     VOLUME   XXX111                                          DECEMB~ER   1, 1956  -  GRAND  RAPIDS,, MICHIGAN                                            NUMBEC   5.

                                                                                            II Israelitish commonwealth with its service of the visible tokens
            MEDITATIO'N                                                                           of religion. We hear of sacrifices, bulls, goats, lambs, doves,
 L------                                                                                    II etc.
                                                                                                          They were commanded by God and were typical of the
                          THANKSGIVINb                                                            New Testament service of the love of God.
             "O f f e r   &to   G o d   t h a n k s g i v i n g ;   a n d   p a y   t h y   v o w s       But oh, so often it deteriorated info empty fqrms.
            unto the Most High: and call upon Me in the day of                                            God grew weary of it.
             trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.
             Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me: and  to, him that                                       God wants the heart and not the outward manifestations
             o r d e r e t h   h i s   co&ersation   aright will I show the                       of service `and religion.
             salvation of God."  P'sahn  50:15,  23.                                                      Hence : Offer thanksgiving !
     God's people are blessed : you see in this psalm a preview,                                          What is it?  -
 and you listen to, a pre-audition of the Judgment Day.                                                   It is a heart that is filled with the.beauteous  grace of God.    j
     God is judging His people ; they are those Miho made a                                       It is such a heart filled to overflowing. And that which
 covenant with Him by sacrifice.                                                                  flows over is thanksgiving It is the love  of God expressed
     And their glorious name is My Saints.                                . .                     -by the object of that love of God : the saint. Thoughts, words,
                                                                                                  deeds, vibrant with the love of God.
     And then : "Hear, 0 My people !"                                                                                                                                               e
                                                                                                                                                                                   j
     And then we hear both the positive, and negative speech                                              And the content of all those thoughts, words,. deeds are                  9.
 of God  ; the one an instruction in the greatness and the                                        the glorifying of God.                                                             :~ _-
 riches of dad who does not need anything from our hands,                                                 Here is the story: God loves His people, for -His own                     \s-
 house or fields. He owns everything.                                                             name's sake.                                                                                I
     And then: the yay to God.                                                                            Toward that people are the outgoings of His heart of love,
     Offer unto God thanksgiving ; and pay thy vows unto the                                      and that means that He fills their heart with His love and                     --  -
 Most High.                                                                                       lovingkindnes?..                                                                ".J
     And  then it is well  with our soul, for:  Whoso offereth                                            And that  beople  are so completely filled with all these
 praise glorifieth Me: and to him that ordereth his conversa-                                     beauties, that ihe; can restrain themselves not for a momeht  :
_ tion aright will I show the salvation of God.                                                   they flow over with love toward Him.
     But unto` the wicked there is darkness. We hear a ter-                                               And that is thanksgiving  ; that is glorifying God  ;. that
 rible speech of God unto those that came before His face,                                             is the worship demanded on every  page  of Holy Writ.
but  with;`a   `witiked heart. To them there is nothing but ever-
 lasting damnation.                                                                                       And that is the ,reasonable  service which God requires of
                                                                                                       every man, but which is elicited only froni the mouths and
     Let us see the way of God,-and  hear the injunction of the                                   hearts of -the chosen saints of God.
 Most High unto thanksgiving worthy of the name.
                                                                                                          It is the knswer  of redemption. It is the gratitude of the
                              '  *  *  *  *                                                            redeemed saints. It is the exaltation of the demand of the
                                                                                                       law: Love God above all ,and your neighbor for His name's
     The setting of the psalm is the dispensation of the                                               sake.

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

      Glorify Me !                                                   Also when you gather in the churches and have your
      Pay thy vows !                                                 thanksgiving's day service.
      Offer unto Me thanksgiving !                                      And thus it shall be when the moon shall shine rio more.
      That, dear reader, is the only purpose of creation and re-        The individual impetus is wrought in our hearts  by
creation.                                                            Christ's Spirit and the Word Divine by showing us our
                                                                     redemption.
      There is no other purpose for the  who_le  history of the
Universe.                                                               When that is seen we cry out: He has saved us from so
                                                                     great a death!
      Because out of Him, through Him, and unto Him are all
things.                                                                 The curse, damnation and hell are gone, forever gone`!
                                                                     Hallelujah !
      Creation is a mirror to reflect the goodnesses and the
ldveliness of the Godhead.                                              And in their stead I see an unspeakable glory that shall
                                                                     permeate me and shall make me an instrument"upon  which
      And when man, standing at the head of creation, corrupts       God will play the songs of everlasting thanksgiving in the
himself, there glides a black  shadow of wrath and the curse         New  Jerusalem
over the erstwhile beautiful creation. Even the heavens are
now not pure in His sight. Creation does no longer answer                                       *  *  +  *
to that one solitary purpose, and therefore there is the woe
of everlasting curse and death.                                         And that everlasting Symphony will begin here on earth.
      But the responsibility remains.                                   We hear it from our cradle: God gaye Jesus. Jesus gave
      The common responsibility of all men and,devils  remains :     Himself. The Holy Spirit writes the story of salvation in a
You should love Me and say it !                                      Book. And He also applies all the heavenly story of a lb&
      And if that is the  I)urpose of creation, much more is it      that will make heaven musical forever.
the purpose  .of recreation.                                            And the answer from the heart of the redeemed saint?
      The first creation was a covenant with God, but it  WAS           It is this : they give themselves. They are led  by. the
earthy, temporal, transitory.                                        Holy Spirit and the W&d to make their vows unto God.
      The second, or the recreation is also a covenant, but it          They confessed: I am His !             *
is made by sac&fice.  (verse 5) And that is Christ.                      He owns me body and soul, for time and eternity..
      I think that this psalm is more Messiariic  than is usually        I am created anew unto His glory. And I will live and
understood.                                                          sing His praises.
      The whole covenant of grace rests in Christ. Out of God,           Such are the vows of the children of God.                :.
but through Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit.                        And they pay these vows. -Oh, how they pay them. God
      The whole recreated Universe must be unto the praise           -Himself  is the Guarantor that they shall pay these vows. It
of .God's glory. And again God calls to the new heaven and           is included in the work of salvation.
the new earth: Glorify Me. Offer unto Me thanksgiving.                   Yes, yes, I did read my text which speaks of' the
And: pay thy vows unto the Lord.                                     ordering of a man's conversation aright.  And that then: the
      All this is fulfilled in Christ. All the praise of the new     Lord will show him the salvation of God.
creation comes from the heart of Jesus of Nazareth.                      Some people might speak here of the conditio sine  qua
      And that includes all the thanksgiving of all the saints of    non.
God of all the ages.                                                     But it is nonsense.
      Never was there a sigh of rapture, looking in the face             What does it mean that a man ordereth his conversation
of God, or it was first in Jesus, and through His Spirit,                                                            ,,     :'
                                                                     aright 7
then in you.            .                                                For that matter : what is a man's convers'atiori?:
      It all centers around Jesus Christ.                                                                           . .
                                                                         It is his life as he lives it from the heart; in&ding all
      Attend to Paul: That in the dispensation of the  fulness       his thought, desire, will, imagination, speech and works: A
of time He might gather together in one all things in Christ,        man's conversation is the same as his pathway, his way or
both which are in heaven and which are on earth ; even in            his life.
Him . . . . .                                                            And to order that conversation aright means that by an
      We are called unto a new obedience. And make no mis-           effort of the will and the avowed purpose of the heart he
take: it is the obedience of Christ.                                 directs all that heart and life toward the heart of God.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                      99

      I ask you in all seriousness : where does that leave every
cursed son and daughter of Adam and Eve ?                                `i                -THE STANDARD BEARER
      You have already supplied the answer: every one of us             Sevni-monthly,  except  movtthly   duriwg   Jme, July  arid August
has chosen his own way, and we have turned backward from                       Published by the  R.EWRMED  FREE PUBLISHING  ASSOCXATION
the Lord.                                                               P. 0. Box  SQ  Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
                                                                                               Editor  - REV. HERMAN  H~EKSE~A
      That is the plain testimony of the Bible, of history and           Communications .relative  to contents shotild  bd addressed to Rev.
of the experience of the heart of man, of every man.                     H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St.,  S.E., Grand -Rapids 7,  Mich.
      Oh, there is only one Man who ordered his conversation            All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                        G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
arigh!, and that Man is Christ.                                         Announcements and  Obifuaries   muat be mailed to the above
      And He did it for Himself, for us, for all the elect saints       address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
of God.                                                                 RENEW&S:   Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
                                                                        ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
      Of course, there is no other door to heaven than good             to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
behavior. No one can approach the great white throne, and                                        Subscription @rice: $4.00 per year
be assured of a warm welcome, than those who do the com-                Entered  a.s  Seyovtd   Class matter at  Grand  -Rapids,   Michigavs
mandments of God. Rev.  .X2:14.
      And the only One that did and that does and that wili
unto all eternity is Jesus. He arrived before the door of                                                    C         O    N      T      E      N       T      S
heaven full of thanksgiving, praise and adoration on the day          ~~~~~~~~~~~
 r
01 ascension.                                                                  Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
      And the angels sang : Lift up your heads, o ye gates ! !                        Rev. G. Vos
      And the gates were lifted up, and J&us entered heaven.          EDITORIALS  -
                                                                               Unbiblical   Divor#ce  and Remarriage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
      Later we hear that  He went through all the heavens                      Election and Reprobation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,101
until He arrived before the throne of God.                                            Rev. H. Hoeksema                       '
      And then God said to Him : Sit at My right hand !               OUR  DOCJXINE-
                                                                                The Book of Revelation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
      And Jesus began paying His vows.                                                Rev. H. Hoeksema
      And He does so unto all eternity through you and me,            THE DAY OF  SH~\DDWS-
and-through all those that are the beloved of God.                              The Prophecy of Zechariah.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. .I04
      Thanksgiving? To the Triune God ?                                               Rev. G. M. Ophoff
      You could not very well do anything else, when you are          FROM HOLY  WRIT-
touched by the Almighty.                                                       Exposition of Matthew 11:25-30..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
                                                                                    Rev. G.  Ltibbers
                                                              G.V.    IN HIS  FUR-
                                                                                Giving in HIS Fear (4). . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
                                                                                      Rkv. J. A. Heys

                                                                      CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH  -
               "Jesus why dost Thou love me so?                                 The Church and the Sacraments.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I11
                What hast Thou seen in me                                             Rev. H. Veldman
                To make my happiness so great,                        THE VOICE  OF  OUR  FATHERS  -
                So dear a joy to Thee?                                          The Exposition of the Canons of Dordrecht.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
                                                                                      Rev. H. C.  Hoeksema-

                Wert Thou not God, I then might think                 DECENCY AND  ORDER-
                Thou hadst no eye to read                                      The Church and the  State................................115
                                                                                      Rev. G.  Vanden   Be?g
                T+,y .badness  of that selfish heart
               ,iFFr which Thine Own did bleed.                       ALL AROUND Us  -
       -:.I          ,,_  L'"                                                   Hoeksema's Deistic Tendency Must Be Rebuked!. . . . . . , . . .117
               :.                                                                     R e v .   M .   Schipper
                But .Thou art' God and knowest all ;                  CONTRIBUTIONB-
                Dear Lord, Thou knowest me,                            A   f e w   Words.............;.............................119
                And  yet Thy knowledge hinders not                                    W        m        .              Eerdmans
                                                                               News from  Doon.................................'
                                                                                                                                                              .......llg
                Thy loves sweet liberty."                                             Jake  Vanden  Top
                                                 L Anon.


       100 .                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                         -.
       I/                                                                  should be married to another, even to him that is raised from
                   E D I T 0 R  C A`L  s.                             /I the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."
                                                                                Notice : 1. That also in these verses human marriage is
                                                                           presented as a reflection of another, spiritual and heavenly
                Unbiblical  Divorce and  Remkiage                          marriage, this time of the Lamb and His bride. 2. That this
             As has been said, it is my conviction that divorce and        marriage of the Lamb and the Church could not be con-
       adultery never can break the marriage-tie. Only death can           firmed except through death. For by nature we belong to
       do this. It is true that, according to Scripture, fornication       the first Adam, to sin and death and devil, but through the
       or adultery gives the innocent party the right to leave the         death of the Lamb we are liberated from the law of sin and
       guilty party, although this even does not always have to take       death and, therefore, have the right -to belong to Christ.
       place for forgiveness and reconciliation is always the first        3. That, therefore, this is also applicable to human marriage :
     obligation of the Christian. iBut even when the man leaves            only death can break the tie of holy wedlock, nothing else.
       his adulterous wife or the woman leaves her adulterous  bus-        This is literally expressed in the text. The woman is bound
       band, this does not imply that the tie of marriage. is broken       by. the law `to her husband as long as he lives ; only through
       so that the innocent party has the right to remarry.                the death of her husband does she become free from that law.
             This is my conviction.                                        Hence, while her husband still lives she may not be married
             And this conviction is based on the Word of God.              to another. If she, nevertheless, marries another man, she
             First of all, there is the general ground that marriage is    is an adulteress.
       a reflection of the covenant-relation between God and His.               And this is also very clearly the teaching of the Lord
       people and this covenant can never be broken: God never             Jesus in the verses we quoted before. For the convenience
       breaks His covenant. The people may violate the covenant,           of the reader we will quote them here once more:
       commit spiritual adultery, yet God's covenant stands fast on             Matt. 5 :31, 32 : "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put
       His part. The marriage-tie between Him and His people is            away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
       never broken. It.is established forever in His eternal counsel      But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife,
       of election and sealed in the blood of the cross. Thus we           saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit
       read in Jeremiah 3 : "They say, If a man put away his wife,. adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced
       and she go from him and become another man's, shall he              committeth adultery."
       return unto her again ? shall not that land be greatly pol-              This text, taken by itself, says nothing about the remar-
-      luted ? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers  ; yet     riage of a woman who committed adultery before she was
       return again to me, saith the Lord." vs. 1. And again:              divorced by her husband. Nor does it say that her husband,
       "Turn, 0 backsliding children, saith the Lord  ; for I am           after,  he had divorced his first wife, married another woman.
       married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and            The woman and her husband, therefore, may both be in-
       two of a family, and I will take  you  `to Zion." vs. 14. And       nocent of the sin of adultery. The' Lord simply presents a
       once more : "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from          case of a man that leaves his wife "saving for the- cause
       her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me,  0             of fornication.' In the abstract, therefore, it might be `pos-
       house of Israel, saith the Lord . . . Return, ye backsliding        sible to explain the text as meaning that, if a man marries
       children, and I will heal your backsliding." vss. 20, 22. These     another man's wife, who did not commit adultery, whose hus-
       verses, and many others, show plainly: 1. That earthly              band divorced her while he does not marry another woman,
       marriage is a picture or reflection of God's covenant with          `that man commits adultery by marrying the innocent woman.
       His people. 2. That this covenant can never be broken, even         In that case, neither husband nor wife committed adultery.
       though, on the part of the people it is violated by idolatry or     She, therefore, still belongs to her first husband, even though
       spiritual adultery. We conclude that, if this is true of the        he has divorced her. In other words, the text offers no proof
       eternal reality of God's marriage-tie with His- people, it          for the proposition that the marriage-tie can never be broken
       certainly must be true of the reflection in our earthly mar-, except by the death of the one of the parties and that even
       riage: it can be violated, but it can never be broken.              the innocent woman may never marry again.
             This is also .the teaching of Ram. 7 :l-4 : "Know ye not,          I say that in the abstract this explanation might be pos-
       brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how              sible. In. the concrete it is not very probable. It is most
       that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?         probable that a man leaves his wife for the very purpose of
       For the woman which hath a husband,is bound by the law to           marrying another, and that, therefore, the man that marries
       her husband so long as he liveth ; but if the husband be dead,      the innocent woman commits adultery in spite of the fact that
       she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while        her first husband is already-married to another woman.
       her husband liveth, she be married  `to another man, she shall           Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the text does not
       be called an adulteress : but if her husband be dead, she is        say this in so many words.
       free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she             Similar words of the Lord Jesus, however, state this very
       be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also          plainly. To these we must call your attention in our next
       are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that ye          i s s u e ,   D . V .                                     H.H;


