     VOLuIm   x x x v                                 DECEMBER 1, 1958 - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                                            NUMBER 5

                                                                                                    .
                                                                                     ;commandments  contained in ordinances ; for to make in Him-

!          .M E D IT A TI ON- iI
                                                                                     self of twain one new man, so making peace."
                                                                                                         1
                                                                                I           And Zacharias the priest sang of Him: "TO  guide our

                                                                                     feet into the way of peace !"
          THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST'S CbMfNG
                                                                                            Is it not startling.that  Jesus seems to contradict the Holy
            "Thifzk not t1za.t  I a*wz cowte  to se?zd peace on earth:               Spirit in Isaiah, Zacharias and the.  angels in the fields of
            I came  not to send peace, but a. sword."                                                                                 -.
                                                                                     Ephratha ?
                                                               M A T T .   lo:34
            cc                                                                              We have heard from our youth, yes, even from our
                  . . . . . and on earth pea.ce  . . . . ."    LUKE 2 :14b           earliest infancy that the Bible is true ; that the real Writer
            t-c. . . . . . The Prince of Peace."                   ISA. 9:6b         of the Bible is God, from Genesis to Revelation ; that God

                                                                                     cannot contradict Himself.
     Higher criticism delights to find contradictions in the

Bible.                                                                                _~    If there is one thing which is cemented in the hearts of

                                                                                     the little ones when they come to their first catechism class
     Well, the above texts seem to teach such.
                                                                                     it is this : The Bible is true! God is true! Jesus is true!

     On the-  one hand we have heard the song of the night-
                                                                                            -Does  it then not shock us when we hear Jesus say: Think
ingale in the Old Testament: Isaiah. He sang beautifully of
                                                                                     ye not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to
the coming of Jesus. And he told us even of the various
                                                                                     send peace, but a sword!
names which He would bear. In Isaiah 9:6 we read, "For

unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the                                                          * * * 9

government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall

be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The ever-                                  It is my habit to say to persons, to the devil and to my-

lasting Father, The Prince of Peace,"                                                self when confronted with so-called contradictions in the

     Later, much later, we heard the song of the heavenly host                       Bible : God is true !

at the birth of this Prince of Peace, and here are the words                                I cannot believe that there are contradictions in the Bible.

of that glorious song: "Glory to God in the highest, and on                          The very thought is monstrous.

earth peace, good will toward -men."
                                                                                            I readily admit that there are difficult texts in the Bible,

     And so both Isaiah and Luke agree: Jesus is the Prince                          and that it is difficult to harmonize `one text with another. I

of Peace, and He shall, as such, bring peace upon the earth.                         will also admit that the branch of study called Textual

     However, when Jesus began to teach He seems to tell                             criticism is warranted, although I hasten to add that we

                                                                                     should be very careful with that branch of study.
us the very opposite. Especially Luke's version is emphatic:

"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace to the earth ? I                                   But even after we have studied a seeming contradiction in

tell you, Nay ; but rather division."                                                the. Bible and have not come upon a satisfying solution, I am

     And so, again, higher criticism once more has a hellish                         ready to confess :. 0 Lord ! I cannot understand this or these
delight in pointing to another ( ?) contradiction in Scripture.                      texts, but I confess that it is because of my stupidity. Thy
                                                                                     name is TRUTH ! Amen.
     Indeed, there are more texts that seem to stand. in op-

position to Matt. 10 :34  and Luke 12 51-53. Read, e.g., Eph.                                                     * * * *                      :
2 :14,  15 : "For He is our peace, who hath made both one,

and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between                                   However, in the case of the above texts there is only a

us ; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the. law of                      seem&g  contradiction.

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



      Let me show you first that the expression of Jesus in         of God on the earth. Wherever God manifests Himself

Matt. lo:34  is according to Divine Planning.~                      among men, you find the godless reaction of the devil and

      The plan of ,the Almighty for all of history is exactly as    his followers. Wherever Jehovah reveals Himself there you
                                                                    always find war, bloodshed, division and unrest.
Jesus expressed Himself: He came not to bring peace on

earth but the sword, or, according to Luke: division!                  A great weariness comes over you when you follow God's

                                                                    footsteps in the Old Testament: the patriarchs, the judges,
      The Plan of God is war, division, strife, rebellion, blood
and tears.                                                          the kings, the priests and the prophets. There are the foes
              The first revelation of that plan is uttered in
Paradise: And I will put enmity between thee (the devil)            without the camps of the seed of the woman, but also the
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall         foes within the gates of Zion. At one time David wends his
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.                    way in sweet company to the house of God, and later this
                                                                    same sweet ( ? j company will strangle him. Christ complains
      This was spoken by God to the devil who stood before
                                                                    in David that they gave Him hatred for His love.
Him in the guise of a serpent.
                                                                                               * * * *
      And this statement by our God is -confirmed `soon after

in the slaughter of innocent Abel, and the subsequent struggle         But it is not any different in the New Testament.

between the two seeds. On the one hand we see in all history           Wherever the Son of God appears there is strife, hatred,
the seed of the devil, and on the other hand we see the seed        war, unrest,
of the woman, that is, the church.
                                                                       During his three and one half years of preaching He is
      That struggle started at once ; it continued every moment     ever surrounded by a brood of devils. They watched His
of time since ; it is with us right here and now ; it shall con-    every word and move.
tinue unabated until the last moment of history.
                                                                       The hatred found its bathos in the crucifixion.
      Listen to Enoch, the seventh from Adam: "Behold, the
                                                                       .But  even then the devil was not satisfied.
Lord cometh  with ten thousands of His saints, to execute
                                                                       After the Ascension and Pentecost the hatred of the seed
judgment upon all, and to convince all that. are ungodly
                                                                    of the devil broke out anew. The devil knew that his time
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have un-
                                                                    was short.
godly committed, and of all their hard speeches which un-

godly sinners have spoken against Him."                                `Wherever. Paul appeared with Jesus in his heart and

                                                                    mouth, there you found strife, unrest, bloodshed.
      Enoch is only the seventh from Adam, and note the in-
tensity of the warfare which God brought upon the earth,               Only one of the twelve died in his bed.

by putting enmity between the devil and the church.                    Read your Gospels and the epistles of the witnesses of

                                                                    Jesus. Even in the organized churches of Jesus there is no
      Next note the appellation which the Holy Ghost gave to
                                                                    rest. 
Noah: the preacher of righteousness! Noah was not the                       You read of divisions, hatreds, jealousy and envy.
                                                                    James complains :    "From where come wars and fightings
preacher of the Gospel of God, but of righteousness.
                                                                    among you ?'
      God did not decree any positive fruit either: the ark had
                                                                       Will you please read the. seven letters to the seven
no room for many thousands, while there must have been
                                                                    churches in Asia Minor?
millions of men upon the earth.

                                                                       And will you continue to read what Jesus prophesies
      The theme of Noah's preaching must have been: The
                                                                    relative the Church of Christ and its reception in the world ?
flood is coming ; The flood is coming ! And all because of

your unrighteousness ! God will come to convict all of you !           Was it'any different after John closes Holy Writ ?

In one hundred and twenty years he had not one convert.                Wherever you see Jesus appear on the scene you also

      But what a battle!                                            find war and unrest, blood and suffering.

      It was not any different in the days of Nimrod, the              Indeed, God's plan for the Seed of the woman is not to

mighty hunter before the Lord.                                      bring peace on the earth, but a sword.

      In his days the tower of Babel was an attempt of wicked                                  *. .+ * *

men to maintain themselves against the Lord and His people.
                                                                       But what about Isaiah, the angels at the birth of Jesus,
      But the time would fail me to tell you of the unrest, the and Paul7
                                                                        

strife and the conflict between God and His anointed on the
                                                                       They all herald the coming of Jesus as the Prince of peace !
one hand. and the devil and his seed on the other hand. I

would have to tell you of Nineveh, Syria, the Chaldeans;               And the angels literally say : on earth peace !

also of men like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the                  Here is the solution, beloved : Christ did not come to send

Great, Antiochus Epiphanes, and more of their godless ilk.          peace for the wicked  on the eadz.  Christ came to do the exact

      But in all the ages we see nought but the holy war            opposite with respect to them: He came to destroy them!
                      _.

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


   He came to destroy and to bruise the HEAD of the devil.

The HEAD, that is, the intellect, the thought, the counsel,                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D `   B E A R E R

the conception of the wicked. His Own Name of TRUTH,                    Semi-monthly, exceps  monthly during June, July and August

and with the word of His mouth, that is, His truth, He de-                  Published by the &FORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION

stroys the lie and the makers of the lie, and at the same time,          P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

and through the same truth He sets you free!                                                             Editor  - Bv. HERMAN HOEXSEMA

                                                                         Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
    And so Jesus did indeed come to bring peace on the                                        Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
earth. Both Isaiah, the angels and Paul are right: His name                                                           Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

is Prince of Peace. He did come to bring Peace upon the                  All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                         G. Pipe; 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
earth. A correct reading of the song of the angels would read :
                                                                         Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to Ihe  above
Peace on earth toward the men of good will, that is, to God's            address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each no&e.
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14, 15.
                                                                         Entered as Second Class matter at Grand Rapids, LMichigan

    Christ brought peace on the earth by'shedding His pre--

cious  blood for you and me. So making peace.
                                                                                                                           C O N T E N T S
    Christ took our hatred against God on His neck, and            Mnnr*r~-r~o~  _

paid the price of eternal death.                                                  The Purpose                     of Christ's               Coming. .._.._ _.__.......____..                                                               9 7

                                                                                             Rev. G. Vos
    So making peace for us.

                                                                   QUESTION Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._____.._  .                                                                                                                    99
    Peace now : a little bit of heavenly peace in our heart; a
                                                                   E
peace that passeth understanding.                                     DITORIALS -
                                                                                  Discussion of the Three Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
    And presently? In the sweet by and by ? A Kingdom                             Evolution, Long Periods or Days I............................: . . .._.. 161

of heavenly peace !                                       G.V.                               Rev. H. Hoeksema

                                                                   OUR DOCTRINE-

                                                                                  The Book of Revelation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..___.. ._... 102
                   QUESTION BOX                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema

    Mr. F. Harbin asks:                                            A CLOUD OF WITNESSES -

                                                                                  Abraham Accounting God -As Faithful.. .._ _._. ___ ___..... .`..I05
    Rom. 8 : 29 says : "For whom he foreknew, he also fore-
                                                                                            Rev. B. Woudenberg
ordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he
                                                                   IN HIS FEAR  -
might be the firstborn among many brethren, and whom he
                                                                                  "Many Antichrists"                            __ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
foreordained them he also called, and .whom he called                                        Rev. J. A. Heys
them he also justified and whom he justified, them he also
                                                                   CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
glorified."                                                                       The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__........................  109

    Will you give me your explanation of the words "For                                      Rev. H. Veldrnan

whom he did foreknow" in connection with the rest of the . THE Vonx OF OUR FATHERS -
verse and as foreknowledge is used in the Bible ?                                 The Canons of Dordrecht __._..,_................................................                                                                     111

                                                                                             Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
    Answeb:  First of all, it seems to me that, a few years
                                                                   DECENCY AND ORDER -
ago, 1. delivered some radio sermons on Rom. 8 in which I                         The         Report            ___ __._  __ ___ ____ ___ .__ ___ . _. __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
also answered the question of Mr. Harbin. Perhaps he can                                     Rev. G. Vanden  Berg

still obtain them from the radio committee..                       ALL AROUND US -
    Secondly, we must remember that the foreknowledge of                          Dr. Klooster on the Decisionsof                                             1924 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
God is never to be compared to our knowing something be-                           Jehovah's Witnesses                             Make Resolutions . ..___ ____. 115
                                                                                             Rev. M. Schipper
fore it comes to pass. With God this is impossible, first, be-^

cause his knowledge is eternal and, secondly, because He           CONTRIBUTIONS  -
                                                                                  Missionary                 Notes            _.......  . . . . . . . . . .__..__._ 117
brings all things to pass according to the counsel of His own
                                                                                             Rev. G. Lubbers
will.
                                                                   SPECIAL ARTICLE -
    Thirdly, we must, therefore, explain the foreknowledge                        Question               Hour           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
of God in Rom. S:29 as a foreknowledge of love. God eter-                                    Rev. H., Hoeksema

nally foreknew  His people in sovereign love and as He knew        NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 120
them in love He also predestinated them to be. conformed                                     Mr. J. M. Faber
according to the image of His Son.                        H.H.

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



  II                                                                  of the Synodical decision is Luke 6 :35,  36; `But love your
               ED~ITORIALS  11 enemies, and do them good never despairing ; and your r&
                                                                      ward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High:

                                                                      for He is kind toward the unthankful and evil. Be ye merci-
                Discussion of the Three Points                        ful, even as your Father is merciful.' If this passage is

                                                                      parallel to Matthew 5 :44,  45, as I believe it is, then this
        In Towh and T~nwpet  the Rev. Fred H, Klooster dis-
                                                                      attitude of kindness and mercy is applied to the gifts of rain
 cusses the "Three Points."         In a footnote he informs us
                                                                      and sunshine given to all men as well."
 that what now appears as an article in Torch a*nd Tmwipet
                                                                          This is all.
 was originally a paper read before the Holland-Zeeland Inter

 Nos. >.                                                                  In reality, therefore, the Rev. Klooster can produce only

                                                                      one sure text in proof of the doctrine of the universal favor
        The article has three divisions. The first part discusses
                                                                      or grace of God.
 the general features of the decisions of 1924 ; the second

 section offers a brief discussion of the "Three points" proper ;         For about the other passages of Scripture to which the

 the third attempts to prove that the "Three Points" are              Synod refers he writes himself that "the problem involved

 Reformed.                                                            divergent exegesis of each passage." And again: "it must be

                                                                      admitted that they are  not all equally valid." Hence, the only
        We are interested..chiefly  in the second and third parts.
                                                                      passage he has left is the one in Luke 6 and the parallel text
        First of all, then, we will discuss the First Point. We
                                                                      in Matthew 5.
 will quote it here in full, `then see what the Rev. Klooster
                                                                          But is it Scriptural and Reformed to base an entire doc-
 has to say about it and, finally present our own view of the
                                                                      trine on a single text of Holy Writ ? We know better.
 matter.

                                                                          Even if the text in Luke 6 in connection with Matthew 5
        The First Point reads as follows:
                                                                      would seem to teach universal grace, which it does not as I
        "Relative to the first point which concerns the favorable
                                                                      hope to show later, I surely would not dare to base an entire
 attitude of God to humanity in general and not only towards
                                                                      doctrine on it especially in the light of the fact that the Bible
 the elect, Synod declares it to be established according to
                                                                      teaches very clearly that God hates the wicked every day.
 Scripture and the Confession that, apart from the saving
                                                                         At any rate I `wish that the Rev. Klooster would still
 grace of God shown only to those that are elect unto eternal
 life, there is also a certain favor or grace of God which He         offer a careful exegesis of all the passages which the Synod .
' shows to His creatures in general. This is evident from the         of 1924 quoted  in favor of the First Point. Only then can
 Scriptural passages quoted and ffom  the Canons of Dordrecht,        we possibly get something worthwhile.

