      VOLUME  XXX111                                                             MAY  1,  1957-   GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                                   NUMBER  15


Ii                                                                                                                        And seen of Cephas ! Of all people !
             M E D I T A `T I 0 N                                                                                j[       Divine mercy which beggars description !


            RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD
                "And that He was buried, and that He rose again the                                                       Oh yes, Jesus was buried!
                t h i r d   d a y   a c c o r d i n g   t o   t h e   S c r i p t u r e s :   a n d   t h a t   H e       Indeed, He must be buried.
                was seen of Cephas."  - I Cor.  15:4,  5%                                        .                        He must show the way and prepare the way for the
      Imagine : in the church of  <the Corinthians there were                                                          brethren and sisters whom He redeemed.
those  who  did not believe in the  resurrection!                                                                         To be buried is indescribably horrible.
      A Christian church not believing that salvation's greatest                                                          The earth swallows us up, and we return to .the dust.
jubilation is the raising of the dead!
                                                                                                                          Neither is that all.
      But Paul will testify by the Holy Ghost.
      And patiently he will testify of that which he also de-                                                             To ba buried  is only the port&l  of something else which
livered unto them when. they believed ; the testimony which, is  in&pressibly terrible. The grave is the portal to the lake
he also received from the Lord Jesus Christ.                                                                           that burneth with fire and brimstone: The second death.
      He reminds them of `that which formed the heart of all                                                              So it is with men. But Jesus' burial did not lead to that
preaching: that Christ died for our sins according  *to the                                                            awful fiery lake. His soul went to. God in the heavenly
Scriptures.                                                                                                            Paradise, and His body lay in the tomb. And that Jesus did
                                                                                                                       not have `to go to that lake of fire is because He had ex-
      In  fact, Paul had made that testimony the warp and                                                              perienced that lake of fire all His life. And especially at
woof of all his preaching: Christ Jesus ani Him crucified!                                                             the end of His sojourn did He burn in the downpour of the
                                                                                                                                        -
      But there is more.                                                                                               rays of the wrath of God. David sang of that before :             '
      A dead Christ cannot save the church.                                                                                                      "0 dood'lijk  iur !
      Neither could He bring the Kingdom of God  to  com-                                                                          .         Wat hitte doet Mij  branden!
pletion. He must needs  rise and  ascen<  and receive the                                                                    Mijn hart is week, en smelt in d'ingewanden,
promise of the Holy Spirit.                                                                                                                    Als was voor `t vuur !" Psalm 22 :7
      And when that Almighty Spirit is -given Him He can                                                                  No, Jesus had finished  ,His suffering of the wrath of
do all things that are necessary to bring the Kingdom of                                                               God and with a loud voice He had cried : "It is finished !" He ~
God to uttermost completion.                                                                                           had drunk the cup of the wrath of Almighty God to the last
      And so Paul continues in my text: and that He -was                                                               drop, and then He bowed His blessed head and gave up the
buried !                                                                                                               ghost. And His weary soul entered the Paradise of God
      And that He  rose again the third day according to the                                                           where all His tears were wiped away.
Scriptures !                                                                                                              Yes, He  was buried, but His burial was different.  `,His
      Wondrous Evangel of Easter !                                                                                     blessed body would  ,?ot know corruption such as ours.
      Jesus is risen indeed ! I                                                                                           And that is the e&lasting Gospel of God : l?e aroSe-

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

        Paul continues : "and that He rose again  $the third day       hand." Isa. 53  :lO. And: "For Thou shalt not leave  My
 according to the Scriptures."                                         soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see
        In these few simple words you have the astounding truth        corruption." `Psalm 16  :lO. And there is much more. Both
 of the resurrection'.                                                 the Word of God and nature itself testifies of the resurrec-
                                                                       tion. Look upon the billions and billions of seed that die in
        It is now almost thirty years ago that I began to preach       order `to bring forth life and seed and harvests. Look upon
 the resurrection of Jesus, and slowly on I begin to see some-         the lowly caterpillar and the beauteous butterfly which
 thing of the glory of the resurrection. It partakes of the most       emerges from the corpse.
 difficult theme of all theology : life from the ~dead.                   But the third day ?
        Death is so final, so awful, so conclusive!                       Does the Holy Bible speak of that iti prophecy?
        Death is bonds and cords that hold one unto all eternity.         Yes, there is one text, but it is enough. God has fore-
        And no power can break those bonds. That is, no or-            seen and fore-determined all things.
 dinary power. Enumerate all the power of all creation, and
 it is powerless to dispel death. Take the `power of all angels,          There is the sign of Jonah: he had to be in the whale
 all men, all animals, all atoms and, harness that power unto          three days and three nights in order to supply this necessary
 the raising of one dead man, and you would be powerless to            fragment of prophecy to which Paul would allude. 0, God
 accomplish such a feat.                                               is God ! And He is good and tiise ! Let us adore Him !
        No, but death is a prison house in which we stay, whose                                  f *  1:  *
 door? are furnished with locks and those locks stay shut
 unto all eternity.                                                       And He arose with a glorious life.
        But Jesus is Jehovah Salvation !                                   I showed you already the fruit of the death of the grain,
        He rose the third day according to the Scriptures.             and the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly.
        He broke the bonds; the grave  ,opened,  the angel rolls       All these things are signs of that which is central in the
 away the &one, and Jesus appears: the Conqueror of .death,            Gospel: the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
 and hell, and the grave, and the curse, and damnation.                   He arose with a glorious life.
    ,But, `0 God of eternal miracles ! how yas that possible ?             It was not the life of Adam add Eve in the state of
     And then here is  the answer: He paid the price which             righteousness. You cannot even compare the two. Adam's
 God's justice,  iighteousness  and holiness demanded. And *life was earthly, temporal, fleshly. But the life which Jesus
 He  paid that price out of the motive of love. He shed the            received at His resurrection was eternal, heavenly, glorious
 blood of the eternal Covenant. And that blood is the blood of         and spiritual.
 the love of God. Heb. 13 :2C!.                                           It was an entirely  -new  life. It was never seen before.
    Jesus is the first and the only One who loved Gqd in hell.         It was the life which we all shall enjoy in the new Kingdom.
 And anyone, loving God in hell, cannot be holden by it.               Paul speaks of it in Colossians when he said: Our life is hid
    And I may say in passing that if Christ dwells in you,             with Christ in God!
 you have a little principle of that kind of love. Attend to this :       Yes, according to body, soul and spirit, Jesus received
 we also love God in the hell of our old nature, among the             this heavenly, glorious, eternal, spiritual  and new life at His
 devils and iti a,godforsaken  world. Our old nature is like a         resurrection. That is the reason there was so much confusion
 grave in which the love of God reveals itself. Listen to              and doubt at every- appearance the Lord made to His dis-
 Paul: 0 wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me out              ciples. They could walk with Him for hours and converse
 of the body of this death ?                                           with Him, but they did not recognize Him at all. A wonder
                                                                       had to take place in their eyes in order to see the risen Lord.
                             *  +  *  8                                   An'd He received that wondrous life as the Head of the
                                                                       Church and the New World.
    Oh yes, Jesus arose from the dead, and . . . according to             Hence, His resurrection is at the same time the justifica-
 the Scriptures !                                                      tion  o$ all that belong to Him. Indeed, His rising again is
    It was all revealed in prophecy: "I know my Reieemer               the  proof of our justification. On Good Friday He hung on
 liveth and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the             the cross, and He had us all in His bosom. Therefore it
earth." Job 19  :25. And : "When Thou shalt make His soul              pleased the Lord to bruise Him. God saw all our sin and
 an offering for iin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong          guilt on Him. God imputed all that guilt and sin on Him,
 His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His           and He had to die in order to pay the price.


                                                                              Tl-1B                  S'I'ANDARD                                  BEARER                                                                            339

      So, when He reappears-in the-garden of Joseph it proves
that all that guilt and sin is gone.  OFherwise  God would                                                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA-RER
never have raised Him from the dead.                                                                                             Semi-wto?lthly,  except  monthl~~ during  Jum, July and  August
                                                                                                                                   Published by the  R
      Moreover, His resurrection is also the power of that new                                                                                                EFORMED FREE PUBLISHING  ASSOIZIATION
                                                                                                                                 P. 0. Box  SSl, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
life for-us and even in us. A little of that glorious life of the                                                                                   Editor  - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
raised Lord is now in us. It is called eternal life. It is only                                                                  Communications relative to contents should be addressed to Rev.
a little principle, but it is sweet to the taste. For the sake of                                                                H. Hoeksema,  1139  Franklin St., S. E., Grand  R+xpids 7,  Mich.
it the people of God have not loved their lives unto death,                                                                      All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to' Mr.
but they have died for the sake of it.                                                                                           G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                               =
                                              :I:  *  * :I:                                                                                                     CO.NTENTS

                                                                                                                              MEDITATION  -
      And now there is a little sequel to my test which is so                                                                       Resurrection from the Dead.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .3h7
important to all of us.                                                                                                                   Rev. G. Vos
      "knd that He was seen of Cephas !"                                                                                      EITTORTALS  -
                                                                                                                                    T h e   F r e e   Offer..........................................340
     Do you note that I placed an exclamation point behind it?                                                                      Olam and Aioon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .342
                                                                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema
      I did that purposely, and I know you will fdrgive me.
                                                                                                                              OUR DOC~PJNE  -
      I can say, I can write it jubilantly : Even Cephas saw                                                                        The Book of Revelation.. . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343
Him !                                                                                                                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema
     Cephas who denied Him with cursing and swearing.                                                                         THE DAY  OF  SHADOWS-
                                                                                                                                    The Confusion of Tongues.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                    ..,..... 344
     Then I draw a very hapfiy conclusion, dearly beloved, and                                                                            Rev. G. M.  Ophoff
I know you will do the same.                                                                                                  FROM HOLY WRIT-
      Here is `my conclusion: then it is also possible that I be                                                                    Exposition of I Corinthians  12-14..  . . .  `. . . . . . . . . .                 . . . . . . . . 347
saved !                                                                                                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers

      Hallelujah ! Amen.                                                                                                      IN  H IS   FEAR-
                                                                                                           G.V.                     Keep  1~ A Thing of Beauty (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                        . . . . . . . .349
                                                                                                                                          Rev. J. A. Heys

                                                                                                                              CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
                               W E D D I N G   A N N I V E R S A R Y                                                                The  .Church  and the Sacraments.. . . . . . . . . . . . .                         : . . . . . . .351
                                                                                                                                          Rev. H. Veldman                        -     '
     On April 4 our dear parents
                        M R .   a n d   M R S .   J A C O B   A .   SCHUT                                                     THE  VOICE  OF OUR  FATEERS-
                                                                                                                                    The Exposition of the Canons of  Dordrechtl..                                      . . . . . . ..35 3
celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.                                                                                                Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
     W e   t h a n k   o u r   C o v e n a n t   G o d   t h a t   H e   g a v e   t h e m   t o   u s   a n d
p r a y   t h a t   H e   croti  t h e m   i n   t h e i r   d e c l i n i n g   y e a r s   w i t h   t h e                  DEC&CY  AND ORLER-
S p i r i t   o f   grace  a n d   s p i r i t u a l   b e a u t y ,   u n t o   t h e   p r a i s e s   o f   H i s                Ecclesiastical         Assemblies.. . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          . . . . . . ..35 5
name !                                                                                                                                     Rev. G.  Vanden Berg
                 Their grateful children :                                                                                    FEATURE ARTICLE  -
                                          Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit B. Lubbers-Schut                                                      The  Symbolism  of Metals in the Old Testament.. . . . . . . . .  .357
                                          Mrs. Josephine Mackus-Schut                                                                     R.&.  R. C. Harbach
                                          Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Holstege-Schut                                                CONTRIBUTIONS  -
                                          and 11 grandchildren                                                                      Missionary Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
                                          and 6 great-grandchildren                                                                        Rev. G. Lubbers
Hudsonville, Michigan                                                                                                   .-

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

                                                                         to uncleanness through the  lusts of their own- hearts,  to
                   E  -D I T  `0  R I A  1                              dishonour their own bodies between themselves,"  VS.  24.
                                                                         And He "gave them up unto vile affections : for even their
                                                                         women did change the natural use into that which is against
                              ,The Free Offer                            nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use
                                                                         of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another:
             We are still discussing the question whether it is the      men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiv-
      current teaching of Holy Writ that God loves both elect and        ing in themselves that recompetice of their error which was
      reprobate, -the righteous  atid the wicked that never come         meet." vss. 26, 27. And, finally, God in His wrath, "God
      to repentance.                                                     gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which
             This is the teaching of the authors of "The Free Offer."    are not convenient." vs. 28.
             Already we quoted several passage! from Scripture to            Compare with this the teaching of the authors, of "The
      prove that this is not the truth. We now will, first of all,       Free  `Offer" that the things of this present time as they are
      quote a few more from the New Testament.' -                        b&owed by God bn elect and reprobate, the righteous and
             First of all, I would like to refer you- to the manifold    wicked alike, have their source and ground in God's loving-
      woe which the Lord pronounces upon the scribes and Phar-           kindness also for the wicked or, "in other words, these gifts
      isees in Matt. 23. They are the selfrighteous and wicked           are enjoyed because there is iti a true and high sense benev-
      that never come to' repentance. They do all thei.r works in        olence in the heart of God" i:e. for the ungodly and wicked
                                                                         reprobate.
      order to be seen of men. They are, according to the Lord
      Jesus, whited sepulchres  which outwardly appear beautiful,           The same truth is emphasized  .by the apostle Paul in
      but within are full of dead men's bones and uncleanness.           the second chapter of this epistle to the Romans. There the
      Does God love them and is He gracious unto them ?  Not             `apostle speaks of those that despise the riches of the good-
      according to Christ. He pronounces nothing but woes ui~on          ness of God, His forbearance and longsuffering, and he
      them and finally declares: "Ye serpents, ye generation of          writes : "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treas-
      vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore,        urest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and
      behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes :      revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Who will
      and some of them ye shall kill and crucify  ; and some of          render every man according to his deeds: To them who by
      them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute            patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor
      them from city to  .city : That upon you may come all the          and immortality, eternal life: .But to them that are conten-
     righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of              tious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, "
      righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of  Bara-         indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish upon every
      chias,  whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.             soul  of man that  .;loeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of
      Verily, I say unto  jrou, all these things shall come  upon        the Gentile ; But glory, honor and peace, to every man that
      this generation."                                                  worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: T:or
             Surely, in these words of the Lord Jesus there  is. not     there is no respect of persons with God." vss. 5-11.
      even a suggestion of the love or favor of God upon, these             Perhaps, the  authors  of "The Free Offer" would object
      wicked and  selfrighteoiz  scribes and  Ph&isees.  The very        that the passage quoted above refers, not to the present time,
      opposite is true.                                                  but to the future, to the day of judgment. In the present
         This is the current note of all  the. gospel narratives, as     tilpe, )they  would say, God bestows many good things upo~~,
      could easily be proved. Nor does the text in  Ma&. 5 :44-48        the wicked and reprobate and He does this in Hi; benevo-
      teach the opposite as we hope to explaixi later.                   lence and grace  ; just as is the teaching of the Christian
                                                                         Reformed Church in the "Three Points." But in  the  futm-e,
         I would also refer  ~you to  Rom. 1  :lS-32. There the          in the day of judgment, all these good things and manifes-
      apostle Paul speaks of the wicked who know "the judgment
.                                                                        tations of grace and lovingkindness will be taken away frr!m
      of God, *that they which commit such things are worthy of          them, and there will be nothing left for them but wrath ant`:
      death," yet they not only commit iniquity but they also have       indignation.
      pleasure in them that do evil, vs. 32. Are they, then, the
      objects of the love and favor of God? Is this love and grace          But to this I would reply as follows:
      of God revealed to them in the things they receive in this            First of all, almost all the passages I quoted  Scforct  this
      present time such as rain and sunshine, as the authors of          speak of the wrath of God and His hatred for the wicked'
      "The Free Offer" have it? On the contrary, "the wrath              reprobate,. not in the future, but at the present time and all
      of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and         through their present existence in the world.
      unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous-            But, secondly, I would like to ask the authors two ques-
      ness,  VS.  18. And in His wrath "God also gave them up            tions that are closely related to each other as well as to the