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                101

                    Election and Reprobation                          have not seen them ; and to hear these things which ye hear,
             . .                                                      and have not heard them."
     The question we were discussing  .in our last article               In the same connection, i.e. with the parable of the sower
  under the above mentioned subject is : is it .true,  as Berkou-     and with the teaching in parables in general, we read in
  wer maintains, that, in the hardening of his heart, man is first    Mark  4:10-12:   "And when he was alone, they that were
  and God follows so that God hardens man's heart only as a           about him with the twelve asked him of the parable. And he
  matter of righteous judgment on man's self-hardening.               said unto them, Unto to you it is given to know the mystery
     Of course, if we consider this question merely from a            of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all
  principal point of view, it is, fundamentally, a denial of total    these things are done in parables : that seeing they may see,
  depravity and a maintenance of a certain so-called "common          and not perceive ; and hearing they may hear, and not under-
  grace" to maintain that the individual sinner is first in the       stand ; lest at any time they should be converted, and their
  hardening of his heart and that God follows. Reformed               sins should be forgiven them."
  theologians and the Reformed Confessions inaintain that                Now, Berkouwer does not explain these verses, but merely
  every man enters into the world dead in sin and misery.             refers to them in a footnote. Nevertheless, in the body of the
  That death is the righteous judgment of God upon the sin            text of his book, he suggests an explanation. And this sug-
  of the human race in Adam. Hence, every man is under that           gested explanation is such that, according to him, these words
  righteous judgment of God even before he is born. Not the           have nothing to do with reprobation. Writes he:
  individual man, but God is first. Man is totally depraved.             "Every attempt to weaken the words of Christ must be
  By nature, he stands in enmity against God with all his heart       rejected. They must be understood in their deep sense. But,
  and mind and soul and strength. He will not, he cannot,             at the same time, it must also considered that one may not
  and cannot will to love God. Now; when God, apart from the          give a `hard' meaning to these words, that is not essentially-
_ grace' of Christ, brings to that man the testimony of creation,     connected with them. One may plead for the sovereign power
  according ot Romans 1  :19-21, concerning his eternal               of God and its acknowledgement, but sometimes cannot pre-
  power and Godhead; and when He brings to them the                   vent that unnoticeably - or noticeably ! - a deterministic
  gospel of Jesus Christ and calls them to repentance, then .vision has taken the place instead of this." p. 303.
  they do, indeed, harden themselves, but even then God is               And a little farther :
  first for: 1. They are totally incapable of heeding the                "This gospel does not leave man that does not listen, and
  testimony of creation and the preaching of the gospel  ; and 3.     is disobedient unchanged, but it drives him- in a holy un-
  There is, accompanying that testimony of creation concern-          avoidable power - on the way of alienation and of judgment.
  ing the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ, and influence         On that way we behold the ripening process, and when it is
  of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the reprobate whereby           said `they could not believe' then this does not refer to an
.their hearts are hardened.                                           impotence which is the result of a deterministic absolute
                                                                      power, but to the holiness of God's judgment, that realizes
     But, apart from this principal consideration which, by the       itself more and more in man's unbelief. It is a terrible mis-
  way, is not my philosophy but based on Scripture, we must           understanding when one interprets the either-or of many
  still consider the other passages of Scripture quoted by Ber-       words of ,Scripture (fall-rising again ; enlightening-blinding ;
  kouwer.                                                             life-death from the viewpoint of the symmetry of election
     First of all, he refers to Matt. 13 :lO-17.  There we read:      and reprobation. For the either-or is then, in opposition
  "And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest             to the entire Scripture, interpreted by a determination ab-
  thou unto them in parables ? He answered and said unto them,        stracted from Him."
  Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the              Well, let it be said once more, I do not and never believe
  kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whoso-          in a sort of philosophical determinism to which Berkouwer,
  ever hath, to him shall be given ; but whosoever bath not,          evidently, again and again refers, and which he attempts to
  from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore           apply to me as is evident from the entire context in which the
  speak I to them in parables : because they seeing see not ; and     above passages occur. But I do believe, on the basis of Holy
  hearing hear not, neither do they understand. And in them           Writ, that God is absolutely sovereign and that He alone
  is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which saith, By hearing         ultimately determines the salvation as well as the damnation
  ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall       of men and that according to His eternal counsel of predesti-
  see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed       nation, election and reprobation. To be sure,  .He does not
 gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have       do so without considering man's rational and moral nature,
  they closed ; lest at any time they should see with their eyes,     but He does so with absolute sovereignty nevertheless. Pre-
 and hear with their ears, and should understand their heart,         destination is divine determinism.
  and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed           This Berkouwer does not like.
  are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.             But I must still explain the texts quoted in this article.
  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and right-               This, however, must wait till the next issue.
  eous men have desired to see these things which ye see, and                                                                   H.H.

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

                                                                      `tolerate its existence, yet flourishing spiritually, and faithful
           O U R   D O C T R I N E                               /I to the Lord-its King. Yet the Lord holds a few things against
                                                                      it. And in order to understand how this is possible, we must
                                                                      notice, in the first place, *that there is a noticeable difference
            THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                    between this church and the one in Smyrna. The latter was
                                                                      right in the midst of tribulation. In fact, the darkest days
                           CHAPTER       VI ,                         for it were still in the future. But with Pergamos this .is
                                                                      somewhat different. The Lord refers to the days of Antipas
              THE CHURCH LAX IN DISCIPLINE                            as belonging to the past. The church still lived in the midst
                       Revelation 2  :12-17                           0f.a hostile world, to be sure. It had experienced the hatred.
                                                                      of that world, and had been persecuted for the testimony they
    Would it not have been a dishonor of the name of their            had given. But evidently the first wave of fury had passed.
 Lord and King if they had left the impression that they              Pergamos had lived through its first attack from Satan and
 lacked the courage to confess Him  ? No, this they could             the world. Now it was a time of relief for the church. And
 never do. Over against the cry of the town,  "Aesculapius            history plainly shows that such times are dangerous for the
 is savior," they boldly maintained : "There is no other name         church of Christ. In close connection with this fact stands
 than that of Jesus. When the world proclaimed that Caesar            the other, namely, that the church in Pergamos was defective
 was god, and as such was to be worshipped by all, they               in discipline, the discipline of its own members. This is a
 could not submit : but opposing the world also in this respect,      feature not mentioned of the church in Smyrna. In fact, I
 they confessed that Christ was King, that the Lord God,              imagine that there was not much occasion for discipline in
 and He alone, is worthy of worship and adoration. And thus           that congregation, for the simple reason that it was a church
 it is also the calling of the' church today to let the testimony     in tribulation. But in Pergamos discipline had become lax
 .go forth over against the Man-worship of Humanism and               while there was abundant occasion that called for strictness
 Modernism : "Jesus Christ is King  ; and He alone is the             in this respect. No, the situation in Pergamos was not as
 Savior of the world.!"                                               serious as that in Ephesus. But the defect was of such a
    But still more there is implied in this faithful confession       nature, nevertheless, as to call for a rebuke.from the Lord.
 of the name of Jesus over against the world on the part of the       Discipline is the Christ-ordained guard in the church of
 church in Pergamos. For the Lord speaks of days of tribula-          Jesus. It is the sentinel, standing watch by the purity of
 tion and persecution which the church had already exper-             doctrine according to the Word of God, and by the holiness
 ienced in the past, in the days of Antipas, one of Christ's          of the sacraments, as well as by the walk of believers. Where
 faithful witnesses, who had been killed among them, where            that sentinel is not placed on guard, or is `sleeping while on
 Satan dwelled. Nor does it cause us surprise that the world          duty, the church is exposed to the evil, seducing influence of
 could not tolerate the witnesses of Christ in the city. Surely,      false doctrine, as well as to the degenerating influence of the
 the church may escape the bitter hatred of the world, and            world upon the life of its individual members.
 persecution from its side, for a long time, as long as it will          In Pergamos that sentinel was fast asleep. For the Lord
 only` be silent and unfaithful and hide its light under a bushel,    reprovingly' calls its attention to the fact that it has there
as long as it does not condemn the world in its self-made             "some-that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balac to
 religion and Man-worship and boldly confess the name `of             cast a stumblingblock before the children  ,of Israel, to eat
 Jesus. But no sooner does the church realize its calling, and        things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication ;" some
 faithfully unfurl the banner of its King, than the hatred of         that "hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes" in like manner.
 the world of that detestable Jesus of Nazareth and His "blood        There were, therefore, evil men in the church of Pergamos,
 theology" will manifest itself in bitter persecution. Thus it        men that did not belong to the church in Spirit and in truth.
..had been `in Pergamos in the past. Nothing else is known of         And they were allowed in the midst of the congregation.
 Antipas, mentioned in the letter, than that he was a faithful           The reason why the'church  was lax in disciplining these
`witness and had been killed for the testimony he had given.          men is not revealed. Hardly would it seem conceivable that
 But surely, this incident is proof of the fact that the church       the church was not aware of their existence in its midst, for
 had experienced dark and evil days, days of tribulation, even        they must have labored for the spread of their evil influence.
 as the church in Smyrna experienced. And in all this they            Perhaps it was afraid that since the congregation already had
 had been faithful, and not denied the name of Jesus.                 to cope with so many difficulties, and had a hard battle to
    From what we have considered of the church in Pergamos            fight against the world, the disciplining of its own members
 thus `far we would be inclined to draw the conclusion that           would weaken it still more. Perhaps the excuse was given
 it was a beautiful and most perfect specimen of a church, in         which is so often offered for laxity of. discipline in our own
 no respect inferior to the congregation of Smyrna. And we            time, namely, that the church must not cast out, but save.
 would surely not anticipate any form of rebuke in this epistle       The church must save, and not reject, -so we often hear it
 that is addressed to it. Also here we have the picture of  a         in our own time. Who knows whether'these evil members,
 church in tribulation, in the midst of a world that cannot           if they are borne with patience and longsuffering, will not .


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 103.

  come to repentance. On the basis of such false excuses evil           antinomians, people who deliberately taught that it mattered
  men are tolerated within the church of Christ. Some churches          not how the Christian lived here upon. earth, since Christ
  defend the membership of those *that belong to secret societies       fulfilled the law and the old Adam was doomed to destruction
  on that very basis. If only they are in the church once, they         anyway. They were not very scrupulous as to their own lives.
  may be persuaded to sever their connection .with the lodge.           They would feast with the heathen and eat of their sacrifices.
  Men that hold a false doctrine are tolerated, and the church          In a word, they -were a class of people that threatened by
  that does not exercise discipline over them is excused, be-           their doctrine and life to obliterate the distinction between
  cause, so they say, true faith is after all not a matter of           the church and the world in Pergamos, even as the counsel
  .doctrine,  but of the heart, and it would be cruel and indicative    of Balsam  was calculated to wipe out the characteristic dif-
  of a "holier-than-thou" spirit of intolerance if such men would       ference between the people of. Israel and the Moabites.
  be excommunicated from the church of Christ. We are                      Thus the church of Pergamos, by allowing these Nicola-
  perhaps acquainted with the flimsy arguments that are used in         itanes to exist in the church, was in grave danger of losing
  defense of laxity of discipline. Jesus, however, `will not have       the distinctive character as a church of Christ. The purpose
  it so. And whatever may have been the cause of this laxity            and subtilty of the devil in this scheme is transparent. In
  of discipline in the church of `Pergamos, the Lord holds it           the recent past he had made an attempt to wipe out the
  against them, and in His letter speaks of it rebukingly.              church and make it unfaithful to its Lord by subjecting it to
      Exactly in what manner these evil men in the church of            bloody persecution. But in this he had failed. For the time
  Pergamos had made themselves objects of discipline the                being he now abandoned this course of action, in order to try
  letter does not tell us. There were Nicolaitanes here, as in          the method of corrupting the church and thus wiping out
  Ephesus, where they were hated and not tolerated. In this             the distinction between the church and the world. I think in
  letter, however, we receive some more definite information            this respect the epistle of Christ to the church in
  about them. They are compared with Balaam, that most                  Pergamos has a great lesson to teach us. Is not obliteration
  abominable of all false prophets pictured in the Old Testa-           of all distinction and amalgamation of the church and the
  ment. Second to Judas, who betrayed the Savior for thirty             world characteristic of all that the devil does today  ? Are
  pieces of silver, it is perhaps difficult to think of a meaner,       we not told that it matters not what form of doctrine we em-
  more abominable and. debased creature mentioned in Scrip-             brace, if only we will all be brothers ? Is he not busily engaged
  ture than this Balaam, this agent of the devil. You are               in socializing and secularizing the church of Christ? And on
  acquainted, of course, with the history of the man. Sent for          the other hand, is not the church of Christ growing more
  by  Balak, king of the Moabites, to curse the children of Is-         lax in discipline and weaker in its hold upon the truth of
  rael that are encamped in the plains of Moab, the thing ap-           *the Word every year? I am convinced that such are the
.,  .peals to Balsam,  though- he knows it is wicked and against
  the will of Jehovah, for the simple reason that there is              conditions indeed. And therefore the church in Pergamos
  money in it. Repeatedly the hypocrite implores the Lord to            in this respect at least is a true picture of the church of
  let him go with the king's ambassadors, till tinally  because         today. And the message which the Lord instructs John to
  of his importunity Jehovah grants him the wish of his heart,          write to that congregation may also be applied to us : "Re-
  and lets him walk in his evil way. On the way thither he              pent, therefore, or else I will come to thee quickly, and I will
  receives another warning through his mute beast, but with-            make war with them with the sword of my mouth."
  out effect. He travels on, arriving at the place of his destina-         This sword had already been mentioned in the self-an-
  tion, and beholding from the heights the children of Israel,          nouncement with which the Lord introduces this letter to
  he cannot but pronounce upon them the blessing of Jehovah             Pergamos.. Of this we read in verse 12: "And to the angel
  which the Spirit gives him to speak. And in spite of his own          of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he
  `miserly soul and the provocation of the king of Moab, he             which hath the sharp sword with two edges." It is evident
  must confess that he cannot curse whom the Lord Jehovah               that these words anticipate the threat of judgment found in
  would bless. And what now does this debased instrument of             vs. 16. It is evident, therefore, that the threat of judgment
  Satan do  ? He gives the' king some practical advice  ; and           which the church in Pergamos receives is in harmony with
  according to Numbers 31:16, he counsels him how he may                that self-announcement of the Lord. He presents Himself
  shrewdly bring destruction upon the people of God. And                as the one out of whose mouth proceeds the sharp  two-
  through his counsel he causes the people of Israel to commit          edged sword. The significance of this sword we pointed out
  fornication in the service of Baal-peor, and to sacrifice to          in a former discussion. In brief, it denotes the power and
  Moab's idols. That was the advice of Balaam. And its im-              authority of the one that walks in the midst of the golden
  mediate object was the obliteration of the distinctive character      candlesticks to execute judgment and destroy the evil-doers
  of the people of God, their a\malgamation  with- the people of        by the Word of His mouth. He is Judge supreme, and rules
  Moab.                                                                 also against the evil men in His own church, destroying them
      In the text these Nicolaitanes are compared to that               by the sword that proceeds out of His mouth. That sword
  wicked Balaam of the Old Testament, who offended the                  is His sovereign  an'd powerful Word, executing judgment.
  people of God. It is not impossible that the Nicolaitanes were                                                                   H.H.

