      VOLUME  x=Iv                                                                                                                               ':            NUMEER 15

                                                                                                          . ' Is nt. the way of the -Lord- inscrutable? Here is a great
              M E .D. I-- T A- T-: `1, -0 N                                       :  jl .  _. .  _  .
                                                                                                         mlsslonary  who  is. doig a wonderful work among  many
                                                   .
1'                                                      :                               :           4    peple: and his werk is so wonderful  that when the apostles
                                                                                                         Peter and John see it, they  .apprve of it, and continue to
                                                                     .--..j       -           .'         buiid   on it. But Philip is called:away  from this busy work,
               FRM  DARKNESS T.O. LIGHT ;. _                                                            and  &ust go, to a desert, on the -hunt for one solitary man,
              ."`Ancl  as they  went  o@ their way, they :came--nto:  & cer-                             and he an Ethiopian:
                tuin water: akd the &nuch~  sai, Sec, here is wuier;. what
              doth hinder  me to  be  baptized?  And Philip  sajd;If   tjiou                             -  `Would   any  Mission Board so act?
              believest  w i t h   al1  thine  heartt-   ~h~s~~   sFayeti.   A n d   h e
                                                                            .  _---                          It reminds  US of Jesus Himself  who went  out of His
                comm&ded  the  &rit  `io stand  stll:  a&  they-  -ggpt
                down both into the  ,water,  both  Phiiip   and  the  eCi%h;                             way'(  ?) to  -draw one  woman~ and she a Samaritan, and a
                and he baptized him.  And  .wh,en.,  &g  qe~g:c@@j  up                                  woman of ill  repute. .;Clre nt God's ways  higher  than  our
                out  of the water,  &e Spirit  of  the Lord  caug$f  :awny                               ways and His thoughts  highei-  than our thoughts ?
                Philip, that  the  eunuch  $aw  him.  more.rand  he went                                                            .  _..  .
               -012  bis way  reioicing." ACTS   8:3&39  :            .          ::,:..-                                              :          *ik**
                                        .                            I .  _ .".  .-.                                     ,      -           1             _
      0 the depth of the `riches both of the wisdom- and 1~0~1:
edge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments,~and  His                                                   Who is this hapiy -mortal  ?-
ways past tnding  out ! For who hath` known-th& mind  of th                                               Who is this man. for  whom the  very Angel of Jehovah
Lord ? or who hath- been His counsellor-  0.r.who hath first                                             comes and commnds one of the foremost preachers unto his
given Him, and it shall be recompensed  to him again? For                                                help ?                _'
of Him, and through Him, and to  Him, are  al1 things : to                                                   He is an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a blackfaced man, a de-
whom be glory forever. Amen.                                                                             cendant  of Ham; the cursed race.
                                                                                                                                       _
      The above Scripture comes to mind when we peruse the                                                   Yes, he was a man of great authority, the treasurer  of the
story. of the drawing, the guiding and the receiving of the                                              @een.
Light of the Ethiopian, the. eunuch,  who was baptized by
Philip.                                                                                                      What business did he have so far removed  from his
                                                                                                         usual habitat ?                         .   .
      It is  al1 so beautifully of the  .Lord: It is not at  al1 of
Philip,  or of the eunuch.                                                                                   The  Holy Word tells  us that he had  come down to
                                                                                                         Jerusalem for to worship. And he was now returning along
      Philip is one of the newly  chosen  deacons. But we see                                            the way to Gaza in the wilderness.
the unity of the threefold  `office: Philip was. preaching the                                                     ~-
Gospel in Samaria.  Through persecution because of Stephen                                                   There is no doubt but God had wrought in his heart the
he had gone to Samaria  to preach and to perform miracles.                                               wonderful life of Christ.  For he went to Jerusalem for to
                                                                                                         worship. And . . . he has a copy of the Old Testament in his
      And he had done so until Peter and John had  come down                                             p o s s e s s i o n .
from Jerusalem to  inspect  the great work  which God had
done to these backward people and in this forsaken place:                                                    And he reads.
Samaria  !                                                                                                   And from the text  which is quoted we note that  .the
      But in the midst of this ,busy mission field, the Angel of                                         Old Testament in his possession is a copy of the Septuagint,
the Lord had come to Philip with a message:  Arise, and go                                               a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
toward the South unto the way that goeth down from Jeru-                                                     Oh yes, the first glimmerings of  the heavenly life had
salem unto Gaza, which is desert.                                                                        shined in his inmost heart :

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

       He knows the Jewish nation and their religion.                   "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb
       He was drawn to Jerusalem to worship.                            before his shearer, so opened He not His mouth. In His hu-
                                                                        miliation His judgment was taken away and  who shall declare
       He has the Bible, and . . . he reads it. He has a text,          His generation ? For His life is taken from the earth."
and what a text !                                                           And now commences the breaking of the day !
       He has a hunger for God in his heart. Ancl God knows
it, for He put  it there, and  wil1 send a missionary to interpret.         What a beginning for Philip  1
       There is no doubt about it : here.  you have a picture of a          And what wonderful order in the work of God's evan-
beautiful subject for missionary work.                                  gelist !
                                                                            YOU must have a text.
                             *  *  +  +                                     Must be a good text : al1 texts are not fit for our work.
   What  care of God for one  soztl!                                        You must make a beginning. And from there you must
   The Angel of the Lord, is sent by God to earth for the               proceed.                                                            I
                                                                                                                                   :--:LL   ;
sake of one soul. Do you remember that wonderful text in                    And the whole of it is preaching Jesus.
Deut. 33 :2Gb: ". . . who rideth upon the heaven in thy help,
and in his excellency on the sky"?                                          Now read the Holy Record, and you wil1 fnd al1 of that
                                                                        in this story.
       And a busy missionary who is used for the drawing into
the flock of "both men and  women,"  (Acts  8:12b) is  re-                  God is God of order.
routed, and must go into the South to be used as an instru-                Oh yes, he indeed preached Jesus, the Light of the world.
ment of Almighty God in order to make a  "darky"  travel                    And have you noted the wonderful fulness of the Gospel ?
his way rejoicing !                                                         First : Humiliation! The terrible downward journey of
       And Philip is obedient   to the heavenly  vision.  From the      Jesus.
north to the South, from Samaria  to the desert road to Gaz;a.              We see Him as a sheep slaughtered and as a lamb shorn :
Wasting his time on one negro ? A eunuch ?                        -'    dumb, for it was beautifully just.
  . Perish the thought ! God never wastes  time !                           Deliverance: for His judgment is taken away by humil-
       The soul of this negro is  precieus  in His eyes. And it         iation. He swallowed up death in victory.
is the time set in His everlasting. counsel that this man be
fully  drawn and placed into the full light.                                Glory : In a great generation that no one can number  ;
                                                                        and  through exaltation from the earth. His life is taken
       And if tradition is correct in this instance, this Ethiopian     from the earth  indeed. His life is the highest revelation of
was the firstfruit of a great harvest in Ethiopia !                     the life of the covenant  of Triune God.
       God always knows perfectly what  is right, and when it .is           It is the full story of the Saviour who wrought our salva-
the right  time for everything.                                         tion.
       This was the time for the eunuch to be drawn.  Hen&:                  It isthe only story which we may bring to the lost sheep
Arise, Philip !                                                         of th house of Israel.
       And Philip went.                                                      Woe to the man  or  woman  who brings aught else. The
                                                                        Holy Ghost wil1 not apply anything else but that which He
                             *  *  9  *                                 took from the Word. The Holy Ghost only applies Jesus and
       Arriving at the southern route from Jerusalem Philip be-         al1 He did and does.
holds the entourage of this Ethiopian, and the same time is                  Watch the Ethiopian !
prompted by the Spirit of Jesus Christ to go near and to                     Oh, how he listened with both ears, and with the ears of
join himself to the chariot. And drawing near he hears a                his heart.
very familiar passage of Scripture. The man is reading out
l o u d .                                                                    Blessed object of the mission of God, the special mission
                                                                        of God.
       Philip needs no further prompting, but inquires politely :
Understandeth  thou what thou readest? And he hears the                                             *  *  *  *
answer of this thrice blessed man: How can 1, except some
man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he wou'ld                   Blessed Ethiopian !
come up and sit with him.                                                    As Philip began, and proceeded to preach Jesus Christ,
       And then Philip hears from him the very place which he           this dark-faced southerner beheld a pool, a river, or a brook:
was reading. And what a  place ! It is Isaiah 53 ~7, and  8  :          at any rate, he saw water. And in the course of Philip's ser-


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                   339

mon he must have  come to the doctrine of baptism,  that
blessed rite of the incorporation into the body of Christ.                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
   And seeing the water, his inmost desire  is kindled to be                 Semi-monthly, exeept  montlrly   dwing  June,  July and August
baptized,                                                                     Published by the  REFORMXD   FREE   PUBLISHING  ASSOCUTION
                                                                             P. 0.  Baox 881, Madison Square Station, Grand  Rapids  7,  Mich.
   %ee, here is water; what doth hinder-me to be baptized?"                                         Eclitor   -  RE"\   HERMAN  HOFXSEMA
   "If thou believest with al1 thine heart, thou mayest !"                   Communications relative to  contents  should be addressed  to
                                                                                           Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
   And that is dvinely correct: the hungry and thirsty are                                                     Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
called, and may partake of al1 the bounties of Christ. Every-                Al1  matters  relative to subscriptions should  be addressed to Mr.
thing is for the believers.                                                  G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
                                                                             Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
   But most important of ah: let US note that God worked                     address  and  will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each   notice.
through. By the mysterieus  work of the Holy Spirit of Christ                RENEWAL:   Unless a deinite request for  discontinuance  is  re-
this man was brought from the twilight to the full light   oE                ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes  the subscription
                                                                             to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
day : he  hungered  and thirsted for righteousness. And his
needs must be filled.                                                                                Subscription  price: $5.00 per year
   Listen to the wonderful confession of this  iz&hen!   `9                  Entered as Second  Class matter at Grand  Rapicls,   Michigan
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God !" What marvel-             -                  -                                                                                                  -
leus faith  !,  How wondrous are the works of God!  ,It did
not take long either.  When  God works through, we  wil1                                                            C O N T E N T S
know it.                                                              MEDITATIN  -
                                                                                 From Darkness To Light . . . . 337
    Philip recognizes the work of the Spirit, and with  this                              Rev. G. Vos
blessed man descends from the chariot and enters the water            EDITORIALS  -
which providentially is there.                                                   The Declaration of Principles.   .._  ._ __ _.  __.  .._  .._  _._ __ ._  _._  _.__.   ,340
                                                                                 Shall We Re-unite?.. __. ___ ___ ___. ___. ___ __. ___ _. .______,  ____.____.  ..__ _. ___...  . ..341
   1 baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son,                              Rev. H.  Hoeksema
and of the Holy Spirit ! Ah, the age-tested formula !  How
wonderful and  how blessed to be baptized into the death              OUR  DOCTRINE -
                                                                                 The Book of Revelation  ..__....__..................................................                              343
of Christ, and to come up out of the water and thus partake                               Rev. H.  Hoeksema
of the resurrection of the Lord!                                      Tm  DAY OF  SHAD~WS   -
   They wend their way back to the chariot.                                      The Prophecy of Zechariah .____._______._____.______  _ ___.__._...____...._:  ..__._  345
                                                                                 The Ten Plagues  - Their Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
   But what is this ?                                                                     Rev. G. M.  Ophoff
   Philip is gone. The same Spirit  who gave salvation to             FROM HOILY WRIT  -
the eunuch spirited Philip away to other fields of labor. The                    Exposition of Matthew 24 and 25..                                             ___. . .                           ..348
Ethiopian needed him no more.                                                             Rev. G. Lubbers
   And the man realized it too : He had everything necessary          IN  HIS  FEAR   -
                                                                                 Freedom From Fear (3)  ______........__..........................................  350
for his further walk of faith : he went on his way rejoicing in                           Rev. J. A. Heys
the God of his salvation.                                             CONTENDING FOR THE  FAX&   -
    Some day 1 wil1 see this Ethiopian.                                          The Church and the Sacraments..:  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
                                                                                          Rev. H.  Veldman
   In glory. Amen.
                                                             G.V.     THE  VOICE OF  OUR  FATHERS  -
                                                                                 The Canons of Dordrecht .__.____.____.  i _____.____.____.__._.....................  354
                                                                                          Rev. H. C.  Hoeksema

                                                                      DECENCY  AND ORDER -
                THE CHURCH OF CHRIST                                             Credentials __ .__.,  __ .___ __.___  _. .__. .._ ._ _. __. .:_ ..___ __ __ ..___ . ..___  356
             When  the Lord the names  shall  write                                       Rev. G.  Vanden Berg
               Of thy sons, a countless throng,                       FEATURE  ARTICLE  -
             God Most High wil1 thee requite,                                    The Quiet and Peaceable Life of 1 Tim. .2:2... ___ __._ ._. __.__.  .._ ,358
                                                                                 R e v .   G .   L a n f i n g
               He Himself wil1 make thee strong.
             Then in song and joyful mirth                            CONTRIEXJTIONS  -
                                                                                 The True and False  Church as to the Confessions __._____________  359
               Shall thy ransomed sons agree,                                             B. J. Meelker
             Singing  forth throughout the earth,                                Callvinism  - The Truth (Continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
               "Al1 my fountains  are in thee."                                           Rev. Robert C. Harbach
                                                       Psalm 87 :2

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

                                                                      their unbelief while He sovereignly bestows saving faith on
            E D  I T 0 R  I  A L S                                    others.
                                                                           3. That, therefore, the  promise of God, which  includes
                                                                      faith and eternal life, cannot be a gracieus offer on the part
                The Declaration of Principles                         of God to al1 men, nor even a conditional offer to al1 that .are
    The "Declaration" states that "the promise  of the gospel         born in the church, but that it is an oath of God which He
is not a gracieus offer on the part of God to al1 men, nor ia         realizes only to the elect. Even here the First Point of 1924
conditional offer to al1 that are born in the historica1 dispensa-    and its interpretation are condemned. But  also the well-known
tion of the covenant,  that is, to al1 that are baptized, but an      first statement of De Wolf is condemned: "God promises to
oath of God that He  wil1 infallibly lead  al1  the elect unto        evpry  one of  yozt that,  Zf  yozt  b&eve,  you shall be  saved."
salvation and eternal glory through faith."                           If language  means  anything at all, this statement certainly
    Is this the teaching of the Confessions ?                         implies and expresses : 1. That God, on His part is willing to
    It certainly is.                                                  save every  single individual in the audience. 2. That, how-
    Let  US, to  prove this, first of all, refer to the Canons of     ever, he that would be saved must fulfill the  condition  of
Dordrecht which were adopted by the Reformed Churches in              faith. This is not Reformed but Arminian. One may preach,
1618-19.                                                              of course: "God promises every one of you that believes sal-
    The first chapter of these Canons deals with the subject          vation." This is Scriptural. But the promise of God is never
of divine predestination. It is  introduced  by an article that       conditional and is never  mearrt  by God for  al1 that hear it.
speaks of the fact that al1 men have sinned in Adam and are,              So much for this article of the Canons.
therefore, undei the curse,  so that God might justly have left           Article 7 of the same chapter of the Canons  then describes
them  al1 to perish. The second speaks of the love of God in          God's eternal  election,  and again we prefer to quote the  whole
sending  His Son into the world "that whosoever believeth on          article :
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The third              "Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby,
speaks of the preaching and the preachers of the gospel whom          before the foundation of the world, he hath of mere  grace,
God  sends to  whom and at what  time he wills. The fourth            according to the  souereign  good pleasure of his own will,
emphasizes the truth `that, while the wrath of God abides on          chosen,  from the whole human race, which had fallen through
them that believe not, those that do believe are delivered from       their own fault, into sin and destruction, a certain number of
the wrath of God and  receive  the gift of eternal life. The          persons  to redemption in Christ, whom he from eternity ap-
fifth article expresses that, while the cause of unbelief is not      pointed the mediator  and head of th elect, and the founda-
in God but in man, faith and salvation are the free gifts of          tion of salvation.
God.                                                                      "This elect number, though by nature neither better nor
    Then, in article 6, the C?nons  teach  that the fact that some    more deserving than others, but with them involved in one             .
receive  the gift of faith from God and others do not is rooted.      common misery, God hath  decreed  to give to Christ, to be
in the decree  of God. This is a beautiful article and 1 will,,       saved by him, and effectually to cal1 and draw them to his
therefore, quote it in its entirety :                                 communion  by his Word and Spirit, to bestow  upon them
    "That some receive  the gift of faith from God, and others        true faith, justification and sanctification; and having  power-
do not  receive  it proceeds from God's eternal  decree,, `For        fully  preserved them in +the fellowship of his Son, finally, to
known unto God are al1 his works from the beginning of the:           glorify them for the demonstration of his mercy, and for the
world,' Acts 1.5 :18. `Who worketh al1 things after the coun-         praise of his glorious  grace; as it is  written: `According as
sel of his will,' Eph.  1  :ll. According to which  decree,  he       he hath  chosen  US in him, before the foundation of the world,
graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however  obstinate,       that we should be holy and without blame  before him in love ;
and inclines them to believe, while he leaves the non-elect in        having  predestinated  US  unto the adoption of children by
bis just judgment  to their own wickedness  and obdurcy.  And        Jesus Christ to himself,  according to the good pleasure of
herein  is especially displayed  the profound, the merciful, and      his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,  wherein he
at the same time the righteous discrimination between men,            hath made US accepted  in the beloved.' Eph. 1:4, 5, 6. And
equally involved in ruin ; or that decree  of election  and repro-    elsewhere: `Whom he did predestinate, them he also called,
bation, revealed in the Word of God, which though  men of             and  whom he called,  fhem he  also justified, and  whom he
perverse, impure  and unstable  minds  wrest to their  own            justified them he also glorified.' Rom. S :30."
destruction, yet to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable              Also  this  pr&es, without a doubt, the statement in our
consolation." .                                                       Declaration of Principles "that the promise of the gospel is
   Notice here :                                                      not a gracieus offer on the part of God to al1 men." For mark
   1. That this article speaks of a  discrimination between           you well, this article speaks, indeed,  of. divine predestination
men by God according to His sovereign  decree  of election  and       but not  merely  in the abstract. On the contrary, it speaks
reprobation.                                                          of election  in a very concrete sense of the word and defines
   2. That, according to this  decree,  God leaves some in            the,  contents of  election.   Election  means,  according to this


