          VOLUMTE  XXXIV                                               DECEMEW.  1, 1957  -  GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                            NUMBER 5

                                                                                                           when  `the messenger was sent to Doctor Smith : "And  tel1
                M  E.  D  1'  T  A  T  1  0  N                                          7 him to hurry up  1"                                           . .
                                                                              0                    lAi
                                                                        :                                       And yet these same Christans would sing : "The loving-
                         BETTER                       THAN                         LIFE?                   kindness of my God is more than life to me  !"  '
                                                                                                                What must we make of al1 this ?
                 "Because   T h y   lovingkindness   7s  better  t h a n   life,  my  lips  shall
                                                                                                                Better than life?
                 praise  Thee!" Psalm  63:3
         In  God's conversation with -Satan  we hear the devil say                                                                    *  *  *  s
     concerning Job : "Skin  for  skin, yea,  al1 that a man hath                                               Yes, better than life !
     wil1 he give for his life !"
:                                                                                                           NO less than the  Holy Spirit says this. And so it must
         Well,  there is much truth in that siatement,  even though                                        b e   t r u e .
     coming from theliar @ar 62rcellanc:                                                                       The lovingkindness f our God is indeed more than life
          Life is very sweet.                                                                              to  US. It is worth more than the  whole  world. Our Lord
         That is,. looked at from a certain vie'wpoint.                                                    held this up to His audience  when he said: What shall it
         Is it  nat true that everything  wil1 be given for a  mans                                        profit  a man if he gain the  whole world and lose his own
     life ?                                                                                               .soul?
       Suppose a millionaire  receives  the news from his doctor                                                The lovingkindness of my God is worth more than al1 the
     that he has an incurable cancer  and that his days are num-                                           sweetness of life, and that includes more than 1 can catalog
     bered, would not such a man give al1 hjs possessions for a                                            in this short meditation. Let's take the sweetest things of
     cure from th dread disease ? Of course, he would.                                                    our life : your wife and child ! They are the very heart of the
                                                                                                           great world in which we live. Sometimes we have heard a'
          There is some kind of popular song which has it that                                             man say when-addressing  his wife or his child:  you are my
     the most important, or the most wonderful things are free.                                            life !
     And it leaves the listener  with the-sentiment  that after   al1 a
     man is very rich, even though he may not possess a solitary                                                That wife and that  child are  placed in a setting that is
     farthing. .                                                                                          indeed wonderful. To that setting belongs the sight of the
                                                                                                           eyes and the hearing of the ear. What shall 1 say of  such
         A man's life. is rich and full.                                                                   beauties, of this world of sight and hearing ?
         And  very sweet.  :;                                                                                   A good man  once said to me:  "You  know,  when 1 look
         Attend to such a man : he is sick, poer, miserable, in great                                      on  al1 this,  al1 these trees,  on. that blue  expanse of the
     pain and anguish.                                                                               . heavens, on the great world of things and movement, of color
          But say to him.: "Curse God, and die !" even as the wife                                         and tune, of form and substance, and then think of my dis-
     of Job, and he,will  turn from you and hate you. He wants                                             solution, 1 fee1 sad! And 1 understood him.
     to live !. Even in. spite of al1 his miseries.                                                             Oh, our life here below is sweet to US, even in dire cir-
          NO, it seems entirely true what Satan said. Skin for skin,                                       cumstances.
     yea, all.that  a man hath wil1 he give for his life ! Satan knew                                         It is not only the worldly man that rushes to the doctor
     his men alright.                                                                         -            first, and then to the minister in days of threatening death.
         1 have seen Christians  who seem to fit this sentiment.                                                A great  many  years  ago 1 heard it  already   when  stil1  a
     You never saw them so intent and so serious and urgent as                                             little boy : A man is not made to die, but to live !
                                                                . .


            98           .'      :.      _                 ~THE   S T . A N D A R D   B E A R E R

              The loss of one's- life is so unnatural.  Death:is the great             In the  morning of the resurrection, in the garden of
            enemy of man.                                                         Joseph, Jesus also said: Thanks ! looking up to heaven. Can
              And yet there is that text : The lovingkindness of my God           you  measure the distances here  ? Both the man  who rode
            is more than life to me ! What must we do with it ?              y o u r   car, and the  Christ-  of God gave thanks, but what
                                                                                  dista& between the one and the Other.
                   And it is so true that the poet continues : So 1 wil1 bless
            Thee while 1 live and lift my prayer  to Thee!                             The man thought of his predicament at the curb: far
                                                                                  from home, and it was raining. And he said : Thank you !
                   And that sentiment brings US to Thanksgiving Day wor-
            ship. It  wil1 soon be here. So soon  tha? it is over by the               Christ thought of His  hel1 and eternal death, and  also
            time you read this. But 1 wil1 act as though you and 1 stand          gave thanks, but what  awful  differente.
            before that day, or on that day.                                           .Think  on that  when you go to church on Thanksgiving
                                                                                  Day.
                   Oh yes, better than life!
                                         *  * +  *                                     It is wel1 that you first go to the desert, and take a good
                                                                             . look at yourself and your life.
                   Better than life!                                                   Then look at God and His lovingkindness.
                                                                                               0
     .             But then there is much that is hollow in our present day            And then say : 1 thank Thee!
     -'              thanksgiving.            .                                        Your thanks shall be heavy, and not hollow.
                   And it is because we do not rightly evaluate  life.                 For, indeed, His lovingkindness is better. than life.
b                  Time and again wehave said that life is sweet. But is it?      .    And so 1 wil1 praise Thee- with my lips ! Well,  that is the
                   That is, if we rightly' consider it.                           ,Old Testament  version of giving thanks. Thanksgiving is
                   I would say in great seriousness: Take a good look in          the praises of God.
            the Mirror. Take a good long look at your self. Did you                    Oh yes, better than'life.
            notice that 1 had the word mirror capitalized ? 1 had in                                              * + * *
            mind, nt the  mirror of quicksilver, but the mirror of  the                                    _-                    0
            Law of Liberty : the Bible. Take a good look at yourself,                  Better than life.
            that is, your  life,  in that Mirror.                                      Let US see.
               -Did it escape you that my text was  composed in the                    We did as we suggested before, we went and stood be-
            wilderness, and that David spoke the words of Jesus Christ            fore the great Law of Liberty, and we looked into it as in a
            many years before His sojourn ? That`this psalm is strongly  mirror.
            Messianic'?                                                                We may just'as wel1 say that the Christian really  always
                   1 can imagine that Jesus.often  quoted the words of Psalm      stands before that Mirror. He is not as the reprobate  who
            63 whirh were spoken before by His servant David. He                  takes a hasty glance into it, and runs away. For a moment
            quoted  David'rather   often anyhow. The most grievous cry            he also saw his natura1 face, but h did not like it and ran.
            He ever uttered He took from David's 22nd psalm : My God,             But the Christian abides before that mirror. He is.constantly
            My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?!                                   reminded of his natura1 face. And 1 assure you that it is
                   David was in the wilderness of Judah, fleeing either be-       terrible.
            fore the fce of Saul or  of.Absalom.  And there he cried this  _          Yes, take a long look at yourself before you prepare  your-
            beautiful psalm. And there he `learned that the lovingkind-           self to give thanks.
            ness of his God was more than life to him. It was in the                   And this is what you wil1 see, have seen, and wil1 see.
            wilderness of Judah that David celebrated Thanksgiving                     You see the face of a liar, a cheat,  a fornicator, a thief,
            D a y .                                                               a corrupter, an idol worshipper, a rebel, an enemy of God.
                   And ,when it was fulfilled in Jesus, it was on the Cross            You see, moreover, a `man,  who is  guilty unto eternal
            that He uttered His great thirst for God. See the first verse `death. With trembling hand you underscore al1  such.  mon-
            of the 63rd psalm, It is a good thing that also we celebrate          strosities  and whisper : Oh God, it is truc : 1 lie in the midst
            Thanksgiving Day  after being in the desert  places.  It is           of death. I am worthy,of al1 Thy wrath! 1 have forfeited al1
            good before we give thanks t take a look in the wilderness.          life, health, strength, sweetness and beauty:                 _ _
                   1 spoke of hollowness-in  our thanksgiving.                         We areo not as nice as we seem.
                   Attend to this : Suppose you give a man-a lift in your              And that means al1 of US.
            car when you see him standing at the curb in the rain. When                God warns US : Put no-confidence in princes  !
            you drop him off at his  destination; and  when he has an                  Even the princes  in Judah are liars;  `and  cheats,   L rebels
            ounce of good marmers,  he wil1 say : Thanks !                        and wholly corrupt.


                                                                                                                                           r


                                                  TEtE  STAN.DARD   `B.EARER  -.                                                                                                                                              99

   What  makes   al1 this of  yourlife  ? Oh, 1  can understand
how the fathers died: oud en der dagen zat! In English                                            T H E   iTANDARD   B E A R E R
you read: old and full of days,~  It has not that deeper mean-                 Se@-monthly,   exeept  monthly.   during   June,   July and  Augub
ing of "zat." "Zat"  means  satiated. They looked at their                      Published by the  REFOFMED  FREE  PUBLISHING  ASSOCJATION
long lif; they saw al1 the corruption of their lives, and they                P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
felt spiritual nausea.`.,                                                                            Editor  =  Fbw.  HERMAN  HOFXSEMA
                                                                               Communications relative to  contents   should  be addressed to
    Our life? The best of our days are labor and sorrow.                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139  Frankl.in  St.; S. E.,
                                                                                                                        Grand  Rapids 7,  Mich.                                           _
    We know  only in part. And sometimes 1 think it is  a,                     All matters relative: to-subscriptions  should be addressd to Mr.
good thing. If we knew and saw ourselves as the angels and                     G. Pipe, 1463  Ardmore  St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
God see US, I.am persuaded that we would cry and weep al1                      Announcements and Obituaries must be  maiIed  to the above
`the day long.                                                                 address  and will be pubhshed at a fee of $1.00 for each   notice.
                                 *.  * 8  *                                    R~NEWAL:  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-.
                                                                               ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes  the subscription
                                                                               to continue without  the formality of a renewal order.
    And now look at God's lovingkindness.                                                                 Subscription  price: $4.00 per year
    It is His eager and earnest  desire,  longing, ardour and                  Entered as  Second  Class  matter at  Grand   Rapick,  Michigan
zeal to bless you.
    When   He  beholds  al1 your misery, He rushes from the
heavens to your help, and people heard the sound of a rush-                                                                  C O N T E N T S
ing mighty wind. The  Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ was on                                                                                                       0
the way to help, to save you. That beauteous Spirit  shed                   MEDITATION  - '
                                                                                   Better than Life?. . . ..___..................  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
abroad the love of God in  your. heart. And` that  makes  al1                                Rev. G. Vos
the  differente.  And the  same Spirit teaches you  al1 things                                                                                                                                                   _-
from the Word. It  tells you that God Himself took your                     EDITOFUALS                 -
.death and corruption, and destroyed it. _                                         Daane's Distortion of Reformed Truth . . . ..____.___..___................  100
                                                                                   The Standard Bearer and Om Future . . . . . .._.__....._...................  101
    And He was,. is and shall be eager, zealous fo do it.                                     Rev. H.  Hoeksema
    Instead of going to  hel1  ~where.  you and 1 belong, that
Spirit shall utterly redeem you, raise you and set, you in                  OUR DOCTRINE -
heavenly            places.              *                                        ~The Book of Revelation _____....................,..................................  102
                                                                                              Rev. H.  Hoeksema
    Then say': 1 thank Thee,. oh my Lord and my God!
    Thanksgiving Day !                                                      THE  DAY OF  SHADOWS  -
                                                                                   The Prophecy of Zechariah __....................,..............................                                                         1106
                                                                  ..G.V.                      Rev: G. M. Ophoff
                                   c                                                                                                                  _.

                                                                            FEATURE ARTICLE 1
                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                            The Harmony between Righteousness and Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
                                                                                            .Rev.  R. C. Harbach
                                 1917 - 1957
              On December 17, Our beloved parents                           IN  Es  FEAX-.,
         1            P E T E R   M .   H O E K S T R A                            Spiritually Sensitive (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  111         -
                                                                                             Rev.  J. A. Heys
                                        and
              -.FLORENC'E  HOEKSTRA (DE BOER)                               CONTENDING  FOR  THE  FAITH  -
               commemorate   the<r  40th `Anniversary.  _                          The Church and the Sacraments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
   That our God  may bless, them  in,the future as He has blessed                             Rev. H.  Veldman
them in the past is the prayer and wish of their  beloved  children :
                                                                            THE  VOICE  OF  OIJR  FATHERS  -
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Martin Hoekstra                      The Canons of Dordrecht . . . . . . . . . . . . ..____......................................  115
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Gerrt Brummel                            ' Rev. H. C.  Hoeksema
                             Mr; and Mrs. George Hoekstra
                                 Mr.  and Mrs. Donald Hoekstra
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Hoekstra             DECENCY  AND .ORDER  -                                                                                        .        _
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Bert Van Mannen                      Article 31 . . . . . .._.......~  . . . . . .._............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Brunsting                               Rev. G.  Vanden Berg                                                  .
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     .
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Jahn Hoekstra
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hoekstra                ALL  AFLOUND   U S   -
                                                                                   The  Nature of the Unity We Seek . . . . .._.____.. ~._.._.__.._.; . . . ..__..._._  119
  -^.                            Mr. and Mrs.  Alvin. Mulder
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hoekstra                                  Rev. M. Schipper
                                 and 38 Grandchildren


`100                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                     - :                               - -'
ll                                                                        to prove- his contentions so that we  may check up on  hit
             ,E  B  I T  O-R  I A L  S                                    statements.
                                                                     :        Honesty and the fear of God demands this.             '
           Daane's  Distortion  of Reformed Truth                             If he does not do this, 1 am inclined to  cal1 him  dis-
                                                                          honest.
      One of the most foolish sections of the article of Daane              Do ot forget that he befouls the names of these would-be
in the Reforvtzed  Joa&al  which we are discussing is found               Reformed theologians even though  he does not  mention  them
on p. 9.          _
,                                                                         by name and presents them as' downright fools and ignor-
;., There the writer sets forth the view sone would-be Re-               amuses.   Whoever   read of Reformed theologians that not
Fprmed theologians have of the sovereignty of God in rela-                only place election  and reprobation on a par in the counsel of
{>on to His counsel. They, according to him, (1 know not                  Gd,  but that even present every  itemin the counsel of God.
who they are; he never  quo& and never gives  any  refer-                 as of equal value with every  other item, even to such an ex-
ences) make sovereignty as such the explanation of sin and            tent that, in th counsel of God, the victory of Christ over sin
reprobation. And this is then applied to the-counsel of GO+               and- death is of equal value  with the victory of the White
The  result, according to Daane, is that, just as these.  theo- `Sox over  the Yankees  ?
logians,  whoever  they are, make God the ultimate cause of                   1 never did read or-hear of such theologians.
sin and reprobation, so His sovereignty is made the ultimate                  And. therefore, 1  demand  names and  proof.  Such is my
cause of whatever  comes t pass and whatever coines to pass              right.
is the expression of God's  ultimate  will. And thus . . . but                This 1  may  demand  al1 the more, especially because in
now 1 better quote him literally for the view he now ascribes             the same article he rpeatedly mentions my- name together
to these would be Reformed theologians is so utterly foolish,             with'that of Van Til and, therefore, 1 have reason to suspect
that 1 am afraid  that 1 wil1 do them an injustice if 1 attempt           that, in the above quoted paragraph, he  also refers to me.
to explain their conception in my own words. Hence, here                  Even in the next paragraph he mentions my name.
it is :                                                                       If,  however,   this should be true, 1  may assure him that
      "Thus  each item in `whatsoever  comes to pass', that is,           he is either utterly  mistaken  .or deliberately misrepresents
of God's  coun,sel, becomes  eq'ually expressive of God's                 my view. That, according to my view, in God's council noth-
sovereignty and equally revelatory of His will. In  such  a               ing is centra1 and nothing peripheral, is so completely beside
conception of God's counsel, it should be observed, nothing               the truth that the  very opposite is true. In support of this
is  central, nothing  peripheral   ; nothing primary, nothing             contention 1 could quote many passages from my books hut
secondary and subsidiary. As reprobation and  election  are               the following quotation from The Wortder  of Grace,  pp. 22,
regarded as equally expressive of God's sovereignty and  will,            23, may be regarded as sufficient:
so now every  item in God's counsel is made equally.reve1ator-y              "But election  is also organic. When  we insist-on the basis
of God's sovereignty and will. In such a conception of God's.             of Scripture that  election  is personal, we do not  mean  thati
counsel no item can be defeated by another,. and none triumph God arbitrarily  defermined`  to  save a number of  persons,  and
over another. As actualiied in history, there  can be no              just as arbitrarily let the rest go to `perdition. There is no.
genuine historica1 tensions, no real historica1 defeats and no        arbitrariness with God.  Al1 his works in  time and eternity
genuine historica1 events of  triumph,  since everything is           are perfect, and characterized by highest  wisdom.  Election
equally willed by God and equally expressive of His .sov-             is according to His eternal purpose. And that purpose is
ereignty,  -Christ  himself is simply one item among  many the highest revelation of the glory of God, through Jesus
items, no more revelatory of divine sovereignty and the divine            Christ, the  incarnated  Son of God, the firstborn of  every
-wil1 than any ,other  item. Stated in terms of history, God's        creature,   Who died and rose again, and  Who is  ~exalted.at
wil1 and sovereignty is no more adequately expressed at the           the right hand of God ; and  out of Jesus Christ that glory
Resurrection  than at the Fall. Christ's victory over sin and         of God must be manifested through the millions  upon mil-
death is  no more revelatory of what the New Testament                lions of glorified elect that  wil1 know Him and declare His
means by Lordship than is the defeat of the Yankees by the            glorious praises ; and through al1 the new creation, the new
Chicago White Sax."                                                   heavens and the new earth in which righteousness shall  dwell.
      1  can somewhat understand that Daane cannot help               To that grand purpose  election  is subservient. By  that
merging into mockery and sarcasm,  as he does at the end of           purpose it is dominated. Hence, God  .did not choose an
the last paragraph,  when he describes the view' of these             arbitrary number of people. He  chose a Church, the Body
would-be Reformed theologians.                                        of Christ, a holy temple in the Lord. Now, a temple is not a
.  Y.et, the matter is  very serious.                                 mere pile of bricks and other  building  material,  the larger
      And  becase  it is  so.  very serious, it is  al1 the more     the: better : it is a beautiful  whole, representing an  idea, in
mandatory that Daane  mentions  the  names-of these would-be          which each part must occupy its own place in order td serve
Reformed theologians and that he, not only mentions their             the beauty of the whole, so that the number as  wel1  as the
names, but he also furnish. US with references and quotations         position of each part is determined by the whole. The same


