       VOLUME  XXX111                            JANUARY 1, 1957  - ,GRAND  RAPID:S,  MICHIGAN          ,                    NUIUEER  7

                                                                              And  .God made them so. This is so plain to the saint
             M E D I T A T I O N                                           that he says : "Behold !".
1                                                                ,,  Ii      A `fool doth not understand this.
                         .: (
       A WORD FOR THE CHANGING OF THE                                          But, you will say: but how about my whole life time?
                                 sEASONS                                   My age!
                                                                               Here is the answer: It is as nothing before the face of
               "Behojld,  Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth;        t h e   A l m i g h t y .
              and  my age is as nothing before Thee: verily every              And that is true, even as all God's words are truth and
              man at his best state is altogether vanity.  Selah.  And     verity.'
              now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee."
                                                   Psalm   395 and 7           That seems not so. When we stand at the beginning of
                                                                           life  it. seems, as though there is no end to it. And it is  no1
       David determined with himself  to: take heed to his ways  :         wonder that the natural man says : My house shall stand for
he was not going to sin with his tongue, which is a lofty                  aye ! The end of our. days seems so far away !
motive.                                                                        And yet, our age, our life-time is very short. And we
       But there was one thing wrong with that: he also  wai               know it when we become old. When we look back our age
silent with respect to the good. And that ran counter to                   is very insignificant. ,It seems but yesterday that we played
God's injunction. We `are supposed i to, be very voluble re-               as a little boy among the children. Our age is as a mist' that
garding the good. Especially regarding the good of God!                    dissolves, disappears, and is not.
       He kept his mouth shut because' of the wicked around                    And why?
him. But his sorrow was troubled, it increased.                                The text gives  .us a hint: our age is as nothing before
       And so he  spake with his tongue. And that was better.              THEE !
       We  .will do likewise, And seek to learn from David's                   That is the key `to the understanding of our age.           ,
speech.                                                                        You see: God is the eternal One. And our age, com-
       In the two verses which you read above. this meditation             pared to this terrible eternity is as nothing.
we find really two thoughts. First, the frailty ,of our days ;
and, second, the strong hope of the Christian in this frail                    Our fathers used a figure.
life. So the main thought is: A strong hope in the midst                       Imagine a 5 mile. high mountain of granite in the midst
of the frailty of our lives..                                              of an ocean,
' Our life is frail.              .                                            And suppose further that a little bird'would come every
       Our days are short.                                                 thousand years to sharpen its beak on that mountain of
                                                                           granite. Now the scientists tell us that some little atoms.
       A day is likened to a handbreadth, four- fingers, the               of that granite would. wear away every time that little bird
shortest measure among the, orientals.                                     would come to sharpen its beak. Well then, how long would
     So that our day is likened to the small, the little, the              it take for that mountain of granite to wear away under the
insignificant.                                                             sharpening process of that  little.bird's beak? Yet, no mat-
     When you read this, three hundred sixty-five days have                ter how many billions of years it would take, at the disap-
been swallowed up. Three hundred sixty-five handbreadths                   pearing of that mountain eternity would have scarcely begun.
are gone. They simply came and flew  -away.                                    Oh, but eternity is so long !


   1 4 6                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

      What then is seventy or eighty years of our life's span?        glory and praises. He needs a sure foundation for the busi-
  Surely, before God my age is as nothing.                            ness of living.
      And that is true of every man, even those of whom it is           And since there is nothing at all on which he can build,
  said that they are settled, firm, established and mighty.           he goes to the Rock which is the Lord.
  "Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity."              And now, Lord, what wait I for? What is my expec-
      Astounding truth of the Word of the-eternal God!                tation ?
     ' Man at his best estate. Listen to the fools and their              And he supplies the answer.. too : "My hope is in Thee !"
  plans. They are blind and  ,foolish. They say: I am the cap-
' tain of my life and the master of my soul. And they plan                An excellent confession for the morning of the new
  and live their lives` in the same mood.                             year.
      !But God looks upon them and listens to them and                    My hope is in Thee. Let us look at it closely.
  laughs : He has them in derision.                                       Hope is properly the love of God, even as also faith.
      Beloved reader: look upon your life and say: Lord,              The former is stated in Romans 5  :5, where we read that
   I am nothing, and at my best state I am vanity, a nothing.         hope maketh not ashamed~for  that the love of God is spread
                                                                      abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost that is given
      The word for vanity is ABEL, that is,' a breath. No             unto us. And the latter we find in Galatians, that faith
   more.                                                              worketh by love. Ch. 5  :5b.
      Let us say it at once: only God's elect, regenerated, and           Hope is the love of God as it stretches itself to the in-
   called people echo such sentiments. They have received             heritance. The objective hope, or the object of our hope is
   wisdom from God and evaluate their lives aright.                   the inheritance which is laid away for us, kept for us by the
      The wicked does not know. They do not understand.               power of God in heaven.
      And they will continue to live their vain life of sin and           And it includes many and wonderful things.
  corruption until they die and fall into the hands of the
   living God.                                                            First, the object of our hope is the heavenly, glorious,
                                                                      spiritual and eternal state of things. It comprises a heavenly
      But the Church of God in Christ will echo God's thoughts        heaven and a heavenly earth. It also includes heavenly, per-
   of truth and verity even on New Year's eve, when they make         fect creatures in the midst of which I shall live unto all
   up the accounts before the face of Him who seeth our               eternity.  You  will be able to trust everyone there. They all
   thoughts afar off.                                                 speak the truth: for they all partake of the Rock, and the
      And they will confess' with David. that their life, their       Rock is Christ. Here on earth you live among the liars
   days, their age is as nothing befo,re  God, and a great vanity.    both in word and practice. People on earth, ourselves in-
                                                                      cluded, have a short memory, conveniently short. And as a
      God's own confess sin. And hate their vain lives in-the
   world.                                                             consequence, we corrupt ourselves, speak with a double
                                                                      tongue, act like the adder, and are thoroughly miserable.
      When the last evening of the year appears' they bow             But the object of our hope sings of perfection, of the per-
   deeply before the Majesty on high. And they sigh : Selah !         fect state where happiness shall reign.
   They will rest a little.                                               But it also includes, and this is the most important, the,
                               * *  *  *                              company of God and His Christ and His angels. And that,
                                                                      beloved reader, stills the hungry heart. We realize that we
      But that is not all.                                            are adapted unto God so that we cannot rest except we rest
                                                                      in Him. And all those bounties of our hope are earned,
      `There is a positive side to their confession.                  merited for us by Jesus. And He has told us in His Word
      They have prayed and confessed and went to sleep that           sthat they are waiting for us, safely kept for us by God.
   last evening of 1956.                                                  Second, this hope is also subjective, and then it is the
      And in the morning they will  .continue  David's speech         activity of hope, our hoping.
   of wisdom.                                                             And that includes three elements.
      And here it is: "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my
   hope is in Thee !"                                                     First, it is expectant living.
       The saint looks at himself, his days, his age, and upon            `You see, part and parcel of the objective hope is granted
   man, even in his best state, and has come to the conclusion        to us in our regeneration. And under the constant operation
   that there is  `%othing  that is sure, firm, settled and strong    of God's Word and Holy Spirit, that life of God in Christ
   on which he might rely. But, he must go on. He must live           which was our portion in our new birth, comes to our
   before his God. He realizes that he. is created unto God's         consciousness, giving us a foretaste of the heavenly state.


                                            T H E   S T A - N D A R D ' B E A R E R                                                                               147

   And if you have once tasted that the Lord is good, you
will never be satisfied with anything less than the eternal                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER
communion with God, which is called eternal life.                    Semi-mo+tthly,  except monthly during  June,   J,uly and  Aupst
   And so you live in continuous expectation of the full                Published by the  REFORMED  FREE   PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
harvest of that spiritual life with God in Christ.                    P. 0. Box  S81,  Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids  7,.  Mich.
                                                                                        Editor  -  REV.  HERMAN  HOYZKSEMA
   Second, it is assured living.                                      Communications relative to contents should be addressed to Rev.
   Hope, in the mouth of the contemporaries, means a                  H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
shrug of the shoulder, the very opposite of assurance. "Yes,        All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
I surely hope that I can go home for the holidays, but I am           G. Pipe, 1463  Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mkhigan.
not sure of it." That's the way we use the word hope.                 Announcements and Obituaries  must be  .mailed  to the above
                                                                      address and will be publish&d at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
   But that has nothing to do with the meaning of the word            RENEWALS:  Unless' a definite request for  disconti&.nce  is re-
in the Bible. That is already plain from the text which I             ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
                                                                      to continue without the formality of a'renewal order.
quoted above: Hope  maketh  not ashamed. To be ashamed
in this connection means, first, that when you get there, the                             Subscription price: $4.00 per year
-object of your hope is not there; second, that it does not!          E&wed  as  Secolsd Class matter at  Grand  Rapids, Michigan
come up to your expectations; and, third, that it is not                                                                                                      I
for you.
   But not so with our hope in God!                                                                C O N T E N T S
   Hope is assured `living. We know in Whom we have                M E D I T A T I O N   -
believed, and that His promises are sure. We know that                   A W(ord  for the Changing of the Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
when qur earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, that                  Rev. G. Vos
we shall have a house of God, not made with hands, but
eternal in the heavens. The man that hopes in God is sure          EDITORIALS -
                                                                         Unbiblical Divorce and Remarriage.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
of his salvation.                                                        Election and Reprobation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
    Third, it is the yearning of the love of God in the heart                  Rev. H. Hoeksema
and soul and spirit of the child of God. This is really the
most wonderful element of the Christian's hope.                    OUR DOCTRINE  -
                                                                         The Book ocf Revelation.. . . . . _ _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
  Often, even also at the end of the weary years, we grow                     Rev.  H. Hoeksema
despondent, sad, weary, so weary that no man can utter it.
And the reasons are a thousandfold.                                THE  DAY  OF  SHADOWS-
                                                                         The Covenant with Noah.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
    At such times the God of our salvation quickens our                        Rev. G. M. Ophoff
hope, and we yearn for Him and His perfections and
wonders.                                                           FROM  HOLY WRIT-
    We stretch out our hands and say: As the hart panteth                Exposition od Matthew 1125-30..  .`. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
                                                                              Rev. G. Lubbers
after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, o God !
    When earthly friends grow false, He  draws us unto  a          IN H I S   FEAR-
contemplation of His Truth and Faithfulness, and our                     Giving in His Fear (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .j.. . . . .158
                                                                               Rev. J. A. Heys
hungry and thirsty hearts may eat and drink of the hiddeti
manna and the water that flows from the Rock !                     CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
    With firm steps we enter the New Year!                               The Church and the Sacraments..........................160
    For heaven's God beckons us ! Amen.                                        Rev. H.  Veldman
                                                           G.V.    FEATURE ARTICLE  -
                                                                         The Four Kinds  of Soil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
                                                                               Rev. H. Hanko
                     Announcement                                  DECENCY AND  ORDER-
    Delegates to  Classis  East of the Protestant Reformed               The Church and St&e (Continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Churches are hereby notified that by a decision of the dlas-                   Rev. G.  Vanden  Berg
sical  Committee the next meeting of  Classis  will be held
in the Fourth Protestant Reformed  Church on Wednesday,            ALL AROUND  Us-
                                                                         Correspondence with a Baptist Min&ter..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
January 9, 1957, at 9 :00 A, M. The meeting will not be held                   Rev. M. Schipper
in our Creston Church as previously decided by the Classis.
                                    M. Schipper, Stated Clerk.


 1      4      8                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

II                                                                  so more than once.  ;B.esides,  you can easily look it up in
               EDIT-ORIALS                                          your own Bible.
                                                                        Let me take my starting-point in the last part of this
                                                                    verse. There we read the well-known words: "and  whoso
             Unbiblical Divorce and Remarriage                      marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Let
      We were still going to call your attention to the texts       US have clearly before our mind what is the import, not only
concerning divorce and remarriage in Matt. 19:9 and Luke            of these last words of the text, but of the whole passage in
 16 :18.                                                            `the light of this last sentence. What is the situation  ?
      Notice, first of all, that in these verses taken together,        1. A man puts away his wife, forsakes her. In the light
there is mention of three different parties that commit             of the rest of the text, it is clear that he does not merely
adultery.                                                           leave her but that, somehow, he obtains a legal divorce,
      First of all, there is the man that, without the cause of     something that can easily be done, especially in our- own.
adultery on the part of his wife, forsakes her and marries          country, as we all know. But this could also be done among
another woman. He commits adultery by marrying another              the Jews of Jesus' time.
woman, before God, he is still considered to be the legal               2. The woman that is thus forsaken by her husband
husband of his first wife. Hence, by living in the marriage         gave him no legal ground for a divorce by committing adul-
relation with the other woman he lives in continual adultery.       tery before her husband forsook her. She is the innocent
      Secondly, there is the other man that marries the woman       party.
that is forsaken by her first husband. He, too, commits                 3. Nevertheless, -the man that put away his wife' marries
adultery and lives in continual adultery after he has mar-          another woman, according to the text. We may well assume
ried the forsaken and innocent woman because, in the eyes           that this was his purpose in the first place: by putting away
of God, she still belongs to the man that has forsaken her.         his wife he wanted to open the way for marrying another
      Thirdly, there is the originally innocent woman that is       woman.
forsaken  .by her husband and now marries the other man.               4. By marrying the other woman he, according to the
By concluding this second marriage she, too, commits adul-          text, commits adultery. And, of course, the woman he mar-
tery and, by living with that second man, lives in continual        ries also commits adultery. Hence, as we mentioned above,
adultery because, before the law of God, she is still the           the man and that second wife live in continued  adu.ltery.
wife of her first husband that has forsaken her and married         What is the clear implication? It is, evidently, that even
another woman.                                                      .after his marriage with the other woman, his first wife,
      We are well aware of the fact that the last synod of the      whom he put away, is still his only legal wife before God
Christian Reformed Church denies this. Even though the              ,and His law.
first two propositions adopted  by. that synod are entirely            5. But now notice the last part of the text: "and  whoso
negative and, therefore, unworthy of a synod; and even              marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. What
though these propositions occur in the Acts of Synod with-          does this mean ?
out a single item of proof (how can one offer positive
Scriptural proof for mere negative propositions  ?) which              a. The woman that is put away did not commit adultery.
again make them unworthy of a synod ; nevertheless, if we           If she  had. committed adultery, the man would have had
give a `positive form to these negative propositions, they          grounds before God and-His  law to'put her away. @or the
express  :                                                          Lord adds "except it be for fornication."
      1. That parties may remarry after they are divorced on           b.  .Many conclude from this that, if a man puts away
the ground of their own adultery or on unbiblical grounds.          his wife for the cause of fornication, he may marry another
      2.. That parties thus remarried may continue their mem-       woman. This used to be my position several years back. Of
bership in the Christian Reformed Church without first              course, this is still a far cry from the position of the last
severing their relationship in that illegal marriage.               Christian Reformed Synod. Nevertheless, I have abandoned
      But, although the synod of the Christian Reformed             this position, partly on grounds I mentioned before, but also
Church offered no proof for their position in the matter, we        partly on the basis of the last parti of Matthew 19:9.
must, nevertheless, prove from the Word of God that our                c. Is the innocent woman that did not commit adultery,
position in the matter is right. This we have already done          that is put away from her husband and whose husband mar-
in preceding numbers of our magazine. But now we will               ried another women, now entitled before God to marry
still show that the passages from Luke 16  :18 and from             another man'? Not according to the Word of God in the
Matthew 19 :9 indeed do teach what, in the first part of this       text we are now examining. For the Lord says : "and whoso
article, we claim they teach on the question of divorce and         marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
remarriage.                                                         Why is this the case  ? There can be only one answer to
      First of all, then, Matthew 19 :9.                            this : the innocent woman that did not commit fornication
      I do not have to quote the text again since I have done       but that was put away by her husband,  is still considered


