 .   VOLUME   x x x v                             APRIL  15, 1959 - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                                 NUMEER  14


                                                                            loaves which they had eaten to the Bread which cometh
II          M E D I T A T I O N                                             down from heaven, namely, Himself !
                                                                               And they further confuse the story, after hearing Him'

                                                                            speak of bread which came down from heaven, by bringing
                 HE SHALL LIVE FOREVER!                                     up the story of Manna which came to Israel by Moses !

             "Tour fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are            The Jews always boasted in Moses and all he did.
              dead. This is the bread which cometh down from
                                                                               And then Jesus .tak&s";His  cue from that Moses and that
              hea,ven,  that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I
              am the living Bread which came down from heaven:              Manna, and discounts it.

              if any man  eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and        Listen to Him: "Your fathers did eat manna in the
              the bread that I will give i.s My flesh, which I will give
                                                                            wilderness, and are dead !"
              for the life of the w0&L2'                 JOHN  6:49-51

                                                                               But-here is a better Bread for you: I am the Bread
      The occasion for this speech of Jesus was the miracle of
                                                                            of life. Eat Me, and you will live forever!
the five loaves of barley bread and the two small .fishes  with
                                                                                                          *    + * *
which Jesus fed 5000, while they gathered twelve baskets of

fragments that were left.                                                      Jesus `is the Bread which came down from heaven.

      That the Jews understood.                                                Well, that is strong and vivid language. Everyone un-

      Listen to the multitude: "This is of a truth that prophet             derstands the figure of bread. Do we not talk about our

that should come into the world !"                                          "daily bread" ?

      A king who simply supplies the natural needs of man                      Bread is the means unto earthly life. Eat and you live.

miraculously.                                                               Do without and you die. As simple as that.

      And they set about to make Jesus king.                                   But here is the point: Jesus had done the miracle of the

                                                                            barley loaves in order to direct the attention of the people to
      But Jesus disappeared into a mountain alone.
                                                                            its spiritual counterpart.
      And when these men saw Him the next day, and in-
                                                                               And so it is today.
quired about His disappearance, Jesus said.: "Ye seek Me,

not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the                 You eat quite often. Every day you have at least three

loaves, and were filled."                                                   meals.

      And He continues:       "Labour  not for the meat which                  Yes, and every time you set yourself close to that table

perishes, `but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting                and look upon the bread, God is talking to you about the

life, which the Son of .man  shall give unto you: for Him                   greatest need of your heart and life: the Bread that came

hath God the Father sealed."                                                down from heaven, or, simply, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

      There you have the context of my text.                                   Why, it was even so with Israel in the desert. Why do

      Jesus did miracles in order to show the truth.                        you think God rained manna from heaven. You answer: to
                                                                            feed Israel in the desert. Yes, but that does not conclude the
      Jesus laboured in the things of this earth, in order to
                                                                            story. Remember that Moses also said: Man shall not live
show the people the things of heaven. Every miracle was a
                                                                            by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from God's
sermon by Jesus.                                                            mouth shall man live! That's the full story. In other words,
      But, alas, they did not understand.                                   the manna in the wilderness also pointed to the coming of

      Time and time again the Lord pointed from the barley                  Jesus.

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


    You say : bread is the means unto life on earth.                    2) Christ also says in my text: "if any man eat of this

    And Jesus is the Bread that came down from heaven so            Bread, he shall l,ive  forever" ! What glorious Gospel ! The
that we might eat Him and live, but then forever.                   very character of the spiritual life you receive with your
                                                                    regeneration is eternal. And you can never die again.
    Jesus said: I am the Bread of Life (vs. 50) ; and: I am
the living Bread of Life (vs. 51a) ; and: the bread that I will         You know, as a child I remember distinctly that I thought
give is My flesh (vs. 51b).                                         by myself alone: But suppose that another devil would fall
                                                                    in the future eternity ( ?). And suppose further that this
       In the last quotation you have the right cue : My Flesh !    second devil would invade the new paradise of God and
But about that later.                                               tempt us again ? What then ? In other words, who gives me
    Bread (and also water) is the means for earthly life. Jesus     the assurance that we shall never fall again, even as Adam
is the Bread that came down from heaven, and it signifies           and Eve did ?
that He is the means unto Life Eternal.                                 Then this is the answer: if you eat and drink Jesus
    0 what wondrous feeding power is in that spiritual Bread !      Christ, that is, if you believe on and in Him, you have eternal

    Eat earthly bread, and you will surely die. But you say:        life. Or in the words of my text: You shall live forever!

we live. Just go on, eating your earthly bread, and you will            What glorious rest in these words!
surely die.
                                                                        We can travel safely to eternity.
    Eat your miraculous bread in the desert with Israel, and

you will surely die.
                                                                                               * * * *
    But eat and drink Jesus Christ, and you will live forever !

    0 how we need this s$ritual  bread, which is Jesus Christ.
                                                                        So, now we understand Jesus.
    In ourselves, by nature, we are dead in sins and tres-
                                                                        He is the living Bread and the living Water for the life
passes. We are sinful, guilty before God, condemnable. Now
                                                                    of His world. We must eat His flesh and drink His blood
we are in terrible want, and on the way to an eternal famine.
                                                                    in order to live forever. And that Jesus speaks of His flesh
Now we are drugged by sin, but presently conscious of this
                                                                    and blood in the context, surely signifies that He will die
awful state. In one word: man must have God in order to
                                                                    `the eternal death in order to pay for the sin of His elect world.
live. That is, to be supremely happy, full, all our real needs

fulfilled..                                                             But here is the tragedy.         ..

    Now all that is in Christ.                                          No one wants to eat this Bread.

  Christ is the very Face of God. God reveals Himself in                And why?
Jesus. You may even say that Jesus of Nazareth is Jehovah               Because we are completely self-satisfied,
God, but then, revealed in the flesh.
                                                                        And Jesus is too utterly beautiful and good and right-
    Christ could say: He that hath seen Me hath seen the
                                                                    eous.
Father. In Jesus dwells all the fulness of all God's virtues
bodily.                                                                 There you have the twofold reason.

    So that we may say, that if you have Christ, you have               We rather eat the dross of the world than to come and

God : your deepest needs. are fulfilled and satisfied. And you      eat Jesus. -

are blest.                                                              We are enmity against God. That is our name. That

    Why ?                                                           expresses our essence.

    Because your sins are forgiven ; your guilt is removed,             There is no one in all the history of the world who came
your heart and life are renewed, and you are on the way to          and took Jesus.
eternal life and joy and peace.                                         That is true of the 4000 years before His advent, and that
                            * *.+ *.                                is true since He. came into the world.

    Now there is one thing I want to stress in this connection.         We are altogether too evil and filthy to have any taste
    Much has been said and written about the perseverance           organs in order to appreciate the loveliness' of the Christ.
of the saints.                                                      We like to eat and to taste and to relish sin, transgression,

    But attend to this :                                            corruption. We are dead and we eat ourselves to more death,

       1) Christ says in my text: "This is the Bread which          until we arrive in eternal death.

cometh  down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and                That's the story of the whole world, of all history and of

not die." There you have the assurance of your perseverance.        all climes.    That's the story both of the elect and of the

If you, once eat and drink Christ, and that means, of course,       reprobate. There is no difference. We, like the others, are

that you believe on Him, you will never die !                       children of wrath.


                                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                  315


   And so God has to give Himself.

   First of all, Jesus is given of the Father to His elect                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                                   Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August
world from all eternity. Our names are written in the book
                                                           .                         Published by the -REFORMED  F~~EE  PWLISHING ASSOCIATION
of life from the foundation of the world. And Jesus said in                        P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
the Highpriestly prayer : Thine they were and Thou hast                                                        Editor - REV.  H~~MAN                                   HOEKSEMA
given them unto Me !                                                               Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                                    Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
   Second, Jesus gave Himself in the fulness of time. No                                                                      Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
one sought for Him, and no one asked for Him to come.                              All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
He came,.and  how did He find us ? Business as usual. And                                              James Dykstra, 1326 W: Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                                         Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
how did we treat this Bread of Life when He came to our
                                                                                   Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
door ? There was no room for Him in the inn. That event                            address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
signified a program. In the end we nailed Him to the ac-                           RENEWAL:  Unless a de&rite  request for discontinuance is re-
cursed tree. That's what we did with Jesus.                                        ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
                                                                                   to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
   Third, the Holy Spirit prepared Him a place in the womb                                                       Subscription price: $5.00 per year

of Mary, and, later, prepared Him a place in our heart.                              Entered as Second Class. matter at Grand Rapids, Michigan-


   Jesus, the Bread of heaven, is the unspeakable Gift.


                              * * * *                                                                                              C O N T E N T S
                                                                                 MEDITATION  -

   And, oh, when this Jesus comes into our heart. Then we                                He Shall Live Forever! . . . . . . . . . . . .._._ 313
do not care overmuch for the barley loaves or the two small                                        Rev, G. Vos

fishes, nor for their multiplication.                                            EDITORIALS  -

   That is, we do not care for them unduly.                                              Evolution, Long P.eriods or Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

                                                                                         About The Three Points  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
   They are good for the life on earth.                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema

   They are also good as a sermon to lead us upward and
                                                                                 OTJR  DOCTRINE -
higher.
                                                                                         The Book o f Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
    But we do care for Jesus, the Bread of life.                   I                                Rev. H. Hoeksema

   We love Him, eat and drink .Him, and we live forever !                        A CLOUD OF WITNESSES  -

   Even now. Amen.                                                                       Isaac's Family Divided By Sin. .____.  ._ _._ . . . ._.. . .._.. 322
                                                                                                    Rev. B. Woudenberg
                                                                         G.V.

                                                                                 FROM HOLY WRIT -

                                                                                         Exposition o f I Corinthians 15:50-57  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
                                     Notice                                                         Rev. G. Lubbers


  NEXT EASTERN LADIES' LEAGUE MEETING                                            IN HIS FEAR -

                S p e a k e r :                                                          Sincere Sorrow Or Polite Platitude. .._. .__.  _._ ._. . 326
                                     R E V .   G .   VANDEN   B E R G
                                                                                                    Rev. J. A. Heys
           Topic: How to Teach Ow  Clazildren  to Pray

                         Place: First Church                                     CONTENDING FOR T& FAITH -
                                                                                         The Church and the S a c r a m e n t s . .   .   .   ..__..  .._ _......___..__  ..328
     Time: Thursday evening, April 16, at 8 :00 o'clock
                                                                                                    Rev. H. Veldman

                                        Mrs. Jacob Kuiper, Ass?  Sec'y
                                                                                 THE  VOICE OF OUR .FATHERS  -

                                                                                         The Canons o f Dordrecht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

                                                                                                    Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                            IN MEMORIAM

   The Ladies' Society of the Protestant Reformed Church at South                DECENCY  AND  ORDER  -
                                                                                         Classical Jurisdiction                               ( Continued) . ____....._..__  332
Holland, Ill., expresses sincere sympathy to one of its members
                                                                                                    Rev. G. Vanden Berg
Mrs. Raymond Bruinsma, in the loss of her brother,

                                                                                 ALL AROUND US -
                         MR. JAKE BEUGEL
                                                                                         Editor Voices Alarm Over His Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~..._..____.......  334

   May the God of all grace comfort the bereaved, and give them                                     R e v .   M .   Schipper

the assurance that to die in Christ is gain.                                     NEWS    FROM OUR CHURCHES... . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__.. . . . . . ._. ..336

                                          President, Rev. H. C. Hoeksema                            Mr. J. M. Faber

                                          Secretary, Mrs. P. S. Poortinga

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


                                                                    Scripture and other questions. It is very well to write about
              E D I T 0 R I A.L S                                   the questions, but, in the meantime, all these errors are being
                                                                    taught in the churches and especially in Calvin College, as

                                                                    Kuiper well knows. Is it not high time that, instead of
             Evolution, Long Periods, or Days                       writing about all these things some very definite action were

        In our articles on the above named subject we have em-      taken ?
 phasized repeatedly that we cannot take so-called science for                               * * * *
 our guide and for the source of our information,`but`  only the        But now I must continue my discussion of the creation
 Holy Scriptures, which are, we firmly believe, the infallible      narrative in Genesis.
 Word of God.                                                           On the sixth day God created not only the animals but
    Those who believe in evolution or in what is called             also man, the crown of the earthly creation.
 "theistic evulution"  (which is only another name for the              Of this we read, first of all in Gen. 1:26-28  : "And God
 same thing since it denies the separate creation of the            said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and
 species) which is also taught in Calvin College, prefer the        let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
 opposite method : science so-called is the source of their in-     fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
 formation and the Bible is either ignored or an attempt is         and over every creepin g thing that creepeth upon the earth.
 made t,o show that it can be brought into harmony with their       So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
 unbelieving philosophy. And the latter is impossible.              created he him ; male and female created he them. And God
    Under  the caption : "What Is Happening in the Christian        blessed them, and God said unto ,them,  Be fruitful, and
 Reformed Church?" Henry J. Kuiper writes the following             multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have

 paragraph on the question of theistic evolution:                   dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
  "First of all, we point out the sympathy .for theistic            air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
 evolution (i.e. in the Christian Reformed Church, H.H.) -- a          And in the second chapter of Genesis we read a more
 theory which implies that the doctrine of creation can be          detailed description of man : "And the Lord God formed man
 harmonized with that of a gradual development, under divine        of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the

 guidance, of lower into higher forms of life, from plants to       breath of life: and man became a living soul," v. 7. And

 animals, and from animals to man. There are men of prom-           of the creation of the woman we read in vv. 20-23 : "And

 inence in the Reformed Church of the Netherlands and in            Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the fowl of the air,

our own Church who advocate this theory and do not hesitate         and to every beast of the field: but for Adam there was not

 to assert that some day it may be demonstrated that man has        found a help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep

 descended from some ape-like ancestors. And that in the face       sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept : and he took one- of

 of the biblical teaching that the first man was a direct divine    his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof; And the rib which

 creation, a perfect human being made in the image of God, in       the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and

 righteousness, holiness, and knowledge of the truth !              brought her unto the man.      And Adam said, This is now

    "To our amazement the Ecumenical Synod of Potchef-              bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called

 stroom,  which met last summer, adopted a report on Creation       Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

and Evolution, signed by five Dutch professors (A. Lever,              It is not our purpose to enter into a detailed interpretation

Polman,  Jonker, Oostendorp, and Gispen) , which leaves             of these passages. My purpose is simply to show that, if you
room for the theory of theistic evolution. It made light of         believe that the narrative in Gen. 1 and 2 about the creation

the objections which our Synod of 1953 raised against certain       of man is the Word of God, it is impossible to believe the

statements in an earlier report and declares: `Seen in this         theory of evolution, according to which man descended from

light the Reformed Ecumenical Synod wisely did not pro-             the ape or some other animal ; nor in the theory ,of long

nounce an opinion on the idea of so-called theistic evolution.'     periods of millions of years., Notice:

It also stated blandly that `the church. should leave it to a          1. That God created man on the sixth day. And that
Christian science to come to a well considered and funda-           this sixth day was not a long period of millions or even

mentally sound view in connection with this theory.' The            billions of years is once more emphatically asserted in the
Ecumenical Synod adopting the report of the Dutch com-              end of the chapter where we read : "And the evening and the
mittee, did not even make the statement that even if it             morning were the sixth day." Remember that the whole
could be proved that many species of plants and animals             creation was now finished, so that it is certain that the eve-
were evolutions from lower forms of life, this should not be        ning was determined by the setting of the sun and the
posited of man ! It had nothing to say in explanation or            morning by the rising of the same. The sixth day, therefore,
defense of the teaching of Genesis 1 but simply left the            was an ordinary day as we know it. Hence, those that main-

decision to the sacred cow of science !"                            tain that man evolved from some lower animal during a long

    My question is : what are Kuiper and others going to do         period of time, cannot possibly accept the account of Gen. 1.

about this as well as about the question of the infallibility of       2. That God created man in His own image and likeness.