                                            T H E   ST.ANDAR.D.BEARER                                                              1-01

is true of  the-  Church. It is one grand  whole,  representing      of the church reveals repeated apostocacy and  conti-nual
one idea, the glory of God in Christ, conceived by the               separation.
perfect artificer, and the position, but also the number of al1       Shall we, then, as Protestant Reformed Churches,  to-
the members of that  whole is determined in the eternal              gether  with our  Standafrd   Bewcr,  remain faithful to th
wisdom and purpose of Him who worketh al1 things accord-             truth in the future'? That depands, as you understand, prin-
ing to the counsel of His own will. And presently, when ll          cipally, not on US but on God alone. It depends on the sov-
the elect shall have been gathered, and the church of  al1 ages      ereign grace of the God of our salvation.
shall have been perfected  and glorified, it shall stnd at the             Our future is hid in the counsel. of God. We cannot read
head of the new creation, in which all. things shall be united       it.
in Christ, and God shall be-al1  in ah! That is election !"                 Nevertheless, we have  God's  promise.  That  promise is
, 1 am afraid  that Daane  must have nothing of this beauti- revealed. And if that  promise is for  US as Protestant Re-                   .
ful truth of Scripture..                                             formed Churches, the future is ours.
   But this is not the question at present. 1 challenge him                 Hence, the final question is whether `the Protestant Re-
to show that in the above paragraph nothing is centra1 `and          formed Churches may and have a right to believe that the
nothing is peripheral, nothing is primary and nothing sec-           promise  is for them.  Weknow, of course, that the  promise
ondary.                                                              is not for  ah. It is only for the elect. Hence, the further
                                                                     questionis  whether  the Protestant Reformed Churches  may
   He cannot d it !      *                                 H.H.     believe, at any given moment in their history, that they be-
                                                                     long to that elect church of God in Christ. If so, the future
                                                                     is ours; if not, we have no future.
     The  Standard  Bearer   and  0.ur  Future                              But is not this a rather  abstract question? Can. we know
   What may be said of our future in the light- of the prom-         at  al1 that we .belong to the elect church of God in, Christ,
ises of God ?                                                        that, therefore, we  may believe that ours is the  promise of
   This is the question we must stil1 discuss  briefly.              God and that, therefore, we have a future ?
   The question is: shall The Standard   Bearer, through its                In answer 1 would say that the question is not abstract
staff of editors,. in the future, remain  faithful to the purpose    whatsoever but, on the contrary,  very concrete. It is true,
for which it was originally organized and published ? Shall          of course, that election belongs to the counsel of  God  -and
it continue to maintain and further develop the Protestant           that we cannot  read that counsel. But that- counsel,.of   elec-
Reformed truth, the truth concerning the  whole counsel of           tion becomes  revealed-  to  US and becomes  very  actual  and
God ? Or shall  `tI gradually become corrupt and apostatize          concrete in its manifestation in the life of the Church and
from that truth?                                                     of believers. How can we know that we belong to the church-
   And another question is closely related to the first : shall      elect? The very  concrete answer is : when God realizes His
                                                                     counsel of lection  in 
our churches remain Protestant Reformed and remain faith-                                        US  as,Protestant  Reformed Churches,
                                                                     they are and remain faithful.  When  God realizes Ris counsel,
ful-to the truth as we believe it  or. shall they,  toe,'  become    Re fulfills His  promise.  And  when  He does fulfills His
corrupt and, in the future, gradually  deny the truth ? Or shall     promise,  the seed of the  promise manifest this in  al1 their
we, perhaps, have another separation and more of them,               life'and walk in the midst of the world. And when God thus
such- as we had recently because some advocated  the rror realizes-  His. counsel of election and His  promise  in the
that the promise of God is conditional.                              Protestant Reformed Churches they believe, maintain the
   NO doubt, God wil1 certainly preserve His truth and His           truth and walk in the way of the truth to serve and glorify
church in the world. But He wil1 do so, not necessarily in           the God of their salvation in Jesus Christ their Lord. And
and through  our churches as they now exist. And the                 what is true of the churches  also applies  to'  ,The  Standard
history of the church in the midst of the world reveals a re-        Bea,rer   and its staff of editors.
peated  a.nd continual separation and  apostacy  from the                   Hence, we  may  read. our future in the seven churches  '
truth. The reason for this  .is, of course, in the first  place,     that are described to  US in the Book of Revelation.  -ere
the carnal element in the church. This is always present.            we have an  .answer to the question:  when  wil1 our  Prot-
Never does the church, as far as its membership  is..conc&-ned,      .estant Reformed Churches have a future? The answer is:
exist as completely pure. Always there are reprobates as             when they do not leave their first love but stand in the
wel1 as elect in the church in the world ; always the carnal         love of God through the  grace'  of our Lord Jesus Christ;
seed is present  with- the spiritual  ; always there is  chaff       when they are faithful to the truth God has revealed to them.
among the wheat. Besies, in connection with the presence            When  they stand in that truth, which is the chief  distinguish-
of this carnal seed in the church, there is also the power- of       ing mark of the church.  When  they confess that truth in
temptatjon from without,. the influence .of false  doctrine and      the midst of the church and of the world.  -When they remain
false philosophy, as  wel1 as the lure of the pleasures and faithful to that truth in  al1  fheir,  walk and life.  When  they
trasures of the world. This is the reason why the history                              ~    (Continued  on .page 105)


        102                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                        . social contrast appears with al1 that is implied in it. And
`?             OU'R                   DO`CTRINE                                   lastly,  also  the pale horse must serve the same purpose.
                                                                                  Clearly you wil1 realize this, if you consider the significant
                                                                                  addition  that this horse and its  horseman  have power over
                    THE  .BOOK  OF  REVLATI6M                                    ene-fourth  part of the earth. That is, death always  mows
                                                                                  away the proper  persons  at the proper  place, and at the
                                      CHAPTER  13                                 proper  time. Whenever a  person has served  God's   purpose
                              T                                                   in the economy  of this dispensation he is mowed away and is
                                   HE  FOUR  HORSEMEN                             no more. At the moment  when Pharaoh and his powerful
                                                                                           -
                               - Revelation 6:1-8            -                    army  become real perilous to the children of Israel in their
                                                                                  exodus from Egypt, this pale horse appears on the scene and.
            There are always two or more nations that rival with                  destroys the army  of Pharaoh together with its king. When,
        each-other for the  bontrol of the  world:  It is Assyria and             the enemy endangers the  gates of Jerusalem this  horseman
        Babylonia, Babylonia and Persia,  Persia and Greece.  Greece.             with his pale horse removes an entire force of 155000  from
        and Rome, the latter and the dark hordes from the north of                the scene of action.  `He enters the palace of Alexander the
        Eurpe,. the Netherlands and Spain?  France and England,  or              Great and kills him by a fever at the moment.when he would
        as it is today, alliance against ailiance. Al1 thru history               be lord of  al1 the world,. that  bis  kingdom   may be divided.
        things are so controlled that there is  nation rising against             And when Antiochus Epiphanes would become too perilous
        nation and war ensues. And as long as the situation is thus               to the little remnant of Israel, this awful horseman  makes  the
        the end cannot come. There are, indeed,  that have expressed              crue1 monarch a prey of Hades  in a moment. Always this                    .
        the expectation that this war wil1 nat end. But this expecta-             formidable rider  selects  the  .proper  persons  at  the proper
        ti& is-erroneous. The `present conflict  wil1 surely end                  time and place, and whenever a person's purpose is served
        again. For  nation must rise against  nation but the end is               and he would perhaps become- too powerful or dangerous to
        not yet. For as long as nation rises  against nation the world-           the people of the  kingdom  the pale horse appears on the
        power cannot realize itself, for the simple reason that it                scene and snatches him way.
        labors continually for its own destruction. A time wil1 come
        when wars shall apparently  cease   and- the great world-                 r    And, therefore, if you ask-: why these horses  ? Why war,
        confederacy  whose  principle  is enmity against Christ, shall            why social  -contrast, why death in al1 its forms ? my answer              _
                                                                                  is : t prevent the premature establishment of the imitation-
        be realized. And that time of world-peace wil1 be the most                kingdom  of antichrist, of fhat kingdom  that resembles in out-
      dangerous period of history for the church of God in the
        world..  But.  that  ti.me is not' yet, and therefore, wars must          ward form the kingdom  of Christ, but is based on the prin-
                                                                                  fiple of  enmity  against. God and His Annointed.  Al1 these
        come. The same  .purpose is served by the `black horse nd                three  horses  check the development of the world-kingdom in
        its  rider.. Just as  nation  rises  against  nation so  also one ele-
        ment rises  against the other in the midst of these nations, in           this dispensation. They al1 make the world-power too busy
                                                                                  with itself to launch.its  final attack upon the children of the
        society because of the tremendous contrast between  rich and. kingdom.
        poor. Whatever men'may do this contrast cannot be elimi-
        nated.'  As soon as the wages increase the prices  of al1 com-                 Not difficult it is to understand that these last three
        modities are raised and the relation remains as it always was.            horses  are not harmful, but must be beneficent in their effect
        Rich and poor, labor and capita1 wil1 remain. And it is this              upon the children of the kingdoni. Wars and revolutions,
        continual  contrast between poverty and luxury that  causes               famines nd pestilences and death cannot injure the kingdom  -
        society to be a house divided against itself and is the source            of God for the simple  -reason  that as yet it exists purely
      of  strikes and  social  convulsions and panics, of insurrections           spiritual-  War  do.es not hurt the people of  .God  q'ua   talis.    -
        and revolutions  many a  time. Just recall the bloody  scenes             Surely, they also suffer according to the flesh, they also are
        `of the French Revolution and.you wil1 be able to understand              grieved when theirsons  die on the battle-field, they too are
        how the drive of this black horse prevents the estblishment              troubled when their homes are destroyed and their fields are
        of the kingdom  of outward peace `and righteousness. Also to              devast.ated.  But  al1 things work together for good to them
        this there  wil1  come an end for some  -time.  We  know  nat,            that love God. In trouble and  afflj~tion,- in tribulation and
        how.  - Not impossible it seems  .at present that this  social            sorrow, in the midst of ruin and terror they are spiritually
        contrast  wil1 find its finalsolution.  in the socalistic state. of      never harmed, for by faith they cling to their God. And as
        things, for  Socialism is advancing with tremendous strides               they experience the troubles and trials of this present time,
        in our own day. But true it is, that also socially the kingdom            the eyes- of their faith are fastened more and more on the
        of antichrist. wil1 be allowed to realize itself for a time. As           glory that awaits-them  in the future, their hope is quickened.
        yet,  however,  this  may not be. And,  therefore,.the  presence          Here it is  war,  - son it  wil1 be peace. Here it is misery,
        of the black horse is required and the sin of covetousness and            - soon it wil1 be g1or.y. Here it is sin and imperfection, re-
       greed is so controlled by the Lord that always again  this                 bellion against the God they love and the power of antichrist


                                                                    .:
                                                   TH..-STA.NDA.Ro;BE$RR                                                                       103
                                                                                c-                                       v
                              ;                           .  !..
comes more and more to its fulkmanifestation,-hut  presently                   they belong al1 :to tbe future in al1 their effect. It is evident
it  wil1 be righteousness  an&  titiliness,  peace and  `splendor-;            on the very face of it -th& this fifth seal speaks of martyrdom,
when the kingdom  of Christ.,sliall have been  completed  and                  of a being slain for the Word of God and the testimony which
appear in finest glory in .the new heaven and tbe new earth.                   the saints proclaim  in the .midst of the world. But this does
And, therefore, the contemplation of this tremendous con-                      not refer  to  any  specific   period  in  the history of  tlie church
trast between what  .is  -and what  wil1 be strengthens and                    in the past, as,..for instanc,  the period of, the Waldenses:or.
quickens their hope and  &ith al1 creation they -begin  to groan               Albigenses or  the period of thc  Reformation.   It is  $rue  that
with longing for the glory that shall be revealed in them.                     also in those days  this fift.h seal was plainly manifested and
And as fa? as death is concerned, to their faiththe  pale horse                realized:  -But   it was not  only in  ;those  times, but  also:  in
is no terror but merely  an instrument. ti transfer them to the                various other periods throughout the new dispensation that
anticipatory`state  of glory in the house of many mansions.                    the operation of this  .seal was seen. Was not John exiled
And, therefore, be not afraid,  ye people of, the kingdom.  Al1                to the isle of Patmos for. the Word of God and the .testimony
these things must  needs  come  to pass. In  gmes  f  war  -and               which he ,held  7 Did not most of t.he  apostles  suffer violent
trouble, of famine &.d pestilente,  when the red horse di-ives                 death because of the same .fact?  Did not the cliurch suffer
thru the earth, the  black~ horse appears in your streets or                   one of the most terrible persecutions under the Roman Em-
the pale horse  enteTs into your  homes, let your  hearts rest                 peror  Domitiay ?  And  thus  it is and was  al1 through the
in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,  who  holds the  boek                   new dispensation. Nor  can  it be true  that this part of  the
&th the seven seals, and controls al1 things in- heaven and,                   .B,ook of Revelation  must- be referred-to  the future .only. To
earth to the ultimate  completion of His glorious kingdom!                     be sure, also in the future, the saints wil1 suffer for the Word
                                                                               of God and the  testimony which they hold. Most  violently
                             CHAPTER            XIV . .                        the people of God shall suffer martyrdom towards the end
                                                                               of this dispensation. But also in the past they have suffered
           Tlae  Shin  Witxekes  &d  Tlaeir  Outcri                            as severely as one  -can possibly  conceive.  Hence,  also  this
                            Revelation   6   : 9 - 1 1                         fifth seal we understand to refer to the entire history of the
                                                                               present dispensation though we may no doubt expect  that it
            9. And  when  he had opened the  fifth  seal, 1 saw under          wil1 increase in force and that at the same  time  there is a
            the  altar  the  souls  of  them that were  `slain for the word    certain logica1  sequence  and connection between  theefirst  four
            of God, and for the  testimony  which they held:
                                                                               seals and this  fifth one. Nor is  it difficult  to  discover  that
            10. And  they   cried with a loud  voice,  saying,  How  lotig.    connection. The tremendous  contrast   caused  by the white
            0 Lord,  holy and true, dost  thou  not judge and avenge
            our  blood.on  them that dwell on  the earth?                      horse  naturally   causes  martyrdom for the  Royal   subjects  of
            ll. And white robes were  .$ven unto  every  one of                the  kingdom  of `Christ. The real spiritual  kingdom  employs
           them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest              no physical force or means,  and its subjects  merely  testify of
            yet for a little season,  until  "their fellowservants als0        the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the God of our.
            and their brethren, that should be  killed  as  they  were,        salvation in the midit  of the world. But this is not true of
            should be fulfilled.                                                          _-
                                                                               the kingdom  of darkness. That kingdom,. in order to maintain
   This passage speaks of the fifth seal. The first four seals                 itself,  is bound to employ force, and fights those that oppose
we already  discussed.  They revealed the horsemen, the white                  it with scaffold and stake. The  result is martyrdom for
horse repreienting  the &torious march  of the gospel through-                 those that are faithful. Besides,  it must  also clearly be  dis-
out the world,, the red horse representing war, the black horse,               cerned  that as far as the  material of this fifth  seal is  con-
revealing  social   contrasts,  and the last horse  repr&enting                cerned,   it is in a way  already  implied in  the, fourth seal,
death in  al1 its  farms. Now  we have the fifth  seal,  which                 which represented, as we sw, the power of death mowing
speaks of the souls under the altar, or the slain  witnesses and               away the  righteous  and the wicked, and doing so in  al1
their outcry.          .                                                       manner of ways, killing lso by means  of violent death the
 It is, in my opinion, impossible  to explain the seals in such                faithful  -witnesses  of the  truth. This  fifth  seal, therefore,
a way that they refer t the future only, or  especially   to  a               does not mean to emphasize the martyrdom of the saints as
period of  tribulation   after  the church has been taken  to                  they are being  slain and persecuted. This the  fifth seal
heaven, or as referring to special periods in the past, as  ethers             rather presupposes. The  saints that are mentioned in this
do maintain. This was difficult  ah-eady,  as we have  explained,              fifth seal have  already   foght  the good fight,  and are  evi:.
in respect to the first four seals. But this becomes stil1 more                dently in heaven, waiting for their full adoption and the
absurd as soon as. we come to the contemplation of the fifth                   final glory. And one of the chief  purposes of this special seal
seal. Truc,.  there is indeed a certain progress in history and                is undoubtedly to show  clea,rly  that- also the martyrdom of
also in the order of these seals. Also'this  fifth seal, and-stil1             the saints is  controlled  by Christ Jesus, and  that  the  world
more plainly the sixth, shall be most  cleaily  and definitely                 avails nothing unless the  Lor{  wills  it. For it is only  when
realized  towards the end of this  dispensation.  But  it is  pof              He opens  the seal  that there  are  martyrs crying for  veng+
true that these seals have either  already  been. fulfilled or that            ante. And  it was  also only  when He  opened the seal  that


