                                                        1; 1959 
    VOLUME  x=v                            FEBRUARY                 - GRAND .XAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                           NUMBER 9

                                                                         their parents, from their teachers, from older men, from
          M E D I T A T I O N                                            psychiatrists, from anyone whom they think capable of giving
                                                                         the correct answer. But they ask questions concerning money

                                                                         and honor, position and security, success and gain ; and this

        COVENANT YOUTH'S QUESTION                                        all according to the standards of the world. But these are

                                                                         after all foolish questions taken in themselves. What does a
          "Wherewith1 shall a young wL5n clcstnse  t% way?               man have if he has money and success ? if he has gained
            By takipsg  heed theveto a.ccpvdiag  to thy word."           material security and position in life? Nothing that will save
                                                     Psalm 119 :9        him from dying and ending in eternal desolation apart from

   It is quite generally believed that this Psalm was written            God.

by a young man. This is usually considered to be the case                   This question comes first because it is principal and
because it was obviously written for a young man. God pre-               fundamental. Money with a filthy way and success in a
pared a youth to take heed to his way, to learn to take heed             repulsive path mean nothing. But indeed if a man's way is
to it according to- the Word of God, and to write a long and             clean the worldly success of which men speak today is of no
beautiful paean of praise for the youth of all ages who stand            concern.
in the midst of God's covenant and ask the same question-                   Who can ask such a question ? I can describe such a
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?                           person to you because he is described on the pages of Holy
   This is not to say that this question does not arise in the           Writ. He is a man who has received from God a place in
hearts and minds of all the saints in God's church. It matters           God's covenant. This place is an eternal place, for God
not whether a youthful lad or girl takes his or her seat in              chose him from before the foundations of the world. But
the pew, or whether a grey-haired saint of many years lifts              God comes to dwell within his heart also by His Spirit. He
up his eyes to God. The question is equally important for                calls such a man very early in life out of darkness into light
them all. And there was never yet a saint who was not con-
                                                                         and out of the death into which he was born into the life of
cerned about this all important matter of cleansing his way.
                                                                         fellowship and communion with the only living God. He
Nevertheless, the older saints in God's church are veterans of
                                                                         works in the heart of such a young person in such a way that
many long battles and have transversed much of the "way"
                                                                         gradually the consciousness of all the blessedness of salva-
which once stretched before them. For them the battle is al-
                                                                         tion and grace for him grows and increases. God leads such
most over; the weary fighting will soon enough come to its
                                                                         a man to the knowledge of his sin, but leads him also to con-
end ; the sword of the Spirit will be changed to a crown of
                                                                         template the wonder of the cross of Jesus Christ and to. see
righteousness; the cry of the battlefield to a song of victory
                                                                        that Christ died for him to take away all his sin before the
and triumph ; the filthiness and dirt of life's pathway to a
                                                                        face of his God and merit for him life eternal. He is there-
clean and holy life in their Father's home above.
                                                                        fore, a youth who stands consciously in the midst of God's
   But a youth stands in a unique way at the beginning of his
                                                                        covenant, brought there by an amazing wonder of grace. He
life's path. He begins that path at birth; this is true enough.
                                                                         has come to know his sin was the light of God's Word has
But it is in his youth that he comes to the consciousness of-
                                                                         laid it bare before his eyes. He has seen that sin clings
that path which lies before him, and especially the need for
                                                                         tenaciously to all that he does for he carries with him his
cleansing it.
                                                                         own corrupt nature. He understands that his sins are against
                         * * * *
                                                                         God Who demands perfection within and Who hates terribly

   It is not every youth born in the generations of men that             all sins which man commits. He longs with an intense and

ask this question. All indeed are concerned about their                  earnest longing to walk before His God in truth and right-

"ways." They will also ask questions about their ways from               eousness, to make.his way pure. This is of utmost importance

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


     to him. The rest is secondary ; his vocation, his success, his     around within him his own flesh which is prone to all evil and

     material position in life must wait. This is the all-important     inclined to sin in. such a way that his path will be nothing

     question' of life.                                                 but a mire of depravity `and a morass of iniquity. Yet he

         Wherewithal' shall a young man cleanse his way ?               wants his way to be pure. He would like to see it clean and

         Wherewithal indeed !                                           holy. For in the depths of his heart he has learned to love

                                  ****                                  his God; and there is within him an intense longing to do that
                                                                        which is pleasing in God's sight.

         His way therefore from this point of view is important.        ._ Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way ? This

         His way is first of all an entirely unique way. God has not    is the burning question that arises within him. He cannot

     placed him on a way that inevitably ends in hell, but God has      rest till he has found the answer; nor will peace be in his

     placed him in the way in which countless millions of saints        heart until he knows. How can his way be cleansed ? How

_ have walked before him. It is the way of all God's covenant           shall it be made pure ? Where is the power to make his way

     people. It is a way in which he will always stand in a unique      without sin ? What is the means to make it pleasing in the

     relationship to God because of his place in the everlasting        sight of God, pure, holy, bright and glorious ? Wherewithal?

     covenant of grace. It is a way therefore in which he walks         indeed !
     always in relation to God's church here on earth; a way in                                     4 * * *

     which the church is always the center of his life. It is a            But the answer comes immediately. This is not a question

     way that indeed has its center in the life of the church here      which remains for a long time unanswered. It is not a prob-

     below, but also ends inevitably in the church in glory with        lem which is not solved until life has almost ebbed away.

     the saints made perfect and with Jesus.                            It is not a life-long search filled with doubt and anxiety,

        Yet this same way is a way that is his own in a unique          questionings and fears, with possibly the answer eluding him

     sense of the word. It is the way of his whole life to be sure.     forever. The answer is there immediately. It comes spon-

     This includes all his life that lies beneath the surface of his    taneously with the question. The question arises by grace?

     body. It includes all that varied and intense life of his in-      It is answered immediately by that same grace. God brings

     most being. What lives within his mind -all his thoughts           him to ask the question ? Indeed ! But God immediately

     and memories, his reasonings and ideas -all this is part of        causes the answer to ring within his own soul.

     the "way." It includes all that arises within his own will -          "By taking heed thereto according to thy word !"

     his aspirations and desires, his longings and hopes - this too        This is the only answer that can possibly be given. We

     is a part of that `<way."    Yet this same way includes all the    sing sometimes of this when we sing this Psalm in church.

     deeds that he does. His whole life as it comes to expression                   "How shall the young direct his way?

     by the work of his hands, by the words that he speaks, by the                     What light shall be his perfect guide ?

     expressions and moods which are revealed to others is also                      Thy Word, 0 Lord, will safely lead,

     part of that "way." Whether he be in his parent's home or                         If in its wisdom they confide."

     in his own home, in the shop or office or school ; whether he         The Word of God can only be the answer. And this is

     seek the fellowship of his companions or take his place in the     true because it is emphatically God's Word. It is God's Word

     congregation, he is walking his own pathway. He cannot             because God is the sole Author of it all. It is God's Word

     stand still or sit by the side. Walk he must, and walk he          because in it God reveals Himself. There is the face of God

     does in all his life. This is his "way."                           shown to His people. There is the face of God revealed;

-      And yet it is uniquely his own. God has `determined his          however, not in wraih  against our sins, but in the glorious

     way for him from all eternity. His way is exactly suited for       face of Jesus Christ His Son. There is the face of God shown

     him and fitted for his pilgrimage in it. No one else can walk      to us in love and in mercy which never changes eternally.

     that way for him. It is his own. He walks it and must walk         For that face is shown us in Christ Who suffered and died

     it until finally death lays. its hand upon him and he is called    on Calvary and Who rose again for our justification. There,

     into his everlasting destination. The circumstances and ex-        on the pages of Holy Writ are all the glorious promises in

     periences of it are his to bear and share. The sorrows and         the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ for us. There also is

     griefs, the joys and blessings are his in the unique way that      described in detail the calling of God's people in all its testi-

     marks his path as his own in distinction from the paths of all     monies and statutes. It is indeed the rule of faith and life.

     other men.                                                            But this is the only answer because this is the only author-

        But how sadly does this way need cleansing. As he               ity and standard in life. This Word is truth, and this is truth

     stands at the threshold of this way, contemplating it as it        alone. There are an increasing number today'who  deny the

     stretches before him from the portals he now enters, he knows      infallibility of God's Word in some measure and degree. And

     that that way will indeed be very filthy and dirty. To him         it appears as if the church will have to fight a battle for this

     it appears extremely repulsive and forbidding. The way is a        truth once again. But if this is not truth, we might as well

     way of sin and unrighteousness if he walks it alone, for he        close our church doors and put boards over their windows.

     himself is desperately wicked. He knows that he carries            If God's Word contains error, the pulpit might just as well


                                              T H E   STA.NDARD   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                     195


be silenced, and we can stay home from church. Why then

ask concerning our way? There is no purpose to it.                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

    But this Word is God's Word infallible, and ther6fore                    Semkwnthly, except monthly during June, July and  August

(only therefore) is it the answer to the question which this                    Pubhshed  by the REFORMED  FREE PUESLISRWG  ASSOCIATION
                                                                             P. 0. Box 
young man asks.                                                                                      881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

                                                                                                              Editor. 
    The text speaks of "by taking heed thereto . . . ." Literally                                                             - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
                                                                             Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
this word means "to guard." The implication is obviously                                           Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139.  Franklin St., S. E.,
that our way is attacked by many enemies, and that when                                                                     Grand,Rapids   7 ,   Mich.

their attacks are successful is our way filthy and dirty. These              All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                             G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
enemies are many. There is only one enemy, and that enemy
                                                                             Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
is Satan. But he uses so many ways to attack our way and                     address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
life. He uses all his black horde of demons. He uses all the
                                                                             RENEWAL: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
wicked world through which our way leads us. He uses men                     ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
                                                                             to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
who` are wicked and who will kill those who do not become
wicked like themselves. He uses temptations and allurements,                                                    Subscription price: $5.00 per year

enticements and lusts to corrupt our way. And perhaps worst                  Entered as Second Class mutter at Grand Rapids, Michigan

of all, he uses our own flesh. How dangerous our way is!

    But the Word-of God is sufficient !                                                                                          C O N T E N T S

    Our way must be guarded according to the standard of              MEDITATION -
                                                                                      Covenant Youth's Question __ __. .____._. _._ ._. ___.._  . ..193
that Word. ,That  Word is the criterion of all that is truth                                     Rev. H. Hanko
and righteousness. It is the infallible standard, the glorious
                                                                      EDITORIALS-
standard of all our way. And that Word is also within our                             The Three Points ________......______................................................
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 196
hearts. For it is the revelation of God Who saves us through                          Evolution, Long Periods or Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I97
Jesus Christ. And therefore it is not only the standard ac-                                      Rev. H. ,Hoeksema

cording to which we measure our way, but it is alsci  the power      SPECIAL AlVICLE-
whereby we are able to walk ih that way cleansing it con-                             The Question About Church Visitation ________._.....,,...............  198
                                                                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema
stantly.
                                                                     As To 
    How shall we cleanse our way ? By running speedily to the                         BOOKS-
                                                                                      The Glorious Body of Christ by R. B. Kuiper _.__..._____._.....,  200
Word of God. It is applicable to all oui life and is the power                        God's River by Donald Grey Barnhouse . . . . . ..____.................... 200

to carry us through. Oh, indeed, this does not mean that our                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema

way will ever be perfectly pure as long as we stay here below.       OUR DOCTRINE-

This that same Word teaches us. But `it does give us the                              The Book of Revelation .,............................:  . . .._..__.........._....... 201                                                          '
                                                                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema
victory over sin, for it shows us the cross of Christ to which
we run with all our sins and uncleanness. There at the               A CLOUD OF WITNESSES-
foot of the cross our sins are taken away and dismissed from                         The Birth of Isaac's Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
                                                                                                Rev. B. Woudenberg
the heart and mind of God. There peace steals over our hearts,
a peace that passes understanding. There we are able to see          FROM HOLY WRIT-
                                                                                      Exposition of Matthew 24 and 25 (XI) . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.__.............. 204
through the gloom of our night of sin into a heavenly and                                       Rev. G. Lubbers
perfect life in which our-way shall be clean forevermore !           IN HIS FEAR-
                                                         H. Hanko                     ". . . And Keep His Commandments . . ." (4) . . . . . ,.$06
                                                                                                 Rev. J. A. Heys


                                                                     CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH-
                                                                                      The Church and the Sacraments .._____._  .__ _._. _. . .._ >:. ___.... . . . ..208

                        IN MEMORIAM                                                              Rev. H. Veldman

                                                                     THE 
   It pleased the Lord to take unto Himself our beloved Wife,                  VOICE OF @JR FATHERS-
                                                                                     The Canons of Dordrecht . . ..___..................... ._____.._._.....___.......  210
Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother,
                                                                                                 Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
               MRS. CORA SCHUT-nee DEKRAKER
                                                                     FEATURE ARTICLE-
aged 65 years and 8 months.                                                          The Meaning of "Shiloh"  in Genesis 49:lO  . . . .._.._.................  212

   That God was her portion is our great consolation.                                           Rev. R. Veldman

                          Mr. Jacob A. Schut                         ALL AROUND Us-
                                                                                     Arminianism of Fundamentalism . . . ..__..__._.  .._...__...__  . ..214
                          Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit B. Lubbers-&hut
                                                                                                 Rev. M. Schipper
                          Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Holstege-Schut

                          12 grandchildren                           N E W S F R O M 0~ CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
                          8 great-grandchildren                                                  Mr. J. M.`Faber

Hudsonville,  Mich.

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


                                                                        Dr. Klooster does not discuss the above mentioned texts
              E D I T O R I A L S                                   from Ezekiel: he merely mentions them. And as to thg
                                                                    references from the Canons he has this to say:
I'                                                            `I        "The Synodical decision seeks support for the well-meant
                     The Three Points                               offer of the gospel by an appeal to the Canons of Dort. The

      According to Dr, Klooster, as we have seen before, the        Canons (III, IV, 8, 9) are indeed quite explicit in asserting

strongest Scriptural proof in support of the first point of the     the doctrine of the well-meant gospel call, for they say: `As

notorious "Three Points" is to be found in Luke G 135, 36.          many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called.' But

We have already discussed this passage in connection with           I do not think the Canons say much concerning the precise

the similar text in Matthew 5.                                      point at issue, namely, whether this well-meant offer of the

      We particularly explained the love of our enemies to          gospel is evidence of an attitude of favor on God's part to

which we are enjoined in these passages.                            mankind in general. Perhaps the statement that `God calls

      But certainly, neither of these texts teach common grace,     men by the gospel and confers upon them various gifts'

that is, a grace of God to the wicked reprobate. To be sure,        (III, IV, 9) comes closest to the point at issue."

