATHERS -                                       -
                                                                                     The Exposition of the Canons  of Dordrecht..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
                                                                                       .Rev.  H. C. Hoeksema
              "We may also observe, that another reason for good             DECENCY AND ORDER-
          works may be deduced from the consequences which result                    The Diaconate and other Almoners (Cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
                                                                                            Rev. G.  V&den  Berg
          from  evil works; viz., that all those who perform evil works,
          and continue in their wicked and ungrateful lives, cannot be       ALL  AROUND  Us-
                                                                                     The First Three Days af Creation-Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
          saved inasmuch as they are destitute of true faith, and con-               President Signs Clergy Plane Fares Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
          version."                                                                  The Free Offer of the Gospel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
                                       Ursinus, Heid. Catechism, page 467


  4                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
        .-                                                    . .                .-
                                                        .            .     .-
                     E  D  ,  T                                                        N.Gw,   .rafi;er than analyse the reasoning of Berkouwer, where-
                                      o  R  ,  *  p  s,--                 .I:
  II                                                                        I -by he tries to show that Paul is not speaking of elect and
                                                                                       reprobate,  -1 prefer to study the text for a moment in its
                                           .I
                                                  :.                                   context.
                        Election and Reprobation  :'                                       The remote context is, perhaps, well known to -us. Thkre
              That Berkouwer has but little sympathy for the Scriptural                the apostle had made a distinction between the, children of
  truth of reprobation is evident from more than one passage                           the promise and the children  of7 the flesh. This he had
  of his book "The Election of God." One of these passages                             further illustrated by the example of Jacob whom God
  is found on p. 254 where he tries to explain Rom.  9:22 in                           loved and Esau whom He hated. He emphasized, moreover,
  such a way that it does not refer to reprobation. He refers.                         that in all this God cannot be accused of unrighteousness since
  especially to  the words : "the vessels  ' of wrath fitted to                        He is sbvereign to be merciful.to  whom He -will.
  destruction." And on these  wo?ds he writes as follows (I                                In the, immediate context, the apostle had referred to
  t r a n s l a t e )   :                                                              Pharaoh and stated that God  had raised him  .up for the
              "Especially the words `fitted-to' destruction' are more than             very purpose that He might show His  pow& in him and
  once mentioned in connection with the problem of the" sym-                           that His name might be declared throughout  all the earth.
  TIetry and  paralleli&. C 1
                                     a vin spoke without hesitation of                 And then the apostle concludes with the well-known words:
  "the reprobate as the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction as                      "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
  they were appointed unto their lot even before their birth:                          whom he wili he hardeneth."
  It  is. true that in  Roin. 9  :22 no mention is made as to the                          Now, nbte that in this eighteenth verse of Rom. 9 the
  manner in which'they became such vessels of wrath,  but this                         apostle certainly puts the will of God to- harden any man
  must be explained from the fact that the cause  .of this is                          on a par with the will of God to show mercy to anyone.
  hiid& in  the'  counsel  of God. Calvin wants to apply this                          No Reformed man will deny that the will of God to show
  word to reprobation, to the praedestinatio ad mortem, a no-                          mCrcy  to anyone is absolutely sovereign and rests in His
  tion which  ai .the present time is  sh&red by but few, and                          eternal counsel of sovereign election. But then it follows
  that not because they want to weaken the sovereignty of.                             that the will of God to harden man is equally Sovereigii  and
  God but because there occurs here a replacement which can-                           flows from the eternal counsel of reprobation. It is impossible
  not be  deduckd  from Paul's argument. No doubt Paul has                             to deny this.
  in view the holy and mighty wrath of God. But everything                                That this is, indeed, the meaning is clear also' from what
  is concentrated here around  the question what is meant by                           follows. For *the tiatural  man this is a hard doitrine.  Against
  the vessels  of wrath fitted to destruction. Undoubtedly, Paul                       it the sinful heart rebels. The truth which the apostle had
  is thinking here of Israel. Even  as God wanted to show                              been developing brings us face to face with the revelation of
  His wrath in respect `to Pharaoh, thus also. in respect to                           the absolute Sovereign, Who accomplishes all His good pleas-
  Israel ; but at the same time and through it all He manifests                        ure. And,. therefore, the natural many  immediately raises an
  His glory. -Also here the reference isa not to an independent                        objection. This objection, which the apostle intercepts, is as
  analysis of the individual lot of man, but to the paths of the                       follows: ":Thoti  wilt say then unto me, if `the case be really
  electing God through history. Paul does not mean to show                             thus, if God not only shows mercy to whom He will, but also
  a symmetry, two separate lines, namely, of  tli& vessels of                          hardens whom He will, why doth He yet find fault, seeing
  wrath (from the viewpoint of reprobation) and of the ob-                             that surely no man can ever resist His will ? If it pleases
  jects of mercy  .(from the viewpoint of election) but  ,in  rhp                      Him to harden me, I certainly cannot  help it, and He surely
  zan_v  of God's wrath over Israel  the riches of God's glory                         cannot find fault with me if I sin." Such is the dbjection.
  is made known . . . . over us "whom he hath `called,                                    And how does the apostle answer this objection ?L- Does
  not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.' "                                   he attempt to soften somewhat the sharp and hard lines of
              Is this language plain to you, reader?                                   this doctrine? Does .he, perhaps, explain that God, indeed,
              It is not to me. It seems that as often as the truth of                  hardens whom He will but that this refers only to those
  predestination and particularly of reprobation is to  bc denied                      who first harden themselves 7 Does he answer that he does
  under the cloak of being Reformed refuge must be sought                              not refer to the counsel of election and reprobation ? Qn the
  in language that camouflages and is calculated 10 cover up                           contrary, he first puts man in the dust before God where
  the truth rather than plainly to expr'ess  it.                                       he belongs : "Whti art thou, o man, that answerest against
              This,.to my mind, is also the case here.                                 God ? The potter hath power over the clay to do with it as
              What Berkouwer wants to show is that the words                           he pleases." He strictly maintains the absolute sovereignty
  `fvessels  of wrath  fitted>to destruction" do not refer to re-                      of  .God in predestination. And then, in the text Berkouwer
  probation or to the reprobate.'                                                      was attempting to  expl,ain  as having nothing to do with
              He must  haye  n6thing  of Calvin's explanation that the                 .election and reprobation,, he maintains  God's,  `,absolutely
vessels of wrath are the reprobate who were, even before                               sovereign dealings with elect and reprobate, the vessels of
  they were born, i.e. in God's counsel, fitted unto destruction.                      wrath and the vessels of mercy.

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

   Let us quote the entire passage :                                the sincerity of his repentance, cease living in ordinary
   "What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make             marriage relationship with his present spouse."
his power known, endured with much longsuffering the                   These are, in my opinion, very strange propositions,
vessels of wrath fitted unto destruc&n ; and that he might          wholly unworthy of .a synod. I say this without regard to
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,         the truth or falsity of these propositions themselves.
which he hath  afore  prepared unto glory."                            The reason for this my opinion is that these propositions
   What, let us ask, is meant, according to the entire con-         are entirely and only negative. And besides, they are negative
text and also according to the text itself, is meant by the         only with regard to the attempted proof, attempted by other
phrtise "vessels of mercy?" The answer is: the seed of the          synods, perhaps, and by committees of synod that labored
promise, those on whom God will sovereignly have mercy' with this  qudstion before and came to the conclusion that
according to His eternal dounsel.  In other words, they simply      persons; that were divorced on the ground of their own
are the elect. But if this is true, and it is true, what then,      adultery or on non-biblical grounds and that remarried,
according to the very sharp contrast in the text, as well ac-       lived `in continual adultery and,' in order to prove their true
cording to entire context, is meant by the phrase: "vessels of      repentance, must separate from their present spouse and
wrath  ?" The answer is : they are the same as the children         thus cease to live in adultery.
according to the flesh, the Esau's whom God sovereignly                The result is that, in these two propositions, the synod
hates, whom He sovereignly hardens according to His coun-           declared absolutely nothing, at least, nothing positive..
sel.- That this is the meaning of the text in its context there        They only declared what thzt.s far others had not done.
can be no doubt.                                                       Did the synod declare, in these propositions,  that, on
   And what may be the meaning of the phrase "fitted to             the basis of Scriptural evidence, persons that remarried after
destruction ?" Again, let us consider the last part of the text     such non-biblical divorce lived in legal and proper inter-
first. Of the vessels of mercy it is said that "he had  afore       course with their present spouse  ? It did not declare anything
prepared them unto glory." What can be the sole meaning             of the kind.
of  "afore prepared" according  tom the phrase itself as well:         Did the synod declare that such a remarriage, after a
according to the entire context? This, that before they were        divorce on the ground of their own adultery or on' non-
born,, before the world was, in His eternal counsel, God            biblical grounds, made the former marriage null and -void 7
had fitted them in the organism of His elect church so that         Again we say, it did nothing of the kind.
they might enter into His eternal tabernacle in the new                Did the synod even declare that those that had expressed
creation. If in this light we explain the phrase "fitted to         themselves on the question before this had not furnished any
destruction," there is but one answer : the rest, the reprobate,    Scriptural proof for their position that persons, thus re-
were, in the counsel of God, prepared for eternal destruc-          married, after a divorce on the ground of their' own adultery
tion, before they were born, before the world was, yea,             or on other non-biblical grounds, lived in continual adultery
fro!? ail eternity.                                                 and, in order to prove the sincerity of their repentance?-
  Berkouwer does not like this, I know.                             They did `not even do this. Synod merely  ekpressed  that
   But it is the truth according to Scripture, nevertheless.        the evidence produced was not "substantial and conclusive."
   If he thinks that I am wrong, let him prove it to me,               Such negative propositions declare absolutely nothing:
not  with his own philosophy, but with sound exegesis of            They are unworthy of any ecclesiastical assembly. No church.
Holy  -Writ.   --                                         H.H.      can live by them.  _
                                                                       Moreover, they are very dangerous.
                                                                       For, although they declare exactly nothing, they, never-
       Unbiblical   Divqrce  and Remarriage                         theless leave the impression that they express something
   We will, first of all, -analyze and criticize the different      definite and positive: that Scripture justifies such  non-
propositions about divorce and remarriage adopted by the            biblical remarriages.
synod of the Christian Reformed Church last summer.                    This impression was left even open and by  th& very
   The first  `two, propositions are the original ones, the         synod that adopted these negative propositions. For, one
others were added later. We quote them here once more:.
                               ./                                   of the later propositions that were added to the above two,
    "1. No substantial  atid conclusive evidence has been           the contiistories  are advised as follows :
produced to establish the thesis that parties remarried after          "4. The consistoriks  a;e advised that  people who are
being divorced on  the;.ground  of their own  gdultery,  or di-     guilty of  - unbiblical divorce or who are divorced as the
vorced on non-biblical grounds are living in continual              result of their own adultery and, having remarried, seek
adultery.              `-.:                                         entrance or re-entrance into the church shall show their sor-
    "2. No substantial and conclusive Scriptural evidence has       row and genuine repentance during an adequate period of
been produced to warrant the demand that a person remarried         probation. Such cases shall not be settled without the advice
after being divorced on the ground of his own adultery, or          of Classis."
divorced on' non-biblical grounds, must, in order to prove              Is this fourth proposition based on the two propositions


 6`                                          THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   .

