           VOLlJMc x.xxv11                                                   FEBRUARY 1, 1961 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                                NIJMBER  9

                                                                                                                                                 imagery. And it is imagery which

                                                                                                                     is found repeatedly in God's Word. Both in the Old and the

                                                                                                                     New Testament you find the church likened to a flock of

                                                                                                                     sheep, and their, feeding by shepherds or pastors, which is
                                                                                                                                                               P
                                                                                                                     the same thing.
              .-
           , .             "Fycd  the. flock of God  zvhi+,  is qg"ong  yfzt.,  ta.k-
,.,- `_                                                                                                                 The world over, in all lands, among all peoples, we find
                       &kj  the 02Jel-.Ggid - th.errof, m f by `cons'tvaznt,  -but                                   this beautiful picture of the many flocks, together at night in
                       wi{lingly;  `not  for fil fhy lu.c~e, but of a. ready `mind+;                                 the fold, called by the individual shepherd in the morning,
                       neither-   a s   b e i n g   l o r d s   o v e r   G o d ' s   h e r i t a g e ,   b u t
                                                                                                                     returning at night to the fold again.
                     b e i n g   e n s a m p l e s   t o   t h e   f l o c k ,   A n d   w h e n   the  C h i e f

                           Sheplterd   s h a l l   appea.?;   y e   slmll   r e c e i v e   . a   c r o w n             Yes, the picture of the woolly sheep, consisting of the
                     . of gloql  that  fa,deth not azeray."  I Peter 5 :2-4                                          ewes, the rams and the lambs, is a beautiful picture indeed.

           At this time a goodly number of new office bearers have                                                      And Jesus calleth His own sheep by their individual
takkn  the& place  in the consistories of the Church of Christ. -'                                                   names. No, no, I do not mean the names which your father

           For variety's sake, I would like to write something about                                                 and mother gave you, but the names which the Holy Spirit

them, and not only about them, but also for those who are and the Word of God gave you.
in and stay in for a while.                                                                                             And being called by Jesus, they follow Him. Isaiah says :

           Peter, the Apostle of the Lord, was eminently fitted to                                                   "He will lead His flock like a shepherd." Isa. 40 :ll. And
write about the office of shepherd. He heard the Lord Jesus                                                          Zechariah says : "Jehovah of hosts hath visited His flock,
say- to him : "Feed My sheep !", and : "peed n/Iy  lambs !"                                                          the house of Judah." Zech. 10 3.
H.&e,  he calls himself an elder.                                                                                       In, many lands there are many flocks, but they are going

           Neither is that all.                                                                                      to the eternal fold, and they shall be one.

           He is fitted to say something about the shepherding of the                                                   At that time the great Shepherd shall appear, `&l the
flock of God because he was led by the Holy Ghost to write                                                           office of the earthly shepherd shall come to an end.

the Word of God without error. The product of his writing
                                                                                                                                                + 9 * *
is the infallible Word of God..                                                                                             . .
                                                                                   .-
           Let's listen to him.                                                                                         This greaf  flock is called God's heritage in my text. .
                                                * * + *                                                                 That sounds both sinister and beautiful.

           Did you note that this admonition is surrounded by a call                                                    Sinister, because heritage reminds us of deat'h, and of

to humility ? Humility is stressed, emphasized in this section.                                                      bereavement. And that is correct.

Not only shall the younger be subject to the elder, but Peter                                                           It indicates the mdans by which God binds the church to
concludes that -"ail should be subject to one another."                                                              Himself. Christ is the Testator who died in order to save

           And his reason is one of the foundation stones of God's                                                   the flock from eternal death and shame. It shows the pre-

Kingdom: "For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to                                                           ciousness of the flock.

the humble !"                                                                                                           But also beautiful.

           Let             look at God's charge to the elders with that in
                    us                                                                                                  Ah me, what shall I say of this? Words fail me ! For
mind.                                                                                                                over thirty-five years I have tried to explain this to the

           "Feed the flock.of God," and the mentioning of the Shep-                                                  various flocks, and now. I am approaching the end of my

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


work as shepherd, but I have only stammered a little of this           their inmost heart. And that Christ in the Christian is fed

most wonderful and fundamental part of my ministry.                    with Christ unto all eternity. In Him is all the glorious

                                                                       knowledge of God.
    Beautiful! The Great Shepherd dies for His flock! Jesus,

that is, Jehovah God, in the human nature of Jesus, dies and               And Christ is, as we have said, the most beautiful-

dies and dies again and again, He dies the eternal death so            THING in the whole Universe, both this one and the one.

that the sheep may be saved.                                           to come.

       But then I have not said all.                                                              * * * *

       He dies the eternal death and  becomes an open shame                To do that in a way that God approves of demands
before all the worlds, in order to show the whole Universe             certain requirements. And of them the text speaks.
how inexpressibly lovely God is !
                                                                           Some are positive, some negative. Let's look at them.
    The Cross of Jesus Christ is the most lovely THING the
                                                                           You must take the oversight of the flock. Yes, I know
Universe has ever seen, sees, or will see.
                                                                       that this is most difficult. You must stand above the flock
       Christ, the Lamb of God, shall be displayed in the midst        and watch it with supreme interest. You must watch the
of the throne of God unt6 all eternity. All the hosts of heaven        flock and every one of its individual members, both sheep
shall always look at that focal point in heaven and earth.             and lambs, -and see to it that they walk according to Jesus

       And no one there shall ever become tired of looking at          Christ.

that loveliness of God, nor grow weary of singing and saying               Moreover, you must be ensamples to the flock. What
to God: 0 God! we praise Thee and thank Thee for that                  does that mean? It means that you stand before the Cross
Child Jesus !                                                          of Jesus Christ and adore it, speak of it, desigti  -your life

                             * * * *                                   according to it, and, most important of all, that you silentli
                                                                       listen to that Cross, and let it instruct you. Yes;listen to the
       Elders !                                                        TRUTH of God without gainsaying, contradiction.

       Do you want me to tell you what you ought to do in the              If you do that, it will be seen.
midst of God's flock ?                                                     If you do that, the flock will love and respect you for it.
       Here it is : tell the church of that loveliness ! And see to        If you do that, the flock will follow YOLI',  and walk with
it that the minister among you, who is also an elder, tells the        you to heaven.
church ever of that loveliness of Jehovah.
                                                                           There are also negative requirements.
       1. know, -1 know, your calling is to feed the flock, to
guide the flock,  to govern the flock, and to defend the flock.            You must take, stand and walk as elders of Christ "not
                                                                       by constraint, but willingly." Oh, for elders that love their
       And all the foregoing boils down to what I said before:         office ! Sdme say : I have not the time for it ! I dislike to be
tell the.flock about Christ, the wisdom of God and the power
                                                   1                   an elder!
of God.
                                                                           Some say : I am not worthy of it ! I like that. And I am
       Attend to this: 1) to feed the church is found in Psalm         sure that God likes that: For it is true: no one is worthy of
17 :15, "AS for me, I will behold Thy Face in righteousness:           the office  of elder. That of&e is so wonderful, so beautiiul,
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." And            so soul-satisfying, that I can find no words for it. Of all
we all know that God's Face and His likeness is Christ Jesus           work in this filthy world, there is nothing that can be com-
our Lord. 2) to guide the flock  is also Christ. This we find          pared to it.
in Isa. 40 :ll, "He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and
                                                                           Further, "not for filthy lucre." You should not have any
carry them in His bosom, -and shall gently lead those that
                                                                       mundane profit, money or otherwise, in your mind when you
are with young." 3) to govern the flock is also Christ: "Yet
                                                                       ,seek or receive that wondrous office of elder. 
have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." Psalm 2 :6.                                                             You remember
And 4) to defend the flock is Jesus: "neither shall any man            Simon ?

pluck them out of My hand." John 10:28b.                                   Rather, you must do your work of elder "of a ready

                                                                       mind."      That means that you love your office,  and gladly,
       The charge of any elder in God's church is: see that
Christ is given to the Christians!                                     joyously do the work.

                                                                           "Neither as being lords."
       The chief labor for an elder is, however, to feed the

flock.                                                                     Oh, but that is an ugly thing. It is a cursed fault.

       And that means that the Church of Christ receives that              God means that you should not try to bring the flock

which belongs to its very nature. The church is born from              under YOUR power. You should never try to subdue the

heaven, and in that second birth they receive the Christ in            members, to master them, to exercise sway over them.


                                                T    H     E          $`TAN.ti)ARD  g-EAR&R                                                                                             195


    For then the servant acts as though he is the Lord Him-

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

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    Yes, they may hate you for it, but that is an honor,                                                  Editor - REV.  HERMAN HOEXSEMA
reserved for God's true and faithful servants. But let them                              Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
never hate you because of your filthy pride.                                                         Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
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                               *    ;ir * *                                              All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
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    Difficult, not because it is vague, difficult to lay our finger                      Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed. to the above
                                                                                         address and will be published at a fee  of $2.00 for each notice.
on, either in the text or in the Bible generally. Oh no, it is
                                                                                         RENEWAL: Unless a detite  request for discontinuance is re-
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    Imagine: we will get "a crown of glory" because we have

been elders in God's flock ! 0 God ! of all miracles : how is this
                                                                                                                     C O N T E N T S
                                                                                I,
possible ?                                                                                           -
                                                                                MEDITATION 
    I have said more than once : anniversaries, and In Memo-                                God's     Charge     . . . _. ._ __. __. _.. _.. . 193
riams of elders and ministers are embarrassing !                                                   Rev. G. Vos
                                                                                EDITORIALS -
    Christ said: "And, behold, I come quickly, and My re-
                                                                                            "The Adam Question".. __ ..__ __. _.. __ ___ __. .._ .._. ._. .__ __ __. .196
ward is with Me to give every man according as his work                                     A n Open Letter to the Rev. Henry Baker.. ___ __ .._. ,196

shall be !"                                                                                        Rev. H. Hoeksema

    Beloved reader! I am also an elder of Jesus Christ, and                     As To BOOKS-
                                                                                            A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers....198
I assure you that I am speaking the truth: I feel so worthless                              Studies in the Sermon on the Mount _.....,._____.,.......................  198
after my work is done! I feel so unworthy of any honor at                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema

all, least of all to receive a crown of glory!                                  cONTIUBU'ITONS -
    Allow me to go no further, except this yet: this reward                                 Missionary      Notes     .__ ___ __ __. .._. ._ __.. .__ ___._ __..__.  . . ..I99
                                                                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers
is a reward of GRACE ! And I can well believe that. Amen.
                                                                                OUR  
                                                                        G.V.               DOCTRINE-
                                                                                            The Book of Revelation _.........._____.___......................................  200

                                                                                                   Rev. H. Hoeksema
                                                                                  ,-_
                                                                                A 
             Attention - Synodical Committees                                         CLOUD OF WITNESSES -
                                                                                            Moses' Return to Egypt _,.._________.__.,,,..............,........:
                                                                                                                                                                   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

    All Synodical Committees (Standing Co~w&ttees  a.vzd                                           Rev. B. Woudenberg

Special Study Committees) are herewith remindCd  that their                     FROM HOLY WRIT -
reports to Synod are to be prepared for publication with the                                Exposition of Matthew 18: 15-20 _........................................... 204
                                                                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers
regular Synodical Agenda.
                                                                                IN HIS FEAR -
    These reports are to be sent to the undersigned not later                               The Whether of Our Wkather ._.._........................................... 206
than April 15, 1961.                                                                               Rev. J. A. Heys

                                    Stated Clerk of the Synod of the            CONTENDING FOR THE FAITEI-
                                    Protestant Reformed Churches                            The      Church and the Sacraments.. _... __. __ __.. .208

                                        G. VANDEN  B                                               Rev. H. Veldman
                                                          ERG
                                        9402 South 53rd Court                   THE VOICE QF OUR FATISERG  -
                                        Oak Lawn, Illinois                                  The Belgic  Confession _...._._.._.....__..........................................
                                                                                                                                                                                        210

                                                                                                   Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

                                    --                                          DECENCY AND ORDER  -

              Klnfirn  tn ml1 idnracfnrl  Tnrrcherar
              Notice to all interested Teachers:                                            The Subjects of Baptism? . . .._________...........................................  212
                                                                                                   Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
         If you are eligible to teach and interested in
         If you are eligible to teach and interested in obtaining a
                                                                                ALL AROUND  Us-
position in a Protestant Reformed Christian School, please
position in a Protestant Reforn                                                             The New English Bible . . . . . ..______._.........................................  214
notify the Teacher Place~ient  Committee by writing to the                                  News from the Korean Church ._._.___.........____........................ 215
                                                                                            The Possibilities of Revival _. . . . . _.. ._ _... ._. ____ _. ._ . ..215
following address :                                                                                Rev. H. H&o
                                    Teacher Placement Committee
                                                                                NEWS FROM OUR CH~RC~ES.............................................,...............                    216
                                    852 Sigsbee St., S. E.                                         Mr. J. M. Faber
                                    Grand Rapids 6, Michigan


196                                             .T <.?+I ,E >; S :!QA .v .D A$. :D ..B.E A .R E R
                                                        _. L
          ., -._                 ...I...- --
                                                                          In the sentence it means that first sin entered into the world,
             E .D I .I- 0 R I A L S                                       that it developed and that "it increased in intensity" and that
i                                                                         then, after some time, God took the initiative to redeem
                                                                          man from the curse of sin. Perhaps, the commission does
                   "The Adam  Question"                                   not mean it this way ; and again,.$erhaps  it does. But cer-