                                             THYE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    ,341

article, that  the  elect have been given to Christ as  their           be perfrmed  before we can ever enter into the kingdom  we
media&  and head, that they are effectually called and drawn            simply shall never enter.
into His  communion  by His Word and Spirit, that they  re-                We  wil1 continue this discussion next  time, the Lord
ceive the true faith, justification, sanctification and preserva-       willing.                                                   H.H.
tion unto the end unto final glorification.
   This is the contents of God's decree of election.
   And this is exactly also the contents of the promise  of the                              Shall We  Re-unite?
gospel. The promise is based on the decree of election. How                There appears to be, in the group that departed from US
anyone, in the light of this article of the Canons, can possibly        and from the Protestant Reformed faith, a desire to reunite
maintain that the  promise of the gospel is a  gracieus  0ffe.r         with US.
on the part of God to al1 men, is a mystery to me. And how                  Such a reunion, however,  may only be accomplished in the
anyone could possibly preach, in willful contradiction to thle          right way, that is, the way of truth and righteousness.
Declaration of  Principles,  in the light of the above quoted
article of the Canons : "God  promises every  one of you that,              It is always rather difficult to reunite churches that have
if you believe, you shall be saved," 1 fail to understand.              once separated, unless  al1 the different groups concerned have
   To me, the two are in flat contradiction to each other.              so far departed from the truth they once confessed that they
   Article eight of the first  chapter  of the Canons  em-              have become wholly indifferent to their  own confession. And
phasizes that the decree of election is one, it is an election          this certainly is not the case with the Protestant Reformed
"both to grace and glory, to salvation and the way of salva-            Churches. We stil1 insist  that we represent the true Church
tion, which he hath ordained that we should  walk therein."             of Jesus Christ as  it is revealed in the Word of God and
   Then in article 9 reference is made to conditions and pre-           delineated in our Confessions. We  also  insist that those
requisites. This article 1 wil1 quote once more in full :               that have left US departed fiom that truth and are walking  in
    "This election was not founded upon foreseen faith, anti            the way of error.
the obedience of faith, holiness, or any other good quality or              In the light of the recent attempts from the opponents for
disposition in man, as the prerequisite, cause or condition  o;l        reunion, it may be weU. to review the history of our separa-
which it  depended  ; but men are chosen   to faith and to the          tion in order that al1 may know and none may be deceived.
obedience  of, faith, holiness, etc., therefore election  is  th'e         As 1 have remarked before, the genera1 cause  of the split
fountain of  every  saving  goo<  ; from which  proceed  faith.,        in our churches  is the fact that those that caused  the schism
holiness, and the other gifts of salvation, and finally eternal         must have nothing of the well-known Declaration of Prin-
life itself, as its fruits and  effects, according to  that of  thle    ciples which,.at  first, was virtually unanimously adopted by
apostle : `He hath chosen  US (not because we were>  but that           our synod, but which later was criticised and which noti is
we .should  be holy, and without blame, before him in love.'            officially rejected by the schismatics.
Eph. 1 :4."                                                                 But although this is, undoubtedly, the genera1 cause  of
   Here we meet with the terms  "condition"  and  "pre-                 the split, there is  alio a more immediate  cause. That  im-
requisite."                                                             mediate   cause was local. The split started in the First Prot-
   Kok, 1 mean the Rev. `B. Kok, loves to show that our Re-             estant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, and in Classis
formed  fathers and that the Rev. Ophoff and the undersigned            East of the Protestant Reformed Churches.  It was caused  by
also used the term in the past. In  fact, he composed  several          the unreformed preaching of the Rev. H. De Wolf.
typewritten sheets for the purpose, evidently, to prove that,               1 speak of the unreformed preaching of the Rev. De Wolf
in the past, 1 believed the same as he and De Wolf et al.               for, although the matter of the dissension was, finally, con-
   Let me assure him : 1. That this is not true. 1 never be-            centrated in two specific  heretical statements, in his preach-
lieved that the statements of De Wolf, which Kok defends                ing he hardly ever revealed any love for our Protestant Re-
although he distorts them, are Reformed. 2. That  1 do not              formed truth.
fight against a term. Although 1 believe that it is better to               In connection with this, 1 wish to reproduce a protest
avoid the term "condition"  because of its Arminian connota-            which, at the time,  1 sent to our consistory (that is, after  De
tion, it is not impossible to use it in some connections in the         Wolf's two heretical statements had been reported to the
sense of "particular." This Kok  also  wel1 knows.                      consistoryj and which literally presents the truth without
   Once more, 1 do not fight for or against a mere term.                any exaggeration.
   However, when someone preaches. (and Kok believes  this,                 This protest reads as follows :
too j that "our act of conversion is a prerequisite to enter thle       The Consistory of the First Prot. Ref. Church
kingdom  of God" then 1 maintain that this is, principally, thee        Grand Rapids, Mich.
same heresy as to which reference is made in Canons 1, 9
quoted above. For, outside of the kingdom  of God we are in             Esteemed brethren :
darkness, and if it be true that our act of conversion must                B&ause we are, evidently, making  history, and because the


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   Rev. De Wolf is apparently attempting to show how far he             `time, he made very offensive remarks of a personal nature,
   can go with his cnditional theology, so that we Wil1 have to        which, at the time 1 felt were directed  to me and to the Rev.
   take a stand and officially make a choice between it and the         Ophoff, a feeling which was shared by the latter. They were
   Protestant Reformed truth, which certainly are not the same,         remarks such as the following : "Some. of you think that they
   because of al1 this, 1 say, I prefer to commit my thoughts  to       know it all'. Some'of  you cannot stand it that someone stands
   writing, and  ask you  kindly  to  receive the following docu-       next to you and also knows something" etc. 1 called himto
   ment for information and take it up in your minutes for              my study and asked him whether he  ,did mean me. He denied
  future reference.                                                     it.  When  1 urged him to  tel1 me,  whom he could possibly
          In it 1 wil1 attempt  to explain why 1 cannot and wil1 not    have in mind by such very personal remarks,  he finally said
   sit at the same  communion  table with the Rev. De Wolf,             that it was Mr. and Mrs. D. Jonker. In the notorious sermon
   even for one Sunday, unless he whole-heartedly  repents of           of April 15, 1951, he again made some  very sarcastic and
  the evil of his way. 1  wil1 explain why 1 wil1 never again           personal  remarks,  again at the  address  of strong Prot. Ref.
  occupy the same pulpit  with him, unless he publicly apologizes.      people,~ for which the Rev. De Wolf seems to have a dislike.
  1 wil1 explain the statements 1 made last Monday evening in           1 refer to statements such as : "Some  of you carry Prot. Ref.
  your meeting, why 1 cannot possibly trust him, and why it is          on the-lapel of your coat," etc. And this time 1 certainly fee1
   impossible to entrust  the congregation to him, unless he re-        that 1 belong to those whom he was addressing.
  pents, and publicly apologizes.                                          3. In the same sermon, he made remarks about the truth '
      At the same time in al1 seriousness, 1 hope yOu understand.       of  election  which no Prot. Ref. minister would ever make.
  that, either you must demand  such a public apology of him,           And the same is true of the sermon of last Sunday evening.
  os apply the keys of the kingdom  of heaven to me.                       4.  -In the same sermon, that of April 15, 1951, which 1
      Permit me, then, to explain.                                      consider a very  bad sermon, he really  struck an Arminian
      The sermon which the Rev. De Wolf preached last Sun-              note throughout, as far as I~can  judge from reports of that
  day evening does not stand out as an isolated event, but is           sermon.  Nat only did he virtually preach a genera1 condi-
  rather a climax of events in which the Rev. De Wolf revealed :        tional promise,  but the very introduction struck an un-Prot-
      1. That he does not clearly understand os love, os both,          estant Reformed note, by appealing to Canons 111,  IV:S, 9 of
  the Protestant Reformed truth.                                        the Canons of Dordrecht, and that, too, with the same intent
                                                                        as did the Synod of 1924 in support of the First Point and
      2. That he often appeals to and strengthens the weaker            the genera1 offer of salvation, well-meaning on the part of
  element in the congregation, i.e. strengthens them in their           God to  al1 that externally hear the gospel. In fact,`there is
  wrong attitude, while he discourages the stronger Prot. Ref.          no  differente  whatsoever between the preaching of a  general-
  element.                                                              conditional  promise and a well-meaning offer of salvation.
_ 3. That, in addressing the  congregation;  he  often rails               In the sermon of last Sunday evening, he literally preached
  at certain  persons, particularly the stronger element, in an         that our act  of~ conversion is a  condition   os prerequisite  to
  off ensiue way, without preaching the Word of God to them.            enter into the kingdom  of God. This is neither Scripture nor
      4. That, more than once; he deprecated the truth of elec-         the Confessions. These never was a word of explanation
  tion, as no Prot. Ref. minister would ever do.                        about the truth of conversion, that, from the beginning of con-
                                                                        version to our act of conversion it is the work of God, that
      5. That he is, evidently,  very strongly in love with "con-       the  entrance into the  kingdom  is not  ous act of conversion
  ditional theology" which is condemned in  al1  ous confessions,       but God's work of regeneration, and that ous act of conver-
  and which is Arminian.                                                sion is only the fruit of God's work. It is not ous act of con-
      6. That, as a result, the congregation is not built up by         version,   hut  God's work of regeneration which is the  pre-
  tbe Rev. De Wolf in the pure Prot. Ref. truth.                        requisite  .to enter into the  kingdom.  And that the disciples
                                                                        must stil1 be converted before they could enter into the  king-
      Proof ; in proof of al1 this, 1 offer the following :             dom of heaven, was only because the  kingdom  of heaven was
      1. In the earliest days of his ministry, among  US, he            "nigh"  but had not yet been realized.
  delivered a school-speech which the supporters of Prot. Ref.
  instruction never forgot. Instead of encouraging  them and               If  this kind of preaching  can be condoned, we must
  exhorting them to go ahead with al1 their might, he catered           apologize to the Christian Reformed Church for -ever having
  rather to the opponents, and discouraged the society as  much         rejected the "Three Points" and return on our knees. 1 am
  as he possibly dared. This, a man of  principle  and strong           sure, with such preaching they wil1 be glad to have US.
  Prot. Ref. convictions could never have done.                            5. In the last few years, we  often had sermons of the
      2. In a sermon, the date of which 1 forgot, after  my sick-       same nature.  Whenever he has the opportunity the Rev. De
  ness, and on which 1 did not  shake  hands with him at the            Wolf tries to introduce the conditional theology. Personally,


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                               s_    343

I-remember  his sermon on the fifth petition, where  he `made
our forgiving one-another a condition os prerequisite for God's              O U R   D O C T R I N E
forgiving,  US ; and also his sermon on Lord's Day 45, which
1  corrected in the next sermon 1 preached, without, of course,
mentioning his name.                                                          THE ~00~ OF RWELATI~N
   It is. a fact  that from the Rev. De Wolf ona hears Prot.                                CHAPTER  111
Ref. preaching  so seldom that 1 find myself commending  him
to his face  when  he does. The  result is that, under his               Tke Song of  the  Redeemed  and of  the  Angels
preaching, the congregation is not built up, but gradually
loses al1 feelig for Prot. Ref. truth.                                                  Revelation 7 :lO-12
   7. 1 cannot trust the Rev. De Wolf to teach  ous youth in          And yet, if we look a  little more closely, and  con-
Catechism. On the basis of what 1 hear from him on the pul-        sider  these two expressions of the redeemed and of the
pit, 1 am convinced that he cannot be trusted to  teach the        angels more carefully, we  wil1 soon find that they belong
young  pcople in my book "The Heidelberg Catechism for  jun-       together  bot11 in  farm and in  contents.  As far as the form
ior Catechumens" a book which is virtually approved officially     is concerned, let  US  notice that the part which the angels
by our churches. In this book 1 teach  that faith is a spirit- sing is really a reply to the shout of the redeemed throng.
ual bond of living fellowship with Christ, wrought on our          This is  clear   from the  fact that they begin their song with
hearts by  the  Holy Spirit through the Word of God, and           the corroborative "Amen." This "Amen" evidently  means
that only in the  elect. 1  fee1 confident that Rev. De Wolf       to be an answer to the outcry of the redeemed. The redeemed
makes of faith a condition. In that book 1  teach  that it is      cry out : "Salvation to ous God which sitteth upon the throne,
solely the work of God's grace in ous hearts that we receive       and unto the Lamb." And the angels take up their song and
Christ, but 1 am  afraid  that the Rev. De Wolf would  in-         answer : "Amen. So be it. So it certainly is forever and ever."
troduce  also hese his conditional theology. In that book 1        Even as in olden  times the daughters of Zion would meet one
teach that faith is a gift of God whereby he unites  US with       another in courses and in their song respond to one another,
Christ  ous righteousness. In that book. 1  teach  that the        so  also in this heavenly choir the angels respond to the
covenant  is the  gracieus fellowship of friendship between        song of the redeemed. The  latter  sing  that salvation be-
God and His people in Christ, in which He is their God an'd        longeth  to God ; and the angels meet them and respond with
they are His people. But 1 am afraid  that the Re+. De Wolf        their solemn adoration and ascription of glory to the Most
wants to make the covenant  bi-lateral, and that conversion is     High. And therefore the form plainly indicates  that the two
prerequisite to enter into the covenant  of God, conversion,       expressions belong together, and must not be separated. The
that is, as an act on ous part. In that book 1 teach  that con-    same is true also of themcontents  of th& song. It is essential
version is solely of an act of God through the Spirit, but 1 am    that a song must have unity of thought  and theme. This is
afraid that the Rev. De Wolf would make conversion an act          certainly true of the song of the redeemed and the angels.
of man, a prerequisite to enter into the kingdom  of heaven.       The theme is the same in both. That theme is  the' glory of
And finally  1 emphasized that the Canons of Dordt teach  un-      God as it has become  revealed in the mighty work of salva-
conditional election,  and 1 am afraid  that also hese the Rev.    tion. The redeemed throng sing of the fact that of this salva-
De Wolf would introduce his conditional theology.                  tio God and the Lamb are the authors : they have wrought
                                                                   it, they have planned it, they have completed  that salvation.
   These, brethren, are my reasons why 1 do not and cannot         And the angels  conclude  by  pointing   out that therefore  al1
trust the Rev. De Wolf anymore,  why 1 cannot shake hands          praise and glory and honor and thanksgiving and wisdom  and
with him, why 1 cannot and wil1 not minister the Word of           power and might belong to the Most High, and that al1 the
God from the same  pulpit  anymore, unless he heartily repents     powers of  creation  unite in ascribing glory to Him that
and publicly apologizes and reveals that he mends his ways.        sitteth upon the throne. Hence, we repeat : in the theme and
1 do not ask that he be suspended from office, but that he         for& and outcries of angels and redeemed we have the record
apologizes and  mends his ways. And 1 ask you to  demand           of a heavenly song, sung by al1 the mora1 and rational crea-
such an apology from  him.                                         tures in God's glorious creation.
                              Respectfully submitted,                Let US fasten ous attention a moment upoli these singers.
                                                                   We do not  mean to determine now  who they are: for  ,that
                             Your brother in Christ,               has been settled in ur last chapter,  at least in as far as the
                                                                   numberless throng is concerned. This throng consists of the
                                              H.  Hoeksema         redeemed  and glorified and  perfected   children  of God that
   More about this next time, the Lord willing.                    have passed through the great tribulation and have  now-been
                                                                   gathered  from  al1 peoples and nations and tongues and tribes
                                                          H.H.     into everlasting glory. And the ones that reply to their outcry


