                                                                                                                                          -
                                                                                                                                    14
    VOLlJMz  XXXVI                                 APRIL 15, 1960 - GRAIK~RAPIDS, MICH~~GAN                              NUMBER 

                                                                            Oh yes, unto all eternity she shall be pointed out to
             M E `D I T A T I.0 N                                       you as the happy soul whose eyes first saw the foundation of
                                                                    II the new heavens and the new earth: the Lord Jesus Christ
                                                                        in glory !
                  T H E   R E S U R R E C T I O N                           Last year we pointed you to that wonderful story in Holy

                "And hze said unto them, Be pot affriglzted:  Ye        Writ.
             seek Jesus of Nazagretlz,  z&i&  was crucified: Hc             At this time we will hear the same Gospel: He is risen!
             is risen; He is not here: behold the place where           But' now as it was given to the women!
             they  hd Him." -              16:6
                                  MARK                                      Again we are startled.

   It is true that Paul determined with himself not to know              What? First to a woman who was known for the awful
anything among the churches, but Jesus- Christ and Him                  condition that seven devils dwelled in her?
cruiified.  However, the crucifixion of. our Lord Jesus                     And now' we hear that the second edition of Easter will
Christ would not be the topic of so much joy and true                   be given to women?
gladness were it not for the fact that the crucified Lord
                                                                            But, Lord, men are the leaders of `women, are they not?
was risen the third day.. Without the joy of Easter because
                                                                        And what about the government of the church? When shall,
of the fact of the resurrection, the Cross on that Friday
                                                                        when will. that body of office-bearers hear the story from
would be an enigma, a terrible symbol of abject .failure.
                                                                        Thy own.  mouth ?
   But now we rejoice, for our Lord arose the third day,                    But ~the Lord does not answer us with respect to His
according to the Scriptures!                                            deeds. No one has heard it. We must guess.
   For He is risen!                                                         The Lord is risen!

   That shall be. the glad shout of the Gospel !                            As told to the women.
   And that shout-shall be repeated from mouth to mouth,                                          *    *,* *
from climeito  clime,  from people to people, until the whole

world shall have. heard the glad story of Easter, and time                  And yet, it is true to the style of the Lord Jesus Christ.

ended. For when the whole world shall have heard that                       Thus He acted always.
story, then shall be revealed the `second coming of that Lord               He went to Galilee, not so much to Judea.
of glory.
                                                                            He called sinners, not the righteous to repentance.
   For He is risen!                                                         He, chose- His sojourn with the humble; the meek, the
   Oh, God's ways are higher-than our ways.                             lowly, -the publicans and sinners.

   When the Godhead, in the depths of eternity,. before the                 He stretched His holy hands to the little children, taking
world was, decided and counselled  who should hear the first            them as an example for the strong, big men `to follow, or to
edition of that glorious Gospel, their choice fell on Mary the          bless them, to bless them . . . . -
Magdalene out of whom the Lord cast s:even.devils.                          His ways are higher than our ways.

   How differently we would have: done that.                              Fittingly so, for He came to reveal the Father.

   I think that the majority would have counselled to gather                And the Father? He chose the lowly, the meek, the little

the body of the Apostles of the Lord for the promulgation               ones, the simple, the ignoble, those who had no power in
of the first, edition of Easter. Were they not the represent-           order to put to shame all that arises before Him in arrogance,
atives of the entire New Testament Church ?                             in deep con&ousness  of their vaunted power; ability, nobil-

   But Mary, the Magdalene ?                                            ity, riches.


314                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   ~BEARER


       He chose that which was not, in order to shame the             Yes, He arose from the dead. And that has wonderful

things that are. . . .                                             significance.

       And therefore, I think, the Lord shewed  Himself in the         It means for Jesus that He had the victory.

second instance to a group of simple women.                            First, over all His enemies. Oh, how they had harassed

       Simple women ?                                              Him. The whole world was arrayed against Him. Jew,

       Yes, and I can prove it.                                    Roman, and Greek reared their heads against Him, and
                                                                   it was the Jew first. Shades of Caiaphas and Judas.
       They were even simple in their sinning.
                                                                       Second, the devil with his devils are conquered. The
       Do you realize -that we have but a few words of this
                                                                   whole of this foul world of devils were against Him. John
company of women ?
                                                                   on Patmos has given us the whole astounding story in the
       I have in mind the attempt of James and John to             Revelation of, Jesus Christ. There was a ,great red dragon
assure for themselves the seats on the right and on the            standing before the `woman for four thousand years to devour
left of the Lord when He should arrive in His glory of the         the little manchild  as soon as it should be born. But when
Kingdom. And they used a woman for this proud gesture,             it was born,' God snatched. it away from his jaws. Jesus
their mother, the <wife  of Zebedee.                               crushed the head of the devil on the accursed tree.
       Do you know any other utterance of these women ?                Third, the curse of the law is conquered. That curse
       Well, they had come all the way from Galilee, not to        clung to Him. It clung to Him so thoroughly and so tena-
talk, to converse, to talk `theology with Jesus and their kins-    ciously that the Holy Ghost, looking upon Him in the state
men, the disciples, but to minister to the wants of the men-       of His humiliation, called Him a curse. Imagine it if you
folks, especially the Lord. They had gone along on the way         can : One of Jesus' names is the Curse ! But Jesus suffered
to Judea  to minister especially to Jesus' wants. They would       to be the curse, and He suffered so much and so intensely
wash His clothes, they would prepare the food by the way-          that all that curse is gone, annihilated. And in its place
side, and they would gently remind Him when it was time to         came blessing. His name is now Blessing of God.
rest. Oh yes, and they would take their little ones to Jesus,          Fourth, He overcame the grave, death and hell. He
so that He would bless them:                                       entered into them, and swallowed them unto victory. We
       Yes,`1  think they were simple women, and with the word,    have the attestation of that tremendous truth on every page
simple, I mean lowly minded, not given to mannishness,             of Holy Scripture, either in prophecy or as historical fact.
quietness.                                                             And note that this is the Gospel.
       But how these women loved Him !                                 We are world, under the dominion of devils, under the
       Note how they wept at the cross, how they prepared          rightful curse of God, because of our sin, and therefore on
spices for His burial, how early they were at the sepulchre!       the way to the grave, death and hell.
Oh yes, they loved Jesus in their simplicity. And Jesus knew         But Jesus conquered them all, annihilated them all, never
it. And God knew it. And God determined them and their             to return.
loving hearts from all eternity. And at the same time He
                                                                       We are taken out of the world by regeneration and con-
determinded their reward. They would be chosen as the
                                                                   version ; we -are  made enemies of the devil because God put
party of the second part to see the risen Lord.
                                                                   enmity between us and him; we are saved from the curse
       @or  He is risen !                                          of the law, and ever since such liberation the law is our
 .     Hear, ye women that love and seek Jesus !                   great friend, our, rule and norm of a glorious life of love ;
       He is risen indeed! He is not here.                         and we see through the grave a new way to heaven, we

                                                                   arose from death, and we do not have to go to hell any-
                             * * * *                               more. Instead,`. we may go to heaven !

                                                                       Is that not a glorious Gospel ?
       For He is risen !
                                                                       For He is risen!
       Yes, they sought the Lord, but it was the crucified Lord
                                                                       He is'not here!
whom they sought.

                                                                                            * * *~*
       Attend to what the angel tells them: I know that ye

seek Jesus, which was crucified!                                       For He is risen!
       But that crucified Jesus is risen from the dead!                What does that mean?

       `In these words I have penned down the contents of the          It means that Jesus is entirely changed now. He is
everlasting Gospel.                                                not the same Jesus anymore.

He was crucified.                                                      He is completely changed. ,He is now heavenly, spiritual,

      That means that He was dead. Later, mu&h later, He           glorious, eternal. First He was, even as we are, earthly, flesh
said as much to John : I am He that liveth, and was dead!          and blood, miserable, temporal, and mortal.


                                               T H E   S.T::ANLiARD   B E A R E R                                                                                                  ' 315



   Jesus has received a life that is different from any life

ever before manifested. He is different from the glorious                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
Adam. His resurrection is different from the resurredtion  of                   Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August'
                                                                                  Published by the REFORMED  Flee  PUESLLSHINC  ASSOCUTION
Lazarus and others.
                                                                                P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
   He is the very Personification of Eternal Life.                                                   Editor - REV..  H~~MAN                     HOEXSEMA

   And that means that He is ever turning to the Father,                        Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
approximating that Father unto all eternity.                                                  Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
                                                                                                               Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
   For He is risen!                                                             All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
   That glorious chant has even deeper significance: it                                        James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                            Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
means that the Triune God approved of the work He did.
                                                                                Announcements and Obituaries `must be mailed to the above
It means that God accepted the price He paid for His own.                       address and will be published at a fee of $2.00 for each notice.

It means that God was even now taking this Holy Child to                        RENEWAL: Unless a. definite request for discontinuance is re-
His bosom. It means that He would receive a Name that is                        ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
                                                                                to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
above all that is named in this world and in the world to                                             Subscription price: $5.00 per year
come.                                                                            Entered as Second Class matter at Grand Rapid-s, Michigan

   For He is risen!

   It is the chant that shall be repeated from age to age,
until time is no more. And then it shall be translated in                                                          C O N T E N T S

perfect language, song and music, and the same chant shall                 MEDITATION-
make heaven musical forever!                                                           The Resurrection             ___ ___ __ ___ __ __ _. ________ _. .._ .._ ___ __. . ..313
                                                                                             Rev. G. Vos
   Oh yes, Jesus is risen, is risen indeed!

   And the women saw Him!                                                  EDITORIALS-
                                                                                       Christian Education              I n Our Country . . . . . . . . . . . .._____.................. 316
   .Hallelujah  ! "                                                                    About Being Protestant Reformed _...._.____...__..._......................                          317
                                                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema
                                                                   G.V.
                                                                           As To `Boorcs  -

                                                                                       Christian Perspectives .,..........__.__...........................................
                                                                                                                                                                                          318
                                                                                       The Witness of the Spirit _...._..._____..........................................  318
                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                 God Hath Spoken .___........________................................................  318

                                                                                             Rev. Ii. Hoeksema
   On Tuesday, April 26, 1960, our beloved parents,

                                                                           O
               MR. and MRS. HENRY H. KUIPER                                     UR DOCTRINE-
                                                                                       The Book of Revelation _,.._ ~ ________._...,_____.................................  319
hope to commemorate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. We are                               Rev. H. Hoeksema
thankful to our covenant God for having spared them for each other

and for us these many years. Our prayer is that they may con-              A CLOUD OF WITNESSES-
tinue to experience the Lord's richest blessings.                                      The Return to Egypt..: ___...............__..............,........................                  322

                                                                                             Rev. B. Woudenberg
                          Their grateful children:

                                  `Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Kuiper               'FROM HOLY WRIT-
                                   Mr. and Mrs. Herman Kuiper                          Exposition of I Corinthians 1 5 (4) . . . . . . . ..___..._........................  3%
                                   Miss Elsie Kuiper                                         Rev. G. Lubbers

                                   Mr. and Mrs. Albert Brunink             IN HIS FEAR  -
                                   Mr. and Mrs. Peter Petroelje                        And What About T h e Children?.. _.. ._ ___ ..__ _. ,326

                                   Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kuiper, Jr.                            Rev. J. A. Heys

                                   Mr. and Mrs. William Plowman
                                                                           CONTENDING FOR THE FAIT~I-
                                   Mr. and Mrs. Clarence~Kuiper                        The Church and the Sacraments. .______.._...~ . .._____..........~ . . . . . . . . . . . 328
                                   35 grandchildren                                          Rev. H. Veldman
                                   2 great-grandchildren
                                                            :              THE VOICE OF OUR FA~IERS  -
Grand Rapids, Michigan                                                                 T h e Canons of Dordecht  . . ..____._____............. :............._..__._........ 339

                                                                                             Rev. H. C. Hoeksema


                          IN MEMORIAM                                      DECENCY AND &DER-
                                                                                       T h e Records        of Ecclesiastical Assemblies _..... ..__ ___ __. ..332

   The Martha Ladies' Aid Society of the Hull Protestant Reformed                            `Rev. G. Vanden  Berg

Church wishes to express its sincere sympathy to one of its mem-
                                                                           zb.LhOUNDUS-
bers, Mrs. Ben Bleyenberg, in the loss of her sister,                                  Rev. E. Knott's Position Regarding Re-Union In Question 334
                       MRS. GERTIE RENS.                                               "Rome      Speaks With Authority" . __ ___ __. _. ___ ___ . . . . . . . . . ..335
                                                                                       Statistics     . . . . . . ..____......................................................................
                                                                                                                                                                                             335
   And we know that all things work together for good to them                                Rev. M. Schipper
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
                                                                           N
Rom. 8:28.                                                                      EWS    FROM       OUR      CHURCHES. ___,  .___  __ ..__ __ ____ __ .__ ____ ._.___.._, .__ __. .__ ___ .336
                                                                                             .Mr. J. M. Faber
                              Ray Bnmsting, Vice President

                                Mrs. J: Hoksbergen, Vice Secretary


3    1    6                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                         "3. Christian Religious Education seeks to foster in
               EDIPORIALS                                            growing persons a progressive and continuous development
                                                                     of Christlike character."

                                                                        This is the third principle.

          Christian Education In Our Country                            This is, as you will recognize, thoroughly modernistic

                                                                     language. It is the moderns that like to speak of Christlike

     Almost entirely Christian education in our country is           character, whatever this may mean. But a "Christlike char-

conducted by the Sunday school.                                      acter" (let us assume for a moment that the term can even

     And what is worse, it is chiefly given under the influence      be used) is impossible without the cross-resurrection-exalta-
of modernism. Of this we quoted a few illustrations from             tion of Christ and the sovereign operation of the Spirit of
Christianity Today.                                                  Christ in our hearts and that, too, through the Word of God
                                                                     and the preaching of the Word. Then the principle of
     In this article I wish .to quote some more illustrations;       regeneration is wrought in our hearts by sovereign grace.
     Here are some of the principles that are supposed to be         Then we become in principle Christlike. And as to fostering

a guide for the religious education of the children and youth        a progressive and continuous development of such a "Christ-
in the Sunday school. They were adopted by the International         like character," if it means anything at all, it must mean that
Council of Religious Education in 1932 and have never been           "Christian Religious Education" brings the Word of God to
amended or changed:                                                  the pupils so that they are admonished to put off the old

     "1. Christian Religious Education seeks to foster in            man and to put on the new and thus to walk in newness of
growing persons a consciousness of God as a reality in human         life. This is the only conceivable "development of Christlike
experience, and a sense of personal relationship to him."            character."

