                                                                                                                                                            ,.1;





     VOLIJME~~VI                                 OCTOBER  15, 1959 - GRAND  RAIDS,  MICI+IIGAN'                                  NUMBER  2 .
                                                                                          _. _


                                                                                  I abhor myself!

              M E D `I:T A T I 0-N                                                Did you note that the word ptzyself  is written in italics ?      `.'
                             `.                                               `That means that this word is not in the Hebrew text. Job                    ..

                                                                               really says : I abhor !. Now, all and everyone of you realize
       THE SPEECH OF TRUE PENITENCE                                            that a statement like that has no sense- at all. Suppose I
                                                                                                                                             _
                                                                               would say to you : I abhor ! You would ask me at once : 
              -`I hve heard of Thee by the heahzg  of the ear:                                                                              Al-
                                                                               right ! But what do you abhor? And then I woul,d,  have to
               b u t   n o w   mine   e y e   seetlz  TJzee. Wjzerefore  I
       .`.                                                                     supply the object of my abhorrence. That is the reason why.
               abhor  &zy.kelf,  and repent in dust and ashes."
                                                                               the translators of the Bible have supplied the proper object.
                                                           JOB 42.5,  G

                                                                                  Now, that was not necessary in the ,Hebrew.  For the
   Job had been -rather  voluble : he multiplied words.                        Hebrews it was clear what Job meant.

   Chapter upon chapter of the words of Job.                                      You see, the word which is translated abkor  `has a picture
   But in my chapter-Job  discounts the whole of it. Listen                    in it, and the picture is sufficient and very clear. I might add

to him: "Therefore have I uttered that I understood not;                       also that this picture is very striking.

things too wonderful for me, which I knew not."                                   The word a~bho~~  means literally: to melt, to melt-away,
   Also in chapter 40 :5 : "Once have I spoken ; but' I will                   to run ; and, specifically of a sore which runs with :pus,

not answer : yea t-wice  ; but I will proceed no further." And                 matter. And therefore the idea of loathsomeness is included.

in the fourth verse he says: "what shall I answer Thee?  I                        What Job means with this phrase is that he likens him-
will lay mine hand upon my mouth."                                             self to a fetid, filthy, running sore.

   As voluble as Job was at first, so reluctant he is in speak-                   Neither is this idea- foreign to the Bible. You-find this
ing now.                               .                                       idea everywhere. Attend, e.g., to Isaiah 1 6, "From the sole of

   It, is not so that Job, does not speak at all. No, he does                  the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but

say something. But his words are very few.                                     wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores : they -have not

   Well, that is according to Divine wisdom, for God saith:                   been closed (notice !- they have not been closed, so these sores
"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty                    are running sores :, a-continual cause for loathing ! G.V.),
to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou                  neither bound up, neither mollified-with ointment." Or listen
upon earth: therefore let thy words .be few.".                                 to..God's. estimation of mankind: "They are all gone aside,
                                                                              they-are all ;together  become. p&y  : there is none that doeth
   Do you know that in this- last text you really have an                     good, no, not -one." Psalm 14 :3.
answer to the question as to the meaning of the book. of Job ?
                                                                                  Everywhere, I said. Listen to Jesus : "Woe unto ~0.~1,
   Yes, Job did use only a few words at his latter end.
                                                                               scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! .for you are like unto
   Let's listen-to .him. I have chosen the dogmatic. statements.               whited- sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
of Job ; the dogmatic statements regarding himself.                           -but are within-full -of dead men's bones, and of all unclean-

   1-n  chapter 40 he says of himself : "Behold, I am vile !"                  ness,`! ,M-&hew  23 :27.

And in.the  text which appears above-this meditation-: "where-                  And- if yotl would make answer and say : But these` men
fore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."                           were the filthy Pharisees whose abominable picture is drawn
   Well, they are a very few words.                                           by Jesus throughout the Gospels ! Then I would make an-

   The question is : what do those words mean, and part&;                      swer,, first,.  have you never read this filthy picture of the

larlp the last quoted text. _         .: _.                                    .Phaqis.ees,:ang_trembl-ed?  Trembled, because~  it. rang true in
                                    ., : _                ~~-


                                        .~ THE S.TANDAl$D BEARER
       your conscience ? And, second, does not God call the human         not as the rest of men are-: extortioners, unjust, adulterers,

       race filthy? And, third, does not Job liken himself with a         or even .as this publican  !

       running, fetid, loathsome sore? Are you better than Job ?              They judge all and everything: but not themselves.
       Here is what God said of Job: "And the Lord said unto
                                                                             They judge themselves to be righteous and they despise
      Satan, hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is
                                                                          others. That's-a text.
       none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one

      that feareth God, and escheweth evil ?" And yet Job says :              But the judgment of the righteous is just the reverse:

       "I am a running sore"? (Incidentally, that would be a truer        they esteem the brother better than themselves.

      translation too !)                                                      Job is of "such caliber. He abhors self.

                      I know, this poses a difficulty: how could Job          And the result was that "he repented in dust and ashes."
       call himself a running sore, while God calls him a man that
                                                                              What is it?
      is upright and perfect? But we will answer that in its proper

      place. Just remember this: both are right. Job was a perfect            He sorrowed over his dreadful estate. He did not take the

      man, and also a running sore.                                       time to count his evil deeds. There was not time enough for
                                                                          that. Hence, he abhors self. That included his abominable

                                 * * * *                                  nature, his sinful deeds, his lack of righteousness : the picture

                                                                          is complete !

          I abhor myself!                                                     And the measure of his repentance is expressed' in the

                                                                          addition of a twofold picture: dust and ashes ! That was an
          That is the language of self-condemnation.
                                                                          Eastern term, and expressed the imagery of death. You can-
          That is the language, first, of condemnation.                   not grow anything in dust and ashes. Yes, the picture is com-

          One judges by a certain standard, and the result of such        plete: we belong in the dust of death.

      judging is that the object cannot bear the name'of  good.               What beautiful humility !

          Second, it is the.language  of rejection.                                                     `* * $ .*

          We are through with, our judging: the object is bad.

                                                                              H
          And the result is that one turns away from the object:                OW did this come about ? How does a man arrive there ?

      one cannot stand to look at it anymore because of its vileness.         Job spoke volubly about his righteousness, and his readi-

      And therefore one rejects it. And this rejection is absolute.       ness to appear before the throne of the great Judge.

                                                                              But all this, is past.
I       And, third, it ends in abhorrence. The Dutch has a very
      graphic word for this : mafzichtelijk. Trembling, shivering, one        Here we see him grovelling in the dust of death.
      turns away from this object. And the picture of Holy Scrip-
                                                                              Here is the answer, beloved reader; they are but a few
      ture is wonderfully correct : a stinking wound from which the
                                                                          words.
      m a t t e r   r u n s .
                                                                              H E   H A D   S E E N   G O D !
          Thus Job sees himself.
                                                                             Oh, he had heard of God by the hearing of the ear. His
          He judges himself to be bad, thoroughly bad.                    father and mother had told him of God. He did mention the

          He rejects himself. He throws himself ,away. There is           fall of Adam, so he must have heard the story of the first

      nothing good in himself. He judges that he ought to be              paradise and how man had fallen away from God, etc. Job

      thrown away : he ought to be thrown away.                           was acquainted with tradition : there was as yet no Bible.

                                                                          Moses was not yet born. He lived at the time of Abraham,
          And he abhors himself. He cannot stand to look at him-
                                                                          so there was not one page of. the written Word of God. But
      self anymore. Did you ever look at a running, stinking sore,
                                                                          he did hear of God by the "hearing of the ear."
      and turn away in disgust? That's what we have here. And

      this abominable object is Job.                                          But after his three friends had spoken, together with

                                                                          that young man, Elihu ; and after he had given plentiful an-
          Such language is foreign to natural man.
                                                                          swers, a storm arose, a veritable whirlwind ; God had come
          Did you ever attend a funeral of a wicked man who was           down and shown himself to Job. How, I do not know. But
      one of the great of the earth ? Have you ever read the funeral      God had come very close to Job. I think it was something
      orations, the eulogies uttered at the departure of the high         like we hear from Paul: "But God who commanded the light
      and mighty ?                                                        to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts. to aive the

          Yes, they do judge.                                             light of the glory of God irt the face of Jesus `Christ." II

          But their judgment, their condemnation is of the other          `Or. 4 ".

     man. Classic is the judgment of the hated Pharisee: I am                `Oh, I know that the New Testament quality and quantity

                                              *


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B-EARER                                                                                                                                                 27


of the Spirit of Christ was not yet, but I am persuaded that

Job saw the glory of God nevertheless. Is this not in har-                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

mony with all the words of God in His wonderful speech to                      Se&-monthly; except monthly during June, July and August

Job in chapters 38 to 41?  All this speech of God enhances                      Published by the REFORMED  FREE  PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
                                                                               P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, tiich.
His wondrous glory and wisdom!                                                                       .
                                                                                                           Editor - REV. HERMXN  HOEKSEMA
    And Job saw it.                                                            Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                               R&v.  H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., `S. E.,
    And that was exactly the reason why he saw his own                                                                    Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
stinking, abominable filthiness.                                               All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
    And now the answer to that difficult question: how                                            James Dykstra,` 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                                     Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
could Job be at the same time the perfect and upright man                      Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed.~to  the above
of God's estimation, and also like unto a running, stinking                    address and will be published at a fee of $2.00 for each notice.

sore 7                                                                         RENEWAL:  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
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    Have  you noticed one thing'in  Job's condemnatory speech                  tb continue without the formality of a renewal brder.

o$ self? It is this : it-is the speech of truth in the inward parts.                                         Subscription price: $5.00 per year

God agrees with Job. The light of God's attractive, lovely,                     Entered as Second Class ma-tier  at Grand Rapids, Michigan

beautiful glory shows us our rottenness.

    And the love of God in our heart is true in its evaluation

of self.                                                                                                                       C O N - T E N T S

 He that condemneth  hims,elf  shall not be judged. He was              MEDITATION-

found sf Godis mercy. And that mercy is the lovely Son of                          The Speech of True Penitence .._...____________......,..,......................                                                              25
                                                                                              Rev. 
God! Amen.                                                     G.V.                                        G. Vos


                                                                        EDITORIALS  -

                                                                                   The National Council of Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

                                                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema
                       Announcement .

                                                                        OUR DOCTRINE -
    On Wednesday, September 16, our beloved Pastor Rev.                            The Book of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    . ...30

H. H. Kuiper commemorated the fact that twenty-five years                                     Rev. H. -Hoeksema

ago he was ordained as minister of the Word and Sacraments
                                                                        A CLOUD OF  WITNESSES -
in .the Protestant Reformed `Church of Orange City, Iowa.
                                                                                  Passing                 Over Penuel.  . ..__... ..___..... . . ..__..  ., . . ..34

    We, the Consistory of the Protestant Reformed Church                                      Rev. B. Woudenberg

of Loveland, Colorado, `with the congregation at this place,            FROM HOLY WRIT-

rejoice with him at this jubilee and pray that the Lord of                '        Exposition of Romans 14, 15 (8) . . . . . . ..____..__..__........................                                                            36

                                                                                              Rev. G. Lubbers
I His Church may use Rev. Kuiper for years to come. May

his labors be blessed in the future as we are confident they            IN HIS FEAR -
                                                                                  Freedom of Speech.. .._...._.  . . . ._._... ..__._  . . . . . . . . . . ..____  38
have .been blessed in the past and all the glory be to Him                                   Rev. J. A. Heys

who works His work thru the instrumentality of `men.
                                                                        CONTENDING FOR  THE FAITH  -
                                The Consistory of the Loveland                    The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

                                Protestant Reformed Church                                   Rev. H. Veldman

                                Wm. A. Griess, Secretary                                                                                                                 L
                                                                        THE'  VOICE OF  OUR FATHERS -

                                                                                  The Cations of Dordrecht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

                                                                                             Rev. H. C. Hoeksema


                                                                        DECENCY  AND ORDER -

                                                                                  Deacons'                 Meetings                . . . . . . . . . . . ..44
                           I N   MEMORIAM
                                                                                             Rev. G. Vanden Berg

   The Consistory of First Church in Grand Rapids hereby ex-
                                                                        ALL AROUND us -
presses its sympathy to one of its fellow elders, Donald Rietema,
                                                                                  Caught on the Horns of a Dilemma _.........._....____..................  46
in the recent loss oi his mother,                                                             Rev. M. Schipper

                   MRS. JOHN ROTTSCHAFER.
                                                                        NEWS      FRO&~            OU R CHZRCHES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.__............................................                                 48
                                        Rev. C. Hanko, President                             Mr. J. M. Faber

                                        G. Stadt, Secretary


  2             8                              TH.E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                        described as deep pink and who controlled and directed its

             .E D I P 0 R I A .L S                                      affairs. A mere recital of F.C.C.C. presidents and top offi-
                                                                       cials would leave little doubt as to the direction of any or-

                                                                       ganization subject to their control."

           The National Council of Churchbs                                     And-it ends this chapter in capital letters with the follow-

                                                                       ing words :
              A Menace to Church and State                                      "Such is the history of the National Council's parent or-

       From a brother, Mr. Frederick Nymeyer, of South Hoi-            ganization. The Federal Council of Churches of Christ! Is

  land, Ill., I received a rather interesting and important            this the kind of activity you want your church and your

  pamphlet of 54 pages under the above mentioned title.                money to support?'

       It was published, first in 1955 and now again in 1959, `by               Here I must insert a remark.

  the Board of Directors of the Southern Presbyterian. Journal,                 The Southern Presbyterian Church, to which also the

  Waterville, N.C. Copies may be had for 20 cents .each or             authors of this pamphlet belong, is also united with the
  $2.00 per dozen.                                             r       National Council of Christian Churches. How is this possible?