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               149

to be the legal wife before God and His law of her first           hardeneth,' Rom. 9 :18. And also this : `Unto you it is given
husband even though he has already married another woman.          to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
    I must still comment on this in our next issue, D. V.          them it is not given,' Matt. 13  :ll. Likewise: `I thank thee,
                                                          H.H.     0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide                ,
                                                                   these things from the wise and understanding; and didst
                                                                   reveal them unto babes; yea, Father, for so it was  well-
                                                                   pleasing in thy sight:' `Matt. 11 :25, 26."
              Election and Reprobation                                 This is, evidently, the infra-lapsarian conception of
    We are discussing the general question whether or not, in      election and reprobation. But note:
his book on The Election of God, Berkouwer assigns a                   1. That, according to God's eternal decree, He passed
proper, that is, a Scriptural and confessional place to the        them, i.e. the reprobate, by so that they were not chosen
truth of reprobation. And in this connection we were dis-          unto eternal life, but were left in their sin and condemna-
cussing the particular question of the hardening of man's          tion.
heart. Is, in the hardening of his heart, God first or is man
the primary author and does God merely follow as a right-              2. That God decreed in his unchangeable good pleasure
eous judgment upon the sin of man's hardening his own              not to bestow on the reprobate faith and the grace of con-
heart? And does the hardening of man's heart stand at all          version but to leave them to walk in their own sinful way
                                                                                                  1.
.in the causal connection with the decree of reprobation  ?        unto eternal condemnation.
    This Berkouwer denies. This, however, we maintain on               3. That, according to the negative part of the Canons
the basis of Scripture and the Reformed Confessions.               which we quoted above, it is firmly decreed in God's eternal
    We were discussing some of the passages which  Ber-            counsel of reprobation that God hardens whom He will, that
kouwer quotes or to which he refers, but which he does not         He will not reveal unto them the mysteries of the kingdom
exegete. Thus far we explained the passages from Isa.  6           .of heaven, that He hid them from the wise and prudent.
and Matt. 13. We now wish to call your attention to Mark               I would like to know how Berkouwer explains these
4 :lO-12.                                                          passages of the Canons and maintains that the hardening of
    Before we do so, however we wish to refer to the passages      man's heart does not stand in causal connection with the
of the Reformed Confessions that definitely speak of repro-        decree of reprobation, something which, as I understand it,
bation.                                                            is literally taught in Canons I. B. 8.
    In Canons I, 15 we read :                                        But now let us return to Scripture.
    "What peculiarly tends to illustrate and recommend  tot            In Mark 4 :lO-12 we read :       -
us the eternal and unmerited grace of election, is the ex-
press testimony of sacred Scripture, that not all, but some            "And when he was alone, they that were about him with
only are elected, while others are passed by in the eternal        the twelve asked him of the parable. And he said unto them,
decree ; whom God, out of his sovereign, most just, irrepre-       Unto you it is given to ,know the mysteries of the kingdom
hensible and unchangeable good pleasure, hath decreed to           of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are
leave in the common misery into which they have willfully          done in parables : That seeing they may see and not per-
plunged themselves, and not to bestow upon them saving             ceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand ; lest
faith and the grace of conversion  ; but permitting them in        at any time they should be converted, and their sins should
his just judgment to follow their own ways, at last, for the       be forgiven them."
declaration of his justice, to condemn and perish them for-            We must -ask and try to answer several questions :
ever, not only on account of their unbelief, but also for all          1. Who are they that are without ? Without what and
their other sins. And this is the decree of reprobation which      why ?
by no means makes God the author of sin (the very thought
of which is blasphemy) but declares him to be an awful,                2. Why, according to this passage,. and for what pur-
irreprehensible, and righteous judge and avenger thereof."         pose, are "all these things done in parables ?"
   And in the rejection of errors in the same chapter of the           3. What, is the import of the expression "seeing they
Canons, art. 8, we read:                                           see, and do not perceive" and "hearing they hear, and do
    "The Synod rejects' the errors of those :                      not understand ?"
    "Who teach : That God, simply by virtue of his righteous           4. What is the significance of the conjunction "lest" in
will, did not decide either to leave anyone in the fall of Adam                                                                       .
and in the common state of sin and condemnation, or to pass        the clause "lest" they be converted, and their sins should
anyone by in the communication of grace which is neces-            be forgiven them ?"
sary for faith and conversion. For this is firmly decreed :            The answer to these questions, however, must wait till
 `He  bath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he              next time.                                                H. H.

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

                                                                   Ghost, to lay upon you none other burden except these
             0U.R  D.OCTRINE   il necessary things, that you abstain from meat offered to idols,
                                                                  :and from blood, and from things strangled, and from forni-
                                                                   cation, from which if ye keep yourselves ye shall do well.
              THE BOOK OF REVELATION                               Fare ye well." This, then, was the burden that had been
                                                                  cast upon them heretofore.. And if they only had adhered to
                          CHAPTER  VII                            these precepts, they would undoubtedly have kept them-
              The  Chwch   with  a Mystic  Tendency               selves undefiled from the vile sins of Jezebel and her wicked
                                                                   brood. But now the danger was more than imaginary that
                       Revelation 2 : 18-29                       lthe faithful at the sight of the judgments inflicted upon
       The church of Thyatira shall see the works of the Lord,    the wicked woman in their midst would turn to the other
and at the same time become a warning example to the              extreme, and not intimately acquainted with the doctrine of
churches round about, in as far as they also were endangered      the church, would timidly subject themselves once more to
by the heresy of the Nicolaitans. And not only is the             the bondage of fear. This must be prevented. And therefore
church of Thyatira a warning example to the churches of           the Lord comes with the definite message: "I cast upon you
that time, but to those of all ages as well. The devil even       none other burden. Just keep what you have till I come."
in the present day goeth about like a roaring lion. And his           To these faithful, then, to those that keep what they
object is always again to sever the church from the basis of      have, and are pure from the defilement of Jezebel's teaching,
the Word of God, and thus to set her adrift on the seductive      the Lord comes with a most beautiful promise. Says He:
: current of human imagination. The church of Thyatira,            "And he that overcome&, and he that keep&h  my works unto
therefore, may also be our warning example. For the Lord          the end, to him will I give authority over the nations, and
searches the reins and the hearts, and He will finish a just      he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a
work upon the earth.                                              potter are broken to shivers ; as also I have received of my
       However, also the message to the church of Thyatira         Father." To see in these words anything but a promise of
does not conclude with threats of judgment, but closes with       final victory in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ is to do
most glorious promises to them that are faithful and over-        violence to the plain words of Scripture. Plainly Jesus
come in the battle. In the first place the Lord tenderly com- .promises  in this passage that He will give to the faithful
forts them, and at the same time warns them against  the,         the same power He has received from His Father. In the
danger of falling into an opposite extreme, when He says :         day of His coming they shall share in His power and glory
"But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many      ,of victory. Evidently the reference is to Psalm 2. There
as have not this teaching, who know not the deep things of         we are presented, first of all, with a picture of the powers
Satan, as they are wont to say ; I cast upon you none other        and the might of the world raging and striving to obtain
burden." These last words are referred by some to a burden.       the world dominion that properly belongs to the kingdom
of judgment. The meaning then would be that the Lord              of God's anointed. This dominion the Father gave to His
would indeed visit the congregation with His judgments by          Son. He has been anointed King over God's holy hill, over
afflicting and punishing the evil-doers, but that outside of      Zion. And when that Son declares the decree of Jehovah,
the culprits He would not afflict any other in the church.        He says: "The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son,
But this view appears less probable. More natural it would         this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give
seem, to refer these words to a burden of law and precepts.       thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
As the undefiled would witness the judgments upon  the            parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them
wicked Jezebel and her following because of their fornica-         with a rod of iron  ; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a
tion, they might be inclined to the opposite extreme, and         potter's vessel." Evidently the dominant thought is that the
imagine that the complete fulfillment of the law was still        powers of the world strive to break the dominion of Christ,
incumbent upon them and necessary for their salvation.            #and rebel against the Most High, but that the Son shall have
From antinomism they might swing to phariseeism and                the ultimate victory in the day of His coming and execute
nomism. And against this the Lord warns them by saying            vengeance upon all His enemies. This is the power He has
that He casts upon them none other burden. The more prob-          received from His Father. And in this power the faithful
able this interpretation would seem because there is an un-        of the church of Thyatira shall share, according to this
mistakable reference in these words to the passage of Acts        glorious promise. In a later connection we shall have occa-
15  :28, 29. And  ,we remember that the  questian  of circum-      sion to explain' this promise more definitely. Now it must
cision and of the entire Mosaic law had been a burning one         suffice that we state as our conviction that the promise is to
in the early churches, and that it had been discussed and          be literally fulfilled. Literally the enemies rage against the
settled by the Synod of Jerusalem, in approximately 50 A. D,.      kingdom and dominion of the Son. Literally the Christ shall
And the well-known decision for that important gathering          come to break the power of His enemies. But these enemies
had been: "For it seemed good unto us and to the Holy              that rise against the kingdom of God also oppose the  sub-


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                151

jects of that kingdom while they still are on earth. They                          THE CHURCH ABOUT  To  DIE
 reproach and slander them. They persecute them, and cause
,them to suffer for the sake of Christ. But even as they                                   Revelation 3 :l-6
share in His reproach, so shall they also participate in the            On the whole, the picture of the church of Christ in the
glory of -His victory in the day when He shall have the             world which we have been studying this far in connection
final victory over all His enemies. They shall come with            with the seven letters addressed by the Lord to the seven
Him. With Him they shall judge the nations. And with                churches in Asia Minor, is not a very bright one. There is,
Him they shall enter into His dominion when the nations             indeed, some light, there is a bright side to the picture ; but
are broken to shivers like a potter's vessel and all the power      there is also a good deal of darkness, in fact, we receive
of opposition shall have an end.                                    the impression that there is more darkness than light. Eph-
    In the second place, the Lord gives to the faithful  the,       esus was, indeed, a beautiful church from every outward
beautiful and suggestive promise of the morning star. Men-          aspect: she was strong in the knowledge of the truth; faith-
tion of the fact that the righteous shall shine with radiant        ful in discipline, abounding in works. Yet, there was at the
glory, as the bodies in the firmament, is not foreign to Scrip-     same time some very fundamental defect in the congrega-
ture. In Daniel 12 :4 we read : "And they that be wise shall        tion, a defect that was bound to bring her to destruction
shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn        as a church of Jesus Christ: she lost her first love.  Smyrna:
many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." And          indeed, presented us with a picture of the church as perfect
-in Matthew 13 :43 the Lord says : "Then shall the righteous        as we may ever expect to meet here in this world: she re-
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." And         ceives no rebuke from the Lord but was spiritually rich.
therefore, all the righteous shall shine. That is the glory of      Her dark side consisted in this that she was the church in
their perfected new being in Christ. Cleansed and purified          tribulation: she was poor and held in disrepute by the world
in the blood of the Lamb, they shall forevermore reveal             about her. Pergamos,  .evidently,  had been a very faithful
themselves in eternal luster and resplendent glory. To that         church in the past, but now she was weakening and became
eternal glory also the symbol of- our text refers. But evi-         lax in discipline as was evident from the fact that she allowed
dently there is this difference, that the morning star shines       the evil Nicolaitans to exist in her midst. Thyatira, so we
with greater splendor, is more obvious in brightness, than          found, was a beautiful little church, warm in spiritual life,
the other stars in'the firmament. It is a star of special luster    ardent in respect to the works of faith. But her weakness
and glory. Thus also they that keep themselves pure in the          was that she was strongly characterized by a tendency to
midst of great temptation, that remain faithful in times of         false mysticism so that she even permitted wicked Jezebel
special stress and danger, shall shine forth with distinguished     to teach in the church and to seduce its members from the
glory in the eternal kingdom of God. Even as the morning            truth as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Hence, we may
star shines with special glory in the firmament of heaven,          say, indeed, that there is a good deal of light in the picture
so shall they that have kept themselves pure from the defile-       of the church as we have studied her thus far, but also much
ment of `Jezebel, and in the midst of great temptations have        darkness. And one who expects the church to be  .perfect
been faithful unto the end, reveal themselves in the eternal        in the world may well learn a lesson from the sevenfold
kingdom with distinct glory and splendor.                           picture of the church we find in the book of Revelation.
   He that-hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit  saitlz           We still have to call attention to three more of the
unto the churches. What doth the Spirit say ? Do not drift          churches in Asia Minor to whom the Lord addressed these
away. on subjective experience, ignoring the objective prin-        letters. Nor does the picture of the church in the world
ciple of `the Word of God. Cling to the Word. For only              become much brighter by these three letters. If we would,
that Word is our safe guide and firm basis in the midst of          perhaps, expect that the Lord so arranged the order of
strong currents of human theories. And if false prophets            these letters to the- seven churches that the picture gradually
arise, that would lead you astray with their own imagina-           becomes brighter, we will certainly meet with disappointment.
tions, test the spirits, and reject them without hesitation.        The most miserable two of the representations of the church
This false doctrine may sometimes appear under a very               in the world are still to be considered. First comes the
beautiful mask. In Thyatira it was a mask of super-piety.           church in Sardis, a most wretched representation and mani-
In our day it is the mask of service to humanity. Surely,           festation of the church in the world. For a moment we
service is good if it is service not merely of man, but above       may find some comfort and joy in the letter of the Lord to
all, service of God. Service is good, if it is based not on the     the church in Philadelphia, a church small and of little
vain theories of human philosophy, but on the eternal prin-         strength from the viewpoint of the world, but true and faith-
ciple of the Word of God. Cling, then, to that Word. Keep           ful and abounding in spiritual strength. But then the series
yourselves pure from the wicked Jezebel. For the faithful           closes with the most miserable picture of the church in Lao-
to the end shall receive the same power' as Christ has re-          dicea, a church that was rich in her own estimation, but
ceived of His Father. And they shall shine as the morning           devoid of every manifestation of spiritual riches.
star in the kingdom of heaven.                                         Also in this order and arrangement of the seven letters