  344     -                                  T H E -   S T A N D A R D   B : E A R E R

  are the mighty angels, ten thousand times  ten thousand and          are  known. Their consciousness has been purified. And
  thousands of thousands in number. But we must watch  and             fully  they understand the implication of their song. With al1
  consider them for a few moments as singers of this wonderful         their clearest consciousness they understand the full implica-
  song. And then we shall find that there never was a better           tion of the words they sing : "Salvation to our God which
  qualified chorus  upon earth  than this mixed choir of men ancl      sitteth  upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Al1 the more
  angels. A song is chiefly a matter of perfect and harmonious         do they realize the depth of meaning that is hidden in their
  expression. The clearer our consciousness and knowledge o:E          song, and  al1 the more  fully   can they  express their  inmost
  the contents of our song, the fuller  and more beautiful' om         heart in this song because it is a song of their own perfected
  song wil1 be. The more .deeply  we fee1 and realize the depth        experience. They do not sing of something that does not and
  of meaning there is in the song we sing, the more impressive         never did concern them. It is not a song that, for instance,
  wil1 be the song we are singing.  It must be admitted that           has been composed for them by one of the great masters of
  from these points of view the chorus that is singing  here,          music  among them, the meaning of which is foreign to them            1
  according to the words of the text we are now discussing, in         and the tune of which is strange until they have learned it
  the new heavens and the new earth is perfectly qualified.            by heart. On the .contrary, they themselves are the authors
  They have, in the first place, arrived in the state of perfect       of  this song, and they simply sing of what they have  ex-
  knowledge. Their consciousness has been cleared, and the             perienced, in the light of their glorified consciousness. Here
  cloud of sin that here  overshadows  and bedims our  knowl-          upon earth they often did not understand themselves when
  edge,  the knowledge of the people of God, has been dispersed.       they sang. They could not  fully  interpret their own  ex-
  It is true, also here on earth we often sing ; but our song is       perience. They could not understand their own feelings and
  as imperfect as ourselves. Our minds are stil1 darkened by           desires. They could not see the reason of the way in whch
  the influence of sin ; our consciousness is beclouded by the         they had to walk, in which they were led here in the world
effects of sin. We do not  fully understand the  trut11  of God        by the God of their salvation. But now  al1 is different.
  and the contents of that of which we sing. As the apostle            Clearly  they understand their own experience. Here  upon
  Paul has it : "We behold a dim image, as in a dark glass  ; but      earth they  often sang, "Sometime, sometime. we'11  under-
  we do not as yet see face to face." Sometimes the darkness           stand," because they realized that they did not understand
  seems to break, and there are moments when we see more               themselves. But now that  `Sometime" has been  changed
  clearly than at other  times. There are moments  when we             into the everlasting present. Now they know. And their
  behold more clearly the beauty of  God's plan and of the             own experience, that which has been realized in and for and
  work of salvation. In such times we sing rather  consciously         through them by the Lord their God, the God of their salva-
  with the inspired poet of old : "0 how love 1 Thy law; it is         tion, in the light of their redeemed consciousness, is the sub-
  my meditation al1 the day." But even at those best moments           ject of their song. They were sinners. They used to be in
  of our present life  upon earth the darkness of sin has not          the power of sin and death. And while they were in this life
  been  fully  dispersed, and we do not see face to face. And          in the midst of the world, they sometimes felt the horrible  im-
  as it is with our knowledge, so also it is with our will, with       plication of the truth that they were in the power of corrup-
  our feeling and with our desires. Our wil1 is stil1 under the        tion. But the full reality of this terrible fact we really never
  influence of sinful perversion. The lust of the flesh  often         fee1 in this present life. We do not know what it  means  to
  stil1 dominates  and  controls  US to a certain extent. And we       live the life of perfection. We do not know what it implies to
  do not live the fulness of our spiritual life in the present dis-    be entirely perfect, without sin and. corruption, in mind, in
  pensation. We are by no  means  perfect. There is, in  fact,         heart, in will, in  al1 our feelings and emotions. We do not
  but a smal1  beginning  of the new obedience. There is but           know what it  means  to be completely free from the effects
  a smal1  principle  of the new life within  US. And the              of sin. We only faintly  fee1 sometimes that it must be  un-
  result is that here we cannot sing in the perfect and true           speakably  blessed to live the full and abundant, eternal life
  sense of the word. How often we even sing merely from an             of perfection. But in perfection and glory we shall realize it
  aesthetic point of view, merely  for the enjoyment of the sound      all. Then, looking back, we shall certainly be conscious of
  of the trained human voice. How often we sing mechanically,          our former state in the midst of the world. Oh, this shall not
  without realizing the depth of meaning there is in the songs         be the case in the sense that the sins  of this present life shall
  of Zon.  How  often we sing without our  heart being  ex-            stil1 be a  cause  for  sorrow and repentance. In heaven, in
  pressed in the song we are singing. The best of our songs            eternity and glory, in the new creation, God shall wipe all
  are under the influenc of the power of sin and imperfection.        tears from our eyes, also the tears of repentance and sorrow
     This, we understand, is not true of the song of the  re-          over sin. But it shall certainly be true in this sense, that we
  deemed throng and of the angels that respond to their song.          shall recollect the depth of misery from which we are saved.
  The redeemed are now perfectly delivered from the power              Now we cannot  know the contrast; then we shall see it
 of sin. Their  minds have been cleared. They see no more              clearly.
 a dim image in a dark  glass, but now they see face to face.                                                                      H.H.
 The  cloud of sin has been dissipated. They know as they


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   345

                                                                           closed   by a wall.  But the Jerusalem proper were the  in-
                                                                           habitants, God and His people, Christ and His Church of
                                                                           that day. Now certainly those building  of the earthy Jerusa-
                 The Prophecy  o Zechariah                                lem  also had great  significante,  particularly the temple, it
                                                                           being God's dwelling place, and on which. account it  pre-
           Fertility a.nd Prospevity  of tlae Whole  Land                  figured the church in glory, the indwelling of the  triune
                          Chapter 14 :S-11                                 Jehovah in His church through Christ in His Spirit. Other
                                                                           important buildings were the palaces  of David and Solomon,
    8. And it  shall  come  to pass in  tha.t day,  that  1ivi;ng          these  persons  being what they were, the vicegerents of Je-
waters  shall go  out  from   Jemsa.lem,  half of  them to  the            hovah as kings over His people.
eastern sea, a.nd half of. them to the western sea, in S~~WLWLW               Jerusalem is now above. "Ye are come," one may read in
and winter  hall it be. 9. And Jehovah  shall be hing over at?1            the Hebrews (12  :22ff), "unto mount Sion, and unto the
the land; in tlzat day Jehovalz  .&all  be one and bis na.me onc?.         holy city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." The
10. Al1 the land slzall  Oe changed like the plain from  Geba to           Jerusalem above surely is not also literally streets and build-
Rimmon.  so& of Jemsalem,  and she shall bg high, and dzvell               ing encompassed by a wal1 as was the earthy Jerusalem. This
in her place f.l'owb Benjarsain's gate to the place of the fcrst ga.&?,    Jerusalem is no more. Being but a shadow,  it vanished away.
to  the corner  gate, and  ~YOWL   the tower of  Ha.naneel  to  the        Jerusalem is now solely God and His redeemed people, Christ
king's  winep~esses.  ll.  And  they  hall  dweil  in  item, and           and His Church, which is His body. The Church is now
tkere slzall be no moye utter destrz&ction, ,an.d Jemsaleutz  shai!l       Jerusalem, the temple, the house of God and the Church
sit  seczhre.                                                              only.  "Ye are come . . . to the heavenly Jerusalem," that is,
    Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is                "to an innumerable company of angels, to the genera1  assem-
the city of the living God, the God and  Father  of Christ,                bly and church of the firstborn, wbich  are written in heaven,
where  God dwells with His people and satisfies them with                  and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of men made
His likeness, and where  His people see Him as He is in the                perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator  of the new covenant,  and
face of Christ, walk and talk with the Lord and taste that the             to  the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than
Lord is gracieus.                                                          that f Abel." So is this passage to be understood.
    In the Old dispensation Jerusalem was that city in Pales-                 Can it be then that on the new earth Jerusalem is .to be
tine that was known by this name - Jerusalem. Here dwelt                   also literally streets and buildings encompassed by a wal1 -
God in His  holy temple. Here burned His altars, and here                  streets and buildings of heavenly gold, that is, of a heavenly
the saints shouted with joy.  Where is Jerusalem now?  Ac-                 or spiritual material substance as wil1 be the case with the new
cording to the Scriptures, Jerusalem is now above.  "Ye are                bodies of the saints and the new earth that they wil1 inherit.?
come," one may read in the Hebrews (12 :22ff), "unto mount                 The Bible surely is against such a view. In the New Testa-
Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeru-              ment Scriptures Jerusalem and the temple are always solely
salem . .  ." When  at the return of Christ it shall have ap-              the Church. It's the Church, the body of the elect,  that wil1
peared what Jerusalem shall be, she shall be a city of remark-             be glorified and not surely also the streets and the buildings
able beauty. The great city, Jerusalem the heavenly, was                   and the wal1 and the gates  of the earthy Jerusalem. Thus the
shown to John. And he tells US what he saw. The city has                   golden city of John's vision is but an image, an earthy figure
the glory of God. And her light is like unto a stone most                  of a heavenly thing and this  thing the body of the elect  in
precieus, even like a jasper  stone,  clear  as crystal. And the           glory. Imaged is this glory, the visible beauty of the life of
city lies foursquare, and its wal1 is of jasper.  And the whole            the church in glory.
.ci$y is of pure gold. And the foundations of her  wal1 are                   Living waters shall go forth from Jerusalem, that is, from
garnished with al1 manner of precieus  stones.  And the twelve             the church. This  wil1 be possible because centrally the
gates  of the city are twelve pearls ; every  gate is of one pearl.        Church  $s the  incarnate  Son of God, the crucified and the
And the street  of the city is of pure gold, as it were trans-             resurrected and the glorified Christ, and because He is the
parent  glass. Such wil1 be the glory of the city as to her ap-            Christ of God. The living waters are the fulness of grace and
pearance, the beauty of Jerusalem  when she  wil1 have  ap-                blessing proceeding  from God their eternal source and from
peared with Christ in glory.                                               Christ their Channel and seat: So in the vision of John. "And
    Not that on the new earth Jerusalem is to be streets and               He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear  as crystal;
buildings enclosed by a wall. A city is also streets and build-            proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." The
ings to be sure. But the city proper is not buildings and                  Psalmist speaks of a river whose streams make glad the city
streets but the body of inhabitants, the corporation of per-               of God (4U :4) ; Joel declares that a fountain shall come forth
sons that occupy those buildings and walk  those streets. A                of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley  of Shit-
city without inhabitants is not a city ; it is what is known               tim (3 :18)  ; Isaiah promises, "1  wil1 pour  floods  upon dry
today as a ghost town. It is the inhabitants that make the                 ground: 1 wil1 pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my bless-
city. The earthy Jerusalem was buildings and streets  en-                  ing upon thine offspring" (44 :3). Ezekiel saw water that is-


   346                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER

   sued  from under the  temple,  an ever widening and deepening         if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it
   stream,. which swept through the desert bearing fertility in          shall be that  al1 the  people that is found therein shall be
   its course, until it reached the sea of Sodom, and healed its         tributaries  unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if they
   waters, filling them with animal life and covering  its banks         wil1 make no peace with thee, but  wil1 make  war against thee,
   with trees whose fruit was food and their leaves  medicine            then thou shalt besiege it: and when the Lord thy God shall
   (47 :l-12). The living waters that our prophet  sees, flow in.        deliver it unto thy hands, thou shalt smite every  man therein
   different directions from Jerusalem and  reach the eastern and.       with the edge of the sword. But the  women and the little
   western sea - the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. Uniike              ones and the cattle and  al1  that  is in the city, even  al1 the
   most rivers in Palestine %hat contain water only during the           spoil therein, shalt thou take unto thyself . . . Thus shalt thou
   rainy seasons, from October unto April, the promised streams          do unto al1 the cities which are afar off from thee, which are
   wil1 retain their water in summer  and in winter. The fulfill-        not of the cities of these nations," the Canaanites under the
   ment of this  promise is the new earth as perpetually fertilized      ban of God (Deut.  20:10-15).   NO peace might be proclaimed
   and beautified by the living waters, by the fullness of bless-        unto the latter, but they had to be utterly destroyed. For they
   ings and grace,  that proceed  from the holy city, the church in      were reprobated (Numbers 30; Deut. 7 :2  ; 20  :16, 17). But
  glory. For the earthy Canaan was the type of the new earth.            as to the-cities-that were far off, peace had to be proclaimed
                                                                         unto them. But the nations  afar off  chose  war.  Al1 were
      The Canaan indicated by our  prophet  is the Canaan of             overcome  by David. On the ruins of their  kingdoms  he
. the so-called ideal boundaries. For it is the Canaan that              built a mighty empire. And God gave him rest from al1 his
   stretched from the western to the eastern sea. It. was much           enemies round about. Under Solomon  fhe  `kingdom  was
  larger- by far than the Canaan proper. It was an immense               established greatly. He had dominion over al1 the kings west
  region that extended to the Euphrates on  the east and to              of the Euphrates river. God gave him rest on every  side, so
  the river Nile on the west and thus included the whole of              that there was neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And
  Arabia. But let  US quote the Scriptures here, "In the same            Judah and Israel dwelt safely. And al1 the kings of the earth
  day the Lord made a covenant  with Abraham, `saying, "Unto             sought his presence to hear his wisdom that  God put into his
  thee have 1 given this land from the river of Egypt (the Nile)         heart. nd they brought every  man or king his present. And
  to the great river (Euphrates)" Gen. 15 :18. And afterwards            he reigned over al1 the kings from the Euphrates to the' land
  to Moses, "And 1 kil1  set thy bounds from the Red Sea even            of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. What we deal
  to the Sea of the Philistines (Mediterranean) and  from the            with here is type and prophecy, the realization of which wil1
  Arabian desert unto the river (Euphrates) " Ex. 23 :31. And            be Christ's reign  of peace on the new earth. Solomon's king-
  stil1 later, "Every place  whereupon the soles of your feet shall      dom extended only to the Euphrates river on the east and t
  tread shall be yours, from the wilderness of Lebanon, from             the great sea on the west. Besides the twelve tribes of Israel
  the river (Euphrates) even unto the uttermost sea (Mediter-            it included only the nations  dwelling  in that part of the earth.
  ranean j shall your  toast  be" (Deut. 2  :24). And finally to         But ClJrist's  kingdom  of peace wil1 extend to the f&r corners
  Joshua, "Every  place  that the sole of your foot shall tread          of the new earth and include al1 the nations. And they wil1
  upon, that have 1 given you, as 1 said to Moses.  From your            render  Him a willing service, for His  law  wil1 be in their
  wilderness to this Lebanon even to the great river, the river          hearts. It was to this great blessedness that our prophet  had
  Euphrates, and al1 the land of the Hittites, and the great sea         reference, when he said, "And the Lord shall be king over
   (Mediterranean) toward the going down of the sun shall be             al1 the land."
  your  toast" (Joshua 2  :3, 4).
                                                                            That this is here the prediction is plain from the sequel.
      Such were the ideal boundaries of  Israel's inheritance.           Our prophet  goes on to say, "In that day there shall be one
  Boundaries they were that included immense regions that                Lord, and His name one. None  wil1 be  having  other  gods
  surrounded the  rather   smal1 strip of land allotted to and           before His face. Idolatry  wil1 be no more.  Al1 shall  know
  inhabited by the twelve tribes of Israel. Al1 these regions to-        the Lord from the least to the greatest. And He  wil1 be
  gether with the heathen  nations that dwelt therein the Lord           merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
  by  promise had given  to Abraham and his seed. So the                 iniquities wil1 He remember no more."
  Scriptures just quoted  tel1  US. Nations they were that  rep-
  resented and typified "al1 the nations of the earth" blessed              10. And al1 the land shall be changed  as a plain from Geba
  in Abraham, in Christ. Not under the ban of God as were                to Rimmon South of Jerusalem. As a pl&n - The word may
  the Canaanites ; peace had to be proclaimed unto them. They            be rendered as a proper name, Araba, or as a common noun
  had to be mandated by Israel's  ar&ies,  when  come to their           (A.V.). The whole country, with the exception of Jerusalem,
  cities, to open to Israel the gates of their cities in the willing-    wil1 be made into a leve1 plain. The Araba is more than a
  ness to serve Israel's God in the paying of tribute, that doing        thousand feet below the sea leve1  immediately  east of Jerusa-
  so, they would live, but that disobeying, they would be de-            lem. The thought of fertility is not here implied. The extent
  stroyed.  "When  thou comest nigh unto a  (heathen)  city to           of the district thus to be changed  is denoted more definitely.
  fight against it, then proclaim  peace unto it. And it shall be,       FYOW  Geba - In the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 18 :24), about