  104                                            THE.         ST-A.NDARQm.BEA.RER                      -
                           D                                   -.
  they were -slain.  We  may add to this that  also  tl?e purpse         mals  `was   pouied.  And the  sacrifices  that were brought on
  of this seal is to assure US that the martyrdom of the saints           this altar were symbolic  of reconciliation  and consecration to
  is an element in the progress -toward the completion  of the *God ihe Lord. If we bear this -in- mind, and fnd that in the
  kingdom  of Christ.                                                     vision John does not see the blood of animals  Under  the altar,.
      Let US then look more closely for a moment at the descrip-          but the souls of men, the SOUIS   of. the saints, we may from
  tion of these martyrs.  We.must  -nat lose  ourselves  in the           the outset draw the conclusion that-the whole is symbolical
  contemplation of  -al1 kinds of non-essential details. Nor must         of the  fact that witnesses of Christ Jesus have laid their
 -we forget that the whole is symbolical and visionary. If we             lives  upon the altar of consecration to their God and  S&rior
  do, we are apt to ask and find an answer to  al1 kinds of               in Christ Jesus their Lord.  Th'ese souls are men that have
  foolish questions; Thus, ihe question has been indeed asked             literally heep  .slain,  thak have *been butchered, on the altar of
  iyhether  it were possible to see souls, that  aie spiritual. For       consecration to God in Christ. The opening of the fifth seal,
  John in this passage  ielIs   US that  when the fifth seal was;         therefore,  -+ows  ui  the  martyrs in the  church.   after  they
  opened, he saw  SOUIS-  beneath the  altar. But is it  possible         have  fought   the-good fight and have `been  faithfgl even  untq
  to see  SOL&,  it is asked. But the question is absurd. We              fhe end.
  must not forget that John is in the Spirit; and in the Spirit            Al1 this is  corroborated   by  -the further description  ,of
  he is in heaven. Al1 that he beholds Fe stes in tlie Spirit and         these souls under the altar. -F.or we read that they had been
  in a vision,  so that the-questin,  whether in o&- present state       slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they
  ti; woulb also be able to see souls, may indeed be considered~          held. Literally it says here that they had been butchered, and
  absurd. Then too, the use of this passage in order to picture           therefore they had suffeyed violent death at the hand of the
  the  abode. of the dead  after this  pres&t life and before the'        enemies  of Christ and His  church.  And the occasion and
  resurrection is equally absurd for the same reason, namely,             reason for this violent tieatment  by the enemies of Christ is
  that the  whole is visionary and symbolical. And as to the              also clearly stated in the text. It ws  th  fact, namely, that
  use made of this passage to prove that the zouls after  death           they clung to the Word of God and that they operily  testified
  are conscious, since they cry  fOr  vengeaice,  we may indeed           for the truth  of. that Word. They were men that had been
  conclude from  ether parts of Scripture that the souls  after           touched  by the rider  op the first horse, so that they had
  death and before the  final  resurfection  live consciously in          been  Changed from darkness into God's marvelous light.  By
  glory.  -And perhaps we  may  also admit that there is some             nature they  bclonged  to the  kingdom   Of  darkness,   and they
  proof% the.words  of this particulr  passage from the Book             w.ere subject to the power and  dminion  of the  devil. But
  of Revelation. Yet we must guard against the danger of  mak-            the white horse had approached, and the rider on that horse
  ing too much of a passage ihat is visionary and symbolical in           had  touched  them. The'  result was that their inner  being
 itself. Besides, we -cannt trry here to  &ke a lengthy                 had been turned about. They had been regenerated by the
  discourse  on this  particular  question. Our  purpose  in the          Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. They had been called  by
  study of the Book of Revelation  is' not the establishment of al1       His Word. They had'obtained  a  vision of the glorious  king-
  kinds of different doctrines, but  rather  to  obtziin as  c'ear   a    dom that was to be established by JesuS Christ, the Servant
 view  as possible -of the coming of Christ. And  aithough.  it           of God, their Mediator and Intercessor. Thus the Word had
  is undoubtedly true that there are  many  p&tions  in the               become their  subjective  possession.  Th&y  were  bominated
  Book of Revelation that fford beautiful material for build-. by that Word of God. They knew  fhe truth, and loved it
  ing up of dogma, nevertheless we must at ,this time pass that           with ai1 -their,heart.-  Hetice,,for and according t that Word
 by with a mere mention.                                                  they  lived in the midst of  ?he world. On the basis of that
     The  chief  purpose  therefoye  is that we learn to  under-          Word they stood and manifested themselves in the present
stand the meaning of the symbolism.  John, in the first place,            world. They  `tilaimed that in  every  sphere  Christ Jesus is
  seeS an altar-  There can be little question that the altar which       Lord, that He is King over  al1 the world and over  al1 the
  he here sees is the altar of burnt  offering, which originally          hidden powers  of that world. They firmly believed that there
  stood in  the temple court.  Iti the fikst  place,  it  may be said     was hope for that world only in the bloo$ of their Redeemer,
 that the original word for "altar"  points US in that direction,         and that only when a man was touched  by the Spirit of Christ
 and not to the altar of intense.  In the second place, the souls         and  wa? regenerated, so that he had a  new  life, could he
 `that are under. this  altar  point to the shedding of bloed,  as        possibly be called a subject of Christ.  Such was the Word.
 was characteristic and essential to the altar  of burnt offering,        And thus they believed. And the truth had struck root more
 and not to the altar  of intense.   Also the fact that John saw          and`more in their inmost heart.
 the altar  makes  US think that it was the altar  of burnt offer-           But there is more. They did not hide their light  under.
- ing, that stood in the outer court and that, in distincion from         a  bushel,  but they testified of it.  The Word as they  ap-
 the  altar of  intense,  could be  s`een by the people. To that          propriated it was  burning in their  hearts, and they were
 altar, therefore, the text  evidentiy   `refers.  On this  altar the     bound to express it.  Th6y  could not possibly keep silent.
 bloody sacrifces were made.  tinder this  altar, we are  told,          And  they felt that over against the world in the midst of
 was a.large basin,  into which the blood of the sacrificial ani-         which they lived-they were bound to witness of the name of
                            .


                                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D  BE-ARER                                                         105
                                                                       .,.  :                    -
     .       Jesus Christ their Lord.  Such is the meaning of the words            and  particularly  to the history of this  presefit   dispen$ation,
             "and the testimony which fhey held." There are interpreters           to prove that this  seal is actually opened ? A  long list of
             indeed who maintain that this must be understood as a testi-          names could indeed be mentioned ,pf them that are slain  for
             mony which Christ gave of them befbre  the Father which is            the name and the truth of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
             in heaven. But it is  rather difficult  fo  imderstand   how for `Euen in the old dispensation the history of these faithful
             such a testimony. they could ever  suffe? martyrdom on earth.         witnesses  +s  written in blood. Thre is the nam&  of Abel,
-          -Hence,  it must  .be  understood  as referring to the testimony        killed,: no doubt, because of his faithfulness to God and to
             which they gave, which they expressed before al1 the world.           His  service.  There is the name of  Enoch  and the name  .of
             They were  obedient  to the injunction of Jesus: "He that             Noah,  who truly  were not killed, but  who must have endured
             confesseth me before men, 1 wil1 confess before my Father             the reproach of the world for the name of -the God they con-
             which is in heaven." Thus they were witnksses.  The centra1           fessed. There are,  as you know, the  names of  al1 the
             idea and the chief  contents of ,their testimony was that Jesus       propheis,  most of  whom have been killed because of their
          is  the Christ, the Son of  +lie living God. Constantly they             faithful testimony, so that Jesus might indeed say : "Jerusalem,
             must have spoken of the cross as' the only hope for sinners.          Jerusalem-, thou that stonest the prophets and killest them.
             They witnessed that man was lost in himself because of his            that are sent against thee . . .  ." Or, if you  please,   read
             fallen and sinful state, and that therefore there was no hope         th latter part of that memorable chapter  of Hebrews 11, and
             for him outside of Christ  ,Jesus  and His  cyoss. They  wit-         you  wil1 be surprised ihat even in the author's  time there
             nessed undoubtedly also of the necessity of regeneration  in          were so many of these  souls under the altar of consecration to
          j .' order to enter into the true kingdom  of God. And they boldly       God that had been butchered for the Word of God and the
             maintained that al1 that was not in harmony with the principle        testimony which they held. However,  this seal does not refer
             of the sovereignty of Christ in the present world did not and         to the old, but to the new dispensation. Christ has received
             could not  bedong  to the  kingdom  of God. In the blood `of          the book with its seven seals. And He is opening the seals.
          Jesus was the  only-  righteousnes?  of sinners. For at  the             It is under His adr&nistration.that  His saints, His servants,
             bottom of al1 questions and problems in the world lies the            Hjs  witnesses,  are  slain. And  also here it is evident from
             guilt  of man. Thus they testified. We can easily  understana         al1 the history of this dispensation that this ffth seal is con-
             that as they bore this aestimony  in the world, they came into.       stantly  bing  realized. Think of the apostles, that first bore
             conflict with worldly men. For as we have seen before, even           the testimony of Ch&t  inti the world- How they suffered
             the world is touched by the white horse. But the only pos-            and were p"rsecuted,  how ihey were hated and finally.  killed
             sible result of this is that it aims at the establishment of what.    by a world that would not  receive.  their testimony !  Thirk
             they  conceive  to be the  kingdom  of God, but which  is  in, also of the churches that are pictured  in- the first part of the
             reality a kingdomof man. 0 yes, also the world wants peace            Book of Revelation, of Smyrna, Pergamum, and Philadelphia.
             and righteousness, bliss and happiness.  Bui that world never         They were  .persecuted  and  hated,- and the saints in  Chri@
             confesses  its`  guilt  and its  impotente to do  any good. And       Jesus were  killed. Think of  th& terrible persecutions under
             therefore they must. have  nihing of the'blood of Jesus  &ist        the Roman emperors,  hoti they were literally  butchered and
             as the propritiation for th& sins, and of the truth that the          tortured to death that confssed-the name of Christ Jesus.
             sinner must be regenerated  by the Spirit of God in Christ            Think  also of the  forerunners.  of the Reformation and of
             Jesus. They eitabiish  an imitation kingdom,  a kingdom  with:        thousands of martyrs at the  time of the Reformation that
             out Christ as He is revealed in  Holy  Writ. And the  faith-0         did not wish to return to the  mother church, to the harlot
             ful witnesses of Christ condemned this kingbom  of man and            &urch of the sixteenth centurp. How they al1 suffered ! How
             predicted' its  utter destruction. Thus they principally  in-         they al1 were persecuted ! How they were driven from place
             curred the displeasure and hatred  of the world because they          to place !
             confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, the only Sovereign                                                                         H.H.
             and King over  al1 even -in the present dispensation. They
             came into conflict with this world because they testified of                                         E'DITQRIALS
            the Principle that God is the highest and orily Sovereign -of                                  (Continued  from page 101)
            heaven and earth, and th& al1 meti must bow before Him, -
            something  they  Wil1  .never  do apart  .from Christ Jesus, His       als'0 remain faithful in discipline and, Gast the carnal element
            cross and His Spirit.  And this  hatred  of the world  became          out of their midst. If not, the Lord  wil1 spew them  out of
            so bitter, and the attitude of the world to thosE that are of          His mouth.                                            <
           Christ became so hateful and intolerant that they finally tast              May  God give US grace to be faithful.
            themselves  Upon these faithful witnesses  and,  butchered them,           May the Lord our God give grace  `also to the editors of
            killed  them because of the testimony which they had. And              The  Standa:rd  Bewer to be faithful in the presentation and
            thus they were  slain  because of the Word of God  ana the             development of the truth, in  ord_er  that it  m$y continue to
            testimony of Jesus Christ.                                             be a means in the hand of our .God for the well-being of our
               Is it necessary that 1  ppint to the history of the- world,         Protestant  Refofmed  Churches.                              H.H.
                                                                                                      .      1


        106                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER
                                                                                         3  -.
       lil                                                                           For then  they  wil1 be  acting  solely  from  subjective   compul-
                   THE  DAY.  OF.  SHADOWS  ./l sion. And therefore, If it seemeth good in. your eyes. And
       1'                                                                 `1         so  it `does. For their  hatied  of the good shepherd is too
                       The  Prophecy   of  Zechariah                                 bitter to allow them  to'pass by the opportunity to show in
                                                                                     what low' esteem  they .hold him. They weigh out his wages,
                    The  shepherding of the flock of  slmghter                       thirty pieces of silver. A piece or shekel of silver is' equiva-
                                 Chapter 11 :l-14  '                                 lent to about 60 cents';  thirty  pieces  to abouti  $18. This was
                                                                                     the  price of a slave in Israel. If an  ox killed a manservant
              -Let  US briefly pass in review  the thought of the vers&              or a maidservant,  the owner of the ox had to make restitu-
       in  this section  already  treated (4-11). The  prophet  is  com-             tion by giving to the master of the servant that was killed
       nanded to shepherd the flock of slaughter by which must                      thirty,  shekels of Silver.
       be..understood the Israel of the old dispensation both  ac-                       13. Surely the  doing of the apostate Israel bespeaks
       cording  to its reprobated husk and  elect  kernel.  It is  called`           utter  contempt  for the good shepherd. It is n insult to the
       the flock  Of slaughter because according to the good pleasure                Lord and was  also so intended. The Lord does not keep
       of His Gil1 `God wil1 give its men each into the hand of his                  silence.  Says He to the shepherd, Cas; it .to the potter.  This
       tieighbor   .and into the hand of his king  who through  the                  is a  much  discussed   p&ase.  It is not necessary to assume
       years will, afflict and kil1 it until it be destroyed as an organ-            the presence of a potter in the temple, be it for the purpose
       ized  nation. Surely it  wil1 perish because of its unwill  ,to               of  repairiig or  selling   dishes. The form of the words of the
       yepent  of its wickednessr But this unwill wil1 enter in only                 phrase  -  tast,  violently .  throw  to the  potter strongly  sug-
       as the secondary reason of its fa11 and ruin., Time and again                 gests that it was a proverbial expression for contemptuous
       in: the centuries of the past it was covered  with the cloud of          treatment like the expression,  l?%row  it  to the  dogs. If this
       Gd's anger. Then  war and  pestilente  or famine was its                -is `correct, the expression discloses  how the n&xt statement
       portion or it was sold into the hand of itS enemies. Once it                  of the Lord is to be understood,  `(a  goo.dly   price that I  zvas
was transplanted to a foreign country. But always the  clogd                    prked of  them." Tl+s  has the s%ound of being irony.  Doubt-
       was `lifted and the old condition  returned. . . But now it ap-'         less the implication of the utterance is the opposite from the
       proaches a  judgment  that  wil1 be  final,  s& that  in  it the  na-    literal  sense of its words. What the Lord  means is that the
       tion as a typical  ,kingd.om   wil1  disapper  from the stage of        price at which He was prized at of  {hem  was ignoble,  in-
     history forever. The  prophet  must shepherd the flock of                       sulting.                                              -     *
       slaughter that the spiritual Israel  may be  instructed and              *       Whaf  wickedness ! what folly ! Certainry  the shepherds
       cotiforted and the carnal Israel hardened and thereby pre-               ,of the section of the scriptures with which we are now oc-
       pared for the  final  judgment. So he takes to himself two               cupied is  im  fhe first intance Zechariah as  representative  of
       stavs  and calls the one beauty  and the other bands. Jointly           al1 the prophets and the apostles and  al1 the pastors and
       they signify the Gospel in its beauty and pleasantness and               teachers in the church of the past, present and future. But
       the..oneness  of the ideal flock as tlis is effected  by the Gos-       secondarily this shepherd is God  indeed: God is the good
       pel .as snctified to the hearts of the redeemed sheep by                     shepherd of the flock, the  sheep., He  chose the sheep in
       Christ's Spirit. As equipped with these staves, the Gospel                    Christ unto everlasting life. And according to- His abundant
       of: God - another equipment there. is not  - the  prophet                mercy He has begotten them.again  unto a lively hope by the
       shepherds,  the flock of slaughter. The shepherd must soon               Tesurrection  of Jesus Christfrom  the dead to an incorrupt&le
       experience  the wrath of the carnal Israel. In one month                 inheritance. But the shepherd of these verses. is also God re:
       he cuts. off three unworthy shepherds and for this they                  vealed in the flesh, our Lord- Jesus Christ. Christ is the good
       abhor him. Deeply grieved he lets it be known that he wil1               shepherd. For His sheep He laid down His life. That the
       n@  longer  shepherd them and forthwith breaks with them the             shepherd of this vision is God and the Christ of God is clear
       covenant.                                                                from its language.  Who but God  may  say,  "1  wil1 not
               13.. Al1 is now over. But befoie  the shepherd takes leave       shephekd  you, that which dieth, let it die" (Verse 9). And
       of the flock of slaughter,. he confronts them with a request.            of the  w&ks  that  `some of these  verses   -make   mention God
       If it seemeth  good in your eyes, give me my wages; if n@,               alone is  capable.   Who but God  can break  the  covenant;  take
       f?b&ar,  is now his word to them. Surely the flock is under             it away (verse  lO), and break the brotherhood between
       the  .obligation  to  provide  in the  material  necessities of its      Judah and Israel (verse 14) ? It is God and His Christ and
       shepherds.  But this is not what this shepherd  means.  He is            not a  mere  mati that the apostates belittle and  ~deride  in
       asking  them to set a price pon him as shepherd and thereby             weighing  out their-irty  pieces of silver. How can the worth
       indicate what in their estimation he is worth. He does not                    of God be expressed in terms of dollars and cents anyway?
       command them. If they prefer not to commit themselves, it                     It would be blasphemy  to weigh out for God's price the whole
e      is well. There is purpose in his allowing them to  decide.                    world and its treasures multiplied by a countless number of
       Then they  wil1 be  ,revealitig   the inward man  in evaluating               worlds. Can the creature  serve as a standard for evaluating
       him, and it wil1 become evident how intensely  they hate God.                 Go.d?  How  can His  wo?th be  m:asured  at  all, if  HiS  good-