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

 which is, of course, intentional, we see the purpose of the       A living minister is zealous in his work, devotes himself
 Lord to warn His church in the world not to expect great          wholeheartedly and with all his power to the study of the
 things of the church in the world as the end of this present      Scriptures, the preaching of the Word, the instruction of
 age approaches. It is true, as we have remarked before,           young and old in the truth, to his  pastoral work, to medi-
 that in these seven letters to the seven churches of Asia         tation and prayer. And he is doubly careful to be an example
 Minor we do not and may not discern seven successive              unto the flock, and to adorn his work of the ministry by a
 periods in the history of the church in the world, as some        walk in all good works.
 would have it. Nevertheless, there is, of course, reason for          But in all these respects the minister of the church in
 this arrangement accordin g to which the series closes with       Sardis was dead. The meaning is not .that he was, person-
 the most miserable of the church in the world. Nor can            ally, devoid of the life of the new birth, but that his life and
 this reason be found only in the geographical situation of        walk as a minister of the Word of God was characterized
 the seven churches. On the contrary, although it is true          by lack of' consecration. He was a dead preacher.. He did
 that the order of the seven letters follows the geographical      not give himself to the study of the Scriptures and to prayer.
 location of the seven churches, yet the order of the seven        His word was not a living testimony. He was unfaithful as
 letters is intentionally such that, with two exceptions, the      a pastor. He failed to watch over the flock, to bring con-
 trend of development of the church in the world is down-          solation to them that mourned, to admonish the wayward,
ward: it steadily points to the false church as represented        to comfort the sick and afflicted, to instruct the young in
 by the church in Laodicea.                                        the fear of the Lord. Where there should have been fervor,
        Sardis was a city located in a rich plain, mostly south    there was apathy ; instead of zeal in the work of the Lord,
of Thyatira and east from Ephesus. The city was noted for          there was a manifestation of cold indifferentism ; instead of
its wealth. This may have had something to do with the             diligence there was indolence. His work was a burden ta
condition of the church there. The general description of          him. And you may depend on it: he  .loved  the things of
the church is contained in the words: "Thou hast a name            the flesh, leisure, worldy comfort and pleasure, the luxuries
that thou livest but thou art dead." And we receive the            for which the city of Sardis was noted.
impression that these words as well as the entire letter are,         But enough of this dead preacher. The Church was just
indeed, addressed to the entire church in Sardis, but that         like him. For, although the angel of the church is addressed
they refer, first of all, to its minister or angel.                in the first place, the church is rebuked at the same time.
    To the pastor of this flock, therefore, must be applied        Also the church has a name that she lives. Is she not the
that. he had a name that he lived, and was dead. Commen-           body of Christ? Does not Christ her Head live in her?
tators have surmised that this angel of the church in Sardis       And her life becomes manifest in her confession and walk,
had a proper name that signified life or living. But there         as a life of faith and hope, of confidence and love, of holi-
is no need of such an ingenious invention. Rather do we            ness and righteousness. She fights the battle of faith, and
understand the Saviour's words as meaning that he had a            keeps her garments clean in the midst of an ungodly world.
reputation that he was living, but that he did not live up to      She lets her light shine, that .men may see her good works,
this reputation. Nor do we have to read these `words as if         iand glorify her Father which is in heaven. But the! church
they suggested that this particular minister was especially        in Sardis was dead. It is true that there were a few that
famous as a preacher and as an active pastor, for' the facts       had not defiled their garments. But of the majority this
would seem to contradict this. It is quite sufficient to re-       could not be said. The flesh dominated in the church of
member that this man not only had the name that he was a           Sardis. The Lord accuses her that her works were not
Christian, but also that of a minister of the Word of God.         perfect before God. This does not mean that all her works
As such he, naturally, had a name that he was living, full         were defiled with sin, for this is always the case, even with
of the  new life in Christ, manifested in ardent zeal and          the very best of our good works. But the church as such,
devotion to his Lord, diligent in his calling, abounding in        .and believers individually, failed to walk in those works
good works. If anyone is expected to be living and to reveal       that were required of them. There was no interest in
his life in diligent service, in constantly seeking the kingdom    Sardis for the things of the kingdom of God, no searching
of God, in walking in holiness, and in thus being an example       of the Scriptures, no daily prayer, no confession of the name
unto the flock, it is the minister. And there is nothing           of Christ, no testimony for the truth, no zeal in proclaiming
more disgusting than the sight of a dead minister. 0, indeed,      the gospel, no instruction of the youth, no battle of faith,
we may well remind ourselves that also the pastor is but           no patience and suffering for Christ's sake, no manifestation
a sinful man; and that it cannot be expected of him any            of sorrow after God, of true repentance, of the love of God
more than of the members of his church that his walk and           and of  .the brethren. Instead, there  was. a seeking of the
conversation are perfect and without sin. Fact is, never-          things of this world, friendship with the world, a striving
theless, that he is a minister of the Word of God, that as         after the treasures and pleasures of Sardis. The church,
such he has an holy calling, the most exalted there is in          exactly because she was church, had a name that she lived,
this world, and that therefore he has a name that he lives.        but she was dead!                                         H:H.


I---                                          T H E -   STANDAR'D   B E A R E R                                                 153
                                                                        Let us examine the proof that Kuyper imagines to have
Ij           THE .DAY OF SHADOWS /I found in the Genesis narrative in support of his view -the
                                                                     view that the covenant -with Noah was a covenant of com-
 -                                                                   mon grace.
                  The Covenant with Noah                                a) First, he directs attention to the personal pronoun
                                                                     YOU in the text at chapter  9:8, 9, "And. God spake  `unto
        There are still other scriptures to which an appeal can      Noah and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I
 be made in support of the view that the covenant with Noah          establish my covenant with  YOU, and with your seed after
 was a covenant of special grace and not a covenant of corn--        you." In the Hebrew the pronoun  yoit is plural  ;  for its
 man grace. I Peter 3 :19-21, "By which also he went  and            antecedents are Noah and his sons and not Noah only. This
 preached unto the spirits in prison ; which sometimes were          must serve as proof that the covenant with Noah was com-
 disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in           mon: it was established with Noah and the three progeni-
 the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing wherein few,          tors of the human race to be, thus with both Noah's spir-
 that is, eight sduls were saved by the water. The like figtire      itual and carnal seed, with both the  Glect  and reprobated
 whereunto even baptism doth also now  safre us (not the             in his loins. Had it been a covenant of special grace, it:
 putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a          would have been established with Noah in the line of Shem,
 good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus            thus with Noah's spiritual seed alone. Such is the view.
 Christ." The teaching here is that the flood and Christian          Writes Kuyper, "It is God speaking here, so that we deal           .
 baptism are related to each other as type and antitype. The         with the very words of God, and God `spake not to Noah` `-
 idea is that as Noah was cleansed by the waters of the flood        alone but to Noah .and his three sons, hence not to Shem
 from his godless contemporaries and their corruption,  SO           alone but- to Shem and to Japheth and to Ham as well as
 are the  .believers  cleansed. from their sins by the water of      including their whole offspring, `And I, behold, I establish
 baptism, that is, by the blood of Christ. Saved are they from       my covenant with you and with, your seed after you.' `Had
 their sins, from their sinful flesh and from the world dootied      it been a covenant established with Noah alone, one might;
 to destruction. Now if the Lord sent the flood to cleanse,          explain, the words, `and with your seed after you,' as having
 separate believing Noah  frond the wicked and reprobated            reference exclusively to Noah's spiritual (that is, elect)
 world of his day'and.age,  can it be true that, after the flood,    posterity.  But such an interpretation is now impossible.;
 the Lord established with Noah a covenant  of common grace          for it is  evident  that the Lord addresses not His words  t?
 including that very world ?                                         Noah alone, but to four persons, to wit, Noah, Shem, Ham
         Our conclusion is then that the covenant with Noah was      and Japheth. Thus the Lord emphatically declares that I%
 a covenant of special grace and not of common grace. It             est&lishes  this covenant not with believers alone, nor with
 is only in the light of this conception that what is reported       the posterity of Shem alone but with Ham and Japheth
 to us in Genesis' chapters 6, 7, S can be rightly explained.        and their posterity as well." De Gemeene Gratie, Vol.
 All serves this cbvenant  qf special grace (Another covenant        I. page 17.
 there is not). This covenant must be perfected. The elect              The point to this reasoning is, that the covenant, esta-
 must be saved. For this there must be opportunity.                  blished, as it was, with Noah and his three sons and not
         All are not agreed that the covenant with Noah was a        merely with Noah in the line of Shem, includes the whole
 covenant of special grace. According to the late Dr. A.             human race as to everyone of its members,  thus includes
 Kuyper, the covenant that the Lord established with Noah            reprobate and elect alike and was, on this account, a cove-
 was a covenant of common grace; thus a covenant including           nant of common grace.
 also the reprobated humanity. The promises of this cove-               But this reasoning certainly, does not hold.  That the
 nant  fare said to be the very promises that the  Loid made         Lord established His covenant with Noah's three sons and
 to Noah with whom He is supposed to have' transacted as             -not alone with  Shem  was owing to the fact that He had
 the representative of the reprobated. This covenant God             His elect in the generations of each of these sons. If so,
 makes. real in the lives of  reproba'ted  men by a doing of         how can His establishing His covenant with all three sons
 His according to which He so operates by His Spirit in              prove that His covenant with them included also their rep-
 the hearts of these men that sin in them is checked and they,       robated offspring and was, therefore, a covenant of com-
 themselves, as a result, perform works that have moral value        mon grace ? It cannot, of course.
 in the sight of God. The purpose of this covenant is the               Later it was revealed unto Noah that the Lord will en-
_ creation of a common -sphere in. which elect and reprobate,        .large  Japheth and that he will  ,dwell  in the tents of Shem.
 can cooperate for the betterment of this world through the          Now Shem is Christ. The tents of Shem is the house of God
 development of the earth and its resources in obedience             over which Christ has been set a great priest. Ili this house
 to the  .original  ordinance of creation, "And the Lord God         Japheth as redeemed from all his sins by the blood of Christ
 took the man, and put hiin in the garden of Eden to dress           shall have a place. Surely, the covenant with Noah and his
      it and to keep it" (Gen. 2  :159. Such is the view.            sons was a covenant of special grace.


154      .-                               T.HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

   Second, Kuyper has still other proof. It is this, namely,      God of all flksh and who in that covenant seals with an oath
that the covenant with Noah included also the brute crea-         a promise that indeed pertains to all flesh. equally and to
tion. Kuyper writes, "As though foreseeing that this would!       all that breathes." Idem,  I. 18.
be misunderstood, God becomes more explicit and literal in           Kuyper imagines to have made the discovery that the
His statement of the matter thus, `And with every living          name used with the particular covenant is always the name
creature that is with  you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of    Jehovah and, never the name God. However, passages occur
every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of        in which the matter concerned is plainly the particular cov-
the ark, to every beast of the earth.' This is repeated in        enant (there is, of course, no such thing as a common
verse 12 in these words. `The covenant which I make be-           coyenant)  and in which the name used is God and not Je-
tween me and you and every living creature.. that is with         hovah.  ~ Gen. 17 is a  repoert  of the  Lordi's transaction with
you, fqr perpetual generations,' And as if it  w.ere  His         Abraham regarding the particular covenant of grace and
purpose to state this with greater concreteness and to bring      the name used thrdughout is the ntime  God and not Jehovah:
out with greater clarity that this covenant assuredly does        And so the conclusion that, because in the report of the
concern human existence on earth, it is  said in verse 13,        Lord's transaction with Noah regarding thk covenant the
`a covenant between me and the earth.' Thus as much as            name God is  tised, this covenant with Noah is; therefore,
six times it asserts that here we have to do with a covenant      a common covenant and not the particular covenant, is
not of particular but of common grace. And it is hard to          wholly unwarranted.
understand how some, in' utter disregard of this sixfold             This is the extent of Kuyper's proof from the Scriptures.
assertion, have reasoned away  and to all practical extent        He  has no more. And so it shall have  *to be admitted that
denied the general character of this covenant."  Idem,  Vol.      his attempt to prove with the Scriptures that the covenant
I, page 17,  1s.                                                  with Noah was a common covenant and not the particular
   The point to this reasoning is that, including, as it does     covenant ended in failure. It only goes -to show how  th&
the brute creation, all life on earth, the covenant with Noah     the -view under consideration is a sheer invention. The cov-
mus't be common.. Now this argument has weight only if            enant with Noah was the  phrticular  covenant. Nothing could
the matter it concerns cannot be explained on the ground          be plainer from the chapters in Genesis that deal with ,this
that the covenant with Noah is particular.  But the matter        covenant. (See my previous article  `on this subject in the
can well be explained on this ground. Fact is that the            Standard Bearer for September 15.)
p?rticular  covenant includes the brute creation. We need             But, one will say, how are we to explain the following
but quote Paul here. "Because the creature itself also shall      statements occurring in these chapters : "And I will remem-
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glori-       ber my covenant, which is between me and you and every
ous liberty of the children of God" (Rom.  8  :219. Here it       living creature of all flesh," and "that I may remember the
is taught that the brute creature will be delivered and that      everlasting covenant between God and  every  living crea-
its deliverance is bound up with the salvation of God's peo-      ture of all flesh that is upon the earth" (Gen. 9: 15, 16).
ple and that, therefore, this creature is also included in the    Here the Lord twice states that His coven@ with Noah
particular covenant.                                    7         was between Him, the Lord and Noah and every  Zvirzg
. Third, Kuyper directs attention to the use of the divine        cyeatztre  of all flesh. Does not this expression in italics  -
names God and Jehovah. Now it is true that in the narrai          the expression,  eve&y  living   creat&e  denote also every hu-
tive of the Lord's transactions with Noah, the name of God        man being and  .thus indicate also the reprobated ?  And if
appears throughout. This must serve as another ground             so, have we not to do here with a statement plainly teach-
for the view that the covenant with Noah was  coMmon.             ing that the covenant with Noah was indeed a covenant
For, so the reasoning goes, if the covenant were particular,      between God and the reprobated also  ? No, not at all. It
the sacred writer would have employed the name Jehovah,           was not even the contention of Kuyper that the. expression
thk particular covenant name of the Lord. Writes Kuyper,          every living creatwe  d&&es also every human being. `Ac-
"Even the use of the name with which the Most High who            cording to his view, the kxpression indicates only the brute
concludes the covenant is here called  fo,rbids  any other        creation, plants and  animals.  Reading the verse with  so&
conception of the matter (forbids the view that the covenant      thought and in its context,- we will see that this view is
with Noah is particular, Kuyper means). Where the saving          correct. The statement indicative of human beings, that is,
covenant of particular grace is referred to in Genesis 3 the      of the rational creation,. the human race to be, is the follow-
name Jehovah is employed. And also in  the passage  that!         ing, "And God spake unto `Noah and to his sons with him
speaks of the blessing of the Messiah upon  Shem,  we find        saying, And I, behold, I will establish my covenant with
in Genesis 9 :26 the name Jehovah. But here in connection         you, and with your seed after you."  ,The pronoun  !`you'
with the covenant of Noah as well as in verse 27 where            denotes Noah and his three sons. The term  rryour seed"
me:ntion  is made of the blessing upon Japheth, the covenant,     signifies their entire offspring,`the  human race to be. If we
name Jehovah is uniformly eliminated and we find every-           now allow also the expression "every living creature of all
where the name God only. It is here not Jehovah but the           flesh" to indicate human beings, the humanity to be, then