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

                                                                         prophets that spake on the day tht the temple was fo,unded,
         THE DAY OF SHADOWS                                              that it m.ight be built, and not the prophets in general. The
                                                                         prophets meant are Haggai and Zechariah. Zechariah, as
                                                                         assisted in the beginning of his prophetic career by Haggai,
              The Prophecy of Zechariah                                  had already been speaking the word of the Lord to the
                                                                         post-exilic community for about two years. At the time of
                       Chapter VIII :9-13                                the calling of our prophet approximately thirteen years had
                                                                         gone by since the turning of Judah's captivity. At that
    9. Tht4.s saitlz.Jelzovalz  of hosts, Let your i"zands  be skong,    time Cyrus made a proclamation throughout his empire in
ye  that  hear these days these words  from the  mouth of  th            which he exhorted the Jews to return to Jerusalem and
prophets who spake OS the day the house of Jekova,la of hosts,           build the temple. Some forty-four thousand Jews responded.
.tlze temple, was fou.nded that it might be built. 10. For b&            On their arrival in Jerusalem they went to work with a
fore these days there was no wages for man and no wages                  will. The altar of burnt offering was built and set on its
for  be.a.st,  aped  `YI,O peace for  him that wen-t out or came in,     base, the legal festivals were reinstituted, workmen were
beca.use of the oppressor; and I set all men each against his            hired and the materials gathered for the construction of
neighbor.  11.  But now not as  sin  the  former  days  am  I to         the temple. And according to Ezra 3  $3-13 the foundation
t&e  mmnant of this people, saith Jehovah of hosts. 12. For              of the temple was laid in the second year. But for the fol-
there shall be a seed of peace, the vine shall yield its j&t,            lowing thirteen years nothing was further done. During all
a.nd the earth shall yi&ld its produce, a.nd the keavem shalt            this time the work of building of the temple was at a stand-
give their dew, and I will ca"use the~remmnt of the people to            still. This failure to build God's house was largely owing
ixlaerit, these. 13. And it shall be that as ye were .a curse            `to the fact that there was little heart for the work. The
among the heathen, o huse of Judah  and house of Israel,                 people were more interested in building themselves costly
So will I save you and ye sha.11 be a blessing; fea.r not,  let          homes than progressing with the work of the temple. (See
your lmnds be strong.                                                    my introduction to the prophecy of Haggai). Then the
   9.  `Let  your  hands be strong-  an exhortation to con-              Lord raised up Haggai and Zechariah. They rebuked the
tinue energetically the building of the temple that was now, sinful apathy of the people and exhorted them to resume
nearing completion. That the prophet, better said, the Lord              building operations. They also spoke to them words of en-
Himself,. was so insistent that His temple be built, can be              couragement. They proclaimed to them God's Gospel. Their
explained.- The Word had not yet become flesh. Christ had                labors bore fruit. The people came and did the work. In
not yet suffered and died, and, as the resurrected Christ,               the language of verse 9, the house of Jehovah of hosts, the
entered once into the holy place. The saints had not  yet' tem&e,  was founded that it  migl6t be  built.  This second
come unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.            founding of the temple was unlike the first (Ezra `3 :lO) in
.For this Jerusalem was not yet. Hence, the earthly Canaan               this respect that it issued in the completion of the temple.
was still the heaven of the church, the earthly Jerusalem the               That God's believing people may clearly perceive and
capital of God's kingdom, and the earthly temple His house.              be grounded in the faith that  it. is indeed the will of God
Here in this temple alone of all places the glories of the               and, therefore, their calling to build the temple, that they
triune Jehovah were revealed in the face of Christ as fore-              may continue energetically to address themselves to this
shadowed by the typical things of the law. This being                    task and be encouraged in the performance of it, our prophet
true, the temple was the center of unity of the faithful far             in verses  lo-12 presents the contrast between their former
and near, such of them as were scattered among the nations               and present condition. How had they fared during those
as well as those that dwelt in  Judea. All prayed with                   years of indifference regarding God's house?. Their lot
their faces turned toward the earthly Jerusalem. For all                 had been hard.  Before those  days, that is, before the re-  '
knew themselves as covered by the blood of sprinkling u?.on              sumption of building operations,  there were  iza wages for
the horns of the altar that burned on the temple-mountain.               man and no wages for beast. As we learn from the proph-
And the blessing of Jehovah that went forth from out of the              ecy of Haggai, this was owing to the fact that the- Lord
temple was upon them all. It is easy to see, therefore, that             had called for a drought upon the land, and upon the moun-
as yet the temple was indispensable.                                     tains, and .upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon
   The exhortation comes to them that "hear these days                   the oil, and upon that which the ground brought forth, and
these words from the mouth of the prophets." They hear,                  and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of
do these people, the true believers in the post-exilic com-              the hands, Haggai 1, 2. The result was that no adequate
munity. They have ears to hear, are endowed with the grace               returns were had from the labor expended in the cultivation
to obey. They build the temple. It is the Lord's believing               of the soil. They sowed much but brought in little, Haggai
people that are here being encouraged. They alone have the               1:6. A heap of sheaves that appeared as if it contained
promise. To them alone pertain the blessed prospects that                twenty measures, when threshed was found to contain but
the Lord holds forth in this chapter. They hear the words,               ten, only half of what was estimated. A quantity of grapes
from  the  mowth of the prophets.  The reference is to the               estimated to yield fifty measures, gave, when pressed out,


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              1 0 5

but ten, Haggai 1  :16. What little did -grow in the earth            shall  give  their dew. This good is called seed of peace
was often ruined by mildew or hail before it could be liar-           because it will be had in peaceful times, when God will no
vested, Haggai 2 :17. And so they ate but had not enough,             longer be laying His strokes upon His people in punishment
drank but were not filled, clothed themselves but there was           of their sins seeing that they are reconciled to Him through
none warm, Haggai 1  :6. Their daily requirements were                the cross and have peace with God.  And I will  `cause the
not being met. They were a famished and ill-clad people.              remmnt of  the people to  inh~it  these. It must be admitted
But this was not even the whole of their sorrows.  Zecha-             that when the earth, by which is to be understood the land
riah makes the disclosure (see verse 10 above) that for 1&t           of Canaan, was not yielding it's produce, the remnant was not
tlmt went out and cagne  in, i. e., men engaged in their -ordi-       in the actual possession of the earth. The earth was taking
nary occupations, there was no peace bemuse of the adver-             itself from them throug,h  its withholding from them its fruit.
sayy. Doubtless this must be taken to mean that during                That the remnant of the people shall inherit these things -
those thirteen years the remnant in the land  of, Judah  was          the produce of the earth - can therefore only mean that it
continually being harrassed by the heathen. The enemy was             shall receive from the hand of God Canaan, in the'last in-
everywhere on hand, so that it was not safe for a man to              stance the Heavenly. The remnant shall inherit the earth
venture out of doors. And finally, to climax it all, the rem-         and the remnant only. Unto the remnant has been given all
nant was torn by dissensions. There was perpetual strife              things. The others shall be completely dispossessed at Christ's
between the Jews in Palestine. Jerusalem was a house di-              appearing.
vided against itself during those years. This is indicated               13.  And it shall -be tht as ye were a curse among the
by the succeeding statement, And I set all men ea,ch against          nations, 0 house of Judah and house of Israel - The house
his neighbor.                                                         of Judah and the house of Israel are the remnant of the
    Of these visitations  no,mention  is made in the book of          people of verse 6, properly and in the last instance the true
Ezra. Having stated that the work of the house of God                 church in the world of both the old and the new dispensation
ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of            at any one moment of time and not to be limited to the Jews
Persia (Ezra' 4:24),  Ezra goes on to say that then the               yet including the Jews according to the election of grace.
prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to the Jews (v.              (See -on verse 8). True, in the Old Dispensation, seeing that
1). But this was thirteen years later. That during these              Christ had not yet died and that, therefore, the -blessings of
years the hand of the Lord was heavy upon His people be-              Abraham had not yet come to the Gentiles, the remnant was
cause of their neglect of His house we learn only from                exclusively Jews. Not that the Jews were God's  peoplej but
Haggai and Zechariah. Ezra passes over these years in                 God's people in that day were Jews.
silence.                                                                 In our prophet's day the house of Judah and the house
    But now -not as in the former days am I to the reknan't           of Israel, the church, was scattered among the nations as is
of this people,  saitla  the Lord  of  Izosts. In the former days,    this day the case with the church on earth. And in every
when they were neglecting His temple, the Lord was as an              place where God's people were found they were a curse.
adversary to His people in laying His strokes upon them.              How this is to be understood is plain from, Jer. 24:lO and
Not that in those days He was act&y their adversary and               Joel 2  :17i The heathen said, "Where is their God," which
was against them. This could not be, seeing that they were            shews that God's scattered People were regarded as  fore-
His people. In His love He had chosen them in Christ, and             saken and cursed of God, so that they became an object of
He loved them still and was for them in those days despite            curses and taunts and reproaches among the heathen, a
their sins. It could not well be otherwise, seeing that He            ,proverb, formula of cursing. It is not any different today.
changes not. Just because He was for them, He was unto                The true church in the world, the remnant according to the
them as an adversary. He'made them to undergo the curses              election of grace, must needs be hated and scorned by wicked
of the law, yet, seeing that He had hidden them in Christ,            and reprobated men. But according to the tense of the verb
without cursing them. And He laid His plagues upon their              employed by our prophet the troubles of the church of His
hearts to the salvation of their souls, so that they repented         day had ended, "And it shall be as ye were a curse." The
and did the work. That was an accomplishment of His grace.            form of the verb at this place is accounted for by the fact
And, accordingly, He will be longer unto them as an                   that the Lord had turned the captivity of Judah. But the
adversary but He will bless them with the blessings of the            troubles. of the church were by no means ended. Scattered
law wherewith  .He first blessed Christ in reward of His              for the most part among the nations, she was still the church
having kept the law.                                                  in tribulation as she is this day, Her warfare will not end
    For there shall be-a seed of peace, the prophet tells them.       until Christ returns to give to His little flock the kingdom.
As in Gen. 8:22, seed here is equivalent to sowing, so that              Sian  was bitterly hated by the heathen, and by all the
the promise is to the effect that there shall be to them              heathen almost to a man. There were no gentiles being
seedtime  and harvest. That this is the thought  conveyed  is         called and as called and saved, loving and blessing Sion. For
plain from the succeeding sentence, TjLe vine  shall  yield its       as was said, Christ had not yet died. The blessings of
fpbtit,  and the earth shall yield its produce, and the heavens       Abraham had not yet come to the gentiles.  All with few