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D ' B E A R E R                                                      107

     ness be infinite ? Appraising Him rightly can only be- done            C%&t, as if yore and wil1 end in crucifying Him. Then wil1
     by saying that He is the incomparable bod, that He is God              it have filled up its measure of iniquity and be ripe'for the
     and none els;. And this is -to praise and adore Him as the             final judgment.
     God of our salvation. To think then that these apostates                   The character f this entire section; especially the rapidiiy
     should weigh out for His price thirty  pieces of silver. Thirty` with which the' transactions reported in this section follow
     shekels as their price for God, the' Christ of God, His salva-         each other, warrants the assumption that it confronts US with
     tion, His  covenant,  His heavenly  kingdom.  For this is here         a revelation that was communicated to the  prophet   in. the
   the question precisely. What price are  they setting  upon"the           form of a vision `the  scenes  of which .again meet the eye iri
     Heavenly. They have given their answer: Thirty pieces of               the Gospel narratives of the new testament Bible. Otily here
   silver.                                                                  they confront  US s actualities. The Word becomes  flesh;
         The  prophet  does as insfructed of the Lord. He takes             Christ, God's only begotten Son. assumse the flesh and blood
.  - -the thirty.pieces of silver and Casts them to the potter in the       of His sbrethren  in tKe womb of Mary and is born. As sent
     house of the Lord. He may have tast the money away before              by the Father  He comes to His own, Israei,  His brethren ac-
     the eyes of the worshippers  in the temple, or may have flung          cording to the flesh and shepherds the flock. It is the same
     it violently on'the  floor of the temple and trampled upon it.         flockof slaughter.' And thej, loathe and abhor %Iim,  and His
     Whatever he did with it was to shew the Lord's indignation             soul is grieved on account of them as of yore. Just before
     and to be token that-the  flock-of slaughter-was now forsaken          His crucifixion, on the night of betrayal, He mandates
     of Him. The.  action with the moey had to be performed be-            Judas, What thou doest, do it quickly. For the carnal  Is-
     fore the eyes of the leaders and the people. It was  dohe rael must give Him uis wages. And s they covenat with
 therefore in the temple. For here is  where  leaders and                   the traitor for thirty pieces of silver. This is their price for
 people congregated.                    --                                  Him. So is He so long a time after marvelously and horribly
         14. The weighing  out of the money as the price for bod            insulted and belittled in a manner identical to that in which
     was the crowning  atit of  insolencel  The shepherd therefore          they had in:ulted  and belittled Him. in the vision.  Contrary
     does one more thing. `It is his final act. He cuts assunder the        to  al1 reason, unbelief wil1 say that it was a hap ascribable
     other &aff even bands that, in his own words, 1 may destrop            to  some unknown power, or they  wil1 end with this particular
     the brotherhood between  .tsral and Judah.  The two wil.1             and amazing element in His humiliation in th wil1 of man,
     be divided, separated, Israel from Judah and  Judah. from              in the  hatred  of His enemies. But  every   ene to  whom it is
     Israel. The symbolical action with-the staff bands, its being          given by His mercy  to believe-says  with the evange!ist,  "Then
     cut asunder,  indicates  that the separation is to be  effected        was fulfilled  that which was spoken by Jeremy (Zechariali)
     through the breaking of the spiritual.  ties by which Israel           the  prophet,   saying,  And they took the thirty pieces of
     2nd Judah are binded together to form one brotherhood  in              silver, the price of him  that was valued,  whom they of the
     Christ. Since Christ is in the loins of Judah, what this means         children  of Israel set a price on." Surely in  thtis exhibiting
     for Israel is that it is to be cut off from Christ. Not that           their low esteem  of Him, they were moyed by unspeakable
     there  is to be a falling away of sants, a losing  of the new         hatred  of  Him.  @t we  may not put the period here. It's
     life and the. living faith that was once given and falling back        a question of the deepest, primary.  and -sovereign  reason. In
     into the old state of spiritual .death. This is not possible. NO       this instance and in every  oth&- instance they were fulfilling
     saint wil1 be cut off. Surely once a believer always a believer.       the Scriptures. For the Scriptures had spoken, the prophet;
     What is to be cut  ?ff is the Israel according  60 its  repro-         nay, Godhad  spoken, willed,  determined in His counsel, that
     bateb   htisk, the unfruitful  branch.  Not that  this  branch as  D they weigh that amount of money for His price, and in
     such is in Christ. Yet it wil1 surely be cut off. Every branch         accordance therewith He hardened them,  gave them up
     in Christ that bears not fruit the Father,  the di$ine  husband-       through the lusts of theirown  heart thus to dishonour His
     man, takes away (John 6 :1 ) . However  nat the` individual - only begotten Son. God reigned at the crqss of the Saviour
     reprobate but the reprobated  family  of men is  `the  ~branch.        and not men and  d,vils. And therefore alone it is and  can
    .The Israel to which our  prophet  in this  section of his dis-         be gloriously ti-e t'hat  God was bruising Him, putting Him
     course has reference was  such a  family.  It was the Israel           to-grief,   making  His soul an offering for sin, that He might
     in the point of view of its reprobated husk. The shepherd              see His seed.
     wil1 cut it-`off thi-ough   -bis taking out of it the last and only                       The  Foolish  Shepherd,  15-17
     surviving believers that are stil1 found in it,  -the only and             15.  ,4n.d  tjhe  Losd said  unto  me, Take  again the  i,m-
     very spiritual element -- the  elect  - through which as a             plements of a  fool~ish  shcpherd.  16.  For,  behold,  I  wil1  raise
     family  it  may  b& said to be in Christ. The  ties of faith and       ibp  a shepherd  En the land, who shall not visit those that be hid-
     love by which as a family  it is in`christ are established with        den, neither shall seek- the young one., noy heal that zwhich is
     this elect and believing element. Hence when this element is 0 broken,  nol feed that ewhich stmdeth still, but he shall eat the
     removed, the reprobated family is thereby cut off. With                flesh of  tht? fat, and  the hoofs he  shall  bveak off.    17.  Wee
     the brotherhood between Judah and Israel destroyed,  `the              to the vain  shepherd   that$orsaketh   the. flock!  A  Sword  shail
     carnal Israel wil1 rise up in rebellion.  against Judah, that is,      be  ztpon   bis arm  md  z@pq?~   bis right eye.  His  arm  sha:ll  be


   108                                                T H E   STANDARD.,   B E A R E R                                       _
   clean  dried  up,  an.d  bis-  viglst eye  sWl  be  utterly   daf-kened.  -     covenant.   But'they mean it not so, but it is in their heart to
          Having disclosed the reason~of the calamities in store for               cut off and destroy Israel. And they shall be held  fully
   Israel, the flock  of. slaughter  1 Israel despises God, the                    accountable. The Lord shall cut them off  when they have
   Christ of God and His salvation  - the  prophet   briefly  re- `done serving His purpose.
  turns to the subject of Israel's oppressions  6y his godless                        17.  :Woe  fo the  vain  shepherd   tl&t  leuveth the flock!
  rulers.                                                                          The Lord  wil1 give His  people into his hands and use him
       The prophet  is now requested of the Lord to take again                     as His rod to  lay'  His strokes  upon His people. Yet the
  the implements of  .a foolish shepherd, that is, he again is                    the Lord's wil1 for the foolish shepherd is that he be a good-
  told to taketo himself the implements of a shepherd bit this -shepherd  to the flock, the sheep,  feeding,  leading, and  pro-
  time those of a foolish shepherd. The articles of a shepherd                    tecting them and, if  need be,  giving  his life for the sheep.
  included a staff; a bag,. a pipe, a knife. These other  imple-                   But he-afflicts'and destroys the flock in his foolishness. For
  ments are not specified  but they musthave  been designated                     he is a hireling, and not the shepherd. The sheep are not his.
  for a use injurious to the flock. The word fool in its scrip-                   And so, seeing  the'wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and flees,
  tural meaning denotes one spiritually  and morally depraved.,                   and  the-wolf   catches  them and  scatters  the sheep. He is  a
  The fool is without spiritual understanding.  His mind is so'                   hireling  and  cares  not for the sheep. The Lord  wil1 reward
  darkened, warped, by his. sinful biases that he can't see the                   him according to his works. The  szwyd  shll be  ,upon  bis
  kingdom  of heaven, much less -desire.it.  He says in his heart                 aym. These and. the succeeding wrds should be translated
  that there is'no God, builds his heuse-upon  sand, and wraps                    as a  &rse,  A  szvord  upon  bis  avm,  and  st.pon  iris  right eye.
  himself in deep slumber though he knows that the  bride-                        Let his arm which should have shepherded the flock be cut
  groom comes. And if the fool is  also shepherd  beha&  to-                      off, and let the eyes which should have selected  good pastures
 ward the flock as does the foolish shepherd in these verses.                     for the flock and watched against peril be destroyed. The
  The  prophet  must refrain surely from impersonating the                        concluding sentences give assurance that  the imprecations
 foolish' shepherd beyond the point of taking to himself his                      shall mterialize. His  aym  Aal1 be  drid  up  and  bis eyes
  implements. The foolish shepherd wil1 neglect bis flock. He                     hall be  darke?Led.   The one cursing is  the Lord whose word
  wil1  pay no attention to his. sheep. The hidden  ones, the                     never returns to Him void.  ,W70e   ti the  vain  shephwd!  The
  sheep ill and `dying,  wil1 not be visited. The young one, the                  prediction of his destruction is Gospel to the spiritual seed,
  lamb straying from the flock and lost and undone, wil1 not                      seeing that this overthrow spells out their deliverance. The
  be  sought.- The wounds of  the  broken   wil1 not be healed.                   Lord  wil1 break His covnant with Israel.. He shall be cut
  Then there are the standing ones, the lambs that cannot keep                    off from Judah. Once again the Lord  wil1 cover Israel with
  pace with the rest of the flock. A god  Shepherd  carries                      the cloud of His anger. iBut only the chaff wil1 be cbnsumed.
them in his  bosom. Not so this foolish shepherd, but he                          The remnant  wil1 be saved and pass over  into the New
  shall eat the fles11 of the fat, that is, the fatlings of the flock.            T e s t a m e n t   c h u r c h .   -
  How  it fares tiith the flock is of no concern to him hut he                        The good shepherd destroys three shepherds in one
  thinks only of his own  yell-being  and to satisfy his own                      month. They must hve been godless, profane, desecraters of
  appetite he  sacrifices  his sheep. The phras,  and  the hoofs                 the  covenant.  They were cut off through death from the
  he  shall  bl-ea,k,  has  received  various interpretations. Some               congregafion of the Lord.  The extermination of  al1  such
  have thought that  -the refrence is to  tbe  cruel-  practice of               sinners was required by  Israel's   law, Ex. 15  :15;  30133;
 `driving  the  flocks over  rough roads;  some-have  interpreted                 31  :lC;  Lev.  720, etc. It is not improbable that the  refer-
  it of th intense greed of the shepherd that manifests itself                   ence  is not to three distinct. individuals but to the  three
  in the tearing to pieces of the hoofs, so as to secure the last                 classes of rulers  -  civil  authorities, priests and prophets with
  morsal  of flesh or fat. 3 Others have thought of the tearing of                the scribes and the Pharisees as  the.  successors of the last
  the hoofs, that the sheep might not wander  to far, and thus                    named. The three orders are mentioned in Jer.  ,2  23,  where
 give the shepherd trouble. The first and third  `interpreta-                     it is stated that the priests said not, Where is the Lord? and
 tions are possible. In either case the picture is that of ex-                    the shepherds transgressed against the Lord. and the proph-
 treme cruelty. What a contrast his treatment of the flock                        ,ets prophesied by  Baal. The extermination of the three
 forms with what Christ is represented as doing in Isa. 40:11,                    shepherds must then be regarded as an act repeated over  ancl
  "He  shall fed .his flockjlike  a shepherd; he shall  gather  the               over. The pronoun  I  in the phrase  "1 cut  off"  signifies
 lambs with his arms, and carry themin  his bosom, and shall                      Jehovah.. He. is the destroyer. This divine working was
 gently lead those that are with young."                                          revealed to the prophet  in the form of a vision of the cutting
     This is the kind of shepherd that.  the Lord wil1 raise up                   off of the three shepherds in one month. "And  my soul was
- in the land, because the goed shepherd was loathed and re-                      grieved on account of them and their soul  also abhorred me."
 jected. The foolish shepherd is not alone but is  representa-                    Also the pronouns ~y and gme indicate the Lord, so that the
 tive of the  whole body of evil rulers. They  wil1  be the                       prophet   could. have writfen : Thus saith the Lord, Three
 scourge of the  nation.  So God has  decreed.  As oppressors                     shepherds 1 cut off . .  1 and my soul was grieved . . . The
 of His people-they serve His counsel and the cause of His                                             (Continued  on pa@ 120)