 II, 5 and III, IV, 8, 9, which deal with the general offer of           The Rev. Klooster also refers in his article to the so-called

 the gospel, while it also appears from the citations made            proof of the First Point the Synod of 1924 adduced from the

 from Reformed writers of the most flourishing period of Re-          Canons. And again I will quote him in full. Writes he:

 formed Theology that our Reformed writers from the past                 "The Synodical decision seeks support for the well-meant

 favored this view."                                                  offer of the gospel by an appeal to the Canons of Dort. The

        Such is the First Point, which is also the most important     Canons (III, IV, 8, 9) are indeed quite explicit in asserting

 of the three.                                                        the doctrine of the well-meant gospel call, for they say': `as

        Now what does the Rev. Klooster have to say about this?       many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called.' But

        Fact is that he says very little about this which could       I do not think the Canons say much concerning the precise

 probably be expected from a brief essay on such an important         point  at issue ; namely, whether this well-meant offer of the

 subject, but which, nevertheless, is deplorable. I could wish        gospel is evidence of an attitude of favor on God's part to

 that the Rev. Klooster would write a series of articles on the       mankind in general. Perhaps the statement that `God calls

 "Three Points" and then enter into a thorough discussion             men by the gospel and confers upon them various gifts' (III,

 especially of the proof the Synod offered from Scripture             IV, 9) comes closest to the point at issue. The Synod claims

 and the Confessions. He does nothing of the kind.                    further support for the first point by an appeal to the classic

        What he writes on the Scriptural proof I will quote here:     Reformed theologians who have maintained this doctrine."

        "The passages mentioned are Psalm 145 :9, Matthew 5 :44,         Do we not receive the impression from the foregoing that

 45, Luke 6:35,  36, Acts 14 :16,  17, I Timothy 4 :lO, Romans        the Rev. Klooster does not believe that the Synod of 1924

2 :4 ; as well as the passages concerning the well-meant gospel       adduced +ny proof for the First Point from the Confessions?

 offer, Ezekiel 33 :ll and 18  :33.  Unfortunately the advisory          First he writes that the Synod "seeks support for the well-

 committee does no more than list the passages in proof-text          meant offer of the. gospel by an appeal to the Canons of

 method. However, the problem involves divergent exegesis             Dort." This already leaves the impression that the Rev.

 of each passage. It is not possible to evaluate each passage         Klooster is not sure that the Synod succeeded. Then, al-

 here. It must be admitted that they are not all equally valid.       though he asserts that the Canons are quite explicit in teach-

 It seems to me that one of the strongest passages in defense         ing the well-meant gospel call, he evidently doubts whether

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


this proves the main point at issue, namely, the favorable          evident from the following quotation from "The Descent of

attitude of God to all mankind in general. And finally, he          Man" :

writes that a statement in Canons III, IV, 9 "perhaps comes            "Thus we can understand how it has come to pass that

closest to the point at issue." Hence, we claim that the Rev.       man and all other vertebrate animals have been constructed

Klooster is not at all sure that the First Point finds any sup-     on the same general model, why they pass through the same
pbrt in- the Confessions.                                           early stages of development, and why they retain certain

       And as far as I am con&ned,  as the Rev. Klooster well       rudiments in common.       Consequently we ought frankly to

knows, there is no proof at all in the Confessions for the          admit their community of descent; to take any other view,

doctrine of "common grace." And what is .more,  I maintain          is to admit that our own structure and that of all the animals

that all our Confessions teach the truth of particular grace        around us, is a mere snare laid to entrap our judgment. This

and stand diametrically opposed to any favorable attitude of        conclusion is greatly strengthened if we look to the members

God to the wicked and ungodly.                                      of the whole animal series, and consider the evidence derived

                                                                    from their affinities or classification, their geogrtiphical  dis-
       This I hope to prove in future articles.
                                                                    tribution and geological succession. It is only our natural
                                                           H.H.
                                                                    prejudice, and that arrogance which made our forefathers

                                                                    declare that they were descended from demi-gods, which

                                                                    leads us to demur to this conclusion. But the time will be-
            Evolution, Long Periods, or Days                        fore long come, when'  it will be thought wonderful that

       I meant to write on this subject already fGr  some time,     naturalists, who were well acquainted with the comparative

but several important subjects demanded my attention.               structure and development of man and other mammals, should

                                                                    have believed that each was the work of a separate act of
       Now, however, I will put my thoughts on paper imme-
                                                                    creation." p. 41.
diately.

                                                                       I can quote other passages from the same work of Darwin.
       The occasion for this is that a, certain brother, who is
himself a student at Calvin, approached me in connection               2. That Darwin was an atheist. This stands to reason in
with an article in the S.B. in which I wrote that the theory        view of the fact that he does not believe that God created the
of evolution was taught at Calvin College. He claimed that          universe. He who denies the latter has no God left. Even
this was -not true.                                                 the consciousness that there is a God is, according to Darwin,
                                                                    a matter of gradual development. He denies, of course, revela-
       In our conversation he emphasized that, at Calvin, no
                                                                    tion altogether, whether in nature or in Scripture, and with-
Darwinism was taught. This I readily admitted, but, at the
                                                                    out revelation we cannot possibly have any knowledge of God.
same time I claimed that Darwinism is dead and that no one
                                                                    Let me quote once more from his "The Descent of Man."
believes anymore in the theory of evolution as Darwin taught
                                                                       On pp. 636-37 he writes:
it.
                                                                       "The belief in God often has been advanced as not only
       He admitted, however, that at Calvin long periods of
                                                                    the greatest, but the most complete of all the distinctions be-
millions or even of billions of years of creation were taught
                                                                    tween man and the lower animals. It is, however, impossible,
instead of, as Scripture has it, days of twenty-four hours.
                                                                    as we have seen, that this belief is innate or instinctive in
And this I claimed is the same as the theory of evolution.
                                                                    man. On the other hand, a belief in all-pervading spiritual
       Well, this may explain why I wriie  on the above men-        agencies seems to be universal ; and apparently follows from
tioned subject at the present time.                                 a considerable advance in man's reason and from a still

                             * * *     *'                           greater ,advance  in his' faculties of imagination, curiosity and

                                                                    wonder. I am aware that the assumed distinctive belief in

       Let me, first of all, write a few words about Darwinism,     God has been used by many persons as an argument for Hi's

as this subject was brought up in the. conversation I had           existence. But this is a rash argument, as we should thus be

with the brother I` reterred  to above.                             compelled to believe in the existence of many cruel and

       It is many years ago that I made a study of the theory of    malignant spirits, only a little more powerful than man ; for

evolution as presented by Darwin. I investigated especially         the belief in them is far more general than in a beneficent

two works of his, namely, the book on "The Origin of                Deity. The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does

S p e c i e s "
             in which .he . emphasizes "natural selection" and      not seem to `arise in the mind of man, until he has been

that on "The Descent of Man" in which he literally teaches          elevated by long continued culture."

that man is a descendant of the ape or chimpanzee.                     This is downright atheism. It is a denial of sin, of revela-

       Without entering into detail, I may say:                     tion, of man's consciousness of God.

       1. That Darwin denies creation altogether. The world            And this is the necessary implication of any form bf the

was not created by God at all, whether through long                 evolution theory, and not only of Darwinism.

periods of time or in six days as the Bible teaches. This is                                                                    H.H.

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



  I                                                                   themselves to the satisfaction of their lion-like greed ; but
1!;           OUR DOCTRME --j also this is immediately followed by a gloomy pessimism. The
                                                                      path of phi!osophy  is trodden to the end, only to look into

                                                                      the mocking eyes of the devil of despair and dissatisfaction.
                THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                Art and pleasure and vile lust are worshipped as the saviors,

                                                                      until ,the  dissatisfaction of them is proved and gloomy pessi-
                           P A R T   T W O
                                                                      mism is the result. Thus the purpose of these demons is to

                            CHAPTER  V                                emphasize sin and all its pleasures and all its evil passions
                                                                      so that men follow them to the full, only to be tortured by
                   The Locusts Out of the Abyss                       them in the end by these same demons on the rack of pessi-

                         Revelation 9 :l-12                           mism and despair.

                                                                         TLat this is actually the case is also evident from verse 6.

        The answer to this question we must first of all seek in      The nature of their torment is, of course, purely spiritual ;

the description of the locusts themselves. There is evidently         and it consists in a being- tired of life, in a seeking of death:

a marked contrast between their front and their tails. Their          "And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find

appearance in front makes us think of war and victory, of             it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

power and glory, of intelligence and invention, of charm and          Literally the state of these men, therefore, is one of the most

fascination.     For they look like horses prepared for battle.       gloomy pessimism. Do not say that such a condition is in-

They wear crowns as of gold. They have teeth as the teeth             conceivable, for that would be beside the truth. Do not say

of lions. They wear breastplates as it were breastplates of iron.     that if men really seek death, they can find it in suicide: for

They have faces as the faces of men. And they have hair like          then you do not know the heart of men. The meaning of

the Gair  of women. In a word, these spirits represent all            this text is simply this, that the pessimism of men in those

that attracts the wicked world, all that which the world of           times is so great that they cannot even find the courage and

sin.  considers as the source of bliss and salvation. They are        the incentive `to take their own lives. Not the suicide, that

the spirits that play on the passions of men. Already the             hastens to take his own life when all of life is despair, but

world has sought its happiness in power and dominion, in              he who desires to die and cannot find the courage to commit

war and victory. These spirits emphasize these passions. Al-          suicide is the living illustration `of the most terrible pessimism

ready the wicked world has sought help in vain in philosophy,         in this world. These same spirits that torture them have not

in following the lie, in science and invention, -all without          the power to kill them. They have .power to hurt them, but

God. These spirits simply must emphasize this .passion,  so           nothing more. Time and again such waves of pessimism

that they seek their bliss still more exclusively in these things.    have swept in limited proportions over the world. It swept

Already <the world has sought salvation in the satisfaction of        over the world of Grecian civilization when all the efforts

its lion-like greed. These spirits must emphasize this sinful         of sinful men to find the way to happiness along the road of

passion and cause it to glow still more. Already the sinful           sin and idolatry and vain philosophy and lusts failed ab-

world has thrown itself in the arms of a sinful art, yea, in the      solutely. It swept the Roman world when it had cast itself

charming pleasures of vile sin. These spirits must incite             into the arms of conquest and power, into the arms of luxury

men to do still more, and to give themselves up to all the            and dissipation. Gloomy pessimism was the result. It also

pleasures of sin. Such is their appearance: they appeal to the        has swept the modern world more than once whenever it has

sinful passions of an already wicked world. But this is not           had to confess failure to find the road to happiness. What

their final, and therefore, not their real task. It is not their      else is the spirit that prevails in the spheres of spiritualism

essential charaderistic.  On the contrary, these evil spirits,        and Christian Science and theosophy, yea, even of Buddhism

whether they like it or not, have power to hurt men, such             and heathen religions, than the black smoke that is rising

men as have not the seal of God on their forehead. Their              from the abyss? But all these things are only a limited ful-

tail-end is their real nature. These same spirits that have in-       fillment of what is still to come upon the world. As the time

cited the wicked world to plunge still more deeply in sin and         draws near for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the

vile transgression fill the hearts of men with the darkness of        world once more exhausts itself to work out its own salva-

despair. They are the spirits of pessimism. And after men             tion without Christ and without God, as it exerts itself to

have folldwed their inspiration, they find that their end is          find this way in paths of war and conquest, in ways of philos-

more bitter than death itself. Just as the children of God have       ophy and vain lies, in ways of lusts and vile pleasures, it will

sometimes a foretaste of the pleasures of heavenly glory be-          also become prepared more and more for the influence of

cause they walk in the way of God's covenant and of His               these infernal locusts. And literally also this part of Revela-

precepts, so the children of the world, under the influence of        tion is still to be fulfilled, so that the state of utter despair

these infernal locusts, are given a foretaste of the despair of       will come upon the world of sin, and men will continue to

hell. They follow their sinful ambition for power and victory         follow the paths of sin and transgression and of blasphemy

to its very end. But despair follows in its wake. They give           against the name of Jesus Christ. Then again men will seek

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




death, but will  not be able to find  ,it. Not: as if this state of           The fifth and the sixth trumpet belong together, as is

universal pessimism will be the final state. On the con-                   plainly indicated in the text. As we have already remarked,

trary, the power of the locusts is limited to five months. It              they are separated from the former four trumpets by the

is only a preparation for still greater efforts and for the final          plain indication that they are all "woe trumpets." Already

public worship of the beast that comes out of the abyss. But               -before the fifth trumpet sounded, its coming was announced

surely, it will come ; and the children of the world will then             by the eagle that was flying in mid-heaven and that threatened

have a -foretaste of the torments of hell.                                 a three-fold woe. And in the twelfth verse of this chapter

                                                                           we are reminded of this fact in the words, "One woe is past;
    Blessed is the comfort that is implied in these words.
                                                                           and, behold, there &me  two woes more hereafter." Besides,
For those that have the seal of God on their forehead in those
                                                                           there is also difference in contents between the first four
days, that do not follow the ways of -the  world and sin and
                                                                           trumpets and the last three, which is undeniable. The differ-
lust and the lie, are protected by Christ Himself. From Him
                                                                           ence consists in this, that the first four all relate to the visible
these locusts receive their power and authority. And that
                                                                           universe outside of man though influencing the history of
power is limited to the world of sin only. These sealed ones
                                                                           man and of the nations, while the last three are directly re-
have put on the whole armor of God, and they' are not
                                                                           ferring to the world of man. And at the same time it may
generally under the influence of the powers of the air. Christ
                                                                           be remarked that as "woe trumpets" they are more vehement
and all His holy angels protect them, so that they are not
                                                                           in their element of judgment than the former. As to the sixth
hurt. And though they more and more may have to fear
                                                                           trumpet, it is of importance that we notice, in the first place,
the gloomy despair of the sinful world, it will remain literally
                                                                           what is the condition of the civilized world at this time. There
true that the gates of hell shall never prevail against them.
                                                                           can be little question about the fact that this sixth trumpet

                                                                           will find its realizationinore completely in the period of the
                           The Sixth Trwspet
                                                                           last hour in the narrower sense of the word, that is, in the

                           Revelation 9 :13-21                             period that immediately precedes the time of the last judg-