God causes His sun to shine upon all, the righteous and the            `All this does not leave the impression of certainty on the

wicked alike, and He sends rain upon the just and the unjust.       part of Klooster. Notice that he writes, not that the Synodical

No one denies this. But the question is whether the wicked          decision actually supports, but that it ".seeks  support for the

receive grace in this rain and sunshine. If they do, then they      well-meant offer of the gospel." Again, he writes : "I do

will employ these temporal gifts, together with all things to       not think the Canons say much concerning the precise point

the glory of God and with thanksgiving.- And then all things        at issue." I ask: do they say anything at all concerning this

will turn to their salvation. If they do not receive the rain       point? I deny this. Once more, he writes, not that the

and the sunshine in the grace of God, they will use all these       statement in Canons III, IV, 9 proves the point, but that

temporal things in the service of sin and receive greater           "perha.ps  it comes closest to the point at issue." Why all this

damnation.                                                          weak and doubtful language ? Is it proper to build doctrines
      Such is the teaching of Scripture throughout.                 of the church on the basis of such dubious language and then
      Now we must write just a few words yet about the text         cast faithful Reformed ministers out of the church, an act

in Luke 6.                                                          for which also Klooster assumes responsibility to this very
      This passage plainly speaks of the fact that God is kind-     day ?

to the unthankful and evil. Is not this then "common grace"?           My answer to this question is : absolutely not !
Are not the reprobate wicked included in the unthankful and            However, the chief question that concerns us here is
evil and is not God, therefore, kind and gracious and merci-        whether it is true that the preaching of the gospel is grace
ful to them as well as to the righteous ? In answer to this         and intended to be grace on the part of God to all that hear
question, I must once more refer you to the overwhelming            this preaching. That this is the teaching of the "First Point"
testimony of Scripture to the contrary: God curses and is           there can be no doubt. Its main intention is to defend the
angry with the wicked every day. Hence, the text in Luke            doctrine of so-called common grace, that is, the doctrine that
G cannot possibly teach this, for the Bible does not contradict     God is gracious to all men, the righteous and wicked alike.
itself. Now, God is surely kind to the unthankful and evil,         Hence, when in this connection it mentions the preaching of
but not to all of them, not to the ungodly reprobate, as is the     the gospel, it teaches that in the preaching God is graciously
teaching of the "First Point," but only to His own elect. That      inclined to and bestows grace upon all the hearers.
this is true is evident even from the immediate context of             It may be considered strange that the Synod of 1924 ad-
this passage as we have already pointed out. God's people           duced this as a proof for the theory of "common grace." For,
belong, by nature, to the unthankful and evil. And even after       to be sure, rain and sunshine and all the other things in this
they have been regenerated and called they are still often          present time are, indeed, common to all men ; but this cannot
revealing the spirit of unthankfulness and sin. But that God        be said of the preaching of the gospel which throughout the
is kind and gracious to the unthankful and evil by no means         ages has come to comparatively few and that, too, both ac-
implies that He is kind to all of them without exception.           cording to Scripture and the Confessions, only to those to
                          *    * * *                                whom God in His good pleasure sends the gospel. How,

      However, the "First Point" does not confine itself to         then, can the preaching of the gospel be "common grace"?

what is usually called common grace, but it lapses into the         And how could the Synod of 1924 possibly come to this
error of the Arminian theory of general grace when it speaks        conclusion ? The only possible answer is : 1. The Synod felt

of the "general offer of the gospel" as grace to all that hear      that in order to maintain the doctrine of "common grace" as
the preaching of the gospel. .This is, evidently, the intent        a Reformed doctrine and to condemn those that denied it, it
when as the grounds for the "First Point" appeal is made to         must adduce proof from the Reformed Confessions ; 2. The

the texts in Ezekiel 33 :11 and 18 23 ; and also to the Canons      Confessions, however, do not speak of "common grace" at all

of Dordrecht, III, IV, 8, 9.                                        in the sense that God is gracious to all men,~ wicked and


                                           T H E   S T A N D - A R D   B E A R E R                                                  197


righteous alike, through the things which He bestows on             to say that it even attests to the divine wisdom that in all

them in this present time ; 3. However, it does speak of the        of the many claims to inspiration, no claim is made to `in-

general preaching of the gospel and the Synod adduced this          fallibility.' "

as a proof that God is gracious to all the hearers, which, by           And Vander Ploeg also quotes from the Calvin  College

the way, is neither Scriptural nor Confessional.                    !L%i~zes  in which a certain William Brown highly .praises

    The Scriptural and Reformed truth is .quite  different.         Hoogland's article and concludes by writing : "Hoogland has

    According to it, God loved and chose unto eternal life and      had the good sense to question a doctrine that has become an

glory a people in Christ Jesus their Lord and that, too, in         idol of the Evangelical Tribe."

distinction from the reprobate. In behalf of the elect God              It is not my purpose to criticise  the above quotations.

sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh ; He suffered and      This is not necessary for our readers. Besides, the Rev.

died for their sin, arose `to their justification, and is now       Vander Ploeg promises to write more about the subject. My

exalted at the right hand of God. .Moreover,  `He received the      purpose is to show the connection between the theory of

Spirit and by that Spirit He enters into and dwells in the          evolution or long periods instead of days and the denial of

hearts of all the elect, regenerating them and calling them         the infallibility of Holy Writ. How can one maintain the

efficaciously through the preaching of the gospel. To them,         infallible inspiration of Gen. l-3 and at the same time believe

that is, to the elect, that preaching of the gospel is grace and    that the days of creation were millions or billions of years ?

to them only, while the rest are hardened. By that Spirit           And if the infallibility of Gen. l-3 is denied, one can no

and through the preaching of the gospel, the elect are              longer maintain the infallible inspiration of the rest of the

preserved unto eternal life and glory. They can never fall          Bible. Hence, I am not surprised that if the theory of evolu-

away from grace and be lost.                                        tion or that of long periods (which, to my mind is the

    This is the teaching of all the Reformed Confessions and        same thing) is taught at Calvin College, the students at the

of the whole of Scripture.                                H.H.      seminary deny the infallibility of Scripture.

                                                                        I wish to make one more remark before I continue my

             Evolution, Long Periods, or Days                  -    discussion of the days of the creation week.

    In the .beginning  of my articles on the above mentioned            I believe that I- made the remark in one of .my articles
subject (and by the way there are some .very  excellent articles    that Darwinism is dead. But from an article in Chtr&~an&y
on the same subject in former Stc&a~d  Bmws by the Rev.             Today, Jan. 5, 1959, it appears that this is not quite true.
H. Veldman) I maintained that one who supports the theory           Darwinism is now a hundred years old and this fact was the
of long periods and, consequently, of evolution, cannot main-       occasion of the publication of a book entitled A Century of
tain the infallible inspiration of Genesis 1 and, therefore, of     Darwin.     The writer of this article, Philip E. Hughes, re-
the whole of Scripture.                                             views this book and he writes that "the editor claims this book
    If in Calvin College this camouflaged theory of evolution       shows that, so far from being dead, Darwinism is res-Fe&able."
is taught, as it is, the inevitable result will be, that the        The writer, Hughes, adds: "Whether it is Tight is another
students draw the very logical conclusion that Genesis 1 is         question ; and perhaps it would be unkind to suggest that
not the infallibly inspired Word of God and that, therefore,        there is no place more respectable than a cemetery !" Accorcl-
the whole of the Bible is not infallibly inspired.                  ing to the writer, moreover, "The effect of the whole is
    In this contention I was supported by a recent article, an      neither massive nor impressive." Anclr  the reason for this is
editorial, in The Banner.                                           that the structure of Darwinism is based on an "unverifiable.
    The Rev. John Vander ,Ploeg writes that a student at            assumption preached as an infallible dogma."
Calvin Seminary questions the infallibility of Scripture. That          But the dogma of "natural selection" is still maintained.
student, M. Hoogland, wrote an article in Stroutzata,  a paper      It is, according to one of the authors of the above mentioned
published monthly by the Calvin Seminary students, under            bpok,  the great force "through which operation organic life
the title "Infallibility Questioned." The article, according to     in the multiplicity of all its forms has come into existence."
Rev. Vander Ploeg, is an "attempt to prove that the Bible           And Mr. Hughes adds: "Indeed, it might perhaps better be
is not infallible." He quotes from the article of Hoogland as       described as the new god which has supplanted the God of
follows :                                                           Scripture to whose creative activity the whole natural order
    "By way of conclusion and clarification it might be said        used to be attributed--and still is by those who have been
that the purpose here has not been to prove that .there are         renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
as a matter of fact errors in Scripture so much as it has been      them" (Cal.  3 :lO)  .

to suggest that there is no need for us to assume at all costs          I will not discuss the article at length. It certainly is worth

that the Scriptures are `infallible.' The writers of our con-       reading especially by students who, perhaps, entertain the

fessional standards make no reference to infallibility in the       false notion that the different species developed from one an-

sense in which it has come to be used by conservative               other. But I will cohclude  by quoting the closing paragraph

theologians today. In view of the relativity which the mean-        of the article :    `.                             .;..

ings of words so often display, it'may  not be too far-fetched          "It.is  the assumption unsupported and unsupportable by

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


  factual evidence and indeed contrary to scientific knowledge,          This -does not mean, however, that the matter itself was

  that life originated from lifeless matter and has, in all. its      entirely strange to the churches before this time. As we said,

  variety and complexity, evolved ultimately from the simplest        it lies in the nature of the church connection in the Reformed

  unicellular organism. With its dogmas, myths, and creedal           Churches that they are interested in and pay attention to one

  mystiques, modern Darwinism quite certainly qualifies for a         another. Often this was done also by specific and intentional

  place in current religious thought."                                investigation. Thus there was already an act concerning

     It is my contention that those who make of the creation          church visitation in the province of North Holland in 1575.

  days of Gen. 1 long periods of billions of- years must come to      Also in the churches of North Holland and Zeeland it was,

  the conclusion that all things have evolved from a simple and       for that very reason,    decided that the classical meetings

  single cell, that the species evolved from one-another, and that    should be held in all the different places of the Classis.  It

  life originated from lifeless matter. To be sure, they will say     was thought that, in this way, the Classis  would be in a

  that all this took place under the providence of God, but provi-    position to learn as much as possible about the condition of

dence  is not creation and neither is evolution.             H.H.     the various churches.

                                                                      . This, of course, proved quite insufficient especially in

                                                                      view of the fact that, even at that time, many evils already

                                                                      existed in the churches both in regard to doctrine and life:
         `THE QUESTION ABOUT CHURCH
                                                                      Discipline was not exercised and the life of the churches was
                         VISITATION
                                                                      often very lax. Hence, in 1579 a gravamen or proposition

     About this subject I received a question from the elders         was offered to the Particular Synod of South Holland re-

  of Classis East to be answered on their meeting of Jan. 6.          questing that each Particular Synod and Classis appoint depu-

  The question was: "What is the origin and history of. Art.          ties with the calling to take care of all cases that would occur'

  44 of the Church Order, and how must it be applied." And            between meetings and also to see to it that every one in the

 now my own consistory asked me to publish the remarks I              co&stories execute his office faithfully. This proposition was

  made in answer to the above question. You understand, of            not treated at the time because it was not handed in in time.

  course, that I spoke only from notes. And it-is from these          But it shows that the need for church visitation was felt. A'

  notes that I will attempt to reproduce what I said at the           similar proposition was brought to the attention of the

  meeting of the elders as nearly as possible.                        Synod of Middelburg in 1581. This, however, was rejected

     More than once the Church Order speaks of ecclesiastical         chiefly because the Synod was afraid of introducing hierarchy

  deputies that are assigned a certain task whether by the            in the churches.

  Classis or by the Synod. To these also belong the deputies             The General Synod of The Hague, however, held in 1586,

  that. are mentioned in Art. 44 and which are known as               introduced a rather strong article about church visitation in

  Church Visitors.                                                    the Church Order, and also added some guiding principles

   You ask me, first of all, what is the origin of this article.      for the church visitors that would be appointed by the Classes.

  To this I would reply that no specific origin of the custom of      The guiding principles were the following (my information

 . appointing church visitors can be designated. In. general,         I have from Rutgers' Kmkelijke Adwiezen,  Vol. I, p. 354 ff.) :

  however, I would say the origin must be found in the very              1. They shall occasionally listen to the sermons of the

  nature of the church connection. The Reformed Churches do           minister, not only to find out whether he is pure in doctrine,

  not lead a separate existence as individual churches but con-       but also- whether he preaches in such a way that the sermons

  stitute a denomination. Although, to. be sure, each congrega-       can be for the benefit and edification of the congregation.

  tion has its own consistory as its governing body, yet the          They shall further investigate whether the minister is diligent

  churches are united on the basis of the Confessions and the         in the reading and study of Scripture, and finally, whether

  Church Order. They have many things in common. It                   the minister makes use of the accepted forms for baptism and

  stands to reason, therefore, that seeing they have many com-        other ceremonies.

  mon interests, they are also interested in one another's well-         2. They shall carefully .and with courtesy attempt to find

  being and pay attention to one another. And this may be             out with the elders and deacons-of the church in which the

  regarded as the' origin of the custom of appointing church          minister serves, or even from the members of the church,

  visitors and of Art. 44 of the Church Order.                        whether the minister is faithful in edifying the church,

     As to the history of this article I may say the following.       whether he exercises Christian discipline, and whether to

     We all know, of course, that it was composed, almost in          that end the ecclesiastical gatherings are held.

  its present form, and adopted by the Synod of Dordrecht in             3. They shall also have oversight over the life and walk

  1618-19.  It took the place of an article about church visita-      of the minister, and find out whether there are any quarrels

 tion that was added to, the Church Order by the General              and disunity in the congregation or other disorders that are

  Synod of The Hague in 1586. Before this date nothing can            detrimental to the life of the congregation and that ought to

  be found about church visitation in the older editions of the       be removed as quickly as possible.

  Church O-rder.                                                         4. Finally, if with the members of the consistory there


                                               T H E   STANlIAR-D  .-BEARER                                                         199


 are found any faults with respect to the above mentioned in-         truth. For that reason Art. 44 speaks of the oldest, most ex-

, stances, they shall first admonish them privately unto im-          perienced and competent ministers.

 provement and also help them unto that end, and if this is of           "2. The visitors shall give the congregations at least eight

 no a&they  shall report the matter to Classis.                       days' notice of the day and hour of their proposed visit."