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  155

verse 15 must be made to  rea? as follows; "I will remem-          with the blood was the flesh of an animal that had been killed
ber my covenant, which is between me  and you,  ~ihat is,          but whose carcass had not been drained of blood. To eat
between. me and you and your seed, the human race to be,           such flesh was a great sin, the reason being that, according
and every living creature of all flesh, that is, plants and        to the above-cited Scripture, the blood was sacred in that it
animals and the human race to be." It is plain that the            was the blood "that maketh atonement for the soul." So
expression "evwy living  creatwe" indicates the brute crea-        holy was the blood that it had to be covered with dust after
tion only and not also every human being. This verse, there-       being poured out.
fore, cannot be quoted in support of thQ view that the COV-           3. The ordinance that  whoso  shed&h  man's blood, by
enant with Noah was between God and reprobated humans.             man shall his blood be shed." So did the Lord also place
Certainly, the  .covenant  with Noah was between God and           in the hand of Noah and his seed the sword to curb the
the brute creation and the whole  72tt*zan race. But the           bloodthirstiness of the wicked in order that human life might
question is whether this covenant with Noah is between             be protected. For God had `much people in the humanity to
the Lord and the human race head for head or between this          be, and therefore it must be perpetuated on this earth until
race according to the election of grace. According to Kuy-         all the elect are saved out of it.
per the former is the case. He, therefore, taught two cov-
enants, the covenant with Noah, the common covenant and               4. The mandate to Noah and his three sons and their
including both reprobate and elect, and the covenant wit&          seed that they be fruitful and mutiply and bring forth
Abraham, the  partitular  covenant and including only the          cibundantly  in the earth. I; is only because this mandate will
spiritual seed.                                                    continually be realiz'ed in man by God that man will be
                                                                   fruitful. Through man as His organ God will replenish the
   But the two covenants are the one particular covenant of        earth, His purpose again being the perfection of His cov-
grace. The seed of Noah and the seed of Abraham are the!           enant between Himself as the triunk Jehovah and.Chr&  ancl
same seed and this seed is Christ. And the promises are            His people.
essentially the same. And God the Father is the God and
Father of the one covenant as well as of the other.                    5. The waters shall no more become a flood to destroy
   But this is nbt saying that in~&ery  respect the two cov-       all flesh, but while the earth remaineth  seedtime  etc. shall
enants are one and the  samexovenant.  The covenant with           ,not cease and this for the same purpose as that just men-
Noah in  distiliction from the covenant with. Abraham, is          tioned under 4. All serves the salvation of the church to
defi,nitel_v  a'eovenant  between the Lord and the whole earth     H i s   g l o r y .
and its fulness. To call it a covenant of nature is, therefore,       The reprobated humanity will also profit from these
not incorrect. It being a covenant of this character, there        ordinances of the covenant with Noah. But this can be no
were definite promises and articles associated with it not         ground for saying that this covenant was between. God and
dkectly associated with the covenant with Abraham.                 the reprobated also. For' this profit will be unto them not`
  1. The fear of man - Noah and His sons and their .seed           a blessing bit a curse and will also be meant- as a curse. God
-will be upon-every beast of  tke earth, upon every fowl           will send rain and sunshine also upon their farms but only
of the air and upon all that moveth on the earth, and upon         in $Iis wrath. And at the second appearing of Christ, when
the fishes of the sea. All is delivered into man's hand. For       the elements will melt and all the works of men will bur.n,
the ferocious beast may not approach man to destroy him.           the earth will be permanently cleansed of them.
For how otherwise could the elect be saved and God's cov-             A terriblle  theology you say ? The God of the Scriptures,
enant perfected ?                                                  the God and Father of Christ, is  & terrible God, who does
 2. Every moving thing that lives is given to man for              terrible things in  .righteousness.  This is what He  says of
meat but with. this restriction that the flesh of the animal       Himself in His word. A terrible theology? It is the theology
with the  soul'thereof  shall not be eaten. The meaning of         of the Scriptures. And no one thus far has bten able to
this prohibition is known from Lev.  17:10-14, "And what-          show that it is not the theology of the Scriptures. Yes,  n
ever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers      terrible theology but as'glorious as it is terrible.
that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood ;                                                                     G.M.O.
I  will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood,
and will cut him off from  amppg  .his people. For the soul                                   *.  :,: 4: *
of the flesh (of the animal) is in the blood, and I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls  ; for it is the blood that maketh atonement for            "Everything is wit&in  the reach of free grace; but nothing
the soul . . . And whatsoever man there be of the children         is within the reach of free-will."                      - Ambrose
of Israel . . . which hunteth and eateth any  be&t or fowl
that may be eaten ; lie shall even pour out the blood thereof          "Prove your conversion and you need not doubt your
and cover it with the dust." According to this Scripture, flesh    election."                                                - Allein

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

                                                                                        Bearing the foregoing in, mind, we notice the' following
             FROM HOLY WRIT.                                                        particulars in the tekt :
                                                                                        In the first place,  w$ should. carefully take note of the
                                                                                    relationship of the Son to the Father in the text, and then we
               Exposition of Matthew 1125-30                                        ask: in what capacity does the  "So+' here speak? Is he
                                                                                    speaking here merely as the eternal Son, as he is' in the
                                      II.                                           bosom of the Father, or is He speaking here as the Word
                                                                                    which became flesh, that is, as the eternal Son, who is at
                            (Matthew  11:27)                                        the  stime time very God and real and righteous man  ? Is it
                                                                                    the man Jesus, who here speaks, a friend of publicans and
        The sectioti  of Matthew 11 25-27  to which we call atten-                  sinners ?
tion in this essay is verse 27, which reads as `follows : `All
things  a.jre  delivefped  ,unto  me of  my Father: and no  WXI.YZ                     We are convinced that the text clearly indicates that
knozveth   t h e   S o n ,   but  tlzh  Fa,tlzey,  n e i t h e r   know&  a n y     Jesus speaks in His capacity of being the eternal Son in the
wan the Father,  save the Son, and  he to  zwhomsoever  the                        -flesh, and, then, more particularly, as the office-bearer of
Son will  revea.1  lch~"                                                            God, as he is anointed of Him to be the "Chief Prophet."
        It is of the utmost importance for the proper understand-                   Him God has appointed and qualified to reveal the Father
ing of this passage, contained in verse 27, to take good notice                     unto whomsoever He wills.
of the context. In this passage Jesus does not begin a new                             In the first place, because Jesus here speaks as the one
subject, but considers the subject of "hiding these things                          to whom "All things are delivered of my Father."
from the wise and prudent" and the "revealing of these                                 Secondly, because the very idea of "being  deliveied"
things unto babes" from the viewpoint once more of the                              does not mean to bestow as a "gift," but rather refers to the`
sovereign good-pleasure of God and the  pzanner  in which                           work which the Son has received from God, to make God
He  e x e c u t e s   i t .                                                         known, as part of His "outgoing works" (opera exeunta).
                                                                                    And this work is not given to the Son, as simply being in
    It  \hould.  be observed also, that, while the Lord in the                     `the Ontological Trinity, but is given Him to perform as
foregoing verses (25, 26) speaks not only explicitly about                         the Son in the flesh, the Servant of Jehovah.
the "revealing," but also about the "liiding,"  in verse 27 he                         Further, we should  notic;, too, that Jesus informs 
speaks  only about the                                                                                                                          us
                               po$tiwe side,  to wit, the revealing.               of His  un.ique place in this world in relationship to the
That it is "hid" from. the wise and prudent remains true.                           Father..
From the fact, that Jesus here does not elaborate further                              First of all the pre-eminence  of the Son, the Lion of
upon this "hiding from the wise and -prudent," it does not                         Judah's  tribe, the root of David, is such, that "all things
follow that Jesus simply does  "no6 reveal" the. mysteries                         have been  delivei-ed  to Me by my Father." Notice that
of the kingdom to them, but rather it is evident that Jesus                        Jesus says "all things." It stands here absolutely  and with-
means to comfort the godly, the "babes". in showing them                           out  .any modification. And it must be left so. Compare
the manner in which these things M'e revealed to them.                             Matthew 28  :lS; John 3  :35; John  174 and Phil. 2  :9. For
    Hence, this matter in our text is  not. simply source                          "all power in heaven and earth is given unto me." Thus
material for the Locus De Deo, under  the subject heading                          spoke Jesus to the disciples in Galilee. And,  agaip,  Jesus,
"The Knowableness of God," but rather it is meant as                               spoke unto the disciples saying "the Father loveth the Son,
instruction for the simple,  ,the weary and heavy laden; it                        and hath given all things  unto Him," and in the  High-
is meant to instruct us concerning the Wonder of Grace in                          Priestly prayer in John 17 :2, Jesus stands before the Father
Christ, by which we know God, that is, know him with a                             and says, "And hath given him all authority over all flesh."
saving knowledge, spelling everlasting life for us.                                    And, as we have noticed above in passing, "all things"
   The Bible is very practical, that is, it is profitable for                      have been "delivered Me from the Father." All things in
instruction, reproof, for correction in righteousness, that the                    heaven and upon the earth, good things as well as evil,
man of God be thoroughly furnished unto etrery  go,od  work.                       future and present things', height and depth, heaven and
At the same time it gives instruction which the believing                          hell, the world and the church ; yea, the entire book of the
church takes into her consciousness by faith, and expresses                        roll of the .counsel  of God and its fulfillment was given into
it in systematic theology, and in her Confessions.                                 `His hand, because He is worthy as the Son, yea, as the
   But always it is meant as a lamp unto our feet and a                            Son in the flesh. Fod God never said unto any of the angels
light upon our pathway.                                                            "Thou art my Son," but when He bringe+th  the First-Begot-
        In this particular instance we are made aware more                         ten into the world He saith "let all the angels of God
a@ more by the Lord  that our knowing  God is  simply   the                        worship Him." Heb.  1:6; Psalm 97  :7.
evidence of His efficacious revelation in our heart and mind                           This one, Whom angels very really worshipped in Beth-.
of God's mysteries of salvation, that is, of God  ai the God                       lehem-Ephratha,  here stands explaining the Mystery of His
of our salvation.                                                                  great calling ; the Mystery of what  He is doing,  while  the
                                                                                         *