     This first principle of religious education is characterized       But, of course, this is not the meaning of the authors of
by its vagueness and generality. Who is this God of whom             these "principles." What they mean is &hat  the pupils must
it speaks ? Is it the God of the Scriptures Who has revealed         be taught to copy the "personality, life, and teaching of
Himself in Christ Jesus our Lord or is it perhaps some other         Jesus" in their own life and walk in the world. And this
god ? How does Christian education seek to foster a con-             certainly is not Scriptural.

sciousness of God "as a reality in human experience"? By                4. "Christian Religious Education seeks to develop in
thorough instruction in the Bible as the Word of God ? And.          growing persons the ability and disposition to participate
how will the teacher awaken a sense of personal relationship         in and contribute constructively to the building of a social
to that God ? Is it awakening in the pupil a deep sense of           order throughout the world, embodying the idea of the
sin and guilt so that the pupil may flee to the cross of Jesus       Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man."
for redemption and forgiveness and deliverance from. sin                This is the fourth princ:ple.
and death and receive everlasting life?
                                                                        The idea is, of course, the universal Fatherhood of God
     Of all this the first principle does not speak at all. It
                                                                     and the universal brotherhood of man.
seeks refuge in vague generalities.
                                                                        This is quite in harmony with all the foregoing principles.
     "2. Christian Religious Education seeks to develop in           If Christian religion is nothing but the consciousness of
growing persons such an understanding and appreciation of            some God or god as a reality in human  experience and a
the personality, life, and teaching of Jesus as will lead to         sense of personal relationship to him ; if we must know Christ
experience of Him as Savior and Lord, loyalty to Him and             only in His personality, life, and teaching and not as the
to His cause, and manifest itself in daily life and conduct."        One who bore all our sins away on the accursed tree ; if that

     Such' is the second  principle. One would almost be in-         religion consists in the development of a Christlike char-

clined to approve of this and subscribe to it. Does it not           acter ; if the terrible reality of sin is denied (and sin is not

speak of Jesus as "Savior and Lord"? But be not deceived!            even mentioned in any of the principles quoted here) -then,

The question must be asked and answered: how and in what             indeed, one may speak of a universal fatherhood of such a

way is Jesus our Savior and Lord ? To that .question  true           god, and of the universal brotherhood of such men, regardless

Christian Religious Education uniformly answers : Through            of the question whether they believe in such a god or whether

His death, resurrection, and exaltation. at the right hand of        they are atheists, regardless of the question whether they

God and His reception of the Holy Spirit. But how does               believe or not in such a Christ, and regardless whether they

this second principle answer this, question? By referring to         are righteous or wicked. But this is not in harmony with

"the personality, life, and teaching of Jesus." There is no          the Word of God. Do the authors of these principles mean

room for the cross and for the atoning death of this "savior         that the teachers in the Sunday school must teach their

and Lord." Hence, the Jesus that is mentioned in this second         pupils to pray the Lord's Prayer and in the sense of the

principle is no Savior at all.                                       universal Fatherhood of God address Him as "Our Father

                                                                                                     B

                                                                                     . .


                                                                                                                                          ri


                                           T H E   S T A N ' D A R D   B E A R E R                                               3 1 7


who art in heaven"?     Let them try it. They will so.on  dis-      firstborn of every creature, but He is also the first begotten

cover that all men cannot and will not pray even the first          of the dead.

petition nor any of the others.                                        You understand, of course, that the text in Col. 1:15-20
   There is no universal fatherhood of God nor a universal          presents to us the supra-lapsarian viewpoint of the counsel
brotherhood of Man.                                                 of God.

    God is the Father of His children in Christ Jesus our               Infra-lapsarianism presents the historical viewpoint. In
Lord. And the sons of God are' brethren.                            history, Adam is first, then the fall into sin, then Christ, His

   We have still more to say about these principles. But this       incarnation, death and resurrection, and the redemption of

must wait till our next issue, D.V.                                 the people of God. But according to supra, Christ is first

                                                          H.H.      and all other things not only creation but also the fall, are

                                                                    for and by Christ. This is taught us by the .text  in Col. 1.


                                                                       With Christ, therefore, the Son of God in human nature,

        About Being Protestant Reformed                             Who is the most perfect likeness of God, the covenant of
                                                                    friendship is first of all established.

   The last time we briefly referred. to and explained some
                                                                       But this is not all.
of-  the passages of Scripture that speak of the covenant of

God with His people as a relation of friendship and intimate            Christ does not stand alone. He is not only the first-

fellowship. In fact, the chief and highest purpose of all the       born of every creature and the first begotten of the dead, but

works of God outside of Himself is the realization of this          He is also the firstborn among many brethren. For thus we

bond of friendship. That is why, in the book of Revelation,         read in Rom. 8 :29,  30: "For whom he did foreknow, them

chapter 21 vs. 3, we read: "Behold, the tabernacle of God           he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of

is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be         his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their        Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called:

God." This means that .God's covenant shall have been               and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he

realized in the' highest sense of the word. In fact, this final     justified, them he also glorified." These many brethren of

realization of the covenant shall be the highest possible bliss.    whom Christ is `the firstborn are, of course, the elect. They

In the new Jerusalem the people of God shall see His face           are given to Christ. They are chosen in Him. And the

and walk in the light of the glory of' God.                         purpose is that the covenant of friendship might be estab-

   For the revelation of the covenant life of God, He in            lished with and reflected in countless millions of men and the
His eternal counsel determined to form a people that was            glory of God's own covenant-life might be revealed -in the
like unto Himself in a creaturely way. For the bond of              highest possible manner.

friendship and fellowship, as we said before, requires a basis         Still more.
of likeness. Hence, in His eternal counsel ,God conceived
of a people that would be like unto the image of His Son.              I-Into Christ and the elect  in, Him are also given all
That creature is, first of all and. preeminently,' Christ. For      things in heaven and on earth. For He is the firstborn of
thus we read in Col. 1:15ff. : "Who is the image of .the in-        every creature. In the ,eternal counsel of God all things in
visible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were       the whole universe are conceived as being united in Him
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,      even as they are created by Him and for Him. The whole
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions,       creation is a house of God in Christ and through His Church
or princiaalities,  or powers: all things were created by him,      of which He is the Head, the fulness of him that filleth all
and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all            in all. Eph. 1:23.  The covenant of God embraces every
things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church:         creature. All things must serve the people of God in Christ
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.: that in         that they serve their God.

all t*hings  he might, have the preeminence. For it pleased            Of this all-embracing idea of the covenant the rainbow
God the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell ; And,      is .the sign and symbol.
having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him
                                                                       All this is not yet historically realized. Nevertheless, all
to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I `say, whether
they be things on earth, or things in heaven."                      things in time, all that takes place in time: creation, the fall,
                                                                    and all that takes place in the history of the world, with
   This is a most beautiful and profound passage of Scrip-
                                                                    Christ and His cross and resurrection in the midst, must be
ture, which I will not interpret in detail at present.
                                                                    and are conducive to the final realization of God's all-em-
   My purpose is rather to show that, in the counsel of             bracing covenant of friendship.
God, the Son of God, in human nature, and that, too, as the

resurrected Lord, is absolutely first. Christ is not only the                                                                  H.H.

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


                                                                          better read the .book,,i,tself.  I am not sure whether I can
                        A$ `TO BOOKS                                      agree with the author& presentation of the three Persons of
                                                                          the Holy Trinity on p. 31. And I do not agree with the

 !I.^'                                                                    author's implied interpretation of the term "world" in John
          Clwistian  Pem-pectiws,  by Dr. Van-  Riessen, Prof. Farris,    3 :16 and in I John 2 9, p. 81..
 and Dr. Runner. Published by Pella  Publishing Inc., Pella,
                                                                             Heartily recommended.
 I o w a .                                                                                                                               H.H.

          This book- contains a series of lectures delivered before ,a

Study Conference at Unionville,.  Ontario. The first group of                God Hath Spokeuh, by T. Roland Philips. Published by

 lectures deals with the-relation of the Bible to science ; the           Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.

 second with the relation of the Bible to history ; the third             Price $3.00.

 with the relation of the Bible to learning.
                                                                             This book furnishes' easy reading. It contains a series of
          It is somewhat difficult for me to review this book prop-       sermons preached by the author in The Arlington Pres-
 erly. The reasons `are : 1. That it is written by three. different       byterian Church. The messages are very brief and easily
 authors, and although one may discern a certain line running             readable. Sometimes, it seems to me, the author is guilty
 through the lectures that are published here, yet I would                of spiritualization as, for instance, in the case of the leprosy
 have to criticize (in the good sense of the word) every part             of Naaman  the Syrian.
 of the book separately. And although the contents of the
                                                                            I do not like what the author writes on p. 64: "Now God
 book are worthy of such more elaborate discussion, yet this
                                                                          loves all men. `God so loved the world that he gave his
 is not possible in a brief review. 2. A second reason is that
                                                                          only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should
 I cannot recommend the book to the general public for, both
                                                                          not perish, but have everlasting life.' There is no man any-
 as to contents and form, it is beyond many of them. The
                                                                          where, at any time, whom God does not love, and for whom
 lectures on "The Relation of the Bible to History" may be
                                                                          he has not made a wonderful provision."
 considered an exception.
                                                                             This is neither Scriptural nor Presbyterian.
          Very obvious it is that Dr. Runner is a faithful student i
 and follower of Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven.                                 I recommend this book to the discerning and critical

                                                                HH.       reader.
                                                                                                                                         H.H.


          The Witness of the Spid,  by Bernard Ramm. Published

 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.

 Price $3.00.'

                                                                             "The'Holy Scriptures, however, teach a wholly different
          This is a very good book on an important and, at the            doctrine, which, as we understand it, is, that no work accept-
 same time, very difficult subject. The book treats of the                able and pleasing to God can be undertaken, and performed
 Testimony of the Holy Spirit. It treats this subject in five             by anyone, without regeneration and the special grace of the
 chapters : Historical Roots, Fundamental Considerations, The             Holy Spirit; neither can there be any more or less good in
 Testimonium and the Testimony of Scripture, The Theolog-                 the counsels and actions of any man, than God in His own
 ical Implications, the Testiinonium,  and the Testimonium and            free grace chooses to produce in them ; nor can the will of any
 Theologies. It emphasizes that there is no testimony of the              creature be inclined in any other direction than which seems
 Spirit apart from Scripture.         In this respect he agrees with      good to the eternal and gracious counsel of God. And yet
 Calvin to whom he refers rather frequently, and he condemns              all the actions of the created will, both good and bad, are
 Roman Catholicism. Writes- he: "Yet, when we turn to                     performed freely."
 what Catholicism terms the holy, inspired Scripture we are
                                                                                     Ursinus, Commentary  On Heid. Cute&&  Ques. 8
 told that the self-witness of the Bible to its own inspiration is

 so weak and imperfect, so capable of equivocation, that we

 cannot be certain of its inspiration until we are so informed

 by the Roman Catholic Church . . . . The Scriptures are,

 `dead documents,'         `dead records of primitive documents,'                                       IN MEMORIAM

 `Life grown stiff and numb' . . . . the Bible is, a `dumb and
                                                                             The Reformed `witness Hour Radio Choir wishes to express its
 difficult book.' . . . . This attitude- towards the Bible is so
                                                                          sincere sympathy to one of its members, i%. George Vi& in the
 much a part of the Catholic apologetics that it could be                 death of his father,
 documented endlessly."          This view of Scripture the. author                               M R .   C O R N E L I U S   V I N K
 radically condemns.
                                                                             Remans  8:28:  "And uie know that all things work together  for
          I could quote more from Ramm's  book, but the reader            good to them that love God."


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       3       1    9


                                                                                       17. And another angel came out of the temple which

          O U R   D O C T R I N E                                  II                  is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

                                                                                       18.    And another angel came out from the altar, which

                                                                                       had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him

           THE BOOK OF `REVELATIOT;T                                                   that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp

                                                                                       sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth;

                              PART TWO                                                 for her grapes are fully ripe.


                         C                                                             19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth,
                          HAPTER TWELVE
                                                                                       and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the

                   The Angels and the Voice                                            great winepress of the wrath of God.


                                                                                       20. And the winepress was trodden without the city,
                        Revelation 14 :6-13
                                                                                       and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the

                                                                                       horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hun-
   It is not because they themselves are less faithful ; not as                        dred furlongs.
if the stronger would have any power of their own. No, God

has prepared them, and even prepared their works, also                       When we read these words, we are, of course, imme-

their special works.. But what now shall become of these?                diately reminded of the fact that this constitutes the close of

Shall they all be lost ? Shall in the day of judgment all these          the vision that was begun to be pictured in the thirteenth

works dwindle away in the general bliss of God's people?                 chapter. Taking chapters 13 and 14 together, we found that

Of course not; their works shall follow them. And these                  they could not be separated ; but they form one vision, a

works shall be rewarded. All shall enter into bliss : for Christ         vision of the kingdom of Antichrist in, its highest stage of

died for them, and they all die in the Lord. But all shall               development, and that both from the worldly point of view

not attain to the same state of- glory. There shall be distinc-          and from the point of view of heaven, God and His

tion and difference. And those whom God prepared to do                   A n o i n t e d .

more work than others and to suffer more than others may                     The first vision, that of the beast with his seven heads
thank the Lord God for this great privilege. For their                   and ten horns, pictured to us the kingdom of Antichrist from
works, shall follow them also in the new creation.                       the political point of view and informed us that the kingdom

   What a difference ! By the light shed from heaven upon                should be universal, established by the voluntary consent of

the scene of Antichrist the scene has changed completely.                all nations and peoples and tribes of the earth. The central

First the beast seemed to be supreme, and Babylon per-                   power of this kingdom has sway over all peoples, and, at
manently established forever.       Now the Lamb appears as              the same time, over all things, so that all are dependent

the King over Zion. First the kingdom of the Holy One                    upon the beast. And, in the second place, it pictured to us

seemed to be a lost cause ; now the kingdom of the beast is              that final kingdom as being anti-Christ, anti-God, anti-king-

doomed to destruction. First the people of God seemed to be              dom, and anti-saints. All worship the beast. All, admire this

hopelessly lost; now the worshippers of the beast are sent               tremendous kingdom. But for the people of God there,is  .no

to everlasting torment. First the worshippers of the beast               standing-room on the e.arth.
seemed to be in control of all things and participated in the                This last feature of the kingdom of Antichrist was pic-
blessings of the kingdom ; now the followers of the Lamb                 tured to us especially in the vision of the second beast, with
inherit everlasting bliss, and serve God and the Lamb day                his two horns like a lamb and speech like the dragon. He,
and night forevermore. Surely, the saints may indeed be                  so we found, was a picture of the false prophet, of the in-
patient. For all things are theirs, because they are Christ's,           fluence  of false philosophy and false religion. And we
and Christ is God's.                                                     .found  that this beast succeeded in uniting the whole world

                                                                         under his creed. They all took stock in the words of this

                  The Harvest and the Vintage                -!          beast. He made them make an image. He gave them a sign.                         '

                                                                         And only the worshippers of the beast and his image, that
                        Revelation 14 :14-20                             had the sign, could participate in the blessings of the king-

                                                                         dom of Antichrist, the rest not being able to buy or sell.
           14.    And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon
           the cloud dne sat like unto the Son of man, having on             The third vision was that of the Lamb on Mount Zion,
           his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.      which, so we found, began to shed an entirely new light

                                                                         upon the scene of worldly power and iniquity and oppression
           15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying
                                                                         and idolatry. If it seemed as if the kingdom of Antichrist
           with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust
           in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee        was actually supreme and everlasting, this vision tells us a

           to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.                different story. It tells us that God Almighty never anointed

                                                                         the beast or the dragon to rule, but that He has. His own
           16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle
                                                                         King over- Zion and that this King surely' shall have control
           on the. earth; and the earth was reaped.