                                                                          tainly, this "until" is not according to Scripture. God "took
     We were discussing the statement of the Reformed
                                                                          the initiative" immediately by announcing the victory of the
Church in America, which was also' adopted by the General
                                                                          "Seed of the wogan"  over the serpent and his seed. But,
Synod of that Church.
                                                                          perhaps, this is history as the Commission conceives of it.
       The "Statement" was an answer to an overture from
                                                                          Perhaps, Adam was not a historical person after all. Perhaps,
Classis  Grand Rapids South about the historicity of Genesis.
                                                                          instead of his being created in the image of God on the sixth
As we read this "Statement" we began to wonder what the
                                                                          day, he gradually developed into a being that bore the image
Commission meant by "historicity" and "historical." And
                                                                          of God, then fell away from God into sin and disobedience,
the farther we read, the more we become convinced that
                                                                          became more and more sinful, and then "God took the
whatever they mean by these terms they certainly do not mean
                                                                          initiative."    After all this must be the intention of the Com-
a record of events or facts as they actually happened. Just let
                                                                          mission. Otherwise they could never have written that little
us quote a little more :
                                                                          conjunction "Until."
       `We would call attention, however, to the fact that the
                                                                              This also may give us a glimpse, of what the Commissioli
first chapters of Genesis are by their very nature unique, and
                                                                          means by "history." It certainly is not a record of facts that
deal with facts that can only be described in pictorial fashion.
                                                                          actually took place.        "Under the guidance of the Holy
Both the beginning and end of history, as described in the
                                                                          Spirit"( !), the author, since he knew nothing as yet of the
Bible, are realities which we can only know from revelation,
                                                                          theory of evolution, invented this story  of the "creation" ( ?)
not from human experience.             While many peoples have
                                                                          and the "fall" ( 7) of man and of the development of sin and
stories of creation, the biblical account is unique in that the
                                                                          its increase in intensity, "until" (when ?) God took the
inspired author, knowing himself a part of the history of
                                                                          initiative to redeem man from the curse of sin !
God's saving cle$ings  with the world, received a revelation
                                                                              But more about this next time, D.V.
concerning "the  `beginnings" and wrote from the perspective                                                                         H.11.
of the covenant faith. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

he framed the story of beginnings in such a way as to provide

a cosmic background for, and an introduction to, the story
                                                                              An Open Letter to the Rev. Henry Baker
of God's dealings with His Chosen People. The perfection

of God's creation, the fall, exile from the garden, family life               Dear Rev. Baker:
torn apart by jealbusy, the first city built by a murderer, the               I read your article in The-,!3mLner  entitled "A Basis for
lust for revenge in Lamech's  Song, the depth of sin in the               Reunion" and I am constrained to make a few remarks in
incident of Gen. 6:1-4,  the judgment of God by means of a                connection with it.        (By the way, is it not a striking co-
flood, the oneness of the family of nations, the Tower of                 incidence that there appeared an article in De W'achter on
Babel, the renewed judgment of God upon man's bold defi-                  virtually the same subject and at the same time?)
ance of his Creator-all this furnishes the background                         First of all, I wish to point out to you, Rev. B&er, that
against which the story of redemption is told."                           there is no Protestant Reformed Church in the sense in

       In all this we still have no answer to the question whether        which you refer to it. For, in the' first place, we, i.e. the

the Commission understands ail1 this as history, as a record              Protestant Reformed people, never speak of our denomina-

of what actually took place, or merely as a story invented by             tion as Protestant Reformed C h u r ch but always as

the author of Genesis under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.              "Churches" in the plural. But, secondly, Rev. Baker, you

       But let us read on a little:                                       are not addressing any Protestant Reformed group whatso-

       "In these accounts we are told the deepest tfuths about            ever but only a group of schismatics  that deliberately at-

the world in which we live: it is God's world; its origin and             tempted to destroy the Protestant Reformed Churches but

orderly structure ultimately find their ground in the will of             failed and by way of reaction destroyed themselves.

God; man, although created in the image of God, from the                      It is in connection with this that I ,wish  to make  my first

very beginning abused the freedom given him; instead of                   and also my main critical remark. It is this, and I. will put

responding to God in obedience and faith, he fell into dis-               it in the form of a question: Is the Christian Reformed

obedience and revolt; sin, once gaining a foothold in the                 Church stooping so low that they receive in their midst mem-

world, increased in intensity, bringing with it all sorts of              b:rs and officebearers, yea, even churches, of whom they

degrading acts, until God Himself took the initiative to re-              know or, at least,, might know and should know, that they

deem man from the curse of sin."                                          created schism in the Protestant Reformed Churches ? Let

       This last clause beginning with mtil is rather strange.            me remind you.of the bare facts:


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   -B:E.ARER                                                    197


    1.. A minister in .the  Protestant Reformed Churches             only real Protestant Reformed Churches, to find out about
preached heresy from his own pulpit. Protests were filed with        all the evil work the schismatics have wrought in our
the cons&tory.  These protests were concentrated especially in       churches.

two statements which I will not quote here now but which                But nothing of the kind is done about this very serious

the minister admitted he made and-which surely are heretical         matter. The schismatics are simply received!

in the light of Protestant Reformed truth. The matter was               0, yes, there is still the question of the "Three Points."
brought to the attention of classis,  the final result of which      About this the Reverend Baker writes rather elaborately.
was that the minister and several of his elders were deposed.           But before I say something about this, I must mention
    2. No appeal was made to Synod.                                  another matter that I consider, if not so very serious, is, let
    3. Some delegates of the classis separated themselves            me say, rather ironic. And I feel that you, Rev. Baker, are
from Classis East and formed a new classis  which they               bound to agree with me. I am referring to the fact that even
claimed to be the true and only Classis  East.                       schismatic wzinirters  are received in the Christian Reformed
    4.     Classis West also took up the matter and justified the    Church and are made eligible for a call. Now, in the first
deposed minister and his elders to which they had? of course,        place, such ministers, except I believe three of them, have
no right at all.                                                     had but very little education outside of the seminary. Some
    The final result of it all was the schism in the Protestant      of them did not even finish high school. But let this be.
Reformed Churches, the schismatics also claiming the right           When I speak of the irony of the situation, I am not referring
to the name Protestant.Reformed.                                     to this. But I am thinking of the fact that all the theological
    Now, my question is: how can the Christian Reformed              education the schismatics ever received was by the Rev.
Church stoop so low as to receive in their midst members,            Ophoff and the undersigned. This, I think, may be called
ministers, elders and deacons and churches that are so               ironic indeed. In 1924 the Christian Reformed Church cast
evidently schismatic ?                                               us out as heretics; in 1955-1961 the same Church gives their

    Mark you well, I say evidently schisniatic,  not because         students a place in their pulpits ! Was it not Cicero who

of the schismatic sermons that were preached by the min-             exclaimed : `0 tevxpora, 0 uttora?

ister to whom I referred above. As for this, it is quite possible       But a word must still be said about the Three Points as

that the Christian Reformed Church would judge` that those           cause of separation as you, Rev. Baker, conceive of the matter

sermons were not heretical at all, for they were quite in            and present it in your article in The Banner.

harmony with the contents of the "Three Points." But when               You write : -

I say "evidently schismatic" I am referring to all their                "Our committee faced the question, can we propose to

schismatic actions from a church-political point of view. They       Synod to unite on that basis (i.e. on the basis of Scripture

trampled under foot all law and order. When the above                and the Confessions, H.H.) and completely ignore the fact

mentioned minister and his elders were suspended and de-             that we have the Three Points ? These occasioned the separa-

posed, they acted as if they still had the right to be seated        tion and kept us separate. But, does the existence of the

as delegates to classis.  They never appealed to synod, but          Three Points necessarily constitute an insurtiountable  bar-

simply left when the classis  told them that they had no right       rier? We believe it does not, Is it not possible to be joined

to be seated as delegates. A few ministers and elders separ-         together in spite of their existence 7 In our judgment it is."

ated themselves from the legal classis  also ignoring a possible        And what is the ground for this judgment of yours? It

appeal to synod. The majority of classis  West did the same          may partly, at least, be found in the following paragraph:

thing. When the schismatic synod met they seated all these              "We  are no longer in great disagreement with each other.
separatistic members without any further investigation. This         The Protestant Reformed Church has declared in her last
is why I said that those of the separatists who seek member-         letter, `We do not charge that the Three Points are Arminian
ship in the Christian Reformed Church are evidevztiy  sclzis-        and Pelagian.' She virtually grants that belief in common
ma.tic.                                                              grace is not heresy. I quote from her letter, `We should not

    And this is also the reason why I am bold to say that the        so narrow the walls of the church that every usage of the

Christian Reformed Church is stooping very low, and I mean           term common grace would be automatically branded as her-

this in the ethical or moral sense of the word, when they            esy, neither that the denial of common grace would preclude

simply accept them as members. What they should have done,           from membership. There must be freedom within the bound-

before th"ey received them, was to tell them: "first go to           aries of the Three Forms.' If I read this correctly, her posi-

your respective consistories from which you separated and            tion is that one can believe in common grace or deny it and

apologize for all the evil you have committed, and then, if          not thereby do violence to our Confessions."

you still wish to join the Christian Reformed Church, come              Finally, you rehearse the decisions of your Synod on the

back to us and we shall see what can be done."                       basis of which unification can be accomplished. The schismat-

    Or, if they did not wish to do this, they could, at least,       its must agree that the Three Points are not Arminian and

have inquired about the schismatics from us, I mean the              Pelagian; that they are not in conflict with Scripture and

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


the Confessions; that they will not agitate against official          that does not agree with the Three Points but promises not

interpretations.                                                      to agitate against them may become member or even minister

       The rest of your article, Rev. Baker, is not very cieai: fo    in that Church.
me.     You write that it was not required by the Synod of                Why not simply say:, if you want to become member in
i924 that all members and officebearers of the Christian Re-          the Christian Reformed `Church you must agree with the
formed Church should express full agreement with the Three            Three Points.
Points. Literally you write: "Neither did Synod expect that               And you can never grant the request of the schismatic
all ministers, officebearers, and members would be in full            synod to retract the Three Points or to declare that they are.
agreement with every statement in its pronouncements. It              binding no longer.                                                                           H.H.

was fully aware of the fact the Rev. Henry Danhof disagreed.

Synod knew also that the Rev. Herman Hoeksema and his
followers did not agree with its decisions." All this is true.                      A S   T O   B O O K S
But does this mean that the Revs. Danhof and Hoeksema

could ever write or preach anything against the Three Points
                                                                          A  G u i d e   t o   t h e   T e a c h i n g s   o f   t h e   E a r l y   Chwch   F a t h e r s ,
as it was their calling before God and the churches 7 We
                                                                      by Robert R. Williams. Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans
know better and so do you, Rev. Baker. Just read, e.g. the
                                                                      Publishing Company. Price $4.00.
decision of Classis West in ye the Danhof case, Jan. 1925.
                                                                          This book is exactly what it promises to, be, i.e. a guide
Here it is ; the Consistory must require of its minister : "1.
                                                                      to the teachings of the early church fathers. It. is not a
That he declare himself unequivocally whether he is in full
                                                                      church history, it is not a history of doctrine, it is not a
agreement yes or no with the three points of Kalamazoo.
                                                                      history of symbols - though it necessarily partakes`  of $1 of
2. An unconditional promise that in the matter of the three
                                                                      these. But it describes the struggles of the early church fathers
points he will submit (with the right of appeal) to the Con-
                                                                      during the first four or five centuries of our era. And this it
fessional Standards of the Church, as interpreted by the
                                                                      does very ably and &her  thoroughly. The style is lucid and
Synod of 1.924, i.e., neither publicly nor privately propose,
                                                                      I can recommend this book not only to the theologians but
teach or defend, either by preaching or writing any senti-
                                                                      also to the intelligent layman.
ments contrary to the Confessional Standards of the Church,
                                                                          The book is written from the standpoint of orthodox
as interpreted by the Synod of 1924, and in case of an appeal
                                                                      -theology.
that he in the interim will acquiesce in the judgment already
                                                                          I will quote just a paragraph at random td give the reader
passed by the Synod of 1924." The same was the decision of
                                                                      a taste of the contents and style of the book. The paragraph
Classis  East. On this basis the Revs. Danhof, Ophoff and
                                                                      draws a comparison between Origen and Augustine as fol-
undersigned were deposed. But the same thing you, Rev.
                                                                      lows :
Baker, write too in the same paragraph which I quoted
                                                                          "As compared with Origen, the greatest of the Greek
above : "What Synod (of 1924, H.H.) expected and had the
                                                                      Fathers, he is less theoretical and more practical. Origen had
right to expect was, that they abide by the decisions and cdn-
                                                                      a Christian upbringing. Augustine was in his thirties when
s'ider  them binding until they had been proved to be contrary
                                                                      he was converted. Origen knew of no conflict within himself.
to the Scriptures and the Forms of Unity."
                                                                      Augustine was conscious of a struggle between the heart and
       But do you not see, Rev. Baker, that this is an impossible     the mind. Both men tried to reconcile faith and thought.
position, especially for a minister to take ? The Three Points        Origen followed the process from faith to thought : Augustine,
are fundamental errors. They declare something concerning             the process from thought to faith. Augustine knew but Iittle
the grace of God, concerning the question whether grace is            Greek, and was less versed in Greek philosophy than Origen.
general or special. In connection with this they declare some-        Theology had its beginning with the Alexandrian. Like
thing about the preaching of the gospel, namely, that this            Origen, Augustine went beyond the ideas of his own age.
preaching of the gospel is grace for all that hear. They de-          Both were innovators and creators of new conceptions." . . .
clare, moreover, that God sore strains sin that the natural man       P. 156.
is still able to do much good. These are, in my opinion, very             Heartily recommended.                                                                    H.H.
fundamental errors.       How, then, would it be possible for

any minister that is convinced in his heart that the Three                Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martyn,
Points are errors to promise that he will submit to them, that        Lloyd Jones, II Volumes. Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans
he will keep still about them, that he will not agitate against       Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.  Price per volume
them ? If he preaches one sermon he must either preach the            $4.50.
Three Points or contradict them. There is no other alter-                 These two volumes contain a complete series of sermons
native.                                                               on the Sermon on the Mount. The author himself informs us
    This is the reason why it is not honest on the part of the        how they were made ready for publication. They were taken
Christian Reformed Church to leave the impression that one            down in shorthand and almost literally, i.e., without any ap-


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   199


preciable changes, given to the printer. Dr. Lloyd Jones is                 Looking at the record I notice that some two thousand

minister of the Word of God in Westminster Chapel, Lon-                 pieces of mail wepe sent out, Standard Bearers, brochures,

don. In a preface to the first volume he writes :                       pamphlets, Beacon Lights and leaflets, composed by the un-

    "I am profoundly convinced that the greatest. need of               dersigned. It was also the privilege, upon request, to type
the Church togay  is a return to expository preaching. I would          out material for a pamphlet on the subject "God's Un-
emphasize both words and especially the latter. A sermon                changeable Marriage Ordinance."          It is hoped that this
is not an essay and is not meant, primarily, for publication,           pamphlet will be from the press in the near future.

but to be heard and to have an immediate impact upon the                    No less than 21 essays were written by the undersigned

listeners."    The author then continues to point to certain            this year from "Holy Writ" which entailed a very fruitful

characteristics that follow from this fact. This he does in             research for the undersigned. Incidentally, I believe that it

ordkr to explain why these sermons were just about literally            has not happened before that the Home Missionary of our

published as they were spoken.                                          Churches filled a rubric in The Strrndm-d Bearer for six years.