 quoted above  ? Of course not. For the latter  ar-e negative         biblical  grounds is perfectly proper and legal in the sight of
 and the former is quite positive, and you cannot possibly            God, rendering all previous marriages nul and void, so that
 base a positive advice on a merely negative declaration. But.        their sexual intercourse is perfectly holy in the sight of God.
 the trouble is that synod either knowingly played  hocz~             Hence, synod declares that, if such persons only confess the
 S~OCUS  Or was itself not awai-e that the first two propositions     sin of their former adultery and divorce they must be  ad-
 wei-e  negative and that, therefore, they could not base             mitted  or re-admitted into the church."
 positive advice Upon them.                                               YOU  understand, of course, that I do not agree with'this
                                                                      advice. But it is a positive proposition, and I wonder whether
       The only proper advice synod could have given to the           the synod would adopt such d propositon.                            H.H.
 consistories on the basis of the first two propositions is the
 following, negative advice.:
       "The consistories are advised that people who a;e guilty                                    NOTICE!              -
 of unbiblical divorce or who are divorced as the result of               The following have been placed on  ~trio by the Creston
 their own adultery and, having remarried, seek entrance or           Protestant Reformed Church. Candidate  ;Bernard  Wouden-
 re-entrance into to the church, cannot be admitted as  l&g           -berg, Rev. G.  Vanden Berg and Rev. H. H.  Kuiper.
 as no Scriptural proof is furnished that such a remarriage is,                               Consistory of  Creston Prot. Ref. Church
 on the basis of Scripture, justifiable."
       It is evident, however, that, in this fourth proposition,
 synod merely proceeds from the -presupposition that such                        Schedule of Feature Articles fdr
 proof has been furnished and such entrance or re-entrance             Standard Bearer, and Replacements for 1957
 into the church is justifiable.                                                                                                  Rubric  and'
       Such is the danger of mere .negative  propositions: They       Date      Feature Article and Author                     Author Replaced
 declare nothing but they leave the impression that they,             Jzin.  1  -  The Four Kinds of Soil in  the---   ,--Voice  of our Fathers
 nevertheless, announce Scriptural principles on the basis of                  Parable of the Sower.                           H. C. Hoeksema
 which the church may  act: a positive action on a purely                      H. Hanko
 negative basis !                                                     Feb.  l--Old  Age Pension  _____________._____  Decency and Order
       Let us ask a moment: how often may this principle (for                   C. Hanko                                        G.  Vanden  Berg
 a principle it is after all, though its basis is negative) be ap-
 plied ? How often may a persop  commit the sin of unbiblical         March 1  - The Significance of  the--:  -Contending for the Faith
 divorce an< the further sin, of unbiblical remarriage, commit                 Questions Asked on the Occasion of                   H. Veldman
 this sin, confess, and be maintained as a member  of. tlie                     Making Public Confession. R. Veldman
 church, or be admitted as a member? Only once? But then              April  1 -The Lion in the  Old Testament ____________ In His Fear
 there is something wrong with the principle. A .principle  must                G. Lanting                                           J. A. Heys
 be capable of application whenever the circumstances or con-
 ditions call for its application. Besides,. this is surely con-      May  1 -The Symbolism of Metals in  the~~~~~~~~Prl1  Around  US
 trary to  Scriptme.  For the Word of God plainly teaches                       Old Testament. R. Harbach                           M.  Schipper
 that a sinner may commit a certain sin an unlimited number           June  11 The Significance of the  ~able~~~~~~~~~Frorn  Holy Writ
 of times, seventy times seven, and if he repents and confesses                 of Shewbread. E. Emanuel                             G. Lubbers
 his sin he must be  fqrgiven  and received again into the
 communion of saints. Hence, a person may be divorced on              July l-The Sign of the Son of Man  in------_.Day  of Shadows
 unbiblical grounds or` on the basis of his own adultery, not                   Heaven. J.  McCollam                              G. M. Ophoff
 only once or even twice, but an unlimited number of times,           Aug. 1 -The Significance of the __________ Voice of our Fathers
 and just as often remarry, and if he repents and confessed                     Candlesticks. H. Hanko                          H. C. Hoeksema
 he must be accepted, for, mark you well, he never lives in
 continual adultery no matter how often he is divorced and            Sept.  l-TT.he Significance of the  Altar~~~~~~Decdncy  and Order
 remarried. That would throw the church  wide open for all                      of Incense. C. Hanko                           G.  Vanden  Berg
 kinds of adultery and even for "free love."                          Oct. 1 -The Symbolism of Colors in----Contending for the Faith
       And all this follows from the fact that the synod based                  Scripture. R. Veldman                               H. Veldman
 its positive advice and principle on two negative propositions.      Nov. `l-That Dangerous High School  Age---------In  His Fear
       I would, therefore, advise the Christian Reformed Church                 G. Lanting                                           J. A. Heys
 to come.to its next Synod with the following positive propo-
 sition :                                                             Dec. 1 -The Harmony Between Righteousness--From Holy Writ
                                                                                and Mercy. R. Harbach                                G. Lubbers
       "The Synod declares that the Word of ,God, in the Scrip-                         The Committee for Feature Articles,
 tures, clearly teaches that the remarriage of persons that are                                                              Rev. J. A. Heys
_ divorced on the ground of their own adultery or on  un-                                                               -.Rev.  H. Veldman


                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            7

                                                                        seven churches in Asia. In order to understand these mes-
              O U R   D O C T R I N E                               II sages we must bear in mind the relation of these seven
                                                                        churches to the seven golden candlesticks in the vision of
                                                                        1 :9-20. The latter are symbolic of the Church from an ideal
                   THE BOOK OF REVELATION                               viewpoint, perfect and holy, as it has its light and life in
                                 C h a p t e r   I I I                  Christ. It can never perish. None of them can ever be
                                                                        removed from its place. Were the church on earth identical,
                                 R e v .   119-20         .             with perfectly like that which is symbolized in the candle-
      C                                                                 sticks, messages like those that are contained in the next two
       HRIST IN THE MIDST OF THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS                    chapters of Revelation would neither be necessary nor ap-
       "The things which are" refer to the things then present as propriate. But the seven churches of Asia represent the
   a basis for the things, tcr come, and, therefore, to the things      church on earth, essentially holy, but still imperfect, earthy,
   that are always present, for as the Dutch poet Bilderdijk ex-        and characterized by many infirmities and sins. Hence, they
   pressed it :                                                         are subject to  rebuke  and exhortation, and even to threats
                   "In `t verleden ligt het heden,                      of judgment atid utter distinction. The candlestick of a local
                    In het nu, wat  worden   zal."                      church, may, indeed, be removed but of its place. A church
       And "the things which shall be hereafter" are the future         on earth may cease to be manifestation of the Church as she
   things as ihey develop according to God's counsel from "the          appears in the symbolism of the seven golden  c&dlesticks.,
   things that are." From this it will be evident that we do not           Before we enter upon a discussion of the seven. letters,
   believe that any mechanical devision  of the book of Revela-         a word must still be said about the general significance of
   tion can properly be deduced from this passage, as if "the           the seven churches to which they are addressed. They were
things that are" must be found in the next two chapters,                really existing churches at- the time when John is  cqmmis-
   while "the things which shall be hereafter" are recorded in          sioned, to write to them, but at the same time they present
   all that follows chapter III. For, even if the "things which         a sevenfold picture of the church on earth throughout this
   are" would be applied exclusively to the seven churches in           dispensation. They were not the only churches existing
   Asia in the first place, it cannot be denied that those churches     ut the time, but they are selected because in them was found
   and the sevenfold message they receive also lbok toward fhe          the clearest and most complete picture of the .church  of all
   future of the. Church in the world. For those seven churches,        ages. The question, however, is raised whether the complete-
   as we have seen, represent the Church in the world through-          ness of the church, as represented by these seven churches,
   out -this whole dispensation. The contents of the first three        must be understood as referring to a simultaneous or to a
   chapters deal, therefore, with both: "the things that are" and       successive totality. Do these seven churches represent the
   "the things which shall be hereafter." And the same holds true       church on earth as she exists at any period of this dispensa-
   for the rest of the book. `Throughout, until we come to the          tion, or must we see in, them seven phases in the development
   vision of New Jerusalem in the new creation, the whole book          .of the church in history ? Both views have been and still
   sheds light froin above, the light of the coming Lord upon           are championed by interpreters of the book of Revelation.
   the things which are and upon thk things which shall be here-           There are those. who advocate the view that in these
   after in their organic historical development. We will find          seven messages, picturing seven different manifestations of
   that in the chapters that follow there is repetition, but in         the Church on earth, wi must discover a portraiture of seven
   the repetition there is progress. The same forces are at             distinct phases in the history of the  church  in the- world.
   work throughout the ages of this dispensation, the same              According to this view, it is possible to discern in the develop-
   events occur in the world of men, in the universe, in  t.he          ment of the church the same order of different dominant
   Church, but they increase in scope and intensity as time             conditions as is found in these seven letters to the seven
   progresses. And always the end in view is the coming of              churches of Asia. Each of these seven messages must, ac-
   the Lord in glory and the perfect redemption of the Church,          cordingly, be applied to a more or less definite period in the
   the tabernacle of God with men. All things progress from             history of this dispensation,, from the time of John to the
   the Alpha to the  -Omega  in a straight line, without any            second coming of Christ, or, according to others to the "rap-
   retrogression or restraint. For the moving force behind and          ture," the  moment  when the church shall be taken up to
   in all things is the counsel of the only Potentate of potentates,    Christ in the air. But this view  -is plainly untenable. Al-
   Who is in the heavens and doeth all His good pleasure !              ready the fact that at the time when these letters were writ-
                                                                        ten, the church did not present one dominant feature but
                                 Chapter IV                             rather a sevenfold picture, in other words, the fact. that the
                                  Rev. 2:1-7                            seven churches certainly existed simultaneously, would con-
                                                                        tradict this view. Laodicea existed side by side with Ephesus,
                       THE BEGINNING OF  DECLINE                        Sardis existed in the same period as Philadelphia and Smyrna,
       In this chapter and the next one of the book of Revela-          Pergamum and  Thyatira  were simultaneous. Besides, the
   tion we have the seven letters addressed by +he Lord to the          history of this method of interpretation certainly justifies the


 8                                       THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 remark, of Godet : "One  may doubtless,  by taking up  this          by-the promise of a crown of life, the announces Himself as
 latter standpoint, succeed in-bringing out some ingeniously .the fifst and the last, who was dead and is alive again. Thus
 conceived points of harmony, but they always haie a some-            it is in all the letters. Following this self-designation of the
 what arbitrary character." We must, therefore, reject this           Lord comes the description of the peculiar condition of each
 view. Yet, there is, no doubt, an element of truth in this           congregation, usually headed by the enumeration  of- the com-
 interpretation. Although it is our conviction that the seven         mendable traits wherever this is possible. To this general
 churches must be understood as representative of the church          rule the churches of Sardis and Laodicea are exceptions, while
 in the world as it exists in any period of this dispensation,        nothing good is to be recorded of them. On the other hand,
 so that at any time these seven types may be observed in             the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia are distinguished
 the church ; nevertheless, these seven types are not always          by the fact that they receive only praise and encouragement;
 equally prominent in every period of the history of the church       nothing  w&-thy of rebuke is found in them. And, finally, each
 on earth. Sometimes it iS the characteristics of the church of       letter closes with an exhortation, containing a promise, a
 Ephesus that  predominite  in the church, at other times it          threat of judgment, or both, depending upon the condition of
 is the picture of the church of Smyrna that `is most vividly         the church addressed.
 reflected. In some periods of history the church is character-                                 * *.*  *
 ized by intellectualism, d6gmatism,  confessionalism, in other          We now turn our attention to the first of these seven
 periods by emotionalism, revivalism, pietism, in still other         messages, which is addressed to the church of Ephesus. The
 periods by  practicism, indifferentism with respect to prin-         city of Ephesus was situated on the west coast of Asia Minor,
 ciples and doctrines. Now the church is cast into the crucible       some forty miles to the northeast of Patmos. It was an im-
 of tribulation and persedution to be refined as by fire ; now        portant city, rich in trade and commerce, famous, too, for
 she enjoys a period of pe&e and rest. Always all the features        its culture. But it was.also notorious because of its  shame-
 presented by the  seven churches in Asia are observable in the       f$ idolatry, its well-known temple in honor of the goddess
 church in the world, yet so that now one, now another of             Diana, its frivolity and worldly-mindedness in general. It
 these features appear on, the foreground. On this basis we           may be compared to one of our moderri  metropolitan cities,
 may well assume that in the order in which these churches            with all their wealth  and luxury and amusement-seeking,
 are mentioned, though it is, indeed, the geographical order,         their carelessness and levity of heart and life, their vices #and
there is also an indication of the course of development the          social evils. We may well note that in such a world-city
 church will follow : the direction of this development will be       the Lord had established a church. The church `in the big
 from Ephesus to Laodicea. At the end of this dispensation the        city occupies a difficult position, more so than the country
 church will present the likeness of the church of Laodicea.          church. In the metropolis pulsates the life of the  iYorld.
 Maintaining, therefore, that these seven churches are re-            There the antithesis is sharpest. Nevertheless, no church
 presentative of the whole church as -she is in the world at          needs to shun the big city and seek the seclusion of the
 any period of history,  aind rejecting  &he view that each of        country. The Lord would have His church in the world,
 them represents a limited period in the history of the church        though never she may be of the world. In the midst of the
 of the new dispensation, we, nevertheless, believe, that in          world she is called to be a manifestation of His grace, that
 general way there is in the order in which these seven               she may let hei light shine and show forth the praises of Him
 churches are addressed an indication of the trend of develop-        that called her out of darkness into His marvellous light.
 ment the church in the world'will follow.                               There is every reason to believe that the church of Ephe-
      With respect to the formal side of the seven letters ad-        sus used to be one of the strongest and most flourishing
 dressed to the churches in Asia, we may note that they all           churches of that early period of the new dispensation. It
 present much the same characteristics. Each epistle begins           had. enjoyed the labors of some of the greatest, most devoted,
 by addressing the angel of the church to which the letter is         ablest servants of the Lord. Paul had been there three times,
 sept, which -address is immediately followed by the  self-           first only for a brief period, but during his second mission-
 designation of Him that sends these messages to the various          ary journey he abode with the Ephesian church for almost
 congregations, the Lord of His church. Characteristics of            three years, during which time, as he himself testifies, he
 these self-designations is that they are clothed in terms de-        labored night .and day with tears, .declaring  unto them the.
 rived from or suggested by the vision of Christ in the midst         whole counsel of God. Timothy, too, the spiritual son of the
 of the seven golden candlesticks in chapter 1 :9-20. In every        great apostle to the Gentiles, had labored there, building upon
 one of these self-designations those terms are chosen  thati         the foundation laid by his spiritual father. And the apostle
 bear relation to the particular condition of the church ad-          whom Jesus loved had spent many a year among the believers
 dressed. For instance, to the church that lost its first love,       in Ephesus in hard and faithful labor. To speak in terms of
 and that is threafened with the judgment that its candle-            our own time, the  ~church  there had enjoyed the labors of
 stick will be removed from its place, the Lord introduced            the best and most excellent preachers of the time ; and He
 Himself as the one that walketh in the midst of the golden           that holds the seven stars in His right hand had blessed the
 candlesticks ; to the. church in tribulation, which is encouraged    church abundantly.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  9

