      VOLUIvlE  x=v                               MAY 15, 1959  - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                                             NUMEER  16


                                                                           there is the testimony of the Holy Ghost in our hearts,
IF---------------
            'MEDI-TATION                                                   which testimony cements the Holy Scriptures to out -inner
                                                                           new man in Christ.

                                                                                Indeed, blessed day of Pentecost!
            FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST                                                                              $<    :k * *
             I< . . . . and they were all filled with- the Holy Ghost."
                                                           ACTS 2 :4a           How fitting that the outpouring of the H.oly  Ghost took
                                                                           place in Jerusalem. The city of the great King. And now

                                                                           that the Holy Ghost is poured out and will dwell in 
     How great is the riches of the New Dispensation when                                                                                     God's
                                                                           people to the very end of time, the old Jerusalem may depart :
compared with the Old !
                                                                           its purpose is fulfilled. What is called Jerusalem after the
     0, we will at once agree, in the Old Dispensation there               event of Pentecost is nothing but spiritual Sodom and Egypt
was also the hunger and thirst for- God, consciousness of sin,             where also our Lord was crucified.
aspirations and longings for perfection, and Divine Worship,
but both qualitatively and quantitatively, there is a great                     Pentecost is also connected with one of Israel's feastdays :
d i f f e r e n c e .   ._                                                 the feast of the firstfruits of the barley harvest. Passover is
                                                                           the beginning : the first sheave ; but Pentecost is the fulfil-
     First of all, we must not confuse the great riches which              ment  of the harvest: the weaving of the first loaves ! We
Adam, Henoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David,                         can proceed to eat and be satisfied. '
Isaiah and Jeremiah received, with the state and condition
`of the children of God in the Old Testament in general. The                    The first sheave is Christ in His resurrection ; the loaves
great men enumerated received special grace, and a special                 to be eaten by the husbandmen is the outpouring of the
dispensation of the Holy Ghost in those days. To speak                     Holy Ghost.

figuratively, they received a great drop of the water of life,                  We do not know where the Holy Spirit is poured out.

and there they stood -in the midst of the light of prophecy !              Some say that the exact scene was the Temple of the
But not so the common saint of those days. They were very                  Lord. From way back I davored  this.view,  and for the same                   ,
dependent on the priests, kings and prophets who (were                     reason that the city is Jerusalem. The Holy ,Ghost is the
specially illumined in order to bring the Word of God to                   Agent which unites the church and Christ, and that is the
the people of their charge.                                                idea of the Temple.                                                         -. _
     How different today !                                                      Others say that it took place in the house of John Mark.

     Now that the Holy Ghost is poltrgd out, you have no                   If it was a dwelling it must have been. a large one to ac-

need that anyone teach you for you know all things. You                    commodate 120 persons, who could stand and address the

have the unction of the Holy One, and the ,Holy One is                     thousands who flooded the streets'round  about.

Christ whose Spirit dwells in you.                                          However, it is not known where the Spirit was poured

     But also qualitatively there is a vast difference.                    out. And I think that it is not necessary to know, otherwise

                                                                           God would have revealed it.                           _
     Our catechism children know more than the greatest

among God's people in the old Testament. The whole of the                                                           *     *    * *

mystery of godliness is manifested and- fully explained in
                                                                           W h o   i s   t h i s   S p i r i t ?
the New Testament. And we understand the Old Testament

better than the. church of that day. All the riches of salva-                   First of all, He is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.
tion have been revealed, exposited and explained, Besides,                 There can be no doubt about`that. It was the Spirit. that

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


searcheth the deep things of God and brings the Father to          the blessed Spirit of Christ, Who leads into all the Scrip-

the Son and the Son to the Father.                                 tures.

       Second, He is that Holy Spirit but then as He was                                     * * * *

given to our Mediator Jesus Christ after His glorification.
                                                                      And they were all together in this room, in one accord.
       Christ died for us on the Cross and .thus  finished the
                                                                       And they were filled with the Holy Ghost!
work which the Father gave'Him  to do.

                                                                       There is the blessed conclusion of the incarnation.
       Then the Holy Ghost raised Him from the dead, and

after 40 days bore Him to heaven, and placed Him in the                In the incarnation God came to dwell in the midst of

throne of the Father. `And when He had offered Himself to          humanity. God and man were united in one Person.

God by the Eternal Spirit, He was ,exalted  by the reception          But this was only so in Jesus, the Lord.
of the Holy Ghost. -And that meant that all the riches of
                                                                       Now, however, the Godhead came down to dwell in the
salvation which He had earned for His people were given
                                                                   midst of the whole church of Jesus Christ.
Him in that Spirit. In Jesus Christ at the right hand of

the Father dwells all salvation, all covenant blessings, both       And that Holy Spirit brings with it the gifts for men,

for the church at this time, and for -all eternity. All we         even as it was prophesied in the Psalms of David so many

shall taste and enjoy unto all eternity is first in Christ, and    years before.

it is in Him because of the reception of this Spirit at His           What rich gifts are showered down on the church.
exaltation.                                                            First there is the knowledge of sin and guilt. It does

-    That Spirit was poured out on Pentecost.                      not seem as though that gift is so engrossing, but it is. It
                                                                   is so beautiful that when you begin to cry bitterly to God
     And this Holy Ghost is so intimately united with our
                                                                   in your shame and guilt, they begin to sing in heaven. There
Lord Jesus Christ that when you receive that Spirit you
                                                                   is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth!
receive Christ. Indeed, Paul even says: Now the Lord is
that Spirit! All the flavor of the Christ of God, of Jesus             Second, there are the gifts of the Spirit such as calling,
of Nazareth, of the. Saviour of Galilee is given to you in the     faith, justification, sanctification, perseverance, glorification.
reception of the Holy Ghost.                                       All these worketh the Self-same-Spirit !

     Blessed feast of Pentecost!                                      Third, there is the life of gratitude. Also that life is

                                                                   from the Spirit of Pentecost. It is the work of the Holy

                                                                   Ghost which makes you pregnant with good works which
                           *    * * *                              were afore ordained that you should walk in them. And it

                                                                   all comes .from God. Indeed, if there is anything which

     The next question is: on whom was this Spirit poured          teaches that truth, it is the work of the Pentecostal Spirit.

out ?                                                                 Oh yes, everyone is filled in that great room.

     It seems obvious to me that it was the same group                That is, according to everyone's capacity. The Holy Ghost
whom we find in Acts 1 : the 120 persons, both men, women,         is not equal in all. He never is that. That- would be mechan-
and children.                                                      ical, and not according to the great variety in all God's

       Obvious, because that is in harmony with both the           works. It would work for monotony and not for the enjoy-

promises of the Old Testament, and the character of the            ment of one another in the household of God. In fact, there

New Dispensation. Listen to Joel. He speaks of old men             are not two alike under the dispensation of this Holy Ghost

and young men, of servants and handmaidens, of the sons            in the whole of Christ, both under the Old and the New

and the daughters. And the character of the church now is          Dispensation.

exactly this picture which we witness in Acts 1 and 2. In             And so' we enjoy the various gifts' in all. For we own
Christ we are one, and there is no distinction. All receive        all the saints.
the benefits of salvation, irrespective of sex or age limit.
                                                                      Paul, Cephas, Apollos are all yours, because you are of
     Notice also, and this is important: the Holy Spirit is not    Christ, and Christ is of God.
only poured out upon the Apostles, but also on the other

members of the New Testament Church.

     Oh yes, we have office bearers, but when they do, not
                                                                      By this time you have seen the difference of the two
behave, we will depose them, and choose others who may
                                                                   dispensations.
haply  speak and act in harmony with the Holy Ghost and

the Bible, which not only they have, but also we the "com-            In the Old Dispensation the saint stood by a bleeding

mon" members. There is no more the autocracy of the few,           lamb, and he would say: Look! There in that sacrificial

but.  the universality of the New Testament, where all have        animal is all my salvation.    I do not understand it at all, but


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                363



this I know: the love of God, together with the blood of my
                                                                                                 T H E   S T A N - D A R D   B E A R E R
sacrifice spells salvation for me! And they lived in hope
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which could not make the burdened saint clean from his sins.             P.-O. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

   But after Pentecost the saint stands by the accursed tree,                                          Editor,- REV.  HE&N HOE~SEMA

and pointing at the bleedin,u Christ he says: Look, there is             Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                          Reti.  H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
my' salvation.! And from that cross flows the riches of                                                                Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
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They have found the God of their salvation.                                                  James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
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saints. You do not have to wait to taste eternal life until              RENEWAL:  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
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Pentecostal Spirit enters your consciousness, you taste that               Entered as Second Class matter  at Grand Rapids, Michigan

,God is good, that Christ is your Saviour for all eternity,                                                                             I

and that there is a roseate dawn of a day coming where

the sun will never set, for there shall be no night there.                                                                  C O N T E N T S

    The Pentecostal Spirit makes you all prophets,- priests,          MEDITATION -
                                                                               Filled with the Holy Ghost _. ..:.  . . 361
kings !                                                                                   Rev. G. Vos

    And, mind you, that is true of all God's people. Thei-e
may be a difference in many ways between one saint and                EDITORIALS -
                                                                               About The Three Points .___.__.___________.......................................                                                                  364
another, and there are such differences.
                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema
    But all are prophets, for they know cod.

                                                                      OUR DOCTRINE -
    All are priests for they love Him.
                                                                               The Book of Revelation ___.__.._.__..._.__......................................  366

    And all are kings, for they rule over the works of His                                Rev. H. Hoeksema

hands, in as far as this is possible here in this sin-soaked -
                                                                      A CLOUD OF WITNESSES -
world.
                                                                               The House of God .__..____.____..____................................................ 370

    And the sweet bye and bye is beckoning. There we shall                                Rev. B. Woudenberg

receive the fulness of that same Spirit.
                                                                      FROM HOLY WRIT -
    Our spirit longs, yea, even faints. Amen.                                  Exposition o f Romans 14, 15 . . ..__.....__.__................. . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

                                                              G.V.                        Rev.  G. Lubbers


                                                                      IN HIS FEAR-
              CALL TO SYNOD OF 1959                                            Waiting or Weighted                                           (2) . . . . . . ..____.__._....................................  374

                                                                                          Rev. J. A. Heys
    In harmony with the decision of the Synod of 1958, the

Consistory of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church              CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
hereby notifies the churches that the 1959 Synod of the Prot-                   The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . ..______..__.__.......................  376

estant Reformed Churches will convene on Wednesday, June                                  Rev. H. Veldman

3, D.V., at 9 :00 A. M., in the above mentioned church.
                                                                      THE VOICE OF OUR  FATHEXS  -
   -The pre-synodical service will be held on Tuesday eve-                     The Canons of Dordrecht .__.__.._,....._,.__...................................  378

ning, June 2, at 8 :00 P. M. in the Hudsonville Church. Rev..                             Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

G. Vos, president of last year's Synod, is leading this service.
                                                                      DECENCY AND ORDER -
    Synodical  delegates will kindly meet with the consistory                  Article 37, D.K.0  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

before this service.                                                                      Rev. G. Vanden Berg

    If any of the delegates need lodging, please, contact our
                                                                      ALL AROUI'ID  US -
clerk, Mr. Harry Zwak,  R.F.D..  No. 2, Hudsonville, Mich.                     A Pamphlet and a Report -A Comparison ._______' ____...__.___._.__  382

                              Consistory of the                                           Rev. M. Schiljper

                              Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church :
                                                                      NEWS FROM OUR CHIJRCHES..  __. ___ ____ ._..  ..__._____  .__ _._. .._.  ._..__ _._.:  ___..  384

                                    REV. G. Vos, President                                 Mr. J. M. Faber                                       -
                                    H. ZWAK, Clerk


364                                         THE'.  S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER


                                                                   presents the dangers of advocating a generalization of special

            -E D I T 0 R I A L S                                   grace instead of a common grace not saving.
                                                                       "b. The quoted Confessions do not specifically have

                                                                   reference to the general offer of the gospel as evidence of a
                 About The Three Points                            favorable attitude of God towards mankind in general.

                                                                       "c. The concept `well-meant offer of the Gospel' in the
    We are evaluating and criticising  the reports of the com-
                                                                   context of common grace, without further definition, and in
mittees of the schismatics and of the Christian Reformed
                                                                   the process of controversy,
Church in re the "Three Points."                                                                   among us came to mean the
                                                                   same as that God is minded to apply to all equally the
       First of all, then; we will discuss what both committees    benefits of Christ if men but comply with the offer. You
have to say about `the "First Point."                              brethren have assured us that Point I does not mean that

  In order to have the material clearly before our minds it        God designs or purposes to save  all that hear the Gospel.
is expedient that we quote the "First Point" once more:            And that assurance from you brethren helped us much

    "Relative to the first.point which concerns the favorable      because it safeguarded the doctrine of the equally double

attitude of God towards humanity in general and not only           decree upon which you and we and all Calvinists evidently

towards the elect, synod declares it to be established accord-     stand.

ing to Scriptul'e  and the Cohfession that, apart from the            "4. We propose a reformulation (interpretation or limita-

saving grace of God shown only to those that are elect unto        tion) of Point I somewhat as follows:

eternal life, there is also a certain favor or grace of God           `I- `b'esides  the sa,ving  grace of God shown only to the
which He shows to His creatures in general. This is evident        ele`ct  there  k a.lso a certain faruor  or gvac.e shown to the
from the Scriptural hassages  quoted and from the Canons of        crea~twes  iut gene&.  This is taught in Ps. 145 :9 ; Matt. 5 :44,
Dordrecht, II. 5, III. IV,. 8 and 9, which deal with the           45 ; Acts 14:16, 17 etc.' That then the rest of Point I be
general offer of the Gospel, while it also appears from the        eliminated since we agree that there is a general of?er  of
citations made from Reformed writers of the most flourishing       the Gospel and that it is well-meant in the sense mentioned
periods of Reformed Theology that our Reformed writers             above.    But the Reformed Churches have not yet made an
from the past favored this view."                                  exhaustive study of the concept an&therefore are not ready

   What do the schismatics propose about this "First Point"        at this time to formulate an expression which should stand

in their report ? We quote :                                       as a boundary between us."