                                             THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      347

five miles north of Jerusalem and the northern boundary of               bring forth my armies and my people the children of
Judah (11  Kings 23  :S). Rimmon was  South of Jerusalem.                Israel  out of the land of Egypt by great  judgments.
There was  also a  Rimmonin  the north (Josh. 19  :13). The              And the Egyptians shall know  that 1 am the Lord,
one mentioned here marks  the southern border of Palestine               when 1 stretch forth my hand  upon Egypt . .  ." (Ex.
(Josh. 15  :32). Through the region, which is meant to  in-              7  :4, 5). And again, "For 1  wil1 at  this  time send  al1 my
clude the whole of Judah, being leveled to a plain, Jerusalem            plagues upon thy heart, that thou mayest know that there is
wil1 be exalted, lifted up. The holy city wil1 be exalted even           none like me in al1 the earth . . ." (Ex. 9 :13). Thus Pharaoh
higher,  Micah 4  :l, "But it shall  come to pass in the last            must know that in  al1 the earth there is no God like the
days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be                Jehovah of the Hebrews and  that no god  can do what He
established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted         does. The plagues must make this  clear. And so they do.
above the hills . . ." The exaltation wil1 proclaim  the city the        They make evident that the earth and its fulness- water,
center of the kingdom  of Christ. The fulfilment of the proph-           fire, hail, thunder and lightning, etc.  - are His  creatures,
ecy was the exaltation of Christ with His people to the                  and that they exist and  operate by His power. They make
highest  heavens.  Its  final fulfilment  wil1 be the appearance         evident therefore  that the Jehovah of the Hebrews is the God
of the Church in glory. As lifted up, the city  wil1 be inhabited        mighty to save His people, and that there is no god beside
in her place,  that is, it wil1 be established forever as the center     Him.
of the new creation. As. of the land, so of the city, its full
extent is indicated.  ;B&zja&n's   gate  may be identical with              To understand how the plagues make this evident we must
gate of  E~hrai?sz  (11  Kings  13  :13)-. The  place  of the  j;r.st    consider the following. Each plague is foretold, and without
gate is unknown. The corne'y  gate  was located at the west              exception it begins to riot in the  very  hour  specified.  Then
end of the northern wall. The tower of Hananeel is probably              Moses prays for its removal as Pharaoh requests. And the
in the northeast corner (Neh. 3 :l). Al1 three points may in-            plague  is removed. Thus the evidente  that the plagues are of
dicate the northern boundary of the city and its extent from             the Lord is overwhelming. And  Pharaoh   admits  this as
east to west. The king's winepress is unknown.                           often as he asked that the plagues be made to cease.
    ll.  Al1 men shall dwell in the city. "People shall flow                That the Lord devastates Egypt through the elements in
into it, and many nations shall come and say,.Come, let US go            nature is significant; The Egyptians worshipped the creature
up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God              - man, birds, four-footed beasts, creeping things, the hosts of
of Jacob ; and he wil1 teach US of his ways, and we wil1 walk            heaven, the elements. The kings of Egypt boasted  descent
in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word           from the  gods and were worshipped as  gods. Thus Egypt
of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge arnong many               was laid waste by its  very  gods. But these gods, which are
nations, and rebuke strong nations afar  off ; and they shall            no god, were the Lords creatures.  By His power they exist.
beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into               In the light of these remarks we can understand the miracle
pruning hooks  ;  nation shall not lift up a sword against               of  Moses'   rog.  This rod becomes a serpent, and in  Moses'
nation, neither shall they learn  war  any more. But they                hand is again converted into the rod. That serpent, too, is
shall sit  every  man under his vine and under his  fig-                 symbol. It is the symbol  .of that entire evil consort of evil
tree  ; and none shall make them  afraid;  for the  mouth of             powers of which Satan is the prince and the Egypt of the
the Lord of hosts has spoken it. For al1 the people wil1 walk            boek of Exodus  the type. This Egypt is Satan's domain.
every  one in the name of his God, and we wil1 walk in the               Here he has established his throne. And in the land of
name of the Lord our God forever and ever" (Micah 4 :2ff).               Goshen dwells the church with Christ in her loins. And the
In the words of our prophet,  "but there shall be no more utter          rod  becomes  a serpent and the serpent again becomes the
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." Sch              rod in Moses' hand. If-it be borne in mind that Moses' hand
wil1 be the felicity of the Church,  the blessedness of the              with the rod is the, symbol of God's power, might, strength,
citizens of Christ's kingdom  in glory. The language of course           it  wil1 be seen that the truth set forth is this: That  devil-
is again figurative throughout. It is a language the terms of            worshipping,  God-defying, civilized, cultured  and holp-seed-
which were borrowed from farms and conditions of Israel's                persecuting Egypt lives and moves and has its being in God
life in the earthy Canaan. Surely the view according to which            and exists solely by His power. It is thus nathing, less than
the  city that is here meant is the earthy Jerusalem is  com-            nothing in itself. God raises it up and casts it down as He
pletely overturnd by the statement that  "al1 men shall dwell           wil1 and puts'it to whatever use He chooses. Not that ser-
in the city."                                               G.M.O.       pent but the rod is the first and the last, the beginning and
                                                                         the end and al1 that lies between. From the rod it seems to
                                                                         come  fort11  and to the rod it again returns. Let Israel then
         The Ten Plagues - Their Purpose                                 expect al1 his salvation from God alone. For He is God and
   Tha purpose of these plagues is brought  out in the  follow-          none else.
ing Scriptures: "That 1 may  lay my hand  upon Egypt, and                                                                        G.M.O.

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

ll                                                                      the church of the ages concerning the meaning and purpose
          .FROM  HOLY  WRIT                                          il of history. They must know how al1 things wil1 reach their
                                                                        Divinely appointed eschatological end. Their eyes are  directed
                                                                        upon the destruction of the earthly temple and the earthly
                                                                        city of the great Ring. But in so doing the Lord of heaven,
               Exposition of Matthew 24 and 25                          while on earth- in our flesh, directs their eyes upon the con-
                                                                        summation of the ages  - the end of  al1 things in Christ
                                 1;                                     Jesus.  AU of history is, from this prophetic perspective,
                                                                        nothing  hut the "birth-pangs" of the new world which is
                           Introduction                                 born from the womb of the counsel of God, in the First-born
                                                                        of al1 creatures  as the First-born from. the dead!
      The attentive reader  wil1 have noticed that it is the  in-           Only thus wil1 the church be watchful unto prayer, hav-
tention of the writer of this rubric to attempt  an exposition of       ing the loins of her mind girt up in spiritual readiness to
two chapters from the Gospel according to Matthew, which.               meet the Bridegroom in that day. It is noteworthy that the
give the exegete reason for  real  consecrated and devoted.             Lord Jesus prefaces  al1 his instruction concerning the
s t u d y .                                                             "things which must come to pass" with the explicit  warning,
      A secondary reason for writing on these two chapters              "Take heed that no man deceive you" ! We must look  out
from the Gospel of Matthew is the fact that, in the under-              of both eyes. We must allow no one intentionally,  to make
standing of this writer,  such is the purpose of this rubric.           US believe the lie concerning the meaning of the history of the
"From  Holy  Writ" does not presume to be a writer of -world with its judgments, signs, wars and rumors of wars.
Meditation. His is the duty to  attempt  to  write  constructive        We must take heed to the prophetic word! See Matthew
eregesis. Our fervent prayer is that we may succeed.                    24 :4.
      The real  and only primary reason for writing on this pas-            That Jesus  would not simply give a "philosophy" of
sage is that  some contribution  may be made toward the                 history here, but that it is a  cal1 to the colors is further evident
proclamation of the full cunsel  of God. The doctrine of the           from the  verses 41 to 43 of the 24th  chapter  of Matthew,
"Last  Thing?too   calls for our attention. We are to give              where  we  read:   `"Watch  therefore: for ye know not  what
heed unto the more sure prophetic word which shines as a                hour your Lord doth come. But this know, that if the good-
light in a dark place - until the day dawn and the day-star             man of the house had known in what watch  the thief would
arise in our hearts, 11 Peter 1 :19. For al1 Scripture is given         come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching (doc-             his house to be  broken up. Therefore be ye ready: for in
trine), for  reproof,  for correction, for instruction in  right-       such an  hour as ye think not the Son of man  cometh."
eousness : that the man of God  may be perfect, throughly.              Such is,  indeed, the purpose of Christ in this instruction of
furnished unto  al1 good works, 11 Tim.  3:1G, 17. And the              the disciples, and of US through them.
"testimony" which' Christ gave to the church  may not be
sealed  z@ (Rev. 22  :lO) , but must be proclaimed  unto the                Further it should not be overlooked that in this entire
church that she be not deceived by the powers of darkness.              section from the Gospel of Matthew we are dealing with
                                                                        `prophecy."  This entire  discourse of Jesus is interspersed
      We  make no  secret of it that it is our conviction that          with either direct quotations from Daniel,  Jeremiah and other -
Jesus did not simply instruct his disciples on the Mount of             prophets, or allusions are made to the prophets. This should
Olives to satisfy their curiosity. The Lord had told his dis-           hut seem in keeping with the nature of prophecy. Prophecy
ciples  that not one stone in the beautiful architectural  struc-       was the Word of God spoken in diverse times  and manners
ture of the Herodian temple would remain upon the other.                through the prophets. It was the Spirit of Christ in the
It would be made a desolation, a total ruination. And this              prophets,   who searched  out the time and the marmer of the
word from the lips of Jesus had deeply moved the apostles.              time of the sufferings which would  come  upon Christ and
Such had been the case especially with Peter, James, John               the glory to follow  (1 Peter 1 :lO-12). Angels were desirous
and Andrew. They had privately  come to Jesus on the Mount              to look  into it. It was the unfolding of the counsel of God
of Olives and had asked Jesus the very pregnant question:               and the Word of God concerning the secret counsel of God
"Tel1 US, when shall these things be ? and what shall be the            concerning our redemption. In this  discourse here recorded
sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?" And now              in the Gospel of Matthew (also in Mark and Luke) the Lord
Jesus  wil1 not instruct  them to satisfy curiosity, but  rather       Jesus is the great prophet.  The Word is here proclaimed by
to enlighten them concerning `the matters which belong to               the Son of God in our flesh. In him  al1  the  promises  are
the  "secret  counsel of God concerning om- redemption,"  con-          about to be fulfilled.
cerning the things which myyd~tst  co?ae to pass!                          However,  we should not look in prophecy for a calendar
      It is the purpose of the Lord that these disciples instruct       of events. The Lord does not give US in this 24th chapter  of


                                              T H E   S-TANDARD   B E A R E R                                                         349

 Matthew simply a chronological order of the events which                  In the verses  9-14 we see the place of the church of God
 must take place between his death and the final return in the         in the midst of this evil world.as  she is saved in hope. Here
 last day. This is explicitly stated by the Lord himself in            is the patience of the saints ! Here faith is tried! Not  al1
 Matthew 24 :36 : "But of that day and hour knoweth  no man,           endure.  The love of  many  shall wax  cold because of the
no, not the angels of heaven (neither the Son of man) but my           abundance of iniquity and lawlessness. But they  who  en-
 Father   only." Hence, in this chapter we are not to look for         dure to the end shall be saved. And the Gospel of the King-
 exact  dates and  "periods"  !  Such was  also the instructiori       dom must be,proclaimed,  heralded in al1 the world. It wil1 be
 to the disciples on this same Mount of Olives  at the occasion        a testimony to them. This wil1 make it a constant battle and
 of Christ's ascension to heaven. Thus we read, "It is not for         struggle for the church. Hence, she must be watchful.
 you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father  hafh              In the verses  15-28 we are shown what the times  wil1 be
 put in his own power (authority). But ye shall  receive               of the culmination of iniquity.  It wil1 be a time when the evil
 power (ability) after  the Holy Ghost is come upon you . . ."         world shall make the instituted worship of God at the altar
 Acts  1:7, 8. Hence, no calendar of events, giving calendar           impossible. It  wil1 be the  time  such as occurred under  An-
 dates, exact details of year, month and day ! Such would no,t         tiochus Epiphanes when the altar was desecrated. It wil1 be
 be prophecy ! Then there would be no heeding in faith and             when the "man of sin" shall succeed to persecute the church
 hope but rather  a walking  by sight and cmputation of the           to such a. degree that "if it were possible the very elect would
 calendar of man's reckoning of time.                                  perish if the days  be not shortened." Such times  the church
     But now we are dealing with prophecy which abides by              has never yet seen! Then  wil1 be the coming of the Son of
 the prophetic style (if we may so speak) of a Daniel.   Only,         man.
 Daniel  must "seal up the  testimony."  However, here the                In the  verses  29-31 we have a description of the  actual
 testimony which  Daniel  could unfold no farther is made              "Sign"  of the Son of man and the effect upon al1 the nations,
 clear to US. The matter is now revealed. We now have here             when we shall have the final sounding of the trump of God
 in Matthew 24 what John wil1 see unfolded before his eyes             and the gathering of the elect  from  the four corners of the
 "in the Spirit" while on the little isle of  Patmos,   where   hse    heaven.
 sees the vision of the throne, the. Scroll on the right hand of
 him that sitteth on the throne,`and  the breaking of the seven            In the verses  32-44 we have' Jesus' word of warning unto
 seals of this book, the seven trumpets which blow and the             watclzful~~ess.  Here he  adds the parable of the  message  of
 seven vials which are poured out, and presently the vision of         the budding of the fig-tree. It is a sign of the seasons. So .we
 the New Jerusalem! Christ, of course,  goes beyond  Daniel,           must be watchful to see the  "signs  of the  times"` of God,
 or, what is more to the point, Christ here in the flesh Iets          lest the day overtake  US as a thief in the night !
 the light of the prophetic Word  fa11 farther into the future            These  "warnings"  are  continued  by three parables. The
 for US than kze did in the prophecy of Daniel  or in any of the       first is the parable of the "faithful and prudent servant" in
 other prophets. Howbeit, even here it  .still is a prophetic          the  absente  of his master (Matthew 24 :45-51). The  second
 word! .                                                               is the pasable  of the "Five Wise Virgins" in distinction from
    With the foregoing in mind our study of these two chap-            the foolish virgins (Matthew 25  :l-14).  The third is the
 ters under consideration has made                                     parable of ~ the "Pounds," depicting the "foolish.ness"  of the
                                         US come to conclude that
 we have fhe following "scheme"  here in these prophetic ut-           foolish servant. And the entire discourse is concluded with
 terances  of Jesus to his disciples.                                  a description of the  "Final Judgment" (Matthew 25 :15-30
                                                                       and Matthew 25 :31-46, respectively) .
    In the verses  l-S of chapter 24, after telling US the historie
 occasion of the utterance of this prophecy, we are told what              Such  .is the subject matter we  will, the Lord willing,
 wil1 constantly happen in history during the entire N.T. dis-         discuss  in a future series of articles.
 pensation. There  wil1 be wars and rumors of wars. There                 May the Lord  bless our efforts to the edification of His
 wil1 be no peace  upon the earth between the nations. It is           people and to the glory of His Name !
 the same pattern of events that is given both in the dreams                                                                        G.L.
 of Nebuchadnezzar and of  Daniel (See  Daniel  2 and 7).
 While this  al1  happens and endless woes and plagues and
 judgments of the Almighty smite the nations, many false  mes-
 siahs  wil1 rise. They  wil1  al1  proclaim  a solution to this                       MISSIONARY TRIUMPHS
 problem of war and of the judgments of the Most High. But
 they are al1 false prophets. Their word wil1 not come to pass.                   For,  10, He  comes  ; at His  command
 For these things must  come to pass. They are the  "be-                            Al1 nations shall in judgment stand  ;
 ginning of birth-pang?  ! It  wil1 be a long history. And as                     In justice robed, and throned in  light,
 history  goes on these  "birth-pang?   wil1 be stepped up in                       The Lord shall judge, dispensing right.
 rapidity and in intensity !                                                                                                  Psalm  98:7