       The contents of this pamphlet are important because it          Do not the authors of the pamphlet know that not only a

  exposes the corruption of what is the largest Protestant or-         small clique of top men, but practically all the churches or,

  ganization in America. It claims to represent almost forty           at least their leaders, with which they are thus united, are full

  million Protestants. Such churches as the Lutheran, Mis-             of modernists if not leftists? How, then, can they unite with

  souri Synod, the Free Methodist, the Southern Baptist and            them at all ? Suppose they succeed to get the leadership of

  others, are not united with the Council ; neither, of course,        the N.C.C.C. in the hands of the conservative element, which

  are our churches.                                                    is very improbable, would that solve the problem ? Would

       The pamphlet begins with a brief exposition of the relation     not the modernists still be in the Council and would they not

  between Church and State. It distinguishes the two as fol-           still be united with those that deny the Christ of the Scrip-

  lows : "The state is temporal in its administration, designed        tures? The Bible plainly, teaches us that there is not and

  for the temporal welfare of its citizens. The Church is a spirit-    cannot be any communion between Christ and Belial, be-

  ual organization, designed to witness to the saving and keep-        tween light and darkness. And, surely, all modernist theo-

ing power of the Lord Jesus Christ, to administer the                  logians, that deny that the Bible is the inspired Word of God,

 .ordinances  and maintain the discipline of the Church and to         that deny the total depravity of the natural man and the

  constitute a visible witness of a redeemed citizenry, one in         divine Sonship  of Christ, as well as the atonement on the

  but not of this world."                                              cross, are children of darkness and children of Belial. Hence,

       The pamphlet further describes how the National Council         the Southern Presbyterian Church should never have joined

  of Churches came into being and how it developed. It had             the N.C.C.C. which is a daughter of the Federation of Chris-

' its origin in the Federal  Council of Churches. This Council,        tian Churches and should separate themselves immediately..

  merged with several other organizations, became the National             However, this is not the position of the pamphlet. For,

  Council of Churches. According to the pamphlet, this Federa-         on p. 25 we read:

  tion was not only thoroughly liberal and modernistic in its              "Our own Church. is a member of the National Council,

 theological views but also leftist and communistic politically.       but we find our hands tied to make an effective protest.

  It quotes from a report of the Office of Naval Intelligence,         Those who are at the head of the Council, along-with staff

  1935, as follows :                                                   members who do so much behind the scenes to. direct the

       "Organizations which while not openly advocating the            policies of this organization, seem adamant in their position

  `force and violence' principles of the Communists, give aid          and have laid themselves wide open to the severest criticism.

 and comfort to the Communist movement and party. Among                In fact, these men have in their action lined themselves and

 the strongest of these organizations are :                            the National Council squarely behind `the present Communist

       "The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America.          line.

 This is a large radical pacifist organization. It probably rep-           "If any of them do not like this statement let them

 resents 20,000,OOO Protestants in the United States. How-             repudiate their position. Otherwise they and their actions

 ever, its leadership consists of a small radical group- which         will be increasingly suspect.

 dictates its-policies. It is always extremely active in any mat-          "In saying this we are not taking a stand against the

 ter against national defense."                                        principle back of the National Council. There is need for

       And since this Federal Council is the parent of the             an agency which can, in mutually agreed areas, represent

 National Council of Christian Churches, the pamphlet con-             Protestantism as a whole.

 cludes this part as follows :                                             "Nor do we wish to make an all-inclusive criticism of,. the

  "In summation, forty-two years of .Federal'  Council his-            National Council. There are activities and individuals which

 tory was largely the history of a small clique of ultra-              are rendering an acceptable and effective service.

 modernist clergymen whose political coloration could be                  "But this we assert: as now constituted the National


                                           T H E   .STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                      29


 Council has become an ecclesiastical octopus which in an in-          This protest,. though it asks for the expression of thou-

creasing degree is trying to influence all of the constituting     sands of clergymen in regard to their sentiments on the above

churches of the Council and this influence only too often          two questions, does not enter into the principle of the matter.

comes from men whose concept of the Church is widely at            For that principle involves the separation of Church and

variance with that of our own denomination. We have the            State. The National -Council of Churches is supposed to

frightening fact that an agency for the Church has left the        represent a large section of the Church. It, therefore, must

role of servant to assume the position of master."                 be interested in the affairs of the Church, chiefly with the

                                                                   maintenance and development of the truth of the gospel. But
    This I cannot understand.
                                                                   the question of the recognition of Red China and its inclusion
    How the.Southern Presbyterian Church with a Council of
                                                                   in the United Nations is strictly an affair of the State. It
Churches that has its origin in the Federation, which is so
                                                                   certainly is not the business of the National Council of
controlled by modernists that it is even impossible to protest,
                                                                   Churches.
controlled, too, by men that are "squarely behind the present
                                                                       We, therefore, suggest that, in case a protest is made, it
communist line" - that is a mystery to me. And I repeat :
                                                                   should read as follows :
it was a mistake that the Southern Presbyterian Church ever
joined the National Council and should separate itself as              "We, all members of Churches that belong to the Na-
soon as possible.                                                  tional Council, protest through the various assemblies of our
                                                                   Churches, against the action of the National Council of

                                                                   Churches according to `which they resolved that Red China

                                                                   should be recognized by the Government of the United States
    Much of the rest of the pamphlet is devoted to a criticism
                                                                   and be included in the United Nations. Grounds :
of the stand taken by the National Council to recognize Red
                                                                       "1. We all believe in the principle of the separation of
China..
                                                                   Church and State.
    The reader must know that last year, in Cleveland, Ohio,
                                                                      "2. The National Council is supposed to represent the
delegates to what is called a "World Order Study Confer-
ence" which was sponsored by the National Council of               Churches that belong to it and, therefore, is interested in all
                                                                   things that concern the truth of the gospel and the well-
Churches, passed the following resolution : "With reference
to China, Christians should urge reconsideration by our            being of the Church.

Government of its policy in regard to the People's Republic            "3. But the matter of the recognition of Red China by

of China . . . steps should be taken toward the inclusion of       our Government and its inclusion in the -United Nations is

the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and           strictly an affair of the State and although individual mem-

for its recognition by our Government." Pamphlet p. 21.            bers of the Church may be interested in the matter and ex-

    The pamphlet suggests that a strong protest should be          press an opinion, no Church-body as, such may draw up an
registered against this action of the National Council. And a      official resolution regarding this matter.    _

letter has already been sent to fifty thousand Protestant             "4. By making this resolution the National Council has

clergymen from which we quote the following:                       placed itself in the sign of the false church from which we are

    "We believe it is important to set the record straight and     called before God to separate ourselves. The false church is

to show the world where the American Protestant com-               anti-Christian."

munity stands. It is in this belief that we are sending this

letter to you and to other Protestant clergymen of all denomi-

nations with an urgent request that you make your individual          The pamphlet closes with a chapter under the heading:
point of view known on two simple and yet paramount ques-          "To Our Beloved Church."
tions :
                                                                      In this chapter strong emphasis is expressed on the neces-
    "(a) Do you. favor recognition of Communist China by           sity of maintaining the truth of the infallibility and plenary
the United States ?                                                inspiration of Holy Writ. And the authors of the pamphlet
    "(b) Do you favor the admission of Communist China             express deep concern in this respect, not only over the condi-
to the United Nations ?                                            tion of the Church in general, but also over conditions in

    "We urge that you complete the enclosed form as ,.soon         their own Church. They write: "First of all. There is con-

as possible and return it to us with an indication of your         stant need to guard against any tendency to a qualified at-a

sentiment. We hope that you will join thousands of other           ceptance .of the Bible. There is an alarming absence of that

clergymen throughout the country in registering your op-           sturdy faith in, and resounding affirmation of, the Scriptures

position to any action which would betray the people of            which characterized the Church in past generat.ions.  There

China, our allies and the basic tenets of our Christian moral-     is accorded to many scholars outside the bounds of our

ity. We look forward to hearing from you by return mail."          church a respect and acceptance, which their views in no way

Pamphlet pp. 26, 27.                                               justify. It can be clearly demonstrated that no development

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



 of- science or proven finding of scholarship has invalidated

 one whit a single doctrine of the Christian faith. Nonethe-         I /   ' O U R   DdCTRINE './I
less there is abroad today a scholarship which denies almost

 every cardinal element of truth, not on the basis of established

facts but on the basis of intellectual pre-suppositions  which                  THE :BOOK  OF REVELATIdN
 have denied the faith before they even examined it."

       Many  in the Church follow these would-be scholars that                                P A R T   T W O

deny the Holy Scriptures, the God and the Christ and the
 plan of the Scriptures. And it is, evidently, the idea of the                                CHAPTERTEN.

authors of the pamphlet that this is true even of their own                           The Tzuo  Signs in Heaven

 Church.
                                                                                               Rev. 12 :l-6
       Personally, I agree very much with the sentiments ex-

pressed in this final chapter.     But when the authors suggest         But in the second place, we find a still stronger in-

that there are those in the Church who agree with the mod-           dication of this truth in the fact that this woman brings

 ernists and their views about Holy Scripture, I cannot              forth the man child that is to rule all nations with a

help but wonder whether or not there is still discipline in          rod of iron. This last clause, in connection with the second

the Southern Presbyterian Church. The authors quote more             Psalm and with Revelation 2 :27, `leaves no doubt that the

than once the Westminster Confession of Faith. But that              man child is the Christ, the King of. Zion. In Psalm 2 :9

 Confession also has the following to say ,about  church dis-        we read of this Christ: "Thou shalt break them with a rod

cipline :                                                            of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
                                                                     And in Revelation 2:27  we read that the promise is given
       "I. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church,
                                                                     to him that overcometh that he shall rule all nations with a
hath therein appointed a government in. the hand of the
                                                                     rod of iron ; and then the addition is given concerning the
Church officers distinct from the civil magistrate.
                                                                     Christ, `Las I also have received of my Father." There is
       "II. To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven
                                                                     no question about it, therefore, that the man child brought
are committed, by virtue whereof they have power respecr-
                                                                     forth by this woman is the Christ. But then there can be
tively to retain and remit sins, to shut that kingdom against        no question about it either that the woman is none other
the impenitent, both by the Word and censures; and to open
                                                                     than the church of God, the woman, namely, as is conceived
it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the gospel, and         of in Genesis 3 :15,  to whom the. great seed was promised.
by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.              Christ is man. Although He is the Son of God, He is man
       "III. Church censures are necessary for the reclaiming        and He is of man. He issues from humanity, but not from
and gaining of offending brethren ; for the deterring of others      humanity as it is under the power of Satan, but rather from
from the like offenses; for purging out of that leaven which         the people of God, from the church of the living God, from
might afi!ect the whole lump; for vindicating the honor of           Israel. He is the Son of David. That this woman is the
Christ, and the holy profession of the gospel ; and for prevent-     church of God is further suggested by her crown of twelve
ing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the               stars : for twelve is the number of the church in this dispensa-
 Church, if they should suffer his covenant, and the seals           tion, as we have observed before. And finally, it is suggested
thereof, to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders.        by the very fact that she is a woman: for the church appears

       "IV. For the better attaining of these ends, the officers     throughout Scripture as a woman, as the bride adorned for

of the Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from          her husband. The woman, therefore, is the picture of the

the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a season, and by              church.

excommunication from the Church, according to the nature                But also here the question must be answered: how does

`of the crime and demerit of the person."                            that church appear in the words of our text? And then we

       I have'the impression from the pamphlet that this part of     must call your attention to the fact that here we have

the Westminster Confession is not observed and that Chris-           evidently a picture of the church in the old dispensation,

tian discipline is. not faithfully exercised.                        before the woman is delivered and proceeds into the wilder-

       In conclusion, therefore, I would once more advise the        ness, that is, therefore, before the woman as she appears as

 Southern Presbyterian Church to separate themselves from            a sign in. heaven. She represents the church of the old

the National Council of Churches which they should never             dispensation. This is plain from the fact that her man child

i have joined.                                                       is not yet born. The woman therefore represents the church

       And, secondly, I also advise them to exercise Christian       before the birth of Christ, the church as she is essentially

discipline faithfully and excommunicate the members that are         glorious and queen of the heavens, but as she still is in

disorderly in walk and that deny the faith.                          expectation of her man child, that -is to deliver her and at

       Otherwise I see no hope.                                      the same time become her Bridegroom. And now you must

                                                             H.H.    not make the mistake of thinking that this woman represents


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 31


the mother of. Jesus, or that at least it represents merely          lived in expectation of this seed of the woman from that

Israel. That has often been inferred from the fact that she          very moment forth. But also the devil lived in that expecta-

is already in pain to be delivered and that she expects her          tion. He was right there when that promise was made. Nay,

son momentarily. But the woman represents the church                 stili stronger, the promise was addressed to him. It was a

throughout the entire dispensation of. the Old Testament.            promise given in the form of a challenge to the devil that he

That entire church lived continually in the expectation that         would suffer defeat. And therefore, also the devil expected

the Messiah would be born and would be born soon. Even               the Messiah. I dare say even, in the face of the fact that

Eve imagined that in Cain the promise was realized, and              the devil understood the situation far better than either Adam

therefore she called him "squired."  Enoch  prophesied of            or Eve, understood also the significance of this seed of the

His coming for judgment. Abraham longed to see His day.              woman better than our first parents, -he clearly had caught

Jacob foretold of His entrance into the world. Moses spoke           on to the significance of that word of the Almighty, and he

of the coming of a great prophet. The prophets of -Israel            knows that if the seed of the woman is born, and if that seed

spoke of His birth, even indicating time and place. And              of the woman accomplishes his purpose, he, the devil, will be

Simeon  could not die before he had seen the Hope of                 deprived of his power- and of his royal diadems, -and his

Israel. And the very expression in our text reminds us of            heads will be crushed, and therefore he watches the church

the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Him: "For unto us a                of the old dispensation closely. His aim is all the time to

child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the government           crush that seed of the woman, either by `preventing that it

shall be upon his shoulders." Isa. 9:6. And therefore, the           ever be born or by devouring it as soon as it sees the light

entire church of the old dispensation, from paradise onward,         of the world. But with all his watchfulness he fails. Christ is

presents the picture of this woman, travailing in pain and           born and gains the victory and is taken to heaven" in glory and

longing and expecting to bring forth the man child.                  leaves the devil behind in furious rage. True, the church

   Now we must still consider the attitude of the dragon to-         still remains behind. She is in the wilderness, that is, prac-

wards the woman and the conflict that. ensues between the            tically excluded from outward glory and dominion. The

two. The text tells us that the woman stands in her glory,           devil still reigns in the world and still has his seven diadems.

but also in her helplessness, and that the dragon stands be-         But also in this period of the new dispensation the church

fore her. He is evidently watching her, and at the same time         is safely. kept and nourished in the place that she has

barring her -way to escape. With intent watchfulness the             prepared .for her by God Almighty Himself.

dragon guards this woman and studies her every movement.                Thus is the meaning of the text. It simply reveals how

And his purpose in doing so is most devilish indeed. It is           the devil throughout the old dispensation exerts himself to

not the woman as such that is his aim, but rather the child          kill the, seed of the woman and to prevent the victory of

that she is to bring forth. If only that woman did not               Christ. Not difficult it is to trace this struggle throughout

expect to bring forth that man `child, he would care little          the old dispensation. It is to be seen .already  in the murder

about her and about her glory.         But that man child is         of Abel. No doubt the devil made the same mistake at first

evidently of extreme. importance to him. And therefore he            `as did Adam and Eve. They thought that the Christ would

watches the woman, in order that as soon as the child sees           be born immediatel$  At first Eve imagined that her first-

the light of the world he may kill and devour it. But we             born was the promised seed, and therefore she called him

read that the child is born and is caught up in heaven to God.       Cain, that is, "I have begotten a man of God." But as the

