         V      O      L    U    M    E         XXXVII         MAXH  1, 1961 - GRAND RAPIDS,`MICHIGAN.                               NUMBER   1 1


i k------                                                                       n    only three were there, it was too much: the Lord craved

                                                                                     solitude, He will withdraw Himself and be alone. Oh yes,

                                                                                     He was alone in all His suffering.

                                                                                     : The Holy Spirit tells us of a distance such when rock

                                 TE AGONY OF JESUS..                                 is thrown by strength of a mere man. And there the Saviour

                                                                                     sank in shadows of the night, `neath silent olives. Hark, be
                 `And He -was zwithd~razm  ~YOTM  them. about a stone's
              cast, and kneeled down a.nd payed,  my&g,  Father, if                  still. We hear. the Saviour's words, and see the tears that
I             Thou be -willing, remove this cup from Me: ueverfhe1e.u                stream, and thicken, fall, are swallowed up by ground that is
              not My redl, but Thimz  be done. And there appe.ared                   thrice holy. If Moses stood on holy ground where God would
              a.n                wnto  
                     an.gel           H&L ~YOWL  Izcavcn,  strengthening Him.        speak of faithfulness and love, what shall we say of this green
              And being  in a,n  a.gony  Hc pmyed.  moTe earnestly: and              grove, this holy place where Jesus suffered, cried in agony
              H~L.T  s-wea.t  was `as it zve~e  great  drops of blood falling
                                                                                     of soul and spirit? What shall we say of blood-drops heavy,
              down to tlae groztnd."  4 Luke 22 :41-44.
                                                                                     blood that is so precious that it bought and purchased count-
        It was not long before this hour of woe that Tesl:s                          less sinners and a whole new world ? Oh yes, we heard of
     walked and talked, He spoke and washed the feet of His                          blood-drops, and of agonizing prayers and supplications,
     disciples. `Twas night, and Judas was not there: a bargain                      thrice repeated: the Son is praying to His Fatlier, so well
     must be kept, a bargain' foul, a handful of silver must be                      belov'd. So.hark, and be now very still. We'll listen to our
     earned. But on that silver cleaves a stain, a stain so deep                     Substitute. For. He, though  separated frbm  His church. the
     that endless ages shall not cleanse that spot in nethermost                     distance of a rock when thrown by man, is every  near to LIS
     abyss of hell., The flames r&e high, the pain, the suffering                    in this dread. hour. Why weeps the Lord, I ask, why does
     is so deep and night is dark, `tis called the outer darkness of                 He shed this precious blood that glistens on His forehead ?
     a place especially created for all the damned.                                  Why does He groan and pray and .spend  His soul in name-~

        `Twas night, and Judas was not there.                                        less grief? It is because He has you in His-arms,. His heart,

                                                                                     His breast; He's' one. with you, and all that Are foreknow6
        And when the little band of lovers of the Son of God
                                                                                     by loving Father of the sheep. `Twas.  not .fgr sin and g%iil~
     came near with Jesus to the garden of the olives, it seemed
                                                                                     that He did own that bIood  was pressed from Him.. It'i;cr&s
     as though a special.gust  of wrath struck our Redeemer. A
                                                                                     the guilt of His known flock that Father foutid  and saw,
     change came over Him who spoke so calm and sweet in
                                                                                     and visited with stroke on stroke, till Jesus lay in dust of
     upper chamber, where all would eat and drink of lamb and
                                                                                     death, eternal death.
     wine. `Twas ended ; they stood and sang a hymn belov'd

     from age to age by lovers of Jehovah. They went into the                           We see `the tears of God, the sweat of blood  of God:
     night and soon they saw the brook, the Cidron of Geth-                          strange mystery of salvation.
     semane.
                                                                                                              9 * 4: *
                                                * * *     Q


        I spoke about a gust of wrath that struck the Saviour.                          He knelt and prayed and asked His God and Father if
     The signs, the outward signs, are there: I hear of agony of                     this dread cup of awful death and hell might pass.

     soul and stark amazement. The favored three were there ;                           He asked and prayed and turned to His disciples. But

     their story came to us who live so far away from scenes                         they were weary, oh so weary and they slept, the sleep of

     described in Holy Writ. They told us of that agony, that                        utter sadness and amazement. Events had been so strange,%

     dread and sorrow of the Lord.                             I                     so unforeseen, sol unexpected.

        But even when the band of lovers was diminished, and                            Yes, Peter, James-land  John had fallen asleep. While

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


J&us prayed and groaned in agonizing pain of hell. No,                   Oh no, the Saviour's  will is at the very start in harmony

Jesus, no, the church cannot keep pace with Thee when                 with His God.

Thou art treading such dark ways of awful retribution. They              But He's afraid of this stark night of terror: reaction
sleep when Jesus went to hell. "One solitary hour you                 of His holy Soul against a state of those that have deserved
cannot watch with Me ? With Me who am thy Friend, thy                 to die the death that is eternal.
Go&  thy Redeemer? You cannot watch with Me while

devils rage about Me and the Father is so far, so far away?"                                   * + + *

       And Jesus went His way to solitude anew, a solitude

that is so absolute, so strange to ways of men, that no one
                                                                         And so, the distances are great in this sweet garden. A
understands or grasps to tell his fellow. To understand the
                                                                      stone's cast hence ? 0 no, but countless miles away. I may
poet you needs must know his land, his ways and life. But
                                                                      not even speak of earthly measure, mark or span.
Jesus is the wholly Other, He's God Supreme, but God who

suffers in the frame of man. And, no, I cannot understand                The distances are measured by my God: He knows the

such tears, that blood, these agonizing prayers, in darkness          depths of this Vicarious suffering. The stone's cast grows

of a night that shall be celebrated in the heavenly city, when        into the lengths of an eternal way, a via dotorosa. There lives

this pure Lamb of God shall stand `mid angels and the host            no man who ever measured death, the distances of death that

sof men made perfect.                                                 are eternal, and least of all the solitary way to hell along

                                                                      which Jesus trod.
       He went His way, and prayed again the selfsame  prayer :

<O Father, hear! Is there an other way in which I could                  He prayed alone, so far away from Peter, James and

redeem Thy sheep from death and hell ? This way that is               John, so far away from you and me, and from the church

before Me is so dreadful ; the monster of this death that             He bought with His own blood.

stands before Me I must swallow, and I'm afraid and dread                And He went farther still ; in this sweet garden we saw
the fires that glow and do consume Me. Is there an other              His kneeling form. Few hours from then He is in awful
-way, dear Father?                                                    darkness ; and we see no more. From very far away we hear

                                                                      the groans, while drops of blood fall heavily upon the place

                            * * * *                                   called Golgotha.


                                                                                               * * * *

       0, do not say that Jesus did not want to be obedient to

33s  Father ! The very thought may perish with the thinking.             And yet, seen from another focal point, He was not far
It was not possible that Jesus would rebel. It was His very           from you and me. In that dread hour He held you in His
meat and drink to do the will of Him who was His life. And            arms and bears you safely Home.
He did show us in the selfsame  prayer. Oh, no, not only at
                                                                         You're washed by blood, you're purified by all this woe,
the end of this thrice dreadful cry, not only when He would
                                                                      for He stood in your place, dear lovers of the Lord ! He
negate His own desire and will, but at the very start of
                                                                      took you in His arms from all eternity. This garden and
crying  to His God. Before one word is uttered of these
                                                                      this blood, pressed from His holy forehead, is foreknown
supplications, except the sweetest word of Father, He bends
                                                                      and loved before. It is the thought of peace, of wondrous
His will, negates His own desires and cries : "If Thou be
                                                                      peace, that is now realized.
willing !"    It is the victory of purest love, of wonderful
obedience, of oneness with the Father. It sets the tune of a              No, Jesus, no, there is no other way: this is the way

sweet melody that grows and sings even while `tis sung in             that Thou must go. It's wisdom of the Father. Thou wert
awful depths of fear and trembling.                                   in counsels sweet, before the earth was born, and there we

                                                                      measured all that way, that via dolor-osa. `Twas then that all
       "If it be not Thy will, dear Father, then let -this monster
                                                                      those drops of bloody sweat were counted, their preciousness
come and take Me in his claws of death unspeakable, in
                                                                      established, their fruits were willed, and all the songs
horror of forsakenness  from Thee, when soon I shall be
                                                                      engendered by that blood were sung from everlasting, within
stretched on the accursed tree, where all may see and gaze
                                                                      the heart of God.
upon the mystery of Thy adored salvation, where devils led

by Lucifer and mobs of men shall mock and spit, shall laugh
                                                                                               * * * *
and taunt, but where the angels shall be silent. `Twill be the

hour of all the forces of corruption and deceit. But I shall

then be silent, except to open doors of love to all My own,              But hark, what means that rustle and that shining light

forced open by My prayers for murderers of God. I shall be            in yonder grove of olives ? It is an angel of the heavenly

silent, Father, if it's Thy will I die this cursed death which        host. The Father heard the prayers of Jesus, and strength

5 do fear and dread."                                                 of God is sent, is come with this loved messenger of light


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                    2 4 3 ;



of heaven. He hovers above the prostrate form of Jesus, and

strengthening powers lift the Saviour now. He wends His                                       THE STANDARD  BEARER

way to sleeping men, so weak, so weary. He speaks to them                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July  and August

in accents low, in measured words that tell a wondrous                      Published by the REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
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story : Sleep on, My own, sleep on and take your rest ! It
                                                                                                     Editor - REV. H
is enough ; the hour is come when I shall be exalted and lift                                                                         ERMAN HOEXSEMA
                                                                          Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
from this so sorry earth. But God shall be exalted in this                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,

My work, this labor to redeem. Sleep on, and take your                                                           Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

rest. And rest they did and do, and ever will. The work is               AR  matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
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   And so the words of David ended. The echo of those                            Second Class postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan

agonizing words grew still. The garden rests, will rest with

all reborn creation. And men, with angels, sing, will sing
                                                                                                                     C O N T E N T S
till moons shall shine no more.                                    MEDITATION -

                                                                                 The Agony                of Jesus _..__.___..._.....................................,.............  241
   The prayers of David ended ; they ended in a sob, but 0,
                                                                                          Rev. G. Vos
the songs that grew from this so throbbing heart of Jesus!

                                                                   E
                                                         G.V.         DITORIALS -
                                                                                 Calvin         and       Common             Grace _........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..244

                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema



                                                                   OUR DOCTNNE-
              THE CROSS OF CALVARY                                               The       Book        of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __ .._. _..... ..24@

                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema

         My God, My God I cry to Thee;

         0 why hast Thou forsaken Me?                              A CLOUD OF WITNESSES -
                                                                                 The       Revelation              of    Jehovah.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..248
         Afar from Me, Thou dost not heed,
                                                                                          Rev. B. Woudenberg
         Though day and night for help I plead.

                                                                   FROM HOLY WRIT -
         But Thou art holy in Thy ways                                           Exposition of I Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..___............ 250
         Enthroned upon Thy people's praise ;                                             Rev. G. Lubbers

         Our fathers put their trust in Thee,
         Believed, and Thou didst set them free.                   IN HIS FEAR -
                                                                                 God's        Royal Priesthood.. . _. . . . _. _. .252

         They cried, and, trusting in Thy Name,                                           Rev. J. A. Heys

         Were saved, and were not put to shame ;
                                                                   CONTENDING FOR THE FA&X -
         But in the dust My honor lies,                                          The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

         While all reproach and all despise.                                              Rev. H. Veldman


         My words a cause for scorn they make,                     THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS -

         The lip they curl, the head they shake,                                The Belgic              Confession . . . . . . . .._._.................................................. 256

         And, mocking, bid Me trust the Lord                                              Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

         Till He salvation shall afford.
                                                                   DECENCY AND ORDER -

                                                                                 The Subjects of Baptism . . . . . . . . . . . . ..___........................................
                                                                                                                                                                                                       
         My trust on Thee I learned to rest                                                                                                                                                           260,
                                                                                          Rev.' G. Vanden  Berg
         When I was on My mother's breast;

         From birth Thou art My God alone,                         ALL AROUND Us-
         Thy care My life has ever known.                                       The Church and Social Functions. . ._ .___.  ._ _.. . . . . ..262.
                                                                                Mormons In Navajo Land .__. i __...._...........................................
                                                                                                                                                                                                      263

         0 let Thy strength and presence cheer,                                 News          Briefs         __.  _. .._. ._ ._____.  ___ _._  _.__....  ._. . . .,....___  .___  _._  ____ 263

         For trouble and distress are near;                   I                           Rev. H. Hanko

         Be Thou not far away from Me,
         I have no source of help but Thee.                        N E W S F R O M O U R CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~...............264
                                                                                          Mr. J. M. Faber
                                                 Psalm 22 :l-6


244                                         T H E   ` S T - A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                       :~

                                                                      paragraph to that from which Kuiper quoted the above half

              E D I T O R I A L S                                     sentence, I, 10, 2 :
                                                                          "Moses, indeed, seems to have intended briefly to com-

                                                                      prehend whatever known of God by man, when he said : `The

               CaPvin  and Common Grace                               Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,
                                                                      and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
       On the above mentioned subject, Dr. Herman Kuiper              thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
has written a couple of articles in 7%~ Banvzey  under the title      that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity
d`Surprises  in Calvin."    He does this by several quotations        of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's chil-
from Calvin's writings, both from his well-known work the             dren, unto the third and fourth generation' (Es. XXXIV,
Institutes and from his Commentaries.                                 6, 7). Here we may observe, first,  that his eternity and self-

       The chief purpose of these quotations is, evidently, that      existence are declared by his magnificent name twice re-

Calvin believed also in the theory of "common grace" and              peated;  and, secondby,  that in the enumeration of his perfec-

in the well-meaning offer of salvation to all that hear the           tions, he is described, not as he is in himself but in relation

preaching of the gospel.                                              to us, in order that our acknowledgement of him may be more