                                          T H E   STANDiRD   B E A R E R                                                     34 1

s.ubject we are now discussing : 1. Do you believe the Re-            Or how would they explain the article in the Westmin-
formed truth of reprobation, and if so, how do you define         ster Confession on  .the provide&e of God which reads as
it? 2. Does God change or is He immutable? Does He                follows :
change in His attitude to the' wicked reprobate ?                     "As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as
    These questions are very important and I wish  tha't          righteous judge, for the former sins, doth blind and harden,
the authors of "The Free Offer" would answer  them.               from them he not only withholdeth his grace, whereby they
                                                                  might have. been enlightened in their understandings and
   As to' the first question, that concerning reprobation, the    wrought upon in their hearts, but sometimes also  with-
Canons of Dordrecht answer it as follows:                         draweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to
    "What peculiarly tends to illustrate and recommend to         such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin;- and
us the eternal and unmerited grace of election, is the  es-       withal gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations
press testimony of sacred Scripture, that not all, but some       of the world and the power of Satan; whereby it comes to
only are elected, while others are passed by in the eternal       pass that they harden themselves, even under those means
,decree;  whom God out of his sovereign, most just, irrepre-      .which God uses for the softening of others."
hensible  and unchangeable good pleasure, hath decreed to
leave in the common misery into which they had wilfully               Again, I ask the authors of "The Free Offer" whether
plunged themselves, and not `to bestow upon them saving           they believe this article in their own Confession, and, if they
faith and the grace of conversion  ; but permitting them in       do, do they hold that God, in His grace, favor, or benevolence
his just judgment to follow their own ways, at last for           gives the reprobate wicked over  -to their own lusts, to  the.
the declaration of his justice, to condemn .and punish them       temptations of the world, and to the power of the devil. I
forever, not only on account of their unbelief, but also for      wish that they explain.
all their other sins. And this is the decree of reprobation           My second question is : does God change. in His attitude
which by no means makes God the author of sin (the very           to the wicked reprobate ?
thought of which is blasphemy), but declares him to be an             They certainly believe, no  cloubt,  that in the day of
awful, irreprehensible, and righteous judge and avenger           judgment He will condemn them on account of all'their  sins.
thereof."                                                         They, undoubtedly, believe that, after that day of judgment,
   The above represents the mildest or infra-lapsarian view       God will consign them to eternal desolation in hell. There,
of reprobation. But I wish to call: attention to the fact that iin hell, they  ai-e, no doubt, only the objects of His wrath
even in this mildest form the decree of reprobation implies,      and there is in His heart no more benevolence or favor
according to the Canons, that God does not bestow upon the        toward them.
reprobates the faith of conversion and, on the contrary, per-         Hence, my question : did God change in His attitude
mits them "in his just judgment to follow their own ways."        toward the wicked reprobate, so that before the day of
This following of their own ways refers, of course, to the        judgment He loved'them, while after the judgment is passed
present time. And I would like to ask the authors. of "The        He is filled only with wrath toward them?
Free Offer" whether they believe that.the  decree of repro-
bation means t`hat God permits the reprobate to follow their          You understand, of course, that this is  not.  a' question
own ways of sin and corruption in their present life unto         for  ii+.
eternal perdition, and, if so, whether He does so in His grace        As I understand the Word of God, H& is absolutely un-
and benevolence.                                                  changeable, but He is also immutable in His' attitude to
   The Westminster Confession, to which the authors of            the righteous and to the wicked, to the elect and to the
"The Free Offer" are supposed to subscribe, speaks of the         reprobate and that, too, not only in His eternal counsel but
decree of reprobation as follows:                                 also in time. Always He loves the elect, in time as well as
                                                                  in eternity ; always He hates the reprobate, not only in His
   "The rest of mankind Gbd was pleased according to              eternal counsel but also in time. Always He bestows all
the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he  ex-         things in time, good things and evil, upon the elect for their
tendeth  or withholdeth  mercy  as he pleaseth, for the glory
of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and        good and unto their eternal salvation; and always He gives
to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, and to        all things to the reprobate and wicked, good and evil things,      '
the praise of his glorious justice."                              prosperity and adversity, unto their eternal damnation.
   Th;ls definition of reprobation is not as concise at that          Such is the teaching of Scripture: there is no common
found in the Canons, but again I ask the authors of "The          grace.
Free Offer," do they believe this, and do they, nevertheless,         But for the authors of "The Free Offer" this is different.
hold that God is filled with benevolence toward those whom            Hence, my question : does God change ? Please, answer !
He ordained to dishonor and wrath? Please,  explain.                                                                       H.H.


342                                             T H E   STANDARL)   B E A R E R

                        Olam and Aioon                               but the punishment of the wicked in hell is only for a time
       Every so often I receive a post card in which `a  ceriain     or an age.
`sect in Grand Rapids attempts to spread some of its false               NOW,  let  US  consult Scripture to find out whether the
doctrines. It bears the rather stimulating name of "Thought          words olam (in Hebrew) and aion or aioon (in Greek) mean
Provoker."                                                           age or always and forever.
       I do not know whether it is sent only to the ministers of         In Gen.  6~3 we read: "My  Sfiirit  shall not  alzerrcys
the churches in Grand Rapids or to the people in general.            (LeOlam)  strive with man." Does OLAM which is trans-
       Nor am I in a position to discover who sends me those         lated in  alz~uy~  in English have the meaning here of AGE
cards, or to find out whether he is an Adventist or Russelite        or "for a time" or does it mean always or "forever" ? It is
or belongs to' some other sect. From the card I received last very evident that only the latter can be the meaning.
April 18, I gather that he may be an Adventist who, among                In Psalm 44 :8 we read : "In God we boast all the day
others deny the truth of the eternal punishment. of the wicked `long, and praise thy name for ever (LeOlam).  Suppose yo:l
and believe that they shall be annihilated. I am sorry that the      try `to translate OLAM here by "for a time" or "for an age"
writer of the card does not even furnish- me with an address         and do you not fall into absurdities? The translation "for
so that I could send him a copy of the present number of the         ever" is, evidently the only possible rendering.
STANDARD BEARER  in which I write a brief reply to his last
postal. That I write this is not because our people are in any           In Psalm 45 :6 we read: "Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever
danger of denying the eternal punishment of the wicked, but,         and ever (in Hebrew: OLAM  WaED)  : the sceptre of thy
in the first place, it is always interesting for the believer to     kingdom is a righteous sceptre." The phrase OLAM WaED
know what the Word of God teaches on a certain subject;              may be translated "for ever and unto all eternity." But
and,  in the second place, it is important to know superficially     would it not be absurd to translate: "Thy throne, 0 God, is
some sects deal with Holy Writ.                                      but for an age or for a time  ?" To ask this question is to
                                                                     answer it. The same phrase is used in Psalm 9 :6 ; 10  :16 ;
       I will, first of all quote the postal I received:             12  :5. The phrase  AeDI-AD  (for ever and ever) occurs in
       "The following 3 definitely express the thought of `end-      Psalm 83 :18. While in Isa. 45 :17 we read AD-OLAM-AD :
lessness.'                                                           for ever and ever, unto all eternity. I could quote a good
                                                                     deal more, but let this be sufficient to prove that OLAM in,
       "1. He. 7 :16 : "the power of an indissoluble life.'          the 0. T. refers not to time but to eternity. In fact, it is a
       "2. Lu. 1.~33: `of his kingdom there shall be no end.'        puzzle to me how the writer of this postal (and I hope that
       "3. The words `immortality and  `incorrupti?n.'               he reads  this) can be so ignorant as not to know this. He
                                                                     certainly did not study his Bible. And I have a suspicion
       "It is a serious offense,  and will be taken into account     that, although he plays with some Hebrew and Greek words,
some day, when so-called believers deliberately. take a He-          he does no know either of these languages.
brew and Greek word (olam an aion) which means eon or                    The same holds foi- the term aiori or a;ioon to which the
age, and translate and continue to misuse it for the English         *writer of the postal alsd refers.
word `forever and ever,' eternal, everlasting. This word does
not  express endlessness.                                               `First of all, I like to refer to the text in He. 1  :8, which
                                                                     is a quotation from the text in Ps. 45  :6 which we quoted
   "God's vocabulary is rich enough to give us clear words           above. There we read: "But unto the Son he saith, Thy
and expressions that mean `eternal.'                                 throne, 0 God, is for ever." Here the Hebrew phrase
   "And by theeway,  how can a word, if it means `forever' OLAM  WaED is translated by the Greek: eis ton aioona
be both singular and plural ? ? ? Is there a singular eternal        tou aioonos, which literally means "into eternity of eternity"
or forever and a plural eternal ?.                                   or "for ever and ever." Perhaps, the writer of the postal
   "Monthly Thought Provoker."                                       would criticize the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews for,
                                             Was,signed  R. V. D.    translating the text from Ps. 45 in this way, just as he criti-
   It is evident that the purpose of this postal is to deny the      cizes the translators of our English `Bible for translating the
eternal punishment of the wicked. The Hebrew and Greek               term "aioon" by "for ever." I do not know.  But certain it
words, according to the writer do not mean eternal or ever-          is that the translation "for an age" or "for a time" would
lasting, but eon or age, for a time, therefore. The wicked. have no sense in the context as anyone can see.
shall be punished for a time, but after this they shall be de-           In John 6 :51 we read : "If a man eat of this bread, he
stroyed, completely annihilated. Such is the purpose, al-            shall live for ever: eis ton aioona." And again in vs. 58 of
though it is not clearly expressed, of the writer of this            the same chapter we read: "He that eateth of this bread
postal. Eternal life is immortality or incorruption is forever,      shall live for ever: eis ton aioona." Would the writer of the


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                              343

postal prefer to translate: "If a man eat of this bread, he
shall live for an age or for a time?" It seems so. But to us                       O U R D O C T R I N E
this  would be utterly absurd.                                                                                                                                                        II
    Confer also John 4  :14  ; 8  :51 ; 10  :28; 11  :26  ; I Corin-
thians S:13, etc.                                                                    THE BOOK OF REVELATION
   As  `to the plural of the word  aion to which the writer                                                     CHAPTER  X
somewhat mockingly refers, it simply denotes the individual                      T H E  C H U R C H  N A U S E A T I N G   T O   T H E   LORD
moments of which eternity consists.
    Thus we read in Rom. 1:25 : "Who changed the truth of                                                Revelation 3 :14-22
God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more                Hear then what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Watch
than the Creator, who is blessed for ever and ever." Here               and  fiiht, overcome and be faithful unto the end. Have no
we have in the Greek:  Tous aioonas. And no matter how                  part with the church that lives in self-sufficiency and has no
Mr. R. V. D. would translate this plural, it certainly cannot           need of anything. Only in our Lord Jesus Christ is the ful-
mean "times" or "ages" for it refers to the living and eternal          ness of grace. Only going out to Him we shall be satisfied
God.                                                                    with His friendship. Watch, therefore, and be zealous. Be
   The same expression is found in.  Remans  9  :5  ; 11  :36 :         faithful unto the end.
II Corinthians 11 :31.                                                                                        CHAPTER  XI
   And in Hebrews 13 :8 we have the same expression used
in regard to Jesus Christ who is said to be the same "yester-                       THE VISION OF THE THRONE OF GOD
clay, and today, and for ever."                                                                                Revelation 4
   We draw the conclusion, therefore, that in Scripture
neither OLAM nor AIOON is used as meaning AGE but is                             1. After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened
                                                                                 in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it
translated  corrtctly by FOR EVER.                                               were of a trumpet talking  with me; which said, Come
   But I say once more that this false philosophy of Mr.                        hither, and I will shev thee things which must be here-
                                                                                 after.
R. V. D. is presented for the purpose of denying the eternal
punishment of the wicked. And as far as the interpretation                       2. And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a
                                                                                 throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
of OLAM and AIOON is concerned, he utterly failed to                             3 .   A n d   h e   t h a t   s a t   w a s   to,  l o o k   upoh  l i k e   a   j a s p e r   a n d
reach this purpose.                                                              a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about
                                                                              the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
    Nevertheless, if he should ever happen to read this edi-                    4 .   A n d   r o u n d   a b o u t   t h e   t h r o n e   w e r e   f o u r   a n d   t w e n t y
torial, I would like to have him explain in his "Thought                         seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders
Provoker" one passage of Scripture (among many others)                           sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their
which undeniably teaches that the punishment of the wicked                       heads crowns  `of gold.
is eternal. I refer to Matt. 25 :46: "And these shall go away                   5 .   A n d   o u t   o f   t h e   t h r o n e   p r o c e e d e d   l i g h t n i n g s   a n d
into everlasting (aioonion) punishment  ; but the righteous                     thunderings and voices : and there were seven lamps.
into life eternal (aioonion)." The parallelism of the text                       of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven
                                                                                 S p i r i t s   o f   G o d . .
demands that the word aioonion, everlasting or eternal, be                       6. And before the throne there was a sea  o,f  g l a s s   l i k e
interpreted in the same sense. If, then, "everlasting punish-                    unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round
ment" is for a time, "eternal life" is for a time also. My                       about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before
interpretation, in harmony  with the whole of Scripture, is                      and behind.
that in both cases aioonion means everlasting, for ever, or                      7. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second
eternal.                                                                         b e a s t   h a d   a   f a c e   ?s  a   m a n ,   a n d   t h e   f o u r t h   b e a s t   was
                                                                                 like a flying eagle.
    In conclusion, I would like to apply a sentence in the                       8 .   A n d   t h e   f o u r   b e a s t s   h a d   e a c h   o f   t h e m   s i x   w i n g s
postal R. V. D. sent nie to himself, although I must slightly                    about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they
alter the last words. It is this :                                               rest. not day and night, saying,  Holy, holy, holy, Lord
                                                                                 God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
    "It is a serious offense, and will be taken into account                     9. And when those beasts give glory and honour and
some day, when so-called believers deliberately take a He-                       t h a n k s   t o   h i m   t h a t   s a t   o n   t h e   t h r o n e ,   w h o   l i v e t h   f o r
brew and Greek word (olam and aion) which means eternal                          ever and ever.
or for ever, and translate and continue toa misuse it for eon                    1 0 .   T h e   f o u r   a n d   t w e n t y   e l d e r s   f a l l   d o w n   b e f o r e   h i m
                                                                                 that sat  011, the throne, and worship him that liveth for
or age, in order to deny the eternal punishment of the                           ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne,
wicked.                                                      H. H.          s a y i n g ,