   As to the contents  of these volumes of sermons, I may               The Lord gave strength all during this time. It did not hap-
say that the author shows that he believes that a sermon                pen, I believe, during all this time that sickness prevented me
ought to be expository. But although this is true, the sermons          from preaching one sermon. And during the year 1960 I
are also practical. They provide spiritual reading in the good          might preach not less than 105 times.

sense of the word. Hence, I may and hereby do recommend                    All during these labors, lectures, preaching, sending forth

these books to our readers.                                     H.H.    of literature I experienced the sustaining grace of God. His

                                                                        strength is made great in our weakness. It requires much

                                                                        strength in soul and spirit to preach for small audiences of
11 C 6 N T R I B U T I 0 N S 11                                         people, ranging from "three or four" to about twenty-five.
                                                                        And, yet, the marvel of it is that they were and are joyful ex-

                                                                        periences.    A day of "small beginnings" ? Surely such it is
                     Missionary Notes                                   for us in Pella. But a day of "small beginnings" is far better

                                                                        than a day of stark pessimism and fruitless speculation. Ever
    The year of our Lord, 1960, has come to a close. For the
                                                                        there are the "many" that say, "Who will shew us any good ?"
undersigned it was definitely a different year from the pre-
                                                                        And, if ever any little group would be tempted to thus wail
vious five that he might labor as the Lord's servant as Home
                                                                        and whimper it would be those "two or three" in Pella ! But
Missionary. During the first five years the lion's share of the
                                                                        when those who look at things "objectively" come and
time was spent in Loveland and in Isabel and Forbes. How;
                                                                        see things from afar in Della  and then say to their soul
ever, this year, although largely spent in and around Pella,
                                                                        (`who  will shew them gnygood"  in their lot, it is simply a
was definitely quite different.
                                                                        marvel that they say, in hope against hope, "Lord, lift thou
   When reflecting `upon  the past year I think that I can say          up the light of thy countenance upon us !"
that it was a year characterized by "lecturing," preaching and
                                                                            What a joy to be present in a little group with strong
writing and visiting. According to the diary kept by. Mrs.
                                                                        faith, where none complain because they attempt not to walk
Lubbers I see that, all told, I lectured no less than 13 times
                                                                        by sight but by faith. For my own spiritual refreshment this
during these twelve months on such subjects as:;.                       mording  I read what Spurgeon  has to say on Psalm 4:6:
   1. "Can You Quote the Ten Commandments ?"z           ,. _            "There were many, even among David's followers, who
   2.    "The Serious `Confrdntation' in the Preaching of the           wanted to see  rather than believe. Alas! this is the tendency
         Gospel."                                                       of us all! Even the regenerate sometimes groan after the
   3.    "God's Unchangeable Marriage Ordinance."                       sense and sight of prosperity, and are sad when darkness
   4. "Christian Stewardship in a Democratic Society."                  covers all good from view. As for worldlings this is their
   5.    "Calvin and the Reformed Faith."                               unceasing cry.    `Who will shew us any good ? Never satis-
   6. "The Infallible Earmark of the Last Hour."                        fied, their gaping mouths are turned in every direction, their
   7. "The Raging of Satan in History."                                 empty hearts are ready to drink in any fine delusion which

   It may interest the reader to know that your Home Mis-               imposters may invent; and when all these fail they soon

sionary lectured once in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in the American               yield to despair, and declare that there is no good thing in

Legion Hall; twice did he lecture in Pella in the American              either heaven or earth. The t&e believer is a man of very

Legion Hall ; twice he lectured in Prairie City: in the High            different mould. His face is not downward like the beasts',

School ; once in Sully, Iowa, and once in Kilduff,  Iowa, an            but upward like the eagles'. He drinks not from the muddy

adjacent town of Sully. A lecture was given in our churches             pools of Mammon, but from the fountain of life above. The

on the above-named subjects in Loveland, Colorado, Isabel-              light of God's countenance is enough for him. This is his

Forbes, S.D., Randolph, Wisconsin, Hull, Iowa and Hol-                  riches, his honour, his health, his ambition, his ease. Give him

land, Michigan.                                                         this and he will ask no more. . . . Oh, for more of the indwell-


200                                               T    H    E     STANDARD  BEARER



ing of the Holy Spirit, that our fellowship with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ may be constant and abiding."                       O U R   D O C T R I N E
       That was also what we might enjoy in the year which has

gone by.
       In Pella the                                                                     THE BOOK OF REVELATION
                        Refovmed  Witvzess  Hocw  is heard each Sun-

day morning at 7:30  o'clock. And many, many are they who
                                                                                                       PART TWO
listen to it and enjoy this hour. I have had abundant occasion

to know this in my contacts with people in Pella and sur-
rounding areas ! The testimony of this radio ministry is                                         CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

simply wonderful for them. Dear reader, have you ever lived                                       T h e   F a l l   o f   B a b y l o n
in such straits for your very life's sake? Do you look forward
with longing for the Reformed Witness Hour, or do you miss                                 Revelation 18 (See your Bible)

it (if you live around Grand Rapids, Mich.)  due to your                       And finally, this leads us to our third observation on the
afternoon nap ? ! ! I know people who wait for it with the                  fall of Babylon as such, namely, the time of her destruction.
breaking of the dawn, even as watchmen look for morning                     The chapter itself does not indicate any time. It simply tells
light.                                                                      us of the destruction. But, in the first place, it may be re-

       Just this weeG  I received a liote  from Pella: "Sunday we           marked that the very completeness and finality of her destruc-

had services; the usual group was present." This means that                 tion already makes us think that this is one of the scenes of

on Sunday afternoon about 8 people gather in the Legion                     the last days, when all that have exalted themselves against

Hall and listen to a sermon taped in First Church and are led               Him, shall be destroyed by the appearance of the Mighty One.

in the services by elder C. Vander Molen. This is true  when                And from chapter 16, verse 19, we learned that this destruc-

they have no classical appointment and when the undersigned                 tion of Babylon falls within the events that constitute the

is not present.                                                             realization of the seventh vial. Driven by God's own counsel,

    Yes, a day .of  small things.                                           the devil shall have bewitched the nations to war against the
       Let them not be despised. No church is so small that it              Lamb. And at the outpouring of the sixth vial, Euphrates
can be put in the class of "Plant No: 4" that does not pay off !            shall be dried up and the way of the kings of the east
                                                                            prepared. The thrones of the kings of the beast shall be
                                                                    G.L.
                                                                            darkness, indicating that there shall be internal unrest within

                                                                            the kingdom of Antichrist itself before the great day of

                                                                            Armageddon comes. They shall strike at the center of the
                   Notice for Classis  West
                                                                            anti-Christian  dominion first of all, and she shall be over-
    Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will                   come. All these things constitute the tremendous events that

meet, the Lord willing, in South Holland, Illinois, on Wed-                 must take place at the eii'd  of time. And it is at that very last

nesday, March 15, 1961 at 9 A.M.                                            that also Babylon shall be destroyed, that she shall fall and
                                                                            her sins shall be remembered in the sight of God.
    The consistories are reminded of the rule that all matters
                                                                               As to the significance of this fall of Babylon for the
for the classical agenda must be in the hands- of the Stated
                                                                            world in general we may be brief. Her fall simply means
Clerk not later than 30 days before the date ,of Classis.  And              the fall of the entire antichristian kingdom. This is already
all matters that are to be brought to Synod must also be                    clear from the very nature of the case. Babylon is pictured

presented at this classis.                                                  as the very center of antichristian power. She is pictured as

                                                                            the throne and heart of the kingdom. Without her, as we
                                   REV. H. VELDMAN, Stated Clevlz
                                                                            mentioned, there is no commerce and no industry, no busi-

                                                                            ness, no science, no art, no philosophy, no riches, and no

Christian School Teachers and Teachers-To-Be:                               pleasure and joy. In a word, the entire structure of the king-
                                                                            dom rested on Babylon as its cornerstone. And therefore,
    Whereas the Loveland Prot. Ref. Christian School So-                    when she falls, the kingdom falls. It is all done with her
ciety plans, D.V., to open its own school in Sept. of 1961,                 greatness and her joy, her riches and her abundance, her

the Board encourages ALL interested teachers and teachers-                  pleasure and luxury. The power of Antichrist is completely
to-be to inquire for further details. It is requested that                  broken through the fall of Babylon.

:applicants  include name, credits or.degree,  experience, if any,             This is also indicated symbolically by the weeping and

and expected salary. Contact :                                              wailing of the kings of the earth and the merchants and the

                                        G                                   shipmasters and sailors. First of all, the kings are men-
                                             ILBERT GRIESS,  Secretary
                                        Route 1, Box 282                    tioned. They are pictured as standing afar off and weeping

                                        Loveland, Colorado                  over the fall of Babylon. These princes of the earth had all

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


their pow:r concentrated in Babylon. The fall of that city is        the voice meniioned  here will go forth with power and the

their fall. It is the end of all world power. It is the end of       people of God shall be taken away from the world. Not in-

kings and princes Andy of all rulers  of the earth. Then the         deed as if a long period would intervene between the removal

merchants, the great businessmen and corporations of the             of the last of God's children and the end of the world ; but

world, are mentioned. They had all their riches in Babylon           they shall be removed. The voice will become powerful, will
-their gold  and their silver and precious stones, and all the       become irresistible, and will call powerfully the faithful and
articles of their merchandise. They also stand weeping for           chosen from the midst of the arena of strife and tribulation to
the reason that no one from now on can buy their merchandise         be with Christ in glory forever. How this is to be performed
any more.     It is the end of `materialism, the end of the god      the text does not tell us ; but that it is to be done is very
of this world, the end of all greed and lust and gain, the end       clear. And the purpo'se  of this removal of the children of God
of that power that would buy from and sell to only those             is plainly indicated in the words "and that ye receive not of
that had the mark of the beast. And, finally, the people that        her piagues." They shall not partake of her judgment. Be-
work for these merchants, the shipmasters and sailors, that          fore the final punishment is inflicted on Babylon, the children
depended on Bibylon  for a job, are also pictured as bewailing       of God shall be no more in the world.
the fall of the great city. And therefore, it is very plain that        In the second place, the judgment on Babylon and on the
the fall of Babylon implies the downfall of that entire beauti-      antichristian kingdom in general will be a cause of great joy
ful structure of the dragon which was pictured in chapter 13         to all them that love the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
as having dominion over all things and over all the nations          In the text this is indicated, as also in the next chapter. A
of the world. With Babylon, so chapter 16, verse 19 tells            voice shouts : "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy
                                                              US,

all the cities of the nations fall together. And therefore,          apostles and prophets ; for God hath avenged you on her."
whether we take it that Babylon shall be a real center or            vs. 20. No wonder! It is in Babylon that the blood of all the
whether we look upon her as the symbolic center of anti-             saints is found : for she is the culmination and highest realiza-
christendom,  certain it is that her fall is the last of Anti-       tion of the power of opposition in the world of all ages. It
christ.                                                              was in Babylon that these saints were in tribulation, that
                                                                     they were made a laughing-stock because of their antiquated
    Finally, in regard to the relation of the people of God,         ideas and other-worldly hopes. It was Babylon that laughed
we must observe, in the first place, that they are admonished        at them when they testified of Jesus and of the hope that was
to separate from Babylon. No doubt this is first of all meant        in them, when they refused to believe in all the hopes and
in the spiritual sense of the word. A voice comes to them,           expectations of the world, refused to help along in the build-
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of             ing up of the world. In a word, the apostles and prophets
her sins." Literally they shall not be able to separate them-        and the saints were always the mockery and laughingstock,
selves from Babylon, for she is everywhere. Even if in her           looked upon as fools and idiots who knew not how to value
final manifestation she shall reveal herself as a literal city,      things at their right estimation. And therefore, they must
which is not at all impossible, the fact remains that she will be    be set right;  and it must become apparent that they were
sitting upon many waters and that her sway and influence is          right and true. Even as for a long time they laughed at Noah
felt all over the world, yea, that she is present in every city,     and his message and his building of the ark, so also the
in all business and commerce and in every shop and store.            world for ages laughed at all the people of God and their
If she would literally separate from Babylon, the church             message and the building of their ark of hope in Christ Jesus.
would have to go out of the world. And therefore, a spiritual        But even as Noah was justified when the world of wicked-
separation is meant, in the first place. And this is plainly         ness was destroyed, so shall the saints and the apostles and
indicated by the words "that ye may have no fellowship with          prophets be publicl!.  justified when this world and all the
her sins."    The people of God must know Babylon. They              glorious harlotries of this world shall be destroyed and its
must see her true character. They must realize that her              calamity shall come in one day. Rejoice, therefore, ye saints,
hope is outside of Christ, that her hope is altogether in this       even in anticipation! Have no fellowship with the sins of
world, that she is antichristian and serves the devil, that she,     Babylon ! For the New Jerusalem alone shall stand and have
tramples under foot the blood of Christ. However beautiful           the victory forever! But Babylon and all its abominations
and Christian she may appear, they must discern her true             shall fall and be desolate forever. !
nature and refuse to have fellowship with her. And instead,                                                                     H.H.
they must with might and main cling to the Word of God and

the testimony of Jesus. They must maintain that. Christ is

King  and that His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom
in glory. But although this is true, nevertheless I do not                      Then, safe within Thy fold,
doubt that also a literal separation is implied in these words.                    We will exalt Thy Name ;
I imagine, as we have had occasion to notice before, that be-                   Our thankful hearts with songs of joy
fore the last judgment shall be inflicted upon wicked Babylon,                    Thy goodness will proclaim.


                                           T H E   $T-A'NDA,R.D   B E A R E R


                                                                    must learn to respond promptly to the commands of the Lord.

                                                                    It was not for him to linger.
11 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES 11
Y                                                                      There was solemnity in the occasion when that small

                                                                    group of people set forth from the house of Jethro. Upon a
                  Moses' Return to Egypt                            beast of burden sat a woman with two small children ; ,before

                                                                    them walked. the man with a shepherd's crook in his hand.
           And the Lord said unto Moses in Midiavt,  Go, return     The children were young and did not yet realize what was
       into Egypt: for all the vxevz  are dead which sought thy     taking place. The woman was clearly troubled. She too did
       life.                                                        not understand, and she felt no desire to leave her father's

           And Moses took his wiie and his SONS,  and set theutz    home for the alien land of Egypt. She was going only be-

       upon a.n ass, and he retwned  tb the land of Egypt: and      cause her husband said it was necessary. The man was lost

       Mosm  took the rod of God in his hand. Exodus 4 :19, 20      deep in thought. He pondered the duties and responsibilities

                                                                    which were lying before him. In his hand he held the shep-
     With mixed feelings Moses saw the fire of God's presence       herd's crook, but not carelessly as he had in former years.
fade from the bush on Horeb, looked at the gentle sheep             This rod had taken on a new and special significance for
quietly grazing about him, gathered them together, and be-          him. It had been appointed of God as a symbol of his newly
gan his journey back to the camp of Jethro. He had stood in         acquired power and authority. With an awe approaching
the presence of the Most High God, and with awesome                 reverence he held his staff as they traveled.
wonder he pondered the fact. He had heard that Israel was
soon to be delivered, and he rejoiced exceedingly, for he had          They had not gone on very far before the Lord came once
ever hoped for such deliverance to come. He had been com-           again to Moses. Moses had been called to a very special
manded to go forth and lead the children of Israel, and he          position as the prophet of God. It was to become a very
trembled at the thought, for through the years he had learned       frequent, at times almost daily experience for him to receive
to know his own `weakness and sin. But Moses went. He               special revelations from God. This intimate communion with
had no choice. The Lord his God had commanded him.                  God was to characterize his life more than that of any other
                                                                    man. It would be written of him, "And there arose not a
     Upon returning to the camp of Jethro, he went imme-            prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew
diately to his father-in-law. When he had joined himself to         face to face" (Deut. 34 :lO)  . Through these repeated revela-
the household of Jethro, he had placed himself under Jethro's       tions God gave to Moses constant guidance and assurance in
rule. Now that the time had come for him to leave, it would         the tremendous task. In this particular revelation He in-
not do for him to ignore the rights of this man. Respectfully       structed Moses with a general outline of the working but of
he spoke, "Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my               the gospel as he would experience it in the immediate future.
brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet

alive."    Only in the most general terms aid Moses intimate           First Go< said to Moses, "When thou goest to return into
his real reason for returning to Egypt. He had learned              Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh,

through the years that Jethro, although undoubtedly a child         which I have put in thine hand." These works would be of'
of God, had no real understanding of or concern for the need        utmost importance in establishing Moses as the prophet of

of Israel being delivered from Egypt. Jethro was of the sons        God and in setting forth the truth that Moses was sent to

of Keturah,  and through the years they had lost much of the        proclaim. God would reveal Himself in Egypt as the I AM

feeling for the importance of Israel in bringing to pass the        THAT I AM, the Almighty God \,tiho  always performs His

promised redemption of God. Thus Moses did not deem it              own will. Moses would come as God's prophet with the rod

wise to share with his father-in-law's family the deep, spirit-     as a symbol of God's power in his hand. Each work performed

ual experience and revelation through- which he had just            in the Name of God would be unmistakably adapted to show

passed. Nonetheless, Jethro was satisfied with Moses' re-           forth the greatness and the power of God. Only the blind

quest and answered, "Go in peace."                                  would refuse to acknowledge the God of Moses to be the

                                                                    I AM .THAT  I AM whose will can not be withstood.
     Still Moses did not leave the land of Midian  immediately.