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

                                                                      build up t farm a tremendous  geyser that would spout out
ll               IN.HIS                    FEAR                 j deadly radioactivity over a wide area of our land. Indeed
                                                                      there is every  reason for fear when we look about US and see
                                                                      man even in his outwardly-peaceful pursuits. It is not only
                     Freedom From Fear                                his dreadful weapons of warfare that strike fear into  the
                                                                      hearts of man. In his  attempt  to  provide,  in  the so-called
                                 (3)                     `.           peaceful use of nuclear  fission,  power for the manufacture  of
                                                                      goods, of electricity and even of treatment of diseases, he
        "Only in His fear do-we have freedom from fear."              stil1 is confronted with fear. There is a power-  with which he
                                                                      cannot cape. Under God's providence he has discovered how
        So we wrote in the first  installment  of this matter of      to obtain it hut not without mounting fears of the very thing
freedom from fear. Only those  who fear God  can  possibl:y           that he has discovered. The fear of suffering, death and hel1
have freedom from fear of either what man can and shall do            stil1 stays with man no matter what wonderful discoveries he
t man or of what God has decreed  as the punishment for may make and thingc he may invent. Yea, although he be-
sin.                                                                  comes somewhat bold in his visions and expressions he re-
        It  makes,  therefore, a great deal of  differente,  as we    alizes that he has brought into the world more fearful things
wrote last  time, whether our fear is the fear of the Lord            than were here in the days of his forefathers.' The  very.
or whether it is the fear of man. If we fear what man shall           weapons he invents and in which he puts his trust for peace
do  to US we shall never be freed from fear of suffering, deatln      and safety fill him with terror because of their dreadful power
and hell. There is absolutely nothing  to which one can point         to destroy. He realizes that as he advances in these things
and upon which he can base any hope of such freedom from              his enemies also advance.  And the world does not sleep and
fear. Instead as we progress and even rush toward the end             rest more peacefully now that it has entered the atomic and
of this world, we  wil1 increasingly see things which shall           space ages. Why,  indeed,  should there be today  such a cry
nourish a growing fear of these things. It is of that matter          and  demand  for tranquilizing  pills  when man has so  much
that we, would like to say a few more things'at this time.            more power than his forefathers ? To be sure, "There is no
                                                                      peace, saith my God, to the wicked," Isaiah 57:21 and 45 :22.
        With  al1 the advances that man  makes in the age in
which we live there comes an added apprehension and fear                  Or again, if you will, as man becomes bold in.his visions
as to what it wil1 mean for every  man, woman and child. With         and he presses on to new fields he has fears of being over-
the splitting of the  atom man had found a new and extremely          taken by his fellow men and of having  his fellowmen turn
potent source f energy to power his machines and lighten             things to his disadvantage in these new fields. Of this we
his physical burden. But accompanying this revolutionary              were reminded when recently we read two series of articles
discovery of a new source of fuel and energy is a tremendous          on the bold visions man has in regard to such a universal thing
problem  that must be solved entirely and permanently to              as the weather. Man plans to  control the weather. He has
make life safe for man on this earth. He has the problem o:E          great visions that by means of a rrclean" hydrogen bomb he
"burying" the radio-active waste material. And he must dis-           may remove mountains and so change the wind patterns. In
pose of it in such a way that it wil1 not threaten the lives of       this way he dreams of bringing the moist air from off the
future  generaiions.  He  buries  it now in the depth of the          Pacific  Ocean  farther  inland  and distribute over a wider
ocean encased in a thickness of concrete an.d in places where         area the rains that now drench the northwest corner of our
these waste materials, to use their own words, "may last for          land and give it a rainy season from October through June.
many feet of  thick  mud,for  further protection. Yet-bear in         He talks of melting the  polar.  ice  taps and so  solve  man's
mind that the scientists  themselves  inform  US that  many of        increasing need for water. In this way, too, he envisions
these waste materials, to use their own words, "may last for          changing the wind patterns of the world and ridding man of
eons" as far as their radioactivity is concerned. Whether             the fear of the Arctic blasts  that send frost even into the deep
erosion and chemical reaction  wil1 destroy the protecting            South.
cover over these highly dangerous waste materials man is
not in a position at the moment to say. And he expresses                 He promises  relief from hurricane and tornado. He knows
real. fear lest  al1 sea life be killed and a highly important        how to sprinkle coal dust on snow-covered grounds in the
source of our food - fish - be poisoned and contaminated              far north and at. high elevations to cause  the snows to melt
with deadly radioactivity.                                            and provide  new fields for the raising of food for an ever in-
                                                                      creasing population. He has succeeded in spreading a harm-
        He likewise considers burying these dangerous waste           less, tasteless chemical on water surfaces to  slow down
materials in abandoned oil  wells but hesitates lest they either      evaporation, so reducing rainfall on adjacent lands.  He even
in  time contaminate  and poison the sources of our  drinking         boasts of being able to make a perpetual twilight by setting
water or else by their  very heat these waste materials  -            patches  of the sky aflame. This he has done  already  in a
some of which are tremendously "hot"  - might in  time                limited way over New Mexico on October 12, 1955, by  means


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B-EA.RER                                                     351

of an Aerobee  racket which set off four pounds of  vapor-             shall be with  US until the end of this world. You can find
ized sodium 40 miles above the surface of the earth. And in            no area of life pretty soon which wil1 not be entirely under
March of 1957 he did a similar  thing which was seen for 300           the domination of sinful men. The only way that we could
miles and  lasted for  20 minutes. He thinks  that in  time he         have hope of freedom from fear of what man shall do to US
wil1 be  ble to better  man's lot here below by shifting the          is that a spiritual conversion would have to take place inhis
magnetic pole of the earth and so modify this earth's climate.         heart. Treaties, summit  talks,  laws, alliances, promises and
In this way he expects to control if not eliminate both thun-          military inspections cannot give peace of heart and mind, can-
derstorms and tornados and realize for man nothing more                not relieve  anxiety and fear of man's cruelty and sinful am-
than cheering, quiet rains. Indeed  he has bold visions !              bitions. We do not have a more quiet and Carefree life now
                                                                       than our forefathers had in spite of al1 our inventions, labor-
    But he has fears to match those bold visions. What, he             saving  devices,  prosperity and the like. We  stil1 fear man.
asks,  if Russia should be able `to do things before we can 1'         We stil1 fear each other.
What if Russia turns al1 the rain storms away from our land
to obtain al1 the benefit  for herself and.turns  our fertile lands       And surely men can never take from US the fear of God's
into a howling wilderness of drought and famine? Oh, it is             impending judgment and of hell's  fiery torment. NO matter
not the discovery of al1 these powers that God h.as implanted          how  afraid  we may be of man, we shall not in  that fear be
in creation,.  it is not the increase of knowledge of the world        freed from fear of God's wrath and punishment. But he who
wherein we live that is the reason for and the basis for this          fears God wil1 find therein freedom from man. Oh, he may
fear. It. is because these things have been discovered by and          tremble as far as his flesh is concerned when the enemy comes
because this incraese of knowledge is possessed by wicked,             to torment him and take from him his life. And yet he has
depraved man. It is, after  al1 is said and done, fear of man.         no fear that man shall keep him from the glory of  God's
It is fear of the man  who has this added power. It is  fear           kingdom.  He  looks beyond that burning stake and firing
that he wil1 use it against                                            squad to a resurrection of the body and life everlasting. He
                                US instead of for our good.            says with Job when he was tormented by his "friends," Say
    And as long as al1 we see is what the natura1 eye sees, if         what you please about me, "For 1 know that my redeemer
al1 we know is what may be known by the natura1 man, when              liveth and that He  shall stand at the  latter  day  upon the
al1 we hear is what the natura1 ear hears, there wil1 never            earth: And though  after  my skin worms  destroy this body,
be anything to take that fear away. Wicked  men are here on            yet in my flesh shall 1 see God," Job 19 25, 26.
earth. Wickedness amongst  these evil doers, as we, pointed               Also, it  may be pointed  out that  when the  women,  who
ot last  time, only increases and is not restrained by the Spirit     loved Jesus and in the fear of the Lord believed in Him as
of God through an operation upon their hearts. Physical, out-          the Messiah promised of God, came in the sorrow that was
ward restraint there is, of course. Each  time God takes their         wrought by their love for Him to His empty tomb, the angel
earthly life from them, they are restrained from further
                                               z                       says to them, "Fear not ye, for 1 know that ye seek Jesus
wickedness among and evil upon their fellowmen. Yet theii              Which was  crucified,"  Matthew  28:5. The angel, in effect,
evil conniving goes on in the heart and they only work harder          declares this glorious truth that they who fear the Lord have
with heart and mind to find ways to perpetrate their evil              nothing  to fear. They have the true freedom from fear. Al1
without  being  apprehended for it and without being  required         fear of God's wrath has been ruled  out by this crucified Jesus.
to suffer for it at the hands of their fellow men. The Scrip-          Even when one of .His holy angels stands before them in al1
tures teach US that the man of sin, the antichrist must come           the brilliance of his holiness, they need not fear him as a
and that the measure of iniquity  mw& be filled. "Let no man           servant of God's judgment. They may look upon him as one
deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come (the            sent by God for the ministry of their good.
day of Christ),  except there  come a falling away first, and
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who op-                We say again,  How important that question:  "Whom
poseth and exalteth himself above al1 that is called God, or           shall 1 fear ?"
that is worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple oE
God, shewing himself  that he is God," 11 Thessalonians  2 :3,             Let it not be man. Let it not be man and God. Let it be
4. Or again, "And for this cause God shall send them strong            God alone. For that fear leaves no room for fear of what
delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they al1 might          man may do unto US.
be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness," 11 Thessalonians 2 :ll, 12. How shall days            "Jehova,h  is wy light, And my salvation near;
such as these come, if sin does not develop ? And how dare               l;l'ho  sh.&  wq soul  afvight,  Or  cause  my heart to  fear?
we deny verse 11 that God wil1 send them delusions ?                      While  God  wzy  streng&,  my  life  sustains,
    Look  where  you  will, then. Listen to whomsoever you               Secure f.yom  fear nsy soul revmins."
wil1 among men. Consider  al1 the writings and plans of men..                                                                     J.A.H.
 But  where  wil1 you find freedom from fear ? Wicked men


352'                                               TI-IE  S T A N D A R D   B : E A R E R

                                                                         prevent him from holding the crown of Scotland, claiming it
11                  Contending  For The  Faith  $  11 as a papa1 fief from remote antiquity. The English parliament,
1'                                                                    !l 1301, gave .a prompt and spirited reply. The English king
                                                                         was under no obligation to the papa1 see for his tempral
                    The Church and the Sacraments                        acts. Edward removed from Scene  to Westminster the sacred
       VIEWS   D                                                         stone on which Scotch kings had been consecrated, and which,
                       URING  THE  THIRD   PERIOD  (750-1517 A.D.)       according to the legend, was the pillow on which Jacob rested
           . . "         TEE  S~~REMACY  0~  THE  POPE                   at Bethel. The dispute went no further. The conflict between
                                                                         Boniface  and France is reserved for more prolonged  treat-
      THE  DECLINE OF THE  PAPACY   AND THE  AVIGNON  EXILE.             ment.
                               A. D. 1294-1377.                              An important and picturesque event of Boniface's ponti-
        In his  attempt  to  control  the affairs of European states,    ficate was the Jubilee Year, celebrated in 1300. It was a
he met with less success  than failure, and in Philip the Fair           fortunate conception, adapted to attract throngs of pilgrims
of France he found his match.                                            to Rome and fill  the papa1 treasury. An old man of 107 years
                                                                         of age, so the story ran, travelled from Savoy to Rome, and
        In,  Sjcily,  he failed to carry  out his plans to secure the    `told how his father had taken him to attend a Jubilee in the
transfer of the realm from the house of Aragon to the king               year 1200 and exhorted him to visit  it on its recurrence a
of Naples.                                                               century after. Interesting as the story .is, the Jubilee celebra-
        In Rome, he incurred the bitter enmity of the proud and          tion of 1300 seems to have been the first of its kind. Boni-
powerful family of the Colonna, by attempting to dictate the             face's  buil, appointing it, promised full remission to ah, being
 disposition of the family estates. Two of the Colonna, Jmes            penitent and confessing their sins,  who should visit St.
and Peter, who were cardinals, had been friends of Coelestine,           Peter's during the year 1300. Italians were to prolong their
 and supporters of that pope gathered around them. Of their              sojourn 30 days, while for foreigners 15 days were  an-
number was Jacopone da Todi, the author  of  the  Stabat                 nunced to be sufficient.  A subsequent papa1 deliverance ex-
Matev, who wrote a number of satirical pieces against Boni-              tended the benefits of the indulgente  to al1 setting out for the
face. Resenting the pope's interference in their private mat-            Holy City who died on the way. The only exceptions made
 ters, the Colonna issued a memorial, pronouncing Coelestine's           `to these gracieus provisions were the Colonna, Frederick of
abdication and the  `election of  Boniface  illegal. It exposed.         Sicily, and the Christians holding traffic with Saracens.  Th
 the haughtiness of Boniface, and represented him as boasting            city wore a festal appearance. The handkerchief  of St. Vero-
 that he was supreme over kings and-kingdoms,  even in tem-              nica, bearing the  imprint  of the Saviour's face, was exhibited.
 poral affairs, and that he was governed by no law other than            The throngs fairly trampled  upon one another. The  con-
 his own will. The document was placarded on the churches                temporary historian of Florence, Giovanni Villani, testifies
 and a copy left in St. Peter's. In 1297 Boniface  deprived the          from personal observation that there was a constant popula-
 Colonna of their dignity,  escommunicated  them, and  pro-              tion in the pontifcal  city of 200,000 pilgrims, and that 30,000
 claimed  a crusade  against them. The two cardinals appealed            people reached and left it daily. The offerings were so copieus
 to a genera1 council, the resort in the next centuries of so            that two  clerics stood day and night by the  altar of St.
 many  who found  themselves.   out of  accord  with the papa1           Peter's, gathering up the coins with rakes.
 plans. Their strongholds  fel1 one  after another. The last of
 them, Palestrina, had a melancholy fate. The two cardinals                  So  spectacular  and profitable a celebration  could not be
 with  ropes around their necks threw themselves at  the pope's          allowed to remain a memory, The Jubilee was made a per-
 feet and  secured  his pardon, but their estates were confiscated       manent institution. A  second  celebration  was appointed by
 and bestowed upon the pope's nephews and the Orsini. The                Clement VI in 1350. With reference to the brevity of human
 Colonna family recovered in time to reap a bitter vengeance             life and also to the period of our Lords earthly career, Urban
 upon their insatiable enemy.               _                            VI  fixed its recurrence every  33 years. Paul 11, in 1470,  re-
                                                                         duced  the intervals to 25 years. The twentieth Jubilee was
        The German emperor, Albrecht,  Boniface  succeeded in            celebrated in 1900, under Leo X111. Leo's bull, dated  May
 bringing to an abject submission. The German envoys were                 11, 1$99,, off ered indulgente  to pilgrims visiting the basilicas
 received  by the haughty pontiff seated on a throne with a              of St. Peter, the  Lateran,  and St. Maria Maggiore. A
 crown upon his head and sword in his hand, and exclaiming,              portion of the document runs as follows : "Jesus Christ the
 "1, 1 am  ,the  emperor." Albrecht   accepted  his  crown as a           Saviour of the world, has chosen  the city of Rome alone and
 gift; and acknowledged that the empire had been transferred             singly above al1 others for a dignified and more than luman
 from the Greeks to the Germans by the pope, and that the                purpose and consecrated it to himself." The Jubilee door
 electors owed the right of .election  to the Apostolic See.              was inaugurated by the august ceremony of opening  the
        In England,  Boniface  met with sharp resistance. Edward         porta.   Santa,   the sacred door, into St. Peter's, which it is  the
 1,  1272-1307,  was on the throne.  The pope  attempted  to              custom to wal1 up after  the celebration.  The special ceremony