344                                                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EARER

           1 1 .   T h o u   a r t   w o r t h y ,   0   L o r d ,   t o   r e c e i v e   t h e   g l o r y   a n d
           h o n o u r   a n d   p o w e r :   f o r   t h o u   h a s t   c r e a t e d   a l l   things,                       TflE DAY OF SHADOWS
           and for thy pleasure they are and were created.                                                                                                                             II
    The Book of Revelation may perhaps most conveniently                                                                              The Confusion of Tongues
be divided into two main parts. The first part W&Z have thus
far treated, in the vision of Christ and the seven churches.                                                               The human race is an organic unity by virtue of its
The second part implies all that is still to come, and pictures                                                         stemming from parents-Adam and Eve-common to all
the displacement of the kingdom of Satan by the kingdom of                                                              its members. However, in this unity is contained the germ-
God in Christ. Or, if you please, in chapter  1`:19 John had                                                            inal multiplicity of powers and talents, a diversity of gifts.
been commissioned to write the things that are and the                                                                  Now it requires this whole earth, all its variations in climate-
things. that shall come to pass hereafter. In the previous                                                              and contour to bring to manifestation that humanity is thus
chapters we have discussed the things that are. We saw                                                                  endowed. The cliff dwellers differ from the sea-faring folk;
Christ in the midst of the seven golden candl&ticks.  We ob-                                                            the mountainers from the dwellers .in the plain ; the Eskimo
tained the descripiton of the seven churches as they manifest                                                           from $he Kaffer. Accordingly, God commanded man to mul-
themselves upon earth. In the part which is still to be dis-                                                            tiply and replenish the whole earth. For the diversity of
cussed we are called upon to consider the things that shall                                                             gifts contained in the species. man developes only when men,
come to pass hereafter, that is, the future from John's point, the human race, lives with nature in all her changing moods
of view. In the part we have discussed thus far there were                                                              and differing workings of her powers, lives with mother earth,
beside the superscription and introduction; two parts, the                                                              with her mountains and plains, seas and, lands, her deserts
first containing the revelation of the glorified Christ as the                                                          and fertile plains, her cold and heat, her zones, both frigid and
great King and  Priest, ready for judgment and walking in                                                               torrid, her weather both fair and foul, her, floods and
the midst of the seven golden  catidlesticks,  as well as holding                                                       droughts, her calm and violence in volcanic eruptions, in
-the seven stars in His right hand. And the second part con-                                                            storms, in the cyclone and in the tornado that twists its way
tained a seven-fold picture of the church of all ages as she                                                            over the earth. Each of these influence man in its own way.
becomes manifest in the midst of the world in-this dispensa-                                                            brings out a different side of his nature, developes in him a
tion with all her weaknesses and strength, the good and evil                                                            gift that otherwise would remain hidden. So God decreed.
prop.erties.                                                                                                            So He decreed for the sake of His covenant. Through it all
                                                                                                                        God promotes the ends of His kingdom. Hence His command
       It is well, before we enter upon a discussion of the rest                                                        that man multiply and replenish the earth, the whole earth.
of the book, which  iS often difficult and- requires diligent and                                                       Over the whole earth man must want to spread.
prayerful study, that you have the main theme of this portion                                                               Though the new humanity of Noah's day- the  post-
.of  ,the Apocalypse clearly before your mind. Also in the                                                              diluvian humanity of -that day - was well acqainted  with
part that is still before us there are numerous separate visions,                                                       God's will, it nevertheless was resolved to keep together in a
in which you will perhaps get lost, as in a labyrinth, if you                                                           plain in the land of Shinar in the fertile Euphrates valley,
do not hold before your mind's eye continually the main                                                                 later known as Mesopotamia, bordered on the west by the
theme of the book. And that main theme is the certain dis-                                                              Euphrates and on the east by the Tigris rivers. It was a
placement of the kingdom of Satan by the kingdom of God                                                                 region of marvelous fertility where they in their wanderings
in Jesus Christ, a displacement which in its process will follow                                                        eastward had come to rest. This was.the  obvious point that
the line of historical development, but which will find its final                                                       gave to these children of nature a preference for this plain,
consummation in the great world-catastrophe that will ac-                                                               namely its convenience, fertility, and fitness for cultivation.
company the second coming of our Lord  Jesus  Christ  to                                                                The plain had for them the charm of extraordinary fruitful-
judge the quick and the dead. The displacement of the old                                                               ness. Zahn (Kingdom of God, p. 86) quotes Hippocrates
and sinful order by the new and perfect one, the displacement                                                           and Herodotus in proof of the singular  productivitys  of this
of the satanic kingdom of darkness by the glorious kingdom                                                              land, where the grain yielded from two hundred to three
of our Lord Jesus Christ, - such is the main theme of the                                                               hundred fold. .
rest of the book. All the visions that are recorded in the                                                                 The sacred narrative (Gen. 2 :l-9) certainly leaves the
second part of the book bear upon that theme, serve to                                                                  iinpression  that it was the great body of Noah's offspring, the
throw light upon the general subject. There are in this                                                                 whole of humanity, the entire human race, that removed to
world two orders, two kingdoms, between which there is con-
tinual warfare, even though the kingdom of God in                                                                       the plain.
                                                                                                         Jesus
Christ already has gained the victory in the exaltation of                                                                  1. The narrative sets out with the statement, "The whole
the Lord at the right hand of God.                                                                                      earth was of one language and of one speech." By the whole
                                                                                                          H.H.          earth is to be mlderstood  not our entire globe, but that part


                                             T H E   STAN.DARD B E A R E R                                                        345

  of the earth inhabited at the time by ttie new humanity, that       those vast regions beyond also inhabited ? Who can say that
region where the  ark had settled, the hill country of Ar-            such was not their imagining?
 menia in what tdday is knowri as Asia Minor. The- "whole                But did this body of. rovers include also the church, the
  earth" must be equated with the espression "entire human            believers  ?. In all likelihood it did. Abraham was a resident
  race" of that day. Seeing that it was only about two hundred        of Mesopotamia. It was the land of his nativity. Here he
 years previous that Noah and his sons had left the ark, the          dwelt, He and his family, when the call came to him. There
 new humanity as to numbers could not have been large,                is no moral reason why the church should be excluded.
  comparatively speaking.                                             Migrating to Shinar was not a sin in itself. It cannot be
     2.      The narrative continues, "And it came to pass,  as       said that it ran contrary to the command of God, `$Be fruitful,
  they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the        and replenish the earth.
  land of Shinar ; and dwelt thefe." They journeyed eastward             In verse 5 the expression "children of men" occurs. It
  and not frol%~ tJ%e east, as the versions have it. But what may     is these' children that built city and tower, says this verse
  be the signification of the  pronoun   they?  "They journeyed       It is not unlikely that this espression must be taiten as-stand-
  eastward." Does not the pronoun  tlzey look back to the             ing in juxtaposition with the expression "children of God."
-. "whole earth,`.' the entire lmwzanit~ of the preceding verse ?     If so, what the writer is here saying is that building the tower
  And if such is not the case, would not the sacred text at this      was a  woik in which God's believing people refused to parti-
  place have been made to read differently  ? It would seem so,       cipate, sensing, as they must have, its real purpose. For it
  so that in all likelihood what we are here being told is th2.t      had been plainly stated.
  the body of elfiigrants  included the whole of humanity.                So then, having come to rest in the plain, the new hu-
     3. "And  the. Lord said, Behold the people is  one  and          manity conceived of the idea of building them a city and a
  they have but one language." This was said with reference           tower whose top might reach unto heaven. For what they
  to what "the people" were doing, namely building them a             purposed is to make a name, lest they be scattered abroad
  city and a tower. There is then this question: Are not "the         over the face of the earth. Plainly then, the tower was to be
  people" df this verse (verse 3)` the "whole earth" of verse         a citadel of strength both for control and  defence  and the
  one ? And if so, was not the work of building the city an           city a municipality of the highest class. Tower and city
  engagement of the entire human race ?                               would be to them all, so they imagined, the  strongeit in-
    4. "Let us go down and there confound their language"             ducement for remaining together. And. as- attracted by the
  (verse 7). The confusion of language, according  *to this verse,    prospect of security of their city, all men would come to
took place there in the plain. Does this not imply, seeing that       dwell in it.
  the confusion of speech involved the language of the whole             But their striving characterized them as unbelieving,
  of humanity, that the entire human race, as to all its branches,    proud and vain men. The city that they planned was a city
  had removed to the plain ?                                          of  man. It was meant to shut out God. In planning and
     5. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon            building it, they were making war against Him. All this  iS
  the face of all the earth" (verse 8). Who underwent this            plain from the envisioned height of their tower. Its top was
  scattering, the whole of mankind or only one or more of its         to be heaven-high. And in heaven is the Lord's throne (Ps.
  branches? If the former, and if the center from which the           2,:4). Not that they imagined that heaven was actually
  scattering took place was the plain, it must have been the          within their reach. But that was what they said. In the
  entire body of Noah's offspring that had removed to this            Scriptures  languag;  such as theirs is always indicative  of.
  region.                                                             sinful pride and rebellion against God. If only they could
                                                                      have knocked God from His throne, so they would have done.
     6. The confusion of speech, was punishment inflicted be-             These builders were godless men.  -@et they  mu& have
  cause of the building of city and tower. And it was a stroke        been hailed as men of noble purpose and effort. Were they
  that was laid upon the entire humanity. But how can this            no bent on saving their race by keeping it intact? How, with
  be explained, if many of the branches  had abided in Ar-            its ranks thinned out by scattering would it be able to cope
  menia and, as a result, had taken no part in the building of        with the perils that beset it on every hand ? Surely as spread
  the tower?                                                          over the earth,  mankind was doomed to extinction.' But there
     In the light of these observations, are we not sh"ut up to       is strength in unity. Such must have been the reasoning.
  the view that the entire human race that was then  living had           But  the city -and the tower were never, built. For  God.
  migrated to Shinar? It would seem so. Whether they be-              confused the speech of the builders. "He came down to see
  lieved themselves *to be the who& of humanity is another            the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
  question. They must have been aware that the earth was              And He said, Behold, the people are one, and they have all
  much larger than that part of it where they dwelt. Were not         one language ; and this *they begin to do; and now nothing


        346                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                       .
       will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to            speech, but that owing to the confounding of their languages
       do" (verses 5).                                                      they were compelled to scatter. For the text (verses 7 and
                                                                            8) reads, "Let us go down and there confound their language,
           Truly the people were dnc- of one blodd,  one in diabol-         that they may not understand one another's speech. So the
       ical spirit and striving and puropse and language. This being        Lord scattered them abroad . . : and they left off to build the
       the case, what could stand in the way of their achieving their       city." But it is more likely that the thought that the text
       objective? If these men were to be stopped, God w6uld have           means to convey is this, namely that because they could not
       to do it. And so He did. He confounded their language, so            understand one another's speech any longer they did two
       that they no longer were able to understand one another's            things : first, they stopped building the city  ; and second, they
       speech. He thereby `accomplished two things : First, He              scattered. For why should their not being able to under-
       compelled them to leave off. building the city ; and second,         stand one another have caused them to scatter but not have
       He scattered them over the face of the earth.
.                                                                           caused them to stop building ?
               It was necessary that they be made to leave off `building       The confounding of languages was a miracle. Like  all
       the city. For it would have been a city, a kingdom :that all.        Go,d's works, it defies our powers of penetration. In the
       men, with the exception of God's people, would have, wor-            consciousness of these men the Lord must have caused a
       shipped and to which all men would have  sworn allegiance.           separation between the wdrds of the common language and
       It would thus have been the embryo of that city, gnti-chris-         the ideas and objects with which they were associated and
       tian world-state, destined to appear in this last day, the city      implanted new and divers modes of expression. And this
       that John in his vision saw rising out of the sea under the          must imply a confusion in the minds of these people, a dis-
       image of a beast. And what then would have been the lot of           order and breach in the common .consciousness,  so that they
       the church on this earth ? For the time would soon have come         became alienated in their hearts, the one from the other on
       that the church would have had no place for the sole of her          the ground  of the manifold dispositions and diverse tenden-
       foot. The whole world of ungodly men, through its worship            ,cies residing in the nature of mankind. But the narrative
       of and allegiance to the city, the beast, would have been one,       lends no support to the view that no two of them could atiy
       `the  olie kingdom of man, of  satan.   .With no conflicts of its    longer understand each other.
       own to engage its attention, the world sooner or later in a body
       would have turned against-the church to destroy her by united           tinder the pressure supplied by the confusion of tongues,
       action from the face of the earth. And then how could she            mankind also spread over the earth. It did so in three great
       have been gathered humanly speaking  ? So  *the Lord stopped         streams of humanity in greater and smaller waves of migra-
       them from building the city by the confusion of language.            tion. The Semites migrated to the- east and southwest into
       But He did more. By the same confusion of language He                Persia and Syria. The  Hammites  tiook a southwestern
       scattered mankind over the face of the earth. By this latter         direction into Canaan and Africa. The Japhethites went
       doing He inflicted upon the beast a wound from which it              northward and spread over Europe and at the other end as
       has still to recover. For from this. scattering came the rise        far as India. Hence it -is not unlikely that the one language
       of nations, each with its own language, character, place of          was made to run into three fundamental diversities.
     abode on this earth, carnal interests, aspirations and aims               The confusion of languages gave to the  city its name.
       and governmental heads, so that from the rise of nations came        It was called Babel.
       wars among the branches of the human race. As long as this                                                                                                  G.M.O.
       condition prevails, the world that lies in darkness, the king-
       doms of the world, cannot unite against the church, and the
       church has a measure of quiet.
               There is still this question: Did the Lord compel the                                 W E D D I N G   A N N I V E R S A R Y
       people to stop building the city by making it impossible for            On May 2, 1957 our dear parents and grandparents,
       them to understand any longer one another's speech or by
       compelling them to scatter by confounding their language ?                               MR. and MRS. G. VANDER TUUK
       In other words, did the people stop building the city because        hope to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. We thank our
       as a result of the confusion of their language they could not        heavenly Father for having sustained them these many years
       understand one another's speech any longer, or because the           and pray that he will continue to sustain and bless them in the
       confusion of their language compelled them to scatter over           way that lies ahead.
       the earth ?                                                             "T h e   a n g e l   o f   t h e   L o r d   encampeth  r o u n d   a b o u t   t h e m   t h a t
               It seems that what the text means to be saying is that       fear him'and delivereth them." Psalm 34  9.
       the primary reason that stopped them from building the city                                                           Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Scholten
       is not that they could not understand anymore one another's                                                           Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Teitsma