The child, therefore, escapes him. The devil cannot reach            two boys,    Cain and Abel, grew up, they must all have

his purpose. He fails. The old deceiver is deceived. And it          realized that Cain was not the man, since he was godless.

may be-expected that in his rage and fury he will now cast           And the same difference between the two boys must also have

himself upon the woman, in order to devour her at all events.        been the cause that the hope and expectation was gradually

But the woman escapes by fleeing into the wilderness, where          referred from Cain to Abel. The devil must have made the

she has a place prepared by God and where she is nourished           mistake to think that Abel was the promised seed; and hence,

a thousand two hundred and threescore .days.                         through Cain he kills him. But Seth is born, and the seed of

   The meaning of all this is not dark. After all we have            the woman `in the spiritual sense multiplies in the line of

discussed, it is plain that the church of the old dispensation       Seth. The devil begins to realize that his problem is not so

is laboring in pain to bring forth the Christ. It is also evident    simple. And therefore, standing in front of the woman, he

that that church of the old dispensation lives in continual          employs different methods. He tries to gain the victory by

expectation that the man child that is to rule the nations           the process of amalgamation, and the sons of God marry the

with the rod of iron shall be born. She has reason to expect         daughters of men, so that the whole world is well-nigh de-

this, for God Himself has promised the church this seed. In          prived of the spiritual seed of the woman. But again God

Gen. 3 :15 we read the well-known words: `"And I will put            interferes through the flood, and.saves  the seed of the woman

enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed              in the family of Noah. And thus it continues all through

and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise       the history of. the old -dispensation. At the building of the

his heel." Such was the promise. And therefore, the church           tower of Babel the devil tries to make his own stronghold

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


 against the seed of the woman and to establish his own king-          6Tn  defeat. So it will be in the future. God will always be

  clam. At the time of Abraham, he only is left practically of         victorious,  of course. Not .yet  has the devil given up the

 the seed of the ivoman. In Egypt the devil tries to extinguish        attempt to gain dominion over the kingdom of God. But the

 the seed of the woman by oppressing Israel. In the desert he          voices in heaven have already sung of it, and the elders have

 brings them to apostasy. In Canaan he sends enemies against           acknowledged it, that the kingdom of the world has become

 them till they finally are led into captivity. And after the          the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Behold, He

 captivity he makes life hard for them. At the time of Anti-           cometh!  And His reward is with Him. Let us therefore be

 ochus Epiphanes the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the            faithful and true to His name even unto the end.

 seed of the woman is killed on a large scale. But in spite of                                  Revelation 12 :7-12
 it all; the Great Seed appears. Christ is born. And the angels
 loudly proclaim that the glory is God's in the highest. Also                      7. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
                                                                                   angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon
 Satan is now certain that He is the Christ. And therefore he                      fought and his angels,
 directs all his efforts against Him. How this Christ will
                                                                                   8. And prevailed not; neither was their place found
 crush him and gain the victory is not plain to him, no more                       any more in heaven.
 than it was to Israel of that time. And therefore he applies
                                                                                   9.     And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
 two different methods to devour this seed. First of all, he
                                                                                   called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
 makes the attempt to subject Him spiritually, and he offers                       world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
 Him all the kingdoms of the world if only He will fall down                       were cast out with him.

 and worship him, that is, Satan, knowing that if this prom-                       10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now
 ised seed will only do this, the devil will maintain his royal                    is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of

 crowns and sovereignty. He tries this repeatedly in the life                      our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser

 of Christ. But when he fails, he rouses the enemies of Christ                     of our brethrenis cast down, which accused them before
                                                                                   our God day and night.
 against Him, so that they finally kill Him. I imagine that

 the devil was foolish enough, .at least for some time, to hope                    11.     And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
                                                                                   and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not
 that in His death he had killed the seed of the woman. But
                                                                                   their lives unto the death.
 it was but for a short time. For that Seed, suffering on the
                                                                                   12.     Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in
 cross, at the moment of His death cried out with a loud
                                                                                  them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the
 voice, "Father, into thy hands do I commend my spirit." That                      sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great
Seed rises from death and the grave and is taken to heaven,                       wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short

 `to sit at the right hand of God in everlasting glory, now                       time.

 working till'the kingdom of the world shall lie at the feet of           i think that in the portion we just quoted above we have

 the Almighty. That the devil had not. thought this is very            a parallel, and, in a way, a continuation of the first part of

 evident. That victory lay in the Way of suffering, exaltation         this chapter. You will remember that we have taken the

 through humiliation, life through death. And that he prepared         position that in chapter twelve we have a description of the

 after all his own defeat by killing'this Seed of the woman, this      spiritual agencies that are back of the power that rises out

 he.had  not clearly before his mind. The deceiver is deceived !       of the abyss and that exalts itself against the two witnesses,

 He has deceived himself. And he stays behind, as we hope              against the church of Christ, in this dispensation. In the first

 to see in the future, filled with fury and rage against the           portion of this chapter we found a description of the two

 woman that brought forth the man child.                               signs in heaven ; and we' discussed the identity of each sign,

        Such is the meaning- of the text. The battle of the world      as well as their mutual relation and the attitude of the second

 is a battle of the devil against God. Not between the world           against the first. As to the first sign, we found no difficulty

 and the church in the last instance, not even between Anti-           in recogni&g in it' the symbol of the church upon earth.

 christ and Christ, is that battle. They all are agents. Christ is    And we found that in the sign of the woman with child we

the anointed agent of God to fight, with His people, the battle       have the symbol especially of the church in the old dispensa-

 against the devil. Antichrist, as we hope to see, is the agent       tion, before Christ was born. The second sign is that of the

 of Satan, to fight his battles against -God and His church.          great red dragon, which, as we interpreted, and as is literally

What a tremendous idea is expressed here ! We, as the                 expressed in, the chapter, is no one else than the devil him-

covenant people, as being of God's party in the midst of the          self. The devil stands before ,the woman throughout the

world, fight the battle of Jehovah against the old serpent,           old dispensation in an inimical attitude for the purpose of

the devil. There is magic joy in the very idea that the Lord          .devouring  her child as soon as. it has been born. However,

will use us as instruments in His hand, nay, as His living            his efforts are vain. Christ is born, performs His work, and

people, to fight against the old dragon. In the second place;         is exalted to highest glory at the right hand of the Almighty.

let us also note that God Almighty has always been victorious         Now parallel with this effort of the dragon against the

in the past, and that the devil with  all his attempts to pre-        wo'nlan runs the incident recorded in the words of our text

vent the birth of the Great Seed has simply effected his              and which  speaks of the battle of the spirits in heaven.


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   -                                             33


    If the preceding portion depicted a battle of the devil         clearly distinguished from the Christ. Who is this Michael?

against the church of the old dispensation to prevent the           We find him mentioned once more in the New Testament
realization  of the promise given in paradise, the present pas-     besides in the portion of our text. Jude, verse 9, speaks of

sage speaks of another war, also waged by the devil, but this       him as Michael, the archangel, who was "contending with
time fought in person by him and by his angels, this time           the devil" and disputed with him about the body of Moses.

fought in heaven instead of upon earth, this time fought            Little it matters at this point what the dispute really im-

against his fellow angels that remained faithful to God at          plied. But we learn from this portion in regard to Michael:

the time.when  the devil and his angels fell away. We must           1) That he is an archangel. How many of these archangels

conceive of this battle as being very real. There is no men-        there are we know. not. A Jewish tradition has it that there

tion here of signs and symbols. There is absolutely nothing         were seven. Of course, this is not impossible ; but it is never-

-in the text that indicates that we must explain this portion       theless without Scriptural basis. Sufficient it is to .know that

in the allegorical fashion, as has been done in various ways.       Michael is an archangel.    He is a chief, one of the chiefs of

And therefore I take it that we have here the record of a           the angels, and therefore occupies a great and exalted place

real battle in the real heaven. It is not a battle in aerial        in heaven. He is clothed with great power and authority,

places, as some would have it, so that the idea would  be that      no doubt. 2) That he contends with the devil, the enemy of

Michael and his angels are on the offensive, come -down  to         God, just as in the words of our text. 3) That he fights in

fight with the devil and his host; but it is a battle in heaven,    behalf of one of the great among God's people. In the Old

in the abode of the good and holy angels, before the very           Testament we -find him mentioned in Daniel 10:1,3!  There

countenance of God. And I iake  it that the devil and his           we find that Michael contends with an evil prince for in-

host are on the offensive <and that they are challenging the        fluence with the king of Persia, and that again in behalf of

holy angels to fight a spiritual war with them. A real battle,      the people of God. The meaning evidently is that an evil

therefore, it is. But it is well that we remember from the          spirit tries to influence the king of Persia against the people

outset that all real battles are not fought with material           of Israel. But Michael comes and fights with this evil spirit

weapons.     It is not necessary. to have sabre and bayonet or      and prevails. In the twenty-first verse of the same chapter

to bring forth cannon and gun in order to fight this battle.        in Daniel Michael is mentioned again ; and there he is directly

This battle has often been pictured poetically. But such a          called the prince of the- people of God. And finally, in Daniel

battle is inconceivable between the opposing sides that are         12:l we read: "And .at that time shall .Michael  stand up,

here pictured. And we would lose the point in question alto-        the great prince,    who standeth for the children of thy

gether if we would thus picture to our minds the battle that        people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never

is here described. No, this battle is a purely spiritual battle.    was since there was a nation even to that same time." Also

It. is fought not with material but with spiritual weapons,         here we find that Michael is great and that he is a prince

-with weapons of intellect and shrewdness and subtlety, with        among the angels and that he stands for the people of God

the spiritual weapons of law and righteousness. For the             and in their defense in a time of great trouble, when they are

combatants in this war are spirits pure and simple. They            evidently in great danger. And therefore, taking into con-

are, moreover, immortal spirits, at least in the sense that         sideration at the same time-the words of our text, we may

they have no body and that therefore they cannot die the            draw the conclusion that Michael is a great angel, a chief and

physical. death. They have no flesh and blood, so that they         prince among his fellow angels. Originally he perhaps had

cannot be wounded physically. It is a war between angels, a         his equal as to power and authority only in the devil. For

sealand  fierce battle indeed, but nevertheless a purely spirit-    we read in Jude that this great Michael, acknowledging the

ual one, fought with spiritual means, and therefore also with       original power and authority of the devil, did not dare to

a purely spiritual outcome.                                         curse and blaspheme him, but left it to God. A -great  angel,

                                                                    clothed with much authority, set perhaps, as we gather also
    On the one hand, so we read in the text, stands Michael
                                                                    from our text, over many angels, is especially appointed by
and his holy angels. It is not-the Christ, as some interpreters
                                                                    God to fight against the devil and to lead his angels against
would have it, appealing especially to his name and great-
                                                                    him. And he is at the same time the great guardian and
ness. True; his name means "who is like .God."  But Christ
                                                                    combatant on the side of the people of God in time of
was not merely like God, but very God Himself, the Person
                                                                    trouble. And therefore we.may  surmise from the outset that
of the Son of God. True, he is described as very great and
                                                                    as Michael also according to the words of our text fights
powerful. But are there not powerful and mighty angels that
                                                                    with the devil, the people of God must be involved. He does
are mentioned by name in Scripture 7 True, he fights against
                                                                    not fight alone, but has his angels with him. As we have
the opponent of Christ. But is it so peculiar that the angels
                                                                    indicated already, this does not necessarily mean that all the
stand on the very side of Christ and fight His battles against
the devil and his host? Hence, we must not interpret this           good angels fight on the side of Michael, but merely that he
as referring to the Christ, but to a mighty angel. Especially       is chief of `a certain number of angels in heaven and that now

is this clear from Daniel 10, where Michael is mentioned by         he leads his army of good angels against the devil and his

.name.    And you will find at a careful reading that he is         host.                                                     H.H.

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


                                                                         done, Jacob remained behind by himself on the other bank

11 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES 11 of Jabbok. His mind was too troubled for him to' sleep any-
                                                                         way. In the quiet of the night, he would try once again to

                                                                         collect his thoughts, to evaluate the happenings of the day,
                   Passing Over Penuel                                   and, if possible, to find yet another plan of approach. Once

                                                                         again he would pray to his God, and then he would wait;
             "A+td  as he pasxed  ovev  Penuse  the satn  rose ufiort
                                                                         perhaps, there would still come an answer.
              him, and he halted @on his thigh."
                                                                            As Jacob sat there deeply engaged in his thoughts, sud-
                                                    GENESIS 32 :31
                                                                         denly there loomed up -before him the figure of a man. Im-

      It must have been a rather pitiful sight over which the            mediately there came to his troubled mind the conclusion

bright rays of the eastern sun broke that early morning,                 that this must be someone come to prevent him from follow-

Jacob limping through the ford of Jabbok at the place he                 ing his family over Jabbok and entering the land of Canaan.

called Penuel. Slowly he made his way, a man tired and                   In the obscurity of the night he could not discern who the

exhausted from a long night of exertion; his clothes were                man was-perhaps an agent of Esau's,  or else some new

torn.and tattered from hours of hand-to-hand combat; he                  and unexpected enemy. In any case it was someone intending

halted and limped upon his thigh from a severe and painful               to keep him from the inheritance which had been promised him

wound that he had received. Surely he stood in contrast to               by God. Not one to hesitate at such a ,crucial point, Jacob

the strong, bold man who but a few days before had with-                 knew what to do.. Gathering together his full strength,

stood the harsh words and threats of Laban.  Then he had                 Jacob threw himself upon the figure that stood in his way.

been the picture of strength ; now he was the picture of weak-           In the stillness of the darkened night the two began to

ness as he hobbled along under the glory of that eastern sun-            wrestle. Back and forth they struggled matching each other

rise. But, after the mysterious fashion of the kingdom of                move for move. Time and time again Jacob launched all of

heaven, within the heart of that tired, crippled man there               his remaining strength into the fray, but each time it was

was a joy and confidence such as he had not known for                    fairly met. *Hour after hour, past midnight and on into the

many a day. Before in his strength he had been Jacob, de-                early hours of the following day, back and forth they grappled,

ceiver and supplanter; now in his weakness he was Israel,                but neither seemed able .to overcome. Tired and aching,

conqueror with God and man.                                              Jacob's body cried out for rest; but always before his mind

      It- had all begun the night before when he had remained            he saw the promised land of Canaan which he had to have;

behind on the bank of the Jabbok for prayer and meditation.              and for it Jacob continued to battle.