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

,dates  from Alexander VI and the Jubilee of 1500. Leo                 serted with most pretension in the bulls  Boniface  issued
performed this ceremony in person  by giving three strokes             during his conflict with France.  Members of the papa1 court
upon the door with a hammer, and using the words up@&                  encouraged him in these haughty assertions of prerogative.
~ihZ, open to me. The door symbolizes Christ, opening the              The Spaniard, Arnald of Villanova, who served Boniface  as
way to spiritual benefits. Leo extended the offered .benefits          physician, called him in his writings lord of lords  -  dezts
to those  who had the  wil1 and not the ability to  make the           deoruutz.
journey to Rome.                                                           On the other hand, Philip the Fair stood as the  em-
    For the offerings accruing from the Jubilee and for ether          bodiment of the  independente  of the  state. He had behind
papa1 moneys, Boniface  found easy use. They enabled him               him a unified nation, and around him a body of able states-
to prosecute his wars against Sicily and the Colonna and to            men and publicists  who defended his views.
enrich his relatives. The  chief  object of his favor was his              The conflict between Boniface  and .Philip  passed through
nephew, Peter, the  second son of his brother  Loffred,  the           three stages : (1) the brief tilt which called forth the  bul1
Count of Caserta. One estate after another was added to this           Clericis laicos  ; (2) the  decisive  battle, 1301-1303,  ending  in
favorite's possessions, and the vast sum of more than                  Boniface's humiliation at Anagni ; (3) the bitter controversy
$5,000,000 was spent  upon him in four years. Nepotism                 which was waged against the pope's memory by Philip,  end-
(favoritism, especially displayed toward nephews and other             ing with the Council of Vienne. Contemporary writers spoke
relatives) was one f the offences for which  Boniface  was            of the modern or recent French  nation as opposed to the
arraigned by his contemporaries.                                       nation of a preceding period. So the author of the Tractate of
                                                                       1305  in defence of Boniface  VIII. He said "the kings of the
                                                                       ,modern French people do not follow in the footsteps of their
Boniface  VIII and Philip tlze Fair of Fmnce.                          predecessors." The same -writer compared Philip to Nebu-
    The overshadowing event of Boniface's reign was his  dis-          chadnezzar rebelling against the  higher  powers.
astrous conflict with Philip IV of France,  called Philip the             The conflict originated in questions touching the war be-
Fair. The grandson of Louis  1X, this monarch was wholly               tween  France and  England.  To meet the expense of his ar-
wanting in the high spiritual qualities which had distinguished        mament  against Edward 1, Philip levied tribute  upon the
his ancestor. He was able but treacherous, and utterly  un-            French clergy. They  carried their complaints to Rome, and
scrupuleus  in the use of  means to secure his  ends.  Un-             `Boniface justified their contention in the bul1 Clericis laicos,
attractive  as his character is, it is nevertheless wit11  him that    1296. This document was ordered promulged in England  as
the first chapter  in the history of modern France begins. In          wel1 as in  France.     Robert of Winchelsea, archbishop of
his conflict with  Boniface  he gained a decisive  victory. On.        Canterbury, had it read in al1 the English cathedral churches.
a smaller scale the conflict was a repetition between Gregory          Its opening sentence impudently asserted that the laity had
VII and Henry IV,  hut with a different  ending. In both               always been hostile to the clergy. The document went on to
cases the pope had reached a venerable age, while the  sover-          affirm the subjection. of the state to the papa1 see. Jurisdic-
eign was  young and wholly governed by selfish motives.                tion over the~persons  of the priesthood and the goods of the
Henry resorted to the  election  of an anti-pope. Philip  de:          Church in no wise belongs to the tempora1 power. The Church
pended  upon his councillors and  the spirit of the new French.        may make gratuitous gifts to  the  state, but  al1 taxation of
nation.                                                                Church property without the pope's consent is to be resisted
   The heir of the theocracy of Hildebrand repeated Hilde-             with excommunication or interdict.
brand's  language without possessing his mora1 qualities. He              Imposts  upon the Church for special emergencies had
claimed  for the papacy supreme authority in tempora1 as               been a subject of legislation at the third and fourth Lateran
wel1 as spiritual matters. In his  address  to the cardinals           Councils. In 1260 Alexander IV exempted the clergy from
against the Colonna he exclaimed: IrHow shall we assume tal            special taxation, and in 1291 Nicolas  IV warned the king of
judge  kngs  and princes, and not dare to proceed  against a.         France against using for his own  schemes  the tenth levied
worm! Let them perish forever, that they  may understand.              for a crusade.  Boniface  had precedent enough for his utter-
that the name of the Roman pontiff- is known in  al1  the              ances.  But his bul1 was promptly met by Philip with an act
earth and that he alone is most high over princes." The Colon-         of reprisal prohibiting  the export of silver and gold, horses,
na, in one of  `their proclamations,  charged   Boniface   with        arms, and other articles from his realm, and forbidding
glorying that he is exalted above al1  princes  and  kingdoms          foreigners to reside in France.  This shrewd  measure cut off
in tempora1 matters, and  may act as he pleases in view of the         French contributions to the papa1 treasury and cleared  France
fulness of his power  -ple&zrde potestatis. In his official.           of the pope's emissaries.  Boniface  was  forced to reconsider
recognition of the emperor, Albrecht, Boniface  declared that          his position, and in conciliatory letters, addressed to the king
as "the moon has no light except as she receives  it from the          and the French prelates, pronounced the interpretation put
sun, so no earthly power has anything which it does not re-            upon his deiiverance unjust.
ceive from the ecclesiastical authority." These claims are as-                                                                      H . V .

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

Il                                                                                   5) Finaily,  in the last ciause the term "power" is al1 right,
          $ ihe Vake of Our Fathers                                         il provided we  remember  that it is power in the sense of
                                                                                 "eficacy."                 .,
                                                                                     This is a very important article, for it brings to light the
                   The Canons of Dordrecht                                       true character of the Arminian error. The Arminian doc-
                                 PART TWO                                        trine of grace is a doctrine of mere nioral suasion. It denies
                                                                                 the efficacy of divine grace altogether, reduces its power to a
                     ESPOSITION OP  THIX  CANONS                                 mere mora1 influence pf Persuasion and advice,  and, denying
                                                                                 the necessity of anything more than  such a mora1 influence of
                                                                                 Persuasion, it puts in the place of efficacious grace the decisive
                                                                                 choice of the essentially good wil1 of the natura1 man. More-
      OF  THE  CORRUPTION OF  MAN,  Hrs  CONVIXRSION   TO  GOD,                  over,  the Arminian view is dualistic. It  places  God,  Who-
                     AND THE  MANNER  THEREOF                                    promises eternal goeds,  and Satan, who promises only tem-
                    REJECTION OF ERRORS                                          poral  goods, in competition for the allegiance of mec  ; and
                                                                                 God in the case of some men at least gai& the victory over
               Article 7. Who  teach:  That  tbe grace whereby we are            Satan by selling a better product, or by persuading them
               converted to God is only a gentle advising, or (as others         that He has a better product.
               explain it), that this is the noblest  manner of working
               in the conversion of man, and that this marmer of work-               Mark you well, this article does not talk  about the
               ing which consists in advising, is most in harmony with           preacher and the preaching, but about God and His method
               man's nature;  and that there is no reason why this ad-           of operation. That is why it is  so important. And that is
               vising grace alone should not be  sufficient   to make the        also why in last analysis this article also has something very
               natura1 man  spiritual; indeed, that God does not produce
               the consent of the will except  through                           important to say about-what  constitutes  a true preacher and
                                                           this marmer of ad-
               vising; and  that  tbe power of the divine  werking,   where-     true preaching.  After   al1 the preacher officially represents
               by  it surpasses the working of Satan, consists in  this,         God, is His ambassador. And the word which the preacher
               that God  promises  eternal,  while Satan promises only           brings is the Word of and concerning God and His way of
               tempora1 goods.  But this is altogether Pelagian and              salvation, His grace. It makes  al1 the differente  in the world,
               contrary  to the  whole Scripture which, besides  this,
               teaches yet another and far more powerful  and divi~~             therefore, if the preacher proclaims that grace as consisting
               manner of the Holy Spirit's working in the conversion             in nothing else than a gentle, mora1  suasion, and presents God
               of man, as in Ezekiel: "A  new heart  also  will 1 give           as promising  eterlal goods over against  Satan's  promise of
               you, and a new spirit  wil1 1 put within you; and 1 wil1          tempora1 goeds,  and either tacitly or expressly presents God
               take away the  stony heart  out  of your  flesh, and  1  wil1     as leaving the decision entirely up to man. That exactly this is
               give you a heart of  flesh,"  Ezek.  36:26.                       done by many  an .Arminian  preacher today we al1 know. But
       The above translation could be improved upon.  It would                   that this is frequently done in so-called Reformed circles we
seem that the translators of the Rejection of Errors followed                    ought to see ; and the Reformed believer ought to be doctiin-
the Dutch  version of the  Cawonx  rather  sl&ishly  ; and one                   ally equipped to discern this error quickly and to expose it for
would  almost   venture the guess that they  accepted  the of-                   what  it is. There is much preaching today that is nothing more
ficial Dutch version uncritically, without even comparing it                     than this  moralism  of which  our  Ca.nons   here speak and
with the original  Latin.. A comparison with the  Latin   will                   which they condemn as Pelagian and contrary to the whole
bring to light the following corrections that should be made :                   Scripture. We must not be fooled by the  fact that men
       1) The first  clause  should have instead of  "o&y"  the                  speak of grace, and apparently emphasize sometimes very
stronger expression "nothing else than."                                         styongly  that we are saved by grace and are converted through
       2)  Also in the first  clause, "gentle advising" could more               grace only. Any Arminian can use the very same language.
accurately be rendered "gentle  suasion."                                        Ds. T. Bos calls attention to this in his comments on this
       39 The`second clause should be : "or, (as others explain)                 article  als0 (1 translate) : "That there must be a conversion
that this is the most noble manner of working in the conver-                     of man, and that God has a hand in this conversion, is not
sion of mgn and most in harmony with human nature,  namely,                      denied by the Remonstrants. For that reason their preaching
that which takes  place through  suasion."                                       led  many  in the way of error. Our preacher,  so  they said,
       4) The next clause  does not speak of "advising grace" but                also speaks of faith and repentance, and he admonishes and
of "mora1 grace." The  Latin term is  moralis  gratis,  not  the                 urges US ,to repent  not any less earnestly than the Reformed
term  suasio,  which has been translated "advising." The same                    minister.
is true of the  -next  clause.  There  also the  Latin  term  re-                   "The danger of a false doctrine is exactly the greater
quires that we translate: `indeed  that God does not  other-                     when Biblicl words are used and when after  al1 something
wise  prodtice  the consent of the  wil1 than by the  moral                      entirely different is meant than what the Bible says, or when
method."                                                                         by mentioning the one  truth another truth is denied. The


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   355

audience  also in our times  may therefore wel1 be on guard,                    The  main proposition of the Arminians here is that the
for there are stil1 preachers  who speak of God and His Word,           grace of conversion is nothing else than a gentle suasion, that
of sin and grace, but who understand thereby something en-              it is a mora1 grace, and that this mora1 grace is completely
tirely different than these terms must  mean according to               sufficient  to change a natura1 man into a spiritual man. To
Scripture. Try the spirits, whether they be of God, by testing          understand this we  may note the following elements.
`their doctrine with the Holy Scriptures." ,                                    1) According to this view, conversion takes place through
    It is this test that must be applied to the doctrine of the         the preaching of the Word in  such a way that the sinner
well-meant offer of salvation as wel1 as to the stil1 more in-          only has to be advised or persuaded to convert himself and
sidious error of a genera1 conditional  promise,  in order to           to  repent.  Remember,  this  means that God Himself  merely
find it wanting. It is this test that must be applied to the            advises and persuades the sinner.
preaching that proclaims that "mans act of conversion is a
prerequisite to entering the  kingdom  of God."  Any preaching                  2) Secondly, it is the position of the Arminians that con:
that does not make,  it abundantly plain, explicitly clear, that        version takes place by no other method than this. This is im-
the  very  nature of man's conversion to God is  such that it           portant to understand. It is not  thus, that conversion does
cannot possibly take place without the operation of absolutely          not at al1 take place through the admonitions and urgings of
efficacious and irresistible grace, is such that man's conver-          the Word and its preaching. NO, the fathers admit that this
sion is absolutely dependent on  God's sovereignly converting           is an element in the  werk of conversion.  How could it be
him,  -any preaching that does not measure up to this                   otherwise ? Do not the Scriptures indeed frequently cal1 men
standard has reduced the gospel to the  very Arminian  moral-           to conversion ? "Turn, ye backsliding children ; and .I wil1
ism that is rejected by our Canons here. That the responsi-             heal your backslidings." And again : "Turn ye, turn ye from
bility to  repent  must be proclaimed we do not and cannot              your evil way ; for why wil1 ye die, 0 house of Israel ?' Or
deny. But to proclaim  that responsibility to repent  in such a         again : "Turn unto me and be saved, al1 ye endc of the earth."
way that it either tacitly or expressly implies the aOil&y  of          And again : "Except ye be converted (and we may even take
natural man to repent  is mere moralism. That the calling  to           this in the reflexive : "except  ye  convert yourselves") and
accept Christ by faith must be proclaimed cannot be ques-               become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
tioned. But `CO proclaim that calling  in such a way that it ever       of heaven." And did not Peter preach on the day of Pente-
leaves the impression  upon th. hearers that they  can of              tost: "Repent,  and be baptized every  one of you in the name
themselves at al1 accept Him is mere moralism, is no preach-            of Jesus Christ for the remission of  sin.?? And does not
ing of the gospel. And that this is exactly one of the faults           Paula advise the Philippian jailer : "Believe on the Lord Jesus
of a general,  well-meant offer of salvation, and of a general,         Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy heuse"  ? NO, indeed
conditional  promise cannot effectually be denied. Not only is          the fathers did not wish to deny the necessity of- conversio?t
that true from the standpoint of doctrinal  debate;  it is  also        tRrougtgh   U%e  preacitirtg  of  the  Word. But the Arminians
true from the practica1 viewpoint of the impression that is             taught that this was the sole element of grace in the work of
left  upon the audience that hears such a genera1 .offer and            conversion, that there was no other operation of grace than
such a genera1 promise.  The impression that it is within their         that gentle,  mora1 advising or suasion of the  Holy Ghost
power to accept the offer or not to accept it, to  fulfill  the         through the preaching. That is the question here, whether
condition  or not to fulfill  it, can never successfully be avoided.    such mora1 suasion is sazfficient.  And it is, well-known how
What is then the effect of such preaching  ? Are any of the             Arminians of every  shade love to emphasize'all such Scrip-
reprobate saved by it? Not at all. NO Reformed man would                tural injunctions as we have  quoted above as though  such
dare to say such a thing. NO, but the bad effect is that the            passages were the peculiar property of Arminians, and as
elect are not comforted and built up by it. The  elect are              though anyone  who maintains the doctrine of efficacious grace
saved,  bt they certainly are not saved by  such a brand of            denies  .these parts of  Holy  Writ, and as though Scripture
preaching. For the  real   nature of conversion as a  radical           taught nothing else about the work of conversion than what
turning about of the  whole man from  darkness  to light, a             is found in these admonitions. One even finds the complaint
change so  radical  that it  can be accomplished only by the            in Reformed circles once in a while that "conversion is not
almighty operation of divine grace, is denied by  this doctrine.        preached enough." 1 am reminded in that connec3ion  of the
And to be saved means exactly that we are converted from                story told about the late Rev. H.  Danhof,   who evidently
darkness to light in that  radical  sense.                              understood this complaint  quite  wel1  when it was brought
    With this in mind let US pay attention to the meaning of            against him by a certain consistory, and  who rather   bluntly
this article, so that we may be equipped to apply its -test to          and at the same time sarcastically treated it by repeating  the
al1 preaching and  may be equipped to reject this error of              admonition, "Bekeert  u,"  ("Repent   ye"), three times  at the
moralism.                                                               beginning of his sermon, and then turning to the said con-
    And we give our attention, first of all, to the teaching of         sistory with the question, "Is dat genoeg kerkeraad?' ("Is
the Remonstrants that is the subject of this article of rejec-          that enough, consistory  ?"  j
tion.                                                                      _                    (to be continued)                 H.C.H.