                                             7;HE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    ~317

                                                                       of healing, helps governments, divers .khds of tongues. Am
           FROM H O L Y   ,wRp                                         a.11 apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are  a/l
                                                                  I/ workers of miracles? Have all gifts of healing? Do all speak
                                                                       with tongues? Do all  irtterpret?   B,ut  desire   ,earnestly   the
           Exposition of I Corinthians 12-14                           greater gifts.  2nd  mopeover  a more  excelle&  way show I
                                                                       unto yo,~t." (verses ,28-31)
                                V.                                         Looking at these verses, it strikes our attention, that
                    (I Corinthians 12 :25-31)                          Paul places on the foreground the fact, the truth, the sober-
                                                                       in8 reality, that God Himself has sovereignly placed' certain
    It should be constantly kept in mind in our discussion of          offices and' gifts in the church. Hence, he would here make
these Chapters, 12-14 of I Corinthians, that Paul is here              an appeal to the God-consciousness of the church. `The fear
answering some certain definite question concerning spiritual          of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That is true in
gifts in the church at Corinth. In his reply Paul, therefore,          general ; it is especially true in relationship to these offices
does not merely give us an intelledual,  abstract discussion of        and gifts in the church. The more we fear the Lord, taking
gifts in the church. On the contrary He writes. in' view of a          notice of His dispensation over all, the less we will be
very concrete situation in the church, which needs to be               tempted to take matters into our own puny and fooiish
corrected by sound words, giving the proper  directives as to          hands. It is often' this lack of spiritual sensitiveness in the
how all things shall be done in decency and order.                     things in God's house, which accounts for it that matters,
    Up till this point in our discussion we have noticed, thdt         which could be settled in sixty seconds must run the  l&g
Paul gives the following spiritual directives for the church           process of Consistory, Classis  and Synod, and then still are
at Corinth, and for us also who live these. many centuries             not settled, but have left wounds and scars and schism, which
later.                                                                 it takes a generation to outlive!
    1. In the first place,  we have noticed, that Paul under-              Hence, Paul writes the sobering words: "And God bath
scores -the indispensibleness of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit        set some in the church . .  ." Concerning this clause we
of the risen Lord, for $the Church of Christ. Except through           would notice the following :
the Holy Spirit no one can even confess "Lord Jesus." With-                1. That Paul does not here write "God hath give&' but
out the Holy Spirit we are dead.- The Spirit is the author of          rather "God hath  set." In Ephesians 4  :ll we read, "and
life. Wherefore no one who speaks in the Holy Spirit calleth           he gave some to be apostles . . ." In the latter passage the           -
Jesus accursed, that is "Anathema !"                                   offices are viewed a "gifts of Christ" to the church in the
    2. It is true that there is a diversity of gifts in the church.    world. They-are gifts which Christ gave and gives to the
However, in these gifts the Holy Spirit is the sole Author.,           church, since he has taken captivity captive in his death and
It is always in the one atid the same identical Spirit. Who,           resurrection, and gives "gifts unto men." And surely-this im-
therefore, would boast of his particular gift over against that        plies that these gifts are a part of the dispensation of God,
of others? Thus boasting we do not manifest a proper ap-               whereby he saves us solely by grace through faith ! Such is the
preciation of the Author of these gifts, the Triune God in the         emphasis of Paul in  -Ephesians 4  :1-l. In this  ptissage, how-
Spirit of Christ!                                                      ever, Paul emphasizes another aspect of this same gift of God
    3. And thus it is all in harmony with the very essence             to the church, the offices and gifts. He here stresses that God
and nature of Christ, who is the Head of the' body, the                has ."set" these offices in the church ! This implies that these
Church. There are, indeed, niany members in the body of                offices and gifts are in the church simply by divine arrange-
Christ, yet there is only one body. And no member can                  ment, with a divi'ne  design and purpose. Over these offices,
really get along without the other members. For every                  their presence in the church, we, as members, have absolutely
member is of the body of Christ. Christ has so tempered,               no jurisdiction. They are in no sense of the word the prop-
mixed   .the qualities of members, that  no member can live            erty of the member. They are solely the Lord's property,
without the other member with impunity.                                under His appointment and jurisdiction. And all. we can do
                                                                       is by grace acknowledge this fact. Such acknowledgement
    Such were the directives of Paul for the practical, spiritual      on the part of the congregation tends toward a "healthy".
conduct of the church up till this point.                              respect for the office-bearers, and is a sobering influence in
    Now Paul will call .attention  somewhat more in detail to          the life and conduct of those  ;who are clothed with  the&
some of the offices and gifts which he has instituted in the           offices !
church.                                                                    2. We should also take notice-of the fine touch which
    The text which we will now consider reads as, follotis  :          the Greek verb, translated "hath set," has in the text. We
`And God bath set some in the church, first afiostles, secondly        have here the beautiful use of the "middle voice." Thk form
prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles  (powers), then gifts    of the verb in the Greek language  e$resses that  stimehow

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

the action of the verb is in reference to the one acting. God?            The church is still a Theocracy!
 in the text, is represented as having set the offices in the             The church is in no sense a democracy, of the people, for
church &z YefeYence to Himself. To Him all are accountable.           the people and by the people. But.it is out of God, through
 It pleases God thus to work out His own design. Hence,               God and unto God!
 we here take the shoes from off our feet. The ground in the
church is, indeed, holy ground. How sobering for all of LE.             dnd this is true of the entire Church of God in the
-Here is an excellent text, in our mind, for a pre-synodical          world, which the Son of God.gathers,  defends and preserves
 sermon. It would be a in excellent <taste,  and a "fine touch !"     out of the whole human race.
        Further we should notice, that God hath not set "all"             For when Paul writes that God has set some "in the
in the church to be apostles, prophets, teachers, etc. We             church" he does not simply have the local church in mind, as
should note that God has, according to the text, set "some"           she came to manifestation in Corinth, but he has. in mind
in the church thus to be. Hence, it is very well possible that        the Body of Christ, the living members in the entire church,
 I stand in line in the church (in my own mind) as a very             elect unto everlasting life, and kept in the unity of the faith!
able and capable candidate for office. But, while doing so,
`it "keeps two feet on the ground," God's holy ground, to                 That Paul here  has reference to the entire church, the
bear constantly in mind, that God  Lath set "some" in the             church of his day in the world, and, therefore, the church at
church to be apostles, prophets and teachers! It is  entire11         any given time and moment in history, is evident from the
                                                                      following :
possible that I do not belong to the number of these "some !"
Shall I then kick against the pricks and complain that God                1. It simply is a fact, that the apostles, Peter, John,
has not so arranged matter, in  His  ckz~clz, that all are            James, Paul and all the others were set by God ds apostles
apostles, prophets, teachers, elders and deacons and Sunday           m the entire church under heaven in their day. And even
School teachers! How ironical  life often is in the church            today, we confess,' the entire church in the world confesses,
from this viewpoint. No doubt there was something of this             `co believe in the apostolicity of the church, the teaching of
foolish  and false striving in the church in Corinth. And he          the Apostles and prophets of which Jesus Christ is the
that standeth let him beware lest he fall!                            chief-cornerstone.
    Lest we misunderstand or fail to grasp the import of the              2. Besides, when Paul speaks in the context of  the one
Apostle's series of questions in verses 29 and 39, it must be         body of Christ and the many members, he is not simply
stated here. that the translation into the English fails to           speaking of the church at Corinth. He is speaking of the
reproduce the Greek adequately. Instead of  #the simple ques-         entire church in the world. In this church God has set
tion "Are all apostles," etc., Paul writes  "Not all are Apostles     some apostles, prophets, teachers . . .
are they ?" The very form of the question in the Greek in-
dicates that Paul implies and expects a  n'egative  answer. And           3. This is corroborated by Scripture in such passages as
this negative answer must be forfhcoming from the readers             Matthew 16 :18, "and upon this rock I will build my church."
of this letter !. They must say: of course not ! All are, indeed,     See further such passages as Ephesians 5 :23, 32 ; Colossians
not set in the congregation by God to be Apostles. And that           1 :18, Z$; Hebrews 12 ~23, and others.
is the end of the matter! That settles it, once and for all.              This `certainly has implied in it principles for a presby-
And, now, let's not have any more foolishness on this score!          terial form of church government. God has set elders in each
    I have seen men, who had been ministers and elders for            local church. Be it so. But these elders' rule is subject to
-many  or for a few years, who after their term(s) were ex-           the Word of God. And only when the elders rule in the
pired still tried to live with one foot in the Consistory ! And       church accord&g to  the W'ord are things done in decency a:ld
in so doing they became an offense in the church. I have              order in the church of God; and does it receive and have His
seen men, who always deemed it, something of a Utopia, to             sanction.
so-metime  be an officebearer in the church. And they too                 Hence, Classical decisions are binding upon the  cou-
made a regular nuisance of themselves. They did  not suf-             science of the CCZWJ-ch of Christ as are also those of the Synod,
ficiently have their eye upon the Lord, God of His church.            unle+s proven contrary to *the Word of.God. ,The latter only
Rather the church. was a place for advancement of personal            is the rule of faith and life.
ambitions, pride, glory, honor from men! And, let it be                   Thus it is set by God.                  .,
added, that a minister' may well piay- for grace not to fall
into this:  siti of pride,  itit0 which the  novice  too so easily        Here is the spiritual Theocracy. Let each member then
falls. Satan has many wiles, and in our flesh there dwells            aspire after these gifts of God.
no good,!                   -  -                                          Only let it be by walking in the more excellent way of
    Let it resound in dur ears : God has set in reference to          love !
Himself, not all, but only "some" as apostles, prophets,                  Then alone, walking  in.the offices, is possible, and profit-
teachers, miracles, gift.4 of healing . . . !                         able for the church!                                        G.L.


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     349

                                                                     it is a necessary evil, something that we know belongs there
              I N   .HIS.  F E A R                                   but something we would rather not add to the wedding
                                                                     ceremony because it does not fit in with our ideas and plans
                                                                     for making it a beautiful wedding ceremony. And so we look
              Keep it  Cr Thing of Beauty!                           for a form that is as brief as possible and yet has a "religious"
                                                                     flavor to it.
                                (21                                   Yet the true beauty of the wedding ceremony is not in
    At the wedding ceremony there is soft, sweet music.              the clothes, the music, the flowers or the candlelight. It is in
    There is also loud, bold joyous music.                           the Word of God that explains it as God's institution and
                                                                     gives it real meaning before Him. For if the wedding cere-
    We see the bride clothed in the beauty of white and the          mony is not beautiful in His sight, it cannot be beautiful but
bridegroom clad in garments that speak of his joy and desire         is an accursed thing. And a marriage upon which His
to be pleasing in the sight of her whom he takes that night          blessing does not rest can never be classified as a beautiful
to be his wife.                                                      wedding.
    Flowers are everywhere.                                              Therefore,. where a church wedding with a sermon and
    The beauty of the night can be seen and heard and                solemnized at a service of divine worship is not forthcoming
smelled.                                                             it is of utmost importance that the Word of God be there in
    There is a hushed air of expectancy and of restrained joy.       the Form that is read. That Word of God must be there!
    Happiness is in the air.                                             Not infrequently one hears a form read that is so cluttered
    Candlelight adds a soft touch of beauty.                         up with philosophical, meaningless expressions and with such
                                                                     ,things  as prayers for a blessing upon the rings used that they
   And soft shadows play back and forth on the delicate and          may serve their purpose that it becomes evident that those
colorful attire of the bridal party.                                 entering into this bond of matrimony are not at all concerned
    But this is the wedding of two who fear the Lord and             with a beginning in the fear of God's name. There is con-
who desire that their beginning be in His fear as man and            cern for a display of earthly, vain and fleeting worldly beauty
wife.                                                                and no concern or time for the Word of God. May that not
   There is, therefore, at this wedding ceremony that  in-           be the case with our covenant youth when they take this all-
dispensible word of God.                                             important step in their lives ! May their beginning as man
                                                                     and wife be in His fear! May the beauty of their wedding
   As we wrote last time, do not leave it out of your wed-           be found in the Word of God that is cherished and is there-
ding ceremony !                                                      fore given a prominent place in the wedding ceremony.
  We live in a day and age when church weddings in the
sense of weddings before the congregation and at which a                A wedding ceremony without the Word of God is a
sermon is preached are few and far between. That certainly           wedding without true, lasting beauty.
is the ideal way. Our Church Order even expresses in                   -When that Word of God is given the prominent place it
article 70, "Since it is proper that the matrimonial state be        should have and the beauty of the marriage bond is. shown
confirmed in the presence of Christ's Church, according to           unto us therein, there is no room anymore for fear of bad
the Form for that purpose, the consistories shall attend to it.`?    omens. A wedding ceremony conducted in His fear leaves
And the Form referred to begins thus, "Whereas married               no room for fear of doing the wrong thing, of saying the
persons are generally, by reason of sin, subject to many             wrong thing to "jinx" the matrimonial union at the very
troubles and afflictions; to the end that you N. and N., who         outset.
desire to have your marriage bond publicly confirmed here               In the world, amongst the unbelievers, where there is no
in the name of God, before this Church, may also be assured fear of God, man must, indeed, live in a superstitious fear
in your hearts of the certain assistance of God in your afflic-      that unless he does this or that evil will come upon him ; and
tions, hear therefore from the Word of God, how honorable            a fear of "bad luck" if certain events should occur is due
the marriage state is and that it is an institution of God           to a lack of living in His'fear.
which is pleasing to Him."                                               Every locality as well as every nation has its own super-
   That certainly is the ideal procedure to follow and after         stitions and activities which must be performed if the-young
which to pattern the marriage ceremony. The Word of God              couple that are married are to live happily together. The bride
must  olay a prominent part in that ceremony. It must not            must be carried over the threshold by her newly acquired
be something that is added to give the whole program a               husband. The bridal boquet must be thrown and caught to
religious touch. One, often gets the impression that to some         insure a happy wedding for another hopeful young maiden.