320                                         T H E   ` S T - A N D A R D   ` B E A R E R   ,


over all things.' He tells us for that very reason that God in       Besides, also His sitting on the white cloud would lead us

the heavens sits and laughs about all the efforts of the beast       to the same conclusion. To come with the clouds has already

and Satan, and that God's people are perfectly safe. The             become a standing expression, and it denotes an honor that

one hundred forty-four thousand are all there, and not one           is bestowed only upon Christ Jesus. Before the high priest,

is lacking.                                                          Jesus already had witnessed: "Henceforth ye shall see the

       The fourth vision was that of angels flying in mid-heaven,    Son of man sitting on the right hand of God, and coming on

each delivering his message for the kingdom of Antichrist,           the clouds of heaven." And also in the first part of this book of
and of a voice speaking of joy to those that die in the Lord.        Revelation the warning note was heard: "Behold, he cometh
The first angel announced, to the comfort of God's people,           with the clouds, and every eye shall see him." Rev. 1:7.
that God did not renounce His claim, but demanded as ever            And, therefore, both these expressions "the Son of man"

that every creature should bow before Him and worship                and "sitting on a white cloud" establish it beyond the shadow

Him as the God of heaven and earth. The second and third             of `doubt that here we.  have again a vision of Christ.

angels follow up this claim of the Almighty by announcing                But how, in what capacity does He appear? ,In the first
destruction upon the kingdom that rose against His sover-            place, it is plain that He reveals Himself here as King. He
eignty and upon the individual worshippers of the beast and          is the Lamb on mount Zion and has been anointed by God
his image. And, in conclusion, the voice spoke of joy and            to be king over all and that forever. He must rule. He has
glory and rest for those that were subjected to tribulation          gained His kingdom by obedience even unto the death of
and persecution in this dispensation because they refused to         the cross and now has received a name which is above every
worship the beast.                                                   name. As- such He now appears. His appearance sp,ells

    Now we are at the close of the vision. The words of the          evil and destruction to the beast and his dominion. For

passage quoted above take us to the end of time. Just as             that beast has .attempted  to gain the kingdom over all. All

evidently the opening of the sixth seal in chapter six took          dominion over which the beast apparently holds power be-

us to the close `of all human history, so also does the passage      longs to this Son of man on the cloud. And, therefore, that

we are about to discuss, though from a slightly different point      He appears here, while antichrist rages, certainly can only

of view and with fuller development of detail. Nevertheless,         mean destruction for the usurper. But, at the same time,

also what is recorded in these words will again be spoken of         the appearance of the Son of man on the white cloud also

in future chapters. And the fall of Babylon, the great harlot,       means deliverance for His people that have been oppressed
and the treading of the nations in the winepress of the wrath        and persecuted by the anti-Christian  power. He comes as
of God will all be developed and pictured to us in future            King. He comes to claim His own. He comes to destroy
chapters with- greater vividness and in greater detail. And          His enemies. And He comes to save His people. That this
therefore, in our present chapter we must discuss in a general       is true is also plain from the fact that he sits on the white
way the harvest and the vintage, or the end of the world.            cloud. To come with the clouds always denotes that this

    It does not ,need a lengthy discussion to convince us that       Son of man is coming for judgment; We have become ac-
the harvester in this case, or at least he who supervises the        customed to the expression, and as soon as we hear or read
reaping of the earth, is none other than Jesus Christ our            it, we are thinking, and rightly so, of Christ coming as
Lord. We read: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud,              judge. The purity of the white cloud indicates that He will
and upon the ,cloud one sat like unto the Son of man,                judge in righteousness and destroy the unrighteous. And
having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp           the same idea of judgment is indicated by the sickle. He has
sickle."    We are acquainted with the expression "one` like         come to cut down, for the sickle is sharp and is whetted to
unto the Son of man." We are so well acquainted with this            do the work. Hence, the Lord appears in this connection as
expression that we can never fail to recognize Him that              the King- Judge.

bears this name. It is always used of Christ.. It was the               But He is not alone.
name with which Christ loved to call Himself. It denotes
His all-overshadowing glory as the human servant of God.                In factwe receive the impression that He merely super-
When John sees the vision of the seven golden candlesticks,          vises and the work of reaping proper is left to the angels,

he tells us that he also saw "in the midst of the candlesticks       His servants. That is also the impression we receive from

one like unto a Son of man." -And we know immediately                other parts of Scripture. In Matthew 13 :39 Christ explains,

who He is. In Daniel 7 :13 we read of the same person: "I            at the close.of the parable of the tares among the wheat : "The

saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the             reapers are the angels." And in Matthew 24:31  we read :

clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of man ; and he came            "And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of

even unto the Ancient of days." And therefore, there is no           a trumpet, and they shall gather his elect from the four winds,

possibility of mistaking the identity of this person that holds      from one end of heaven to the other." So also the text here.

the sharp sickle. He is the Son of man, the Christ, the              It speaks of the angels as the servants of the Son of man.

Servant of Jehovah, the Lamb who was slain, the King of              At least one of them that comes out of the temple'and, there-

Zion anointed by the Almighty to have dominion over all.             fore, out of the immediate presence of the Holy One, one of


                                          T,HE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 321


the angels that stand before God, acts as reaper in this          easily be received from the vision of the Son of man on the

scene. Two other angels act as messengers, and both pro-          great white cloud. But this is not the case: We must not

claim that the time is ripe and that it is the exact hour for     confuse things. There is a difference between the final judg-

the harvest of the earth to be gathered in. `One of them          ment and the end of this dispensation. And it is only of the

carries the, command directly from God, and announces to          latter that this passage speaks. The world is to come to an

the Son of man that it is time to reap, and that the hour is      end. History will reach a certain climax. The question is :

come for harvesting. This is not without significance. In         how shall history reach its termination ? How must we

the first place, we are given to understand that this is an       picture to ourselves the end of all history ? You understand,

important hour. The harvest must be gathered but not before       of course, that it certainly is not proper to picture to our-

it is fully ripe. It is a very significant hour indeed. All       selves this end of the world and of all history by a sudden

must be finished. And the Savior tells us that only God           appearance of Christ at any arbitrary moment to destroy His

knows of this hour. Even He, as the Christ, does not know         enemies and to deliver His Church. That may be easy to

it. For thus He tells us:      "But of that day and hour          imagine but that is not in'harmony with Scripture. What

knoweth no man, not even the angels in heaven, neither the        we must attempt to answer is the question: how shall the

Son, but the Father only."    And this He says in answer to       general course of history be thus that it leads and must lead

the question of His disciples concerning the end of the           to a climax and .end ? This question is, in a general way,

world. Matt. 24:36. It is entirely in harmony with this idea,     answered in the words of our text. How shall these things

that in the vision the angel comes out of the temple of God       be ? How must I conceive of the general course of the

and announces that the hour has now come, `and that the           history in this world that it must necessarily lead to the

reaping of the harvest may begin. The second angel brings         final catastrophe and to the coming of Christ? That this is,

a similar message to the angel that must gather the vines, the    indeed, the idea of the text is plain from the figure of the

clusters of the vine of the earth. He comes out from the          harvest. In the parable of the tares among the wheat the

altar and has power over fire. Although, therefore, he            Lord explains "the harvest is the end of the world." But

brings a similar message as that of the first angel, his mes-     it stands to reason that the harvest must be ripe before that

sage must be considered from a different viewpoint. With          end can come. The end cannot come at any arbitrary

the altar from which the angel proceeds we have become            moment. And hence the. question must be answered: what

acquainted\ before. In the sixth chapter we read of it and        is the course of the history of the world so as to lead neces-

there we heard how the cry for vengeance proceeded from           sarily to the end ?

under it, pressed from the souls of those that had been              Besides, we must not entertain the false notion that "the

slain for the Word of God. And then -they  received the           day of the Lord,, and the end of the world shall come in one

answer that they would have to wait a little while till also      moment, or even in one day. Such is often the conception

their brethren would have been slain for the same cause.          we have of that "day of the Lord." History shall continue

Hence, that the angel proceeds from the altar with the mes-       very regularly and normally and there will be nothing

sage-to reap tells us, that now all God's people have been        special or extraordinary #in that history of the world until

oppressed and have suffered from antichrist and that the time     of a sudden Christ comes and all will be ended, all in one

of vengeance has come. Also-  in the eighth chapter we read       moment, in the twinkling of an eye as it were. But this is,

of this same altar, upon which the angels minister unto the       evidently, not the case. The harvest, the end of the world

prayers of the saints which are followed by judgments on          implies big things and great events. Some time may very

the earth.' The same idea, therefore, is again expressed here.    well elapse before the harvest is finished. And the question

The time of judgment, the time that the prayers of all the        is : in that period. of the harvest of the world what shall be

saints shall be heard, has now come. Hence, it is also said       the order of events ? How must we conceive of the end of

that this angel has power over fire, a symbol of. the same        the world?  Of course, this would be an idle and vain ques-

truth, namely, that the reaping that is to be done is judg-       tion if Scripture did not reveal anything about this. But

ment and vengeance. We arrive, therefore, at this conclu-         now it is different. ,The Bible certainly does reveal to us

sion, first, that the harvest is symbolic, of judgment and        something about the order of .events,  in this great day of the

vengeance and, secondly, that the reapers or harvesters are       Lord. And also the passage we are now discussing gives us

Christ and His servants, His angels.                              at least a general indication of the order of the events that

   Thus far all is rather simple and clear.                       then shall `take place.
                                                                                                                           H.H.
   But a more difficult question we approach when we at-

tempt to explain the harvest as such.

   In order to understand the meaning of this harvest and
vintage, it is well that we bear in mind that here there is no                     c

mention of the judgment proper, that is, of the public judg-         "He that augmenteth his substance by interest and in-

ment before the throne of God, by which everyone will be          crease, gathereth it for him that hath pity on the poor."
rewarded according to his works. This impression might                                                            Proverbs 28 :8


 322 _                                         T H E   `STANDAR~D   B E A R E R


                                                                   that they alighted from their asses. The eagerness and
I/ A CLOUD OF WlTNESSES.jl joviality which characterizes the conclusion of a successful
                                                                   journey was not there. That they had obtained the food for

                                                                   which they went was evident, for the' asses were heavily

                     The Return to Egypt                           laden: But scanning the group Jacob saw one of them was

                                                                   missing, Simeon. With darkened faces and faltering lips the
              And their father -Isfrael  said unto them, If it     nine approached him and spoke. "The man, who is the
           waust  be so now, do this; . . .                        lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took `us for spies
              Take also you brother, and arise, go again           of the country. And we said unto him, We are true men ;
           unto the man:                                           we are no spies : we be twelve brethren, sons of our father;
              And  God Almighty give you mercy before the          one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in
           man,  that he muy  send away your other.brothe~-,       the land of Canaan. And the man, the lord of the country,
           and Benjanti@.  If I be bereaved of my children, I
                                                                   said unto us, Hereby shall I know .that  ye are true men ;
           aI+& bereaved. - GENESIS 43 :ll, 13, 14
                                                                   leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for

   In moody silence the ten sons of Jacob returned to their        the famine of your households, and be gone: and bring your

homes in Canaan. Their hearts were heavy and hurting               youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no

within them. They had hesitated to make a trip to Egypt,           spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your

and the outcome, had proved even worse than they had               brother, -and  ye shall traffick  in the land." Each word cut
anticipated. No sooner had they entered Egypt than they            deeply into the soul of the aged man. There seemed to be
had been accosted by the ruler of the land and accused of          no end to sorrow brought upon him by his children. First
being spies. The man had spoken to them very harshly and           there had been the shame that they had brought upon him
imprisoned them all in the king's dungeon.          After three    by their wicked and riotous living. Then there had been
days they had been released, except Simeon who was bound           their jealousy and hatred that they had maintained toward
before their eyes and kept in custody.' They were sent away        their younger brother, Joseph, because he had not taken
and told not to return again without Benjamin their youngest       part in their evil but had lived more righteously than they.
brother; it was a condition with which they could hardly           Then there had been the disappearance of Joseph, claimed
expect their father would allow them to comply. With heavy         to be an accident, but about which they still maintained a
hearts they made their journey in silence. Finally when they       guilty silence.    Now they returned from Egypt without
were nearly home, one of them opened a sack of grain and           Simeon, and they wanted to take Benjamin away also.
found in the mouth `of it the money which the Egyptians            Crushed by the'troubles of his divided house, the fruits of
were supposed to have taken as the price for the grain. To         his own bigamous life, Jacob cried out in rebellion, "Me
them it seemed to forebode nothing more than another occa-         have ye bereaved of my children : Joseph is not,. and Simeon
sion for trouble.                                                  is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are
                                                                   against me."
    This all the brothers could not understand. `There seemed

to have settled over their lives a cloud of mystery which             What were the men to say in reply to their father? His
their minds were not able to penetrate. Why, when every-           accusation was even more true than he himself realized. True,
one else was received so congenially in Egypt, were they           they had not been the direct cause of Sirneon's  imprisonment,
singled out for such harsh treatment? Why, when there              and it was not at all said that Benjamin would not return
was not a shred of real evidence against them, were they           again from Egypt. But they had been the cause of Joseph's
repeatedly accused of being spies ? Why had the bungling           departure. His cries for mercy still rung in their ears, but
Egyptians failed to keep the money which they had given            they had not heeded them. In their carnal hatred they had
them, leaving room for them to be accused. of stealing?            sold him for silver. Was not Simeon's imprisonment a
From a human point of view there was no reason for it all.         punishment of God upon them for their sin ? And could they
Again and again they searched their hearts, and always they        be sure that God would not see well to take also Benjamin
ended up with only one possible explanation, the hand of           away? Guilt seared their hearts as they looked with down-
the Lord was upon them. They had hated their younger               cast faces to the ground. It was Reuben who broke the
brother Joseph because he was more righteous than they,            confused silence by blurting forth, "Slay my two sons, if I
and had sold him for a slave to the Ishmaelites. Thereby           bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will
they had sinned against their father, the covenant of God,         bring him to thee again."    But Jacob would have none of
and God Himself. For many years they had kept it hidden,           such folly. Was he a man whose pains could be satiated with
not telling their father, hardly: mentioning it among them-        blood ? Revenge is a poor comforter, especially for a child.
selves, and even trying to ignore it in their own minds.           of God. To slay his own grandchildren would only bereave
But now the time .of recompense had come. With smarting            him the more. With firm resolve he answered back, "My
conscience they recognized this was the hand of the Lord.          son shall not go down with you ; for his brother is dead,