       On these quotations I wish, first of all, to make a few        a vivid actual impression than empty visionary speculation.
general remarks.                                                      Moreover, the perfections thus enumerated are just those
                                                                      which we saw shining in the heavens, and on the earth-
       1. -First of all, I do not deny that Calvin sometimes
                                                                      compassion, goodness, mercy, justice, judgment, and truth-
seems to teach what Dr. Kuiper wants to make him teach in
                                                                      For power and energy are comprehended under the name
and by these quotations. Calvin was an astoundingly volu-
                                                                      Jehovah. Similar epithets are employed by the prophets when
minous writer and, therefore, it is not surprising that in his
                                                                      they would fully declare his sacred name. Not to collect a
.writings  one may find statements that appear to contradict
                                                                      great number of passages, it may suffice at present to refer
:his fundamental emphasis on the sovereign grace of God or,
                                                                      to one psalm (CXLV),  in which the summary of the divine
lif you please, on the truth that God loves, not all men, but
                                                                      perfections is so carefully given, that not one seems to have
<only  the elect.
                                                                      been omitted. Still, however, every perfection there set down
       2. Secondly, it is not fair to present Calvin as teaching      may be contemplated in creation ; and, hence, such as we feel
d`common  grace" by making a few quotations which are taken           him to be when experience is our guide, such he declares him
out of their context as does Dr. Kuiper. To this I will refer         to be by his word. In Jeremiah, where God proclaims the
presently. '                                                          character in which he would have           to acknowledge him,
                                                                                                              us 
       3. It is possible and, in fact, very probable, that Calvin,    though the description is not so full, it is substantially the same.
khough  always emphasizing sovereign grace which is only for          `Let him that glorieth,' says he, `glory in this, that he under-
the elect, in the course of his development, contradicted             standeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise
what he himself had written in an earlier period.                     lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth

       As to the fact that Kuiper simply quotes Calvin without        .( Jerem. IX, 24). Assuredly, the attributes which are most

regard to the context in which these passages occur, I call           necessary for us to know are these three: loving-kindness, on

attention to the following quotation : "Throughout Scripture          which alone our safety depends; Judgments which is daily

God's paternal goodness is celebrated and His readiness to            exercised on the wicked, and awaits them in a severer form,

do good."      This .is what Kuiper quotes. Now let us read           even for eternal destruction ; Righteousness by which the

the same quotations in its context: "Briefly then, it will be         faithful are preserved and most benignly cherished."

sufficient for him at present to understand how God the                   What does this all mean except this that there is no com-
Creator of heaven and earth, governs the world which was              mon grace, that God loves the righteous, that is, the elect, and
made by him. In every part of Scripture we meet with                  that He hates the wicked ?
,descriptions  of his paternal kindness and readiness to do              You say, perhaps, that Calvin, nevertheless, also teaches
good, and we also meet with examples of severity which                that God is kind and merciful to every individual man and
show that he is the just punisher of the wicked, especially           that he contradicts himself in passages such as are quoted by
when they continue obstinate notwithstanding all his for-             Kuiper ? Perhaps he does. I will not deny it. But this is not
bearance."                                                            the current teaching of Cal&n. And I maintain that Calvin,
       Now, why does Kuiper break off his quotation where he          as far as his current teaching is concerned, always maintains
does, especially since he discontinues in the middle of a             that grace is not common but always particular and is n&er
sentence and puts a period where Calvin has a comma ? Is              on the reprobate but always on the elect only. For that
it because the last part of the sentence does not confirm the         reason Kuiper in his articles in The Bavmm-  gives a wrong
idea that God's goodness and paternal care is over the                impression of Calvin.
wicked as well as over the righteous?                                     Dr. Kuiper also quotes from Calvin's commentaries. I

       I will also quote Calvin and, too, from the very next          have no ambition to go through all his quotations. But a


                                           T H E   STANDABD   B E A R E R                                                        24%


good illustration is what he quotes from Ps. 92 :lO-12  : "God       things that mankind' may not lack anything. All the riches

hates no one without a cause, nay in so far his workmanship          which the earth contains proclaim with a loud voice what a

he embraces them in fatherly love."                                  beneficent Father God is to mankind."

   Now, I do not care for that distinction between as right-            In this connection the question must be asked: who are
eous or wicked and men as God's workmanship. That is an              included in the "we" and "mankind"? Are all individual
abstraction which is nowhere found in Scripture. Besides,            men and, particularly, the wicked included ?

this is not the question that concerns us here. Th@  question           The Psalm and also Calvin's commentary give US the

is rather whether God .loves  and is gracious to the wicked          answer and that answer is emphatically: No. The Psalm

and reprobate.                                                       throughout speaks only of the people of God and that, too,

   And then I must confess that I am amazed that Kuiper              in distinction from the ungodly heathen. Just let me quote

can quote from this particular psalm. For the entire psalm           a few verses :

teaches very clearly that God does not love and is not                  "Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name

gracious to the reprobate wicked. Just listen to this: "0            give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Where-

Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very             fore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But

deep. A brutish man knoweth not;  neither doth a fool un-            our God is in the heavens : he hath done whatsoever he bath

derstand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and              pleased. Their idols are silver and gold . . . They that make

when all the workers of iniquity do flourish ; it is that they       them are like unto them ; so is every one that trusteth in

shall be destroyed for ever." This is the tenor of the entire        them. 0 Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and

psalm.                                                               their shield. . . . The Lord hath been mindful of us : he wilf

   But we are interested to find out what Calvin teaches in          bless us ; he will bless the house of Israel ; he will bless

the context of the passage that is quoted by Kuiper. In his          the house of Aaron. He will bless those that fear the Lord,,

commentary on this psalm he writes:                                  both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more and

   "First, he declares the destruction of God's enemies to be        more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the Lord
as certain as if it had already taken place, and he had wit-         which made heaven and earth." vss. 1-4, 8, 9; 12-15.
nessed it with his own eyes ; then he repeats his assertion : and       Surely, there is no common grace in the entire psalm.

from all this we may see ho& much he had benefited by                   Eut how about Calvin ? How must we understand, in the

glancing with the eye of faith. beyond this world to the             quotation which he makes `of him, that God is a beneficent

throne of Gbd in the heavens. When staggered in our .owi             Father to every individual man, even to the wicked ?

faith at any time  by'the  prosperity of the wicked, we should          Well, let us read him in what follows in the same context
learn by his example to rise in our contemplations to a God          from which Kuiper made his quotation. I quote:
in heaven, and the conviction will immediately follow in our             "But is there one among a hundred of them who reflects
minds that his enemies cannot long continue to triumph. The          that God in bestowing all good things upon              reserves
                                                                                                                      us, 
Psalmist tells us who they are that are God's enemies." -            nothing for himself, except a grateful acknowledgment of
Here follows the quotation by Kuiper ; then Calvin continues         them ? And not only in this matter  does the ingratitude of
- "But as nothing is more opposed to his nature than sin,,           the world appear, but the wicked wretches have conducte&
he proclaims irreconcilable war wit&  the wicked. It con-            themselves most vilely, in open and most infamous blas-
tributes in no small degree to the comfort of the Lord's             phemy ; perverting this verse, and making a jest of it, and
people, to know that the reason why the wicked are destroyed         saying that God remains unconcerned in heaven, and pays-
is, their being necessarily the object of God's hatred, so that      no regard to men. The prophet here declares that the whole
he can no more fail to punish them than deny himself."               world is employed by God for the sole purpose of testifying
    Does Calvin teach here, as Kuiper would have his readers         his paternal solicitude towards mankind ; and yet these swine
believe, that God loves the wicked reprobates, that He is            and dogs have made these words a laughing-stock, as if God,
gracious unto them, that He cares for them with a paternal           by reason of his vast distance from men, totally disregarded
care ? And must God's people be comforted by the knowl-              them."
edge that God loves them ? Surely not in the passage from                Now, my question is whether God is also a beneficent
which Kuiper makes a single quotation ignoring the context.          Father to these wicked and blasphemous wretches, to these
On the contrary, Calvin teaches here that the wicked are             swine and dogs ? My reply is : emphatically No. Even though.
"the` objects of God's hatred" and that He cannot fail to            Calvin speaks of the abundance God bestows on mankind, this
punish them.                                                         does not include every individtial  but certainly excludes the

    One more quotation I will make in this connection. Dr.           wicked, `<the  swine and the dogs," as Calvin calls them.

Kuiper quotes as follows :                                               And this, as I have already shown, is in harmony with

    "Psalm 115 :16 : All the comforts which we possess are so        the whole psalm.
many tokens of God's fatherly care. .Satisfied  with his own             I have more to say about this next time, D.V.

glory, God has enriched the earth with an abundance of good                                                                     H.H,

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


                                                                  faithful worshippers of the Lamb were helpless and defense-
I[  O U R   D O C T R I N E   1 less. And therefore, for some time it had seemed actually
                                                                  as if the hope of the people of God was idle and as if not

                                                                  their God, but the gods of the world were the authors of

                                                                  salvation, to whom belonged glory and power. And it was
              THE BOOK OF REVELATION
                                                                  only by faith, as an evidence of things unseen and as the

                                                                  substance of things hoped for, that the faithful witnesses of
                         PART TWO
                                                                  Jesus Christ had maintained all the time that unto their

                                                                  God belonged salvation through the Lamb and that unto
                        CHAPTER XVIII
                                                                  Him all glory and honor and power must be ascribed. But

                       The Voice of Joy                           now it is all so different. Gone is the power and the

                                                                  splendor and the glory of Babylon. The boasting of the
                       Revelation 19 : l-5                        dragon and of the beast has come to an end. Babylon is

                                                                  destroyed. The kingdom of Antichrist is no more. The
       That salvation is of our God. It came from Him. He is      historic proof has finally been given that salvation and
the planner and author of that salvation. He is the finisher      glory and power did not belong unto the gods of this world,
of that salvation. He it is that must receive all the glory.      did not belong unto the beast, did not belong to the dragon,
And from the depth of their heart all the saints that have        not unto all the world-powers, not unto the.power!  of Anti-
been redeemed now shout and sing, "Salvation is of our            christ, but unto God. On earth there is desolation and weep-
<God ! Hence, to Him belongeth the glory." God's glory is the     ing and wailing because of the fall of the great city that once
xeffulgence,  the radiation, of His glorious being. In all His    was the hope and the pride of the world. But in heaven are
works, His name, the wonders of His revelation, the works         the Lamb and all His people and all the glorious angels,
%of His hands, here especially the glory of God as it became      the entire glorious economy of the New Jerusalem that is
*evident  in the work of salvation, more particularly in the      presently to descend from heaven to earth. And therefore,
adestruction  of Babylon- in all this the glory of God shines     that entire throng, in jubilant joy .because  of the victory of
forth. The .same  is true of His power. It is His mighty          their God, breaks out in song. And in emphatic contrast with
strength, over against which no enemy can stand, the power        the gods of the world and their absolute failure to establish
af His omnipotence, before which all the powers in earth and      salvation and reveal their power, they sing, "Salvation and
in hell are brought to nought.                                    glory and power belong unto our God." Hence, the multitude

       But we must not forget that in these very words that       sings, "Hallelujah, praise Jehovah." Hence, the twenty-four

.ascribe  salvation and glory and power to the Most High          elders and the four living creatures bow down in reverent

*here  is implied a silent contrast, which must, however, be      worship. Hence, ali the servants of the Lord that fear His

very conscious before the minds of these singers. They un-        name, both small and great, are urged to sing praise unto

doubtedly mean to say too : "Salvation and glory and power        the God that has revealed His power and glory and His

belong not to the gods of the world, but to our God." The         wonderful salvation.

world also has its gods. And for a time it seemed as if these        It is, then, not in the abstract that they sing of. God's

gods were powerful and glorious enough to save the world          glory, but in connection with the revelation of that glory in

horn  its misery and to establish the glorious kingdom of         the specific incident of the destruction of Babylon. This joy

peace and justice without God and without the Lamb. In            of the world is the grief of God's children ; the grief of the

Babylon, the city of the great beast and of the dragon, there     world is the joy of the children of the kingdom. Not indeed

was joy and happiness and riches and luxury. There ac-            as if the children of the kingdom should rejoice with a sinful

cumulated the tremendous wealth of the world. There shone         joy over the suffering and agony of the dwellers in Babylon;

the power of the world. There was heard the voice of the          but they rejoice in the righteous judgment of God. Babylon

harper and the trumpeter, the voice of the bride and of the       was for them the embodiment of rebellion and transgression

bridegroom. It was a picture of joy and happiness and great-      against the God Whose name they loved. It is the city whose

ness and power. And it seemed as if the dragon finally had        iniquity cries unto the heavens. There God's name was

succeeded to make the world his glorious kingdom. It              trampled under foot, and His righteousness and glory was

seemed as if salvation belonged to him. For only those that       despised. There the Savior of the world was mocked at-and

were of him and worshipped his image could partake of the         crucified, and His name was defiled. There the truth of God

blessings of that kingdom. It seemed as if all the glory of       was denied, and the worship of God forbidden. There the

the world belonged to the dragon: For in fact all the in-         people of God were persecuted and cast into severest  trihUi:i-

habitants of the world wondered after the beast; and those        tion. In a word, all that was connected with God, with their

that refused could find no place of safety in the world. It       God and His name, was hooted and despised and mocked at

seemed as if all the power belonged to him: for all the kings     and trodden under foot. The glory of God's name was cov-

of the world had added their power unto the beast, and the        ered up by the iniquitous rebellion of Babylon. But now the


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 247

glory of that name has appeared. It has appeared in the            respond to the voice that goeth forth from the throne with

judgment of Babylon, the great whore, It has appeared that         the fourfold, "Hallelujah, Amen ! Yea, Amen forevermore !`*

God is righteous and just and powerful and glorious. And                                                                      H.H,

therefore, they sing in joy over the destruction of Babylon.