`350                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                 -  - - - -
The throwing of rice is for the  .sake of insuring a fruitful          of God concerning- the marriage relationship and we never
and productive life and prevent the disappointment to bride            outgrow that Word of God. We are always in need of being
and bridegroom that they spend a life without the joy of               reminded of what God says concerning this marriage bond as
having happy children fill their home. All these are things            well as about the other truths recorded in Holy -Writ.
entirely outside the sphere of His fear and militate against               In fact, it is good for the audience that witnesses and
it.                                                                    attends  ~this ceremony repeatedly to be reminded of the
        A beautiful wedding will deliberately eliminate all these !    things which God has written in His Word about matrimony
        And that means  ,that those who come to witness this           and the obligations of those who enter into this union.
wedding ceremony also walk in His fear. Likewise all who                   The particular Form which we have in mind and which is
would celebrate the event must uphold its lofty character.             prescribed for the confirmation of marriage before the con-
        The placing of a few "Just Married" signs on the car, a        gregation in our churches has, as far as its instruction is
little (or much) harmless paper decoration of the car, a little        concerned two main parts. The first part traces the historical
noise and blowing of the automobile horn in celebration need           development of the marriage bond and shows God's sanction
not be forbidden. But the malicious destruction of property,           of the celebration of it by Christ's presence at the wedding
the entering of the home of the "newlyweds" and playing                at  Cana. The second part of this section of the Form gives
havoc with their personal possessions, especially in the bed-          instruction as to "how each is bound to behave respectively,
room, are things of heathendom and are not in harmony with             toward the other, according to the Word of God."
what the Form, which presents God's Word, has declared                    iBoth of  ,these two parts are of utmost importance and
unto us at the ceremony. Rejoicing and celebration are not             express to us the teaching of God's Word in regard to mar-
necessarily evil and forbidden  ; but after a wedding ceremony         riage.
it certainly must be controlled by that Word of God and be                 Surely, whether for the first time or at a second marriage,
conducted in harmony with it.                                          both bride and bridegroom must. have clearly before their
        And what holds true for the first wedding holds true also      minds a correct understanding of that state into which they
for the second one.                                                    are about to enter. They must understand it as an ordinance
        When a young couple in the prime of their life, full of        of God. They must understand HIS purpose with that
hope and the joy of living  prepar,e  for their wedding day,           union and not enter into so sacred a union as marriage with
much thought is given to details. Every thing must go                  all kinds of preconceived purposes and intentions of their
smoothly. Often even the impression is left that nothing is            own. It must be a sanctified union. And, to quote the Form
too much, while actually things can easily be overdone also            again, <`Whereas married persons are generally, by reason
at the wedding ceremony and it can become a vain show, a               of sin, subject to many troubles and afflictions; to the end
vanity of worldly display and sinful waste of money so that            that you  N. and N., who to have your marriage bond
the fear of the Lord is not in it. It is usually a thing that          publicly confirmed here in the name of God . . . may also be
happens once in a lifetime ; and so young couples like to give         assured in your hearts of the certain assistance of God in
it all that they can and spare neither effort nor money to             your afflictions, hear therefore from the Word of God, how
make it a thing to remember and in sinful pride, all too               honorable the marriage state is and that it is an institution
often, to be sure to outdo the weddings of their "friends" and         of God which is pleasing to Him."
perhaps even of their relatives.                 ._                       And who can deny or would dare in this day of divorce
       But when it pleases God to separate man and wife by the         and gross immorality to deny, that not only on the wedding
cold hand of death and then so to lead the  ,life of the               day but repeatedly through life husband and wife ought to
"mate" that is left behind that he or she seeks the hand of            read and reread that instruction either out of the Form or
another who hast lost his or her mate in the same way, a               from Holy Writ itself "how each is bound to behave re-
very quiet and limited wedding ceremony is planned and                 spectively towards the other, according to the Word of God."
executed  - perhaps at the minister's home.                               One must live in holy wedlock in His fear.
       The. Word of God belongs there just as well as at the              And one must therefore give heed to the things which
first wedding..                                                        God requires in that union and which are revealed to us in
       0, we soon get the impression that we know all these            His Word.
things that are recorded in the Form for the confirmation of              Give-the Form that speaks God's Word a prominent part
the marriage bond. We figure that we can easily dispense               in your wedding ceremony plans: And use a Form that
with it after once having heard it at our first wedding. And           speaks that Word of God most clearly and beautifully. Seek
often it is for us nothing but a form, a formality.                    the best Form that it be a beautiful wedding.
       `j;ret these things recorded in that Form are the Word                                                               J . A . H .


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  351

I:                                                                    He was then about sixty years old, when busy men begin to
           Contending For The Faith                                   long for rest. He chose the name Gregory in memory of his
                                                                 II departed friend whom he had accompanied as chaplain into
                                                                      exile, and as a protest against the interference of the empire
            The Church and the Sacraments                             in the affairs of the Church. He did not ask the previous
                                                                      confirmation of the emperor, but he informed him of his
      VIEWS DURING THE THIRD PERIOD  (750-1517 A.D.)                  election, and delayed his consecration long  .enough  to receive
                                                                      the consent of Henry IV, who in the meantime had become
                 THE SUPREMACY  OP THE POPE                           emperor. This was the last case of an imperial confirmation
                                                                      of a papal election.
          GREGORY  VII  AND THE PAPACY  (continued).
                                                                         Hildebrand was ordained priest, May 22, and consecrated
Hildelwarad  elected Pope. His Views o'y1 the Situation.              pope, June 29, without any opposition. Bishop Gregory of
                                                                      Vercelli, the German chancellor of Italy, attended the con-
       Alexander II died April 21, 1073, and was buried in the        secration. The pope informed his friends, distinguished ab-
basilica of St. John in  Lateran  on the following day. The           bots, bishops, and princes of his election, gave expression to
city, usually so turbulent after the death of a pope, was             his feelings and views on his responsible position, and begged
tranquil. Hildebrand ordered a three days' fast with litanies         for their sympathy and prayers.
and prayers for tthe dead, after which the cardinals were to
proceed to an election. Before the funeral service was closed,          He was overwhelmed, as he wrote to Duke Godfrey of
the people shouted, "Hildebrand shall be pope  !" He at-              Lorraine (May 6, 1073 j , by the prospect of the task before
tempted to ascend the pulpit and to quiet the crowd, but              him; he would rather have died than live in the midst of
Cardinal Hugo  Candidus  anticipated him, and declared :              such perils; nothing but trust in God and the prayers of good
"Men and brethren, ye know how since the days of Leo IX               men could save him from despair; for the whole world was
Hildebrand has exalted the holy Roman Church, and de-                 lying in wickedness ; even the high officers of the Church, in.
fended the freedom of our city. And as we cannot find for             their thirst for gain and glory, were the enemies rather than
the papacy a better man, or even one that is his equal, let us        the friends of religion and justice. In the second year of his
elect him, a clergyman of our Church, well known and thor-            pontificate, he assured his friend Hugo of Cluny (Jan. 22.
oughly approved amongst us (this statement reminds us of a            1075) that he often prayed God either to release him from
statement made by the apostle,, Peter, in Acts 9, immediately         the present life, or to use him for the good of mother
prior to the "election" of Matthias  `to be the successor of          Church, and thus describes the lamentable condition of thit
Judas)  ." The cardinals and  cler,T exclaimed in the usual           times:  - "The Eastern Church fallen from the faith, and
formule, "St. Peter elects Gregory (Hildebrand) pope."                attacked by the infideIs from without. In the West, South, or
Gregory frequently refers in his writings to his election.            .North,  scarcely any bishops who have obtained their `ofice
                                                                      regularly, or whose life and conduct correspond to their call-
       This tumultuary election was at once. legalized by the         ing, and who are actuated by the love of Christ instead of
cardinals. He was carried by the people as in triumph to the          worldly ambition. Nowhere princes who prefer God's honor
church of St. Petrus and Vincula, clothed with the purple             to their own, and justice to gain. The Romans, Longobards,
robe and tiara, and declared elected, as `(a man eminent in           and Normans -among whom I live, as I often told them; are
piety. and learning, a lover of equity and justice, firm in ad-       worse than Jews and heathens. And when I look to myself,
versity, temperate in prosperity, according to the apostolic          I feel oppressed by such a burden of sin that no other hope
precept (I Tim. 3 :2), `without reproach . . . temperate, sober-      of salvation is left me but in the mercy of Christ alone."
minded, chaste, given to hospitality, ruling his house well' . . .       This' picture is true, and we need not wonder that he
already well brought up and educated in the bosom of this             often longed to retire to the quiet retreat of a convent. He
mother Church, for his merits advanced to the office of               adds in the same letter that, if it were not for his desire
archdeacon,. whom now and henceforth we will to be called             to serve the holy Church, he would not remain in Rome,
 Gregory, Pope, and Apostolic Primate." It may be noticed             where he `had spent twenty years against his' wish. He. was
that the clauses, "the husband of one wife," as well as "having       thus suspended between sorrow and hope, seized by a thou-
the children in subjection," are omitted in this quotation from       sand storms, living as a dying man. He compared himself
 Paul's letter to Timothy. They would be fatal to the papal           to a sailor on the high seas surrounded by darkness., And he
theory of clerical celibacy.                                          wrote to William the Conqueror, that unwillingly he. had
       It was eminently proper that the man who for nearly a          ascended into the ship which was tossed on a billowy sea, wifh
 quarter of a century had been the power behind the throne,           the violence of the winds and the fury of storms with hidden
 should at last be pope in name as well as in fact. He might          rocks beneath and other dangers rising high in air in the
 have attained the dignity long before, if he had desired it.         distance.

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

       The two features which distinguished Gregory's ad-             The pseudo-Isidorian Decretals went further : they iden-
ministration were the advocacy of papal absolutism and the         tified the Catholic Church with the dominion of the papal
promotion of moral reforms. In both these respects Gregory         hierarchy, and by a' series of literary fictions carried this
left an abiding impression upon the thought and practice of        system back to #the second century ; notwithstanding the fact
Latin Christendom. Even where we do not share his views            that the Oriental Church never recognized the claims of the
we cannot help but  admire  his moral force and invincible         bishops of Rome beyond that of a mere primacy of- honor
courage.                                                           among equal patriarchs.
                                                                       Gregory VII actualized this politico-ecclesiastical system
The Gregorian Theocracy.                                           more fully than any previous pope, and as far as human
                                                                   energy and prudence would admit. The glory of the Church
       The Hildebrandian or Gregorian Church ideal is a *thee-     was the all-controlling .passion of his life. He held fast to it
cracy based upon the Mosaic model and the canon law. It is         in the darkest hours, and he was greatest in adversity. Of
the absolute sovereignty of the Church in this world, com-         earlier popes, Nicholas I and Leo I came nearest to him in
manding respect  -and obedience by her moral purity and            lofty pretensions. But in `him the papal absolutism assumed
ascetic piety. By the Church is meant the Roman Catholic           flesh and blood. He was every' inch a pope. He anticipated
organization headed by the pope as the vicar of Christ; and        the Vatican system of 1870 ; in one point he fell short of it,
this hierarchical organization is identified with the Kingdom      in another point he went beyond it. He did not claim in-
of God, in which men are saved from sin and death, and             fallibility in theory, though he assumed it.in fact; but he did
outside of which there is no ordinary salvation. . No dis-         clairri and exercise, as far as he could, an absolute authority
tinction is made between the Church and the Kingdom, nor           over the temporal powers of Christendom, which the popes
betiveen  the visible and invisible Church. The Holy, Catho-       have long since  lost,.and  can never regain.
lic, Apostolic, Roman Church has been to popes as visible
and tangible as the German Empire, or the Kingdom of                  Hildebrand was convinced that, however unworthy per-
France, or the Republic of Venice. Besides this Church no          sonally, he was, in his official character, the successor of
other is recognized,, not even #the Greek, except as a schis-      Peter, and as such the vicar of Christ in the militant Church.
matic branch of the Roman.                                         He again and again expressed his feeling of personal un-
                                                                   worthiness in various expressions. He entirely identified
  This ideal is the growth of ages. It was prepared for            himself with Peter as the head of the apostolic college, and
by pseudo-Isidor in the ninth, and by St. Augustine in the         the keeper of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; but he
fifth century.                                                     forgot that in temporal affairs Peter was an humble sub-
       St. Augustine, the greatest theological authority of the    ject  under a hostile government, and exhorted the Chris-
Middle Ages, first ident'ified the visible Catholic Church with    tians to honor the king (I Peter 2  :17) at a time when a
the City or Kingdom of God. In his great apologetic work,          Nero sat on the throne. He constantly appealed to the
De  C&&ate   Dei,  he traced the relation of this Kingdom to       famous words of Christ, Matt.  16:18, 19, as if they  were
the changing and passing kingdoms 6f this world, and fur-          said to himself. The pope inherits the lofty position of
nished, we may say, the programme of the mediaeval theo-           Peter. He is the Rock of the Church. He is the universal
cracy which, in theory, is adhered to by the Roman. Church         bishop, a title against which the first Gregory protested as
to this day. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical concerning           an anti-Christian presumption. He is intrusted with the
the Christian constitution of States  (Imwm=tale  Dei,, Nov.  _ care of all Christendom (including the Greek Church, which
1, lSS.5), defends the mediaeval theory of Church and State,       never acknowledged him). He has absolute and final juris-
and refers to the authority of St. Augustine as having clearly     diction, and is responsible only to God,  .and to no earthly
set forth the true principles on this subject for all time to      tribunal. He alone can depose and reinstate bishops, and
come. But Augustine was not an ecclesiastic like Cyprian           his legates take precedence of all bishops. He is the supreme
and the popes. He was more interested in theology than             arbiter in questions of right and wrong in the whole Chris-
Church policy; he had little to say about the papacy, and          tian world. He is above all earthly sovereigns. He.can wear
made a suggestive distinction between "the true body  -of          the imperial  insigriia.  He can depose  kings and emperors,
Christ" and "the mixed bddy of Christ," which led the way          and absolve subjects from their oath of allegiance to  m-
tq the Protestant distinction  (,first made by Zwingli) be-        worthy sovereigns.
tween the visible and invisible Church. In the Hildebrandian          These and similar  cl&ms  are formulated in a  doc&ent
controversy he is quoted by both parties, and more fre-            of twenty-seven brief propositions preserved among Greg-
quently than any other father: but neither Gregory nor             ory's letters, which are of doubtful genuineness, but cor-
his most zealous adherents could quote Augustine in favor          rectly express his views, and in a famous letter to Hermann,
of: their hierocratic theory of the apostolic right to depose      bishop of Metz.                                    i
temporal sovereigns.                                                                                                         H.V.