     From these principles we learn, first of all, that the church       I am glad that this decision speaks .of  giving notice, not

 visitors were chiefly concerned with the work and walk of            the consistories, but to the congregations. This implies, of

 the minister, although the rest of the consistory were, of           course, that also the members of the congregation are in-

 course, not excluded. Secondly, we also receive the impres-          terested in church .visitation.  It implies, too, that the -visit

 sion that the church visitors were given considerable power          of the church visitors be announced from the pulpit so that

even though it was only the power of advice. We may also              any member of the congregation that has anything against

 learn something from this in our day. It would be a good             the minister and his preaching or against the consistory and

 thing, for instance, especially in some cases, as in 1952-53,        their functioning in their respective offices, may bring this to

 that the church visitors visit the services to listen to the         the attention of the visitors. As far as I know this announce-

 sermon of the minister (without his knowing that they are            ment is never made from the pulpit, but it should be done

 coming or that they are present) to see whether he preaches          nevertheless. It certainly was done in former years accord-

 the Word of God to the edification of the congregation.              ing to Rutgers and should be done according to Monsma and

 There certainly can be no reasonable objection to this what-         Van Dellen.  It stands to reason that not everything can be

 ever. And the Synod of The Hague 1586 considered this                brought by members of .the congregation to the attention of

 quite proper. As it is today, church visitation is often noth-       the church visitors but only such matters as pertain to the

 ing .but a "wassen neus."                                            office and walk of the officebearers as, for instance, the

     But about this presently.                                        preaching of the ministers and the exercise of discipline by

     Thus, finally, the Synod of Dordrecht,  1618-19, adopted         the consistory. Suppose, on the one hand that the members

 article 44 and inserted it in the Church Order.                      of the congregation voice a general complaint that they are

    And the question is : how must this article be applied and        not edified by the preaching of- the minister, that he preaches

 carried out properly.                                                the same thing all the time, and that the elders know about

     I will first of all quote the article:                           it but do nothing about this situation, then I think it is

     "The classis shall authorize at least two of her oldest,         certainly the calling of the members to bring the matter to

 most experienced and most competent ministers to visit all           the attention of the church visitors and of the latter to in-

 the churches once a year and to take heed whether the min-           vestigate the matter. In a case like that it would even be

 ister arid the consistory faithfully perform the duties of their     proper for the church visitors to ask the minister whether

 office, adhere to sound doctrine, observe in all things the          they might see some of lnis sermons and to listen to some of

 adopted order, and properly promote as much as lies in them,         them. Suppose, on the other hand, that in the congregation

 through word and deed, the upbuilding of the congregation,           there are some chronic complainers for whom the sermons

 in particular of the youth, to the end that they may in time         of the ministers are never edifying, let them bring their well-

 fraternally admonish those who have in anything been negli-          grounded co,mplaint  to the church visitors. If they do, and

 gent, and may by their advice and assistance help direct all         the, latter find their complaints without ground, the visitors

 things to the peace, upbuilding and greatest profit of the           should admonish them. But if `they do not bring their com-

 churches. And each classis may continue these visitors in            plaint, the consistory can announce that no complaint was

 service as long as it sees fit, except where the visitors them-      lodged against the preaching and that the complainers may

 selves request to be released for the reasons of which the           henceforth and forever hold their peace.

 classis  shall judge."                                                  "3. The consistory shall see to it that all the consistory

     To this article the following decisions were appended (in        members are present at .the meeting which is appointed for

 my talk before the elders I a,dded  some remarks, to these           church visitation.. Any member failing to be present shall be

 decisions which I will now, too, append to each decision) :          required to give the meeting a good reason for his absence.

     "1. Each classis shall appoint from her midst at least two       If one-half of the members are absent the visitation cannot

 ministers and their alternatives."                                   be carried out."

    Remark: This is stated in Art. 44. Only it weakens  the              On this I have no remarks.

 article considerably. The article does not simply speak of              "4. The consistory shall see to it that the record books

 the appointment of at least two ministers but emphatically           are at hand for the inspection of the visitors."

 mentions "two of her oldest, most experienced and most com-             On this, too, no remarks.

 petent ministers." To my mind, this isevery  important. The             "5. Of the visitors, one shall function as chairman and

 fathers did not consider church visitation the work of every-        the other as secretary. They shall record their findings and

 body, not even of every minister. It is, if properly conducted,      actions in a book, which can be consulted at the next visita-

 a most difficult work that requires experience, tact and wis-        etion,  and which can be kept in the classical archives. "

 dom as well as strong conviction and clear insight into the             Also on this I have no remarks provided the first part

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


  of this. decision be properly understood. I am afraid that it              But that is not the purpose of Art. 44.

  is often understood in such a way that the president of the                And it certainly was not the purpose of our Reformed

  visitors also functions as chairman of the consistory. This is       fathers when they inserted this article in the Church Order.

  not the idea.. It is plain that the meeting for church visitation                                                                   H.H.

  is a meeting of the consistory and not of the visitors. Hence,

  the chairman of the visitors should not even presume to be                                 AS TO BOOKS
  president of the meeting. That this is the meaning of this                                                                              II
                                                                       I/
  decision is also evident from the rest, namely, that the other

  shall function as secretary. This cannot possibly refer to the             The Gl~viozts  Body of C1&st;  by R. B. Kuiper.  Published
  clerk of the consistory, but only' to the secretary of the           by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
  visitors.                                                            Price $4.95.
         "6. After completing the visitation of all the. congrega-           This is a good book which I may heartily recommend to
  tions,, the visitors shall with requisite discretion, compose a      our readers. It presents the biblical and Ref.ormed  view
  report of their activities at the next following classis."           of the Church of Christ. It criticises  in rather strong language
      N o   r e m a r k s .                                            the modern view of ecumenicity, in fact, it considers that
      For the questions prescribed for church *visitation see          view as contributory to the development and final realization
  pp. 59-61 of the Church Order.                                       of Antichrist, p. 4s.. It teaches that the true members of
      In conclusion, I wish to state that the church visitors          the Body of Christ are only the elect whom God has sover-
  should accomplish their task as faithfully and thoroughly as         eignly chosen from before the foundation of the world, pp.
  possible. In order to do this they should not confine them-          322 ff. And it defends this view over against all forms of
  selves to the prescribed questions in the back of our Church         Arminianism. '
  Order but should be at liberty to broaden out on them and                  To my mind; the order of the book is not always logical.
 give advice as occasion requires. For instance, they could            As an illustration of this fact I point to the place which the
  easily broaden out on the second question to the full con-           doctrine of election has in the book. It, occurs almost at the
  sistory : "Is the Heidelberg Catechism regularly explained in        end of the book after the whole subject of the Church, the
 the services for Divine Worship, so that no doctrine is left          sacraments, the offices, etc. has been treated. This is not
 untreated ?'     It is easy, of course, to answer !Y~J: to this       correct. Perhaps, this may also be regarded as the reason
 question and let the matter rest. But suppose that the                why, in connection with the truth of election, the.doctrine  of
purpose of the question is, too, to find out whether the min-          reprobation is not mentioned.
 ister is faithful in studying the doctrine explained in the                 The style of the book is very clear : it affords easy reading.
  Catechism and whether he himself remains ahead of the con-                                                                         H.H.
 gregation in knowledge so that he may be able to continue
 to edify the congregation. Then it becomes a different matter.              God's River, by Donald Grey Barnhouse. Published by
 Then the church visitors might ask such questions as these:           Wm. B. Eerdmans Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.  Price $3.50.

  "Do you always make new sermons on the Catechism or do                     This. book is the fourth volume of a series on the epistle

 you simply put the old pile upside down? What sources do              to the Romans. It covers the verses 5-11 of chapter 5 of that

 you study in connection with your Catechism preaching? Do             epistle. It is not meant to be a commentary although it

 you preach on the Catechism from different viewpoints ?               certainly offers an explanation of the text. I would rather

 From what viewpoint are you preaching on it at present?'              say that this book is an explanation of the text together with

 The same holds for many other questions. For instance, the            many illustrations `and practical applications. The book is

 question to the elders and deacons in the absence of the              quite sound in stressing the incapability of the sinner and the

 minister : "Does the minister reveal himself as a worthy              sovereign grace of God, although I would not subscribe to

example ?'       Again, it is easy to answer Yes and let it pass.      every statement. I fully agree with what the author writes

 But suppose you enter a little more deeply into the matter            on the idea of reconciliation on pp. 199-200.

 and ask : "How is his family-life ? Is there harmony between                I also agree with what he writes on the appeal of many

 man and wife ? Are the children obedient to their parents ?           evangelists to the human will. And he disapproves of such

 Are they allowed to visit places of amusements, theatres and          statements as ; "If you do not receive Christ as your Saviour,

 movies ? Are they allowed to turn on all kinds of radio and           you will be lost."     But he. thinks that the true proposition

 television programs ?' etc., etc.                                     should be: "If you do not receive the Lord SJesus  as your

     In one word, I hardly agree with the method of church             Saviour, you will remain lost. You always were lost. You

 visitation as it is conducted today.       .'                         were born lost.. You-'  are lost, and now we invite you to be

     Often, instead of spending thousands of dollars for church        reconciled to the true God who is all love toward you." This

 visitation one might better send a copy of the questions to           last can never be `truly said to any individual sinner or group
every consistory, ask them to fill in the answers and ask              of sinners.     God loves, not every lost sinner, but only the
 whether they need any advice.                                         elect lost sinner.                                            H.H.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   -BEAR.ER                                                        201


                                                                        and that after the appointed time His words shall surely be
           O U R   D'OCTRINE                                       '    fulfilled. Here, in the passage of Revelation, He swears that
                                                                   II the time .of the end is approaching, that there shall be no
                                                                        delay any more. And therefore, if in that portion we have
            THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                      a description of the Christ, as undoubtedly we do have, then

                         PART TWO                                       there can be no doubt that here .too  we have the same Son
                                                                        of Man performing a similar act.
                         CHAPTER VI                                         But, so we ask, how, in what capacity does the Lord

                         An Interlude                                   here appear to us ? And also then there can be no doubt

                                                                        but that we see the Lord in glory, as the King- Judge, and that
                       Revelation 10 :l-7
                                                                        with the emphasis on His being the Judge of heaven and

    Secondly, let us consider the similarity between this               earth. That He appears as the King is indicated, in the first
description and that in the first chapter of the book. There,           place, by the general glory of His appearance. His face
so we found, we certainly have a picture of the mighty Lord             shineth as the sun, and the rainbow is His crown, while the
Jesus. For He was the one that was dead and is alive and                feet are pillars of fire.    In the second place, this is indicated
lives forevermore and holds the key of death and hades. And             also' by what He does. He places His feet on the earth and
how was He described there? First of all, He came in-the                on the sea, by which He indicates that all is in subjection to
form of the Son of man. The description here in chapter ten             Him, as we. hope to see presently. He is the King, to Whom
indicates the same form. For although the text speaks of an             all power is given in heaven and on earth. But it. is especially
angel, nevertheless the details of the hands and feet and ,face         the appearance of the Judge which is very prominent. The
plainly picture the form of a Son of man. And in the second             brightness of His face, the raiment of the cloud, and especially
place, notice that there He was described as having eyes as             the fiery feet, ready to consume the enemies of His kingdom,
flames of fire and that His face was as the sun shineth in              all reveal to us that here the Lord appears especially as the
his strength. So also here, in chapter ten, we read that His            Judge of heaven and earth, come to wreak vengeance upon
face was as the sun. In the third place, notice that there, in          all the host of His enemies. And this is emphasized all the
chapter one, we read that His feet were as burnished brass,             more by the fact that there is no mention of the priestly garb
indicating that they were like fire. So also here,. in chapter          of reconciliation. The time for the priestly work of reconcilia-
ten, we read in a somewhat `different symbol that His feet              tion is drawing to an end. At any rate, the purpose of this
were like pillars of fire. The chief difference between the             appearance is not to reveal the Christ in that particular
description in our passage and that in the first chapter is that        capacity of reconciliation. The interlude is especially con-
there He wears the long priestly garb, while of it we read              nected with the last part of the preceding chapter, `and it is
nothing' in words of our text. But this difference. is, as we           at the same time preparing for what is still to come. In the
shall see, in harmony with the entire occasion of the ap-               last part of chapter nine we found that in spite of all the
pearance of this angel. In this vision the Lord does not mean           judgments that had already come upon the world, yet they
to reveal Himself as priest; and therefore the priestly garb            did not repent, but continued in their sin of devil-worship,
is lacking. But if we consider the similarity in both descrip-          idolatry, murder, fornication, and ,theft, continued to trample

tions, there can be but little doubt that here, as in chapter           under foot the blood of reconciliation that cried against them.

one, we have a vision of the glorified Lord, Jesus Christ.              And therefore, the purpose of this vision is not to reveal

   Thirdly, we cannot help to notice a striking resemblance             the Christ in His atoning power, as the Priest, but exclusively

between this passage and the last part of the book of Daniel.           as the almighty Judge that is on the verge of wreaking final

We read there that at the river Hiddekel a man appeared                 vengeance upon the .world  of sin and corruption. The entire

unto` Daniel, clothed in linen. His "loins were girded as with          purpose of this vision is to announce that judgment, terrible

pure gold of Uphaz, his body also was like the beryl, and               and final judgment, shall presently and speedily come upon
his face was as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were          the world, and that-the enemies of the kingdom are about to
as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like unto burn-           be destroyed. But although this is true, there is no reason
ished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a             to fear: for still He carries the `rainbow, the symbol of the
multitude." Daniel 10 :5, 6. That in this passage we have a             grace of God with regard to His creation and to all His
description of the Christ in His glory there can be no doubt.           people. It is through these final judgments that creation shall
But what is of special interest is that of- this man clothed in         completely be redeemed, that the covenant shall be realized
linen we read that as he stood above the river he lifted up             and perfected, and that. all the world shall be subjected to
his hands to heaven and sware by Him that liveth forever                the Triune God in glory. When all the judgments of this
and ever that it shall be for a time and times and a half time.         mighty King shall be realized, so the rainbow informs us,
Dan. 12 :7. There He performs somewhat the same act that                then shall also the new heavens and the new earth, in which
is ascribed to Him in the words of our passage. There, in the           righteousness shall dwell, .be completed.

passage from Daniel, He swears that the time is appointed,                                                                           H.H.