                                                                           ment and of the final coming of the Lord. And what is the

              13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice         condition of society at this period ? There are two indica-

             from the four horns of the golden altar which is before       tions in the text that inform us about this state. In the
              God,                                                         first place, the close of our text indicates that it is a State  of

                                                                           sin and gross iniquity in which the sixth trumpet finds the
              14. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet,
              Loose the four angels which are bound in the great           world. We read in vss. 20 and 21: "And the rest of men

              river Euphrates.                                             which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of

                                                                           the works oft their hands, that they should not worship devils,
              15. And the four angels were loosed, which were              and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of
             prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a
             year, for to slay the third part of men.                      wood : which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither

                                                                           repented they of their murders, fior  of their sorceries, nor

              16. And the number of the army of the horsemen               of their fornication, nor of their thefts." Of course, that
             were twd  hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the          they did not repent of these sins after the plague had been
             number of them.
                                                                           upon the world and one-third of men had been killed cer-

              17.     And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them    tainly indicates that they did com&t these sins even before

             that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of         the plague came, and that this condition of society and of
             jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses           the world in general  is the cause and the occasion for the
             were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths
                                                                           blowing of the sixth trumpet. Notice about this condition,
             issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
                                                                           in the first place, that it is characteristic of a general viola-
              18. By these three was the third part of men killed,
                                                                           tion of the entire law. Of course, this is not meant in the
             by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
             which issued out of their  mouths.                            sense that we all and always fall in respect to all the com-

                                                                           mandments of God, but in a very special sense of the word.
              19. For their power is in their mouth, and in their          The times of Noah and of Sodom and Gomorrah have re-
             tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had
                                                                           turned at this period once more to the world. And what the
             heads, and with them they do hurt.
                                                                           Lord predicted in regard to the resemblance between these

             20.      And the rest of the men which were not killed by     Old Testament periods and the period preceding His second
             these plagues yet repented not of the works of their          coming .J~OW  has become realized with  this sixth trumpet.
             hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols
                                                                           The picture here given of the world is indeed a very evil
             of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood:

             which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk.                    one. In the first place, we are told that the people are wor-

                                                                           shipping devils; that is, they are acknowledging and placing
             21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of
                                                                           their confidence in and seeking ,help and comfort in the
             their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their
         t h e f t s .                                                     spirits of evil that have fallen away from God originally

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


 -with the prince of darkness. Do not say that this is im-           come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boast-

 possible and inconceivable. For, in the first place, let me re-     ful, haurghty,  railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, un-

 mind you of the fact that the sinful world as such is always        holy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, with-

 serving Satan, and that he is their king and leader. And            out self-control, no lovers of God, no lovers of good, traitors,

 in the second place, remember, as we have stated in the last        headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers

 chapter, the world is actually surrendering itself to those         of God, holding a form of godliness but having denied the

 spiritual hosts of wickedness that are in aerial places, against    power thereof. From these also turn away." II Tim. 3:1-5.

 which the people of God are admonished to put on the whole          To be sure, this is not a very attractive picture. But remem-

 arnior of God. And in the third place, take a look in. the          ber that it is the Word of God that assures us of all ,this. And

 world, and see whether all such things as spiritualism, theos-      I rather adhere to the Word of God, which is always true`

 ophy, and all kinds of occult and abominable movements and          and safe, than to follow the w&dom of men.

 sects are not the literal fulfillment already-of this statement

 that people are worshipping devils. It is their influence that          I find still another indication of the general and grievous

 is felt, to which people freely yield. It is their will that is     wickedness of the world of that period, namely, in the first

 accomplished. It is the. worship of devils that is not so far       part of this passage. We read that a voice is heard from the

 from being literally realized even today. In the second place,      horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the

we are told that idolatry, the worship of silver and gold and        angel that had the sixth trumpet that he should go to the

 brass and wood and stone, also once more is placed on the           river Euphrates, in order to loose the four angels that were

 foreground. It may very well be that the heathen world in           bound in that region.    The altar that is here referred to is

 the future will have such an influence on the so-called Chris-      evidently the same as the one that is mentioned in chap&  8,

 tian world that also this will be literally fulfilled. But'even     verse 3. Also there we read of an altar in connection with

 besides this possibility, is it not true that the service of        the prayers of the saints that were offered together with the

 Mammon,  practical materialism, reliance upon silver and gold,      incense to God Almighty. Also that altar was a golden one,

 the things of the world, Bs well as the worship of man, is es-      and also that altar stood before the throne of God and of the

 sentially the same idolatry in a little different form than is      Lamb. And the idea of atonement, on the basis of which the

 here mentioned ?                                                    prayers of the saints could be offered to God, was pre-

    Small wonder, then, that where the first table of the law is     eminent in that connection. Here we read that a voice pro-

 thus violated, and men follow the worship of devils, also the       ceeds from the horns of the altar. Both the altar of burnt

 second table is entirely trampled under foot. We read of            offering and the altar of incense had horns, four in number.

 this society that murders and sorceries and fornication and         What is the idea of these horns ? In Exodus 30 :lO we read :

 thefts abound. This is not meant as an exception, but as a          "And Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it once

 rather -general condition. Men have become murderers. They          in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement

 kill self and others. They have become sorcerers, which in-         once in the year shall he make atonement for it throughout

 dicates, according to the original, that they employ all kinds      your generations, It is most holy unto Jehovah." And thus

 of poisonous drugs for various purposes.. They indulge in           we find it more than once in Scripture. The horns were the

 fornication, and commit adultery, and satisfy their greed for       most sacred part of the altar. Upon them was sprinkled the

 material things by becoming thieves and robbers on a large          blood of atonement. And therefore, we are safe in saying

 scale. Lawlessness, greed, treachery, adulterous lusts and          that they stood above all for the idea that the blood of atone-

 passions, - all the evil passions of men reign supreme  at this     ment was shed. And now.what  do we notice? We notice that

 period. In a word, there is a general degradation, and the          it is from these same horns, representative of the blood of

world is steeped in iniquity, - an entirely different picture        atonement, that a voice proceeds, calling for a terrible judg-

here than that which is presented by the philosophers of the         ment upon the world. It is the voice of the blood of the Lamb

world of today, and, in fact, of all times. 0 no, the world is       that cries for this judgment. And with a view to the wicked

not growing worse ; it is gradually improving. Such is the           world, it indicates that the time has come when the world

gospel that is preached rather generally today. And the time         has, trampled under foot and despised the blood of the Savior.

will come when mankind along the lines of gradual develop-           It is that blood that now cries for revenge. It has therefore

ment shall have reached the heights of its ambition and the          become plain that the world rejects the Christ and despises

climax of its development. Sin and transgression shall be            the blood of atonement. Whatever form of'godliness they

abolished, and justice and pea&e  and happiness shall reign          may have and have- had in the past, they have always stub-

supreme.    But the Word of God tells us a far different story.      bornly refused to acknowledge that there is salvation only

As already pointed out, the Lord compares the times of the           in the blood of Christ. And now it is this blood that must

end to the times that immediately preceded the flood and the         be revenged and that cries : "Loose the foui angels that are

destruction of the cities of the plain. And if you ask Paul          bound in the great river Euphrates."

what the Spirit told him about these latter days, then he will
                                                                                                                              H.H.
tell you : "But know that in the last days grievous times shall


                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                105



                                                                               not dismiss it from his mind. As is usually the case when

11 A CLOUD ,OF WITNESSES 11 someihing  very important enters a person's life, it will not
                                                                               allow itself to be neglected by the mind. Always it lingers

                                                                               about the back  of the mind, at every possible occasion rushing

     Abraham Accounting God As Faithful                                        forward to captivate one's conscious attention. So was this

                                                                               command with Abraham. We read in Hebrews 11 that Abra-
       "By faith Abraham,  when he was tried, ofered  ,U/J                     ham "accounted."     Here we find a word that means "to
       Isaac: and he that had Feceived  the promises oflered                   reason, to count, to calculate, to think upon, or to ponder."
       up his only begotten son, Of whom  it was said, That                    Abraham thought upon the command of God, and with
       in Isaac slza.11  thy seed be ca,lled:  Accotbnting  that God           his mind he pondered all of the promises which Gdd  had
       was a.ble to .unisc Itim.  ztp           fro'%  
                                           `even           the dead; ~YOVM.    given to him, seeking to arrive at an understanding of that
       whence also he received him  in a figztre."                             which the Lord had told him to do.
                                                      Hebrews 11:17-19
                                                                                  It would seem quite easy even to imagine the pattern of

   Man, by `virtue of his creation, is a thinking being. God                   thought which the mind of Abraham followed. It had all

created him to be a rational creature, and of this capacity he                 begun many years before when God had first brought him

can not help but make use. Man cannot `keep himself from                       into the land of Canaan and promised.to give the land to him

thinking. If you tend to question this, try it. Sit back in your               and to his seed after him unto all generations. From that

easy chair and try once to stop thinking. Try to think of ab-                  day forth he had looked to the day when a son would be

solutely nothing. At best you will find yourself thinking                      born unto him from whom that seed should come. Long had

whether you are succeeding in your attempt not to think ;                      been that wait and with each passing year the promise of

actually to cease from thinking you will not be able to do.                    God had grown more dear to him, and the more he had to

One's thoughts may be vague and wandering, or they may be                      rely purely upon fgith.  At time his faith had wavered, as at

concrete and pointed ; they may be aimless and disconnected,                   the time when Ishmael had been born, but always again it had

or they may be logically united,; they may be futile and vain,                 been restored stronger than before. Finally when that son

or they may be worthwhile and effective ; but in any case man                  was born, Abraham was fully prepared through years of

is thinking as he must.                                                        patient waiting to appreciate his importance. Isaac was a

                                                                               wonder child brought forth by the miraculous power of God.
   Of the pointed and logical thoughts of man, which are
                                                                               He was a miracle of grace and upon him rested all of the
by far the most important, there are again two different kinds
                                                                               promises.    In Isaac Abraham saw the promised seed through
contained in two different kinds of minds. There is, on the
                                                                               whom he would be blessed and be made a blessing unto all
one hand, the mind which reaches out into the world of
                                                                               of the nations of the earth. How he loved `that son and
experience and tries to determine which things may be con-
                                                                               thanked the Lord always for his birth.
sidered true. Approaching the various ideas and notions that

arise in the minds of men, it tries to analyze, evaluate, and                     Now the Word of God came to Abraham, however, and

determine which are worthy of being accepted and called                        commanded him to offer this beloved son as a burnt offering

"truth."    These chosen ideas, selected according to certain                  to the Lord. This command was not without reason. Abra-

earthly standards, are again used as postulates and premises                   ham, of course, was fully aware of the fact that he was him-

from which further thoughts are deducted and affirmed. Such                    self a sinner unworthy of the promise. Furthermore, he re-

activity of the mind we call philosophy or, more specifically,                 alized that the guilt of his sin was infinitely great. Hence it

rationalism. On the other hand, there is the mind which is                     was not surprising that God should tell him that as an atone-

directed by the regenerated heart. It too seeks for truth. It.                 ment for his great guilt  the greatest sacrifice should be

goes not to the world of experience but to the infallible                      offered, even his son Isaac, the promised seed. Only thus,

revelation of God. It receives not that which measures up                      as the greatest price was offered as a covering for his sin,

to some earthly standard, but that which the mouth of the                      could his guilt be removed, and could Abraham be blessed.

Lord hath spoken. With the Word of God it fills itself, and                       Nonetheless, it would seem that this left Abraham with
upon the Word of God it thinks, seeking to arrive at a great&-                 an unanswerable dilemma. The one Word of God would seem
understanding and comprehension of that which the Lord has                     to cancel out the other. Abraham had specifically been told
spoken. Such is the activity of the sanctified mind.                           that he would be blessed in becoming a great nation and the

   Abraham, the father of believers, had much upon which to                    father of many nations. For that reason Abraham had longed

think. God had given hiti a command, "Take now thy son,                        for the birth of his son, and had rejoiced when Isaac was

thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,  and get. thee into                    brought forth. Moreover it was specifically with reference

the land of Moriah ; and offer him there for a burnt offering                  to Isaac that God had said that in him-the covenant would

upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." About                    be realized. Now it was that same Isaac that he was com-

this he could not help but think. It was a command of such                     manded to offer up upon the altar. The life of Isaac had to

immense magnitude and significance for his life that he could                  be offered as a covering for sin. But that would make the

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


former impossible of realization. The one would cancel out           imagine the possibility of there being a contradiction iti the

the other.    We can well imagine the mind of Abraham                Word of God ; he did not look for one ; he did not find one.

struggling with this contradiction. In which should he hope ?        Convinced within his soul that God's Word never contains

Should he look upon Isaac as the son-through whom the                a contradiction, he received the Word as it came to him and

future generations should be brought forth? or should he             searched for the inner harmony that he knew was sure to

forget that former promise arid sacrifice his son as a covering      exist.

for sin? . . . But how vain have not our imaginings become.              With this understanding in mind, we can follow the
God is a G&d  of harmony and not of contradictions. God              reasoning of Abraham much more accurately.            By faith
does not contradict Himself, and neither does He contradict          Abraham received the Word of God as it came to him. He
His revelation before His people. It is not the way of faith to      received first the truth that God through Isaac would raise
grapple with unanswerable dilemmas.                                  up unto him a great nation and a seed that would be a bless-

    There are those who like to find in Scripture many con-          ing to all nations. Then came to him the second word of

tradictions. They call them "paradoxes" or "apparent con-            God, Isaac as the promised seed must be slain upon the altar

tradictions" lest their orthodoxy should be questioned. They         as a sacrifice for sin. The mind of. Abraham being rich in

find in Scripturk the truth of a sovereign God ; but over            faith, he would not conceive of the possibility that this

against it they claim to find that he can save no one with-          second word of God might contradict or cancel out the first.

out his consent. They find the truth of divine predestination        Therefore he reached forth in faith seeking to find wherein

whereby God sovereignly elects some unto salvation and               these two might be harmonized. Convinced that there is

reprobates others unto damnation ; but overagainst it they           always complete harmony in the revelation of God he ,thought,

claim to find that God wants all men to be saved. They find          he calculated, he reasoned, he pondered the Word of God ;

that salvation is all of God from beginning to end ; but over-       and he arrived at a glorious truth. "God is ruler over all

against this they find that at least in the subjective conscious-    things," he reasoned, "even over death and the grave." If

ness of man, it is conditional upon the act of man. They like        God demands that Isaac must die as an atonement for sin,

these contradictions because it leaves to them to determine.         and at the same time promises that he will bring forth from

at any particular time which element they will proclaim and          Isaac a great and mighty nation, it can only mean that after

also which element they will ignore. Such would find little          Isaac is dead God will raise him up again. Though Isaac

difficulty in presenting Abraham as standing before a contra-        must die yet. shall he live. God will give him a victory over

diction.                                                             the grave.    We can only stand and marvel at the wondrous