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

                                                                                                                                            meet men de mens niet toeschrijven, also hij zichzelf
               The  Voics of Our Fathers                                                                                                    door zijn vrije wil zou onderscheiden van anderen,
                                                                                                                                            d i e   m e t   e v e n   grptr  o f   g e n o e g z a m e   g e n a d e   t o t   h e t
                                                                                                                                            g e l o o f   e n   d e   b e k e r i n g   v o o r z i e n   z i j n ,   ( h e t w e l k   d e
                                                                                                                                            h o v a a r d i g e   ketterij   v a n   P e l a g i u s   s t e l t )   ;  maar   m e n
                         The Canons of Dordrecht                                                                                            moet het Gode toeschrijven . . .
                                                PART TWO                                                                                    Corrected English
                            EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS                                                                                        But that others who are called through the ministry
                .THIRD                                                                                                                      of the Gospel come and are converted is not to be
                                AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE                                                                                ascribed to man, as though he through a free will
      OF TISE CORRUPTION OF MAN, HIS CONVERSION TO GOD,                                                                                     d i s t i n g u i s h e d   h i m s e l f   f r o m   o t h e r s ,   f u r n i s h e d   w i t h
                                                                                                                                            equal or sufficient grace for faith and conversion
                            AND THE MANNER THEREOF                                                                                          (which the proud heresy of  Pelagius  maintains), but
                                                                                                                                            it is to be ascribed to God . . .
                   A r t i c l e   1 0 .   B u t   t h a t   `others who are called by the
                   gospel, obey the call, and are converted, is not to be                                                      As may be readily seen, the fathers draw a sharp con-
                   ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby                                                  trast here between man and God:  f'. . . It is not to be
                   one distinguishes himself above  oIthers,  e q u a l l y   fur-                                        ascribed to man . . . but to God . . ." And the accepted trans-
                   nished with grace sufficient for fa ith  &d conversion,
                   as the  aroud.  h e r e s v   o f   P e l a a i u s maintains; but it                                  lation ignores this, and thus alters the emphasis of the
                   m u s t   b e   w h o l l y   a s c r i b e d   t o   G o d ,   w h o .   a s   h e   h a s            article.
                    chosen his own from eternity in Christ, so he  cbn-                                                        There is another important omission. The accepted Eng-
                    fers upon them faith and repent:mce,  fescues  t h e m                                                lish version completely leaves out an entire clause: The
                   f r o m   t h e   p o w e r   osf  d a r k n e s s ,   a n d   t r a n s l a t e s   t h e m
                    T.-l-  LT..   1-:.--J  _..^  -I  l-1..  ^____   c.                                                    L&n  is:  `<. . . sed Deo, qui ut suos ab aeterno in Christo ele .
                   11110   LII~   KIII~UUIII   ~`1  ,113  VWIL   aon, t h a t   t h e y   m a y
                    show forth the praises of him, who hath called them                                                   ,git,  ita  eosdem in tempore efficaciter  vocat . .  ." The clause
                    o u t   o f   d a r k n e s s   i n t o   h i s   m a r v e l o u s   l i g h t ;   a n d   m a y     beginning with  itn is eliminated in the English. But it is
                   glory not in themselves, but in the Lord, according                                                    important, and should be rendered, in its proper place, as
                   to the testimony  o,f the apostles in various places.                                                  follows:  ". . . but to God, who, ,as he has chosen his own
         Although there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the                                                           from eternity in Christ, thus he in time efficaciously calls
     above rendering of this article, I nevertheless believe that it                                                      those same . .  ."
     considerably softens the thought of the original, - whether                                                               In the third place, it is interesting to note that the series
I  intentinn~llv
     ____-__________,   nr  innncmtlv
                        __ _____- -   T 
                                                _____,( rln
                                                            -    not 
                                                                 _-  know
                                                                      -.-. _..__  and
                                                                                         . .   - am
                                                                                               . .  not-. able
I                                                                                                                         of acts of God mentioned in the last Dart of this article is not
     t o   a s c e r t a i n .   I believe  t1lai.a  colnparison of the Latin, Dutch,                                     presented accurately in the English. The English, having
     and English versions reveals that of the three, the English                                                          omitted an entire clause, then proceeds as follows: ". . . so
     rendering of our Canom is by far the most inaccurate and                                                             he confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them
     also in general the softest, i.e., the least sharp, in its expres-                                                   from the power of darkness, and translates them into the
     sion of the Reformed truth. Thus also in the oresent article.                                                        kingdom of his own Son." This should be, according to
     the translators made an inexcusable omission, and one which                                                          Ithe Latin: "so he in time efficaciously calls the same, gives
     appreciably softens the thought. Allow me to pain; out this, faith and repentance, and translates them, having been torn1
     error by way of comparison:                                                                                          out of the power of darkness, into the kingdom of his own
                                                                                                                          Son."
                   The Latin                                                                                                    Finally,  the idea of purpose could be more forcefully
                    Q u o d   autem   alii,  p e r   ministerium  E v a n g e l i i   v o c a t i ,                       expressed by "in order that they should show forth . .  .."
                   veniunt et convertuntur, i d   n o n   e s t   a d s c r i b e n d u m
                   homini,  t a n q u a m   s e i p s u m   p e r   liberum   a r b i t r i u m   ab                      rather than, "that they  may show forth . . .  "
                    a l i i s   pari   v e l   sufficiente   g r a t i a   a d   fidem  et-  conver-                            With this article we really arrive at the main point  of
                    sionem instructis discernenti (quod  superba  Pelagii                                                 this chapter of the Cartons. This is the doctrine of irresistibie`
                    haeresis statuit), sed Deo . . .                                                                      grace, or,, better stated, the doctrine of the efficacious calling.
                   The English                                                                                            It is positively stated in this article as follows: "Whom God
                    But that others who are called by the gospel, obey                                                    has from eternity chosen in Christ, those same (elect) He in
                    the call, and are converted, is not to be ascribed to                                                 time  e f f i c a c i o u s l y   c a l l s . " And because this is the crucial
                   the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distin-                                                  point of this entirei chapter, the fathers take pains to define
                   guishes himself above others, equally furnished with                                                   it carefully and to state it negatively as well as  positivf,ty.
                   g r a c e   s u f f i c i e n t   f o r   f a i t h   a n d   c o n v e r s i o n ,   a s   t h e
                   p r o u d   h e r e s y   o f   P e l a g i u s   m a i n t a i n s ;   b u t   i t   m u s t   b e    They point out  that the obedient response of some  to the
                   wholly ascribed to God . . .                                                                           call of the gospel is not to be explained according to the
                   The Dutch                                                                                              &-minian   v i e w ,   a n d   t h e r e f o r e ,   p o i n t e d l y   s t a t e d ,   is  sot  t o   b e
                    lfm,~   As+  nnrloran   rln~v  Aa  l~aAZo*ing   des  Eva11  &es                                       ascribed  to  vwn.  But, positively speaking, it is to be  ex-
                    L"saal      U`
                                 aL      cLIIU\-ILAI)      U"
                                                             Ul      UL      OJCUlLll
                    g e r o e p e n   z i j n d e ,   komen  e n   b e k e e r d   worden:  d a t                         @ained  by the efficacious calling of the elect by  `God,  ;illd

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

therefore it is to be  a.scd'ed to God. Very succinctly there-          or infra point of view) maintained sovereign reprobation
fore do the fathers set forth  thesissue  which always separates.       and also the sovereign execution of the purpose of reproba-
the R&formed and the Armini'ans. It is, at every point                  tion, the Arminians charged them with denying the re-
along the line of the doctrine of salvation: God or  n/;laa.            sponsibility of the unbelieving and impenitent. And it is to
       Let us, first of all, in order to see this main point, notice    this latter charge that the fathers address themselves in
how the fathers have led up to it. Not only did they lay                Article 9. This explains the matter historically. But this is
a solid foundation for this doctrine by defining the doctrine           not to say that the matter of the relation between the counsel
of the total depravity and total inability of the natural man           of reprobation and its sovereign execution, on the one hand,
very carefully ; but in a way the immediately preceding                 and, on the other, the responsibility of the unbeliever for
articles constitute a steadfast refusal on the part of the              his own unbelief and impenitence could not stand some elu-
fathers to be led astray by any' false side issues raised by            cidation also in our confessions. It could. But this is not
the Arminians. In effect they say to the Arminians : "Stick             the point to discuss it.
`to the point. Give a clear and &equivocal answer to the                    But now we have the main question, namely, how is it
question: to whom is the faith and repentance of those who              to be explained that some, when they are called through the
obey the call of the gospel to be ascribed  ?" Hence, when              ministry of the gospel, come and are converted.
the Arminians call attention to the general call of the
gospel and the question of its seriousness, the fathers say,               Let us understand the question. Just as in the previous
                                                                        article the question did not concern the ultimate, sovereign
first of all: "Never mind." That is not the question. We too
believe that the gospel must be proclaim&d promiscuously,               reason behind the unbelief of many, that is, not the  decre-
and that when it is generally proclaimed it is  seKously                tive. reason, so also in the present article we are not imme-
meant. We never denied that, but have always insisted upon              diately concerned with the ultimate, or decretive, reason for
it, that God means every word of what He says in the gos-               the faith and conversion of others. Just as the previous
pel. This does not mean, as you would have it, that the                 article deals specifically with the spiritual, ethical reason
gospel constitutes a well-meaning offer and promise on the              for the unbelief of many, so the present article also deals
part of God to all to whom it is proclaimed, however. It is             with the spiritual, ethical reason for the faith and obedience
                                                                        of some in response to the gospel-call. Just as the previous
not at all necessdry  to maintain a `well-meant, general prom-          article. deals with the blame, guilt, fault of the unbelief of
ise in order to maintain a serious gospel. And therefore,
do not attempt to confuse the issue by charging us with                 many, so the present article deals with the praise-worthiness
denying the seriousness of the generally proclaimed gospel."            of the-faith and obedience of some. Just as, from this spe-
                                                                        cific point of view, the previous article answers the question,
But the Arminian is ndt finished with his confusing tactics.            to whom the sin of unbelief and impenitence is to be ascribed,
He now comes with the charge that the fathers deny the                  so the present article answers the question, to whom the
responsibility and the guilt of those who do not obey the               favorable response of faith and conversion is to be ascribed.
call of the gospel. And the fathers in effect reply again :
"That is not the  issue either: We do not place the guilt of               Now it is true that the present article goes a step farther,
unbklief either upon the gospel, or upon Christ, or upon                and it connects this spiritual, ethical reason of the faith of
God. If you speak of the guilt, the blame, the fault of the             some with the ultimate, decretive, reason for it. And this
unbeliever's unbelief and impenitence, then we too place it             is necessary too, for the simple reason that you cannot main-
squarely where it belongs, that is, upon the unbeliever him-            tain the doctrine of sovereign election unless you. maintain
self. We have never denied that, nor do we have to deny                 that the sovereign decree is also sovereignly executed and
.it. It is not necessary to maintain a general atonement and            realized. But we must emphasize now that the stage is not
a general, well-meant offer of grace in order to maintain               that of eternity, but of time ; it! is no% that of the sovereign
the responsibility of the unbeliever -for his own unbelief  and         decree, but that of the realization of the sovereign decree.
impenitence. It is merely necessary to maintain that the                Moreover, the article is concerned with the matter of the
particular gospel is generally proclaimed, and that through             relation between the realization of the decree of election,
this general proclamation men are placed  ip a position                 the preaching of the gospel, and the heart of man. We are
where they must respond either favorably or unfavorably                 .at the point where the three coincide. And the question is :
to the call of the gospel, and that the unbeliever then in full         which is primary  ? Which is the controlling factor? Or, as
accord with the inclination and condition of his own corrupt            the fathers saw the issue: who is in control at this juncture,
heart and mind and will responds unfavorably to the  gospel-            God or man?
call." It is in this connection, incidentally, that we may a&o             And as  we- have insisted from the outset, this question
notice the reason why the Ca.nons  do not speak of reproba-             is inextricably interwoven with the matter of the sovereign
tion in Article 9, nor of the fact that also the purpose of             decree of predestination. Sometimes it is claimed that it is
reprobation is sovereignly executed. This was not the issue.            possible to maintain that the eternal decree is unconditional,.
Rather, on the basis that the fathers (whether from the supra                                 (Co&wed   otc   page  356)


                                           T H E   STANDAR,D   B E A R E R                                                     355

                                                                  portant question concerning the scope of  Synodical  author-
           DECENCY and ORDER                                      ity and the proper relation of the individual churches to the
                                                                  Synod. Dr. H. Bouwman asserts that in 1571 when the first
                                                                  Synod, of Reformed Churches in the Low Countries was
              Ecclesiastical Assemblies                           held in Emden, Germany, and when provision was made in
                                                                  the Emden Church Order for the four kinds of ecclesiastic4
   The origin of ecclesiastical assemblies as we know them        assemblies as are mentioned in Art. 29 of our present church
today must seemingly be traced to the period of the Reforma-      order, that, "The churches of our forefathers ,yielded some of
tion. The Presbyterial system is one of the fruits of the 16th    their individual rights regarding government and discipline
century Reformation. In Scripture itself we do not' read  of      for the sake of and general welfare of the churches." (2)
Classes and Synods. The meeting convoked in Acts 15, at              This question we shall discuss more fully in connection
which the question of Gentile circumcision and subjection to      with a later article of the church order but we do wish to
the law of Moses was decided fo$ the churches, cannot prop-       pass on to our readers an interesting quotation from Monsma
erly be called a Synod. It was not a representative gathering     and Van Dellen  which touches on this matter and in which
of the various churches. It must undoubtedly be regarded as       they write about the "character of ecclesiastical assemblies"
something unique and that it had authority to decide on           in connection with the present article. There are two parts
such matters as vitally affected the churches at large must be    to the quotation. The first part concerns the possibility of
attributed to the fact that the apostles were present.            broader or major assemblies. We quote:
   Schaaf, in his "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge:'             "Regarding the nature of ecclesiastical assemblies, note
defines a Synod as "an assembly of representatives of  the        first of all that according to Reformed church polity, only
church for the discussion and decision of questions of faith.     such churches as are confessionally like-minded can have
points of discipline, and morals." (1 j He then proceeds to       part in these gatherings. For churches to be federally united,
trace the history of Synods from as early as the year 160         these must have a common conception of Holy Writ, and
and 175 A.D. However, these "Ecclesiastical Councils" were        thus a common working platform. Co-operation and promo-
not the same as Synods as we know them in post-Reformation        tion of each other's welfare would be impossible without con-
times.                                                            fessional unity. Ecclesiastical federation without confessional
   Concerning these Schaaf writes : "The home of the new          unity would make for shallowness and fruitlessness, or else
synodal system was the  Reframed  Church, in which  ques-         for trouble and constant conflict." (3)
,tions of organization were regarded as of more importance           The truth in the above quote greatly strengthens our con-
than among the Lutherans. The presbyterial organization           viction that the separation which took place in our churches
established by Calvin at Geneva became the model for all the      in 1953 was both necessary and justified. In the light of the
Reformed churches. That of France was the first to develop        very apparent doctrinal and confessional differences that ex-
the  synodical  system for a national church.  .At the first      isted, unity in ecclessiastical  assemblies was, made impossible.
national synod (1559) ti was resolved that no local church        The common working platform was lacking. There was no .
should have any precedence over any other; that general           common conception of Holy Writ. The principiks  and usages
synods should  meet from time to time as occasion arose,          of our Protestant Reformed Churches were trampled under
composed of the ministers and one or more elders or deacons       foot. Many no longer desired to labor on this platform and
from each church, uiider  a president elected at the meeting ;    all this made the function of ecclesiastical assemblies im-
that in each province twice a year the ministers and at least     possible. Either there  l;ad to be a separation or perpetual
one elder or deacon from each congregation should meet in         conflict. Furthermore, the history of the la& three years con-
synod. In 1565 the composition of the national syhods was         firms the justification of the separation still more. It is in-
changed to either one or two elected ministers and elders         conceivable that those who seriously seek to maintain the
from each provincial synod. These synods, of mixed clerical       principles and practices of the Protestant Reformed Churches
and lay character, were charged with the government of the        could be a party to many of the decisions and actions taken
Church. On the same lines proceeded the organization of the       by the assemblies of the group that left our churches. Some
Reformed Churches of Scotland, the Netherlands and north-         of their own have even felt this. Take, for example, the
westen!  Germany. (L t
                        a er American Reformed Churches           matter of missions and relations with other churches. It is
were patterned after the same French polity). The polity          quite conceivable that they today can unite on a common
was in each case built up on a national basis  ; the idea of      platform with other denominations and there are indications
completing it by an international organization seems to have      that efforts are being put forth in that direction but if such
been unknown, and the Synod of Dort was a mere isolated           unity with these same denominations should be effected with
exception." ( 1)                                                  those who adhere to the true principles of the Protestant
   The statement, "These synods were charged with the             Reformed Churches (which it will not be) the result would
government of the church," raises the interesting' and  im-       be "shallowness and fruitlessness,  or else trouble and constant