It had been a hard and trying day. Early that morning his                   It was as though in those few hours of striving in the

messengers had returned from Esau with nothing more to                   night, the motif of Jacob's whole life was being reflected.

report than that Esau was approaching with four hundred                  Throughout his life, Jacob had always had one burning desire

armed, belligerent men. His worst fears it seemed were                   in his soul, to inherit the land of his fathers and so to receive

realized.    Esau was still angry and thirsting for revenge.             from God the .covenant  blessings. He knew that it was

And what could he do to defend himself? He had posses.                   rightfully his for .God had told his mother so even before he

sions,  children and cattle and .servants, but they were not             was born. But always wherever he went there would stand

trained for warfare and would only be a hindrance in battle.             someone before him to. prevent him from receiving his

Vainly he searched his mind.  for a solution, but the only               desire. With such he felt compelled to struggle so that the

thing of which he could think was to divide his company into             promise of God might be realized.. It had begun already in

two groups so that if one were attacked the other might es-              the womb when he fought with his twin brother Esau. Even

cape.    ,But what comfort was to be found in a plan that at             when Esau had come forth first, he had held him firmly by

best provided for the safety of only half his family and posses-         the heel, determined to:supplant  him. Not to be discouraged

sions ? His mind, otherwise so imaginative and fertile with              by his brother's right of birth and determined that God's

plans, seemed utterly confused and arid. In his despair he               election had to come out right, Jacob caught his brother in

had prayed to his God, but as yet there had come to him no               a moment of weakness and purchased from him the birthright

answer. He had decided to take the approach `of humility and             for a simple mess of pottage. Next there stood before him

separated five hundred and more head of cattle to send                   his .father  Isaac, determined in spite of the Word of God to

ahead to Esau as a token of his intent, but could he expect              give to Esau the blessing. With him also Jacob grappled.

that a Godless man such as Esau would be satisfied with a                Taking advantage of his father's blindness, Jacob deceived his

token when it was clearly in his power to take all that Jacob            father into giving to him the blessing intended for his brother

owned? Finally, not knowing what else to do, he had labored              @au.  When Esau in anger swore to slay him, Jacob fled

far into the evening bringing his family and cattle across' the          to Haran  before any harm could be done. There in Haran

ford of Jabbok. At least, should Esau  attack them on, the               his uncle Laban  stood in his way. First Laban  sought to

morrow, it would not be while they were busily occupied                  keep from him his betrothed wife, and later his just wages.

with the hardships of fording a stream. Now that this was                For twenty years Jacob struggled with his uncle matching


                                           T H E   STAxDbRD'   B E A R E R                                                       35


 him move for move.     Now as he stood once again on the          fore that,` if ever he was to receive the promise, the Lord

 border of the promised land, still another figur.e engaged him    would have to give: and now the angel of the Lord was
 in battle, intent, it seemed to Jacob, on keeping him from        pulling away:. With all of the strength he had left, Jacob

the promised inheritance. It was the same old battle, only         reached out once again to grasp the angel -in his arms and

taking on another form.                                            hold Him to himself. Once again the battle was resumed

    Nor did the similarity cease with the fact that Jacob          but in an entirely different manner. Before he had sought

 was once again engaged in a battle. It appeared as if this        to be rid of the angel and put him out of the way ; now with

battle had come to a stalemate, and this also had always been      the arms of faith he grasped him' confessing thereby that

the case. Jacob had spent his life in. conflict. During this       without the presence of the Lord he saw no hope of entering

time he had never been completely defeated, but neither had        Canaan. "Let me go.". said the angel, "for the day breaketh."

he received his heart's desire. Although he had struggled          But Jacob was quick to answer, "I. will not let thee go,

with,Esau in the womb and at birth held him firmly by the          except thou bless me."       Already in that early day it was

heel, Esau had been born first and naturally speaking was          true that the kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the.

to receive the rights of the first born. Although he managed       violent took it by storm.

to buy from Esau this birthright and tricked his father into           "What is thy name?' asked the angel, and the answer

giving it to him, no sooner had he received it and he had          was given, "Jacob." To this the angel replied, "Thy name

to flee the land and dwell in the banishment of Haran.  Al-        shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast

though in his struggle with Laban  he did manage to receive        thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."

his wives and also' the wage which he had coming, it took          At last the victory was Jacob's, a victory such as he had never

him twenty years and all of the time he was separated from         before experienced. It was not, a cunning craftiness such as

the land of his fathers which he loved. Now as in the night        had been so common with him in former years that gained

he grappled with the stranger, he was unable to overcome.          the victory. It was not the long hours of battle through the

True, the stranger neither seemed able to prevail. But             night. How futile had actually been that struggle, for at

neither was Jacob able to put him out of the way so as to          any moment the Lord could have reached out and destroyed

proceed over Jabbok. As it had been in all of his life, all of     him completely. The victory had come when he saw the

Jacob's efforts were incapable of bringing him to the              futility of his own efforts and turned to cling to the angel

promised inheritance for which his heart always longed.            in faith, when he pleaded with the angel to give to him a

                                                                   blessing, when he forsook his own strength and pleaded on
    It was as morning was breaking across the eastern hori-
                                                                   the mercies of God. Then he was pronounced a prince who
zon that a change in the battle took place. Suddenly the man
                                                                   had power with God and with men. He had come to the
reached out and touched Jacob on his thigh. Actually it was
                                                                   fullness of the `stature of faith when his name could be
a rather light touch neither hard nor rough,. but it was to                                                     j_
                                                                   changed from Jacob to Israel.
Jacob like a bolt of power stretching his thigh and wrenching
                                                                      It must have `appeared a pitiful sight as early that morn-
it, pulling it out of place. The battle was as good as done.
                                                                   ing he made his way across the Jabbok tired, tattered, and
Jacob could not continue to match the man with a leg so
                                                                   limping. With all of his strength, he had fought a great
limp and hurting.    Still it was not .that thought that filled
                                                                   battle and lost it; he had been wounded ; the sinew of his
and troubled the mind of Jacob. It was that touch. Who
                                                                   thigh was shrunken ; never again would he walk erect. None-
could touch a man so gently and at the same time hurt him
                                                                   theless, in his soul there was joy. Defeated in the battle of
so badly ? - who but God in heaven ? Suddenly the realiza-
                                                                   physical strength, he had been brought to fight the battle
tion dawned upon Jacob, he had not been fighting against
                                                                   of faith, and in that he had conquered. As the rays of the
another man, but against God. It was a frightening realiza-
                                                                   eastern sun shone above his head, the glory of a heavenly
tion. Not only did it apply to the past night, which was bad
                                                                   sun warmed the recesses of his ,soul. In confidence he could
enough, but to a great portion of his life which had gone
                                                                   go forth to meet with whatever approach Esau would offer.
before. So often he had set out to procure for himself the
                                                                   The Lord was by his side, and in His strength he 
promise without ever stopping to find out if actually he was                                                                 would
                                                                   conquer. He had been in Penuel. "For," said Jacob, "I
struggling for his God or against Him. He had gone forth
                                                                   have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
in his own strength to attain his end rather than living by
faith. Now suddenly he saw it, by going in his own strength                                                                  B.W.

he had in reality been fighting against the Lord, the only one

who could give him- the covenant blessings he desired. The

knowledge filled him with fear.
                                                                                Plagues and death around me fly,
   A's soon as the angel had touched Jacob, He began to                         Till he please I cannot die:
pull away. It brought yet another fear crowding in upon'                        Not a single shaft can hit,
the burdened mind of Jacob. Should the Lord now leave                           Till the God of love sees fit.
him, what hope would he have left? He saw as never be-                                                                7 Anonymous

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


                                                                          for his mercy. Not to do so is to deny the work of God in
II           F R O M   H O L Y   WRIT.                                 1 Christ Jesus on the Cross !
                                                                             ~So  much in general on these Scripture passages here

                                                                          quoted by Paul.
               Exposition of Romans 14,15                                     Concerning Deut. 32 :43 we .would still notice more par-
                               V I I I .                                  ticularly the following :
                       (Romans 15:10, 11)
                                                                              1. This passage is, in the Song of Moses, the culminative
      In this essay we would take notice of the quotations by             point; it is the very matter which gives us to understand
Paul from Deut. 32 :43 and from Psalm 117 :l.                             this "Song."    It is the key to its prophetical perspective ! If
      In the former passage we read the following from the                it were not for this particular part of the Song of Moses,
pen of Moses : f:`;Rejoice,,  0 ye nafiions,  with his people: for he     truly the law would have annulled the promise. But now we
will a,venge the blood of his servants, and will render venge-            see Moses rise to the heart of the Abrahamic promise: "In
ance to kis adverfa.yies,  and"wil1  be yvcercifitl  mto his land         thee and in thy Seed shall all nations be blessed." Now
and to his people."                                                       Moses sings of the great "Exodus which Christ is about
      In the latter passage from the pen of the Psalmist we               to fulfil at Jerusalem," Luke 9 :31.  The law is given by
read : "0 praise the Lord, ,a11 ye nations: praise I%PL ~$1 ye            Moses but grace and truth became a reality through Jesus
people.`,                                                                 Christ. John 1 :17,  1s.

      When looking at these passages rather closely, we notice
that they both emphasize the fact that the Gentiles shall praise             2. That such is the intent and thrust of this entire
God for His mercy, and that Israel is the people through                  "Song" is, it seems to me, very evident from the following
whom God brings this mercy to the Gentiles. Salvation is                  .important  elements in this entire Song of Moses :

o$ of the Jews. True, it is not merely for the Jews. But                     a. This appears, first of all, from the very introduction

surely salvation could only come to us through Christ, and                and preface of this Song. It is more than a song of Moses!

he was born to us from a woman and made under the law,                    Also this Song is God-inspired. It is the word of God.

that those who were under law might be redeemed from the                  Moses is here a prophet and speaks the more sure prophetic

same, and that the Gentiles too might receive the adoption                word unto which we do well to give heed as unto a light

of sons. Gal. 4:4, 5. This truth is implicitly taught by the              shining in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star

Holy Spirit in both Deut. 32 :43 and in Psalm 117:l.                      arise in our hearts. II Peter 1:19. The content of this song

      Secondly, we notice that both of these passages, which we           is such in its prophetical instruction that heaven and earth

have quoted above, look at this salvation which is for the                are called upon to give ear to pay close attention. For mere

Gentiles from a pro$etical  viewpoint. They are both parts                man doth here not speak! He who proclaims the end from

of a prophetical "song" !     In Deut. 32 :43 the Holy Spirit             the beginning here unfolds the glory of Israel and the light

gives us the climax of the Song Of Moses, which was uttered               of the nations (Luke 2 :32). Small wonder that the Holy

by Moses as the mouth-piece of God, just prior to his climb-              Spirit through Moses says, "Give ear, 0 ye heavens, and I
ing. Mt. Nebo to die. He went up to this mountain to see                  will speak ; and hear, 0 earth, the words of my mouth. My
the land from afar ere he would die. The mediator of the                  doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the
Old Covenant, the law-giver, cannot enter into the land of                dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
promise.     This is to be done by one whose name is Joshua,              showers upon the grass," Deut. 32 :l. For the greatness of
that is, Jehovah saves. It will be done by the greater than               the Lord is here proclaimed, the glory of God in Christ in
Joshua, by Jesus Himself, who will save his people from their             the church in salvation's history (Heilsgeschiedenis) . See
sins, and who will truly bring them into the promised rest.               a similar instance in Psalm 50 :l, where heaven and earth
And thus also the e?Ld of this song is nothing else than Christ           are called to attention, "The mighty God, even the LORD,
the righteousness for everyone who believeth, the Jew first               hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun
and also the Greek. See Rom. 1 :lG, 10:4. In Psalm 117:1,                 even to the going down thereof." Compare also Isaiah 1:2.

which. incidentally is the shortest Psalm in the Bible, we                   b. The Lord had really a controversy with the rebellious

have as it were one great trumpet-blast, prophetically through            nation and people, who are not sons, but who are the blotch
the `Spirit of Christ in the Psalmist, exhorting the nations              and spot of Israel. Is God not true and every man a liar?

to sing the praises of God for His promised mercy and ever-               Is He not a Rock and is all His work not perfect, and are
lasting covenant faithfulness.                                            not all His ways judgment and equity, and is He not just

      Thirdly, we should notice that these passages are now               and right?! And were not the rebellious Israel also brought

specifically mentioned by Paul as underscoring for us the                 up with the true sons, and had they not seen the mighty

duty and the privilege to glorify God for His mercy. The                  works of the Lord, tasted the power of the coming age-

ends of the- ages have now come upon us 1 Now Jew and                     when the Christ will come - in the .redemption  of Israel ?

Gentile in great accord, and with one mouth can praise God                But God is faithful and His promise stands. God will have


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             .37


 mercy upon whom He will have mercy. The elect shall                    e. But also Israel's place and calling are thus deter-

 obtain ,and  the rest shall be hardened.                            mined by God. Also Israel as a .natiorz has only a place in

     c. To see this truth Israel has but' to consider the his-       the world according to the number of the children of Israel,

 tory of     "ancient times,"    the years of many generations,      the "Israel of God,' ! (Gal. 6 :16). For salvation is out of

 both past, present and future. They have but to scan the            the Jews, John 422.  To them have been entrusted the

 dealings of God through the ages with the sons of Adam.             oracles of God. Here is the adoption and the glory and the

 For "when the Most High divided to the nations their in-            covenants, and the law-giving and the worship and the prom-

 heritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the          ises ! From *this people dometh  Christ according to the

 bo.u.nds  of the people according to the number of the children    flesh, who is God over all blessed forever, Amen !

 of Israel," verse 8. And again we read in.verse  9, "For the           f. And the Scriptures foreseeing that God would justify

 LORD's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his in-         the Gentiles out of faith, proclaimed beforehand as Gospel,

 heritance" !    This evidently means that the Lord so placed        "In thee shall all nations be blessed." Harking back to this

 the peoples in His providence that the children would be           Abrahamic promise and Gospel, the Spirit of Christ, in.

gathered from the nations, even .as He elected His chosen           Moses, calls out to the Gentiles, "Rejoice, o ye nations,

people before the foundation of the world. When God con-            with  His people."    The axiom and the fundamental dealing

fused the speech of the builders of the tower of Babel in           of God with the Gentiles is not such that it will be first the

the days of Peleg and "did scatter them abroad upon the             Jew and then the Greek ! However, it is first the Jew and

face of the earth" this was not simply a helter-skelter scat-       a& the Greek. For in the Christological-eschatological per-

tering of the nations on the part of the Lord, but it was a         spectives of Noah's prophecy we read: "God shall enlarge

work of quiet serenity of Him who worketh all things after          Japhet and he shall dwell in t?ae tents of Shem." The Gen-

the counsel of His will. Shall Abraham be the Father of             tiles shall be one body with the Jews. God will make one

"many nations"       then these nations must not be merely          new man. And therefore the Gentiles are to rejoice in the

"formed," but their "bounds must be set," their place in            one Spirit with the Jews.

history must be determined ! And each nation is set by                  Thus we have the same Christological perspectives here         .
almighty God exactly where it can be subservient to the             in the Song of Moses!

cause of the Son of God in the world. Hence, `the bounds                But it is no different in the Psalmody of Israel. Partic-

of the nations are set according to the number of the chil-         ularly it is thus in Psalm 117:l.

dren of Israel, as he numbers according to the election of              Concerning this Psalm we would make a few brief re-

grace! Thus we read in the well-known address of Paul on            marks.