    "1. We do not stumble over the expression that there is           Thus far the report of the schismatics on the First Point.

a certain grace or favor of God shown to the creatures in             Remarks :

general. Cf. History of the Protestant Reformed Churches,             1. It is evident that the schismatics adopt the theory of
1st edition, p. 187, footnote. The proofs which Synod at that      common grace.     They may camouflage it somewhat by pre-
time adduced are not all equally valid, but we can adopt said      ferring the statement that God is gracious to his creatures
expression, also in the context of Lord's Day 47 where it is       in general, but (1). This really does not mean anything at
said that in His works `His power, goodness, justice and           all. "Creatures in general" means man and beast and trees
mercy are clearly displayed.'                                      and flowers, etc. It, therefore, includes man, and that, too,

   "2. We do not deny `the offer of &`e Gospel', neither that      every man, the righteous and the wicked. (2). To all of them,

this offer is `well-meant' in the sense that it is serious,bn-     according to the schismatics, God is gracious as is supposed

feigned, and earnest, and that God will have us know that          to be evident in all the things he bestows upon them in this

it is well-pleasing to Him that they who are called should         present time: rain and sunshine, food and drink, hdmes and

come unto Him. The call comes to a sinful .mankind  which          possessions, etc. (3). In this they adopt, not only the com-

historically is not yet differentiated as elect and reprobate.     mon grace theory, but virtually also the First Point, For by

   "3. Our difficulty is as follows :                              stating that God is gracious to his creatures in general, the

   "a. Redemptive grace (or favor) and non-redemptive              Synod of 1924 certainly referred chiefly to all men. Besides,
favor (or grace) are placed in the same context and this           that the schismatics adopt the theory of "common grace" is
gives rise to confusion. That there is a goodness of God           also evident from the texts to which they refer above.

shown towards the creatures in general we do not deny. But         We can only be glad that the schismatics reveal them-

Point I differentiated elect and reprobate by bringing in          selves. We know now, as we knew, in fact, for some time

the term election. Then there is in the inference of a favor-      in the past, that they are not Protestant Reformed. The

able and saving  attitude toward the reprobate as reprobate.       sooner they join the Christian Reformed Church and stop

This not oilly  creates confusion, but in our opinion is un-       defiling the name Protestant Reformed, the better we like it.

scriptural because Scripture does not approach mankind as          I am quite sure that they hate that name anyway and that

elect and reprobate but as sinners. The setting forth of the       the sole reason why they still use it is that they still see

preaching of the gospel .in the context of common grace            a chance to get hold of some of our property.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              365


    As"to  our position in regard to "common grace" as tie.11        fact the members of the Christian Reformed committee as-
as to the camouflaged statement that God is gracious to the          sured them ihat "Point I does not mean that God designs
creatures in general, it is well known and very definite. It         or purposes to save all that hear the gospel." That assurance
is that grace is only in Christ, that it is, therefore, only for     helped them so much! But how can it? Would even the
the elect and that the wicked receive no grace at all, though        Arminian teach that God "designs and purposes to save all
they receive all the things of this present time ; God is            men"? By no means. On the contrary, they teach that it
angry with the `wicked every day.                                    is the will and purpose of God to save only those that be-
                                                                     lieve and persevere in the faith and that is not the same. as
   2. This leads me to another remark. According to the              all men. Cf. Canons I, B, 1. No, I admit, Point I does not
schismatics as quoted above, Scripture does not approach             teach that. But it does teach that the preaching of the gospel
men as elect and reprobate but as sinners. They say this             is grace for all that hear, and no Arminian would disagree
in connection with the implied teaching of the First Point           with this.    And in spite of all their camouflaging, the
that God is gracious also to the reprobate. Apparently, they         schismatics accept this too. (3) What after all is meant by
do not dare to say this, although they believe in "common            "the well-meant offer of the gospel" ? By an offer most
grace." Hence, instead of speaking of reprobate, they prefer         people will understand a proposal that is made to someone
to speak of sinners. Hence, the formulation of the First             of a gift that may either be accepted or rejected. Hence,
Point, as they prefer it, now means that God is gracious             by the offer of the gospel is understood the proposal of the
to all sinners in the things of this present time. I ask: what       gift of salvation that may either be accepted or rejected by
is the difference ? Are not the reprobate included in all            man. It is God that offers the gift of salvation to every one
sinners ? But is it true that the Bible does not differentiate       that hears the gospel and it is man that is in a position
men as elect and reprobate but simply as sinners ? We know           either to accept the proffered gift or to reject it. This is
that the very contrary is true. This is, indeed, a very              emphasized by the qualification "well-meant." And, of course,
dangerous heresy on the part of the schismatics. It means,           the offer is "well-meant" on the part of God. This can only
of course, that although in the abstract we admit that the           mean one thing: that God on his part desires every one that
Bible teaches election and reprobation, in actual fact we            hears the gospel should accept it. It also implies that man
have nothing to do with these truths : we deal only with sin-        is not only able to `accept it but, if he rejects it, God can do
ners. But how unscriptural this is! Scripture does not only          nothing about it. God offers ; He longs to have the sinner
differentiate me"?  as elect and reprobate, but also as the          come to Him ; but for -the rest it is up to him. I challenge
righteous and the wicked, as the people of God and the people        &yone to give a different interpretation to the phrase "well-
of the world. In fact, the Bible never speaks of men merely          meant offer" and, therefore, also to the phrase: "well-meant
as sinners.                                                          offer of the gospel."

   3. The schismatics also express themselves in favor of               Besides, this is also the impression that is always left
the "well-meant offer of the gospel."         Again they attempt     upon an audience that hears this well-meant offer of the
to camouflage their meaning somewhat by stating the term             gospel. And this is the trouble with much so-called Reformed
that is literally found in the Canons, III, IV, 8, namely            preaching. Many a preacher often preaches a good Reformed
se?-ious,  to which they add "unfeigned and earnest." They,          sermon as long as he adheres to his text, but when he comes
moreover, also state that "the quoted Confessions do not             to his application and t6 the "well-meant offer" he denies all
specifically have reference to the general offer of the. gospel      that he preached in the body of his sermon and becomes
as evidence of a favorable attitude of God to mankind in             downright Arminian.
general."      But notice :    (1) That, although they state that
                                                                        But there is not a word of this so-called well-meant offer
the quotations from the Canons do not specifically state that
                                                                     of the gospel in the Confessions.
the general offer of the gospel is an evidence of a favorable

attitude of God to all men, as is the teaching of the First             But this I rather discuss when I evaluate the report of

Point, neither do they deny it as they should have  done             the committee of the Christian Reformed Church on the First

emphatically. They should have said, if they had not wished          Point. They, too, -camouflage the issue. For although they

tp camouflage : "It is not true that the general preaching of        first admit the Confessions quoted by the Synid.  of 1924,

the gospel is grace for all that hear as is the teaching of the      Canons II, 5; III, IV, 8, 9, do not specifically state the

First Point."      Now they evidently leave  it an open question     offer of salvation is an evidence of favor on the part of God

both, whether the Canons probably mean, after all, that the          toward mankind  in general, in the same breath they state the

preaching of the gospel is grace for all that hear (though           very contrary.

they do not specifically say so), and whether this' is true at          But this must wait  till next time, D.V.
all. The Protestant Reformed Churches deny this outright.

Instead, they  maintain, on the basis of Scripture, that the            The continuation of my articles on Gen. 1 must also

preaching of the gospel is both, a savor of life and a savor         be postponed.

of death. (2) The schismatics are also comforted by the                                                                        H.H.


3 6 6                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                      as such they will speak .nothing but that which their Lord
              O U R   D O C T R I N E                           II    has commissioned them to speak. Centrally they speak of
                                                                      Christ and His atoning blood. That blood is witness of the

                                                                      righteousness and holiness of God, but at the same time of

                                                                      His mercy and redeeming grace. That blood is the witness
               THE BOOK OF REVELATION
                                                                      to the glory of God in the midst of a world of sin. Of it they

                           P A R T   T W O                            speak. They emphasize, therefore, that theri:  is no hope in

                                                                      man, but only in the.blood  of the Redeemer. In it there is

                           CHAPTER VIII                               life and bliss. They openly -condemn  all efforts to seek salva-

                                                                      tion outside of that atoding  blood. And they will know
                        The Two Witnesses
                                                                      nothing of man or of the world that can save itself. The name

                        Revelation' 11.513                            of Christ they bear, and that in two ways. In the first place,

                                                                      they bear that name to fields where never it was mentioned
   If we ask: what is the purpose of these two witnesses,             before, all nations. In their missionary efforts they carry the'
and what must they do? the answer is ready, as we have                sound of that name into all the world and before every tribe
already expressed in the preceding. They must bear testimony          and tongue. But in the second place, also in the midst of
of the truth and of the name of Christ Jesus. The church              the world in which they live do they testify. In the midst of
with its ministry is placed as a testimony in the world. That         Jerusalem, in the midst of the false church, as well as in the
is her sole calling. That this is so is plain from the fact           midst of the show church, do they bear witness. When the
that they are called witnesses. A silent witness is impossible.       false church would attack the truth and trample under foot

And therefore, they "must speak. That is evident also from            the blood of Christ, these two -witnesses, the church and the
the fact that they are called prophets and that they must             servants of God in the church, stand upon the basis of God's

prophesy. This does not ,mean  necessarily and merely that            infallible Word and defend it over against the enemy. When
they must speak concerning +he  future. Surely, also that is          that world indulges in sin and iniquity more and more, they
the case. The church of Christ must also bear testimony in            speak of judgment and of wrath to come,. and openly express
the world concerning the future, especially in times when the         that there is no hope for them. In a word, they display the
world lives for the present and strives after ideals which are        glory of God's name in Jesus Christ our Lsrd  in the midst
only for the present.      The church has a solemn calling to         of the world, outside of Jerusalem that it may be extended,
speak' on the basis of prophecy on the future that is coming,         and' in Jerusalem itself against those that trample the truth
of the judgment that will befall the unrighteous and the              under foot.
glory that shall be revealed in the children of God. But that
                                                                         It is in harmony with this essential calling of the two
does not exhaust their calling as prophets. A prophet is
                                                                      witnesses that we read of them how they kill ihose  that
merely a person that speaks for someone else. Just as Aaron
                                                                      oppose them and try to hurt them. We read: "And if any
is called Moses' prophet in Scripture, `so the prophets in
                                                                      man desire to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth,
general are persons that speak.for someone else. And thus
                                                                      and devoureth their enemies : and if any man desire to hurt
the church is called to witness of Christ, and the prophet of
                                                                      them, in this way must he be killed." This may sound
Christ speaks for Christ, dn His authority and in His name.
                                                                      strange at first. It is indeed because of such expressions as
This is indicated, finally, by the symbolism of a candlestick
                                                                      these that many interpreters do not know what to do with
and of the olive trees. Also this is in harmony with the
                                                                      these two witnesses of Christ. Surely, they say, this cannot
thought that the church must be a testimony in the world,
                                                                      mean the church for the simple reason that she never had
and witness of the truth. .The purpose of a candlestick is
                                                                      this power, nor ever will have. And therefore, they must be
that it may give light; and the two olive trees that supply
                                                                      altogether two unique human beings, who can kill their
the light, the media through which the church receives its
                                                                      enemies at will.
light, serve no other purpose. They must themselves be
~witnesses  in the world, and be mbuthpieces  of the church.             But let us investigate.

But at the, same time they must witness for the church before          In the first place, it may be remarked  that these two

the people of God, so that they receive more light to shine           witnesses do not kill those that rise against them and that
for the Lord of the whole earth. And therefore, if you ask,           wish to do them hurt in the literal sense of the word. If

"What do the two witnesses do, and what is their calling?"            that were the case, no one would be able to touch them and

the simple answer is : they witness and bear testimony of             to kill them. Yet the power of the beast rises against them

the Christ and of His truth.                                          and takes away their lives. And the fire that `proceedeth  out

   A                                                                  of their mouth is not of any avail against this. In the second
         S to the contents of their message, they find their com-
mission2  in the Word of their God, They stand before the             place, let us consider that they kill with the fire that pro-

Lord of the whole earth. They are servants of the Lord of             ceedeth out of their mouth. This is emphatically stated.

the whole earth. They belong to God's party. And therefore,           Twice in the text it is said that this. is the way in which


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               367


  these witnesses kill. They do not kill by the sword those          truth. They shall attempt to gainsay their words and to make

  that try to do them hurt, but simply by the fire that pro-         them of none effect. But all the time these opponents shall

  ceedeth out of their mouth. It is as if the Lord were afraid       meet with the fire +hat proceedeth out of` the mouth of the

  that this part of it should be misunderstood, so emphatically      witnesses. -Not  their own word, but the Word of God is in

  does He state this. Not by the sword;  nor by the strength         their mouth. And before that Word the enemy shall not be

  of their arm, but by the fire that comes out of their mouths       able to stand, but be completely defeated. In this manner

  are the opponents that try to do tliem  hurt killed. And to        they fight, in harmony with their character as witnesses, in

  understand this we must, in the first @lace,  ask ourselves the    harmony too with the &ritua.l  battle they fight, the battle

  question : what does it mean to hurt these two witnesses ?         with the Word of God as their weapon. And in this they are

  How can the church possibly be hurt? Do you hurt them              invulnerable.