Babylon hated God and His Christ: and therefore they hate

Babylon. And hence, they cannot but exult in her weeping
                                                                             Attention - Synodical Committees
&nd  wailing and desolation: "For true and righteous are his

judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did                 All Synodical Committees (Standing Cowzwzittees  and

corrupt the earth with her fornication." She it was that           Sfiecial  Study Covmzittees)  are herewith reminded that their
caused all the earth to depart from the living God and to rise     reports to Synod are to be prepared for publication with the
in rebellion against Him. She it was that corrupted the whole
                                                                   regular Synodical Agenda.
earth with her harlotry. Her destruction is the destruction
of the entire system of black iniquity inaugurated in paradise           These reports are to be sent to the undersigned not later

by the devil. And therefore, even as the whole earth justly        than April 15, 1961.

rejoices in the eternal damnation of the devil, that prince                                      Stated Clerk of the Synod of the

of darkness, and no one can pity that embodiment of hellish                                      Protestant Reformed Churches

iniquity in his suffering, so all the people of our God rejoice                                       G. VANDEN  BERG
at the desolation of Babylon and all that her name implies and                                        9402 South 53rd Court
can have no pity with her hellish sorrow.                                                             Oak Lawn, Illinois

   And finally, this multitude sings with joy over the             .:

destruction of Babylon because her destruction, besides being

the justification of God, the theodicy, is at the same time the                     Notice for Classis West
justification of all God's people. With the opening of the
fifth seal we saw how the souls under the altar cried to                 Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will

God Almighty for vengeance because their blood had been            meet, the Lord willing, in South Holland, Illinois, on Wed-

shed for the testimony of Jesus. Then it was told them that        nesday, March 15, 1961 at 9 A.M.
they should wait yet a little while and have patience until
                                                                         The consistories are reminded of the rule that all matters
also the rest of their brethren had died and been killed by
                                                                   for the classical agenda must be in the hands of the Stated
the power of Babylon. Since that time centuries have elapsed.
And in those centuries the brethren have suffered and have         Clerk not later than 30 days before the date of Classis.  And

been persecuted and put in prison and brought to the scaffold      all matters that are to be brought to Synod must also be

and to the stake ; and the power of Antichrist had been            presented at this classis.
triumphant in her wanton iniquity and godlessness and
                                                                                                 REV. H. VELDMAN, Stated Clwlz
cruelty against the saints of the Most High. Streams of

blood have flowed since that time. But now the time of

judgment has come. It has become evident that the testimony

of Jesus and the Word of God is true forevermore and that                              Adams Street School

the cry of His people came into the ears of Jehovah Sabaoth :            Will need four Protestant Reformed teachers to com-
"He hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." And
                                                                   plete its teaching staff this coming fall, 1961-1962.
once more, therefore, they sing and praise and shout for
                                                                         Please give this your earnest prayer and consideration
joy. For Babylon is fallen, and God is glorified and justified
in her destruction, and they have been avenged for all the         that our children may be brought up in the knowledge and

suffering and tribulation they endured at her hand. Small          fear of our God.

and great join in with the song of those that fear the name                                            Education Committee

of God. For Babylon is fallen, fallen forever. For her smoke                                           GERRIT  PI P E
riseth forever and ever, and never shall the power of rebel-                                           1463 Ardmore St., S. E.
lion and iniquity arise again.                                                                         Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
   Once more, if we enter into the sanctuary of our God and

notice the end both of Babylon and of God's people, can

there be much doubt in our hearts as to the side we choose,

by the grace of God, to take in this world ? Heed, therefore,                    Heaven and earth the Lord created,
the call of your God, and go. out from her, have nothing
                                                                                   seas  and all that they contain.;
to do with the sins of Babylon, that ye may not partake
of her judgments. Let us join in with the chorus of the                          He delivers from oppression,

multitude and of the elders and' of the living creatures, and                      Righteousness He will maintain.

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


                                                                        gone. They disowned the leadership of Moses and refused
11 A CLOUD OF WITNESSES 11 to listen any more to his words.
                                                                           Finally there was Moses himself. Through forty years in

                                                                        the wilderness of Midian  he had learned to know himself as
                The Revelation of Jehovah                               a sinner, dependent completely upon his God. But with

                                                                        humility had come a calling and a command to go and lead
              And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shaFt  thou see
         what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall          the children of Israel out of bondage. He had not wanted
         he let them go, and by a strong  laa.nd  &all  he drizre       to go, but because he feared God he had obeyed. His only
         them out of his land.                                          confidence had been based on the power of the Word of God.

           And God spake mtb Moses, and said unto him,  I am            Now he had spoken this word both to Israel and to Pharaoh.
         Jehova.lz:  and I appeared unto A bl,ahautz,  ,unto Isaa,c,    It had not wrought deliverance. It had only aroused the
         and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by `my name               anger of Pharaoh and increased the burden of Israel. Moses
        Jehovah I zvas not k?Lown to them A,nd I hve also
         esta.blisJ~ed  ~zy covenant zvith them, to give them the       found himself rejected by all. Discouraged he turned to God
         lnnd of Cammn, the land of the&  sojomrnings,  wherein         and complained, "Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated
         they sojourned.  And moreover I have Izeayd  the groan-        this people ? why is it that thou hast sent me ? for since I
         ing of the childp*em  of Israel whom the Egyptiam  keep        came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to
         in bondage;  and I have remembered my covenant.                this people ; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all."
                                              Exodus 6:1-5 (RV)            This was the situation that God had prepared to show

       In Egypt, the land of Pharaoh, on the river Nile, the            forth His glory. There was none who expected that deliver-

scene was set for one of the great revelations of all times.            ance for Israel was possible. Pharaoh was determined to use

XGod  had determined to manifest His greatness and His                  all of his power to prevent it. Israel in weakness of faith had

power in such a way that it would be declared throughout                faltered and desired only to appease the anger of Pharaoh.

all the earth. For this purpose the providence of God had               Even Moses had faltered when Israel was not immediately

`been preparing the situation in Egypt for many years.                  saved and he found himself rejected by all. For what was

       First there was Pharaoh. A reprobate and therefore un-           soon to happen no man would ever be able to take the credit.

regenerate man, he had been set upon the throne of the great            It would be a work founded solely upon the faithfulness of

and powerful nation of Egypt. Already he had revealed the               Jehovah to His covenant.

wickedness of his heart. When first upon the throne he had                 Having heard the complaint of Moses, God came to him

followed the example of his predecessors in persecuting the             and spoke.    *`NOW  shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh:

children of Israel with hard labor and other grievous afflic-           for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong

:tions. It was more than a merely utilitarian move to gain              hand shall he drive them out of his land." In spite of all

the fruits of their labor; it arose out of a deep-set hatred            appearances God's promise remained sure and true. He had

for the people of God. Thus when Moses and Aaron had                    promised to deliver His people, and regardless of how im-

come to demand that Israel be allowed to go and worship                 possible it appeared to Moses and Israel, that he would do.

its God, he had answered back in anger. He refused to rec-              Moreover, He went on to instruct Moses how and why this

ognize the very existence of Israel's God. He refused to allow          could be so. He said, "I am the LORD (Jehovah) ; and I

Israel to go and worship its God. As though to prove the                appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by

superiority of his own authority and power, he commanded                the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH

that Israel's already unbearable burden should be made many             was I not known to them. And I have also established my

times the. greater. Pharaoh was a wicked man. When pre-                 covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the

sented with the Word of God, he had only one desire, to                 land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And

prove that it was false.                                                I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel,

       Then there were the children of Israel. Their fathers had        whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remem-

been brought into the land of Egypt by Joseph four hundred              bered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of

years before. For many years they had lived peacefully in               Israel, I am the Lord (Jehovah), and I will bring you out

Egypt and had learned to love its prosperity. But in recent             from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you
years this had been changed by the ever increasing burden               out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched

of persecution. At last, groaning under their affliction, they          out arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to

had cried to their God for deliverance. With joy they had               me for a people and I will be to you a God: and ye shall

listened to the message of Moses and Aaron assuring them                know that I am the Lord (Jehovah) your God, which

that God had heard their prayers and the time of deliver-               bringeth you out from `under the burdens of the Egyptians.

ance was drawing near. With believing hearts they bowed                 And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which

and worshipped. But when instead of deliverance they found              I did swear to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and

that the anger of Pharaoh was aroused and their burden of               I will give it you for an heritage : I am the Lord (Jehovah) ."

labor was increased, their faith faltered and was well nigh                Central in the whole work of God whereby He delivered


                                         T H E   S"iiiVDARD'BEARER.                                                        249


His people from the bondage of Egypt was the name Jeho-           the representative of God, and it was that which angerecf

vah. By giving this name pre-eminence in His revelation           Pharaoh. This was, as God had ordained, the way in which

God was introducing a new phase of covenant dealings with         He would reveal His own greatness as Jehovah. Not Moses

His people.. This name had been known by Abraham, Isaac,          but God was hardening Pharaoh's heart.

and Jacob, but not as the principal name of God. In their              It was at that time also that God instructed Moses, say-

day He had revealed Himself as God Almighty Who, be-              ing, "When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a

cause of His great power, was able to establish His cov-'         miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy

enant  and take them to be His covenant-friends. Now it was       rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a

no longer necessary to stress the establishment of the cov-       serpent."

enant and the ability of God to do it. Now it was necessary            Encouraged again by this revelation from God, Moses

to reveal His faithfulness to the covenant long before estab-     and Aaron went forth into the court of Pharaoh. Boldly they

lished with the fathers. This faithfulness was implied in the     repeated the command of God that Israel should be released

name Jehovah. It was equivalent to the name I AM THAT             to serve God in the wilderness. As God had foretold, Pharaoh

I AM with ,which  God had first appeared to Moses in the          was ready to challenge them by demanding of them a sign

burning bush. It implied that God would continue to per-          of power, a miracle. At the command of Moses, Aaron cast

form the works promised to the fathers many years before.         down Moses' rod and it became a serpent.

He had heard the groanings of Israel and would restore them            This was a significant miracle. The rod was a symbol of

to the land of Promise. It implied, as God said to Moses, "I      the authority which had been entrusted to Moses at the

have remembered my covenant."                                     burning bush,. the office of shepherd to God's chosen people

   Revived by this Word from God, Moses went again to             and representative of God. The serpent, on the other hand,.

speak to the children of Israel. But the people had tasted        had been, since the fall of man, a symbol of Satan and the

of the cruelty of Pharaoh and would not be encouraged to          power of sin. Rather significantly, the E,oyptians  of that

anything that might arouse his wrath the more. In anguish         time had taken it also as the chief symbol of their gods. The

of spirit they rejected the word of Moses.                        act of Moses revealed symbolically that the powers of evil

   Again God appeared unto Moses and said, "Go in, speak          can only go forth as determined by the act and authority of

unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of           J e h o v a h ,   t h e   G o d   o f   I s r a e l .

Israel go out of his land."                                            To Pharaoh, however, this miracle was not very im-

   To Moses this appeared an impossible command. He               pressive.      His wise men were experienced in the works of

felt as though he had come up against a wall past which he        sorcery which included the charming and `manipulation of

could not proceed. The people of his own nation, who had          snakes.      Summoned by Pharaoh, they with their enchant-

at first received him with joy, would no longer listen to him.    ments soon put on the appearance of duplicating the act of

For this he felt guilty and responsible. Was it not perhaps       Moses.

the crudeness and vileness of his own lips that had offended           It was then that the truly significant thing happened.

them and brought the matter to such an evil state ? If he         The serpent which came forth from Moses' rod swallowed

could not maintain his influence over the Israelites who were     those which the Egyptian magicians had cast down. This

essentially sympathetic, how could he ever do anything            was a warning to which Pharaoh might well have taken heed-

with Pharaoh who hated him? He brought his objection to           The evil deeds of Pharaoh and his magicians and his gods,

God, "Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened           represented in the serpents, would never be able to escape the

unto me ; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of un-           determinate power of Israel's God. The power represented

circumcised lips ?"                                               by Moses' rod would swallow them up and bring them to

   Patiently the Lord explained to Moses. "See, I have made       nought. Moses had but to catch the tail of the remaining
thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy         serpent and it was restored again into his rod, destroying for
prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and            ever the works of the wise men of Pharaoh.

Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send               This was the first outward demonstration of the power of

the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden         Jehovah in Egypt. All that was to follow would only serve

Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in          to substantiate its truth. In faithfulness to His covenant, He

the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you,        was determined to deliver His people. All the powers of sin

that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine           which sought to oppose Him could only do so in subjection

armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the          to His determination and power. In doing so they would

land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall         be swallowed up and destroyed. God was showing directly

know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand           to Pharaoh what soon would.happen  to him. But this revela-

upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among       tion only served to harden the heart of Pharaoh the more-
them."    It was not the inability of Moses to speak well that    In the stubbornness of his wicked pride he refused to hearken

had aroused the anger of Pharaoh ; it was the normal reac-        unto the.Word of God, even as Go'd .had said. I

tion of a wicked heart to the Word of God. Moses stood as                                                                  B.W.


250                                           THE  S.T,ANDARD   B E A R E R
                                                       .._

                                                                      here simply of a.nother doctrine, that is, a little different
li  F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T   ] emphasis in doctrine, nor yet of some truth which had here-
                                                                      tofore not been proclaimed as the truth in Jesus. In the

                                                                      abstract that would be conceivable. Nay, he is most em-

                                                                      phatically characterizing the teaching of those who would
                   Exposition of I Timothy
                                                                      be teachers of the law as a different doctrine. Their doctrine

                        (I Timothy 1:3-11)                            is diametrically opposed to the sound doctrine in Christ, the

                                                                      Word of the cross. Most beautifully this distinction between
                                 a.                                   another doctrine and a different doctrine is expressed in

                                                                      Gal. 1:6 : "I marvel that ye are so quickly removed [remov-
       The church of God in the world,  the pillar and ground
                                                                      ing] from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a
of the truth, is ever plagued by ignorant jugglers, who, al-
                                                                      different gospel, which is not another gospel: only there are
though they know really nothing concerning the things they
                                                                      some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of
speak of, nevertheless confidently affirm what they say.
                                                                      Christ." Or, again, we read in II Cor. 11 :3, 4: "But I fear,
       These are really dangerous men against whom Paul does          lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his crafti-
not cease to warn, instruct and admonish. In view of these            ness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
fellows Paul exhorted Timothy to abide at Ephesus when he             and the purity that is toward Christ. For if he that cometh
left Ephesus to go into Macedonia. It seems that it took              preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye
some persuasion on the part of Paul to convince Timothy to            receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a
stay at that post. Now Paul is evidently in Macedonia and             different gospel, which ye did not accept [receive subjectively,
he will once more call his son Timothy's attention to these           G.L.] ye do well to bear with him." We understand, of
nefarious and pestilent would-be teachers of the church.              course, that in the last-cited passage Paul is using irony.

       The matter is very serious. The question at stake is really    When he says "ye do well to bear with him" he means

a very important one. It is the question concerning the law           the very opposite. He is employing a figure of speech

*of  God and the legitimate use of the law in relationship to         called irony! However, and that is our point here, the dis-

faith and the Gospel. These men who agitate the church are            tinction of a "different" gospel is borne out here too. It is

*hose  who zwill  to be law-teachers ; they are opponents of          important to notice this emphasis of Paul concerning a dif-

sound doctrine which leads to godliness. They have never              ferent doctrine.

runderstood  the real &zd of the law as &-dained  by the Lord             Hence, the alarm must be sounded.
in His gospel dispensation. And the result is that they
                                                                          Some men must be charged not to teach a different doc-
would place the church which is atvtder  grace once more zbnder
                                                                      trine.
2%.e law.