                                           \THE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  317


That was his unique distinction from all the rest of the crea-      after the fall, but also that this remnant is constantly pre-
tures God had made. Those who maintain the theory of so-            served in man and in the human race through the restraining
called theistic evolution or of long periods cannot accept this.    influence of the Holy Spirit. This is literally expressed as fol-
The image of God consists, according to Scripture, in true          lows: the Confessions teach "that God by the general opera-
knowledge of God, righteousness, and holiness. Is it POS:           tions of His Spirit, without renewing the heart of man,
sible or even conceivable that one of the higher animals, such      restrains the unimpeded breaking out of sin, by which human

as an ape, gradually developed into a rational-moral creature,      life in society remains .possible."  Hence, -according to the

endowed with the image of God, so that He knew God and              "Second Point," the original good that is left in man since

loved Him with all his heart and mind and soul and                  the fall is continuously preserved in man by the Holy Spirit.

strength ? And having gradually developed into such a dis-          The remnant of original good is the capital with which the

tinctive creature, did he lose that image all of a sudden ?         Holy Spirit works. Were there no good left in man after

                                                          H.H.      the fall there could be no further restraint. The corruption

                                                                    of man would then have been complete from the beginning.
                About The Three Points                              But even the good that is left in man would have been cor-

   We are discussing the "Second Point."                            rupted long ago if it were not for the continued restraint of

   It is .evident  that, according to this second of the three      sin by the Spirit of God.

points, there is in man, through the restraint of sin, some            The fruit of the theory of "common grace" as expressed

good left: he is not as morally evil as he would be if the          in the Second Point of 1924 is evident. It is a denial of the

power of sin were not restrained in his heart and nature.           antithesis between sin and grace, between Christ and the

In other words, though through the fall man would have              devil, between the Church and the world. It leads us right

become totally depraved, in actual fact there is no totally         into the world. I am convinced that Dr. Kuyper Sr., who is

depraved man in the world until the end of this age when            the chief exponent of this theory, needed this theory when

the restraint of sin will be withdrawn.                             he entered into the world of politics and formed all sorts of

   It is true that it is only through "special grace" that man      alliances. If the natural man is, after all, not totally depraved

is regenerated so that he can hear the Word of God and              but morally sound, though he is not regenerated, we can, to,

believe in Christ. Only then can he perform what is called          be sure, not receive him as a member of the Church, but we

"spiritual good."    But by the restraint of sin and without        can surely cooperate with him in the different spheres of the

being regenerated or, if you wish, through the power of             life of this world, in labor and industry, in politics and even

"common  grace" he can do much "natural good." And this             in education. Then we can join labor unions and associations

"natural good" includes many elements according to one of           and, perhaps, even the lodge. Then there is no fundamental

the originators of the "Three Points." It refers to external        reason for our separate Christian Schools but it is, prin-

righteousness, i.e. a walk in the way of righteousness in an        cipally, much sounder to cooperate with the public schools of

external sense, receptivity for moral persuasion and for the        our land and try to improve them as much as ,possible.  This

truth, a will that is susceptible to good motives, a conscience     is the principal reason why I combatted the theory of "com-

that is receptive for good influences, and good inclinations        mon grace" long before 1924: as editor of the rubric "Our

and desires.    All these remnants of so-called natural .good       Doctrine" in The Banner. That is the reason why I refused

remained in man after the fall. How this must be explained          to sign the "Three Points" in 1924 or even to promise that

the Synod of 1924 did not say. But the chief exponent of            I would keep still about them. That is the reason, principally,

the theory of common grace, Dr. -A. Kuiper, offered an ex-          why I was cast out of the Christian Reformed Church. And

p1anatio.n. According to him, the power of common grace,            that, in my conviction, is also the reason why the Christian

with its restraining influence upon' sin, operated immediately      Reformed Church, in spite of all its show of beautiful build-

after the fall. If there had not been such a restraining in-        ings and fast outward expansion, is going on the rocks.

fluence and operation of common grace upon man after the               No longer does that Church dare to take a stand on many

fall, he would have become a devil, he would have sunk into         fundamental questions such as union membership, divorce,

eternal desolation and the development of the human race            the mixed theological training in Nigeria, theistic evolution,

would have become impossible. He would have eternal death.          the infallibility of Scripture.

But man did not fully die. And this can be explained only              You ask perhaps, with a shrug of the shoulder : is all this

from the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit immediately       due to the adoption of the theory of `%ommon  grace" and of

after the fall. Because of this operation of the Spirit of God      the "Three Points" in 1924?

man did not become wholly corrupt, but he retained so life             My answer is : principally Yes.

and light and a remnant of his original goodness. And this             When the Christian Reformed Church adopted that the-

remnant of natural goodness is preserved in mankind through-        ory, it placed itself on a slippery downward road on which it

out its development in history.                                     cannot stop. For the theory of "common grace" is a denial

   Virtually this is also the teaching of the second point. For     of the antithesis and,. therefore, leads us right into the world.

it implies not only that there is a remnant of good left in man                                                                H.H.

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


                                                                          of God in the old dispensation, so also all the so-called
                 O U R   D O C T R I N E                             II Christians belong nominally to the church of God, the spirit-
                                                                          ual Jerusalem of the new dispensation. But within this great

                                                                          city of the Christian world one must distinguish between

                 THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                   three different classes. In the first place, in this nominally

                                                                          Christian world there is the false church, the church that
            -                 PART' TWO                                   has openly cast away her Christian garment, that has openly

                                                                          renounced the great truths of sin and guilt, of atonement and
                              CHAPTER VII
                                                                          redemption, of the divinity of Christ, and the `vicarious atone-

                     The Mea&wing  of thi Temple                          ment and -sacrifice of our Lord. This false church still calls

                                                                          itself Christian, yea, what is more, still calls itself a church.
                           Revelation 11 :l, 2
                                                                          It lays stress even on Christianity in our time, and it de-

        On the contrary, entering this temple from the right, as          mands that the church shall be up and doing, shall perform

     worshippers were wont to do, we would find ourselves first           all kinds of Christian labors and shall redeem all humanity.
     of all in a wide, open space, a large square, seven hundred          It cries out that the church must bring the kingdom of God.
     fifty feet each way - the court of the temple. It was called         But it denies the Christ as the Savior of His people and
     the court of the Gentiles, for the reason that it was open to        thereby denies her own character as church of Christ Jesus.
     all, Jew and Gentile, and one needed not enter here for the          It is the false church, the church that still insists that it is a
     purpose of worshipping. It is in the midst of this court, the        church, but that has openly cast aside even the semblance

     court of the Gentiles, or the outer court, that the temple build;    of the church of Christ. It is Jerusalem sacrificing to Moloch,
     ing proper stood in all its splendor, the sanctuary of Jehovah,      filled with abomination, the city of God serving the devil. In
     wtih its court of the women, its court of the priests and of         the second place, there is also in the New Testament church
     Israel, its holy and most holy place, its altars and its throng      the outer court. It represents the show-church, that part of
     of worshippers. There was the place for real worship. There          Jerusalem that outwardly pretends to belong to the true
-    was the altar of burnt offering, as well as the altar of in-         church, subscribes to her confession, feigns to believe in the

     cense. There were the chests or trumpets, where the wor-             great truths of atonement and redemption, but is inwardly

     shippers might drop their gifts to the Lord. There was the           hypocritical. They are the tares among the wheat. They go

     place of atonement and. of the worship of our God. And               with God's people to His temple for worship, but they never

     therefore we must distinguish between three things : 1) Jeru-        enter the spiritual sanctuary of the fellowship of God. They

     salem was as a whole the city of God, known as such- over the        remain in the outer court. Also they are in the church, as

     earth, the city of God in contrast with the city of Babylon.         our Lord Himself has so plainly indicated in His parable of

     2) But in this holy city the Lord dwelt in a special place, the      the tares. And finally, there are the real, spiritual people of

     temple on Mt.. Zion. 3) And even in that temple we must              God, the invisible church, the body of Christ, the real temple

     again distinguish between the outer court and the sanctuary          and sanctuary proper, where God- dwells and the people wor-

     proper, in which latter the Lord dwelt in the literal sense          ship over the altar of Christ in Spirit and in truth. They are

     of the word.                                                         represented by the temple which John must measure. Three

        But now all this outward `show has disappeared in the             distinctions, therefore, in old Jerusalem: the city of Jeru-
     new dispensation. The temple and the holy city still exist,          salem proper, the outer court, and finally the temple. So
     but no more as a city and a temple built of wood and stone.          there are also three distinctions in the spiritual Jerusalem of
     There is no more such a temple. There is no more such                the New Testament day: the Christian world, or the false
     a city. There is no more such an altar built with hands.             church, the show-church, and the true church of God, the
     But the temple is the church, or, in the broader sense,              spiritual people of the Lord. It is to, these that our text
     the temple and Jerusalem constitute the church of the living         refers plainly.

     God. And Christ Jesus is our altar of atonement and recon-              But now we must still answer the question: What is the

     ciliation in that city of our God. But-and this is exactly           meaning of what John is commissioned to do ? We read that

     what we must remember with regard to the New Testament               a reed is' given unto him and that the reed looked like a rod.

     church- although the outward form of wood and stone is               Now a reed is merely a measuring instrument, a stick to

     no more, the distinction between Jerusalem, the outer court,         measure the dimensions of something.          But evidently the
     and the temple proper still exists and holds good. And it            purpose is not that John shall ascertain the size of Jerusalem

     is on the basis of that truth that we must explain the words         and of the outer court, nor of the temple. But it is said with

     of our text. Jerusalem in its broadest sense is the representa-      special mention that the reed looked like a rod. Now the

     tion of the New Testament manifestation of the entire church,        rod is in Scripture a symbol of royal dominion and power.

     of all Christianity, of all that are baptized, of the. entire        It is equivalent to a royal scepter, with this difference, that

     Christian world, of all nominal Christians.. Just  as all the        the rod at the same time symbolizes physical power to exe-

     citizens of Jerusalem were nominally inhabitants of the city         cute authority. Thus we read in Psalm 2 :9: "Thou shalt


                                                                                                         `_
                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               319


 break them with a rod of iron." And again, in Rev: 2 ~26, 27       Christians, the show-Christians, belong to His dominion, and

 we read: "He that overcometh, to him will I give authority         that many of whom we believe that they belong to the
 over the nations, and he shall rule them ,with a rod of iron."     spiritual body of Christ will not enter in. That, in the first

 And therefore, the idea that is implied in this measuring is       place. But still more is indicated here. Although essentially
 not merely that of ascertaining the size, but also that of         both the false Christians and the hypocrites always are separ-
 dominion and authority. He must measure indeed, and there-         ated from God's people, always are enemies of Christ, always
 fore answer the question, "How large?" And in the second           defile with their presence the holy city and trample it under
 place, he must measure, touch with a rod;and  therefore use        foot, yet the time shall come when they shall do so openly.
 the symbol of dominion. And thus we conclude that by this          It is now the time of the seventh trumpet. And those that
 measuring John must answer the question: how large is the          still profess to be Christians,' but are not, whether they have
 real, spiritual dominion of the Lord Jesus in the holy city as     been hypocrites, of whom we thought they were faithful, or
 it appears in this dispensation ?                                  whether they were openly deniers of the Christ though corn-
     And then we find that this act of measuring results at the     ing with a show of outward Christianity and good works, they
 same time in separation. If John had proceeded on his own          shall reveal themselves as enemies of the true church and of
 account, he would probably have measured all of Jerusalem          Christ. Also this is indicated in these words. The hypocrites
 and claimed the whole city for the Lord Jesus Christ. Or,          shall identify themselves with the open unbelievers, and all
 if he would not have done this, he would at least have laid        together shall form the enemy of the church, that shall
 the rod of dominion over the outer court and claimed that          trample the holy city under foot.

 ail that was within belonged to the Lord of all. But he is            As to the forty-two months that are mentioned in our

 directed differently. He must not measure Jerusalem. He            text, I shall have occasion to refer to this again. Be it suf:

 must not measure the outer court. But he must simply con-          ficient now to call your attention to the fact that forty-two
 fine himself to the temple proper, to the sanctuary building       months, twelve hundred sixty days, a time and times and a
 that stands within the court. That part of the temple where        half time mentioned by Daniel-three and a half years-
 the altar is, and the true worshippers, must be touched as         are all the same. And if we ask as to what period is rep-
 belonging to-the dominion of Christ. All the rest cannot be        resented by these forty-two months or twelve hundred sixty
 claimed. And therefore, if the question is asked, "What is         days, then I think we find the key to this explanation in the
 the size of Christ's true, spiritual dominion here upon earth?"    twelfth chapter of this book, where we are told that the
 the answer is: the size of the temple building proper, and         church is in the wilderness twelve hundred sixty days. There
 that only. And if the question is asked again, "How many           it is very plain that the church is in the wilderness from the
 are the spiritual subjects of Christ in this dispensation?"        time of the exaltation of Christ to the time of His return in
 the answer is again: as many as worship within the sanctu-         the clouds. And therefore twelve hundred sixty days are sym-
 ary of God over the altar of reconciliation. But one more          bolic of -the entire period of the present dispensation. This is
 thing we must notice. While the temple is separated thus           also true of the forty-two months. All during this dispensa-             _
 from Jerusalem and even from the outer court, the court and        tion- the church shall conceal in its bosom the false church        "
 the city are identified. For so we read : the outer court, to-     and the show-church. All through this dispensation, as John
' gether  with the city, shall be given to the Gentiles to be       already tells us in his -epistles, the Antichrist shall be there
  trampled under foot. The court, that seems so closely con-        in principle, only with this difference, that toward the end
  nected with the temple, is separated from it and is identified    he shall openly reveal himself and intentionally trample under
  with the city and is surrendered to the Gentiles.                 foot the holy city, as secretly  he had done all the time. So