  by persecution and tribulation ? If that were the case, the
  word "hurt" in the text must be taken in the physical sense            Still more strange, it has been thought, is the power with
  of the word. Then the meaning is: if any man try to cause          which those two witnesses are invested. We read of them
  them suffering, pain, persecution, affliction, if any kan  in      that they have power to shut the heaven, that it rain not in
  that way try to kill them . . . And then it is also plain that     the days of their prophecy ; power to turn the waters into
 the latter part of this sentence must also be taken in the          blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, whenever
  same literal sense of the word, and that these witnesses kill      they deem fit. First, in these words there is a plain reference
  their enemies and take their lives away. But that is evidently     to Elijah and Moses and what they did. When the glory of
  not the case. You do not hurt the church by persecution.           the God of Israel was at stake, the prophet turned the water
 You do not- hurt the people of God by doing them physical           into blood, that God's people might be delivered. And again,
 harm. You can not even hurt them by taking away their lives         when the glory of Jehovah was trampled under foot by Israel
 and killing them. No. in that sense these witnesses are             itself, the prophet kneeled down in the wilds of Gilead and
 willing to lose their lives. They have learned of their Lord        prayed that it might not rain ; and it rained not. Through
 that they need not fear those that can kill the body but that       the agency of these witnesses and for the sake of the true
 cannot kill the soul. And therefore, these two witnesses can        people of God and the glory of Jehovah these plagues were
 never be hurt in the physical sense of the word. Indeed,            brought upon the land. And the plain meaning is that even
 you may persecute them, you may put them into prison, you           as these prophets had this power, even as they could shut the
 may torture them on the rack, you may even kill them and            heavens and turn the waters into blood, so also these two
burn their bodies ; but by doing so ydu have not hurt them           witnesses of the new dispensation have this same power to
 in the least. To hurt these two witnesses you must get at           strike the earth with every plague whenever they so desire.
 their spiritual existence. You must fight with them spirit-         It will not do to change the meaning  of the words by trying
 ually. You must make them waver in their testimony. You             to spiritualize them. This has often been attempted. Just
 must lead them to deny the Christ, to renounce the truth, to        because these expressions seem so strange at first sight that
 be silent in regard to the Word of their Lord. Then indeed          interpreters would hardly dare to maintain them in their
 you hurt them. But if that is attempted, so the text has it,        literal meaning  and apply them to the church, they have
 fire proceedeth out of the mouth of these witnesses, and in         attempted to spiritualize these words and found here. a
 this manner the opponents are killed. That is, their efforts        reference to the key-power of the church. They have received
 are put to nought, so that they cannot do them harm. In the         the power to shut the kingdom of God and to turn the waters
 second place, we must now turn to Scripture in order to             of the truth to blood, SO that they be a curse rather than a
 find the meaning of this fire that proceedeth out of their          blessing, a savour of death unto death. But this is not the
 mouths. We must not think here of the fire that came down           sense of the passage. The text speaks. of a literal heaven and
 from heaven on the captains and their fifties who wished to         a literal rain' of literal waters and of literal plagues with
 do Elijah harm. For that fire came from heaven, not out of          which the earth will be visited. And there is nothing that
                                                                     indicates that we must look for a different meaning behind
 the mouth of Elijah. But we must think of the word in the
 prophecy of Jeremiah 5 :14:  "Therefore, thus saith the Lord,       these words. And therefore we must accept them as they
 the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word; behold I will         stand. Just as the historical incidents that are here cited are
 make my words in thy mouth fire, and the people wood,               also literal, so also the power of these witnesses is to be
 and it shall devour them."                                          taken in the literal sense of the word.
                               The people of Israel wished to do

 Jeremiah harm by opposing and gainsaying his prophecy                  Nor must we hesitate for a moment to maintain that
 and making it of none effect. And because of this, the words        this power is really given to the church and especially to its
 of Jeremiah shall be like fire, and the people as wood. Their       official ministry. There is indeed nothing strange and nothing
 opposition shall not stand. It shall not hurt the prophet as        new in this. Moses and Elijah had this power. The early
 such. And the same is true here. The two prophets shall             church had this power. We read of m&y  wonderful things
 meet with opposition. The enemy from the false church shall         of the early church. They revealed a power which they had

 try to hurt them. They shall try to make them renounce the          received through the Holy Spirit which did not become re-


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 vealed  in the later history of the church.. Besides, there is     cause of the wicked world, when they shall `have gained a

 nothing strange, nothing surprising, in this assertion of the      clearer insight into the word of prophecy and understand that

 text. Christ told His people before He left that,they would        it is through judgment and plagues that the kingdom must

 do still greater things than He if they believed in Him. He        come and be completed, they shall also once more deliberately

told them that faith was sufficient to remove mountains. Of        pray for these plagues on the. wicked world. Do not think

 course, they do not perform these things in their own              that this is strange. You do not think it strange that Moses

 strength. They have not this power of themselves. In them-         brought the plagues on the land of Egypt, do you ? You do

selves they have nothing, no power whatsoever. But they             not criticize Elijah for praying that it might not rain for

have it all in Christ. Christ is their head, and they are in       three years and six months, do you ? Well then, the lines

Him. The church is organically connected with Christ. And          shall be drawn. just as sharply once more. It shall become

Christ has all power in heaven and on earth. Christ certainly      very piain to all the people of God through their faithful

has power to shut the heaven, and will. He has power un-           servants that the world departs from God and His precepts.

doubtedly to turn the waters into blood. He has the power          It shall become very evident that the blood of Christ and the

to strike the earth with every plague conceivable. And there-      name of the Most High is trampled under foot. And in

fore, there is nothing strange in the assertion that His people    those times they shall employ the power they have in Christ

have that same power.                                              Jesus consciously and deliberately. Just as Elijah kneeled

                                                                   down in the wilds of Gilead and prayed that God might
    But how, in what way, do they have that power? In
                                                                   withhold His blessings from the apostate people, so the people
order to understand this at all we must, in the first place,
                                                                   of God shall know the time in the future that they shall
remember that the people of God always have this power,
but that it is not always equally manifest that they have it.      consciously refuse to pray for blessings on the wicked world,
The judgments on earth, the plagues of war and famine and          and that they shall beseech the God of hosts for plagues and
pestilence, and all. the terrible things that must still take      judgment, that His kingdom may come. And.  it shall become
                                                                   plain to all the world,. even as it was plain to Ahab in the
place in the future, as pictured in this book of Revelation,
                                                                   case of Elijah, that it is the two witnesses that bring these
are there for the completion of the kingdom, and for the
salvation of the people of God, and for their sake. It is for      plagues.

their sake that the earth is visited with all kinds of plagues.        If -this is plainly understood, we shall have no difficulty

Still more: it is not only for their sake, but it is also upon     to understand the rest of the text. It is perfectly plain, in

their prayers that these plagues come. The people of God           the first place, why the beast that rises up out of the abyss

may not always be equally conscious of this, but fact is that      comes against these witnesses. We read: "And when they

the judgments come on the earth as an answer to their              shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth

prayers. When the prayers of the saints are offered upon           out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and

the altar in heaven, the result is voices and thunders and         shall overcome them, and kill them." On the one hand, you

an earthquake, caused by the fire taken from the same altar.       may notice that although the beast has never been mentioned

In that connection we have explained that this means nothing       before in the book of Revelation, yet the plain presupposition

else than that the prayers of the saints are answered by           is that he is well-known by the church. It is the beast. The

judgments from heaven. Just has heaven was shut because            reference is evidently to the seventh chapter of Daniel, where

of the prayer of Elijah, so the judgments on the earth in the      this beast has been pictured. There we find the picture of

new dispensation come in answer to the prayers of the saints.      the fourth beast, more terrible than the preceding, with ten

They pray, "Thy kingdom come." That kingdom must come              horns. And from among the ten horns rises another little

through tribulation and through all kinds of plagues and           horn, who destroys three of them, and becomes more terrible

calamities ;    and the saints know it. And the more they          than all the rest, speaking blasphemous things against the

become conscious of this, the more they also pray for the          Most High, and warring with the saints of God. From this

coming of the kingdom, even through these judgments. The           we learn the following.    In the first place, the beast that is

saints bring the plagues upon the earth through their prayers      here mentioned is not the same as the dragon that is men-

now as well as in the times of old. We do not have to stop         tioned in chapter 12. He is indeed closely connected with

here. Though the church and their servants really have that        that dragon, but he is not to be identified with him. Nor

power and also use it, it is not always actually plain that        is it the same as the prince of the locusts that rose up from

this is the case.      On the one hand, it is not always           the abyss. For it is a beast, an earthly form, while that was

equally manifest before their own consciousness that their         a spirit. In the second place, here we have the first mention

prayers really do bring judgments upon the. earth. And in          of the Antichrist, the little horn of the seventh chapter of

the second place, the world certainly is not conscious of that     Daniel. Thirdly, this Antichrist rises out of the abyss, that

fact. But also this shall change again. When the world in-         is, he finds his spiritual origin there, although he will appear

creases in wickedness and iniquity, when the blood of Christ       in human form. Just as we may say that believers are hid

is trampled under foot more and more, and when the people          with Christ in God, that their walk is in heaven, so also
of God towards the end shall be subjected to tribulation be-       Antichrist is hid with Satan in hell, and has his origin in the


                :                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 369


abyss. Fourthly, it is to be understood that this power of                     Report of Western Ladies' League

Antichrist exists all through this dispensation. He does%not
just rise out of the abyss at the moment that the witnesses             April 17 the Western Ladies' League met in Doon, Iowa,
                                                                     with Hull's ladies as our hostesses.
have finished, their testimony, but- he was already in the

world in John's time. The fourth beast also exists before the            Mrs.. G. Van Baren,  our vice-president presided in the
little horn arises. But just as the power of the fourth beast        absence of our president, Mrs. G. Broekhuis. We sang num-
in Daniel culminated in the little horn, so also this power of       bers 187 and 55 after which Mrs. Van Baren read I Peter 4,
Antichrist-shall culminate and finally rise against the people       the chapter our speaker's reference was taken from. After
of the kingdom `of God. For the rest, we need not discuss            the opening prayer by Mrs. Van .Baren a short business
this beast in detail in this connection. As I have said, this        meeting was held. Our secretary, Mrs. John Brummel read
chapter pictures the general history of the church with a            the minutes and Mrs. S. Broekhuis, our treasurer, gave the
view to the end in broad outlines ; and individual pictures of       treasurer's report. New board members elected were Mrs.
it will be given us in subsequent chapters. Then we shall            T. Kooima for vice-president and Mrs. James Blankespoor
also have ample opportunity to discuss this beast, the Anti-         as treasurer.    During the singing of numbers 151 and 134
christ, in detail in connection with the thirteenth, seventeenth,    the offering was taken for the Children's Retreat.
and nineteenth chapter of this book. Sufficient it is, there-
fore, in this connection that we now understand that the                Rev. J. A. Heys was -introduced as our speaker with the
Antichrist, though existing all' through this dispensation and       theme, "A Christian's Glory" as his topic. Scripture refer-
revealing himself in weaker form in special periods, shall           ence was' I Peter 4 :13-19. The word glory appears some 140
toward the end be allowed-to gather his strength and make            times in the New Testament and some 300 in the Old Testa-
war against the saints of the Most High.                             ment. Naturally one could not read or hope to peruse all
                                                                     of these passages.    However by taking a cross section of
   To one element in the text, however, I must still call            them Rev. Heys could sum up his speech in this definitive
your attention. And that is to the statement that this beast         sentence.    A Christian's glory is to glorify God. He then
shall rise against the two witnesses after they have finished        divided his speech into these three parts : One, the Scriptural
their testimony. Paul also tells us that there is .a power that      idea of glory, two, the nature of a Christian's glory, and
holds the Antichrist so. that he cannot appear before the God-       three, the possibility of a Christian's having that particular
ordained time. He cannot manifest himself as yet "in his             glory.
full power. And the power that holds him back is undoubted-

ly the Spirit -of God, working out the decree of God, namely,           What is glory? The shining forth, the radiation or mani-

that the power of Antichrist may not come to its full mani-          festation of virtue. There is no glory apart from God. The
festation until the prophecy of the church shall have become         nature of a Christian's glory is the same `as the relation of

finished. This implies two things. In the first place, as we         the moon to the sun. The Christian only reflects the glory

gather from other parts of the Word of God, it implies that,         of God even as the moon only reflects the light of the sun.
the gospel must have been preached to all nations. This              Glory, here on earth is to be like God, i.e. that we reflect

does not mean that the gospel must have come to every in-            God's communicable attributes. Our body is not glorified
dividual, but that it must have been spread over the whole           here on earth but our soul is made clean. This glory is seen

earth and come within reach of all. But in the second place,         in the deeds of a Christian, prayer, honoring God, leading

it also means that this testimony against the wicked world           an upright life. In conclusion we can have that glory only
and against the false church must have been finished. The            because we are created with a truly immortal soul and a
measure of iniquity must be full. The world must hear the            rational, moral, reasoning nature. Only in this way could

testimony of the church, must hear it repeatedly, must be-           we reflect God's communicable attributes.       Thro,!ugh   t h e

come conscious of its sin, must know it and reject the Christ        cross Christ made it possible for us to have this glory.

of God willingly and deliberately. Then the testimony shall             Doon  rendered a musical reading followed by the ques-
have been finished. And then it may be silenced, and it shall        tion hour conducted by Rev. G. Van Baren  He answered
be silenced by the power of Antichrist himself. For we read          our questions very ably and interestingly. Edgerton  then
in the text that Antichrist shall rise against the witnesses         provided us with a vocal solo.
and overcome them and kill them. This is a very pregnant
and brief statement of the time of the last and terrible                Our vice-president thanked our speakers and all those
tribulation that shall come over the church of God. Anti-            who took part in the program. The meeting was closed by
christ shall prevail at last. He shall overcome the church. He       singing our theme song, number 298 and prayer by Rev.
shall persecute the saints of the Most High. That does not           Heys.

mean that he shall kill all the people of God individually. For         The Hull ladies provided us .with an excellent lunch and
we do not receive that impression from other parts of Holy           we had an enjoyable social hour.
Writ.

                                                           H.H.                                   Mrs. H. Woudenberg, Reporter





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


                                                                          man who could often appear so likable and pleasant, became
11 A CLQLID  OF WITNESSES 11 exposed, once his pride was wounded. Yet, we can not
                                                                          escape the fact that the sin of Isaac had served its part in
I'
                                                                          arousing this wickedness in the heart of Esau.
                     The House of God                                        Rebekah and Jacob too had reacted to the sin of Isaac.