                                                                          And Timothy must perform this important task of for-
       And there are "some" in the congregation who must be
                                                                      bidding "some men" thus to teach.
charged not to teach a different doctrine, giving heed to

fables and endless genealogies.                                           This different doctrine is further characterized by Paul

                                                                      as being "fables and endless genealogies."
       In this essay and the next we would call attention to this

rpolemic which Timothy is instructed to wage in the church                It is of importance to notice what Paul means with the
at Ephesus.                                                           term "fables." Trench in his SynouLytpzs  makes the observa-

       In the verses 3 through 7 we read the following: "As I         tion that the term "myth" (muthois) is ever employed in the
et-lao~ted thee to tarry at Epkems,  when I was going into            New Testament as the opposite of the word (logos) of truth.
Macedorh,  tht thou mightest  charge certain men not to               He affirms that the word "myth" (muthos) has gone through
feach  a, different doctrine, neither to give heed to endless         three stages of development and usage. First it was employed
genealogies, which  minister questionings,  rather than a dis-        of a true story and account. Then it was used with a certain
pensation of God which is in faith  [so do I now, G.L.]. But          antithesis to the term (logos) word. It is really what is
the end of the law [charge] is Cove out of a pure hea,&  and          mentally conceived over against what is actually true and
a good conscience and faith 2tnfeigned:  from which things            real. It then refers to the hidden teaching in the more ap-
some having swerved aside unto vain ta,lkhg; desiring to be           parent terminology which is employed. And, finally, the term
feachws  of the hw, though they understand neither what               fable (myth) degenerated into falsehood ; a simple "tale" and
they say, nay whereof they confidently affirm"                        "story" devoid of all reality and truth. It seems that thus
                                                                      Peter speaks of myths in II Peter 1:19 where the "cunningly
       First of all I would call attention to what I would denote
                                                                      devised fables" are contrasted to "the more sure prophetic
the general cka.~~acte~i.zatiion  which Paul makes of this teach-
                                                                      word [logos]" and the reality of the glory of Christ's trans-
ing of a o?ifferent  doctrine. The term in the Greek is hetm-         figuration upori the mount.
didaskalein,  that is: to teach different doctrine. It is im-

portant to notice the emphasis here. Paul is not speaking                 From what has been observed it seems warranted to con-


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EARER                                                      251


elude  that Paul in employing the term "myths" is character-        charge them not to teach a different doctrine." However, 1

izing the teachifig  of the law, the different doctrine as being    prefer to refer this "commandment" to the "law" (nomos),

void of all Gospel-truth ; it is the simple production of the       as the law comes to us with its demands upon our heart.and

imagination of ignorant men.                                        conscience. Then the law is a commandment. The law then!

   He also terms this d;fferent  doctrine as "endless geneal-       comes with its "Thou shalt." Well, that is exactly what the
ogies."    A genealogy is really a family-register. Paul seems      would-be teachers in the church would emphasize, I heard
to have less in mind a literal family registry than what is         someone say.       And I answer: correct! However, they did
represented thereby. Some interpreters would have this refer        not understand the "end" (the telos) of this commandment of
to the emanation theory of the Gnostic theosophists, who            God as given through Moses by angels. They never under-
spoke of the higher and lower deities, in descending and as-        stood the divine reason for thus giving the law as a command-
cending scale. Possibly this refers here to the Jewish tradi-       ment.

tions concerning the greater and lighter commandments of                    The following should be clearly kept in'mind.

the law, and value of being of Jewish descent, pointing out                 It is the simple teaching of Scripture that the "command-
the family tree, tracing it down in endless fashion. At any         ment" is "do this and thou shalt live." That is the law !!
rate, that is the only other alternative left td those who set      And, again, "cursed is everyone that does not remain in all!
the sound doctrine of Christ aside, the free mercies of God         that is written in the book of the law to perform it" (Gal..
according to God's covenant with Abraham of old.                    3 :lO-12). That is the curse of the law upon all who are
    All that such can lead to is word-strife; void of all solid     not perfect in keeping the commandments. And according
instruction in the Mystery of godliness that is great, it           to this rule all must die.
simply led to, gave birth to contention and strife. It only                 On the other hand we know that Christ is the "end of the
gave the head plenty of work without satisfying the heart,          law."      In Him the law is fulfilled. The law cannot give
without giving deep inner contentment and peace with God.           strength to fulfil it; there is no law given to make alive. Gal-
Paul really says that "such myths and endless genealogies           3:21. But Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to
aye of such a nature,  that nothing else can come forth from        everyone that believeth. Rom. 10 :4. All that believe in Him
them but wiangling  and dissension." In Van Oostersee's             receive His righteousness, even though they have never
Commentary on this passage (Lange Series) he writes as              kept the law. That is justification. However, there is also2
follows : "It is difficult to know with certainty what ytzu&oi      sanctification. And then the end of the commandment is ful-
(myths) and geneologiai  (genealogies) are here specially           filled in us in Christ. Paul tells us that here in verse 5 : "But
meant. . . . . From all that we gather in this Epistle, it is       the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and
most probable that reference is made to fables of Jew&              a good conscience and faith unfeigned."
form and origin, which were endlessly spun out, and had
                                                                            That is the sound doctrine of the Gospel.
called forth much dispute in the church."
                                                                            A pure heart is one which is free from all that is false,
    These Judaizing teachers forever dogged the steps of Paul.
                                                                    all that which hates God's commandments. It stands right
    Upon these Paul ever unloads his heaviest artillery ; upon
                                                                    over against God. It is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The
these he spares nothing that may stop them in their tracks.
                                                                    Spirit has here performed what the law could not do. It
    There is not one iota of the dispensation of the grace of       made the dead heart alive and cleansed it from all filth of
God in all these questions of genealogies and myths. It has         sin. Out of that heart comes love for God. And such love
nothing to do with the dispensation of the grace of God             is shed abroad in this heart by the Holy Ghost. And when
which works faith in the hearts of God's people.                    that love reveals itself in the keeping of the commandments

    In verses 5-7 Paul demonstrates this by calling attention       -then the end of the commandments is realized. Then the

to the end of the "charge." Writes he: "But the end of the          entire law is fulfilled.

charge [commandment] is love from a pure heart, and a good                  Yes, then we also have a good conscience toward God-
conscience, and faith unfeigned." It should be noticed that         We then know that we are acceptable to Him. His law is
Paul does not speak here of the "fulness"  of the law, the          written in our hearts and He remembers our sins no more.
fulfilment of it as he does in Rom. 13 :lO: ". . . love there-              And thus, finally, we are assured that our faith is un-
fore is the fulfilment of the law." Love is the pZevo%a;  it        feigned ; it is not hypocritical but real and genuine, revealing
puts the last drop in the measure of the law and fills it up.       itself in the fruits of faith which is energized by the love of
There is then room for no more. No more need be added,              God.
nor could possibly be added. Paul does not here speak of                    That is sound doctrine.
the f~@iZment  of the law. Fact is, that he does not really even
                                                                            All the rest is "different" doctrine, which may not be
speak of the end of the "Za.w."  Rather, he speaks of the end
                                                                    taught.
of the "charge," of the commandment. This may refer to
the "charge" which Timothy must give in the congregation at            _                        (to be continued)

Ephesus to these would-be teachers when Paul writes "to                                                                         G.L.


252                                       TH.E...S:T:ANDAti'D  ;BEARER


                                                                   peculiar people ; that y& should show forth the praises of Him

              I N   H I S   F E A R                                Who hath called you out of darkness into -His marvellous
                                                                   light." Here not only do we read of a royal priesthood or a

                                                                   priesthood of kings but the prophetic office is indicated in the

                                                                   words, "that ye may show forth the praises of Him Who

                  God's Royal Priesthood                           hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light."
                                                                   We will have more to say of this much later, but let us point

                                                                   out at the moment that this indeed is our calling as prophets :
       The subject about which we wish to write for a few          to praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Then again in
weeks is one that is frequently mentioned in Holy Writ. And        Revelation 1 :6 we have the same idea expressed in these
it has to do with the office of every believer. Not all have       words : "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and
the privilege of serving in the office of minister, elder or       His Father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and
cdeacon  in the Church of God. Some covet the position and         ever. Amen." Note here too that this kingly priesthood
never have the joy or the honor of the office. Some serve          praises God in the prophetic office as the God of all glory. In
for a year or two and never are chosen by God and man to           Revelation 5 :lO we also read, "And hast made us unto our
take up the work again.      But there is a threefold office of    God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth."
every believer exactly because he partakes of the anointing        Finally we read in Revelation 20 :6, "Blessed and holy is
af Christ, The Anointed of God.                                    he that hath part in the first resurrection : on such the second

                                                                   death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
       We must not overlook that glorious truth.
                                                                   Christ, and shall reign. with Him a thousand years." Thus

       We call ourselves Christians. We desire to have men         in both Old and New Testaments that office-for we prefer

%bink  of us as Christians. We rejoice in that fact that God       to speak of it as one office with  three phases or aspects-

has called us to be Christians. And yet we give so- little         which is mentioned in the Old Testament is presented as the

heed to the meaning of this very fact. What is more, our           office of every believer. By virtue of regeneration every child

walk of life so seldom reveals that wondrous fact.                 of God becomes a prophet, priest and king of God. We may

                                                                   never be ordained in the offices of the Church as we know
       Christ, as His very name of Christ or Messiah indicates,    them today, but all are indeed and must conduct themselves
is The Anointed of God. He has been ordained by the                as prophets, priests and kings of God. That in His fear is
Triune God and qualified by His Spirit to serve the Church         our calling. And therefore we wish to write for a few weeks
cof God in the threefold office of being our chief prophet, our
                                                        `.         on this glorious truth that we are God's royal priesthood.
only highpriest and our eternal king. And accordmg  to

Isaiah 61 :l He is The Anointed of God because God's                  And why do we have a threefold office?

Spirit has come upon Him to qualify Him to perform the
work of salvation upQn His Church. Because that Spirit of             This is exactly due to the fact that God created us with
Christ has also descended upon us and we through Him               the three faculties of mind, will and strength. We do not
partake of Christ's anointing, we also are prophets, priests       speak amiss when we say that we have this threefold office
and kings of God.                                                  because God created us in His Own image. Nor do we go
                                                                   astray when we say that in God we find the prophetic,

       As we remarked above, Scripture says that repeatedly        priestly and kingly activities in the absolute sense of the

and presents it as a wonderful blessing that God gives to          word. Our duties and activities which we perform as prophet,

His Church.      Already in Exodus 19 :5 and 6 we read, "Now       priest and king are but a reflection, and a creaturely reflection

therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my            at that, of what the Almighty, All-wise, Righteous and Holy

covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure to me above all     God is eternally doing. He is a rational-moral Being Who is

people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me         the Almighty God. We are creatures of dust who were

a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are tl$e           created in God's image with a rational-moral nature.

words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."

In that chapter already referred to, wherein we read of                In the distinction from the beasts of the field who have

Christ's anointing we also read, "But ye shall be named the        brains but no mental reasoning power, we were created with

Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our       minds and created able to receive the revelation of God's

God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their         mind into our souls. We could know Him and could be

glory shall ye boast yourselves" (Isaiah 61 :6). Again from        taught concerning Him. And we could serve as His prophets.

the same prophet's pen we read in Isaiah 66:21,  "And I            The brute beast has a will and also definite desires. But in

will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the      distinction from this animil  will and desire man was made

Lord."      A text wherein all three phases of our office are      to have a moral will. He could love God and was made cap-

mentioned is I Peter 2:9 where we read, "But ye are a              able of making moral distinctions. And with that thinking-

chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a           willing nature that was patterned after. God's own thinking-


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BmEARER                                                           253


willing nature man exercises his strength and power. At the             With all the revolution and disrespect for the authorities,

pinnacle of God's earthly creation he stands as the link be-         with all the violence and bloodshed, wjth all the immorality

tween God and all the rest of that creation. Because he can          and filthiness to be seen on every side, with all the deceit and

know God and he loves God all that irrational creation comes         fraud, all the covetousness and greed, do we need to prove

to God only through him. That is his calling. The mute               the contention that spiritually we look like the devil ? Surely

tree, the silent flower, the graceful deer, the powerful but         in all these things the virtues of God do not shine forth. In

irrational elephant, yea all things large and small through          all these men ,do not catch a glimpse of God's beauty. We

man's mind, will and strength serve the glorious Creator of          surely do not shine forth as a holy nation. Nay, in all these

all things. Every man, woman and child with mind and will            we reveal ourselves to be prophets of the devil to propagate

and strength stands in a lofty calling before God to look to         his lie, to be priests of the devil to sacrifice ourselves on the

the earth and at all God's creatures, use them. well so that         altar of our lusts, and kings of `the devil to, rule ourselves

the praise of God ascends then from these creatures and              and all that with which we come in contact in a rule of

through man's mind and will to God. Man does not look                wickedness.

in two directions at one time. That is impossible. Nor does             Yet as believing children of God who are regenerated by
he look first at the creature and then at the Creator. As            His grace, there is in us the new man in Christ. And he is
he came forth from that hand of God he saw God in the                God's royal priesthood. To such we write and not to the
creature. He was constantly fading God inl all his thinking,         world. The world may read, though the world cares not to
willing and acting. Physically he may be looking earthward           read, but those of whom we write are those who have been
and have his eye focused on the creature, but in that glorious       born again with the life from above. They are a kingdom
state of rectitude in Paradise his eye was spiritually upon          of priests. And to such we write, for in His fear onli such
God.                                                                 can and do walk worthy of their calling in this threefold

   Had things remained that way there would be no need to            &ice  of every believer.

write about this royal priesthood in the vein that now these             Beginning next time. then, D.V., we will call your atten-
things must be written. Nor would it be necessary for us             tion to that which is meant and required of us in each one
to write God's Royal Priesthood. Now it is necessary. For            of these phases of our office of every believer. You are a
there is also a priesthood of the devil. Man .did not lose           prophet. How do you manifest yourself  as a prophet of
his rational-moral nature when he fell into sin. Were that           God ? You are. His priest. And what must you sacrifice to
the case, there could be no hope of salvation for us. Then           Him ? You are a king. And where do you rule? How must'
we would perish under the judgments of God even as all the           you rule as God's king ? And what does your prophetic and
brute creation and the inanimate creation shall be destroyed         priestly calling have to do with your work as king? These
by the fire of God's judgment. We could never believe in             are some of the matters we will treat. But at the moment
%hrist.  Yea, if there were no rational-moral nature any-            remember this : Walking in His fear means that you conduct
more for man, then the Son of God Himself could not take             yourselves always, every step of the way, ai God's prophets,
upon Himself our flesh, for He is the Rational-Moral God.            priests and kings.
-We could have no hope, no faith, no love. And with only                                                                             J.A.H.
-brute force and strength, we could never be kings. If we

cannot be prophet and priest, we cannot be king either.