Was it perhaps fear of the task that lay before him that               But to this God added a warning concerning the reaction
made him linger unnecessarily long in the home of Jethro?           of these works upon Pharaoh. "I will harden his heart, that
But God was watching Moses, and with Him there was no               he shall not let the people go." Pharaoh was  of the blind of
allowance for such procrastination. He came and spoke to            the world, who have eyes but will not see, who have ears but
Moses to urge him on and to assure him against all unneces-         will not hear, who have hearts too hard to understand. God
sary fears. "Go,  return into Egypt: for all the men are dead       had raised him up and set him upon the throne of Egypt just

which sought thy life." God had waited over four hundred            exactly to reveal the immense perversity of the human heart.
years in bringing Israel forth out of Egypt, but now that the       With the truth so clearly set before him in unquestionable

time was come there was no more room for delay. Moses               signs and wonders, he would deny that it was real. He

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


would not acknowledge it to himself or to anyone else. He           comings was the failure to maintain the rite of circumcision.

would suppress the truth and hold it under in unrighteous-          It was a bloody ritual which they considered too painful to

ness. In utter folly he would in the face of the truth uphold       observe. Thus they failed to maintain the outward sign of

the lie. But let no one think that by so doing he would be          the covenant which inwardly they still kept. Thus, when

withstanding the will of God. This, indeed, Pharaoh would           Moses' two sons were born, Zipporah had opposed the sub-

try to do. His boast would ever be that he did not need to          jecting of her children to this painful operation ; and Moses

recognize the Lord, that he could withstand the God of              had submitted. This had been his sin.

Israel ; but that very fact would be the highest illustration of       But now Moses was returning again to the children of
the pervasiveness of the almighty power of God. Behind              Israel to lead and instruct them in the will of the Lord. One
the hardened heart of Pharaoh was the eternal counsel of            of the things which he would have to teach the people was the
God which had ordained that it should be so. This God               necessity of circumcision. But how could he insist that others
made clear to Moses by telling him before it ever happened,         observe what he had not observed himself. One primary re-
"I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go:"     quirement of effective leadership is that a man do his utmost

   Finally God added these instructions, "And thou shalt            to observe himself what he would require of others. This

say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son,            Moses had not done. In the most forceful terms God pointed

even my firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that         this out to Moses. He told Moses and Zipporah his wife that

he may serve me : and if thou refuse to let him go, I will slay     if Moses would not strive to live blamelessly before the

thy son, even thy firstborn." This was the ultimate meaning         ordinances of God, he would be of no use to Him at all as

of the truth that God would reveal through Moses. The ex-           a leader and redeemer of the chosen people. In fact, if Moses

pression of God's love would not be without purpose and             in his household did not keep the commandments of God he

direction. It would be directed in Fatherly love and affection      would die.

to His son. Israel as a nation was dear to Him. In the                 Zipporah had no choice. While the Lord threatened the
seed of Abraham it was chosen and adopted to belong to              life of her husband, she took a sharp stone and performed
Him. So it had been from eternity; so it was and would be           the required operation. But in her heart she held only
in time.    When Pharaoh persecuted Israel, he persecuted the       resentment and bitterness. Among her people this bloody
object of God's love. When he would refuse to let Israel go,        practice had not been observed for many years. She could
he would be seeking to deprive God of the rightful service of       not understand the need of it and she detested the thought of
His own son. Thus in righteous judgment God would strike            subjecting her own children to such a painful practice. Her
back. With many infallible proofs He would show His love            inner feelings boiled in rebellion. She had not wanted to
for His chosen. He would show His power over Pharaoh                leave her father's home, and now she was required to treat
by depriving him of his son.                                        her own children with cruelty. The Lord withdrew His

    In this way God was preparing Moses for the conflict            threatening hand from her husband, but her bitterness re-

which was to come. The powers of evil were already arrayed          mained. She cast the bloody foreskins at Moses' feet and

for battle. In the days to come they would exert themselves         said, "Surely a bloody husband art thou to me, because of

to the utmost. But the outcome was sure. The power of               the circumcision."

God's love would be made known. The lines of battle were               To Moses it. became evident that he could not go on in
before-ordained in the divine counsel. Unto Moses it was            this way. A wife who resented the high duties of his calling
made known what they would be that in due and proper time           could only interfere and not help. Sadly he returned to the
the glory might be only unto God.                                   home of Jethro with his wife and children, there to leave

   While pondering this all, Moses stopped for the evening          them until his work had been completed. He could not allow

at an inn on the road to Egypt. His mind was still full of          even his own wife to stand in the way of the calling which

all that he had heard, and therefore it was quite unexpected        he had received from God. Again he left for Egypt, alone.

that the Lord came to meet him again at the inn. But this              God saw the loneliness of Moses' heart `and made provi-
appearance of God was quite different. This appearance was          sions for him. He appeared to Aaron, Moses' brother, in
not to Moses individually but to Zipporah his `wife as well.        Egypt and said, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses."
Moreover, this appearance was not primarily concerned with          There on the way the two brothers, separated for so many
Moses' future work, but with his present personal life. The         years, met. With joy they kissed each other and went on
Lord appeared and sought to kill Moses.                             together. As they went Moses related to his brother all that

   Moses had entered into married life while dwelling in            he .had learned of the Lord, and Aaron encouraged Moses in
the house of Jethro. There true faith in God was maintained,        his calling. With this brother by his side, Moses would have
for Jethro was a descendant of Abraham through Keturah.             the courage to stand in the great and wonderful calling which
`However, in certain matters of faith this household had be-        was his.
come weak and -wavering. One of their most grievous short-                                                                  B.W-


204                                         T H E  s?xNDARD  B E A R E R


                                                                      without having his divine sanction. For what happens upon

                                                                      the word of two or three witnesses has validity in heaven.

                                                                      Surely such handling of the "Keys of the Kingdom" is dread-

                                                                      ful reality.

             Exposition of Matthew l&15-20                                However, it all depends upon the truth being established

                                                                      that a man is unrepentant or repentant. For a man perishes
                                 b.                                   not because he sins but because he refuses to confess his sins.

       It should bz remembered, that, in the matter of seeking        If the mere fact that a man is a sinner would cause him to

to restore the lost sheep that strays from the fold, we are not       perish then all would perish and none would be saved. The

simply trying to win a brother to ourselves,' but that we are         unrepentant show that they are evil men who will not inherit
seeking to restore him into the favor of God; it is a matter          the Kingdom !

which is very "serious," a matter of what is "bound in                    And it is for that reason that there is rule in Israel, in

heaven" and what is "bound on earth." It is a matter of               the church, that, when one has "risen up'j against a brother

discipline. The German language calls this "Busszucht."  It           in judgment, he shall take with ,him one or two witnesses.

is a chastisement to bring to confession of sin and guilt and           In the first place we should notice that a "witness" here
to true sorrow of having sinned against God. Wherefore our            is not one who knows certain facts from hearsay but one
fathers always stressed that there must be evide?Lce  of true         who knows from pemowal  knowledge. What he testifies to be
sorrow for sin before a man can be re-admitted into the               the truth, he knows because he has seen  it and hea,rd it. He
kingdom of God.                                                       is a witness in a twofold sense. He is a witness because he
       As soon as we see the sn%tlsness of sin, guilt, the wrath      has witnessed the happening. And then he is a witness be-

of God and eternal punishment for sin, we shall see how               cause he attests to the. truth of what he has seen or heard.
serious is this matter of "seeking to restore the brother."           That is the sine qua non of a witness. None other can qualify.

       Hence, the matter in judgment must be "established" !              Then, too, there is an interesting feature here in the text

       When our brother has ,sinned  against us, or when he has       which should not be overlooked. It is a matter of arithmetic.

sinned in general, it is first of all sin against God! He has         We are enjoined to take one or two with us as witnesses in

broken the commandments of God and did not walk in love               order that every word may be established by two  or three!

from a pure heart, in a good conscience and in faith un-              The point is that the one who takes the witness with him,

feigned! He must be reconciled to God, and, thus, to his              be it one or two, is himself represented by Jesus as being the

brother. And, conversely, if he is not reconciled to the brother      original witness. He cannot slip out from under the matter

whom he sees he cannot possibly be reconciled to God whom             in which he has "risen up" in judgment against the brother.

he does not see. The Lord .is not mocked.                             He will needs have to cast the first stone. He is one witness.

       Hence, it is really a walking into the tribunal of the Lord    When he takes one witness with him there are a resultant
when we go to the brother to convict him of sin. It is before         treno  witnesses and when he takes two ,witnesses  with
His face, the face of Him before whom all things are naked            him there are thee witnesses as a result. Two witness'%  are
and open. For He judges the reins and hearts, and He it is            sufficient and three are allowed.                  .`I

that searches the intents of the heart. And this intent of the            There is here a deep p~~incipls  which must be'Sen.

heart, whether this be purity of heart in confession or of                It is underscored by Jesus when he is accused by the Jews
filthiness and stubbornness of heart in refusal to confess,           of his day as not having a true witness because he testifies
must come to light. The truth of the matter must be estab-            of himself !. Jesus had said : "I am the light of the world. He
lished.                                                               that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have

       And when once it is established and ratified before the        the light of life." John 8:12. The Jews attack Jesus on this

tribunal of God in the hearts and consciences of those who are        principle of "two or three witnesses." And Jesus takes up the
"convicted,"    this conviction stands. Nothing changes it; no        cudgel.

arbitrary setting aside of the tribunal and circumvention of              There is an implied syllogism in the reasoning of the
the statutes of God avail aught.                                      Jews. It is as follows : 1. Self-testimony by itself is not

       It is therefore paramount that we take notice of the sol-      valid (major premise). 2. Jesus testifies concerning self

emn "Amen, I say unto you"  in both the verses 18 and 19              (minor premise). 3. Jesus' testimony cannot be held to be

here in this passage. Jesus underscores in this implied oath          true and valid (conclusion).

the solemnity and the seriousness of this restoration of a                When Jesus replies to this accusation of the Jews he con-
brother from sin.                                                     cedes the `major premise under 1 but denies the minor premise

       For it is not simply a playing church. It is not simply a      undkr  2, and, therefore, the conclusion that his testimony is

human transaction upon earth at which the God of heaven               not true, does not hold. For in "the law" it is indeed written

laughs or looks down upon without taking it seriously or              "that the testimony of two men is true." Howeeer,  Jesus


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                205

                                                    Z'.,.

 does not transgress that ordinance in Israel.  On the CO:-           matter also thus stands attested iri heaven. For, in this

 trary, in His case this ordinance is fulfilled in the highest and    smallest gathering in God's church, Christ is in their midst.

  most exalted sense. Jesus' word as the Mediator, the sent           He is also a witness there. He puts his approval upon this

 one, is corroborated by the testimony of the Sender, our             "establishment" of the truth ; it has his sanction ! Amen, I

  Father in heaven, the triune God..  And this testimony from         say unto you!

  heaven is not merely a voice from heaven, but it consists in            Now if the man refuses to heed the admonition of the
  the signs and wonders, as well as in the testimony of the           original prosecufqr  before two or three, then it becomes a
  Holy Spirit. Wherefore we read in I John 5 17 : "Because            matter for the'entire church. It must be told to them by the
  thers  are three that testify, the Spirit, the water and the        two or threk witnesses. And the word of two or three wit-
 blood, and these three are into one" (testimony) !                   nesses stands as established !