Mars Hill in Athens: "And he hath made of one blood all                In the first place it should be noticed that Psalm 117 is

nations for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath         then  shortest Psalm in the Bible. As one writer puts it,

determined the times before appointed (orisas prostetag-            "This Psalm, which is very little in letter, is exceedingly

menous kairous) and the b&ds  of their habitation." Both            large in its spirit; for bursting beyond all bounds of race
the time and the place of nations is appointed by the LORD !        or nationality, it calls upon all mankind to praise the name.

When this is considered, as the ancients ,will  tell, it will be    of the Lord . . . It is short and sweet. The same divine
evident that the Lord is a ROCK, and that all His works             Spirit which expatiates in the 119th'  here condenses His

are perfect !                                                       utterance into two short verses, but yet the same infinite

    d. But Moses sees -the entire history of Israel from the        fulness is present and perceptible."

view-point of the reprobate Israel as they are the "Jeshuran           In the second place, we should observe that the Spirit

who waxes fat," verses 15-35. They have grown thick, for-           of Prophecy led the Old Testament saints to sing a special
saking God who formed them, moving God to jealousy,                 song concerning the future salvation of the Gentiles, who too

provoking God with their vanities ! They are those who              are the Israel of God.       : v :

see emphatically and yet see not, and hear emphatically and            Thirdly, the Holy Spirit through Paul quotes Psalm 117
yet hear not. They are the "not-children" (lo-banai) who            in Romans 15 :15. The Gentiles, who are brought to the

are the spot of Israel. Upon these God will come in His             faith, are a part of the people of God. They too are the

judgment, remove them from their land, and through this             Laos! They are the congregation to which Christ came to
judgment God will bring mercy upon His people! For                  show mercy when He became the minister of the circumcision.
this people will sing: For unto us a Child is born, for unto           Fourthly, we, the Gentile church, are to see this reality.

us a Son is given, and His name shall be called Wonderful,          We are not to call common what Christ hath sanctified, but
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the              with one voice both Jew and Gentile are to serve God. Thus
Prince of Peace, and the government shall be upon His               is the plan and purpose of God in all the Scriptures.
shoulders. Such is the history here foretold in the prophet-           Hence, we are to receive each other in the love of Christ.

ical Song of Moses! In this history we see all the virtues             For meat we are not to destroy the work of God. In

of. God` displayed, particularly His covenant-faithfulness to       this higher unity the differences of adiaphora vanish away !

His' own.                                                                                                                 G . L .

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


                                                                   our minds that we are conscious of no effort at all on our

               I N   H I S   FEAR,-                                part to .perform  the ,act of speaking.
                                                                      And that, after all, is the wonder of speech :` we are by it

                                                                   able to express and convey to others any thought or desire
                    Freedom of Speech                              that has arisen in our hearts and minds. We are, of course,

                                                                   aware of the fact - even by personal experience-that when
      Too little and yet at the same time too much.
                                                                   you are learning a language foreign to your own mother-
      Too little of the true freedom of speech because there is    tongue, you may stand with a mouth full of teeth and be
too little of the fear of the Lord to be found in the. world       utterly unable to convey to those who speak this language
today. And too much of the wrong kind of freedom of                your thoughts and desires. You are as far as that language
speech exactly for the same reason.                                is concerned tongue-tied.      Sad to say, there are also so

      Speech is a wonderful gift of God unto man. And              many that are tongue-tied as far as the language of faith is
freedom of speech is also a precious gift of His grace. No,        concerned. It reminds me of the man with whom we were
we do not mean that it is a'gift of God's -grace that here in      speaking who desired to refer to the saints of the Old Testa-
our land a man may say well nigh anything that enters into         ment as an example of the matter he was trying to express.
his mind. We do not mean that God is gracious to America           With much stuttering and stammering he finally came up
because here a man may express his atheism, his evolution-         with the statement, "You know, Jacob and those other
ism, his heresy and blasphemy as widely and as freely as he        men . . ."    So limited was his knowledge of the Scriptures
may proclaim the truth from Sabbath to Sabbath. Regard-            that he could express himself in no better way at the moment.
less of what men may think is justice, regardless of what          It is a sad commentary on our present day church-world that
liberty governments may agree to give to their citizens, we        there is so little knowledge of Scriptures. Many there are
are certain that God does not give man the liberty to say          who claim to be members of the church of Christ whose
what he pleases, to promote his own heresies and denials           knowledge is so limited that they cannot tell you whether
of God and, of His glory. The psalmist was keenly aware of         Abraham lived before or after Noah and who would find  it
this, and therefore he wrote in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words        extremely difficult to quote two or three verses from the
of my mouth, and ,the meditation of my heart, be acceptable        Scriptures from memory.        Children -and also adults -
in thy sight, 0 Lord, my strength and my redeemer."                there are who can name all the players of their favorite
Plainly all the words that proceed out of the mouth of man         baseball or football teams together with their batting aver-
are not acceptable in God's sight. And because He is God,          ages or weight and height but cannot name the twelve
or let us put it this way, because He IS God,. He cannot give      apostles, the names of the books of the Bible, or tell whether
man the liberty to speak that which is not acceptable in His       the book of Hebrews is in the Old or in the New Testament.
sight. Does not the third commandment plainly forbid               Is it any wonder that such are tongue-tied when they find
speech whereby the name of God is taken in vain? Does not          themselves in a group that is discussing doctrinal matters or
God'in  this commandment also forbid all speech, all propa-        things of the Christian faith? These surely do not have the
ganda for heresies and false doctrines whereby His name is         true and proper freedom  of speech of which we -begin to
denied the glory that is due unto it? There can be no ques-        write in this installment. Instead of being free to speak with
tion of that. And freedom of speech may very easily result         others on-the things of God's kingdom, they at best can only
in freedom of irreligion rather than freedom of religion. Such     sit and listen or else will gradually push themselves farther
who feel free to speak their false religions are never freed       and farther away from the circle of the discussion until,
from fear of God's terrible wrath. To have true freedom            finding themselves on the outer edges of the group they can
from fear one must have the true freedom of religion accord-       quickly flee from this embarrassing position.

ing to which he is free only to speak that which is to the            All this, however, does not at all overthrow what we said :
praise of God's name. It is for that reason that we would          speech is that wonderful gift of God to man whereby he is
consider at this time the matter of freedom of speech.             able to express all that which is in his heart and mind. That

      `Speech is one of those gifts which we take for granted      I may not be able to express it in a foreign language does

so easily. Speech comes so easy to us that we just expect          not deny that by speech it can be done. I may not be able

our children in time to begin to speak and marvel very             to do so, but it still can be done by others. And that I am

little when they begin to speak as fluently as we do. Though       speechless when I find myself in the midst of those speaking

we may find public speaking difficult because it makes us          the highly technical language of electronics, of aerodynamics,

nervous and because our minds go blank when we stand be-           of rocketry or the like is not due to the fact that speech

fore an audience, yet speaking itself, every-day conversation,     cannot express these things but simply to the fact that the

speaking with the family at home, with friends and neigh-          knowledge of these things is not in my mind. The man

bours is such an effortless thing. Tongue, lips and vocal          likewise who finds himself tongue-tied when spiritual things

cords respond                                                      are discussed has not the freedom of speech about the things
                 SO spontaneously to the thought that arises in


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 39


bf God's kingdom exactly because the knowledge .of the              He discarded God's speech and became a hopeless slave to

things spiritual is not there in his mind. He has not applied       the speech of ihe devil. As a consequence today he does not

-himself to the truth when the opportunity was given to him.        have, freedom of speech but is, as Paul writes iii Romans

He did not do the work set before him as a youth when in            8 :2 in the slavery of the law of sin and death. The law of

question and answer form the truth was set before him to            sin and death  controls and rules him also in all his' speech.

memorize. He did not commit to memory the Word of God               For that law of sin and death rules and controls his heart

when it was demanded of him. Q- else he was never taught            and mind, his willing and his thinking. And although the

these things, never given the benefit of such a training            one end for our tongues is loose and must be in order to'

wherein these things were demanded of him. TO have  the             formulate our words and in order that we may speak

freedom of speech in regard to things spiritual he had              clearly and distinctly, the other end is tied firmly to our

.better  get busy and read and study and memorize the things        hearts and minds.    The result is that whatever `appears there

of God's kingdom. If he finds himself free to speak at length       in heart and mind soon spills out of our mouths  from off

and with ease concerning sports, business, politics, world          that tongue. It is for that reason that James says, "If any

history and science but tongue-tied when it comes to things         man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man and able

spiritual, he would do well to take some serious inventory          to -bridle  the whole body," Janies 3 :2. And again very

of himself and get busy in the sphere of the speech of God,         correctly he writes, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of

His Word. This is very important. Freedom of speech is an           iniquity : so is the tongue among our members ; that it de-

extremely important thing when you mean the freedom to              fileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of na-

speak in the sphere of the things spiritual. It is a thing for      ture ; and it is set on fire of hell," James 3':6. Indeed, out

which we may offer oui- prayers daily `as the psalmist in           of hell Satan came into the serpent with the lie and into

that verse we quoted from Psalm 19. And it is also beauti-          man's heart. Now the whole human race, 2s born from fallen

fully set forth by the psalmist in Psalm 119:171,  172, "My         Adam and Eve, does not have freedom  of speech, is not free

lips shall utter praise ; when thou hast taught me thy statutes.    to speak God's praises,  to express true thankfulness to Him,

My tongue shall speak of thy word i' for all thy command-           to pray unto Him and confess Him. Instead he is free only

ments are righteous." And we will not understand true               to utter the blasphemy? the cursing and swearing, the un-

freedom of speech until we have that freedbm  to speak of           belief, the atheism, the evolutionism, the godlessness of his

the things spiritual with ease and joy. Freedom of speech           depraved heart and mind. And it simply is not true freedom

is not something that man can give you and promise you. It          of speech when such a man is given the liberty to say what

is something that God gives us by His grace through the             he pleases and to propagate his beliefs and philosophies.

Word which He has spoken.                                              Of that we wish to say more next time, D.V., but let us

    Let us understand that no one has freedom of speech as          understand in that light the beauty ,of David's prayer which

Gqd has it.                                                         we quoted above, and let us by God's grace make it ours,

   As the sovereign God He is free in the full sense of the         "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of,my  heart
word. In Him freedom is perfect. That, of course, does              be acceptable in thy sight, 0 Loi-d, my strength and my
not mean that He is free to do everything. God is not free          redeemer."                                               J.A.H.

to sin. He cannot sin. He cannot be tempted with sin. He

cannot will sin. That does not deny that He has perfect

freedom. A person is not free according to the measure of

things outside of himself that gut a line around him and his

actions and hem him in to. a certain limited course of action.         "When the Church receives it (the Scriptures), and

There is nothing outside of God that hems Him in and puts           seals it with her suffrage, she does not authenticate a thing
a curb on His thinking, willing or acting. And that He              otherwise dubious or controvertible: but, knowing it to be
cannot sin, cannot will sin is not due to anything ozttside  of
                                                                    the truth of her God, performs a duty of piety, by treating
Him that controls Him. God cannot sin because His own
                                                                    it with immediate veneration.
holy -being does not allow it. God is free in the full sense                                         But with regard to the ques-
because He determines His own actions. And so free is He            tion, How shall we be persujded  of its divine original, un-

that nq one, absolutely no one, has even the `right to deny         less we have recourse to the decree of the Church : this is just

Him this freedom to decide for Himself what He will think,          as if any one should inquire, How shall we learn to dis-
will and do. Man lost all his freed&n exactly through the           tinguish light) from darkness, white from black, sweet from
lie whereby he was convinced that he could be like God and
                                                                    bitter? For the Scripture exhibits as clear evidence of the
decide for himself what is good and what is evil. He ate of
                                                                    truth, as white and black things do in their colour,  or sweet
the forbidden fruit in order to try to attain to that position
where he need not ask God what was good for him and what            and bitter things of their taste."

was evil in God's sig`ht but where he might be his own god.                               Calvin's Imtitu,tes,  Book I, Chapter VII


40                                            T H E   STAN'DARD   B E A R E R


                                                                    teaches  that the specific effect of extreme unction is the remis-

             Contending Fix The Faith                          /I sion of venial sins which were completely obviated by this
                                                                    sacrament owing to its strengthening effect upon soul and

                                                                    bpdy.  The Council of Trent repeated all the positive doctrines

             ,The Church and the Sacraments                         of the theologians, and added the doctrine of unction with
                                                                    the Holy Spirit as the specific effect. These differences con-

      Vr~ws  DURIKG  THE TIIIIUI  PERIOD (750-1517 A.D.)            cerning the effect and purpose of extreme unction were un-

                                                                    satisfactory, and attemfits  were made at greater precision.
                THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.                               The Roman Catechism assumes two effects, the remission of

                   E X T R E M E   U N C T I O N                    venial sins, and the removal of spiritual weakness and of any
                                                                    remaining traces of sin. Bellarmine, finally, attempts a

                           (continbed)                              precise defiiition  of the "remnants of sin"; they are mortal

                                                                    or venial sins which m8n might commit after penance and
      Before -we  proceed with our criticism of the Roman           the Eucharist; or sins which were not atoned for properly,

Catholic doctrine in re their sacrament of Extreme Unction,         because sick persons had unwittingly received  in an improper

we wish to quote from The New Schaff-Herzog Religious               manner, and, therefore, without the due effect.