   Nor had the labors of thesk ministers of Christ been             true doctrine, no instruction in the Word of  God.. Hence,
without effect upon the church. On the contrary, even at the        the church. of today is easily seduced,. tossed about by all
time when John is commissioned to write this message to             kinds of false doctrines. In Ephesus this was different. There
her the influence of their work is still plainly notice-able.       was knowledge of the truth. And if there was knowledge of
For, we may remark, first of all, that the church of Ephesus        the truth there must have been study of the Script&es, in-
was strong in doctrine. This is evident from the description        struction in the principles of true doctrine. For, without con-
the Lord Himself gives of her in this letter. The Lord testi-       tinuai instruction through preaching and teaching, knowledge
fies that the church had "tried them that that  calls them-         of the truth cannot be maintained. Hence, all these were
selves apostles, and are not," and that she had "found them         found in the church of Ephesus. They were able tb discern
false." These words suggest, first of all, the doctrinal sound-     between the truth and false doctrine, and thus they could pass
ness and strength of the Ephesian believers. True, they also        *judgment upon them that claimed to be apostles and were
indicate disciplinary action, but notice that it was discipline     not. Ephesus was a church sound in doctrine.
exercised over those that called themselves apostles, which            The same inference may be drawn from the statement
implies that the discipline concerned a matter of doctrine.         in vs. 6: "But this  thou, hast that thou  hatest the works of
True apostles wete men with authority, infallibly guided by         the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." About the origin of the
the Spirit of Christ into all the truth. They were direct           sect nothing definite is known. Their name is probably de-
witnesses of Christ, His suffering and resurrection. Their          rived  from  their leader, one  Nicolaus, who must  not be
word was gospel. It possessed infallible authority, the author-     identified, however, with the deacon mentioned in Acts 6 :5.
ity of the King of the Church Himself. Of this the church           The Lord here speaks of their works, but these works were
at that `time was conscious, as is evident ,from  more than' one    based on false doctrine. This is evident from verses 14 and
passage of the New Testament. They made a -clear distinc-           15 of this same chapter, .where  the church of Pergamum  is
tion between the word of an apostle and the word of others.         addressed as follows : `Qut I have a feti things against thee,
For that reason the apostle Paul deems it necessary some-           because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of
times to defend his apostleship in  the churches. Whknever          .Balaam,  who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before
false teachers purposes to neutralize his  .influence  in the       the children of Israel, to eat  things  sacrificed to idols  ana
church, they attacked his apostolic authority, aware that only      `to commit fornication. So hast thou also some that hold the
in this way they could oppose the contents of his teaching.         teachings of the Nicolaitans in like manner." It  -is evident
Now, this lettter to the church of Ephesus `informs us, that        that these Nicolaitans, about whom we shall have more to
men had appeared in their midst that called  t'hemselves            say  `in- connection with the letter to Pergamum, were false
apostles. Evidently, they made this claim and defended the          teachers, that disseminated evil doctrines and thus seduced
right to this title  for the purpose of exercising doctrinal        the church to spiritual fornication and  ap.ostacy.  Now, the
authority in the church. They claimed to be divinely in-            Lord gives the Ephesian church testimony that they' hated
spired and, therefore, demanded unconditional acceptance of         the works of the Nicolaitans.  .This implies that their false
their teaching. They taught a false doctrine, and for it they       doctrines were clearly-discerned and rejected. This also leads
claimed apostolic authority. Fundamentally, therefore, the          to the conclusibn  that the believers of Ephesus were sound
case the Ephesian church had tried concerned a matter of            in  doctritie,  well founded in the knowledge of the Word of
doctrine. Who these would-be apostles were the text does            God.
not inform us, but we are inclined to believe that they were
the same as the Nicolaitans mentioned in this  same letter.            From what we discussed thus  fati it will also have be-
However this may be, certain it is that they taught a doctrine      come  evident:  that the church at  Ephesus  was faithful in
that differed from that of the apostles. But the church had         discipline. This is usually- connected with doctrinal sbund-
tried them, had put their doctrine to the test. Probably            ness. Where the one is present,  the other  uStiall$  is  %lso
there had been an official trial of these "apostles," and in        found. Where the church is `lax in discipline, soundness in
spite of their claim to the apostleship the church had found        doctrine cannot maintain itself very long. Christian discipline
them liars and had rejected their doctrine.                         is the reaction of the church against every form of evil,
                                                                    both in doctrine and life, through the preaching of the Word
   The conclusion, therefore,- is justified that the church of      of God as well as through personal admonition and, ulti-
Ephesus was sound in doctrine, well founded in the truth            mately, through excommunication:  A&d  in this  r&$ect the
of the gospel. How otherwise could they have exposed the.           church of today is miserably weak- and wanting. `"The keys.
1ie"of  these false apostles ? Only those that are themselves       of the  kingdoni  of heaven are practically forgotten. But
sound in the truth cm expose the error wherever it presents         about this we  shall have more to say in our discussion of
itself and with whatever  claim of authority it may come. But       the letter of Pergamuti7.  The church in Ephesus" was faith%
where knowledge of the truth is lacking the! church is help-        ful in the exercise of discipline. This is evident from their
lessly exposed to every wind of doctrine. This is one of the        trial of the false apostles. Nothing can be urged against the
main reasons why the church of today is in such.a  miserable        view that they tried these false teachers officially and finally
condition. There is no knowledge of the truth, no love for          excommunicated them from- the church. But besides, the


10                                      T H E   STANDARD  BEARER

Lord writes to that church: "thou canst not bear .evil men,"          not infer from the rest of the  eoistle
                                                                                                          I       that this testimony
vs. 2. The thought .is that men that w.rought  wickedness in          refers to the past, and that the church manifested this pa-
doctrine or life were not tolerated in that congregation.             tience and faithfulness in doctrine- and conversation no longer.
Evil workers usually could not find a place among the be-             For this would be a mistake as is evident from what the Lord
livers in Ephesus, and if they did find a place for time, they        adds : "and hast not grown weary." They still were strong
usually did not feel themselves at home there, because of the         in doctrine; faithful in the excercise of discipline, zealous in
sound preaching of the Word and the general testimony of              the work of the Lord, and willing to bear the cross and to,
the members. But if they persisted in their attempt to per-           suffer with Christ patiently.
form their evil work in the church, they were expelled from              From all the foregoihg we would, perhaps, be inclined
the communion of the saints by the application of the keys            to draw the conclusion that the church of Ephesus was well-
of the kingdom of heaven. The church was not only sound               night perfect. But in this we would be mistaken. The church
in doctrine, she was also faithful in the excercise of Christian      of Ephesus receives a very serious rebuke. There was some-
d i s c i p l i n e .                                                 thing lacking in the church of Ephesus. There was a certain
                                                                      defect in her inner life, hidden, perhaps, from the eyes of
      Nor is this all. The commendable features of the church of      men,  but known to the Lord Who tries the reins and the
Ephesus are not limited to soundness iri doctrine and disci-          hearts, a defect so serious that it would lead the church to
pline; the believers there were also abounding in the work            utter ruin unless she repented. Something was gnawing at
of the Lord. It was.not a`church, at least not at the time when       the very liferoots of the church, that would cause her to die
this letter was addressed to her, that was characterized by           if it were not removed. The very life of fhe church was
dead orthodoxy, that had an intellectual grasp of the truth,          ebbing away. The Lord points to this serious weakness in
but was loath to apply to life. On the contrary, the Lord             the words: "But I have this against thee, that thou didst
gives .her the testimony : "I know thy works, and thy toil and        leave thy first love," vs. 4. The condition  describ'ed  in these
patience . . . and thou hast. patience, and didst bear for my         words has frequently been compared to a similar condition in
name's sake and hast not grown weary," vss. 2, 3. This is a           the life of an individual Christian. Perhaps  tie are acquainted
beautiful testimony indeed, especially if it is taken in connec-      by experience with such a loss of first love. Immediately
tion tiith the fact, that the church was also sound in doctrine       after our .conversion,  especially if that conversion was rather
an-d in the excercise of discipline. In our day there are many        marked and sudden, we were filled with a fervent spirit and
indeed, that clamor for a so-called practical Christianity, that      ardent love of  the Lord. Our heart throbbed  with a holy
would have the church do nothing but labor and toil in the            zeal. The experience of our salvation caused us to  -aboutid
world "to make the world better," but who are absolutely in-          in gratitude. We loved to speak of Jesus and to witness of
different in regard to  ddctrine.  What one knows about               His love. It was our sincere desire to consecrate otir, life, our
doctrine and believes matters little or nothing, if he is only        all to Him Who loved us even unto death, and `by Whose
wiliing  to work and to serve. This was not the case in               power we were translated from darkness unto light, from
Ephesus; they kept the gospel that was delivered unto them.           death to life. Nothing seemed too difficult for  o&r faith. It
But on the other hand, there are also churches that are               seemed impossible that we would ever become unfaithful to
characterized by cold and dead intellectualism and orthodoxy,         Him with Whom our hearts were united in love. But an-
who emphasize the necessity of soundness in doctrine, but             other. period began. That first zeal and enthusiasm cooled
a;e lacking in the application of the truth to actual life and in     down. We were not so fervent in spirit anymore as in the,
zeal for the work of the Lord. But also this could not be said        period of our first love. It became evident that we had not
of the church in Ephesus. She did not take it easy in the             reached perfection, that sin still operated in our members,
kingdom of God. She. did not follow the line of least resist-         that we ,often  did evil, when we would do good. Perhaps, we
ance. She labored and toiled. And she did so for Christ's             grew anxious about our own condition, and began'to wonder
name's sake. This does not refer to-all kinds of work, but to         whether our conversion has been real. We left our first love !
t& work that is in harmony with the calling of the church             This experience of the individual Christian has  6ften been
to hold forth the word of life, the preaching of the gospel,          used as an illustration to explain the meaning of the .Lord's
within the church and, without. They bore testimony of                words to the church of Ephesus: "I have against thee, that
Christ in word and deed. Their `conversation sealed their             thou didst leave thy first love." Yet, this comparison is not
profession. And even if their faithful confession caused them         entirely correct. There is something very  n&-ma1  in the
inconvenience, required them to take up the cross and suffer          experience-of the individual believer we just described. In it
.with Christ, even if the reproach and contempt of the world,         there is really nothing  tb be alarmed about. Fact is, that
was their reward, they remained faithful. For the Lord bears          the first experience of  tpe love of Christ by that believer
fhem testimony that the? have patience. Repeatedly this is            .was largely a matter of emotion. He was in a state of spirit-
stated. In vs. 2 it is mentioned ; in vs. 3 it i.& repeated : "and    ual tension that could not last. His real condition was not up
hast patience ;`I and it is added: "and didst bear for' my            to the level of his feelings. Sooner or later reality was bound
name's sake." And patience is the spiritual virtue and power          to assert itself. And then it became evident that he  -was
to endure suffering and tribulation for Christ's -sake. And do        not so near to perfection as he first imagined; The glow of

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

his first enthusiasm died down. And this change,  while-it          utterly she neglects the keys of the kingdom of heaven! How
was a cause of grief to the consciousness of the believer, was,     adult&ou+she is become- her alliance with the world, her
nevertheless, very likely accompanied by a deepening of             seeking of the things that are below' rather than the things
spiritual life and love. With the passing of that first ex-         that are above ! Yes, but if all these wretched diseases of
perience of love that was sustained mostly by feeling, another,     the church, or of what still calls itself church, could be traced
firmer, deeper love appeared, rooted in the heart, the ex-          to their beginning you would discover that their source is the
pression of a sanctified will. And in as far as this experience     abandoning of their first love. How can a church that keeps
of the individual child of God is normal, it canndt  be com-        her first love possibly apostatize ? How can she become in-
pared with the abnormal  condition of the church in Ephesus         different with respect to the truth as it is in Jesus ?  Hbw
which is here rebuked by the Lord.                                  could she become so miserable that she can tolerate evil men
    Nor may  the church in Ephesus be compared to  tho>e            in her midst 7 How could such things as worldly amusements,
churches in our own country that need periodic revivals to          worldly  ,associations, seeking of worldly treasures and pleas-
keep them emotionally`alive. A church of this kind is weak,         ures even become a "problem" in a church that clings to her
spiritually anemic, needs always stronger stimulants of spirit-     first love ? It is well for us to understand this clearly and
ual sensationalism to keep her on her feet. She is not in-          constantly to bear it in mind. A good thing it is,  indee<,
structed in the truth and not used to sound doctrine, and,          to watch over purity in. doctrine, for the church that for-
therefore, is not firmly- rooted in Christ. She lives on reli-      sakes the truth has no foundation. But let us remember that
gious emotions. When her pastor has exhausted his own               outward purity in doctrine is not enough, and that itself must
resources of sensationalism, the emotional interest of his          be rooted in the love of Christ. Let us watch, therefore, and
congregation dies down  ; and  the church is in need of a           pray that, while we preserve the purity of the truth, we may
stronger blast of sensational preaching  b,y some outsider who      remain rooted in the love of God in Christ!
travels the country  with some "soul-stirring" messages that            There are questions, of course, that arise in your mind
serve like a "shot in the arm" for the churches in whose            as you read these things. The first is: but how is it possible
midst he appears. But this is not a true picture of the church      that ma `church abandon her first love ? Is not love a matter
of Ephesus. It was not a  tieak church that lived on the            of grace ? Is not the love of God poured forth and shed abroad
emotions. It was sound and well founded in .the truth, and          by the irresistible operation of the Holy Spirit? How, then,
certainly would have tried many a revivalist preacher of today      can this love be abandoned ? Is there, then, a falling awajr  from
and found them liars.                                               grace  ? In. answer to this question we remark, first of all,
   No, when Jesus bring. against the church of Eph&us  the          that we must make a distinction between  the church and the
indictment that she had left her first love, He refers to love      individual believer. Surely, there is no falling away from
.in the deepest sense, to the `true love of God in Christ as        grace. We are saved by grace, once for all. Once a believer
the  verjr life of the Church. And of this love, as it first        is always a believer. Once united with the Lord in the bond
had filled the church of Ephesus, the Lord states that it had       of love, is &ways  thus to be united with Him. Our conscious
been left, forsaken. This  was a very serious  .matter. If it       faith may sometimes be weak, our conscious love may often
was  ndt remedied, the church. would die. For the love of           be wanting in fervency, our prayer for the grace of the
God in Christ is the deepest root of all our spiritual life.        Holy Spirit may frequently be mere lip-work, but we cert$nly
If a church  .leaves  that love, the spiritual fountain of her      cannot be. separated from the love 6f God which is in Christ
life will dry up.                                                   Jesus our Lord. The reason for this is simply that His
   This is the reason why we characterize the church of             love is and remains always first, the never failing source
Ephesus as the church in the beginning of her decline. In           of our love to God. No one can pluck us out of His hands.
the abandoning of her first love we must recognizes-the  be-        But what  is inipossible for the individual believer, may
ginning of all apostacy  of the church in the world. It is not      happen to a church as she appears in the world. Let & try
true that the- beginning of corruption must be sought in            to visualize the development of the church in Ephesus. The
departure from the truth, or `in laxity in discipline, -or in a     Lord speaks of  h&-  first love. By this He refers to the love
tendency to worldy-mindedness. These may all be manifesta-          that filled her, when first she came into contact with the
tions, first symptoms of spiritual decline ; .but they are not      gospel and was called out of darkness i&to the mardellous'
the root. That the church of Ephesus is the first in the series     light of God. Then she had been filled with the love of
of seven' chui-ches  that are addressed in these letters, is not    Christ. All had been living members of the Body of Christ.
accidental or irrelevant. It is significant. From Ephesus to        All could profess their personal faith,' and testify of their
Laodicea  may seem a long way, but it is' an inevitable way.        part with the Saviour. This was true `of the angel of the
The church that abandons its first love, ultimately loses all       church ; and it was equally true of the members. The love of
her spiritual treasures. This is  a very serious lesson for         Christ was experienced. It permeated and glowed through
the church today! -How many complaints are registered               all their activity as a church. It characterized the preaching,
against the present day church on earth! How indifferent            which was more than cold doctrine. And it marked the life
she reveals herself with regard to doctrine! How ignorant           and conversation of the members. If you had visited. tha
she is in the things pertaining to. the kingdom of God ! How        families of the church at that time, you would have found