                                                                  `THE.  S,TANDARD   B E A R E R                                                      109

                    THE  HARMONY  BETWEEN                                 :--:--      ,Barabbasi   Can it be said in truth that  Pilate knew either
                   RIGHTEOUSNESS  AN?  MERCY                                        Of  these  virtues   ?       .                .
                                                                                          The world believes that God is merciful because they are
                                                                                      nat worse than others, and that God wil1 certainly take this
              -    "MWY  and truth  are met together; righteousness  and  peace                                                                              -
                                                                                      `factor into account and pardon them. God did not make men
                    have  ki'ssed  each  othef'  (Ps.  85:lO).
                                        .                                           . ,to destroy them : surely in mercy He wil1 save them. Al1 this
          How should man be just with God ? is a question which                       the world believes, hut does so at the expense of the truth.
      arises from the consciousness of al1 men.  Every individual                     The truth is hardly mentioned, and no place.is given to  right-
      is made. to consider this staggering inquiry.  -For its  very                   eousness. The world does not let mercy have her husband.
      language  implies  its humanly insuperable difficulty. It is a                  They put God's attributes into conflict by their defense,
      question which the mind of man has wrestled with from the.                      "Mercy  rejoiceth against judgmentl  The simple meaning. of
      beginnings of the race to this present age of science and in-                   this Scripture is that the unmerciful  shall find no mercy in
      tellectual development without discovering its solution.  Philo-                the judgment at the last day. Jesus had made this clear  when
      sophy, logie and science have thrown little light  on the sub:.                 He`stated that the last judgment shall be without mercy to
      ject. In  fact  evry-  attempt,  and there have  ,been  many, to               him  who did not show mercy (Mt. 25 :41-45). But the
      answer the interrogation apart from the assistance of Divine                    merciful, made' so.in Christ by the power and gift of God's
      revelation has resulted  in the most miserable failure.  Every                  mercy,  wil1 be able to boast in the face of that judgment!
      man knows in the depths  of his conscience that God is. -He                     Boasting in the Cross of Christ by which alone we may stand
      has been created with that testimony in his -conscience ; he                    in the judgment and be delivered from it and  even by it!
      cannot withdraw from it.  -He  knows that God is  just. He                      NO, mercy does not  deny  truth, but is maintained by the
      would  `like to believe that God is  also merciful. But so  far                 mtruth. Mercy  is not lawless. (Ps. 18 :25-27). The- Cross
      from finding  comfort there, it is precisely at that point where                proves  this.
      his problem begins. For he knows, too, that he is a guilty                          But what do. these'virtues  specifically mean.?  We believe
      sinner against the just God ; and,that  in and of himself there                 that justice is that virtue of God according to which He is
      -.is "no truth nor mercy" (Hos. 4 :l ) . This makes even mom absolutely good, knows and loves Himself as such, and ~wills
      apparent the great disparity between  him and God, for "mer-                    and maintains Himself as the only Good. Mercy  is the good-
      cy and truth go before His face" (Ps.  S9:14).  Truth  wil1                     ness of God according to which He is the Most Blessed  One,
      then sy to him, "1 wil1 by no means clear  the guilty." What                   wills to be such, and desires to so bless His creatures  as to
      then can Mercy  do ? Truth, so far from recommending a way                      make them enjoy eternal bliss. -Concerning  righteousness we
      of deliverance, again asserts, "The soul that sinneth, it shall                 may say, God is. That first. And  that'which  is ought to be
-.    die."  How then  shall  mercy!  tho it  desireth  not the death                 if it is the only thing  (.One) that  can. be. Gd is,  essntially
      of a sinner,  give life ? Here now the thinking man perceives                  `and independent@. God ought to be for He exists necessarily
      a dilemma which neither human  nor angelic intelligente  can                    and  ahsolutely.  And there is no one  else.  He is the only
      answer ! Truth  and  mercy seem to  quarrel  and  oppose  each                  infinite being tht  can infinitely be. He alone acts in  har-
      ether; truth to prevent mercy from  being- exercized, and                       mony- with His  own infinite being.  .That is righteousness.
      niercy to keep truth from bing vindicated. This means, and                     Righteousness and mercy, for this reason, could never be in
      so man  very readily understands it, that God in  al1 justice                   conflict. For God  is, one. His simplicity cannot be denied.
      must make the sinner miserable  ; but according to His mercy                    Nor can His attributes be separated. God is. His attributes.
      He must  relieve  that misery without the execution of  the                     His mercy to His people is a righteous mercy. His justi&  to
      least justice. _ How, it is asked, can God be good and .kind if                 them is always merciful. He is at once King`of righteousness
      He is angry and punishes  ? And so some to resolve this  ques-                  and King of peace.: He never acts at one time according to
      .tion have identified justice with benevolence, claiming that                   mercy, and at another time according to justice. He acts in
      punishment is ot penal but rehabilitating. Otherwise, if in                    harmony with both at al1 times.  When  He punishes in justice,
      court the  judge,  would be lenient and show mercy, justice                     it is not at the expense of mercy;  Whe,n He pardons the
      must be overruled;  The accused.is actually worthy of a just                    malefactor, it is not at th expense  of justice. Grace is always
      punishment, but what the judge in effect does is to bless him                   shown on a  principle  agreeable to righteousness. It is true
      in his sin.  .In the interest of this' positi'on  appeal is made                ti& where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. But
      to Js.  2:13,  "Mercy  rejoiceth against  judgment." But  may                  grace is never administered in  defiance  of righteousness, but
      a judge be regarded as merciful who pardons vicieus.  crim-                     "grace reigns thru righteousness (Rom. 5 :21). God is light
      inals  ? Is it mercy to excuse the violent ? Would it be mercy                  as  wel1 as love.
      to make them at ease in their sin ? How much mer'cy would                          The text which fits in so appropriately with  our theme  -
      it be  shwing  to society to release  al1 criminals  frm  our                 speaks of  trut11 and righteousness; mercy and peace.  The
      penitentiaries ? Not  al1 showing of  kindness  is necessarily                  former especially declare what God is ; the latter  what He
      mercy. Is it kind to spare  ,a spoiled  child? Was it just of                   gives. Truth  opera& in righteousness.  Mercy   comes in
      Pilate  to ci-ucify Jesus? Was it merciful of him to release                   peace. The one cannot be where the other isnot.. They stand


       110 .                                       T H E   S T A N D . A R D   B ` E A R E R

       in relation to one another as foundation and superstructure..        Ps.  7:ll; Is.  5  :16, etc.), but is inseparably assocated with
       Righteousness is the foundation of' peace ; truth-  the founda-      other attributes which express the gracieus attitude of God
       tion-of mercy.  Mercy   makes the  promise.   Truth- keeps it.       to His people, as for example, lovingkindness (Ps.  36:10),
z      it. Thus, righteousness and mercy are not strangers. They go         `faithfulnes (40 :lO), grace (116 :5), and goodness (145 :7).
       wel1 together. So with truth  and. pace. These are four               -. God is Judge of  al1 the earth  who  wil1 do right. His  -
       attributes of God's goodness which divided themselves  natur- people take comfort in the realization that He is Judge of al1
       ally into two and two. They pair off well. They are of ene           men, for as  such He is their Protector and Avenger. Even
       disposition. The one  couple favors  US: mercy and peace.            in the latter capacity God displays mercy, for the casting of
       The other, truth and righteousness,  may  seem -against  US,         the reprobate into the lake of fire wil1 be an act of mercy.
       actually never is, for God mares mze;rcy to His elect in His         Eternal-punishment,,  from God's point of view is justice, for
       t~~utlz  (Ps.  89  :49; Heb.). These attributes are most clearly     by it He vindicates  His own  honor, holiness and  righteous-
       seen in God's werk of salvation. .Mercy  is seen in the prom-        ness.  From the side of the wicked it is an act of equity, an
       ise; truth in its fulfilment ; righteousness in the manner of        impartial distribution of justice, for they are given exactly
       its fulfilment; peace in its'results. They are al1 harmonized        what thy justly deserve.  From the standpoint of. the  right-
       `first within the being of God, in His  own  inter-trinitarian       eous (the elect chosen  in Christ's-righteousness)  , it is mercy.
       covenant  life. They meet in the  covenant  of  grace, in the        To be entirely free of the presence of th wicked  wil1 be a
       incarnate  Word, in the  written Word, at the Cross, at  the         mercy. What a mercy that "there  shall- in no wise enter
       conversion of  every  sinner, and in the `completion of the          into" the New, Jerusalem "anything that defileth, neither
       church in heaven.                                                    worketh abomiation, or maketh a lie (Rev. 21:27) ! Philos-
          It is therefore objectively  clear  that the  Scripture'  does    ophy vainly tortures itself for an answer to the question con-
       not  make an  antithtical.  distinction between the demands         cerning the harmony between justice and mercy. The Word
       of love. Scripture does not  make the sharp contrast'  often         of God knows nothing of any discord between them. Both
       drawn by philosophers between the righteousness and the              of these graces  are in harmony with forgiveness. What mo-
     mercy of G-od.  Justice and saving activity are not antithetical,      dern school of thought  caniJpretend  to  such  excellente!  One-
       but harmonious  principles  in God. He is a just God  a+zd  a        apostle  ascribes forgiveness to God's  grace: "We have  re-
       Saviour (Is. 45  :21). Accordingly, if we make  any  infrac-         dmption thru His blood, forgiveness of sins, according to
       tions of the principle  of love to God or to the neighbor, we        the  riches  of His  grace" (Eph.  lm:7). Another- apostle
       commit an injustice.  Hence the conduct of the good Samari-          ascribes forgiveness to God's justice: "If we  -confess our
       tan was that of lov,e and conformity to the law of God. ;But         sins, He is faithful and  jztst to forgive US our sins, and to
       both the priest and the Levite were guilty of injustice and          cleanse  US from  al1 unrigtheousness" (1 Jn. 1 :9  j . You wil1
       transgression of the law. Their "mercy" vanished as a morn-          also notice in these two passages that forgiveness is based on
       ing  cloud, and as the early  dew (Hos.  6:4, Heb.). Of              atonement thru the shedding of Christ's  bloed;  in the one
       them the Lord "desired mercy, and not sacrifice"  (6 :6) ; but       reference being made to "redemption thru `His bloed,?'  and
       according to Jesus- they never learned the meaning of this           in the other, to "the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanseth
       (Mt. 9  :13).  However the Samaritan was  conformed  to the          from al1 sin." From the point of view of Divine Revelation,
       principle,  "Sow t yourslves in righteousness ; reap in mer-       forgiveness  thru the redemption of Christ in one  place is
       cy" (Hos.  10:12). J esus never thought of these concepts  in        ascribed to grace, and in the very next breath it is spoken of
       the vague, sentimental and abstract way the world does. He           as a manifestation of $stice. "Being justified freely by His
       always thought of them in harmony  with. the being and               g?ace:  thru the redemption that is in Christ Jesus  ;  whom
       nature of God,. and according to the revelation of Scripture.        God hath set  fort11  to be a propitiation thru faith in His
       He never presented mercy as  mere  "goed-naturedness,"               bloed, to declare His right&sne.s.s for the remission of sins"
       which is the highest view many have of it ; but He teaches           (Rom. 3  :24. 25). The idea of an essential incongruity  be-
       that mercy is that devotion to God which produces  true love         tween justice and mercy, or between righteousness and  grace
       to the neighbor, and which sometimes requires the taking of          is utterly unknown to true" (Reformed) Christianity. The
       extreme measures of justice in order  to prevent the sprea'd         so called  wise and prudent of this world fail to grasp  the,
       of evil. And the Christian has so learned Christ, for he is          simplicity, beauty and  harmony  of this truth ; chiefly be-  _
       taught to pray, "Of Thy  wzercy cut off mine  enemies"  (Ps.         cause God does nat' reveal it unto them (Mt. 11:25 j , but also
       143  :12). Justice is not devoid of mercy, for it has two  as-       because `they do nat view their concepts  thru the Cross and
       pects,  one which effects the deliverance of the righteous, and      in its light. There is also our great failure whenever we do
       the other which destroys the wicked. If we would experience          not see light. But since Christ~ has come down from heaven,
     _  ,God's mercy we are to appeal to God's righteousness. To            ar& on the Cross- made complete sjisfaction  for our sins,
       Hisrighteousness we may turn, as David did, for al1 of God's         we sing : "Now truth agrees with mercy mild, Now land and
     -  grace and mercy : His deliverance (Ps. 31  :l),. for leading        peace are reconciled  ; Beholcl the truth from earth arise, With
     - (5  :S), for  .answer  to prayer (143  :l). So, righteousness is     justic shining  frqm~ the skies."
       not only connected with punishment and retribution (e.g.,                                                                      R.C.H.


                                                                                     -


                                                    T H E   S-TANDA-RD  BEAR.ER                                                           111
                                                                : .
      ll                                                                    ated:.It  is not simply a question as to whether we are spirit-
                      IN          Hl-S           FEAR                  jl ually sensitive or not. Al1 men are to one degree or another.
                                                                            The important question, therefore, is, What  e'ffect  does it
                                                                            have  upon  US  when we  *taste,  touch, smell, hear or see
                           Spiritucdly   `Sensitive                         spiritual  things?  That is  where  the  differente   comes in and
                                                                            where  the life of a child of God comes to manifestation.
                                        (2)                                     Listen once to the psalmist: "Rivers  of waters run down
             How sensitive are you ?                                        mine eyes, because they keep net-Thy law,"  Psalm 119:136.
            '  W  mean,  how sensitive are you spiritually?                ,Or take note of this significant statement in Luke 4 :2S ,"And
             Every regenerated child of God is spiritually sensitive. He    al1 they in the synagogue (Nazareth) ~ when  they heard these
       is that by virtue of the new life that God has  implanted  in        things, were filled with wrath." What brought rivers of
       him. He is that because the Spirit dwells in him. But there          waters of the eyes of the psalmist gave great delight and joy
       -are degrees of sensitivity. And there is not only a becoming        to those of whom he speaks. The same things were experienced
       dull and of becoming increasingly insensitive but  also  a           by both the psalmist and those of whom he writes  but with
       growth in the sharpness and power of tliat sensitivity. Of           different, yea, with opposite reactions. The men gathered in
       that increase in spiritual sensitivity. we wsh to say a few         the synagogue at Nazareth heard the Word of God. Their
       things. later. t the moment we are busy with that sad state         reaction to it was to be so filled with hatred  that they sought
       in which the keenness .of that sensitivity lessens  and we are       to kiil the Christ. That was a spiritual reaction, a reaction to
       n  longer   "these  who by reason of use have their  senses         spiritual things. The question, therefore, is, What  sensation.
       exercised to discern both good and  evil," Hebrews  5  :14b.         do we `have when we come in contact with sin and righteous-
             The thermostat in your home or  place of work is a  de-        ness, with the truth and with the lie ? Do we immediately re-
       vice  .that is made to be sensitive to  changes  in the temper-      spond with delight when we hear the truth and immediately
       ature of the room. Before your body  can  fee1 the drop in           shudder with dislike and spiritual pain when we hear the lie
       the room  temperature,  this little  device has been  affected       proclaimed   7 Do the things of righteousness  make  US
       and moves to close the switch necessary for causing the              happy and fill US with song, while the things of wickedness
       furnace to. send  forth- more heat. The microphone in  the           bring tears to our eyes and an ache in our hearts ?
       radio studio or that  plu& into your tape recorder is deli-              Stil1 worse, are we rapidly lossing our  hatred  of the
       cately made and finely adjusted to be sensitive-to the sound things of the world and becoming calloused and insensible
       waves.. It  wil1 "pick-up" sounds the  human ear  may not . to-  wickdness  and the lie ? Is there so little of  the  far of
       notice.  A piano that  may sound to your ear as being "in the Lord in  US that with the unregenerated we  can  laugh-
       tune" when heard through the sensitive microphone of the             about sin, be filled with wrath  when we hear men defend the
       radio studio or your tape recorder wil1 make plain to you,           truth of~God's glory and with these unregenerated turn up
       by the wavy pulsing of the three strings at different vibra-         OLII  noses and flee from that which is good and'true ?
       tions, that the piano is  ot  of tune. Your camera has  a               We live in a wicked age. Powerfulforces are-at work-
       sensitive film in it that  wil1 make a good picture for you          and have been since the day God brought man upon the face
       only if you expose it for  the,-proper  length of  time to the       of this earth  - to turn  US from  the good and true. On
       existing light. So sensitive are some of the color films that
-                                                                           every   side the world, according to the plan of the Evil One
       exposure  of. one twenty-fifth of  .a  second instead of one         himself,  is pressing in  upon the church to seek to dull the
       fiftieth wil1 make a decided change in the colors, so that the       senses  of the children of God so that they lose their aware-
       printed picture wil1 not be true to life. And to insure proper       ness of evil and the lie and  walk even as the world.  How
       exposure of this sensitive film you  may~ resort to a light          necessary ! that prayer of Paul for the Philippians : "And
     meter with its photo-electric  cel1 which  measures  the  exist-       this 1 pray that your love may abound yet more and more'
       ing light and  causes   the" needle to  move back and forth at       in knowledge  ,a.nd in  al1 judgment; That ye  may approve
       the slightest  variation  in'the light falling  upon it. And so      things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and .without
       we could  ,continue  concerning  smell. and taste ; and  thera       offense  til1 the day of Christ," Philippians 1 : 9, 10.  How
       are men whose smell ard taste is so highly developed that           revealing ! that statement of Jesus, "Nevertheless,   when the
       they  can label correctly smells and  tastes which you and 1         Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? Luke
       can'not  detect.                                                     18 :8.
             Spiritually it is no different.                                    This increasing insensibility and callousness of that which
             However  we do wel1 to consider that if we say no,more,s is- spiritually evil and untrue may even be seen in the develop-
       it must be  conceded- that  al1 men are spiritually sensitive.       ment of the world itself into more and more boldness to do-
       The truth and the lie have their effect on believer and un-          and say that which is unseemly;  wicked and of the lie. The
       believer alike. Sin and rightequsness do not go unobserved           boldness of Sabbath desecration, the full 1 lettered spelling
: by the unregenerated anymore than they do by  the  regener-               out of cursing and swearing in print  - over against a former