3%                                                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

ll                                                                                                                 ga?d,ing   al1  mattm-s  legally  comng  before  fhe meeting and
                                                                                                                   transacted in agreement  witlat  the Word of God accprdng to
                                                                                                                   the conception of it embodied  in the doctrinal standards of the
                                               Credenticds                                                         Protestant Reforuuted  Churches,  as wel1  as in  hrmony with
                                                                                                                   OUY  Claawch  Order.
       "Tlzose   zwho  (are delegated to  the  a.s.semblies  .&all   bhng                                               INSTR UCTIONS (Classica1 credential only)
witlz  them  tlzeir   credetitials  asnd  instructions,   sigrmd by those                                               Done n comistmy . ..___._....___......._.
sending   hem, and they shall have a vote in al1  Yliatters, ex-                                                                                             By order of the Consistory  (Classis)
cept  such as pa~tculam?y concern thei~ persom   0~ churches:"                                                                                                . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P r e s i d e n t
                                                                                                  - Article 3 3                                                . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._......Clerk
       The following decisions pertaining to this article of the                                                        The credential form, as Rev. Ophoff points  out in his
Church Order have been adopted by our Classes and Synod:                                                           mi.meographed notes on  "CJz,ahrch   Rght,"   is  formed of four
       "1. To p7omote  unifovutzity  the credmtia,l letter for delega-                                             parts  : " (1) A statement of the delegation with the names  of
tion to  WLajor  assembl,es   hall  eutd in  the  followi?Lg   foon:                                              those delegated  ; (2) A statement of the task to be performed  ;
`With  instruction  and  a&ho&y to take part in  al1  delibera-                                                    (3) The instruction, and (4) The  blessing."
tions  and  transactions   rega.yding  al1  matters   coming  legalliy                                                   Examination of the above cited credential letter wil1 show
before  the meeting  and  transa.cted  i%  agveeutzent   Gth the                                                   that the fourth part, the blessing,  is lacking. This part, which
Word of God alccording  to tlze cortception  of it embodied in                                                     we  fee1 should be included, appeared in the older Dutch form
the doctyinal  standards of the Protestant  Reformed  Chtrches,                                                    which read as follows :
as  wel1  a.s  irz  hammony   with  the  chu~ch order of the  Prot-
esta,n t Reformed  Churches.'                                                                                                                       CREDENTIEBRIEF
       "2. Tke  major   assemblies  ska11  also have a  sta.ted   clerk,                                           &m. de Classe..  _.__ . . . . . ._ . . . . . . . .van ChhTteJjke Gereformeerde
who however  shall not held the positiort  of permanent sec?..+                                                    Kerken,
tary, and ~ho ska11 not be a member of the assembly's  offcers,                                                   samagekomen `den..  .._... . ..19. . . . te . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
bzct tlmt of a depztty to serve the classis OY synod with semices
wlaich  would  othmwise   constitute   t?te  task of  such a  func-                                                Weleerwaarde en Eerwaarde Broeders in onzen  Heere  Jems
tionary,yJJ                                                                                                        Christus:
      .This article has to do with the matter of ecclesiastical                                                         De  Kerkemad  der Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk vart
credentials. A  credential,  according to  Webster,  is  "that                                                     . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__........ heeft, in zijne samenkomst van . . . . . . ..__.... -..19 . . . . . . .
which gives a title to credit or confidence  ; specifically, testi-                                                naar Uwe Eerwaarde verga.dering  gedepazteevd,  nevens den
monials accrediting a  person."  Ecclesiastically they are of two                                                  Dienaar  des Womds, den Weleerwaarde   H e e r . .   ..__  _.  .   .
kinds, Classica1 and Synodical. In the former the individual                                                       deut Broeder OabderlivLg.   ___. .  ..__...  _.  bij wettige  verhinderng
consistories express that certain persons  are duly authorized                                                     huvalaemijds  te vervangen door hunne respe&ve  secaznd  de
or. properly accredited to represent them at the meeting of                                                        Broeders  .._.........................  met last  en volmacht  om, namens
the Classis. In the  latter the Classis gives testimony  con-                                                      hem, in gebondenheid aan  den  eenigem en  onfeilbarem  regel
cerning certain  persons  that they have been appointed  to                                                        van Gods heilig Woord, naay  de Drie Fommleren  van IEeng-
represent the Classis at the meeting of Synod. And 1 suppose                                                       hed der Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk: de  Nederl. Ge-
that ye! could also speak of the individual's membership papers                                                    loofsbelijdenis, den  Hedelbergscheti,  Catechismus en de
as a-credential but with this we are not at present concerned..                                                    Doydtsche  Leerregelert,  in  alle  sakeq die Uwer Eerw.  ver-
The credential letters referred  to in this article are the Clas-                                                  gadeying  zahllen voorkomen, aboo te helpen oordeele++  en be-
sical and Synodical and the form used in our churches is in.                                                       sluiten, nis meest kan stivekken tot den bloei der Kerken tot
both cases the same. We insert here a' copy since we intendl                                                       verbreiding  vavb  Gods  Konvtkrijk  en tot verheerlijking  va.n
to refer presently to parts of it. It reads as  fellows:                                                           `s  Heeren  naam;
                                                                                                                        verbivzdende  zich de Kerkeraad zijvLerzijds,  0.~1. alk b,esJui-
                            Classica1 (Synodical) Credentials                                                      te-n Uwer vergadering,  die met bovengenoemden regel  ,niet
                                                         L. s.                                                     strijdig zijn, zwoor bondig en vast te hoacden, .en getrotiwelijk
To  tite Classis (Synod) of the Protestant  Reformed  Churches                                                     te helpen naleven en uitvoeren.
to convene  . . . ..___._..  19 ._.............. at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                      Uwer  vergadehng,  bij alle  hre  handelirtgen,  de onmis-
       The Consistory (Classis) of the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .__...... Prot-                           bare leidmg des Heiligen  Geestes toebiddend, blijven we, met
esta&  Refomxed   Chzmh(es),  h m  
                                                                                 appoifated  the  brethm broedergroete,
N.. _. . . . . . . N . . .._......... a.s delegates to  represent said  chu~ch,                                                  De Kerkeraad der Chr. Geref. Kerk te . . . . . . . . .._....._..____.
(Classis) at the m.eeting  of Classis (Synod,) above referred                                                                                                  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._......._Praeses
to. Tlae altemate delegates  are N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N . ..___.....____                                                                              .  .._  .._..  ..__. . __  .._.. .  ..Scriba
       We  hejeby   instmct   and  autho&e  themti  to take part in                                                (Taken from "Kerkelijk Handboek," door Revs. 1. Van Del-
al1 the deliberatons  and transactons of Classis  (Synod] re-                                                    len en H.  Keegstra)


                                                                                            T H E   STANDARD   B:EARER                                                                                       357

         Freely translated, this credential letter reads :                                                                                 "`law~ul  cause."  This should, of course, be understood but it
                                      CREDENTIAL LETTER                                                                                    may be wel1 to also express it in the credential letter since it
                                                                                                                                           does happen that delegates seek to be  excused  from this
  To the Classis oj tlze Christian Reformed  Churches, convening                                                                           privileged service of Christ's church as a matter of personal
  . . . . . . . . ..__........_.__  19 ._______  at _...__._,..,.,...,....._,._.............                                               ,expediency  rather than of mora1 and spiritual right ! The in-
  Esteenzed  and honomble  brethren  in our Lord Jes~ Christ.:                                                                             sertion of a clause  to this effect serves to remind  every   ap-
         The  Consistory  of  the  Christian   Reformed  Church at....                                                                     pointed delegate of his  duty in Christ Jesus. It does no
  .                      ..has, in her gathering o                                     f        .        . delegated to                    harm to stress this !
  your  esteemed  ga.tlaehng,  besides  t?te minister of the Word
  the Rev.- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . brother elder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . who fol        Concerning the statement of the task to be performed, a
  hwful caztstr on their part vmy be re@aced  by their respecthu?                                                                          few smal1 matters might be mentioned here. First,  where  our
 secundus, tize brethren..  . ___  _....  __. . . . . . . .                                                                                present form reads : "tranmcted  in  a'gueevme,nt"   . .  ., it  might
         with the mandate a.nd ,authov-ity to, in karmony  with the                                                                        be better to change this to  read:  "to help  transact  thmz in.
  one and infa.l&ble  rule of the Holy Word of God according to                                                                            ugreement . .  .". Secondly, our present form  speaks of `%z-
  t$e  thee ~OIWLS  of unity of the Christian  Refor;med  Churclx                                                                          struct  and  a&orize . .  ." whereas the older form has "met
  The Netherland's  Confession,  the Heidelberg Catechist, and                                                                             last en vohacht . . ." A mandate is a little stronger than an
  the Canons of Do?drecht;  help judge and decide al1 vmtters                                                                              instruction as we understand the language. Thirdly, the
  that  co*te  before  you~  zvorthy  gatlzeping,   striving   to the ut-                                                                  older form does not  mention the church order at  al1 here.
 most for tke pro@ of the church, for the extension of God's                                                                               This should be retained as in the present form although it
 Kingdo??&  and for tlae glorificatiov~  of His Name.                                                                                      has already  been suggested that the reading, "as wel1 as in.
         T?ze Consistory pledges to consider  a.11 decisions taken, by                                                                     harmony  Zpnth our citztrch  order" be changed  to read  simply :
 your gatkev-ing a.nd not in confl,ict with the above named rule                                                                           "and the  a,ccepted  chu~clz order."  Finally, the older form
 to be settled and binding and to faitla~ully, help nmivttain ana?                                                                         adds a brief description of the  objective  of the labors and
 execute   thevvh.                                                                                                                         certainly there can no objection to that. There is something
        Praying your gathering the unvx&aka-ble  guidance of the                                                                           for it, in fact! The purpose of the labors must be constantly
 Holy Spirit in al1 bey actions,                                                                                                           before the delegates and this is then also accomplished when
        we  remain,   with   fratervtal  qreetings,   the Consistory                                                                       the letter of credential containing it is publicly  read at the
                                                                                             President                                     opening of the session. It should be included.
                                                                                             Clerk                                             Fourthly, the statement by the consistory, pledging itself
                                                                                                                                           to maintain and  execute the decisions of the broader assembly
        There are several elements in this credential letter that                                                                          need not be expressed since it is stated in Article 31 of the
are to be preferred to om- present farm. We do not say that                                                                                Church Order to which  each consistory binds itself. However,
 the form that is currently in use is inadequate, does not serve                                                                           no harm is done by repeating it here and it serves the practica1
 the purpose, or that there is anything wrong with it. That is                                                                             advantage of reminding the consistory of this obligation  each
 something  else.  If that were so it would be our immediate                                                                               time it  sends delegates to the major assembly. Inasfar as                a
 duty to overture the major gatherings to revise the creden-                                                                               brief principles  of the Church Order can be incorporated into
 tial letter. But that is not the case. It is  rather a matter of                                                                          our forms without making  the latter  cumbersome, the practice
personal preferente  and a question as to whether the present                                                                              should be encouraged.
 form can be improved. This we believe to be the case.
        In  the first  place, the salutation in the present form is                                                                           Finally, the matter of the "blessing" which Rev. Ophoff
 cold. There is  much `more  warmth in an  address   such as                                                                               points out is part of the credential form and appeared in the
 "Esteemed  and worthy bvethrem in our Lord Jesus Christ.`.'                                                                               last part of the older form should be included-  in our forms
 Merely  to  address  the ecclesiastical body as the Classis  OI                                                                           currently used. The same warmth we mentioned in connec-
 Synod of a particular church that is to meet at such and such                                                                             tion with the address  is lacking `when  this is omitted. There
 a time and place  leaves something  important lacking. It is a                                                                            is, we believe, a strengthening of the denominational tie of
 gathering in Christ Jesus the Lord that is being addressedi                                                                               unity when Consistories address  their Classes as "brethren  in
-and  this should be stated. In the present form the name of                                                                               the Lord" and conclude their address  `"terishing  yozt  the gztzd-
 Jesus Christ does not appear at al1 and although it does nol:                                                                             ante  of  tlze  Holy Spirit  and) the  bleshg of 0,u.r God!"
 follow from this that He is not recognized or that His Name                                                                                  Hence, we  fee1 that  al1 these elements should be taken into
 is deliberately excluded, we would prefer to see the Classis                                                                              consideration and a new or revised form adopted.  Adding
 or Synod addressed  "in  the Name of her Lord."                                                                                           these things  would necessarily make the form letter a bit
        Secondly, the statement of the delegation with the names                                                                           longer  but that would be no serious disadvantage. Its content
 of those delegated is in both letters substantially the same.                                                                             would be improved and the beauty of the whole enhanced
 There is some differente  of terminology but no serious dif-                                                                              greatly and these are advantages worthy of consideration.
 ferences. In the older form mention is made of the fact that                                                                                 Perhaps one of the consistories wil1 consider it worthy of
 primi delegates may be replaced by their secundi only for                                                                                 an overture in the future !                              G.V.D.B.