                                                                          Although they were children of God, their reaction had been
               "`And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he -said,
                                                                          sinful. Instead of trusting the Lord to secure the blessing
             Surely the Lord is in this place; cind I knew it not.
               And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this          for Jacob, they perpetrated the sin of deception. Afterward,
             place! this is none                                          even when Isaac had repented of his sin, they were not ready
                                 other but the house of God, and this

             is thi gate of heaven.                                       to make confession of theirs. The result was that their sin

                .A& Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the      continued to grow.      When Rebekah heard of the intention

             stone that he had pot for his pillows, and set it up for     of Esau to slay his brother Jacob, her reaction again was
             a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.                 purely human. Instead of going with Jacob to Isaac and
               And he called the name of that pluce  Bethel:"             Esau and confessing to them their sin, she told Jacob that
                                                        GEN. 28: 16-19
                                                                          he should flee the land. By doing the former, they would

      Once Isaac had acknowledged that the blessing of Jacob              have been following the way of righteousness; in doing the

was real and that for Esau there was nothing more than a                  latter, they followed the wisdom of the flesh. Abraham had

curse, a great weight was lifted from his soul. In laying                 been very concerned that his son Isaac, the covenant heir,

a very distinct curse upon Esau, Isaac repudiated his former              should never leave the Ian-d  of Canaan ; Rebekah encouraged

sinful intentions and was reconciled to the will of God. He               her son Jacob, the new covenant heir, to flee from the land

repented of his sin, and'there came to him the joy and peace              of Canaan. By so doing the covenant heir was severed from

which only a repentant heart can know. Always Isaac had                   the land of promise.      For twenty years Jacob was absent

been a covenant child of God with the love of God within his              from the land of his inheritance. Those were years of banish-

heart; but, while Isaac had been following his carnal inten-              ment in which the Lord chastised him for the sins which

tion to give the blessing to Esau, that love had been stifled             he had committed in his father's house.

in its expression. In his sin he had been isolated from                      Furthermore, Rebekah, still relying upon her own in-

Rebekah and Jacob, the true covenant members of his family                genuity instead of trusting in the way of the Lord, did not

whom his heart loved. The, only communion he had had                      have the courage to tell Isaac of her real reason for wanting

was with Esau, and that was superficial and earthly. Now,                 Jacob to leave the land. She gave rather as a reason that

having repented from his sinful way, the joy of a godly life              Jacob should not marry a daughter of the Canaanites as Esau

was once again his. The love of God within him again found                had done. In itself this was a proper desire on Rebekah's

free expression. His deep spiritual love for Rebekah and                  part. It was, of course, of utmost importance that Jacob

Jacob, so long kept hidden, once more made itself known.                  should have a believing wife. We cannot help but feel,

The isolation of his heart was broken, and he could express               however, that Isaac and Rebekah should have followed the

himself freely about the matters of the covenant which were               example of Abraham and sent a servant to Laban  to obtain

so important for his soul.                                                a wife for Jacob. This might seem rather strange in our day ;

      However, although the sin of Isaac was removed, the                 but a `study of the action of Abraham will show that he had

effects of his sin lived on in his family.-                               deep spiritual reasons for desiring that Isaac should not leave

      Esau had been led by his father to anticipate that he               the land of Canaan. Those reasons that applied to Isaac as
would receive the birthright blessing. Suddenly he found that             the covenant heir, applied equally well to Jacob. They should
the blessing had eluded his grasp. The wealth of his father               have remembered this example and followed it.

was not to be his. The dominion of the family was given to                   ,Nonetheless,  as Isaac sent Jacob to Padanaram, we see

his weaker brother. This wounded his pride severely. First                the remarkable extent to which Isaac's faith had recovered

he broke down in plaintive weeping, "Hast thou but one                    its strength. We have noted in the past that when Isaac

blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, 0 my father."                first gave the blessing to Jacob, thinking that he was Esau,

Then he flared up in burning hatred saying within his heart,              the blessing was rather incomplete. At that time he had

"The days of mourning for my father are at hand ; then will               struggled under a guilty conscience and did not have the

I slay my brother Jacob." Through it all there was no room                courage of a faith which assured him that he was speaking

for repentance. Esau was not a child of God, and, therefore,              the Word of the Lord. The blessing which he bestowed had-

was not regenerate. He did not think to look to his own                   been almost entirely devoid of all of its spiritual content.

guilt to see if it was the justice of God that ultimately de-             Now, however, he was reconciled to the will of God. As he

prived him of the blessing. Only hatred lived within his                  sent Jacob away to Padanaram once again he pronounced

soul and it rose to a bitter peak. He determined to gain the              upon him the blessing.    This time he spoke, with the strong

blessing for himself by his own strength, by slaying the                  conviction of faith, a firm blessing filled with covenant prom-

rightful heir. The deep-set hatred of the heart of Esaq a                 ise, "God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                $71


multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people ; and            A more beautiful revelation than that which appeared here

give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed            to Jacob is hard to imagine. It was a visible demonstration'of

with thee: that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou              the love of God in which he was held. It testified to him that

art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." It was not               he like his fathers before him was counted a friend of God.

just a promise centering in the land as such ; it was a blessing       In the ladder he saw a figure of the communion which God

filled with Messianic promise.                                         establishes with his people. Over the ladder stood Jehovah,

                                                                       and the ministering angels bringing the needs of Jacob unto
   Jacob formed a lonely figure as he left the home of his
father that day. Surely had he wanted, Jacob could have                the throne of grace returned again with the gracious help
taken camels and servants with him. In fact his blind                  and guidance of His covenant love. Well did Jacob char-
father probably took for granted that he did. But Jacob had            acterize this vision with the name Bethel, the house of God,
                                                                       the place where God holds communion .with His people. It
chosen to travel alone. He was fleeing in fear from his
                                                                       anticipated the perfect covenant communion which would
brother Esau. By going alone any attempt which Esau might
                                                                       come to be- in the day when the covenant promise would be
make to follow him would be made,more  difficult. Further-
                                                                       completely fulfilled. As Jesus later said, "Verily, verily, I
more, he did not desire any company on his way. He pre-
                                                                       say unto        Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the
ferred solitude because he was a man troubled in heart.                           you, 
Externally there appeared little reason why he should have             angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
                                                                       m a n . "   J o h n   1   :51.
been troubled. In fact there was good reason for him to be

joyful. The greatest desire his life had ever known had been               For Jacob the words spoken by God were of utmost com-
fulfilled. His father had given to him the covenant blessing,          fort. In the first place, they assured him that the blessing
not just once but twice, the second time with its full spiritual       bestowed upon him of his father was a real blessing coming
promises. He was leaving his father's house only temporarily           from the throne of grace. Even though he had been deceit-
as the covenant heir going to gain for himself a wife of his           ful in the gaining of the blessing Jehovah remained faithful
own choosing. Soon he would return again to take his place             to the prophecy made concerning him before his birth. The
as head of the covenant. Nonetheless, he was troubled. He              blessings of the covenant would be upon him and his seed.
had first gained the promise by deceit, and still his conscience       In the second place, he was assured that the Lord would be
bothered him. Indeed, his father knew of it and did not                with him as he dwelt in Padanaram. Just as the Lord was
seem to hold it against him. But, still, he had not made a             with him at Bethel after having left his father's house, so
clean confession of his own guilt but rather had continued             the Lord in His grace would continue to follow him as he
his deception. He had not informed his father of his real              proceeded on to his uncle's house. Little did Jacob realize
reason for leaving for Padanaram. He was leaving his                   the way in which that grace of God would work. For twenty
father's land out of fear for the wrath and hatred of his              years he would be made to labor in a strange land. He was
brother. That `land had been given to him in the promise,              to be chastised with grievous trials. But those too were to
and now in fear he was leaving it behind. Neither did he               be means of grace to purge him from his self-centeredness and
have any assurance that his mother was correct in expecting            self-confidence. They would be years in which he would be
that soon the fury of his brother would be.  turned away, What         purged from sin and strengthened in faith. But as yet God
if Esau should continue in his anger for ever? Would he,               only told him that He would be with him in the land to
Jacob, have to remain in Padanaram and lose the promised               which he would go. Finally the Lord assured him that he
land by default?                                                       would be returned again to the land of promise. This was the

    With these troubled thoughts whirling in his mind, J.acob          greatest cause for his concern, and now the assurance of

hastened on his way until `darkness came and he could go no            God gave him his greatest cause for rejoicing.

farther. Having no other choice, "he took of the stones of               Awaking from his sleep Jacob was overcome with awe
that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down on              for the glorious revelation which God had made known to
that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder               him. With a sense of solemn dedication, he lifted the stone
set up. on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven : and        upon which his head had rested and raised it as a memorial
behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.               to the blessing which .had been imparted to him that night.
And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the               With oil he anointed it and named the place Bethel. With a
Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the              consecrated oath he swore, "If God will be with me, and will
land whereon thou liest,  to thee will I give it, and to thy           keep me in this way that I go> and will give bread to eat,
seed ; and thy seed shall be as the. dust of the earth, and thou       and raiment  to put on, so that I come again to my father's
shalt- spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the          house in peace ; then shall the Lord be my God : and this
north, and to the south : and in thee and in thy seed shall all the    stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house:
families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee,         and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth
and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will          unto thee."
bring thee again into this land ; for I will not leave thee, until

I have `done that which I have spoken to thee of."                                                                              B.W.


   3 7 2                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                          also there is in Christ forgiveness of sins, everlasting right-
  II ,FROM  H O L Y   WRIT                                             II eousness and eternal life, merely for the sake of Christ's
                                                                          merits. And, therefore, this faith is a frz~itfrzl  faith, the only
                                                                          root and power in our life from which a good conduct can

                                                                          proceed. The moralist may talk about the brotherhood of
                Exposition of Rotians  14, 15
                                                                          man, but he cannot realize it. The only power of living as

                                                                          brethren in Christ, Jew and Gentile, is in faith in Christ, the
                                  T
                                  1. -
                                                                          one new man because of the peace which Christ is for both.

                           INTRODUCTION                                       A brief survey of this Epistle to the Romans should

                                                                          demonstrate that Paul is here no moralist, but that we are
      The Lord willing we shall write a short series of essays
                                                                          here dealing with "good works which proceed .out  of faith,
- on the Chapters 14 and 15 of Paul's great epistle to the
                                                                          are performed according to the law of God, and are thus
  Romans. That we write on these Chapters rather than on
                                                                          unto God's glory."       Here all works which are founded upon
  such Chapters as the fifth and sixth is due to the fact that
                                                                          human inventions and institutions are outlawed. (Conf.
  we had occasion to preach on these Chapters in our Mission-
                                                                          Question 91, Heid.  Cate.) Paul is here treating of the good
  ary labors, with application of the principles here enunciated
                                                                          works of thankfulness, fruits of grace from which it is evident
  by Paul regarding the eating or not eating of meat and the
                                                                          that we have not a dead but a living faith. In this sphere of
  keeping of the Sabbath day or. in fact, any other day.
                                                                          grace the moralist and the self-righteous cannot operate.
      Besides, if our memory does not fail us, not too much               These works of gratitude are foolishness to him.
  has been written on this question of "adiaphora," (the so-
  called ipzdiflerent  things) and of the solution of all such               Let us notice the contents of the epistle of. Paul to the
                                                                          Romans briefly.
  problems and issues as prescribed by Paul in these beautiful

  Chapters.. At least these questions were not ever in the fore-             It has correctly been observed by many that Paul's letter

  front of our-theological battles and polemics. It is only when          to the Romans is' more of a doctrina.1  &e&se,  taken as a

  Christians, with different .application  of the "law," meet             whole, than a letter.

  that these questions of "adiaphora" become a bit more actual.              As such a treatise, it is virtually composed of three

     It seems that, during the time of the Reformation and                parts, the very parts which the Heidelberg Catechism calls

  the coming into existence of the Church Order of Dort, these            the "three things" which we know to enjoy the only comfort

  questions of "essential" and "non-essential" became a yard-             in life and in death, to wit, 1. How great my sins and misery

  stick of practical conduct in determining who shall be re-              is ; 2. How I am redeemed by God in Christ from this misery ;

  jected in the church and who shall be admitted. Do not our              3. How I shall be thankful to God for such redemption.

  Fathers write in Article 55 of the Church Order "Churches
                                                                             In the Chapters 1 :lS through 3 :20 Paul develops the               '
  whose usages differ merely in non-essentials shall not be
                                                                          total depravity of the Graeco-Roman world, as well as. that
  rejected."
                                                                          of the Jew. Both are under sin, and both are under .the

     The matters referred to in these  Chapters are more of a             wrath of God, by nature,         which reveals. itself upon all

  practical nature than they are doctrinal. They refer to the             ungodliness and unrighteousness, which keeps the truth down

  judgment of love between those who have all been received               in unrighteousness. Writes Paul in Romans 3 :9:, ". . . . for

  of God in tender Kindness and love in Christ. Thus Paul                 we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles,-that they are

  reminds the readers in verse 3, "Let not him that eateth                all un'der sin;" And, again, in verse 19 of this.same  Chapter

  despise him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not           he writes: "Now  we know that whatsoever things the law

  judge him that eateth: for God hath received  him," that is,           saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every

  he hath granted him access to His Father-heart, taken him              mouth may.be  stopped, and all the world may become guilty

  into His fellowship and love in Christ Jesus. Hence, we                before God." Thus Paul shows the "misery" of man in

  deal here with something practical! Yet, the 9Notivation  for          these Chapters as this is known from the law of God, for

  this practical is profoundly doctrinal.                                by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3 :2Ob.


     It is not merely some morality which any moralist can                   However, in Chapters 3 :21  through 8:39 Paul develops

  and does emulate of which Paul speaks in these Chapters.               the righteousness of God which is by faith, both as a right-

  Does not Paul end this Chapter 14, verse 23 by writing:                eousness which is ours in the forgiveness of sins, and which

  "For all that is not out of faith is sin" ? And this faith is, to      is ours in a walk of sanctification. Here the real import of

 be sure, the saving faith whereby we are ingrafted into Christ          faith and the promise of God by faith is developed. Writes

 and receive all of .His benefits. It is faith which is more             Paul in Romans 3-:21  : "But now the righteousness of God

 than holding for true all that God has revealed in His                  without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law

 Word, because it is true faith which operates by love. This             and `the prophets : even the righteousness of God, which is

 faith is a hearty assurance that not only to others, but to me          by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that


                                            T H E   STAN.DARD   B E A R E R                                                       373


believe: for there is no difference. For all have sinned -Fd       with, which the weak and the strong, those not .eaiing  meat

come short of the glory of God." Here we have, in a nutshell,      and thbs5  eating  meat are to regard each other. "There must
the entire plan of salvation and redemption unfolded. It is        be muhal  toleratiiort," writes Godet on page 454 of his Com-
for this reason t.hat Paul can end Chapter 8 with the tri-         mentary on Romans. We agree. Only we emphasize it must
umphant -strain, "For I am persuaded, that neither death,          be a toleration rooted in the fear of God! Hence, we must-
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor          have careful and prayerful. regard for what God does to
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor     that broth& whom we tolerate.

any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love            The second section deals with the "considerate bearing"

of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."                        (Godet) which love claims of the strong for the weak. Then

                                                                   we will not judge the brother who is weak, but we will judge
   Howbeit, in Romans 12-15 Paul develops the section
                                                                   not to put a stumblingblock~  or an occasion to fall in our
which might be called the ethical part of this great treatise,
                                                                   brother's way. Thus the way will be very narrow. For all
that is, the good works which are to proceed from such a
                                                                   that is not out of faith is sin!
faith whereby we are justified and sanctified. For truly this

faith is such, because of the redemption in Christ, that they             Looking at Chapter 15 we notice that Paul here really

&ho receive the abundance of grace reign by one, Jesus.            demonstrates from the conduct of Christ Himself how we

Christ. Wherefore Paul begins this section with the beautiful      ought to conduct ourselves toward the weak. Paul gives
admonition and exhortation, in Romans 1'2 :l, 2, as follows:       good and solid motives from the Old Testament Scriptures.
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,         Paul also quotes the Psalms, Moses and the Prophets to

that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept-      demonstrate God's soteriologicaj  design in both Jews and

able unto God, which iS your reasonable service. And be            Gentiles.

not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the                 Paul ends this` 15th Chapter with explanations of a per-
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,        sonal nature regarding his letter, his work in general, his
and acceptable, and perfect will of God."                          approaching visit to Rome.