3 5 6                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  conflict." Such is inevitably the case where doctrjnal differ-       be finished in minor assemblies, or such as pertain to the
  ences exist. One must become  superficial in conviction and          ~Churches  of the major assembly in common."
  run rough-shod over their doctrine or there will be a clash              This article is of fundamental importance. Only a slight
  with all that runs repugnant to the truth. Of course, if in          addition is proposed by the Revision Committee of the
  essence the doctrinal differences are first obliterated there is     Christian  RefolTmed  Church. In their report this article  ?p:
  a common platform for unity and .this is obviously, though           pears as Art. 45 and it reads as follows :
  not admittedly, the case with those who departed from US.            `(The  proceedings of all assemblies shall begin with
  Ecclesiastical assemblies can function only on the basis  of         calling upon the Name of God and shall be closed with
  a true unity of faith.                                               thanksgiving. In these assemblies ecclesiastical matters onl?r
      The second part of the quotation concerns the matter of          shall be transacted and that in an ecclesiastical manner.
  the relation between the churches and the broader assemblies.        Decisions  slmtld be taken by  cowtmon consent,  mad,  ,if pos-
  We quote:                                                            sible,  zl.nan&ozrsZy.  (Italics is ours). In major assemblies
      "Secondly, Churches ecclesiastically federated are and           only such matters shall be dealt with as could not be finished
  remain complete in themselves. The various local Churches            in minor assemblies, or such as pertain to the churches of the
  do not dissolve themselves into a large classical Church, or         major assembly in common."
into a national,  synodical  church. The  local  congregation is           Only the part we have underscored in the above is really
  a complete manifestation of the body of Christ, a unit in itself,    additional to the present article. The first part of this re-
  and is not to be looked upon as a sub-division of a large            vised article simply combines Article 32 of our present church
  super-Church ruling with superior power.                             order with `this article. The additional material, therefore,
      "Furthermore, the nature of ecclesiastical federation            concerns the manner in which ecclesiastical decisions are to
  (kerkverband  is the Dutch term) is nevertheless such that           be arrived at.
  the major assemblies exercise a binding authority regarding              Concerning Article 30, the Rev. G. Ophoff writes :
  all matters which concern the Churches in general and which              "This article is very important. It is the bulwark against
  have not been specifically left to the individual Churches ~lr       hierarchy. If the major assemblies treat such cases that
  congregations. At major assemblies the individual Churches           belong to the minor assemblies, it makes decisions for the
  act in unison by common consent.  Decisions must therefore           minor  assembli& and this leads to .hierarchy.  The consistories
  be respected unless proven contrary to the Bible or the              more and more lose their autonomous character as they
  Church Order previously agreed upon.                                 become more and more dependent upon the major as-
                                                                       semblies."
      "Reformed Church polity therefore upholds the integrity              The material of this article may be divided into three
  of the local Church, but at the same time does full justice          parts :
  to all the Churches federally united and the spiritual unity             (1) The character of material to be treated in ecclesias-
  underlying the federation. Also because of this spiritual            tical assemblies,  '
  unity in Christ and confessional unity doctrinally, by God's             (2) The Manner in which ecclesiastical assemblies are
  providence, gderation is not left merely to the judgment of          to function,,
  each Church. There is a very defmite spiritual obligation                (3) The Scope of Authority respecting material to be
  flowering forth from a real spiritual union and agreement            treated in major  ecclesia&ical  assemblies.
  which makes ecclesiastical federation and its `implications              The'se we purpose, D.V., to discuss in forthcoming is-
  mandatory upon the churches." (4)                                    sues.
      This quotation speaks for itself. Since we purpose to                                                                       G.V.D.B.
  write more on this subject later, we shall refrain from com-
  ment now and turn our attention to Article 30 of our Church
  Order.                                                                                 THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
                                                                                            (Coil   timed  f~*owz.  page  354)
  (1) Schaaf, iEncyclopedia, of Religious Knowledge. Vol. III,.        but that, the offer, or promise, of the gospel is general and
         p .   2 7 9 .                                                 conditional. But this is impossible. If we see the relationship
  (2)  Gerefwwaee9~d  Ke-rk,veclzt,  Vol. II, p. 2.                    between the two as it is set forth in the present article, we
  (3)  The  C7zzwcla  Order Commentary,  p. 132                        will be driven to the conclusion that if the one is,conditional,
  ( 4 )   Ibed,  p.  1 3 3 .                                           the other must also be conditional. You cannot maintain
                                                                       sovereign election without maintaining uncompromisingly
                                                                       the efficacious calling. And you cannot maintain the effica-
                                Article 30                             cious calling unless you maintain with the fathers, over
      "11 these assemblies ecclesiastical matters only shall -be       against the proud heresy of the Pelagians. that the promise
 transacted and that in an ecclesiastical manner. In major             of the gospel is absolutely unconditional.
 -assemblies only such matters shall be dealt with as could not                                                                    H.C.H.


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 357

     THE SYMBOLISM OF METALS  IN-  THE                               whereas brass is a composition of copper and zinc ; bronze
                    OLD TESTAMENT                                    being a composition of copper and tin). Iron (barzel, Gn.
                                                                     4:22) is a symbol of hardness and stubbornness, as in Isa.
    Perhaps the most fitting passage of scripture to be read         45  :4, "thou art  obitinate  (Heb., hard), and thy neck is  an
in this connection would be the twentieth-eighth chapter .jf         iron sinew." Iron also stands for an unyielding hardness, as
Job where we have a contrast between earth's most precious           in Deut. 25 :23;"heavln  that is over thy head shall be brass,
metals, and the greatest prize of heaven, wisdom. The.               and the earth that is under thee shall be iron." Iron also
chapter touches upon the process of mining, and the miner's          connotes the qualities of boldness (Jer. 1  :18), and per-
life, mentioning four of the six metals which are named in           manence (Jer. 17 :l ) . Then follow the remaining, and minor,
scripture. These metals are silver, gold, iron and copper `metals.  Lea.d  (Ophereth,  Ex. 15  :lO) comes from a word
("brass," 5.V.). The other t&o metals mentioned elsewhere            meaning "to be whitish, or, light reddish." From this text
in the Bible are lkad and tin. Where the Authorized Version:         it would seem that iead has significance as a symbol of the
makes reference to "steel," the word is properly "copper."           reprobate, who were made to sink "as' lead in the mighty
The chapter recommended above is one of the most ancient             waters" of the Red Sea. Tin (Bedhil, Nu. 31 :22) is a metal-
pieces of literature in the world, and indicates that *the art of    lic element found chiefly in combination with inferior metals
mining was then  well known in  the East. Many nations at            and waste substances. This  te'xt lists all the six metals known
a considerably later period showed little knowledge about  it:       to the ancients, "the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron,
This certainly gives the lie to the theory of evolution that         the tin, and the lead," as does also Ezek. 27  :12, 13, 22,
the first ages of the world were rude and savage! It would           where they are considered as riches, merchandise and means
seem that  one of the most central thoughts in this part of          of  <trade.  In Ezek.  22:18, 20, 22, tin and lead are used to
Holy Writ is that no labor is counted too great to be expended       picture Israel adjudged as dross consumed by the fire of
for material things, but that every expenditure for spirituai        the smelting furnace. "The house of Israel is to Me become
things is regarded as too much! Briefly, the chapter may be          dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the
divided as follows:  I.. The World's Wealth Painstakingly            midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver."
Sought, l-11. II. God's Wisdom the Real Treasure,  12-25.                Now before we go any further, and become more involved
A. The value of it inestimable (12, 13, 1519), B. The place          in this line of thought, it  is to be noticed that we do not
of it secret (12, 14,  Z&22),   C. Hidden in God (23-28)  ;  1.      concur with those theologians who find no symbolical mean-
The will of His decree: a. All events are governed by His            ing in the metals of Scripture. This is clearly indicated from
providence (24,  2.5),  b.. All events are from eternity designed    what we have. already written. P Fairbairn is one of those
and determined by an infallible foreknowledge and an im-             who would rather avoid the subject altogether, although he
mutable decree  (26, 27). 2. The will of His `precepts  (28),        will admit that in connection with the Tabernacle, brass is
This implies that man's greatest blessing lies not in the            the predominant metal in the furniture of the outer court,
abundant resources of the earth, nor in the knowledge of the         whereas the sanctuary itself contains silver and gold, which
secrets of nature, nor even in a proper and orthodox acquies-        signifies the progressiveness of Divine revelation, as His
cence with Divine providence, but in "the fear of  the               glory and excellence become increasingly revealed. In con-
Lord . .  ."                                                         trast to this, the metals mentioned in the image of Dan.  2
   The four basic metals before. mentioned are also men-             reveal a degradation, which proceeds from the "head of gold"
tioned in the very first book of the Bible, which confirms the       (v.  38) `to the  ,"iron"  of the fourth kingdom. For tho, there
contention that man was familiar with them, and had  the use         is increase of strength noted, there is also a deterioration in
of them from the beginning of human history. This, by the            fineness. Therefore, metals in Scripture are involved in the
way . . . The words of themselves, in their etymology throw          symbols and types. It is time now that we state what we
little light upon the subject at hand, but that little is not        mean by these latter terms. A symbol portrays a spiritual
without significance. Gala! Zahabh, Gn. 2 :ll, 12) comes from        fact, principle or relation in a visible form. It refers to
a root meaning "to shine, to glitter, to be yellow." In this         something past or present, as, e.g., the O.T. sacrifice is a
connection, there are five other words translated gold: these        symbol of the spiritual truth that "without the shedding of
Hebrews words, as a good concorda&e  will show, are trans-           blood there is no reniission." A type, however, is prospective
lated  `<best gold," "pure gold," "refined gold," lifine  gold,"     of a future reality. The serpent of brass lifted up on a pole
and "ore of gold." Silver  (keseph, Gn. 13  :2) means "to be         is a type.
pale." Bmss  (nechosheth, Gn.  4:4)  is, basically, "to be              We must determine what spiritual truth the symbols
bright," and, strictly, the proper translation of the word is        signified to the Old Testament believers, rather than from
coppes, as in Ezra  8  127, where we read  of "fine copper,          the very beginning piace upon them the dress and weight of
precious as goid." This is clear from Deut. 8 :9, which speaks       the N.T. realization.. For the latter method leads to strange
of the land with iron, "and out of whose hills thou mayest           interpretations, such as that the four lepers at  Samaria  (II
dig brass" (i.e., copper). (Note : coppe; is a native element, Ki. 7 :l-3) represent the four evangelists. Now the symbol is