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


                                                                        their pl6a.  By faith the entreaty was made, and at the
11 A CLOUD OFWITNESSiZS  jl proper time the Lord gave them answer. Rebekah conceived.
                                                                           Immediately, however, there arose a new and different

                                                                        problem. God placed two children within the womb of Re-

                  The Birth of Isaac's Sons                             bekah, and as they developed the children struggled together

                                                                        within her. This Rebekah took to be a foreboding of evil,
             "And Rebekah his wife conceived. And the chil-             and she was overcome with fear. This fear she expressed
          dren  stwggled  together within her; a.nd  she said, If it    in the words, "If it be so, why am I thus ?,' If after all of
          be so, why am I thus?  And she went to enquire of the         the many years of waiting her conception was to come to
          Lovrd.  An4 the Lord said *unto  her, Two nations a,rc        nothing but evil, what was the good of her pregnancy ? what
          in thy zvomb,  and two vxu~ne~  of people shall be sep-       was the good of her marriage ? what was the good of her life ?
          arated fv-ovtz thy bowels: and the one people sha.11  be         It speaks once again of the faith of Rebekah that she did
          stronger than the other people; a.tid the elder shll          not let this fear prey endlessly upon her mind, but she went
          setme the you.ngey.`J  - Gen. 25 :21-23                       to inquire of the Lord, the only One who could give to her

       Rebekah, Isaac's wife was barren. She was like Sarah,            an answer to her problem. Neither did the Lord refuse to
her mother-in-law had been before her. She was like Rachel,             hear her prayer.      He gave to her the remarkable answer,
her son Jacob's wife, was to be in years to come. It is sur-            "Two nations are in thy. womb, and two manner of, people
prising how often in Scripture we read of barren women, not             shall be separated from thy bowels : and the one people shall
only these three, but Elizabeth, and Hannah, and Samson's               be stronger than the other people ; and the e!der shall serve
mother. All of them filled an important place in the history            the younger."
of God's covenant, and were married to faithful, Godfearing,               This was a most significant revelation, not just for Isaac
covenant husbands. Each was ordained by God to bring forth              and Rebekah, and for Esau and Jacob, but for the Church of
a child which would fitI  an important place in the develop-            all ages and for all who have come in contact with it through
ment of the covenant. Nonetheless,"each  in her own time                the means of the Scriptures. It is filled with implications
was called to go through a period of hoping, longing, and               concerning God, concerning His relationship to men, con-
anxious waiting such as only a barren woman can know, a                 cerning the nature of His eternal counsel. For those who
period ,especially  severe for a believing woman who longs to           will receive it, it is a rich source of instruction. For those
bring forth covenant children unto the Lord.                            who refuse it, it can only be a testimony against them.
   There was, however, a wisdom of God which caused this                   As Paul was careful to note in his writings to the Romans,
to be. As we noted each of these women was ordained to                  this revelation took place before the children were born or
bring forth and raise a child which was to fill a special place         had done either good or evil. Already then God revealed very

in God's plan of redemption. Through their years of barren              completely what the children would be like, what sort of seed
waiting God impressed on each bf their minds in turn their              they would have, and what their relationship to each other
own personal weakness and inability. Thus when the time                 would be merely on the basis of the fact that He had deter-
finally came when they should bring forth their sons, they              mined it. From an earthly point of view the children were as
had been prepared by God to realize that the child came not             yet as similar as two children could possibly be. They were
forth from their own strength but from the riches of God's              both. children of the8 same parents, brought forth in the same
grace for His people. It is God's desire that His people                womb at the same time. They were not yet born and had not
should always understand that redemption comes to them not              as yet revealed any difference in character or nature; neither
by the strength of the flesh but by His grace alone. This is            had they performed any works for which they could be held
generally true throughout the history of the Church; this was           responsible. Yet there was a difference between them, a dif-
specifically true in the life of Isaac and Rebekah.                     ference so great that they already struggled together as ene-
       It speaks for the excellency of the faith of Isaac and           mies, a difference *that caused them to be antithetically re-
Rebekah that all we read of the twenty years, of waiting is,            lated to each other already in the womb. This difference could
"And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was             have only one source, the good pleasure of the God that

barren," Gen. 25 :21. Abraham and Sarah under similar                   caused them to be.

circumstances had yielded to the temptation of earthly wis-                The words "elder" and "younger" as they appear in Gen.

dom to seek to raise to themselves a seed through the means             25 :23 are not actually complete renditions . of the original

of Sarah's" handmaid, Hagar. Jacob and Rachel  in later years           Hebrew text. The former word does signify the thought of

did much the same with Rachel's handmaid Bilhah. Each of                "elder" or "older," but it also implies the ideas "numerous,

those cases arose out of the weakness of faith and gave rise            great, and mighty."     The latter denotes "younger" but also

to further sorrow and discord within the respective homes.              "few,, small, and insignificant." Actually what we have in

Isaac and Rebekah did not yield to such wicked temptations.             this text, therefore, is a description not only of the two

They realized that it was the hand of the Lord which with-              children personally but also of the nations that would come

held -from  them children, and b&fore  the Lord they made               forth from them and follow in their footsteps. The oldest


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  203


son, which was Esau, would be great and strong and mighty ;            tion and reprobation. Jacob, weaker according to the flesh,

he would bring forth a numerous seed that would be like                had his ascendency  in election. His nation consisted in the

him. On the other hand the younger, Jacob, would be weak               old dispensation of the elect gathered after him from his

and insignificant; his seed would be few, petty and small.             natural seed, but in a broader sense of the elect .of all ages

From their very inception there would be a marked distinc-             who with him are chosen of God and precious. On the other

,tion  between the two sons. The oldest son would appear to            hand, Esau, although stronger in the flesh, was not chosen

have all of the advantages of earthly power and might. The             of God but rejected and reprobate. The nation ascribed to

youngest son would have the disadvantages of smallness,                him was, in the first place, the wicked nation brought forth

weakness and insignificance.                                           from his flesh ; but, in the broader sense, it too includes all

    Nonetheless, in reality there was to be an almost para-            that are reprobate with him according to the counsel of God.

doxical reversal, a reversal that would stand in direct con-           It is the eternal wisdom of God revealed in this text that

trast to earthly appearance and human wisdom. The older                the reprobate, numerous and mighty though they may be, al-

and stronger would be subjugated in service to the younger.            ways serve to the good of the small but elect remnant who

In them was to be exemplified the strange rule of the kingdom          are precious to the God who chose them.

of heaven so often mentioned by Jesus, "But many that are                 There are those who claim to be Reformed and none-

first shall be last; and the last shall be first," Matt. 19:30.        theless object to an mterpretation such as this because, they

In them would become manifest the reality of which Paul                say, it makes reprobation equally ultimate with election. If

wrote to the Corinthians, "For ye see your calling, brethren?          they mean by this that reprobation is not to be made as

how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,           definite, as absolute, as eternally certain as election, they

not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish            deny the clear teaching of this text, especially in the light of

things of the world to confound the wise: and God hath                 Paul's use of this  text in Romans 9. The reprobation of

chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things             Esau and his nation took place before he was born and was

which are mighty ; And base things of the world, and things            just as certain as Jacob's election. However, if we ask about

which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which             the logical order of God's purpose in election and reproba-

are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh             .tion, they are definitely not equally ultimate. According to

should glory in his presence," I Cor. 1:26-29.                         certainty reprobation is equal to election, but according to

    When it comes to identifying the historical realization of         God's purpose reprobation always serves election. This is

this prophecy, it is not difficult to see that from ,the  beginning    the teaching "of the prophecy which was made known to Re-

Esau had the earthly advantage. At birth Esau was ruddy                bekah, the elder shall serve the younger, the reprobate shall

and strong; Jacob was not. For an occupation Esau chose                serve the elect.

that of a hunter adapted to his strength and cunning ; Jacob               The fulfillment of this prophecy came to pass in the indi-

was satisfied with the less challenging occupation of shepherd.        vidual lives of Esau and Jacob. In a typical sense it also took

In life Esau was forward and bold, confident in his own                place in the two nations that came forth from their loins.

ability ; Jacob made recourse to trickery and deceit. When             And in the broadest sense it is always being fulfilled in the

Esau threatened his life, Jacob, fled the land in fear. Even           relationship between elect and reprobate in all history. The.
when Jacob returned to Canaan enlarged and wealthy, he                 reprobate from an earthly point of view are always the great,
came trembling because he feared the greater strength of               the many, the strong and the mighty. They hold the positions
Esau and his four hundred armed men.                                   of earthly power and prestige. But before God all of this

    When it comes to identifying the prophesied servitude of           prowess is as nothing for there is one thing they lack - His

Esau to Jacob, however, the problem becomes more difficult.            infinite and eternal favor. He according to His eternal good-

It seems impossible to find any point in Esau's personal life          pleasure brings forth His people as meek and lowly, small

when he was subjected in service to his brother. In fact,              and insignificant in earthly power and numbers. But His

even when the personal life of Esau is passed by and we look           love is with them, and His power is great enough to make the

exclusively at the nation which came forth from him, the               greatness of the mighty reprobates serve to the eternal good

`problem does not clearly resolve itself. There were, of course,       of the lowly elect,

times in history when the Edomites were subjected to Israel ;             That this `might be made known God caused two different
but we also find the rather strange situation where at the             children to grow together in the womb of Rebekah, one elect
close of Israel's history as a distinct nation the Herods  sat         and the other reprobate. Antithetically related according to
upon the throne of the Jewish nation, and they were Edom-              election, He caused them to struggle together. When they
ites, children of Esau.                                                came forth from the womb the weaker grasped the heel of

    This difficulty arises when one tries to interpret this            the stronger. He was Jacob, the supplanter, weak according

, prophecy as being merely historical. It was at times realized        .to the flesh but favored of God and eternally ordained to sup-

historically ; but then it was only typical. Being typical it          plant the strong of the earth, thus receiving a greater weight

was temporal and did not endure. From Romans 9 we learn                in glory.

that essentially this prophecy was spiritual referring to elec-                                                                  B.W.

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


                                                                  or them were foolish, and five. were wise. For the foohsh,
Ii FROM HOLY WR,l-i                                               when they took their lamps, took no oil w2h them; but the
                                                             II wise took oil in their vessels w2h their lamps . . . . . And
                                                                  while they went "way to buy, the bridegroom came;
            Exposition of Matthew 24 and 25                       and they that were ready went in with hivn into t?te marriage

                                                                  feast: and the door was shut. Afterwards cavne  also the other
                              XI.                                 z+gins,  say&g,  Lord, Lord, open unto `us. But he answered

                                                                  and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch
                      (Matthew 25 :l-13)
                                                                  therefore, for ye know not the hour nor the day."

    Once again we turn our attention to the instruction of our      Jesus is here speaking of the kingdom of heaven. He says
Lord in his eschatological address in Matthew 24 and 25. In       in verse 1, "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto
the past two issues of The Stundard  Bearer we digressed just     ten virgins."    This should immediately warn us not to limit
a bit to other passages of Scripture. We did this for two         the notion in the text to the church. For the kingdom of
reasons. The first was because we were doing .much traveling      heaven and the church are not identical concepts in Scrip-
and speaking and visiting and therefore wrote on what was         ture. The church is the body of' Jesus Christ, the fulness of
most convenient at the time. The other reason was that in         him that filleth all things in all. Not so the kingdom of
that- way we could write on something in line with the            heaven. The latter refers to the reign of the Son of man
holiday season, Christmas and New Year.                           over all things, and of His spiritual reign in our hearts by

   But now we return once more to our exposition of Mat-          His Word and Spirit. Although the reign of Christ in His
thew 24 and 25.                                                   Church differs from his reign over the wicked, being a reign
                                                                  in the church, this reign of Christ in His kingdom is wider
   Up till this point we have discussed through the twenty-
                                                                  than the Church. His kingdom is over all things. He is set
fourth chapter of Matthew. The line of thought was briefly
                                                                  at the right hand of God, King in Zion, and to him is given
as follows: Jesus is answering the questions of his disciples
                                                                  a rod of iron that the nations may be punished.
concerning the time when the sign of the Parousia of the
Son of Man shall be and concerning the end of the world.             Such is the viewpoint in our text.

These two matters are not two chronologically different              We must here keep in mind the prophetic perspective of

points in time. They fall together. When the sign of the          Daniel's night-visions as recorded to us in Daniel 7. Here

Parousia is come then shall also be the end of the world.         the kingdom is presented as belonging to the Son of Man,

                                                                  heir of all things, and as it is given to the saints. The
   It is especially of this end (consummation) of the world,
                                                                  thrones of the nations are overthrown in rapid succession.
the return of the Son of Man to judge the living and the
                                                                  Such is the drama of history. Such are the sorrows of the
dead that Christ speaks throughout the twenty-fourth chapter
                                                                  history of the world. They are the "birthpangs" which end
and of all that leads up to it: And repeatedly the Lord im-
                                                                  in the final return of the Son of Man. Then shall be the
presses upon the minds of his disciples and upon the minds
                                                                  Parousia, the glorious return of Christ to forever be with His
of all who read and hear the words of `this prophecy that we
                                                                  people in glory. It will be as the arrival of the bridegroom,
be wa#tchful  and in readiness.
                                                                  who will come to claim his bride, and to forever be with her.
   Thus we read in Matthew 24 :13 : "But he that endureth         Just as the bridegroom does not come to take his bride for
unto the end, the same shall be saved." In verse 42 of this       a season, so shall be the Parousia. When once Christ comes
same Chapter we read, "Watch therefore: for ye know not           as the Son of Man to claim all things He shall never again
on what day your Lord cometh." And again in the next two          leave the Church. The Kingdom shall then be His forever.
verses of this same Chapter we read, "But know this that if       And it shall be to the saints, for all those who love His ap-
the master of the house had known in what watch the thief         pearance.
was coming, he would have watched, and would not have                In this light the "then" in verse 1 takes on a very signif-
suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore, be ye         icant meaning. It does not so much refer to a point on the
also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man       calendar as a temporal significance, (although it is a date on
cometh."                                                          the calendar) but rather to the definite time of the Son of

   In the present passage, which is now under consideration,      Man at the time. It will not be just anytime according to the

Jesus again repeats the warning that we live in constant          determinate counsel of God. It will be the Consummation of

readiness and watchfulness. In Matthew 25 :13 we `read,           the ages. It will be the time of harvest - God's harvest time.

"Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour."          Then shall the wicked be judged accor.ding  to their works and

   With the foregoing in mind let us take more particular         according to their attitude toward the Son of Man. And
notice of Matthew 25 :l-13 where we read: "Then shall the         then shall also the righteous receive their reward of grace as '
                                                                  the foreknown children of God, children of election!
kingdom of keaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took

thei~la.mps  and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And jive         Only the children of election will dwell in readiness to

                                                                                                                 .


                                            T H E   STAN.DARD  B E A R E R                                                             205


meet their Lord. Th&$ only love His appearance and seek            midnight. Almost they had forgotten. But the extra oil made

the things above where Christ is at the right hand of God.         it possible to join,the  festal group to the house of the bride-

The wicked and the hypocrites and all who do not repent            groom. Not so the foolish virgins in the parable.

from their sins will ih that day hear, "Verily I say unto you,         For the foolish "the door is shut."
I know you not."                                                       They are not simply too late. They are at heart enemies

   To demonstrate this point very clearly Jesus employs the        of the bridegroom. They are not really his friends. He does

figure and custom of his time of friends going out to meet         not even know them. Thus it is with all who do not live in

the Bridegroom.                                                    readiness and watchfulness, but begin to smite their fellow-

                                                                   servants. When Christ shall come they shall receive accord-
   It should be admitted at. once that in Scripture Christ is
                                                                   ing to their works which were evil. And just as the fo'olish
often called the Bridegroom. However, that does not mean
                                                                   virgins will not be able to enter so shall all that hateth God
that in this passage the term "Bridegroom" should be ex-
                                                                   and loveth and maketh the lie be cast out into outer darkness.
ploited to the fullest extent.    That the Bridegroom in this
                                                                   There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
parable is the "Sop.  of Man" is only incidental to the story.
Thus also with the terms "virgin" in the text. Certainly the           Since God works grace through admonitions, let us heed,
foolish virgins are not virgins in the sense that they will        by his grace, this admonition and live in readiness as those
one day be the "b&de" of the bridegroom in the parable.            who know the Lord being known of Him!                 -
Nor do the prudent virgins become the bride of the groom.                                                                           G.L.