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

  no difficulty to converse with them about the experiental          still present in the church, partly by virtue of the momentum
  aspect of the Christian life. The whole church was rooted in       of tradition, the church of Ephesus was still active in the
  and motivated by the love of God in Christ  Je.sus. But all        work of the Lord and did not grow weary. And thus you
  this had changed. That first love had been left by the             have the phenomenon of a church that is sound in doctrine,
church of Ephesus. Not as if the real love of God had died faithful in discipline, active in all the work of the Lord, but
  out in hearts in which it once glowed. No, but the constitu-       without the motive power of her first love! It is the church
  ency of the congregation had changed. Many years had               in the beginning of her decline.
  passed since- the time of that first love. A new element had           In view of this very serious defect of the church of
  been added to the church. Some had joined themselves to            Ephesus, we are not surprised that the Lord sharply rebukes
  the congregation. from without; others had been added from         her and approaches her with an urgent admonition to repent.
  within by the organic growth of the church. And the church,        No doubt, this admonition is addressed first of all to the
  had not been watching. It had emphasized the necessity of          angel of the church and to its officebearers whose calling it
  soundness in doctrine, faithfulness in discipline, diligence in    is to watch over the flock. But in and through them the
  the work proper to a church of Christ; but it had neglected        Lord also admonishes the church as a'whole. We may dis-
 to stress the necessity of personal faith and love in the           tinguish three elements in this exhortation : the call to repent,
  Lord. Outwardly the church had grown  ; inwardly it had            the admonition to do the first works, and the exhortation to
  become weak. Many of those that were added to the church           remember whence she has fallen. The last element shows the
  were not Israelites in the spiritual sense of the word, pos-       church the way in which she may'come to true repentance.
  sessed not the  ,love of the Lord. They could speak of the         The church must remember whence she has fallen.' She must
 truth objectively, but they knew nothing~of  its spiritual ex-      recall former days, the days of her first love. 0, it is al-
 perience in the heart. And this element had increased.  It          together possible that the influence of the dead, carnal ele-
  gained in influence.in  the church. It had become predomin-        ment in any church may become so strong and overwhelm-
 ant. There were still those, indeed, that knew the love of          ing, that for a time even the spiritual succumb to it and fall
  Christ. But they no longer were the predominating element          asleep. They deplore a condition of dead orthodoxy and dead
 in the. church. And thus the church had left its first love.        works. For a time they raise their voices in protest against
  What could never be said of an individual believer, was cer-       the tendency to emphasize mere doctrine and external ac-
 tainly true of the church of Ephesus: "I have against thee,         tivity at the expense of true faith and love. But gradually
 that thou has letf thy first love !"                                they become more or less accustomed to the situation. -Their
        But you ask another question: how, if the church had         voices are silenced. They grow passive. And they gradually
 left her first love, could the Lord bear such a beautiful           forget the days of the church's first love. The past does not
_ testimony concerning her as is contained in this letter ? How      live  .in their consciousness anymore. And now they fail ta
 could she still be sound in doctrine, faithful in discipline,       notice the lack of spirituality in all the activity of the church.
 zealous in the work of the Lord without growing weary?              It was missing everywhere ; it was wanting in the preaching
 We must remember that the Lord writes this warning to the           of the Word, in the instruction of the youth, in the pastoral
 church in the first stages of her spiritual decadence. Her          work. If I may speak for a moment in terms of our own
 apostacy  was as yet not in an advanced stage.-                     church-life, when the angel of the church or the elders went
                                                                     through the congregation to visit the families, the subject
        In close connection with this, we must bear in mind that     of spiritual growth in the knowledge and grace of the Lord
 there were still those who possessed the love of the Lord           Jesus Christ was hardly broached. Such routine questions
 in their hearts, that had not forgotten the days of the church's    were asked as whether the services were faithfully attended,
 first love. No doubt, the, fact that the Lord could speak so        the sacraments were used, the.church-papers  were read, the
well of the church was in a large measure due to the influence       budget was paid, - questions, in short, that all pertained to
 of-these living members. But, thirdly, it must not be for-          the external life and activity of the church. Everywhere the
 gotten; that a church may, for a time, drift onward on the          spiritual note was now missing. And the true spiritual ele-
 current of tradition. This, no doubt, was also the case with        ment of the church had grown accustomed to this situation,
 the church of Ephesus. When the church was in the period            had forgotten the.former  days: Hence, the Lord shows them
 of her first love, it had labored to keep the Word of Jesus,        the way to repentance. They must awake out of their slumbers.
 to know the truth, to instruct young and old, the expel evil        The angel and elders and members of the church must bring
 from their midst; and it had been zealous in the work of the        back to their minds those former days, when all were filled
 Lord. Now the original motive power that had impelled the           with the love of Christ, when `all the activity of the church
 church had decreased in force. But as a steamer in the              was aglow with real spiritual life. And recalling that former
 ocean will continue for a while with apparently undiminished        condition, they must be filled with an earnest longing to
 speed after the engine has been shut down, so the church  in        restore the church to that former state.
 Ephesus apparently lost none of its energy, lived and labored
 by virtue of the momentum of that first love that had motiv-                                                                   H. H.
 ated her in the beginning. Partly because of the love that was


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 13

7                                                                     Spirit, who searches all things, yea, even the deep things of
          F R O M   H~0L.Y  WFI-T                                 I God.  '  I
                                                                          Such "man" must esteem Paul. It makes no difference
                                                                      who he is. For he is the empowered envoy of God in Christ.
             Exposition of I Corinthians 1-4                              That is the Status  QUO of Paul before angels and men,
                                                                      demons and  ali the hosts of hell. Great is the dignity of
                                20.                                   Paul. Let men take notice of it, and "thus" esteem him
                                                                      highly for his work's sake!
                     (I Corinthians 4 :l-5)                               From the foregoing there follow a few facts which Paul
                                                                      cites in the face of continual bickering and foolish judging
     It is true that in this issue of the Standard Beare?,  a llew    of party-faction.
Volumn will have been begun. However, after some reflec-                  Hence, Paul assures the Corinthians:
tion I decided not to begin writing on a different section
from the Word of God, but to continue with our exposition                 1. That the axiom of the Lord. in judging of His
of I Corinthians l-4. After all this 4th chapter too belongs          stewards is that he seeks to find faithfulness in them. The
with the material we have been discussing, and contains some          Lord does not come to try His stewards to find them un-
very worth-while instruction on the proper conduct in the             faithful  ; such is not the  p,u.++pose  of the Lord. That is far
house of God.                                                         below- His exalted dignity. The Lord is no carping, evil
                                                                      fault-finder. He is a just and good Lord, who has a just
     In part this passage reads as follows : `(Let a mm so ac-        and good pride in the servants of His choice. Such is the
count of  US, as of  the  ministers  of  Cl&s< and stewards of        purpose of the Lord, (hina pistos tis heurethee) .
th@  mysthes  of God. Moreover it is required in  stewards,
that a man be found  faith@1  . . . Therefore judge nothing               Incidently, that is a great comfort to the servants of the
before the time, mh? the Lord come, who both will bring ta            Lord:. While evil men criticize a "faithful" servant, looking
light the hidden things of darkness, and will make lsanifest          for fault and not for faithfulness and rejoicing in the latter,
the  cozmels  of the hearts: and then shall every man have            the Lord looks for the faithful performance of duty, in a
praise of God."                                                       servant and rejoices in it !
     In the first verse of this chapter Paul gathers up the              And this good expectation of the Lord is  the  Criteriam
`whole preceding argument (verses 18-23 of the former chap-           of all honest and good judgement of men in the church. Let
ter)  ,as this pertains to the wholesome attitude in the con-         there be no mistake about that. Here is love that believes all
gregation toward a minister of the Gospel. If all things-are          things, that hopes all things. And it is a pleasant and good
of us, and we are of Christ, and if Christ is God's - then            thing under the-sun. It is like the dew of Hermon !
in the last analysis it is God with whom we have to do,                  2. In the light of this good pztrpose  of God in judging,
while we are dealing with His servants.                               whatever judgment men may make of Paul and of his
     That is sobering !                J                              work is of little consequence. It really means very: little.         _
                                                                      because it has so very little meaning and validity. When
     Wherefore Paul writes: `Thus let man account us as               Paul, therefore, says "it is a very little thing to me," he is
(being) underrowers (underlings) of Christ and stewards               not "indifferent" to public opinion in. the wrong sense of
of the mysteries of God ! (outoos . . . 00s upeeretas Christou        the term. Consider how he is deeply conscious of the ,senti-
kai musteerioon Theou) .                                              ment of the Jews concerning the temple in the book of' Acts.
     Indeed, Paul is a servant, a subordinate of Christ. That         And, again, notice how. he  circumcizes  Timothy for -the
he is a subordinate (an under-rower) gives him stature in             sake of the Jews. On the contrary. this is the highest sentitive-
the congregation. He stands in the service of the King. His           ness as to the things that differ. And these things are really
is not a service of weakness, but it is one of power and              the judgment of the living  ,God and the judgment of men;
sobriety. Let man  (anthropos)` mere man, who cannot live             the difference between "the Day," the day `of the Lord and
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the            a "human day," (anthroopinees  heemeras) a human day of
mouth of the Lord then properly judge of and act toward               judgement- when man climbs on his imaginary throne] It
such a subordinate of the anointed of God upon His holy               really reminds one more or less of the mock court, popularly
hill of Zion.                                                         called "kangaroo court," this "human day." And  sudh a
     And as such a subordinate of Christ Paul is a "steward"          judgment is to Paul a very little thing.
of the mysteries of God. He is a steward. He is one who               . 3. In the light of the great day that is to come, which
runs the affairs of the house under the master, Christ. And           will not be a "human day" Paul does not even feel that it
his duty is to have charge of the "mysteries of God," that is,        would be fi~opeu  j&is-prztdence  that he would be a judge in
of those graces in Christ Jesus which are only known through          his own case  ; he would be wholly an unfit candidate for
the revelation of the Word by the operation of the Holy               that position.  1 Why he does not  tact as judge in his own