   112                                                 ThHE  S T A N D A R D   .BEARER

   restraint-   manifested  in only indicating  the-words   by-:  thair         I%rish  &en the thought And  yet that thought  comes
   first and last letters, the glorification of adultery and divorce,        constantly before our minds : Wil1 the day soon come when
   to mention  only & few things which merely  skim the surface               we wil1 no  longer  think it in order to ask such-a question?
   of the sad situation, give clear evidente of the forces round              Will, we have to  cease  asking  that question because the
   about US which seek to drag US down to that same level.                    elders and deacons themselves go to the movie in their own
       Andwe....?                               ..~                          living rooms with their children? Have we come to the point
                                                                             where  we are so insensible to the wickedness of Hollywood
          How far are We from these same things  7                           and of the world, so insensitive to what the  lusts of the
          We tremble inwardly.  when we  come in contact with                 flesh, the  lusts of the  eye,. and the  pride of life, of- which
   clear  manifestations  that in our own circles, among                     John speaks in 1 John 2 :16, and which he declares are in the
                                                                 US  who
   claim to rejoice to be considered as those  who partake of                 world, that what we formerly condemned in no uncertain
   Christ's anointing, there is a growing  lack of sensitivity               terms, we `are now going to allow ? Have we come to those
   over against wickedness and the lie to cause                              days of which Paul speaks, the perilous  times of the last
                                                         US to react with
   inward  pain and the shudder of abhorance. Things do not                  days, when men clearly show that they are "lovers of pleasure
   hurt                                                                      rather than lovers of God'? Is that thing creeping into our
            US Spiritually, as they formerly did.          _-                churches too ?
       Our young men,. and those of US who spent months -if                      Is it  .simply that we-fee1 uncomfortable about these things
   nat' years  - among th ungodly during  -their stint in the               only before the eyes of men ? We do pot like to have men
   rmed services of our country know how the. profanity, the                know that we go-to the movie in our own living rooms. We
   blasphemy, the cursing and swearing of the children of the                do not like to have men know that we and our children  are
   devii at first cut right through  them. Father's name was being           far better acquainted with Hollywood and its  "stars"  than
   dragged in the mire ; and we felt it. But that wor off ; and             we are with the Scriptures  and-  our confessions  ? Children
   today it does not make  quite as deep a wound as it did. We               have a way of talking out of the hou&, and by their speech
   stil1 hear it.  We-  stil1 know that it is wrong. But our  re-            often rveal  how  wel1  al1 these godless heroes of the world
   action inwardly is not as ,violent as it was.                             are known in the home. But if that is  al1 that bothers  US
       We tremble inwardly, too, when we consider the poten-                 we are not spiritually sensitive. If,  .while the Living God
   tialjties of that in-itself wonderful .invention that is so wel1 .Himself  sees US in our living rooms going to Hollywood for
   nigh entirely in  the service of Satan and his viper's  brood,            entertainment and the satisfaction of our flesh, we dare to go
   the television set. We tremble as it more and more takes. . ahead and do these things, the fear of fhe Lord is not in US !
   the  place of our "assembling of ourselves together," (Hebrews                We deern the question important: How spiritually sensi-
   10:25)  in,  Meri's,  Ladies'  and Young People's societies to            tive are you ?
   study the Word of God. A "goed"  program for the flesh has                    We also have a word of advice.  For God's sake heed it !
   power over US. It holds US and makes US despise these better                  The Rev. R.  Veldman some years ago wrote an  excep-
t h i n g s   o f   God.`s  kingdom. But we tremble even more when           tional pamphlet for the Sunday School  Mission Publishing
   we learn what these  "goed"  programs do to our spiritual                 Association on  The  Motie. By  al1  means  read it AGAIN!
   sensitivity and how they wear  down our feeling, our taste, our           If you n'ever  did,.. send for a free copy. We .are~ sorry that
   smell of that which is good in  God's sight. As Paul  writes              we do not have the  latest  address  of  ,the Association. We
   in that same epistle to the Philippians, "Finally, Brethren,              trust that if you send to the Sunday School Mission Publish-
   whatsoever-  things are true, whatsoever things are  honest,              ing Association in  care of the Reformed Free Publishing
   whatsoever  things are just, whatsoever things are pure,  what-           Association,  `P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand
   soever things are lvely, whatsoever things are of good re-               Rapids 7, Michigan, your request  wil1 be forwarded to the
   port  : if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on proper parties. We trust  also  ..that the association has an
   these things." Philippians 4 :  8.                                        abundant  supply ; and we were not asked to advertise their
                                                                             brochure.. We do it-in His fear.
      We tremble when we consider how close Hollywood and                        Give it to your children to read. And KEEP a  fopy next
   the movie have now been brought  to US and to our children.               to the switch of your- television set. 1 assure you that it wil1
   NO; too many years ago our churches took a definite stand                 not do harm to the appearance of your set..  Rather   wil1 it
   over against movie attendance. We recall how several, who,                give your set the touch of His fear.
  .in our grup,  appeared.before  the consistory to make  con-
  fession of our faith, were asked,  yhether  fhey attended the                  And may "your  love abound yet moreOand more in knowl-
  mvie. We were  spiritually  sensitive in those days as                    `edge and in al1 judgment : That ye may approve the things
  churches and considered movie attendance to be incompat-                   that are excellent," and, of  course,  that  means disapprove
  ible with confession `of Christ as our Lord  _and Saviour..                and~judge  as wicked the world and the lust that is therein.
                                                                                Do  al1 things in His fear !           .
      What of today ?                                                                                                                  J.A.H.

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

                                                                             was  publis.hed  at Soissons by  Langton  and the exiled bishops.
                Contendng For The Faithi.."". -11 PhZ@of %`&.nce was quick to respond to the summons and
                                                                             collected   a n   army.
"               >                                                      `J                               IBut the  success  of the English fleet
                                                                             checked  the fear of an immediate invasion of the realm.
                     The Church and the ~acramenk                                The nation's  suspense, however,-was  taxed almost beyond
      VIEWS   D                                                              the point of endurance. The king's arbitrary taxes and his
                      URING  THE  THIRD  PERIOD  (750-1517 A.D.)             amours  with the wives and daughters of the barons aroused
                        THE  SUPREMACY   OF THE  POPE                        their determined  liatred.  Pressed from different  sides, John
           I                                                                 suddenly had a meeting at Dover with the pope's special  en-
                NNOCENT AND THE  PAPACY  (1198-1216 A.D.)                    VOY, the subdeacon Pandulf. The hermit, Peter of Wakefield,,
      The interdict at  once took  effect->  .casting a deep  glook          had predicted that within three days of Ascension Day the
"over  the  whole  nation.  The church bells remained unrung.                king would cease  to rign.. Perhaps not without dread of the         `,
The church buildings were closed. The usual ministrations                    prediction, and not without irony to checkmate the plans of
of the priesthood remained unperformed. `The great doors                     the French monarch, John  gave,in  bis submission, and on
of the monasteries. were left unopened, and worshippers were                 May 15, 1213, on bended .knee,  delivered up to Pandulf his
only admitted by  secret passages. Penance was inflicted  upon               kingdom  and  consented  to  receive it back again as a papa1         -
the innocent as  wel1 as the  erring.  Women,   afte.r  childbirth,          fief. Five months later the act was renewed in the presence
presented themselves for purification outside the church                     of Nicolas, cardinal-archbishop of Tusculum, who had been
walls. The dead were refused  burial in consecrated. ground,                 sent to  England.  with legatine authority. In the document
and the service of the priest was withheld.              .                   which John signed  -and swore to keep,, he blasphemously
        John, although he had seen Philip, Augustus bend under               represeted himself as imitating him "who humbled  himself
a similar censure, affected  unconcern,, and retaliated by con-              for -US even unto death." This notorious paper ran as fol-
fiscating the property of the higher  clergy and convents. and               lows : - "We do freely offer and grant to God and the holy
turning the  inmates   out of doors with  little more than  the              Apostles Peter and Paul and  the-  holy Roman Church,  our
clothes on their backs. The  concubines-..of the priests were                mother,  and to our Lord the pope Innocent and his Catholic
forcibly removed and purchased thier ransom  at heavy ex-.                   successors, the whole realm pf England  and, the whole'realm
pense. A `Welshman accused of murdering a priest was                         of Ireland  with  al1 their rights and appurtenances for  the
ordered .by the king dismissed with the words, "Let him go,                  remission of our sins and those of al1 our race, as wel1  qu,ick
he has killed my enemy." The relatives of the fugitive bishops               as dead ; and from now receiving back and holding these, as
were thrown into prison.                                                     a feudal' dependant, from- God' and the 7 Roman Church, do
        In 1209 Innocent added to the interdict the solemn sen-              and swear fealty for them to our..Lord  the' pope Innocent, .and
tence of the personal anathema against  the king. The bishops                his Catholic successors and the Roman Church." (Ignqrance
who remained in England  did not dare publish it, `ibecoming                 of the people and the mortal fear in.  wh?ch the people re1
like dumb dogs not daring to bark." John persisted. in his                   garded. the terrible interdict, by which an entire nation was
defiant mood,  continued  to  eke  out, his  .vengeance   upon the           placed under the ban, enabled Innocent, of course, to win in
innocent, and sought to ~divert the attention of his subjects                his struggle with  King John of  England.  The victory, of
by negotiations and wars-with Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.                  course, was really  empty. It was impossible .of course., for
Geoffrey, archdeacon of Norwich,  who had been in, his                       any pope to put an entire  nation under the  curse of God.
service and now felt he could no.  longer  so remain, was                    Later the pope would  give.  the German refprmer, Martin
thrown into prison, and there allowed to languish to death,                  Luther,. the same treatment. Then,  ,in connection with the
covered  from shoulders to feet with a cpe of lead (a  cloke                German reformer, this ban of excommunication did not werk.
of lead) . Another example- of John's unspeakable cruelty                    Why not ? Because the Lord had given .Luther  in his heart
was his treatnient of a rich Jew of Bristol upon whom he had                 the unspeakable joy and blessedness of the forgiveness of sin
made a  demand of 10,000 marks. On his refusing, John                        and the reformer. knew that the words of the pope at Rome
ordered ten teeth to be taken out, one each day. The execu-                  were nothing but idleness and vanity.  - H.V.)
tioner dentist began with the molars. The sufferer  held outi                    John bound  l&self and  England  for  al1  time' to  pay, in
til1 he had been served this way seven  times.  He then yielded,             addition to the usual Peter's pence,  1000 marks annually to
giving up the money, which, as Matthew  Paris says, he- might                the Apostolic sec, 700 for England  and 300 for Ireland. The
have done~  seven dys before, thus saving himself of his agony.             king's signature was witnessed by the archbishop of Dublin,
        One more weapon lay in the pope's power.. In 1212 John               the bishp of Norwich, and eleven  noblemen. John also prom- *
was declared'unworthy-of-  this throne,  and deposed. His sub-               ised to reimburse the outlawed bishps, the amount  finally
jects were absolved  from~,the obligation of allegiance, and                 settled upon being 40,000 marks.
Christian  princes  were summoned to execute the sentence and                    Rightly does Matthew Paris cal1 this the "detestable and
take the crown., Gregory VII had resorted to the same pre-                   lamentable charter."  But. although national abasement could
carieus measure with Henry IV and been defeated. The bul1                    scarcely further go, it is probable that the sense  .of,,shame


      1 1 4                        I                        T ' H E '   ST.ANDARD   B`EAR'ER
      -L
      with which after  generations have regarded John's act was             the ground that he had attackd his seal under compulsion.
      only imperfectly felt by that generation of Englishmen.  As a          In  `fact, he had yielded  to' the barons with no intention of
      politica1 measure. it succeeded, bringing as it did keen dis-          keeping  his oath. The pope made the fata1 mistake  of taking
      appointment  `to- the warlike king of France. The interdict            sides with perjured royalty against the reasonable demands
      was revoked in 1214, after having been in force more than              of the nation.  In two  bulls he solemnly released John from
      six  y e a r s .                                                       his oath,  declaring  that "the enemy of the human race had, .
              The victory of Innocent was complete. But in after years       by his crafty arts, excited the barons against  hirn.`j He  as-
      the remembrance of the dishonorable transaction encouraged             serted that the "wicked  audacity of the barons tended to the
      steadfastresistance to the papa1 rule in  England.  The voice          contempt of  thee Apostolic see, the detriment of kingly  prero-
     of  :Robrt  Grosseteste was lifted up against it, and Wyclif           gative, the disgrace of the English nation,  and the endanger-
      ber+ame  champion of the king  who refused to be bound by              ing of the cross:" He praised John for his Christian  sub-
      John's'  pledges.. Writing to one of John's successors; the            mission to the-wil1 of the supreme head of Christendom, and
      einperor  Frederick  11 called  upon him to remember the               the pledge  of annual tribute, and for his vow to lead a cru-
      humiliation`of  his predecessor John and with other Christian          Sade. As for the document itself, he "utterly  refirobated  and
      princes  resist the intolerable enc-roachments of the Apostolic        condemned it" as  `<a low and base instrument, yea, truly
      see.                                                                   wicked and deserving to be reprobated by all, especially,  be-
                                                                             cause  th. king's assent was  secured  by force." Another
      Immcent   and  Magna   Chada.`-                  d                     ground given by the pope for annulling the document was
           An original manuscript of the  Magna  Chart,  shrivelled          that he as  .England's  overlord  had not  .been  consulted   be-
      with age and fire, but stil1 showing.the  royal seal, is preserved     fore the king's signature was attached.  Upon  pain of  ex-
      in the British Museum. A facsimile is given in  the official           communication he forbade its observance "by the kir@, and
      edition of the Statut'es of, the Realm.                                pronounced it "nul1 and void for al1 times." This language is
              In his treatment of the, Great Charter, the venerable in-      the strongest. Some excuse has been found by advocates  of
      strument of English popular  rights, Innocent, with monarch-           papa1 infallibility for this  fierce  sentence  upon the ground that
      ical instinct, turned to the side of John and against the cause        Innocent was condemning the mode by which the king's con-
      of popular liberty. Stephen  .Lsngton, who had released John           sent was obtained. `Innocent adduces three considerations,
      from the ban of excommunication, espoused the popular                  the cqnspiracy of the barons to force the king, their disregard
     cause, thereby incurring the condemnation of the pope. The              of his Crusading vow, and the neglect of al1 parties to Con-
      agreement into which the barons -entered to resist  the king's         sult the pope.as  overlord. He condemns,  it is true, the docu-
      despotism was treated by him  .with  delay and subterfuge.             ment as a document, and it has been said the contents were
      Rebellion  and  civil  war followed. As he had before been             not aimed at. Innocent's  mistake  and official offence were
      unscrupulous in his treatment of the Church, so now. to win           that, passing by entirely, the  merits of the Charter, he
      support he made  fulsome  religious promises he probably had           should have espoused  the despotisme  of the iniquitous king.
      no intention of keeping. To the clergy he granted freedom of              The sentence of excommunication which Innocent fulmi-
      election in the case of al1 prelates,  greater and less. He. also     nated against the refractory barons, Langton  refused to pub-
      made a vow' to lead a crusade.  After  the battle of Bouvines,         lish. For hs disobedience the pope suspended him from his
      John found himself  forced to return to  England,  and was             office, Nov. 4, 1215, and he was not allowed to resume it til1
      compelled by the organized strength of the barons to meet              1219, when Innocent had been in his grave three years. Lori;;
      them at Runnymede,  an island in the Thames near Windsor,              don, which supported the popular  cause,  was plced under the
      where  he signed and swore to keep the Magna~ Charta, June             interdict, and the prelates of England  who took the popular
1     5        ,         1    2         1    5    .                          side Innocent denounced, "as worse than  Saracens,  worse
           This document, with the Declaration of  Independente,  the        than those open enemies of the cross." About the same time
      most important contract in the civil  history of the English-          at John's request, Innocent annulled the  election of Simon
      speaking  peoples, meant defined  law as against uncertain             Langton,  Stephen's brother, to the see of York.
     tradition and the arbitrary  wil1 of the monarch. It was the             The barons, in self-defence, called  upon the Dauphin of
      first act of the peoples, nobles, and Church -in combination,          France to accept the crown.  He landed in England, but .was
      a:compact  of Englishmen with the king. By it the sovereign            met by the  papal.ban.  During the  struggle Innocent ded,
     agreed that justice should be denied or delayed to no one,              but his policy was continued  by his successor. Three months
      and that trial should be by the peers of the accused:  NO taxes        later, Oct.`19,  1216, John died. at Newark, after suffering the
* were to be levied  without the vote of the common council of               lss of his goods in crossing the Wash. He was thrown
     the  realm,  whose meetings were  fixed  by  rule.- The single          into a fever;but  the probable cause f his death was excess
      clause  bearing directly upon the Church confirmed the free-           in eating'and drinking. He was buried at his own ,request  in
      dom- of ecclesiastical elections.                                      Worcester cathedral.  .In his last moments he  received  the
      . 1. -After  his first paroxysms of rage, when he -gnawed  sticks      sacrament and commended his children to the protection of
     and straw as a madman, John called to his aid Innocent, on              the pope,  who. had stood by him in his last conflict.        H.V.