   This promise is not an ethical prdggravtz  for a moralist.             Herewith we have attempted to make a beginning of our

   He may discover some regard for virtue, good order in           study of these two Chapters from Paul's epistle to the
society, and for maintaining an orderly external deportment:       Romans.

He has the glimmerings of rzatziral  light. But this light of             D.V., we shall continue this study in the next issue of The

nature is so far from being sufficient to bring him to a saving    Standard Bearer.

knowledge of God, and to true conversion, that he is incap-                                                                      G.L.

able of using it aright  even in things natural and evil.

   What Paul exhorts us to do, we do because God has

received us, has been merciful to us.
                                                                                     COMMUNION WITH GOD
   This ia no mere ethical program of a mbralist, but it is
                                                                                 0 God, regard my humble plea ;
the wolpkivzg  out of our salvation with fear and trembling
                                                                                 I cannot be so far from Thee
since it is God' who works in zis both to will and to do of
                                                                                     But Thou wilt hear my cry ;
His good-pleasure !
                                                                                 When I by trouble am distressed,
   And in these Chapters under consideration Paul shows                          Then lead me on the Rock to rest
the believers, both Jews and Gentiles, strong and weak, how                          That higher is than I..
they are to conduct themselves toward each other by the

mercies of God. We have signalled it above. Paul writes :                        In Thee my soul hath shelter fbund,

"For God hath received him." Hence, Paul can write in                            And Thou hast been from foes around

Romans 15 : 7, "Wherefore recede ye one another, as Christ                           The tower to which I flee.

glso 1-eceived  us to the glory of God." It was by faith that                    Within Thy house will I abide ;            -

Christ took these Remans  unto himself, whether Jew or                           My refuge sure, whate'er betide,

Gentile, united them with Himself forever by the Holy Spirit,                        Thy sheltering wings shall be.

conforming them to God's image that He might be the
Firstborn among many brethren.                                                   Before Thy face shall I abide ;
                                                                                 0 God, Thy truth and grace provide
   It is this profound mercy of God in Christ which is the                           To guard me in the way ;
directive for our conduct toward one another in this Chapter.                    So I will make Thy praises known,

   Looking at these two Chapters just a bit more closely                         And, humbly bending at Thy throne,

we notice that Chapter 14 really is composed of two sections.                        My vows will daily pay.

   The first of these sections really deals with mutual regard                                                       Psalm 61 :l, 2, 4
                                                                    I_

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


                                                                      "Therefore will I look unto the Lord ; I will wait for the

                 I N   H I S   F E A R                                God of my salvation: my God will hear me." Note that last
                                                                      part, "My God will hear me." Because we have that con-

                                                                      fidence in God we wait for Hi& to save us to the uttermost.

                     Waiting or Weighted                              Still more, that "therefore" wherewith the text begins serves
                                                                      to cause us to look back at that written before this text.

                                 (2)                                  Micah'gives here the reason for something. That something is
                                                                      mentioned in the previous verse. It is this, "Trust ye not
        We fall either into the category of those that ,wait  with    in a friend, put ye no confidence in a guide: keep the doors
c hoie  for the promises of God or tie are those weighted down        of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son
 with the things of this life and of this earth. We cannot            dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her
 serve God and mammon.  We serve God or we serve mam-                 mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a
 man. We wait upon the Lord or we put our .trust in the               man's enemies are the men of his own house." And then
 things of the flesh. We seek the things above where Christ           Micah adds, "Therefore I will look unto the Lord ; I will
 is or our affections are on the things beldw and the weight          wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."
 of them keeps us earth-bound.                                        Because we cannot have confidence in men and because God

     Waiting as a child of God waits' is a rich experience. It        will hear us, we wait upon Him in the full confidence that

 is not mere idleness. It is not sitting still and doing nothing.     He will come with all the blessings of salvation. The same

 Waiting is ati activity. In the text we quoted last time             idea is expressed in Ezekiel 19:5,  "Now when she saw that

 toward the end of our article it has the idea of hoping and          she waited and her hope was lost, then she took another of

 trusting in God. The text, you will recall is Isaiah 40:31,          her whelps,  and made him a young lion." Note here too how

 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;        intricately hope or confidence is woven into waiting.

 they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run,
                                                                         There are other elements in waiting as the activity of the
 and not be we&y;  and they shall walk, and not faint." It
                                                                      regenerated child of God. In Psalm 145 :15  we have a word
 was spoken to the Israelites in the captivity of Babylon. Long
                                                                      translated as "wait" that has the idea of looking, watching,
 the people had looked for deliverance gnd a return to the
                                                                      observing carefully. -We read, "The eyes of all wait upon
 promised land. Some entertained the thought -though they
                                                                      thee ; and thou givest them their meat in due season." How
 may not have expressed it-that God had forgotten. For in
                                                                      true. How true it is with those creatures that wait upon us
 verse.27 WE  read, "Why sayest thou, 0 Jacob, and speakest,
                                                                      for their food. The dog,.the  chickens, the cattle that depend
 0 ISrael,  My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is
                                                                      upon you to bring them their food watch you carefully and
 passed over from my God." In contrast to this speech is
                                                                      do not take their eyes off you while you approach them with
 the activity of waiting upon'the  Lord. Such waiting is rely-
                                                                      their food. Yea, &hen  you come empty handed, they look
 ing upon Him, putting trust in Him, having confidence in
                                                                      and watch for a sign of food. The versification we quoted
 Him. That is an essential element of waiting upon the Lord.
                                                                      last time also contains a word with significance. "My soul
 You simply do not wait for that in which you have no con--
                                                                      in silence waits for God," are the words of the first line as
 fidence. You wait on the corner for the bus in the hope that
                                                                      a versification of Psalm 62 :5, "My soul, wait thou only. upon
 the last one for the night has not passed already. You wait
                                                                      Go?: for my expectation is from Him." Silence, symbolizing
 and wait some more. Little by little your confidence is
                                                                      and characterizing humble submission, is an essential part of
 shaken as it. gets later and later. Soon you come/ to the
                                                                      true waiting. And another is expressed in the wbrds of Acts
 point where you are convinced that you missed that last one
                                                                      10 ~7, "And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was
 and you wait no longer. Friends write that they i&end  to
                                                                      departed he called two of his household servants, and a
 be in your neighborhood on a certain day and if possible will
                                                                      devout soldier of them that waited on him continually."
 stop in to eat dinner with you. You wait after predaring  a
                                                                      The word is translated as "waited continually" and has the
 special meal. But the hands of the clock move rel&tlessly
                                                                      idea of perseverance. Waiting is not spasmodic and inter-
 onward ; and  they make no `appearance at your home. You
                                                                      rupted by running away. Waiting is being steadfast in our
 wait and as you wait your confidence in their ability to make
                                                                      hope and looking in silence until the thing expected is re-
 it to your place in time for dinner slowly ebbs. The r'noment
                                                                      ceived or enjoyed.
 comes when you no longer wait. You sit down to e$. with

your family because you have no confidence anymore in                  In the light of all this we sub&it  the observation that to
their appearance on time. We wait  only for that in which we          wait is that activity of the regenerated child of God whereby
have confidence or concerning which we have confide&e.  So            he reaches out inwardly towards the object of his hope, the
it is with the child of God. He waits for the fulfilhne&  of all      stretching out of his soul toward that for which he longs,
the covenant promises because he has confidence in God                which brings his body in subjection to the entire activity,
Who promises them.                                                    so that it walks in harmony with the yearnings of that soul.

    This is clearly taught in Micah 7:7 where we read,                One is not really waiting for the train when he sits in that


I                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                               375
     which is called the "waiting room" and is deeply wrapped up          find no joy in this "necessary evil" which is his daily lot.

     in a newspaper or book. He is passing time till the train            But for the child of God, the pilgrim whose citizenship is in

     arrives, but his soul is far removed from-the thing for which        heaven to be weighed down with the things of this world so

     he claims to wait. Waiting is not simply the idleness of the         that the day of the Lord comes and catches us by surprise,

     body or in the first instance the activity or lack of activity of    as is the case with this man reading his book until suddenly

     the body. As the psalmist writes, "My soul, wait thou only           it dawns on him that hk  must hurry to the track.

     upon God; for my expectation is .from Hjm."  Waiting is                     Our life is full.
     principally an act of the soul. That does not mean that the
                                                                                 We said last &me,  we live fast. But it is also true that
     body has nothing to do with waiting. No, as we said, the
                                                                          our life is full. Modern means of transportation and of com-
     stretching out of the soul towards its desired object causes
                                                                          munication brings so much more of `the world to us and the
     that body to behave in harmony with that inner, irrepressible
                                                                          prosperity of our industrial age enriches our lives on so many
     desire of the soul. We said that the man reading his news-
                                                                          sides from a purely earthly viewpoint! On these our souls
     paper or book so that his soul is absorbed in the thoughts of
                                                                          easily attach themselves. Our affections are soon set on them.
     the man whose ideas he is reading has ceased to wait for that
                                                                          Yea, set on mavy  things before they are invented; and they
     train. His thoughts are not at the moment upon boarding
                                                                          are invented because the soul of man craves them and waits
     that train and getting to his destination. But equally true
                                                                          for them, stretdhing  out and reaching for them in some vain
     is it that the man who sits there watching and looking to-
                                                                          hope that the &-se  upon us will be lessened by things.
     ward the way of approach of that train and who has not

     bought a ticket is not waiting to ride on that train. His                   Reader of these lines, how much of your time is spent

     outward actions deny it. If he waits for it to take him to           waiting for the Lord ? You `have books to read, radio and

     the station farther down the track, he will buy a ticket or          television programs to listen fo and see. You have this and

     procure some other means such as a pass. He will not just            that event to attend. You mu'st do this and that. You have

     sit there and do nothing more.                                       an ambition to attain to this and to that. But how much con-

                                                                          tact do you have with the Word of God that brings to your
        Do we wait for the Lord ?
                                                                          soul already in this life, the things for which we wait?

        We say that. We think about it.`, But do we actually                     If books and radio and television and sports, gold and
     wait for Him to come in all the glory of His kingdom to              silver, houses and land weigh you down so that your soul
     bring us into the everlasting joy of bur salvation? Does our         cannot soar to the heavenly things where Christ is seated at
     soul reach out towards it? Does that soul live now in this           God's right hand, cast them far from you. If you are not
     life in the anticipation of it? Does our inward being reach          waiting Christ will come anyway and to you as a thief in the
     out; and do we look eagerly at all the things which He               night. Remember the words of Jesus, "What I say unto you
     causes  to take place round about us every day as signs of           I say unto you all, Watch," Mark 13 ~37. And if we watch
     His coming? These are soul-searching questions and demand            and wait, we will live close to God's Word which holds be-
     an answer for our own joy and peace of mind.                         fore us this object  for which we wait.

        Well, then, how much thought do we give to the return                    Are you waiting for the Lord.?
     of Christ? We fill our minds with the things of the world.                                                                                  J.&H.
     We are like the man sitting in the "waiting room" who is

     so absorbed in his book that he does not hear the distant

     sound of the whistle of the approaching train. He does not

     notice the bustle of activity around him of those who truly                    T H E   P R O S P E R I T Y   O F   T H E   U P R I G H T

     wait for that train, those who will be his fellow passengers
                                                                                         The steps of those who&  He approves
     not only but those who wait to take off and put on the mz$,
                                                                                            Are ordered by the Lord;
     to take off, and put on the baggage and those who have come            ;
                                                                                         And, though they fall, held by His hand,
     to wait to greet and meet their loved ones and friends whom
                                                                                            They yet shall be restored.
     they expect to detrain there at this station. Paul knew what

     11-e  was writing when he admonished the church at Colosse,                         I have not seen, though since my youth
     "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which                              Full many years have fled,
     are above, where Christ sitteth  on the right hand of God.                          The saint forsaken, nor beheld
     Set your affections on things above, not on things on the                              His children begging bread.
     earth," Colossians 3 :l, 2. The child of God is a pilgrim.

     That man who whiles away his time until the train arrives                           Mark well the perfect, -upright man,

     may be so accustomed to meeting that train ; he may even                               As still his years increase;

     have a certain revulsion against it because it takes him to                         Behold his life, and thou shalt see

     the performance of some detested work ; it may be daily                                His journey end in peace.

     drudgery for him as he commutes to work, so that he can                                                                     Psalm 37:1,  2, 5

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


                                                                            CANON `II. - "If any one saith, that they who ascribe
              Contending For The Faith                       1     any virtue to the sacred chrism of confirmation, offer an out-
                                                                   rage  to' the Holy Ghost : let him be anathema."