     14                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
      ~--
     case ? Writes he : "for nothing by myself is know together.`"        Here the learned and the unlearned, the clever and the less
     He would not know any guilty-knowledge against himself.              nimble in mind are all an open book.
     Nor, in fact, does he. He walks in a good conscience. But               One takes not "oath" in this court- for he. God alone
     that, in the last analysis, is not justification. -That does not     is true, and He knows our hearts !
     mean that he has a clean slate  up to the present  mowzent,             The bringing to light of all the facts in the wicked is .the
      (dedikaioomai) . Why not ? Because man is never the judge,          first point on the agendum of that Day.
     and Paul is but a man. He knows and keeps his place. It                 Then there is also "praise which each shall have, it shall
     is not that of judge, but that of being a subordinate to             come to him from the Lord, God. The reward is "praise,"
     Christ !                                                             (epainos) which means : "a tale for another.". Praise is
           4.  j Nay, the one judging Paul is the Lord. He is the         therefore something which one cannot give himself. Should
     Christ of God, the one man in whose hand all judgment                one attempt to praise himself-it is like a gold ring in the
     has been placed; He will judge the world in righteousness.           snout of the swine. It is uncomely.
     And he will proceed from the motive of finding in Paul a                But when we receive this "tale from another" it will not
     faithful steward. That is comforting, especially when men are        be from man, neither will it be "empty praise," but it shall
     carping fault-finders, and when nothing you do either meets          be the praise which is the just due. of a faithful steward.
     with approval, or otherwise can escape some form of bitter               Paul can wait till that day. Wherefore, says He, "do not
     criticism. Ah, then it is good to remember  -the Lord  is            judge before sthe time set for `it."
     judge! Then all the reward shall be to the faithful servants,
     and the judgment of men will prove, indeed, to be .a very               And thus it will be with "each."
     little thing. It was a little gravel in the shoes of the faithful       The Lord does not forget one of His faithful servants in
     traveler! Meanwhile he is comforted that the Lord will               that day. A little judgment now from men, a "human day."
     judge His people !                                                   Be it so. It is of little account. It belongs to the suffering
                                                                          of this present time which is not worthy to be compared with
           And from the foregoing follows a great warning and             the glory which .shall  be revealed.
     admonition !                                                            `But then it shall be different.
           It is an admonition which we a11 must heed. For we are          The former things shall be remembered no more.
     not judges, but are now standing in judgment and we shall
     tall be judged and manifested in that day. It shall, indeed,            The carping fault-finding of evil men will be remembered
     not be a "human day," a, mock "Kangaroo Court  !"                    no more for the joy of the "praise" from the lips of God.
                                                                             Wherefore let us all remember, let .every  man remember,
           We should not judge  .before the "proper season" (pro
     kairou) set on the Court Calendar of the Lord of Hosts.              that they must not be wiser than God, who looks for faith-
                                                                          fulness in his servants and rejoices in it in them, lest that
     That will be when the entire story of history is written.            day find them out as "judges," who shall receive the greater
     When. all the faithfulness of the faithful is manifested and
     all the carping fault-finding has reached it ultimate against        condemnation !                                                 G.L.
     the servants of the Lord.,
           Here no one judges himself; he cannot place himself in                               Announcement
     the jury. It is wholly the Lord's Day.
           The first element in this judgment will be the bringing           Classis  East of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
     to light of a.lZ the facts: This will not simply be the eternal      meet,  D.V.,-on  Wednesday, October 3, 1956, in the Hope
     acts of men, but it will be the "secrets of darkness." It will       Protestant Reformed Church. Consistories and appointed
     -be that, which man, trying to keep secret because  of- his          delegates will'consider this an official notice:
     "darkness," shall be brought to light. What has been done                                           Rev. M.  Schipper, Stated Clerk
     in secret will be proclaimed from the house-tops. Men
~    whose works were not wrought in God, and who, therefore,
     tried to hide them, will surely be brought to light. Yea, all
     the sins, even of the elect of God, will be brought to light.           "Christian thankfulness consists of two parts  - truth
           Even the very "thoughts" and intentions on men's hearts.       and justice. Truth acknowledges and magnifies the gracious
     This will be true whether their thoughts came to fruition in         deliverance and thanks God for the deliverance and for
     deeds or not. It will be a righteous judgement  in- which            every other benefit which by it has been given to us. Where-
     God will be the righteous judge. He will look for His own ;
     it is looked for in a steward to be found faithful. Where-           fore it is in truth that we find the sphere of prayer. Jzutice
     fore Paul elsewhere says: I beat myself with fists, lest             offers God a return -of gifts ; however, God requires no other
     having preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away. +         gift from us than an upright service, obedience  and. good
           In that Court there shall be no "sparing with attorneys,"      works."
     for the judge knows all the facts ere we enter into His court.
                                                                  _I                   ,             Ursinus, Heid. Catechism, page 464


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 15
                                                                                                          i
                                                                     *ith a series of requests or poured ,out your heart with- bit-
               I N .H I S `F-E A R                                   terness  and.grief for some time about one particular thing
                                                                     that troubles  you, there is' also attached at the end a few
                                                                     words of thanks for past favours remembered.  ". . . With
                      Praying in- His Fear                           thanksgiving . .  ." does not-mean-that together with your
                               (`6)                                  requests and supplications you really ought to include. a few
                                                                     words of thanks to God. To be sure, as creatures of time
   We live iti a world that prides itself on its polish, refine-     we will have to add or include in the prayer somewhere a few
ment and politeness.                                                 words of that thanksgiving. We cannot make request known
   Children are taught to say. "Thank you," "Pardon me,"             and en-press thankfulness at the same time no mbre than tie ,
"Please" and the like.                                               can eat and drink at the same moment or speak and be
   The automobile has done much to take away the polite              silent in.ihe same breath. By prayer and by supplication we
"Ladies First" policy  ; and our  traKic situation would, in-' make our requests known ; `but this we do with thanksgiving.
deed, be a sorry mess if that were to be the rule of prQcedure       In other words thanksgiving must characterize that whole
at the  .intersection,  for passing on the highways or  for-         prayer. With thanksgiving we plead ; we implore God ; we
procedure down the road.                                             request things of Him. With thanksgiving we supplicate.
   Since women have invaded business establishments and,             Praying in His fear requires a thankful heart.
factories as employees by the thousands, if not millions,              Praying in His fear' demands that we come to God in the
many of them are.seen standing in busses, commuter's  t&ins,         only way in which we have a right to approach Him. All our
elevateds, subways and the like while men, also weary from           requests must be for Jesus' sake. Praying in His fear de-
a long stand at the' bench or from. strenuous work at a              mands that our purpose shall. be the proper one. We must ,
machine, retain their seats. Men do not  .quickly  give their        come with every request- and supplication governed by the
seats to a woman today.                                              desire that God's name by hallowed, that  His kingdom come
   yet we do still as a nation pride ourselves on our culture,       and that His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
polish, refinement and politeness.                                   But praying in His fear also demands that we come with
   But listen once to the everyday language of man and you           the proper attitude of heart and mind., And that is ex-
see the mockery behind much of it.                                   pressed in these words, ". . . with thanksgiving . . ."
   So easily does the word "thanks" fall off our lips that we          To be thankful unto God means that we consider Him to
use it when our heart is not in it at all. Men  will say "thanks"    be good.
when you present them with a bill they do not want to re-.              One does not, except in hypocrisy, give thanks for a
ceive:  Wh,en told that their car has not been repaired on           thing that does not please him. One gives thanks when he
time, that their suit of clothes did not come back from the          considers another to be good and because he is of the opinion
cleaners, that since their-last electric bill has not been paid      that the one whom he thanks has sought his good. The
the power will be shut off this afternoon, men will in volun-        Hebrew word for thanks, as we might expect, expresses this
tarily  say, "Thanks," when  they certainly were in no thankful      figuratively and gives the idea thereof to us in a way that is
mood at all when they received these bits of disappointing           easy to understand. It means to throw out the hand in a
news. It is a word that has no  meaning  very often when             motion of pointing. In fact, if we may be a little technical for
we employ it.                                                        a moment, it contains the word "hand" in it. The Hebrew
   Are tie a thankful people  ?                                      for hand  is  "yad"; and that Hebrew word for thank is
   Are we thankful .to God ?                                         "yadah." The idea is, then, that when we give thanks unto
   If we are nof thankful td Him we cannot be thankfLi1  to          anyone we point to him-either literally with our hand or
men either. And, though we are outwardly polite:. our                with our words -and declare that individual `to be `good
"thankful" appearance is only a sham and detestable to the,          and to have sought our good.
Living cod.                                                             A thankful person is one who  ii appreciative of the
    We do well also to remekber that true thankfulness will          good performed in his behalf; and thanksgiving is giving
manifest itself also in our prayers to God. Yea, with the            expression to that benefactor of our thoughts of thankfulness;
Heidelberg Catechism we hasten to add that prayer is the             that we deem him good. We may go a step further. When
chid part of thankfulness to God.                                    we give thanks unto God we give expression to the fact
    Therifore  we cdnsider  at this time the truth that to pray      that we know that we can trust Him to do us only good.
in His fear we must pray with a thankful heart.                      When we thank God we do not say with reservations that
    `I . . . in everything by prayer  and supplication with thanks- He is good. We do not say, Well, He is good t%s ti,vk. We
giving let  y&r requests be made known unto God . . .  "'            say that He is good, always good, nothing but good, the
Philippians 4  :6.                                                   overflowing fountain of all good ! If we cannot say that we
    `I . . . With thanksgiving . . ."                                are not truly thankful. In the measure that we can say
    That does not mean  that after you have come to God that, in that measure we are thankful.

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

       It stands to reason, therefore, that thankfulness must          to.;those  only, who with sincere desires continually ask them
 characterize our prayers. Unless we can come ta Go,d in the           of Him, and are thankful for them.
 confidence and sincere conviction that He is good, ethically,            Thanksgiving belpngs to our prayers and its omission
 morally good and filled with thoughts of all `good to His             means that we are not praying in His fear. It need not al-
 people, we will not approach Him in His fear.                         ways be expressed literally. It is not literally expressed
       Consider the alternative !                                      in the prayer which Christ gave to His disciples and to us as
                                                                       a model prayer.
.      If our thoughts toward God as we come to Him in prayer                              But we do wrong and deceive ourselves if
 ark not that He is good, `will we even care to make our               we insist that there is no thankfulness in it. Every single
 requests known to Him? If we do not trust Him, can we be              petition listed there as prayed for by the child of God is
 sincere in our prayers ? And if we do not trust Him, is that          uttered with thanksgiving. For, in each petition, as coming
 coming in His fear ? Is that faith ? Is- that reverencing Him         out of the heart of a regenerated child of God, breathes with
 as God? Can -one first list a series of request to God while          the testimony that the petitioner considers God to be good
 not-trusting Him to do or be good and then add a few words            and points  to Him as the source and fount of all good.
 of sincere thanksgiving?                                                 `And then prayer becomes the chief part of thankfulness.
                                                                       In song we may utter words of thankfulness to Him for all
       The matter is worse than that !          -                      that which He is and has done for us in Jesus Christ His
       If we cannot approach God` with a heart and mind that           Son. Our walk of life when we heed His commandments
 is convinced that He is  goo-1 and seeks our good, can we             and in love fight the good fight of faith expresses thankfulness
 say that we make our requests known and seek an answer                to God for that great and wonderful deliverance. But prayer
 to our prayer  for Jesus' sake!  If we  canndt  say and do not        is the chief part of thankfulness.
 believe that God is good, we deny Christ! And we eannot                  In prayer we come before God's face. In prayer we com-
 sincerely say, "For Jesus' sake. Amen."                               mune with Him; we speak to  Hiti not simply about Him.
       All the goodness of, God is in Christ. All the good             In song we speak about Him and tell of His glory and
 we seek from His hand is in Christ. And the cross of                  graises. In prayer we go to God Himself on high. We do
 Christ is the eternal and undeniable evidence that God is             not then say that God is good. We do not instruct others in
.good.  His ethical, moral goodness is so beautifully portrayed        the goodness of God. We are not making some public
 there in that "rather than it (our sin ) should go unpunished         testimony of the goodness of God. Nay, we come to God
 He hath punished the same in His beloved Son Jesus Christ,            Himself, our souls in most intimate communion with Him.
 with the bitter and shamkful death of the cross," as the form' And then  "to His face" we tell Him, "0, God, how good
 for the administration of the Lord's Supper, used in our .Thou art"
churches, has it stated so correctly. His hatred of sin' and              Is it any wonder that such a prayer pleases Him ?
 His just way df removing it for us display His ethical, moral            S&h  a prayer is the very result of the goodness of God
 goodness at Calvary. That He is ethically and morally good            whereby He has .so transformed the rebellious, unthankful,
 the cross of Christ declares. That He is good to us and               hateful heart of a fallen man into one that speaks as His
 blesses us with good is likewise the powerful speech of that          Beloved Son speaks..
 cross. He gave us the highest good: Salvation from the                   Such. a prayer is  heardi; and all the petitions of such
 depth  .of hell to everlasting blessedness before His face in         a heart are for those things which glorify His name, seek
 the new creation. The Lord is our shepherd ; wk shall want            the coming of His kingdom and delight in His holy will.
 no good thing.       -                                                   Such a prayer is one uttered in  His fear.
     Therefore thanksgiving must characterize our requests.               And he who prays in His fear need have no fear that
 For, surely if we are not thankful to God for all the salvation       God will put him to shame.
 which we have in Christ  and do not sincerely believe that He            Those who pray in His fear shall taste and see that God
 is good and is good fo us in Christ, how shall we ever pray           is good.
 for Jesus' sake? If we do  not. know God in His goodness                                                                       J.A.H.
                                                                                                       e
 in Jesus Christ His Son, shall we pray to Him and request
things for Jesus' sake ?
       That is why the' Heidelberg Catechism also, in answer
 to the question, "Why is prayer necessary for-the  cbristian   ?",       "Pelagianism  in its  seyeral  forms seems to be merciful  ;
gives the following answer, "Because- it is the chief part of          however, it is nothing but the mercy of the  Phaiisee,  .who
thankfulness which God requires of us : and also, because God          has no concern for Publicans. To protect the freedom of the
Will give His grace and Holy Spirit to those only, who                 will for a few thousand adults, and that only in appearance,
 with  %incere  desires continually ask them of Him, and are
thankful for them." Note the prominent place thankfulness is           proportionately it gives, in its teaching, millions of children
given in the prayer-life of a Christian. It is the chief part of       to destruction."
 thankfulness; and God will give His grace and Holy Spirit                         `  :    H. Bavinck, Ger. Dogm., Page 61, Vol. IV