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

exceptions were  reprobated  men. None, therefore, were                existence in time, and as a legally completed heavenly thing,
blessing. All were cursing and accordingly were being                  it was set in heaven with Chiist.  In this point of view, the
cursed of God.                                                         temple `has been built. All its lively stones are in heaven, so
       We must now consider the Lord's Gospel to His afflicted         that not one of them can perish. Actually, however, the.
people in the world of that day and of every day. Said the             temple  is in process of being built. The apostle Peter speaks
Lord  : so I will  sa.ve  YOU---  so, as certainly  *as  ye were  a    of the believers as lively stones built up a spiritual house, an
-came among the heathen. And further: Ye shall be a bles-              holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to
sing.                                                                  God by Jesus Christ, I Pet. 2  :5. The work of building the
                                                                       temple is Christ's. He gathers His church by His Spirit and
       It is not essentially a new promise added to the  one,          His word. This can be the work of no mere man.
previously proclaimed and contained in verses 7 and 8. It is
substantially the same promise directed to the same people -              Yet there is a sense, a very actual sense, in which the
the church in tribulation. The message, therefore, is- as              believers  dd and shall build the temple. The temple of the
timely today as it was then. Surely the Lord will save them,           first covenant was a shadow, as has just been said. It sym-
the house of Israel and the house of Judah. How this                   bolized the indwelling of the triune Jehovah in His church
sentence is to be completed is plain from verses 7 and 8. The          through Christ in His Spirit. This being the truth depicted,
Lord shall save them from the east country and from the                the temple, as symbol, was the Gospel of God as are our
west country, yea from the ends of the earth,  the four points,        sacraments. It is plain in what sense God's believing people
of the compass. Christ gathers His church. And the whole               of this day do and shall built the temple. They may be said
house  shxll be full. Not one place in the family of re-               to build the temple when they bring to manifestation in this
deemed shall be vacant., And He brings them to Jerusalem               world the body of Christ through their chosen them office-
in the midst of which they shall dwell. Implied, certainly, Ts         bearers and placing themselves "under their jurisdiction in
that Jerusalem is no longer on earth but-is above. The holy            obedience to Christ. Thus they build the temple when they
city was exalted. The church was set in Heaven with Christ.            submit  themsel;es  to the ruling and teaching ministry that
Micah prophesied of this. He tells us that in the last days it         Christ has instituted in the church and receive, their word
shall come `to pass that the mountain of the house of the              and admonition. They build the temple when through these
Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and              ministries as their organs they faithfully expound the Scrip-
that it shall be exalted above the hills, Micah 4 :l. And ac-          ture and vindicate sound doctrine against heresies and errors.
cording to the Hebrews we are come to the Heavenly                     They build the temple when they lay off sin, put on Christ
Jerusalem, 12  :2. It is to this city, the Heavenly, that all          and walk in newness of life and fight the good fight. We
the exiles are brought, the sheep for which Christ laid down           saw how displeased God was with His people of old for
His life. He quickens them, and even now in this life while            their neglect of His temple. Not to be for Christ is to be
they still lie, in the midst of death, they in principle dwell         against Him. Not to build the temple is to destroy it. Let
with God in the midst of the holy city. With their faces               then God's people build the temple which they do by His
turned toward the city they pray. Here at the right hand of            mercy. Let them not fear but let their hands  .be  strong.
                                                                       For their labors are not vain in the Lord.
the throne Christ is seated, a_nd here where Christ is are the
things above that they seek. And when the `last exile shall                                                                    G.M.O.
have been saved, they shall receive from Him life in glory.
   And ye shall be a blessing - They shall have a name and
a praise made them of their God. If formerly they were,
the object of curses and taunts amqng the heathen, they will              "Suppose a king's son should get out of a besieged city,
then be the objects of benediction (Zeph. 3  :20). All the             and  leave his wife and children behind, whom he loves as
people of the earth shall call them blessed.                           his owii" soul ; would this prince, when arrived at his father's
                                                                       palace, delight himself with the splendour of the court, and
       Such being -the blessed hope that the Lord sets before          forget his family in distress ? No  ;  _ but, having their cries
the house of Judah and the  .house of Israel, it is right that         and groans always in his ears, he would come post to his
He should conclude with exhorting them: Fear not, let your             father and entreat him, as ever he loved him, that he would
hands be strong. As was stated, this is an exhortation to              send all the force of his kingdom to raise the siege, and save
continue energetically the building of the temple. The  ex-            his dear relations from perishing. Nor will Christ, though
-hortation  was also laid upon the hearts of those to whom it          gone up from the world, and ascended into His glory, forget
first came. They did the work.                                         His children for a moment, that are left behind Him."
       Zerubbabel's temple was built. But it has  lo& ago                                                                   - Gurnall
perished. For it was but shadow.~  The body is that spiritual
house df which Christ is the chief cornerstone. This temple
is God's. It was His conception. Hence it was always be-                  "Divine consolations are then nearest to us, when human
fore Him in His counsel. Through Christ He merited its                 assistances  are furthest from us."                    - Cave


                                            T H E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                107

                                                                    "liked `to hear ;" he did not ask how does the "wind blow"
(/         F R 0 M H 0 L-Y WI R I'T _ jl in the congregation, but what saith the Lord! And he was
                                                                    not liked!
                                                                        They said of him, in their unbelief, John hath a devil!
            Exposition of Matthew 11:?5-30                              John must be discredited as being one who is possessed,
                                                                    one who is beside himself.
      In the Gospel of Matthew there is no passage which is             And Jesus ?
quite as well-known, perhaps, as is the passage which reads             Of Him unbelief spake no better. Jesus is called a "man,
as follows, "Come unto me all that are weary and heavy              who is a friend of publicans  -and sinners, a glutton and a
laden, and I will give you rest."                                   winebibber. And that, too because the eyes of them were
      This does not mean, however, that all who quote this          spiritually blind, and they stumbled at a Jesus, Who opened
passage or have memorized it also properly understand or            the eyes of the blind, caused the lame to walk, the deaf to
interpret this-passage. The very opposite is often the case.        hear, and who cleansed the. leepers, and who raises the dead
Sometimes, due to ignorance, good Christians will interpret         to life, and who does this, that the Gospel may be preached
these words in such a way that the "call is to all who hear         to the poor.
the preaching" but that the coming is "up to us." When                  On the other hand, there were those, whom Jesus calls the
such ignorant brethren and sisters are further and properly         "violent," who take the Kingdom "by force." They saw the
enlightened they surely come to a more profound and correct         Kingdom of God, long foretold by prophets and bards, as
understanding of their salvation, and will give more praise         soon to be realized. And they very impatiently in faith and
and glory to God. But there are also dye-in-the-wool Pela-          hope, and earnest longing drank in Christ's teaching, looking
gians and Arminians, who even go prating of being Reformed,         for "the rest" that remaineth for the children of God.
maintaining the teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism, etc.,             And what is Christ's official and clearly enunciated "in-
who with might and main hold to the untenable interpretation        terpretation of this phenomena of "unbelief" on the one
that in this passage of Matthew all men are viewed by Christ        hand, and of "faith" on  the- other hand  ? Is it that some
as "being weary and heavy laden  !"                                 have their "free-will" and come to the act of faith as the pre-
      I have met such preachers during my missionary activ-         requisite to enter into the Kingdom and to come to rest for
ities.                                                              their souls  ? Not at all !
      They are a great plague in the church under the sun  ;            Christ, who has come to be the chief prophet, revealing
their work will surely be destroyed as by fire in that day!         unto us the secret counsel concerning our redemption, ascribes
      In view of the demand of  God's- word that we rightly         this all, as the manifestation of the "good-pleasure," to God
divide it, and that we be workmen who need not be ashamed,          alone !
I shall carefully follow the text and try to interpret it in the        Is it not remarkable that Jesus lifts up this exalted praise
light of its content and in the light of all of Scripture.          to God, his Father, at "that time"? Would one not, speak-
      We will call attention at this time to verses 25 and 26,      ing "according to man," be inclined to state that at this
where  we  read,  "`At that time Jesus  answered  <and said, I      point Jesus should have hung his harp upon the willow, sat
thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven  a;nd  @a&L,   that  thou        down in despondency, as did Elijah of old, when he said:
ha& hid these things from  the wise and p;vudent,  and hast,        "and they seek my soul" ?
revealed  the&  unto babes;  y'ea, Father, for  thus was the
good-pleasure to thee."                                              Those who interpret Matthew  11:28, to wit, "come unto
      When Matthew writes in verse 25, "at that time," this         me all' ye weary and heavy' laden" as referring to "all .men"
does not mean a certain date on the calendar, nor does this         would surely need thus to reason. The trouble is that they
refer to a given season in the Jewish calendar, but it refers       have never listened to the "divine answer" which spoke to
to a "season," the proper time when Christ's preaching and          Elijah, "I have reserved unto me seven thousand men, who
teaching, his performing of miracles and powers was com-            have not bowed $the knee to B,aal."  Romans 11 :4.
ing to manifestation both in faith and in strong and plaarked           Why have they not listened to this? Is this testimony
ztnbelief.  It was beginning to manifest itself clearly that the    not clear? Indeed it  is.. Listen ! Such have not profoundly
preaching of Christ was a savor of death unto death in those        learned the implication of Romans 9 :20, "Who art thou, o
perishing and that it was a savor of life unto life in those        man, that answereth against God  !"
being saved !                                                           Here we take the shoes from off our feet. Here we listen
      And what "a season" of preaching it had been in Israel        to the anointed prophet of God unfold unto us the secret
since the days of John the Baptist.                                 counsel of God concerning our redemption and also con-
      John, the greatest of the prophets, had proclaimed the        cerning the purpose of God in the "vessels of dishonor."
way of the Lord, and he had called Israel to repentance, and        And we tremble in holy beauty and worship at His feet. Yes,
baptizing those, who thus came, confessing their sins. And          here we worship listening to the great and sweet singer in
this John was no  ,reed shaken with the wind, He was' not           Israel, as he sings of the eternal good-pleasure. And listen-
the kind of -preacher that told the congregation what they          ing in faith we take our place `in his school of music !


108                                          T H E ,   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       I hear someone whisper "Decretum  Horribilis" ! I say                  We ought to try to see first of all that this is what Jesus
with him that it is such. Only it means that it is the "hor-          actually said to the Father.
rible decree" which- is higher than my thoughts and deeper                    And then we ought to give account of its implication too,
than my imagination. But which is for that reason only                should we not?
good, just, holy and righteous. That is my prejudice of                       In the text the very opposite of "hid" is to reveal. And
faith as I step into the  "holy place" with  Asaph, Elijah,           "to reveal" certainly means not simply to manifest, to make
Paul, all  the' saints, that have found additional reason for         visible to the eye, but it refers to the inward illumination by
daily humiliation at the consideration of this -"good-pleasure"       the Spirit also, whereby by faith we see the things of the
of the Father.                                                        Mystery of God. To reveal, therefore, refers to the i+arta-
       And I say with the Fathers of Dort: God had done no            tion of mlvation, powerful calling to faith, justification and
one injustice, had he saved no man! Calvin, Beza, Ursinus             sanctification. The opposite of this is  to  hide. This surely
can rest at peace. They will be saved and their work can              means that in the just judgm,ent  of God a covering of unbe-
endure the hottest  trialsas by fire.                                 lief was .upon  their hearts, and ever more came upon their
       Yes, they have listened well to the "Sweet-Singer" in          hearts while the glorious light shone in their midst.
Israel, as he laid His prayer as an oblation before the Throne                And this is thus because of the "good-pleasure" of. God.
on the altar. "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and                       This hiding also proceeds from the counsel of God. Thus
earth, that thou  hast hid these things from the wise and             itis in this text. The "thus was the.good-pleasure  with thee"
prudent and hast revealed them unto babes."                           surely refers to the "hiding" as well as to the "revealing."
    The white Throne was not besmirked by it.                         And even though we cannot fully comprehend this work of
    All God's virtues were honored in the revelation of His           "hiding" and "revealing" we will nevertheless sing in dox-
great and holy Name.                                                  ology with Paul" for out of Him and through Him and unto
                                                                      Him are all things. To Him be the praise and glory, both
    Did we listen correctly to what Jesus said in the  "holy          now and forever." Romans 11: 36.
place" ? Did He really say  "hid  tl&?~n from the wise and                    It is true that the "hiding" comes from the counsel of
prudent" ? And did he thank God for this ? And God heard              God in a different manner than does the "revealing" ; yet,
that prayer, and it did not defile the Most Holy Place, where         even so, both emphatically come from the counsel of God !
angels cover their faces.?                                            Yes, the fathers of Dort reject' that as being false teaching
   That is what Jesus said, and that is what we heard!                and misrepresentation of the reformed faith which says "that
   `0, that is what the most  Pelagian-Arminian  preacher             in the  savvie   utianner  in which election is the fountain  and.
heard, too. But that is not what he wants to hear, so he soon         cause of faith and  good works, reprobation is the cause of
forgets it, tries to down it in silence if not in outright denial.    unbelief." Be it so. We. heartily concur. Our fathers here
He may try to convince himself and all who love the lie,              speak of the "manner" in which God executes His just and
that those, who correctly report what they heard Jesus say,           holy Decree. However, even so the fact that both proceed
yes, what Jesus himself had Matthew write, are "rational-             from the Decree stands. Besides, in Canons I, Art.  VI, we.
ists," but in his heart of hearts he must know that he  is a          read "that some receive-the gift of faith from God, and others
liar! For not they, who correctly report Jesus' words, are            do not receive it, proceeds  fro.~a God's etwnnl decree."
rationalists. They are simply adhering and clinging to the                    The fathers of Dort went into the holy place..
"rule of faith," while the real rationalist is the Arminian.                  They, too, are rationalistic and far worse according to
That is not simply my analysis, but it is the lesson of the           the Arminians, who have never learned to put their. hand
history of Dogma in the church through the ages.                      upon their foul mouth.        _
   We do well to let this sink deep into our hearts!                          Be it so. Our text teaches that both the "hiding" and
   It is always a bit ridiculous when Pelagian-rationalists           the "revealing" proceed from the counsel of God.
accuse the true believers of the Word of being what they                      And for this the Name of the Father must receive honor
themselves are.                                                       and glory for ever.
   It is the Devil's strategy of deception!                                                                                       G. L.
   However, we will continue to listen to Christ's Word in
the midst of the din of confusion of evil men!                                "If a person fall and break his leg, or be burnt out of
   Let us then notice that the text does not say that the             his house, most people pity. and sympathize with him. But
"wise and the prudent" did not see, understand, believe the           if a man live in sin, where are the neighbors that feel for his
Gospel. That is true in itself, and is clearly taught in many         .danger, and labor to reclaim him ? Or, if a believer- be over-
passages of God's Word. However, that is not the  wlzole              taken by a fault, how few professors will commiserate his
truth, it is not the entire reality of God's dealings in His          case, and endeavor to restore him ?"                      Toplady.
sovereign exaltedness over all things ! For notice that Jesus,.,        .~
thanks the "Father, Lord of heaven and earth" that he has                     "Complaining of God is one thing ; complaining to God
hid the things of the Kingdom from the wise and prudent.              is another."                                                Caser.