                                                                     faith of Abraham. Following the way of faith he searched
    The fact of the matter is, of course, that if such a contra-
                                                                     all that he knew about God and arrived at the glorious truth
diction had existed in the mind of Abraham, he would have
                                                                     of the resurrection of the dead.
very little difficulty. The Arminian has no difficulty with
                                                                         We saw in our last article on this subject that God was
his contradiction. He merely stresses the fact that man must
                                                                     preaching the gospel to Abraham. Isaac was to Abraham
make the decision to be saved and ignores the sovereignty of
                                                                     the promised seed and, in Old Testament type and shadow,
God. The teacher of "common grace" has little difficulty with
                                                                     a picture of the seed which was to come, even Jesus! Christ.
his contradiction. It is up `to him to decide, and he finds it
                                                                     As God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, He was
easy to press the teaching that God is pleased with)  all men.
                                                                     thereby teaching him that the promised seed must make
The truth of predestination is more and more ignored. The
                                                                     atonement if the dovenant promise was to be realized. I&  a
conditional theologian has little difficulty with his contradic-
                                                                     figure God pictured to Abraham the fact that Jesus Christ
tion. He would prompt people to a better life by stressing
                                                                     must die upon the cross for the sin of all God's children. Now
the conditions that they must fulfill. The truth that God is
                                                                     to that truth God added another glorious revelation. Guiding
sovereign in salvation finds less and less place in his mind
                                                                     the sanctified mind of this father of all believers, He brought
and, sad to say, in his heart. The fact is that both elements
                                                                     him to see that, if the promised seed must die for sin, he
of a contradiction can not exist together in the mind of man.
                                                                     must also be raised from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus
He may choose to love the one but the other must then be
                                                                     Christ we often consider as being a New Testament truth.
igndred. Hence, if Abraham had seen in the Word of God
                                                                     But already Abraham with a mind of faith reached forth
a contradiction, he too would have had little difficulty. He
                                                                     through the age of shadows and heard the gospel preached,
would have merely grasped the promise that generations
                                                                     "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-
were to come forth from Isaac and ignored the other. Still
                                                                     fruits of them that slept." I Cor. 15 20.
he could have laid claim to belief in the promise of God ; but
                                                                                                                              B.W.
then Isaac would have never been sacrificed.


    Abraham, however, was a child of faith and his mind                   Rejoicing in God, my thought shall be sweet,

followed the way of faith. He did not look for contradictions             While sinners depart in ruin complete ;

in the Word of God so that he might choose between. the                   My soul, bless Jehovah, His Name be adored,

contrary elements and follow the one he wanted. He did not                Come, praise Him, ye people, and worship the Lord.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE,R                                                        107


                                                                        prevent him from claiming so lofty a position for himself.

              IN HIS F E A R                                            In fact Paul writes of him in II Thessalonians 2 :4 that he
                                                                        "opposeth and exalteth himself above `all that is called God,

                                                                        or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth.  in the

                     "Many Antichrists"                                 temple of, God, shewing  himself that he is God." You will

                                                                        find him in the false church where the truth as it is in Jesus

    "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits . . ."      Christ is not purely preached; where that truth in Christ

    "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is              in the sacrament is corrupted by an improper administration ;

come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of             and where that truth in the walk and life of those regenerated

antichrist . . ."                                                       by the Spirit of Christ is cast aside as an unwanted thing.

                                                                        And John in his vision of the antichrist as the beast out of
    "And even now already is it in the world . . ."
                                                                        the earth likewise shows that this antichrist has his origin in
    " . . . Even now are there many antichrists; whereby we             the false  church. For although he has a form of religion, all

know that it is the last time."                                         his efforts reach out to cause man to worship the image of the

    These statements concerning the antichrist were written             beast that came UP out of the sea.

by the apostle John in his first epistle.' The word of God                  But all this we will not fully understand unless we take

speaks of one final, dreadful form of the antichrist which shall        into account the fact that his name, antichrist, does not ex-

be upon this earth at the very end of this new dispensation.            press that he is a false Christ  but instead that he is against

Paul gives a word of warning concerning him in his second               Christ. The "anti" in his name means exactly that: against.
epistle to the Thessalonians and calls him the son of perdition,        And then not against as the child presses tightly against his

the man of sin. The same John who wrote the passages quoted             parent when frightened or fearful of some danger, but against

above presents a twofold picture of this antichrist in the              in the sense of coming up against with  the express purpose of

thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation. when he records           overthrowing in order to supplant. Such is the antichrist's

his vision wherein he saw this antichrist in the form of a              nature; and so does he always behave. Such is the spirit of

beast coming up out of the sea and as a beast that comes                the antichrist; it always seeks to dethrone Christ and to
forth out of the earth.                                                 overthrow the things of His kingdom.

    But the spirit of the antichrist was in the world from                  In that light it is easy 20 see how John can say that there

the days of man's fall in Paradise. As John says, ". . : even           are now already many antichrists in the world. All that

now already is it in the world," I John 4 :3c. And hereby               which opposes' Christ ; all that which militates against the

may we know that spirit of the antichrist : "Every Spirit that          truth as it is in Christ is antichristian. In that light there

confesseth not that Jesus Christ -is come in the flesh is not of.       is so much in the world today that is called Christian which

God : and this is that spirit of antichrist . . .," I John 4 :3a, b.    actually is antichristian.    In our land where we are promised

And even as the fear of the Lord is faith in Him and in                 freedom of religion men freely propagate and embrace all

His Christ, so is all that which does not confess Christ trust          kinds of theories and philosophies which are direct denials of

and confidence in, the antichrist. All that which is not in             the truth as it is in Christ; and the Christ of the Scriptures

His fear is antichristian. It is not simply unbelief - which it         they deny. Yet they claim as much right to the name Chris-

surely is in that it does not believe in God and in His Christ.         tian, as does the true believer. They call the object of their

It is antichristian. Jesus says, "He that is not with me is             faith, "Christ," as well as we do. And therefore they claim
against me," Matthew 12 :30a.  It is either . . . or. Either            the right to the same name which has so much meaning for

we walk in His fear or we walk in the way and in the spirit              us. Yea, they may in. the very literal sense of the word do as

of the antichrist. There are but two classes of people in this           John says of those who follow .in the way of the antichrist

world. Either one is of Christ's followers, or one is of the             and still insist that they be called Christians. This, of course,

antichrist's disciples.                                                  is also to be expected. For as we saw, the spirit of anti-

    Jesus said also in Matthew 24:5, "For  many shall come               christ is a spirit that seeks to overthrow the Christ and take

in my name saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."                 His p!ace  in the spiritual lives of men.

False christs  they are. Imposters, deceivers they are ; and we             And the sad thing in the religious world of today is that
are, therefore, to try the spirits. And we may be sure of                men will so readily give a place to this antichristian spirit. So
this one thing: if we do not try the spirits we are walking,             sad is the picture in the church world today that the more
not in His fear but in the ways of the antichrist.                       insistent you are in your determination to defend the truth

    There are two things that may be said of the antichrist              as it is in Christ, the more you will be opposed as one who

which characterize all his activity. He is, first of all, a false        has no right to the name of Christian. Just this morning we

Christ. He is not the Christ, but he will claim to be such.              heard such wickedness aired over the radio from the "Pillar

He has never been anointed by God to be our chief Prophet,               of Fire" station of the West (Rocky Mountain region) when

our only High Priest and our eternal King. This will not                 those who believe in the Christ Who declares, "Except a

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


man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven,"              that they also may be one in us : that the world may believe

were called "Hardfisted Calvinists." Rather than to credit           that Thou hast sent me," John 17:20, 21. Paul admonishes

those who believe in sovereign and eternal election with             us to be "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the

following Christ in His teachings, this mere man, who plainly        bond of peace," Ephesians 4:3. But all this craze for ecu-

hated the election which Christ taught, would label us as            menicity and bigness which advocates unity accomplished by

disciples and followers of Calvin with the direct insinuation        failure to confess Christ is antichristian. And note that John

that Calvin also was preaching the antichrist rather than the        says, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ

Christ when he taught the sovereign election which Christ            is come in the flesh is not of God : and this is that spirit of'

also taught when He said, "But ye believed not, because ye           antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and

are not of my sheep," John 10:26. And again, "All that the           now already is it in the world," I John 4 :3. It is not always

Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh  to          what one confesses that brands him as antichristian. It is

me will I in no wise cast out," John 6:37.                           also in what one fails to confess. And those who join, unite

    This lover of the lie would rather believe, according to         and amalgamate with other religious bodies wherein they
his words that "a man must make himself a candidate for              must keep silence and not confess the Christ, Who came in
salvation so that God could choose him." After all, he argued,       our flesh to save those whose names are written in the Lamb's
on election day men vote only for the candidates. So did             book of life, are not walking according to Jesus' prayer
he, on this day when across our land candidates for governor,        "that they may all be one," nor are they heeding Paul's ad-
senator and representative wait to see whether they have             monition that we endeavour "to keep the unity of the Spirit
been chosen to serve, insult the Living God and oppose the           in the bond of peace." Instead they are serving the cause of
Christ Who taught that before God regenerates a man he               the antichrist! John teaches us clearly in this verse above
cannot see the kingdom, and surely, therefore, cannot put            that not to confess Christ is also opposing Him! Let God's
his name up as a candidate for citizenship in that kingdom.          people try the spirits ; and then finding a spirit in a sect,
Jesus knew nothing of a God Who must wait for man to sub-            denomination or religious society that does not confess the
mit his name before God can and may even consider him                Christ of the Scriptures in any way and to any degree what-
for salvation. He spoke of a God and Father Who gave                 soever let him know that the spirit of antichrist is there.
                                                                     Dare he then join with and support the antichrist? Look
certain individuals to Him to save ; and so definite is the
                                                                     about you and you will see many, many antichrists. Don not
number and the identity of these individuals that Jesus can
                                                                     join them and help them foster the Antichrist's appearance.
say that they all shall come to Him.
                                                                     Do not oppose the cause, of Christ. Instead stand always op;
    Let us keep constantly in mind the fact that all heresies
                                                                     posed to the antichrists and their evil. That is a walk in His
are. antichristian. Every defense of false doctrine is anti-
                                                                     fear. And he who fears God cannot further the cause of the
Christian. Every failure to confess Christ is the spirit of anti-                                     m
                                                                     antichrist.                                                J.A.H.
christ. As John also writes while speaking of the antichrists

that are already in the world, "They went out from us, but

they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would

no doubt have continued with us : but they went out, that                                HUMAN CORRUPT.ION
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us,"
I John 2 :19: How full, in that light, the world ;s with anti-                      The God Who sits enthroned on high
christs ! How many of them are there not then in the day                            The foolish in their heart deny ;

in which we live ?                                                                  Not one does good ; corrupt in thought,
                                                                                    Unrighteous works their hands have wrought.
   Indeed we must try the spirits whether they be of God.

That belongs to a life in His fear. All cannot be right. He                         From heaven the Lord with searching eye

who ridicules the doctrine of election and cannot believe'in                        Looked down the sons of men to try,

a God who sends Jesus Christ in the flesh to save only those                        To see if any understood

who were chosen from before the foundation of the world,                            ,And  sought for God, the only good.

and he who does believe in such a God and'in such a Christ
surely must constantly be opposing each other. They are not                         Thy lowly servant they despise,
in agreement upon a very fundamental matter. And both                               Because he on the Lord relies ;
cannot be right. One is the spirit of antichrist; the other is                      But they shall tremble yet in fear,
wrought by the Spirit of Christ. One must try the spirits                           For to the righteous God is near.

lest the spirit of antichrist deceive him.                                          0 that from Zion His abode

   And so we come to the point which we set out to make                             Salvation were on us bestowed!

at this time. Jesus said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but                      When God His exiles shall restore,

for them which shall believe on me through their word ; That                        They shall in song His grace adore.

they all may be one ; as Thou Father art in me, and I in Thee,                                                     Psalm 14:1,  2, 5, G


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                109


                                                                      rist, extreme unction and matrimony, while Robert Pullus  also

            .Contending For The Fa'ith -11 names five, but he substitutes confession (biecht) and priest-
                                                                      ordination for the last two. It was Lombardus, Sent: IV

                                                                      dist : 2, who first spoke of seven sacraments, but also after

             The Church and the Sacraments                            him we find that theologians and synods continued to speak

                                                                      of sacraments in a broader sense. And this continues until

    VIEWS  DURING  THE  TRTRD  PERIOD  (750-1517 3.D.)                the sentiments of Lombardus became a general manual for
                                                                      the study of theology and the council at Florence in 1439

                 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.                                established the number of seven sacraments. This limiting of

                                                                      the number of sacraments also affected the definition of the

     We concluded our preceding article with a quotation of           concept. The Church Fathers regarded many holy trans-

 Hodge on the etymology and the classical and patristic usage         actions very highly, especially baptism and the Lord's Supper.