    No, exactly because we retained a rational-moral nature                                    IN MEMORIAM
.we are so desperately wicked. Because of it we can hate God.
                                                                        January 26, 1961, it pleased our Heavenly Father to take from
Because of it we can come under the power of the lie and             our fellowship one of our members
be moved from the principle that we may and can be like
                                                                         MRS. J. VAN NIEWENHUIZEN, nee Lucy Vander Streek
,God.  That is the whole tragedy of it. We lost all that which
                                                                         We hereby wish to express our sympathy to her husband, Mr.
.was good out of our mind and will, but no vacuum is
                                                                     J. Van Niewenhuizen. -His  loss is her gain.
created. No void is left. We lost all our true knowledge, our
                                                                                           Ladies' &d of the Protestant Reformed Church
righteousness and holiness exactly because into that rational-
                                                                                           of Edgerton, Minnesota
-moral nature we took in the lie, unrighteousness and un-
                                                                                                    Rev. Bernard Woudenberg, President
`holiness. These do not mix. Where the one enters, the other                                        Mrs. Henry Huisken, Secretary
`has to leave. And so today we stand as prophets, priests

.and kings of the devil. We are in the office of all unbelievers.

We do not partake of Christ's anointing but are ruled by
-the spirit of the devil.  Yea, from a spiritual point of view                   The heavens and ,earth,  by right divine,

we may say that whereas we looked like God in Paradise,                          The world ayd all therein, are Thine ;

we now look like the devil.                                                      The whole creation's wondrous frame

    Do we need to prove that statement?                                          Proclaims its Maker's glorious Name.

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


                                                                       unherstandable, is it not? I mean that the world speaks of
II Contending For The Faith II this Jesus, who claimed to be God, as one of the noblest of
                                                              ---`I    all men. What does the rationalist care about God ? ! Of
I'                                                                     what concern is it to him that a mere mortal elevates him-
                                     . .
                                                                       self to equality with the living God ? Such a sin of blas-
            The Church and the .Sacraments
                                                                       phemy does not concern him in the very least. He does not

            THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                                bow before the Word of the Lord and certainly has no in-
                                                                       terest in the God Whose Word he does not recognize as a
                  VIEWS ON THE CHURCH                                  word before which he must bow with unquestioning obe-

                                                                       dience. Such a Jesus, exclusively human according to his
                    FORMAL PRINCIPLE                                   conception, is not noble but the greatest blasphemer. And we

                             (continued)-                              must surely not follow his example in this sin of blasphemy.

                                                                          However, this is not all. In this connection I wish to
       In our preceding article we were criticizing that form          call attention to the Scriptural narrative as recorded for us
bf Rationalism which admits that the Scriptures do contain             in Matthew 1:18-25.  Because of the importance of this pas-
a supernatural revelation. This type of Rationalism, how-              sage in this connection permit me to quote it in its entirety:
ever, beli&ves  the things that are in the Word of God only            "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as
if and when he is able to comprehend and understand them.              his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
In our appraisal of this form of Rationalism we observed, in           together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then
the first place, that it is not speaking the truth when it             Joseph her husband (this word "husband" here means that
declares to believe only that which it is able to understand.          he was her promised husband, that they were engaged to be
And our. second observation concerned the written Word of              married - H.V.), being a just man, and not willing to make
God, the Scriptures. We may now continue with our ap-                  her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
praisal of this form of Rationalism.                                   But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of

       Our fourth observation of this critical approach unto and       the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph,

treatment of the Holy Scriptures concerns our Lord Jesus               thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:

Christ. Now we must remember that Rationalism rejects                  for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And

the Scriptural truth that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of           she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name

God, coeternal and coessential with the Father and the Holy            JESUS : for he shall save His people from their sins. Now

Spirit. Rationalism cannot accept the Scriptural doctrine of           all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken

the Trinity because this teaching does not lie within the              of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be

scope of man's intellect and understanding. According to               with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his

Rationalism Jesus of Nazareth is nothing more than a mere              name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

man. However, tie must also bear in mind that the world                Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the

loves to speak of this Jesus of Nazareth as one of the noblest         Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife : And knew

men that ever lived. They love to. point to him as a noble             her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he

man, as a great"reformer  who would reform the world, as a             called his name JESUS."      Imagine, if you please, if Jesus

wonderful teacher who would instruct all mankind partic-               were not the Son of God, conceived in the womb of the

ularly in his `sermon on the mount, and as a wonderful                 virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost ! And imagine, if you please,

example who would show the children of men how to walk                 if the Scriptures were not the inspired Word of the living

and conduct themselves by his own wonderful and unselfish              God, but merely a word of fallible and mortal man! What

deportment and behavior. So, the world loves to point to               rational, sane man, I ask you, would write such a story !

him as a wonderful man whom we may well attempt to em-                 Fact is, if Jesus be not the eternal Son of God, conceived by

ulate in all we do and speak. But, let us presuppose that              the Holy Spirit, then He was born of a harlot, out of wed-

this Jesus of Nazareth were nothing more than a mere man               lock, and Mary had been shamefully unfaithful to Joseph

and that He be not the Son of Gbd, coeternal and coessential           to whom she was engaged to be married. Mary was with

with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Is He, then, such a               child, was engaged to be married to Joseph, and Joseph was

noble man ? Did He not claim equality with God ? Did He                not this Child's father! Joseph perceived his predicament

not assert that He and the Father are one ? Did He not                 and, being a just man, wished to break off his engagement

appropriate unto Himself the right to forgive sins and is this         to Mary. But, inasmuch as, according to Jewish law, he

not a right that belongs exclusively to God? Were not the              could have exposed Mary's shame and brought her to justice,

Jewish leaders, then, justified in their charge that this Jesus        he, because of his love to Mary, decided to break this en-

of Nazareth was guilty of blasphemy ? Is there a sin more              gagement privily. So, this means that, if the Holy Spirit

heinous in the sight of God than that a mere mortal man                had not conceived this child in the womb of Mary, this

claims equality with the living God ? Arid, yet, all this is surely    child's father was another than Joseph. Is this what one


                                          T H E   STANDA'RD  cB'EA.R~ER                                                          255


would call a rationalistic, sane way of recording "history"?       had been placed as a guard around that grave, that the dis-

Does the world ever write concerning its heroes or heroines        ciples did not expect the resurrection of their Lord, and

in this manner? Would any sane man -write  a book after            that, nevertheless, in spite of all this, the tomb was empty !

this fashion? Is it not the policy of the world always to          Besides, the linen clothes were in that sepulchre as if Jesus

cover up the shortcomings and faults of its heroes ? Do our        were still in them. Also this is an historical fact. And to

American history books expose the faults and weaknesses of         this we may add that the resurrected Christ was seen by wit-

its heroes in this fashion ? Yet, this characterizes the Word      nesses, not once but several times, yea by five hundred at

of God throughout. The Bible does not hesitate to uncover          one time. It is simply a fact that there is no event in all of

and expose the sins of the saints and people of the Lord.          history which has been proved and established more than

All we need do is to recall what the Scriptures tell us about      the resurrection of our Lord. God certainly saw to that.

such men as Noah and David, men who were guilty of the             And, as far as the Scriptures are concerned, that they speak

sins of drunkenness and even of murder. Let the world              the truth- concerning sin and evil is established by the living

please stop talking about Jesus as a noble and wonderful           experience of every child of God. We know that what the

man, and of his mother as one of the noblest women who             Scriptures teach concerning sin and evil is true. We ex-

ever lived !                                                       perience it fully and completely in our lives. We do not write

    Finally, I would call attention to the Scriptural story of     this because we feel it our duty to prove, rationalistically, the
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This narrative          truthfulness of the Word, but only because the Rationalist
was not inspired by the living God!? How else can we pos-          has no ground under his feet. The Rationalist rejects the
sibly explain it? Is this narrative the product of the human       Word of God because he hates the truth, the truth of God.
mind? Did a mere man think up and concoct this narrative?          He is not motivated by his reason in his rejection of the
If a mere man had conceived of this incident would there not       Scriptures, but only by his evil heart.
have been some people at the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth to              Now we have one more question to answer: Is faith irra-
witness His departure out of and ascent out of the tomb ?          tional ? Does the rejection of the theory of the Rationalist
Would any mortal have been able to conceive of the resur-          imply that faith is unreasonable and irrational ? The Ration-
rection of a man in such a way that this resurrected person        alist claims to be motivated by reason. Is it then true that
could not be seen by earthly and mortal eyes? Besides, the         the believer in the Scriptures as the Word is not motivated
writers write the narrative in such a way that nobody even         by reason and clear thinking? The Reformers rejected Ra-
expected this Jesus to rise from the dead. What credence           tionalism as well as Mysticism, the error which places feeling
must we place in the account of `the resurrection by mortal        and emotion of the child of God above the Word of God. The
men when these men did not even expect this resurrection?          Reformers insisted that the Bible is the only rule of faith
`Can such a narrative be considered trustworthy ? So, man          and conduct, that that Word of God must govern all our
first puts a watch around the tomb of this Jesus of Nazareth,      thinking, and not that our reason must lord it over the
and then we read nothing of His coming out of the sepulchre        Scriptures. The Rationalist maintains and insists that he
and that he destroys his wicked enemies at the tomb ? How          may not be deprived of the use of his intellect and thinking
fantastic is this narrative if we do not have Divine inspira-      with respect to matters which he must believe or refuse to
tion here ? ! But this is not all. We challenge the world to       believe. Did the Reformers set forth as their principle that
explain the empty tomb. For one hundred and fifty years            faith and the act of believing rule out this use of the intellect
the world believed the `absurd and ridiculous rumour  that         and of the mind ? Is it not according to and in harmony with
while the watchers slept at their post the disciples stole the     the Word of God that, although the child of God is governed
body of their Lord. What nonsense is this! In the first            by a regenerated heart, this regenerated heart also controls
-place, the disciples were not even thinking of the possibility    and directs his will and his mind, so that the principle of the
.of the resurrection of their Lord. In fact, they did not be-      new man and rebirth of the Christian does not cancel or
lieve it when it was told them that the tomb of Jesus was          destroy his calling to use also his thinking with respect to
.empty and that the risen Lord had been seen by some of the        the truth and the things of the Word of God? We will stop
,disciples ! And, in the second place, what would the disciples    here for the time being. Let us, the Lord willing, face this
have done with a dead body anyway? Could a corpse do               question in our following article and attempt an answer to
them any good ? Would their faith in such a dead Jesus avail       the question whether our faith must be viewed as irrational
them anything? Thirdly, the disciples stole the body of Jesus      and unreasonable.
while the soldiers slept? Did these watchers at Jesus' tomb                                                                   H.V.

sleep perhaps with one eye open? Did they see the disciples

remove the body of Jesus while they were sleeping? Would

any court or sane, rational judge believe such a story? In-                    They that trust in treasured gold,

deed, let the world explain the empty tomb! Fact is, the                       Though they boast of wealth untold,

tomb was empty. This is an historical fact. It is simply a                     None can bid his brother live,

fact that Jesus was in the sepulchre, that Roman soldiers                      None to God a ransom give.

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


                                                                         way. Hence, for a long time there was a struggle about the

          The Voice of Our F&hers                                        mere  question of the convening of a national synod. Without
                                                                         the government a synod could not be convened. But the

                                                                         government would convene a synod only for the purpose of

                                                                         revising the confessions. This was entirely out of order. If
                  The Belgic Confession
                                                                         the confessions were to be revised, this could be done only

                INTRODUCTION (continued)                                 by way of carefully circumscribed gravamina against definite

                                                                         expressions found in the creeds. But simply to convene a

       The Great Synod of Dordrecht, 1618-79,  played an im-             synod with the general mandate to review and revise all the

portant role in the history of our Belgic Confession. To itj             creedal  literature of the churches was an unheard of thing.

in fact, must be credited the fact that we have this confes-             This would mean that all that the church had ever formulated

sion today in its present form and that it has achieved an               and confessed was to be called in question. Hence, the

important position among Reformed creeds. Usually we                     Contra-Remonstrants did not want a synod under such con-

connect only our Canons with the Synod of Dordrecht. And                 ditions. And this was one of the reasons why the Arminian

indeed, the Ca,noqts  were the most important accomplishment             controversy became such a protracted struggle.