                                             T H E   .sTANDARD   B E A R E R                                                              109
                                                                                                                                          -
                                                                                                                        ,
                                                                     they may have glory of men. Verily, I say unto  you,  They
                 -I  N. H 1 S F E `A `R                              have their reward. But when thou doest alms let not thy
                                                                     left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms
                                                                     may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret
                     Giving In His Fear                              .Himself  shall reward thee openly," Matthew 6:1-4.
                                                                         Note that Jesus teaches  us. that God loathes such "giv-
                                (4)                                  ing," for He declares .that such actions do not receive a re-
                                                                     ward. Note also that He calls such giving an act of hypoc-
     Bitter pills with a sugar coating upon them.                    risy. It simply is not giving but a seeking of glory among
    -Their bitterness we do not taste ; and they achieve the         men. The only reward such actions have is the temporary,
 desired end.                                                        worthless praise of men ; while it works in the Living, God
     We all have, in the literal sense of the word, taken them       an awful displeasure.
 at one time or another in our lives. We needed them. Tak-               Shall  .we, then, condemn all sales conducted. to raise
 ing them was made much more,pleasant,  and we got the de-           money for kingdom causes ?. :
 sired effect, without experiencing the bitter part of it.                                                         s
     It is safe to say that we all have also taken- these sugar-         And ~what  about the many programs that are rendered
 coated-yet-bitter pills in the figurative sense.                    and at which a free-will offering is taken for some worthy
     T-0 what do we refer?                                           cause  ?                            .
     We have in mind this widespread and much-used method                Such a free-will offering we will not condemn nor a pro-
 of getting - shall we say extracting ? - financial support          gram at which occasion is given for one to give in a free-
 for worthy causes in God's kingdom wherein man -has to              will offering for a worthy cause. But if the program has for
 get something in return for his money.                              its motive- the desire to induce men to give because they
     It is a method whereby money is extracted from indi-            have received entertainment in return, we certainly will-brand
 viduals when actually it should have been given by these            it likewise as more sugar-coating.
 individuals and otherwise would not. have been forthcoming.             There is room, no doubt, for programs in which God's
    There is so little giving left today because it is made so-      people may edify and be edified by the talents that God has
 painless for us to part with our, money for kingdom causes.         given to His Church. At such programs and in appreciation
    The bitter part of parting with our money is sugar-              of God's works an opportunity may very properly be given
 coated by the thing that we get in return.                          to remember some worthy, charitable cause and, to contrib-
                                                                     ute to its supports.                                    ,.     .,
    We have to eat anyway  ; and if fifty cents or a dollar
 profit can be made on the meal we buy, money can be raised              Nor will we pass. judgment on those societies as to: their
 for this or that worthy cause. We would pay that same price         sincerity when they sponsor sales and meals with: a view `to
 for that meal in a restaurant, anyway. And now the profit           using the proceeds for the support of, some phase' of 1 God's
 can go to a good cause. So chicken dinners, soup suppers,           kingdom here below. But we maintain that it is a sad com-
 baked goods sales, and a host of similar projects are initiated     mentary on our giving when we must resort to such methods.
to make it less painful for us to part with that which is neces-     It shows that we have never learned to give or else have                    -
 sary for the support of worthy causes in God's kingdom.             to a great extent forgotten how.
 By these methods we have tasted only the sugar coating of             . The word of God has this to say, "God loveth a cheer-
 the "pill" and we find out that it was not so bad after all.        ful giver," II Corinthians 9:7.
    Or, if we can get honor before men, if  -we can get the              But let us read the whole verse. Let us read it together
 name of being charitable before them, if by bidding a ridic-        with the one that  preceeds  it. "But this I say, He which
 ulously high price for an article that -is not worth anywhere       soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly ; and he which
 near the price for which we have agreed to buy it, we can           soweth bountifully shall reap  also. bountifully. Every man
 get to look good in the eyes of our fellow  men well, then          according as he. purposeth in his heart, so let him give ; not
 it was worth it for us to part with our goods for this king-        grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
 dom cause. And if it will do our business some good, if it             That is language that we can easily understand. No one
 will mean better financial returns to us in our business, if it     will question the fact that one who sows sparingly of natural
 will enable us to get the support  of others in our pet projects    seed will reap sparingly. No one, therefore, can escape the
 and ambitions, well, then by all means that sugar coating           spiritual application of this principle. And giving grudgingly
 tasted pretty good !           ,.                                   and of necessity are not giving in His fear.
    But Jesus says, "Take heed that ye do not your alms                 How wonderful it would be if all these means to raise
before men, to be seen of-them  : other'wise ye have no reward       money were not necessary. and, simply on being told of the
 of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou              need for funds, -men would cheerfully- and readily contribute !
 doest thine alms, do  not: sound a trumpet before thee, as          And that this is not the case, today is evident from all the
 the hypocrites do in the:synagogues  and in'the streets, that       methods that are still being thought up and are being pre-
                                                                                                              I


 1 10
  '                                                          T H E   STANDARL)  B E A R E R
                                                                                                                             -         I
 sented in a new garb as another attempt-to get men to part                  sidered  the return of Christ in judgment to be in the very
 with their money for a, cause to which they would not other-                near future. This may be gathered even from the epistle of
 wise spontaneously contribute.                                             `Peter, the second one, in which he finds the need of warning
         And, that is not the case simply of the man with only               the Church that God is not slack concerning His promise
 moderate means and of the man who has great difficulty                      as some men count slackness. Plainly there were many in
 making both ends meet for. the needs of his family. These                   that day also that expected Christ to return in their lifetime.
are usually the most cheerful givers that  you. will find in                 This  .could  very conceivably be the reason why the early
 God's church. And in the congregation the budget for them                   New Testament saints sold their lands and houses for the
 is .a far greater percentage of their income than of those to               cause of God's kingdom.
whom God has given much to. sow. If it is a tenth for                           This does not at all take away any of the cheerfulness
these, then for the less well-to-do it is nearer to a fifth.                 wherewith they gave these things to the support  .of the
         A beautiful picture of giving in His fear you may find              needy. We read very distinctly of them in Acts 4 132, "And
in the early New Testament Church. We read in Acts 4 :34-                    the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and
37, "Neither was there any among them that lacked i for as                   soul : neither said any of them that ought of the things which
`many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and                   he possessed was his own  ; but they had all things common."
brought the price of the things that were sold, And laid them                   The day may come when the Church will follow the ex-
down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto                   ample to the early New Testament Church in regard to
every man according as he had need. And Joses, who was .houses and lands. Before the days come when we cannot
by the apostles surnamed Barnabas, (which is being inter-                    buy and sell them and the awful persecution of the  anti-
preted, The son of consolation,) a  Levite, and of the coun-                 Christian forces begin to torment the Church, the saints will
try of Cyprus,, Having land, sold it, and brought the money,                 by the Spirit Who dwells in them be  .drawn more closely
and laid it at the apostles' feet."                                          together as they fight the good fight of faith and the matter
         No sugar-coating there, !                                           of maintaining the gospel and the schools will be done in that
         They did not need it!                                               same spirit of cheerfulness and love for the truth and the
         And it was those who had lands or houses that sold them             cause of God's kingdom.
and laid the w!zole amount at the apostles' feet. It was the                    And today that ought to be the spirit wherewith we con-
hypocrites such as, Ananias and Sapphira who claimed to                      tribute to the financial support of God's kingdom here below.
have sold their land and given the, whole amount. They                          As long as we have to extract funds by sugar-coated-pill
.did not give in His fear. They definitely gave a part in                    method and our giving is grudgingly and of  necessitv,  we
order to obtain a name such as Joses received. They gave                     express thereby that our appreciation of the spiritual gifts
to get. Theirs was not giving for the-sake of giving. With                   that God gives unto us is very small. We may then have
them it was a business deal. The beautiful picture of giving                 celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a feast of material things.
is to be seen in these who had lands and houses and sold                     But God knows whether our hearts were thankful to Him
them to bring the whole sum to the apostles for distribution                and whether we are appreciative of spiritual gifts.
amongst the brethren.                                                                                                              J. A. H.
       All  .too soon a flaw appeared in this beautiful picture,
not only in the terrible sin of  -Ananias-  and Sapphira but
likewise in the fact that we read a little later in Acts that
the widows of the Grecians were neglected. And we do not                        "Man's `attraction of fellowmen is usually diminished in
maintain that today the only giving in His fe.ar  is when men               the measure they become better acquainted with each other.
sell their lands and houses and bring the wlzole amount to                  How marvelously excelling the love of God, before Whose
the maintenance of the gospel and the schools  ,50r for the                 eyes all things are naked and open, and Who yet loves us
needs, of the poor. That form  .of communism (having all                    with an unstinted divine love !"                       H. H.  R.
things  commdnp could not continue, it stands to reason.
For as soon `as'the money of those lands and those houses                       "The Arminians think, that in conversion, God does little
was used up.the only possible source of future income and                   or nothing for men, but gives them a pull by the elbow, to'
support would have been the addition to the Church  of.more                 awaken them from their sleep. Rather, He acts as maritime
wealthy individuals at a steady rate. No, we may keep our                   officers do by their sailors: He cuts down the hammock of
lands and our houses and continue to run our business                       carnal security in which the elect are ; down they fall, and
establishments; but then our calling is cheerfully to give' of              the bruises and surprise they receive awaken them from
what God has bestowed upon us for the maintenance of the                    their death in sin, and bring them to themselves, whether
gospel and of the schools so that, these do not' suffer at the              they will or no."                                      Toplady.
e x p e n s e   o f   o u r   p r o s p e r i t y .                   :.     : "Better it is to go. with a few to heaven, than with a mul-
       -The reason for this selling of-.lands  and houses no doubt          titude to hell, and be damned for the sake of company."
lies in the fact that the early New Testament Church con-                        I                                                     Parr.
                                                       ,r


                                          ~THE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                  -                             111
                - ____ __

                                                                   the Church. And when they speak of the, Church they mean
           Cbntending For The Faith
Ii                                                                 specifically the clergy.- We will call attention to this in due
                                                                   time. However, we wish to make two remarks in this con-
                                                                   nectidn. We can understand, on the one hand, why the Ro-
            The Church and -the Sacraments                         man Catholic hierarchy should wish to maintain, "tooth and
                                                                   nail," the doctrine of transsubstantiation.     This doctrine
      VIE&  DURING THE THIRD  PERIOD  (750-1517 A.D.)              stresses the indispensable character of the priest, and the
                                                                   clergy will always seek to maintain a doctrine and concep-
                  A BRIEF RESUME (continued)                       tion which stresses and emphasizes their importance and in-
                                                                   dispensableness. And, secondly, we can also understand why
      We concluded our preceding article by calling the atten-     this doctrine should meet with the approval of the people.
tion of our readers, briefly, to what awaits us in our discus-     To eat Christ with the mouth is surely a carnal and easy
 sion of the development of the doctrine of the Church and         doctrine. To eat Christ spiritually, by a true and living
 the Sacraments in the third period, 750-1517 A.D. One of          faith, is far more difficult. This means that we must con-
 the matters of our discussion will be the supremacy of the        stantly examine ourselves, flee from and hate sin and dark-
 Pope of Rome which was strongly asserted.                         ness, place all our trust in Jesus Christ, and have a  hear,ty
       Another matter which will be called to the attention of     and sincere desire to walk in all the commandments of the
 our readers. in the development of this doctrine during this      Lord; This, I repeat, is most difficult. And the Roman Cath-
 third period concerns the numb.er  of the sacraments. It was      olic doctrine of eating and drinking the Lord Jesus Christ
during this third period that the number of the sacraments         through the mouth is simpler and much easier.,
 was fixed at seven. In the early part of this-period the num-
 ber of the sacraments was not ,fixed, some mentioning two,                     &IE  SUPREMACY  O<`THE  POPE
 others four, and still others a larger number. Finally, during
 the pontificate of Pope Eugenius IV, 1431-1437, this num-         The @pal rise to power easily understood.
 ber was fixed at seven. This list of seven sacraments is still       We have already called attention, in previous articles,
held by the Roman Catholic Church. These sacraments are            to the striking fact that the form of church government
*the following : Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Pen-        throughout the New Dispensation until the Reformation
 ance, Extreme `Unction, Holy Orders, and Marriage.                was episcopalian, the government of the church by a bishop
      Finally, although we may remark that there was no new        or bishops.  -It was  noi until the time of John Calvin. and
 development in the doctrine of baptism, the doctrine of           the days of the Reformation that this form of  churchgov-
 transsubstantiation was established, as the official dogma of     ernment became presbyterian, the government of the church
 the Church. And I believe that we may say without fear of         by the elders or consistories. We say that this is a striking
 contradiction that there. is nothing in the Roman Catholic        fact because it is our conviction that the presbyterian form
 Church which has a more.-powerful and effective hold upon         of church government is thoroughly Scriptural and proper.
 the people than this doctrine of transsubstantiation. I refer,       We have also already called the attention of our readers
 of course; to the hold which this doctrine exercises upon the     to the-fact that this development of papal supremacy is easily
 people of the Roman Catholic Church. And I may add that           understandable. Let us briefly review the reason for this
 there is surely no teaching in the Roman Catholic Church          amazing phenomenon. During the very early days. of the
 which stresses the indispensable character of the  Romau          Church of God in the New Dispensation the dependence of
 Catholic clergy more than this doctrine. There may be other       the people upon their leaders was very great. The light of
 teachings in the Romish Church which serve to throw               the truth of the New Testament fulfillment in Christ Jesus              - -
 greater emphasis upon the heretical deviations of that Church     had just begun to dawn  ; the Church of the Old Dispensation
 from the truth of Holy Writ. And now I refer particularly         was being introduced to a new order of things,- the things
 to their teaching that the  .good works of the child of God       of the New Dispensation, namely the reality of the truth as
 are meritorious. In fact, the Romish Church has decided,          in Christ Jesus and without the shadows and symbols and,
 officially and ecclesiastically as at the church council of       types which characterized the life of the Church of the Old
 Trent, that anyone who denies this meritorious character of       Dispensation ; the Church was spreading -and expanding to
 good works of the Christian is accursed. But it is certainly      include also the Gentiles; and we can easily understand in'
 true that there is no teaching in the Romish Church which         the light.of all these things why the rule and government of-:
 exercises a greater hold upon the people than the- doctrine       the churches should be entrusted into the hands of a  few,.-
 of transsubstantiation. And, I repeat: there is no teaching in    This is a-danger which is ever present throughout..the ages
 `that church which stresses the indispensable character of        and history of the Church. It is easily understandable&it
 the Roman Catholic clergy more than this doctrine. It is          dangerous nevertheless. Power- and might have a tendency           .
 this doctrine which stresses the Roman Catholic conception        to make men proud and vain. It is not difficult to understand,
 of the indispensableness of the priest. There is according        for example, why the Roman Catholic clergy. should .cling
 to Rome no salvation possible outside of and separate from        to their hierarchical form of church government. And it is