                                                                       `CANON III. - "If any one saith, that the ordin-ary
         _    -The Church and the Sacraments                       minister of holy confirmation is not the bishop alone, but

                                                                   any simply priest Soever : let him be. anathema."
  VIBM~S  DURING THE THIRII  PERIOD (750-1517 A.D.)
                                                                            It is evident from the statements of the Council of Trent
                 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.                             that one of the objections against this "sacrament of con-

                       CONFIRMATION                                firmation"       was that it was an outrage against the Holy
                                                                   Ghost. Why this objection should be lodged against the

       Confirmation, or a service attending the introduction of    practice of the Roman Catholic Church should be evident

those baptized in infancy into full communion in the Church,       from what we read in the "Larger Catechisti of the Eastern

was instituted early and continued for a long time among           Church" which is of interest in connection with this sacra-

Protestants as well as among the Romanists. In fact, the           ment.        This "Larger Catechism" is considered the most

word "Confirmation" had lately also come into existence            authoritative doctrinal standard of the orthodox Graeco-

among our churches recently. Those who had been baptized           Russian Church. We understand that there is no principal

in their infancy had their standing then in the Church on the      difference between the corruption of the Confirmation as

ground of. the profession of faith and the engagements which       presented in this catechism and the view of Roman Catholi-
had been made in their name, by their parents or sponsors.         cism. What we have in this Catechism is presented in the

When these children had come to years of discretion they           form of questions and answers. The subject above these

were examined as to their knowledge and conduct, and if it         particular questions and answers is: On `Unction with

was apparent that they had been competently instructed and         Chrism. The word "Chrism" also appears in the Canons of

no charge could be lodged against their. c&duct, they as-          the Council of `Trent, more particularly in Canon II. This

sumed the obligations of their baptismal vows upon them-           word  refers to an unguent of oil and balm used for anointing,

selves, and their church membership was confirmed. HOW-            ordination, etc.,      in the Greek orthodox and the Roman
ever, we do well to remember that there was no sacramental         Catholic Churches, and refers therefore to that with which

character attached to this procedure whatsoever. And, if           one is anoifited.  We now quote as follows from pages 494-

this were the meaning of Confirmation today, there would           495 of Volume II of SchafYs  Creeds of Christendom:

be no objection to the continued use of .the term. However,

Rome has exalted this simple service to the rank of a                               ON UNCTION WITH CHRISM
sacrament. And, in the light of this development one may
surely question the propriety of continuing the use of the                  307. What is Unction with Chrism ?

term.                                                                       Unction with Chrism is a Sacrament, in which the bap-

                                                                   tized believer, being anointed with holy chrism on certain
   Rome, we repeat, has elevated the service of confirma-
                                                                   parts of the body in the name  of the Holy Ghost, receives the
tion to a sacrament. The gift or grace which is conferred by
                                                                   gifts of the Holy Ghost for growth and strength in spiritual
this sacrament is that supernatural influence of the Holy
                                                                   life.
Spirit, which enables the recipient to be faithful to his bap-

tismal vows. The administration of the sacrament must be                    308. Is this, Sacrament mentioned in holy Scriptures ?

a prelate as prelates only are the official successors of the               The inward grace of this Sacrament is spoken of by the
Apostles, and, therefore, they only have the power of con-         Apostle John, as follows: But ye ha,ve a.n, m&on  from the
veying the Holy Spirit by the imposition of hands, which &as       Holy Ghost, and ye kpzow all things. And the anointing
one of the prerdgatives  of the aposbles.                          wiCich ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need
   However, let us listen to what Rome. itself has to* say         not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing
about this -sacrament. The Council of Trent discussed and          teacheth yo'u of all thipbgs,  and  is truth, and is no lis; and
declared itself oii the s&en sacraments exhaustively. Its          even as it hath tabbght  yo'u, abide thevein.  I John 2 ~20, 27.
decisions on the sacrament of Confirmation are very brief.
                                                                            In like manner the Apostle Paul also says: Now he
The Romish doctrine relative this sacrament is contained in
                                                                   which establisked  us with y& is Christ, and hath anointed
,three  canons or anathemas as follows:
                                                                   bts, is God; who bath  also seailed us, and given the earnest
   CANON I. - "If any one saith, that the confirmation of          of the Spirit in ozw hearts. II Cor. 1121,  22.
those who have been baptized is an idle ceremony, and not
                                                                            Hence are taken the words pronounced at the Unction:
rather a true and proper sacrament ; or that of old ,it was
                                                                   The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.
nothing more than a k&d of catechism, whereby they who

were near adolescence gave an account of their faith in the                 309. Is the outward form of Unction with Chrism men-

face of the Church: let him be anathema."                          tioned in holy Scripture ?


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     377


      It may well be supposed that the wor& of St. John              baptism and a second performed by the bishop; From the

  refer to a visible as well as to an inward unction ; but it is     latter ceremony developed confirmation. According to me-

  more certain that the Apostles, for imparting to the baptized      dieval doctrine this took the place of the laying on of hands

  the gifts of the Holy Ghost, used imposition of hands. Acts        (Decrees of the Council of Florence, 1439). The historical

  8:14, 16. The successors of the Apostles, however, in place        development of the' rite culminates in the bull Em&ate  of

  of this, introduced unction with chrism, drawing, it may be,       Eugenius (1432-47) ; the material is an unguent of oil and

  their precedent from the unction used in the Old Testament.        balsam ; the formula, "I seal thee with the sign of the cross

  Exod. 30 :25  ; 1 (3 in the Greek) Rings 1:39. (Dion. Areop.       and confirm thee with the oil of salvation in the name of the

  de Eccl. Hier. cap. IV.)                                           Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" (the form employed in the

                                                                     Greek Church is : "the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit". is
      310. What is to be remarked of the hoI3 Chrism?
                                                                     imparted to thee) ; the ordinary minister is the bishop ; the
      This: that its consecration is reserved to the heads of the    effect is the giving of the Holy Ghost with strength boldly
  Hierarchy, as successors of the Apostles, whd used the laying      to confess Christ. The ahpa,  i.e., the practise  of giving the
  on of their own hands to communicate the gifts of the Holy         candidate a blow on the cheek is not mentioned in this bull,
  Ghost.                                                             though already customary (William Durand, Ra.tionaZe
      311. What is especially signified by anointing the fore-       divinorztwa  officiorum, VI. 84) .
  head?                                                                 In the Middle Ages opposition to confirmation had been

      The sanctification of the mind, or thoughts.                   aroused by Wyclif and the Bohemians, and the latter replaced

                                                                     it by a rite which is to be regarded as the prototype of
      312. What Gy a.nointiing  ti"te  chest?
                                                                     Evangelical  confirmation (W. Caspari, Konfirmation,  Leipsic,
      The sanctification of the heart, or desires.                   1890, pp. 168-171). The Reformers also decisively pro-
      313. What by anointing tke eJles,  ears,  and lips?            nounced against it. The fact that infant baptism was retained;

      The sanctification of the senses.                              the consequent Anabaptist objections that ;n this way, con+

      314. What by ano&ing  the lmnds a,nd feet?-                    trary to the baptismal command of the Lord, baptism became
                                                                     anterior to teaching; the ignorance of the congregations in the
      The sanctification of the words and whole walk of the
                                                                     main articles of Christianity ; the fear that on this account
  Christian. -end of quote from SchafYs  Creeds of Christen-
                                                                     the Eucharist might be received by the unworthy ; and, above
  dom.
                                                                     all, solicitude for the flock imposed on the Refbrmers the-duty
      Is it any wonder that an objection lodged against this         of prombting Christian instruction through catechizing. Ad-
  Romish  sacrament of confirmation is that it is an outrage         mission to communion was made contingent upon an exami-
  against the Holy Ghost? Must the operation of the Holy             nation in the chief truths of the Christian religion. As early
  Spirit, cpnfirming  and strengthening the child of God in the      as 1534 Butzer (in Ad nzonasteriemses)  taught that baptized-
  faith, be limited and bound to these outward ceremonies and        children after antecedent Christian. instruction might make
  to the hierarchy (the priesthood) of the church? Notice            public profession, and that the ancient usage from which con-
  again how the hierarchy, the priestly office plays a vital role    firmation had arisen might be renewed, namely, that the
  in the salvation of the peoplk of God. The priest is simply        bishops should lay hands on the baptized and thereby
  indispensable throughout.                                          "literally" impart to them the Holy Ghost. The section

     ,We wish to conclude what we have to say on this sacra-         "Confirmatio"  of the Wittenberg Reformation of 1545 (CR,

  ment of confirmation by quoting what we read on this sacra-        V. 579) expressed itself in similar terms. We will stop at

  ment in the New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia. We           this -point. The Lord willing, we will finish this quotation

  read there as follows:                                             from the New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia on

                                                                     this sacrament of Confirmation in our following article.
      Confirmation is a rite which in the Roman Catholic and
                                                                                                                                      H.V.
  Greek churches is considered a sacrament conveying strength

  for the Christian warfare and completing the gift of the

  Holy Ghost bestowed. in baptism, and by which in the                                         IN MEMORIAM

  Anglican and Lutheran churches baptized persons are re-               The brothers and sisters in the Lord, of the societies of the First

' ceived  into full communion.       At an early period in the       Protestant Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan, express their

  primitive Church baptism was accompanied with unction              heart-felt sympathy to a brother member, Mr. Albert Klomparens, in
                                                                     the death of his dear sister, who passed to her eternal home,
  (Tertullian, De ba.ptimzo,  VII. ; Cyril, "Mystagogic Lec-

  tures,"    III. Z-6), with which theologians associated com-                            M R S .   W I L L I A M  VISSER

  munication of the, Spirit. A second rite connected with bap-          May our brother be comforted, as Martha of old, when the

  tism was the laying on of hands (Acts 8 :17,  19 :6). Unction      Lord said: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
                                                                     in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth
  and laying on of hands became' later separate ceremotiies,
                                                                     and believeth in me shall never die.:' John 11:25,  26.
  performed- by the bishop.; but since baptism remained as-
                                                                                                                The Men's Society
  sociated with unction, there were two anointings, one at                                                      The Ladies' Aid Society


      378                                             THE  S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER


                                                                            and Article 10. It is this: the way of assurance is not the
      II The Voice of Our Fathers                                           way of living in the past. Let me, first of all, explain what
                                                                       II I mean by this. There are those who would pin all their
                                                                            assurance on something that happened to them in the past.

                                                                            This is especially true, often, of those who have been con-
                        The Canons of Dordrecht                             verted in a sudden and spectacular way. In order to be

                                                                            assured that they are at present children of God, and there-
                                   PART Two
                                                                            fore also in order to enjo,y  assurance as to the future, they

                                                                            continually refer to their past conversion. This will never
:                         EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS
                                                                            do. And besides, it is spiritually very dangerous. We would
                          FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE                            not at all deuy  that some of God's children are very suddenly

                                                                            and spectacularly converted from the power of darkness and
                   OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
                                                                            translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. To deny

                                                                            this would be contrary to Scripture. But we would most
                            Article 10 (continued)                          emphatically deny that past conversion can be the basis of

             The question faced in this `tenth article is : in what way,    present assurance. To live in the past in this manner is very
                                                                            dangerous, first of all, because it is unrealistic. The child of
      how, do the saints have and enjoy this rich and precious
                                                                            God has a battle to fight and a way of sanctification and
      assurance of their perseverance, without which'they  would be
                                                                            conversion to walk in 
      in the midst of the world of all men the most miserable ?                                            the present. And that battle cannot be
                                                                            fought and that way cannot be walked by revelling  in the
             And before we enter into detail as to the way of .assur-
                                                                            memories of our past conversion, but `only by a present
      ante,  wt may well take note of the fact that this article, as
                                                                            faith and a            and 
      we observed last time in correcting the translation, stands                                          continuing putting off of the old man
                                                                                            present 

     logically related to the truth expressed in Article 9. The             and putting on of the new man. And it is dang.erous,  secondly,
      article do,es not begin with "however," but with "hence" or           because especially when one forgets about the present battle
      "accordingly."      This is of fundamental &nportance.  To            and the present calling to walk in sanctification of life, all
      ignore the close relationship between these two articles cer-         kinds of doubts can arise as to the reality and genuineness
      tainly would put us on the wrong track as far as the way              and sincerity of that past conversion. And not only can these
                                                                            doubts arise, but they certainly $11 arise.. The result in such
     pf assurance is-concerned. Way .and end are inseparably con-
      nected. .This is axiomatic, to be sure ; but nevertheless it is       a case is that all assurance disappear& And let us note that
      of the utmost importance that we keep that axiom in `mind.            this is very clearly implied in these two articles of Canons V.
      Article 9 teaches us that believers are able to be certain and        It is implied in Article 9 because it plainly does not speak
      are certain of their perseverance according to the measure of         of past .a:vLd fu&e  membership in the church of Christ, but
     fa,itlz.  Faith is assurance. Hence, accordingly., (Article 10)        of present and &ti~~.re  membership: ". . . . by which they
     the way of the assurance of perseverance must be entirely in           certainly believe that they are and alzvays  shall rewLain  true
      harmony with the character of faith. And bearing in mind              and living members of th.e Church . . ." And it is plainly
     that we speak here of faith from,the  Viewpoint of its activity        implied in Article 10, because this article teaches us that this
     and well-being, we may reduce the question of Article 10 to            assurance "springs from jaith  in God's promises." Bearing
     this: whence does faith in its activity and well-being arise?          in mind now that we are speaking of faith in its conscious
     How is faith as assurance produced ? How is -the measure of            activity, it must be very plain that the article does not refer
     faith, and thus the measure of assurance, increased ? More-            to past faith, but to present, contivzuing faith. Once more:
     over, we learned from Article 9 that by this faith and ac-             faith itself is assurance.        To enjoy assurance I must have
     cording to the measure of faith then saints certainly believe          faith, I must believe. Hence, I have assurance from moment
     that they are and forever shall remain true and living mem-            to moment only as from moment to moment I have faith in
     bers of the church. Hence, (Article 10) the way of assurance           God's promises. And that assurance, being an assurance
     must be in harmony with and follow from this truth. We                 that I a.w a living member of the church of Christ, is at the
     saw that the assurance of future, abiding membership is in-            same time in its very nature an assurance that I alzmys  shall
     herent in the assurance of present membership in the church            reppLain  such a living member of the church of Christ. As
     of Christ. From this point of view, we may reduce the                  soon as that faith (as a conscious activity) fails, my assurance
     question faced in Article 10 to this: whence does the as-              of present membership in the church fails. And as soon as
     surance of present wwvvhxslzip  in the holy catholic church            assurance of present membership fails, the assurance _
     arise ? The assurance of future, abiding membership is in-             of abiding membership fails. I must have from moment
     separable from it. The way of the one is the way of the other.         to moment the assurance of present membership in

         This leads us to our first negative observ+ion  concern-           order to have from moment to moment the assurance of

     ing the way of assurance. It is not directly expressed in the          abiding membership. This stands to reason. If I have not

     article under discussion, but it is implied in both Article 9          even the assurance of pres'ent  membership, there can be no