Encyclopedia. -Volume IV offers the following comments on
this subject, in addition to what we quoted in our preceding           The olive-oil used in extreme unction is consecrated dur-
                                                                    ing the mass on Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter,
article :
                                                                    also called Holy Thursday. ' The word "maundy" is derived
      "Extreme unction was instituted according to Peter Lom-       from the Latin wmzdatzcwz  (commandment), referring to John
bard by the apostl.es,  according to Alexander Hales by Christ,     13 :34, and the day commemorates the institution of the
according to Bonaventura by the Holy Spirit through the             Lord's Supper and the washing of the disciples' feet). Each
apostles, according to Thomas Aquinas by Christ, but was            deanery (the ofice, revenue, residence, or jurisdiction of 3
promulgated by the' apostles.    The Council of Trent declares
                                                                    dean) receives a' certain amount for distribution among the
that, according to Mark 6 :13,  Christ suggested the sacrament,     parishes. The oil which is not used up within a year, is
and that James, his brother, promulgated and recommended            burned in the sanctuary lamp ; if there be danger that the
it. The material which is to be used in- extreme unction is         supply will be exhausted before the end of the year, small
olive-oil consecrated by a bishop, and, according to a decision     quantities of unconsecrated oil may be added. Only a priest
of Paul V, given in 1655, the oil is not effective unless so        or higher dignitary may administer this sacrament. Even the
consecrated. Gregory XVI (1842) confirmed and further               pope can not authorize deacons and laymen to do so, although
limited this decision by declaring that not even in case of
                                 .                                  Innocent I implies that they may in case of necessity. The
extreme necessity could a priest  consecrate oil _ for the          administrator acts  BS a representative of the whole Church ;
purpose. i The form of the sacrament was settled only after         and for this reason it is desirable that several priests be
many discussions. With the growing tendency to look upon            present to take part in the ceremony. The regulations con-
anointing as sacramental,. the form of prayer was changed           cerning the degree of sickness which entitles a person to
from the precatory to the declarative, and this was confirmed       receive the sacrament vary, but agree in -the particular that
by the Council of Florence. The specific purpose and effect         the probability of recovery is excluded, and that the recipient
of extreme unction is somewhat indefinite. The Council of           must be conscious. The oil is to be applied to the eyes, ears,
Trent declares that this sacrament completes not only penance,.     hands, nose, and'  mouth, and +o the abdomen and the feet of
but the whole Christian life. Nevertheless, it does not occupy      males, but not of females. The sacraments of penance and of
nearly the important position in the doctrinal system of the        the Eucharist should as a rule precede extreme unction.
Roman Church taken by baptism, the mass, and penance ; it

is merely an annex to the latter sacrament to which it iives           The usage of the Greek Church differs widely from that

the character of preparation for death. A specific effect  has      of Rome both in methods of administration and in doctrine.

never been  attributkd  to it officially. Peter Lombard gives as    There .it is simply an anointing of the sick, and its purpose

the purpose the remission of sins and the alleviation of phys-      is the restoration of health, physical and spiritual. The place

ical infirmity. Albert the Great declares that extreme unction      of administration is the church, if possible. The ritual is

could purify only from the remnants of sin which prevent the        elaborate, and requires seven priests if they are procurable.

entrance of the soul into eternal rest. Thomas Aquinas de-          The oil is consecrated on each occasion by the senior priest,

fines these remnants  as a spiritual weakness and lassitude         and each priest repeats the full ceremony while' seven selec-

which disqualify man for the full enjoyment of the life and         tions are read each from the Epistles, Gospels, and collects.

grace of glory, and states that extreme unction is a medicine       On Maundy Thursday the feast of eztche&on  ("oil of

for both. He speaks of physical healing as a secondary effect,      prayer") is observed, in which the whole congregation. joins

taking place when the primary purpose of the sacrament is           and is anointed. The frequent use of the sacrament is recom-

not hindered but promoted. Bonaventura, on the other `hand,         mended.


                                                     . . ._                 -.         . t-

                                                               ,'

                                                                                      .-


                                                         1                  . -'  ._
                                                 I .'
                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R - E R                                                  41


 The Nestorians never use extreme unction ; the Armenian              care of the church of God 7) Not a novice, lest being lifted
Church has discontinted  it." -end of quote from The New              up with pride he. fall .into . the condemnation of the devil.
Schaff  -Herzog Religious Encyclopedia.                               Moreovey,  he must have a good report of them which are
                                                                      without ; .lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
In our criticism of this Roman Catholic sacrament `of                 And the passage of I Pet. 5 :l-4 reads as follows : "The elders
Extreme Unction we wish to make the following obserja-                which are among you I exhort, (notice, please, that the apos-
tions.                                                                tle us& the word "elder" here, - H.V.) who am also an

    First, what right does Rome have to elevate this practice         elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a

to the position of a sacrament in the Church of God ? We              partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock

know, for example, that Christ instituted the sacrament of            of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,

baptism. On the one hand, He simply "took over" the bap-              (notice,, again, that the apostle instructs these "elders" to

tism as administered by John the Baptist. He surely rec-              "take the oversight thereof" and "to take the oversight" `is

ognized the baptism of His forerunner, did not baptize anew           literally the idea of an "episkopos" ; it is also for these reasons

who had been baptized by John. And, on the other hand, in             that we declare that the words: elder and "bishop" or eppis-

Matt. 28:18-19  we read: "And Jesus came and spake unto               kopos, are used indiscriminately - H.V.), not be constraint,
them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in             but willingly ; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ;

earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them         Neither as being lords over God's heritage (Rome may well
in the name  of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy           take this to heart also, H.V.), but being ensamples to the
Ghost."    We also know that Jesus instituted the sacramknt           flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall
of the Lord's Supper. We need not quote the incident which            receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Rome may
occurred in the upper room the evening before His death.              well take to heart what we read in I Tim. 3 :l-7, that a
Besides, the institution by Christ of these two sacraments is         bishop (elder or overseer) must be the husband of one wife.
not in dispute. But, where do we read in Holy Writ that               (This does not necessarily mean that.he must have a w:fe,  but
the  Lord instituted a sacrament of Extreme Unction? It is            that he may not have  more than one wife, although it cer-
nowhere recorded.                                                     tainly does not forbid having a wife at all, ai Rome teaches.)

    Secondly, Rome anathemizes, curses whoever denies that            Hence, the "elder" of James 5 :14  simply refers to the office

the Prmbyters  of the Clzurch,  whom James exhorts to be              of overseer or elder which functions in every church or con-
brought to anoint the sick, are not the priests who have been         .gregation  of the Lord.

ordained by a bishop, but elders in each community. How-                  Thirdly, Rome's only Scriptural proof is Mark G:13  and
ever, what right does Rome have to make and establish this            James 5 :14-15. In Mark 6:13  we read: "And they cast out
observation and doctrine ? James speaks of the "elders of             many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and
the church" in James 5 :14.  Now we know that Scripture uses          healed them." And James 5 :14-15  reads as follows: "Is a&y
two words which denote this office in the Church of God:              sick among you ? let him call for the elders of ihe church ; and
elder and overseer. The first word, elder, simply means:              let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name
elder, refers to one that is advanced in life, and views this         of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall sa-ve the sick, and         _
office from the aspect of its dignity. The other word is              the Lord shall raise him up ; and if he have committed sins,
episkopos.  From this word is, derived the word, bishop, and          they shall be forgiven him." Now it must be perfectly plain
it means : overseer, emphasizing the specific function of this        that Rome's appeal to these passages as support for their doc-
office. That these words, as referring to this office in the          trine of Extreme Unction is completely unfounded. However,
Church of God, are used indiscriminately is plain from the            to this we will call attention in our following article. We also
use of these words in the Word of God. N6w Rome, if you               wish to say a few words about this passage in James 5 in
please, has the boldness to declare that the name which James         general.                                                     H.V.
uses in James 5 :14  to denote this office does not refer to the

elders by age, or the foremost in dignity amongst the people,

whereas the word as used by James literally means: elder.                         Hallelujah, praise' the Lord !
Besides, the qualifications fqr  this office are recorded in pas-
                                                                                    Praise, ye servants, praise his name!
sages such as I Tim. 3 :l-7 and in I Pet. 5 :l-4. We read in
I Tim. 3 :l-7: "This is a true saying, If a man desire the                        Be Jehovah's praise adored

ofice  of a ,bishop,  he desireth a, good work. A bishop then                       -Now and evermore the same !

must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober,                      Where the orient sunbeams gleam,

of good behaviour; given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given                    Where they sink in ocean's stream
to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre ; but patient, not                Through the circuit of his rays
a brawler, not covetous ; One that ruleth well his own house,
                                                                                    Be your theme Jehovah's praise.
having his children in subjection with all gravity ; (For if a
man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take                                                                -Anonymous

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


                                                                        .a
 I/                                                                     thk most  miserable." Nay, if you would know why it was that
            The Voice of Our Fathek                                     ftiithful-  people of God persevered in the confe&ion  of the
                                                                   II truth in the days of our fathers, why they were willing to
                                                                        gather for worship at the risk of goods and of life, why they

                  The Canons of Dordrecht                               defied injunctions prohibiting them to gather and he& the

                                                                        true preaching of the Word, then you must understand that
                             PART  T     w    o                         this matter  of the truth and of the heresies which arose in

                                                                        opposition to that truth was to them no academic question, no
                    EXPOSITION  OF THE CANONS
                                                                        matter that did not move them in the very depths of their

                    FIFTH  `HEAD  OF  DOCTRINE                          soul, but a matter that concerned their very comfort. At the

                                                                        root of their constancy lay something- spiritual : the assurance
              OF THE PERSEVERANCE  OF THE SAINTS -                      and certainty-of perseverance, the assurance ihat  God would

                                                                        vindicate the cause of His own truth and of those who con-
                       Article 12 (continued)
                                                                        fess that truth even if apparently that cause must s&er

       The sixth fruit of the assurance of perseverance mentioned       defeat in the midst of the world.

 in this article is "constancy in suffering and in confessing the             Finally, the article mentions the fruit of "solid rejoicing
 truth."    It is evident, in the first place, that the article does    in God." This refers to a deep-seated spiritual awareness
 not have in view suffering in general, or even suffering for           thtit all is well, and to the expression of that awareness in
 Christ's sake in general : for such suffering is really com-           our speech and life. Notice, first of all, that it is joy &z God.
 prehended under the fruit of patience. But here we have to             It is a theocentric  joy.    That must necessarily be the case:
 do with a suffering that is connected with confessing the              th: assurance is wrought by God alone. Notice, secondly,
 truth. And the assurance of perseverance has the fruit that            that this rejbicing      is characterized as "solid."    It is no
 the believer is constant, steadfast, in the `confession of the         passing and shallow emotion. It is not a joy which fades at
 truth `even when such confession involves suffering. Nothing           the first glimmering of tribulation. It is a joy which flourishes
 can deter him from the truth. Even when he must suffer for             and thrives even in the midst of tribulation. It is a rejoicing
 the sake of the truth which he confesses, he remains steadfast         to which tribulation itself must be subservient. As the apostle
 and immovable, Nor is it difficult to see why this is the              Paul says in Romans 5 : "Therefore being justified by faith,
 case. Those who do not believe that our salvation is all of            we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
 grace and absolutely sure are easily moved to doubt. They              By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
 can easily be tossed to and fro by various winds of doctrine.          we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not
, They have no firm foundation on which  to take a stand. They          only so, but we glory in tribulations also : knowing that
 readily listen to those who preach heresy. They do not                 tribulation worketh patience ; And patience, experience; and
 statid fast .in the faith, and therefore they have no devotion         experience, hope : And hope makes not ashamed ; because the
 to the truth as it is in Jesus. But the true  children of God,         love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the' Holy Ghost
 who live by the Word, see things differently. They under-              which is given-unto us."
 stand that this confession, the confession of the truth of salva-
                                                                              Hence, the article sums up the whole matter in the words :
 tion by sovereign grace only, must never be forfeited. It
                                                                        "so that the consideration of this benefit is an incentive to
 is their all, their only hope. If they lose this, they lose their
                                                                        the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good
 comfort. If they forsake this confession, they forfeit a most
                                                                        works."
precious heritage. And therefore, however much this truth                             This refers, of course, not to any mechanical and
                                                                        merely intellectual "consideration of this benefit." Such con-
is opposed, and however much they must endure reproach
                                                                        sideration could never be an incentive to gratitude and  good
 and suffering for the sake of it, they remain steadfast in the
                                                                        works.
&fession  of tGe truth and in suffering for its sake. Nor is                       It refers to the spontaneous consideration of this
                                                                        benefit by those who experience it in their hearts. And as we
this steadfastness a figment of the imagination. Surely, there
                                                                        said in our correction of the translation, this is not simply
were in the days of the struggle against the Remonstrants, and
                                                                        a .matter  of moral obligation, of what the consideration of
there still are today, those who depart from the truth. There
                                                                        this benefit ought  to do. But it is a matter .of fact. It ,is an
are those who are moved from the firm foundation of the
                                                                        incentive.
truth by the first blast of the wind of heresy. But why? It is                         This doctrine, therefore., is not harmful to a life
                                                                        of gratitude; on the contrary, it fosters gratitude and good
because they have never learned to appreciate, never appre-
                                                                        works. The spontaneous response of the Christian who has
hended with a believing heart, the blessedness, the precious-
                                                                        this hope in him is that it becomes his earnest purpose and
ness, the solid comfort of this truth. They have never really
                                                                        striving to show thankfulness to God, Who has done such
been gripped in the depth of their heart by the realization
                                                                        great things for him and in him, and to walk in all good
that "if the elect of God were deprived of this solid comfort,
that they shall filially  obtain the victory, and of this infallible    works,

pledge or earnest of eternal glory, they would be of all men                  This, our fathers say, appears from the testimony of


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       4.3


  Scripture and from the examples of the saints. No Scriptural        shout-, Yif  God be for us, who can be against us ?" could

  references are supplied in the article. But it is not difficult     also say: "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

 to +ind  them. `One of the most clear explanations of this          but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are

 relationship is found in the sixth chapter of the epistle to the    behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are be-

 Remans,  where the apostle meets and answers the objection          before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high cal-

 that the doctrine of justification by faith makes men careless      ling of God in Christ Jesus." Romans 8 :13, Philippians 3 :13,
 and profane. A passage like I John 3 :2, 3 presents this same        14.

 relationship very briefly and succinctly: "Beloved, now are
                                                                             And so, in the light of Scripture, the matter is settled.
 we the children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what
                                                                     This charge of the Remonstrants is pure fiction, a product of
 we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we
                                                                     sinful reason. The truth is the very opposite: the considera-
 shall be like him; for we shall see him ev.en as he.is. And
                                                                     tion of this benefit of the assurance of perseverance is an
 every one that hath this hope set on him pin-ifieth  himself,
                                                                     incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude
 even as he is pure."     Without going into detail ai to the
                                                                     and good works.
 whole text, let us notice that the apostle here presents the

 relation between hope and sanctification as a fact, not merely

 as an obligation. He does not say that he that hath this hope

 iti him ouglh  to purify himself. That is also true, and the                       Article 13.     Neither does renewed confYidence  of per-

 Sci-iptures many times speak of this calling of the people of                      severing produce licentiousness, or a disregard to piety
                                                                                    in those who are recovering from backsliding; but it
 God. Moreover, this admonition to sanctification follows from                      renders them much more careful and solicitous to con-
 and is based upon the necessary connection between hope and                        tinue iti the ways of the Lord, which he hath ordained,
 sanctification. Nevertheless, in this passage from John we                         that they who walk therein may maintain an assurance of
 have no admonition, but the plain statement of fact : "He that                     persevering, lest by abusing his fatherly kindness, God
 bath this hope in him does pz&f?l  himself, even as he is pure."                   should turn away his gracious .countenance  from them,
                                                                                    to behold which is to the godly dearer than life: the
 There is no question about it therefore. He that `hath this                        withdrawing whereof  is more bitter than death, and they
 hope in him purifies himself. He that hath not this hope in                        in consequence hereof should .fall into more grievous
 him does not purify himself. Hope and a careless and profane                       torments of conscience.