  0

                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               157

blind receive their sight, fhe lame walk, lepers are clean`sed,           The Son can reveal the Father only because He alone
the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to, life, and the poor          knows the  Father.  He knows the Father in that intimate
have the Gospel preached to them. Here we learn  the                   knowledge, wherein He experiences the love of the Father,
profundity of the warning note of Jesus when he says "And              as the eternal Son, and that, too, while in the flesh. And
blessed is He who is not offended iri Me" (Matt. 11:5, 6 j .           since the Son has received "all things," since these have
       For what is actually happening under the preaching is           all been "delivered unto Me," He alone has it in His ability
that the Son is "revealing the Father to whomsoever He                 to reveal the Father.
wills." The Pelagian-Arminian is offended in such a Christ.               However, let it be clearly seen that Jesus, in making the
He must have nothing of Him. He does not really love the               Father known, does not simply confront man with a "con-
Christ of the Scriptures. He does not love a Christ into               dition" to accept Him, but that it is wholly in  the "authority"
whose hands, "all  things"  have been delivered, yea, even             of Christ, in His "will" whether He will reveal the Father
the zvill and u.nder.standing  of every man, be he elect or non-       to someone or not.
elect. He does not want a Christ, who reveals God unto                    In so doing the Son does not act arbitrarily, contrary to
whom  He  coztnsels  to do so (hooi ean  bouleetai) . Only if          the good-pleasure of the Father, as all Arminians and Pela-
the Son wills to reveal God, as the Chief Prophet, will one            gian themselves  do? while accusing the Reformed of this,
come to "know God." What a  ftir cry this is from Christ               but is wholly in agreement w&h the Decree of God, stand-
being preached as willing to save all, if only they believe.           ing on a par with the Decreeing God, and Himself "de-
Here we have the gospel indeed proclaimed to all, but the              creeing," (hooi ean bouleetai j in the one will with the Father.
promise is only to  "those  believing," and the believing is           Were this not the case, then the Son would act in the
again the fruit of the Holy Spirit through the preaching, in           highest arbitrariness. But now it is all anchored in eternal
which fruit we may see the evidence of the "will of  the               and sovereignly free good-pleasure of the Lord, rather than
Son to reveal the Father unto us."                                     in the imaginary freedom-of-the-will of the Pelagian, and
       For notice the strong and absolute  "no one knows the           the rationalistic counterpart of the Pelagian, who will not
Son except the Father." Jesus employs the greek "oudeis"               bow before the Scriptures. Here, too, the Pelagian-Arminian
here and not simply  "meedeis?  What is here negated is                is guilty of the very sin he tries to ascribe to the Reformed
not simply the thought concerning a thing, a wrong con-                believers. Mirabile .dictu !
ception concerning the work of God in Christ, but the very                It is true, that Christ does here nqt further illucidate
thing itself. Categorically it is stated that there is not one         upon the Sovereign "hiding of these things from the wise
among all the hundreds of millions of humanity, who know               and prudent." This is evidently because He is here laying
the Son. Only the Father knows the Mystery of Godliness                the foundation, or rather, pointing out the foundation of .
i& Him, from the cradle to the grave, as He stands before              the great calling which go& out to all the weary and heavy
Him in  all of His pre-eminence. And the Father "knows"                laden in the next verses.
(epi-ginooskei) this Son, that is, He has an intimate and
very exact knowledge of Him, his person, calling, place in                We can be very certain that coming unto Him, in
history, in the church, both here on earth and presently               whose hand all things have been delivered, he will surely
                                                                       do what he  pyomised. For He is exceedingly willing to do
in heaven. He knows Him in infinite love, and, therefore, all          this to the weary and heavy laden ones, the "babes," since
His good-pleasure is in Him.                                           to these he "wills" to reveal the  Fathkr  in His eternal and
       If such be the case absolutely with God, it means that          unchangeable love. And He is able since he alone  knows
God knows the Son without it being "revealed" to the                   the Father, and can and will and does impart such childlike
Father. He has no need of the Son being revealed to Him.               knowledge to "whomsoever He wills."
All others need this "revelation," that is, they all need the                                                                    G. L.
inward illumination of the Spirit, working faith and spiritual
insight. While Jesus stands in the midst of `humanity no one
knows Him. He is "hid" from our eyes  ; there is a cover-
ing over Him, indeed; the eyes of man cannot see HVim.
       No one knows the Son except the Father.-                           "The most high- Seraph, who stands before the Throne
       However, the point raised in the text is not that the           and the tiniest worm which crawls in the dust, both have the
Son is revealed to us by the Father, but that the  Father  is          same ultimate fountain of existence; thus they must, in dif-
rev'ealed to  us by the Son!                                           ferent ways, serve the same exalted design of God. Whoso-
       It is well to take special notice of this in, this Scripture    ever would deny this, or would suppose that the perfect Being
passage. The reason for this emphasis in the text is evi-
dently to be found in the fact that the "these things" which           would not `follow the most worthy design in His work, such
are "revealed unto babes" at bottom consist primarily in               a one despises the Lord of lords, and does despite to the
"knowing God," that is, knowing God in His saving love                 Majesty of God."
and power, in the life-giving' Spirit of the Son,                                 Der Throne Der Gnade, Dr. Fr. Whl..Kummacher


  15s                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   `B E A R E R

                                                                      give more than the amount that is specified as our percentage
                      I N   H I S   F E A R                      /I of that budget;
                                                                         Very easy it is for those whose income is more than the
                         Giving In His Fear                           average member of the congregation's annual income to vote
                                                                      for a higher-budget because to them it requires such a smaller
                                  (6)                                 percentage of their annual income. A man whose income is,
                                                                      let us say, five thousand dollars a year, whose children are
         The budget has now been established.                         married and moved out of the house or else are self support-
         When we began this series on "Giving In His Fear" these      ing, though they remain in the home, `can easily vote for a
 budgets were in the process of being drawn up or else were           budget that one whose income  is'thirty five hundred dollars
 nothing more than proposals to be presented to the congrega-        a year, who has children in Christian grade and high school,
 tions for adoption.                                                  has great difficulty paying in full. A man whose business
         Now, it surely is safe to assume, the various congrega-     contacts and position are such that he has the advantage of
 tional meetings have been held. The various items listed on         buying well nigh everything wholesale or at a discount and
 the budgets were discussed. Perhaps here and there an                thus is able to do more with his income than his fellow-
 alteration was made. The congregation did not see eye to            members in his congregation must look on the things of
 eye with the consistory on this or that item. There was dis-        these others also when he favors a higher budget that will
 cussion about some of the items. The budget was adopted,            work hardships upon those who must pay at the regular
 then, by majority vote.                                             retail price for everything they need. He, then, as he gives in
         It may be a higher budget than the consistory presented.    His fear will be willing to give more than the budget-per:
         The congregation, on the other hand, may have refused!      family-per-week amount for which he voted at the congrega-
 to approve some expensive alterations to the buildings and          tional meeting.
 decided upon a budget considerably lover than the one                   Always it must be giving in His fear.
 presented by the consistory.                                            And lest the idea be, formed that giving a stated  SLUII,
     The point is that by majority vote the budget has been          previously set at a congregational meeting is not giving, we
 adopted.                                                            have a few things more to say. It is an obligation. And yet
     And now our obligation is to give in His fear.                  at the same time it is giving. It is giving in order to fill
   You may have voted against that budget that was                   an obligation.  _
 a p p r o v e d .                                                       Consider  <that  in the Old Testament dispensation Israel
     It may have carried by only one vote.                           was commanded to give unto the Lord. Thus as one ex-
     These are things that usually or at least very frequently       ample we read in Numbers 15 :lS-21, "Speak unto the chil-
 happen when a matter is discussed by a group. And while             dren of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the
 it is being discussed we may argue.against  the matter which        land, whither I bring you, Then it shall be, that, when ye eat
 does not seem right to us with all the power at our com-            of the bread of. the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering
 mand. If we think that those alterations on the buildings           unto the Lord. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your
 are wholly unnecessary and too expensive an undertaking at          dough for an heave offering : as ye do the heave offering of
 this time, we may speak against it and strive to cause others       the threshing floor, so shall ye heave it. Of the first of
 td see it as we do.                                                 your dough ye shall give unto the Lord an heave, offering
     However, when once that budget is adopted by majority           in your generations." In the text there is aiso a reference to
 vote we are obliged together with those who -voted for the          another gift that is demanded.          7
 matter of the budget to give in His fear the amount that was        ,' To be noted in this passage is the fact that although God
- specified we should contribute by the majority.                    specified the thing must be given, it is at the same time,
     Giving in His fear is assuming the financial-obligations        called by God Himself an offering. It is an obligation. It
 that have been placed upon us in  .a legal way.                     is that which they must do ; and yet it is alsa a gift, for, it
     If our heavenly Father, the giverof  every good and per-        is an offering.
fect gift, has given us sufficiently of this earth's goods so           In the New Testament times the Apostle Paul writes to
that we are able to meet that budget-be it higher than we            the Church of Corinth, "Upon the first day of the week let
expected or be it contrary to our negative vote-without              `everyone of you lay by him in store as God bath prospered
denying ourselves the necessities of life, we must meet our          him, that there be no gatherings when I come," I Corinthians
part of that budget in order to give in His fear.                    16 :2. Here again we have the presentation of .an obligation.
    And, in connection with what we said last time, when             This is not some fatherly advice that Paul gives to the
we have received above the average of that which our                 Fhurch. It is not a suggestion that he makes. He speaks
heavenly Father has given to the other contributors to the           authoritatively and gives command to the church. For, note
budget in our congregation and we look not simply on our . that in-verse 1 he states, "Now concerning the collections for
own things but on the things of others( we will in His fear          the saints, as I have given-order to the churches of Galatia,


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   159
-             -  ___..--
even so do ye.`>  It is an order from the apostle. liSo do ye,"     disorderlv wav and rob God of tithes and offerings. See
he writes. And that it is for the needy in  other churches;         Malachi 3 :S. il\rith  God this is a serious matter. We do not
that it is a gift which they must bring-is evident from the         simply deal unfairly with the other members of the congrega-
words, "the collection for the saints."                             tion who must pay a higher budget next year because  we
     Here, too, Paul gives the order that  we must give -"a~        failed to do our part last year. We rob God. That is the
God-  bath  prospered" us. Although this phrase speaks of           inescapable meaning of Malachi 3 :S-10.
an indefinite amount rather `than a fixed amount, the point            Yet,. as we said, we cannot whole-heartedly approve of
remains that it is a commmzd to give as one has `been pros-         that numbered envelope system of giving our share to the
pered by God. The amount is left for the individual to              budget. And the reason is that thereby we fail to teach our
determine in His fear; but  ,the fact of giving is not left to      children early in life these facts of giving in His fear.
man's will. Man is told that he must give. In His fear he              The weekly sum of our share of the budget is in, the
must determine the amount according to the measure of               envelope and our children either give nothing or else are
prosperity that God has given him. Doing this in His fear           given a nickle to place in the collection plate when it is
means that after we have counted our contributions at the           passed around. Or maybe a dime. And our children soon
end'of the year, we are able before God's face to say that          form the opinion that the Church of Christ is a "five and
they have been in harmony with what He gave  U.S. It means          dime" affair. Not only does a little child not know what goes
that when it is very obvious to men that we have prospered          in the envelope but the same amount he gets to go out and
above others who must pay the same budget with us that              buy himself a candy bar or an ice cream cone is what he is
we have also- contributed above them, that is, above the            taught is a worthy sum to be given for the maintenance of
amount stipulated as our mathematical share of the cost of,         the holy things. The music teacher gets one or two dollars;
maintaining the gospel and the schools. By the mathematical         the church gets a nickle or dime! Is that why our young
share we mean the sum of money that is the result of dividing       men and women who earn fifty to a hundred dollars a week
the total amount of the budget by the number of families in         - often more than a married man with a family to support
the congregation. In His fear we do not measure out to the          :and with Christian school tuition to pay-give almost noth-
last penny to be sure that we do not pay a penny over the           ing in the collection plate ? They, too, must give as they have
mathematical share. Surely we do not try to get away with           been prospered. And not having the expenses of a married
paying less than that mathematical share when we have the           man with a family of children he or she ought to give  ds
God-given means. In His fear we give as we have  b.een              much if not more than the head of such a family. Youth like-
prospered by the Lord.                                              wise must give in His fear. And `then it is plain what they
     This truth ought, to be taught also to our children early      ought  `to give. (Likewise must they spend in His fear so
in their childhood days. For that reason we have never              that there is that which they may contribute to the mainten-
looked with wholehearted approval upon the numbered en-             ance of the gospel and of the schools: All too quickly is it
velope system of collecting the contributions of the families       squandered in foolish pleasure and things of the flesh. These
to this budget. (We still prefer to call it a contribution,         things ought not so to be ! j
though it is that which we pledged to give - when by major-             The older our children get in those days when they do
ity vote the congregation set the sum of the budget  -              not yet go out and earn for themselves, they ought to be
exactly because of that order of Paul that we give as we            given a larger and larger part of the mathematical share of
have been prospered). It may be argued that the consistory          the family's budget for `the week to place in the collection
has the calling to supervise the spiritual life of the congrega-    plate that it may be impressed upon them that this is also
tion and that givin,m in His fear belongs to this spiritual         their calling. And when they begin to earn money themselves,
life of the members of the congregation. The point may then         when they get their first "job" and become like us in that
be made that the consistory cannot possibly admonish, rebuke        respect that they have an income. they should be taught and
and instruct those members who do not meet their obligation         told that they must be like us also in giving in His fear for
if it has no way of checking on the contributions that have         the maintenance of the gospel and the schools.
been made. And that certainly is true. The consistory is
helpless to keep the members walking properly in regard to              If we appreciate the salvation that God has freely given
this matter of giving, which is as much a calling of God's          us  in the blood of His Son, we will cheerfully assume our
child as it is to attend the services of divine worship.  Leti      share of the cost of maintaining the gospel in our congrega-
                                                                    tion that we and our children may learn more and more of
us  remind you that in that explanation of the meaning of the
fourth commandment the Heidelberg Catechism says just               that glorious salvation. And we will consider it money well
exactly that and even mentions it before it states that we          spent !
must frequent the house of God- to hear His word preached               We will  want  to contribute to the maintenance of that
on the Sabbath. A consistory that has no way of knowing             glorious gospel.
whether the members give in His fear or not is a consistory             That is giving in His,fear.
that must of necessity let some of its members walk in a                                                                         J.A.H.