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   17
-    -
                                                                      offering, wherein she presents herself anew, in Christ and
          - Contending For The Faith                                  on the ground of his sacrifice, to God with prayers and in-
                                                                      tercessions. For only in Christ are our offerings acceptable
                                                                      to God, and only through the continual showing forth :and
            The Church and the Sacraments                             presenting of His merit can we expect our prayers and
                                                                      intercessions to be heard.
     VIEWS DURING THE  SECOND  PERIOD  (300-750  A.D.)
                                                    --                   In this view certainly, iti. a deep symbolical and ethical
                                                                      sense, Christ is offered to God the Father in every believing
                      THE  LORD'S  SUPPER                             prayer, and above all in the holy Supper; that is, as the
                The  Sacrifice by Philip  Schff.                      sole ground of our reconciliation and-acceptance. This is the
                                                                      deep  truth which lies at the bottom of the Catholic mass,
     The Catholic church, both Greek and Latin, sees in the           and gives it still such power over the religious mind (Free-
Eucharist not only a sacrawtentuwt,, in which God communi-            men states the result of his investigation of the Biblical
cates a grace to believers, but at the same time, and in fact         sacrificial cultux and of the doctrine of the old Catholic church
mainly, a sacrificiz~~z,  in which believers really offer to God      on the eucharistic sacrifice, as follows, on p. 280: "It is
that which is represented by the sensible elements (the               enough for us that the holy Eucharist is all that: the ancient
reader may have noticed that  the heading above our previous          types foreshowed that it would be  ; that in it we present
article read : "The Eucharist by Philip Schaff ," whereas the         `memorially,' yet truly and with prevailing.  po-wer, by the
heading above this article reads : "The Sacrifice by Philip           consecrating Hands of our Great High Priest, the wondreus
Schaff." It is to this that the eminent writer refers when he         Sacrifice once for all offered by Him at the Eucharistic
speaks of  a  sacmmentmtz  and a  sacrifi&m.  The Eucharist           Institution, consummated on the Cross, and ever since
is the Lord's Supper proper, the eating and drinking of               presented and pleaded by Him, Risen and Ascended, in
the Christ, whether actually `(Rome) or symbolically (the             Heaven  ; that our material Gifts are identified with that;
Reformed view), and the sacrifice, also called  .the "Mass,"          atiul  Reality, and as such are borne in upon the Incense
is the sacrifice of th'e Christ, which always precedes the            of His Intercession, in His Holy Hands, into the True
Eucharist and without which the Eucharist would be impos-             .Holiest  Place: that we ourselves, therewith, are borne in
sible - H.V.). For this view also the chin-ch fathers laid            thither likewise, and abide in a deep mystery in the heavenly
the foundation, and it must be conceded they stand in general         places in Christ Jesus; that thus we have all manner of
far more on the Greek and Roman Catholic than on the                  acceptance, - sonship,  kingship, ahd priesthood unto God ;
Protestant side of this question. The importance of the sub-          all our whole life, in all >ts complex action, being sanctified
ject demands a preliminary explanation of the idea of sacri-          and purified for such access, and abiding continually in a
fice, and. a ,clear discrimination of its original Christian form1    heavenly sphere of acceptableness and privilege. - Enough            , I
from its later perversion by tradition.                               for us, again, that on the sacramental side of the mystery, we
     The idea of sacrifice is the centre of all ancient religions,    have been thus  privileged  to give to God His own Gift of
both the heathen and the Jewish. In Christianity it is ful-           Himself to dwell in us, and we in Him  ; -that we thereby
filled. For by His one perfect sacrifice on the `cross  Christ        possess an evermore renewedly d@icated  being - strengthen-
has entirely blotted out the guilt of man, and reconciled him         ed with all might, and evermore made one with Him. Pro-
with the righteous God. On the ground of this sacrifice of            foundly reverencing Christ's peculiar  Piesence in us and
the eternal High Priest, believers have access to the throne          around us in the celebration of such awful mysteries, we
of grace, tind may expect their prayers and intercessions ta          nevertheless take as the watchword of our deeply mysterious
be heard. With this perfect and eternally availing -sacrifice         Aucharistic  worship,  `Sursum  corda,' and `Our life is hid
the Eucharist stands in indissoluble connection. It is indeed         with Christ in God' ").
originally a sacrament, and the main thing in it is that which           But this idea in process of time became adultered with
we receive from God, not that which we give to God. The               foreign elements, and transformed -into the Graeco-Roman
latter is only a consequence of the former; for we can give           doctrine of the  sac@ce of  the  mss. According to this doc-
to God nothing which we have not first received from him.             trine the Eucharist is an unbloocly repetition of the atorzing
But the Eucharist is the  sacmme&m~ of a  sacrij%uwz,  the            sacrifice of Christ by the pkesthood for the salvation df the
thankful celebration of the sacrificial death of Christ on the        living and the dea.d;  so that the body of Christ is truly and
cross, and the believing participation or the renewed ap-             literally offered  .every  day and every  hqur, and upon in-
propriation of the fruits of this sacrifice. In other words, it       numerable altars at the same time. The term  mass, which
is a feast on a sacrifice. "As oft as ye do eat this bread            properly denoted the dismissal of the congregation (missio,
and drink this cup, ye do show the  Lord's  death  till  He           dismissio) `at the close of the general public worship, became,
come;"                                                                after the end of the fourth century, the name for the wor-
     The Eucharist is moreover, as the name itself implies,           ship of the faithful, which consisted in the celebration of
on the part of the church .a living  and reasonable  thank-           the eucharistic sacrifice and the communion. The correspond-
                                                                                                          ,`                    \

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

   ing terms of the Orientals are lcitoztrgia, &&ia, prosphoua..           selves have followed. For if in the sacrifice which  Christ
         In-the sacrifices of the mass the whole mysteri&s fulness         .offered  none is to be followed but Christ, assuredly it  be-
   and glory of the Catholic worship is concentrated. Here                 hoves us to obey and do that which Christ did, and what He
   the idea of priesthood reaches its dizzy summit; and here               commanded to be done, since He Himself says in the Gospel,
   the devotion 2nd awe of the spectators rises to the highest             "If ye do whatsoever I command. you henceforth I call you
   pitch of adoration. For to the devout Catholic nothing can              not `servants, but friends." And that Christ alone ought to
   be greater or more solemn than an act of worship in which               be heard, the Father also testifies from heaven, saying, "This
   the eternal Son of God is veritably offered to God upon the             is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye
   altar by the visible hand of the priest for the sins of the             Him.`,' Wherefore, if Christ alone must be heard, we ought
   world. But though +he Catholic worship here rises far above             not to give heed to what another before us may have thought
   the vain sacrifices of heathendom and the merely typical                was to be done, but what Christ, who is before all, first did.
   sacrifices of Judaism, yet that old sacrificial service, which          Neither is it becoming to follow the practice of man, but the
   was interwoven with the whole popular life of the Jewish                truth of God; since God speaks by Isaiah the prophet, and
   and Graeco-Roman world, exerted a controlling influence on              says, "In vain do they tiorship  me, teaching the command-
   the Roman Catholic service of the Eucharist, especially after           ments and -doctrines of men." And again  the. Lord in the
   the nominal conversion of the whole  Roinan heathendom,                 Gospel repeats this same saying, and says, "Ye reject the
   and obscured the original simplicity and purity of that service         comliiatidment  of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."
  almost beyond recognition. The  sa.cvamentatm  became en-                MoTeover,  in another place He establishes it, saying, "Who-
   tirely eclipsed by the sacrificizz?r*,  and the sacrificitim  became    soever shall break one of these least commandments, and
   grossly materialized, and was exalted at the expense of the             shall teach men so,, he shall be called the least in the king-
   sacrifice on the cross. The endless succession of necessary             dom of heaven." But if we*may  not break even the least of
   repetitions detracts from the sacrifice of Christ.                      the Lord's commandments, -how much rather is it forbidden
  The Biblical support of the sacrifice of the mass is                     to infringe such important ones, so great, so pertaining to
   weak, and may be reduced to an unduly literal interpreta-               the very sacrament of our Lord's passion and our own re-
   tion or a downright perversion of some such passages as Mal.            demption, or to change it by human tradition into anything
   1  :lO f. ; I Cor. 10 :21 ; Heb. 5  5; 7 :lf. ; 13  :lO. The Epistle    else than what was divinely appointed ! For if Jesus Christ,
   to the Hebrews especially is often misapplied, though it                our Lord and God, is Himself the chief priest of God the
  teaches with great kmphasis the very opposite, namely the                Father, and has first offered Himself a sacrifice to the
  abolition of the Old  Testame?nt sacrificial system by the               Father, and has commanded this to be done in commemora-
   Christian worship, the eternal validity of the sacrifice of our         tion of Himself; certainly that priest truly discharges the
  only High Priest on the right hand of the Father, and the                offike of Christ, who imitates that  .which Christ did  ; and
  impossibility of a repetition of it.                                     he then offers a true and-full sacrifice in the Church to God
         ,We  pa!ss now to the more particular `history. The               the Father, when he proceeds to offer it according to what
  Ante-Nicene fathers uniformly conceived the Eucharist as                 he sees Christ Himself to have offered:"-- end of quote.
  .a thankoffering of the chufch ; the congregation offering the           (Notice, please, the last full sentence in this quotation : "For
  consecrated elements of bread and wine, and in them itself,              if Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is Himself the priest
  to God. This view is in itself perfecily innocent, but readily           of God the Father, and has first offered Himself a sacrifice
  leads to the doctrine. of the sacrifice of the mass, as soon             to the Father, and has commanded this to be done in com-
  as the elements become identified with the body and blood of             memoration of Himself, certainly that priest truly discharges
  Christ, and the presence of the body comes to be materialisti-           the  office  of Christ,' who imitates that which Christ did  ;
  cally taken. The germs of the Roman doctrine appear in                   and he then offers a true and full sacrifice in the Church to
  Cyprian about the middle of the third century, in connection             God the Father, when he proceeds to offer it (the church, -
  with `his high-churchly doctrine of the clerical priesthood.             H.V.) according to what he sees Christ Himself to have
  Sacerdoh~wz   and sa:~$cizti~~  are with him correlative ideas,          offered.-  H.V:) And the view of Augustine is similar,
  and a  Judaizing  conception of the form& favored a like                 namely that the church offers herself to God in and with
  Judaizing conception of the latter.. The priest officiates  in the       Christ as her Head.
Eucharist in the place of Christ, and performs an actual                                                                             H.V.
  sacrifice in the church. Yet Cyprian does not distinctly say
  that Christ is the subject of the spiritual sacrifice ; rather is
  the mystical body of Christ, the Church, offered to God, and                "The human intellect is as erring as the human heart. We
  married with Christ. Cyprian writes as follows: "There is                can no more find truth than holiness, when enstranged from
  then no reason, dearest  ,brother, fos any one to think that             God ; even as we lose both light and heat, when we depart
  the custom of certain persons is' to be followed, who have               from the sun. Those in every age have sunk deepest into
  thought in time past that water alone should be offered in               folly, who have relied most on their own understandings."
  thF cup of the Lord. For we must inquire whom they them-                              -                  Charles Hodge on Romans 1.