    Jacob could see it on the faces of his sons the moment         and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the

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


     which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with                  "I am God Almighty : be fruitful and multiply ; a nation .

     sorrow to `the grave." Surely faith and the comforts of grace             and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall

     had removed themselves far from the family of Jacob. For                  come out of thy loins ; and the land which I gave Abraham

     years they had seemed to be able to sin with impunity, not                and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee

     experiencing any evil effects.           But at last the time had come    will I give the land." Surely God would keep this promise.

     when God would purge them from their sins. It was that                    Jacob's seed had to continue. But in his per.plexity,  Jacob's

     purging fire of God that was touching the quick of their                  faith grew dim ; it ceased to give him light. Driven by his

     h    e    a    r    t    s    .                                           grief, Jacob's flesh lashed back in rebellion, "Wherefore

                                                                               dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had
          When the men turned to unload their beasts of burden.
                                                                               yet a brother ?' The answer was so very typical of a person
     yet another reminder of their dire state came to their atten-
                                                                               who has lost his mooring in faith, without comfort and with-
     tion. Not just one man's money was in his sack, but each
                                                                               out reason. His sons were quite right when they told him,
     one found his own in-  turn. Their guilty consciences would
                                                                               "The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred,
     not allow them to see it as a gesture of favor. It appeared
                                                                               saying, Is your father yet alive ? have ye another brother?
     to be some evil plot which was being formed to torment and
                                                                               and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could
     to torture them.
                                                                               we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother

          A deathly quiet fell over the household of Jacob. Each               down ?'

     man went about his own particular duties with hardly a
                                                                                   Then more kindly and sensibly Judah began to speak.
     word. There was nothing to say. Each man suffered. his
                                                                               "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go ; that we
     own guilty thoughts alone.             Meticulously they measured out
                                                                               may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little
     the grain from Egypt, observing the strictest rationing. `No
                                                                               ones. I will be surety for him ; of my hand shalt thou require
     one wanted more than was his due for all dreaded alike
                                                                               him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before
     the day' when it would be gone.               Searching glances were
                                                                               thee, then let me bear the blame for ever; for except we
     thrown ioward the sky, longing for the return of rain ; but
                                                                               had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time."
     the skies remained like brass, reflecting only the righteous-
                                                                               Was there something in Judah's tone of voice that spoke of
     ness of God, convicting each man of his sin. Finally the
                                                                               sincerity ? Had Judah, perhaps, showed himself more trust-
     day can e when their most frugal efforts proved unsuccess-
                                                                               worthy than the rest since his sad experience with Tamar?
-    ful; the grain from Egypt was gone. Anxiously they com-
               1                                                               Had he, perhaps, in former years always been more kindly
     passed the land searching for some other form of food. A
                                                                               disposed toward Joseph than the others ? Something there
     few nuts, a little honey, some resin and spices, luxuries in
                                                                               was about this speech of Judah's that led Jacob to recon-
     themsel?es,  but hardly sufficient to maintain life. Empty
                                                                               sider his rash affirmation and relent. Placing his trust in
     stomachs joined with their aching hearts to remind them of
                                                                               Judah's promise he answered, "If it must be so now, do
     their guilt. Still they dared not make the feared suggestion.
                                                                               this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and
     Each suffered by himself in silence.
                                                                               carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little

          Finally it was Jacob who could endure the gaunt looks                honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: and take

     of pain no .longer,  "Go again,"' he remonstrated. "Buy us                double money in your hand ; and the money that was brought

     a little food."          It was a foolish demand, for he meant that       again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your

     they should go without Benjamin. Jacob realized himself                   hand ; peradventure it was an oversight : take also your

     that it was impossible, but in desperation he suggested it any-           brother, and arise, go again unto the man." Broken of his

     way. This time it was Judah who stepped to the fore to                    rebellion Jacob began once again to give-  his sons wise

     speak fo:r the brothers.           "The man did solemnly protest unto     leadership and directions. But more valuable than all was

     us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother                 the prayer with which he concluded. "And .God Almighty

     be with /you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will              give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your

     go down and buy thee food: but if thou wilt not send him,                 other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my chil-

     we will inot  go down : for the man said unto us, Ye -shall               dren, I am bereaved."     Once again Jacob was brought to :a

     not see my face; except your brother be with you," It was                 position of faith. There was only one who could control the

     sad, the/perplexity into which the old man was thrown. On                 hearts and ways of men. To Him Jacob had to commit his.

     the one/ hand was the cruel power of the famine. On. the                  way. With a prayer of faith he gave his children into the

     other hand was the fearful uncertainty that seemed to over-               hand of the Lord.

     shadow `the lives of his children, the strange vicissitudes of
                                                                                  Thus it was that once again ten of the sons of Jacob came
     a ruler ,in Egypt, the guilty silence of his own sons that
                                                                               into the land of Egypt, this time with Benjamin among
     made it `so difficult for him to trust them. Torn between the
                                                                               them, so that in the presence of Joseph they might be led
     two, Jacob knew not which way to turn. And what made
                                                                               into a full and complete repentance for.,their  sins.
     it even more sad, he neglected the one great comfort which

     he had, the promises of his God. Had not God assured him,                                                                          B.W:


324                                         T H E   `STAN'DARD   B E A R E R


                                                                     in the text in verses 20 and 23 it will be well to take notice
111         F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T                        II    of some selected passages, from both the Old Testament and
                                                                     from the New Testament Scriptures.

                                                                        The idea of the "first-fruits" is a very prevalent one in
              Exposition of I Corinthians 15                         the Old Testament of God with His people. Thus we read

                               IV.                                   in Exodus 23 :19 : "The first of the first-fruits of thy ground
                                                                     shalt thou bring into the house of Jehovah thy God." The
                    (I Corinthians 15 :20-28)                        phrase "first of thy first-fruits" evidently refers to the very

                                                                     first fruits, and the first and the best of them. It seems that
                                b.
                                                                     even in the plant life the best fruits are generally those which

       We shall now continue our discussion which we began           are ripe first. That these must be brought into the house of
in our essay in the former issue of The Standard Bearer on           the Lord, into the tabernacle indicates that the entire harvest
the verses 20-28 of the Chapter under consideration.                 belonged to the Lord. The entire land and all that is therein
                                                                     belongs to him, so that what we have here is a part for
       We noticed in the former essay on this passage par-
                                                                     the whole, and that, too, the first and the best! Thus also we
ticularly that it is the clear and indisputable teaching of
                                                                     read in Numbers 15 :20 : "Of the first of' your dough ye shall
Scripture that Christ is the First-born of all creatures.
                                                                     offer up a cake for a heave-offering ; as the heave-offering of
This, we indicated, is the more basic truth when compared
                                                                     the threshing floor so shall ye heave it. Of the first of your
with the Scriptural `teaching that Christ is also the "first-
                                                                     dough ye shall give unto Jehovah a heave-offering through-
fruits."    It was for that reason that we first signalled the       out your generations."    Also here we have the idea of a
implicit truth of Scripture, as also taught here in this pas-
                                                                     part for the whole. By heaving the heave offering it was
sage, that Christ is the "First-born" Son of God!
                                                                     sanctified. This meant that a little of the dough was taken
       We will now call attention `to the truth of the Word of       and a little cake was baked and given to the priests, and so
God that Christ is the "first-fruits .of them that have slept."      the entire lump of dough from which the little was taken

       It may be beneficial at this point of the discussion to       was considered as holy as the heave-offering itself.

point out what, to our mind, is the relationship and distinc-           It is instructive to notice that the offering of the first-
tion between the truth that Christ is the First-born and that        fruits had also a. definite place in the Sabbatic calendar of
He is the First-fruits. It appears to us most likely, the            Israel in the Old Testament. Thus we read in Lev. 23 :9-11:
distinction between these two truths should be stated as             "And Jehovah Bpake  unto Moses, saying, speak unto the
follows: I'                                                          children of Israel, and say unto them, when ye are come into

       1. When Scripture speaks of Christ being the "First-          the land which I give unto you, and shalt reap the .harvest

born" emphasis is laid upon the fact that Christ is the              thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of

preeminent Son amongst all the sons of God, in His relation-         your harvest unto `the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf

`ship and the relationship of all the adopted sons to God.           before Jehovah, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after

In the truth that he is the First-born we see that it was            the sabbath the priest shall wave it." From this it is evident

the Father's good-pleasure that all the fulness  should dwell        that the "first-fruits" must, (1) follow upon the feast of the

in Him. As the First-born Son, in our human nature, He               unleavened bread, the Passover; (2) must be brought to the

is exalted above every name that is named, both in this age          Lord on the day after the Sabbath, that is on the first day

and in the ages to come. He is the Lord of lords and the             of the week. It really belongs to the things that are new;

King  of kings.                                                      the old is passed away and the new is come, and is now set

       2. However, when Scripture speaks of Christ as the            in the service, of the Lord. The "first-fruits" proclaim that
"First-fruits" the same preeminence of the Son of God in             presently all .things  shall be made new. Christ our Pass-
the flesh is taught from a slightly different viewpoint. He          over has been slain, and now we have the first-fruits of the
 is still the Son in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead            full harvest. Thus it was typified in the Old Testament
 dwells bodily ; He is still the One whom all the angels of God      ritual and worship.

are to worship. However, now the Scriptures speak of this               This point is also brought out by Paul in Remans  11:16 :
same Son of God, Immanuel, God-with-us, as He stands in              "And if the first-fruit is holy, so is the lump; and if the
 relationship to the full harvest, which shall become a reality      root is holy so are the branches." Paul is here discussing the .
in His Pamusia,  when He shall have come to dwell with us            so-called "Jewish-question."    He discusses the place of Is-
forever more. Then shall the tabernacle of God be with men.          rael as a nation in God'sicovenant,  and their rejection as a
       Thus briefly we would state the relationship and the dis-     nation in the New Testament dispensation. Now the Gentiles
 tinction in Scripture between the truth that Christ is the          are saved. And these Gentiles are holy. Why? Because they
 First-born and that He is the First fruits !                        were ingrafted into the tree of the Jews. And this tree is

       For a proper and correct understanding of what is meant       holy. And to illustrate this Paul says : if the root (the


                                            T H E   STANDARDBE~ARER                                                                   325


Jews) are holy so are the branches (the Gentiles). We                 quickening Spirit. Here we are dealing with the harvest of

Gentiles are simply ingrafted into the holy root, the root of         life out of death, and the final overcoming of the last "ene-
Jesse. This is just as with the little bit of the first-fruit cake    my," namely, death.          ,,~_

in relationship to the dough from which it is taken. Israel                 Death is an enemy,!            I

is that "first-fruit" cake and we are as Gentiles the dough.                Death is not natural. Death as such can not bear fruit.
..And  if the former is holy so are the latter. Confer Numbers        Fruit can only be born when death is destroyed. It is the
15 :20.                                                               wages of sin. It proclaims that there is no fruit. And it is

    There are other and more instructive passages in the              ranked with many other enemies. There are the principalities

New Testament Scriptures from which we could quote to                 and powers, Satan and all his hosts. Then too' there are the

demonstrate this truth and idea of the first-fruits. We shall         hordes of those who do not believe in the Lord, nor do they

call attention to just one more instance. We refer to Rev.            fall asleep in him. They are all' enemies which must be

14 :4 : "These are they that were not defiled with women ;            subjected to the feet of Christ the Ring. And they shall be

for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb             dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel.

whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among                     But should these all be destroyed, and not death, then
men to be, the first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb.               we still would not yet have conquered our greatest enemy !
And in their mouth was found no lie ; they are without                      The greatest enemy is death. And Christ reserves this
blemish."    On the very surface of this passage it is clear that     "enemy" for the last. It is the greatest demonstration that
"first-fruits" is fruits of the redemptive work of Christ, and        all things are subjected to Him. And it shows more than
consist in a life of sanctification.. It refers to children of        aught else that His is the preeminence. It is the demonstra-
God as they are distinct from the world. They are the                 tion of the great power of God, powerfully revealed to be the
(144,000) hundred       and forty-four thousand, having the           Son of God!
name of the Lamb and of the Father written upon their
                                                                            Death must be destroyed. It must be wholly abolished.
`foreheads. And these sing a new song, worshipping God
                                                                      And in its stead must come life. And therefore corruption,
in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
                                                                      and the fading away must cease. Death must be wholly
And thus they are even now in this life some "first-fruits"
                                                                      swallowed up in victory! And when this is come to pass
of God's creation. Compare James 1 :18.
                                                                      then all things shall be subject to the Christ.
    From the foregoing survey of the truth of the Scriptures
                                                                            Forsooth, then shall all things be torn from the prince
concerning the "first-fruits" it is quite evident:
                                                                      of this world and from the dominion of death, and the en-
    1. That the term "fruits" in this term refers to the              tire Cosmos will be set in the service of God. And when the
fruits of the land of Israel, as they are a holy people. It           entire Cosmos shall be set in the service of God, by the resur-
refers to the fruits of holiness, positively in the service .of.      rected saints, then shall God `be all in all. God only shall
Go&                                                                   then be served in the entire new heaven and new earth.
  2. That the term "first" refers to first in time but also in              Now this has been preached by Paul to the Corinthians !
quality .and excellence. It is a part for the whole, a guaran-        And thus it has been received. And, therefore, let no one
tee that the entire harvest too will follow.                          say. that there is no resurrection. Let none say that the
   3. That applied to the salvation which we now have in              preaching is -empty and that faith is empty. Nor let any
faith, it refers to this as being "first-fruits" of the Spirit in     say that those who die in the Lord are still in their sins.
our hearts. We have a small beginning of the eternal joy              Neither let it be said that those who-  believe in Christ believe X
in ,our hearts. Presently the full joy of the full harvest-           only for this life ; that they are of all men most pitiable.
time.                                                                       For Christ is the risen Lord, now at the right hand of
    4. That when applied to Christ's resurrection it is very          God, and, at this very moment, reigns over the nations.
understandable that Paul would speak of this as the first-                  He shall triumph gloriously.
fruits of those who slept.
                                                                            Death shall be no more. And all `tears shall be wiped
    Now concerning the latter the text speaks. Christ is              from our eyes.
become the first-fruits of them. In the phrase *"first-fruits
                                                                           For through man came death, and through man is also
of them that have slept" it is evident that we are dealing
                                                                      the resurrection.
with a part of the whole. The whole is when all the dead in
                                                                            Yes, the fact of death by one man is a universal ex-
Christ shall rise in his Parousia!  The part is Christ's resur-
                                                                      perience for every man. Be,  it so. Howbeit, the fact of
rection, inclusive of his glorious ,ascension  and sitting at the
                                                                      Christ's resurrection is a glorious reality for all who believe
right hand of God. And the latter is the guarantee that the
                                                                      in Christ.
former shall surely be accomplished.
                                                                             I think of the song : You `ask me how I know He lives ?
    However, it should be borne in mind that in this case we
are not. dealing with the harvest-time in the natural seasons,               He lives within my heart!
but are dealing with the work of God in Christ by the                                                                                 G.L.