     If now we ,turn  away from the symbolism and ask our-          it is also in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, where

  selves the question, "What is the meaning of all this ?' the      we are told that the time of the fourth beast shall be time,

 answer is ready. We are taught here in symbolic language           times, and a half, or three and a half times. And if we re-

 not only what is the essential condition of the church in the      member that seven is the period of the completion of God's

 new dispensation, but also what shall be her outward mani-         plan with regard to His kingdom, covering the entire period

 festation towards the `end, at the coming of our Lord Jesus        from the creation of the world to the final restoration of all

  Christ. As we have seen, in the church in the broader sense       things, remember that three and a half is half of seven, we

  of the word are false Christians. There is the false church,      shall all the more understand clearly that it is the time indi-

  that even denies the real Christ. In the church are, in the       cated between the first and second coming of Christ that is

  second place, the outward worshippers, the hypocrites, that       here meant. And as far as the forty-two is concerned, we will

do not spiritually belong to the church. And finally, in the        notice that it is employed every time of the power of the

  church are the real people of God. All this is pictured to us     Antichrist, both here and in chapter 13.. The time he has is

  in the words of our text. By commissioning John to measure        indicated by the number forty-two. Seven is the number of

  with his rod of dominion the Lord reminds us that we must         completion of the kingdom of God. Six is the number of the

  not expect that all Christianity belongs to Christ in the real    beast, the number of man. Six times seven indicates that the

  sense of the word, that not `even all the seeming, outward        power of evil shall attempt to destroy the kingdom of God

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


     and thus finish his work. But at the same time it indicates              Numerous are the answers given to the question as to
     that he shall fail. He shall come to the six times seven-but         who these two witnesses are. In fact, you can hardly con-
     shall not reach the seven times seven, shall not accomplish          ceive of a question with a greater variety of answers than
     his own kingdom.                                                     this. All the ingenuity of man has sometimes been brought
        And this is at the same time the great lesson of this             into play in order to find  an answer to this question. Now
     portion of the book of Revelation. The text tells us that there      it must undoubtedly be admitted that this is one of the most
     are in the bosom Of-Christianity the false church, the show-         difficult questions in the Apocalypse and that it behoves us to
     church, and. the true church. Hence, we must never expect            start out with the confession that without the aid of the
     that all. Christianity is Israel in the true sense of the word.      entire Word of God and the enlightening power of the Holy
     In the end many shall fall away openly and identify them-            Spirit we shall never be able to find certainty and satisfaction
     selves with the false church, from which Antichrist shall            in regard to it. But on the other hand, our faith that the
     come: But at the same ti,me  the true children of God must           book of Revelation must be explained by the rest of the Word
     not be afraid, neither be amazed. If they should find ,that          of God and that the Holy Spirit will indeed enlighten our
     in the end many should fall away from the church, from               minds if we will diligently seek aid from Him is also in this
     the holy city, nay, from the temple proper, and add them-            case by no means disappointing. It will be well that we pause
     selves to Antichrist, they must not fear. For all these things       for a moment to find out what answers .have been given to
     must needs come to pass. Christ rules. The power of Anti-            the question by different interpreters throughout the history
     christ can come only to the number forty-two. Seven times            of the church.
     seven it cannot reach. And as we shall see, before the darkest           There are, in the first place, a number of interpreters that
     darkness of night Christ shall take His church to heaven and         take this chapter to refer to the literal destruction of Jerusa-
     the temple of God shall be perfected in eternal glory.               lem, but then as being an ideal picture of the judgment in
                                                                          the last days. But we do not have to pause very long to

                              CHAPTER VIII                                discuss this interpretation, seeing that it is an established fact

                                                                          that at the time John received this revelation Jerusaiem and
                           The Two I@itnesses                             the temple were already destroyed. Nor can one .easily under-

                            Revelation 11 :3, 4                           stand how this could be a picture of the destruction of Jeru-
                                                                          salem in the year 70 A.D., since nothing that is depicted in
                3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and       the chapter before us was realized at that time. Not only a
                they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three-     tenth part of the city was-destroyed, ,but  the whole of it. Nor
                score days, clothed  in sackcloth.
                                                                          was it thus, that only the city and the outer court were
                4. These are the two olive trees, and the two canclle-    trampled under foot, but the temple proper was destroyed
                sticks standing before the God of the'earth.
                                                                          as well. Besides, where in this time. do we find even an

        The portion from the book of Revelation which we are              approximation to the two witnesses that are here mentioned

     now discussing speaks of the famous two witnesses. And of            in that awful destruction. And therefore we may safely con-
     these the chapter tells     who. they are, what they must do,        clude that this interpretation is surely not the true one.
                              us 
     who rises against them, and what finally becomes of them.                On the other hand, there have been a large number of
P    First of all, then, we must answer the question: who are             interpreters that have found in this chapter a reference to

     these two witnesses ? This is important, for it determines to        the period preceding the Protestant Reformation. The two

     an extent our answer to the other questions concerning them.         witnesses are the Bible, the Old and New Testaments. The

        The text has it: "And I will give-unto my two witnesses,          thousand two hundred and threescore days must be taken in

     and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three-            the prophetical sense of the word, a day standing for a year,

     score days." There can be little question but that it is Christ      and therefore referring to a period of twelve .hundred  sixty

     Who is here speaking. In the first place, the close connection       years.    And this period is found realized in the years of

     of this chapter with the preceding, where the mighty angel           struggle preceding the Reformation. Jerusalem is the city of

     with his feet on the earth and on the sea was the speaker,           God, but represented by papal Rome. For a long time the

     leads us to this conclusion. But above all, the fact that the        witnesses of the Old and New Testament. sound their testi-

     voice speaks not of two witnesses but definitely of "`why two        mony against the gradually growing corruption of the Roman

     witnesses" makes it plain beyond a- possibility of error that        Catholic Church, but it is all in vain. The corruption grows

     the Christ is speaking.     And the meaning of the peculiar          and develops, till tinally  it reaches its climax a few years

     Hebraistic construction of the text is: "I will give that my         before the Reformation. The testimony is actually silenced

     two witnesses shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and              for a time, and the two witnesses are killed. In the year

     threescore days. I will give unto my two witnesses all that          1513 a papal bull is issued that apparently finishes all oppo-

     they need so that they may not keep silence, but witness for         sition to the Romish Church and silences every voice of

     me and my cause in the midst of the world that has no knowl-         truth. But three and a half days, that is, exactly three years

     edge of me and of my cause."                                         and a half later, in the fall of 1517 Luther nails his theses to'


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   321


 the church of Wittenberg, and the witnesses are raised from          people of Israel, the scribes especially, clearly expected his
 the dead, while, at the same time, they are taken to heaven,         return. And in Matthew 17:10,  11 we read that'the disciples
 that is, placed in a sphere of safety, so that the enemy can         come to the Lord with the question, "Why' then say the
 silence them no more. This interpretation naturally finds its        scribes that Elijah must first come?' And the Lord an-
 origin in the reformers, who had to fight such a hard battle         swered: "Elijah indeed cometh  and shall restore all things."
 and were so bitterly oppressed and persecuted by the power           And therefore it would seem plain that Scripture actually
 of the Roman Catholic .Church.  It is the favorite explanation       teaches a literal return of Elijah to the earth and that in this
 of all who see in the pope the Antichrist and in the Roman           portion we have that return pictured to us. True, we do not
 Catholic Church his power. Now we must not be too hasty              read of the return of Enoch. But, in the first place, there are
 in condemning this view. There is undoubtedly an element             many sources outside of Scripture that express the expecta-
 of truth in it. Throughout the history of this dispensation,         tion of the return of Enoch as well. And in the second
 as we know from the Word of God, Antichrist exists. Al-              place, there is but one person that in the days of the old
 ready John tells his contemporaries that Antichrist is in the        dispensation was like Elijah and shows all the characteristics
 world. He is not a power that arises all of a sudden while           of these two witnesses. Both Enoch and Elijah were wit-
 it has not been in the world before, but a power that always         nesses in a time of general apostasy. Both Enoch and Elijah
 is in the world, always opposes the church and the develop-          spoke of judgment and evidently did terrible things. Both
 ment of the. kingdom,. always sneaks behind the heel of the          Enoch and Elijah escaped death and were taken into heaven.
 seed of the woman, and gradually develops in power, till in          And so these interpreters have it that both these great wit-
 the latter days it shall display a power as never before             nesses will return to the earth bodily, that they will once
 manifested. And so we may safely admit that in the days of           more witness of the name of the Most High in a time of great
~ the Reformation the pope and the papacy was one of the              apostasy, that they, however, shall finally be killed by Anti-
 manifestations of the beast of the abyss at that time. The           christ, shall be raised from the dead, and shall ascend to
 Roman Catholic Church was indeed the false church of the             heaven-all in the literal sense of the word. Again I would
 time, and those that. stood openly by the truth indeed were          say that there is an element of truth also in this interpretation.
 the two witnesses at that period. But the error of this inter-       I think that in Enoch and Elijah .we  have clear types of
 pretation is exactly that it limits itself to that one period. It    these two witnesses and what shall happen to them. But the
 is not true that the pope is the only manifestation of the           mistake also in this interpretation is exactly that it is limited
 Antichrist. Nor is it true .that he finds his power only in          to these men in the literal sense of the word. This limitation'
a the Roman Catholic Church. This is indeed a dangerous               makes the interpretation, in the first place, in the highest de-
 view to maintain. Also now the Antichrist is in the world.           gree improbable.

 Yet it must not be maintained that he appears most vividly                                                                       H.H.
                                                                                                     e
 in the Roman Catholic Church of today. Also the false

 church is in the world. Yet~ we would deceive ourselves and

 please the devil if to find it we would merely look at the

 Romish Church. And therefore, although there is an element                   You Tell Me I Am Getting Old . . .,
 of truth in such an interpretation, nevertheless its limitation
                                                                      You tell me I am getting old.
 to one `period of the history of this dispensation is at the         I tell you that's not so !
 same time its condemnation.                                          The "house" I live in is worn out, and that, of course, I know.
    The early church fathers and also many interpreters of            It's been in use a long, long while ; it's weathered many a gale ;
 today who follow them explain the two witnesses as referring         I'm really not surprised you think it's getting somewhat frail.

 to Enoch and Elijah, who shall return to earth in the literal
                                                                      The color changing on the roof, .the  windows getting ,dim,
 sense of the word. Those who hold this view maintain, that
                                                                      The walls a bit transparent and looking rather thin,
 the text speaks very definitely of two individuals, persons,         The foundation not so steady as once it used to be-
 not indefinitely to. be spiritualized into either powers or in-      My "house" is getting shaky, but my "house" isn't ME !
 stitutions. Christ says very definitely "my two witnesses,"

 and therefore speaks of witnesses which He already has, of           My few short years can't make me old. I feel I'm in my youth.
 witnesses that are well-known and that shall come to earth           Eternity lies just ahead, a life of joy and truth.
 to bear testimony of His name. And no two known indivi-              I'm going to live forever, there; life will go, on- it's grand !
                                                                      You tell me I am getting old? You just don't understand.
 duals of Scripture better fit the requirements than Enoch and

 Elijah. The Scriptural references on which this interpreta-          The dweller in my little "house" is young and bright and gay;
 tion is based are found both in the Old and in the New Testa-        Just starting on a life to last throughout eternal day.
 ment. In the prophecy of Malachi, 4:5, we read: "Behold, I           You only see the outside, which is all that most folks see.
 will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and               You tell me I am getting old ?
 terrible day of the Lord come." And in the New Testament             You've mixed my "house" with ME!

 we find repeated reference to Elijah and his coming. The                                     -by Dora Johnson (88 years young)


  32i                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                                   It is difficult to understand the .subsequent  actions of
  i[A CLOUD OF WITNESSES 11 Isaac in this affair if we do not take into consideration that
                                                                                   he.was a man laboring under a guilty conscience. Isaac knew

                                                                                   what it was that he wanted to do. He preferred Esau and he
                 Isaac's Family Divided By Sin                                     was determined to bless him. But Isaac was a child of God

                                                                                   and down in his heart he knew that what he wanted to do
                    "And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and

                 his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called            was wrong. It meant that he was a man that was fighting

                 Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and, he           with himself. His sanctified heart and his natural desires
            ~    said unto him, Behold, here am I.                                 were at odds with each other. In determining to follow the
                   And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the
                                                                                   flesh he had to suppress the spiritual faith of his heart. The
                 day of my death:
                   Now therefore, take, I pray thee, thy- weapons, thy             result was that he lived spiritually in fear and isolation.
                 quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field,  and take               He was isolated in the first place from his son, his son

                 me some venison;                                                  Jacob. There was much which he had in common with Jacob.
                   And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring              There were many reasons why they should have lived in
                 it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee             close communion. They both had the same basic, spiritual
                 before I die."                              GEN. 27 : 1-4
                                                                                   principle of life. They both loved the same God, the same
     Sin is a pernicious evil ; it can bring even a child of God              covenant, the same, truth. They were both men of faith. But
 into the depths of misery and grief ; it can divide the -unity               `Isaac had always showed preference for Esau because of his
 of a covenant home, setting husband against wife, son against                     greater strength, his greater cunning, his greater boldness.
 father, mother against child, and brother against brother.                        He found it easier to respond to the earthly excellency of
  Such is what actually happened in the household of Isaac, the                    Esau than the spiritual excellency of Jacob. The result was
 promised son of Abraham.                                                          that as Jacob matured he found less and less occasion to

     The sin ? -it was the carnal walk of Esau who despised                        stand in the presence of his father. So close to each other in

 the covenant of God. He disdained his covenant instruction ;.                     principle, they were far removed from each other in reality.

 he bargained with his right as the eldest son ; he hated his                      They were separated as the result of sin.