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

 a very dangerous policy because, once given this power and         barians, these Roman bishops would often lead the defenders
 authority, men are loathe to relinquish it. Secondly, we           of the city in battle, and play a very important role in the
 must not overlook the fact that certain leaders of the church      defence  of the city and the repulse of these barbarians. Hence,
 had enjoyed very close and intimate fellowship and asso-          the pope's rise to power is surely understandable.
 ciation with the apostles. The apostles, we understand, were
JD. .
   ivmely  inspired and they had the "last word" in any dis-        The papacy reaches.& pinmcle of power in this third
 pute that might arise within the Church of God. When cer-         period  (750-1517).
 tain leaders of the church,  then,"could  boast of having sat         In our discussion of this period we will call attention,
 at the feet of these apostles and of having been instructed       first of all, to the reign of Gregory the Great. Gregory was
 by them (as, for example, John Polycarp), is it difficult to      the pope in the years 590-604. He is not called Gregory
 understand that the churches should. look up to these men         the Great in vain.
 for guidance and leadership  ?  Wouid not we be much in-
 clined to do the very same thing under the same circum-               Another factor which served to strengthen the claim of
 stances ? Thirdly, certain churches began to outdistance          the pope at Rome and establish his supremacy is known as
 others in importance because of size and location. This           the Isidorian Decretals. These decretals also contain what
 need not surprise us. What was true then-is also applicable       is known in history as the Donation of Constantine. It is
 to our present day. Large churches are considered of greater      true that it has now been established, also by the Roman
 importance .than small churches if for no other reason than       Catholic Church, that these decretals constitute one of the
 that they contribute much more heavily, financially, to the       greatest frauds ever perpetrated in history. However, the
 upkeep and development of the churches in the midst of the        danger had been done when the fraud was discovered and
 world. The same thing was true in the days of the Church          exposed. For centuries the people believed what these Isi-
 of God during its New Testament infancy. It was perfectly         dorian Decretals set forth. The Lord willing, we will call
 natural and understandable that the churches of Jerusalem,        attention to these decretals and discuss them in their relation
 Anticich,  Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome should be          to the development'in  power of the papacy.
 considered as more important than churches which were                 Another incident to which we will call attention is the
 smaller and not so strategically situated. And this means         conflict of the Eastern and the Western Church and their
 that the bishops of these churches, so strategically situated,    separation which occurred in the year 1054. Until th& year,
 became men of power and authority within the Church of            1054, the Church had been one. It was now hopelessly
 God. Jerusalem was the Mother Church, was it-not? There           divided.
 the Lord Jesus Christ had suffered and died, the Holy                 Another pope to which we must call attention is Gregory
 Spirit had been `poured out into the Church, and the Church       VII. His conflict with Henry IV and views on the papacy
 of God as it developed throughout the New Dispensation            are of importance in connection with our discussion of the
 had its beginning. Antioch was the first-- great missionary       supremacy of the bishop of Rome.
 church. From the church of Antioch Paul and Barnabas                 `Finally, we must call attention to Innocent III, Boniface
had been sent forth by the church upon their first missionary      VIII. All these matters will help us to understand the rise
 journey, and we can easily understand why this church             to power of the papacy, a power which reached its pinnacle
 should assume the role of importance which characterized          during this third period, 750-1517, which, the Lord willing,
 it., And Rome ? That city was the capital city of the Roman       we will -now discuss. And in all these articles we will quote
 empire, and it enjoyed its prominence and prestige in the         Philip  Schaff.                                            H.V.
.West all alone. The `other four cities were all located in the
 East. No city was greater in glory than this chief city of
the Roman empire. It would have been amazing indeed had
the bishop of the church at. Rome not attained unto the               "Amongst the manifold blessings, distributed by the hand
power which he enjoyed. Fourthly, these bishops, in the            of grace, and which flow to us from the fountain of mercy,
days of the Church's New Testament infancy, were men of
great learning, and they were doctrinally sound. They gave         election (Erwahlung) occupies the first place."
%ouri'd~leadei%hip  when  .the Church was attacked by heresies.        - Der Throne Der Gnade, Dr. Fr. Whl. Krummacher
`And these attacks by the -devil upon the foundation truths
of'the Church were furious in those days, even as they are            "In the-Counsel of election the grace of our eternal King
`alwaya'furious.  ,The "father of lies" tried his utmost to
destroy  `the Cause of God in those early days of the New          has pro&  itself first in this, that he has ordained Christ to
Dispensation. And we  can'easily  understand why these lead-       be the Head, and those, who will inherit eternal life, to be
ers of the Church of God should gain the respect and admi-         His members. Election, therefore, constitutes the first link
ration ,and gratitude of the people of the `Lord. Finally, we      in the golden chain of our redemption ; election is the corner-
"may mention one more factor in this rise of papal power.          stone of the marvelous structure of human blessedness."
When the city of Rome was in danger of attack by the bar-              - Der Throne Der, Gnade, Dr. Fr. Whd. Krummacher


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 113

.Il                                                                       tained that man's corruption is total, and they are drawing
             The k&e of Otir Fathers                                  I in this article the only possible conclusion, namely, that there-
                                                                          fore man can do nothing toward his own conversion. Either
                                                                          one must `cling to both the truth of total depravity and the
                    The Canons of Dordrecht                               truth that conversion is the work of God alone, absolutely
                                                                          sovereign and  efficacious  ; or one must  deny both truths. An-
                                PART TWO                                  other possibility there is not. And it is this position in its
                      ESPOS~TION   OF THE CANONS                          negative aspect, namely, that the natural man is incapable
                                                                          of doing anything at all toward his own conversion, that our
             THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE                           fathers assume in the present article. This is an important
       OF  THE CORRUPTION OF MAN,  HIS  CONVERSION TO GOD,                article, therefore, in the chain of thought of the present
                      AND  THE  MANNER THEREOF                            chapter of our Canons.
                                                                             The first  .subject of this article concerns the manner in
                 Article 3.  T,herefore  all men are conceived in sin,    which men come into the world. Notice, by the way, that the
                 and by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving     `attention is now focused not upon "man," or upon "Adam!"
                 good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage
                 thereto, and -without the regenerating grace of the      but upon the individual members of the human race: "all
                 Holy Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to        .men." To this  "all.."men"  the' article makes no exception,
                 return to God, to reform the depravity of their          although, of course, the exception of our Lord Jesus Christ,
                 nature, nor to dispose themselves to reformation.        made in Article 2, still stands. But all the posterity of Adam
                                                                          mentioned in Article 2, and therefore all men, Christ  on13
        There are  a. few departures in the above version from            excepted, are included in the statement of Article 3. And
the original text to which we call attention. 1) ". . . and by            concerning the entrance of "all men" into the world, the
nature children of wrath" should be:  `I. . . and are  born-              fathers here state two facts. In the first place, they are all
children of wrath." 2) "dead in sin" should be: "dead in                  "conceived in sin." Hence, it is not only so that the corrup-
sins" (plural). 3) ". . . . and in bondage thereto" should be :           tion of sin first clings to a man at birth. It certainly is not
"and slaves of sin." 4) The modifier "regenerating" belongs               thus,, that man becomes corrupt after he has entered the
not with "grace," but with "Holy Spirit." 5.) "reform"                    world, through following the bad example of his forbears.
should be "correct," and "reformation" should be "correc-                 But sin cleaves to him from the very earliest beginning of
tion." 6) The last clause, "nor to dispose themselves to re-              his existence: he is conceived in sin. The corruption of sin
formation," should read : "nor to dispose themselves to its               is the very sphere of his conception in his mother's womb.
reformation," that is, to the reformation of their depraved               From father and mother, just as surely as through generation
n a t u r e .                                                             and conception he receives his existence from them, so surely
        As the introductory word "therefore" indicates, we have           he inherits from them the corruption of sin. His very nature
a conclusion in this article, a conclusion that is drawn from             has its beginning in the sphere of sin's corruption. In the
the two preceding articles of this chapter. Furthermore, the              second place, the article states that all men are "born  '
fathers in this article begin to state negatively, at least, the          children of wrath." There is, of course, ultimately very little
truth concerning man's conversion to God. As we stated                    difference between the expression "born children' of wrath"
before, in this chapter they are concerned with the doctrine              or "by nature children of wrath." But the expression "born
of man's corruption, not merely in general, but with a view               children of wrath" is more graphic, and more pointed with
to its bearing upon the doctrine of man's conversion. In the              respect to the Arminian controversy. The Arminians de-
controversy with the Arminians they face the question : can               lighted to portray Reformed theologians as feelingless ogres,        -----
man do anything at all toward his own salvation and toward                so without any natural affection as to teach that little chil-
his own `conversion ; can he do anything at all toward ob-                dren, "poor, innocent babes," were the object of the wrath of
taining the blessings of salvation, toward achieving the actual,          God, and that they lay from the very moment of their birth
personal possession of the blessings of salvation ? Is the ap-            under condemnation. They appealed, not to Scripture, but to
plication of the blessings of salvation merited by Christ a               the emotions of men. They attacked the truth as being a
matter of man's achievement, or a matter of cooperative                   "hard doctrine." But the fathers insist here, in the face of
effort on the part of God and man, or the work of God
                                                                \         the Arminian appeal to mere sentiment, that it is nevertheless
alone ? The Arminians, in their "Remonstrance" at least,                  true  ; all men "are born children of wrath."  Children~  of
had made a reasonably Reformed declaration concerning the                 wrath,are  children who are the objects of the wrath of God.
depravity of man, and had appeared to teach the truth of                  God's wrath is the flaming manifestation of His holiness and
total depravity. This position, however, they had comprom-                Self-love against all sin and all sinners, -against  all that is
ised, and therefore denied, in the very next `article, when they          contrary to that holiness and Self-love. Under that wrath,
taught that grace is resistible, and consequently, that it is up          because of original  .guilt,  the entire' humari   race lies. And
to man whether he will or will not submit to the operations               therefore under that wrath, and thus, as a child of  tiath,
of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Now the fathers have main-               every man is born, AIs9  this  does  hot mean merely that a


114                 _                         T H E   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R

man becomes a child of wrath at the moment of his birth.            not rest until they have' committed evil. Such are all men !
It certainly does not mean that man first becomes object of         To be sure,rthe  manifestation of this proneness to evil differs
the wrath of God after, through imitation, he commits actual        according as .men differ from one another. All men do not
sin. But he  is-born   as  a child of wrath. He is born under       commit ,the same sins. They do not have the same character,
the wrath of God. As he comes into the world, he is already -do not live at- the same time and in the same circumstances,
under the wrath of,God, because he is loaded with the burden        do not possess the same means, the same opportunities, the
of original  guilt:  .' .                                           same gifts and talents. But in them all, regardless. of their
       The second subject of the article is: what  ,is man from     individual differences, is that proneness to evil. And all
,a>,,spiritual,  ethical point of view? To this question  <the      necessarily bring forth evil fruit of sin in one form or another:
fathers  .give a.fourfold  answer. This answer is in substance         -3) They are, in the third place, all "dead in sins." They
and. in language very similar to the language of both the           are dead to righteousness, and alive unto sin, and therefore
Heidelberg  Cat&i&a  and the Confession  Belgica. It contains       dead in sins. And notice, once again, the emphatic language.
`the folfowing  elements :                                          They are not sick. They are not in the. process of dying,
       1) All men are "incapable of every saving good." The         merely. All men are dmd  in sins.
original is still more emphatic than our English, for it inserts        4) To this the fathers add yet that all men are slaves of
the wor,d "every." There are those who would draw from              sin. Sin is their mistress. Sin they serve. And sin they are
the,`use  of the expression "saving  good""the  inference that      bound to serve. And the worst aspect of this slavery is that
the Canons here teach that the natural man  -is capable of          it is not an unwilling bondage. Man is not a stock `and block.
some other goo.d,  namely, of good before God in the sphere         He does not serve, nay, he cannot be made to serve sin against
of things natural and civil. In' answer to this connection it       his will. His bondage is a bondage of his very nature ; his
,must be noted, first of a& that this is a mere inference, and      will is enslaved. He cannot  .will to do anything else than
                                   . .
no more. It is not the language of the fathers. And it must         serve sin.
be pointed out, therefore, that the mere use of the expression          Hence, the third main proposition of this article is that
does not necessarily imply that there is such good in the           there is absolutely no remedy for men apart from the grace
sphere of things natural and civil. In the second place, we         of the regenerating Holy Spirit. In consequence of his natural
must add immediately that the inference is a false one. This        condition, there is but one thing to be said of man. Conversion
appears very plainly from the rest of the article. How is it        cannot possibly be a work for him. He is not able to change
possible that one who is "prone to evil, dead in sins, and a        himself or to correct the depravity of his nature, or even to
slave of sin" can be capable of any good whatsoever  ?- There       dispose himself to such correction of his depraved nature. The
is left in these expressions absolutely no room for any good        trouble is in his nature. Training and example are of no
on the part of the natural man. Furthermore, the following          avail in such a case. Man cannot in any way even prepare
article emphasizes very strongly that man is not even capable       himself or dispose himself to the change that is necessary
of using his natural light  aright in the sphere of things          in him. And what is worse, he has not even the will! That
`natural and civil. Positively speaking, we -must remember          means that if such a change of his depraved nature were
that the fathers speakhere  in `opposition to the Arminians.        offered him, made available to him, and if .he were capable
The latter taught that the. natural man could improve him-          to accept it; nay, even if he had the ability himself to correct
self sufficiently to make himself worthy of salvation. And over     his depravity, he would refuse. He cannot even desire to be
against them our Reformed fathers insist that man is incap-         converted. If regeneration is preached to him, he cannot even
able of such saving good. He can do nothing either to achieve       wish for it, much less seek it, pray for it, or cooperate in it.
his own salvation or to dispose himself to that salvation. He          Only through the grace of regeneration can he be delivered
has no power to hunger and thirst after righteousness and           from his corruption. And this leaves him in the hand of
life or to offer the sacrifice of a broken and contrite,.spirit.    God, for the grace of regeneration is of the Holy Spirit. That
   2) But there is more: Man is, negatively speaking, in-           grace is the `indispensable prerequisite of all correction of a
capable of every saving good. But positively`speaking, he is,       depraved nature and of any disposition to such correction.
furthermore, "prone to evil." Also here there are those who            You say: "That leaves man nothing, even less than noth-
would view the word "prone" (Dutch : "geneigd") as a                ing ?" I reply : "Exactly !" He must be nothing and less than
soft term, so that it means that the natural man does not al-       nothing, in order that the marvelous grace of God unto sal-
ways do the evil, but is inclined toward evil. However, the         vation may  .be magnified.                                H.C.H.
meaning is the very opposite. The expressiqn implies that all
men are in their very nature given over completely to the              "The great goal, worthy of God, unto which purpose God
evil,  - to think the evil, to will the evil, to delight in the     ordained all things, which His almighty Word called into
evil, and to do the evil. Out of such men no good can ever          being, and which each creature, among the variety of being;
arise. They are evil in the very mainspring of their existence :    must serve in his own way is the Lord's own honor and the
prone to evil. Their entire nature is bent in the direction of      manifestation of His divine Name."
evil. They have an irresistible propensity for evil, They can-          -  Der Throne Der Gnade, Dr. Fr. Whl. Krummacher