                                                   ,THE  S T A N D A R D   BEARER,.                                                         115

ll.                                                                           reduces  men to stocks and blocks  also charge that in  Re-
           ihe Voice of Our Fathers                                      1 formed thought there is no room left for the admonitions of
                                                                              Holy  Writ. And not infrequently they even charge that in
                  The Canons of Dordrecht                                     actual  fact these admonitions are.  not preached, though the
                                                                              truth is that these admonitions are not proclaimed in the
                                P A R T   T W O                               Arminian  sense atid with an Arminian  slant. One can readily
                    EXPOSITION OF THE  CANONS.                                understand the connection between these two charges also.
            TH I R D  AND  FOURTH   HEADS OF  D O C T R I N E                 It stands to reason that if man is no more a rational, mora1
 OF  THE  CORRUPTION OF  MAN,  H.IS  CONVERSION TO  GOD,                      creature,  but a stock and  black,  there is no point in  pro-
                   -  AND  THE-MANNER   THEREOF                               claiming an admonition to him, for he is in his very  nature
               Article  17.  As the almighty operation of God, whereby        nat  adapted  to  any  process  of. admonition.  -NO inore than
               he prolongs and supports  this our  natural-life,  cloes       one would. admonish a tree, co more would one admonish a
               not exclude, but requires the use of ineans,  by which
               God Of his infinite mercy and goodness hath chosen.            man who is a stock and black.  Neither the one nor the other
               to  exert his influence, so  also the before-mentioned         is  capable  `from a  psychological  point of view of being  ad-
               suPernatura  operation of God, by which we are  re-            monished. Admonition certainly presupposes intellectual and
               generated, in no wise excludes, or subverts the use of
            the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained  to,             volitional capacity to be admonished. And so the Arminians
               b,e the seed of  regeneration, and food of  the soul.          actually  charged  that in  `the Reformed system of  th6ught
               Wherefore, as the apostles, and  tea,chers   who   suc-
               ceeded  them..uiouslv  instructed the  oeoole  concerninrr     there was no rooni left for admonitin.
               this grace  oi  6od,  <o his glory,  andthe-abasement   -07        A few preiiminary observations are in  place  before we
               al1 pride, and in the meantime.  however,  neglected
               not to keep them by the sacred irecepts  of' thegospel         consider the article. itself.
               in the exercise of the Word,  sacraments and disci-               `In the first place, it -sh&ld  ~certainly  be granted that the
               pline ; so even  to. this day, be  it far from either  in-
               structors  .or  -instructed   to  -presume  to tempt God in    admonitions  of the Word of God are important. Even if we
               the church by separating tihat he of l$s good pleasure         consider their  importante  only from the point of view of
               hath most intimately joined together. For grace is
              `conferred by  means  of  admonitions;  and the more            quantity, and do not consider  the:content  of the admonitions,
               readily we `perform our  duty, the more eminent  USCI-         a very  superficial study of Scripture wil1 reveal at once that
               ally is this blessing of God working in  US, and the
               more readily we perform our  duty, the more eminent            its admonitions, both in the Old and New Testaments,  oc-
               usually is this blessing of God working in  US, and the        cupy a  large  place.  How  many-an admonition is  found. in a
               more directly is his work  advanced;   to  whom  alone  al1
               the glory both of  means, and f their saving fruit and        book  like  Prove&;  and  how frequently the people of God
               efficacy is forever due. Amen.                                 are solemnly admonished and warned in the prophets. The
       In the above translation of this article we offer the follow-          Lord Jesus Himself, according to the gospel narratives,  often
ing corrections : 1) "whereby he prologs and supports this                   admonishes His pepole. And the various epistles of the New
our natura1 life," should be: "whereby- he  produces and  sus-                Testament mvariably contain a goodly  portion of warnings
tains this our natura1  life."  (2) "of his infinite mercy and                and' admonitions. `Hence,  it may also be granted at once that
`goodness hath  chose6 to exert his  influence,", should be: "of              the charge of the Arminians, if true, would be serious  in-
his infinite  wisdom and goodness has willed to exercise this                 deed. This charge alone  would be  sufficient  reason to  dis-
his  -poweT." 3) "by which  we are  regenerated'?  should be                  credit the entire  Rcformed  doctrine concerning  man's  con-
the  ctive  : "by which he regenerates  US.". 4) "sacred  pre-               version:
cepts of the gospel" should be  "holy admonitions of the                          In the second place, it should be seen that the admotiitory
gospel." The same term is correctly  trarislated   "admoni-                   words of Scripture occupy a strategie  position in relation to
tions" later in the article. 5)  Th&  phrase  "in  `the church"               the  whole of the Word of God. If the need and  importanc
>s misplaced. It shoild be so placed that the sentence reeads  :              Of admonitions is denied, and  if even the- possibility of  ad-
l`. . . . be it far from ither instructrs  or instructed in the monitions is excluded, the  effect is necessarily that the
church to `presume to tempt God . . ." 6) The last sentence                   whole of  the Word of God is excluded as to its need and
should read : "For  grac& is conferred by  means of  admoni-                  possibility. Then  also' those  parts of  Scripture  which we
tions  ; and the more  readily  we perform  OM office, in this                would  denote as  "doctrinal?' and those parts which contain  c
same measure is the blesking  f th-e ,God who worketh in US                  the promises of God would be excluded. For  after all, in
wont  t8 be the more  eminent,  and his work then  procceds                   genera1   it may be said that always ,the calling  admonition of
most  favorably.  To  whom alone  al1 the glory, both of the                  the Word of God, whether expressed'or  implied, is: Repent
means and of their saving fruit and  efficticy  is  du& forever.              and believe. Whenever  the precieus  promises  of God are pro-
Amen."                                                                        claimed   to; the. `church, th,e people of God `are exhorted to
       It is nat" difficult at al1 to. discern `the false charge of the       believe  these promises and to  cling  to them. This  factor
Afminians  which`this paragraph is designed  to  answer.  It                  makes  the charge of the Arminians stil1 more serious. And
is a charge that is as a rule conne.cted with the charge an-                  we may infei that the fathers had this element in mind too
sweied in the preteding  `article. The same opponents  who                    when  they  penned this article. For they  spe+k not only of
 charge that the Reformed doctrine of  the  effectual   calling               admonitions,   but  also  of the ntire gospel, of the apostles'
                                                                                                          .



                                                                                                                  B


       1.16
       `U'                                           THE-ST,ANDARDGIBEAR~~
                                                                                        -  a_
  instruction of God's- people concerning the grace of God,                 Evangelies is niet alleen bij den voortgang noodig, om het
 ,and of the fact that by meahs of the holy adrnonitions of the             geestelijke leven te onderhouden en te sterken: dus niet al-
  gospel.the people of God -are. kept in the exercise of. the Word,         leen tot heiligmaking, en om tot  bewz&.+z des geloofs te
  the  sacraments, and discipline.                                          komen, maar ook tot de wedergeboorte en tot het geloof.
  T            In the third place, we may observe that especially in the        "Het Evangelie, of het gebruik des Evangelies, is dus
  light of the fact that the entire gospel, and not only it.4 ad-           `zaad' en `spijze.'
  monitions,  s at stake here, the realities of life and history
  truly make the Arminian charge absurd on the very face. of                    "God werkt in beide : in, het wekken des levens en in de
  it. For  who, pray, in the entire history of the Reformed                 onderhouding des levens., Niet den mensch de eer. God al-
 churches has .denied the necessity of the preaching of the                 leen. Desniettegenstaande mogen wij niet wijzer zijn dan
 ~Word, of the  whole counsel of God, including its  adm.oni-               God, die middelen wil gebruiken. Wij mogen niet scheiden
  tions? Or who in the name of the Reformed truth has ever                  wat God vereenigd  heeft. Wil Hij door d vermaningen des
  practiced this denial? The Arminians knew  very  wel1 that                Evangelies de genade uutededeelen,  dan mogen wij niet spre-
  their charge was false. They certainly knew  very  wel1  that             ken van onmiddellijke  mededeeling,  maar ons houden aan  t
  Reformed prachers preached the Word of God diligently.                   het voorbeeld der Apostelen en Leeraars, `die hen zijn opge-
  And they were  very  wel1  aware of the  fact that from  Re- .volgd,'  dus. die na hen werkten in de gemeenten, welke Apos-
 `Tormed  pulpits the admonitions of God's Word were not                    telen en Leeraars  de middelen hebben bediend tot mededee-
  silenced. They followed wilfully what is  called today "the               ling der genade en des levens, en tot opbouwing" des geloofs
  big lie technique," namely, that if you repeat a lie  often               en tot onderhoud des levens."
  enough and vehemently enough, and din  it monotonously  in-                   Now without entering into a lengthy discussion of the
  to the `ears of men-, you, wil1 finally get them to accept that           entire  controversy  concerning  mediate  or immediate regenera-
  Iie as truth.                                                             tion, we my make a few pertinent obser-vations  here. Those
                                                                            .who insist on mediate  regeneration, the above-cited Rev. Bos
          And finally, we must nof  overlook the fact that the Ar-          among them, maitain that al1 grace. as  it is applied to the
mihians  themselves were guilty of the very  charge which they              sinner by  the  Holy Spirit, including  the. grace of regenera-
  brought against the fathers. This, as we have said before, is             tin, is mediate,  and insist that the Holy Ghost always works
  characteristic of heretics. And  it, is true -in this case: For           through the means  of the preaching of the gospel. For them
  under what system of doctrine-could the-preaching of `the'                the very first work of God's-grace in the application of salva-
  Wrd (again : including -its admonitions) be more senseless               tion to  the' heart of the  elect sinner is the  calling.   And- if
 and useless and fruitless than in a view which leaves the  out-            follows that according to this view the preaching of  the Word
 come of that preaching and exhortation to the free will. of a              is necessarily  first: Those,  however,   who. maintain that  re-
 dead sinner  ?  How hopeless must become the outlook of a                  generation is immediate hold to the view that the work of
 preacher under  such circumstances. Is that  very hopelessness,            regeneration is the first work of God  In the application  of.
 the awareness of the complete and  utter uselessness and fruit-            the work of salvation to the heart of the child of God, and
 lessness of the preaching, perhaps fhe occasion of  al1 the wild           that this first work of God takes place immediately, that is, o
 rantings, the impassioned pleadings, the desperate begging of              by the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, without the means
- so many Arminian evangelists today ?                                      of the preaching of the Word. In the second  place, while it
         `.As far as the content of the article itslf is` concerned, we    may perhaps be granted  that  al1 Reformed theologians  oppose
 may observe that it speaks of regeneration, and that too, of a             the doctrine of, the Arminians, which present the work of  re-
`swdiate  regeneration. In  factj the language.  of this article has        generation as the effect of the  external  preaching of the gos-
 been  sed, to support the view that regeneration is always                pel and of mora1 suasion, and that al1 Reformed theologians
 mediate,  that is, `takes  place through  means, and is  -in no            emphasize that regeneration is wholly the work of God,
 sense immediat,  that the doctrine of immediate regeneration -effected  irresistibly, without  the  wil1 of man, it  is~ to be
-is `not Reformed. `Thus, for example, the Rev. T. Bos, in his              regretted that the proper `distinctions are not clearly made.
 explanation  of the Canons, page 175,  writes  in connection               This is also the main fault of the quotation we made above. '
 whh this article :. "Het gaat dus tegen de leer der Gerefor-               Our Canons do not differentiate between regeneration in the
meerden in, wanneer de wedergeboorte wordt voorgesteld  als                 narrower and in the broader sense, but simply include in the
 .`nmiddellijk,  zonder het gebruik des Evangelies. Uitdruk-               work of regeneration.  the entire work of God which we denote
 kelijk en  onwedersprekelijk  wordt hier geleerd, dat het Evan-            the calling  as wel1 as.the  very first implanting of the new life
 gelie een `zaad `der wedergeboorte! is. En dat juist om te                 in the heart of the elect. They include, as is very plain from
 bewijzn, .dat God in de wedergeboorte - middellijk werkt.                 a study of al1 the articles preceding this one, the-entire work
 Eerst daarna wordt gezegd, dat het Evangelie ook middellijk                of  con-rsion under the term  "regeneration."  And to be
 dienst doet, om  ,het leven, dat Hij. voortgebracht heeft, te              sure, if one includes al1 this in the term, and then views the
 onderhouden; De dienst des Woords, of de -prediking des                                           icontint&  on page 118)


                                                  T                                                              .,     .
                                                       H E   STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                     ii7'

                                                                        sion or  ruling is in conflict with  -the Word of God and the
                  DECENCY and ORDER                                     Church Order is ultimtely decided by the genera1 synod.z'.
                                                                            It should be noted here that besides the additions and
                                                                        interpretations that are incorported. into this revision (to
                                  Article  31                           which we wil1 come back later), the provision of the original
                                  Introduction                          article regarding "niajority vote'X  is elided altogether.. .It may
                                                                        be argued that" this is implied but, nonetheless, it is not ex-
          One of the most frequently  discussed  and controversial      pressly stated as in the original. We are informed that this
      articles of our present Church Order is the one we are about      entire revision has been submitted  -by the Synod  to the
      to  discuss.  Volumes have been  written concerning it. The       various Classes and Consistories for further study and in
      various differences of interpretation have played no smal1        the light of reports submitted by these bodies Synod  wil1
      part in the struggle and "splitting" of the Reformed Churches,    decide on the matter next year. We wonder whether  there
      both in The Netherlands and in our own country. From the          wil1 be objections to this procedure as, for example, there
      church politica1 aspect, the history  f 1953 in our own          were in our circles when in 1950 the matter of the Declara-
      churches found both  sides attempting to use Article 31 to        tion,,of Principles  was handled in this way, i.e., submitted by
      bolster and defend their positions. Hence, our personal in-       Synod to th churches for approval.
      terest and, we believe the interest of the readers of  Tlw            To the Rev. C. Hanko we are indebted for a translation
      Standard  Bearer,  in this article is more than an  academie      of the `proposed revision of Article 31 by the Reformed
     .one. We are concerned about this matter because it involves       Churches of The Netherlands (Synodical) . It appears in his
     fundamental principles  of the truth with which no church or       article entitled, "Should Article 31 be Revised and/or Clari-
     . individual can afford to trifle !                                fed ?," in Vol. 32,  pg. 161 of The Standwd  Bearer. Whether
         The article in our present church order reads'as follows :     this proposal  bas been formally adopted'by the Synod there
         "If anyone complain that he has been wronged by the            or not; whether  it is stil1 in the  process of discussion and
     decision of a minor assembly, he shall have the right to appeal    study or whether it has been rejected, 1 cannot at present
     to a major ecclesiastical assembly, and whatever  may be           say. At any rate the proposal, which would become Article
     agreed  upon by a majority vofe shall  be considered settled       35 instead of Article 31 in the revision, reads :
     and binding, unless it be proved to conflict with the Word             "1. The decisions of the assemblies are always taken .
     of God or with the articles of the church order, so long as        after a genera1 discussion and as much as pssible by unani-
L    they are not changed  by a general  synod."                        mous vote. If entire agreement proves unattainable, the as-
         To this article our churches, through the Synod of 1944,       sembly shall submit to the sentiment of the majority. The
     have added the following which is substantially the same as        decision of the assemblies have a binding character.
     is maintained by the Reformed Churches of The Netherlands :            "2. Those  who have objections to submit to the senti-
         "Appeal  to a major gathering against any decision of an       ment of the majority, because they deern them in conflict
     ecclesiastical'body must be made upon the immediately fol-         with the Word of God or with the  :articles  of the Church
     lowing meeting of the body to which appeal is directed,  at        Order, can make their appeal to the next broader gathering.
     the same tjme giving notification to the secretary of the body-       "3. In consideration  hof the differencs in boundary  be-
     by  whose decision he is aggrieved. Of  every  judgment            tween the various churches, in as far as not more than one
     rendered in the case those concerned shall receive a notifica-
                            2                                           particular synod is involved, the right of appeal to a broader
     tion."  '                                                          gathering does not extend beyond the particular  synod.
         It is  also of interest to note that the Committee for            "4. Those  who appeal to  a- broader gathering are  duty
     Church Order Revision of the Christian Reformed Church,            bound  also to consider the regulations established by  the-
     in its report to Synod this-past  year, proposes  some change      genera1 synod in regard to form and time limit of the appeal;
     in this article. In the proposed revision Article 31. becomes         "5. An assembly  can, in case of appeal, postpone the
     Article 49. It reads as' fellows :                                 carrying  out of her decision."
         "If `anyone is persuaded that a decision of an assembly is        Concerning this proposed revision, the Rev.. C. Hanko
     contrary to God's Word or the Church Order, he shall have          adds : "Although this article is rather  verbose, and has lost
     the right to address  a protest to the assembly next in order,     ppctically  every  semblance of the  original,  it contains  ele-
     or, regarding decisions by the genera1 synd, to the next          m,ents worthy of closer  consideration. Undoubtedly some of
     genera1 synod. Furthermore,  .if anyone complains that he          the elements could be relegated to a foot-note, since they do
     has been wronged by the decision 8f  minor assembly, he           not apply to al1 Reformed Churches."
     shall  have the right to appeal  to a major ecclesiastical  as-       The latter Rev. Hanko advocatest  pointing out that there
     sembly. Whatever is agreed  upon regarding  protests  nd          are  also other articles in our church order that could be
     appeals shall be considered settled and binding, unless it be      clarified by the use of a foot-note. rather  than subjecting them
     proved to conflict with the Word of  ,God or with the              to radical  change. He ites that this method has many  argu-
      Church Order. The question whether or not a specific  deci-       ments in its favor and then he proceeds to offer for  con-