                                                                                                                 L
                                           - T H E   ` S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   '                                              379


 question of assurance of future, abiding membership,  since           With these negative aspects out of the way, we may now
 there is no membership at all of which to be assured.              turn our attention to the positive truth.
                                                                       And then it must be emphasized that the only way of
    But the article itself makes a negative statement too con-      assurance is the way of God's own Word-. Assurance is not
 cerning the way of assurance: "This assurance, however, is         the work of man. It is not even partially the work of man.
 not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to or in-         And we must be careful that we understand this in connec-
 dependent of the Word of God." This statement was oc-              tion with this article also. The fathers do not teach here that
 casioned by one of the errors of the Arminians, who taught         assurance is not obtained by any private revelation merely,
 that without a special revelation we can have no certainty of      but that it is not obtained by any private revelation co&wy
 perseverance in this life. The idea itself that one should         to or `&dependegtt  of the Word of God. Indeed, if I am to
 obtain the assurance of perseverance through a special revela-     have assurance, I must have God's own Word to me per-
 tion is, of course, the error of what is known as false mysti-     sonally,  telling me that I am His child, assuring me that I
 cism. False mysticism has no need of the Scriptures. It only
                                                                    am a true and living member of the church of Christ, giving
 needs the Holy Spirit. That Spirit whispers in one's heart,
                                                                    me the certainty that I shall forever remain such a member
 as it were, that he is and forever. shall remain a living mem-     of Christ's church. I must have God's Word to me person-
 ber of Christ's church, and He reveals this privately, entirely    ally, assuring me : "It is .your Father's good pleasure to give
 apart from the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures. False
                                                                       the kingdom."        God Himself must not only tell me that
                                                                    you 
 mysticism is not by any means an unknown error today. And
                                                                    none of His sheep will perish, that none of His sheep can
 it is as sickly as it is false. However, we need not take the
                                                                    ever be plucked out of Christ's hand or out of the Father's
 time now to point out its faults and dangers. In this connec-
                                                                    hand ; but He must tell me : "YOU  will never perish. YOU
 tion we want to emphasize what the Arminians taught over
                                                                    can never be plucked out of My hand. You can never be
 against the Reformed. The opponents of the Reformed faith
                                                                    separated from the love of--Christ."  God Himself must not
 insisted that the only way in which one could possibly have
                                                                    only tell me that the elect, the saints, have the remission of
 the certainty of perseverance was by some kind of direct and
                                                                    sins and life eternal. But He must assure me: rrY~~ty sins
 special revelation from God. Apart from such a special
                                                                    are forgiven. Y@ are the heir of eternal life." Let            under-
                                                                                                                            us 
 revelation one would have to live in uncertainty and doubt
                                                                    stand this most-clearly. Just, as salvation itself is absolutely
 as to the future and abiding character of his membership in
                                                                    and solely the work of God,`so  the assurance of that salva-
 Christ's church. When the Reformed nevertheless insisted
                                                                    tion is the work of God alone. Amid all the testimony, -
 that such certainty is both possible and real for the saints,
                                                                    of the devil, of the world, of my own conscience, - to the
 the Arminians tried to make them out as false mystics, accus-
                                                                    contrary, there is but one voice, one Word, that is able to
 ing them of proudly claiming that they all had some special
                                                                    give me hope and assurance. There is but one voice that is
 revelation from God as to the future. At the same time, they
                                                                    able to give the lie to all those contrary voices, that is able
 wanted to deceive the simple and hold the Reformed faith
                                                                    to contradict them. That is the voice of God, the God ,of
 up to scorn and contempt. It was their intention to teach
                                                                    our salvation in Christ. And unless I hear His voice, unless
 people that the Reformed faith maintained that all the elect
                                                                    therefore He speaks to me, I must be without hope and
 obtained some such special revelation from God of the
                                                                    comfort.
 certainty of their perseverance, and that if you did not
                                                                            The question is, therefore, not merely: how do I obtain
 receive such a revelation, then you could have no certainty
                                                                    assurance - as though the obtaining of assurance were my
 and could only doubt whether you were even a child of God.
                                                                    own work. Essentially the question is, How does God as-
 Thus we can also understand the workings of the Arminian
                                                                    sure His children? What is God's way of assurance ? Then,
 heresy once more. It was the Arminian heresy itself that led
                                                                    when I know this, and when I walk according to this knowl-
 to doubt and uncertainty.    But the Arminians attempted to
                                                                    edge, I can grow in assurance day by day. For in order to
 blame the Reformed doctrine with the very faults of which
                                                                    have assurance, I must be in God's way ; I must walk by
they themselves were guilty. This is the usual method of
                                                                    faith in the way in which God always assures His children.
 heretics and of heresy.
                                                                            And it is this `way that is described as to its three main
     It was over against this Arminian charge that the fathers      elements in Article 10.
  inserted this negative statement in Article 10. They said,                                                                       H.C.H.
  as it were: "You must not think, when we teach that the

  certainty of perseverance is both `possible and real, that we              To the Standard Bearer Staff Members!
  maintain that this assurance is obtained by some special

  revelation, as our opponents charge. For we exactly deny                  The Staff of our Standard Bea.rer  will meet Thursday

  that this is `our doctrine, and we want all to know that we       evening, June 4, 1959, at S :00 o'clock, in the consistory room

  deny this. We state flatly that this assurance does not arise     of the First Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Let                     all,
                                                                                                                                    us 
  out of any private revelation, next to and apart from the         please, be there!

  Word of God." *                                                                                     REV. GERRIT Vos, Secretary

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


                                                                          "               In the interests of efficiency separate meetings may
                                                                               . . . .
               DECENCY and ORDER                                      be held by the elders and by the deacons. However, in
                                                                      churches in which the number of office-bearers is five or

                                                                      less, no such separate meetings shall be held."
                       Article 37, D.M.O.
                                                                         At first glance it may seem that the only thing that is

       "In all churches there shall be a consistory composed of       changed in this revision is the three to five  or less. This,

the ministers of the Word and the elders, who at least in             however, is not the case. Actually the numerical aspect of

larger congregations, shall, as a rule, meet once a week. The         this article is not effected by this change because the original

minister of the Word (or the ministers, if there be more              speaks of the invariable rule that deacons shall be added to

than. one), in turn shall preside and regulate the proceedings.       the consistory where the number of elders is less than three

Whenever the number of elders is small, the deacons may be            while the revision allows for separate meetings of elders and

added to the consistory by local regulations; this shall in-          deacons only when the total number of office bearers is

variably be the rule where the number is less than three." -          more than five.. It is hardly conceivable that there would ever

Art. 37.                                                              be a consistory with three or more elders that had less than

                                                                      two deacons and, consequently, as far as the numbers are
       Related to this article are the following decisions which
                                                                      concerned, this revision changes nothing. It would actually
have been adopted by the Classes of our churches in June,
                                                                      come down .to the same thing in actual practice whether the
1934, and later ratified by the Synod of 1944. In connection
                                                                      original article or the revision were followed.
with decision No. 4 below, it should be noted that when the

Synod approved these decisions, it should have changed the                There is, however, a rather fundamental changebere. The

word "C1a.s~~~"  in that decision to "Synod." There are other         original reading plainly considers the consistory as consisting

instances also where this ought to have been done and when            of ministers and elders. To this the deacons may in certain

the present Church Order is re-edited, these changes should           instances be added. The revision takes the .viewpoint  ex-

be made. The committee appointed by th.e 1958 Synod for               pressed in Article 30 of the Belgic Confession which is that

this work does not mention these in connection with its               the Council (Consistory) of the Church is composed of min-

report to Synod but it should, nevertheless, be taken care of         isters, elders and deacons. In other words, the deacons be-

because instances can be cited where this faulty wording has          long to the consistory.            The revision then makes provision

led to misinterpretation of the decision itself. The decisions        for separate meetings of elders and deacons. Though they

pertinent to Article 37 are:                                          then meet separately, they are both equally as much a part

                                                                      of the body called the Con&tory! This is obviously an at-
       "1. The president and the secretary of the consistory shall
                                                                      tempt to bring Article 37 of the Church Order and Article
function as such on the congregational meeting ; the minutes
                                                                      30 of the Confession into closer harmony and to eliminate
shall be entered in the consistory's minute, book and con-
                                                                      .what is apparently a conflict between them in their present
firmed by the consistory.
                                                                      form.
       2. No matters shall be treated on the congregational
                                                                         The question then is, "Which view is correct?' Are the
meeting which are not brought there by the consistory.                deacons a part of the consistory or are they not? Is it desir-

       3. When members desire to have a matter treated on the         able to hold separate meetings of elders and deacons merely

congregational meeting, they shall previously have requested          from the point of view of greater efficiency as the revision
of the consistory the right thereto, and it shall be the              states or is it principally imperative wherever, possible from

prerogative of the consistory to determine the extent and             a practical point of view because of the differences in the
the manner in which their request shall be granted.                   offices and their respective functions ? If it is correct, as our

       4. Consistories shall every year furnish the exact count       Church Order states, that only ministers and elders constitute
of the families comprising their membership to classis.  The          the Consistory, is it .not then an error in our Confession to
following shall be counted as families:                               state "Elders and Deacons, together with the pastors, form
                                                                      the council of the Church . . ."?
       a. When the husband or wife is a confessing member.
                                                                         Monsma and Van Dellen  in The Chz~h  Order COPPL-
       b. Where either widower or widow functions as head of                         offer an attractive explanation of this difficulty.
                                                                      mentary  
the family.                                                           They write :

   C. Further, three individual members shall be counted                 "Some have concluded that there is a conflict between
as one family."                                                       our Confession and our Church Order on this score. But

   In the proposed revision of the Church Order of the                let it be noted that in Article 30 of the Confession we declare

Christian Reformed Church, there is a note-worthy change              by whom the churches ought to be governed, and that in

in the last part of the article which deals with the matter of        the Church Order we stipulate .how the work of the office

adding the deacons to the consistory. The proposed revision           bearers is to be executed. Or again: In the Confession we
would read :                                                          have the declaration of a fundamental principle. In the


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     381


 Church Order the statement regarding a method of work.               consistory, they have decisive vote in all matters and likewise

 The Confession, as might be expected, commits itself regard-         the elders. It really means that the elders, `in addition to

 ing a fundamental principle, and the Church Order, without           being elders are also deacons and that the deacons in addi-

 denying this fundamental principle, provides for a limited           tion to being deacons are also elders. A deacon cannot

 measure of division of labor in keeping with the peculiar            function as an elder if he.is not an elder. To cast a decisive

 duties of the offices.                                               vote respecting a matter of church discipline is to function,

                                                                      certainly, as an elder. Article 30 of the Belgic Confession,
    "Inasmuch as this is a point of importance, and inas-             by the way, teaches that the consistory includes the deacons.
 much as there has been a measure of confusion and mis-               This clause occurs, `also elders and deacons, who together
 understanding in our circles regarding these matters, it may         with the pastors, form the council of the church.' "
 be well for            to state the whole situation in a summary
                 us 

 way. First of all then, the three offices of the New Testa-              The view of Dr. Janssen, to our knowledge, is most com-

 ment Church are derived from Christ's threefold office and           monly practised.  When deacons are added to the consistory,

 correspond to these. The threefold office of Christ was vested       this is done in an advisory capacity with respect to disciplin-

 in the Apostles temporarily.       In due time Ministers, Elders,    ary and like matters. They are not given a decisive vote.

 and Deacons continued the work. of the Apostles, that is to          Rev. Ophoff is correct in his assertion, "if the deacons are

 say, the abidin,
                   m elements of their office. The Ministers of       added to the consistory, they have decisive vote in all matters

 the Gospel (or teaching Elders) represent Christ as Prophet          and likewise the elders." Also `(a deacon cannot function as

 of truth; the Elders (or ruling Elders) represent Christ as          an elder if he is, not an elder." That is just the point. A

 King  of righteousness ; and the Deacons represent Christ as         deacon is not an elder and an elder is not a deacon and,

 Priest of mercy. Each office has its distinct task, though the       therefore, neither can function in the other's office.  To do

 offices are more or less inter-related and they have their           so would be contrary to the form for Ordination wherein the

 unity in Christ."                                                    office bearers are asked to answer whether they feel `called

                                                                      "to their respective offices" and whether they will promise
    In light of this the proposed revision is desirable provided      to faithfully "discharge their f*espective  offices." By ordina-
 that some of the above reasoning and argumentation is                tion a deacon is a deacon and not an elder and, consequently,
 further incorporated into the Article. What we mean to say           he has no right to function in those matters that are peculiar
 is that we would favor the change in the article that positively     to the office of elder.
 adopts the position that the deacons belong to and are part
 of the consistory but we would not favor this merely "in the             We would, therefore, favor the view that includes min-
 interests of efficiency."       We would favor it because the        isters, elders and Seacons  in the consistory. Further, we
 church is to be ruled through the one office of Christ and the       would distinguish between the labors of each as prophets,
 office of the deacon is an aspect of that office.  It is proper      priests and kings under Christ Jesus. Because the labors
 to distinguish the office of Christ but the elements of it may       of each may be properly distinguished, we would advocate
 not be separated.                                                    separate meetings wherever it is practically possible and
                                                                      where this is not the case, limit the function of the deacons
    If the view is adopted that the deacons do not belong-to          in the consistory to those matters that belong strictly to the
 the consistory, various difficulties arise. Rev. Ophoff, as          office of the elders to an advisory capacity.
 well as several other authorities on Church Polity, who have
                                                                                                                              G.V.D.B.
 taken this view have also recognized this. The main prob-

 lem` is discussed in the following paragraph from the pen

 of Rev. Ophoff.


    "According to Holy Writ, as we have seen, the con-

 sistory is formed of elders and ministers. Hence, if the
                                                                                                    IN MEMORIAM
 deacons are added to the consistory they thereby are made

 elders and thus are elders in addition to their being deacons.          The Senior Mr. and Mrs. Society of the First Protestant Reformed

 This is the only possible view. Otherwise the article in-            Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, wishes to express its sincere

 volves us in a difficulty ; namely, how a deacon can function        sympathy to a fellow member, Mr. Marvin Koemer and his family

 as an elder. The authorities on Church Polity in the Nether-         in the loss of his mother,

 lands felt this. Joh. Janssen says that in matters of discipline
                                                                                             MRS. J. A. KOERNER
the elders should have the say and that the voice of .the

 deacons should prevail in all matters that belong to the                May the Lord strengthen and comfort in the knowledge that

 office of deacons, Hence, the mind of four deacons and               "an things work together for good to them  that love God, to them

 one elder should not be allowed to prevail over the mind of          that are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

 four elders, if the matter is one of church discipline. But                                               President, Rev. C. Hanko

 this view is untenable. For if the deacons are added to the                                               Secretary, Mrs. B. Dykstra

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


                                                                   believers is a gratifying prospect for more than one good
II            A L L   AROUNd  U S ,                                reason.
                                                                       "Fdi- years there must have been those who have longed
I'
                                                                   ardently and also prayed fervently for the good and

A Pa,nzphlet  artd  a. Report  - A Cow&pa&c?%.                     pleasant' sight of brethren dwelling together in unity. The