                                                                      a


326                                        T H E   -ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R


                                                                   fervently on the Committee of Contact said that in no un-
                I N   H I S   F E A R '                            certain terms in 1953, even though now they maintain a
                                                                   document that swallows many of the errors of that theory

                                                                   of "Common Grace."      But we do not believe that ALL who

            And What About The Children?                           say they will never go back are talking out of both sides
                                                                   of their mouths. We believe and want to believe that many,
       It is our desire to be helpful.                             who    "rebuked" us personally in the years shortly after

       That does not mean .that this was not our desire in ;he     1953 for writing that the gate was open for such a return,
past. The rubric IW HIS FEAR surely must be written in             did `not, at the time they sought to "rebuke," want to go
His fear. -And that means that it is written to be helpful,        back and do not want to go back today. It is with these in
to give help and direction, comfort and warning along the          mind that we wish to say a few things at this time to try
way of our earthly pilgrimage through this vale of tears and       to be helpful. Therefore we ask the question: And What
wilderness of sin and corruption.                                  About The Children ?

                                                                       We mean, of course, if these n&ertheless  yield to pres-
       It does mean that we have a special help in mind at this
                                                                   sure and find it too hard to confess that they have been
time.
                                                                   deceived and to reject wholeheartedly the conditional theol-
    It means that we- have a specific group of readers in          ogy that led to all this sad chapter in their ecclesiastical
mind.                                                              lives, what are they goin,0 to do about their children ? The

    There are those who always maintained that they loved          three points might be withdrawn as that .which must be

the truth as it has been taught and maintained in our              signed and be declared binding upon them for membership in

churches from 1924 onward to this very day. Even through           these churches that cast us out because we would not sign

all the painful days of the conflict that raged in 1953 and        them and ref&ed  to be bound by them. But the children of

the years that followed, they maintained this to be their          these who return, will' they be freed from the lie of these

position. And they also maintained that they took the stand        three points and from the practices which are based upon

`that they did and took sides as they did in order to defend       them ? Will their  children be taught that God's grace is

that truth. But today they see very clearly that they will         sovereign and particular? Will their children be taught the

soon stand before the choice of joining the churches which         antithesis ? Will they be impressed with the truth of the in-

cast us out because of that truth in 1924 or . . . . ( ?)          fallibility of the Scriptures ? Will they be warned against

                                                                   godless. unions and the evil of the remarriage of divorced
  Indeed what shall we put in there to fill out the sentence?
                                                                   persons ? The .churches that cast us out in 1924 have made
Therk is the alternative of coming back to tis and maintain-
                                                                   history and still are making  history. We can, therefore, un-
ing that truth with us.       Therein we would not boast but
surely would rejoice. The  letter sent out by our churches         derstand the reluctance of those who love' the Protestant
                                                                   Reformed truth to go back n~zer  to these churches after all
and drawn up by our last synod makes that abundantly
                                                                   this history has been made.
clear.    Some would desire to struggle on with what is left
-I and at the moment what will be left is very indefinite-            Indeed, we are not at all against friendlier relations with

and would consider it a matter of calling before God to do         those who cast us out. And that we state that they have

so. Still others cannot for conscierice  before God-we want        made history is not the expression of a bitter or conceited

to believe that and do not want to ..accuse  them of pride -       heart. We did not leave that denomination in hatred and

go back and  declare  by that act that our history since 1924      by schism. We did not leave.  We were put out; office

was one continuous sin of separatism and schism over minor,:       bearers were "deposed" by the Classis.  Even  then, it was at

unessential things. Some of these would welcome a third            that time our desire to stay in the mother church. It was

choice,,: A..denomination not too far removed from the Prot-       our desire to-be helpful then and to seek to keep her pure in

estant Reformed Churches and one that does not demand              doctrine and in walk. And today we have that same desire ;

signing of the three .points of "Common Garce."  At any rate       but b-cause of the history-which to no little degree is the

from east and west dissatisfaction is being voiced. Aware-         result of that theory of "Common Grace" -we understand

ness of being misled is not silenced but openly confessed.         that the breach between us doctrinally is wider than ever and

Acknowledgment of being deceived is widespread. Deep               feel it our God-given duty to remind those, who fear being

concern as to the future fills many hearts and minds today-        "forced" back, that this is the case. We remind them for their

as never before. Confidence in leadership is shaken. And           own sakes,, and we remind them for the sake of their cov-

that prospect of being forced i&o a return to the denomina-        enant youth who will grow up in a spheie  which once these

tion that cast us out is becoming m&e real than ever before        parents were convinced was not the right place for them

as the time of synodical  meetings draws nigh. To many the         and for their children. It is to try to be helpful to those who

v&i-y-  thought of such a return is repulsive. They declare it     declare that they still love the Protestant Reformed truth that

openly. Indeed in 1953 and shortly thereafter even. their          we write these lines and not because we would irritate those

leaders' said that very same thing. Those who labored so           who believe it th+  God-given duty to remain in these


                                            T       H      E            STANDARD-BEARPR                                                      327
                                                                                                                                   . -


churches tllat  cast us out. If we do irritate, it is not be-           They starid  as firm as you ? And do they riot See your"return

 cause we sought it but because that greater breach actually            as a sign that all is well and' that thky o.ugl%:-indeed  to

 does exist today.                                                      support wholeheartedly and believe .without.:reservations  all

                                                                        that they are taught? Do we have a right before them-to
     One thing that we consider so very striking, as more               say nothing of a right before God-to bqing  them into a
 calmly now we can look back over the last,  six or seven               sphere where they are constantly in a state of confusion and
 years, is that the cry of "solely a church political issue" is         where they must be disloyal to those to whom they must
 so completely forgotten, and the doctrinal issue-which we              come for instruction and guidance ?
 always maintained was the real issue, &en in this rubric-
                                                                           And if, as one of the members of that committee of
 is now so prominent in all the discussion on the floor of
                                                                        contact so vehemently insisted, it is only a church political
 Classis  and in magazine. The camouflage is now removed,
                                                                        issue that separates us, would it not in the fear of the Lord
 and now some dare to speak openly, and to write, that doc-
                                                                        be the proper thing to seek affiliation once again with us ?
 trinally thkir position is changed from what it was prior to
                                                                        If the truth is in our churches - and it was "only a political
 1953. Others perhaps in sincerity- we will not judge-
                                                                        issue" -the church political way will be right. And if the
 actually believed that it was simply a church political issue.
                                                                        truth is with us a return to the right way from an evil way
 But what is so striking today is that these leaders in the
                                                                        is assured. But if the truth is not there you cannot, expect
 schism and defenders of the heretical statements speak only
                                                                        the right church political way. either. Now that the whole
of the doctrinal issue, and as far as it is concerned are
                                                                        history `takes on a new perspective and the conviction is
 willing to compromise with the three points of' "common
                                                                        growing by hard facts that this was the `direction in which
 grace." Indeed some of them see the folly and warn the synod
                                                                        the leaders were already going in 1953, can we not sit down
 not to adopt the report of the committee, for then it would
                                                                        calmly in His fear and discuss this church political issue and
 be a fourth form. But the committee did not see this. These
                                                                        the doctrinal difference that led to the schism of 1953 ?
 same leaders who fought so vigorously against the Declara-
                                                                           Is that no_t  our duty before .God?  And what about the
 tion of Principles which is thoroughly Reformed- even
                                                                        children ? Do we not have an obligation as far as they are
 according to their judgment and statements @on  the matter
                                                                        concerned to provide the very best and not the next best?
 -now are ready to rush and to advise their people to rush
                                                                        It is not simply a matter of looking out now for a new
 into adopting a fourth form that is ready to swafiow  some
                                                                        church roof. It still is a matter of the truth, of the glory
 of the error which led to our separate existence as Protestant
                                                                        of God and of our covenant obligation in regard to our
 Reformed Churches.
                                                                        children. Ask your leaders to examine our Declaration of
     But let those things be. There are more serious ques-              Principles as carefully and honestly as they did the three
 tions to ask now. Those covenant children - your children              points. Make B Careful study yourself of this and of the
 and your grandchildren-are they going to embrace the                   various church political steps that you claim were evil on
 truth in such a merger or are they going to go the way of              our part. Feel free to discuss .the  matter with us. And for
 least resistance and go along with the crowd to defend and             your children's sake and for the sake of your calling over-
 serve the purpose of a doctrine, which we were all con-                against them (grandchildren too before whom you set an
 vinced at one time, might not be defended and maintained ?             example) look farther into the future than the next year or
 You may argue for yourself-and we have heard much of                   two. After all this history since 1924, is this the time to
 that in this and in similar circumstances- that you know               take your children and grandchildren back ? It is back, is
 the truth. You will  not sign that which is not the truth of           it not, and not forward ?
 God's Word. You know all the aspects of the truth and no                                                                                 J.A.H.

 one shall ever take it away from you. You will miss the

 positive preaching. You will be inwardly grieved to hear

 something else than the truth. The questioning of the in-

 fallibility of God's Word, the catering to the philosophies of

 the world., the failure to discipline union members and "re-                                    IN MEMORIAM

 married" divorced persons all will bring grief to your soul.              Our Society wishes to express its heartfelt sympathi  to one of
 But no man shall take from you that tionderful  truth of the           its members, Mr. George Vink, in the passing away of his father,
 Word of God that you confessed with us in the years pr?or
                                                                                            M R .   C O R N E L I U S   V I N K
 to 1953. As we said, we heard that more than once in the

 past and found that it did not take too long before little by             May our heavenly Father comfort the bereaved with the as-

 little a subtle change did take place; and although the                surance that He doeth all things well.

 knowledge of what was learned in the past remained, the
                                                                                                           The Men's Society of the First Prot.
 practices of another doctrine are condoned, defended and the
                                                                                                           Ref. Church of Grand Rapids, Mich.
 error of the lie does not sting as it did in the past.
                                                                                                             Prof. H.. C. Hoeksema, President

     Our question still remains : And what of the children ?                                                 Mr. S. Beiboer, Secretary

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


                                                                    stantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon.  How, then, could it be
II Contending For The Faith                                         possible to maintain that the pope is the successor of the
                                                                    apostle Peter ?

                                                                        It is certainly an historical fact that all the peculiar doc-

                                                                    trines and teachings of the Romish Church wei-e  not received
          The Church and the Sacraments                             and adopted `in the early Church as matters of faith. In

                                                                    his Systematic Theology, Hodge writes on this matter as
         THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                                follows (Vol. I, 123-125) : "It is, however, a historical fact

                                                                    that all the peculiar doctrines of Romanism were not received
                VIEWS ON THE CHURCH
                                                                    in the early Church as matters of faith. Such doctrines as 1

                  FORMAL PRINCIPLE                                  the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome ; the perpetuity of the
                                                                    apostleship, the grace of orders ; transubstantiation ; the

                           (continued)                              propitiatory sacrifice of the Mass ; purgatory ; the immaculate
                                                                    conception of the Virgin Mary, etc., etc., can all be historic-

   We were busy in our last article with a discussion of            ally traced in their origin, gradual development, and final
Rdme's argument of "common consent." Rome claims that               adoption. As it would be unjust to determine the theology
it is unanimous in its teachings and doctrines. It also claims      of Calvin and Beza from the Socinianism of modern Geneva;
that all the Christians in the midst of the world are con-          or that of Luther from the theology of the Germans of our
fined to the Church of Rome, and that therefore all the             day ; so it is utterly &reasonable to infer that because the
Christians in the midst of the world are unanimous in what          Latin Church believes all that the Council of Trent pro-
they believe. And we concluded our last article with the            nounced to be true, that such was its faith in the first
observation that, should this claim of Rome be correct,             centuries of its history. It is not to be denied that for the
namely that all the people of God are found only- in the            first hundred years after the Reformation the Church of
Church of Rome, their appeal to their argument of "common           England was Calvinistic ; then under Archbishop Laud and
consent" would by no means be conclusive. Rome must not             the Stuarts it becgme  almost thoroughly Romanized ; then it
only prove that they are unanimous today in what they               became to a large extent Rationalistic, so that Bishop Burnet
teach, but also that the Church was always unanimous also           said of the men of his day, that Christianity seemed to be
in the past:                                                        regarded as a fable "among all persons of discernment." To
                                                                    this succeeded a general revival of evangelical doctrine and
   We have already made the observation that there was
but one Church of God and of Christ during the first ten            piety, and that has been followed by a like revival of Roman-
and one half centuries of the New Dispensation. And it is           ism and Ritualism. Mr. Newman says of the present time:
sure@  an historical fact that all the peculiar doctrines of the    "In the Church of England, we shall hardly find ten or
Romish church today were not received and adopted in the            twenty neighboring cler,ymen  who agree together; and that,
early Church (in the early part of the New Dispensation)            not in non-essentials of religion, but as to what are its ele-
as matters of faith. Incidentally, this was one of the argu-        mentary and necessary doctrines; or as to the fact and
ments of Martin Luther in a debate with a certain Dr. Eck,          definite faith required for salvation." Such is the testimony
a Roman Catholic theologian. Dr. Eck had -forced the Ger-           of history. In no external visible Church, has there been a
man reformer to say that, in his opinion (Luther's opinion)         consent to any form of faith, sewper  et ab ,owtnibm.