                                              T  1-l E S, 1' A X I) A li D ll E A K lZ I<'                                               115
                                                                                                               .____                -
                                                                       since it was the original intention of this article 6f otir church
              DECENCY and QWDEW                                       order to express the Reformed position with respect..`to this-
                                                                      matter, we deem it proper  tq take up this subject in the.
                                                                      present contiection.
               The Church and t,he -State                                 Jansen in his  "Korte  Verklaring"   info&s  us  that it is
     "The con&tory  shall take care, that the churches for the        not clear just why the fathers of Dordrecht  :iticluaed   fhis'
 possession of their  property;an< the peace and order of their       article in the church order btit he do& suggest? two$%&ie
 meetings, can claim the protection of the authorities ; it should    reasons. Firstly, it may be that they sought  tZ:`obfain civil
 be well undeistood, however, that for the sake of peace and          approbation of the church order which would virtually &vc
 material possession they may never suffer the royal govern-          the latter the force -of civil law. Bearing in m&l: t%e  `post:
 ment of Christ over His Church to be in .the least infringed         Reformation circumstances, especially in  Eurtipe, we can
 upon." (D.K.O. Art. 28)                                              understand that a conquest of this  s&t would give much
                                                                      prestige to and greatly promote the cause of the Reformed
                      The Origina. Article                            Churches.
     From the Holland authorities on Church Polity, such as               Secondly, Jansen suggests that this article was incorpor-
 Bouwman*  and Jansen, we learn that the original Article 28          ated into the church order so as to express clearly what the
 of our Church Order was considerably longer and radically            Reformed fathers believed to be the proper duties of both the
 different from our present version. The article read as              government and the church in their separate as wdl' -&.~&tual
 follows :                                                            relations for the government and the church, thou&i ~-related
     "Gelijk het ambt der Christelijke  Overhederi  is, de  hei-      to each other, are nevertheless to be kept distinct frdm each
 lige kerkedienst  in alle manieren te bevorderen, dezelve met        other. Each is sovereign  in its own sphere. Thus the  Re-`
 haar exempel de onderdanen te recommanderen, en aan de .formers would express clearly their views` overagainst the
 Predikanten, Ouderlingen en Diakenen in alle voorvallende            Arminian conception, on the one hand, which virtually-places
 nood de hand te bieden, en bij haar goede ordening te `be-           the Government in authority over the churches, and that of
 schermen, alzo zijn alle Predikanten, Ouderlingen en Diake-          the Roman Catholics, on the  other hand, which makes the
 nen schuldig, de ganse gemeente  vlijtiglijk en  oprechtelijk  in    State subject to the Churdh.
 te scherpen de gehoorzaamheid,  in liefde en eerbiedinge, die            To us this latter suggestion of Prof. Jansen appears to be
 zij de Magistraten schuldig zijn; en zullen alle  kerkelijke         the more plausible reason for the incorporation of an article
 personen  met hun goed exempel in deze de gemeente voor-             of this nature in the church order.. Whether one agrees with
 gaan, en door  behoor,lijk.  respect en correspondentie de           the content of the article itself or whether one does not
 gunst der Overheden tot de Kerken zoeken te verwekken  en            agree with it, nevertheless, it must be admitted that the fact
 te behouden; teneinde, een ieder het zijne, in des  Heren            that there were such conflicting  views on this' question wo&
 vreze, ter wederzijde doende, alle achterdenken  en wantrou-         necessitate the Reformed fathers .&aking  an expression with
 wen moge  worden   .voorkomen,  en goede  eendracht  tot der         respect to the matter.. This we have in the original twenty-
 Kerken welstand dnderhouden."                                        eighth article of -our  Church Order.
    Translated this would be :                                           Just why this article was dropped from the church order
    "Since the office of Christian government is' to promote          in 1914 and substituted by another which, in a certain respect,
 the sacred service; of the church in every respect, to recom-        treats an entirely. separate matter, we are unable to learn.,
 mend the same to her subjects by personal example, and to            Certainly it cannot be that the matter of the correct relation
 assist ministers, elders and deacons in every emergency and          between the church and state is no longer of any significance.
 give  them,  protection ; so also are all ministers, elders and      It certainly is and it may pery well be' that it becomes an
 deacons indebted to zealously and sin'cerely  urge the whole         issu'i: of practical concern in the not-to-distant  future.,:rPer-
 congregation to show obedience, love and respect toward the          haps this elision is to be  .explained   from  thk:  ?a&  .&at in
magistrates to whom they are indebted, and they shall  `them:         our country the  Govern&ental-Church   tie.?.  +-&:  iadically
selves be good examples in this matter to all the church, and         different from those in  E&ope. We have  her';.  neither a
through  `due respect of the government toward  #the churches  ;      "State-church"  nor a "Chui-ch-state"  but, as  exp&ssed  in
to the end that each performing their own duty in the fear            our Constitution, the Government (whether right or wrong
of the Lord, all suspicion and distrust may be avoided and            is another question) assumes an attitude of "neutral-indiffer-
concord for the welfard of the  churches  may be maintained."         ence" to all churches  and,  consequently, the need for an
    Inasmuch as this article has been elided from our church          article such as the ?n% &ted above was no longer felt.
                                                                                                  .-
order in 1914, we are no longer directly concerned with it.              Be. that as it may; `however, the thrust of the original
However, since its content deals, with that  interesting   matter     Twenty-Eighth Article of the church order is preserved by
of the proper relation between church and state, which has            us, if not in the church order, then in. the Thirty Sixth Ar-
always been somewhat controversial  .and  concerning  which           ticle of-our Netherland's Confession of Faith which treats the
we do have an expression elsewhere in. our Confessions;  and.         subject of "The:.Magistrates." In the article appears a state-


1 16                                            T - H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

ment defining the duties of the magistrates which declares              (3) assisting the office-bearers of the church and giving them
that, "They are to protect the sacred ministry; and thus               protection." The decision of 1910 speaks in general terms
remove and prevent all idolatry and false worship . . . . ".           of the "very sacred reciprocal obligations of  shurch  and
        It is in regard to this statement that involves the rela-      state" and declares that the state has a "divine duty toward
tion of the government to the church that the Synod of 1910            the first table of the law as well as toward the second"
made and -appended the fdllowing  decision which, though               but these duties it leaves undefined. With respect to the
rather lengthy, we quote in its entirety because of things we          church, again the original article of the church order is more
purpose to write presently about this matter. The decision             clear for it expressly states that its duties are: (1) "to
r e a d s :                                                            zealously urge her members to obey, respect and love the
        "This phrase, touching the office of the magistracy in its     magistrates, (2) to engage in correspondence with the gov-
relation to  .,the Church, proceeds on the principle of the            ernment so that her favoi  may be obtained and preserved,
Established Church, whit); was first applied by Constantine            and, (3) to cooperate."Again it may be stated that historical
and afterwards also in many Protestant countries. History,             circumstances in thi Netherlands in particular in which the
however, does not support the principle of State domination            relation of church and state was and is more intimate than
over the Church, but rather the separation of Church and               in our country may largely, if not entirely, account for these
State.  Moyeover,  it is contrary to the New Dispensation              differences.
that authority be vested in The State to arbitrarily reform the            Next time, D.V., we will discuss the principle.df  separa-
Church, and tQ deny the Church the right of independently              tion between church and state itself, viewing it in the light
conducting its own  @airs as a  distjnct territory alongside           of these decisions of the past and other opinions and view-
the State. The New Testament does not  subject the Chris-              points of this subject. For the present our space is filled !
tian Church to the authority of the State, that it should be
governed and extended by political measures, but to our Lord
aed. King only as an independent territory alongside and al-           "Note: If any  .o.f our readers know where Vol. II of  Dr.  H..
                                                                        Bouwm;.n's   "Gereformeerde  Kerkrecht" or Vols. I and  II  of
together independent of the State, that it may be governed              Dr. F. L. Rutger's "Kerkelijke Adviezen" can be purchased, or
and ed$ied  by its `office-bearers and with spiritual weapons           if you have a copy y.ou would be willing to loan for a time,
                                                                        undersigned would appreciate hearing from you !
only. Practically all Reformed churches have repudiated the
idea of the Established Church, and are advocating the                                                                 G.  Vanden Berg
autonomy of the churches aid personal liberty of conscience                                                            9402  S. 53rd Court
in matters pertaining to the service of God.                                                                    Oak Lawn, Illinois
    "?he Protestant Reformed Churches in America, being
in full accord with this view, feel constrained to declare                                                                                    ,
that  they do not conceive of the office of the magistracy in                                         IN MEMORIAM
this sense, that it be in duty bound to also exercise political
authority in the sphere of religion, by establishing and main-            The Mr.  and  Mrs. Society of Hope Pi-otestant Reformed
taining a State Church, advancing and supporting the same              Church takes this opportunity to express its sympathy to Mr.
as the only true Church, and to oppose, to persecute and to            and Mrs. J. J. Dykstra in the loss of their father,
destroy   by"me&s of the: sword all the' other churches as                                            MR. J. ZINGER
be'ir$-.fal&   tieligions ;  an&&alS6~  deck&e  that it does  posi-       Our prayer is that the God of all grace may comfort their
t&ly+ol& that, within its  own%ecular  sphere, the magistracy
has a divine..duty  towards th& first table of the Law as well         hearts.
                                                                                                                        Mr. and Mrs. Society
as towards the second; and furthermore that both State and             Grand Rapids, Michigan
Church as institutions of God and Christ .ha+e' mutual rights                                  ~..
and duties appointed them from on high;: and, therefore,
have a very sacred reciprocal obligation to meet through the
Holy Spirit, who Proceeds from Father .and Son: They may                   "Even as the idea of an infinitely perfect Being de-
not however, encroach upon each other's territory. The                 mands absolutely that He allows Himself to be led in His
Church has rights of sovereignty' in its own sphere as well            dealings only by the highest and noblest designs, thus also
as the State."                  . . .    :,.
                                                                       Jehovah, the adorable Creator of natul;e and Sustainer and
   80th the Article of  1615-19  `arid the decision of the             Ruler of all ages, has set Himself a holy goal before the be-
Synod of 1910 maintain-: th& r principle of. separation between        ginning of time, and has computed and adapted all things
the church and the state. Yet there is a d&mite difference in
the application of this principle in these  :two Articles. The         towarh that end."
orginal Article 28 speaks of definite duties. of thy, govern-               - Der  T>rone  Der Gnade, Dr.  Fr. Whl. Krummacher
                                                                                       _  1
ment in relation to the church and further  defines   these
duties : as : (1) "promoting the services of the church in                "As the wi$ed  are hurt by the best things, so the godly
every respect, (2) recommending her to her subjects, and,              are bettered. by the worst."                             - Toplady


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARERS                                                           117

                                                                       out of `nothing' (Gen. 1  :l  ; Heb. 11  :3), but also to make        ,
            ALL  ARO'UND US                                            something out of `already existing materials' (Gen. 2  :7,
                                                                       llff)   ; (2) that creation out of  nOthing  was `immmediate'
                                                                       creation whereas creation out of already existing materials
 Hoeksewm's Deistic Tendency  Mwt Be  .Rebuked!                        was `mediate' creation ; (3)  tb+:although  immediate crea-
     I can just see the readers of the heading of this article        tion  .out of nothing was `with time' rather than in time,
 wiping their eyes and looking again at the above title in            mediate creation out of -already  existing materials was very
 total unbelief of what they have read, and stymied by the             definitely. `in time' ; (4) tha mediate creation, accordingly,
                                                                                                     t
 fact that they have read correctly.                                  was `processional' as well as `irruptive' or `ictic', involving a
     Perhap?,  too, by this time you have already flushed with         `process' as well as an `incursion', and exhibiting a horizon- .
 anger and are ready to take it otit on the writer of this article    tal dimension of immanence as well as a vertical dimension
 who dared to use these words for a heading. But, hold on              of transcendence; (5) that, indeed, throughout the Bible
 a moment ! Do not become-angry with the present writer, for          the `irruptive' and the `processive', the .transcendent  and the
 he didn't Say that Hoeksema had a Deistic tendency that must         immanent, stand in the closest possible relation to each other,
 be rebuked. Rather  this is literally what the Rev. Leonard          forming the warp and woof of a single fabric.' It is against
 Verduin, a Christian Reformed minister, wrote in the No-             the background, of these definitions and distinctions that Rev.
 vember issue of the Refowted Jo,z&rnal.                              ' Verduin now carries forward and concludes the discussion."
    The complete sentence from which  the above title was                 In other words, Rev. Verduin tries to show  iti his first
 taken which the  lea,waed  minister from Anti Arbor, Michigan,       article (1) that the old -definition for creation, namely, to
 wrote in his articles entitled : "Toward a Theistic Creation-        create is to make something out of nothing, does not hold
 ism," is as follows: "When men .in the one-sided theology            because we know that. in some of. the creative work of God
 of Rev. Herman Hoeksema begin to speak of the Covenant               He did used already existing materials. Animals and  man; '
 .as being condition-less, then they give evidence of a deistic       for instance, were created out of the already existing earth.
 tendency that must be known for what it isi an$ ,rebuked."            (.2) that the terms "immediate" and "mediate" creation are
    The Rev. Verduin  wrote  two rather  lengthy   a'rticles  for     not his invention but an old theological distinction. The
 The Reformed Journal, one each for the October and No-               former refers to the fact that with regard to some of the
 vember issues respectively which I could not begin to quote          creation, as for example, the light of the first day, God did
 in their entirety. When I  called him a "learned minister" a         not use means or already existing material. He simply by a
 moment ago, I meant by that that he tries to leave the im-           creative word called the creature into being. While in  the
`pression that he is, both by the title he `gave t'o his articles,    latter distinction of mediate creation God used existing
,and by the language he uses in the articles proper. My im-           materials. (3) that the distinction "with time" and "in time"
 pression is that they were not intended for the common               is made to counteract the belief that time begins after all the
 layman, but that they were intended  ior those who have had          creation was finished. Verduin  believes that immediate crea,<
 special philosophical and theological training.                      tion is simultaneous "with time" and mediate creation is f'in
     It appears from his writings that the Reverend has  b            time." (4) that the work of creation is not only a  work of
 deal with university students whose instruction at the school        God Who is  tmnscendent   but also a work of  ,God.Who   is
 is thoroughly permeated with evolutionistic doctrine. Though         imutza*nent.  By the way, it is because of this  distinctiop. thati
 the Rev. Verduin does not adhere to the doctrine of evolu-           Verduin was driven  ?o say in the November issue of the
 tion, he admits and wishes openly to acknowledge "that               Journal  what he did about Hoeksema. It is the  deist who,
 evolutionism has sensitized him to truths .and emphases that         puts God outside of and above His creation, and denies that
 would perhaps have  remaine&  hidden if the theory of                He  is immanent, i.e.; that  He is  operatiiig  in His creation.,           . .
 evolution had not been promulgated." He writes further,              Rev. Verduin explains i;n a footnote what he means by th.e,
 "the purpose of this paper is to share with the reader some          terms "irruptive" and `fictic." The .former  is derived from a
 insights thus gained, in the hope that they may be'useful and        Latin verb denoting a breaching or a breaking which with,
 beneficial to Bible-believing Christians as lthey seek in the        the prefix "in" denotes therefore a breaking-i? or a breaking-
 contemporary scene to find their way in regard to the                into. The latter word is from the Latin word meaning  ."to.
 problem of origins." And that his articles are not intended          strike." Rev. Verduin uses these two words synonomously.
 for the common man is plain from what he further writes:             What he is driving at, as I see it, is to insist that God does
 "The  writer is inclined to think that what is said in this          not quietly retire during or after creation, but He works
 discussion may be not without usefulness to theologian and           during the creation period with and in the creation, and  everi
 Christian scientist alike."                                          after creation dwells immanently in the  ,`creation. He.. re-
    His article appearing in the October issue is quite well          pudiates a conception which would have God rne@y. break.
 summarized by the editors of the Reformed Jozmml   in the            in. vertically upon the cr&ion and ascend .ag ver&ally  ;and'
 November issue as follows:                                           advocates that we. must have both a vertical and a horizc&al.
    "In the earlier .article  Rev. Verduin pointed out ( 1) that      or processional relation to the creation. We must have both
 in  bi&lical  usage `to create' is not only to make something         a transcendent and an immanent. God,


                                                         .-.