160                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                -                                                                              -
I                                                                     disfigured by superstitious credulity, it bore inthese  respects
        . Contending For The Faith                                    the complexion of his age, inseparable then from aspiration
                                                                 /I after the highest holiness. Nor did either superstition or
                                                                      asceticism supersede in him the principles of a true inward
            The Church and the Sacraments                             religion-justice, mercy, and truth. We find him, when oc:
                                                                      casion required, exalting mercy above sacrifice  ; he was
     VIEWS  DURING   THE  THIRD PERIOD  (750-1517 A.D.)               singularly kindly and benevolent, as well as just, and even
                                                                      his zeal' for the full rigor of monastic discipline was tem-
                 THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE                            pered with much gentleness and allowance for infirmity.
               GREGORY THE GREAT  (590-604)                           If, again, with singleness of main purpose was combined
                                                                      at times the astuteness of the diplomatist, and a certain
       Lau` (we concluded our last article by quoting from a          degree of politic insincerity in addressing potentates, his
few men -who state their opinion of Gregory the Great, and            aims were never personal or selfish. And if he could stoop,
we wish to quote from a few more-H.  V.> says (in his                 for the attainment of his ends, to the then prevalent adula-
excellent monograph  j : "The spiritual qualities of Gregory's        tion of the great, he could also speak his mind fearlessly
cha.racter are strikingly apparent in his actions. With a             to the greatest, when he felt great principles to be at stake."
clear, practical understanding, he combined a kind and mild
heart; but he was never weak. Fearful to the obstinate                         Gregory and the Universal Episcopate
transgressor of the laws, on account of his inflexible justice.
he was lenient to the rkpentent and a warm friend to his                 The activity of Gregory tended powerfully to establish
friends, though, holding, as he did, righteousness and the            the authority of the papal chair. He combined a triple
weal of the church higher than' friendship, he was severe             dignity, episcopal, metropolitan, and patriarchal. He was
upon  any neglect of theirs. With a great prudence in man-            bishop of the city of Rome, metropolitan over the seven
aging the most different circumstances, and a great sagacity          suffragan (afterwards called cardinal) bishops of the Roman
in treating the most different characters, he combined a              territory. and patriarch  04 Italy, in fact of the whole West,
moral firmness which never yielded an inch of what he                 or of all the LATIN churches. This claim was scarcely
had recognized as right; but he never became stubborn.                disputed except. as to the degree of his power in particular
The rights of the church and the privileges of the apostolical        cases. A certain primacy of honor among all the patriarchs
see he fought for with the greatest pertinacity ; but for him-        was also conceded, even by the East. JBut a UNIVERSAL
self personally, he wanted no honors. As much as he thought           episcopate, including an authority of jurisdiction over the
of the church and the Roman chair, so modestly he esteemed            EASTERN or `GREEK`church,  was not acknowledged, and,
himself. More than once his acts gave witness to the humility         what is more remarkable, was not even claimed by him, but
of his heart: humility  was? indeed, to him the most im-              emphatically declined and denounced. He stood between the
portant and the most sublime virtue. His activity was pro-            patriarchal. and the strictly papal system. He regarded the
digious, encompassing great objects and small ones with               four patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and
equal zeal. Nothing ever became too great for his energy              Jerusalem,  to, whom he.announced his election with a custom-
or too small for his attention. He was a warm patriot, and            ary confession of his faith, as co-ordinate leaders of the
cared incessantly for the mat.erial  as ,well as for the spiritual    church under Christ, the supreme head, corresponding as it
welfare of his countrymen. More than once he saved Rome               were to the four ecumenical councils and the four gospels,
f!rom the Lombards,  and relieved her from famine . . . .He           as their common foundation, yet after all with a firm belief
-was a great character with grand plans, in the realization           in a papal primacy. His correspondence with the East on this
of which he showed as much insight as firmness, as much               subject `is exceedingly important. The controversy began in
prudent calculation of circumstances as sagacious judgment,           595, and lasted several years, but was not settled.
of men. The influence he has exercised is immense; and                   John IV; the Faster, patriarch of Constantinople, repeat-
when this influence is not in every respect for the good, his         edly used in his letters the title -"ecumenical" or "universal
time is to blame, not he; His goal was always that which              bishop." This was an honorary title, which had been given
he acknowledged as the best. Among all the popes of the               to patriarchs by the emperors Leo and Justinian, and con-
sixth and following centuries he shines as a star of the very         firmed to John and his successors by a Constantinopolitan
first magnitude.                                                      synod in 58% It had also been used in the Council of Chal-
     To this-we add the judgment of James Barmby, the latest          cedon of pope Leo I. But Gregory I was provoked and ir-
biographer of Gregory : "Of the loftiness of his aims, the            ritated beyond measure by the assumption of his Eastern
earnestness of his purpose, the fervor of his devotion, his           rival, and strained every nerve to procure a revocation of
unwearied activity, and his personal purity, there can be             that title. He characterized it as a foolish, proud, profane,
no doubt. These qualities are conspicuous through his whole           wicked, pestiferous, blasphemous, and diabolical usurpation,
career. If his religion was of the strongly ascetic type, and         and-compared him who used it to Lucifer. He wrote-first to


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  161

Sabinianus,  his apocrisiarius or ambassador in Constantinople, ' edged the Roman church to be "the head of all churches."               _
then repeatedly to the patriarch, to the emperor Mauritius,         But if he ever made such a decree at the instance of
and even to the empress; for with all his monkish contempt          Boniface III, wh,o at that time was papal nuntius at Con-
for women, he availed himself on every occasion of the              stantinople, he must have meant merely such a primacy of
female influence in high quarters. He threatened to break  off      honor as had been before conceded to Rome by the Council
communion with the patriarch.- He called upon the emperor           of Chalcedon and the emperor Justinian. At all events the
to punish such presumption, and reminded him of the conta-          disputed title continued to be used by the patriarchs and
mination of the see of Constantinople by such arch-heretics         emperors of Constantinople. Phocas, after a disgraceful reign
as Nestorius.                                                       (602-610),  was stripped of the diadem and purple, loaded
    Failing in his efforts to change the mind of his rival in       with chains, insulted, tortured, beheaded and cast into the  .' .
New Rome, he addressed himself to the patriarchs of Ales-           flames. He was succeeded by Heraclius.
andria and Antioch, and played upon their jealousy  ; but they         In this whole controversy the `pope's jealousy of the
regarded the title simply as a form of honor, and one  of           patriarch is very manifest, and suggests the suspicion that it
them addressed him as ecumenical pope, a compliment                 inspired the protest.
which Gregory could not consistently accept.                           Gregory displays in his correspondence with his rival a
   After `the death of John the Faster in 596, Gregory in-          singular combination of pride and humility. He was too
structed his ambassador at Constantinople to demand from            proud to concede to him the title of a universal bishop, and
the new patriarch, Cyriacus, as a condition of  intercom-           yet too humble or too inconsistent to claim it for himself.
munion, the renunciation of the wicked title, and in a letter       His arguments imply that he would have the best right to the
to Maurice he went so far as to declare, that "whosoever            title, if it were not wrong ii-? itself. His real opinion is per-
calls himself universal priest, or desires to be called so, was,    haps best expressed in a letter to Eulogius of Alexandria.
the forerunner of Antichrist."                                      He accepts all the compliments which Eulogius paid to him
   In opposition to these high-sounding. epithets, Gregory          as the successor of Peter, whose very name signifies firmness
called himself, in proud humility, "the servant of the servants, and solidity ; but he ranks Antioch and Alexandria likewise
of God." This became one of the standing titles of the              as sees of Peter, which are nearly, if not quite, on a par with
popes, although it sounds like irony in conjunction with their      that of Rome, so that the three, as it were, constitute but one
astounding claims.                                                  see (this is surely a "far cry" from the present conception
                                                                    of the Roman Catholic Church which maintains that the pope
   But his remonstrance was of no avail. Neither the                at Rome is the sole successor of the apostle, Peter - H.V.).
patriarch nor the emperor obeyed his wishes. Hence, he              He ignores Jerusalem. "The see of the Prince of the
hailed a change of government which occured  in 6-2 by a            Apostles `alone," he says, "has acquired a principality of
violent revolution.                                                 authority, which is the see of one only, though in three
   When Phocas, an ignorant, red-haired, beardless, vulgar,         places. For he  ,himself  has exalted the see in which he
cruel and deformed upstart, after the most astrocious murder        deigned to rest and to end his present life (Rome). He
of Maurice and his whole family (a wife, six sons and threa         himself adorned the see (Alexandria) to which he sent his
daughters),  .ascended  the throne, Gregory hastened to con-        disciple (Mark) as evangelist. He himself established the
gratulate him and his wife Leontia (who was not much                see in which he sat for seven years (Antioch) . Since, then,
better) in most enthusiastic terms, calling on heaven and           the see is one, and of one, over which by divine authority
earth to rejoice at their accession, and vilifying the memory       three bishops now preside, whatever good I hear of you I
of the dead emperor as a tyrant, from whose yoke the church         impute to myself. If you believe anything good of me, im-
was now fortunately freed. This is a dark spot, but the only        pute this to your own merits; because we are one in Him
really dark and inexcusable spot in the life of this pontiff.       who said : `That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art
He seemed to have acted in this case on the infamous maxim          in Me, and I in Thee, that all may be one in us' (John
that the end justifies the means (and how true this has been        17 :21) ." - end of quote from Philip Schaff  in this article.
true in the history of the Roman Catholic Church ! - H.V.)             In our next article we shall see that -Gregory nevertheless
His motive was no doubt to secure the protection and ag-            claimed and exercised, as far as he had the opportunity and
grandizement of the Roman see. He did not forget to re-             power, the authority and oversight over the whole church of
mind the empress of the papal proof-text: "Thou art Peter,          Christ, even in the East.
and upon this rock I will build my church," and to add: "I                                                                     H.V.
do not doubt that you will take care to oblige and bind him
to you, by whom you desire to be loosed from your sins."
   The murderer and usurper repaid the favor by taking                 "It is better to have the praise of evil men's hatred than
side with the pope against his patriarch (Cyriacus), who had        the scandal of their love and approbation."
shown sympathy with the unfortunate emperor.  `He  acknowl-                                                              - M%lntQ~


 162                                           T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R

                THE  FOUR  KINDS  OF  SOIL                             and therefore the sole Ruler of all that takes place within it.
                                                                       In the sphere of that kingdom, He preaches His Word.
        The title of this article refers, of course, to the parable    `Never may it be said that anyone but Christ drops the seed
 of the sower. This parable, which is the first recorded               into the soil of the human heart. His ministers are servants.
 parable of our Lord, is related by Matthew, Mark and Luke.            and instruments, but all is nevertheless of Christ. He calls
 And you can find it, together with the Lord's own interpreta-         the minister; He establishes the church in which the gospel
 tion, in Matthew 13  :1-g, 18-23; Mark 4:1-9, 14-20; and              is proclaimed  ; He speaks His own Word even though
 Luke 8:4-S,  11-15. The records in each of the gospels are            through human men ; He applies His Word by the operation
 essentially the same although there are slight differences in         of the Spirit within the hearts of His people.
 wording.
        When Christ taught in parables, He pointed to events in            In the second place, there are in fact, only two kinds of
 this creation, and to various parts of the creation to show           soil. Theie  is only soil prepared for the seed, and soil whikh
 that there was reflected in all these things the kingdom  of          is not prepared for the seed. There are no intermediate kinds
 heaven. That was possible, for God created this world as              at all. Either the soil is sufficiently prepared to  receive  the
 a picture 0; mirrored ilgage of the kingdom which He would            seed, or it is  not prepared at all. And so also, there are
 recreate in the realization of His purpose and work. And              only two  kin& of hearts-hearts that are prepared to re-
 therefore all the parables reflect some facet of the glory of         ceive the preaching of the gospel, or hearts that are  not
 th'at kingdom wherein'christ  Himself is King.                        prepared. There is no such thing as a prepared heart which
                                                                       ultimately is not of sufficient strength to allow the seed to
        And so it is with this parable. But the kingdom of             grow, as some would like to maintain. There aye therefore,
 heaven which God shall realize at the end of time is consum-          in the kingdom of heaven as it comes to manifestation on
 mated nevertheless through the events which transpire in              this earth, only two kinds of people. There are those who
 this wbrld in which we live. For the King of that kingdom             are prepared to receive the Wo,rd, and those who are not.
 comes into our flesh to suffer and die. And by His suffering          These two groups are divided into three classes each: the
 and death, and the shedding of His blood is the foundation            class that is not prepared consists of hard soil hearers, rocky
 for that kingdom laid. And the citizens which shall inherit           soil hearers, thorny soil hearers ; the class that' is prepared
 that kingdom are called to be citizens by God is this present         consists of hearers with strength to produce fruit by nourish-
world. For they are, by an act of their own, citizens of the           ing the seed either thirty-fold, sixty-fold or one hundred fold.
 kingdom of darkness and sin which kingdom is based upon
 enmity against God and which ends in eternal death. The                   In the third place, the preparation of the-soil precedes the
 kingdom of heaven is therefore, principally realized in time          sowing of the seed. And in like manner, the preparation of
 by the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of the           the heart precedes the preaching of the Word. And this
 church when the spiritual blessings of that transcendent king-        preparation of the heart is the work of the King of the king-
dam of peace and righteousness are given to the elect.                 !om in that by His Spirit He regenerates the heart and
                                                                       makes it pliable and living. He makes it soft, capable of re-
        To that kingdom does this parable refer. Only when that        ceiving the seed and nourishing it, and frees it from the thorns
 kingdom comes to realization in time, in this dispensation, it        and thistles that kill the tender plants. And this must also
 i's very broad and includes all that goes under the name of           all serve the realization of the kingdom in perfection and
 Christendom, all that bears the name church, no matter how            glory. For by the preaching of the Word, the King of His
 inaptly the word may sometimes apply. For the church on               church, Jesus Christ, establishes His kingdom and works
 earth is very imperfect as yet, and the development of the            toward the end when it shall be consummated. And there-
 church on earth forms `the basis for the realization of the           fore, in like manner, it should not escape our attention, that
 kingdom in all perfection in the day of the coming of the             also the hearts that are not rendered capable of receiving the
 Lord.                                                                 preaching of the Word and nourishing the plants are under
        In that kingdom the Sower goes forth to sow. The seed          the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ, and must also serve the
 which is sown falls on many types of grouid. And in ac-               realization of His kingdom. For the kingdom of heaven is
 cordance with the type of ground on which it falls, does it           like unto a sower that went forth to sow. And it is the
 also either sprout or die.                                            prerogative of the sower to prepare the soil which he desires
 . There are some general remarks which should first be                to prepare. Only the divine Sower also has the sole prerogat-
 made.                                                                 ive to drop each kernel of seed where He chooses.
    In the first place, according to the interpretation of Christ         The three kinds of soil therefore, that are described in this
 Himself, the seed is the Word. But then we must understand            parable as being incapable of receiving seed and supporting
 that that seed is the Word of God as it is preached, for the          its life, are hearts of those who are born in the historical dis-'
 seed is broadcast by the Sower.  Th'e Sower is therefore,             pensation  of the kingdom `of heaven, but who h&e never been
 Jesus Christ. This follows from the fact that the kingdom  is         prepared by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. They are the apostate
 His. He is the Lord of that kingdom, its absolute Sovereign,          seed, the reprobate in the covenant. And the three types 05