     Hence, Jesus also submits to the rule of two or three wit-           Then the brother must be admonished of both his sin and

 nesses.                                                              unrepentance before the church. If he heeds, the brother is

     And thus His word and woi-k  is establiihed.  It is thus         gained. But, if he refuses to heed the admonition, then it is
  established in the hearts and `co&ciences  of men  and angels,      not so that nothing is done about it. The man is then not
 both good and evil. "                                                forgiven in Christ's name. He is bound in his sin ; it is de-
     And it is this principle that is enundiatkd by Moses in          clared to him that until he repents he has no place .in the
  Deuteronomy 19 :15, where tie read : "One witness  shall not        kingdom of heaven. See the Form Of Excomwwnication  in
  rise                                                                the back of the Psalter and also the Form  Of Readmitta.nce.
      LIP  against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any

  sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses or% the              Now this is serious business.

 mouth of three witnesses shall a ihatter  be established."*.And          One may well t`remble before the Lord when one declares
 that is the rule which Christ cites also in Matthew lS:lS-20.        a man to be "unto you a heathen and a publican." On the
  Only when a matter is thus established shall it stand. Order        other hand well may one tremble too if one does not declare
  in the court, tile  tribunal of God, and all things in strictest    the unrepentant to be outside of the kingdom. For'the church
 justice! Strictest justice both! .+&the accused and to the ac-       which does not exercise ChK&ua  D*hcipl~ine  is like the bride
_ cuser.  For justice is a two-edged sword. He who picks it up        who has lost her veil! Her glory is departed. Her meaning
  must beware he does not ctit  his hand upon the sword he            is lost.
  would wield. :                   .
                                                                          Let it ndt be overlooked that when Jesus says, "Let him
      Strictest justice  also toward-the brother who has sinned       be unto thee a heathen and publican," that this is not merely ,
  against us, or as the text has' iti `"against you." For none is     a permissive word. It is not simply then a matter left to us
 interested in self-vindication or personal avengement, but in        to take it or leave it. It is the declaration of the Judge of
  "winning" the brother for the Lord and his Church.                  heaven and earth, determining a man's status of guilt. It

     And thus if the brother does not hear you, take with you         is thus bound (momentarily) on earth and it is thus a con-

  one or two witnesses.                                               stant `@ality  in heaven. (The Greek. text here employs the

    ' The  term here for "does not hear" rkally is a bit stronger.    futire $iraphrastic  perfect tense: action fulfilled up to the
  It really means that he ignyres  the evidence of the case. He       present.) In heaven it is constantly then thus viewed and it
  acts as if the evi+i:ce  did n?$  point the accusing finger at      is thus "established." When presently the books are opened,
  him. He refuses to hear;, hf hears without heeding, and thus        thus @~shall  be as established, and thus it is stipulated in
 wholly disregards. He is disobedient.                                the books of God.
     And now he must be convicted once more in his heart and              Th&  is true whether the congregation is large or small.
 conscience of his "sin," and this time before two or three           For the matter is not established by popular vote of the
 witnesses, the original prosecutor included. And the sinful-         people. It is established according to the commandments be-
  ness of his sin must be pointed out, together with the com-         fore two or three witnesses.
 rqand  to repent in heartfelt sorrow before the Lord. And the            Let it not be forgotten.

 one or two who accompany the original "witness" must be                  It is serious.  businkss. Woe to the church which does not-

  eye- and ear-witness and thus, if the man remains unre-             conduct the business of the King. And also woe to the

 pentant, his guilt must be established together with his un-         church where this matter of discipline is neglected and not

 repentance. For in this court of the Lord the sinner may be          taken seriously.

 guilty but when he confesses his sin he is pardoned. And                 Only that church gathers the sheep and seeks the lost
 that is the point toward which. we labor. It is Busszucht  ! !       which will insist that sin be confessed and forgiveness re-
  It is not simply punishment, l5ut  it is reconciliation in the      ceived.
  blood of the Lamb !                                                     She goes upon the mountains to find the sheep that was

     And if it thus stands established before two or three wit-       lost, and rejoices when it is found!

 nesses that a man, a bro&er, is `guilty and tinrepentant, the                                                                  G.L.


206                                       T H E   STANDAR-D   B E A R E R


                                                                    earth would stand.) But there are signs which will indicate
              I N   H I S   F E A - R                               to us that God is changing the weather `picture for us and
                                                                    the seasons as well. As a child we were always taught to

                                                                    say, "Red in the morning is sailor's fair warning ; red at night
             The Whether of Our Weather                             is sailor's delight." Jesus also rebuked the unbelieving Jews

                                                                    in Matthew 16 :2, 3, "When in the evening, ye say, It will be
       By the time these lines appear in print for general dis-
                                                                    fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will
tribution the world in these northern climes will be or will
have recently been in that period of the year when men turn         be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. 0
                                                                    ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky ; but can
to such a silly thing as an irrational ground hog for predic-
                                                                    ye not discern the signs of the times ?" Indeed God gives
tions as to the length of the winter that still holds sway over
                                                                    signs in the sky of what He intends to do next. Today
our land at the present time. Maybe it is not that ground
                                                                    meteorologists can warn us that conditions are such that in
hog so much as it is the sun that shines or fails to shine
                                                                    a certain area tornadoes are apt to be spawned. No, they do
brightly that day. Or perhaps it is even the cloud cover that
                                                                    not know whether they will or not. They cannot tell just
prevents the seeing of a shadow that determines the weather
                                                                    where in this wide area such a tornado may form and where
for the next six weeks. At any rate all kinds of super-
                                                                    it will strike. But there are signs that they can read which
stitious beliefs will be voiced.
                                                                    indicate that such violent storms are a distinct possibility. Of
    That it might be cloudy over an area of some two, three
                                                                    course you never hear these meteorologists declare that, the
hundred miles, and all the rest of the country has bright sun-
                                                                    Lord willing, a tornado might appear in such an area. How
shine that,  day, would mean that just this particular area
                                                                    strange that sounds even to our ears! The Lord willing, a
will have a different weather pattern for the next four to six
                                                                    storm of fierce destructive powers might strike this region or
weeks, must not be considered. It spoils the fun of dreaming        that !
and having thhgs  in which to put our trust. After all it is
more delightful for the flesh to live in the fear of things than        We are accustomed to use that expression for pleasant
in the fear of the Lord. It seems more rational for this            experiences. The Lord willing, we will live and make a safe
fallen man to look to a ground hog than to an all-wise and          journey to see our loved ones. The Lord willing, we will live
sovereign God. It is more flattering to the pride of that           to see our 80th  or maybe 90th birthday this year. The Lord
depraved man to depend even upon such an irrational beast's         willing, we will graduate from high school, college, seminary
antics than upon a mighty and holy Creator Who must be              or celebrate our 2Oth, our 25th year in the ministry of God's
loved and served with all our heart and soul and strength and       Word. But to say, The Lord willing, destruction shall come
with all our life and possessions. And we would rather make         and death shall strike us down, does not sound so good to
a hog our god than to be subject to a jealous God Who visits        our ears. But it is true nevertheless. All things come by
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the              His appointment. It is always His will that is executed. "The
third and fourth generation of them that lzate Him. It is more      Lord reigneth : let the people tremble : He sitteth between the
enjoyable and less humiliating - s o the corrupted mind of          cherubim ; let the earth be moved," Psalm 99 :l. And He
man reasons - to worship the creature rather than the Crea-         rules the sky. The weather is' His concern and His work,
tor. After all, we do have some control over that creature.         Not the ground hog, not the sun or the cloudy cover deter-
And we can kill him if we like. If he bothers us, we can get        mines the length of our winter, but the God Who made and
rid of him. But a mighty God Who controls all things and            controls these things. He has them in His hand, and He
upon Whom we depend for every breath of life is a threat            uses them as He sees fit. The Lord willing, it will be an
to our carnal joy that we like to reason away or banish from        early spring with balmy winds and pleasant days. But the
our thoughts.                                                       Lord willing, it will be a long winter and a cold, uncomfort-
                                                                    able spring just 2 s well. And if the Lord is willing to give
    0, indeed, there are signs in the creation God has made
                                                                    us just such a spring, there is nothing that you or I can do
that do indicate a change in the weather. There are signs
                                                                    about it. Indeed it is an ungodly statement that everybody
that winter's grip upon us is slowly slipping away. (And
                                                                    talks about the weather but no one does anything about it.
even that statement is not the language of faith. It is not
                                                                    However do not forget that no one does anything about it
winter's grip that is -upon us. And it is not that the grip
                                                                    exactly because no one is able to do a single thing about
of God upon us in the blasting wind, the severe cold and
                                                                    it. The weather is God's servant, His tool which He uses as
driving snow is slipping. It is God Who controls and sends
                                                                    it pleases Him.
all these things.    And it is this same God Who changes the

seasons and the weather for us by a sovereign decree and                In fact the weather has played an important part in the
an almighty hand. It is not winter's grip that lessens, it is       lives of God's people and in the history of His Church here
God Who changes these things for us in faithfulness to His          below. God poured forth a torrent of rain and opened the
promise given to Noah that seed time and harvest, winter and        windows of heaven to send a flood through which He saved
summer would come in their proper order as long as the              His Church from the ungodly world. For Noah was saved

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


BY water IN the ark. The Lord was willing to' send such              the Living God who were blessed with His friendship and

a terrible destructive power and to turn it loose upon the           covenant fellowship. But now, after we broke this relation-

first world. And the Lord was willing to stop that rain after        shin and became enemy-rebels, we go out in all our thinking

it had accomplished His good purpose. When it pleased Him            and activity by nature from the principle that He is our

the sun stood still and the moon remained in its place while         servant and exists solely for our good. And if He does not

Israel fought victoriously against the enemy. He sent hail           will that which we deem to be good and conducive to our

to kill the enemies of His Church. Twice He sent violent             pleasure and joy, we curse Him, we blaspheme His name and

storms upon the Sea of Galilee, while His Son tabernacled            talk exceedingly proudly,

amongst us, in order that He might teach us important truths            You do not?

for our comfort. A mighty tempest was sent and was pleas-               Come, come, commit not that additional sin of trying to

ing unto Him while His Son was fast asleep in the ship               hide your sins. That likewise is not in His fear. But examine

with His disciples. Sometime later a powerful contrary wind          your own soul and observe carefully your own speech the

made the trip of the disciples alone impossible. They rowed          first little bit of inclement weather we get. And remember'

all night long and got nowhere. They could not reach the             that when we complain, we are complaining against the God

other shore till Jesus came walking upon the water and               Who is pleased to send us exactly that weather.

spoke words of peace unto them. A deceptive calm prevailed,             Feel the discomfort? Of course. And we must also. But

and then a roaring tempest buffeted the ship on which Paul           in His fear we do not find fault with God in these storms and

was travelling to Rome. The Lord willing, that storm came.           bitter cold, these unrelenting rains and burning heat. We find

And because the Lord willed it so, that calm prevailed so that       the fault in ourselves and we humble ourselves before God

the captain of the ship made the foolish decision to try to          and say, Yea, Lord, shouldest Thou deal with me according

get to a better haven for the winter. Indeed, the weather is         to what I deserve, then these calamities and miseries are yet

an important thing. For it is the work of our God. And               so very minor. Yea, I know these things and all misery are

"this God is our God forever and ever : He will be our guide         in the world because of sin. But I flee to the cross with

even unto death," Psalm 48 :14..                                     the confidence that I am redeemed from the curse. The Lord

                                                                     was willing to send His Son into the storm of hell that I
   Whether it will be cold or hot, whether we shall have
                                                                     might presently live in the wonder of the heavenly Canaan,
weather that is pleasant or unpleasant for the flesh is the
                                                                     the Paradise of Christ. It will always be fair weather there.
decision of the Living God. The whether of our weather
                                                                        Whether I shall enjoy that fair weather depends on
is expressed in that statement: The Lord willing. Think it
                                                                     whether He wills to bring me there. Whether I shall enjoy
over. And whether you agree or not, the whether of all our
                                                                     the comfort of belonging in that fair land depends upon
weather, is the whether of God's will. `If you do not agree,
                                                                     whether He gives me grace to believe. Indeed, the whether
try to change it. You will fail miserably. Whether we like it
                                                                     of all my joy in the life to come and all my peace and com-
or not, we have absolutely nothing to say about the weather.
                                                                     fort in this present life depends upon His will. How wonder-
God decides and we receive.                                 /pz (
                                                               .I    ful those words: The Lord willing.
   But wait a moment. Whether we like it or not, we have                Walk in His fear and you shall have its joy.
absolutely nothing to say about the weather. Indeed, but we                                                                         J.A.H.
DO say something about it, do we not? We have absolutely

nothing to say about it in the sense that we do not have our

say as to how it will be or what it will be. We cannot say                               WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

what we shall receive. And we have absolutely no right to               On February 11, 1961, our dear parents

say what it shall be. We have no say in the matter at all in                           MR. and MRS. JOHN DOCTER
that respect. But we say an awfully lot about it. We grumble         will, the Lord willing, commemorate their 35th Wedding anniversary.
and complain. We find fault with it and speak evil of it. And           We are thankful to our covenant God for His lovingkindness in
in it all we rebel against God. The Lord. willing, we have mis-      sparing them these many years for us and for each other. Our

erable and uncomfortable weather. And we find fault with His         sincere prayer is that they may continue to experience the Lord's

will. So bold and proud we are that we dare to do that. Even         richest blessings in their remaining years.

in such a matter as the weather, over which we have ab-                                                 Their grateful children:
solutely no control, we find it so hard to say, Not my will but                                          Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dotter
                                                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Hoekwater
Thy will be done. We behave as though the world turns                                                    Mr. `and  Mrs. Arthur Dotter
on us, as though it exists solely for our good. Our attitude                                             Mr. and Mrs. Albert Bakker

towards the Living God is as those who consider Him to be                                                Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hoekstra

our servant instead of our being His servants. We were                                                   Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Dotter
                                                                                                         Bertus  Dotter
created to be His friend-servants, who could and did enjoy
                                                                                                         Henrietta Dotter
His covenant friendship by the tree of life only as long as                                              and 20 grandchildren
we obeyed Him as His servants. And we were servants of               Grand Rapids, Michigan

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

                                                                           . .
                                                                    n&ds nd revelation outside of himself to attain unto life and
II Contending For The Faith II happiness. His mind or ieason is well equipped unto this
                                                                    end. He is surely able to reason his way out of all his difficu{-

                                                                    ties and problems and to guarantee his own peace and sat:%-

                                                                    tion. No revelation of God is necessary.
           The Church and the Sacraments

                                                                       This Deistical Rationalism is, in the first place, sur&
           THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION
                                                                    contrary to the teachings of Holy Writ and the infalliblk

                 VIEWS ON THE CHURCH                                Word of God, Now I realize that the rationalist does not care
                                                                    about this argument.    He denies the objective revelation of
                   FORMAL PRINCIPLE                                 the Word of God. He claims that `the Lord has so created

                           (continued)                              man that man, by his own rea.son  and intellect, can realize
                                                                    his own peace and salvation. Nevertheless, be this as it may,
       Rationalism is that system or theory which elevates          I want to say in the first place that this is contradicted by the
Reason above the Scriptures. Of course, the Reformation did         Divine Sciiptures.  The rationalist may not care about the
not deny the activity of the mind, did not maintain that faith      inspired Word of God, but we do. We must understand that,
is unreasonable or irrational.     But Rationalism elevates         although, for the sake of argument, we may distinguish be-
Reason above the Word of God. It does not believe because           tween Deistical Rationalism and Atheism, so that, whereas
the object of its faith is set forth in the Scriptures, but be-     the latter denies the existence of God and the former may
cause that object of its faith falls within the scope and bound-    wish to maintain that there is a God, the former is never-
aries of its ability to comprehend and understand. It accepts       theless for all practical purposes fundamentally atheistic.
only that which is reasonable, humanly comprehensible.              Deistical Rationalism ii, of course, Agnosticism. Agnosti-
Hodge, in his Systematic Theology (Vol. I, page 34, f.f.),          cism denies the knowability of God, maintains that God can-
informs us that Rationalism has appeared under different            not be known. A God Who does not reveal Himself cannot
forms. There is, for example, a certain kind of Rationalism         be known by us. And a God Who cannot be known by us
which simply denies all supernatural or Divine revelation,          simply does not exist as far as we are concerned. What do
simply denies that there is such a thing as a Divine revelation     we have to a God Whom we cannot know? However, that
as in the Scriptures. These rationalists are known as               man can reason and think out his own salvation is surely
Deistical Rationalists. Other rationalists, however, do not         denied by Holy Writ. Notice what we read in Isaiah 59:16-
disregard entirely the Scriptures. However, as far as this          17, and we quote : "And he saw that there was no man, and
latter group is concerned, things are not true because they         wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm
are contained in the Word of God, but they are contained in         brought salvation unto him: and his righteousness, it SLIS-
the Word of God because they are true. And, although it             tained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and
is undeniably true that "things are contained in the Word of        an helmet of salvation upon his. head ; and he put on the
God because they are true," this statement has an altogether        garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal
different meaning when uttered by the rationalist.                  as a cloke."    This passage of Holy Writ is surely pertinent.