                                                                   separation of our two churches dates back to 1924, thirty-five
      The' pamphlet to which we refer is a 12 page booklet
                                                                   years ago. This separation of those who have so much in
published some years ago by the Revs. M. Gritters and A.
                                                                   common has caused deep wounds and has been characterized
Cammenga when they were members of our qrotestant
                                                                   at times even by deplorable bitterness and grievous estrange-
Reformed churches  in good standing. The pamphlet was
                                                                   ments.     It could not be other wise than that brethren com-
entitled : The Answer, and contained some twenty-one ques-
                                                                   mitted so largely  to the same faith and filled with the same
tions and answers the gist of which was to show up the
                                                                    Spirit should find such a situation to be untenable and pray
fallacy of the doctrine of Common Grace and positively set
                                                                   for grace and guidance to be .delivered  from it.
forth the position of the Protestant Reformed Churches as
                                                                       "That those of the Reformed faith feel the need of
they conceived of it then.
                                                                   being united as closely as possible with each other is to be
       The Report to which we refer is the report of the com-      understood also for another reason. To live in peace to-
mittee of those who left us in the schism of 1953 which has        gether and to bring together that which belongs together
since 1957 been meeting with a committee of the Christian          can be not only pleasant for ourselves but also profitable if
Reformed Church in an attempt to iron out their differences        not imperative to make our Reformed witness effective for
on the Three Points in the hope of a reunion. Both com-            those round about. Zeal for the truth cannot be expected to.
niittees  are reporting to their respective synods which meet      be contagious when it is characterized by bitterness and
in June of this year. The Reformed G,xardia.n  of April 10,         strife rather than love for the brethren which makes one
 1959. `published by those who left us, contains the report of     eager to forgive and easy to be entreated . . .
the committee of which the Rev. M. Gritters is a member                "The possible reunion with our Protestant Reformed
and the Rev. A. Cammenga an alternate member. Concern-             brethren should be a' gratifying prospect especially inasmuch
ing the latter, we gather from the report that he has had a        as there is good reason to believe that this can be pleasing to
voice in the combined meetings and has met with the com-           our common Lord. Ecumenicity made possible by a dis-
mittee     regularly. Tlze Bmwer  of the Christian Reformed        regard of God's Word is an abomination in His sight. But it
Church of April 24 and May 1, 1959 contains parts of the            is just as t-rue that His favor will surely rest upon the
report of the Christian Reformed Committee. The report             ecumenical efforts of those whose first concern is that the
will be completed in subsequent issues of that paper. Aisp         teachings of Scripture be held in honor.
in The  Banner of April 24th appears an editorial relative to          "The fact that the Christian Reformed and Protestant
the report and the progress of the two committees to which         Reformed  churches are drawing close together is an answer
the editor gives the significant title: "Christian Reformed        to prayer. Not only God's pkople have prayed for this, but
and Protestant Reformed Churches Draw Closer Together."            we think also of the prayer of our High Priest, Jesus
        Having all this material before us, we had planned at       Christ: `. . . that they may all be one ; even as thou, Father,
first to give our readers a rather careful analysis of all that    art in me, and I in thee, that they may also be in us.' "
has been written and that in a series of two or three articles.        We have a remark or two to make about this quotation
However, when we noticed in the last issue of The Stand-           in a moment, but first notice that it is the judgment of the
ayd  Bearer  that the editor plans to give this material his       committee of the Christian Reformed Church also that the
personal attention we decided to give our readers only this        two groups are getting closer together. The committee re-
one article which we will call- A Comparison. It will be           ports the following: "We have been drawn closer. together
interesting to see how those who have left us have changed         as a result of our conferences.    That questions still remain
and by that very change show that they no longer have the          and differences still- obtain is obvious and was to be expected.
right `to call themselves Protestant Reformed.                     We are hopeful of the eventual unification of the Christian

       Before we show this, however, we take time out to show      Reformed and the Protestant Reformed churches."

our readers first how the editor of The Banner and the com-            The reader will note how' piously the editor of The Burt-
mittee of the Christian Reformed Church have also observed         ner talks about the prospective reunion with the Protestant
this change and are ready to express their firm belief that        Reformed Churches, but all the while he is not talking about
it's only a matter of time and the group that left us will be      _ the Protestant Reformed Churches at all. He has in mind
safely tucked away within the fold of' the Christian Re-           the schismatic group that left the Protestant Reformed
formed Church.                                                     Churches. He is talking about the separation of the two

       The editor of The Bamer conceives of the reunion as         churches in 1924, but with those whom the Christian Re-

a "Gratifying Prospect." Writes he, "The possibility of a          formed Church cast out- in 1924  he and his church will not

reunion of Christian Reformed and Protestant Reformed              talk, much less seek a reunion with them. It should also be

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


 noted that he considers it a "gratifying prospect" that with         Cor. `2 :16  j . The Second and Third Points are fundament-

 all their ecumenical maneuvering they are drawing closer             ally a denial of the Scriptural doctrine of the total depravity

 to those who indicate there are only differences of approach         of natural man (Rom. 3). And these errors are all the more

 and emphasis, but not principle difference. But with those           dangerous because they pretend  to be in conformi&  with the

 who are really Protestant Reformed and who for 35 years              Reformed Confessions while in reality they are contrary to

 still maintain that there is principle difference between them       the Reformed truth and undermine the church of Christ."

 and the Christian Reformed, he and his churches will have                And again on page 6 under question 11 : "Why do Prot-

 nothing to do. This position is to be deplored. That those           estant Reformed Churches object to the theory of Common

 with whom the Christian Reformed -Church is dealing are              G r a c e ?

 not Protestant Refqrmed  any longer is plain from what they              Answer: Common grace is a denial of sovereign election

_ have written in committee on the Three Points as compared           and reprobation and of particular atonement and naturally

 with what they believed and expressed in writing when they           implies that Christ died for all and therefore salvation de-

 were still associated with those who are really Protestant           pends upon the choice and free will of the sinner. It is

 Reformed.                                                            contrary to Scripture and the Reformed Confessions which

    We are going to quote from the little pamphlet above              teach that God is gracious only to His people and is a God

 referred to and show our readers what the Revs. M. Gritters          of wrath to all those who choose to walk ih sin. (Prov. 3 :32-

 and A. Cammenga (and we are sure we could add' the rest              35; Ps. 146:7-g; Ps. 147:6;.Ps.  73 :18-20)."

of the committee, Revs. H. De Wojf, J. Blankespoor,  E.                   Now notice what they say in the reformulation of these

Knott, and elders E. Howerzyl, H. Knott and J. Kok,  as               Three Points. I quote from The Guardiapz  of April 10th.

 agreeing with th_em)  believed and wrote. We will then quote             "We propose  a reformulation (interpretation or `limita-

 what this committee proposes as a reformulation of the               tion) of Point I somewhat as follows: `Besides the saving

 Three Points, and the;  let the reader judge whether or not          grace of .God  shown only to the elect there is also a certain

 we are correct when we say that they have changed and are            favor or grace shown to the creatures in general. This is

 no longer Protestant Reformed.                                       taught in Ps. 145 :9; Matt. 5 :44, 45; Acts 14:16, 17, etc.'
                                                                               >,
    On page 4, question S, we read : "What is actually taught         . . .

 in the `Thr'ee Points' of the Christian Reformed Churches ?              The reformulation of Point II as proposed by them is as

    Answer: In brief, the following: Point I teaches that             follows :

 besides the saving grace of God shown only to the elect                  "There is a restraint sf sin, which, within the providence

 there is also a certain favor of God which He shows to His           of God, brings about a degree of good order and decency in

 creatures ,in general, including the wicked reprobate. As            society. It curbs the dissoluteness of man and makes human

 proof of this contention Point I refers` to the so-called general    society possible, but serve's .especially  to defend and preserve

 offer of the Gospel, Point II teaches that through the opera-        the church in the world. This expression is not to be in-

 tion of the Holy Spirit, without renewing the heart of man,          terpreted to mean that there is any essential improvement

 God protects the good' that remains in man since the fall so         in the depraved sinner."

 that the progress of sin is checked and restrained, with the             And as to Point III they propose the following: "Con-

 result that man did not become as corrupt as we might ex-            cerning the so-called civic righteousness of the unregenerate,

 pect, and therefore did not fully die as God had said. Point         it appears from Scripture and the Confessions that such good

 III teaches that man wolrld  have beea  and wo,uld be totally        is performed by them. This civic good, although acceptable

 depraved, that is, wholly incapable of doing any good and            to us and beneficial to society in various ways, and in certain

 inclined to all evil, if there were no general operation of God's    instances characterized by Scripture as `good' and `right'

 Spirit in the heart of unregenerated man ; but now, throygh          (II Kings 10 :29, 30; Luke 6 :33 j, but in as far as it is not

 God's common grace, man is not totally depraved which im-            done from the root. of faith, neither according to the law

 plies that man is able to do a measure of good in the sight          of God, nor to God's glory, is sinful. Moreover this does not

 of God."                                                             in the least change the sinner's depravity, neither the need

    That the authors of the pamphlet strongly objected to the         for repentance from dead works, nor does it enable him to

 Three Points as explained by them above is plain from what           turn to God.`"

 we read on page 5 under question 9. "Why do the Prot-                    The reader will no doubt agree that the position of .those

 estant Reformed Churches so vehemently oppose these `Three           \Nho  left us has changed considerably on the matter of the

 Points' ?                                                            Three Points as compared with their position expressed &

    Answer : Because the `Three Points' imply all the funda-          the pamphlet. And we would advise the Christian Reformed

 mental errors of Arminianism and Pelagiar&m.          The First      Church not to take those who left us too seriously when they

Point is principally a denial that the grace of God is                object to het puntje van het eerste punt. Analyze that first

 particular, since it teaches that the preaching `of the Gospel       statement of Rev. De Wolf with which they all agree and

 is grace to all that hear the gospel, while Scripture itself         you will see that it is much worse, much -more Arminian

 teaches that for many it is a savour of death unto death. (II        than the Arminianism of the Fiist Point.                    M.S.


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                                                                                                                    -`.
                                                                                          _
384 --                                                         THE"S'TA.NDARD  BEAkER
                                                      .

                                                                                                      Holland's Ladies' Ai'd used a n6vei  plan to provide for

11 NEWS FROM.OUR.CHURCHES  11 a. coffee urn for the church kitchen; they were askecl to
                                                                                               donate S&H green stamps towai-ds its acquirement.
                          the sairtts                      thee                 4:21
                 "AlI                 salute                   . : ..r PHIL. 
                                                                                   Ii                 Southwest is planning to furnish their church kitchen

                                                                                               before. the Juli Classis  which will require their datering
                                                                         April 5,.1959         services. They, too, are asking donations of trading stamps,

   Holland's bulletin  calls attention to the coming Synod                                     and kitchen utensils, towards their goal.

which meets June 3 at Hudsonville in this way: "Synod                                                 Rev. R. Harbach declined the call to Redlands,  California.
needs our prayers. It will have much work to do. Much
                                                                                                      DO YO'ZC a.gveo  - that it would be well to follow South
wisdom is' required. There must be a looking to the Lord,
                                                                                               Holland's example as noted in their bulletin :-in their Com-
for g&dance  and holy dependence. May God supply." That
                                                                                               munion service the members of the congregation partake
is Rev. McCollam's way of reminding the congregation that                                      in unison.
when Synod meets it is the Church meeting, Bnd that it is for
the general welfare of the entire membership.                                                         Randolph replaced twenty-four of their worn out Psalters
                                                                                               with ne:y ones. Desiring to keep them new looking as long
    A Dutch Psalm `sing was held at Southwest church April
                                                                                               as possible,  the.. bulletin' warns the people against their mis-
26. This was an all request program, which resulted in the
                                                                                               use by their children.
choice of the most familiar psalms. It was very noticeable

that many of the singers sang without a glance in the psalm                                           April 20 the newly organized School Society of Loveland

book. The evening was sponsored by the Mothers' Club of`                                       met to elect Board members and to adopt a constitution. Mr.

Adams St. School, and the offering taken was for that in-                                      Paul Griess is the president.
stitution.                                                                                     . .
                                                                                                      What is our Missionary doing? Well, during a recent

    Many of the societies had their final meetings in the last                                 visit to his family home he attended a morning service in

two weeks, such as.:                                                                           First Church, preached in Creston  in the evening ; preached
                                                                    .

    First Ladies' Aid luncheon where Rev. Hoeksema an-                                         in Holland the next Sunday morning, and in Grand Haven

swered questions from the question box as part of the after-                                   in the evening. And, as reported last time, addressed the

noon program.                                                                                  Young People's League. The Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers went

                                                                                               west by the way df Missouri to see their son, Cornelius, at
   `The League of Mr. and Mrs. Societies met as guests of
                                                                                                Fort Leonard Wood and arrived in South Dakota Saturday
First's Jr. Society, May 30. Rev. G. Lanting from Grand
                                                                                               afternoon. They managed to pay visits to the parsonages of
Haven, spoke on, "The Christian's Testimony in the Midst
                                                                                               Revs. Lanting, MC Collam, H. C. Hoeksema, Vanden  Berg,
of the World." The Hope Octette sang, and two ladies from
                                                                                               Heys and Van Baren.  From the Mission Field comes the
Hudsonville played a piano duet. After recess a debate was
                                                                                               report that the congregations of Forbes, S. Dak., and Isabel,
held on, "Can We Be Too Busy In Church Activities?"
                                                                                               N. Dak., have filed official requests- to the coming Synod to
The ,affirmative  was taken by Mrs. H. Van Eenennaam, and
                                                                                               be admitted as sister churches.
the negative by Mr. Philip Lotterman. A lively discussion

followed. Rev. Woudenberg from Creston was the chair-                                                 The Men's Chorus of First Church gave a concert in

man.                                                                                           the Illiana High School in Lansing, Illinois, May lst, for

   Holland's combinkd  Men's and Ladies' Societies met to-                                     our people in the South Holland, Oak Lawn churches. They
gether, and their pastor, Rev. McCollam spoke on "Grieving                                     chartered a Greyhound bus, leaving about ten vacant seats
The Holy Spirit."                                                                              which were occupied by invited guests from Grand Rapids.
                                                                                               They exchanged buses near South Bend to replace one which
   Hudsopville's Men's and Ladies' Societies also met in                                       overheated. The chorus gave three groups of songs, one
joint meeting, their pastor, Rev. Vos speaking on, "The                                        number `which featured C. Jonker, tenor soloist. Robert
Family Altar in these Wicked Times."                                                           Decker rendered two solos on the baritone horn. A collection

   Lynden's Adult Bible Class recently studied the history                                     was taken at the concert to help defray the expenses. The

of the Holy Seed, from Shem to Abraham.                                                        bus left for home immediately after the program, and stopped

                                                                                               at the Glass House for the passengers to get a bite to eat
   Southeast's Mr. and Mrs. Society held their final meeting
                                                                                               and arrived home aftq 3 A. M. after an uneventful trip.
April 14. After dinner they discussed Esther 9, and after the

Bible discussion were entertained by Miss Borduin who                                                 Loveland's Young People's Society held a Singspiration

showed pictures of' Asia.                                                                      April 26th featuring special numbers. Different Psalter

                                                                                               selectidns  were practiced, and preferences from their German
 On -April  22nd Southeast Church held a Congregational
                                                                                               song bdoks were lustily sung.
Social enjoying an evening of Christian entertainment and

fellowship.                                                                                               . . . . see you in church.                      J.M.F.