                                             TH.E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       19

                                                                     and degree of' man's corruption that is far to be preferred.
          The Voice of Our Fathers                                   But any Reformed man could subscribe freely to this third
                                                                     article of the Arminians, as long as it is viewed all by itself.
                                                                     I say again : undoubtedly the Arminians, being well ac-
                 The Canons of Dordsecht                             quainted with the strong emphasis of Reformed doctrine upon
                            PART TWO                                 the totality of man's depravity, were intentionally malicious
                                                                     and deceitful when they formulated this article. They wanted
                  ESPOSITION   OP THE CANONS                         to leave the impression that they were strongly Reformed,
          THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE                         and thus lull people into a `sense of false security and
                                                                     trust. They wanted people to think exactly  as. many
   OF THE  CORRUPTION   OF MAN, HIS CONVERSION TO GOD,               did in the Arminian controversy, that  anyonewho  so strongly
                  AND THE MANNER THEREOF                             spoke of the corruption of man could be guilty of any heresy
 Introduction                                                        as far as the salvation of man is concerned. But the "sleeper"
     The subject of this present section of our Ca.nons  is two-     comes in the next  ,article,  in which the Arminians openly
 fold, as also the title indicates. This has, as we indicated        avowed that "as respects the mode of the operation of this
 previously, its reason in  .the historical background of the        grace, it is not irresistible . . . ." It is plain, then, that' when
 Conons. Because the Canons are an answer to and judgment            nevertheless the Arminians maintain that the grace of God
 of the  Five Articles of  the  Remonhance,   and because the        is dependent upon the resistance or non-resistance of the will
 third and fourth articles of the latter must be viewed in           of man, they overthrow all that- they have said about the
 connection with each other., therefore the  Ca.no&  combine         depravity of man, and never intended at all to maintain the
 the two subjects in one chapter. The subject is not  simply         Reformed doctrine concerning that depravity. For either
 the corruption of man  ; nor is it merely the conversion  of        grace is resistible and man is totally depraved, and then
 man to God. But in a sense the main subject of this section         no man is ever converted because a totally. depraved man can
 is the manner of man's conversion to God. And in order to           do nothing else than-resist the grace of God. Or else ,grace
 treat that subject it is necessary to treat the subject of man's    is resistible, but man's depravity is not complete as to
 conversion as such. But in order to treat the latter, it is         prevent him from.accepting and cooperating with that grace,
 necessary, first of all, to say something about the man who         that thus he may be saved. The latter is the Arminian posi-
 must be converted, namely, corrupt man, and to define that          tion, and -fully in harmony with the universal atonement
 corruption. It is in that corruhtion that the necessity of con-     doctrine of their second article. And it is this position which
 version lies : if a man. were not corrupt, he neither could be      the fathers of Dordrecht oppose in the Third and Fourth
 nor would need to be converted. Hence, it is of prime im-           Heads of Doctrine' by first of all setting forth the true
 portance to define the nature of and the degree of that cor-        doctrine of man's corruption very thoroughly., and then ex-
 ruption of man. And it is from this point of view solely            plaining the true doctrine concerning man's conversion and
 that the subject of the depravity of man enters into the            the manner thereof.
 present section of the Canons. Surely, one might also view             This already brings us to the question of the relation be-
 that subject of man's corruption from another standpoint,           tween the present chapter and the Second Head of Doctrine.
 and consider it in its relation to  redemption,  for instance.      We must be, careful to understand that there is an intimate
 But here it is treated only from the viewpoint of its bearing       relation  betw,een  our view of redemption apd our view of the
 on the true doctrine of conversion.                                 natural man." The relation is such that one's view of redemp-'
     The Arminians, however, -and that too, undoubtedly              tion determines his view of  the- natural man. If the `scope
 with malicious intentions,  - seem to ignore this relation          of redemption in God's intention is conceived as  generai,
 between man's depravity and his conversion. Taken by itself,        then the power to will and to accept that redemption must be
 the article is in a way a rather strong statement of man's          left to the natural man. And if the power to will and accept
 corruption: "That man has not saving grace of himself, nor          that redemption must be left to the natural man, then the
 of the energy of his free will, inasmuch as he, in the state of     complete depravity of the natural man must needs be denied.
 apostasy and sin, can of and by himself neither think, will,        At bottom, however, it is perhaps nearer to the truth to
 nor do anything that is truly good (such as saving Faith            say that one's basic view of man determines his view of
 eminently is) ; but that it is needful that he be born again        redemption. For that is after all ever the issue between true
 of God in Christ, through his Holy Spirit, and renewed in           and false doctrine: .God or man ! If one has to begin with a
. understanding, inclination, or will, and all his powers, in        proud and highly exalted conception of man, then he spon-
 order that he may rightly understand, think, will, and effect       taneously arrives at a false conception of God's redemption
 what is truly good, according to the  .Word of Christ, John         of man, and at a false conception of the kind of redem@&
 15  :5 : `Without me ye can do nothing.' " It is true that          that is needed by man, as well as a false conception of the
 stronger and clearer descriptions of man`s depravity can be         way in which man can come into possession of that salvation.
 found, and that our Canons furnish a definition of the nature       When one does not want man to be what he really is,

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

 nothing, then he .begins  to. conceive of a salvation which is            and heart, purity in all his afEections was adorned, and thus
 dependent on the natural man for acceptance.                              was completely holy . . . ." In the second place, the transla-
       And thus we arrive at the relation between this present             tion does not make it clear that all the vices mentioned, from
 chapter and the First Head of Doctrine also. There is an                   "blindness" to "perverseness of judgment" apply to man's
 inseparable relation between one's view of God and his doc-               understanding. A correct translation would be: "and on the
 trine of man. In last instance, the reason why men do not                 contrary, he contracted in their place blindness, horrible dark-
 want man nothing is that they do not want God to be all.                  ness, vanity, and perverseness of judgment in his mind  ;
 The whole-hearted confession of the sovereignty of God is                 wickedness, rebellion, and hardness in will and heart, and
 quite content to leave man as he is by nature, apart from the             finally impurity in all his affections." You will notice, in the
 grace of God, dead in sin and misery. Conversely speaking,                third place, that in the first part of this article we substituted
 in the same degree in which the sovereignty of God and His                the word "beneficial" for "saving." This is not because the
 grace are denied, in that degree man must be represented                  Latin  sa,lzttar/i  cannot mean "saving," but rather due to the
 as having some goodness and power to do good, And ulti-                   fact that one can hardly speak of man in the original state
 mately, of course, that reaches to the doctrine of sovereign              of righteousness as having -a saving knowledge of God. He
 predestination, which is the fountain and cause of every                  had nothing to be saved from. He had a true knowledge ; and
 saving good. This is very obvious in the Arminian controver-              that true knowledge was a living; spiritual, experiental knowl-
 sy: They began with a conditional election. Understandably,                edge. He had the knowledge that is life. But a "saving"
 therefore, they had to continue with a universal atonement.               knowledge it can hardly be called. And finally, we may re-
 But -from thence there was. no turning back. As soon as                   mark that the word "abusing" as it occurs here in `the phrase,
 -they made atonement a mere possibility for all men, they had             "and abusing the freedom of his own will," does not occur in
 to follow by  makin g the application of that atonement de-                the original, but is a rather free translation. The original has
 pendent upon-the natural man's free will. The point of                    simply: "but revolting from God by the instigation of the
 contact between God's salvation and man's being was a con-                devil and by his own free will, he deprived himself of these
 dition in the counsel of God ; and it had to be a condition               excellent gifts."
 in the historical unfolding of that counsel also. Hence, the                  Here, then, we have a concise statement concerning the
 relation between the First Head of Doctrine and the Third                 fall and corruption of man, -far more carefully construed
 and Fourth Heads of Doctrine is that the former is determin
          e                                                                than the third article of the Arminians. And it is worth our
 ative of the latter. Leave God GOD, and there is no danger                while to call attention in detail to the various elements of
 that you will go astray as respects any other doctrine.                   this proposition.
                              * *  *  *                                                           (to be continued)
                                           :.     T
                                   ,.,      .                                                                                        H.C.H.
               Article 1. Man  was originally formed after the
               image of God.' His understanding was adorned with
               a true and saving knowledge of his Creator, and of
               spiritual things; his heart and will were upright; all                   JEHOVAH'S PERFECT LAW
               his affections pure; and the whole. man was holy;
               but revolting from God by the -instigation  of" the                     Jehovah's perfect law,
               devil, and abusing the freedom of his -own- will, he                      Restores the soul again ;
               -forfeitei  these excellent gifts; and on the contrary,            His testimony sure
 _,            entailed on himself blindness of mind, horrible dark-                    Gives wisdom unto men ;
               ness, vanity and perverseness of judgment, became
               wicked, rebellious, and obdurate in heart and will;                     The precepts of the Lord are right,
               and!  impure in his affections.                                         And fill the heart with great delight.
       Our English version could be improved upon as far as                            The Lord's commands are pure,
 accuracy and clarity are concerned, although it may be                                  They light and joy restore ;
 granted that in general the translation gives the meaning of                       ._ Jehovah's fear-is clean,
the. original. Our corrections are as follows. First of. all,                            Enduring evermore  ;
 in  the, original one- finds no direct statement, as in the                           His statutes, let the world confess,
 English, that man was formed after the image of God. In                               Are wholly truth and righteousness,              .,.  ,_,
                                                                                                                                       .`\  :
 the original the entire article is one long sentence, and the                         They are to be desired                        L .
 indication that man was formed after the image of God                                    Above the finest gold  ;
 is given only by a prepositional phrase: "Man from the be-                            Than. honey from the comb
 ginning according `to the image of God (ad iqtz,aginem  D&)                              More sweetness far they hold;
 was seasoned (conditzls)  with a true and beneficial (saving,                       With warnings they Thy servant guard,
 advantageous,  sa.lzhwi)  knowledge of his Creator and of                             In keeping them is great reward.
 things spiritual in his mind, and with righteousness in will                                                                  Psalm 19 :1:3


                                                                                                          4

                                            T H E   $TANDARD-   B E A R E R                                                           21
                                    -                    -
                                                                     to its rightful place under today's social and economic struc-
             DECENCY and ORDER                                       ture but it would be greatly revitalized if the following evils
                                                                     were more militantly opposed since in them is to be found
                                                                     the causes of the present unspiritual situation:
                      Article 26, D.K.O.                                   1. A spirit of materialism ! We are.living  in- a materialist-
      The Diaconate and Other Almoners                               ically minded age. Too much emphasis and value is placed
                                                                     upon mundane things while far too little appreciation of the
                          Continued                                  spiritual is manifest.' To this influence the church, speaking
                                                                     in general, has also become susceptible so that when circum-
   The task of the deacon is manifold. If our discussion             stances deprive her members of their earthly goods, they turn
of this office has been somewhat prolonged, it is only because       for relief to those sources from which they receive the greatest
we desire to emphasize the importance and difficulty of the          material return -the "worldly charities."
labors of these spiritual ministers of mercy  -in a time  in,         2. A false  sense. of values ! Closely akin to the fore-
which much of the proper esteem for this office has been             going it-follows that we have apparently forgotten that "we
lost.  The. deacon is more than a financial advisor, book-           have here no continuing city ;- we are strangers and pilgrims _
keeper or accountant of the church. His is the task to               here below" and instead of regarding all things as means
diligently collect the ahns  and to faithfully distribute them       to further our pilgrimage, we look upon the material things
so that the widows, orphans, distressed and such as have             of life as ends in themselves. We begin to regard life as
need are adequately assisted so that as much as possible all         consisting of "the abundance of the things which we possess" ;
suffering and want is alleviated in the church on earth. In this     an evil against which the Lord Himself solemnly warned. We
manner they are to emulate Christ Who took upon Himself              are not far removed from the' rich fool of Luke  12:15-21.
the sufferings of His people: They are ministers of His              Although we do not, perhaps, build barns to  store.our goods
mercy who are called to comfort the sorrowing, bring solace          for many years, yet hundreds of dollars are spent annually
to the distressed and bind up the wounds of those that are           to make secure our automobiles, houses, furniture, life, sav-
afflicted. To their  o&ce there is both a material and spirit-       ings, etc. While we complain that the church budget and the
ual side and these two must not be separated but rather in-          demands of legitimate, Christian charity are too high. Which
tegrated.                                                            was. greater during the last year, the amount spent in in-
   Frequently the material side of this labor is infringed           surance premiums to secure all the above mentioned items                .
upon by the government and other worldly organizations.              or the amount asked to support the church and her poor?
Although the church would no doubt become very alarmed               When the former demand a higher premium than the latter. .
if these same agencies would begin to assume the tasks of            there is evidence of a false sense of values for the material
the. ministers and elders, there is very little concern shown        things of life then become moreendearing than the spiritual.
when they virtually obliterate the functions of the deacons.               3. Refusal to truly acknowledge the providence of God!
In many instances this infringement is even welcomed by              The bread-earner of the family is smitten with prolonged
both the congregation and the deacons. It makes the latter's         illness; hail rains from the sky inflicting'great  loss upon the
task more simple and of the former less sacrifice is required.       farmer and depriving him of his annual income ; floods, earth-
A man losses his home and possessions in a fire and the              quakes and tornados  destroy homes and possessions so that
deacons can' sigh with relief when they learn that the loss is       the Christian as well as the ungodly are affected by `these
"fully insured" for now their charity fund can remain intact.        Divine visitations. Yes, we acknowledge that God does it.
Another's home ,is swept away by flood or tornado but the            Doctrinally we admit that. nothing comes by chance and all
Red Cross is, first there to make restitution and so again           things are done according to His will and counsel but in our
there is no need for any expenditure or aid by the diaconate,        need we refuse to turn to Him or to the institution which He
They do not have to solicit the congregation for alms and            has appointed to dispense mercy and relief but rather turn
the congregation has no occasion to give to aid the needy            to the world where the likelihood of a larger material return
brother. The "security" and "worldly charity" of our day             is greater. We will not bow under His hand while the world
has made the task of the diaconate so simple that in many            will make us rich; It is no longer as with Job who said,
instances it has practically erased it.                              "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the Name
   With this neither the church nor the diaconate should be          of the Lord." Now this beautiful cry of humble submission
satisfied. She has a calling in' this regard  that- she cannot       to God's ways is practically distorted to read: "The Lord
lightly disregard. Christ did not. institute this office in the      taketh away, the world giveth, blessed be the world."
church as a temporary measure. to be supplanted by worldly                 4. Failure to rightly regard the diaconate ! This holds
organizations. He has given the `church the task and calling         from a two-fold point of view. On the-one hand the vastness
to care for her own poor and distressed and this .responsibility     of the task of the diaconate is not comprehended and  thd
she may not relegate to others: It would perhaps be very             result is that adequate means are seldom provided to fully
difficult to fully restore the function of true Christian charity    perform the. labor, The limitation of diaconate aid induces
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22                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