  (usage by the fathers) of the word "sacrament." Of interest         But a doctrine of the sacraments is lacking ; the relation of

 in connection with this subject is the following quotation           the visible and spiritual elements is not clearly defined, and

 from the late Dr. H. Bavinck from his Dogmatics, IV, 217-            the manner of operation not clearly set forth. Augustine

 218 (translation by the undersigned) : "The widely propa-            distinguishes two essential parts. At times he lays em-

 gated Greek mystery-essence exercised influence upon the             phasis upon the word and for the operation of the sacrament

 Christian religion. The word mustmion in the New Testa-              upon the faith of the recipient to such an extent that the
 ment is the word for words and acts of God which were                sign becomes merely a figure of that which is obsignated.

 formerly hidden but now have become manifest. But this               But on the other hand, he gave such a broad definition of the

 word received in the Christian Church an entirely different          concept, sacrament, that all kinds of church transactions could

 meaning and became the expression of whatever was mys-               be included under the same." Lend  of quote.

 terious and incomprehensible. In the Latin this word was                The doctrine of the sacraments (Scripture does not use

 translated by sacraments, which had the meaning of an oath,          the word "sacrament" and does not contain, in the abstract,

 especially which a soldier swore to a standard, or the sum           a doctrine over the sacraments) is really a product of the

 of money. which had to be set aside in the process of a case         scholasticism of the Middle Ages.    As a systematic develop-

 and would be forfeited to the gods in case of defeat, but which      ment of doctrine it owes this! development to the thinkers

 now had the meaning of a mysterious, holy treatment of a             of the Middle Ages, in the peiiod  from 500 A. D. until the

 case. In this sense everything could be called a sacrament           Reformation. It was Scholasticism which gave to this doc-

 that. was connected with God and His revelation in any               trine its detailed content. Concerning this development the

 sense of the word, the revelation itself and its content, the        late Dr. H. Bavinck writes in' his Dogmatics, IV, 218-220,

 doctrine, the trinity, the incarnation, etc., as also various        as follows (the translation again by the undersigned) : "It

- signs, as the sign of the cross, of the salt which~,was given to    (Scholasticism - H.V.) first conducted an exact and often-

 catechumens, and finally all holy transactions, marriage,            times hairsplitting (splinterig) examination, with respect to

 exorcism, priest-dedication, celebration of the sabbath, cir-        the. concept, the institution, the administrator, the necessity,

 cumcision, and other ceremonies ; cf. . . . Although baptism         the purpose or suitableness, the old and new testament, the

 and the Lord's Supper appear among these holy exercises.             mutual distinction of the seven sacraments, the physical or

 with the name of sacrament, yet the vagueness of this name           moral operation, the divers grace, which they impart, the

 was the cause that the number of the sacraments remained             demands or requirements for the distribution and reception

 undetermined for a long time. Also Augustine used the ex-            of the sacraments, Hugo Vict., etc.        The result of this

 pression in the broader sense and proceeds in his definition         scholastic development was that, already in part upon earlier

 from that significance of the term. It was Pseudodionysius           councils, but especially at the Council of Trent the following

 who, in the sixth century, was the first to speak of six sacra-      was established in connection with the doctrine of the sacra-

 ments :    baptism,    confirmation, eucharist, priest-ordination    ments in general. First, all the sacraments of the New

 (holy orders - H.V.), consecration of monks and customs              Covenant have been instituted by Christ and are seven in
                                                                                                                -~
 at a funeral. But scholasticism joined Augustine in its              number : baptism, confirmation, penance, eucharist, extreme

 determination of the concept sacrament and regarded it as            unction, holy orders (priesterwijding) and marriage. Sec-

 referring to    various holy matters and actions. Hugo of            ondly, they are all true and proper sacraments, essentially to

 St. Victor, de Sacr.  I 9, 7 mentions not less than 30               be distinguished from those of the Old Covenant, but yet

 sacraments and divides them into three classes : such as are         differing in significance. Thirdly, they are necessary unto

 necessary unto salvation (baptism, confirmation, eucharist,          salvation, although it cannot be said that all are necessary for

 etc.), such which impart a higher grace (use of holy water,          every man, so that without them or at least without the desire

 etc.), and such which serve unto the preparation for the             for them, as though through faith alone, the grace of justifica-

 other sacraments (consecration of holy tools or instruments).        tion is not obtainable (here the Council of Trent declares

 Abelard  counts 5 sacraments : baptism, confirmation, eucha-         that one cannot obtain the grace of justification through faith

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



 alone - H.V.) .       Fourthly, they do not merely symbolize         consent of the Catholic Church hath held and expressed ; to

 grace, but they also contain grace and impart the same               wit, that we are therefore said to be jztstiified  by fa:ith, be-

 through their external operation. Fifthly, as far as the ad-         cause faith is the beginning of human salvation, the founda-

 ministrator (bedienaar) is concerned, the truthfulness of the        tion, and the root of all Justification ; withut  which it is ivuL-

 sacrament demands at the least that he have the intention to         possible to please God, and to come unto the fellowship of

do what the church does, but that it is for the rest wholly           his sons : but we. are therefore said to be justified freely,

 irrelevant whether he walks in deadly or mortal sin. Sixthly,        because that none of those things which precede justification

 lawful or legitimate distributors of the sacraments are only         - whether faith or works-merit the grace itself of justifi-

 the ordained priests, but confirmation and th.e holy orders          cation. For, if':it be a. grace;  it is rzot n.ow  by wo.rks,  other-

 (priesterwijding - H.V.) take place only through the                 wise, as the same Apostle says, gmce is no pzzore  grace." And

 bishop, and baptism may be administered in the time of need          this is also plain from what the Council of Trent decided in

 also by the laity. Seventhly, as far as the recipients are con-      Chapter XVI of this same Sixth Session which we now

 cerned, of them it is only necessary that he have the intention      quote : "Before men, therefore, who have been justified. in

 to receive what the church gives and that he lay no obstruc-         t5.s manner, -whether they have preserved uninterruptedly

 tion in the way of grace. Eighthly, every sacrament imparts          th? grace received, or whether they have recovered it when

 a special grace, `and baptism, confirmation and ordination im-       lost, - are to be set the ,words  of the Apostle: Abound in

 part an indelible character." - end of quote.                        every good work, krzoz&zg  tha.t yoztr  labor is vzot in vain in

        This development of the doctrine of the seven sacraments      the Lord: for God is not unjust, that he shoztld  forget yozcr

 is certainly a clear indication of how far men had drifted           work, a?itd  the love which you he shown irz h,is  navne; and,

 from the teachings of Holy Writ. The Lord willing, we will           do-not lose your confidence, whic~z hth  a great reward. And,

 call attention to each of these sacraments more in detail in         for this cause, life eternal is to be proposed to those working

 subsequ:nt  articles. But we can already at this time point to       well unto  the end, and hoping in God, both as a grace merci-

 fundamental deviations from the teachings of Holy Writ               fully promised to the sons of God through Jesus Christ, and

 which characterize this doctrinal development by the schol-          as a reward which is according to the promise of God himself,

 astics.    In the first place, Rome views the grace which is         to be faithfully rendered to their good works and merits.

 imparted through the sacraments merely as a sanctifying              For this is that crown of justice which the Apostle declared

 grace, as a power which is infused into man, and lifts him           was, after his figkt  and co~zl.rse,  hid up for h&z, tb be rendered

 up to a higher, supernatural level, making him a partaker of         to him by the just Judge, a.nd not only to l&z,  btt also to

 the Divine nature. And this grace is inseparably connected           a.11 that love!  1zis cotuzing.  For, whereas Jesus Christ himself

 with the outward elements and external operation of the              continually infuses his virtue into the said justified, -as the

 sacraments.       The grace of God is almost entirely divorced       head into the members, and the vine into the branches, -

 and separtited  from the guilt and the forgiveness of sin, and       and this virtue always precedes and accompanies and follows

 consists solely of a sanctifying nature. We do well to re-           their good works, which without it could not in any wise be

 member, in this connection, Rome's conception of justifica-          pleasing and meritorious before God, -we must believe that

 tion by works. By the power of an infused righteousness. we          nothing further is wanting to the justified, to prevent their

 are able to perform good works. And these good works are             being accounted to have, by those very works which have

 meritorious, and are worthy of eternal life. That this is            been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to

 the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is evident from            the state of this life, and to have truly merited eternal life, to

 what that church decided at its Council of Trent. Quoting            be obtained also in its (due) time, if so be, however, that

 from The Canons and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of               they.depart  in grace: seeing that Christ, our Saviour, saith:

 Trent, 1563, and from the Sixth Session of that gathering,           If ;an,y one shall drilzk of the water that I will give /zhvz,  he

 we read in Chapter VII: "This disposition or preparation,            shall not Uzirst forever; but it shall become  in h&z  a fomtai~z

 is followed by Justification itself, which is not remission of       of zvatel'  @Pinging zrfi unto life everlasting." We will pause

 sins merely, but also the sanctification and renewal of the          here in this quotation from the sixteenth chapter of the Coun-

 inward man, through the voluntary reception of the grace,            cil of Trent and continue with it in our following article.

 and of the gifts, whereby man of unjust becomes just, and                                                                           H.V.

 of an enemy a friend, that so he may be art heir according to

 hope of Zife  everlusting."    Hence, justification is not merely

 the forgiveness of sins, but it also consists- in sanctification

 and renewal of the inward man. This is further evident from                    Jehovah is my light,

 Chapter VIII, which has for its topic: "In what manner it is                      And my salvation near;

 to be understood, that the impious is justified by faith, and                  Who shall my soul afright,

 gratuitously,"     and which we now quote: "And whereas the                       Or cause my heart to fear?

 Apostle saith, that man is justified by fa.ith  and jr&y, those                While God my strength, my life sustains,

words are to be understood in that sense which the perpetual                    Secure from fear my soul remains.

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


                                                                     makes God the author of sin. Reformed believers fling this

        The Voice of Our Fathers                                     consequence far from them and refuse to accept it. This is
                                                                II the plain teaching of this article, and is in harmony with all
                                                                     that the. Canovw  teach elsewhere on this same subject. God
               The Canons of Dordrecht                               is righteous in all His doings, and to charge Him with

                                                                     unrighteousness is nothing short of blasphemy. Unrighteous-
                           PART  TWO
                                                                     ness in God is inconceivable. The Almighty is not even in

                 RSPOSITION  OF THIC CANONS                          need of defense on this score. He cannot be defended. He

                                                                     is God! Righteousness is His very Being.
                 FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE                                                                               .
                                                                        In the second place, this righteozts  permission implies
           OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS                         that God does not violate the nature of His own creature

                    Article 4 (continued)                            in sovereignly permitting him to fall, but deals with that

                                                                     creature entirely in harmony with the nature which He
   That God deals yiglzteoztsly even then, when `the actuat-
                                                                     Himself has given it. The saints are rational-moral creatures,
ing and influencing operation of His grace is such that it
                                                                     formed by .the Almighty. with a mind and a will of their
"permits" the saints to deviate from the guidance of grace
                                                                     own. As such .He  always deals with them, also in the work
and to be seduced into sin, so that they comply with the lusts
                                                                     of His grace. To deal otherwise with them would be un-
of the flesh and actually fall, implies, in the first place, that
                                                                     righteous. It would be a violation of God's own ordinance.
the falls of the saints are not to be ascribed to the Lord God.
                                                                     Hence, the operation of God's grace is not upon the creature
On the contrary, the sins of the saints spring forth from their
                                                                     or in behalf of the creature merely, but it is an operation
own sinful flesh and from their own carnal lusts and from
                                                                     in and <through  the very nature of- the rational-moral crea-
the attacks of Satan and of the world. God is not the author
                                                                     ture, and always in harmony with that nature. Now the
of their sins, but they themselves are.       When the, saints
                                                                     saint whom God preserves by the power of His grace is
walk in the path of sanctification and holiness, that is to be
                                                                     such a rational-moral creature.    That God preserves the
ascribed to God and His grace; but when they follow in tthe
                                                                     saint means that He leads that saint inevitably to everlasting
paths of sin, that is their own fault, and it is ta be ascribed
                                                                     glory, and that nqthing can ever prevent this. But how does
only to their own sinful nature. This the Ca.nons  empha-            God lead that saint? He does not treat him like a puppet,
size here when they state that the saints "draw  back, by
                                                                     attach `a string to him, and take him to glory zuithout  his
their own fa,ult,  from the guidance of grace." If this were         own mind and will. Nor does he treat him like a wild
not the case, it could not possibly be maintained that God
                                                                     animal, lasso him, and lead him to glory agaivzst his own
deals righteously. And this fact should be clearly under-
                                                                     mind and will. The Lord treats him like a thinking and
stood. To present the Reformed doctrine of perseverance
                                                                     willing creature, operates in and through his mind and will,
as teaching that the sins and falls of the saints are the fault
                                                                     and leads him inevitably to glory, but ,in hamsony with the
of God's grace is to present a caricature of the Reformed
                                                                     mind and will which He changes by the power of His grace.
faith. It is certainly of the very .essence  of the Reformed

doctrine that it surely denies that God is in any sense the             But there is more to this aspect of the truth. That saint
author of sin. The Reformed faith maintains this a prio~i.           remains on this earth always imperfect. According to the

That is, whether the relationship between God's sovereign            new man, he has a renewed mind and will. Accoiding  to the

counsel and the sin of man, between His sovereign, ir-               old man, the operations of sin are still busy in that same

resistible grace and the sin of the elect, between His sure          saint. And also in this regard God's dealings with- that saint
preservation and the sin of those who are preserved, -               are always righteous. In other words, God does not only
whether that relationship can be understood and explained            deal with the saint in harmony with his .rational  and moral

satisfactorily and in all its details, or whether this must re-      nature, but He also deals with that saint in harmony with

main a mystery ultimately, makes absolutely no difference.           the fact that in his rational-moral nature there are both the
The Reformed faith maintains that it is blasphemy to charge          principle of regeneration and the operations of sin.

God with sin. Mark you well, Reformed doctrine does not by              Various consequences follow from this fact. Some of

this detract one iota from the truth that also the sins and          these are m:ntioned  and treated in the articles that follow,

falls of the saints are under the sovereign control of the           and we will enlarge on them at the proper time. But in the
Almighty, whether a "permissive" or a "directive" control.           main, the truth is that within the framework of the opera-

Reformed doctrine maintains both these truths. That it               tions of His grace whereby God leads His saints along the

does so is entirely apai-t  from the question whether it also        "ups and downs" of the path of sanctification inerrantly to

explains at all the relationship between them. I now em-             glory, He always deals with them in perfect harmony with

phasize that it simply maintains bo!h  truths, and that it is        His own righteousness. The manner of His dealing with

an utterly false charge to force upon the Reformed faith the         them is according to righteousneis.  The purpose of His deal-

supposed consequence of its doctrine of sovereignty that it          ings is according to righteousness. And He also vindicates

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


His own righteousness in the consciousness of the saints           sin's power in order to deliver them from a persistent sin

with whom He deals, causing them to experience and to              of character. One terrible experience may serve  sometimes to

acknowledge and to manifest that'He  is a righteous God.           teach the saint a lesson of grace that he never forgets and

                                                                   to deliver him from a certain sin for the rest of his life by
       Thus we may say, in the first place, that His purpose in
                                                                   showing him the danger of that sin and the horror of it and
"permitting" the saints to fall is always to reveal and to
                                                                   by teaching him to be constantly watching and praying
magnify ultimate&the righteousness that is of God through
                                                                   against it. Was it not thus with the deep fall of Peter in
Christ, the righteousness that is not in any sense of man,
                                                                   his denial of the Lord ? And did not King David learn the
the righteousness which is by faith. This is fundamental.
                                                                   lesson of grace in the same hard school of experience, ac-
Certainly, in the consideration of this subject we must not
                                                                   cording` to Psalm 51?
limit our thoughts merely to the one little detail of the work

of God whereby He "permits" the saint to fall. The work of            In the third place, God always causes His people to ex-

God is one whole. And every detail of- that work must be           perience and to acknowledge His perfect  righteousness at

viewed. in the light of the whole work. Now then, the sov-         these times when they fall so deeply. They certainly ex-

ereign Lord God so works and so uses the sins and `falls           perience, as Article 5 has it, that by such enormous sins

of the saints that they must serve the revelation and magnifi-     they very highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, and grieve

cation of the righteousness that is of God in Christ, in the       the Holy Spirit.    God vindicates His own righteousness in

meantime always working thus, that the sin of His saints is        the consciousness of the saints when they sin and fall deeply.