  Godfearing brother; he mingled and married among the                                Isaac was isolated also from his wife. It had been with

 heathen. Yet, perhaps, it was not so much the sin of Esau                         joy that Isaac had received Rebekah, a wife appointed him

 that divided the family as the response of his father Isaac to                    by God. Together they had shared their concerns and prayers

 that sin, or the lack of his response against it. That Esau's                     for the first twenty years of their childless marriage. With '

 life was that of a man hardened in the way of sin was evident.                    united thanksgiving they had received their two sons ac-

  Moreover, it could have been known beforehand from the                           companied by a divine prophecy from heaven. But as the

 oracle of God which had said `that Esau would not receive                         two children grew, Isaac refused to rely upon that prophecy.

 the pre-eminence. But this'all Isaac refused to receive. He                       This separated them from each other. The older the children

 liked. Esau. He liked the seemingly kind consideration that                       grew the more marked the dissension became. Their spiritual
 brought delicious cuts of venison to his table. He liked the                      unity almost ceased to exist.

 bravery, cunning, and boldness that procured the meat in the                         Most severe of all was his isolation from his God. It was

 first place. He was well-disposed toward Esau, refusing to                        the Word of God which he opposed. He no doubt refused to
  recognize Esau's sins and wanting to bestow upon him the                         admit that this was really so. There is always some excuse

 headship  of the family. By so doing he refused the oracle of                     which can be found why God's Word does not actually apply.

  God, stumbled at the Word, and became himself guilty of a                        But deep in his heart Isaac knew it was true. He dared not

 very great evil. It was a sin that disrupted the life of his                      to call upon God to uphold him `in his determination. There

 family.                                                                           is no sadder picture in all history than that of a true child

     Isaac was 137 years old. He had arrived at the age at                         of the covenant, such as Isaac, separated from his God.
 which his half-brother, `Ishmael,  had died. His eyes had                            There was still a certain communion which he had with
  become dim, and he felt ,the infirmities of age impressing                       Esau, but yet, not really. He could talk to Esau about the
 themselves upon him. Isaac's thoughts began to turn toward                        pleasures of the field and the hunt. He could share with
 his own death ; but there was one thing he was determined                    -Esau  the delicious cuts of venison. But for that which really
  to do before that time should come. For a long time he had                       troubled his soul Esau had no feeling. He could not admit
 had a preference for his son Esau ; he was determined to                          to Esau that he was troubled about the prophecy which had
 give to this eldest son the birthright blessing. Rebekah had                      been spoken to Rebekah so many years before. He realized
often warned him against it. Repeatedly she had told him                           that Esau would not' understand that it mattered.

  of the oracle of God concerning their two sons. But this onIy               _       It is a sad picture which we receive of Isaac sitting alone

  served to set his determination more firmly. In fact, so long                    in his tent. He was alone and he was afraid. He hardly dared

 had this been a point of dissension between them that he no                       to go ahead, but pride prevented him from recanting and

 longer confided in her concerning his intention.                                  giving the blessing to Jacob. Confused and troubled in heart


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              323


he counted his years, noted his blindness, and, although there     There was no time to hesitate. There was no time to look

was much strength in his body, he' decided that he was soon        for some other plan. So urgent was Rebekah that she offered

to die. Almost as though to rid himself of his problem he          to take upon herself full responsibility should Jacob's decep-

called Esau to his tent with the intention of blessing him:        tion be discovered. She would rather that a curse should

But his heart was not in it. Remembering that he had always        come upon her than that no attempt should be made to save

been best disposed to Esau when he ate of the venison Esau         the blessing for Jacob.

had prepared he said, "Take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy             Jacob did not have the moral strength to resist his mother.

quiver and thy bow, and go out-to the field, and take me some      In principle he was in agreement with her. He wanted the

venison ; And make me savory meat, such as I love, and             blessing for himself as badly as she wanted him to have it.

bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee        His objections did not arise from a moral repulsion to being

before I die."                                                     deceptive ; then he might have had the strength to resist.

   With considerable joy Esau received these words. Long           But he too felt that somehow it was dependent upon their

before he had disdained the birthright blessing, even selling      action if the desired result was to be obtained. His only

it for bread and pottage. The spiritual aspect of the promise      reservations were practical. He' questioned whether they

meant very little to him. But now he too saw the time ap-          could be successful in deceiving his father. With only these

proaching when his father would die. The possessions and           objections- he soon succumbed to the urgings of his mother.

wealth of his father were considerable. It would be no mean            We may well take a warning from this chapter in the

attainment to gain the rule over it all. Even more sweet would     history of Isaac and Jacob. Sin is a dangerous thing and its

it be because it would give him a victory and authority over       effects most pernicious. Isaac called in question the Word

his brother Jacob. His heart still smarted when he re-             of God. He gave more weight to his own judgment than he

membered the way Jacob had tricked him into selling his            did to divine revelation. His sin became a cancer that de-

right to the blessing for nothing more than a pottage made         stroyed the peace of his family. While he fell behind not

from lentiles. Indeed it had been a proper transaction and         trusting the oracle of God, his wife and son were moved to

by rights should still be observed. Even more there was the        think that somehow they had to make it right. Isaac thought

word of God reported by his mother that assigned the bless-        that he did not have to rely upon God ; Rebekah and Jacob

ing to his brother. But these things were known of his             thought that God had to rely upon them. We can only

father. If those things could be ignored by Isaac surely he,       speculate how different things might have been had one of

Esau, was not one to stop at technicalities. With eager anti-      them had the moral strength to live by faith alone. Had Isaac

cipation he went out to stalk his game.                            had the strength to put aside his earthly desires for the sake

   As Esau departed, one other figure left the presence of         of the revealed will of God, had Rebekah or Jacob had the

Isaac unbeknown to him. Within the household of Isaac his          faith to wait on God to make it right, then there would have

wife, Rebekah, being removed from his confidence felt con-         been in this event a ray of light. As it is we have only a

strained to spy secretly upon her husband. The sin of-Isaac        dismal portrayal of the stumbling, faltering way of God's

became the cause of sin also in the other members of his           people in the midst of a world of sin.

household. -Although Rebekah had defended the fruth of the             Yet we can not be angry with them. We look back now

Word of God overagainst her husband, she did not have the          and clearly we see how foolish was their way. They ought

strength of faith to rely.upon  it completely herself. Her love    to have done so much better. But when we see the principle

for Jacob was not a love founded completely upon spiritual         of `the sins which they committed, we can not help but

evaluations. As Isaac's nature responded to the character of       note also how frequently those same sins are repeated in our

Esau, so her nature responded to the character of Jacob. With      own lives. How often do not we, like Isaac, falter and hes-

a .concern  for her youngest son which was only partially          itate to receive a truth that God has clearly revealed ? How

spiritual, Rebekah's care for him was also more than spirit-       often do we not, like Rebekah an'd Jacob, think that some-

ual. She was not ready to leave the matter in the hx&              how God is dependent upon us and our ingenuity for the

of the Lord, confident that what He `had promised to do He         realization of His purposes ? Then we can only marvel at

was able also to perform. She set herself as the defender of       a God whose grace is sufficient to love such creatures as we.

God's promise to Jacob. Thus it was that she planted her-                                                                   B.W.

self so as to overhear the conversation between Isaac and

Esau. No sooner had she heard of Isaac's intentions than

her mind quickly devised a plan whereby this intention could                           Teacher Needed

be prevented from being realized.
                                                                       Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School, 1545 Wilson
   Calling Jacob to her, Rebekah laid before him her plan.
                                                                   Ave., S. W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, needs a teacher for
He was to bring food in to his father and impersonate his
                                                                   the third grade. If interested, please apply by contacting
brother Esau. Jacob was understandably he,sitant.  But
Rebekah was-urgent, almost with a spirit of desperation. The       David Meulenberg, 1743 Moelker Ave., S.W., Grand Rapids,

plan of Isaac had to be prevented from coming to realization.      .Michigan,  Phone AR 6-4-589. '


      324                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE,ARER


     II                                                                      dam of God; neither doth corruption inherit  incomqtion.
                 F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T                            I    Behold, I shew you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but
                                                                             w-e shall all be cha:nged.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an

                                                                             eye, at the 1a;rt  tmm~p:  for the trumpet sha.11  sound, aud the

               Exposition of I Csrinthians  15:50-57                         dead shall be raised incomuptible,  a.nd we shall be changed.
                                                                             For this covmptible  n&t put on incoyruptioq  and this mortal
            We have just one more article to write on the series of          ,must put on immortality. So when this corruptible  shull have
     Matthew 24 and 25. That will need to wait, D.V., till a                 put on incortuption  and this inortal  -shall have put on im-
     later issue of The  Standard Bea,rer.  .This time ,we would             mortality, then shall be? brought to pass the saying, Death is
     write a little exposition on I Corinthians 15 :50-57.  We be-           swallowed up i,n  victory. 0 death, zvhere  is thy sting? 0
     lieve that this passage from Scripture is very instructive and          gra.ve, where is thy victory? The st,ing of death is sin:
     revealing, and that it is also timely as a post-resurrection            a.nd the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who
     essay.                                                                  giveth us the victory  through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Cor.

           This passage we find in Paul's beautiful instructive polem-       15 :50-57.

     ic against the sceptics  who deny the resurrection of the                   The key-term in this passage seems to be the term "shall
     dead. That Paul wields the mighty pen of the sword of the               be changed."
     Spirit is thoroughly understandable. For if Christ be not
                                                                                 Let us take a look at the idea- and coutent of this term.
     raised (in a present perfected state of being risen) `then the

     Gospel is empty, the preaching of the Cross is indeed not a                 As to the idea of this term it should be underscored that

     power of God unto salvation, the preacher the greatest liar             the term to "be changed" (allageesometha) is not the same

     afoot, our faith and hope is vain and we are of all men most            notion as resurrection but rather presents to us a certain

     miserable !                                                             aspect of the resurrection! The term "to be raised" pre-

                                                                             supposes that actual physical death has taken place, that we
           Hence, in the verses l-34 of this chapter Paul established
                                                                             have been buried amongst the dead actually (there has been a
     the fact of the resurrection itself as an article of our un-            funeral), and `that, therefore, the pious have "fallen asleep"
     doubted Christian faith. However, in the verses 35-57 he
                                                                             in the Lord, and now are actually aroused from this sleep of
     teaches the ?ltan?ter  of the resurrection of the "saints" and
                                                                             death. This term emphasizes a transition from death to life,
     the na,ture  of the body with which they shall be clothed
                                                                             noting that we are taken from the grave into life eternal!
     through the resurrection. Paul introduces this very carefully
                                                                             However, the term "to be changed" shows us something
     and clearly in verse 35. They are two questions, distinct
                                                                             more of the resurrection, which is not necessarily included in
     from each other, yet very closely interrelated. Writes he:
                                                                             the term "resurrection."
     "But someone will say: How are the dead raised and with

     what *aan.pzer  of body shall they be."                                    What is this specific notion of the term "to be changed"?
                                                                                   c
           Paul distinguishes a twofold aspect of the resurrection.             The term in its current usage in Scripture refers to that
3    The first is the purely earthy aspect as it shall be "changed"          act of the wonder of God's grace in Christ Jesus where one
     into the heavenly. The second is the corruptible and mortal             state of being or thing is caused to be changed into another
     aspect of the present body as it shall be "changed" into the            state of being. It affects the very created constitution of all
     incorruptible and immortal !                                            things. This latter is sometimes called the "re-establishment
                                                                             of all things." Such "re-establishment" must never be pre-
           These two should be closely noted by us.
                                                                             sented `as simply the removal of the effects of sin and the curse
           There have been all kinds of theological. construction            upon creation, restoring to us the paradise that is lost, but
     centered about this truth. Especially the proponents of the             rather it ~ refers to the "changing" of all things earthy into
     Federal Theology, who teach a "Covenant of Works." We                   the heavenly.
     shall not refute this view explicitly. Rather we shall bear it
                                                                              An interesting- usage of the term' "change"
     in mind and simply attempt to draw a positive line of in-                                                                       we find in
                                                                             Acts ,6 :14 where we read : "For we have heard him say, that
     terpretation. After all the Bible was not written simply for
                                                                             this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall
     scientific Theology, but has in mind "sanctification" which
                                                                             change the customs which Moses delivered us." In this pas-
     proceeds from a living faith and hope in the risen and- vic-
                                                                             sage the "change" effected refers to Christ's work in his
     torious Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ!
                                                                             death and resurrection, where the shadows and types are
           The passage to which we call attention too dwells upon            removed and the reality, the body is ushered in. The promises
     this twofold aspect of the "change," as effected principally in         are now realized and so the "customs" of Moses are changed.
     the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and as consummated in the             Something new and different has come into its stead ; how-
     final resurrection and "change" of all the saints.                      beit,  it is still, the same reality in different form. It is

           We read in this passage under consideration: "Now  tlzk           "change" within the same identity!                 -
     I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the king-             Another passage which is of interest in connection with


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    325


  the conception "change" is what we read in Hebrews I':12  :.                The first man was made a living soul ; he was of the earth

  "And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be        and earthy!         2
  ch.anged:  for thou art the same and thy years shall not fail."             The second man ("mensch"  not "man") is the Lord out
  Here the writer to the Hebrews refers to the new constitution       Of he;azren!
  of all things in the new heaven and the new .earth  1 The                   And even as we have borne the image of the earthy  SO
heavenly shall be brought in. Presently all things shall be           shall we also bear the image of the hea.venly  !
  shaken to bring in an unmovable inheritance. Heb. 12 ~27, 28.
                                                                              It is for this reason that we are told and most solemnly

      In our passage it is quite emphatically stated that "`we        assured of this "change" in the final resurrection.

  shall be changed." `This is a radical change which can never                However, there is also the element of sin, guilt, death!
  be equated with a gradual, natural process. It does not             This too must be changed. This corruptible must put on in-
  come forth out of the human race, and the first Adamic race.        corruption and this mortal must put on immortality. This
  It can only be explained as a wonder of God's grace in Jesus        is also a radical change. But this change is really an "ac-
  Christ our Lord. It belongs to the sufferings that shall            cidental" change, that is, it does u.s swh not effect that change
  come upon him and the glories to follow in the new creation.        from the earthy to the heavenly. If Adam would have lost
 For this change of all things is no less glorious than the           these effects of sin and nothing more would have happened he
  creation of the world. It is a changing of the earthy into the      would be back in the earthly Paradise. I know, that this is
  heavenly and the corruptible into the incorruptible!                hardly conceivable in the light of the world of the entire              -

      It is for that reason that we are here taught as a              human race. But such would be the case nonetheless. But
  fundamental principle and truth that "flesh and blood cun-          this change from the efects of sin too must be brought about.

  not inherit a kingdom of God." And, again, "neither can the                 And this change from the corruptible to the incorruptible

  corruption inherit the incorruption."                               Yttust be realized.