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

soil which define them, define more particularly their reac-           his understanding and fruit is produced in the knowledge of
tions to the preaching of the Word. And in- these -three re-           God Whom to know is life eternal.
actions, they are all principally one in that they reject the seed        The second soil is described as being stony or rocky
of the Word. But they are three because they define every              ground without much earth. The picture is evidently of a
possible manifestation of that one reaction. And it is                 solid layer of rock covered with just a little layer of dirt.
probably true that this is a complete catalogue of all the,            The seed is described as falling into this thin layer of sol1
possible revelations of the one fundamental  .ireaction  of            and immediately springing up, but dying and withering in
rejection.                                                             the heat of the sun for lack of depth of root. And this is
    The fourth kind of soil defines the hearts that are re-            explained by Christ as refering to a heart which hears the
generated by Christ-the hearts therefore of the elect of               Word and with joy receives it. But when the fierce heat of
God who are effectually called in this life and who are.               gersecution  comes or the buining rays-of tribulation, he is
prepared by the preaching of the Word for their final and              scandalized and offended and falls away. This is also a
perfect participation in the kingdom of heaven. For they are           very common reaction to the preaching of the Word. Certain
the citizens of that kingdom, the heirs of its riches, the objects1    there always are in the church who are members because it
of its blessedness, the ones chosen from before the foundations,       is fashionable, or because the preaching of the Word has
of the world to occupy their place in the full and complete            wrought upon their emotions to arouse them to happiness or '
revelation bf God.                        :                            tears. This is especially true of the emotional and sentimental
                                                                       harangues of modern revival preaching. He hears the Word
    Let us look at these kinds of soil a little more in detail.        for a time with joy, but is incapable of persisting in the life
And it would not be superfluous to compare each type of un-
prepared soil with the prepared soil as they stand in contrast         of the church. For where the Word of God is preached,
to one another.                                                        there persecution comes. That is always the case. And when
                                                                       persecution comes, then such a one is immediately offended
    The first type of  soil is described as being soil of the          and cannot tolerate the disgrace of being a member of a
wayside, which evidently refers to the hard and beaten down            persecuted minority. And his superficial and external joy
soil of a path upon which men walk. It is explained by Christ          fades away, and he makes haste to sever his relations with
as a picture of the heart that heareth the Word but under-             the church, and pointedly ceases to be identified with it.
standeth it not, and from which Satan takes away the seed
almost as soon as it is sown &en as the birds pick up the                But such is never the case with those whose heart has
seed which falls on the l&-d earth.                                    been prepared well for the seed of ?he Word. Their roots
                                                                       are deep. They have depth of soil  which the shallow dirt
    The people who possess hearts of this type are undoubted=          does not have. That means that the first reaction to the
ly people upo,n whom the Word as it is preached makes little           preaching of the Word from such a heart is not joy but
or no conscious impression. They hear, for it is preached to,          intense sorrow. They see their sin as they never saw it before
them and enters into their mind. And they will have to                 .in the light of the holiness of God. And grief fills them.
answer in the day of judgment also for that Word. But it               And that increases the depths of their roots, for they run
makes no impression upon their consciousness. They are!                to Christ. And then the burning heat of persecution cannot
almost totally indifferent to the W&d of God. They may be              possibly cause them to wither and dry up, but it ~ rather is
found to be sleeping in church, or allowing their thought              the means of pushing their roots farther into the soil so
to wander into many devious channels; they may be coldly               that they .become  more firmly anchored. And even as the
indifferent to the life of the church in societies and other           plant is rooted in the soil, so are the believers rooted in
activities. They have no concern for the Word whatsoever.              Christ by faith. And when they are buffeted by the fierce
They gradually loosen their ties with the church into which            storms of. tribulation, the result is that their roots are more
they were born until finally they are altogether with the false        deeply sunk into Christ their life, and they are purified and
and modem church which has become apostate, or perhaps                 cleansed. For in them the Word has taken root.
with the world.                                                           And so finally there is the soil that is thorny. It is
    This is altogether different than the result of the preach-        described as being full of thorns, and is a picture of soil that
ing of the Word as it falls into the heart that is prepared            is on the periphery of the field which is not purified by the
as a soil for seed. For the good soil, in distinction from this,       constant cultivation of the sower. Among these thorns also
hard packed soil, defines a heart that is filled with an               seed falls. And the thorns grow up and choke the seed so
earnest longing to hear the Word of God and to increase                that +t dies. Christ explains that this soil refers to a heart
in the knowledge of its riches. Such a heart can hardly w8it           which is full of the thorns of the cares of this world, the
until it is Sunday again and time to go to the house of the            deceitfulness of riches and the pleasures of this life. The
Lord. Such a person spends his time as much as possible                cares of this. world are evidently the anxieties that surround
with a study of the Word of God in society or the home. Atid           every man- the concern to make a name for oneself, the
therefore the preachin,m falls into his heart and enters into          yearning to achieve fame with t
                                                                                                       i  s subsequent frustration, the

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

     eagerness to become successful and .a11 the cares that ac-             Word and understand it to perfection and bear fruit
     company such eagerness, and ultimately the perpetual horror.           whether-that be thirty, sixty of one hundred fold.
     of indubitable death. The deceitfulness of riches goes hand                  For "he that hath ears, let him hear"; and, "Take heed
     in hand, for riches or  la& of them only increase and in-              how ye hear."
     tensify anxiety. The poor has nothing and wants  something ;                                                                 H. Hanko
     the rich has much but is never satisfied. The pleasures of
     this life are the concomitant satisfaction and gratification
' of all the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes. There are
     people in the historical- dispensation of the -kingdom of                                THE FRAILTY OF LIFE
     heaven of this type. And they hear the Word preached to
     them. They may even stop to think for a moment and con-                       With firm resolve I held my peace
     sider what it says. But the Word never has a chance. There                      And spake not either bad or good,
     are too many thorns and thistles. And almost immediately,              _      Lest I should utter sinful thoughts
     the thorns of all that this world contains choke the Word                       While wicked men before me stood.
     so that it is killed. The weedy underbrush of this life is                    While I was dumb my grief was stirred,
     too thick.
r                                                                                    My heart grew hot wifh thought suppressed ;
            On the other hand, and antithetical to this, the soil that             The while I mused the fire increased,
     is well prepared is the heart that eagerly receives the Word                    Then to the Lord I made request.
     of life. It seeks. not the pleasures of this world, or the riches
     that are necessary to enjoy its pleasure. It is unchoked witli                Make me, 0 Lord, to know my end,
     the cares of this present time, for it has learned to cast all                  Teach me the measure of my days,
     its cares upon its heavenly Father. It is the heart of ,the                   That I may know how frail I am
     man that firmly believes that what he has is given him of                       And turn from pride and sinful ways.
     God, and what he has not the Lord has kept from him. But                      My time is nothing in Thy sight,
     it is all according to the good pleasure of his Father which,                   Behold, my days are but a span ;
     is in heaven, for he seeks a city which hath foundations, and                 Yea, truly at his best estate,
     he is willing to bypass for a time the things of this earth irl                 A breath, a fleeting breath, is man.
     order that he may arrive in good time at the gates of that
     city.                                                                         Man's life is passed in vain desire
                                                                                     If troubled years be spent for gain ;
            And so is therefore the good soil descriptive of the heart             He knows not whose his wealth shall be,
     that bears fruit. If the soil is well prepared by the Sower                     And all his toil is but in vain.
     before He sows? then when the seed is cast upon it, it will
     inevitably bring forth fruit also. That lies in the nature of                 And now, 0 Lord, what wait I for?
     the seed. The seed is the lively preaching of the Word.                         I have nq hope except in Thee ;
     And when it falls upon well prepared soil, it cannot help                     Let not ungodly men reproach,
     but bring forth fruit.                                                          From all transgression set me free.
            The fruit is the spiritual fruit of salvation. It is not the           Because Thou didst it I was dumb,
     doing of tremendously powerful things in this world, but is                     I spoke no word of rash complaint;
     the fruit of the tears of repentance, sorrow fo,r sin, and an                 Remove Thy stroke away from me,
     anxious hastening to the cross of Jesus Christ to find forgive-                 Beneath Thy chastisement I faint.
     ness in the blood that flows from Calvary. That fruit is an                 _ When Thou for his iniqutiy
     earnest desire to walk according to the commandments of                         Rebukest and correctest man,
     God, to keep one's feet upon the narrow way of God's will                     His beauty is consumed away,
     and to flee all the world with is lusts and enticements.                        How weak his strength, how vain his plan.
            For it should not escape our attention that although                 Lord, hear my prayer, regard my cry,
     these types of soil are never descriptive of soil well prepared                 I weep, be Thou my comforter;
     by the Spirit, it is, nevertheless true that at certain times                 I am a stranger here below,
     and to varying degrees these descriptions fit the heart of each                 A pilgrim as my fathers were.
     of the people of God. They will bring forth fruit, but they
     also must always be on their guard. They must watch al-                       0 spare me, Lord, avert Thy wrath,
     ways that the Word is not plucked from their heart by the                       Deal `gently with me, I implore,
     Evil One, nor that it is withere$  by the scorching heat of per-              That I may yet reocver strength
     secution, nor that it is choked by the thorns of cares, riches                  E'er I go hence and be no more.
     or pleasures of this life. But they must always hear the                                                                     Psalm 39


                                            T H E   STAND'ARD   B E A R E R                                                   165

                                                                   or herself to the church of their choice or, if they see fit,
           DECENCY and QRDER                                       to join no church at all. The atheist and the Christian are
                                                                   before the law equal. The State takes no cognizance of God.
                                                                   or of the mandate upon its citizens to worship the true and
              The Church and the State                             living God revealed in the Scriptures but says in effect
                                                                   thai: if citizens wish to  clo so, they may or may
                             (Continued)                           not as it may please them. It is evident that according to
                                                                   -ihe State  wmn  is held in higher esteem .and  ,regarded  as
   The editor of Tks Contender- is opposed to the teaching         having higher dignity and authority than `God ! This position
of the separation of church and state because, as he claims,       the State assumes to appease Man whom it serves. It re-'
it implies a denial of the fundamental truths of the Sovereign-    gards itself as a servant of man,, not of GOD ! Thus, the
ty of God and that of Absolute Predestination. The validity        church is completely separated from the state. which is clearly
of this argument we hope to consider presently.                    not as the Ronian Catholics would have it. From this Mac
   The author has more to say. He objects because this             Kay concludes, "that the present trouble in  No;th. America
teaching has a Baptistic and Deistic hue and the Rev. Mac          over the Church and State may be seen as arising out of a
Kay has especially a strong aversion toward the, teachings' conflict between the Roman Catholic and Baptist doctrines."
of the Baptists. He points out that in regard to the`question
of the relation of church and state there are two opposite             Whether then the Editor of The Contender favors, the
views which come into open conflicts. The first of these js        Roman Catholic position or not isn't clear but I'm very
that of the Roman Catholic whose position he describes in          strongly inclined to think that he would favor that posiiton
the following quotation :                                          provided that the words, "Reformed Faith," could be sub-
   "The Roman Catholic doctrine that there is one and              stituted for the  words, "Roman Catholic Church." This will
only one true Church- the Roman-and  that  the State               be evident presently. However, what isn't clear is his `con->
should be in subjection to the  Cl~urch.  Or, in other words,      ception as to just how the "Refoqged Church" is to be
the Vatican claim that the Pope should be the head of both         related to the State. Is she to have jurisdiction and power
the spiritual power (church) and temporal power (state).           of authority over the affairs of the state as Rome would
This doctrine is as old as the Roman Catholic system of            have it? Or is the state to serve as a protectorate of the
doctrine and church government itself, but it is only recently,    Reformed Churches ? 1; is evident that he does  not want:
on account of the rising power of Rome on this continent,          sepa.mtion  - at least not covlzplete separation - as the Bap-
that an open attempt is being made by C?tholic  authorities        tists and Deists maintain. Perhaps he favors a limited separa-
to assert the Pope's claim to the supreme power over the           tion but this is not clear. From the following quotation,
state."                                                            it is evident that, on the one hand, he is afraid of the Roman
   The alternative view is that of the Baptists. Concerning        CBtholic  position while, on the other hand, he is very
this view  the editor writes:                                      condemnatory in his evaluation of the "status-quo." He
   "The Baptist doctrine of the complete separation of             writes :
Church and State, which is widespread and popular among                "With the historic Reformed faith almost buried out of
practically all catagories of npn-Roman Catholics, - even          sight beneath the chaotic mass of false religions throughqut
Presbyterian and Reformed peoples. According to this the-          every`province and state of our broad continent, it can readily
ory, the State carefully minds its- own state business, and        be seen that the task of making this same Reformed faith
the Church likewise looks after its own church business.           the established religion of Canada and the U.S.A. is utterly
Thus both Church atid State are considered to be totally           impossible, now. And only by the grace and mercy of God,
independent and free."                                             along with the greatest spiritual struggle in the history of
   This view, largely undei-  the influence of Roger William,      mankind and,  doubtlesrj\.  infinite bloodshed  ,of Christian
the Baptist founder of the State of Rhode Islang, and Thomas.      martyrs, will our continent ever reach ~the place where it
Jefferson, a Deist, has been principally written into the          can be said of us, as of England in 1701, that this Reformed
Constitution or Bill of Rights. in the United States. The          faith is `by law established.'
First Amendment to the Constitution reads:
   "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment             "Inconceivable though the difficulties in the way of the;
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thmeof  . . . ."     establishment of the Reformed `faith may be, pet this is
   This tolerant view respecting so-called "religious free-        neither a warrant nor an excuse for throwing up our hands
dom" can only mean-which is also the  ,evident practical           in despair and saying, `We'll be over  omur  heads  if we go
result-that any and all religions  - denomination,  inter-         into that !' If we were to answer according to this kind of
denomination, non-denominational and sectarian  - are all          `reasoning' we would reply, `We'll most assuredly be over
equal before the law of the land. The State assumes a "hands-      our heads if we do not go into the subject of Church atid
off" policy toward all religions. It approves of none and          State, - in earnest, - for the surging power of Rome  311
condemns none. Each individual is left free to join himself        over North America. is warning enough that the easy-going,