never His sin, but always theirs. Is not this purest right-        They offend God, and they know that &they  offend God, and

eousness then 7                                                    they experience the consequences of that off&se, and, until

                                                                   by grace they find that offense covered by the perfect right-
       In the second place, the manner of God's dealings is ac-    eousness of Christ, they continue to experience that they
cording to righteousness. Does God simply lignore  the             have incurred a deadly guilt. In close connection with this,
operations of sin in the saint? When sin's activity in the         it also follows that the'saints themselves cannot get rid of
saint becomes very strong, so that the saint wants to follow       that "faulVf  of their sins on God. They never blame God for
the inclinations of his old nature and comply with the lust        ,their  own sin. That is spiritually impossible for them. They
of the flesh, and when he persists in this and does not            know that the guilt and blame of their sin is their own. And
want to find his strength in divine grace, does the Lord           therefore also, the saints can never take'the  attitude : Let us
simply act as though nothing bad is taking place ? Not at          sin that good may come out of it. On the contrary, they pray :
all; He deals righteously, apd  He lets the saint go tem-          "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," -
porarily into his own sin. When the saint, having the              a prayer which does not mean to ask that the saints shall
principle of the new life in him by grace, yet according to        not be surrounded by temptations, but to ask that they shall
his flesh does not want to walk according to grace, does not       not be led `to experience all the horrible consequences of su'c-
want to depend. on it, does not want to watch and pray,            cumbing  to temptation and of being ove&ome by it. Hence,
or perhaps does not want to find  all his righteousness            humbly conscious of their own weaknesses, constantly seek-
by faith in the blood of Christ only, does the Lord                ing their strength in the Lord, being constant in watching
simply go on causing that sinneT  to eirperience  all the          and prayer, they are strong in the Lord and safe from these
blessings of salvation, to have all the joy of salvation by        deep falls.
grace only, to have all the assurance of preservation to the          But in the meantime, in their deepest falls the people of
end ? By no means ; if God did that, He would indeed               God may ultimately rest in the assurance that God's grace is
impugn the righteousness and spotless holiness of His own          stronger than all their sin, that even their sins and falls must
grace. On the contrary, sometimes God lets His saints go in        be subservient to the purpose of His grace, and that the Lord
order tp teach them to know their own weaknesses when they.        alone can and does preserve them even through their deepest
feel strong in themselves. In that respect God deals with          falls even unto the end.                                H.C.H.
the saints,-always, remember, within the framework of His

grace, - according to their sins. When they feel strong in

themselves and therefore neglect watching and prayer, they

must be dealt with in harmony with their sin in order that

they may learn their weakness in self. Sometimes God lets                              SPECIALS  MEETING
His saints go in order to bring them to a deeper knowledge of

their sin, to a deeper awareness of their own utter worthless-           Reformed Free Publishing Association
ness and helplessness, to a more conscious need of the perfect

righteousness of Christ's atoning blood, and to a more heart-         THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 4, 8 o'clock

felt confession of sin and repentance. Sometimes the Lord lets                    FIRST CHURCH, GRAND RAPIDS
His saints go and sovereignly lets them fall into very deep

sin and into a most terrible and distressing experience .of                            Speaker: REV. G. VOS


                                               T H E   ST.ANDARD  .BEARER                                                            113


 I/                                                                      say : "In some cases it may be possible to act according to
              DECEN ?Y. ,and ORDER                                  II the principle of the novices (recensiores)  but to carry this
                                                                         principle through cannot be maintained if a broader gather-

                                                                         ing has not the right of excommunication." He then con-

                            The Report,                                  cludes by saying: "We see this, that such doubtful cases . . .

                                                                         the limitation and application of a presbyterial Synodical
       of the ComGttee of the Synod of 1924 on the Q,uestion             Church right may not hinder (cor&tutionewL  politiae non
              "Ca.n d Classis  Depose A Corzsistory?"                    daberc  impediye).    When Voetius speaks of an action by

                                                                         which the curse is pronounced with warning, etc. 
                             (Concluded)                                                                                         (opzeg-
                                                                         givzg),  this certainly means more than an admission (ajleg-
       d) In the first volume of crPolit~icra  Ecclesiastim," Voetius    ging) of the interpretation that a consistory eo facto has
 answers thirty-four particular questions that relate to the             broken the denominational bond and thus has ipso facto

 matter of ecclesiastical power. Question 22 is.: "As part of            placed itself outside of the denomination.

 the ecclesiastical power,     does it belong to the Synodical
                                                                            Very significant in this connection is the answer that
 gathering of the churches to exercise the right of excom-
                                                                         Voetius gives to Question 23. "Is this ruling power so ad-
 munication in the event- of misgovernment or incurable evil ?"
                                                                         hered to the consistory that in the event necessitated by her
 (atqzte ab &a exwceri).  The familiar answer is :' "I do not            laxity in ruling, it cannot be taken from her and given to
 .see why this cannot be done in cases and events such as
                                                                         another for thi welfare and upbuilding of the congrega-
 mentioned above."
                                                                         tion ?" In four conclusions which we report here in brief, he

       Now there were in the days of Voetius, Reformers who              gives this answer:

 were not free from independent tendencies. He calls them
                                                                            (1) This power does not have an indelible character  (cluw-
 recensiol*cs  (novices ?). And note then in the afore-men-
                                                                         acter indcleb&.s).  This is evident from periodic retirement
 tioned question 22: "By some novices the right of excom-
                                                                         (of office bearers j and the  difficulty of suspending and de-
 munication is questioned but others, by distinguishing and
                                                                         posing them from the office.
 reconciling the conflicts, viewed this in this way, that not

 the excommunication itself but the diiective  and preparation               (2) This ruling power is imparted to the ministers and

 of the `decision (to excommunicate) belongs with the Synod              elders by the congregation and, therefore, can, in case of

 in the event of misgovernment, while the excommunication                necessity and for righteous causes, be taken away by her;

 itself or, if you prefer, the execution of it must be left to the       at least the exercising and use of it for a tinie may be ob-

 local church.                                                           structed. (Final deposition from office must proceed along the

                                                                         lines of Article 79 of the Church Order and carried out with
       With the novices Voetius does not agree. The manner
                                                                         the. help of the broader gatherings.) Whenever the broader
 in which he speaks of "the others" indicates clearly what his
                                                                         gatherings either cannot or will not help a church in this, the
 position is. In the event that a congregation is not yet as
                                                                         church does it by herself in case it is necessary. If also this
 corrupt as the consistory so that there remains a healthy
                                                                         cannot happen because of lawful obstacles, she separates
 and better element, Voetius says, "that the formal excom-
                                                                         herself from the consistory, as in the time of the first Ref-
 munication can be performed with and in the presence of
                                                                         ormation and especially during the repeated disputes with
 this better element since the Synodical power (potestas
                                                                         the Remonstrants. -
 synodi)  has previously given the directive (guidance) and

 with  her representatives supplied the deficiency of the local              (3) This ruling power can be temporally or finally denied
 church (defectum  supplebit).                                           the usual office bearers and placed on the elders of the

                                                                         neighboring church or churches of the same denomination
       The- matter, however, is somewhat different in the event
                                                                         until order is restored and the consistory reinstated. Voetius
 the co&story  is hopelessly corrupt. In this case it naturally
                                                                         does not see that there is a single reason why some new
 cannot proceed according to Article 79 of the Church Order
                                                                         defenders (proqqtackoi)  of the Independency of the ChGches
 and along the lines of the novices (recev&ores).  Voetius says,
                                                                         assert that to np minister is given power to rule in a single
 "Yet these distinctions (guiding, preparing, executing) do
                                                                         instance in another church. (With calling on Art. 84 D.K.O.)
 not raise difficulties in the aforementioned cases. Those who

with us acknowledge the Synodical power must also reckon                     (4) A church th t
                                                                                                a is destitute of neighboring ministers
 to the Synod the power of excommunication (Synodico cor-                and of all help and assistance of the Synodical bond, does all
 pori  tribf,i.endu.+vz);  if not formally, then yet in the place of     it can to use not `only the usual  and in every case competent
 coming action through which the curse is announced with                 power of freedom but also the power of authority. They do
 the warning of peace, the brotherhood and the special Syn-              not unlawfully take to themselves all power that belongs to
 odical correspondence, whether publicly or secretly or by               the ministers and consistories, but that by which they can
 both means."                                                            bring all the actions and parts into conformity until that

       The trend of Voetius' reasoning is clear. He means to             which is lacking is restored, To these actions belong : gather-

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


  ing together to discuss God's ,Word,  the making of decisions                decisions: to thank the old consistory for their faithful

  concerning things which are pecessary  for that determined                   service ; - to depose the new consistory (iit het ambt  zetten),

  timi-,  the right of protest, and when corruption is total, the              -and to, according to ,the  discretion of the deputies who

  right of a new church organization. These and similar things                 had to execute the first two decisions, choose and install an-

  were proven by-the  pious in the time of the Waldenses and                   other Consistory. Therefore, the Synod itself carries out her

  of the first Reformation in 1517 . . . . by some churches                    decisions through her deputies and actually does what is

  which in England were deprived of faithful and orthodox                      Consistorial for the deputies take the place which according

  ministers and to which were given corrupt and disorderly                     to Articles 22 and 24 of the Church Order belong to the Con-

  ministers. And that these things have happened in cases of                   sistory. To be noted is that the old, fa.hhfa~l, Consistory

  necessity and in confused circumstances, we will defend in                   simply is thanked and does not even remain to install their

  agreement with the things we have exposed against the                        successors in office.

  Romish priests. Yet we do not want a misleading inference                        (b) The same Synod that met in Enkhuizen on October
  to be drawn from this for the usual and regular rule and for                 Bth, e.v.d. had to settle difficulties in the congregation of
  the peaceful time of the church.                                             Hoorn and decided to send a committee (depputaatschap)

         By this last Voetius certainly means this : that when there           "with full power and commission to treat the case in the

  is a regular Reformed Church Institute (gePegsld  G@ref.                     -name  of this Synod as if Synod, as now gathered, was present

  Kerkiwiclzting), the churches simply act according to the                    thereabouts, and that accordingly the Synod will hold in
  .accepted  Church Order where especially in Articles 30, 31,                 effect whatever is done there by her committee.

  36,  79 and 84 is clearly given what the relation of the local                   The deputies gathered December 4, 1615, and the follow-

  church is to the denomination federation. And what it signi-                 ing days. Also here there were two consistories.. The one

  fies that a Classis  has jurisdiction over a local church and                was thanked for its faithful service (on their own request

  the consistory. Circumstances may arise that a church must                   they stepped out of office) and the other was discharged

  protest, - that a church can get no help from a broader                      from their service. A new consistory was "by the authority"

  gathering, in which case she is compelled to use some rights                 of the deputies instituted. The old consistory, however, re-

  inhering in the denbminational  federation and that according                mained in active service until the time and while the new

  to "common accord" are stipulated in the Church Order, -                     consistory "according to the proper order shall have 0een  in-

  but in a regular Reformed Church denomination these extra                    stalled in her service."

  ordinary things, by exception permitted, are not necessary.                      (c) Soon after the adjournment of the Synod of Dordt,

         (e) In the last volume of the                                         the Synod of South Holland gathered in Leiden from July
                                           Politica  Ecclesia.sticus,  pub-
  lished in the year of his death, 1676, Voetius mentions a                    27 to August 17, 1619. A large number of Remonstrant
  case wherein a consistory neglects or withholds applying ex-                 preachers were "discharged an?  deposed."

  communication upon a member. He says : `f1 think that the                        It was decided further to compose a, form to be read in

  consistory does nothing absurd if she refers this whole case                 the churches with two consistories and by which the deposi-

  to the Classis  and persuent thereto to the Synod, because by                tion of the Remonstrant consistories would be carried out

  her advice or decision it will be determined whether the ex-                 in the behalf of the Synod. Where the Remonstrants had

  communication will be carried out or withdrawn (diffemt aut                  everything in control, the consistory would be deposed by

  absoht)."  Voetius goes a step farther yet and judges that a                 Classis.

  consistory in this case conforms itself to the request of the                    (d) In order to prove that a broader gathering is im-

  Synod ; that the Synod utters the sentence of excommunica-                   potent overagainst an obstinate consistory, Rutgers and Loh-

  tion and through her deputies or through the deputies of the                 man in Rechtsbevoegdheid der Plaatselijke  Kerken,  point
  Classis  (in which the local church is incorporated) shall be                out the well-known case of Ds. F. Van  Leenhof, minister of

  (let) carried out. In this case Voetius thus gives to the                    Zwolle.  The Synod of Overijsel deposed him. The con-

  broader gatherings the competency to handle a discipline                     sistory, supported by the government of the State and Prov-

  case from the beginning to- the end. And in this case a Re-                  ince, did not heed this sentence and maintained' him. The

  formed Classis  (not a so-called Classis  in the collegialistic              Synod had not deposed the consistory but yet put them under

  Ned. Herv. Kerk) does what belongs to the consistory.                        the ban of excommunication (cronder  ban en censure gezet").