  118                                             T     H     E      STANDARD:BEARER   -

  sideration the following foot-note or appendage to the present            Scriptural regulations of the church .without  reaping  the in-~
- Art. 31 : "The appellant-must  present his appeal with proof to           evitable consequences of the just judgments of God  Who
  the next major `assembly,  and while his appeal is pending  he            punishes sin  tempcrally  as  wel1 as eternally. (Heid.  Cat. Q.
  must submit to the decision of the minor assembly. When-                  10). Yet, the cry is  often heard  .today in an attempted  self-
  ever it is deemed feasible .and advisable, an -assembly  may              justification of such evils. "Oh, 1 know it's wrong . . . terribly
  postpone carrying  out hr decisin until the  broadcast gather-          wrong and th church is -going with it al1 in the wrong direc-
  ing has decided on the matter."                                           tion . . . but I can't do anything about it. The majority want
                                                                            it that  way."
         We wonder what the ultimate  effect of al1 this revising
  and alteration of the church order wil1 be within the circle of              Ah, yes ! We do not doubt the truth of the last state-
  Reformed Churches. It is lamentable  that, a gigantic task                ment but that you can do' nothing about it is an absurdity.
  such as this is cannot be done through a united effort. With              You not only can, but it is your God-given duty ! Article 31
  each grop or denomination going its own way, we fear that                of the Church Order  -maintains  the established  rule, based
  the end  result  wil1 be church-politica1 -confusion  in. which           on  God's Word, that every  member has the right to appeal
  the original Church Order that has so-ably stood the test                 and if such appeal is made without avail,  your out is to seek
  for centuries  wil1 be lost. Although, therefore, we  would               affiliation where  you are not bound by the anti-Biblical regu-
  favor limited  -revision and more broadly some necessary                  lations which, by your continuance in them,  only intensify
  clarification of  the present Church Order, we would  also.               your guilt. God is nat mocked!
  strongly urge retaining as much as possible  the form of the
  original. As the dutch would say, "Alle verandering is geene                 .-Further,  Article 31 establishes the principle that the d-
  verbetering  !"                                                           cisions taken by majority vote in ecclesiastical  assemblies`.
                                *  *  *  *                                  are to be considered  settled and binding. The very fact that
                                                                            an exception to this is immediately added in the article in-
         From this  .all,  ;t  should be evident,  however,   that~  the    dicates that the Reformed Fathers rejected the claim of Rome
  principal  subject of this article is "the right of every  member         that "the church in her decrees  is infallible"  and concede the
  of the church to apceal  decisions of the ecclesiastical bodies           ;@oint that "the church  can and does  err.j' The Scriptures
  with which they are or  may be aggrieved, believing that sucli            alone are infallible, being  the Word of God  nd, therefore,
 ~decisions are contrary to the Word of God or the established              they must serve as the final court of appeal in any dispute or
rules of the church order." It  would,  however;  be an  over-              dissension,  Hence,  any appeal to  reverse a decision of the
  simplifiction  of the matter if we would limit the material of           church must be wel1 substntiated. by the Holy Scriptures.
  this article to this one thing, important as it is ! This  basic`
  right of church members involves other things, such as, for                   Next  time,  D:V., we  wil1 outline the  material of  this
  example,   the-  mutual responsibility on the part of  al1  mem-          article and begin to discuss  its elements.                 G . V . D . B .
  bers of the church for those decisions which are made by the
  ecclesiastical assemblies.  When  this is not considered, the
  need to exercise the basic  right is not felt.  Often this is the
  case but it does not devoid the responsibility.  When  the
  church mkes  decisions regarding doctrines or such practical                               T H E   VOICE   O F  OUR  FATHERS   -              0
  matters  as  Unions,  Lodges;   Divorce,   Woman  Sufferage,  etc.,                             (Continued  from page. llc)
 these are not matters to be preserved  on file in some hidden,                                         .                                 .
  ecclesiastical records but they-are decisions  - right or wrong           work of regeneration  as.  a  whole, without  making   any dis-
 -`truc or fals  - concerning the faith and life of the church             tinctions, then it is certainly correct to speak of regeneration
  and for which  every  member of the church is accountable                 as being mediate.  But then it is not at al1 to the point to cite
  before God! The underlying idea of Article 31 establishing                the language of this 17th article in support of  mediate   re-
  the right of members to appeal or protest  al1 wrong decisions            generation in the  controversy  concerning  mediate   and `im-
  involves the  solemn  duty of  -every  member to  know; to be             mediate  regeneration. For concerning regeneration in the                      . .
  thoroughly acquainted with the ecclesiastical  Acts and to  in-           sense in which the Canons speak of it, as including the entire
  sist, through  appeal, that  every  evil be rectified. It is a sad        woik  of.  conversion; there simply is no  controversy  as to
  reflection upon the consciousness of this duty when membefs               whether that is  mediate  or immediate.  Al1 subscribe to the
  lack even that interest to  procure for themselves a copy of              statement that this regeneration.in no wise excludes or sub-
  the annual Acts of Synod. Certainly there must be concern                 verts the use ,of the gospel, which the most wise God has
  over the welfare of Zion ! Ignorante is never an excuse and               ordained to be the seed of regeneration and the. food of: the
  no member  of the church can be justified of the sin of living            soul. But then it  can not be  said  either  that it is' contrary
  in silent submission under the false  -"regula   fdei et  vitae"         to the `doctrine- of the Reformed churches to teach.  that re-
  established by ecclesiastical ecisions which are contrary to             generation is immediate `in the narrower sense of the word.
                                                                                                                                 .
  the  holy Word of God. NO member  can live under anti-                                                                              .`?,, . . H.C.Hi


                                       THE            STANDAR.DeBEARER                             .
                 \.                                                                                                                    ll.9
                                                                                                                                        _
                                                                     w Shall~~ome to learn about ourselves . . . ."
            hL AROUND US                                                The article of Dr. Kromminga is too lengthy to allow
                                                                     for  much more quotation in  our.allotted   space. But enough
                                                                     is quoted to. provoke  some thought and also some comment.
                                                                         It seems to me that if we are going to talk about unity,
 Such is the title of  an article appearing in the October,          as Dr. Kromminga has correctly observed, we will- have to
1957, issue of The Reformed Journal and  written by the              deal with the problem of denominations, but only after we
president of Calvin  Seminary, Dr. John H. Kromminga. The            have seen established first the unity of our own  denomina-
writer in his rticle tells US that the above title didnot origi-    tion. It  wil1  nat do at  al1 to invite discussion for  determin-
nate with him: but that he,borrowed it "from the discussions         ing  unity with  ether.  churches before  whom you cannot
of those churches which are members of the World Council."           appear with a united front. By the latter we mean that the
   The writer makes  a point of it "that the World Council           constituency of one's own denomination should. be perfectly
itself is not crystal-clear on the nature of the unity which it      united on doctrinal bases that are unitedly and faithfully  em-
proposes  to its member  communions." As-to his own position         braced by  al1 the members  .of one's own denomination. A
and that which he points up as the direction in which  he            heuse  that is divided against itself cannot  very  wel1 seek
would have the Christian Reformed Church go, he asserts              unity with other houses,  unless  perhaps it is the- intention
"We have been inclined; due in part to our isolationist past,        to `unscramble the mess of al1 houss concerned and draw
to regard  al1 such questions and discussions as disreputable.       out a unity of the scrambled  mess and forsake what is stil1
But this attitude could not be more wrong." He further as-           unscrambled:                                                 -
serts  -"The question of  .unity centers about these  very  re-          It'als9 seems to me that when one is able to declare that
spectable  theological  concerns :  What  is the church and          the unification of his own house has been established it wil1
what is the nature of its mission  in the worldz Whether we          also' follow that, before one seeks the unification with other
want to or not, the churh cannot escape these questions.            denominations, he  also, ask himself first a few pertinent
They arise wherever cooperation with another church is               questions: What is a denominatin?  How does a  denomi-
called for, wherever the church is in the world. These are. nation  come into existente ? How did the particular denom-
not  merely someone else's problems. We do not have to               ination or denominations with  whom he would saek  unity
borrow them to make them our own. We cannot do mission               come into  existente ? Does that particular denomination
work without asking  repeatedly what it is that we are doing.        have the right of existente ? Does that particular denomina-
We cannot be a church without asking  what it really is that         tion, to  use the words of Dr.. Kromminga,  promote "pet
we are."                     .                                       projects," establish itself on pre-conceived notions, etc., or
  _ A little later in his article Dr. Kromminga-  writes  : "It      is it a denomination that has  come into  existente.  through
is interesting  -and inspiring to note that the Christian  Re-       the way of  honest  Scriptural reformation  ? And if the  lat-
formed Church has today committed itself to more  union              ter is true, why does not -the denomination that  forced the
discussions than it ever before carried on at on.e time. What        new denomination that came into existente  because it would
wil1 come of these discussions ? 1 imagine there must be very        not  walk in error  confess-its  sin and in the way of  repen-
few in our own denomination  who do  nat at the moment               tanc seek  unity with that  denomination-that  stands for the
hope they are successful.  And, undoubtedly  there must be           Reformed truth ?
those. in the other denominations  also  who are eager for              Just to make clear  exactly  what we are driving at, let
their  success.  But  wil1 this guarantee the outcome ?              US take for example the two  denominations  : Christian  Re-
   "The very strength of the other denominations, the very           formed  and  Prote.stant  Reformed. By the  latter, of course,
thing that attracts  US to them,  may be the obstacle.  Every        we do not have in mind the group that calls itself Prot.
one of the denominations involved in these discussions is            Reformed, but have since 1953 left the fellowship  .of that
deeply committed to its own position and tradition. The              denomination. Dr. Kromminga knows full  wel1 the history
doctrinal and practica1 points which  wil1 be  discussed   wil1      of the origin of the Prot. Ref., Churches. He  knows that
differ in  each case. But the questions  wil1  come down to          they had their origin in the common grace controversy  that
these : Will any' of these churches be willing to make con-          arose.in  his own denomination. He knows that certain min-
cessions to the other ? To abandon pet  projects   ? To share        isters and their consistories were expelled from his denomi-
confessions ? To  overlook  past diff erences  and bitterness  ?     n&ion  when they refused to subscribe to extra-confessional
To change the very`  name of the church ?                            $@nts  of doctrine which his church imposed  on,,them.  He
   "Time alone  wil1 bring  the answers. But this  wil1 be a  ~  t,;
                                                                     ?also knows  that- these Protestant Reformed Churches  em-
real  test of the  vision of our own denomination  ; of our          &race  unitedly the three Reformed confessional standards
maturity  ; of, our ability to discern between essentials and        which his own church is supposed to' embrace with the ex-
non-essentials, between the blacks  and whites and ,grays  of        clusion of the confessional addition of the Three Points. H"e
denominational  existente.  _ In the process  of discussion we       also knows that these Prot. Ref. Churches have from the be-
wil1 learn to know others. But of equal  importante  is that         ginning   of their  existente  repeatedly sought unity with the


                                                //c i
                                          ;              .~-~-             .~.                              _---
      tao                                                ..THE  STANDARD.BEARER--'                                     :-..
                                                                    .                                                                              -
      Christian  Rformed  Church by calling her attention`to the                    Dr. Kromminga knows that the answer to `most of his
      error of common grace and praying her to. confess  this.                    questions is negative not only in the denomination.with  whom
      error,  -which   can be the only way for  union with fhe Prot.         his churchmight seek unity, but it.is als-0  negative in his own
      Ref. Churches. He knows that  each  time this  attempt  was  ~ church, unless his church or  `any other should become so
      made by the Prot. Ref. Churches it was done in the love                wholly indifferent with respect to principle things that it has
      of Christ and with the prayer of Christ "thatthey  al1 miglit          no right 0.f xistence anyway.
      be  ene." And he knows that  each  time this was done his                   -' Dr. Kromminga  wil1 pardon me for re-borrowing the
      church synodically dumped our prayer and request into the              theme of his  article.   .We  also seek a  unity which has a
     .waste basket, even as late as the synod of 1957. He  also:  -nature.                    And  -the  nature'  of the nity we  sek is  that. for
      knows that there has been since the beginning of the separa; which our Lrd prayed in John 17 21; the nity` of which
      tion a segment in his denomination that has always and stil1                Paul-speaks in Ephsians 4 :3-6, `13. The perfection of this
      today deplores this separation as much as they do tke stand            unity w.e seek first of al1 in our own churches, and then with
      of his churches on the doctrine of common grace that caused            thse outside  our denomination. It lies in  the  very  nature
      it. He knows too that his church synodically or otherwise of this  unity that it  wil1 be established only on the  truth
      has always studiously  avoided  any discussion with the Prot. of Scripture as that is interpreted n our doctrinal standards.
      Ref. Churches for fear that  such discussion might bring                    Concerning  these  who do not stand on this basis, we  wil1
     , about another split in his denomination or  cause some  of            continue to cal1 them to return to it if they have departed,
.     his constituency to come .to US. These things are wel1 known           and to instruct those who never stood on this basis by every
     to  al1  who have followed closely the history  and~  tbe life of       means- *God provides' if haply by the grace of God they may-
      these two  denominations  since 1924, and Dr. Kromminga  d see their error and turn with  US in the way' of the truth.
      wil1 not deny them, I'm sure.                                          Briefly that is the only calling of US as Reformed churches.
       Now it is true that Dr. Kromminga concedes that'there                         And it should not be. forgotten that when al1 is saicl and
      may be an obstacle, and we may add, obstacles, in the way ,done, it is not the church at  al1 that  effects  unity.   It is the
      of unity. 1 take it he means that it is possible that because of_ ,.one Spirit; the Spirit of our exalted Christ, that realizes  this
      certain obstacles in the way two particular denominations              unity. It is the Son of God by His Word and Spirit  who
      seeking unity may not be able to bring about this unity. Bt           gathers the church, and by the power of that Word and
     what does he mean` when he asks : "Wil1 any of these churches . .Spirit brings  sinners to repentance, the erroring back to the
      be willing  -to make concessions to- the other ? To abandon            truth! those in darkness into His marvelous  liglt. Only
     pet  projects  ? To share confessions ? To  overlook  past  dif-        when the church is controlled by this principle can she begin
     ferences and bitterness  ?  To change the  very name of the             to seek  unity that has the blessing of God.  Al1 other  unity
     church  ?'  -                                                        is not of Christ, but of man and antichrist.
             In the matter of the two chur.ches above referred to,,-what             Christ does  nok:  allow.His true church to live on "pet
     concessions does he have in mind ? .Would he perhaps have               projects," neither does He  allow her to make  any  conces-
     the Prot. Ref. Churches concede that the doctrinal  differ-             sions  where the principles  of the truth are involved, neither
     ences that seperate US are of little significante  ? not worfh  al1 - does he  allow His church to  overlook past differences and
     the  controversy  they evoked  ?  Wold he have  US concede             bitterness without confession of sin and amendment of life
     perhaps that the Christian Reformed Church is also 100 per              and  walk. If the church does not have the  .conviction  that
     cent Reformed  in the world and life view they have adopted             she stands foursquare on the basis of the Word of God in
     on the basis of their conception of a certain common ,grace?            doctrine and practice and cannot prove it with the Word and
     And by the "pet  projects" he would see abandoned, does                 example that she does so, she is not worthy of the name.
     he niean perhaps that we like the' sects with whom we have Nor should any church that has these convictions unite with
     been compared are riding a certain pony to death ? And what 1 the church that has lost her name and the right of existente.
     does he mean  when. he asks : ."To share confessions 7" Which                                                                                      ' M.S.
     confessons ?  Also those perhaps which are not so Reformed?                       _~
     And what does he  mean  when he asks: `To  overlook  past                                        THE DAY OF  SHADOWS
     differences  and bittrness  ?" Does he  mean that we are  to                                    (Continued   from  p a g e   1 0 8 )    -
     forgive and forget without confession of sin? And  wh$t:- pronoun  thewz  looks  to the carnal Israel. Over and over it
     does he mean  when he asks: "To' change the very name &                 is reported in the Scriptures that the  `soul  of the Lord is
     the church ?I' Does he mean perhaps that he is willing to .lo& c  grieved  with this people. For it is a people that always err
     the namn Christian Reformed if maintaining that name is  t
                                                                   th2      in their hearts and that do not  know. His ways and hear
     only obstacle in the way of  union or reunion  7 Or does he not His voice.  It is  a people that abhor God and for whom
     mean in our case that if we truly sought union with the Chris-         the heavenly is without  anp  worth. The  covenant   wil1  be
     ,tian Reformed Church we' should be willing to lose our taken from them and the  kingdom.  They  wil1 be Cut  off
     name if that was `the only thing in the way of union ?               from the-congregation of the Lord.                                            G.M.9.