       Rationalism does not necessarily deny the existence of       The rationalist may claim that he is well able to reason his

God. This, we understand, would be Atheism. Deistical               own way out of his difficulties and problems and attain unto

Rationalism denies the possibility of revelation and is there-      peace and happiness. But here it is emphatically stated that

fore deistical. Deism  is that system or theory which separates     the Lord saw that there was no man, no intercessor who

God from the world and the creature. God, then, according           could intervene in behalf of the children of men unto their

to this theory, made the world but then has nothing to do           salvation. The only possibility of salvation, according to thjs

with it anymore. The world, according to this conception,           passage out of Isaiah, is that the Lord Himself brought salva-

can be compared to a watch which, when wound, runs of               tion by His own right hand. Notice, too, what we read in

itself. God made the world, and also man, and He made the           Ps. 14:1-3,  and again we quote: "The fool hath said in his

world in stich a way that it is able to control and direct its      heart; -There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done

own affairs.     Any other conception, it is' claimed by the        abominable works, there is -Lone that doeth good. The Lord

rationalists, would be an injustice to the living God. If the       looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if

Lord made this world in such a way that it would be neces-          there were any that did understand, and se& God. They are

sary for Him to interfere constantly in its affairs, then that      all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is

world would be imperfect;       and if the Lord created an          none that doeth good, no, not one." Here we read that hone

imperfect world this would imply imperfection on the part of        does good, all have gone aside, and that all men have become

the Lord. Hence, when the Lord made the heavens and the             filthy and corrupt before God. Please note also, in this pas-

earth, He made them in such a way that they could control           sage, that it is the fool who says in his heart that there is

and direct their own affairs. This also applies to man. Man         no God. And of interest in this connection is, of course, that


                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          209


rtinlarkable  passage. of the apostle Paul, in Romans 1:20-32.           reached a,high  pea-k during, the time of the old Graeco-Roman

0, it is true that also in Romans 8 .and in Ephesians  2 the             world. `;One &h s2rer?  h&e1 at the accotiplishments of the

same apostle sets forth the utter hopelessness of the natural            Remans  and the Greeks :of that day. Viewed from a pure&

man, when .we read: that the carnal mind is enmity against               natural point of view, the mind of man could well point to

God, is not `subject to .the law of God and cannot be subject            many imposing and remarkable accomplishments. What a

to that law;+tnd  that we- are all conceived and born dead in            development in art and what the world loves to call culture!

sins and trespasses. But- of particular interest is the passage          In the field of mathematics, of philosophy, of language and

in Romans 1 which `we now quote in its entirety : "For the               of law man ,could boast of great things. All this, however,

invisible things of him from the creation of the world are               merely serves to make the picture- so much darker:  from .a

clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,              spiritual point of view. The natural accomplishments of man-

even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they are with-              kind only serve to bring into sharper focus its complete and

out excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glori-                utter collapse and bankruptcy. Moral corruption and spirit-

fied him not as God, neither were thankful ; but became vain             ual decay and rottenness were the order of the day. Behold

in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.             proud man, exulting in his achievements and pointing with

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and                 nride  to his knowledge of the heavens above and of the earth

changed the glory of the uncorruptible  God into "an image               beneath, yet bowing his knee before gods of wood and stone

made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted               and even creeping things ! Christ is born in the moment which

beasts, and creeping things. Wherefork'  God also gave them              Scriptures call the `<fulness  of time," and. this surely also
                                               .,.
up to uncleanness through the lusts of fheir  own hearts, to             means that the world, naturally, had reached a pinnacle of

dishonour their own bodies between themselves : Who                      learning and culture on the one hand, but that it, spiritually,

changed the truth of God into a lie, &d worsliipped and                  had fallen into the depths and abyss of corruption and com-

served the creature more than the Creator, who ii`blessed                plete bankruptcy. Indeed, if this moment of the fulness of

for ever. Amen.        For thjs cause God gay,e them up unto vile        time demonstrates anything, it surely proves, among other

affections : for even their women did change the natural use             things, that the natural man when left by the God of heaven

into that which is again;!  ,nature:  And likewjse  also the men,        to walk in his own ways, can only plunge himself into greater

leaving the natural use of the woman, burged  in their lust one          chaos and misery. The proud rationalist may proclaim that

toward another; men with men working :that which is un-                  he can reason and think his own way out of his present

seemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their             mi`sery  and distress; history only proves that the mind of the
                                        : I
error which was me-t. .&d even as they did not like to retain            natural man can only gather for itself greater treasures of

God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate                corruption and misery and the wrath of God. And, does

mind, to do those thin&  which are not conpenient;  Being                this not `also  apply with even greater force than ever to our

filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, cov-           present day and age ? ! Has mankind made any progress

etousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceii,         whatever in its seeking. .after  life, liberty, and happiness ?

malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,            Is it not true of our preseut  age that fear and terror gnaw at

proud, boasters, inventors of e&l things, disobedient to                 the very heart  and mind of man more than ever before ? Are

parents, Without understanding, coveiant-breakers,  without              not crime and debauchery the order of the day ? Is not our

natural affection, implacable, unmerciful : Who knowing the              present civilization, from the viewpoint of the so-called elite,

judgment of God, that they which commit such things are                  characterized by shameless corruption and immorality ? ! And

worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in               today all mankind stands in mortal fear and dread of the

them that do them."         We do well to remember that the              end' of our present civilization ! One must surely come .in-

apostle is writing these things to the church at Rome, and               evitsbly  to the conclusion that the rationalist knows not

that he is describing in these verses the highly civilized world         wh&reof  he speaks when he claims himself and his natural

of his day. We must not overlook this. The highly developed              mind to be endowed with the ability to translate himself and

so-called culture and civilization of the old Graeco-Roman               this world out of its abyss of shame and misery into life and

world continues to be the object of the world's admiration               glory and happiness. Yet, this is the absurd claim that is

even today. People still love to speak of Athens, that won-              made by the rationalists and the wise of this world. The

derful center of learning and culture. And what did this                 Word of .God  and all of history surely deny this claim. The

civilization bring to man ? Romans 1 is a terrible description           world is surely gathering for itself treasures of wrath in the

of it. And the apostle Paul, as learned and educated as he               day of our Lord Jesus Christ.                          H . V .

was, was surely well able and in the position to describe this

filth and iniquity.
                                                                            On Old Year's Day, Lynden's pastor, Rev. Harbach,

   Secondly, this presentation in Holy Writ is surely veri-              preached on "Lynden Time," Station WPUG, using Ezekiel

fied by history. Of this there cannot be the slightest doubt.            36 :ll as the text under the theme, "Old Estates and Better

Indeed, one cannot very well deny that divilization had                  Beginnings."


2 1 0                                              T    H    E         STAN'DARD  B     E     A    R    E    R


                                                                                church at Wittenberg iti 1517 when de Bres was bor;i.  Al-

              The Voice of Our Fathers                                          though many of the dettiils  of his life are  cloaked in obscurity,
                                                                                historians agree that 1522 was the most probable year of his

                                                                                birth and that the place was Mons, in the southern Nether-

                       The Belgic Confession                                    lands, now Belgium. His mother was a zealous Roman
                                                                                Catholic. And it is reported that she prayed fervently that

                            INTRODUCTION                                        her child might grow up as a preacher of God's Word?  and

                                                                                not a heretic, because shortly before his birth she had listened
         (Note: At its last annual meeting the staff decided that the under-    to a travelling monk who had preached powerfully against
signed should continue with this rubric and treat our Belgic Con-               the rising heresy of the day. Indeed her son grew up to be
fession, sometimes called Tlw  Nethedands  Confession, or simply The
                                                                                a preacher, but not as liis mother had expected and desired!
 Confession of Faith. There was an earlier treatment of this creed
beginnning in Volume VII of The Standard Bearer. However, thk                   Little is known of de Bres' youth and early training. But

was in the Holland language; and besides, it was very brief. It is,             apparently he was converted some time before 1547 through
therefore, surely not amiss that this important and precious Reformed           the reading of the Scriptures, as well as through the means
 document be studied anew. And it is our hope that these studies,               of the Reformation literature that was so widely distributed
 under the blessing of our covenant God, may serve for the deeper
                                                                                especially in the Lowlands.
understanding and the maintenance of the faith once delivered to the

 saints. )
                                                                                    But the time of de Bres' conversion was a period when
         Four hundred years ago, under cover of the night on                    the ecclesiastical and political climate was not favorab18e  for
 November 1, 1561, a small packet was thrown over the wall                      any who adhered to the faith of the Reformation. Charles V,
 of the castle at Doornik (Tournai), in the southern Nether-                    the son of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, ruled what
 lands, which at that time included what is now Belgium and                     remained of the Holy Roman Empire, including the seven-
 north&n  France. That packet contained a little book and a                     teen provinces of the Netherlands. And Charles was deter-
 letter. The former was a confession of faith composed by                       mined to maintain his authority over this rich territory. Be-
 Guido de Bres; the latter was addressed to the commis-                         sides, he was a staunch ally and supporter of the pope, un-
 sioners of the Spanish regent, Margaret of Parma,  who had                     doubtedly to a large degree for selfish and political reasons.
 instituted an investigation of the new religious movement in                   However, not only were these provinces of the Netherlands
 Doornik and had instructed her commissioners to arrest all                     determined to maintain their economic and political freedom
 who were suspected of heresy. De Bres in his letter and his                    over against Charles' attempts to exploit them, but this was
 confession defended the believers against the dual charges of                  also the period when the Reformation had made considerable
 revolution and heresy. For this reason the confession itself                   inroads into this part of Europe. First the Lutheran Reforma-
 was also introduced by a letter to Philip II, the Spanish and                  tion had had its impact; and even though there was never a
 Roman Catholic king who claimed authority over the Low-                        large number of Lutherans in the Netherlands, Lutheran
 lands at that time. Some two  hundred printed copies of this                   literature had its influence. About the same time the teach-
 confession were later found; and de Bres himself had dis-                      ings of the Anabaptists had Their effect. And the Anabap-
 tributed some of them. Thus our Belgic Confession first saw                     tists succeeded in stirring up rebellion and dissatisfaction
 the light of day.                                                               with Spain and Rome. Soon after, the Caliinistic  Reforma-
          The story of the Belgic Confess&z,  therefore, is the story           tion made tremendous inroads into the Lowlands. The
  of Guido de Bres. And the story of Guido de Bres is the                        amount of literature that was disseminated in the provinces
  story of the Reformation in the Netherlands. And the latter                    was vast.         The number of converts grew. The inevitable
 is a story of bloodshed and horror, of tyranny and persecution,                 result was a clash between the Roman Catholic Charles V
  of inquisition and torture. But it is also a; story of martyr-                 and the Reformation-minded Lowlanders. And the Spanish
  dom and faithfulness unto death. It is the story of the victory                Charles determined to invoke the terrors of the Inquisition
  of the gospel of our Lord Je.&is  Christ. It is the story of the               against his heretical subjects. By the year  1540 the property
  triumph of God's grace, whereby He preserved His truth and                     of all "heretics" was subject to confiscation, and the death
  His church.                                                                    penalty was invoked upon all such heretics and upon any

          We cannot tell that story in all its details here. Volumes             who supported them  in any way. And so in 1547 Guido de

  have been written about it, and it is so long that to tell it                  Bres was forced to flee for his life to the safer religious

  would take us far afield, aivay  from our purpose of studying                  climate of England, where, in the days of Edward VI, the
  t h e   Belgic Cortfession.       Nevertheless we cannot properly              Reformed refugees from Roman Catholic persecution were

  understand nor rightly appreciate this confession without                      welcomed. Here he remained for about five years. And it

  knowing something of its history. And the salient features of                  was in England that de Bres became prepared for his life's

  that history we shall try to view, in connection with the per-                 work as a preacher of. the gospel and as a leader in the

  sonal history of Guido de Bres.                                                Reformed churches in the Lowlands. At London there was

          Luther's theses had already been nailed to the door of the             the Church of the Refugees, of which John a Lasco  was the


                                          T.HE  ST.AN.DARD  B.EARER                                                               211


pastor. With him and with Petrus Dathenus and other                succor came from the outside and because the city was not

famous Reformed leaders de Bres had contact in these years;        prepared for a long siege, surrender came. The two preach-

and through. this fellowship he learned much.                      krs were the object of intense search, and were captured while

                                                                   fleeing. First imprisoned at Doornik and later brought to
    When Mary ascended England's throne and England
                                                                   Valenciennes for imprisonment and trial, de Bres underwent
itself witnessed a bloody Romish persecution, however, de
                                                                   intense questioning at numerous hearings. His faith never
 Bres returned to his homeland. And from 1552 to 1556 he
                                                                   wavered. He rejoiced more than ever in tribulation. Con-
became a travelling preacher, with Rijsel as the center of his
                                                                   demned to be hanged, on the last day of his life, May 31,
labors. But in 1556, one year after Charles' successor, the
                                                                   1567, before he left the prison, he is said to have addressed
cruel and absolutistic Philip II, became the Spanish ruler, a
                                                                   his fellow-prisoners as follows: "My brethren, today I am
`heavy persecution broke out, necessitating flight once more.
                                                                   condemned to death for the doctrine of the Son of God.
At Frankfurt am Main, his next city of refuge, he came into
                                                                   Let Him be praised for this. I am very glad on account of
contact again with a Lasco,  and also with Calvin, who is
                                                                   it. I never thought that God would show me such an honor.
said to have visited three weeks in Frankfurt that year. One
                                                                   I feel my heart swelling with grace, which God causes to
year later we find de Bres in Switzerland, at Lausanne and
                                                                   descend upon me more and more ; and I am from moment
Geneva, where his schooling was completed. `In 1559 he re-
                                                                   to moment strengthened. My heart springs with joy within
turned to Doornik (Tournai), apparently a hot-bed of heresy
                                                                   me."    To the gallows in the public marketplace he was
in Roman Catholic eyes and under careful scrutiny by the
                                                                   brought. At the foot of the ladder de Bres wished to pray,
Spanish authorities because of its pro-French leanings. Here
                                                                   but he was forbidden. Then he admonished the people to
de Bres took up his ministry with vigor and effectiveness.
                                                                   remain steadfast in the truth. And thus he died the death of
Here too he married Catherine Ramon,  by whom he had
                                                                   a martyr.
several children. But this Reformer was destined to have
little peace and quiet in his brief life span. In September of         From this brief account we may learn, in the first place,
1561, needlessly and against the warnings of de Bres himself,      that the Belgic  Confe.&on  is no dead letter, coldly and aca-
a number of the inhabitants had staged one or more chan-           demically composed, but the expression of the living faith
teries, psalm-singing parades. If, as is reported, they were       of the church, rising from the very heart, written, as `it were,
seeking martyrdom and attempting to fan the fires of persecu-      in the blood of persecution, and maintained at the cost of
tion, they succeeded well. For the wicked Margaret of Parma        .death.  To make a confession of faith when skies are blue
sent her commissioners to investigate and to punish all those      and no clouds of persecution appear is one thing ; to make it
who were guilty of violating the royal edicts. Heretics were       mid the storms of tribulation and persecution is quite an-
to be arrested. Finally the persecution waxed so hot that          other. Guido de Bres paid for his confession with `his life.
de Bres was forced to flee again. But before he left, he tossed    And thus did thousands upon thousands of children of God
his little packet over the castle-wall at Doornik for the          in his times. Reliable historians tell us that far more martyrs
benefit of the commissioners, of Margaret, and of Philip II.       died in the Netherlands during the reign of Charles V only
His house was burned, his library was destroyed, and he him-       than died in the first three centuries of the Christian era in
self became an exile for whose head the Inquisition would          the Roman Empire.
pay a goodly bounty.                                                   Four hundred years have passed! Can it be said today
                                                                   that the Belgic Confession of FL&  is as precious today to
    France became the next scene of his labors. And here he        those of the Reformed churches as it was in yesteryear?
stayed, with the exception of a few brief and secret trips to      Judging by the growing trend toward doctrinal indifference
Belgium, laboring in various cities where the Reformed faith       and ignorance, not to speak now of outright departure from
had gained a foothold. But the Reformed believers in the           the truth, one could not make this estimate. But how about
southern Netherlands urged his return. And in 1566 he              you and me ? Do we know what we believe ? Will we main-
deemed that the time had come for that return. After a brief       tain it? Do we live it? Do we count the faith once delivered
stay at Antwerp,  he settled at Valenciennes. Here he labored      to the saints an incomparably precious heritage ? Do we live
for less than two years along with Peregrin de la Grange.          according to it in such a way that we would be willing to die
Through their labors it came about that more than two-             for it - yes, and by it ?                                 H.C.1.L.
thirds of the.citizenry  became adherents of the Reformation-