                                                                               Herewith sp,oke otit the Synod, that she had jurisdiction (zeg-
         (2) The practice of the Reformed Churches in her most
                                                                               gevhschap)  and.  competency 
  flourishing period. As it comes before us, Voetius gives to a                                                  (rechtsbevoegdlzeid)  , but she is
                                                                               .smitten  with paralysis to proceed further because of the
  Classis  the right to depose a Consistory. And this right of
                                                                               meddling of the government. Also apart from this  and tak-
  deposition is according to history exercised.
                                                                               ing into account that this occurred in the beginning of the

         (a) In Haarlem in 1618, during the difficulties there,                18th century, that there was no deposition is no proof that

  there was a new consistorp placed and functioning next to                    the Synod did not have the competency.
_ the old consistory. The Synod of Noi-th Holland made  `three                                          (Continued on page 119)


                                           T H E   ST.ANDARD  .BEARER                                                         115



                                                                  read The Watchtower, dated Nov. 1, 1958, a semi-monthly

             AL-L AROUND Us                                       magazine in which they make a written pronouncement of
                                                                  a set of resolutions taken recently when an international con-

                                                                  vention was held in New York City. And that is exactly
Dr. Kloostev  on the Decisions of 1921.
                                                                  what we did. What we read also moved us to repeat these
   The reader will remember that in the preceding issue 6f
                                                                  resolutions to our readers. That may also have be-n part
this paper we reflected on an article appearing in the No-
                                                                  of their strategy, which also has succeeded. The following is a
vember issue of Tovch and Truwzpet  in which Dr. Fred H.
                                                                  quotation of the article they wanted  us to read:
Klooster wrote on "The Synodical  Decisions of 1924 on Com-
                                                                      "We. Jehovah's Witnesses, assembled here in Yankee
mon Grace."     Because of our limited space, we promised to
                                                                  Stadium and the Polo Grounds, New York City, in the Divine
continue with this subject. in this issue of our paper.
                                                                  Will International Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses this first
   However, the reader will also have noticed in the last
                                                                  day of August, 1958, do unite in declaring that we are ex-
issue of The Sta.ndard  Bea.rer  that the editor-in-chief also
                                                                  clusively devoted to the divine Sovereign of the universe
promised to reflect ori this article of Dr. Klooster in this
                                                                  and to the interests of his promised new world now at hand ;
issue. Had we known that he planned to do this, we would
                                                                      "That we deplore the fact that the inspired written Word
have remained silent, simply for the reason that we believe
                                                                  of the Universal Sovereign is ignored due to the delinquency
no one is more  capable of answering Dr. Klooster or anyone
                                                                  of the religious leaders of Christendom, who have made the
else in the Christian Reformed Church than the Rev. H.
                                                                  people forget the holy name of the sovereign God by various.
Hoeksema  who was personally involved in the controversy
                                                                  religious means, whereas we, His witnesses, take the greatest
of 1924 on the common grace issue. For this reason also we
                                                                  pleasure in honoring and vindicating that holy name and in
refrain from writing more at this time. on Dr. Klooster's
                                                                  confessing before all men. that the name by which He alone
article. We see no need to fill up The Sta.nda.rd  Be&w  on
                                                                  is distinguished is Jehovah (Ps. S3 :18,  AV)  ;
this subject when it can be ably disposed of in one article.
                                                                      "That all nations today owe their life `to Jehovah God as
   We do wish to say this, however, that we deplore the           the great Creator and Fountain of life, inasmuch as all the
fact that the Rev. Hoeksema has to answer Dr. Klooster in         nations have a common descent from the main survivor of the
The Standard Bearer which many subscribers to Torch and           global flood, the patriarch Noah, who walked with Jehovah
Trzhmzpet  do not read. We repeat what we suggested more          God to the preserving alive of our human race ;
than once before that Torch and Trzt~wcpet  would regain our          "That because of our common descent from Noah, who
respect if it would allow the Rev. Hoeksema the space neces-      was the tenth in line of descent from the first man Adam,
sary to answer Dr. Klooster and therein also to present his       all the many nations, tribes and peoples of this modern day
views on the matter of common grace. We have not dis-             should recognize that we are one human family, one human
cussed-this with the Rev. Hoeksema, and we are not even           race, for whom Jehovah. God has made one common provi-
sure that he would accept an invitation from Torclz  and          sion through his Son Jesus Christ for our everlasting life
Thwv@et to write in that paper after their previous refusal       and happiness in His approaching new world ;
to publish an article on the subject of common grace sent jn          "That, since the founding of the city of Babylon shortly
to them upon the request of the editorial staff of that paper.    after the great flood, a wicked world has been built up, of
We could hardly blame him if he should refuse another such        which the Holy Bible declares Satan the Devil to be the in-
request.    Nevertheless, we believe there are some Christian     visible god and ruler; and that under hini and his demons
ethics involved here which demand that a man who is so            the nations and langtiages  of the earth have broken up the
universally acclaimed as a Reformed theologian and scholar,       unity of the human race and have, brought mankind to the
yet so continuously criticized and condemned without a            dangerous situation today in which there is no peace and in
hearing, should be given the opportunity to point out `to the     which there is no loving family harmony;
Christian Reformed constituency not only the error of their           "That, in love for his human creation, Jehovah God has
position on common grace, but also the grievous sin that was      willed that a righteous new world be introduced for all men
committed when they banished him and others from their            of good will in his appointed time, for which reason he has
communion.                                                        numbered the days of this internationally split old world, and

Jehova.h's  Witnesses Make Resolutions.                           this old world is now far along in its `appointed time of the

   The persistent religious sect known by a host of different     end' :

names but especially as Jehovah's Witnesses, whose represent-         "That the Most High God of heaven has his own chosen

atives are generally vanquished when they make their appear-      government for all the earth, and that in the autumn of the

ance at our door, have this time gained an audience through       year 1914 he installed his loyal Son, the glorified Jesus

the assistance of a trusted servant of the government, our        Christ, to be king in the heavens and to destroy all the

daily mail-man.                                                   enemies of God and of man and to reign over men of

   This time the strategy of this audacious sect worked.          good will in sthe blessed new world, for which reason, at

They evidently knew that we wo>lld  be curious enough to          Jesus' installment in 1914, the `Appointed time of the end'


116  .                                        T H E  STANDARD  B E A R E R



for all the nations of the old world began and is now nearing        and in view of the failure of Christendom's clergy, we are

its climactic conclusion ;                                           most grateful to Jehovah for the privilege of being His wit-

    "That the only stable government in the universe is the          nesses to all the nations in this time of the end ; and we

established kiilgdom  of God in the hands of his anointed            deeply appreciate the heavy responsibility resting on us to

Son, Jesus Christ;           and that not a single  government in    uphold the honor of his name and to carry out the commis-

Christendom has God's backing, inasmuch as He is backing             sion laid upon us;

his own government, the Messianic kingdom, and Christen-                "That, figuratively speaking, we have  beaten our swords

dom's.governments  are doomed to destruction by him at the           into plowshares and our spears into prtning  shears and, al-

universal war of Armageddon, in which- his reigning King             though of so many nationalities, we will not lift up sword

will fight them and all the rest of the Devil's organization,        against one another because we are Christian brothers and

human and demonic ;                                                  members of the one family of God, neither will we learn to

    "That, since A.D. 1914, the evidences have continued to          war against one another any more, but we will walk in God's

multiply in proof that God's kingdom now, reigns from the            paths in peace, unity and brotherly love;

heavens; and not only do we have the prophecy of his Son                "That what has made us one Christian people despite the

Jesus Christ regarding these visible evidences on hand in            fact that we come from so many diversified peoples is that we

the, Hoiy Bible for consultation, but God has raised up his          have separated ourselves from this world and its hateful con-

speaking witnesses to preach the good news of the reigning           flicts and h&e dedicated ourselves through Jesus Christ to

kingdom and to serve warning notice of the war of Armaged-           our one God and heavenly Father, and. we sincerely pray to

don by word of mouth, letting the people hear, that they may         Him in unity: `Let your will come to pass, as in heaven,

say : `It is the truth' ;                                            also upon earth'; not the will of the worldly nations under

    "Thtit  in spite of the fulfilled prophecies of God's Word,      the `rul,er  of this world,' Satan the Devil;

with which the religious clergy should be acquainted, and in            "That our earthly organization is theocratic because it

spite of the increasing testimony of His living, speaking            is ruled by God the Most High as Head over all, and our

witnesses, the religious leaders of all denominations of Chris-      Leader under Him is no political dictator but is Jesus Christ

tendom have refused to join in the Kingdom witness,.in  ful-         our Right Shepherd,  and God's holy spirit is the active force

fillment of Matthew 24 :14,  and have opposed, even perse-           that moves us and accomplishes God's will through us, and

cuted, Jehovah's witnesses and have rejected. God's kingdom          the inspired Holy Scriptures are our book of law and in-

and have turned the peoples to man-made political remedies           struction and higher education ; . . . .

for human ills ;                                                         "Accordingly, on this inspiring occasion, we call upon

    "That, in their fear of ungodly communism and of more            all lovers of life in happiness under righteous government, to

world war the clergy have turned their backs on Jesus Christ         whose attention this Resolution may &me, to take to'heart

the King and have endorsed -the  political organizations for         its import and to honor the name of the Creator of heaven

perpetuating this old world, which is God's enemy, namely,           and earth and to turn to His kingdom by Christ as the right-

the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations;         ful government of the new world and to bring themselves into

and they  have led and encouraged the people in the idolizing        harmony with his perfect Will, because <he  that does the will

of these human makeshifts for God's kingdom ; and in their           of God remains forever.' - I John 2 :17."

worldly-wise schemes to safeguard the people from further               The reader should observe that we omitted two para-

devastating world war by me&s  of these incapable organiza-          graphs in this quotation only because of lack  of space. Enough

tions, the clergy have failed to help the people to find refuge      is quoted, however, to allow the reader to judge as to the

and security against the far more destructive universal war,         anti-Scriptural and ungodly character of `this anarchistic sect.

`the war of the great day of God the Almighty' (Rev. 16:14,             It is noteworthy that the "resolutio$'  contain repeated
16) ; so that, in times of international peace, the clergy hypo-     reference to "the inspired written Word of the Universal
critically encourage the nations not to fight one another, not       Sovereign,Z'    while it is well-known that Russellites destroy
to fight against men, but, by backing up the political schemes       the supernatural character of the Bible. It is also striking
of men, they encourage the nations to fight against God, both        that these "resolutions" refer again and again to Christ as
now and in the coming war of Armageddon ;                            the Son of God, while the truth is that, like its Arian brother,

    "That the nations are now on judgment before Jehovah             Russellism denies the divinity of Christ.  True to form the

God the Supreme Judge, and the clergy of Christendom stand           "resolutions" mock with the Scriptural doctrine of an or-

as the most reprehensible and delinquent class on earth be-          dained clergy, and divine ordination of government. They

fore Him, and at Armageddon he will give his judicial at-            recognize only a theocratic kingdom at the head of which they

tention first to them, and all the blind peoples who follow          have placed Jesus Christ who began to realize his kingdom of

these blind religious guides will suffer execution with them         which the Russellites only are the citizens in A.D. 1914. No

at God's hand;                                                       doubt there will be many ignorant souls that Iyill  fall fbr

    "That, amid this most serious situation of the old world,        these pernicious resolutions.                              &!LS.

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



                                                                  in the congregation. "We, the undersigned members of the

                 CONTRIBUTIONS                                    Oriens Reformed Church, do solemnly attest, 1. That it is
                                                                  your duty, Rev. H. Mensch, to be faithful to- us as minister

                                                                  . . . . 2. That it is our calling and privilege to support 
                     Missionary Notes                                                                                            you,
                                                                  Rev. H. Mensch, with our gifts and prayers, and to be faith-

    We have, once and again, reflected upon the church            ful members under your preaching. We set our seal of ap-

political aspect of the Forbes-Isabel churches in their sever-    proval to the foregoing resolutions and reaffirmation of faith-

ing of relationship with the Eureka Classis.                      fulness by affixing our names, which do further appear as

    That we spoke mostly about the Isabel church in this          follows."

respect is due to the fact, that, when Rev. Mensch was de-            Such was their vow before the face of God!

posed, Isabel was a congregational unit, recognized as a              It was'  no rash vow on the part of those who continued

member church of the Eureka Classis, which the Forbes             in the Name of God at Forbes !

.Church  was a faithful minority-group with Rev. Mensch in            The undersigned was present when this meeting was held,

the Oriens Reformed Church at Leola.                              and these signatures were made, as above stipulated.

   Now just a word about the Forbes congregation.                  On September 15, 1957, the elder-elect E. Hauch and

   It should be understood by the reader that on or about         deacon-elect W. Hauck were installed into office in the morn-

November 28, 1956, the "Executive" issued their usurping          ing service. That afternoon elder Hauch administered the

decretal, declaring Rev. H. Mensch officially(  ?) no more a      sacrament of baptism to an infant child in the congregation.

minister in the Leola church. Immediately thereupon the           And two weeks later elder Hauch administered the Lord's

faithful brethren continued holding services in'the large and     Supper. Both times the Forms were read `from the back of

commodious basement of the parsonage in Leola, where              our Psalter.

Rev. Mensch lived. They were about 28 souls. Since they              The Consistory of the Leola church, which remained with

felt that the, entire matter was still pending with the coming    Eureka Classis,  were duly informed of the membership of the

session of Classis  in May of 1957, and whereas they could        Eben-ezer Reformed Church, and they were requested to re-

not be without some organization in the meanwhile, they           move those names from their books, which incidentally, pos-

organized in such a way, that, should the Classis  not undo       sibly were not even kept in that congregation!

the action of the "Executive," they could proceed to per-            It was truly a day of small beginning!

manent organization. They elected as elder-elect, E. Hauck,          However, if it is of the Lord it will surely stand! We have

and A. Rau, and as deacon-elect, W. Hauck. That was in            abundant reason to believe that it shall.

December of 1956.                                                    Let us remember this small, but courageous church before
   When the Classis  gave its sanction to the decretal of the     the throne of grace.                                      G.L:
deposition of Rev. Mensch by an "Executive' committee, the

brethren and sisters proceeded. to permanent organization.

This meant that, small as they were, they proceeded with faith
                                                                                     QUESTION HOUR
in God. He, who had led them thus far, would be faithful in

the future. And they named their little congregation "The             Held kfter  Address at Hull Mass Meeting
Ebenezer Reformed Church" at Forbes, N.D. This is some
                                                                                            July, 1953
25 miles north and east from Leola. At first meetings were

held in the farm home of E. Hauch, but soon a small, un-                 Questioner: Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
used school-house was acquired in that vicinity. The place is
                                                                         Answers  b$i:  Rev. H. Hoeksema
now marked by a very tasteful sign "The Ebenezer Reformed

Church."                                                                                   (Continued)

   Thus was born the Eben-ezer Reformed Church.
                                                                     Question: Acts 19 :39  speaks of "it shall be determined by
   But why did this little band of men, women and children
                                                                  a lawful assembly." Can an unannounced consistory meeting,
not abide by the decision of Eureka Classis  concerning the
                                                                  which suspended,Rev.  De Wolf, stand the acid test of this
Rev. Mensch ?
                                                                  passage ?
   This is a good and proper question and calls for. an

answer, and the answer is that they had vowed before the             Answer: Certainly. Consistory meetings do not always

face of God that they would abide by the teaching and preach-     have to be announced. I should say not. All consistory

ing of Rev. Mensch. It was a matter of confession of faith!       meetings are not announced. There are plenty consistory

It was not simply sentimental adherence to a mere man,            meetings that are not announced. And if it's necessary that

whose breath is in his nostrils. The seed sown by Rev.            a meeting must be held, and that, for instance, as in this

Mensch had fallen into good ground! In a document titled          case, a meeting must be held immediately, that meeting does

"Re-affirmation Of Loyalty" we read the following note-           not have to be announced to the congregation. All consistory

worthy expression, which was signed by six male members           meetings do not have to be announced,

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


       Question: Is it correct that a minority of 10 elders depose    didn't receive a letter like that. I don't know what letter you

the majority of 11 elders ? That same principle being applied,        refer to. 0, I think I do in a way. I don't have the letter

is it not also true that 2 elders could depose 19 elders 7            with me, otherwise I would read it. But I don't have it.