of the Synod. But they were not by any means the only                       When finally there was a shift in power, and with it a
accomplishment. This Synod occupied itself with many other               shift in sympathy, in the government, and when the condi-
matters. We may say that the Reformed churches of Dutch                  tion of a revision of the confessions was removed, the Great
origin did not reach maturity and full unity really until the            Synod was convened in 1618-`19.  And, as you know, the
Synod of Dordrecht, and that this Synod finally established              Arminians were indicted, tried, and found wanting.
the official creedal  position and church pqlitical  position of
the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands.                                   Then, unexpectedly, after the Arminians had been con-
                                                                         demned, the Synod in its one hundred forty-fourth session
       We must remember that during the Arminian controversy             was after all confronted with a demand to review the con-
the very existence of the Heidelberg Cafe&&  and the                     fessions. It must be remembered, however, that this was not
Belgic Confession was endangered. This stands to reason.                 the same as the earlier demand of the pro-Arminian govern-
The Remonstrants did not want to be bound by these Re-
                                                                         ment. This was not a demand for revision, but for review.
formed documents. For it was not thus, that prior to the
                                                                         And the purpose was not to make any radical changes in
composition of the Canons our Reformed churches had no                   the confession, but rather to establish, over against the slan-
position as to the doctrinal truths at issue in the Arminian
                                                                         der of the Arminians, that according to the consensus of all
controversy. On the contrary, the Canoms  merely served the
                                                                         the churches the Confession of Faith of the Netherlands
purpose of articulating and further explaining the position
                                                                         Churches was in harmony with the Scriptures. This becomes
that was already set forth in our other creeds. And the Ar-
                                                                         evident from the way in which the request was put by the
minians felt to be sure that there was not room within the
                                                                         governmental deputies in the name of the States General.
confines of the Ca.teclzisvtz  and the` ConfessiopL  for their views.
                                                                         This request was that the Confession of Faith of the Re-
Therefore they never wanted a synod at which they would be
                                                                         formed Netherlands Churches should be read and examined
on trial on the basis of Scripture and the confessions. They
                                                                         in the presence of the foreign theologians, and that every
knew very well that they would be condemned on that basis.
                                                                         member of the Synod, foreign as well as domestic, should
But they were more than willing that a national synod be
                                                                         declare whether he finds anything in this Confession as far
convened for the purpose of reviewing and revising the
                                                                         as the doctrinal points and the essence of the doctrine is con-
Catechism and. the Confessiort.  This the Contra-Remon-
                                                                         cerned which does not appear to be in agreement with the
strants did not want at all. They saw in this a clever
                                                                         truth of God's revealed Word or with the confessions of
maneuver on the part of the Arminians. In the first place,
                                                                         other Reformed churches. However, as far as the method or
this maneuver was designed to evade an ecclesiastical trial of
                                                                         manner of expression was concerned, and as far as church
the Arminians. At such a synod Remonstrants and Contra-
                                                                         government was concerned, this was to be examined only by
Remonstrants would appear as equal parties, with equal
                                                                         the Dutch delegates.    And because especially the British
rights and privileges.    In the second place, if the Arminians
                                                                         delegates recognized a different form of church government,
at such a synod could succeed in getting the creeds revised
                                                                         Articles 31 and 32 of the Confession were excluded from this
to suit their designs, the cause of the Reformed faith would
                                                                         review.
be lost. Once the creeds were revised, the Arminians would

have official confessional standing, and their views could                  The Synod acceded to fhis demand of the government.
never again be attacked as heretical. On the contrary, there             Every delegate was furnished with a copy of the Belgic
would be no room left for the Reformed view. And, in the                 Confestion.  Thereafter the articles were read in order,
third place, at such a synod the Arminians, especially be-               and everyone was requested "that he, after proper and dil-
cause they had the backing of the government, stood a good               igent and serious examination of the same, should further
chance of controlling such g synod and having things all their           freely and uprightly declare whether ig the doctrines con-


                                             T H E   S T - A N D A R - D   .BEA.RER                                                 257


tained in the Confession he had noted anything which was              pay special attention to the version which up to this time had

not in harmony with God's Word and which he judged it                 been'arecognized  as authentic in the Dutch 2nd the French

necessary to change." (Cf.         "Handelingen der Nationale         churches.      This was in the one hundred fifty-fifth session,

Synode,"  p. 305.)                                                    May 13, 1619. The men appointed were Aritonius Thysius,

                                                                      Hermanntiis  Faukelius,  Daniel Colonius, Festus  Hommius
    The record of the one hundred forty-fifth session shows
                                                                      (also secretary of the synod), and Godefridus Udeannus.
that the delegates from Great Britain were the first to
                                                                      Ten days later the French and the Dutch versions were
,declare  themselves on this subject. They informed the Synod
                                                                      prepared, and the Synod spent three .sessidns  treating the
at this session that they had examined the Con@s.s~on  as
                                                                      proposed versions. To the revisions which were made 
carefully as they had examined the teachings of the Remon-                                                                         we
                                                                      need not give our attention at this time. Suffice it to say
strants, and that notwithstanding the Arminians' insinua-
                                                                      that after careful deliberation and with some further correc-
tions, they found nothing therein contrary to God's Word,
                                                                      tions, these French and Dutch ve&ions  were adopted by the
and that for the most part those Arminian indictments could
                                                                      Synod, and have functioned since then as the authentic text
be brought against the confessions of all the Reformed
                                                                      of the 
churches. In the one hundred forty-sixth session we find                          Belgic Confession. The Latin version, prepared by
                                                                      Festus Hommius and later published, was not ready in time
that all the delegates, foreign and domestic, declared that
                                                                      and was never treated by the Synod. For' our Reformed
there was no doctrine in the Confession  that was in conflict
                                                                      churches, therefore, the French and the Dutch text of Dord-
with Scripture, but that, on the contrary, all were in agree-
                                                                      recht  are authentic and form the basis of our English trans-
ment with the truth of God's Word and the confessions of
                                                                      lations.
other Reformed churches.

   After this, the foreign theologians solemnly exhorted the              From Dordrecht to the present is a long time. And we
Netherlands members of the Synod to persevere steadfastly             cannot go into detail as to the history of this period. Soon
in this Confession of Faith, to transmit it unfalsified to their      after the glorious victory of Dordrecht  a period of decline set
descendants, and to maintain it unadulterated even to the             in. The Reformed churches in the land of our forbears were
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with equal solemnity             assailed first  by the blighting blast of dead orthodoxy, which
our fathers unitedly pledged that it was their purpose to             began as the lulling breeze of complacency after the
persevere in the calling of this sound doctrine, to teach it          hard-fought battle against Arminianism.  Rationalism and
purely in the Netherlands Provinces, diligently to stand for          Pietism were next to assail the churches. It must be re-
it, and keep it, through the grace of God, unadulterated.             membered too that the church was during this, period in bond-

   An interesting sidelight is the fact that at this same             age to the state, a factor which made it &possible for the

session the delegates from the Waalsche Kerken informed the           champions of the truth successfully to do battle within the

Synod that the Confession of Faith was approved by a Na-              church. And to be sure, the confession of #the  church was

tional Synod of the French Churches in 1583. And in the               endangered in this period, but not in such a: way that we of

Acts of the Synod of Dordrecht was entered a quotation                today were deprived of it. In the first place, the official

?rom the Acts of the French Synod to this effect. This was            creed of the Reformed Churches had been established once

.probably  done because the French delegates were unable to           and for all at Dordrecht, that  is, before the ttdes of Rational-

attend the Synod of Dordrecht.                                        ism and Pietism swept over the churches. In the second

                                                                      place, the nature of the assault during this period was dif-
   We recite this history in detail here because it shows
that the                                                              ferent. The enemy did not seek to do away with the creed
             Belgic Co?bfession  really attained its full stature,
                                                                      officially. The attempt was rather to ignore the confessions
not only in the Netherlands but also in the Reformed com-
                                                                      and to make them dead letters in the church. Modernism
munity generally, at the time of the Synod of Dordrecht.
                                                                      and error was tolerated while officially and in name the
From this time on this creed occupied a place of importance
                                                                      church still maintained the Three Forms of: Unity. And so
among the numerous Calvinistic confessions, having met
with approval from all the churches.                                  it came to pass that when the separations of 1834 and 1886
                                                                      took place, these constituted a return to the creeds which
   The Synod of Dordrecht performed one more important
                                                                      were officially held to be the standards of the Reformed
service with respect to the Belgic Confession. In the Post-           Churches. Through the colonization and im$nigration  of our
Synod, that is, the sessions of synod which were held after
                                                                      forbears in the 19th and 20th centuries this heritage of the
the foreign delegates had departed and after the chief busi-
                                                                      Reformed faith was transferred to our shores; and thus we
ness of the synod had been attended to, it was decided to
                                                                      have the Belgic Confession today.           I
prepare authentic v&rsions  of the Confession in French,

Dutch, and Latin. The Synod took cognizance of the fact                  But once more we may face the quest&+:  do we truly

that there were several different versions in existence, each         have this confession as our own today? Or are we like so

of which differed from the others in various details. A com-          many others, past and present, who hold tb this confession

mittee was appointed to prepare an authentic text; and they           in name, but not in fact? Our future studies should help us
received the mandate to compare the various versions, but to          to answer this  question.

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


 We must next consider the authority and position of                 and darkness of Romanism, this creed also served as a

our Belgic Confession,  and, in connection therewith, its            symbol to the believers in general. ' It proclaimed, "Here, in

value as a creed.                                                    these churches, is the true faith. Here, in distinction from

                                                                     all other churches, the purity of the gospel of our Lord
       And then we may say, in the first place, that both his-       Jesus Christ is maintained and preached. By this confession
torically and from the point of view of its contents our             you may know what we believe, and you may compare it with
Belgic Confession, more than any other of our creeds, pur-           that which is taught and preached elsewhere and with the
poses to be a syytzbol.  A symbol is a sign, a mark of distinc-      Holy Scriptures, and thus know that here is the true church
tion. Thus, for example, a flag or other national emblem             of Jesus Christ !"
may be called its symbol, that is, the mark of distinction
                                                                        The same is true when you consider the Belgic Confession
whereby a nation may be distinguished from all other coun-
                                                                     from the point of view of its contents. To be sure, our other
tries. In this same way the confession of a church serves
                                                                     confessions also serve as symbols. In the very nature of the
the purpose of a symbol. It constitutes the mark of distinc-
                                                                     case, a creed is always at the same time a symbol, or mark
tion whereby a certain church and its faith may be known
                                                                     of distinction. Our Canons certainly function as a symbol.
and distinguished in and over against all the world in
                                                                     But this function of the Cc~rtovzs  is limited by: the very fact
general, and whereby a particular church may be distin-
                                                                     that they deal only with certain points of doctrine, not with
guished from all other churches. Implied in this very idea
                                                                     the whole of the Reformed faith, The Heidelberg Catechism
of a symbol, in the first place, is the fact that it is the
                                                                     is also a symbol. But to serve as a symbol is not its 
calling of the church in the midst of the world to be a living                                                                  chief
                                                                     purpose.    The very viewpoint and method of the Ca.techisnz
testimony of the grace of God, to let her light shine every-
                                                                     preclude this. Its viewpoint is subjective and experiential,
where, and therefore to give constant expression to her
                                                                     and its method of question-and-answer is the method of a
faith, that is, to that which she believes to be the truth
                                                                     book of instruction. But the 
revealed in the Word of God. This is such an evidently                                                Belgic Confession, while it
                                                                     intends to set forth the living faith of the church, as is
Scriptural truth that we need not take the time to prove it
                                                                     evident from its "We all believe with the heart, and confess
now. Implied in this idea, in the second place, is the ele-
                                                                     with the mouth," or, "We believe and confess," or, simply,
ment of distinctiveness, or of spiritual and doctrinal isolation.
                                                                     "We believe," nevertheless follows the objective, doctrinal
A nation's flag sets it apart from all other nations, distin-
                                                                     order in its treatment of the truth. We may outline its 37
guishes it as occupying a position which no other nation
                                                                     articles as follows :
occupies.    A church's creed too sets it apart from the whole

world, marks that church as occupying a position by itself,          1. Article 1 is an introductory article, expressing belief
the position of faith. And, especially since the era of the          in the one God, and at the same time informing us that the
Reformation, when churches and sects multiplied rapidly,             confession proceeds from the theological standpoint.
a church's creed sets that church apart from all other
                                                                     2. In Articles 2-7 the confession treats the means whereby
churches, marks that church as occupying the position in
                                                                     God may be known by us:
which she claims to be the purest manifestation of the body
of Christ on earth. And therefore, in the third place, a                a. The two-fold means. Article 2.
church's symbol is at the same' time a weapon of apology,               b. The divine origin of the written Word of God. Ar-
of defense of her faith. By means of it the church gives an                 ticle 3.
answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope                    c. The canonical books. Article 4.
that is in her.                                                         d. The authority of Holy Scripture. Article 5.
                                                                        e. The difference between the canonical and apocryphal

       Now, considered historically the Belgic Confession is                books. Article 6.

surely preeminently such a symbol. As we have seen, this                f. The sufficiency of Holy Scripture. Article 7.

confession was addressed, first of all, to the civil authorities.    3. In Articles 8-11  the doctrine of God is set forth :
And to them the churches in the Lowlands intended to set
                                                                        a. The Trinity. Article 8.
forth their faith, to vindicate their position, and to show
                                                                        b. Proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. Article 9.
the injustice of the persecution and oppression in which the
                                                                        c. The divinity of Jesus Christ. Article 10.
authorities were engaged. Furthermore, this confession was
                                                                        d. The divinity of the Holy Spirit. Article 11.
obviously intended to distinguish the Reformed churches and
the Reformed believers from both Anabaptists and Roman               4. Articles 12-15 speak of creation, man, and sin:
Catholics, and to demonstrate that the "believers dwelling in           a. Creation. Article 12.
the Lowlands" desired "to live according to the purity of the           b. Divine Providence. Article 13.
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." And, in the second  place,            c. The Creation and Fall of Man. Article 14.
in that age of reformation, when the pure faith was once                d. Original sin. Article 15.

more coming to light in the Lowlands and when many re-               5. Articles 16-21 speak of Christ:

mained to be enlightened and conirerted  from the bondage            a. Predestination. Article 16.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  259


   b. The promise of the Savior. Article 17.                       the church, in pulpit and catechism class and on the mission

    c. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Article 18.                field, as well as in its relations and contacts with all other

    d. The two natures of Christ. Article 19.                      churches, is to maintain the "purity of the gospel of our Lord

    e. The work of Christ from the viewpoint of God's              Jesus Christ." The whole well-being of the church is wrapped

         justice and mercy. Article 20.                                   in this  maintenance of the faith. The healthy church is the
                                                                   up 

   f. The satisfaction of Christ. Article 21.                      church whose members know what they believe, and believe

                                                                   what they know. The true unity of the church is to be
6. Articles 22-26 speak of the doctrine of salvation:
                                                                   found only on the basis of the truth. And the extension of
    a. Saving faith. Article 22.                                   the church is only possible when the truth bf the gospel of
    b. Justification. Article 23.                                  Jesus Christ in all its purity is proclaimed and propagated.
    c. Sanctification and good works. Article 24.
                                                                          In this connection we must also deal with the arguments
    d. The abolishing of the ceremonial law. Article 25.
                                                                   raised against the authority and value of our confessions.
    e. The intercession of Christ. Article 26.
                                                                   It is claimed that confessions are merely human productions.
7. Articles 27-35 deal with the doctrine of the church:            The objection is raised that confessions bind the conscience.