They are in the- parable only the friends of the bride and
the groom. They rejoice with the Bridegroom and the bride                              Notice for Classis  West                 ,-'

in the parable. To spiritualize the parable in every detail           Classis West of the Prote`stant  Reformed Churches will

leads to dogmatical absurdities. We should not attempt to          meet, the Lord willing, in South Holland, Illinois, on Wed-

distill doctrine from a parable but rather demonstrate the         nesday, March 18, 1959, at 9 A.M.

doctrine by the parable ! Hence, the attempt to ascertain             The consistories are reminded of the rule that all matters

what in .a soteriological sense is exactly indicated by the        for the classical agenda must be in the hands of the Stated

"oil" in the lamps also leads to absurdity. Did the foolish        Clerk not later than 30 days before the date of Classis.

virgins in the parable not have "oil" too ? They ,did not take                                   REV. H. VELDMAN, Stated Clerk

oil in their vessels. They ran out! Suppose one would at-

tempt to interpret this "oil" as referring to Holy Spirit in
                                                                                          Teacher Needed
a saving sense (for that it would then be in the prudent
virgins !) would this not lead to the conclusion of the falling       Hope Protestant Reformed Sdliool, 1545 Wilson Ave.,
away of the saints ? ! But how could that be true? Does not        S: W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, is in need of an additior$
the bridegroom say to these foolish virgins, "Verily I say         teacher in the elementary grades for the. 1959-60  school year.
unto you, I know ydu not"?                                         If interested, please apply by contacting Mr. J. Kalsbeek,
                                                                   secretary of the school board, 4132 Hall, S.W., Grand Rapids,
   I must honestly say that after much thought I believe that      Michigan, phone AR 6-7556.
sober exegesis of this passage leads us to look in another

direction. We must..ask:  what is the terbium  cowzpara.tionis

in the parable. What is the central point which our Loid                                    IN MEMORIAM

would teach us here and bind upon om- conscience. What is             Our Board wishes to express their sympathy with one of its
the comparison which our Lord makes in this passage. That          members, Mr. Gerrit B. Lubbers in the loss of his Mother,

is the question we must face and ans?er.                                             MRS. JACOB A. SCHUT-DEKRAKER

   It is certainly beyond contradiction that our Lord through-        The Lord our God.`give comfort and consolation unto the be-
                                                                   reaved family.
out this entire eschatological discourse impresses upon the                                   The Board of Hope Prot. Ref. School
disciples the need of being watchful. We have called atten-                                   Mr. Ted Engelsma, President

tion to the meaning of "watchfulnessi  in an earlier essay in                                 Mr. John Kalsbeek, Secretary

this series. We only wish here to reaffirm that watchfulness

and. readiness consist in a Christian walk of thankfulness,
                                                                                            IN MEMORIAM
that we have been redeemed from so, great a death, and thus
live in the hope of Christ's final return, expecting the same         The Men's Society of the Kalamazoo Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                   herewith wish to express their sincere sympathy to one of their
with patience.                                                     fellow members, Mr. W. Clason, in the loss of his mother,

   He who would seriously seek the honor of the bridegroom                                  MRS. G. CLASON

in the parable would surely take the precaution of having ex-         May our covenant God comfort and sustain him in his sorrow.

tra oil in the lamps. Especially whereas they did not know                                             Rev. A. Mulder, President
just at what hour the bridegroom would come. He came at                                                Mr. Jack Van Dyke, Secretary


2     0     6                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                       regenerated child of God sees, and considers to be precious,
Ii                   I N   H I S   F E A R                        II nothing more than foolishness and worthless. The King and
                                                                       the blessings of the kingdom he just cannot see. At best to

                                                                       him it is a fancy pipe-dream but there is no reality in it ic 7
      I,            And Keep His Commandments . . ."                   him. And surely included in that lack of ability to see is the
           . . .
                                                                       fact that he cannot believe anything of that kingdom. SO
                                (4)                                    that he cannot even believe that Christ is there knocking at

      "Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the             the door of .his heart-if you wish to keep that phrase. He
whole duty of man."                                                    cannot even believe that Christ desires his salvation. No,
      Solomon said that; and we have no right to change it.            with the Apostle Paul we say that even this faith is a gift of

      We may not eliminate that fear of God as belonging to            God and that the duty of man to believe (or fear God) is

our duty before God. But we may not eliminate either the               fulfilled by man only as God gives him the power to do so.
keeping of His commandments from what constitutes our                  Here again Christ must come between the must and the can ;
duty before His face. Salvation is not lawlessness and license         and He does not come after our believing but with the be-

to sin. We are saved exactly in order that we may keep God's           lieving ; and that means both logically and' chronologically

law and are saved by having God's law written in our hearts            before the believing.
by His Spirit. We are saved from lawlessness; and in salva-               But, as we began to say, these two, fearing God and keep-
tion we are given the love of God, which finds delight only in         ing His commandments, are always found together. No man
keeping His commandments. Although, as we pointed out                  simply fears God but does not keep His commandments.
last-time, the ability to do this is not included in the demand        And no man keeps God's commandments even though he

that we do it, yet God works in those whom He saves both               does not believe in God. This latter truth is taught very

to will and to do.                                                     literally in Scriptures. We read so clearly and emphatically

      We do well at this point also to note that the one without       in Hebrews 11 :6, "But without faith it is impossible to please

the other is impossible. And we do well to consider that the           Him : for he that cometh  to God must believe that He is, and

one is as impossible as the other apart from God's grace. It           that He is a rewarder of them that diligently `seek Him."

is not so that we can fear God but need grace to keep His              .And again, Paul writes to the church at Rome these words,

commandments. It is not so that before we are regenerated              "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth

we can believe in God but cannot keep His commandments.                not of faith : for whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Rom. 14 :23.

It is not the truth of Scripture that we do have the power to             From these passages it ought to be plain that the un-

accept Christ in order to receive from Him the power to                believer never keeps God's commandments and sins in every-

keep God's commandments. The must of faith, as well as the             thing that he does. Indeed, as was the case with Jehu, the

must of keeping God's commandments, does not contain the               unbeliever may, in love of his own flesh and in hatred to-

ability nor even imply the ability to do so. All Arminianism           wards God, keep the outward form of the letter of the law in

is based on that unscriptural tenet; all conditional promises,         a few isolated cases that bring advantage to his flesh. But

all offers of salvation, all altar calls, all pleading to let Jesus    the unbelievers do not perform therein acts of love to God.

Christ have His way and to open the heart door to Him so               Consequently they do not keep His commandments but make

that He can begin the work of salvation in us are based on             use of His commandments to try to live apart from Him.' It

the presupposition that the man so addressed CAN believe,              simply is an undeniable truth of Scripture that without faith

can desire salvation before Christ is in that heart and before         we cannot keep God's commandments.

God will bestow any part of the rich blessedness of salvation.            Nor is this a New Testament doctrine that was unknown

But it simply is not true. As we pointed out last time, ex-            to the Church in the Old Testament dispensation. Job, who

cept a man be born again `he cannot even see the kingdom.              was a contemporary of Abraham declared in Job 28 :28, "And

And that means that he sees nothing of that kingdom. He                to man he said, Behold the fear of the Lord, 7hat is wisdom;

does not see the King of that kingdom or any of the blessings          and to depart from evil is understanding." The psalmist says

in that kingdom. Surely he cannot see that Christ Who is               in Psalm 111 :lO, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of

supposed (we say supposed because any honest exposition                wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His

of Revelation 3 :20 will reveal that Christ stands and knocks          commandments : His praise endureth for ever." Notice what

at the door of the church at Laodicea and not at the heart of          Solomon says, in the wisdom which God gave him, in Prov.

the individual members in that church) to be knocking there.           8:13,  "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride and arrog-

Granted, for the sake of argument that he could hear the               ancy,  and the evil way, the froward mouth do I hate." Or

knock- which he cannot do for the same reason that he                  again, note what he writes in Proverbs 16.:6, "By mercy and

cannot see the kingdom: he is spiritually dead- he still               truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men

could not see the Christ standing there ; and at best he would         depart from evil."       God speaks through the mouth of Jere-

call it imagination. How can a man even desire that which              miah in chapter 32 verse 40 very clearly in regard to the

he cannot see ? Yea, the-natural man calls all that which the          matter we are discussing. We read, "And I will make an


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 207


everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away           an act of- love to tell God that we do not believe Him? Is

from them, to do them good: but I will put my fear in their         it ever an act of love to tell Him Who is truth and is light

hearts, that they shall not depart from me." Can you want           that He is a liar? Nay, had Eve continued in the love of God

the relationship between these two expressed more clearly?          she would have told the devil that he is the liar and that

God will give us the fear that He demands of us as our duty         she was going to continue to take God at His word, to be-

before Him; and he will do so in order that we may keep the         lieve in Him, to walk in His fear and have no doubt concern-

commandments which He demands of us. The must of keep-              ing Who He is and what He demands of us.

ing His commandments becomes a can keep His command-                   But when you look at faith from the viewpoint of its being

ments when He gives to us the can of believing in Him. We           the spiritual bond whereby we are united with Christ, it

must believe, and we must obey. We cannot fear, and we              becomes exceedingly plain that unless we have faith, that is,

cannot obey. But God gives us the fear in order that we may         unless we are so engrafted into Christ by `faith we cannot

be able to obey. He gives us the ability to obey by giving us       keep God's commandments. Jesus expresses that so beauti-

His fear. Truly only In His Fear do we keep His command-            fully in John 15 :5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches : He

ments.                                                              that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth

   In all the passages quoted above, keeping God's law and          much fruit: for without (or better translated, apart from)

fearing Him or believing in Him are combined. If we simply          me, ye can do nothing." And in the preceding verse which

look at faith in the sense of the activity of believing, the        explains the one we just quoted Jesus says, "Abide in me, and

reason for this can be seen. How can one possibly serve one         I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it

whom one does not know? How can one keep the com-                   abide in the vine ; no more can ye except ye abide in me,"

mandments of one whom one denies as even existing? How              John 15 14.

can the atheist - so called, for there is no practical atheist -       We have no life in us of ourselves. We have no desire

keep the commandments of a God whom he claims does not              or ability in us, as we are by nature, whereby we would

exist? If I am of the opinion that Jehovah does not exist           keep-  God(s  commandments. We could never say with the

except in the minds of men, why should I serve Him ? That           psalmist, "0 how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the

is the height of folly! There might be reason to serve a god        day" (Psalm 119 :97) except as we, standing in that living

whom I hated, whose religion and worship I detest. It might         connection with Christ, which the engrafting into Him by a

be wise for me to keep at least some of his commandments in         true faith realizes, draw all the desire and power out of Him.

the slavish .fear of what he might be able to do to me. So did      No more than the branch cut off from the vine can produce

Cain bring a sacrifice to God. But the author of the epistle        any fruit, can the man who does not stand in that living

to the Hebrews, and the Spirit of Truth Who guided him,             union with Christ which God accomplishes by the bond of

make a point of it that without faith it is impossible to please    faith keep one of God's commandments or even have the

Him, and thus to keep His commandments. God hated that              desire to keep one.

sacrifice of, Cain even as Solomon writes, "The sacrifice of           Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the

the wicked is an abomination to the Lord ; but the prayer           whole duty of man. That is absolutely true. But we may

of the upright is His delight," Proverbs 15 :S. Cain did in an      also say, on the basis of all of the Scriptures, Fear God and

outward sense what God demanded; yet.he did not keep God's          keep His commandments are both the gift of God to us in

commandments. The inner principle of God's demands,                 Christ. We must. We cannot get away from the must in

whether these are found in the Ten Commandments or in the           either that fear or ,the keeping of those commandments. `And

ceremonial laws, is love to God. That is the idea of Proverbs       we can do both because God has come between that must

15 3. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the          and us in the person, Spirit and work of Christ to engraft  us

Lord because it is not, an act of love. Indeed, God taught          into Him by a true and'living faith. You cannot, on the basis

man to sacrifice. God taught man to approach Him only in            of Holy Writ, say to every man you meet on the street, "God

the way of a sacrifice. He taught us to come to Him in the          promises every one of you that if ye believe you will be saved."

blood of Christ; and that is why Abel came with the bloody          But you can say, "God promises His elect people faith and

sacrifice of the lamb. That is why his prayer (sacrifice) was       through it the desire and power to keep His commandments."

a delight to God. He showed love to God. He did it in the           The former statement puts God in a position where His pur-

fear of God. In reverence and awe before Him as the Holy            poses may be put to naught and where the blood of Christ

God that He is, in faith in His word that the blood of Christ       may have been shed in vain. And it puts unbelieving man

is the only way to the Father, believing that only the sacrifice    before God in salvation. Therefore such a statement cannot

of the life of Christ gives us, corrupt and guilty sinners that     be made and. defended in love to God. The latter statement

we are, the right to approach God in prayer, Abel showed            speaks of His ,faithfulness  to His everlasting covenant and

love to God. Cain showed nothing but hatred toward God              acknowledges Him as being first, last and all in our salvation".

even though he brought a sacrifice.                                 Therefore it expresses love to God. The former .does  not

 .Do  not forget that to fear God or believe in -Him is an          show. faith in the testimony of God in the Scriptures and

act of love as well.as keeping His commandments. Can it 11':                               (Continued on page 213)

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


                                                                   the elements into the historical body of Christ, denying that

                                                                   the mystery identified the sacramental `with the historical

                                                                   body. A great many followed along the lines marked out by

            The Church and the Sacraments                          Radbert, among whom, of the ninth century, were Florus
                                                                   Magister,  subdeacon of Reims, Hinemar of Reims, Remigius,
   VIEWS DURING THE THIRD PERIOD (750-1517 -A.D.)                 and Pseudo-Alcuin." - end of quote.
                THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.                                 Radbertus, therefore, taught that by the words of conse-
                THE- EUCHARIST (continued)                        cration the bread and the wine are changed into the body and

       We now continue with the quotation on the views of the     blood of Christ, although these remain concealed under the
Eucharist by' Raclbertus by the New Schaff-Herzog Religious        qualities of bread and wine as to the senses. He taught that
Encyclopedia : "This is done by miracle (i. 2)) a creative act    in the consecration the sensible properties remain unchanged.
performed by the word of the Creator; more particularly,          Mind you, he speaks of the sensible properties as being un-
through the medium of Christ's words on institution since         changed. However, the substance of the bread and wine with-
he is himself the substantial and eternal Word. The body of       in are efficaciously changed into the real body and blood of
Christ is not perceptible by the senses, because that would       Christ.

be superfluous (visibility of the presence of the body) and
                                                                  Earl31  Medieval Developments.
would not increase the reality, and to eat the flesh in its

sensible appearance would clash with human custom (xi. 1) ;           Radbertus was opposed in his view of the Eucharist and

because such reception would seem repulsive and. ridiculous       of Transubstantiation by most of his contemporaries. He

to heathen and unbelievers (xiii. i sqq.) ; but mostly because    himself had been involved in a violent dispute with another

the operation would no longer be a mystery but a pure mir-        monk, Ratramn.      Radbertus had started from the omnip-

acle, whereas. the former by concealing the content does not      . otence of God, to Whom all things are possible, and main-

originate but excites faith so that this is preserved and its     tained the miraculous change of the elements of bread and

meritorious service is enhanced (xiii. 1 sqq., i. 5): Though      wine. He had looked upon the elements as no more than a

upon consecration the bread and wine are only such in ap-         veil which deceives our senses and keeps the body of Christ

pearance, yet not all symbols are merely appearances, and         concealed from us. He was opposed'by  Ratramn. Ratramn

these as symbols cover the real presence as content.              properly distinguished between the .signs  and the thing rep-