                                                                              Why ?
      Paul is here speaking of what is not "possible." He is

  speaking of what is a "created impossibility" ! The mature  of              For the simple reason (did I write "simple" ?) that Christ
  the heavenly, and the nature of a kingdom of God is such            died according to the Scriptures and that he was raised ac-

  that it precludes the possibility of "flesh and blood" to in-       cording to the same Scriptures. The "sting of death" was

  herit  it! Hence, God will effect the necessary change in the       removed. Death has lost its power to kill. The right to kill

  final resurrection.                                                        was removed from the law -which law otherwise is the
                                                                      US 
                                                                      strength of sin! But the justice of God was satisfied. We
     What is "flesh and blood"? It is the natural (psychical)         satisfied the justice of God by another. And we are free. And
  body 1 It has in it the vegetative and the reproductive. Here       death and hell, the grave and corruption have no power nor
  men are married and given in marriage. Here the entire              authority over us any more !
  human race comes forth from one man. Here men bear
                                                                             And the justice of God therefore demands that this cor-
  the image of the earthy. And this earthy is such that it can-
                                                                      ruptible put on incorruption. Yes, it is sown in. dishonor but
  not possibly inherit the heavenly ! The ismpossibility  does not
                                                                      it is raised up in glory. It is sown a natural body but it is
  lie in the almight  of God being limited in its potentiality,
                                                                      raised a spiritual body. For in Christ death is swallowed up
  but rather in the limitation of the earthy by virtue of the

  decree and ordinance of God. The earthy is, indeed, first.          in victoryl

  Afterwards the heavenly. But there must be a change. Adam                  Since God's wisdom designed it all and Christ's death

  cannot go to heaven- except he be "changed."           And this     and resurrection realized it, shall it not all be manifested

  change cannot take place, according to the divine Decree,           in that day when the last Trumpet shall sound to call to the
  except there be a "last Adam," the life-giving Spirit.              great day -of serving God in His temple day and night !

     Such is the clear teaching here in this passage.                        Let the mockers scoff and unbelievers raise their sceptic
                                                                      eyebrows., But we will believe that except the wheat be
     There is in the resurrection not simply  a necessity be-         sown and die it cannot live. All things are possible with God.
  ca.use of sin and death, corruption and mortality. Rather
                                                                             He is the Creator and also the Redeemer of all things.
  there is first of all the necessity rooted in the fact -that  in
  and through the Christ of God, God will change the earthy                  It is His glory to be faithful to His own and raise them
  into the heavenly.                                                  again in the last hour !                                     G.L.


     The church is heavenly in origin. Jerusalem above, the
                                                                                                    Notice
  heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of us all. In the abiding,

  mature and final realization the church will in no sense be                The Free Christian School at Edgerton, is in need of 2

  earthy.    Fact is, that the former things shall be remembered      teachers for our next school term. If interested please write

                                                                      Paul Buys, Sec., Edgerton, Minn.

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


                                                                      falls off our lips : I'm sorry. That is the polite thing to do.
II              l:N  H I S   FEA;R                              II    Indeed, sometimes it is also the wisest thing. The black looks,
                                                                      the clenched fist  we see suggests a quick apology. But that

                                                                      is the trouble of it. That is the sad part of it all. It is only

           Sincere Sorrow Or Polite Platitude                         an apology to man. It is nothing more than a worldly wise
                                                                      way of getting out of a dangerous or awkward position.

       "I'm sorry."                                                      We teach our children that same thing.

       There is nothing difficult about saying that.                     In the home and in the school our children are so easily

       The smallest child who has learned to express his thoughts     taught to be polite rather than to be taught to be spiritual.
and make known his desires by the use of words can form               The naughty child is punished by making him stay after
his lips to say, "I'm sorry." At first it may sound more like         school to "write lines."    One hundred times he must write,
"I'm torry" than "I'm sorry"; and yet it does not take too            "I did wrong. I am sorry." Mrs. Next-door Neighbour calls
long before he can say it as you and I do.                            up to tell you that your son or daughter has been running
                                                                      through her flower garden and that she stopped him or her
       Simple it is to express these words compared with many         to give a scolding. And your son or daughter gave a 9assy"
others that continue to trouble us even in later life. Many           reply. Your child comes home and is confronted with the
a family even in our day with its small percentage of illiter-        misdemeanor.. You tell him that he has done wrong and
acy.  finds in its Bible-reading names and words in the Scrip-        that you are ashamed of his behaviour. And then you send
ture which give trouble. And in our everyday reading of               him back to Mrs. Next-door Neighbour to tell her that he
newspaper and magazine we come across so many strange                 is sorry for his evil speech.
names, names of men in foreign countries that "stump" us.
With our modern means of communication by which our                      But, did you make him go back and tell a lie ?

world has become so small we are brought so close to men                 Are you sure that he is not simply telling his neighbour
on the other side of our globe ; and we find the need of striv-       what YOU think of his deeds rather than giving a sincere
ing to pronounce their names as we speak with one another             expression of what resides in his own. soul ? What' impres-
of national and international affairs. It is not at all strange       sion have you left in the mind of your child as to the idea
to hear different news commentators referring to the same             of sorrow for sin ? He will go and tell the neighbour that
persons and places by means of different pronunciation of the         he is sorry because you told him to do so. But the' very
names of these' persons and places. Nothing strange then              grudging way in which he does it reveals that he does not'
that we have difficulty putting the stress in the right place         mean a word of it. And on his way home after saying,
and giving the vowels their proper sound. Many of us with             9'rn sorry" he may deliberately, run through that same
our "Dutch" names have to grin and bear it that those of              flower bed just to get even with this neighbour who tattled
different extraction give a strange sound to our names. And           on him. Is that not human nature ? But meanwhile he has
we learn to answer to these "corruptions" of the proper               received a strange idea of what sorrow for sin is.
pronunciation of our names.
                                                                         It was done in stubbornness-and no doubt also with
       But with that little expression, "I'm sorry," it is the        malice if not to be "fresh" -and yet an incident `related to
other way around. We have no difficulty in pronouncing it             us some time ago illustrates this point of training our children
correctly. We can say it with. ease. But when we say it, do           to say what they really do not mean. In one of the immigrant
we express a sincere sorrow for sin? Or is it for us nothing          families now living in Canada it was the custom that the
but a polite platitude, a flat, trite or weak statement which we      children at bed time recite a little prayer that was easy to
utter to men? Do we by this expression declare before God             remember because it was set in rhyme. It began with the
and unto God `that we are sorry because we have offended              words, "I am sleepy ; I am tired." The father told us that
His majesty? Or is it nothing more than a polite admission            when his wife was gone to attend the Ladies' Society meet-
of a foolish act before men ?                                         ing, it was his duty to put the children to bed and hear them

       We are far more interested, our own experiences will           recite their prayers. The boy refused when it was his turn.
teach us, in being polite~before  men than to be pleasing to          His father insisted. The boy replied that he could not pray.

God. That we have hurt men's feelings is to us a more real            His father became furious. Such a young child and already

injury than that we have rebelled against the living God.             claiming that he could not pray ! He asked his child why

The neighbour we see.         His reactions to our deeds are          he could not pray. The reply was very simple: he was not

plainly written on his face or in no uncertain terms expressed        sleepy .and tired ! The child, we say again,, was trying to

by his lips. Accidentally we jostle him, stick our elbow into         be "fresh" and was not sincere either in his refusal to pray.

his ribs in a crowd, step on his toes, bump into him around           But it illustrates rather vividly the truth that you can teach

a corner or trouble him in the middle of the night by getting         your child to speak the lie when you have other intentions

the wrong phone number. Before. we know it, the expression            in mind. When we teach our children to say "I'm sorry"


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D .   B E A R E R                                            327
                                                                                                       -


after an'evil deed, we may not mean to rob this phrase of            to pray God that He will give it. That we can do, and 
                                                             its                                                               that
beauty and meaning in the lives of our children. We may              we must do.

not mean to teach them to say things which they do not                  But there is one more thing that we must do and can do
mean and to tell a lie. But all too often we do exactly that.        in regard to this sincere sorrow before God. We are too
For the child the expression becomes a polite platitude              busy with worldly things to take the time. But we ought to
rather than the expression of a sincere sorrow. We use the           drop our work, take the child aside and point out to him his
expression very thoughtlessly ourselves at times. It falls off       error in the light of God's Word. One does not become
from our lips as easily as "Thank you" does when our hearts          sorry without seeing the evil of one's ways. Sorrow that
are not at all grateful. We do it because it is the polite thing.    pleases God is sorrow for sin. And unless a man sees his
We do not want men to think that we are like the uncivilized         sin, the sorrow for it that pleases God is never forthcoming.
heathen. And "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" are nothing                 Jesus asked Simon the Pharisee which man loved his master
more than handy devices to appear polished and refined in            the more, the one forgiven a small debt or the one forgiven
a world that knows not God but knows "culture" and "civili-          an enormous debt? Simon replied, "I suppose that he, to
zation." What is it in your life ? Do you have sincere sorrow        whom he forgave most," Luke 7 :43. Jesus then told him that
for sin or do you merely speak polite platitudes 7                   he had answered correctly.

    To be sure you cannot make your child sincerely sorrow-             So it is with sorrow. We must know our debt and know
ful for his evil deeds. You can speak to him and must speak          it as a debt before God, if we are to be sorry. And though
to him. You must make as plain as you can that he has                only He can work that sorrow in our hearts, He uses means
sinned. against God. That surely belongs to bringing him             to do so. And the means He uses is His Word. He applies
up in the fear of the Lord. It must be in His fear and not           it by His Spirit. But He demands of you and me that we
in fear of the rod .alone  or of your wrath. And you do well         bring it into the natural ear and into the natural mind of
`to send him back to the neighbour against whom he has               our children. More than that we cannot do. But that much
wagged his tongue to speak disrespectfully. We would be              we must do! And apart from that Word He never works in
the last to condemn such a practice. And we feel that this           any man either sorrow for sin or faith in salvation through
is done only too seldom. In this day and age parents are so          the blood of Christ. Recall how the word of God spoken
quick to defend their children in sin and say that the neigh-        through the prophet Nathan, "Thou art the man," I Samuel
bour had it coming to her. We cannot go along with that!             12 :7, resulted in the penitent plea of Psalm 51. Indeed, God
The sins and weaknesses of man never are excuses for sins            gave the sorrow; but He did so through the word spoken by
of other men. "Vengeance is mine, I will recompense, saith           Nathan the prophet.
the Lord," Hebrews 10:30.                                               Do that to your child before you send him to confess his
    And we must also train our children in the grace of              sorrow before his neighbour and yours. The point is that
being sorry for sin. We teach them to pray and to say things         he must be sincerely sorry before God, if he is to be sorry
in their. prayers that .they  do not at all understand in the        before man. Do not send him merely to express a trite state-
tender ages of their childhood. Very, very early we teach            ment which he very plainly does not mean. Never mind doing
them to cover their eyes with their hands and say "Amen"             the polite thing if it is not the spiritual thing. Never mind
after our prayers. That in itself is a tremendous thing ! To         being concerned with the feelings. of man when you are not
 say "Amen" after we have poured out our hearts before God           concerned with the majesty and holiness of God. He de-
means .that  we agree with the prayer and make it ours. A            lights only in a sincerely sorrowful heart, one that knows sin
 little .child,  just beginning to lisp a few words from our         before HIM and hates it. In such He sees His Own work
 world of language, cannot understand our prayers and sin-           of redemption through the Spirit and blood of His Son.
 cerely say "Amen" to them. Yet we teach them and train              And to such He gives peace and forgiveness.
 them very early to do so.       Nor do we advocate any other                                                               J.A.H.
 procedure; They must be taught to pray ; and we must

 formulate. for them their prayers at the very beginning of

 their -prayer  life.    So, too, we do not mean that we should

 not send them to the neighbour to express sorrow for mis-                               Announcement
 deeds.                            . .
                                                                         Attention, all deacons, present and former. Deacons' Con-
     But we must always remember that we cannot legislate            ference to be held April 17 at Hope Prot. Ref. Church.
 sorrow. We cannot force one into sorrow. Godly sorrow,                  Topic : "Is it the duty of t?z,e deacons to look for the
 sincere sorrow is sorrow that comes to us as a gift of God's        $oor?"  Speaker: The Rev. H. Hanko.  :           .
 grace. And He gives it to our regenerated children-also. You         Ministers are invited also.
 and I cannot procure it for them. We cannot impart it to
 them. They are not born with it and do not inherit it. They,                            Jay Bomers
 too, must be reborn .unto  it. The most you and I can do is                                Sec. Diaconate Hope Prot. Ref. Church

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


                                                                      and are, therefore, to be abrogated: let him be anathema.
II          Contending For The Faith                            11       CANON IX. - If any one saith, that the rite of the
                                                                      -Roman  Church, according to which a part of the canon and

                                                                      the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is
             The Church and the Sacraments
                                                                      to be condemned ; or, that the mass ought to be celebrated

      V                                                               in the vulgar tongue only ; or, that water ought not to be
       IEWS DURING THE THIRD PERIOD (750-1517 A.D.)
                                                                      mixed with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice, for
                THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.                                 that it is contrary to the institution of Christ: let him be

                                                                      anathema.
           THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF

                  TRANSUBSTANTIATION.                                    In reviewing these articles on the doctrine of the Romish
                                                                      Mass as set forth by the Roman Catholic Church of Trent,
                           (Continued )                               we may observe the following.