                                                                      But I think there is one statement in that letter which I

   An.swev:  Of course they can. Sure. One elder can depose           recall. I think that's the letter you refer to. That letter states

20 elders. How otherwise could you ever depose a con-                 I think, that in the June 1st meeting, where the decision was

sistory that's heretical ? Certainly, one elder can depose 20         made to suspend De Wolf and depose the consistory unless

elders, or 24 elders, or 30 elders, with the help of the classis.     they apologized, that decision was taken under duress. That's

But they do it. They do it. Certainly do. Suppose that a              not true. There- was no duress. I explained to you all that

whole consistory becomes corrupt, the whole consistory with-          happened at that consistory meeting. Nothing more. I ex-

out any exception becomes corrupt, who must then depose it?           plained to you the whole thing. Duress ?`Besides,  the elders

Who must depose a consistory that is entirely corrupt?                that were present, the opposing elders that were present

What's your answer? I say : the congregation. The con-                certainly did not show any duress. They did not show any

gregation can depose the consistory. The congregation called          strain. They simply stayed where they were. They were not

the consistory. And.the congregation can depose it, and can           affected. So I think that's a story. No duress. Except, of

with the help of the Classis  call a new consistory. That's           course, we had the advice of the Classis.  No more. We could

certainly church order. That was always the church order              not have influence, exert any duress, any stress upon any

which the Rev. van Lonkhuizen in former years defended.               of the other cons&tory members. We didn't either.

He did not want any hierarchy. But that's certainly true.

The congregation is called by the consistory, - I mean the                Question: Why was this mass meeting necessary, and why

consistory is called by the congregation, installed by the con-       not wait with any mass meetings here out West till the.

.gregation ; and the consistory can be deposed by the congre-         churches have spoken in their broader gatherings ?

gation. And if there's only one elder in the whole consistory,
                                                                         Answer: I already have answered that I think. This mass
that elder can certainly depose the consistory. He must have
                                                                      meeting was not called by me. I was asked to speak here.
help, of course, but he does it. Certainly can.
                                                                      And the reason is also plain. We cannot, we cannot have a

                                                                      thing like this in our churches without doing harm to our
       Qurstiow  Would you say that any person who doesn't
agree with you in ,this matter, but takes the side of Rev. De         Prot. Ref. cause. Unless the people are informed . . . . they
Wolf, is not Prot. Ref.?                                              must be informed . . . And they are informed here, without
                                                                      any question. They have a right to know. Has nothing to

       Answefp:  I've already answered that question, I think. If     do with the broader gatherings. The classis has spoken al-

you will formulate that question again, as it should be: if any       ready. The only meeting that has to speak ,yet is synod. In

person is not agreed with the Prot. Ref. truth, expressed in          the meantime, we have a right to tell you exactly what's hap-

the Three Forms of Unity, as interpreted in the Prot. Ref.            pening. And you have a right to know.

church, then he is not Protestant Reformed. I do not count.
                                                                          Question: Is it not premature, and entirely out of order,
You do not have to agree with me. If you think I'm wrong,
                                                                      if a local consistory at this stage expresses itself officially on
protest. But don't talk.
                                                                      the question as to which is the legal consistory of Fuller

       Question: If you people were convinced that Rev. De            A v e n u e   ?

Wolf and his supporting elders were in the wrong, why did

you separate instead of appealing to Classis?                             Answer: Of course not. That stands to reason. That's
                                                                      not only not premature, but that's necessary. How can you

       Answer:  I did not separate. They separated. We de-            work otherwise ? If there.is no legal consistory at all, there's

posed them. I did not separate. We appeal to Classis?  The            no congregation. Now, for the present the others claim too

Classis  decided `to advise us to suspend and depose. That            that they're a legal consistory, but they know better. I as-

was already decided. You think we must appeal to Classis              sure you that they know that they aren't. And I assure you,

again? We must not appeal to Classis.  We simply carried              at any rate, that the classis will determine that they are not.

out the decision of Classis,  the advice of Classis.  That's all.     `The classis has spoken.    But you cannot do anything else.

Nothing more. No, they had to appeal to Classis, not we. But          What else can you do ? You cannot wait to determine what's

they didn't. They separated themselves. We `didn't;                   the legal consistory. We decide that for ourselves.


       Qct&on:  Is the letter signed by Rev. De Wolf and Mr.              Q,ttestion: We understand you claim that the Classis will

S. De Young, of which we understand all our consistory                justify your action of suspension and deposition. How do

members received a copy factually the truth, or are there lies        you know that the classis will not be satisfied with the apology

in that letter?                                                       which Rev. De Wolf tendered ?


       Answer: I don't know what you mean by that letter. I               AnsaG:  Because the Classis  already has spoken. The


                                                                                                                                             1
                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.RER                                                        119



Classis  said as to the statements that they are literally here-     promise of the gospel is that whosoever believeth in Christ

tical, regardless of how the Rev. De Wolf explains them. On          shall be saved, which, with the command *to repent -and

that basis he was deposed or suspended.                              that gospel must `be preached with the command to repent

                                                                     and believe: to' all to whom God in His good pleasure sends

    Q.uestion:  Doesn't suspension and deposition principally        the gospel. I think that is almost literally the Canons. Canons

imply that you excommunicate these men from the church of            II, 5, therefore, teach that the promise of the gospel is for the

Christ in case they do not confess what you claim to be their        believers.    The promise of the gospel is that whosoever be-
sin ?                                                                lieveth shall have eternal life,  shall be saved. The statement

                                                                     of the Rev. De Wolf was : "God promises to everyone of you
   .Answer:  I've answered that already.                             that if you believe you shall be saved." The statement of

                                                                     Canons II, 5 is the particular promise to the believers, that is,
    Question: What do you think ? Should the local consis-
                                                                     the elect. The statement of the Rev. De Wolf is the general
tories take an official stand at this time, and express them-
                                                                     -promise to all on condition of faith. That's the difference.
selves on the question as to what they consider to be the

legal consistory  of First Church in Grand Rapids ?                                            (To be continued)


    Antier: That's a nice question. That may very well be-

come necessary.        Suppose that you stand before the question

to allow the Rev. De Wolf to your  pulpit? Then you have                                  DECENCY AND ORDER

to take a stand. You have to take a stand. At least, you                                  (Continued from page 114)

will have to take a stand, whether you judge right away or               (e) The same jurisdiction that the Classis  has over the

not, you will .have to take a stand that until Classis  has          consistory, the Synod has over the Classis.  That discipline

decided, you cannot allow him on the pulpit. You can do the          had to be applied to a whole Classis  has naturally only seldom-

same thing with me, if you want to. That stands to reason.           occurred. Yet there is an example of this. But what men

Of course, I'm not suspended, and I'm not deposed. He was.           did was something other than to declare: "You have made

According to the decision of Classis.  That's the difference.        yourselves worthy to be set outside of the denomination."

But in thus `far the Classis  will have to `take a stand, not            The. "Fri,:scke  Synode"  (1599 at Joure), because of all
only in regard to Rev. De Wolf, but also in regard to other          sorts of trouble, difficulty and disorder deprived Classis  Ze-
ministers in our  churches that have already separated them-         v:nwouden  of her authority so that she could be a Classis  no
selves from          You have to know that, and you have to take
             us.                                                     more, but the ministers who till then were residing under her
a stand. That's all.                                                 shall continue under the neighboring state where they formerly

                                                                     were for the preservation of good order. The Classis  Zeven-
    Question: How could Classis  East advise the entire course
of action which the consistory was to follow in said case ? De       wouden was not set outside of the denominational federation
Wolf and his men claim in their letter that the course of ac-        for then-she would remain a Classis; an independent Classis.
tion had not been requested by the consistory neither by the         ""Sal  wezen gevoeyeert ende  te nyete" involves much more.
protestants. Is that correct ?                                       At the following Synod, (Sneek, May 20, e.v.d. 1600) it was
                                                                     called, ."the deposition of the Classis  Sylvanae." The Classis

    Anszprev:  It's not correct. We certainly asked advice in        Bolsward served a gravamen (protest) against the decision

regard to the whole business. Besides, not only is that true.        of 1.599 but the Synod of Bolsward, July 1601, decided be-

But the Ciassis  certainly can give advice. The Classis  didn't      cause of reasons of the Classis  : "Classis  Zevenwouden is not

decide anything for the consistory. The Classis  advised. And        to be restored to good standing." Here was then a disciplinary

since the matter was important, the Classis  had to advise.          action by which this Classis  ceased as Classis  to exist even

But I think if you read the whole business, you will find            as by the deposition of a Consistory, the Consistory ceases to

that nevertheless that was true: the Classis  had to decide          exist as a Consistory.

not only in regard to the doctrine, but also in regard to the
action.                                                                  Yet one other example is that of the action of the National
                          :
                                                                     French Synod of Montpellier, 1598. It resolved in con-

    Question: Why was not the apology of De Wolf received            sideration of three Classes that as these were opposed to the

by the Consistory ? Who determines the form of a man's               `ruling of the Prov. Synod against which they should have

apology ?                                                            tendered appeals, they, by sending no delegates, shall be re-

                                                                     moved and deprived .of their rights. Also here we `must not
    Answer: I've already answered that, I think.                     be deceived with ,the "setting outside the church federation"

    Question: What is the difference between statement of            for this is disciplinary action of depv-iving  (ontne&ng)  of
De Wolf and Canons II, 5?                                            official ecclesiastical rights, thus with deposition." -F. M.
                                                                     Ten Hoor and G. D. DeJong.

    Answer: That's a nice  question. Canons II, 5 states : The                                                              G.V.D.B.


                                                                         gregations, the society nieetings  .are held in the living rooms
11 NEWS FROM OLIR CHURCHES ii of various homes of the members, with comestibles and
                                                                         potables issuing from the kitchens, -we presume.
               "All the saints salute thee . . ." P H I L .   4:21 11
                                                                   :         South Holland society members have jointly agreed to

                                                                         buy a new tape recorder to enable the shut-ins to hear the
                                          .November  20, 1958            recorded services. The young `&en  of the church attend to

    The Eastern League of Men's Societies .met Nov. 13 at                th- "pickup and delivery" connected with it.

Southwest Church. This was a Silver Anniversary since it                    Through "exchanges" the Southwest pulpit was occupied

was twenty-five years ago that they held their first meeting.            Nov. 9 by Revs. R. .Veldnian  and J. A. McCollam.

Rev. Vos presided and introduced Rev. H. Hankci as the                      The Open House held at Adams  School featured a speech

speaker of the evening. The.  speaker's topic was, "The Rela-            by the Rev. H. Hanko entitled "Christian Discipline in Home

tion Between God's Soyereignty  And Man's Responsibility                 and School."     His observations were that basically discipline

(Accountability) ."    The speaker pointed out that there is             is instruction in the way of the Lord in respecting those in

no conflict between the two, for man's accountability is, that           authority over us ; that- corporal punishment must be a re-

of a creature to his creator; that while God is sovereignly              flection of God's chastisement upon our sins.

free, man is only creaturely free, always~dependent  upon the               The Mothers' Club of Adams St. School sponsored a

good pleasure of his Sovereign God. The ninety-eight men                 Dutch Psalm Sing in First Church Nov. 16. Truly, a nostalgic

present enjoyed this reiteration of basic truth so often denied          reaching back into the past, but enjoyable, nevertheless.

and universally misunderstood.                                              Rev. Heys will reciprocate the kindness of the Rev. Van

                                                                         Baren  noted iii.our  last column. He will conduct evening ser-
    Redlands  has made a trio from which they will choose
                                                                         vices in Doon  while their pastor fills a classical appointment
one whom they will call to labor in their congregation. It
                                                                         in Pella.
consists of the Revs. C. Hanko, G. Lubbei-s  and R. Veldman.
                                                                            Brow&g through the  bulletins we find a wealth of Scrip-
Due `to physical disability the Rev. Kuiper was not able to
                                                                         tural material under discussion in the various societies. The
give his farewell sermon until the 16th -the date originally
                                                                         following Books are under prayerful scrutiny: Genesis,
planned for his installation at Loveland.
                                                                         Joshua, Isaiah, Mark, John, Acts, Romans, Philippians,
    The month of December will find Rev. I-`f. Hoeksema                  John's Epistle, 1st Peter and Revelation. Besides these
back on the Reformed Witness Hour.. He is scheduled to                   Scripture passages, the Doctrine of the Last Things is being
remain on the program until Easter Sunday. His plan is to                treated in Rev. H. Hoeksema's adult Bible Class. Are any
finish &the  series on Hebrews that he started last year,.and  to        of you eligible men, women or young people missing the
b-gin a new series oil the Creation story in Genesis. The                golden opportunities offered by your societies ?
Rev. R. Veldman follows in April ; Rev. Schipper  in May ;                  Ministers and society secretaries, take note! This column
Rev. H. Hanko in June and Rev. McCol!am  in July.                        cannot survive on grapevine .news.  To get in the news you
   The recent Deficit Drive for Adams St. -School brought in             must send it in ; .especially  the Western activities, which do

over $5,000.00  in cash and pledges, with late returns still             not have an open pipeline to this page.

coming .in.                                                                 An excerpt from Creston's bulletin quoting the West-

   Rev. Ophoff is still advised not to attend public worship             minster Shorter. Catechism : "Prayer is an offering up of our

services and continues to listen in on them in the parsonage             desires unto God, for things agreeable to His Will, in the

next door.                                                               Name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful

   First's Ladies' Aid Society held their annual bazaar Nov.             acknowledgement of His mercies.
20 at Adams St. School. This offered opportunity to sell the                Membership pBpers received recently : Creston  received
articles previously made or donated, and to raise the funds to           from Hope a mother and son ; Hudsonville from Doon :
support our various charities.                                           parents with four children, and from Forest Grove Chr. Ref.
                                                                         an individual ; Kalarriazoo  from a Grand Rapids Chr. Ref.
   Revs. R. Veldman and H. Hanko exchanged pulpits Nov.
                                                                         church one  individual ; S&thwest  a family with four children
16. Rev. C. Hanko filled in. for Rev. McCollam in the eve-
                                                                         from Grandville Chr. Ref. church, and a family with two
ning because of an attack of laryngitis suffered by Holland's
                                                                         children from Southeast; and Southeast an individual from
pastor.
                                                                         Cutlerville Chr. Ref. Church.
   Kalamazoo marches forward! They have decided to in-
                                                                            Although all the members of our South Holland church
augurate, and have already begun a New Building Fund.
                                                                         received a "Philadelphian" letter recently, we have now been
Another ,step  - a newly organized Young People's Society.
                                                                         informed that ,a Bill of Complaint (mostly against their
   Hudsonville bid Godspeed to Lambert  Schut  upon his                  pastor) has been filed against them by the group who left
departure to France where he must complete his army service.             them.

    In Redlands, as in some of our other "churchless" con-                            . . . . see you in church.              J . M . F .