 life never go together, no more than a good tree can bring
 forth corrupt fruit. Hope and sanctification, hope and grati-               The above translation, though essentially correct, can be
 tude, hope and good works, -these are ever found together.          corrected in a few instances. In the first place, it fails to
 The former is the incentive to the latter; and the latte? is        give the proper emphasis in connection with .the  preceding
 the sphere in which the former flourishes.                          article. The article actually begins as follows : "Neither even
    And this is confirmed by the examples of the saints.             in those who are restored from a fall (or: from backslidiag)
 Mention any of the saints who `are examples  of assurance.          does the renewal of the confidence of perseverance produce
 Take, for example, the apostle Paul. Surely, he was the very        . . . . " In other words, *this  article deals with a further in-
 personification of assurance.    What was the case with him?        stance of what is first brought up in Article 12. It deals with
 Was he careless and profane ? `Did the consideration of the         an extreme instance of the carelessness and profanity which
 certainty of perseverance excite in him a spirit of`pride and       the Arminians claimed was the fruit of the assurance of
render him carnally secure ? By no means. There was no               perseverance.      They claimed that such carelessness would
 one who sought more earnestly after `perfection and who             surely be the result in tho?e  who fall and are restored.
 alore  insistently strove to walk in all good works. Persecu-       And the article answers this charge: "Neither even in them
 tion and suffering, - and he surely knew by experience what         :. . " This should be brought out in the translation. For
these were,-were no deterrent to him. Even when the                  the rest we have the following corrections : 1) "disregard" is
 saints themselves tried to keep him back from certain bonds         not a proper translation of i?z~z~&~t.  This should be "harm"
`and imprisonment, he insisted on going on to Jerusalem, say-        or "injury." 2) The second clause should be : "but produces a
 ing: "For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die          much greater care for diligently (solicitously) keeping the
at jerusalem  for the name of the Lord Jesus."                       ways of the Lord, which he hath prepared, that by walking
                                                    Acts 21 :13.
 When he was a prisoner at Rome and still full of assurance,         therein they may retain the assurance of perseverance. 3) The
 so that he was confident that death would be gain for him,          next clause should be: "lest because of abuse of his fatherly
he `could  still rejoice that Christ is preached and that even       kindness the face of the propitious .(favorable,  gracious) God
his bonds'served the purpose of the furtherance of the gospel,       (of which the contemplation is to the pious sweeter than life,
and he could confess: "To me to live is Christ." Philippians         and the hiding of which is more bitter than death) should be
 1 :12-21.  He who taught that it is God that worketh in us to       turned away from them anew, and thus they fall into more
will and to do on behalf of His good pleasure, admonished,           grievous torment of soul.

upon the very baiis  of that truth : "Work out your own salva-                                     (to be continued)
 tion, with feal:  and trembling." He who could triumphantly                                                                        H.C.H.

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


                                                                              must dictate the frequency of meeting and these are not the
       I            DECENCY and ORDER                                         sanie  in every congregation. It may very well be that in the
                                                                              larger churches the deacons have to meet every week in order

                                                                              to do justice to the large amount of work while in other

                            Deacons' Meetings                                 smaller churches a bi-weekly or monthly meeting is adequate.
                                                                              The main thrust of the present rule is to require some local
             "The deacons shall meet wherever necessajry,  every week         regulation so that in each church the meetings of the deacons

      to tmnsact  the business pertaining to their ofice, calling upof%       will be held at regular intervals. This is conducive to good

      the Name of God; whel-eunto  the ministers shall take good              order and even the suggestion of the Chm-ch Order Com-
      heed and if necessary they shall be present."                           mentary is worthy of note that in places where separate

                                                -Article 40, D.K.O.           deacons' meetings are not held, the deacons nevertheless meet

                                                                              from time to time to consider the spiritual side of their work.
             It is to be observed that already as early as 1574 the           There does not have to be a large diaconate for this. Further,
      Synod of Dort ruled that "Dmcons should meet weekly in                  it is always well to do this.
      order to comider  the affairs of their--office."  Twelve years
      later the Synod added the stipulations that these meetings                 The work that is to be performed at these meetings is to

      should be attended with the "ca,llipLg  @on the Name  of God"           be strictly confined to "that which pertains to .the deaconls
      and "s@eyvised  by tlze ministers, who, if necessa,ry,  should          office."    Matters of doctrine and the government or admin-

      also be present."       The.  words "wJzevever  necessary" were         istration of. the church may not be considered since these .

      added later; in the Netherlands in `1905 and in the Christian           things belong to the jurisdiction of the elders. Neither should

      Reformed Church in America in 1914, and so we have the                  the deacons concern themselves with sundry social and poli-

      present article which, it is understood, applies only-to those          tical problems which belong to other agencies and have noth-

     cases where the elders and deacons hold separate meetings.               ing to do with the office of the deacons. But what is perhaps

      In cases where the deacons are added to the consistory (see             a more serious error that is not infrequently committed is

      Article 37 of the Church Order) the above article would not             that the business of the deacons' meeting is limited to those

      apply although it is not impossible that where a consistory is          things that concern the financial operation of the church. It

      small and naturally the diacpnate still smaller, the latter             is more or less taken for granted today that the deacons at-

      might still hold separate meetings to attend to matters that            tend' to all matters of finance. They pay the minister's salary,

      belong strictly to their office. Should the deacons who are             the janitor's salary, the gas and electric, bills and whatever

      already added to the consistory choose to do so, they would             other expenses are incurred in the operation of the church.

      also function under the regulation, of Article 39.                      They receive the funds contributed to meet these expenses

                                                                              and they formulate proper reports of all receipts and ex-
            ' Deacons' meetings are not in the technical or official sense
                                                                              penditures..  To do these things they meet regularly and if
      of the. word to be regarded as "ecclesiastical assemblies."
                                                                              nothing more is attended to the main function of their office
      They are not included in the four kinds of ecclesiastical as-
                                                                              is neglected. It is not question that it is proper to entrust
      semblies which, according to Article 29 are to be maintained
                                                                              this work to the deacons but this should not occupy so much
      in the church. It is undoubtedly for this reason that the
                                                                              time at their meeting that other work is neglected and if
      deacons must- report ~a11  of their activities to the consistory
                                                                              it does the situation plainly necessitates more frequent meet-,
      and also why their meetings are held under the direct super-
                                                                              ings.
      vision of the consistory. These meetings would then assume

      a sort of semi-official status with the consistory passing final           The main task of the deacons to which attention at their
      approval upon the actions taken.                                        meetings should be given is described in the form .for in-

             In the present article there are three things worthy of          stallation. We quote as follows:

      note. Firstly, there is the meeting itself at which the business           "We may ea.&y  gather, wha.t  the deacons' office is, name-
      of the deacons is transacted. Secondly, there is the matter of          ly, -that  they in the FIRST place collect and preserve with
      the calling upon the Name of God and, finally, there is the             the greatest fidelity and `diligence, the alm#  and goods which
      presence of the.ministers  at the meetings. These matters we            are given to the poor: yea, to do theiF  ,utmost  endea,vors,  that
      will treat separately in this and in a subsequent -article.             many good means be procu.ved  fog the YeLid of the poor.

                                                                                 "The SECOND part of their office consists in distribzt-
                        .T7ze  Meetings- Of The Deacons                       tion, wherein are not only reqabired  discretion and prudence

            The Church Order prescribes that deacons' meetings shall          to bestow the a&s only on objects of charity, but also cheer-
      be held every week `-`wJz@reve?,  necessary."  Originally weekly        fulness and simplicity to amist the poor with compa;rsion
      meetings were held to be compulsory. The reason for this                and hearty affectiort:  as the apostle requires, Romms, chapter
*     is not known but it is certainly advisable to have a certain            12; and II Co&thians,  chapter 9. For which end it is very
      amount of flexibility in a rule of this nature. Circumstances           beneficial that they'd0  not only administer relief to the poor


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   45


 and indigent with external gifts, but a.lso  zenith co"llzfortable     lected  &.s each  one's'nced mIay revtdev necessary, in the spirit

 words froytz  Scri@m."                                                 of joy a.nd  fidelity. May we netilaer  fail to comfort the needy

    The deacons' office is an office.of  mN,ecry. A ufievcy-diskens-    members of Thy deav Son, nor dispense gifts to those who

 i+zg office!,.For a more complete description of this office we        are not in wa.nt.

 may refer our readers to what we wrote in Vol. 32 of The                   "Kindly fervent lotie  to the poor in men's lazea,&, in order
Standard Beaver  in connection with Articles 25 and 26 of               tlaat they may conhtbatte generously of their temporal pos-
the Church Order. We need not repeat that here but tie                  sessions over which Tho,u  didst appoint  thevvt stewa+-ds,  md
 should note that whkreas the main function of the of&e of              we may have command of sufficient `means to bving relief to
the deacon is to attend to the business of mercy and charity            those tha.t are indigent, a,qLd  may f$thfatUy  perform our task
in caring for the poor and indigent and since the purpose of            zvith true liberality of heart and z&out di@icatlty.
the deacons' meeting is to transact business pertaining to'
                                                                            "Bestow ,upon US also the gra,ce  we need, not only to
their office, this work should receive priority. The diacon-
                                                                        relieve wa,nt by means of external gifts, but also to instil the
ate that so functions is-faithful and in the church where such
                                                                        comfort of Thy Holy Word in hearts afflicted with misery.
diaconates are found the -ofice  will not fall into disuse or
                                                                        Tratly,  man l&es not by brea.d alone, batt  by every word
revert into a function that could just as well be performed
                                                                        that proceeds out of Thy vsou.th.  We fimy, therefore, tha.t
by a committee under Consistorial supervision.
                                                                        Thoat wilt bless oat/r  ministratioms  and wilt ma&&y  the

                                                                        bread of the poor, to the end that both they  and we muy

                Calling Upon. The Name  Of God ,                        have `reasons  to pmise and thank Thee; meanwhile await,iTlg
                                                                        the blessed a.ppearavzce  of Thy dea.r Son, Jesats Christ, Who
    Article 40 stipulates that the meetings of the deacons'
                                                                        for our sakes became poor that He might enrich a& with
shall be attended with the "calling ,up@n  the Name of God."
                                                                        eternal tl,easures.  Avert."
Article 32 of our Church Order states that the "proceedings
of a.11 assemblies shall begin by calling upon the Name of                                                                      G.V.d.B.

God" but, as we have pointed out, deacons' meetings are not

ecclesiastical assemblies and, therefore, do not fall under

the latter ruling. Hence, the provision in Article 40. It
                                                                                    VERSIFICATION  OF PSALM 65
would almost appear unnecessary to state this but then

Jansen suggests that at the time this provision was inserted                    Thy timely yisits bless the earth,

in the article the office of the deacons was being used by civil                To drenching rains thy clouds give birth,

authorities for the disbursement of funds to the poor. Some                        Enr,iching  all the land

began to look upon the diaconate as civil and secular in                      By God's own river, deep and broad,

nature and. to retain this office as an ecclesiastical institution                 Thou wilt prepare thy corn, 0 God,

which it is, and to emphasize the ecclesiastical and spirit-                         By thy providing hand.

ual nature of the deacons' function, this provision was added.

At any rate, whether redundant or not, it is a very proper                      Thou wilt its ridged and furrowed plain

and necessary practice. The ministration of the mercies of                      Make soft and smooth with showers of rain,

Christ through the office of the deacons is a work that is                         Its springing thou wjlt bless.

solely dependent upon the Lord and the gifts of His Spirit                      The year thou hast with goodness crown'd,

and grace. To attempt ?his work in any other way than                              Thy paths drop fatness all around

through prayer is folly.                                                             Ev'n on the ivilderness.

    An approiriate  prayer  for this occasion is found in the

collection of old liturgical prayers which today are virtually                  The little hills with verdure clad

unknown. It reads:                                                              Are girt with joy, by thee made glad ;

    "Merciful God and Father, Thou.hast  not only declared                         The flocks in pastures lie ;

that we' shall always have  the poor with au,  but ha.st  also                  The vales are robed with waving grain ;

comwbanded  ats  to McCoy  them in their need. Thou hast                           And shout and song from ,hill and plain,

ordained tlae service of the dencons  for Thy Chatrch,  in order                     Swell joyous to the sky.

that its needy members. may receive the aid. they require.