some of the teachings of John  Huss had been unjustly con-             The Latin Church is no exception to this remark. It is

demned. John Huss; we must bear in mind, had been con-              an undeniable fact of history that Aria&m prevailed for

demned by the Romish Church in its Council of Constance.            years both in the East and West ; that it received the sanction

Dr. Eck, therefore, had forced Martin Luther to take his            of the vast majority of the bishops, of provincial and

stand openly on the side of a man whom Rome had con-                ecumenical councils, and of the Bishop of Rome. It is no less

demned. This, we understand, would be enough to seal the            certain that in the Latin Church, Augustinianism, including

conviction of the German reformer. However, Luther called           all the characteristic doctrine of what is now called Calvin-

attention to the fact that the .Eastern  Catholic Church had        ism, was declared to be the true faith by council after council,

never acknowledged the supremacy of the bishop of Rome.             provincial and general, and by bishops and popes. Soon,

And, prior to the middle of the eleventh century, the Eastern       however, Augustinianism lost .its ascendency.  For seven or

Catholic Church had been a part of the one Church of God            eight centuries no one form of doctrine concerning sin, grace,

and of Christ. Luther, therefore, showed conclusively that          and predestination prevailed in the Latin Church. August-

the doctrine of the supremacy of the pope of Rome had not           inianism, Semi-Pelagianism, and Mysticism (equally irrecon-

always been a doctrine of the Church of God and of Christ.          cilable with both), were in constant conflict ; and that, too,

The great councils of the early Christian Church knew               on questions on which the Church had already pronounced
nothing of the papal supremacy of the bishop of Rome, and           its judgment. It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth
then we refer to the great Church Councils of Nicea,  Co&           century that the Council of Trent, after long conflict within


                                                 T H E   STANl3.AR.D   B E A R E R                                                           329


      itself, gave its sanction to a modified form of Semi-Pelagian-      Holy Scriptures. We have already quoted from the decrees-of

      ism.                                                                the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, and have noted in

                                                                          these decrees that that Council declared that the'.unwritten'
          The claim, therefore, for common consent, as understood                                                               -_ -1.. e__  --;--;
                                                                          traditions (unwritten in distinction from the written-Word-
      by Romanists, is contrary to history. * It is inconsistent with
                                                                          of God) must be received and venerated with an equal
      undeniable facts. This is virtually admitted by Romanists
                                                                          affection of piety and reverence with the Holy Scriptures.
      themselves. For with them it is common to say, We believe
                                                                          According to Rome the office of tradition is to convey a
      because the fifth century believed. But this is a virtual ad-
                                                                          knowledge of doctrines, precepts, and institutions not con-                  .
      mission that their peculiar faith is not historically traceable
                                                                          tained in Scripture and also to serve as a guide to the proper .
      beyond the fifth century. This admission of a want of all
                                                                          understanding `of what is therein written. Tradition, there-
      historical evidence of "common consent" is also involved, as
                                                                          fore, in the Church of Rome is both the supplement and in-
      before remarked, in their constant appeal to the authority of
                                                                          terpretation of the written Word of God. In the strict sense
      the Church. What the Church says is a matter of faith, we,
                                                                          of the word, the pope alone is infallible in matters of faith
      the traditionists affirm, are bound to believe, has always been
                                                                          and life, but, in order to be thus infallible, he must also be
      a matter of faith. The argument' amounts to this. The
                                                                          such in the judging of the sources of faith and in the inter-
      Church believes on the ground of common consent. The proof
                                                                          pretation or determination of what is Scripture and Tradi-
      that a thing is a matter of common consent, and always has
                                                                          tion, in the determination of what constitutes the authority
      been, is' that the Church now' believes it." - end of quote
                                                                          of the church fathers, of the church councils, canonization of
      f r o m   H o d g e .
-_                                                                        saints, etc. (see Dogmatics of H. Bavinck, Vol. I, 457), `and
          A third argument that may be advanced against the               the power and authority of the pope really transcends that
      Roman Catholic doctrine of Tradition is that the common,            of the Word of God. He stands above the Word of God,                              _
      ordinary people or laity do not have access to it. Tradition,       judges its contents and significance. Scripture does need
      we understand, must be a rule of faith for the people. Tradi,       tradition, the confirmation of the pope, but tradition does
      tion is supposed to have equal authority with the Word of           not need the Holy Scriptures. Tradition .does  not supple-
      God. Should not all the people then have access to this rule        ment the Scripture, but the Scriptures do supplement Tradi-
      of faith ? Should it not be in the possession of all ? Such,
                                                                          tion. Scripture alone is insufficient, but Tradition is suffi-
      however, is not the case. This tradition is scattered through
                                                                          cient: If there be two standards of doctrine of equal author-
      ecclesiastical records of some eighteen centuries. How can
                                                                          ity, the one the explanatory and infallible interpreter of the
 the people know whether the doctrines which the Romish
      Church teaches today have been taught by the Church                 other, it is of necessity the interpretation `which determines
 throughout the ages ? How can the people know that its                   the faith of the people. Instead, therefore, of our faith resting
 teachings enjoy the unanimous. consent of all since the be-              on the testimony of God as recorded in His Word, it rests

 ginning of the .New  Dispensation 7 They simply cannot know.             on what poor, fallible, often fanciful, prejudiced and benighted

      They have no access to this proof. They must believe what           men tell us is the meaning of that Word (Hodge) . Man

      the Church (the clergy) teaches. They are required to be-           and his authority take the place of the Word of God. And
 lieve upon the peril of their souls doctrines which they can-            it is an historical fact that the Scriptures have been made of
 not possibly prove.                                                      no account wherever the authority of tradition has been ad-

          Fourthly, Rome contends that the Bible is too difficult,        mitted. Our Lord said that the Scribes and Pharisees made

      too mysterious a book to be read and interpreted by the             the Word of God of no account or effect by their traditions,

      common people. The Bible must be interpreted for them.              that they taught for doctrines the commandments of men.
      Tradition must serve to help the people to understand the           This is also true historically of the Church of Rome. A great
      Scriptures more properly. Now we may certainly remark               mass of doctrines and. rites and ordinances and institutions,
      that the Bible is characterized by profundity. In the Scrip-        of which the Scriptures know nothing, has been imposed on
 tures we surely encounter the truths of the living God
                                                                          the reason, conscience, and life.of the people. How little the
      which become ever more unfathomable as we read about them
                                                                          mass of Romanists are. acquainted with the Word of God
      and study them. But it is certainly true that the Word of God
                                                                          and live out of the infallibly written Word of -God! How
      is also characterized by perspecuity,  clearness. The apostle
      John tells us in one of his epistles that "we all know and          ignorant they are of the Word of God! In fact, this is true
      need no man to teach us."       But, if the Bible is such a         in all churches when the people simply accept and hold for
      difficult book to tread  and understand what must one think         true whatever the Church says and decrees. This ignorance

      of Tradition which must serve to help the people ? The              of the masses is not something which is to be confined to

      people of the Romish Church surely need help to interpret           the Roman Catholic Church. It is-very general also today.

 for them Tradition, to help them understand that which must              People simply accept, without investigation or study, what-
      throw light upon the Holy Scriptures.                               ever the Church has spoken and decreed.

          In the `fifth place, Tradition destroys the authority of the                                                                    H.V.


330                                            THE.  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                     pressed in the portion of the text that is not quoted here:
II The Voice of Our Fathers                                          "But God commendeth his love toward us . . ." Hence, it
                                                                     is altogether of God, not of us.

                                                                        The second passage cited by the fathers in this connec-

                 The Canons of Dordrecht                             tion is I John 3:9:  "Whosoever is born of God doth not
                                                                     commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot
           PART Two - EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS                       sin, because he is born of God." Concerning this text we

                                                                     may note : 1) That it was undoubtedly chosen because of its
                   FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE
                                                                     reference to regeneration and in connection with the fathers'
             OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF,  THE SAINTS                     charge that the Arminians by their denial of perseverance

                  REJECTION OF ERRORS                                render ineffectual the grace of regeneration. 2) Again, this
                                                                     passage brings out the connection between preservation and
                      Article 3 (concluded)                          regeneration. If you deny the preservation of the saints,

       In this connection we must still give our attention to the    you must deny the efficacy  of regeneration. For preservation
Scripture passages cited. The first is Romans 5 :8, 9, quoted        simply means, in part, that the new life;  the life of regenera-
in part in the article: "That' while we were yet sinners,            tion, is preserved in the saints even unto the end. 3) And
Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified              the text plainly teaches that "once  regenerated is always
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."             regenerated."    For he that is born of God "cannot sin." In
Concerning this proof-text we may note the following: 1)             other words, the life of regeneration cannot be changed
It undoubtedly was chosen in connection with the charge              about into the life of unregeneration. And why not? Because
that the Arminian conception renders ineffectual the grace           "his seed remaineth in him." 4) And once more, this is
of justification. This is plain from the reference to justifica-     absolutely unconditional. It is all of `God,  not at all of man.

tion in the text itself: "being now justified by his blood."            The third passage quoted is John 10 128, 29: "And I

2) Also this text does not speak of preservation or persever-        give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish,

ance as such, but it implies preservation and perseverance.          neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,

For the text looks to the end, to the day of judgment and of         which gave them me, is greater than all ; and no man is

the execution of God's righteous judgment. This is the plain         able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Concerning

implication of the statement that "we shall be saved from            this text we .may  note: 1) That It speaks directly of

wrath through him."         Our previous contention, and the         preservation and of our continued keeping by Christ. 2)

contention of this third article of the rejection, therefore,        That it speaks of this wonder of grace not from the view-

that you can never separate between the wonder of preser-            point of its being perseverance on our part, but from the

vation and the other wonders of grace in the "order -of              viewpoint of its being preservation on the part of God in

salvation" is clearly supported by this Scripture passage.           Christ. We are in the hand of Christ. Christ holds us. And

3) And thus we must notice that the text proceeds from               no one is able to pluck us out of Christ's hand. 3) That the

the fact of our justification in the blood of Christ to what         text plainly teaches that this preservation by God in Christ

must with absolute certainty be the consequence of that              is absolutely sure: "they shall never perish." 4) That the

justification, namely, ,that we shall be saved from wrath            reason for this certainty is based upon the fact that "My

through Christ. And, in fact, the text even emphasizes that          Father . . . is greater than all," and upon the fact that this

this is "much more then."       That is, whoever is justified by     Father, the Triune God, Who is "greater than all"-and

Christ's blood is still more certainly saved from the wrath          therefore, greater than any enemy or opposing power that

of God through, Christ. The Arminian conception that one             may seek to destroy the sheep-has committed these sheep

can be covered.by  the blood of Christ and still finally become      into the hand of Christ. 5) That the beauty of this passage

subject to. the wrath of God is absolutely false. Either one         lies especially in the fact that it so clearly connects our

is justified by the blood of Christ and then he can never,           preservation with our eternal election. At the same time we

under the righteous judgment of God,. be the object of               may note that' there is absolutely no conditional element

God's wrath, since God, Who is righteous, cannot punish              mentioned in either the text or the context. The Arminian

the righteous. Or, if one is the object of the wrath of God,         `cannot possibly say here that being Christ's sheep is de-

he is not righteous before God because he has not been justi-        pendent on your believing.          For the context teaches the

fied by the blood of Christ. Justification cannot be rendered        very opposite. Christ says to the unbelieving Jews: "Ye

ineffectual. 4) And finally, it must be noted that the presenta-     believe not, because ye Bre  not of my sheep, as I said unto

tion of the text is absolutely unconditional. Christ died for        you.`> vs. 26. Hence, the Arminian has no right to quote a

us.. Because Christ. died for us, we are justified by His            passage like the above, and he has no claim to the comfort

blood. And because we are justified, we shall certainly be           and assurance of words such as these. His doctrine is a

saved from wrath through Him. And there is no condition              corrupt and humanistic doctrine.' He cannot derive it from

attached. What, in fact, is the source of it all ? That is ex-       the Scriptures. He can only try to impose it upon the Scrip-

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


tures, and then only at the price of wresting and twisting                                                         commit a sin unto death ? Either he is no true believer,"or.

the infallible Word of God.                                                                                        he does not and cannot commit the sin unto death. Both

                                        4: * * *                                                                   are not possible. We may indeed grant that an apparent be-