faith. But at the occasion of the iconoclastic riots of this

time, in which the people of Valenciennes also took part,                                   IN MEMORIAM
persecution broke out anew. The violation of Roman Catholic           The Men's `Society of Hope Protestant Reformed Church hereby
sanctuaries and the destruction of Romish images and relics        wishes to express its sincere sympathy to one of its members, Mr.
                                                                   Isaac Korhom, in the loss of his brother,
stirred the-  authorities to a frenzied rage against the Cal-
                                                                                           JOHN KORHORN
vinists. In December of 1566 the city was declared to be in           May our God comfort the bereaved in their sorrow.
a state of rebellion. Noircarmes laid siege to the city with                                              In the name of the Society
his Spanish soldiers. And after three months, because no                                                  Rev. H. Hanko Pres.
                                                                                                          H. Mensch, Se2y

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


                                                                       s&h people would request baptism for ,their  children in a
I/ DE-CE.NCY   a n d   ORDER I( Reformed church. When the question +rjo&cat the synod of
                                                                       1571 it was referred to-the  theologians Of Geneva, ministers
                                                                 JJ
I'
                                                                       and professors. Beza wrote that th&ule  should be that only
                 The Subjects of Baptism?                              children of church members should receive baptism and this
       Our Church Order answers the above question by stating          was generally accepted as the rule in the Reformed churches.
that baptism is to be administered to ."cl&&en  of Christ@zs."         However, it was also granted that in abnormal times, as
This answer is rather general. Its indefiniteness creates the          when the church was in the process of being reorganized, or
possibility of raising various questions and it is of ,little          &hen severe persecutions were raging, exceptions to this rule
value in solving the problems that arise in abnormal circum-           might be made. Children of weak and fearful parents might
stances. Rev. Ophoff suggests an improved formulation to               be baptized under these circumstances though not without
read : "Uxto the seed of believers, tJza.t is, urzto tlze seed of      certain stipulations and promises. This is a decision of con-
the covenant." In 1564 the wording was simply, "to the clzil-          venience rather than of principle. To make such concessions
dren." Though this wording was retained for fourteen years,            is to pave the way for all kinds of exceptions and the eventual
its obvious defect lies in the possible interpretation that this       outcome of it is that the principle rule cannot be maintained.
can mean that all children are to receive baptism regardless           The rule of Beza is sound and should be maintained. Bap-
of their parentage or the faith of their parents. This, how-           tism  should be administered only to those children whose
ever, was not the intended meaning of those synods that ap-            parents are members of the church.
proved this wording.      To make this clear the wording was               Maintaining this rule,, we must next ask whether baptism
changed in 1578 to read : `<to t?ze children of Christians." The       may be administered to parents who are under discipline or
Synod of Middelberg then further amended this to read: "to             who have been excommunicated from the church. As to the
the c?zzil&*en  of ba.$tiged  Christians" but in 1586 the adjective    latter, we may say that their children cannot receive baptism
"bapt&ed"  was again elided so that today we still have the            since' those who have boen escommunicated  are not mem-
general reading although the Christian Reformed Church has             bers of the church. This, of course, applies only where both
in their proposed revision the change: "to ch,iZdq*an  of CO'JIZ-      parents are involved in the excommunication. If one of the
mtu4ca.nt  me*tzbers."                                                 parents is still a member in good standing in the church, be it
       In all of these possible formulations the one main general      father or mother, that one could have the children baptized.
principle is plain. This is that God establishes His covenant
                                                                           In the case of parents who are under discipline it might
of grace with believers and their children in continued gen-
                                                                       be argued that their children are entitled to baptism since
erations. The children of believers, therefore, that is, of
                                                                       their parents are still within the church. However, it must
those who profess faith in Christ and who manifest that
                                                                       not be overlooked that unless the parents of these children
faith in an upright walk, must receive the sign of the cov-
                                                                       repent of the sin or sins for which they are being censured,
enant which is baptism. These children are "sanc~@ed  in
                                                                       the baptism of these children will be without meaning. It
Chist,  a,vzd  therefore, as members of His chzzrch  o~zcght  to be
                                                                       will simply be an empty form. These parents are not `able
baptieed"  (Baptism Form). In R&formed  churches this is
                                                                       to assume the obligations and responsibilities of baptism.
understood and in normal circumstances no question or prob-
                                                                       They cannot answer to the baptismal vow requiring them to
lem arises irrespective of which of the above wordings is
                                                                       give their children the training and instruction that har-
adopted. By normal circumstances we mean a situation where
                                                                       monizes with the significance of baptism. The church may
`both parents are members in full communion a&l in good
                                                                       not administer the sacrament that way for to do so would'be
standing in the church. Such parents do not que&& whether
                                                                       to trifle with the holy things of God. Besides, when a mem-
their children should be baptized. They present them for
                                                                       ber of the church is under censure, that member is tem-
baptism as soon as that is possible.
                                                                       porarily denied all the rights and priiileges  of church mem-
      "However, problems arise in regard to this question when
                                                                       bership and this 
the circumstances become in one way or another abnormal.                                  woulcl  certainly include the right and priv-
                                                                       ilege to the sacraments. These privileges are again restored
We shall discuss some of these situations that have-arisen in
                                                                       only when confession of sin is made and repentance is evident.
the church in the past and also some of the problems that are
still with                                                             At such time these parents may have their children baptized.
             us today.
                                                                       Otherwise baptism must be denied these children even
       The first question is whether the church can administer
                                                                       though they are born historically in the line of the covenant.
baptism to the children of Christians who are members in
                                                                       If, in later life, such unbaptized children give evidence of
some other church denomination. From' a practical point of
view this question is not very serious today. It is not likely         faith and seek affiliation with the church, they will be bap-
to arise but this was not the case in the sixteenth dentury.           tized as adults upon their own, rather than their parent's
Shortly after the Reformation there were people who at heart           responsibility.

were in sympathy with the Reformed position but who never                 Another question that must sometimes be faced in the

made a break with the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes                 church that is still not perfectly delivered from sin is whether


                                           T H E S T A N D A R D            B-ETA  R.`E R                                           213


children that are,born  illegitimately, i.e., out of wedlock, are        Secondly, it is not a problem that can or may be solved

or are not to be baptized ? It is impossible to give a definite      on the basis of convenience though this is often done. One

yes or no answer to this question because of the complexity          `or the other par&t  gives in for the sake of the peace of the

of circumstances which may be involved in situations of this         family. Or some mechanical and arbitrary agreement is

kind. Suppose, for example, that the mother of such a child          reached in the form of a compromise with the husband tak-

is herself a spiritual minor, a baptized member of the church.       ing some of the children and the wife the others. All such

Apart from other considerations, this alone would make it            attempts are not solutions. The only way is that the problem

impossible for her to have her child baptized. Then there is         be faced and resolved on the basis of sound principle.

the question as to what is going to become of the child and              In the third place, this, means that the principle to be

who is going to assume the responsibility for its up-bringing?       followed is that expressed in our Confessions, namely, "that

Is the mother going to do this ? Are; perhaps, the grand-            everyone is boat&  to jo& fl>emselves  unto the Mre chat~h."

parents or some other relative going to take the child and           This means, of course, that the true church must be deter-

bring it up or maybe even legally adopt it? Or is it going to        mined by the distinguishing marks of the church, which

be placed in a home to be adopted at random ? All this would         are the pure preaching of the Word, the proper administra-

not only affect the baptism of the child but also the question       tion of the sacraments and the faithful exercise of Christian

as to who would present the child in baptism and assume the          discipline. Both husband and wife, in seeking a united

baptismal vows. Then, too, suppose that the mother is a full         church affiliation, must be guided and moved by the desire to

member of the church and the father of the child is an un-           join the true church according to this standard. "Nothing

believer. Suppose that this couple marries and the father,           else," in the words of Rev. Hoeksema, "may control them.

after the child is born, strongly opposes having the child           Nothing else may move them to affiliate with any church.

baptized and instructed in the Christian faith. Apart now            They must be convinced that in the church to which they

from the question as to how a God-fearing mother could               join themselves here on earth, the pure doctrine of the Gospel

possibly live in the marriage relation with such a man, can          is preached. They may not do anything else. To do anything

the church baptize under such circumstances ? From a prac-           else is to live the lie !"

tical point of view this would be very difficult, if not im-             Fourthly, suppose that no solution can be reached ; that

possible. However, if the mother requested baptism and was           both insist on remaining in their own church. Then the un-

able to show that it is possible for her, under the circum-          happy situation prevails of a divided home. Concerning this

stances, to keep the baptismal vows, her request could not           situation, we agree with the following point brought out in

be denied. It would appear though that this would never be           the speech of Rev. Hoeksema:

the case utlless  the father changed his attitude or that a              "But supposing that the husband is the dissenting party

separation was effected in which the care of the child was           and that he is insistent on his position on the rights of his

entrusted to the mother.                                             headship  in the family. I maintain then and I believe that

                                                                     that is correct in the light of Scripture and in the light of all
   All of this, however, is still contingent upon one funda-
                                                                     the Scriptural teaching concerning the marriage relation
mental thing. In the baptism of such illegitimate children, the
                                                                     that no one can or may prevent him from having the children
parent or parents requesting baptism would first have to
                                                                     baptized in his church. The wife, even though she disagrees
confess their sin and give evidence of true repentance. If
                                                                     and continues to disagree with her husband and expresses
there is no confession of sin there can be no. administration
                                                                     her disagreement and tells him that in her heart she can
of the sacrament.
                                                                     never consent to have her children baptized in his church and
   Another question that concerns `us even more, that is,            brought up in his doctrine, she, nevertheless, is called to be
from the point of view of frequency of occurring, is one that        in subjection to her husband in his God-given position as
arises from the situation where the father and mother are            head." To this I would add that it must then also be evident
members respectively of different churches. The question is :        that the rtfsponsibicity  for this insistence, right or wrong,
"Where  must the children be baptized ? Must the husband's           also rests upon the husband.
church or the wife's church administer baptism to the children          Finally, this conclusion must be remembered. We quote
in such cases ?!' This problem is very difficult and to it we        from the same speech. "Further `the problem must not be
can offer no ready-made solution. It involves far more than          approached in the attitude that we can soltie  it. After all it is
the mere question of baptism. Rather than attempting to              of the very essence of our position that is such a dissenting
discuss this problem I will point to some conclusions which          husband or wife is to see the light-to understand the truth
Rev. H. C. Hoeksema drew a few years ago in a speech.                as we believe it - that is not oatr work! It is God's work; the
which he gave before the Eastern League of Protestant Re-            work of H,is  i~~resistihle  @-ace!  And in dependence, therefore,
formed Men's Societies. In the first place it should be pointed      upon Him, as true children of God, together as husband and
out that this is basically a problem of the parents involved.        wife, prsyipg  earnestly for a solution to their difficulties, a
Although it may become a matter in which the church be-              solution must be sought in the love of His truth, in the
comes involved, the parents are responsible for its solution.        love of C&St toward one another."                       G.V.d.B.


214                                            T H E   S.TAN:.DARD.;.BEAR'ER


                                                                                  2) This life was made visible; we have seen it and bear our
   Ij A         L     L           AR,OUN-D  U.S jl                                    testimony; we here declare to you the eternal life which
                                                                                      dwelt with the Father and was made visible to us.