Since we whom  Thou hast ca.lled to the deacolzal  office  in
this chuvch  are now ,met in Thy Name to discuss vxatters
pertaining to 0.1~  office, we hu.mbly  beseech Thee that Thoat.                   Thkir veins with genial moisture fed,

mayest,  for the sake of Jesau Christ, dwell. among us with                        Jehovah's forests lift the head:

the splvit  of discri~ni~~afiion.    May T&y Spirit help ats to                    Nor other than his fostering hand

distinguish between those rea,lly  poor and those who feign                        Thy cedars, Lebanon, demand.

destitution, and to distribute the 6alvm tha.t have been col-                                                           - Anonymous

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


                                                                             Here Knott forgets or purposely fails to reveal that the

                A1.L AROUND US'                                         Declaration of Principles which his churches have rescinded
                                                                        is exaktly  a confirmation of the basis on which he purports

                                                                        to stand with his churches. Moreover, he also forgets or

  Caught on the Horns of a Dilemw~a.                                    purposely fails to reveal that his churches have sustained the

       The Refowwd Gucwdian of September 10, 1959 presents              conditional ,theology  of De Wolf which neither he nor any-
                                                                        one else can find-in  the basis of the Protestant Reformed
  an editorial written by the Rev. Edward Knott under the
                                                                        Churches.
 title "Observations."                                                                       We maintain that by the sustaining of the
                                                                        theology of De Wolf and the rescinding of the Declaration
       Reviewing the present situation of the churches that left
                                                                        of Principles they have clearly given evidence of having been
  us in the schism of 1953, Rev. Knott, as we see it, observes
                                                                        removed from  the original basis.
 that his churches are really caught on the horns of a dilemma.
                                                                              2: "In the second place, we would observe that we, too,
       To put +he  dilemma into figurative language, Knott sees
                                                                        desire to be obedient to th& call for unity . . . the unity of all
 his churches being chased to death by a furious l&l1 which
                                                                        those who confess the Name of the Lord Jesus in truth. But
  has deadly power in each of his two horns, and Knott's
                                                                        we are also convinced that we may not be so enamored of
  churches must choose which horn they desire shall- strike the
                                                                        unity that we ignore, or are careless in the achieving of that
 final blow. The dilemma is this :' On the one hand, there is
                                                                        unity in the proper way: unity cannot be gained in the way
 the danger of joining the Christian Reformed Church which
                                                                        o     f         crisis.j'
 will mean that they will lose their historic basis on which

 the' Protestant Reformed Churches have stood from their                     At this point Rev. Knott comments on. the writing of

  inception in, 1924. On fhe other, there is the danger of con-         Rev. M. Gritters in Tlk  Gztnrdia;n  df June, 1959, where he

 tinuing a separate existence, resulting in a slow death and/or         also pleads for unity.         Knott observes that "Rev. Gritters

 failing ,!o realize their ecumenical -calling. And. our observa-       speaks of separations caused by sin and the efforts made to

 $on  of Knott's "Observations" is that he wants his churches           build bridges `platformed by Truth and Creed', but he does

 to take their time in choosing which horn they wish to` be             not tell us how these bridges shall be built. Building bridges

 impaled on.                                                            calls for a careful examination of the terrain and crevass  which

       The four observations that Rev. Knott makes are briefly          qust  be spanned in order that when a unity is achieved

 the following :                                                        between that which has been separated, it may  be enduring

       1.    "It should be clearly understo6d  and emphatically         and permanent. And between two denominations which have
 stated that officially our doctrinal position as churches has          a history of separation, unity, even though it is recognized
 not changed."      By doctrinal position- he refers to the "Acts       as being enjoined and desirable, cannot be reached or re-
 of Agreement" adopted by the Protestant Reformed Churches              alized if it is not the result of- a recognition of each other's
 in 1924 which in part express the following basis: "That we            doctrinal position and a mutual desire to unite in the frame-
 adopt as our common basis the Three Forms of Unity and                 work of the Word of God and the Confessions. And within
 the Church Order of the Reformed Churches.". Knott main-               that framework allowances must be made for differences of
 tains that this position and basis has not changed. He ad-             opinion and interpretation in the conviction that both desire
 mits, of course, that the committee of contact with the Chris:         to. be true to the Reformed heritage.

 tian Reformed Church has proposed ."radical change in that                   `"Atid in our present cotisideration  of the results of our

 position" and that if their Synod had adopted the proposed             discussions with the Christian Reformed Church these things

 change his churches would have "&brogated  their position."            must be kept in mind. True unity cannot be achieved by

 But he points ?ut that to the present day at least his                 `concessions', or by simple conformity to the pbsition of the

 churches have not yet adopted the proposed change. So they             larger denomination, to which basic objections have been

 are officially still on the basis of 1924.                             raised through the years of our separate existence, and are

       He insists that "this parti&lar element cannot be ignored        still being raised. It is desirabie that we discuss the issues

 or forgotten. `It' places the churches in a: very specific position    which. separated us .and that we find the largest possible com-

 in their relation to and attitude over against every other             mon ground between us. It is gratifying that we recognize

 church. Perhaps it can.  be said this way : The Protestant             each other as `church.' But that does not necessarily predicate,

 Reformed Churches historically have stood, and  still stand            nor' allow, orgahic union. There are still important areas

 on the Scriptural and Confessional teaching of the free, sover-        of.dif?erence  between us, and although these differences need

 eign, irresistible grace of God, and have refused to be bound          not be exclusive, they have been in the past, and continue to

and still refuse to be bound to any synodical  decision which           be, when agreement to the statement of these differences,

 alters or abridges that position (reference is, of course, to          either objectively or in reformation, becomes a condition for

 the action of the Synod with respect to the Declaration of             membership. And then, to our mind, external unity is not

 Principles which previously had ,beel;i  adopted). This is the         mofe important than the freedom of one's conscience before

 cqnviction  of. the Protestant Reformed Churches                       Gad."
                                                        today."


                                                                      _ I.2 _:





                                                                                  1 -+





                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  47


   We make `two remarks on the above quotation. The fii-st           direct&  -of Arminianism. The softening of the doctrine of

is, that Knott'speaks a different language than others of his        divine predestination in the preaching aid the emphasis on

colleagues who have already returned to `the Christian ke-           the human element in the matter of salvation does nothing

formed Church or have expressed their readiness to return.           more than throw the scale out of balance.

Knott, it appears, wants to go back in the history and remove              Moreover, it may be commendable that the group of

all that has been the cause for separation, and if this is           churches Rev. Knott represents feels the need of a seminary

impossible he would rather sacrifice unity and keep a free           of their own. But surely what  they have now oy hope to

conscience. This is commendable. But, in the second place,           have in the future cannot give his people any basis for a

does not Rev. Knott realize that this will mean rehearsal of         happier attitude than those Rev. Knott describes above who

past history, and did not the Christian Reformed Church tell         are indifferent and lackadaisical. And the missionary witness

us they are not interested in such,rehearsal?                        of which he speaks fails in our estimation to give any ground

   3.    "In the third place, we would observe, that  whatever       for hoping for a continued existence. It is not difficult to
the way,  we must continue to act like and conduct ourselves         understand that a majority of his people cbuld believe that

as a church."                                                        this kind o'f missionary witness would have considerably more

                                                                     potency if it was joined with a larger denomination with
   Here Rev. Knott takes some of the members of his group,
including some of the ministers, to task for their "indifferent'l    greater means at its disposal.

and "lackadaisical" attitude respecting the future of their               4. "Finally, we would observe that although there are

churches. He obseryes that "it would sometime appear that            many apparent reasons for disappointment, we must not allow

there will be a termination of our denominational life' simply       gloom and  despair to overcome us. The church'is  not meas-

by default."                                                         ured by Quantity. Usually, we know, it is evaluated on the,

   He points up that there are several reasons why his               basis of numbers. We like statistics, especially when they are

group does not and should not need to fold up. There are             favorable and show increases, but become uneasy and dis-
evidences of real spiritual life in the churches. There is a         couraged when the reverse is true.

proper and healthy balance in the preaching . . . There is a              "But regardless of statistics, history cannot be ignored.

sense of need of preserving that balance by obtaining a full-        -Our ,responsibility  as ministers of the Word may not be

fledged seminary of their own . . . There is the expanding           denied. Societies may die, organizations may cease to exist,

missionary witness. Knott insists that these are indications         but the life of the church does not, and may not come to an

of life, and he continues, "A living body does not ask whether       end as we put a point at the end of a sentence. Nor may we

it is alive, or whether it has the right to be alive. It con-        simply terminate the existence of the Protestant Reformed

ducts itself as the living organism that it is."                     Churches in a moment of time. Mergers are not made in a

   We remark that this last statement taken by itself may            day, nor must they be hurried or forced. And until there
be very well true. But it.is also true that when a living body       .is plainly and convincingly no longer any necessity for a
has in it the seed of death it is only natural to ask how long       separate existence, we must contiriue separately . . . not be-
will it be before death overcomes the living body. Rev. Knott        cause we desire or long for separate existence, `but because
tells- us that there are those in his group that see signs of        there is no other way.

death for the organism. It seems to me that if there really               "It is almost insulting to say these things to the church

are signs Rev. Knott had better reckon with them and not             of Jesus Christ that lives out of her Head . . . but we must

imagine that in spite of the signs of death, he and his churches     by all means recognize our calling. Ecumenicity is not

are going on forever.                                                possible for a church that is not a church . . . unity with

   We also point out that one of the signs of life to which          another denomination cannot be achieved by a church that.
he calls attention,  namely, "a proper and healthy. balance in       has no life, neither is it desirable without convictions. Only
the preaching," may not be a sign of life at all in his churches.    as we are alive, vigorous, stable, active can we conduct the
For by it he must mean that beside the emphasis on the sover-        a&airs  of the church in a proper ecclesiastical manner."

eignty of God in the matter of salvation there are those con-             We would say in conclusion, that though we did not quote

ditions which man must fulfill in order to enter the kingdom.        all of the editorial we did nevertheless give the gist of it.

He must mean that beside the emphasis on the doctrine of             Sufficient evidence is here given that Rev. Knott sensed a

.election  and reprobation, there is also an emphasis on what        spirit of defeatism in his group and he tried with his

man must do to be saved. He must mean that before 1953               editorial to'overcome it. Whether he succeeded time only will

?here  was no proper and healthy balance in the preaching in         tell. Personally, we think he failed. At least this much is

the Prot%ant  Reformed Churches. It seems to me that just            clear, he also is in favor of retuining  to the Christian Re-

b,ecause  the preaching of those who left us in 1953 was not         formed Church. Only he wants to take his time in doing so.

of a proper and healthy balance we had to have the split             It also becomes apparent from the editorial that Rev. I&Ott

which separated us. Conditionalism in the preaching does             perceives his churches are caught on the horns of a dilemma.

not make for a proper balance but throws the scales in the                                                                        M.S.

                   .


                                                                                                       Holland's ..Men's Society sponsored an. Inspirational
                .NkWS FROM- OUR-CtiURCi-iES.                                               .Me:eting.for  all-,the  societies of the church Oct. 5. They in-
                                                                                           y&l  Rev.: H, Hanko, of Hope Church, to give the in-
                             -`"All the saints sa.lilte  the . ; ." P&L.  4 :21 :,         spilational;address.
                                                                                            `.
                                   ..:
                 Rev. B. Woud&b&-g  decline; ihe  call from Holland, and                               Rev.  G. Lanting, of Grand Haven, conducts a Wednes-
             ,Rev. C.:.tianko  d&lined the call from Randolph.
                                  __                 .I .                                  day evening catechism class for young people, 15. years old

                 Holland hai.`&d& `a new trio which consists of the fol-                   and Over. He.invites all adults interested in the course to.
                                                                                           meet'-witQhem  in -the sttidy  of the "Essentials of .Reformecl
             ldwing  : Revs. $1  Lagting,.  G. Ltibbe?s,  and G. Vanden  Berg.
              .:_.                                                                         D o c t r i n e ?   .   .          _ ._
                Edgerton  l&s.  e&ended a calf to Rev.  G. Vanden  Berg,                         _i

             o f   O a k   L a w n :      .a
                                                                                      _                Bulletin quote on the subject of silent prayer before~  the

-1               Rev.. H. eoeksema  will give a lecture in-' Holland the                   service : "This is .the way every church services  shbuld begin,
      I.
      even&g  of Oct. 29, D.V., on the topic, "The Infallibility of                        both morning and. afternoon. Therefore that time before the

             the Scriptures." The me&ing  will- be in the Ladies' Literary                 minister makes his appearance and enters the pulpit should
             Club Building located at th&: corner of 10th St. and. Central                 not .be spent in chatting, much less in levity, but in prayer,
             -Ave. at 8 p. M. Our Holland congregation is'expecting  you                   in prayer for the minister, for the sermon; and for the con-
             to attend, and asks ;ou to tell o`tliers  of this opp&nity  to                gregation,: that them Lord's blessing be on all the aspects of.
             hear  a masterly discourse on this very impo$&t subject that                  our worship. Let  us make this time as much a devotion as any
             is again being quy,stioned  in, the `chu$ world.                              other part of our worshjp."                Change, if you will, the word
                             .
                                                                                           :`afte&oon"  tb "evening" and the observation may be heeded
                 The 1959  Young People's Co&eriti;ti'has  jbe&$ne  `history               in all churches.
                                                                                           .I. _,
             and fhe qef host society for 1960 has alr&a.ddp  be&me  active.

             .The  Senio?  Young People's Society of First `Church ih Grand                -'          Our own school at Edgerton  is happy to announce it has
             Rapids has set the dates for Aug. 16, i7 and 18 and com-                      .filled  the:vacancy  left by Mrs. H. Veldman, by the appoint-
             mittees necessary  for a ,good convention have-been appointed..               &ent of Mr. Dale Kuiper of Redlands.

                 The Annual meeting  of the Reformed `"Free Publishing
      Association (Sta.nditrd Bearer) was held Thursday evening,                            From -Redland's  bullktin -we learn that a hard working
.-           Sept, 24, at Hope Church. Re< B. W.oudenberg  spoke to a                      Building Committee, : with  the help of volunteers, is busy
             large audience on, "The Staftdard  Bea.rer's Witnbs," a topic                 remod&g.,the  pkrsonage.

             to capture  the attention because of the nature of the'gathering.                                                                    '

             The tressurer's  report showed a comfortable balance, due                      ~-.~-The  Rev. H. C. Hoeksema family, by means of an open

             largely to the receipt of delinq.uent subscriptions :of about.                letter in the bulletin,. thanked the congregation of South
             $1100.00.                          _ : :, .`. :.                              Holland  for all the .k@dnesses  and friendship they enjoyed

                                                                                           in their fellowship. With the gift from the congregation, re-
                 The.  Pro;., Fef.  Action Society  met in annuak  meeting at              ceivgd  at the fai-ewell,. the Hoeksemas purchased a -radio-

             Edgerton, Sept. F5. Classis  West delegates, friends and  mem-                phonograph with:wFich  to remember their friends for many
- bers of,,t&e.  society enjoyqd ? lecture by `Rev. G. Vanden                              y e a r s - t o   c o m e .
             Berg, from Cjak  Lawn, on the timely topic, "The Absolute                                   - .
             Infallib$ity  pf Holy Scripture." "The ,speaker's  sub-title was              .The.Ofice,  Bearers' Conference scheduled for Oct. 6, at
             -the  mort positive, "The Complete Word of God." Election of                  Hudsonville, promises a worthwhile evening for the elders
            .- Board &enlbers  resulted in. the appointment of Tony Jansma,                and deacons that .shall  be in attendance. Rev. G. Lanting, of
             James Blank&pooi;.E.  Van Egdom and  Pap1  Buys..                             Grand Haven, will'speak on the subject, "Praying For Those

                                                                                           In Authority." May this speech also have the result that our
             r-l Miss Win&red  Poole, of the Adams St: School staff,
                                                                                           leaclefs  be edified, arid that  the membership in general may
 -.- gave a paper on, and a demonstratibn of, "Tiaching Spelling"
                                                                                           reap  -benefits ,from  this. meeting.
             at the Oct. 1st meeting of the Adams St. Mothers' Club. This
                                                                                                                .-    _
             meeting also featured a baked goods sale; the proceeds thereof
                                                                                           . Texi for this issue  (quoted from Oak Lawn's bulletin),
             swelling some' ~&-the-school-fund.
                                                                                           "Take  heed,`watch  and pray . . . for ye know not when the

            Rev. H., `Hoeksema is, again-. planning to teach an adult I                    time is .; :. and  what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch . . ."

             Bible class beginning Oct. 7th. The class is to resume the                    Mark 13 ~33, 37.
                                                                                                                              .~
             Study  .of ,"The  D.ocfrine  ,of the Last Things,". beguri  last                                                                .

             season;                                                                                   See  you in church . . . .                           J.M.F.

                                                                          _-