   a. The Catholic Christian Church. Article 27.                   It is argued that creeds create division and schisms. And it

    b. The obligation to join ourselves to the true church.        is alleged that confessions hinder the development of the

         Article 28.                                               truth.

   c. The marks of the true church. Article 29.                           Essentially, the answer to all these arguments is two-fold.
    d. The government of the church. Article 30.
    e. The offices of ministers, elders, and deacons. Article             In the first place, our confessions have `no authority by
         31.                                                       themselves, but derive all their authority only from Scrip-
   f.    The order and discipline of the church. Article 32.       ture. This implies that any binding power which. a con:
   g. The sacraments in general. Article 33.                       fession may have is the binding force of the Word of God
    h. Baptism. Article 34.                                        itself. The latter only may bind the conscience. Only, there-
    i. The Lord's Supper. Article 35.                              fore, in so far as a confession is the expression of the truth
                                                                   of the Word of God may its authority be acknowledged ; and
8. Article 36 speaks of the civil magistrates.                     only in so far as the church does not fall into the error

`9. Article 37 deals with the doctrine of the last things.         of dead confessionalism, but acknowledges the Scriptures as
                                                                   the continuous, living source and criterion of her creeds -

    It must be remembered, of course, that this function of        only in that measure will she be a living, growing church,
the Belgic Confession as a symbol does not exclude, but            becoming richer and purer in her lmowledge  and possession
rather implies its value from other points of view. In the         of the truth as it is in Jesus. In the second place, those who
jirst place, also this confession serves the positive purpose      deny the authority and value of our confeisions  must first
`of a basis and bond of union : upon its basis churches of a       deny the historic and organic development of the church in
common faith can officially and formally unite or have cor-        the midst of the world under the continuous guidance of

respondence. In the second place, the Belgic Confession            the Holy Spirit, Who was poured out in the church in order
serves as a means for the preservation and defense of the          to lead her into all the truth. If only this latter truth is
ztruth  and for the transmission of the truth in the line of       kept in mind, it cannot be maintained that the confessions

Igenerations  to the church and to believers in all ages. And,     are mere human products. But under the obligation of Scrip-
in the third place, the Belgic Confe.&ort,  the more so be-        ture itself to confess her faith, and under the inward impulse

cause it `sets forth the truth in systematic, objective order,     of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the church must needs

can serve as a wonderful means of instruction, both to those       give expression to her faith, to the glory of God and to the

within and to those without the church. This cannot be em-         salvation of the saints.
phasized enough in our day. The confession of a church                                                                        H.C.H.

means nothing except in so far as it is the expression of a

living faith. Or, to put it another way, the confession of a

church as an official creedal  statement is valueless except

.in so far as it is indeed the confession of its members. If,                      Let all who seek Thee now rejqice,

,011 the other hand, the confession is buried in the dust of                          Yea, glad in Thee abide,

-antiquity and has a place, not in the hearts of the members,                      And, loving Thy salvation, `say,

but only in the archives and official literature of the church,                       The Lord be magnified.

it can serve only to rise up as a testimony against the church                     My lowly state and bitter need

in the judgment of God, solemnly reminding the church of                              The Lord has not forgot;

what she ought to be, but is not! The church must be thor-                         Thou art my Saviour and my fielp,

oughly indoctrinated, therefore. The most solemn duty of                              Come, Lord, and tarry not.


  260                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.RER


                                                                       .    "Upon what basis does the meaningful assumption re-

 11      D E C E N C Y   a n d   O R D E R   11 ferred to above rest? Upon the assurances of God regarding
                                                                       the (natural) children of believers. It cannot be assumed

                                                                       that children of pagans and non-Christians  are (federally,

                                                                       representatively, covenantally) in Christ until they by their
                  The Subjects of Baptism                              confession and walk of life manifest themselves as Chris-

                                                                       tians. Consequently the present writers believe it is better
                            (Continued)
                                                                       to postpone the baptism of adopted children in question until

       In our last article we introduced a question concerning         they manifest themselves as Christians. But we would urge

 the propriety of baptizing children that have been adopted            all office-bearers to study the reports delivered at the Synod

~ by Christian parents.    Is it correct that such children, who       of 1936 and then let each come to a conscientious decision as

 may or may not have been born in the covenant line his-               to what he believes to be proper. The injunction of God to

 torically, are the proper subjects of baptism? Is it not more         Abraham (Gen. 17)  to circumcise also the children of the

 correct as well as much safer, especially with those that have        slaves, is a strong argument in favor of the administration

 been born outside of the historic covenant line, to wait until        of baptism to the children in question. But those who do not

 they reach the years of discretion ?                                  favor the baptism of these children reply and assume with

                                                                       the Synod of Dort that Abraham did not circumcise all
       We have seen that there are differences of view and
                                                                       children of pagans, but only those whose parents had been
 opinion with regard to this matter. Some favor immediate
                                                                       circumcised and taught to believe on the true God.
 baptism while others hold that the only correct position

 is that of waiting. Favoring the latter position, the authors              "It may also be said that the recent orepresent  day

 of TIze Chztrch  Order Comwwntary  express themselves as              leaders of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands are,

 follows :                                                             as far as we know, all opposed to the practice of baptizing

                                                                       children of non-Christian  parentage, though adopted into
       "It appears PO us that one's position on this question          Christian homes. This is most likely due to the fact that
 regarding the permissibility or non-permissibility of the bap-
                                                                       the question concerning the baptism of adopted children, born
 tism of adopted children of non-Christian  birth, is largely
                                                                       to godless parents, is at heart a question regarding the cov-
 determined by one's covenant view. If one holds that the
                                                                       enant. The stricter covenant conception, which holds that
 covenant of grace is essentially only a covenantal form for
                                                                       the covenant is in essence a bond of life-relationship between
 the promise of salvation for those that believe, then in all
                                                                       God and His people in Christ Jesus, is the prevalent con-
 likelihood he will favor the baptism of all adopted children.
                                                                       ception in the Netherlands Churches of our forebears"
 If, on the other hand, one believes that the covenant of grace
                                                                       iChd Order Cowmentwy.,  pp. 233, 234).
 is an actual bond or league of life-relationship between God

 and His people in Christ Jesus as their federal head, then                 With the authors of this quotation we fully agree when

 one will in all likelihood judge against the baptism of adopted       they speak of the question of the baptism of adopted children

 children of non-Christian  birth.                                     as being "at heart a question regarding the covenant." Like-

                                                                       wise it is true that one's position on this question will be
       "We may also add that it is our conviction that the lan-
                                                                       largely determined by one's covenant view. However, in our
 guage of Article 34 of our Confession, and of Lord's Day 26
                                                                       opinion, the whole question is somewhat oversimplified when
 and 27 of our Heidelberg Catechism, as well as the language
                                                                       the authors of this quotation arrive at the conclusion that,.
 employed in our Form of Baptism, is against the practice of
                                                                       "If one holds that the covenant of grace is essentially only a
 baptizing children of non-Christian  birth. These writings all
                                                                       covenantal form for the promise of salvation for those that
 assume that the subject of' baptism is `in Christ,' as His
                                                                       believe, then in all likelihood he will favor the baptism of
 people's Redeemer and second Adam. We find no warrant
                                                                       all adopted children," and again, "If one believes that the
 in Scripture for assuming that children born of unbelieving,
                                                                       covenant of grace is an actual bond or league of life-relation-
 godless parents are `in Christ,' simply because they are
                                                                       ship ,between God and His people in Christ Jesus as their
 legally adopted by believing parents. According to our
                                                                       federal head, then one will in all likelihood judge against
 standards and our Form of Baptism, baptism is not merely a
                                                                       the baptism of adopted children of non-Christian  birth."
 sign and a seal upon a conditional promise of God, but a sign

 and a seal of saving grcr.ce  in Christ. Those who are baptized,           The latter view expressed here is our present concern

 to say no more, are assumed to be federally, legally in Christ        since we do not believe that the covenant is a mere "form for

 our second Adam. (Note well, our standards and Forms do               the promise" but is in essence the gracious relation of living

 not contend that every child born of believing parents is             fellowship or friendship between God and His people in

 -actually federally in Christ for there are exceptions to every       Christ Jesus. It appears that Monsma and VanDellen  also

 rule, and far less that every child is actually, szkbjectively  in    take the position that the covenant is an "actual bond or

 possession of all the benefits of Christ's obedience and death ;      league of life-relationship between God and His people."

 regeneration, etc.)                                                   From this it becomes evident in the rest of the quotation


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                        261

                                                                          *_

that their objection to the baptism of adopted children `born       be' cir%ncised  -i `1 . he that is born` in the house, or bought

of non-Christian  parents lies in that : (1) "They find no war-     z&%  money of             stronger, w/&k  is vhot-  of :thy seed."  And
                                                                                           any 

rant in Scripture for assuming that children born of unbe-          verse;,13  emphasizes this adding : "He that is born in thy

lieving, godless parents are `in Christ,' simply because they       house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be

are legally adopted by believing parents, and, (2) It cannot        circumcised." Considering           that in the Old Dispensation

be assumed that children of pagans and non-Christians  are          circumcision was the sign of the covenant of God and that

(federally) in Christ until they by their confession and            baptism is the sign in this dispensation, the same would
walk of life manifest themselves as Christians." What we must       apply to those children who are not of our seed but who,

point out here is that according to these authors, baptism is       through adoption, are brought into the historic line of the

not administered on the strength or basis of a conditional-         generations of the church.

promise but on the basis of the mswmfition  that the baptized          These children then are not to be baptized because of a
is ~VL Christ. If that cannot be assumed there can be no            conditional promise of God to them. God does not offer them
baptism. Since there is no basis to assume this in the case         salvation upon the condition of faith. Neither are they bap-
of adopted children of non-Christian  origin, it is concluded       tized on a false and entirely unbased supposition that some-
that one should wait with their baptism until it becomes            how their adoption has actually incorporated them into
<evident  whether they are or are not in Christ. It is claimed      Christ. The adoption of these children is no guarantee of
that this assumption can be made with regard to the (nat-           their regeneration. Not at all. But they are baptized. be-
ural) children of believers and so they can .be  baptized in        cause in the providence of God they are through their being
their infancy. However, this is certainly not true. There is        adopted by believing parents brought into the historic line
no more basis in Scripture to assume that all the natural           of the covenant of God as it runs through the generations of
children of believers are in Christ than there is to assume that    the faithful and as such they must be marked- marked
children adopted by believers are in Christ. In fact, Scrip-        with the sign of the covenant of grace. They are then in-
ture declares very plainly that all the children born to be-        structed, as are all the children of believing parents, in regard
lievers are not in Christ. In Romans 9 :7 and 8 we read:            to the meaning and significance of that sign and if in later
*`Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all        life they repudiate it and reveal themselves as profaners of
children,. but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called, that is, they    the covenant, they shall be beaten with double stripes.
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the                                                                           G.V.d.B.
children of God ; but the children of the promise are counted

for the seed." If, therefore, these authors would follow their

own reasoning through consistently they would have to ad-                                  GOD AND HIS CHURCH

vocate the postponement of the baptism of all children until                         Let the king behold Thy favor
such time as it became evident whether or not they were in-                            For Thy servant David's sake,
,deed  in Christ.                                                                    Unto whom a sacred promise,
        We disagree with the contention that "one who believes                         Sure and faithful, Thou didst make.
that the covenant is an actual life-relationship between God                         If his children keep Thy covenant,
and His people in Christ will in all likelihood judge against                          And Thy testimony own,
the baptism of adopted children of non-Christian  birth." It                         Then, as Thou, 0 Lord, hast promised,
is entirely possible to favor the baptism of such children while                       They shall sit upon his throne.
holding the "stricter covenant conception." The answer, it
                                                                                     Thou, the Lord, hast chosen Zion,'
seems to us, lies entirely in one's conception of the Irasis  of
                                                                                       Thou hast ever loved her well ; '
baptism. Let it be understood that we do not believe that
                                                                                     This My resting-place forever,
the mere fact that a child of non-Christian origin is adopted
                                                                                .      Here, Thou sayst, I choose to dwell.
`by Christian parents makes that child a child'of God. Adop-
                                                                                     Surely I will bless and help her, :
tion is not synonymous with election. However, it cannot be
                                                                                       Feed her poor, her saints make glad,
,denied  that when such a child is adopted by believing parents
                                                                                     And her priests shall stand before Me
(apart now from the question of the propriety of such adop-
                                                                                       In salvation's garments clad.
tions), that child is incorporated into the historic line of

the generations of God's people. It is reared in the covenant                        I will cause the might of David

sphere because of its adoption. As such it should then also                            Ever more and more to grow,

receive the sign of the covenant which is baptism for it is                          On the path of My Anointed

plainly the revealed will of God that all children of believers                        I will make a lamp to glow;

shall bear that sign (elect and reprobate alike). The case of                        All His enemies shall perish,         :

Abraham is indeed to the point. Genesis 17:10, 12 states:                              I will cover them with shame,
"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and                            But His crown shall ever flourish,

   and thy seed after thee ; every man child among        shall                        Blessed be His hoIy Name.
you                                                    you 

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


                                                                                 the word, architecture, because it is one of the arts, has

11         A L L A R 0 U N D .U S 11                                             always reflected the ideas and ideals of its times. And, more
                                                                                 particularly, church architecture has reflected the spiritual

                                                                                 life of those who worshipped in the' churches, their confes-

                                                                                 sions and beliefs. We need only think of the Middle Ages

                                                                                 when. the peasants, reduced to the lowliest of circumstances
THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS
                                                                                 in daily toil and drudgery, nevertheless were eager to help
           According to a recent report, a Methodist Church in                   in the construction of the great cathedrals ; for in their
Sydney, Australia, has opened a special kind of night-club                       building of them, they expressed their hopes and longings and
for teen-agers. No liquor is sold in the night-club, but pop-                    they watched them grow and worshipped beneath the lofty
ular teen-age musicians are hired to entertain the crowds ;                      domes and soaring spires.     Also in the Reformed Churches
the young people dress as they like, eat hamburgers and sip                      since the time of the Reformation, `the architecture of the
soft drinks, watch television, dance, play table tennis or bil-                  churches has, as a general rule, reflected the fact that to
liards, and in general have a good time.                                         those who stood in the tradition of the Reformation, the