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

         THE QUIET AND PEACEABLE LIFE OF                             conditions and circumstances in which the church  finds herself
                            1 TIM. 2:2                               in the world.
                                                                        And generally similar  to the above are most commentaries
       The wording of the above title is taken literally from the    on this passage in 1 Timothy 2. And in most of these com-
text in 1 Timothy 2  2. These words form part of an  ex-             mentaries the quiet and peaceable life mentioned and sought
hortation of the apostle Paul to his  fellow-werker  Timothy,        by Paul consists in the  absente  of  al1  social  and civic,  al1
which Timothy, in turn, is to direct to the churches for their       economie  and natura1 evils and disturbances' which are prev-
instruction. The entire exhortation reads as follows: "1 ex-         alent in the world, and which in one degree or another affect
hort therefore, first of ah, that supplications, prayers, inter-     the life of the church. It consists in the absente  of al1 hatred
cessions and giving of thanks be made for  al1 men  ; For kings      nd malice  toward the church, of al1 persecutions and al1 op-
and for al1 in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peace-        positions to the church. And positively, this quiet and peace-
able life in al1 godliness and honesty." vs. 1, 2.                   able life consists in an acknowledgment of the church by al1
                                                                     men whereby she is held in honor and esteem.  Her religion
       From this exhortation of the apostle we learn  that the       is to be promoted, her doctrines maintained, her members and
ultimate  goal which he has in mind, and to which he aspires,        their possessions protected. And we could continue. But to
is a quiet and peaceable life for the churches. To this end the      put it in other words, for the church to lead a quiet and
apostle pens the words of the exhortation ; to this end he wil1      peaceable life in the  world,  al1 the above must first of  al1
have Timothy exhort the churches. And because he deerns a            prevail in the community, in the  nation, and in the world.
quiet and peaceable life necessary for the churches,  emphatic-      Then, and only then, wil1 the church be able to lead this quiet
ally he exhorts that prayers be made for al1 men, including,         and peaceful life of 1 Timothy 2 :2.
specifically, kings and  al1 in authority.                              Accordingly, of `course, these commentators give content
       Somewhat different answers are given to the question :        to the prayers which the apostle exhorts to be made by the
What   constitutes the quiet and peaceable life of 1 Timothy         churches. Calvin, in harmony with this conception,  would
2  :2. Calvin, in his commentary on this  passagel, considers        have prayers uttered by the churches for the salvation of
this quiet and peaceable life to consist in "the fruits whicb        kings and rulers, and that these may come to knowledge of
are yielded to  US by a  wel1 regulated government." And these       the truth and thus "begin to impart to US those benefits of
fruits, according to .him, are three in number. "The first is a      Which they formerly deprived  US." Thus he considers that
peacea~ble  life; for magistrates are armed with the sword, in       their salvation wil1 be conducive to proper government and,
order to keep US in peace. If they did not restrain  the hardi-      consequently, to a quiet and peaceable lift for the churches.
hood of wicked men, every  place would be full of robberies          Lenski  wil1 have  supplications,  prayers, intercessions and
and murders. The true way of maintaining peace, therefore,           giving of thanks made for  al1 men, including kings and rulers,
is when one obtains what is his own, and the violente  of the        in order that they may be saved, but also that they, with the
more powerful is kept under restraint. The  second fruit is          believers, may share in "the  many  blessings (of a quiet and
the preservation of godlness,   that is,  when the magistrates       peaceable life) secured  by this prayer." Stil1 others, ignoring
give themselves  to promote religion, to maintain the worship        the fact that Paul wil1 have prayers made for al1 (kinds, clas-
of God, and to take care that sacred  ordinances be observed         ses of) men that they may "be saved, and come to the knowl-
with due  reverence.  The third fruit is the  care of public         edge of the truth" (vs. 4), would exhort the churches to pray
decency;  for it is also the business of magistrates to prevent      for a rich measure of God's common grace to be bestowed up-
men from abandoning themselves to  brutal  filthiness or  flagi-     on kings and al1 in authority so that "the curse of militarism
tious conduct, but on the contrary, t, promote decency and          may be curbed, that war may be prevented, that civic right-
moderation." To Calvin, then, the quiet and peaceable life.is        eousness in national and international relationships may be
dependent  upon tlie  social  conditions existing about  the         advanced, in order that in the peace of our land we may also
church, and is to be had only  when governments rightly              have  peace."3
regulate the  life in the community.                                    Much could be said about the abov conceptions of the
       R. H. Lenski, in his commentary of 1 Timothy 2 :2,2 gives     quiet and peaceable life as wel1 as about the contents which
a somewhat similar, yet more general,  content to this  quict        commentators generally give to the prayers exhorted by the
and peaceable life. To express his view on the matter he             apostle. It is true that Paul exhorts prayers to be made for
quotes from the liturgical Genera1 Prayer of the American            the salvation of men, including also, men among kings and
Lutheran  Church as  fellows:  "Cause thy glory to dwell in          rulers. But neither Scripture in  general,  nor the context in
our land,  mercy and truth, righteousness and peace every-           1 Timothy 2, in particular  know of such a quiet and peaceable
where  to prevail, etc. . . . Graciously defend  US from  al1        life as depicted above. Nor do the Scriptures ever give
calamities by fire and water, from war and  pestilente,  from        grounds .to the believer that an answer to prayers. with the
scarcity and famine." And to Lenski, an answer of God to             above  contents  wil1 ever be answered. From Genesis 3 :15,
this prayer wil1 provide  the.church  wit11  the quiet and peace-    "And 1 wil1 put enmity between thee and the woman, and
able life. Dependent, therefore, again, is this life  upon the       between thy seed and her seed," to Matthew 10:22, "And ye


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE~R                                                                     `359
                                                                       -

 shall be hated of al1 men for my name's sake," the Bible knows             Lord nd in a highly honorable way. And in this way she-wil1
 of no such quiet and peaceable life for the church. Moreover,              also lead a quiet and peaceable life.
 from Daniel to Revelation the Scriptures always forewarn of                     For, first of ah, a quiet life is a life which harmonizes fully
 wars and rumors of wars, of earthquakes and famines, of                    with the accepted,  and authorized, as  wel1 as lawful  stand-
 persecutions and troubles in the world ; even speaking of a                ards of conduct and-walk,  in the community, nation and above
 sharp increase in  al1 these as the end of this world draws ever           al1 the Church. It in no way incites disobedience, riot or un-
 nearer. Let US not be deceived.                                            rest, but  conforms  in  al1  respects to godliness and honesty.
                                                                            And, secondly, in the way of  walking  in godliness and
     Least of all, however,  do such conceptions of a quiet and             honesty,  the church wil1 maintain a peaceable, or better said,
 peaceable life find any basis in the text of 1 Timothy 2. Fact             a restful walk. For a restful walk  and life is one content to
 is, that the text is averse to  any  such interpretations. This            care for its own, and does not meddle in the affairs of others.
 is evident, first of  ah, from the word  "lead"  in the  text,             In our text then, a peaceable life is a life conducted by be-
 which in Scripture has only an  active meaning. In the original            lievers and the church in which, refraining from meddling in
 it reads literally : lead through. The quiet and peaceable life            affairs not their own, they give diligence to, and are content
 then is not simply a life lived or passed under quiet and peace-           in, their own calling  and station as ordained of God. Thus in
 able conditions and  circmnstances,  but is one quietly and                quiet and restfulness, and in al1 godliness and honesty Paul
 peaceably conducted by the church. Hence it is evident that                would have the church live in the world.
 Paul is not characterizing the conditions and circumstances                    And unto this end Paul exhorts that prayers be made by
 which envelope the church as she lives in the world,  hut,                 the churches for men of al1 stations in life, also for kings  and
 rather,  is indicating the manner in which the churches are to             rulers. For this is according to  the  wil1 of God  who  "wil1
 conduct themselves in the world, namely, quietly and peace-                have al1 men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the
 ably. Moreover, that the text is averse to the above  inter-               truth." It is not for the church to make distinctions, to
 pretations is evident in that Paul speaks of leading a quiet               eliminate some from their prayers. This is detrimental to a
 and peaceable life in al1 godliness and honesty. And, certain              peaceable and quiet life. It wil1 only serve to a disregard of
 it is,  that although quiet and peace should reign in the world            authority. But for  this  same reason Paul exhorts to  "Put
 about the church,  such could never be characterized as godly.             them in mind to be subject to  al1 powers, to  obey  magis-
 For, godliness is characteristic of a  walk  or life which is
 rooted in the fear of the Lord. Godliness cannot characterize              trates . . . " Titus  3:l. "But let none of you suffer as' a
                                                                            murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil doer, or as a busy body
 conditio&  and circumstances even though  such  be  peace-                 in other mens matters." 1 Peter 4:15. And again he exhorts
 ful and quiet. It is only to be applied to a concrete walk, and            "aged men," "aged  women,"  "young  women"  and  "young
 here is applied to the life led or conducted by the church and             men" and "servants." Titus 2. And so too, he admonishes
 the believers. And so too, the word honesty, which is better               with a view to the adomment of women, their being subject
 translated as honorable. Both are descriptive of the conduct               to husbands, elders and deacons, and widows. 1 Tim. 2, 3, 4.
 of the church. For  while godliness describes the life of the
 church as rooted in the fear of the Lord, as being in harmony                  Al1 these things, and more, he writes  to the churches with
                                                                            a view to instructing them as to the way in which they may
 with the wil1 of God, and according to His commandments                    lead a quiet and peaceable life in the world. The apostle would
 and precepts, the word honorable speaks of that life as above              have the believers "be blameless and harmless, the sons of
 reproach, so conducted that it incites and merits respect and              God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
 honor. Together, they  depict a life that breathes of the fear             nation, among  whom ye shine  as  lights  in the world." Phil.
 of the Lord and is altogether above reproach.                              2 :15.                                                           G. Lanting
     From  al1 this it is evident that the quiet and peaceable life         1. Pastoml   Efiistles,   5pp. 1 ,  
                                                                                                              52.
 of Paul does not refer to conditions and circumstances which               2. Iuter~retatiort   of  T~mothy, p. 540.
                                                                            3. RW.  Zwier in  Dc   Wachter, May 6, 1941 (trmslation mix).
 may surround the church of Christ. And, from this too, it is
 evident that the quiet and peaceable life of 1 Timothy 2 :2 is
 in no way dependent on what may exist in the world. Con-                                         CQNTRIBUTIONS
 ditions and circumstances have nothing to do with this life
 at  ah. And this is evident from al1 of Scripture. For we are                        The True and False  Church as to the
 to love our enemies, do good to them that hate US, and pray                                                 Confessions
 for them that despitefully use US. Matt. 5 :44. Servants are to
`be subject to their masters with al1 fear ; not only to the good                According to the confessfons (Art. 29, Confessions of
 and gentle, but also to the froward. 1 Peter 2 :18. And thus               Faith) there are two churches. True  and-false.  And these
 we could go on. Even though the world in which we liv be                  two churches are easily distinguished from  each other. As
at  war  ; though there be famine or  pestilente   ;  though  kings         for the true church the confessions  teach  that  where the
 and rulers and men persecute the church and seek her destruc-              Word .of God is  purely preached there the church is. This
 tion ; stil1 the church is. to conduct her life in the fear of the         means a church denomination that officially  confesses  nothing


but truth` (as the apostles and  the prophets preached) and          purpose)  ; yea, even the wickecl for the day of  .evil" (Pro.
                                                                                                                                  _..               _.
maintains, preaches, and teaches this truth is the true church.      16:4).                 _                    `.      . .              ::'  -_-
For  where  the truth is preached there Christ speaks and                                                   ,            - . .  -  .
where  Christ speaks the Church is.                                             .-          Limited  Atonement          -- 1.. . . -      _. . .
   As to the false church denomination, she officially  de-              5: ARMINIANISM supposes that  the Atonemnt -of
clares, preaches, and teaches that God well-meaningly  offers        Christ is "not according to a.ceitain  and. definite  decree  to
salvation to  al1 men, that salvation is conditional, in short,      save some, hut was made according to a general,  conditional
Arminianism. She preaches not as `the apostles and  the              offer of grace which-  God desired to .make to al1 -men  absolutely
prophets preached but preaches another-gospel. Furthermore           and indiscriminately : `who  wil1 have  0.11  Vkii   t~5  lje  saved;
the false church  persecutes  those  who rebuke her for her          and to come to the knowledge of the truth! (1 Ti. -2 :4), But
idolatry, and casts them out of their mi&, thereby defiling          being conditional, the death of Christ does not infallibly secure
the sacraments.                                                      the salvatipn  of anyone. The word `atonement' is not to be
   That the confessions are not speaking about the people in         understood in the sense that it  makes  salvation  actua.1,  hut
the church is. plain when they state (but we speak not here          that it  merely  provides  a  possible   salvation for the  whole
of hypocrites, who are mixed in the church with the good, yet        human race: `and He is the propitiation (provjded remedy)
are not of the church, though externally in it). In other            for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for- the sins
words the confessions  mean  that the hypocrites in the truc         of the  whole  world' (1 Jn. 2  :2).  This  .possibility   remains
church do not  malie the true church denomination partly             even for the so-called  reprobate: cf.  Ca&+ `if thou doest
false or less pure. Nor does it make the false church denomi-        not  well, sin (a sin-offering) lieth at the door' (Gn. 4  :7).
nation less false if there are  stil1 children of God left in it.    In its extent, therefore, the atonement is universal: He died
The confessions are speaking of different denominations, and         for  al1 the ungodly ; the gospel being for  .`whosoever.`,
they judge a denomination, true or false by what they offici-        (`Whosoever shall  cal1  upon the name of the Lord  shall
ally  confess,' preach, teach,  and maintain. Therefore 1 main-      be saved,' Ac. 2  :21.) God loves everybody  ; He  can  hate
tain that the Prot. Ref. Church denomination is the true, pure       nobody (Jn. 3  :16). The preaching of the gospel is  grace
church. She officially confesses,  preaches, teaches, and main-      for  al1  who hear  ; for `gospel'  means good  news: But if the
tains the gospel as the apostles and the prophets preached.          gospel  provides  salvation for the  elect only, it cannot be
She officially  confesses  nothing but Truth.                        good news to those for whose salvation it contains no pos-
   If this view is not in harmony with the confessions 1             sible provision. This being so, the cross is like a blank check,
would  appreciate  comment;  especially from Rev. Hoekserna          providing universal redemption, payable to the endorser,
and Rev. Ophoff.                                                     merely for his endorsement, which in turn completes the
                                         B. J. Meelker               stipulated terms of the atonement." But the final effectuation
                                         Redlands, California        of election  and salvation depends upon the free wil1 of man.
                                                                     As a result,  al1 or none may be saved! "Is it nothing to you,
             CALVINISM  - THE TRUTH                                  al1 ye that pass  by?" (Lam.  1:12) implies that it  may not
                                                                     be anything to anybody.
                     (Arminianism the Lie)                               CALVINISM sponsors the Biblical doctrine of particular
As Based on the Canons of Dordt, Popularly known as the              atonement, which does more than to render  salvation possible,
                    Five Points of Calvinism.                        but secures the. actual salvation of those for  whom Christ
                   by REV.ROBERT  C. HA~BACH                         died; and He died for those  the  Father gave to Him (Jn.
                          Reprobation                                17:2, 12). So that  death is not for a  vague, genera1  "who-
                          (Continued)                                soever;" but for "whosoever  believeth"  (3  :16)  ; and they
                                                                     only believe who were ordained to eternal life (Ac. 13 :48).
   Why some are gifted with faith by God in  time,  and              When  Scripture says that Christ died for the ungodly (Ro;
some are not so gifted, is therefore determined by God's             5  :6), it should be noted that it does not say He died for
eternal  decree. And that  decree  does not have  chief   refer-     al1 the ungodly. Where the word  "ah" does appear in con-
enceto the Fa11 of man, or even to the sins of the reprobate.        nection with the atonement of Christ, it  bas a meaning
For it was made "the children being not yet born, neither            limited by the context. The arm of the Lord.-is not revealed
having  done .any good or evil" (Ro. 9 :ll) .  Rather the de-        to  al1 (Isa. 53 :l). Why? because the Lord"had-  sovereignly
cree has primary reference to the sovereign good pleasure            determined to harden and blind the rest so that they  coztld not
and wil1 of God, "who worketh al1 things (including reproba-         believe (Jn. 12 :37-40). In 1 Co. 15  :22 (Ro. 5  :18) "all"
tion)  after the counsel of His own  will" (Eph. 1 :ll) . Elec-      means `al1 in Christ ; otherwise the Arminian wil1 prove more
tion  cis the main object, of the eternal purpose of God. Thle       than he wants to prove. In 1 Ti. 2 :4 it is al1 classes of men.
Fa11 and reprobation are subservient to that  main object.
"The  Lord hath made  al1 things for Himself (for His own                                         (To be  continued)