   "The explanation of Radbert's position in holding at once      resented by them, the internal and external, and pointed
such opposite views (his view on Transubstantiation and the       out the true significance of the mystehes,  which .consists  in
view of Augustine- H.V.) is found in his attachment to the        this, that through their medium the.mind  of man rises from
literal authority of the' Scriptures. Christ's words, `This is    the visible to the invisible. If it were--possible to eat the body
my body,' are to be taken in the crassest literalness. Christ     of Christ, in the proper sense of `the `word, faith would no
has only one body and if another body be offered in the sacra-    longer be required, and the mysteryj'as  such, would lose all
ment than the crucified one, another blood than what was          its significance. The gross reality `would destroy the idea,
shed, then its partaking could not effect the forgiveness of      and nothing but a mere materialism-would remain. Ratramn
sins. The historical body is the indispensable basis of the       also supposed a conversion of the bread and wine into the
sacramental body, howsoever spiritual the sacramental mys-        body of Christ, but only in the ideal sense of the word.
tery. Moreover, Christ abides in the believer by the unity           However, the doctrine of Transubstantiation gained the
of. his flesh and blood which must be `sustained by the real      ascendancy during these medieval.ages.  In the eleventh cen-
presence in the sacrament. These two disparate views of the       tury this doctrine and view as taught by Radbertus was
patristic (of the fathers, H.V.) tradition Radbertus ap-          denied by a certain Berengar, Canon of Tours, and afterwards
proximated but never successfully fused. `This remained for       Archdeacon at Angers. Berengar combated principally the
the strenuous efforts of the later centuries, as evidenced in     doctrine of an entire change,.,in  such a manner as to make
the following elements of the resulting dogma : (1) The body      the bread cease to be bread, and to have `nothing left but the'
of Christ is not created but becomes present-in the consecra-     accidents. In accordapc-e..with  the earlier fathers, he retained
tion though without extension in space; (2) the relation of       the doctrine of a change from an inferior to a superior form,
the presence to the sensible properties is posited under the      and of a mystical participation in the body of Christ under'
categories "of substance and accidents (the word `accident'       the figure of bread. ,-: "

here refers to any"non-essential  circumstance or attribute -        Berengar was.  violently opposed`&  four opponents, who

H.V.) ; and (3) the'elements are symbols of the presence and      are recognized as practically the authors of the doctrine of

the sa&tX~ental  body is symbol of the mystical body, the         Transubstantiation. Two of these opponents were Lanfranc

sustenance of both in one constituting the blessing. Two of       and Guitmund. Lanfranc was the first to teach that the body

his contemporaries opposed the  view of Radbert, namely,          of Christ is received also by the unworthy, a view essentially

Rabanus Maurus and Ratramnus; both .of.f  whom were Au-           implying the reality of the change of the bread. This lies in

gustinian. The former took offense atthe transformation of        the nature of the case. If the elements of- the bread and wine


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   .B.EA'RER                                                       209


 are actually changed into the body and blood of Christ,             or made an unchangeable article of faith by Pope Innocent

 then it surely makes' no difference whether `a believer or an       III. Innocent fixed this doctrine as a dogma at the Fourth

 unbeliever receives them. More important than the word of           Lateran  Council in 1215. This decree reads as follows:

 Lanfranc was the work of Guitmund. In this work the view            "There is verily one universal Church of the faithful, out-
 was set forth that "in the sacrament, the substance, not the        side of which no one at all is saved, in which the same priest

 form, being changed, the bread and wine do not become new           is himself the sacrifice, Jesus Christ, .whose  body and blood

 flesh and new blood, .but the existing body of Christ that,         are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the

 nevertheless, each separate particle is `the whole body of          .species  of bread and wine, the bread being transubstantiated

 Christ." In this latter statement are contained four axioms         into the body, and the wine into the blood, by divine power."
 of subsequent theologians : " (1) not a part of the body of              So, the doctrine was now officially established. And noth-

 Christ (as the flesh). but the whole body, the whole Christ,        ing was left to the later scholastics, but to answer still more

 is present in the Eucharist in virtue of the change ; (2) the       subtle questions, such as : "In what respect can it be said

 whole body, the whole Christ, is not only in the entire host,       that the body of Christ-is actually broken together with the
 but no'less entirely in each part ; (3) even though a thousand      bread ? Do animals partake of the body of Christ, when. they
 masses are celebrated simultaneously at different places, the       happen to swallow a consecrated host? Is the bread used in
--whole body of Christ  is present *in each individually and en-     the Lord's Supper changed only in the flesh of our Lord,
 tirely in all ; (4) by the breaking of the host and its crushing    or also into His body and soul, or into His divinity itself, or
by the teeth the indivisible body of Christ is not divided."         even into the Holy Trinity 7 Does the change take place
Anselm denied that with the blood only the soul of Christ is         gradually, or suddenly ? Is there only one body in the multi-
 received and with the body only the body, but maintained            tude of hosts, so that the same Christ is sacrificed at the same
that the entire Christ, both God and man, is received in each.       time: upon all altars, which constitutes the mystery of the
Henceforth it was a standing formula that "the entire Christ         mass ?'

exists and is received under each species," and though the           The DoctGne  of Concouttatance.          -

conception of the Eucharist as spiritual sustenance-prevailed            The word "concomitance" means literally : existing or oc-

later, yet the argument was repeatedly recalled. Guitmund            cupying together. The Roman Catholic doctrine of Con-

also made an advance in a closer determination of the process        comitance refers to the practice in that ,Church which with-

in the sacrament. We must remember that, according to this           holds the cup in the sacrament of the Eucharist from the

doctrine of Transubstantiation, one-  thing becomes another          laity.

that already exists. When the bread'and  wine are changed                The Roman Catholic Church admits that this custom of

into the body and blood of Christ, the body and blood of             withholding the cup from the laity is contrary to the original

Christ do not come into being. They are already in existence.        institution of the ordinance, and to the usage ,of  the early

Hence, the bread and wine are changed into something which           Church. But, it is defended, first of all, on the ground that

already exists. It was stated that this change did not occur         the cup is unnecessary to the completeness of the sacrament.

by flight from heaven through space, but that the human              The blood is in the body ; he therefore who receives the latter

nature of Christ, now exalted, was capable by virtue of om-          receives the former. And, as the whole Christ, as to His

nipotence to remain undivided and substantial where it is,           body and soul and divinity is not only in-each  species, but in

and at the same time to be -at every other place where it will.      every particle of both; he who receives the consecrated bread

However, the doctrine of Transubstantiation had been so              receives the whole Christ and derives all the benefit which the

generally adopted as. the orthodox doctrine, that Berengar,          sacrament -is capable of affording. And, secondly, this prac-

who ventured to express doubts concerning its correctness,           tice is defended on the ground that there is great danger in

was condemned, and obliged by several synods to retract. And         passing the cup from one communicant to another, that a

he would have suffered still more if Pope Gregory VII had            portion of its contents should be spilt; and as the cup after

not at. last succeeded in protecting him against the rage of         consecration contains the real blood of Christ, its falling to

his enemies. Berengar did not take offence  at the use of the        the ground and being trodden under foot is a profanation

phrase, "to partake of the body and blood of Christ," but he         which should by all means be avoided."                        H.V.

explained it in a more or less ideal manner.                                                   -

                                                                                              IN MEMORIAM
Later Scko@tic Developments.
                                                                         The Con&tory  of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church
    It was Hildebert of Tours who was the first to make use          herewith expresses its sympathy with their fellow consistory mem-

of the full-sounding term "transubstantiatio," though similar        bers, Henry J. Holstege and Bernard J. Lubbers, in the loss of their
expressions, such as tf-an&b,  had previously been employed.         Mother and Grandmother, respectively,
                                                                                            MRS. CORA SCHUT
    Most of the earlier scholastics and the disciples of Lan-
                                                                         May the God of all grace comfort the hearts of the bereaved.
franc in particular, had defended the doctrine of the change
                                                                     The Consistory of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church:
of the .bread  into the body of Christ, and the doctrine of the                                    Rev. Gerrit Vos, President
Accidentia  sins subjecto; these were now solemnly confirmed                                       Mr. Harry Zwak, Clerk


  210                                                  T H E   STANDA.RD  B E A R E R


  ,l----.---                              __--_.-  ..-. -.-                     here we have a reason and's further explanation of that which
                                                                          rl
  II         The Voice  of Our Fathers                                    11 Gas taught  earlier in the chapter. In the preceding the fathers
                                                                                laid down the truth that the saints, by reason of the remains

                                                                                of indwelling sin, could not persevere in grace if left to.their
                   The Canons of Dordrecht                                      ,own strength (Article 3). And in the two subsequent ar-

                                                                                ticles the fathers enlarged on this idea, calling attention to

                                                                                the reality and seriousness of `the sins and falls of the saints,

                      ~~XIVISITTOK  no THE C                                    and at the same time  emphasizing that the truth of preserva-
                                                     ANONS
                                                                                tion does not at all abrogate the necessity of watching and
                      F I F T H  HE A D   O F  DO C T R I N E
                                                                                prayer. However, the main proposition was that God, Who

               OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SATNTS                                is faithful, mercifully confirms and powerfully preserves the

                                                                                saints in grace even  to the end, infltiencing  and actuating
                Article 6. But God, who is rich in mercy, according             them by His Spirit. And the very last part of the preceding
                to his unchancreabkDumose  of election, does not wholly
                withdraw the Holy Spirit  from his own  people, even ii         article h-dd returned to the thought that after all; even in their
                their melancholy falls; nor suffers them to proceed SO          deepest falls, the saints cannot fall from grace, but that
                far as to lose the grace of adoption, and forfeit the state
                of justification, or to commit the sin unto death; nor          through serious repentance they return into the way of life
                does he permit them to be- totally deserted, and to             and into the light of God's fatherly countenance. And now
                plunge themselves into everlasting destruction.                 the present-article gives the reason and the explanation of

         The above translation is very inaccurate, and, as a com-               the fact that even in and through their deepest falls and

 j parison  will show, does nijt  correspond with the Dutcl;                    enormous sins God powerfully preserves His people unto the

  translation, which is far more correct. In the first place, the               end, so that they do indeed through earnest repentance re-

  article does not begin with the contrasting "but" in the orig-                turn into the path of life. And strikingly enough, - and, too,

  inal, but with `rfor," indicating that here we have a further                 quite in harmony with the very keynote of the Reformed

  step in the logical development of the truth of perseverance.                 truth, - that reason is fundamentally Gad.  Notice how the

  This certainly changes  the viewpoint of the article entirely.                article begins: "For God . . . ." God, Who is rich in mercy,

  In the second place, even though this gives. a somewhat                       -He Himself is the reason. And it is mercy alone, rich,

  clumsy English expression, we should nevertheless note that                   abundant mercy, that delivers us from the misery of our

  the original does not have "according to his unchangeable                     deepest falls and powerfully preserves us even in and all the

  purpose of election," but: "out of his unchangeable purpose                   way through our most miserable failures.

  of election."    This is a fine distinction, but nevertheless sig-               In the second place, we must by all means not overlook

  nificant since it points to the idea of soz~rce  rather than that             the very quality that causes that mercy to be so rich and

  of standard. The last part of the translation above is in-                    abundant. It is sover~ign'mercy.  .Most significantly the article

  correct even to the extent that an-entire phrase is omitted.                  calls our` attention to the truth that the deepest reason for

  It should be rendered as follows : "nor Suffers them to slip to               our preservation and perseverance is "God's unchangeable

  that point that they fail out of the grace of adoption and the                purpose of election." The first article of this chgpter already

  state of justification, or that they commit the sin unto death,               made reference to this truth indirectly. But here the per-

  or against the Holy ,Spirit,  and having been totally deserted                severance of. the saints is directly referred to' God's election.

  by him (i.e., the Holy Spirit), plunge themselves into ever-                  And as we. indicated in our comments .on the translation, actu-

lasting destruction."         In this connection we may also note               ally the fathers present God'S  purpose of election as the

  that the original Latin has two different terms in this article               source or fountain  from which the blessing of preservation

  that are translated "wholly" and "totally." The Latin terms                   flows. It is out of God's unchangeable purpose of election
  are prorszts  and pen&s  respectively. I believe this distinction             that He does not totally withdraw His Holy Spirit from His

  is of importance. The latter term defines more carefully the                  own. Hence, the perseverance of the saints is essentially.the

  respect in which the Holy Ghost is not utterly taken -away                    preservatidn of the elect, of "His own." We are pointed,

  from Gbd's  people. For the root meaning of the term is                       therefore, once more not only to the fundamental significance

  "internally, in the inmost part, deep within.". And in this                   of the truth of sovereign. election, but reminded again that .

  sense it comes to mean "through and through, thoroughly,                      after ail the basic cleavage between us and the Arminians is

  entirely,. wholly." We &all call attention to the significance                in regard to that truth of election. This is not $he  first time

  of this a bit later; but even now we may point to the -fact                   our attention is called to this point. Already in the chapter

  that this stands in close connection with  the first statement of             on predestination the connection between election and all the

  the following article: "For in the first place, in these falls he             blessings of salv&on  was clearly pointed out; and in this

  preserves in them the incorruptible seed of regeneration."                    connection perseverance was also mentioned. Thus we read

         The first matter demanding our attention, then, is that of             in I, 7:. "This elect number . . . God bath  decreed to give

  the connection of this article with the preceding. That con-                  to Christ, to be saved by him, and effectually to call and draw

  nection is expressed by the word "for," which indicaies  that                 them  to his communion, by his Word and Spirit, to bestow


                                             T H E   ST.ANDARD  B E A R E R                                                           211


upon them true faith, justification and sanctification; and            same election in John 10:28,  29: "And I give unto them

lza.v&g  powelfully  presef-ved  thevtz in the fellowship of his       eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any

Son, finally, to glorify them for the demonstration of his             man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which. gave

mercy, and for the praise of his glorious grace." And again,           them me, is greater than all; and no man is -able  to pluck

in I, S: ". . . . since the Scripture declares the good pleasure,      them out of my Father's hand." And to mention one more,

purpose and counsel of the divine will to be one, according to         the vision of the sealing of the one hundred .and forty and

which he hath chosen us from eternity, both to grace and               `four thousand, recorded in Rev. 7:1-S, teaches us the same

glory, to sa,lvation  and the wa.y of salvation . . . ." And again,    truth.