           Article 4. Who teach: That true believers and regen-                                                    liever, one who is outwardly a believer, a member of the
              erate can sin  the sin unto death or against `Se Holy                                                church as it exists visibly on earth, one who is of the cov-
              S p i r i t .   S i n c e   t h e   s a m e   A p o s t l e   J o h n ,   a f t e r   h a v i n g
                                                                                                                   enant, can commit this sin. In fact, we may safely say that
              spoken in the fifth chapter of his first epistle, vss. 10
              and 17, of those who sin unto death and having for-                                                  it is only in the sphere of the covenant and of the church
             bidden to pray fo; them, immediately adds to this In
             vs. 18: "We know that whosoever is begotten of God                                                    that this sin can be committed. But for a true believer, that
              sinneth not (meaning a sin of that character), but he                                                is, one who is elect, to commit this sin is impossible. This
              that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil                                                sin is possible only for an Esau, a reprobate. Nor, in the
              one toucheth him not," I John 5:18.
                                                                                                                   second place, does Scripture anywhere `state that it is the
   The above translation can be allowed to stand without
                                                                                                                   regenerate who do and can comniit  this sin. Jesus makes
change.
                                                                                                                   mention of this sin in connection with the charge of the
   As far as the error that is rejected in this article is
                                                                                                                   wicked scribes, who accused Him of casting out devils by
concerned we must understand, first of all, that a real Ar-
                                                                                                                   the prince of the devils.     The apostle John; as this article
minian  must indeed be a hypocrite in order even to bring
                                                                                                                   notes, `clearly mak&  a distinction. between those who com-
the argument that a true believer and i-egenerate  man can                                                         mit this sin and those who are born of God. The passage to
sin the sin against the Holy Spirit. In the first place, the
                                                                                                                   which the Arminians often appeal in this connection is that
Arminian does not believe in regeneration.. He speaks of
                                                                                                                   in Hebrews 6 :4-G, which undoubtedly refers to this same
regeneration `and the regenerate,. but he does not teach the
                                                                                                                   sin unto death from a little different viewpoint : "For  it is
truth of regeneration. The Arminian limits the work of
                                                                                                                   impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have
God in the `matter of salvation to a kind of divine help. And                                                      tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
the Scriptural doctrine of regeneration maintains that re-                                                         Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, `and
generation is "a new creation, a resurrection from the dead,
                                                                                                                   the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to
a making alive, which God work:  in us wifhout  us." Canons
                                                                                                                   renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to
III, IV, 12. And of course, if the Arminian first empties
                                                                                                                   themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open
the concept "regeneration" of its true content in order to
                                                                                                                   shaltie."    But without going into detail concerning the mean-
pour into that concept his own Arminian content, denying
                                                                                                                   ing of this passage, we may immediately notice: 1) That
the very meaning of the term, he can very easily  teach also
                                                                                                                   while it indeed describes those who fall away in very strong
that these regenerate-in-the-Arminian-sense can sin the sin
                                                                                                                   terms, and expresses that from a certain point of view they
unto death. Actually, however, one cannot really' discuss the                                                      have come very close to the kingdom of heaven, it never-
matter concerned in this article with the genuine Arminian,
                                                                                                                   theless nowhere literally states that those who fall away are
since he and we would be talking about two  different things
                                                                                                                   regenerate. Even for the Arminian, therefore, this passage
when we say "regenerate."                          In the second place, the Ar-                                    is a matter of interpretation, not of literal statement. 2) That
minian  cannot truly speak about the sin against the Holy'
                                                                                                                   the interpretation of the various descriptive terms of this pas-
Ghost. For the Arminians are agreed with the Socinians,
                                                                                                                   sage in Hebrews must be made in the light of the rest of
who deny the personal existence of the Holy Ghost and
                                                                                                                   Scripture, especially such passages as I John 3':9  and I John
teach that the Spirit is merely a power or influence of the
                                                                                                                   5 :16-l&  which forbids the interpretation that the men of
Son. Hence, here again the Arminian and the Reformed man                                                           Hebrews 6:4-6 are regenerate and true believers. Hence,
would  be speaking of two entirely different matters tiheu
                                                                                                                   the Arminian can make the statement and the claim which is
they spoke of this sin against the Holy Ghost.                                                     '               condemned in this article by our fathers, but he cannot pos-
   Bearing in mind these Arminian incpnsistencies,  how-                                                           sibly make this claim with any semblance of a legitimate ap-
ever, we may take note of the error that is rejected here.                                                         peal to Holy Scripture.
That Scripture speaks of a sin unto death and a sin against

the Holy Ghost is well-known. The apostle John is not                                                                  And on the side of the Reformed truth is the fact which

alone in the mention of this sin. He speaks of it as a sin                                                         our fathers emphasize in this article, namely, that Scripture

unto death. in I John 5. The Lord Jesus Himself speaks                                                             very clearly distinguishes between those who commit the

of the sin against the Holy Spirit, Mark 3 :28,  29: "Verily                                                       sin unto death and those who are regenerate, teaching that

-1 say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of                                                       "whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begot-

men, and blasphemies wherewith soever  they shall baspheme.                                                        ten of God Geepeth  himself, and that wicked one toucheth

But he that shall blaspheme against the .Holy Ghost hath                                                           him not."      Moreover, we may note, in conclusion, that this

never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."                                                         "sinneth not" and "keepeth himself" proceeds from regenera-

However, the Arminian teaches that it is possible for the                                                          tion. Who is he-that sinneth not and that keepeth himself ?.

believers and regenerate to commit this sin. .In this connec-                                                      It is he tlznt is borts of God. And the plain implication is
tion we may notice, in the first place, that to a Reformed                                                         that it is exactly because of his regeneration that he does not

man this is a contradiction in terms. How can a true believer                                                      commit this sin unto death, yea, `cannot commit it.     H.C.H.

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


                                                                            In the set of rules adopted by our Synod in 1957-58
                DECENCY and .ORDER                                      mention is not made of this matter. Now it might be argued
                                                                        that it was not .necessary  to express this because it is al-

                                                                        ready expressed in the Church Order proper and,. of course,

                                                                        this is correct. `However, if we take a careful look at these
        The Records of Ecclesiastical Assemblies                        rules it becomes evident that in the adoption of these rules,

                                                                        Synod had no intention of observing the rule of Article 45
        "It shall be the duty of the church in which the Classis
                                                                        of the Church Order.
 and likewise the (particular) or general Synod meets .to

  furnish the following meetin g with the minutes of the pre-               When Synod, in Article I, set forth the duties of the
  ceding." -Art. 45 D.K:O.                                              calling church, they m,erely expressed that the calling church
                                                                        "shall announce the next succeeding Synod to the churches
        The provisions of this article of our Church Order are          in a Synodically designated publication at least one month
  no longer observed. It is one of those articles that is no            before the date of the meeting and they shall provide all the
  longer necessary due to changing circumstances and, it                facilities needed for the synodical meetings, make arrange-
  seems to me, there is even room to question the propriety             ments for the lodging of the delegates, etc." This rule would
  of making one particular church responsible for the presence          not exclude their also "providing the Synod with the min-
  of the minutes of a broader gathering, Undoubtedly this. is           utes of the preceding" but then there might have been. at
. one article that would undergo a complete revision or be              least a reference to Art. 45 D.K.O. However, when the Synod
  dropped altogether if the Synod would decide to carry                 in Article IV of the same rules defines one of the duties of
  through the proposal to revise our Church Order of some               the Stated Clerk as follows: "he must be present at all
  years ago.                                                            synodical ,meetings  in order to furnish Synod, upon request,

        In the proposed Church Order revision of the Christian          with any needed information from the archives," it becomes

  Reformed Church this article has been dropped and the                 plain that the responsibility the Church Order places upon

  following inserted in its place:                                      the calling church, Synod puts upon its. Stated Clerk.

        "Major Assemblies shall appoint Stated Clerks for the               Synod's position is .clearly  that it is the responsibility

  purpose of receiving communications, keeping the files and            of the Stated Clerk to provide any needed information from

  the archives, and preparing and distributing. the agenda.             the preceding minutes and either Article 45 then should be

  They shall likewise appoint treasurers to receive and distrib-        revised accordingly or this rule abrogated. Undoubtedly the

  ute finances."                                                        present practice is motivated by practical considerations.
                                                                                     .,

        In favor of this revision is the fact that it expresses cur-        That the churches in the past did not follow this practice

  rent practices. When the Classis  or the Synod meets, it is           of today can easily be understood. First of all, due to the

  not the church in which that gathering is held that furnishes         costs of printing, the Acts of Synods were not as plentiful

 the body with the minutes of the preceding session but it is           and readily available as they are today. And next, the

  the Stated Clerk of the gathering itself who provides this in-        churches of the immediate post-reformation era preferred to

 formation. Against this revision, however, is that it omits            delegate authority to churches rather than to individuals.

  an important. element that is probably the principel  reason          They were afraid of individuals assuming too much power

 for the article in the first place.                                    and especially of abusing or misusing authority that was

                                                                        delegated to them. These fears were not without justifica-
        We retain the provision of Article 45 but do not observe
                                                                        tion for they had been witnesses of countless evils in the
  it. That is not good. We do not require the calling church
                                                                        church in the past which sprang from such abuse of power.
  of the Synod or the particular church in which the Classis
                                                                        It was not, therefore, mere practical considerations that
 meets to furnish these bodies, with the minutes of their
                                                                        moved the Synod of 1575 and again in 1581 to incorporate
 previous session.     In strict .compliance  with the letter of the
                                                                        the provisions of Article 45 in our Church Order. These
  Church Order, however, this should be done and if it were
                                                                        forefathers belteved  that the records and archives of the
 practiced it would, in effect, simply mean that the consistory
                                                                        churches belonged to the churches and not to any individual.
 of the church where the broader gathering was to be held
                                                                        Consequently, the churches rather than an individual should
 would be responsible to see to it that the Stated Clerk was
                                                                        also be responsible for them. In this they were undoubtedly
 present with the required data. In the case of the Classis,  it
                                                                        correct.
 would involve a practical difficulty, if not an impossibility,

 for the local congregation to provide the Classis  with these              With a view to this it seems that there is something

 minutes because our consistories do not receive copies. of             lacking in Article 45 and, on the other hand, it is evident that

 them. In the case of the Synod, the local church could                 the current practice of the churches with regard to this mat-

 provide the Synod with a printed copy of the Acts of the               ter is not, strictly speaking, in harmony with the Church

 preceding Synod but this is not necessary since Synod has              Order. The matter, however, is not real serious -and  it could

  in its own possession sufficient copies.                              conceivably be corrected by a simple revision of this article.


                                             T H E   S T A N D - A R D   B E A R E R                                                    333


Such a revision would retain the present practice which,             providence of God the confiscated records that date'back  to

for practical considerations, is advisable and at the same           the origin of our churches and Synod should be repossessed

time preserve the principle of this article of the Church            by our churches.           _

Order.                                                                  In the Netherlands the large church of Amsterdam has

 We need not suggest an exact reformulation of such a                acted as an Arch&St  for the Reformed  Churches for many

propose?l  revision.. It is sufficient for our present purpose       years,    In 1911 the Synod Zwolle authorized this church to

to suggest the elements that it should contain. These would          build a' special fire-proof vault` for the safe keeping of historic

be:                                                                  documents. In 1934 the Synod of the Christian Reformed
                                                                                    .~.
                                                                     Church appointed an Historical Committee which was
        (1) A statement to the effect that the Stated Clerk of
                                                                     charged "to gather and preserve books and documents of
the major ecclesiastical assemblies shall be responsible to
                                                                     historical value pertaining to the history of our church and                 .
see that the past records of the assembly are available for
                                                                     the church from which we originated and to reiigion  in
consultation, if needed, at the time of the meetings. This
                                                                     general, and to provide a room and facilities in the college or
would be similar to our present Synodical  rule.
                                                                     seminary building where they can be pr.operly  preserved and
        (2) A provision according to which these records of the      displayed."
major ecclesiastical bodies are placed in the custody of a
                                                                        Today the church visitors ask each consistory during their
local church, preferably one with a fire-proof safe. That
church would then be responsible for their safe-keeping.             annual visit whether "the archives are in order" and further
                                                                     whether "all proofs of possessions are kept in a safe place."
        (3). A stipulation by which the Stated Clerk would be        It might be well to add a further question which would
made trustee of the records under the direct jurisdiction of         remind all consistories that they ought to keep their records
the local church. In the event of any act of malfeasance on          in a safe, and if possible, a fire-proof place.
the part of the Stated Clerk, the local consistory could then                                                                       G . V . d . B .
immediately take action to dispossess him of the properties

that belong to the churches.

        History also makes plain the need of some such provi-

sions. We may cite our own case as an example. In 1953-54                                   Annthncement
the Stated Clerk of our Synod abused his authority and has
                                                                        The Eastern Ladies' League meeting will be held April
since that time confiscated the records that morally and
                                                                     21, at Southwest Church, at 8 o'clock. The speaker will be
legally belong to our Synod. The same is true of the records
                                                                     Prof. H. C. Hoeksema. Come and enjoy an evening of
of our ClaSsis  West. Now it is, of course, possible that if
                                                                     Christian fellowship with us.
the above- suggestions had been enacted the consistory in
that sordid history might have also gone schismatic with                                             Mrs. Jacob Kuiper, Vice Secretary

those Stated Clerks and the end result would have been the

same, but it is also possible that the custody of those records

might have been entrusted to a consistory that remained
                                                                                           WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
faithful to the  historic traditions and confessions of the Prot-

estant Reformed Churches. In that event action` could have              On April 25, 1960, our dear parents,

immediately been taken by which those records might have                        MR. and MRS. JACOB KUIPER (nee Korhom)

been reclaimed for the Synod whose lawful property they              hope to commemorate their 25th wedding anniversary. We give

are,                                                                 thanks to our Heavenly Father for sparing them through these

                                                                     many years  for us and for each other. Our earnest prayer is that
        The preservation of ecclesiastical records is a matter of    He may further bless them in the way that lies ahead.
great importance. This is true for the local churches as well
                                                                                                      Their grateful children:
as for the major assemblies of the churches. Often this is
                                                                                                             Henry J. Kuiper
not realized and those entrusted with the keeping of those
                                                                                                             Mr. and Mrs. Isaac R. Kuiper
records, through carelessness permit them to become lost.                                                    Jacob Kuiper, Jr.
The result is that there are some churches that have no                                                      Gerald Kuiper

historical record of their origin and early history. The                                                     Etta Mae Kuiper

minute books, together with all supplements to the minutes,                                                  Clarence Kuiper
                                                                                                             Sharon Ann Kuiper
as well as other papers and documents of importance ought
                                                                                                             Mary Louise Kuiper
to be kept in a safe place- and preserved with great care.                                                   Marie Ruth Kuiper
These documents are not made in duplicate and once they                                                      Betty Carol Kuiper

are lost it is difficult, if not impossible, to replace them.                                                Robert Lee Kuiper

                                                                                                             Linda Alice, Kuiper
        Our Synod too should take definite steps to preserve our                                             1 grandchild
historic records. Especially would this be true if in the            Grand Rapids, Michigan





                                                                                                                                                       I


334                                        THE.STANDARD   B E A R E R


                                                                      of seeking understanding. If and when the two churches can
              A L L   A R O U N D   U S                               agree on what are the essentials, then differences of em-
                                                                      phasis need not stand in the way of reunion. Within the

                                                                      framework of the confessional standards there is room for

                                                                      differences. These will be better' understood, evaluated, and
Rev. E. Knott's Position Regarding Re-Union in Question.
                                                                      appreciated by becoming one than by going our separate

       Under the "title "The Long, Hard Road  to Church Re-           ways."