       In our preceding article we called attention to the Roman         First, it is evident from these articles (the positive articles

Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation by quoting from the           which set forth the doctrine as such and also the "Canons"

Council of Trent, and we quoted from that council as it               which anathemize those who deny them) that according to

positively set forth that doctrine. Now we will quote the             the Church of Rome, the eucharist is a real, propitiatory

Canons of that council, those articles in which they set forth        sacrifice, for the expiation of sins, for reconciliation with

the errors of those who oppose this doctrine. These articles          God, and for securing providential and gracious blessings
in which these heresies are set forth are called canons.              from His hands. Rome simply anathemizes those who deny

       CANON I. i If any one saith, that in the mass a true           that the mass is a true and proper sacrifice offered to God,
and proper sacrifice is not offered to God ; or, that to be           o,r who merely teach that to be offered merely means that
offered is nothing else but that `Christ is given us to eat :         Christ is given to us.    We understand, of course, that the
let him be anathema.                                                  Protestant and Reformed conception of the Lordfs  Supper
                                                                      surely declares that we receive Christ Who is bestowed upon
       CANON II. - If any one saith, that by those words,             His people through the symbols of the bread and wine.
Do this for tfLe commemoration of pxtze  (Luke 22 :19),  Christ
                                                                         Secondly, that what is offered, in this Romish  eucharist
did not institute the apostles priests ; or, did not ordain that
                                                                      because of the sacrifice which has been performed, is Christ,
they and other priests should offer his own body and blood:
                                                                      His body and soul and divinity, all of which are present
let him be anathema.
                                                                      under the form of bread and wine. The decree of the Council
       CANON III. - If any one saith, that the sacrifice of the       of Trent, concerning the most holy eucharist, declares in
mass is only a sacrifice of praise and of thanksgiving; or, that      chapter 1 that "In the first place, the holy Synod teaches, and
it is a bare commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on            openly and simply professes, that, in the august sacrament of
the cross, but not a propitiatory sacrifice ; or, that it profits     the holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and
him only who receives ; and that it ought not to be offered           wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly,
for the living and the dead for sins, pains, satisfactions, and       really, and substantially contained under the species of those
other necessities: let him be anathema.                               sensible things."    The victim, we read in these articles, is

       CANON IV. - If any one saith, that, by- the sacrifice of       one and the same, the same now offering himself on the

the mass, a blasphemy is cast upon the most holy sacrifice            cross, who then offered himself on the cross, the manner

of Christ consummated on the cross ; or,% that it is thereby          alone of -offering being different. The sacrifice of the mass,

derogated from: let him be anathema.                                  therefore, is the same as the sacrifice upon the cross ; the

                                                                      former is a constant reminder of the latter. The only differ-
       CANON V. - If any one saith, that it is an imposture
                                                                      ence between them is that the sacrifice upon the cross is a
to celebrate masses in honor of the saints, and for obtaining
                                                                      bloody sacrifice, whereas the sacrifice in the mass is an un-
their intercession with God, as the Church intends: let him
                                                                      bloody sacrifice. "That same Christ is contained and immo-
be anathema.
                                                                      lated,' (sacrificed, killed, slain as in a sacrifice - H.V.), we
       CANON VI. - If any one saith, that the canon of the            read, "in an unbloody manner who once offered himself in a
mass contains errors, and is therefore to be abrogated: let           bloody manner on the altar of the cross ; the holy Synod
him be anathema.                                                      teaches, that this sacrifice is truly propitiatory, and that by

       CANON VII. - If any one saith, that the ceremonies,            means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and

vestments, and outward signs, which the Catholic Church               find grace in seasonable &id,  if we draw nigh unto God, con-

makes use of in the celebration of masses, are incentives to          trite and penitent, with a sincere heart and upright faith,

impiety, rather than offices of piety; let him be anathema.           with fear and reverence."

      CANON VIII. - If any one saith, that masses, wherein              Thirdly, as the sacrifice'is  the same, so also is the priest.-

the priest alone communicates sacramentally, are unlawful,            Christ offered Himself once on the cross and He offers Him-


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  329


self daily in the mass. According to the Council of Trent,             blood of Christ. Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are
Chapter 1 on the institution of the most holy Sacrifice of             present under the forms of bread and wine, is Himself the
the Mass, "He, therefore, -our God and Lord, though he                 victim. Finally, the eucharistic  sacrifice is made by the hands
was about to offer himself once on the altar of the cross              of the priest, but Jesus Christ is the principal minister ; He is
unto God the Father, by means  of His dea.th,  there to operate        at once priest and victim, offering himself to God the Father
an eternal redemption; nevertheless, because that his priest-          by the ministry of his priests." - end of quote from Hodge.

hood was not to be extinguished by his death, in the Last                 It is, of course, understandable why the Roman Catholic
Supper on the night in which he was betrayed . . . . . declaring       Church should maintain this function of the Romish priest-
himself constituted a pie-3 forever, accoPding  to the order of        hood in the sacramentof the eucharist,  and particularly in the
Meiclzisedech,  he offered up to Sod  the Father his own body          celebration of the Popish mass. It is very natural for man
and blood under the species of bread and wine ; and, under             to appropriate power unto himself. It is flattering to him to
the symbols of those same things, he delivered (his own body           be indispensable as he is in the Romish conception of this
and blood) to be received by the apostles whom he then con-            sacrament. It is true that the priest does not offer the sacri-
stituted priests of the New Testament; and by those words,             fice, but it is also true that the offering of the sacrifice, who
Do this in compzeuttoration  of Njbe, he commanded them and            is Christ, is impossible without him. He certainly plays a
their successors in the priesthood to offer (them). For,               most important and indispensable role in the celebration of
having celebrated the ancient Passover, which the multitude            the sacrament.
of the children of Israel immolated in the memory of their
                                                                          Fourthly, the Ron&h mass is propitiatory for the living
going out of Egypt, he instituted the new Passover (to wit)
                                                                       and also the dead. "Wherefore," we read in Chapter II, "not
himself to be immolated, under visible signs, by the Church
                                                                      only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other neces-
through (the ministry) priests.`j Of this Hodge writes as
                                                                      sities of, the faithful, who are living, but also those who are
follows' (Vol. 3, page 687, of his Systematic Theology) : "On
                                                                      departed in Christ, and who are not as yet fully purified, is
this statement it may be remarked in passing, that if the min-
                                                                      it rightly offered, agreeably to a tradition of the apostles." ,It
isters are not the real offerers, they are not real priests. A
                                                                      has ever been found that men at the approach of death, or the
priest is one appointed to offer sacrifices. But according to
                                                                      affectionate relatives of the departed, are willing to appro-
the theory,.the  officiating minister in the service of the mass,
                                                                      priate money at their command, to pay for masses for their
does not offer the sacrifice. He is a supernumerary (one that
                                                                      benefit. This has proved to be an inexhaustible mine of
is superfluous - H.V.). He has no function. There is no
                                                                      wealth to the Church.
reason why without his -intervention,  Christ should not
when His people meet to commemorate his death, offer Him-                 Hodge, in his Systematic Theology, Vol. III, pages 688-,
self anew to God. The Roman theory in this, as in many                692, criticizes this Roman Catholic doctrine of the Mass as
other points, is not self-consistent. Romanists represent min-        follows, and we quote : "No doctrine of the Church of Rome
isters as true priests ; mediators between God and the people,        is more portentous or more fruitful of evil consequences than
without whose intervention no- sinner can have access to              this doctrine of the mass ; and no doctrine of that Church is
God or obtain pardon or acceptance. They are not only in-             more entirely destitute of even a semblance of Scriptural sup-
vested with priestly authority and prerogatives, but imbued           port. The words of Christ, `This do in remembrance of me,'
with supernatural power. The words of consecration pro-               are made to mean, `Offer the sacrifice which I myself have
nounced by other sacerdotal lips, are inoperative. The mass           just offered.' These words constituted the Apostles and all
unless performed by a priest is no sacrifice. All this supposes       their successors priests. Th.e Council of Trent even ana-
that their office is a reality, that ministers are really priests;    thematizes all who do not put that preposterous interpretation
but according to the passage just quoted, they are not priests        on those simple words. Romanists also appeal to the fact
at all. According to the common mode of representation, how-          that Christ is said to be priest forever after the order of
ever, the minister in the mass as truly offers the body and           Mekhizedek,  from which they infer that He continually re-
blood of Christ, as the priests under the Old Testament               peats the sacrifice once o.ffered  on the cross." We will con- .
offered the blood of lambs or of goats. Cardinal Gousset, for         tinue with this quote in our following article.

example, says :    "According to the faith of the Catholic                                                                        H.V.
Church, the mass is a sacrifice of'the  new law, in which the

priest offers to God the body and blood of Jesus Christ under

the form of bread and wine.' The mass is a true sacrifice

instituted by Jesus Christ." "A sacrifice, from its nature, is            A gem from Randolph's bulletin: "Money will buy: a
an act of supreme worship, due to God alone. Hence, when              bed, but not sleep ; a house, but not a home ; medicine, but
a mass is celebrated in the name of a saint, it is not to be
                                                                      not health ; luxuries, but not culture ; amusements, but not
believed that the sacrifice is offered to the saint ; but simply
in his memory, to implore his protection, and to secure his           pleasure ; a crucifix, but not a savior; a church pew, but not

intercession. It is a sacrifice in which is offered the body and      heaven."

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


                                                                               would certainly be impossible to maintain the doctrine of

                                                                               perseverance without the doctrine of the assurance of per-
           The Voice of Our Fathers                                            severance. But for the sake of distinguishing our present

                                                                               subject clearly let us consider this abstraction for a moment.

                   The Canons of Dordrecht                                     In such a case the objective truth would be that God surely
                                                                               preserves every last one of the elect unto the day of Jesus
                                 PART Two                                      Christ and that they surely persevere to the very end. That

                      E                                                        by itself would be a very precious truth. For, you understand,
                        XPOSITION OF THE CANONS
                                                                               even if there were no assurance of'perseverance, even if the
                      FIFTH. HEAD OF DOCTRINE                                  elect would know nothing of God's sure preservation and

                                                                               their sure `perseverance, that preservation and perseverance
             OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
                                                                               would surely take place nevertheless. The knowledge or lack

                Article 9. Of this preservation of the elect to salvation,     of a knowledge of a certain fact does not change the reality
                and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers for     of that fact. Whether or not I know that Christ died for my
                themselves may and do obtain assurance according `to
                                                                               sins 1900 years ago on Calvary's cross does not change the
                the measure of their faith, whereby they arrive at the
                .certain persuasion, that they ever will continue true         reality of the fact that at the cross all my sins were forever
                and living members of the church; and that they ex-            blotted out. And so also, whether or not I know that God
                perience the forgiveness of sins, and will at last inlzerit    -will  surely preserve me to the very end and that I shall
                eternal life.                                                  persevere to the end does not change the fact that God shall
       The above translation is far from correct. It omits some                indeed preserve me and that I shall surely persevere to the
elements of the original and embellishes others. How this                      end. The fact stands. In such a case, it might be that I never
translation was arrived at I do not know. But it evinces a                     obtain the knowledge of that wonderful work of preservation
certain lack of understanding of the very truth which the                      until the whole process is finished and I arrive in the eternal
article intends to set forth, and it agrees with neither the                   state. Then I `would say: "God in His wonderful grace has
Latin nor the Dutch versions. Because this article is very                     kept me safe all the way." But now the question treated in
brief-briefer, in fact, than the above translation-we can                      this article is : can the believers themselves also be certain
very well make all our corrections by furnishing a new trans-                  that they shall persevere in faith even unto the end ? Can

lation of the entire paragraph. We would translate the article                 and may they know it? May they say it? May and can they

as follows :                                                                   have the trust and confidence that they shall persevere to the

                Of this keeping of the elect unto salvation, and of the        end ? Can and may they depend upon it, derive comfort and
                perseverance of the true believers in faith;the  believers     security from it, that they shall surely persevere and obtain
                themselves are able to be certain, and are certain ac-         the final victory ?
                cording to the measure of faith, by which they certainly
                                                                                  The Reformed faith maintains not only the truth of the.
                believe that they are and always shall rem&  true and
                living members of the Church, that they have the re-           sure preservation and perseverance of the saints, but also the,

                mission of sins and life eternul.                              truth that the believers can and do obtain the assurance of

       This article begins the treatment of the second main                    perseverance.

aspect of the perseverance of the saints. The first eight para-                   The Arminian heresy denies both.
graphs of this chapter have dealt with the subject of persever-
ance and preservation as such. From Article 9 to Article 13                       The latter stands to reason. If the Arminian maintains
the subject of the knowledge and assurance of perseverance                     the doctrine of the falling away of the saints, he cannot pos-
is treated. Article 9 speaks of the possibility and the fact of                sibly maintain, but must necessarily deny, the doctrine of the
this assurance. Article 10 speaks of the way in which this                     assurance of perseverance. And this, in fact, the Arminian
assurance `is attained. Article 11 deals with the subject of                   also did. He taught that without. a special revelation we can
carnal doubts and temptations in relation to this assurance.                   have no certainty of future perseverance in this life. Cf. V,
                                                                               B, 5. In other words, if God foresaw that a certain man
Articles 12 and 13 speak of the effects of this assurance
                                                                               would by his own free will persevere to the end, and then
upon the believers. Hence, we shall be busy with this sub-
                                                                               would by a special and direct revelation inform that man of
ject for some time to come.
                                                                               what He foresaw, then that man could have the assurance of
       Let us first attempt clearly to understand the subject.                 perseverance.    But all this is pure fiction and imagination.

   Abstractly considered, it would be possible that God                        Our fathers, have maintained that the real implication of the

would preserve His elect and that the elect would persevere                    Arminian doctrine is that no one would ever persevere if left

to the end, but that they would have no assurance of their                     to himself. The Arminian possibility of the falling away of

perseverance.        I say "abstractly considered," because when               the saints has in it the absolute necessity of the falling away

we consider the truth of perseverance concretely, as contained                 of all saints. But if this be true, then all assurance is out of

in the Scriptures and developed in the preceding articles, it                  the picture.