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

        Now in the November issue of  the Journal he further             A deist is one  who puts God out of His creation. He
elaborates on this point, and applies this to the miracles and        believes that God has put in creation certain laws which he
various itenis of the Christian creed as well as `to creation calls laws of nature, `and `He simply allows the world of
itself.            j                                                  creation to run its course without interference, much like
        With respect to the miracles of Jesus, he points out: "In     the clock-maker will make d clock, set it running, and then
them the ictic or irruptive dimension is plainly in the fore-         retire from the clock. Does -Rev. Hoeksema believe that?
                                                                                                              -
ground. _ But that does not mean that they were built on a            Verduin knows better.
deistic last. It does' not mean that  they were examples of              When Rev. Hoeksema denies that there are conditions
sheer transcendence. In them there is likewise a concession           in the Covenant that man must fulfill, and emphasizes that
to the processional dimension." This he illustrates with the          the Covenant is uni-lateral, not bi-lateral, that the Covenaiit
mii-acle  of changing water into wine at  Cana. Writes he,            is God's which He realizes from beginning to end, that
"When the wine is in short supply at Cana in Galilee then             there are obligations in the Covenant which constitute man's
He of whom it is said, that in the primeval moment `all things        part in the Covenant which he by grace alone fulfills through
were made by Him' invokes the supernatural in order to                Christ, that the Covenant has two parts not two parties, does
relieve the embarrassment. And what does He  .do  ? Snap              that make his  doCtrine  re the Covenant deistic ? Verduin
His fingers in  ex  n&o  .(out of nothing-M.S.) fashion               ought  to  know better
and command the butlers- to pour ? No, this is no time for               What Verduin, and all who go along with him, wants is
pure irruption, no time for naked transcendence. And so               a bi-lateral Covenant in which God and man make a pact
with a kindly nod at process He bids men fill the vessels, fill       which rests solely on the fulfillment of conditions man fulfils
them with water, the element that plays such an important             before it can be realized. God promises to do something for
role in the production of wine whenever and wherever. The             man if man in turn will do something for God.
deistically  slanted mind, the man that thinks that religion
feeds solely upon the ictic, would have preferred a nakedly              If anybody is guilty of deism it is Verduin. He makes
                                                                      God an impotent by-stander who is outside of His world.
irruptive flip of the wrist, and, presto! But the genuine
theist will see here again a special precaution on the  par;          And the only way He can get in is when impotent man
of the Scriptures, taken to keep us from doing violence to            allows Him. This deistic tendency of Verduin et al must
the theistic formula."                                                be known for what it is, and rebuked. Verduin's articlei  may
        He further illustrates this point with the miracles of        be masterpieces of learning to some, but -1 would remind
the feeding .of the multitude, the composition of the Bible,          him that he surely messed things up on the point I especi-
and the virgin birth.                                                 ally called to attention.
        Then, turning to items of the Christian creed, he writes :         _                                                    M.S:
"None must be, viewed in the light of sheer transcendence,
none in the light of pure immanence . .  ." This he applies
to' the "theological item of regeneration," and "the question                            Acts of Synod, 1956
of the origin  .of the human soul," and the doctrine of the
 . .
C&e+a&;. In respect to the latter he writes the following                The Acts of Synod are off the press, and have been sent
paragraijh  part of which I quoted above.                             to the various Consistories to be distributed among its
        "The saine. general situation confronts us in regard to  `members.
the doctrine of the Covenant. Reformed thinkers have very                Copies Of the Acts of Synod 1956 can 6e obtained by all
sobn picked up the line of the transcendence ; but they have          who are interested. Please send your orders to Rev. G.
traditionally been quite as sensitive to the processional-dimen-      Lubbers, 1125 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
side. Here  tdo.,the processional dimension must be  recogn-             The price per copy is $1.00.
ized. Recourse  to.inherent potential quite as surely. When              There still are a goodly number of copies of the Acts of
men in the one-sided theology of Rev. Herman Hoeksema                 Synod 1955. These  can be obtained for 50 cents each,
begin to speak of the Covenant as being condition-less, then          provided at least two are ordered at a time.
they give evidence of a deistic tendency that must be known                                Rev. G. Lubbers, Stated Clerk of Synod
for' what it is, and rebuked."
        Now, if to deny' conditions in the Covenant, makes one
a deist, then Rev. Hoeksema and those who follow him are                                 Change of Address
deists, or at least have a tendency toward deism. And I
would agree with  Verdiin  that his, i.e., Hoeksema's theology           The home address of Rev. G. Lubbe'rs is now no longer
is one-sided and "must be known for what it is, and rebuked."         1304 Maude Ave., N. E., but has been changed to 1125
        However, when I read the above cited  .paragraph  in          Franklin Street, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
Verduin's article,, I i+$nediately  asked myself two questions :         Will the clerks of our Classes and of our Consistories
W@ is a deist Y`aiidi lHoi;^cati  `$@ .who believes in a con-         please account this as if personally informed  ?
dition-less   C'bvenant  be  a deist  ?                                                              Rev. G. Lubbers, Stated Clerk.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   ,.                                            119

II                                                                  mentary. However the good Lord gave him sufficient healing
                  _CONTRIBUTIONS                               II and strength, so that now, nine years after his heart attack,
                                                                    he has finished the work he in 1943 set out to .do.
                                                                       The friendship between Rev. Hoeksema and me dates
                          A few Words                               from the days we were together at Calvin. We differ, but
The Editor of  Tlze  Stmdurd Beaver                                 our honest differences have never broken our friendship. In
Grand Rapids, Michigan.             ,                               the spirit of mutual esteem  and respect we both proceeded
                                                                    . . . . though with many failures and shortcomings . . . . to
Dear Mr. Editor:                                                    keep on- walking in `the light as we were convinced God gave
                                                                    us to see the light.
      May I say a few words in connection with and perhaps
in augmentation of the very kind words which Rev. Gerrit               Yes, Rev. Vos, I told  you that  t6 my way of thinking,
Vos penned in the direction of Rev. Herman Hoeksema and             Rev. Hoeksema writes for the ages. As a publisher I know
my humble self.                                                     that many God-chosen and God-gifted minds have written
                                                                    for  the ages.
      I refer to his article under the caption "Congratulations,
Plus" which appeared in the November 1 issue of  Thr                    In connection with commentaries on the Heidelberg Cat-
Standard Bearer.  I                                                 echism we only have to mention such  naties as Ursinus,
                                                                    Comrie, Theleman.
      First of all a word of thanks to my good, old,. warm-
hearted friend of many, many years, the Rev. G. Vos.                   And I have a feeling that in the distant future (if the
                                                                    Lord tarries His coming) Ministers and students and lay-
      During a period of some forty years or more this poetic       men will still turn to Hoeksema's Heidelberg:: because I
and exuberant soul has proven to be a faithful and loyal            consider this work one of the most valuable expozitions  and
friend.                                                             documents in that field.
      His pleasing personality and his deep-rooted  .integrity
have many a time warmed the coccles  of my heart.                       It is rich and fresh as to content. It is of  grea; exeget-
                                                                    ical value. It  illum&ates and clarifies the  great Scriptural
      I always found him an enthusiastic .defender of his honest    (and Reformed) doctrine of the Sovereignty of ,our Triune
and deepest co&ictions. But never did I find him small and          God. In its sentences and paragraphs you will discover a
bigoted.                                                            throbbing heart pulsing and plummeting the magnitud.e,:  of
      The words which the late Dr.  Abraham  Kuyper, years          God's love in Christ for the sinner. Then deep down in the
ago, directed to one of his critics could well fall from the        base section of this monumental work you will hear  &e a&e-
lips of Rev. Gerrit Vos, be they right or wrong, but always         inspiring notes of God's justice _ and righteousness ioward
in good faith and conscience and  convicti&: "If I Err, So          the hardened sinner. And in scintillating harmony you will
Have the. Fathers."                                                 hear the  jubilatum of a soul full of worship and adoration
      In his article Rev. Vos quotes a very beautiful passage       for Him, "Who has the whole world in His Hands."
                                                                                                               .`....  ::  ,;.-.
from Rev. Herman  Hoeksemajs Introduction to the first                  Hoeksema's Heidelberger is of inestimable  `.value   .for
volume .of his now completed ten-volume set of expositions          Preachers and students. And they seem' to realize that. Be-,
on the Heidelberg Catechism, dated June 1, 1943.                    cause hundreds of Ministers, in all parts of the. world, consult
      These words of Rev. Hoeksema deserve -repeating :             this work in the preparation of, their sermons on the Heidel-
      ,                                                             b e r g e r .
           "If in God's insmhble purpose there are left to me a                                       2        .i .
            sufficient number of days to work and hbor. I intend        Yes Gerrit, God saii "Amen !"           -
            to complete the work, the beginning of which I offer                                            -Wm.  Eerdmans, Sr.
            to the publ,ic i,n the present volu?e."                                                1  :.                            -:. . -
      Then Rev. Vos continues, "Well. dear reader when
Hoeksema wrote that sentence God said: Amen! God knew
that He would multiply his days in order to give to the                                  News from  Doon
Church of Christ this wonderful Commentary on the Heidel-
berger."                                                                Durjng  the past seventeen months  we in the congregation
                                                                    of  Doon have been, through the Lord's dispensation, without
      In 1947 the Rev. Hoeksema,had  a heart attack. One day        a   I;&@.   0';  Sundsy, March 20, 1955, the Rev. H. C.
I called on him. He laid outstretched in a garden chair on          Hoeksetia preached his farewell to the congregation. On the
the lawn of his house. After a few words of greeting Herman         evening  of March 24 a congregational farewell was given to
said: "Well Bill, this looks as though I will never  pen  an-       Rev.- and Mrs. Hoeksema and family,  ai which time the
other paragraph."                                                   coniregation  wished them the Lord's blessing in their new
      At that time he had finished about one third of his Com-      field of labor.


             !                                              ___ .~____~ -.~-- :..- --~--- - ~~
                           j-.
120                                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-

       And even as it pleased the King of His church to take                                        ON  GOD ALONE  Mp  SOUL RELIES
from us our  beloved. pastor, Rev. H. C. Hoeksema, so too
after many ealls..He  again gladdened our hearts by bringing                                        On God alone my soul relies,
to us  another.  of  .H.is  .servants,  in order that he might pro-                                   And  He wili soon relieve ;
claim unto us the Word, both in t?-% weekly service and by                                          The Lord will hear my plaintive cries
means of the many other pastoral labors. Thus our hearts                                              At morning, noon, and eve.                :                -
>yere filled with rejoicing and thanksgiving to our covenant
God when we received the tidings that Candidate G. Van                                              He has redeemed my soul in peace,
Baren  was coming to help us. And so it was agairi a menior-                                          From conflict set me free ;
able everiing  in Doon, the evdning of October 11, 1956, when                                       My many foes are made to cease,
our moderator, the Rev. J. A.-Heys,  delivered the sermon for                                         And strive no more with me.
the occasion from II Timothy 4 :2, "Preach the Word." The
attention of both congregation and pastor was very vividly
directed to the  mea&g,  manner, and significance of the                                            The living God in righteousness  _
charge to pr'each  the Word. After this, the Rev. k. Veldman                                          Will recomptnse  ,with shame.
spoke on the theme, "Pray for your pastor."                                                         The men who, hai-dened  by success,
                                                                                                      Forget to fear His Name:
       On October 14, our new pastor preached his inaugural
sermon. In the morning he chose for his text Colossians                                             All treacherous friends who ,overreach            .
3 ~23, 24, having for his theme, "The life- of Consecration to                                        And break their plighted troth,
the Lord." I* the afternoon he drew the attention of the
congregation to John  10.27, 28, "Christ's Sheep." October                                          Who bide their hate with honeyed speech
                                                                                                      With such the Lord is wroth.
16 was the date of the congregational reception for the
purpose of welcoming our new pastor into our midst, as well
ai for the Rev Van Baren  in making the acquaintance of his
                           .:.             _,                                                       Upon the Lord thy burden cast,
&gregz+n.                                                                                             To Him bring all thy care ;
     :&$ith  `gratitude we remember the faithful labors of the                                      He-will sustain and hold thee fast,
Rev. H. C. Hoeksema `who spent some five and a half years                                             And give thee strength to bear.
in our midst. Our prayer is that the Lord may :bless him in
his.new field of labor.                                                                             God will not let His saints be moved ;
     We also wish to thank espedially our  mo&rator, Rev.                                             Protected, they shall see
Ji(Keys,  for his assistance-; also the Rev. He.,Veldman  for his                                   Their foes cut off and sin. reproved ; ,
p& in  the  instdllation  ceremony. Further;; we desire to                                            0 God, I trust in Thee.
thank  pti.blicly  all the ministers of  Classis  West, as well as                                                                                         PsaiA 55  ,_
Rev. B. Woudenbyzg  and student Muider,  who supplied our
pulpit during our  vac.qnc$.                          _,
     By the' t&e that- this is published, the congregAtion  and
pastor of Doon  Gill  hkve settled down to normal congrega-                                             THE EXPOSITION OF THE
tional life. It is our prayer that we may, with our new                                                 HEIDELBERG CATECHISM
pastor, experience a fruitful ministry of the Word under the
blessing of our gracious heavenly Father. May we, with ali                                                  b y   t h e   R E V .   H .   HOEKSEMA'
our  J?r%est&t  Reformed Churches, experience that the  Lord
doth prosper Zion.  May we ever have grace to be  true to                                   is now completed. These 10 volumes and several other
the glorious heritage which He h&h given us.                                                                   subjects  are! available.
                                                  The Consistory of Doon,                     If desired, a catalog will be sent to you of these books. :
                                                                Jake  Vanden Top, Clerk.
;  `2". lr.,y             .-               ,'
  . . .,          ..,..  I-  ,:..  .,, 
                                   :  .,
                                      `.   ..'                                                               Send your inquiry to the

                                                                                                      REFORMED WITNESS HOUR -
  . "It is a good sign when the Lord blows off the blossoms
of our forward hopes in this life,. and lops the branches of our                                                    P.O. Bbx 8
worldly joys .to t&e very root, on purpose that they should                                             GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIdAN
not thrive.  .Lord, spoil my fool's heaven in this  1ife;"that I
may be saved forever !"                                                    - Rutherford