I, 9: ". . . . therefore election -is the fountain of every saving         From this fundamental truth all the rest of the truths

good ; from which proceed faith, holiness, and the other gifts         stated -in this article follow. In the first place, God does not

of salvation, and finally eternal life itself, as' its fruits and      wholly withdraw His Holy Spirit from His own. In the

effects."     This same connection is traced again in regard to        second place, He does not suffer them to slip so far that they

the quickening and saving efficacy of the-death of Christ in           fall from the grace of adoption and the state of justification.

chapter two (II, S) . And when the truth concerning the con-           In the third place, He does not suffer them to slip so far

version of man is set forth, the fathers once more take pains          that they commit the sin unto death and thus plunge them-

to note the inseparable connection between it and God's pur-           selves into everlasting destruction, having been totally de-

pose of election. Cf. III, IV?  7, 10, 11. And here again, the         serted by the Holy Spirit.

truth of the sure perseverance of the saints proceeds from                We must call attention to these points in detail in our

God's unchangeable purpose of election.          Election is the       nest article.

answer to the question as to why the saints persevere, God's              However, <there  are two significant observations to be

unchangeable election. And that is just exactly why the                made before we go into detail. Our first observation is that

Arminians were forced to deny the perseverance of the                  it is indeed true according to the very language of the article

saints: they denied the truth of election. We must see this            that these truths are connected with God's unchangeable pur-

important fact clearly ; it can never have too much emphasis,          pose of election. From whom does God not wholly withdraw

especially in our day of rampant Arminianism.  Once we let             His Holy Spirit? "From his own people." Whom does-God

go of the truth of sovereign, immutable election, we lose all          not suffer to fall -from  the grace of adoption and the state of

of the truth of salvation. Indeed, the Arminians apparently            justification ? "Them," that is, "His own people." Whom

.maintained  B doctrine of eternal election. But do not forget         does God not suffer to commit the sin unto death, to be

that it was an election that rested upon the will of man,              totally deserted by the Holy Spirit, and to plunge themselves

rested upon foreseen faith and perseverance. And for that              into everlasting destruction ? "Them," that is, "His own

reason they could not maintain the truth of the perseverance           people:"    Our second observation is that the language of this

of the saints. From the Arminian doctrine of election the              article is again .totally  negative. God does not wholly with-

truth of perseverance could not follow for the simple reason           draw His Spirit from His people. He does +zot suffer them

that, according to the Arminians, election itself followed             to slip so far that they fall from the grace of adoption and the

from perseverance. In the Arminian system man's persever-              state of justification. This is rather striking, Also the lan-

ance, not God's election, was the ultimate. In the Arminian            guage of Article 4 was negative : "yet converts are ?zot always

system everything .is wavering and vascillating.  The Ar-              so influenced and actuated . . . ." Perhaps this negative lan-

minian  does not know of any unchangeable purpose `of elec-            guage is somewhat occasioned by the fact that the fathers are

tion. And that is its fundamental failure. The whole strength          answering the Arminians. I rather believe, however, that it

of the Reformed view is in God's unchangeable purpose of               is due to the fact that while the truth of preservation as such

election. That purpose is that the elect shall be conformed to         is positive and ,can be positively stated, and while it is possible

the image of God's Son, that Hemight be the firstborn among            by means of such negative statements as these to define the

many brethren. That purpose of election is sovereign and               boundaries within which the grace of preservation operates.

unchangeable, unchangeable just because it is absolutely sov-          (and also, by the way, within which the enormous sins and

ereign       And therefore it shall certainly be realized and the      falls of the saints are committed), nevertheless it is very

saints can never fall from grace. Their perseverance is                difficult to say anything positive about the wsanner  of the

sealed from eternity! Nor is this connection between per-              operation of this preserving grace. That manner is mys-

severance and election one that. is established merely by a            terious. And the truth stated in another connection in Article

process of logical deduction. It is directly taught in the             13 of the previous chapter could well be applied here also:

 Scriptures. More than once do the Scriptures connect the              "The manner of this operation cannot be fully comprehended

preservation of the saints with God's unchangeable purpose.            by believers in this life." And the last part of that article

Thus, for example, we read in John 6:39:  "And this is the             might well be paraphrased: "Notwithstanding which, they

 Father's will which bath  sent me,- that of all which he hat11        rest satisfied with knowing and experiencing that by this

given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up-again,          grace of God they are enabled to persevere unto the end."

 at the last day."     And again the Lord Jesus alludes to that                                                                   H.C.H.

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


             THE MEANiNG  OF "SHILOH" IN                                rael, will bring him their homage. How very really this was
                         GENESIS 49: 10                                 the case under Judah's mighty seed, the'son  of Jesse ! "Judah
                                                                        is `a lion's whelp" ; like an old lion, which, after seizing and
        Genesis 49:lO  is that well-known and beautiful Messianic       devouring its prey, ascends to the mountain forests and there
prophecy, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a               lies in majestic strength and confidence, where no one will
 lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto            dare to disturb him. A beautiful figure. It speaks of battle
 him shall the gathering of the people be." The Revised Ver-4           strength, victory, royalty, dominion.
  sion translates, more correctly, I believe: "The sceptre shall           And then we come to this tenth verse, which is one of the
 not depart from Judah, nor the Y&Y's staff from between                most familiar passages in the Old Testament, but which also
 his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the obedi'erzce       is not without its exegetical difficulties,."`The  sceptre shall not
  of the psoples be."                                                   depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his
        Chapter 49 of Genesis contains a series of predictions          feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the obedience of
 concerning the future of the sons of Jacob. Israel is now a            the peoples be."

 very old man, who is ready to depart for his eternal home.                The sceptre, both in Scripture and current thought, is
  Before he does, however, he calls his twelve sons to his bed-         generally the symbol of royalty, regal authority and com-
  side to leave with them his dying words. Prophecies they              mand.    "Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever: the
 are, for he himself says, "Gather yourselves together, that            sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre," Ps. 45 :6. Judah
  I may tell you that which shall befall you-in the last days."         therefore, would have the rule, the dominion, the chieftain-
 And blessings they are, for we read in verse 25, "All these            ship over all the tribes of Israel, and. presently over all the
 are' the twelve tribes of Israel : and this is it that their father    nations of the world. However, in Judges 5 :14 the same
  spake unto them, and blessed them ; every one according to            word appears in a context, wherein it `is quite impossible to
 his blessing he blessed them."                                         refer it to royalty, but must be a symbol of a dignity of lower

        The prophecies to his three oldest sons had already been        order. In general, therefore, "sceptre" here refers to the

 uttered. They were not good. Reuben was his firstborn, his             praise, pre-eminence, victory, superiority spoken of in the

 might, and the beginning of his strength. Nevertheless he              preceding verses and which Judah will have over his enemies

 would not excel, have the pre-eminence, because of the abom-           as well as in the midst of his brethren. More especially, of

 inable sin of incest which he had committed. "Thou wentest             course, the reference is to the kingship of the Davidic dynasty,

 up to the father's bed ; then defiledst thou it." The prophecies       `that would proceed from the loins of Judah and would cul-

 concerning the next `two  sons, Simeon  and Levi, were no less         minate in the glorious dominion of the Lord of lords and

 unfavorable. The birthright privileges could not fall on them          King  of kings.

 either, because of their bloodthirsty conduct and murderous                "Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet." The refer-

 vengeance against the men of Shechem. "Instruments of                  ence is to the very same thing. "Sceptre"  and "ruler's staff"

 cruelty are in their habitations. Cursed be their anger, for           are identical. The King  James Version translates this: "nor

 it was fierce ; and their wrath, for it was cruel : I will divide      the Zazvgiver  from between his feet." It is obvious, however,

 them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."                            from the parallel with "sceptre" and the phrase "between

        Coming to his fourth son, however, we find a tremendous         his feet" that "ruler's staff" is by far, the better translation.

 change in the tone and content of his prophecy. Judah is the           What we have here is simply another. example of Hebrew

 first to receive a rich and unmixed blessing, that of indisput-        parallelism, where the same thing is repeated in different

 able pre-eminence and power. There is no verbal lashing here,          language. In fact, the sceptre in its earlier form was a long

 no condemnation because of some grievous sin, no curse. At             staff, which the king held in his hand while speaking, and

 once Jacob tells him that he will be the object of his brothers'       which, when he sat upon his throne, rested between his feet.

 praise. This is greatly emphasized by the personal pronoun                That sceptre, says the dying Israel, will not depart from

 that `follows immediately after the name. "Judah, THOU art             Judah. And it didn't. Always Judah had the pre-eminence,

he whom thy brethren shall praise." This stresses the con-              the superiority, the chieftainship. It was not always equally

 trast between him and his three .older  brothers and implies           evident; it had its ups and downs. But it was always there,

 that the birthright is transferred to him and the covenant             throughout the Old Dispensation. In the desert it was Judah,

 blessing will be on him first of all, Notice the interesting play      who led the children of Israel in their march to the land of

 here on the word "praise." Judah signifies: praise of God.             Canaan. In the wars against the heathen nations it `was

 He whose name denotes "praise" will be the object of the               Judah, who generally took the lead. The first of the judges,

 praise of his brothers. His enemies he will put to flight,             Othniel, was from the tribe of Judah. Often, however, this

 grasp by the neck, and subdue. He is all-victorious. "Thy              p&eminence  was not predominant. The majority of `the

 hand shall be.in  the neck of thy enemies." Therefore "thy             judges were from other tribes. In the kingship of David,

 father's children shall bow down before thee." Not merely              however, this superiority really asserted itself. Jesse's son Gas

 his mother's children, those of Leah and her maid, his full            from Judah. During the Babylonian captivity the sceptre

 brothers. All the children of his father, all-the tribes of Is-        seemed all but gone. Never after that did Israel have its own


                                             T H E  STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                            213


 king. Even so,, the ruler's staff was still in Judah's hand,         through usage it became such, like "Preacher" (with refer-

 however weakly. The house of David still existed. Until              ence to the author of Ecclesiastes) and "Branch" (Jer. 23 5)

 Immanuel comes, in Whom the sceptre will never depart                and other names. Thus Christ is the "Shiloh." He will give

 from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet.             the rest and peace that passes all understanding, not from

    That is the meaning of the phrase: "Until Shiloh come."           earthy cares and toils, but from sin and its consequences. To
 We spoke above of exegetical difficulty. We were referring           Him will the nations belong. In Him Judah will hold the
 to this name.                                                        sceptre forever and his rule over the tribes. of Israel will be
                                                                      widened into the government of all the world. "Unto Him
    That Shiloh here has reference to the Christ is generally
                                                                      shall the obedience of the people be." The King James Ver-
 accepted: There is no doubt that the church has been and is
                                                                      sion has "gathering." This, too, is true, of course. However,
 correct, when it sees in this dying word of Jacob a wonder-
                                                                      also here we give preference to the Revised Version, because
 ful prophecy of the coming Messiah. True, there were those
                                                                      of the concepts "sceptre" and "ruler's staff" which we find
 who supposed it to refer to the city by that name. Shiloh
                                                                      in this same verse. In Him we shall have dominion forever
 was also the name of a city, belonging to the tribe of Ephra-
                                                                      and ever. For Judah's sceptre is Israel's sceptre, and Israel
 im, which stood in the midst of the land of Canaan and
                                                                      is the church, and the church are we. A president may come
 where the tabernacle was pitched from the time of the con-
                                                                      from one certain state of the union ; that does not mean that
 quest of the land to the days of Eli and even later. These
                                                                      he is not the president of the entire nation. Thus Shiloh is the
 people read the text: "The sceptre shall not depart from
                                                                      King of all the church ; THE "rest giver" par excellence.
 Judah . . . till ke c0'm-e  to Slziloh."  We may dismiss this in-
 terpretation, however, as quite arbitrary and without founda-            This personal meaning of Shiloh is placed beyond all
tion in Scripture. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether the      doubt by subsequent Messianic prophecies and all of Scrip-
town of Shiloh existed in Jacob's time. If it did it had no           ture. "And the government shall be upon His shoulders, and
importance in relation to the lives of the patriarchs. Not            His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
once is it referred to in their history. Certainly, there is          God, The everlasting Father, T/Le  Prince of Peace," Isaiah
nothing in Scripture about any coming of Judah to Shiloh,             9 :6. He says, as only He can: "Come unto Me . . . . and I
which would in any way affect his dominion and superiority            will give you REST.". The sceptre shall not depart. Unto
over the other tribes, to say nothing about pre-eminence over         Him shall be the gathering of the people. Thus we sing in
all the peoples of the world. Hence, we dismiss this inter-           the beautiful words from Psalm 72:

pretation as arbitrary and ungrounded, and repeat, that the           Clwist  shall have dominion        Ever and forever
reference here is without doubt to the Lord's Messiah. It is          Over land and sea,                 Shall His name  endztre,
in Him alone, that the sceptre will never depart from Judah.
                                                                      Ea&`s  remotest regions            Long as swns continue
That is the meaning, of course. It cannot be, that the coming
of Shiloh will terwzinate  the rule of Judah. The meaning is :        Sha.11  His empire  be;            It shall  st,and secure;
when Shiloh comes Judah's superiority and dominion will               They that Gilds  inhabit           And in Hi,w  foreve?

really be permanent and universal. That is clear from the             Shall tlwir  worship bring,        All men shall  be blest,
last part of the verse : "And unto Him shall the obedience of         Kings shall render tvib&e,         And all nations hail Hi,m
the peoples be." Indisputably, therefore, "until Shiloh comes"        Nations sewe  our King.            King of Kings confessed.
announces the coming of the Messiah.
    But that still leaves the question: Why is He called                                                                             R.V.

"Shiloh" ?

    There were in the past and are today those, who proceed

from a somewhat different reading of the word, which would
                                                                                                  IN HIS FEAR
lead to the translation: "The sceptre will not depart from

Judah until he comes whose it is or to whovtz it b,elomgs."                              (Continzred  from page 207)
Of course, even so the reference would be to the Messiah;             therefore will never have the fruit of a life of keeping His
however, "Shiloh" would become a common phrase rather                 commandments. The latter explains how it is that we, un-
than a proper name. Good commentators and Hebrew stu-                 done, wicked and perverse that we are by nature do fear Him
dents see this, too, as an arbitrary interpretation. We dis-          and keep His commandments. And it does it in such a way
miss it on that ground.                                               that He remains the God that He is. That, indeed, is the

    In common with the whole Christian Church of many                 test of true love to Him. He who loves God desires Him to

ages and even the entire Jewish synagogue, therefore, we              be exactly what He is. True love wants no god besides Him.

regard "Shiloh" as a proper name of the Messiah. It is                Wants no other god. But wants Jehovah to be the God He

commonly accepted that it is derived from a word meaning:             is according to His own revelation in Holy Writ. That is

to be at rest, without care. Thus it came to mean : restgiver.        the true fear of God ! And only.  by it do we keep His com-

Originally it may not have been a proper name at all, but             mandments.                                                 J.A.H..

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


                                                                        Another word Scripture ascribes to unsaved people is `con-
I             A L L   A R O U N D   U S                            I    demned' or the state of living under `the wrath of God.' Man
                                                                        is condemned before a righteous God ; and as far as merit is

                                                                        concerned, he stands without hope. Paul speaks of the un-
The  Ammi&u.nism  bf Funda.mentalisu.                                   saved'as `without God and without hope.'

       Fundamentalism, as we believe everyone will agree,                  "It is clear that if God has saved us, he did not save us

professes to believe in all the basic truths of the Bible. The          because we deserved it. He did not save us because we were

Fundamentalist assumes a strong position overagainst the                good. Everyone in heaven, Old Testament saints as well as

Modernist who denies all the basic truths of Scripture. The             New Testament saints, is there by grace, and through the

latter, it is well known, denies that the Bible is infallibly in-       merits of Jesus Christ.

spired, that Jesus is the Son of God, that the atonement of                "Let us therefore reiterate: salvation cawot  be deservvsd.

Christ is vicarious, etc. The Fundamentalist, on the other              There can be no appeal to innate goodness, character, culture,

hand, believes in infallible inspiration, in the divinity of            or education. These offer nu ground. for divine salvation."