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

   (and we believe, unscriptural, anti-Christian and blashpem-           tional level as the true, and by giving them the liberty- to
  OUS) popular, smug, non-Romanist idea af `
                                                    tolerance' will      `enjoy' their false doctrines. And the great body of Amer-
   ruin us yet  !' This North American doctrine which  puts.             ican Presbyterians were early ensnared in this same terrib1.e
   all religions, false as well as the true, on an equal footing         error, and have followed the delusion of equality of all re-
  ,before  the law and, in reality, says that false religions have       ligions before the law, and of granting false religions the
   a God-given `right' to be false is abominable. Where, we              right and liberty to `enjo'y` their false doctrines."
   ask, can anyone find in the Holy Scriptures the idea that                This false doFtrine  of "religious equality" which lies atr
   God of truth and righteousness gives any mortal man the               the basis of the teaching of separation between church and
   `right' to believe and `enjoy' a lie? And yet, this is, basically,    state, MacKay asserts, works against the Biblical truth of
   what the popular and widely-accepted North American doc-              Predestination. He reasons this way. The most common
  `trine  of `freedom of religioa' involves. We believe that we          objection that men raise against the truth of Predestination
   need, rather, to adopt the old, original, British conception' is that it makes God unequal or partial in His dealings with
   of the Reformed faith in its relationship to the State. Cer-          men. This notion they derive from the popular idea that
  tainly the Westminster Assembly of divines who gave to                 before the law all men are equal, all religions are equal,
  the `British Isles this conception of Church and State were            all must be treated equally and given equal  opportunit--.
   devout Christian men whose only motive was the glory of               Writes the editor: "Because they (men) have been told
   God and the welfare of the British peoples. They loved                countless times from childhood that all men ought to have
  true Christian liberty and they suffered greatly for the sake          `equal opportunity,' and that if people are not treated alike
  of Christ."                                                            they are being treated unjustly, they naturally reject pre-
         Mackay's second objection, therefore, to the doctrine of        destination which positively does not grant all men `equal
   separation between church and state is that its basic prem-           opportunity' and treat all men alike." And the fault of this
  ise - the so-called "freedom of religion" philosophy - is              Rev. MacKay lays at the doo,r  of the church when he writes :
  false. He apparently holds the view that within the  sov-              "How can you expect anyone on this continent to take the
 ereign, Divinely-instituted state no false religion has the             doctrine of predestination seriously, and believe it, when
  right  `to either existence  o,r protection by that state. There-      for two hundred years the leaders in Church and State`-
  fore, he pleads for a concerted effort on the part of those            including Presbyterian ministers  - have been drilling the
  who love the truth to strive after the virtual impossibility           idea into people's minds that `all religions must be equal
  of acquiring for the Reformed Faith recognition by and                 before the law' and that all men must have `equal oppor-
  establishment under the law of the land. He deplores the               tunity'? In the face of this long continued equality propa-
  fact that this was not done from the very inception of the             ganda, anyone who says that there is such a thing .as unequal
  nation and instead a free hand has been given, under the               and exclusive predestination must seem to the multitude as
  law, to the development and growth of liberalism and mod-              a voice crying in the haunting solitudes of Keewatin."
  ernism which are as bad as Catholicism which he seeks to                                     (to be continued)           `.
  combat by establishing the Reformed Faith as the national                                                           G..  Vanden  Berg.
  religion. Thus  .he writes :
         "This (establish the Calvinistic Reformed faith  by  law)
  should have been done from the foundation of the national
  life of the Dominion of Canada, and of the United States of                            . A CALL TO PRAISE
America. But instead, our `two' nations have followed, for
  nearly two hundred years, the nationalistic atheism of the                        All ye that .fear  Jehovah's Name,
  Baptists and the freethinking, secularizing spirit of Thomas                      His glory tell, His praise proclaim
  Jefferson, and, as a result North America has completely'                         Ye children of His chosen race,
  betrayed the crown.rights of Jesus Christ over the nations,                       Stand ye in awe before His face,
  as so wonderfully upheld by the Scottish Covenanters,  and                        Stand ye in awe before His face.
  as given to the Presbyterians in careful doctrinal form by
  the Westminster Assembly of divines. No wonder the Re-                            The suffering one He has not spurned
  formed faith has almost completely perished from Atlantic                         Who unto Him for succor turned ;
  to Pacific, and from North West Territories to the Rio                            From him He has not hid His face,
  Grande! And no wonder North America is a perfect para-                            But answered his request in grace.
  dise  - or hotbed -for every conceivable, and  inconceiv-
  able, brand of false religion ! The wickedest brands of re-                       0 Lord, Thy goodness make me raise,
  ligion flourish all over this continent because our founding                      Amid Thy people songs of praise;
  fathers refused to give God the glory due His name in the                         Before all them that fear Thee, now
  realm of the State, and, instead, put their seal of approval                      I worship Thee and pay my vow.
  on false religions by putting them on the same  constitu-                                    _                            Psalm 22 :l-3


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    167

II                                                                     yet they did not long abide in that honor, but did wilfully-
            ALL  AROUND US                                        il `transgress the laws of creation in eating of the forbidden
                                                                       fruit  ; and by their sinful rebellion they fell from their original
                                                                       righteo,usness  and communion with God, and all we in them
 Correspondence  z&h a  B@ptist  Minister.                             became dead in sin and wholly defiled in all our faculties,
      The readers                                                      both mental and bodily, our first parents being the root,
                      of The  Stmsdavd  $eayev  will recall that in
 the November 1, 1956 issue we called attention to a little            and by God's appointment, standing in the place of all
 pamphlet produced by C. Breed of the Strict Bap'tist Church.          mankind ; their corrupt nature was conveyed to all their
 This article was read by another Baptist minister in Hamil-           posterity, so that we are all by nature children of wrath,
 ton, Ohio, who directed a letter to the editor-in-chief of The        servants of sin, subjects of death and misery, temporal and
                                                                       eternal. By this original corruption we are wholly indis-
 Starzckd  Bsarw   asking for information relative to the
 pamphlet. His letter, which also contained the Articles of            posed to good  and'prone to evil.
 Faith  of his particular church, was directed to me for an                4. We believe that before the foundation of the world
 answer.                                                               God did elect a certain number of the human race to ever-
      We immediately sent the brother the answer to his letter         lasting life and salvation, and in pursuance of this gracious
 at which time also we asked of him permission to publish and          design did make a covenant of grace and peace with His Son,
 comment on his Articles of Faith. Since then, we received             Jesus Christ, on behalf of those persons who were committed
 another letter from him in which he writes among other                to His care with al! spiritual blessing.
 things of great interest to me, "Yes, you have my permission
 to make any' such editorial comment on our Articles of                    5. We believe that Jesuz Christ being from everlasting
 Faith as you desire-and feel free of any restraint in so              the Mediator of the new covenant, did engage to be the
 doing. I would expect you to be true to your personal con-            surety of His people and in the fulness of time really as-
 victions and belief." We are very grateful  to, brother Elclon A.     sumed human nature, in which nature He really suffered
 Huchison for his gracious  coasent  because it presents to            and died as their substitute in their room and stead, whereby
                                                                US
 opportunity to show to our readers, especially those who              He made all that satisfaction for their sins which the law
 are Protestant Reformed, that there are others besides our-           and justice of God required, as well as procured those bles-
 selves  wLo believe in eternal, sovereign, divine, unconditional      sings which are nee&ul both for time and eternity.
 election and salvation.                                                   6. We believe that the eternal redemption` Christ ob-
      There are thirteen articles in their Confession of Faith. ltained by the shedding of His blood is special and particular,
 And, as I wrote to the brother, there is only one with which.         that is to say it was only intended fo'r the elect of God or
 I could take any serious exception. And our differences on.           sheep of Christ, as they only enjoy the special and peculiar
 this article,. `I told him, were no doubt due first of al! to         benefits of it.
 our differences in back-gro,unds,  but mostly, in the second.
 place, to our apparent different views on the doctrine of the             7. We believe that the justification of God's elect is
 Covenant. I offered to discuss these differences with our             only by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, with-
 brother through correspondence but he &forms me that due              out the consideration of any works done by them, and that
 to illness his activities have been seriously curtailed, among        the full and free pardon of all their sins,, past, present and
 these the matter of correspondence. I wish to assure the              to come, is only through the blood of Christ according to
 brother that he has our sincerest sympathy, and our prayer            the riches of His grace.
 to God for him is that He will give grace sufficient to endure            8. We believe that faith, conversion, regeneration and
 this affliction and, if it be His will, that our brother may          sanctification are not acts of man's free will and power but
 again soon be restored.                                               of the efficacio,us  grace of God.
      And now to the Articles of Faith. I am going to quote
 them in their entirety and  then make           a few comments            9. We believe that a full assurance of faith is attainable
 respecting them.                                                      in this life and that it is a duty highly incumbent to labor
                                                                       after it with all diligence, though. we by no means look
      "1. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New            upon assurance; to be of the essence of faith but one of the
 Testaments are the Word of God and the only rule of Faith             consequences and delightful effects of it.
and Practice.                                                              10.  we believe that all those who are chosen by the
      2. We believe there is one only. divine and true God,            Father, redeemed by the Son and sanctified by the Holy
 and ,that there are three Persons in fhe Godhead, the Father,         Ghost, shall certairly  and finally persevere to the end, so
 Son and Holy Ghost, which three are  one, of the same                 that none of them shall perish but have eternal life.
 substance, equal in power and glory.                                      11. We believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are
      3. We believe that God created our first parents upright,        ordinances of Christ, to be continued till His second coming,


           ____~.
 168                                          T H E   ST"AtiD'A'RD  B E A R E R -
 -

 and that the former is requisite to the latter, viz : that only            3. Respecting Article 9 it is not quite clear to the
 those who are to be admitted into the communion of the                  undersigned just what is meant by the last part where we
 chul-ch who upon profession of faith have been baptized by*- read: "though we by no means look up& assurance to be of
 immersion in the name of the Father, Son and Holy GhosI.                the essence of faith; but one of ihe consequences and de-
                                                                `-+  ~lightful   .effects  of it." .When .we compare Article 9 above
        12.  UTe believe the Lord's Day is to be set apart for           with Question 21 of our Heidelberg Catechism, there appetirs
 holy purposes; that is is our duty to assemble together on              to be a cbnsiderable difference. Question 21 asks : "What is
 .that day for the public worship. of God by prayer, giving              true faith?{' and it answers : "True faith is not only a certain
 of thanks, preaching, hearing the Word of God and singing knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed
 psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.                                      to US in his word, but also aria.~.s~~~ed  confidence, which the
        13. `We believe there .will be a resurrection of the dead:       Holy Ghost works by the gospel, in my heart; that not only
 both of the just and unjust, and that Christ will come a                to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting right-
 second time to  j.udge both quick and dead, to receive  the eousness  and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of
 righteous to everlasting happiness, and sentence the wicked             grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits." Here it is plain
 to punishm&of  the same duration."                                      that not only is assurance of the essence of faith,, but it is
        Respecting these article we make the following  corntie& ! also a most significant part of it. But brother Huchison may
                                                                         explain this`article a little more fully- when he is able.
        1. In comparison with our own Netherlands or Belgic                 4. My main criticism, as I also told otir brother, has to
 Confession which is contained in Thirty-seven articles,_the  1 do'.with  Article 11, of course. When I signifikd my objec-
 articles ,,above  -ref&dd  to  ire noticeably brief. One could  r2 tion to this Article and offered the  explanation' for our
 wish, for example, that Article 1  wo'uld also contain  a differences as residing in our different back-grounds, and'
 statement of faith respecting the infallibly  inspiration of the        more particularly in our different views concerning the Cov-
*Word  of God. This especially in the light of the modem                 enant, the brother replied: "Yes, I too, would explain dur
 &tempt to declare that the Bible is not the Word of God,`. differences on Article 11 to be on the basis of `our different
but that .it .contains  the Wo.rd of God. This brevity is  also.         back-grounds. To me this article is of far less importance
,I  noti;ea.bly  present in Article 4. One could wish that this, than our common adherence to `The Five PoinFs of Calvin-
`article also contained a statement of faith respecting eternat,. ism.' " In a sense I am happy with his explanation; but i:i
 reprobation. -We were pleased to learn from brother Huchi-              another sense I am not. I am aware of the  fact'that  brother
 son upon inquiry that he.believes also very-strongly in eternal.
 and sovereign reprobation. When we -asked him concerning.               Huchison did not send us his Articles of Faith out of .an
                                                                         argumentative motive and that his intention was only to be
 his belief  ,in this doctrine, he replied: "Yes ! I have neither- _
. time nor `space,. & present, to enlarge upon this answer,  but* informative and show that we have m&h in common. And in
 shall me&on as a single reference Romans 9 :22-23 To this;`- a sense I am glad that he does not wish to make Baptism,
 I add, that no person has to apologize for what God in His ' etc., an issue. Yet, `this is a very definite point of difference
 sovereign wisdom and purpose chooses to do." Our  ex-- between us. It is here that oae's entire  coven&t concep-
                                                                  ..'
 perience has been that there are many who say they believe, tion comes into view. And with us, who are Protestant
 in election, but they will have nothing of reprobation. In i Reformed, this covenant conception is of fundamental im-
 our judgment to deny the 1,atter  is also to deny the former:- portance. Our view of the covenant necessitates the baptism
 In the light of this, a brief statement concerning reprobat@n..         of infants who are hoi-n in the generations of believers, as
 could very easily be added t& Article 4. What we have said 1 circumcision was necessary for children. of believers in  the
 about Articles 1 and 4 may also be said in `respect to others :. Old Covenant according to the command of God.
 of these articles.                                                         But I will not press this -point  farther except  to offer
      2. Respect&g  Article 8 which~ declares : "We believe that. brother Huchison once more to carry on further correspond-
 faith, conversiqn, regeneration and sanctification are not acts ; ence on the all important subject, and offer him a  little
 of man's free will and power but of the efficacious grace of c pamphlet written by the Rev. H. Hoeksema on the subject
.God," it especially struck our attention respecting the order..         of Baptism of Infants which most clearly sets forth our vieyvs
 Faith and conversion precede regeneration. This is of minor.. on this subject.
importance, perhaps, but where a series of this nature is                   5. Finally, I wish to state that on the whole I am very
used, it would seem that regeneration should be first. Be-               pleased with this statement of faith which is of the Mount
cause it is not first, here, the question naturally arises: in. Pleasant Baptist Church of Hamilton, Ohio. It, to my mind,
what sense is regeneration considered ? One gets the impres- `_ clearly, though briGfly,  states the cardinal doctrines of Scrip-
sion that this article has in mind what  is. called  mediate ture which also are dear to our hearts. Yes, indeed, brother
regeneration. And if ,"this is the case, we wonder whether q Huchison, we have much in common. In this we rejoicer
the church above referred to believes also in  iwwtediate before God Who has hidden these things from the wise and.
+regeneration.                                                           prudeih and revealed them unto babes.                         M.S.
                                                                                                                               7'