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

 first and basic. It is basic to the understanding of the type.      pure words : as silver tried in a furnace," Ps. 12 :6). These
  But it might be objected that if a symbol his a picture of a       impurities of "brass" and iron, removed in the smelting
 certain present reality, it would seem that it could not be a       process, are regarded as "reprobate silver," and depict the
 prefiguration of a future reality. However, the things sym-         reprobate of the nation, "because the Lord hath rejected
 bolized, and the things typified are not essentially different      them." (Jer. 6  :25-30).  The other side of this picture, thrt
 things. They are fundamentally the same things; only the            of <the Lord's disciplining the righteous, is exemplified in the
 symbols are first in a more primary stage of development,           words, "Behold, I have refined. thee, but not with silver,,: I
 and point up to a spiritual truth. Whereas the types are later,     have chosen thee in furnace of affliction" (Isa.  4S:lO).
 and of a higher development, and so point forward to  R             According to the original, the text says, "I refined thee, but
 further and fuller manifestation of the truth. Thus the sym-        not  in [in the manner of j silver." There are other texts, to
 bol presents an already existent` edition of the truth ; and the    be sure,' which speak of God's people being precious to Him,
 type presents the prospect of the final *edition  of the truth.     and as such tried as silver in the fire (cf. Ps.  66:lO).  But
 Not every symbol becomes a type, but every type was first           that idea is not in view in this Isaianic passage. Here, the
 a symbol. Thereiore  the symbolism must be understood be-           Lord says, I have refined thee, but not in the way in which
 fore the  typology  can be appreciated. This is clearly seen        silver  is refined. The point being that silver has some con-
 in the instance of the Tabernacle. There symbol and type            siderable value, even to start with, before the smelting of it
 are practically inseparable. God dwelling with His church           in the furnace. But the refining process God has put us to,
 is symbolized as  fat as the O.T. church is concerned. This         according to this figure, finds no merit in us, -only dross.
 same truth is typified as to the final state of the Christian       Such a refining' as for example silver is refined, would re-
 church.                                                             veal a particular good, after the dross is burned! away. But
         Care, must also be  given  to determine whether the         Isaiah emphasizes an entirely different idea. We have been
 elaborations of symbolism are intended to teach what some           iefined in the way of the cross, a way which reveals no good
 have deduced from them. For there are many minute coin-             in us. Thus, the Lord in effect says, "I have refined thee,
 cidences which any reader may find, or think he finds, for          but  haie not found any good in thee," -indeed, no more
 himself. Always remember that Scripture in any text has             than in the reprobate silver ! But the implication is, that tho
 one central and basic meaning, and therefore its incidental         God takes us who  tire by nature like refuse silver, dross,
 details by this-enlarged and extended method of interpreta-         nothing but dross, and tries that dross by the fire of His
 tion would imply that Scripture is actually a latent ency-          discipline, there nevertheless comes forth from that refining
 clopedia of religious knowledge. In keeping with this prin-         the purest gold ! That could only be because God puts into
 ciple, when the Lord states that it is easier for a camel to go     the crucible what could not be there by nature, and what :s
 thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into          there because of His purpose of election. He has chosen us
 `the kingdom of heaven, it is plain that it was never His intent    to that refinement: "I- have chosen thee in the furnace."
 to make a comparison between a rich man and a camel, nor            "From Me is thy fruit found" (Hos. 14 :S).
 to elicit from the thoughtful reader such inquiries as to what         Having dealt with the two baser metals (lead and tin),
 the hump(s) or the double stomach signify. For Scripture            we-continue in the scale to consider one more thought with
 does  not provide material for general analogies, but presents      respect to iron. This is also in Scripture a symbol of strength
 a specific analogy confined to one particular truth.                ("Iron  ~sharpeneth  iron, so a man sharpeneth  the countenance
     Now to return once more to a point we merely touched            of his friend," (Prov. 27 :17), and as such is used of Israel
 upon, that of the silver smelting and refining process, which       ("I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs
 in the Psalms and the Prophets signifies God's correction of        brass," Mic. 4 :13) ; is used of the power of. the fourth king-
 the righteous, and the punishment of the wicked. The latter         dom of Daniel 2 (33-45). So also the "rod of iron"  (Ps.
 is portrayed in the smelting action, which separates certain        2:9)  expresses ii-resistible might. This idea of hardness and
 lead deposits, like a heavy slag, from the silver ore, as a         irresistibility is also present in  the: metaphorical usage of Lcv.
result of its weight, thus leaving the silver pure. The other        26 :19, where the figure is that of a dazzling, burning heat and
 metals mentioned in the silver ore, - "brass, and iron, and         drought consumjng-the  land. "I will make your  heaven as
               .  2,
 lead, and  tm,  - were regarded as impurities which  com-           iron, and your earth as brass." (cf. also Deut. 28 :23).
 pbsed the dross of silver. "As silver is melted . . . so  sha.11       The symbolic meaning of brass  ,taken by itself is first
 ye be melted (in) . . . . My fury . .  ." (Ezek. 22  :20, 22).      revealed in the Book of Exodus where the directions for the
 This expressing judgment upon the total depravity of the            construction of the brazen altar are found. This altar was
 wicked. In this connection, "brass" and iron were regarded          made of acacia wood and overlaid with brass (27:lf),  since
 ai the dross of silver, as is also brought out in another place.    this metal was the easiest to clean, and was the most resistant
 "They are brass and iron ; they are all ,corrupters," corrupt-      to the consuming fire. The brazen altar was a type of Christ
 ing the pure silver. by which is meant the  preci0mne.w   of        upon  the cross, offering Himself as our whole burnt-offering
 spiritual wisdom and purity. ("The words of the Lord are            "without s@t to God" (Heb. 9:14).  The brass plates cover-


                                             THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      359

 in& the acacia wood symbolize Christ in His human nature             but Christ and His church redeemed and glorified, the rest-
 bearing the righteous judgment of God by the power of His            ing of its supports upon silvkr imply the perfect responsibility
 divine nature. For the brass adumbrates  the manifestation of        of  .Christ  to redeem and uphold us in our standing before
 God's judgment. Moses signified this judgment of the cross           God. Note: In the N.T., "silver" is used five times in con-
when he "made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole"             nection with the price of a slave, seven times, in connection
 (Nu.  21:9)  as. a type of Christ lifted up on the; cross and        with filthy lucre (which has no redeeming power: "thy
 made sin for us. For the Son of man had-to  bk lifted  up            silver is become dross," (Isa. 1  :22), yet where we might
 (John 3 :14), and that in judgment : "Now is the judgment            expect it to be mentioned in a good connection, namely among
 df &is world . . . And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, wiil     the precious building materials of the New Jerusalem, it Is
 draw all (Gr.) `unto Me. This He said, signifying what               not "once referred to ! Apparently silver cannot convey
 death He should die" (12 :31-33). There at the brazen altar          strongly enough the idea of that incomparable glory ! :But
 the sins of the people were judged, as were the defilements          what can!
 of the priests at the brazen laver. For this reason the altar           Gold `signifies the glorious majesty of God. "The Al-
 had to be stable, strong and resistant. Brass connotes this          mighty shall be thy (Betser) gold  ore" (Job 22  :25  ; same
 idea in Job: "His bones (i.e., behemoth's) are as strong             word in v. 24). That same glory is on the church. "The
 pieces of biass," and, "is my flesh of brass ?" (40 :lS ; 6 :12).    King's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of
 Cf. Deut. 33  :25a. When Christ Himself, the Sacrifice  tin          wrought gold" (Ps. 45 :13 ; 9). The King Himself is adorned
 that altar, is described as the Divine Judge, He is revealed         with' the blessings of goodness, and crowned with "a crown
 with "feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace"     of pure gold on His head" (Ps. 21 :3). His throne is in `<the
 (Rev. 1 :15). The Redeemer-Judge Himself is alone able fo            city (of) gold, like unto clear glass" (Rev.  21-18, 21). Unto
 endure the fire of Divine wrath and judgment! He alone               Him  are brought gifts of gold  (Ps.  `72:lS; Mt.  2:11)., be-
 "hath broken the gates of brass" (Ps. 107 :16) <that we may          fitting the glory of His person. The golden altar and the
 never be judged for our sins !                                       golden tenser  are types of the Christ of glory making- inter-
    He has borne that eternal judgment of God on the cross            cession for them whom God had given Him. The table of
 for all His elect people. For this  reason "judgment must            skewbread,.  overlaid with pure gold, bore a crown of gold
 begin at the house of God." What then "shall the end (the            (Es. 25  :23ff),  and represents Christ as the Bread of Life,
 final issue) be of them that obey not the gospel of God?             who is now crowned with glory and honor. (He. 2 :9).
 (I Pe.  4:17). Something of this is brought out in the fact             The false church has always shown contempt for the
 that tho most of the sockets of the sanctuary were of silver,        glory of God and of His church ; witness Nebuchadnezzar
 the sockets for the foundation pillars of the door of the            removing  *the golden vessels of the temple. And the false
 house of God were of brass (Ex.  27:16).  There judgment             church has always imitated the glory of th.e true church  witn
 first begins with God's people. The priest, representing             2 counterfeit glory : "tho thou  deckest  thee with ornaments of
 th&, c~ulcl not approach that ,door without first coming to          gold . . . . in vain shalt thou  make thyself fair"  (Jer, 4  :30).
 the brazen altar with the proper' sacrifice, and then at the         The ruling power of the antichristian world makes the same
 brazen laver (he washed "thereat," not "therein"  - Ex.              God-dishonoring attempt, being arrayed in purple, and decked
 30  :lSffj  Christ, in  `type, cleansed him. For "if I wash thee     with gold, and precious stones, and bearing a golden cup
 not, thou hast no part with Me" (Jn. 13 :Sj. This laver also         signifying worldly glory, but which God brands as fornica-
 exemplifies a judgment of self. "For if we would judge our-          tion ! (Rev. 17  :4). This "glory" shall be destroyed. Then
 selves,  we should not be judged" (I Cor.  11:31 j. It had           shall be heard the cry, "How is the gold become dim! how
 been made of the brass mirrors that belonged to the women            is the most fine gold changed ! the stones of the sanctuary are
 who assembled at the door of the tabernacle (Ex. 38 :S) . Th.ls      poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of
 in selfjudgment they saw .no beauty in the flesh (Ro. 7 :lS),        Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as
 and made an abasing of their pride, and in willingly parting         earthen pitchers" (Lam. 4 :l, 2). This is another way of say-
 with their mirrors gave evidence of a desire for cleansing           ing that the glory has departed ! (Cf. Ezek. 27 :22 with .25 ;
 from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, that there might he     Dan. 2 :37 with 38; and Rev. 18 :7 with 12, 16, 23).
 truth and beauty on the inward parts. "He will beautify the             But the glory and beauty of the true church shall remain,
 meek with salvation" (Ps. 149:4).                                    and continue undimmed, `as typified in the golden lampstand
    Silver was a medium of exchange as early as Abraham               which provided the light in the Holy Place. No natural light
 (Gn. 23  :15f). It was used to purchase, "that we may buy            was permitted to penetrate this sanctuary  ; only the light
 the poor for silver" (Am.  8  6, 2  :6). Silver is allied to the     radiating from the seven olive-oil lamps of the golden lamp-
 idea of redemption. Silver was redemption money (Ex. 30:             stand (not `candlestick') . This beautiful piece of furniture
 11-16) used to make the sockets of the sanctuary  (26:19).           was a type of Christ mystical, i.e.. of Christ as Head together
 The house of God, then, has its foundation in redemption ;           with His body, the church. He is the Lamp of the new para-
 and  as the tabernacle and all its furniture depicts nothing         dise (Rev. 22 :5), "for the glory of God did lighten it, and


 360                                         T H E   S T A N D`ARD'  B E A R E R

 the Lamb is the light thereof" (22 :23). Our inseparable one-        in faith and upright in walk. This stand of the Consistory is
 ness `with Christ is typified by the branches of that lampstan.1.    note-worthy and commendable.
 The branches were the light-bearers (type of `the believers),            Loveland did not take #this stand on the basis of the fact,
 and were one with the main stem of the seven-branched lamp-          that the Protestant Reformed Churches also take that stand.
 stand. .-It was .a11 beaten out of the same piece of pure gold.      They are fully aware of  ,our stand in regard to these matters.
 How beautifully this typology  is. preadjusted to the truth we       They took this stand because they sincerely believe that such
 learn later in Scripture, that we are crucified together with        membership in the Lodge is incompatible with the very es-
 Christ, also raised and seated together with Him on  ,His            sence of the Christian religion itself! They consciously took
 -throne,  -glorified with `Him. For the church is one with           the stand, that, if they did not do so, they would be dis-
 Him in glory, and in the ultimate earthly manifestation of the       obedient to Christ, and would not exercise the Keys of the
 perfection of Divine glory!                                          Kingdom of heaven as they` should according to Questions
      Now, finally, after coming the God-ordained way into the        83-85 of the Heidelberg Catechism, and according to the
 sanctuary, namely thru the Brazen Altar of the Cross; and            Constitution of the Reformed Hope Church of Loveland.
into the Holy Place, we reverently and joyfully enter the                They confess before the Lord that they had been lax in
 Holiest of All! There is the Ark of the Covenant. Now we             the matter of discipline; they are very conscious of the truth
 may experience -covenant nearness and fellowship with God            that unless they exercise discipline the wrath of God will come
in complete realization. The Ark is covered with a lid called         upon such profanation of the Covenant of God.  -For they
the mercy seat. Upon this two cherubim faced one another,             know and often speak of it that it is impossible to eat'from
 and were not fastened to the mercy seat, but were of one             the table of the Lord and to eat from the table of devils.
piece with it, also signifying our oneness with Christ in-glory.          This question has cut right down through life.
 If you will take the time and care to compare Ezek. 1:5, 10             It is recognized as being the "sword of division of Christ !"
with  lo:20 you will see that the living creatures and the               It is the end, in their mind, of any way of least resistance,
cherubim are the same. The Book of the Revelation men-                which flows from the doctrinal error of antinomism in the
tions the four living creatures (4:6, R.V.) together with the         church, namely, that all our justification, as well as our sanc-
twenty-four elders (5 :&lZ),  the latter wearing "crowns. of          tification is exclusively in-Christ, without its being imparted
gold" (4  :4). Here is all creation represented as glorified,         to us in our lives, in a svtzall bqintzing.
now completely delivered from the bondage of corruption into             This stand of the Consistory was not taken under duress  ;
the liberty of the glory of the children of God (Ro.  8:21,           the undersigned wrote an "Opinion" on this matter. This
R.V.). In Rev. 4 the twenty-four elders sing a song of crea-          "opinion" was studied by the Consistory, given to the brother
tion  (v. 11). In the following chapter they sing a song of           involved, and it was also studied and discussed by many mem-
the New Creation, new creation thru the blood of the Lamb. bers in the congregation. And after two or three months of
The whole universe praises the Lamb (5 :13), saying, "Unto            discussion the brethren elders and deacons voted unanimously
Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the             in favor of decreeing that no one who is member of the Elk
blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion far          L.odge  can be permitted into the fellowship of the Reformed
ever and ever !" And to this cry of joy unspeakable; all crea-        Hope Church, and should anyone be such, (and there was
tion responds with "Amen !" This is too much glory for the            only one  !) after being often and repeatedly warned  in"  a
glorified church. They are too overcome to make any more              brotherly manner, and, if he does not repent, he shall be ex-
utterance., They can only fall down and worship. "And (v.             communicated from the church of Christ until such a time
14) the elders. fell down and worshipped." Could we possibly          that he shows real amendment of life.
have a different spiritual and emotional reaction!        R.C.H.         It was a wonderful evening for the undersigned when he
It                                                               n    heard the elder say: "If God is for us, whom shall we fear.
                  CONTRIBUTIONS                                       This is the will of God." There was no little opposition to
                                                                      $this stand of the Consistory by a brother. May he repent ,f
                     Mistiionary Notes                                this opposition. I was happy to see in Loveland the three
      There is one matter, which I deem of the utmost im-             earmarks of the true church of Christ in the world. Should
portance for the church of Christ in the world, which must be -- this little church in the not too distant future- be organized
reported concerning the congregation in Loveland.                     as a Protestant Reformed Church, they can be admitted  as
      It is the stand which the Consistory of Loveland took in        those who love the like precious faith as we do, and sing
the matter of the membership in the church of Christ and the          "Faith of our fathers living still." "Eternal vigilance is the
Elk-Lodge and simular religious organizations.                        price of liberty" it has been said. I believe that "vigilance"
      The Consistory of Loveland has- taken the stand officially      and "sobriety" in the church are the manifestations of those,
that no one who is a member of the Elks can be a permitted            set free from sin's bondage.
to be a member in good and regular standing, being sound                 They are the freeiborn  sons of Sarah!                     G.L.