Christ, in the vicarious atonement and all the other basic                 In close connection with the preceding, the writer has this

truths of God's Word.                                                   to say about "Gnearned Salvation."

       Yet the Fundamentalist, generally `speaking, is guilty of           "At the same time, and this is the second negative, salvd-

embracing Arminianism. We realize that in Reformed circles              tion cannot be earned. If a man's character cannot deserve

this is generally accepted fact. It is also generally well known        salvation, it is also true that there -is nothing one can do to

that not all Fundamentalists are willing to acknowledge this            earn it. As I said before, the notion that salvation can be

fact. Some purpo,rt  themselves to be in some respect quite             earned is a very common one. I think, with all fairness,

Calvinistic. Like one Fundamentalist we heard once who                  this is the belief of the Roman Catholic church. Its -whole

was asked whether he was Calvinistic or Arminian, replied :             appeal is to do something to be saved. If one does the

"When I preach I'm Arminian, but when I am on my knees                  sacrificial thing, gives his money, or even his life, he is

I'm Calvinistic." Such a statement can be quite deceptive to            promised salvation.

the uninitiated in doctrinal matters. And m&h of the speech                "But by contrast, our Christian Gospel tells us we cannot

or writing of the Fundamentalist will be deceptive to those             earn salvation. I was a member of the church for many years

who are not able to clearly discern. For instance, we refer to          before it dawned on mt one day, through the ministry of a

an article appearing in the January 19, 1959 issue of Christi-          faithful Bible teacher, that I could not be good enough to be

anity Toda,y written by Dr. John F. Walvoord, president of              saved. I had assumed,, in spite of all statements to the con-

Dallas Theological Seminary. He writes on the subject : What            trary in catechism, that if I went to church and did the best I

is the Gospel?                                                          could, and was faithful in attendance, and gave my money,

       When you read his article, you will notice that.he  makes        and prayed, and did the normal Christian things, I could thus

some very sound statements in answer to the question: What              be assured of salvation. There are many people who are

is the Gospel ? Perhaps more particularly : What is Salva-              similarly confused. They do not understand that, while good

tion ? We give our readers a few snatches of his article to             works have their place in the Christian faith, they cannot be

show what we mean. Writes he:                                           the ground of salvation.

       "The Christian faith holds to salvation by grace. It be-            "We cannot earn salvation ; we fall short of what God

lieves the Gospel to be the good news that Jesus Christ, the            would have us be and do. There is indeed `no righteousness in

Son of God, died on the cross, bearing substi\utionally  our            us that can possibly justify God's saving us. In Ephesians

sins and the sins of the whole world ; that he was buried and           2 53-9 we read : `For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and

that he also rose again as proof of his triumph over the                that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God : not of works,

grave, finished character of his work, and his true Sonship             lest any man shduld  boast.' This is a tremendous passage; it

of God. The Gospel plainly stated then, is that a person can            makes abundantly clear that works, or anything that we do,

be saved for all eternity by simply putting his trust in Jesus          can never earn divine approbation. There are  many people in

Christ."                                                                the world today trying to earn salvation. The Bible puts a

      This answer to the question : What is the'Gospe1  ? is not        blight on their whole system. We can neither deserve salva-

above criticism as we will point out. presently. However,               tion nor earn it."

notice how the writer asserts some fundamental truths con-                 These are clear negative statements which positively imply

cerning salvation concerning which the Gospel is good news.             that salvation is God's work alone. Dr. Walvoord further

     .-He  emphasizes, first .of all, that .salvation  is unmerited.    confirms this position. by positing two positive statements

*Writes  he,    "Scripture also describes unsaved people as             concerning our salvation :

`dead,' spiritually dead. When Paul wrote to the Ephesian                  "In contrast to these negatives, I believe there are two

church, he reminded them that before they accepted Christ               positive affirmations that can be made which are very clearly

they were `dead in trespasses and sins.' They were not just             taught in Scripture. The first of these is that salvation is a

sick, they were `dead' so far as spiritual life was concerned.          finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, there


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B-EAltER                                                             215


 are many things God lets us do for him, but salvation is some-             "The greatest question in all the world is simply, have we

 thing that God does for us. It is a work of God, made pos-             received the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour ? One can

 sible by the grace of God and by the work of Christ.                   never sit on the fence. If one is not saved, he is lost. If one

     "When Christ died on the cross he' said, `It is finished.'         is saved,.then  he is not lost. There is no one in the middle . . ;

 He was declaring the fact that when he died, the full price                "If there  is one who is aware of any uncertainty, any

 of our redemption was paid. His de&h  was of infinite or               failure to come to grips with this greatest of all decisions, the

 forensic value ; it was sufficient in its provision for the sins       challenge is to accept the gospel invitation and believe in the

 of the whole- world. He had provisionally, as we read in II            Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Then rest on the authority of

 Corinthians 5 :19, reconciled the world unto himself.                  the Word of God. The Word says that if anyone believes on

     "The death of Christ, however, does not in itself save any-        the Lord Jesus Christ he is saved, saved for all eternity. The

 one. It is God's abundant provision, which must be applied.            divine program is to hear the Gospel, believe the Gospel, then

 So we are told that we are `not redeemed . . . with silver and         preach the Gospel."

 gold (that which represents human attainment and value) . . .              We call attention especially to two ,things  concerning this

 but with the precious blood of Christ' (I Pet. 1 :18-19).  How         article which we could quote only in part. In the first place,

 clear this .should  be in our own thinking, and in our preach-         the reader will agree with me that the four things Dr. Wal-

 ing. If we are saved at all, we are saved by the blood of              voord emphasizes in respect to our salvation are certainly

 Christ. `And it is Christ's sacrifice that is the basis of our         true. We do not deserve salvation, and we cannot merit

 salvation . . .                                                        salvation. `Salvation is indeed a finished work of Christ for

     "Salvation is a finished work. When Christ died on the             us, and salvation is a gift of grace. To all this we must most

 cross he did all that.was necessary to save you and me. There          certainly subscribe. You would think that Dr. Walvoord

 is not a single good work we can offer in addition to God's.           would close his article by saying : "You see, salvation is God's

 After we are saved, then is our chance to do good works; but           work from beginning to end. There is nothing of man in it."

 those works are not our guarantee of salvation, they are the           That would be indeed the good news of the Gospel. But Dr.

 fruits-of it. They do not substantiate salvation; they are the         Walvoord does not Say this.

 testimony. The ground of redemption is wholly the finished                 And therefore in the second  place we point out ,that here

 work of Christ.                                                        is exactly  where his Arminianism comes in. Like all Armi-

     "The second affirmation I should like to mention is, salm-         nians he tells us that God makes  salvation possible for us, but

 tion is a gift. We see how these four facts, the negative and          he doesn't save us unless, and until we accept the gift of.

 the positive, fit together :                                           salvation. He tells us that God in Christ made salvation

          Salvation cannot be deserved ;                                possible for all men, "for. the sins of the whole world" ; and

          Salvation cannot be earned ;                                  "a person can be saved for ail eternity by simply putting his

          Salvation is a finished work of Christ for us ;               trust in Jesus Christ."      Indeed, according to Dr. Walvoord,

          Salvation is a gift.                                          God makes -salpation  possible for all men, but he really doesn't

     "Many people cannot grasp that salvation is a gift, but            save anybody. Rather, "the khallenge  is to accept the Gospel

 there are few facts more obvious. Man could not possibly pay           invitation and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour."

 for an infinite salvation. He was morally bankrupt, dead in            This is the doctrine of Arminius, pure and simple.                  M.S.

 trespasses and sins, under the wrath of God ; what resources

 had he? Could he lift himself by his own bootstraps? If God                                       IN MEMORIAM

 saves anybody at all, he does it out of his own mercy, and                The Men's Society of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church
 gives salvation as a gift. Scripture testifies specifically to this    wishes to express its sincere sympathy to two of its members, Mr.
 poitit:  `Being justified freely (literally, without cost) by his      Dick Kooienga and Mr. John Lanning in the loss of their father and
                                                                        father-in-law,
 grace through the redemption (i.e., the price paid) that is in                                 WILLIAM KOOIENGA
 Christ Jesus' (Rom. 3 :24).                                               May our God  comfort them in their sorrow.
     "This redemption cost God his Son ; it cost Jesus Christ                                                 Rev. H. Hanko, President
 the agony of dying on the cross ; it was an act of infinite                                                  Peter Petroelje, Secretary

 woith, infinite merit, a total gift of God. If we are not saved
today, there is only one reason. It is not because we've done                                      IN MEMORIAM
                                                                           Our Men's Society would like to express their sympathy with
 bad things, because all of us a.re bad. There is just one
                                                                        two of its fellow members, Mr. Gerrit B. Lubbers, and Mr. Henry
 reason why a person is lost, and that is he has not received           J. Holstege, in the loss of their mother
 God's gift of salvation . . . .                                                          M R S .   C O R A   SCHUT-DEKRAKER

     "Who could imagine anybody giving away anything of                     And may this be their comfort: H&r life was Christ and her

 value without getting something in return. It is a hard                death gain!
 thing to persuade a lost soul that God wants to do something                                        The Men's Society of the Hudsonville
                                                                                                     Protestant Reformed tir;ulc--.
 for him, that God is a Gocl of grace, who has paid for his                                          Rev. Gerrit Vos, President
 salvation, and now offers it to him,`needy  as he is, as a gift.                                     Mr. Henry C. Lubbers, Secretary


  2 1 6                                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R



                                                                                                                     We would like to list the new clerks of consistories on
  11 NEWS FRQM OUR CHURCHES 11 this page so you can keep your Year Book up to date. We
                           "All the saints salute thee                                                            have received some new names (alas, without addresses) but
                                                                             . . .." PHIL. 4:21
  ,                                                                                                               hope to get them all in time for the next issue - right, re-

                                                                                                                  porters ?
                                                                       January 20. 1959
                                                                                                                     Jan. 11, Rev. Van Baren  conducted an evening service for
           The Office Bearers' Conference held January 6 was the                                                  Hull .while  Rev. Heys filled a classical appointment in Pella.
  best attended one of the series. About one hundred Elders                                                       Little Pella (8 souls !) is of little strength, but that was also
  and Deacons came to hear a speech by Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                                          the description of the church at Philadelphia as recorded in
  The Reverend spoke on "The Origin and History of Church                                                         the Book of- Revelation, whereof it was `said, "I know thy
  Visitation" as it is prescribed in Article 44 of our Church                                                     works and have set before thee an open door, and no man
  Order. The, speaker pointed out that, originally, Church                                                        can shut it."     May Pella also experience that the reward for
  V i s i t a t i o n   w a s   a   v i t a l   f o r c e   i n   t h e   Classis;   t h e   v i s i t o r s ,    keeping the word of His patience is that our King will keep
  through fraternal advice and admonition, helping to direct                                                      us in the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the
  all things unto the peace, upbuilding, and greatest profit of                                                   world.
  the churches.               Should this speech be published, it would                                              Hull, among others, has monthly collections for the Re-
  serve for the instruction of all our office bearers, those in the                                               formed Witness Hour, helping First Church in her effort to
  West, as well as the Eastern brethren who were unable to                                                        broadcast the tr.uth  of Sovereign Grace over the airwaves.
  attend - hence, to the edification of all our churches.                                                            Kalamazoo has added two members, who have made con-

           January 15 was the date of. a spaghetti supper held in                                                 fession of their faith, which is scheduled to be heard publicly

  Hudsonville church sponsored by the Hope School Society.                                                        January 25.

The thoughtfulness of the society was revealed in the fact                                                           Loveland's congregation is growing. They welcomed a

  that pea soup was served to satisfy the appetites of Hollanders                                                 new baby the day before Christmas, and the prayer expressed

  who have not yet learned to eat foods with an Italian name.                                                     on the bulletin was, "May also this child grow up to be a

  The diners were served from 5 :30 to 8:00 so as to avoid                                                        faithful child of, and in God's covenant with us."

  long line-ups, enabling the waiters to present their wares                                                          Rev. Harbach conducts an adult Bible Class in Lynden

  piping hot. ,                                                                                                   where they study the Book of Genesis, right now the 9th

           Sunday, Jan. 11, Rev. R. Veldman and Rev. B. Wouden-                                                   chapter is under scrutiny, considering the Protestant Re-

  berg exchanged pulpits for the evening service.                                                                 formed view of the covenant. The Reverend's notes on Gene-

           Doon  beat us all, we think. They distributed their new                                                sis are being sent to eight individuals in Pennsylvania, New

  church directories Jan. 11. Doon  lost a member through dis-                                                    Jersey and North Carolina. Far-off Lynden reaching out to

  missal, and gained a member through transfer from Hull.                                                         the Eastern States, making her presence felt ! And also from

           Here are some of the topics that have been under discus-                                               Lynden we learn that they have progressed from the use of

  sion in our societies, quite varied, you may notice: Doon's                                                     a foot organ to that of a piano for leading the congregational

  Men's Soc'y struggled with the question, "Is an evil thought                                                    singing. A little thing to us, perhaps, but not to their fait&

  as bad as an evil deed 7" First's Sr. Y. P. Soc'y discussed the                                                 ful accompanist, Miss Alice Vander Meulen.

  question, "Lucky Numbers, Right or Wrong ?" ; and a closely                                                         From Randolph comes the happy note that Don and Jim

  -related one: "Should a Christian submit his name for a door                                                    De Vries will be discharged from the service in March. If

  prize ?" was answered in Holland's Men's Society ; The Men                                                      the congregation is not always aware of the coming event,

  and Ladies' Soc'y of Grand Haven studied Art. 36 of the                                                         their pastor and the family are helping the boys count down

  Belgic Conf. concerning the prayer for kings ; Oak Lawn's                                                       the days.

  Ladies' Aid were occupied with the so-called proof of the                                                          Redlands  has called Rev. C. Hanko from a trio which also

  Third Point of 1924 ; the South Holland Men's Soc'y after                                                       included Revs. G. Lubbers and H. Veldman.

  recess'. program consisted of the explanation of Articles 85                                                                     . . . . see you in church.                         J . M . F .

  and 86 of the Church Order; and, finally., at Hudsonville, in

  a joint meeting with the Men's Soc'y of Southwest, the                                                                                     IN MEMORIAM

  after recess program consisted of a talk on the Tower of Babel                                                     The Ladies' Society herewith expresses their sympathy to OUT

  by Rev. Schipper.                                                                                               fellow members, Mrs. Gerrit B. Lubbers and Mrs. Henry J. Holstege,
                                                                                                                  in the loss of their Mother,
           We note that Grand Haven and Hudsonville install office
                                                                                                                                           MRS. CORA SCHUT
  bearers on the first Sunday of the new year; and that, if
                                                                                                                     May our Covenant God sustain them  in this  so great loss.
  you are a member of Hudsonville, and you do not know the
                                                                                                                                                  The Ladies' Society of the HudsonvilIe
  parents of a baby that is baptized, and you do not understand                                                                                   Protestant Reformed Church:
  the pronunciation of the baby's name- you may read it in                                                                                        Rev. Gerrit Vos, President -

  next week's bulletin.                                                                                                                           Mrs. John B. Lubbers, Secr.etary