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E - A R E R                                                    331


    And this brings us to our second observation, which we           contrast between the keeping of the elect and the perseverance
made also in connection with our discussion of the assurance         of the true believers, as though it meant to say: "God keeps
of election, namely, that assurance must be based upon               the elect, but of those elect only the true believers persevere."
objective fact and reality. If the assurance of perseverance is      No, they are the same, and their election is the cause of their
not based upbn sure perseverance, it is false and worthless.         being true believers. The true believers who persevere are
This relationship is beautifully expressed in the article we         the elect who are kept, and their election is the fountain and
are now studying. Notice that the article does not begin with        cause of the blessings of faith and perseverance. Neverthe-
the perseverance of the true believers. It does not merely           less, it is only in their capacity of true believers, or, if you
say: "Of the perseverance of the true believers in faith the         will, by faith, that the elect persevere. And it is only by
believers themselves are able to be certain, and' are certain        `faith, therefore, that the assurance of perseverance is possible.

according to the `measure of faith . . ." Such a statement is

true, but it does not express the whole truth of the matter.             Our third observation concerning this article  is that it
It leaves out the solid rock. of the foundation upon which           teaches not only the p.ossibility,    but the reality of the assurance
such assurance must be based. It leaves out God and His              of perseverance on the parf.  of the true believers. Also this
work. The term "perseverance" looks at this truth from the           is important. The article says : "The believers themselves are
viewpoint of the activity of the believers. And that persever-       able to be certain, and are  ce-utain  . . . ." This means that for
ance in itself can never explain the assurance, can never form       believers assurance is not the rare exception, but the rule
the basis of assurance. In fact, if I consider my own activity       without exception. Assurance is not to be depicted as an
of persevering as an imperfect saint, the result must neces-         elusive pot of spiritual gold at the foot of a mystical rainbow.
sarily be doubt, not assurance. Hence, there must be some-           It is not something possible but rarely attained. It is not
thing objective, something firm and solid and sure, to which         thus, that there are. only a certain holy few among all the
assurance clings. And it is at that point that the article be-       true believers that ever obtain this assurance. On the con-
gins : "Of this keeping of the elect unto salvation, and of the      trary, our fathers teach that true believers not only caq but
perseverance of the true believers in faith, the believers them-     also do indeed obtain the assurance of perseverance. This
selves are able to be certain, and are certain according to the      was also their teaching in regard to the assurance of election. .
measure of faith . . ."    We may notice in this connection,         Cf. I, A, 12. Hence, doubt is not normal for a child of God.
therefore :                                                          Assurance is normal for believers.

    1) That the article mentions both : God's keeping and the

perseverance of the true believers.                                      In the fourth place, the article calls attention to the fact

                                                                     that the measure of assurance is not the same in all. "The
    2) That God's keeping of His elect is mentioned first, and       believers themselves are certain according to the measure  of
the perseverance of the believers second. This is important.         jaith . . . .t This implies, first of all, the fact that in various
It is not thus, that the believers persevere in faith and that       children of God not only, but also in the sam,e  child of God
God then preserves them. The opposite is true. God keeps             at various times, the measure of assurance is not the same.
the elect unto salvation, and therefore the true believers           This is also experience. The children of God are not always
persevere in faith. Hence, it is God's keeping of the elect          at those `heights of faith where with defiant challenge they
unto salvation that is the ground of the assurance of perse-         firmly and confidently assert in the very face of the enemy
verance because that divine keeping is the cause and only            that "nothing can separate them from the love  of God which
possibility of the perseverance itself.                              is in Christ Jesus our Lord." This implies, in the second

    3) That the article very properly and carefully dis-             place, that there is a very definite and constant proportion
tinguishes between "this keeping of the elect" and "the              between the measure of assurance and the measure of faith.
perseverance of the true believers." It is elect that are kept;      Believers are certain of their perseverance accord&g  to the              .
it is believers that persevere. Our fathers are careful to keep      measure of faith. Where the measure of faith is large,. there
the relationships in good order. `In the first place, this serves    the measure of assurance is large ; where it is small, there the
to emphasize once more the truth that election is the key to         measure of assurance is proportionately small. And in the
the whole truth of perseverance. Whom does God keep ?                third place, this implies already that our present assurance
His own elect, chosen `from before the foundation of the             cannot be based upon our past assurance. PrincipalIf,  it is
world in Christ according to His good pleasure. Why does             true, once assured is always assured. But this by no means
God keep them? Because He has chosen them according to               implies that our former assurance is the basis of our assurance
His own good pleasure. The ultimate ground, therefore, of            in the present moment. Assurance is a continuing process.

all assurance, including the assurance of perseverance, is

sovereign election.    In the second place, we must remember             To the nature of this assurance we will call attention in

that the terms "elect" and "true believers" are co-extensive.        a following article.

The article certainly does not mean to posit a relation of                                                                         H.C.H.

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


                                                                              "On the other  hand, synod declares that these yMinisters
               DECENCY and ORDER                                          in their writings, &cordivag  to their own repeated decla,ru-
                                                                           tions, do not intend or purpose anything else than to teach

                                                                          and maintain our Reforvtied  doct&e, the doctrine of Scrip-
                      Classical Jurisdiction                              ture #a.nd  the Confessions; and it cannot be denied that they

                              (Continued)                                 are Reformed in respect to the fundcmental  truths us they

                                                                          fare formulated i,n  the Confessions even though it be with an
   We made a `statement last time to the effect that the
                                                                          inclimtiovt  to one-sidedvzess."
 Classis in 1924 assumed jurisdiction over the Synod by

 going beyond the decision of the Synod in attempting to                      Apart now from the contradiction `and untruth in this

 bind upon the consistory and its pastor what Synod had not               decision of the Synod, it should be plain that especially the

 intended and had even refused to do.                                     last part is far removed from the position that one must ex-

        If this is true, it is evident that Classis  violated the rule    press agreement with the Three. Points `or be deposed from
 of Article 36 of the Church Order, dealing with the matter               office. Synod did not even take that position with a view to
 of proper jurisdiction of ecclesiastical bodies.                         a still later part of its decision. There it declared:

        This, therefore, we must now further determine.                       VVith  .u view to the deviating senhzents  of the Rev-

        The Synod of 1924 disposed of the various protests that           erends H. Da&of  and H. Hoeksevvza  regardivzg  the above
 were lodged against the Eastern Avenue consistory and pas-               mentioned Three Points, #and  with a view to the controversy
 tor and that had to do with the common grace question. It                that wose  ivz our Churck  regarding the doctrine of Comwton
 is unnecessary to cite the entire decision of the Synod since            or General Grace, synod adhonishes  the two brethren to
 much of it has no direct bearing upon the matter of jurisdic-            abide in their teaching and wpiting  by the sta,ndpoint  of our
 tion with which we are at presently concerned. We may limit              Confession regardcihg  the Three Points that were discussed,
 ourselves to those parts particularly that deal with Synod's             and at the same time she admonishes the brethren and the
 treatment of the accused.involved  since the question is whether         Chum-ekes  in genera.1 to refrain  frost  all ovhesidedvtess  in the
 or not the Classis later had the right to demand of the con-             presentation of the tmth, und to `en-press them&m  ca:re-
 sistory that they impose censure upon the pastor for refusing            fully and with sobriety avtd modesty.

 to answer directly to various questions concerning the Three                 "On the other hand, in as fm as the pastors H. Dunhof
Points as advanced by the Classis  ? And, further, whether                and H. Hoeksevmx  in t@ir writings warn against worldly
 Classis had the right to depose from the office when these               vmhdedness,  synod judges that the is, indeed, reason for
 demands were refused ?                                                   .such warning  with a view to n possible misuse  of the doctrine

     The Synod, as is customary, was advised by a.committee               of Commhon  Grace and therefovve,  synod covmiders  it its culling

 of pre-advice. This committee advised Synod as follows :                 to send the following testimony to the churches."

     "(1) To seriously admor;i.sh  the brethren with respect to               From all this, as well as from the final decree of Synod

 th% departures and demand of thevvz the promise that 5n the              concerning the matter of common grace itself, it is evident

 futu:re t?Ley will abide by the Three Points declared by Synod.          that the Synod intended no disciplinary action against the

     "(2) To urge the bsethren  Dam&of  und  Hoeksema  that               brethren Danhof and Hoeksema. Classis  Grand Rapids East
 they refrain  from mak+ag propaganda for their dissenting                acted in direct conflict with the decision of the Synod. They
 views rega:rdiutg  the three poi,nts,  ivt the churches.                 over ruled the Synod. They assumed` a greater prerogative
                                                                          than the Synod and proceeded to act in the matter that
    "(3) To point out to the brethren, that if it should appear
                                                                          Synod had rejected. This was a serious violation of Church
 either now ov in the future, that they will not abide by the
                                                                          Order, particularly Article 36, in deposing a consistory and
 decisiom of Synod, the latter to its profound regret will
                                                                          suspending its minister for refusing to' maintain decrees of
have to make the case pending with the consistories."
                                                                          the Synod which the latter never, made.
    Strikingly this advice of the committee was rejected by
                                                                              The final decree of the Synod was the adoption of the
the Synod and instead, in the final decision of Synod we find
                                                                          following interesting resolution.
the following :

    "`Tynod  expresses that several statements in the writings                "In connection with the overtures that would urge Synod
of the Reverends H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema  cannot very                   to express itself on the doctrine of common grace as such,
well be lzarmov&ed  with what Scripture  and the Confession               or to appoint a committee to study the matter, Synod decides
teach us regarding  the above mentioned three points. Synod               as follows :

also judges that the pastors referred to, in their writings,. use             "a. At the present to formulate no statement relative to
some  stv,ong en-pressions,  from which  it is evident  t&t in            the standpoint of the Church regarding the doctrine of general

their presenta.tion  of the timth  they  do not sufficiently &here        or common grace in every detail and all its implications.

to the way in whici%  0uY Covtfessiovts  en-press themselves,             Such a statement would presuppose that this doctrine had

especially Point I of the Utreccht  Conclusions.                          already been thoroughly considered and developed in all its


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER&                                                     ,333


   details, which certainly is least of all the case. Preparatory         urged the Classis  to defer any and all action which it might

   study, necessary to this purpose, is almost entirely wanting           contemplate against the consistory until such time as Synod

   as yet. Consequently, there is in the Reformed Churches as             shall have acted upon the appeal and rendered- a final deci-

   yet no consensus of opinion at all in this case.                       sion in the matter. This was completely ignored by the

                                                                          Classis.  Instead they attempted to do what they had de-
       "b. Neither to appoint a committee to.devote  itself to the
                                                                          manded of the consistory, viz., place Rev. Hoeksema before
   study of this matter, in order to rea.ch the forua.ulation  of u
                                                                          the two questions we have mentioned before. Against this
   dogma concerning this m,a:ttev,  which eventua.lly  may  be re-
                                                                          action the consistory of course protested. Nothing ever came
   ceived as part of the Confession (Overture ih?uskegon).
                                                                          of this protest, however; Classis  never treated it. At the
      "1. Because dogmas are not made but are born out of                 same time, Rev. Hoeksema, under protest and reserving his
   the conflict of opinions, and, therefore, it is desirable that the     right to appeal to Synod, submitted to Classis  a written an-
   establishment of a certain dogma be preceded by a lengthy ex-          swer to its questions. That answer was as follows (pertinent
   change of opinions. Participation in such a-discussion must           part) :
   be as general as possible and must not be limited to a single
                                                                             "`a. CovtsideGng  that the Synod of 1924 interpreted our
   group of churches,;
                                                                          Confessiovts  in such a manner,  that no one vteeds  to agree
      "2. Because a certain truth must live clearly in the con-          with the Three PoivLts  ndopted by Synod 1924  (cf. Acts of
   sciousness of the Church in general, or in the consciousness          Synod 1924, p. 145 ff.) in order to be fuv~dav&atally  Re-
   of a particular group of churches, before the Church is able          formed in the! basic truths as formhited  in our Confessions,
   to profess such a truth in her Confessions. It cannot be said,
                                                                          therefore, ztnde+-signed  hereby declares that he alwuys  was
- that this indispensable condition exists at present or will            and still is in hurvaovty with the Confessions as interpreted by
   exist after two or four years.                                        Synod1924;

      ."c.  But to urge the leaders of our people, both ministers            "b. Considering that Synod  admonishes the leaders of
   and professors, to make further study of the doctrine of Com-         our Churches to vmke  serious st,bbdy  of the problevxs  recently
   mon Grace; that they give themselves account carefully -of            bvo,ugkt  to the foregro,und,  in preaching, lectztres  and writ-
   the problems that present themselves in connection with this          in@, undersigrted  promises that he especially will heed this
   matter, in sermons, lectures and publications. It is very             admonition of Synod and will co-operate in brotherly spirit
   desirable that not a single individual or a small number of           in order to reach a solution of the !afore-mentioned  problems.
  persons accomplish this task, but that many take part in it:               "c. Undersigned, as long as he is an office bearer in the
   Grounds :                                                             Christian Reformed Chmhes, subvvaits  hivxself  gladly to any

      "1. This will be most naturally conducive to a fruitful            decision of the Synod of these Churches.

   discussion of the question of Common Grace, and such an
                                                                                                          Respectfully submitted,,
  exchange of thoughts is the indispensable condition for the
   development of this truth.                                                                                    H. HOEKSEMA."

      "2. It will be instrumental to concentrate the attention of            How, in. the light of all this, a Classis,  under the name

   our people upon.  this doctrine, will serve to elucidate their        of Reformed Church Polity, could proceed to depose a Con-

   conception of it and to cause them to feel its significance, so       sistoiy and suspend its minister, will remain an unanswered

  that they become increasingly conscious of this part of the            question. But, more important is the fact that even apart ,

  contents of their faith.                                               -from the- doctrinal issues of 1924, these facts clearly justify

                                                                         the origin and existence of the Protestant Reformed Churches
      "3. It will, undoubtedly, in the course of a few years,
                                                                         in America, notwithstanding the contention of a few mal-
  lead to a consensus of opinion in this matter, and thus it will
                                                                         contents and schismatics  to the contrary !
  gradually prepare the way in our churches for a united con-
                                                                                                                                G.V.D.B.
  fession concerning Common Grace."

      That these decrees of the Synod of 1924 are not above

  criticism is plain to all who can intelligently read them. We

  do not enter that aspect of the question but only present them                    THE VICTORIES OF JESUS CHRIST

  in order to have before us the background of the Classical                           Seas with all your fulness  thunder,
  hierarchy.                                                                             All earth's peoples now rejoice ;

      Another revealing aspect of the treatment of this matter                         Floods and hills in praise uniting

  by the Classis  is the fact that the consistory of Eastern Ave-                        To the Lord lift up your voice.

  nue, after presenting in a lengthy document all its reasons                          For, behold, Jehovah cometh,

  why it could. not acquiesce in the demands of the Classis,  it                         Robed in justice and in might;

  informed Classis  that it would appeal its interpretation of                         He alone will judge the nations,

  the decisions of 1924 to the Synod of 1926 and, further,                               And His judgment shall be right.