                                                                                  3) What we have seen and heard we declare to you, so that
                                                                                     you and we together may share in a common life, that life
THE NEW ENGLISH  BIBLE                                                               which we share with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

   The year 1961 marks the 350th anniversary of the King                    The Synod of our Churches was contacted in 1958 and
James Bible. It is this anniversary year which has been                  asked to cooperate in a new translation of the Bible. The
marked as the year for publication of the New English Bible.             request reached our Synod through a letter addressed to us
This is a new translation prepared by scholars of the non-               by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Churches, a letter
Roman Catholic Churches in England, Scotland and Ireland                 sent to various Church groups throughout. this country. The
and heralded as one of the best translations to appear in                Synod of 1958 adopted a motion which reads, "To appoint
modern times. There have been many of these new transla-                 a committee and to tell the Synod of the Christian Reformed
tions; e.g., the Revised Version, the Revised Standard Ver-              Church that we will cooperate with them in this matter."
sion, the Moffatt Bible, translations by Goodspeed, Knox and             Between the meetings of the Synods of 1959 and 1960 a
Phillips. This version, however, is claimed by those involved            long questionnaire was received in which the basic principles
in the project to be superior to them all.                               of translation and various related points were defined, and
                                                                         our reaction to them asked. The committee appointed an-
   A rather elaborate system of committees and panels was
                                                                         swered this document which answers were approved by the
set up in order that the translation would be as accurate
                                                                         Synod of 1960. The document also asked whether. our
and yet as beautiful and understandable as possible. A six-
                                                                         Churches -felt the need of a new translation. The Synod
teen man committee was in charge of the whole. This com-
                                                                         adopted the answer of the committee which is worth quoting
mittee in turn appointed three panels to be respectively re-
                                                                         here.
sponsible for the Old Testament, the New Testament and the

Apocryphal Books. Each panel, in turn, appointed individual                           "Our answer to question 1 is negative, on the ground that
translators to translate either one book or a portion of one                      we do not feel the pressing need for a new translation or
                                                                                  revision.
book. The translator with his panel would then discuss the
                                                                                  1) It is our opinion that discoveries in the field of textual
translation, often spending days discussing one verse. These                         criticism do not warrant a new translation or revision. Such
panels were backed up by a fourth panel of literary advisers                         questions as there are'in regard to the text are relatively
                                                                                     few, and they may be taken care of by means of comment
who were responsible for the grammar and literary styling                            and exposition.

of the translations. The finished product was then submitted                      2) Although we grant that certain words in the Authorized
to the joint committee for final approval.                                           (King James) Version have undergone a change of connota-
                                                                                     tion, there are not sufficient words of this kind to warrant
   Only the New Testament is scheduled for publication this                          a new translation. We are of the opinion that the Author-
year, the Old Testament to be published sometime in the                              ized Version comes as close to what the document calls a
                                                                                     `timeless English' as is possible.
future. The entire venture was begun in 1946, so one can
                                                                                  3) There is a danger that a new translation in popular style so
form some estimate of the time consumed in making this new                           departs from the style of the Authorized Version that the
translation.                                                                         Bible becomes common and loses its distinctive character."

   Whether it will ije an improvement over the King James                   Without denying the benefits of a new translation, there

Version remains to be seen. The King James Version has                   is something deeper at issue than a mere desire to improve

become the beloved Bible of English-speaking Christendom.                the King James Version when all these new versions appear

It has served remarkably well throughout its 350 years. It               on the scene. It leaves one with the very distinct impression

has been memorized extensively by saints and their children;             that this also is a sign of the unrest and superficiality of our

its passages and lofty style have become familiar to countless.          age. There is also the very grave danger involved that new

people of God; it has been and remains today a source of                 translations become a means of introducing the false religions

strength and comfort and spiritual renewal to God's people               and private opinions of individuals and groups. For often-

in all the circumstances of life. It would be a most remark-             times a translation is deeply colored by the views which the

able achievement if this new translation is so good that it              individual translator may hold.

takes the place of the beloved King James Version in the                    Yet, on the other hand, it is undoubtedly impossible, and
lives of the saints and in the Church of Jesus Christ.                   perhaps not even desirable that man be completely objective
   Although the translation has been kept secret until it is             and rid himself of all his doctrinal beliefs as he begins the
published, a sample is printed in T&e  magazine. The sample              work of translation. The only conclusion then is that only a
is the first three verses of the First Epistle of John. You              man who believes the truth and who humbly and faithfully
may compare it with your present versions.                               walks in the truth can be a successful Bible translator. One's

       1) It was there from the beginning; we have heard it; we          faith has as its content the Scriptures; but it must be this
           have seen it with our own eyes; we looked upon it, and        same faith in the truth of Scripture which moves him in his
           felt it with our own hands; and it is of this we tell. Our
           theme is the word of life.                                    translation of God's Word.


                                          T H E   S~TANDARD   - B E A R E R                                                                215


NEWS  FROM  THE KOREAN  CHLIRCH                                         contents to -.the  question of premillennialism and tries to

    Up until several years after World War II, there was                show how history continually affirms the viewpoint of those

one large Presbyterian Church in Korea. This Church was                 addicted to this.view.

large and influential, and in fact included about 75% of all               -The article in :question  discusses the possibility of a na-

Christians in Korea in its membership. In the last decade,              tional or world-wide revival, and answers that such a revival

however, several splits have taken place in this denomina-              certainly cannot be expected. The author, Dr. David L.

tion. In 1950 a group left the Presbyterian Church and be-              Cooper, goes to considerable pains to show that such a

came known as the Koryo Presbyterian Church. At present                 revival is a dream incapable of fulfillment, either on a national

it composes about 15% of all Presbyterians in that country.             or international level, at least not before the rapture. He

It is with this group that the Christian Reformed Church                gives his reasons in the following quotation:

has fraternal relations. They have .given  financial aid to the                   "But I &n going to tell you that mere  can be no revival -
Church, have maintained a relationship of correspondence                      even on a small scale, even though God wants to save men,
                                                                              even though the godliest of men are on their knees pouring
and have exchanged fraternal delegates at their Synods.                       out their souls and hearts to God in earnest prayer, and even
   In 1954 another group left the main Presbyterian Church                    though there are men proclaiming the Word in the power of
                                                                              the Holy Spirit, unless there are sinners who are thirsting after
and became known as the Kichang Presbyterian Church,                          God and who want the truth. All the praying, all the preach-
composing about 22% of all Presbyterians. This group was,                     ing, and all the personal work cannot change the situation
                                                                              unless there are lost men and women who at least are honest
according to reports, decidedly liberal in theology.                          and want the truth. God never forces a man's will. If men are
    In 1959 the main Korean Presbyterian Church agajn                         not willing to receive troth, but are set against it, all the
                                                                              prayers, all the preaching, and the efforts made in their behalf
split, this time almost down the middle. Although the issues                  are of no avail. . . . God will use moral suasion and influence
even up to now have not been clearly defined, there have                      to the utmost to bring man to a saving knowledge of the truth,
                                                                              but He always stops short `of forcing man's will. Then we see
been several attempts made to bring about a reconciliation.                   that though we meet the conditions of revival, sinners must
Some of these attempts have been reported in past months in                   want the truth."

Clzri.stia&y  Today, and, in fact, several of those connected               But Dr. Cooper is not completely pessimistic about a

with Ckri&z&y Today have worked in Korea to realize this                revival. He writes later in the article:

reconciliation. All attempts failed, however, and the two                        "Is all hope for revival gone? No. There is to-be a world-
groups continue to live under separate denominational roofs.                  wide revival m which multiplied hundreds of millions of people
                                                                              will come to a saving knowledge of the truth and of Jesus
   Last year, the Koryo Group which has contact with the                      Christ. The prophets have told us when and by whom that
Christian Reformed Church and the so-called NAE Group                         world-wide revival will be conducted. When will it be? It
                                                                              will be in the Tribulation period. . . . You have heard it said
formed by the split of 1959, have discussed proposals to                      that it takes a great deal to awake some people. The world is
merge.     A committee met successfully, the vote in a joint                  traveled so far from God, spiritually speaking, that He has to
                                                                              arouse it. How? By sending His judgments. . . . Revelation,
assembly was recently taken, and it seems as if this merger                   chapter 7, shows us that there will be 144,000 Jews-Jews
will be realized.                                                             to whom we are now giving the truth of the gospel- who,
                                                                              after the church is raptured, will accept the truth and will
   Some years ago the Consistory of Hope Church met with                      give it out to the entire world. The gospel must be given to
a student from the Koryo Presbyterian Church. At that                         them while the church is here to do it, even though they will
                                                                              not accept it until after the Tribulation begins. As the result
time, if niy memory serves me correctly, this student spoke                   of the preaching of these 144,000 evangelists, untold multitudes
of the worship of the emperor of Japan forced upon the                        `which no man could number, out of every nation and of all
                                                                              tribes and peoples and tongues' will be brought to the saving
Korean Churches during the Japanese occupation, as being                      knowledge of Christ. It will not be just a national or con-
an issue in the split. Some ministers and laymen, to escape                   tinental revival, but a world-wide revival - a. genuine turning
persecution, agreed to worship the emperor and tried to                       to God."
justify their actions after the occupation came to an end                  It has always been difficult for me to understand why
with the end of World War II. It was over this issue                    people adopt the position of premillennialism. Clearly the
primarily that the Church first split. However, he also spoke           whole view is contrary to Scripture, and does violence to those
of the inroads of modernism in the Church, and the                      portions of Scripture on which it is supposed to be based.
                                                         resulting
departure of what is now known as the Kichang                           This in itself is somewhat understandable, for misinterpreta-
                                                        Presbyterian
Church.                                                                 tions of Scripture are common enough. But, while such er-
   It seems now as if the more conservative element of the              rors as Arminianism and Pelagianism appeal to the carnal
Korean Presbyterian Church and the Koryo Presbyterian                   desires of sinful man inasmuch as they exalt man and deny
Church will effect a merger shortly resulting in a compar-              the holiness and sovereignty of God, premillennialism does
atively conservative denomination in Korea.                             nothing of the kind. Its sole interest seems to be in the
                                                                        national salvation of the Jews.

THE POSSlBlLlTlES  OF REVIVAL                                              Yet a partial explanation can perhaps be found in this
   There appeared recently in The Biblical Research                     article. For this article is not only decidedly premillennial,
Monthly an article which discussed this question appearing              but it is also representative of the worst sort of Arminianism.
above. The magazine which goes under the name Biblical                  It openly affirms that God cannot save men without the co-

Reseamh  Monthly  is a periodical which devotes most of its             operation' of their wills. By strong implication, it teaches that


men, by their own power  and goedness,  can love the truth,               -Chosen to serve as delegate ad examina : ZPrimus -M.
thirst after it and crave  it with all their hearts. Such blatant    Schipper, `Secundus -RR.  Veldman.
denial of .,the power and sovereignty of God one seldom              '      Rev. .G: Vos v+.appointed  to thank-the ladies of South-
finds. But the conclusion of the matter seems to be that Ar-         east Chub-cli  for their excellent catering servic'es.
minianism  and premillennialism usually go hand in hand.                    Classis decided to meet next time on April 5, 1961 at

Although all Arminians are no doubt not Premillennialists,.          I-Iope Church.

it seems that inherent in the position of premillennialism is               Questions of Article 41 of the Church Order were asked
the error bf Arminius and Pelagius;                      H. Bank;    and -answered satisfactorily,
                                                                     Rev. G. Vos closed this meeting with thanksgiving, a

                                                                     meeting which was marked -by the. usual congenial and
    NEWS FROMI'OUR  CHURCHES                                         brotherly spirit.                     M. SCIIIPPER,  Stated Clerk
                "All tlze saints  salute thee . . ." PHIL.  4:21            Doonfs  Jan. 8th bulletin carried this paragraph: "Rev.
                                                                     and Mrs. G. Van Baren  rejoice in the birth of a son on Jan.

                                                                     4." Their new church directory lists his `name as Gerald
                                            January 20, 1961
                                                                     Wayne.

   Rev;  G. Van Earen, of Doon, declined the call `from                     In Doon's  Jan. 15 bulletin the following adv. was found:
                                                                     "
Grand Haven. - Lynden's pastor, Rev. R. C. Harbach, de-                   . . . . Leckwe  : `The Covenant Witness.' Spealzev:  Rev. H.

clined the call he was considering from our church in Ran-           Hanko, dynamic, powerful, zealous. No.te : The speaker

dolph, Wise.                                                         travels more than 1500 miles and over 24 hours in order to

                                                                     address 
     R~+o+t  of Class&  East ~zmeting  keld January 4 a.t                        us of Doon and members of our Hull and Edgerton
                                                                     congregations. Would it be too much to ask of us that we
          Spzdeast  Plrotestant  Refomzed Cltztrch:
                                                                     travel perhaps 30 miles and spend.a  few hours to attend this
   Rev. A. Mulder led- in opening  devotidns and declared            lecture ? . . . ."
Classis  pl'operly  constitute:cl  when  all the. Cr&&& of the              First Men's Society was host to that of Creston  Jan. 16.
various delegates were received and accepted. Each church            Mr. Peter Koole,  of the visiting society, gave a paper on
was represented by two delegates.                                    "Satan the Fallen Angel." An interesting discussion followecl
   Rev. M. Schipper then took the chair and Rev. Mulder              which showed those present that Scriptural proofs are very
transcribed the minutes.                                             meager to build up any sort of doctrine of demonology. The

   Much of the work of classis  was of a routine nature. Re-         paper did serve to put us on our guard "Lest Satan should
ports of the Stated Clerk and Classical appointments were re-        get advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices."

ceived for information. Classis  also -treated  subsidy requests     II Cor. 2 :ll. Truly our expectation is in the fulfillment of
from the following churches : Holland, Creston,  Grand Haven         Rev. 20 :lO.

and Kalamazoo. Classis decided to advise Synod to grant                     Southeast's new auditorium was the place of the micl-
these requests. .Also  there were three requests for Classical       winter Dutch Psalm Sing held Jan. 15. The Adams St.

appointments. Classis  adopted the following schedule : G~un.d       School Mothers' Club sponsored the event and the proceeds

Ha,ven,  Jan. 15 - G. Vos, Feb. 5 - M. Schipper, Feb. 12 -           went to that Kingdom cause. Like Old Settlers' Picnics,

G. Lanting, Feb. 26 -H. Hanko, Mar. 5 - A. Mulder, Mar.              Dutch Psalm Sings seem  to attract fewer survivors each SLIC-
19 -C. Hanko, Mar. 26-G. Vos. Crcston: Jan. 29 -A.                   ceeding  meeting.

Mulder,  Feb. 5-C. Hanko, Feb. 19 -G. Vos. Feb. 26--                        The members of our  Redlands  Church have re-organize'd
M. Schipper, Mar. l,`---- R. Veldman, liar. 19 - G. Lanting,         their own local Prot. Ref. Christian School Society, a con-
Mar. 26- H. Ha&o.  Randolp!i?h  : Jan, 15 - G. Lanting,              stitution was adopted, and the name "Hope Christian School
Jan. 29 -H. Hanko, Feb. 12 - R. Veldman, Feb. 26 - C.                Society of Redlands, California" was chosen. Officers for
Hanko, Mar. 19 - M Schipper, Mar. i6- 4. Mulder,  Apr.               this year are: T. Feenstra, E. Gritters, W. T. Feenstra and
9 - R. Veldman.                                                      B. Meelker.

   Classis spent considerable time treating the protest of a                From Southeast's bulletin we learn that their serviceman,
brother against his Consistory. Classis  advised that the            Homer Teitsma, is near the trouble spot, Laos, so often m

Consistory was in error, and should rectify the error.               the news these days.

   Delegates were chosen to attend the 1961 Synod as fol-                   "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my

lows: MINISTERS - P~imi:  M. Schipper, G. Vos, C.                    pilgrimage," Psalm 119 :54, was the text of the sermon Rev.

Hanko, H. Hoeksema.  Sgcztndi:  H. Hanko,. G. Lanting, A.            Vos preached at the funeral of Mr. Bernard Lubbers, who at

Mulder, R. Veldman. ELDERS - Primi : H. Meulenberg,                  the age of 79 met with a fatal "accident" in the last week of
T. Engelsma, R. Newhouse, H. G. Kuiper.  Sec$&i:-  J.                the past year.

Swart, G. Pipe, R. Ezinga, P. Schipper.                                     . . . . see you in church.                         J.M.F.