those who need help to seek it elsewhere. On the other hand;        progress of the patient where distances make it impossible
there is the reluctance on the part of the needy to inform and      for the office-bearers of the church to-visit the patient.
acquaint the diaconate with their circumstances.                       It may be, however, that a diaconate' of a small church
      As long as all this prevails the diaconate is, to say the     is confronted with a circumstance of this nature and that
least, seriously handicapped in their labor and the more these      it is unable to shoulder the burden with the means provided
evils increase, the more the office of deacon will fall into        by the litle church. This should not deprive the patient, a
disrepute. Because the office is spiritual, the proper function     nember of such a small church, of the needed care. There
of the office requires that those who serve and are served by       are other diaconates of other sister churches - perhaps larger
it live on a high spiritual plane. And this includes not only       churches -that are able to render assistance. As the church
the deacons and the needy but also those who are privileged         ,order states, "It is also desirable that the diaconates assist
to provide the alms for the service of the diaconate. Blessed,      and consult one another, especially in caring for the poor in
wonderfully blessed is the church that can properly maintain        such institutions." The denominational unity of the churches
her diaconate.                                                      implies as much. We are all members one of another.
                         * * *  9 *                                    `!Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of
                                                                    Christ." (Gal. 6  :2)
      Finally, we must make a few remarks about the last part                                                                 G . V . D . B .
of the twenty-sixth article which does not appear in its
original but was added later. This part of the article speci-
fies that the deacons "shall make it possible for the poor to                       Eastern Ladies League
make use of institutions of mercy and to that end they shall           There will be a -meeting of the Eastern Ladies League
request the board of directors of such institutions to keep         on October 18 at  8 p.m. in our First Protestant Reformed
in close touch with them. It is also desirable that the             Church. Student Al Mulder will be the speaker.
deaconates assist and consult one another, especially in caring
for the poor in such institutions."                                    Come and enjoy an evening of Christian fellowship.
                                                                                                      -Mrs. `Gerrit Pipe, Vice Sec.
      Dr. F. L. Rutgers informs us that in the Reformed
Churches of the Netherlands there are institutions `of mercy
that are managed by large diaconates and are under the
supervision of the consistories. Whether or not this is proper
is subject to debate. There are those who favor it and there                ALL NATIONS, CLAP YOUR HANDS
are those who are opposed to it.                                               All nations, clap your hands,
      In our own country we. do not have this. The provision of                 Let shouts of triumph ring,
this article undoubtedly has in mind such institutions as the                  For mighty over all the lands
Pine Rest Psychopathic Hospital in Cutlerville, Michigan                          The Lord Most High is King
and the Bethesda Sanitarium in Denver, Colorado which,
though not under direct ecclesiastical supervision, are never-                 Above our mighty foes
theless supported and maintained by the people of Reformed                       He gave us power to stand,             _,
Churches. To this might also be added the various Homes                        And as our heritage He chose
that are established for the Aged and other similar institu-                      The goodly promised land.                                :
tions.                                                                         With shouts ascends our King,
      To be admitted to such institutions and to receive proper                  With trumpets stirring call  ;
care, medical, psychical or otherwise, for any length of time                  Praise God,. praise ,God, His praises sing,
involves considerable expense. `Frequently those needing                          For God is Lord of all.
such.care are not in a position to pay for it and, consequently,
it is but proper that the diaconate extends a helping hand.                    0 sing in joyful strains,
None of the sheep of Christ who are afflicted with mental                        And make His glory `known  ;
or physical illness or are aged and unable to maintain them-                   God over all the nations reigns,
selves ought to be deprived of proper institutional `care be-                    And holy is His throne.
cause of lack of funds. Neither should they be compelled to
enter a state institution which is supported by taxation. Let                  Our fathers' God to own                        :
the brethren in the faith come to their aid through the diacon-                  The kings of earth draw nigh,
ate. The latter must then, of course, maintain a close con-                    For none can save but God alone,
tact with the iB.oard of  ,Directors of .the institution through                 He is the Lord Most High.
which they may be informed of the needs as well as the                                                                             Psalm 47



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                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                -23

  II                                                                   are conservative, Lutherans, Baptist et al). For example, in
                ALL AROUND US'                                   1 The Banneydhere  was a statement by a Synodical  committee
                                                                       of the Christian Reformed Church, two members of which
                                                                       were scientists, warning the Church against a dogmatic as-
  The First Three Days of Creation-Week                                sumption that the created order is only a few thousand years
        Skimming through several issues of the Clvwch  Herald,         old, as our fathers had held (March 13, 1953, p. 339).
  weekly publication of the Reformed Church in America,                   "It took many, many thousands of years to form `coal,
  particular attention was drawn to Youth Forum edited by              petroleum, coral beds, diamonds and other treasures in the,
  Eugene Osterhaven who answers questions sent in to this              earth's crust. God could have placed all those things there
  department. In the June 29,. 1956, issue he attempts an              just as we have found them, but His book of nature indicates
  answer to the question: "In the first chapters of Genesis it         that He laid them down, there over a long period of time. In
  -relates what was made on each of six days.. Were the days           my mind this all adds to the glory of Him concerning whom
  the length we think of a day-today before the fourth day of          it could be said, `Before the mountains were brought forth,
  creation? When was coal formed which they tell us took               or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
  thousands of years ?" He answers as follows :                        everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' No matter how old
        "The two Biblical scholars whose judgment I regard most        the earth, God is infinitely older, and wiser."
  highly in this matter are Dr. A. Pieters and Dr. G. Ch. Aal-            I was reminded, when I read this answer, of a conversa-
  ders, both of whom argue that the days should not be thought         tion I had with our family doctor during the time I was serv-
  of as days just like our 24-hour days. Dr. Pieters, in his           ing my first charge. He was a man of Reformed background.
Notes  on Genesis, discusses this at length. Dr.  Aalders, con-        And though a doctor of medicine, was nevertheless interested
  servative professor of Old Testament at the Free University          in theological and biblical discussion. He proved to be more
  of Amsterdam, has a large, 550-page  book in Dutch with the          efficient, however, in the application of the science which
  title (translated)  The  Divine,  Revelahon in  &he First Three      gave him the title of Doctor of Medicine. For when we got
  Chapers   of Genesis. He says the days of creation bear an           into a discussion on the subject of the First Three Days of
  extraordinary character. They are not to be thought of as            Creation Week, he tried desperately to cram down my throat
  24-hour days, but they are God's `work days,' he says (p.            the philosophy Dr. Osterhaven sets forth in his answer.
  246ff .) .                                                              I said to the doctor, "You  are a man of science. In your
        "A Southern Baptist, Bernard Ramm, has written a book          vocation you seek to apply'all the laws of healing science as
  in which he discusses such questions. It is  The Christian           you learned them in the preparation of your profession. Is "
  t'iezer of Science  arLd  Scri/+ztre.  In a lengthy discussion he    that right?' His answer was, "Yes, that is right." I said
  concludes by saying that `creation was-revealed in six days,         further to him, "I also am a man of science. I have studied
  not peufoptizzsd  in six days. We believe that the six days are      the science of exegesis, the science of Scriptural interpreta-
  pictorial-revelatory days, not literal days nor age-days. The        tion. One of the fundamental laws for Scripture interpreta-
  days are means of communicating to man the great fact that tion is that a word appearing in the same context more than
  God is Creator, and that He is Creator of all  (p.  222).' I         once must have the same meaning unless the context de-
  quote from this book, not because I necessarily agree with it,       finitely shows that it has another meaning. Will you accept
  but because it is an attempt to wrestle with the problems and        this ?" Then I showed to him that the word "day" as it `ap-
  because the learned author, Director of Graduate Studies in          pears almost a dozen times in the first chapter of Genesis must
  Religion at Baylor (So. Baptist) University, has the cour-           have the same significance. If he would agree with me that
  age to oppose some of his own church-men whom he feels               all the days beginning with the fourth through the sixth day
  -prejudice the cause of Chri.stianity  by shutting their eyes to     were days of 24-hours, he would also have to agree that the
  scientific fact.                                                     first three days had also the same meaning. With this argu-
        "All evidence now points to' this universe being many mil-     ment the doctor admitted he could not cope. I also pointed
  lions of years old. First-class scientists, Christian and  non-      out to him that to maintain that the first three days of crea-
  Christian, inform us that this present universe probably had         tion week were long periods of time, perhaps millions, of
  its beginning between three and five billion years ago. But          years, was a reflection on the wisdom of God. I asked, him
  z't had a  beginni~~g!  I shall try to say a few things about        when he had his house built if he would be so silly as to have
  that in another article. It is interesting to note that even         the contractor lay its foundation ten years before he put the
  scientists who will have nothing to do with the Biblical story       super-structure on it. I closed our discussion by asking him if
  of creation admit that a creative process ,was at work or is         he believed that God was more foolish than he. Would the
  now at work.                                                         all-wise God Who calls into being the things that are not as if
        "With my training in theology I cannot come to an in-          they were out of His eternal counsel into time cause the green
  dependent scientific judgment with respect to the probable           herb and grass to exist millions of years before he created the
  age of the world. But I have read-with interest statements           cattle and man to eat it?
 by conservative churchmen (Roman Catholics, who in this                  Dr. Osterhaven at the conclusion of his answer reflects on


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 24      -  -        .-                                T H E   S T A N D A R D :BEARER
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 the wisdom of God. But I fail to see any' wisdom "or power                   Stonehouse stands in the theological tradition of the  First
 of God in his philosophy. He states, "With my training in                    Point of 1924, namely, that the gospel is a genuine,  authentic
 theology I cannot come to an independent scientific judgment                 offer of salvation to all who are addressed by it."
 with respect to the probable age of the world." This does not                    Dr. Daane's article, which. is too long to quote in its en-
 say much for his training in theology. It does say quite a bit               tirety, also contains the following which drew our special
for his evolutionistic conception which he evidently imbibed                  attention :
f r o m   themen   o f   s c i e n c e .   -                                      "If I mistake not, the authors have put the case for the _
                                                                              general offer of the gospel more sharply, more clearly, than
 President Signs Clergy P&e Fares Bill.                                       has -been done before. They assert, for example; that `it is
       In the August 31, 1956, issue of the Church Herald  we                 absolutely and universally &ue that God does not delight in
 noticed a brief article under Chzwclt News appearing under                   ,or desire the death of a wicked person. It is likewise' ab-
 the above title which we thought would  be'of special interest               solutely and universally true that he delights in the repent-
 to our ministers.                                                            ance and life of that wicked person.' God is said to `will,' to
       "Washington,  .D.C.  (RNS).-  President Eisenhower                     `desire,' to `delight in', the salvation of everyman, including
 signed into law a bill authorizing commercial airlines to.grant              fhose who are reprobate. Furthermore, they urge that this
 reduced fares to the clergy on a `space available' basis. The                divine will (desire) expressed in the gospel is `not simply the
 new legislation permits airlines to, offer lower rates on a                  bare perceptive will of God,' that is, is not merely the manner
 stand,by basis, where the clergyman will not be able to make                 in which God's will and desire appear or sound to us. Rather
 reservations, but will have to wait at the airport to see if                 this desire, or delight in the salvation of every man, is an ex-
 space is available at departure time. Although airlines will                 pression of an actual, internal disposition of lovingkindness
 not be required to lower plane fares, most domestic carriers                 and favor within God himself. Furthermore, they repudiate
 have indicated they will. The reduced rates will not go into                 the notion that the will to save expressed by Jesus, for
 effect until the Civil Aeronautics Board and airline repre-                  example in his desire to gather the children of Jerusalem as
 sentatives have drafted regulations for the application of the               `a hen gathers her chicks, is merely the human -will of Christ.
 clergy air far-es. Earlier, the President signed a bill making               Nor are they afraid to say plainly that this divine will to save
 `In God We Trust' the official motto of the United States."                  all is in fact opposed to what actually happens ; their idea of
       For those of our ministers who wish to take advantage of               sovereignty does not exclude the recognition of a divine will
s the convenience and speed-of air travel and who are willing to              to- an end that is not in fact actualized."
 wait at the airport until all other possible passengers have had                If what Daane writes concerning this pamphlet is true,
 first opportunity to obtain seats, they may find it a bit more               (we have -not seen the pamphlet to check his comments),
 economical hen&forward to use `this medium of travel.                        then we agree with Daane that Murray and Stonehouse stand
    -The amusing-thought that came to my mind as I read this                  in the theological tradition of the First Point of 1924. We
 notice was the possibility that a Protestant Reformed min-                   would expect them to do this on the basis of other writings
 ister might find himself in the predicament of having to wait                coming from their pen which we have read.
 for the ticket agent to decide which minister shall have the                     We want to remind Dr. Daane that to us it is neither
 preference when,  letus say, ten ministers of different denom-               "refreshing' `nor "heartening' to see these men, or any others
 inations are waiting inline  for a reduced fare to his destina-              for that matter, departing from the Scriptural and Reformed
 tion, Perhaps it might be well for that minister of ours who                 truth that the gospel is no offer at all, nor an offer to all men,
 wishes to take advantage of this new deal to inquire first if                elect and reprobate alike, but a particular. promise of salva-
 there are any other ministers waiting for a ride before he asks              tion to God's elect in whom the promise declared in the gospel
 the ticket agent if his company offers a reduced rate to the                 is realized. We grieve over their departure from the straight
 c l e r g y .                                                                lines of the truth into the camp or Arminianism.
                                                                                  Moreover, we emphatically deny that this delight or desire
 The Free Offer of the Gospel.                                                of God to save all men is established by Christ when he ex-
  ' Such is the title of an article written by Dr. James Daane                pressed his desire to gather the children of Jerusalem as a
 and appearing in the  Reformed  Jozirnal   of Sept. 1956. Dr.                hen gathers her chicks. -That Christ is both divine and human
 Daane borrows this title from a'pamphlet`written by the  Drs.                does not make that expression of Christ to be divine. In fact,
Murray and Stonehouse of the Orthodox Presbyterian Semi-                      we maintain that if Daane and the men of the 0. P. Seminary
 nary who published the pamphlet under this title.                            maintain that Christ spoke these words according to his
       Daane gives his readers a favorable.appraisal  of this little          divine nature, they make Christ to be in conflict with the
 treatise. He writes: "Although no such references are made                   eternal and divine purpose of predestination. .No Reformed
 (to the Three Points of 1924  - M.S.), and although the                      man would ever explain the text of Matt. .23 :37 that way.
 term `common grace' and `well-meant-offer are not used, yet                  To take the position of these men and be consistent, they
 it is unmistakably clear that the position of Murray and                     must deny the will of God's decrees.                        M.S.
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