                                                                                 center of the church life was their worship of God and the
           Rev. Peter Van Tuinen, in The Banner, raises the ques-
                                                                                 preaching of God's Word. For this reason, the auditorium
tion in connection with this report, "What is the church ?"
                                                                                 marked the central and most important part of the church
He writes,
                                                                                 building ; the pulpit with the Bible occupied a place of in-

                                                                                 stant attention ; the adorning of the building was strictly
               The Sydney experiment is a rather spectacular case, but it

             illustrates a very common and insidious fault in the thinking       in keeping with the need to inspire the congregation to

             of many church people; namely that the church must compete          worship.

             with the world in the matter of entertainment. Society meet-
                                                                                    But in many churches this emphasis has changed. And
             ings are evaluated on the basis of their entertainment value,
             and potential members of the church societies choose some-          this change is reflected in the architecture of the buildings.

             thing more entertaining. They should rather frankly recognize       No `longer is the preaching of the .Word of God and the

             that they are not choosing one form of entertainment over           assembly of the congregation to worship the center of church
             another, but choosing entertainment in preference to edification    life. Rather the church has become a social center, a meet-
      .      and the exercise of Christian fellowship. Catechism classes,
                                                                                 ing place of various people, a place of entertainment and
             of course, are dull as compared to a basketball game or a
             movie, but those who make such a judgment overlook the              business, of administration and social occupations. I recall a

             fact that the church is not trying to entertain but to instruct     church I was in some time ago which rather startlingly

             and to edify.     Some religious and evangelistic movements         emphasized this. Although there were several thousand
             have sought to win people by interspersing entertainment and        people on the rolls of the church, `the auditorium, newly
             gospel, or even by reducing an evangelistic or religious meet-
                                                                                 built, seated only about 600, and, I was told, it was seldom
             ing to an entertaining spectacle. The results are not likely to
             be spiritually edifying, but rather to encourage the attractive     more than half full. Yet the church building and the neigh-

             idea that life in all of its aspects ought to be entertaining.      boring parish house were large. There were lounges with

                                                                                 rugs and upholstered furniture, kitchens, banquet halls,
           There is no doubt about it that people are entertainment-             offices for all kinds of administrative. personnel, offices for a
wild today. Consider the vast amounts of money that are                          minister of music, a minister of psychiatry, a social worker
spent just to "have fun."               No doubt this is partly due to           or two ; there were separate rooms for a library, for pastoral
the fact that people in general have plenty money to spend                       counseling, a rather elaborately equipped first aid room with
on luxuries, that they have plenty leisure time in which they                    medicine chest and stretchers and cots, spacious rooms for
seem to think they must be entertained. But another factor                       brides and attendants, a chapel capable of seating about one
seems to be that people are becoming intellectually and spirit-                  hundred people for weddings and other minor meetings. I
ually lazy. It is difficult, if not impossible, to get people to                 suppose it is only a logical conclusion that presently the
think about anything which requires intellectual effort. And                     church will have its own "night-club," its own basketball
it is indeed much easier to be occupied by entertainment that                    courts and bowling alleys. But the church has then also
requires no mental strain or concentrated attention. These                       forgotten its reason for existence-its calling to do nothing
influences of worldliness and the craze for entertainment                        else but preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Con-
have their effects also upon the church and the covenant                         spicuously lacking are facilities for the instruction of the
seed of the church..                                                             covenant seed of the church in the truth of God's Word,

           It is also no doubt true that people are more and more                places for society meetings where the study of Scripture is

seeking to be entertained in their churches. This brings up                      the primary activity and the auditorium as the chief part of

another interesting point that has come to my attention                          the entire building where the congregation faithfully comes

several times in recent years. The architecture of church                        together on the Sabbath Day to worship God in the com-

buildings has reflected this growing trend towards the church                    munion of the saints. No longer can the modern church

becoming a social center. Of course, in the general sense of                     sing with the sweet singer of Israel, ,"I was glad when they


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      263


said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our             of hell than yourselves." Matt. 23 :15.  And yet-much of

feet shall stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem. Jerusalem is        what goes under the name of missionary work in other church

builded  as a city that is compact together : Whither the tribes    circles can be characterized in the same way:

go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to

give thanks unto the name of the Lord." Psalm 122 :l-4.             NEWS BRIEFS

                                                                        From Christianity Today we quote the following:

MORMON  IIN NAVAJO LAND                                                    Thirty-four Lutheran congregations are applying for mem-

                                                                          bership in a new church body to be known as the Church of
    In the January issue of Moody Monthly, an interesting
                                                                          the Lutheran Confession. All but 2 of the 34 formerly be-
article appears which tells of missionary work by the Mor-                longed to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. They
mons among the Navajos. The Mormons are being eminently                   object to some of the synod's doctrinal practices and to its

successful in their missionary work, claiming to date some                continuing relations    with the Lutheran Church- Missouri
8000 converts. The appeal of the Mormons is primarily due                 Synod in the Synod&l  Conference of North America.

to the fact, according to this article, that the Mormons teach
                                                                            Congregational Christian Churches favor merger with Evan-
that the Indians of America are direct descendants of the                 gelical and Reformed Churches by a margin of about twenty
lost tribes of Israel. According to the Mormon story, con-                to one, according to Dr. Fred Hoskins,  co-president of the

tained in Tjze Book Of Mormon, translated by Joseph Smith                 United Church of Christ which is being formed out of the

who was the founder of the movement, a group of Israelites                merger.    Hoskins  says that of 1427 local congregations which

escaped from Jerusalem about 600 B.C. at the time of the                  have voted on the proposed merger, 1358 have g&en assent.
                                                                          A number of large Congregational churches have declared
capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. These migrants                    their opposition to the union, however, including historic Park
traveled across Arabia to the shores of the Persian Gulf                  Street Church in Boston.

where they built a ship and set sail eastward through the

Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, finally landing on the                  A pastor in the Church of Sweden was' ,fined  75 crowns

west coast of South America. This group was the basic                     ($14.50) last month for refusing to perform a second marriage
                                                                          for a divorced person. The Rev. Alf Hardebn  of Oeja was
nucleus from which has come the Indian tribes of the West-                sentenced under a law which compels ministers of the national
ern Hemisphere including all the Indians of our own country.              Lutheran church to marry all couples wishing a church wed-

                                                                          ding even if the partners are divorced people.
    Because this has appeal to the Indians, and because the

Mormons pose as the only ones who have real knowledge                  According to The Banner, there have been recent reports
,of Indian origin, these people have had unusual success in         of persecution in Colombia once again in which Protestants
persuading the Indians to join their sect.                          have suffered. In Barrancabermeja, Protestants were at-

    According to, this same article in Moody Monthly, most          tacked by vicious armed men. In San Gil, a band of un-

ethnologists (experts in the field of the origin and develop-       known men smashed the doors and wooden window blinds

ment of the races) are agreed that the Indians did not des-         of a Protestant meeting place and poured `rifle and pistol

cend at all from Shem and the Jews. They are for the most           fire into the building for approximately an hour. Although

part Mongoloid-related to the yellow race, or the result            there were thirteen people in the building, they all escaped

of a mixture of Mongoloid and Negroid. Besides, so the              unhurt. Handbills stating "I am a Catholic" were distrib-

article maintains, it is generally agreed that the tribes of        uted that morning to be posted on the front doors of homes.

Indians found in America came in separate migrations, none          The meeting place that was shot up had no such card. In

earlier than 500 B.C. and some as late as 500-1300 A.D.             Suaita, unknown men forced their way into a Protestant

At least some of them came from Asia via the Alaskan route.         home, struck a mother's head with machetes, smashed fur-

    But the Mormons are bound to their views by the infal-          niture and damaged other furnishings, tried to ruin plantian
lible inspiration of the -Book of Mormon  which was translated      trees and garden crops outside. The mother succeeded in
from some old plates supposedly found by Joseph Smith in            getting to her pastor's home and was taken for treatment.
a hillside near the Smith farm at Palmyra,  New York. The           There are places in the world where persecution of the
plates are now in charge of the angel Moroni  and the trans-        church goes on.                                          H. Hanko

lation has become a part of the Mormon Bible. The Mor-

mons would have to repudiate their belief in both Joseph

Smith, the angel Moroni  and the Book of Mormon if they                Do YOU agree  that it is especially during Lent season,
did not maintain their views that the Indians are descendants
                                                                    when we are reminded anew of the suffering of our Lord,
.of the Israelites.
                                                                    that we can appreciate the Gospel found in John 3 :16,  "For
    One is reminded of the words of Jesus to the Jews, equally
                                                                    God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
applicable today, `<Woe  unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hyp-
.ocrites  ! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,      that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have

.and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child            everlasting life."


     -. .                                                                       .- ,~. i_ --~ - -~ :- -- _-.~ ~.~ ~~ -~-
                                 -
2       6    4                           " T.H.E  S    T    A    N    D    A    R    D         BE.A.RtiR



                                                                                diety,  over'the sign%ture  of H. Miersma, sec'y : "Our schooL

      NEWS. FROM OUR CHURCHES                                                   consists of-two rooms..' Four grades are taught in each room.
                                                                                Miss Evelyn Huizenga,  from our Randolph, Wis., congrega-
                  "'&l  the ,saints salztte thee . . ." PHIL. 4:21              tion, is the teacher of the four lower grades. Mr. Dale Kuiper,

                                                                                our Principal, teaches the four uppejr grades. His home is

                                             February  20, 1961                 in Loveland, Colo. We have twenty-nine pupils from nine

                                                                                families. The s&ho01  sbciety has-a membership of twenty-one
      Randolph's cons&tory has. presented a new trio to the
                                                                                families. -The school opened its doors in the Fall of 1950,
 congregation consisting of the Revs. `H. Hanko, H..H.~  Kuiper                 making a decade of &ching  that' `which is dear to the
 and ii. Veldman.                                                               hearts of all' truly  Protestant Reformed people."

      Our Missionary, Rev. G. Lubbers, is currently laboring                         Yea? Book Ch.anges:  Randolph's :new  clerk is Mr. Her-
 in the Tripp,  SD. area, and is scheduled to preach in the                     man De Vries, Box 644, Randoph, Wis.; their new treasurer
 Legion Hall, Feb. 8, 15 and 22. His sermons are based on                       is Mr.. Pet&- Fisher, R.R. No. 2, .Randolph,  Wis.
 the first five questions and answers of the Heidelberg Cate-

 chism. A small pamphlet, written by the Missionary, dis-                            The Ladies' Aid Society of First Church has providen-

 tributed in the area, contained a warning against the modern                   tially been compelled to function without their president for

trend towards church mergers, decrying the fact that sound                      an indefinite period. Their chairman, Mrs. H. Hoeksema,

 doctrine, as delineated in the Heidelberg Catechism, is not of                 has been hospitalized because of a gall bladder infection, and

 paramount ?nterest  anymore. The first leaflet also advertised                 surgery for removal of that organ is jndicated.

 our Radio Broadcast of the Reformed Witness Hour which
                                                                                     The Adams `St.. School Mothers' Club served a supper at
 can be heard on a Sioux Falls station.
                                                                                the school Feb. 17. Donations from bhe diners amounted to

      Mr. Peter Kooistra, the oldest member of First Church,                    more than $300.00.

 and of the entire denomination, was given the desired release
                                                                                     On Feb. 12 the Lynden  congregation was instructed in
 from his body of death Friday, Feb. 10. Upon his confession
                                                                                the Word-of God as it is found in Job 23. The pastor, Rev.
j we mjy believe that he is now a member of the Church Tri-
                                                                                Harbach,  preached on the theme, "Longing for Christ,"
 umGhant,  joining those who have gone on before, and who
                                                                                examining the plaint of Job as it is concentrated in the third
 are eagerly awaiting the. Judgment Day when "the lamb
                                                                                verse, "Oh that I knew where I might find him ! that I might
 which was in the midst of the thrdne shall feed them, and
                                                                                come even to his seat."
 shall lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and God shall

 wipe away all tears from their eyes."                                               The membership in attendance at the February P.T.A.

                                                                                meeting in Hope School was enteitaitied  with the showing of
      In Sauthwest's  bulletin we found this terse paraphrasing
                                                                                pictures depicting life behind the "Iron Curtain."
 of James 3 : "The most untameable thing in this world  has

 its `den just back of the teeth."                                                   Oak Lawn's bulletin for the first Sunday in Lent carried

                                                                                a sizable paragraph taken from Rev, H. Hoelsema's -,book,
      The Northwest Protestant Reformed Christian Schdbl
                                                                                The Aztzazing  Cross. The reading `of such a quotation is
 Society, founded in June of 1960, has as its goal a Christian
                                                                                helpful to quiet meditation before the service, and serves
 school for the children of the Hull and Dbon congregations.
                                                                                admirably to prepare the soil of the heart to receive the seed
 The Board has been busy and has appointed various com-
                                                                                of `the Word.
 m.ittees  : The Comm. of Location has drawn `up a map with

 pins representing the location of the children df school-age                        The `following news item was sent in by the program

 from the above congregations. The Propaganda Comm.  has                        comrriittee  of the Reformed Witness .Hour : `"The past Sun-

 been assigned the task of distributing material relating to                    day, Feb. 26,  Rev. H. Hoeksema began a series of radio ser-.

 progress, thereby arousing more support for that worthy                        mons commemorating the suffering, `death and the glorious

 cause, and plans a monthly News Letter. A Lecture Comm.                        resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Last week our speaker

 has been appointed to sponsor lectures of an inspirational                     introduced this group of Lenten sermons with a message en-

 nature so that the members of their congregations may be                       titled, `The Sufiering  of Our Lord.`, During the month of

 united in the calling to educate their children to the best of                 March, D.V., he will continue his messages with the subjects,

 their ability. The first lecture was scheduled for Feb. 24 at                  `What Christ Suffered,' `J esus' Death - The Condemnation

 the Doon Church, virith  the Rev. B. Woudenberg, of Edgerton,                  of the World,' `The Death .of the Cross,' `The  Death of the

 as. the speaker. The topic - "The Necessity of Prot. Ref.                      Son of God,' and cpncluding  this current' series of broadcasts,

 Chri&ian  Education."                                                          Resurrection Day, April 2, with an `appropriate sermon en-

                                                                                titled, `The Lord Is Risen Indeed.`"'
      From Edgerton, Minn., we received the following con-

 tribution from the Board of the Free Christian School So-                           . . . . see you in church.                          J.M.F.