3      3      4                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                   only to set aside important traditions which so far -have
             A L L   A R O U N D   U S                             been regarded as essential to our orthodoxy but also a cer-
                                                                   tain hankering for `advanced' conceptions and a growing

                                                                   impulse to follow the methods of denominations round about

Editor Voices AlawL  Over His Chz~ch.                              us-methods which were generally regarded as basically

                                                                   unsound.
     The church is the Christian Reformed Church of America.
                                                                       "We can no longer hide. the fact that the leadership of
The editor is the Reverend H. J. Kuiper. And the medium
                                                                   the Christian Reformed Church is divided. There is a widen-
through which he voices his alarm is the April edition of
                                                                   ing and deepening rift between our ministers, professors,
Torch a,nd  Truw$et. In the department, Tivtzely  Topics, the
                                                                   teachers, and well-informed laymen. We are not so narrow
Rev. H. J. Kuiper writes under the title, What Is Happening
                                                                   as to believe that there is no room for differences of opinion
to the Christian Reformed Church ?
                                                                   in our Church even on relatively important issues. `But the
     In our opinion this is a courageous, forthright attempt       differences we have in mind are rooted in attitudes that have
to bring to the attention, especially of the members of his        far-reaching implications."
church, what he conceives to be dangerous tendencies which             There are especially four areas in which Kuiper believes
have far-reaching implications. What makes his lament the          his church is going astray, and these he briefly touches upon
more pathetic is the fact that the writer is now aware that        in succession. The first that Kuiper mentions is also one the
his church has lost real leadership in the right direction.        editor-in-chief of The Stapzdard  Bearer has been giving con-
This last factor is not only his observation, but one which        siderable attention to in -recent issues of this periodical. It
has been expressed to us privately by several others of the        deals with the matter of Theistic Evolution. Writes Rev.
members of his church. One of these poured out his heart           Kuiper :
to me a short while ago when.1 was drawn into conversation             "First of all, we point to the sympathy for theistic evolu-
with him about the problems confronting his church. He,            tion- a theory which implies that the doctrine of creation
too; had publicly criticized his church in one of the church       can be harmonized with that of a gradual development, under
papers.     When we commented on his boldness, he replied,         divine guidance, of lower into higher forms of life, from
"But it's all for nought. The church is so far gone that it's      plants to animals and from animals to man. There are men
hopeless to think there will be any amendment." That is,           of prominence in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands
indeed, a sad situation, `and one that can only sadden also        and in our own Church who advocate this theory and do not
our hearts.. For the Christian Reformed Church is also our         hesitate to assert that some day it may be demonstrated that
mother, and still the object of our affection even though she      man has descended from ape-like ancestors. And that in the
would not allow us to live in her house. We can only hope          face of the biblical teaching that the first man was a direct
and pray that these voices of complaint and protest will           divine creation, a perfect .human  being made in the image
continue until there is repentance and amendment and a             of God, in righteousness, holiness, and knowledge of the
return to the old paths.                                           truth !
     We would like to quote every word written by the Rev.             "To our amazement, the Ecumenical Synod of Potchef-
H. J. Kuiper because they are weighted with meaning, but           stroom, which met last summer, adopted a report on Crea-
our allotted space will not allow this. We shall, however, give    tion and Evolution, signed by five Dutch professors (A.
our readers sufficient quotation to give them the sense of         Lever, Polman, Jonker, Oostendorp, and Gispen), which
Kuiper's  article. We will quote the introduction- in its en-      leaves room for the theory of theistic evolution. It made light
tirety because it is important.                                    of the objections which our Synod of 1953 raised against
     "To say that we have hesitated to write this article would    certain statements in an earlier' report on the subject and
be an understatement. There is so much good in the Church          declares : `Seen in this light the Reformed Ecumenical Synod
we love that an inward struggle preceded the resolution to         wisely did not pronounce an opinion on the idea of the so-
publish the thoughts that are here expressed since they re-        called theistic evolution.'    It also stated blandly that `the
veal the conviction that serious faults and dangerous trends       church should leave it to a Christian science (Christelijke we-
are coming to the surface in the Church which has the love         tenschap) to come to a well considered and fundamentally
of our heart. We can give no other reason for following            sound view in connection with this theory.' The Ecumenical
this course than that we cannot remain silent and feel per-        Synod, adopting the report of the Dutch committee, did not
suaded that we have acted conscientiously. Let us add that         even make the statement that even if it could be proved that
the misgivings and anxious questions which we voice are            many species of plants and animals were evolutions from
agitating the minds and hearts of many of our people.              lower forms of iife, this should not be posited of man! It

     "Something unusual is .happening  in the Christian Re-        had nothing to say in ,explanation  or defense of the teaching

formed Church. Doctrines and policies that have always             of Genesis 1 but simply left the decision to the sacred cow

been accepted by all -of us are now being questioned or even       of an infallible science!

contradicted. There appears to be a tendency among us not            "As far as.we can judge, the Christian Reformed delegates


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                335


all voted in favor of this report; at least nothing is said in      Christ-no knowledge of distinctive teachings of the Re-

the Acts about any one registering his objections against the       formed faith and no declaration of agreement with our

conclusions. And that is the same Synod which adopted such          doctrinal standards." With this Kuiper does not at all agree.

an eminently sound report on the inspiration and infallibility      He sees, and correctly so, that eventually the church will be

of the Scriptures !                                                 Reformed only in name, and doctrinal distinctiveness will be

    "Will our Synod approve the conclusions of the Ecu-             lost.

menical Synod on Creation and Evolution 7 We trust it will              Finally, Rev. Kuiper once more calls attention to the

not only withhold approval but register a resounding protest        Nigerian problem. We have revealed to our readers on

against it."                                                        another occasion Kuiper's  views on this subject and therefore

   The second matter concerning which Re;. Kuiper calls             will not do it again. There are some in his church that

to the attention of his readers has to do with the denial of the    want to collaborate with other denominations, some of Ar-

infallibility of the Scriptures. Sometime ago we reflected on       minian  and Modernistic background, in the establishment of

another article of the same author on this subject where he         a Seminary in Africa. This Kuiper and others in his church

took to task a Calvin seminarian who boldly criticized the          strenuously oppose. Kuiper now tells us "It is not at all

doctrine of infallibility in the Seminary paper Stromata. Now       accidental that there are among some of those- who are in

Rev. Kuiper tells us that "We learned later that the Pres-          favor of the T.C.N.N. not a little sympathy for the World

ident of the Seminary had authorized its publication. This          Council of Churches and for closer contact with that Council

makes the situation far more serious than it first appeared to      on the part of the Christian Reformed Church." This, in

be.". Rev. Kuiper does not believe this was done by the             our judgment, is a clear mark of deterioration.

student or the President intentionally and wittingly. Never-            Though we highly commend Rev. Kuiper for his bold

theless he points out that they have violated the Formula of        exposure of the faults of his church as he sees them, we feel

Subscription and the vows made in public profession of faith        that he could easily write another article and point out more

where they have publicly taught or allowed to be taught             that is wrong in his church. Sometimes one standing on the

doctrine contrary to the Confessions. And he concludes this         outside looking in can see more than the one standing in

section with :                                                      the middle of things. Rev. Kuiper will not listen to us when

   "Something strange is happening to the Christian Re-             we tell him that basically all the departures he mentions stem

formed Church when one of its basic teachings can be pub-           from that departure from the truth which his church made

licly questioned and denied. The Board of Trustees of Calvin        in 1924 when that church decided to build a bridge between

College and Seminary considered this matter at its Febru-           the world and to use that bridge. Kuiper certainly knows

ary meeting. We shall wait for the official statements by the       enough of church history to know that when a church once

secretary of the Board in our church papers. But we do              departs from the straight line of the truth it never comes back

wish to say at the present time that the churches have a right      to that line. He ought, therefore, to ask himself concerning

to know exactly what action the Board has taken with refer-         all the departures he mentions, Where exactly did we make

.ence  to the Strowata  articles concerned; also where the          our initial departure? Our answer, as was said, is, at the

President, who approved the publication of the Hoogland             synod of Kalamazoo in 1924 and in Chicago in 1926. Since

article, stands on the important issue involved in the matter.      that time, Rev. Kuiper, your church has been going in the

The Seminary is the school of the entire church and every           wrong direction. Look back and see for yourself if this is

member has the right to know its stand and the stand of             not true. Forover thirty years The Standard Bearer has

every teacher and every prospective minister on important           been telling you this, but you won't believe what we tell you.

fundamental issues."                                                And we are sorry to say this, but unless your church repents

   Rev, `Kuiper then calls attention to other tendencies in the     of the error you adopted then you must expect.only  further
wrong direction evidenced' in his church. He has in mind            deterioration.
those who are undermining denominational loyalty by openly              Rev. Kuiper closes his article by stipulating two reasons
challenging the right of his church to separate from the            for his great concern. "The first is the rather nonchalant `at-
Reformed Church under the guidance of Dr. Van Raalte.               titude of some that the Christian Reformed Church is im-
Even the stand of the church which conceives of membership          mune to heresy." "The second . . . is that one of the worst
in the Masonic Order and in the church as incompatible is           obstacles to theological and ecclesiastical progress is the pro-
being questioned. Apparently there are those who in their           pagation of unsound doctrine."

evangelistic and mission zeal want to take these lodge mem-             Kuiper, in his concluding remarks, makes this. significant

bers first into the church and then instruct them in regard         statement : "No church may be satisfied with its past attain-

to their error. Writes Kuiper: "That strange and, to us,            ments. There are doctrines that need further clarification."

inexplicable stand rests on a peculiar approach to the question     I would say "Amen" to this. But then let's start at the

what must be required of those who wish to join a Christian         beginning and take all of the doctrines, including the com-

Reformed Church. Nothing more can be demanded, we are               mon grace doctrine you have added to your Confessions.

told, than a confession of personal faith in the Lord Jesus                                                                    M.S.


     336                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA,RER


                                                                             to the spirits in prison. The speaker ably defended the posi-

     11 N'EWS FROM OUR CHURCHES jl tion that- the "Preacher" was the exalted Christ Who
                                                                             preached by the Spirit of Christ; that the "preaching" was a
                           "All the saints salute  thee . . ." PHIL. 4:21    heralding of His,victory  over sin and death, its theme being

                                                                             "Victory Through Suffering" ; that the "spirits" were the
                                                         April 5, 1959       demons and the spirits of reprobate men, especially those of

                                                                             Noah's time who were representative of all reprobates who
            Rev. Vanden  Berg has declined the call to Redlands, and         persecute the *Church  ; that. the "prison" was the place of
     the new trio includes Revs. R. Harbach, G; Van Baren  and               torment where the wicked,are  reserved for the Day of Judg-
     H. Veldman.                                                             ment ; and, that the preaching served .to' vindicate Noah and

                                                                             all of God's persecuted people.
     D;h! you knower  that,

            Randolph has a Prot. Ref. Chr. School Society.                       The Office Bearer's Conference was held at Creston,
                                                                             March 31st. Rev. M. Schipper  spoke to an attentive audience
        Randolph's church services for March 15 were not con-
                                                                             on "The Liturgical Order of Divine Worship." The speaker
            ducted because of the severe blizzard that raged through
                                                                             stressed the fact that divine worship was not for the benefit
            Wisconsin. And, the classical delegates from Randolph
                                                                             of the worshipers but is a service of God wherein God is
            were also prevented from attending Classis  West that
                                                                             worshiped ; and that our order of worship should be conducive
            week due to the weather and its hazardous driving.
e                                                                            to that end, and should therefore be as beautiful, yet as simple
            A "coffee" was held at First Church for the benefit of           as possible.
            the Christian Foundation for Handicapped Children.
            Friends and neighbors came for a coffee kletz in the                 Loveland had a reading service in the morning of March
            church parlors instead of their homes, and incidentally          15 and heard a tape recording in the evening. Both sermons
            contributed over $300.00 for the Foundation which covers         were by the Rev. H. Hoeksema. These services were neces-
            the cost of but two days' expense of the thirteen station        sary because Rev. Kuiper was in Pella on a classical appoint-
            wagons used to transport the children.                           ment while traveling to the Classis  West meeting in Illinois.

            Rev. and Mrs. H. Hanko rejoice in the birth of their                 The Hope Prot. Ref. School Society sponsored a Family
            fourth son.                                                      Night in the Hudsonville church April 3rd. The sale of baked
                                                                             goods, sewn articles and refreshments was the means to

            Some topics under discussion in the last few weeks:              provide an extra "lift" to the heavy budget of the school

     Holland Y.P. Society heard a paper on "money" by Bob                    society.

     Windemuller. - The "Three Points of Common Grace" were
                                                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema's Wednesday evening Bible Class has
     explained by Terry Elzinga of Holland, at South East
                                                                             recessed for the season. The "Dominee" was remembered
     church in joint .session of Young People's societies. The               with a gift in appreciation for his work leading the class in
     "Order of Worship" is currently under discussion in South
                                                                             the. study of "`The Doctrine of the Last Things." Mr. P.
     Holland's Men's Society. And at Oak Lawn, Bob Rutgers
                                                                             Bykerk expressed the sentiment of the entire class when he
     and Grace Ipema led an informal discussion of the question
                                                                             said, "We do not know the Lord's will concerning your way,
     "Should we Prot. Ref. date people from other denomina-
                                                                             but it is our desire that He may spare you that you may
     tions ?'
                                                                             again teach us during the next season." Rev. Hoeksema,

        The following events scheduled for the latter part of                having recently celebrated his 73rd birthday, asserted that the
     March have become history:                                              preaching of the Word is still his greatest joy.

        The -Sunday Schqol  Teachers held their Spring Inspira-                 Mr. and Mrs. Jason Redder of Hudsonville came home
     tional meeting March 20th. While the Fall meeting tends to              for a short leave and.used  .that opportunity to present their
     "inspire,, the teachers for the season ahead, this meeting              baby for the Sacrament of Baptism.
     served the purpose of renewing the jaded teachers at the

     season's close. The Rev. G. Vos was the speaker, and in                    Do yozt  agree - with A. W. Pink quoted in Lynden's bul-
     his inimitable way inspired the teachers with a talk on the             letin, "It is a mistake to say that faith is a condition of

     injunction given by our Lord when He said, "Suffer little               salvation in the sense that my paying for an article is a con-

     children to come unto me."                                              dition of obtaining the same. Every condition to the right of

                                                                             salvation has been fulfilled for us by Christ. Faith is rather
            March 30th was the date of the Men's League meeting              the connection between the soul and God's salvation in Christ,
     at Hudsonville. Seminarian J. Kortering addressed the large             and that connection is made by the Holy Ghost."
     gathering with a lecture on the difficult portion of Scripture

     found in I Peter 3 :19, 20, regarding the preaching of Christ                       . . . . see you in church.                  J.M.F.