Union" Dr. Pe`ter Y. De Jong informs us in the April, 1960               In respect to the above quotations we remark, first of all,
issue of Torch and Trzwzpet of his reactions to the position          that it appears that Rev. Knott in distinction from the rest
expressed by-  the Rev. E. Knott in the Reformed Gztardiun            of his colleagues stands practically alond. If the rumors. we
respecting the proposed reunion of the Christian Reformed             hear are correct, then most of those who left `us in the recent
Church and the Protestant Reformed Churches (De Wolf                  schism are. ready and eager to return to the Christian Re-

group  > .                                                            formed Church. But,  Knott has serious objections. Not only

       Our readers have been informed from time to time of            is he dubious about the matter of accepting the Three Points,

the fact that committees of the two above named groups have           but he fears that even if the Christian Reformed Church

been meeting with a view to ironing out the obstacles that            should remove these Three Points to open the way for their

appear to subsist between them, which if removed, will open           return, there are still obstacles of just as great proportions

the way to ultimate reunion. -                                        which they will have' to hurdle before he is ready, for re-

                                                                      union. Rev. Knott sees, and I believe correctly, that since
       Dr. De Jong informs his read&  that though the Chris-
                                                                      1924 the Christian Reformed Church has developed in the
tian Reformed press has been almost silent on the activities
                                                                      way of error in other directions. They have taken a very
of these  committees, the Reformed Guardian is rather prolific
                                                                      weak position in respect to worldly labor unions. They have
iri its utterances on the subject. Dr. De Jong, it appears, does
                                                                      gone off the track in regard to the matter of divorce and
not feel very strongly for the position of Rev. Knott which
                                                                      remarriage of divorced persons, and other matters. Rev.
the latter revealed in the Reformed Guardian. Dr. De Jong
                                                                      Knott would rather discuss these matters as well as the
reveals Knott's position in the following paragraph :
                                                                      initial difference on the common grace question at greater
       "After expressing his reaction again to the Three Points       length before he. is ready to be organically one again with
of 1924, the Rev. Knott raises the question whether reunion           the Christian Reformed Church. Whether Rev. Knott will
should take place at once even if the Christian Reformed              be able to maintain his position in the face of majority op-
`Church should decide-t9  `remove the three points as a con-          position in his group will have to be seen.
dition for membership,.' He rejects the view that then `re-
                                                                         In the' second place, it appears that Dr. De `Jong does
union- would be automatic and immediate,' arguing instead
                                                                      not like Rev. Knott's interference in the attempts at reunion.
that such a step would `open the possibility for real discus-
                                                                      In fact he is sure that if the negotiating committees give heed
sion with the Christian Refoimed  Church.' Because of the
                                                                      to Knott's plea to consider all the differences then he se&
presence of `different emphases' in the two denominations,
                                                                      no hope of reunion at all. He says "as long as the substance
arising from different convictions on the labor problem,
                                                                      of the decisions of 1924 is regarded as suspect by the Prot-
divorce and remarriage, `woman suffrage, and the authority
                                                                      estant Reformed brethren, serious consideration on their part
of classis  and synod, he suggests entering into ,a sister-church
                                                                      to reunion"with  the Christian Reformed Church appears
relatiofiship  during which all these and possibly other differ-
                                                                      very unlikely." What does he mean by "the substance of the
ences would be discussed before organic union could be
                                                                      decisions of' 1924"?  I understand this to mean the doctrine
consummated."
                                                                      of common grace as set forth in the Three Points. You may
    Dr. De Jong expresses his position as follows :      -    ' ".    change a word here or there if it does not `suit you, but

       "Much as we appreciate' the defense of basic doctrinal         don't monkey with the doctrine. You must embrace the doc-

agreement as a necessary condition for reunion, we wonder             trine of common grace and never question it if you will be

whether the course suggested by the Rev. Knott could ever             one  with us. If that `is what Dr. De Jong means, and I

prove fruitful. As long as the substance of the decisions of          think he does, then he says exactly what the Christian Re-

1924  is regarded as suspect by the Protestant Reformed               formed Church synod said to our synod when we asked

brethren,, serious consideration on their part to reunion with        them for a conference. They don't want rehearsals. They

the Christian Reformed Church appears very unlikely.                  don't want to be shown where the doctrine of common grace

Should unanimity of `emphasis' be required, all hope tif re-          is in error. You can be one with them only if `you agree on

union will vanish like summer morning mist. Unity among               the basis of that doctrine. If that is De Jong's position and

Reformed believers has never implied uniformity of opinion            the position of the Christian Reformed Church then, of

on all matters. Although apt to be misapplied, the motto `In          course, there will be no reunion so long as the Three Points

es&ntials  unity ; in non-essentials liberty ; in all things          are regarded as suspect.

charity' may well serve as our guide along this thorny path              But how does this coincide with the other ,statement  of

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


De Jong, namely, "within the framework of the confessional         attempt on the part of Roman Catholicism to dominate &e

standards there is room.-for  differences"? It seems to me         State. And incidentally, though Poling does not mention it,

that if the confessional standards determine that there is         it seems that these articles of the "constitution" have refer-

such a thing as -common grace, then there  is no room left         ence to the tiff between I%. Poling and Senator John Ken-

for differences. That was the position of the Christian            nedy concerning which Poling has written rather prolifically

Reformed Church in 1924 when they cast out men who                 of late, both in the Christian Hemld  and in his autobiog-

differed with the church on this question. And apparently          raphy entitled, M&e Eyes Have Seen,

that is still the position of the church. Why- then speak of

room for differences? Moreover, it is also a question what         Statistics.
he means  by "differences of emphasis" and "non-essentials."
                                                                       Having lately finished the preparation of the material
Maybe Rev. Knott would like to ask him that question too.
                                                                   that must appear in the Yearbook which will find its place in
Does this mean matters such as labor unions, divorce and
                                                                   the Acts of the forthcoming synod of our churches, and
remarriage, etc. ?
                                                                   comparing the figures with those appearing in The Banner

                                                                   of March 25 under the title "Statistical Information" which
"Rome Speaks With  Azrtkority."                                    sums up the facts concerning the Christian Reformed Church,

   Such is the title of one of the editorials appearing in         we consider the work involved negligible and the figures of
the April issue `of the Christhn  Herald, written by Daniel        almost no account. The following comparison will show you
A. Poling.                                                         what we mean :

                                                                                                             P. R.       Chr. Ref.
   The editorial informs us that the first diocesan ecclesi-
astical council ever held in Rome was held under direction                 Families                           661          52,689
of Pope John XXIII on January 24.                                          Increase in Families over 1959       14          1,361
                                                                           Communicants                      1,447       124,268
   The Pope endorsed certain recommendations of the coun-
                                                                           Total Souls                       2,774       236,145
cil which will be published in the form of-.a "constitution"
                                                                           Congregations                        19            541
and which will be fundamental law of the `diocese of Rome.
                                                                           Ministers (Active j                  15            442
   We are told that the news releases from Rome carried                    Vacant Churches                       5             94
the statement, "Although the new rules will be valid only                 Catechumens                         826          48,744
for the Rome diocese, it is expected that other dioceses                   Sunday School Enrollment           491          64,287
throughout the world will follow suit:"                                    Emeriti Ministers _                   1             72

   The editor `informs us that "of particular interest to                  Missionaries                          1             92

Protestants are the articles of this `constitution' which apply       The above is only a partial report of both churches. Many
to `all Catholic laymen.' As published in the New York             other facts of statistical interest appear in the reports. But
Times, they are:                                                   this willsuffice  to show that as far as size is concerned the

   1. Obligated on pain of excommunication to enact no             Protestant Reformed Churches do not weigh much on the

laws harmful to the Church.                                        scale of numbers. It -is perhaps for that reason that the

                                                                   church world about us does not appear to reckon with us.
   2. Forbidden to read publications inspired by Prot-

estantism, illuminism, existentialism, atheism or materialism.        We have not called' your attention to these facts in order

                                                                   to scare the little band of Protestant Reformed Churches
   3. Forbidden to take part  in services, sermons or discus-
                                                                   which may be compared to a Gideon's band. The reader niay
sions of non-Catholic cults or in sessions of spiritism, magic
                                                                   remember that the Lord was not pleased to use a huge army
or divination.
                                                                   in ,Gideon's  day to fight the Midianites, but depreciated the
   4. Liable to excommunication if they join or vote for           host down to a mere 300 to accomplish His  purpose and
political parties  or persons that promote heretical principles    reveal His strength. We believe we are such a little band
or doctrines, even though,they  may not go so far as apostasy      holding forth the sword of the Lord which is the truth He
and atheism.                                                       has so graciously entrusted to our hand to wield.

   5. Subject to excommunicat!ion  also if they back doc-                                                                   M.S.
trines or views in contrast with the Catholic dogmas in the

press, in lectures or in public speeches."

   The editorial closes with "And finally, as of the Tiuuteq

Jan. 27, `Catholics should deal with social questions on the          "In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of

basis of the Church's teaching? and may not favor political        adversity consider; yea, God hath made the-one side by side

or other organizations condemned by it.' "                         with the other, to the end that man should hot find out any-

   It certainly appears from t'he above there  is a concerted      thing that shall be after him." Ecclesiastes 7:14.


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                                                       . .      .
   336 `.                                             T H E   ` S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R



                                                                                       March 21 was the date of the Oak Lawn-South Holland
  11 .NEWS.FROM OUR CHURCHES 11 combined Men's Societies meeting. Rev. Heys spoke on the
                                                                                   subject, -"The  Anti-Christian Implications of Roman Cath-
                     "All `the. saints salatte  thee . . ." P H I L .   4:21 I\
                                                                                   oli&m."

                                                                                    `-The  Society for Secondary Education (Prot. Ref. High
                                                   A p r i l   5 ,   1 9 6 0       School Society) met in Southwest Church, March 31. A

          Randolph has extended a call to Rev. G. Vanden  Berg                     constitution was adopted'; annual membership fees were
 of Oak Lawn:  from a trio which included the R&S:  G:                             established ; and Board members were elected, three for a
   Lubbers and G. Vos. Rev. R. Veldman, of Southeast                               term`of .three.years,  three to serve two years, and three for-,
  Church, declined the call from Hull. Hull now has made                           a one-year term. This first meetings' record shows that
   a new trio which consists of Revs. G. Lubbers, M. Schipper                      eighty-three ballots were cast. May this good beginning be
   and G. Vos.                                                                     furthered under the blessing of our covenant God Who calls
          Rev. Lanting, Holland's pastor, will give a public lecture               us to instruct our children "in the aforesaid doctrines to the
   Thursday, April 28, at 8 P. M. The lecture, entiled,  "The                      utmost of our ability."
   Eternal Rewards," will be held at W. 12th St., corner of                            Radio News: Rev. R. Veldman, of Southeast Church, is
   Washington Ave. Everyone is cordially invited.                                  scheduled to be on the air for the month of May, with Rev.
          The Office Bearers' conference was held April 5 at Hope                  C. Hanko, of First Church, following him in the month of
   Church, featuring a speech by Rev. A. Mulder, of Kala-                          June. The theme of Rev. Veldman's first sermon will be,
   mazoo. The speaker examined the relationships of the .offices                   "Entering The Kingdom."         He then will preach two ser-
   of minister, elder and deacon, answering the question, "Is                      mons on the Seventh Commandment, followed by two others
   it true that one is elevated above another." Rev. Mulder is                     which will be announced later. The program Committee asks
   also scheduled to speak at the Mr. and Mrs. Society League                      us to again remind you that they invite your response to the
   meeting to be held April 22, explaining Deut. 6 :7, under the                   weekly broadcasts, sending your comments to The Reformed
   theme, "The Protestant Reformed Home."                                          Witness Hour, P.O. Box 8, Grand Rapids 1, Mich.
          Rev. B. Woudenberg's farewell sermon at Creston,  March                     Adams St. Christian School children gave their annual
   20, was based on the text found in Ps. 27:14,  under the                        spring program in First Church auditorium March 20. The
   theme, -"Waiting On The Lord." In that Sunday's bulletin                        theme, "The Fear of the Lord" was carried throughout the
   Rev. and Mrs. Woudenberg placed the following: "We wish                         entire program. By narration,. poems, choir and band, the
   to thank you for the evening of programming and fellowship                      students proclaimed their thankfulness to God for the in-
   provided for us Friday evening, as well as for the parting                      struction received in their home, in the church, and in the
   gift. Our prayer is that the blessing of the Lord may con-                      school in its first ten years of existence.
   tinue to rest upon you as a congregation."                                       ' Bulletin quote (Oak Lawn's) : God preserves the way
          First Church's Wednesday evening -adult Bible class                      of His saints, not by seclusion from danger, but by protec-
   ended their season's activities with a question hour con-                       tion in the midst of danger.
   ducted by their leader, Rev, H. Hoeksema. He explained                             The Hudsonville Young People's Society sponsored a
   Isaiah 65 :20; Etc. 7:16-18; Prov.. 11:30; II Kings 3 :15;                      program of stereophonic slides, April 4th, to raise funds
   and discussed the problem of suffering in body, soul and                        for the purchase of tables to be used in their church basement.
   spirit. Many of the questions'dealt with topics related to the                     The Coffee for the benefit of the Christian Foundation
subject matter studied in the. past, season, which was the                         for Handicapped Children, sponsored by the Priscilla So-
  Doctrine of, the Last Things.                                                    ciety of First Church, was .a success despite the stormy
          The Sr. Y. P. Society of,First  Church enjoyed a guided                  winter weather, and netted a benefit of $263.00 for the
  tour through Children's Retreat Tuesday, -March 22. The                          Foundation.
  members, as do all the visitors -to the Retreat, learned to ap-                     First Church's congregation has finally decided t.o take.
  preciate a little more the work -of the dedicated teachers in                    the drastic measures necessary` to protect the auditorium

  that institution.                                                                from damage occasioned by the leaky roof with which it has

          Missionary news: Rev. 6. Lubbers is laboring in the                      been plagued for almost all of its thirty-five years of ex-

  Pella area until the summer meeting of Synod. The foreign                        istence. Probably the reason for the long delay is the fact
  broadcast committee of the Mission Committee is busy secur-                      that it will cost $4200.00 to effect the replacement.
  ing a station which is available in the West Indies.                                "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the

          The Lynden Tribu.ne  featured an article recently written                Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit
  by the minister of the `Lynden Prot. Ref. Church.. Rev.                          of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the

  Harbatih's  article was entitled, (`Jesus the True God," and                     early and latter rain. Be ye also patient ; stablish your hearts ;
  treated the subject by answering the questions;who  is Jesus;                    for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." James 5 ~7,  8.

   and. what is Jesus ?                 1                                             . . . . see you in church. .          _~               J.M.F.


